chroma thoughts...:)

Friends, supporters and countrymen! Shouting out a big thanks to all.    This is to share with all that 32 new books worth Rs . 4853 and 25 used books worth Rs . 3801 have been received during the past 3 months of the campaign. I had been carrying the books along with me during my school visits and 9 successful book reading / story telling sessions were conducted across the two of Thane Municipal Corporation schools I work with. My field support in the schools for this academic year has come to halt and I express my deep gratitude to each of the contributors who helped in providing to my students the learning environment they deserve.    I hope to get functional libraries installed in both the schools i n the next academic year which commences in the second week of June. When I'm in need of help and I will, seek from you. May the force be with us. 

Ra’s Al Ghul In the comics, Ra’s Al Ghul is often described as a 700 year old international terrorist, his arch enemy being the Batman. With the magical powers of the Lazarus Pits he has been able to live such a long life to see the world entering the modern age, a period of significant development in the fields of science, politics, warfare and technology. Cognizant of industrialization destroying much of the world’s natural beauty, he abhors humans and their activities, setting him up to a path of eco-terrorism. He concludes his ultimate aim in life to bring perfect environmental balance on earth, by annihilating most of humanity. By and large, he tries to eliminate the human race by a biological warfare such as genetically engineered virus, only to be stopped by the Batman or the Justice League rightly on time. The movie (Batman Begins, 2005) version of the character believes Gotham city has become “a breeding ground for suffering and injustice” and that it has bec...

RAG: Natural disasters, pollution, global warming, resource depletion, ozone layer depletion, waste disposal, climate change, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, ocean acidification, genetic engineering, urban sprawl. One cause for all. Humans. UL9: Everytime I try to vanquish off the human race from my earth, they assemble. To stop me. RAG: I’ve lived over 700 years and seen what levels of destruction humans are possible of. Which is why I want to save my earth from ecological devastation by eliminating most of its population. UL9: Being a few seconds in the internet made me realize what you came to know by living 700 years. Perfect environmental balance can happen only with the human race extinct. What makes you think at least some should survive? RAG: Like the pit restores my youth, me and my league will construct everything back to equilibrium. UL9: Construction. It can happen only with destruction. Destruction and extinction of the entire humanity. But many...

“Bhaiya, aap ka jaath kya hai?” “Bhaiya, aap Christian hoon?” “Ya aap Muslim hoon?” “Ya Hindu?” “Aap konsi jaath se hai?” And the questions go on and on.. And these are kids from class 3 to class 8 who are asking me such questions. And I always reply that I don’t have a religion or a caste. Then the next question arises. “Aap ka surname kya hai?” Again, they are not able to figure out anything from my surname. Actually it makes them even more confused. And the next question comes. “Aap kahan se hoon?” I reply that I was born and brought up in Kerala. Then the next question comes. “Kerala mein koi jaath nahi hai kya?” I take a deep sigh and say, “The people in my life either don’t have any, or they have all.” And what happens next is that they run away to engage themselves in their own little activities. I wouldn’t say that it was strange for me to see the idea of religion and caste to be so grounded in their minds, but at some level, I denounce it. When I once told an 8t...

My youngest remembrance of Amar Chitra Katha comics is that of reading them at the Thrissur Public Library as a lower primary kid. My father used to take me to the Public Library at Town Hall, Thrissur on Sundays. And mother, on certain Saturdays. While they searched for books to be taken home, I would sit and read ACKs and Tinkle Digests in the children's section. Even though I never bought any ACK comics as a child, I've always had a chance to read them as I wished.    Time flew by, I grew up and never bothered to read ACKs and Tinkles anymore until recently when there generated in me, a nostalgia for these comics. It started with 'liking' the  facebook  page of the Amar Chitra Katha Studio . I also happened to win one of the crossword competitions that was held on the  facebook  page and was gifted with two ACK titles.    Starting from the creator Anant  Pai  selling the first of the comics on the streets to...

Hello everyone!   Project  Utthaan  is an initiative to set up a book reading culture in both my schools; TMC School No: 54, Hindi Medium,  Patlipada  and TMC School No: 03, English Medium,  Yashodhar . A physical library is non-existent in both these schools and lack in space, infrastructure and money to afford the luxury of one.    With Project  Utthaan , I hope to provide my kids a library experience in their schools. The idea is to provide a book reading space in each classroom and conduct story telling sessions as well, which would inspire them to read more and hence aspire more.    I had earlier mentioned in one of  my  blog posts that when I need help and I will, seek from you. And now, it is  the perfect  tim e f or  that.  You can support the cause in two different ways.    1) Send/Order books to:   Ashik Krishnan K,    Kaivalya ...

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan ( Education for All Movement ) was an intervention programme by the Indian Government to universalize elementary education in a time-bound manner, which became operational since 2000-01. SSA proposed provisions such as free and compulsory education to all children between the ages of 6 and 14, by observing right to education as a fundamental right of the child. The fact being that SSA had no legal backing and on finding that proposals as under SSA will play a major role in shaping India’s future, 'The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act', commonly known as the ‘ RTE Act  2009 ’ came into existence on 4 th August 2009. The act entitled free and compulsory education to every child in India between the ages of six and fourteen, as proposed by SSA. With the enaction of the Act, India became one among the 135 nations of the world to make education a fundamental right to all children. Few of the provisions as under the RTE Act 2009 a...