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| | The WE CARE FOR CHENNAI Network is not currently active and cannot accept new posts | | For those who can think beyond self - An excellent Book Download LInk | Views: 935 | | Jun 02, 2006 10:51 am | | For those who can think beyond self - An excellent Book Download LInk | # | 
Govind Srinivasan | | People like Abdul Kalam, the President of India, are always admired. They become standard topics in school and college essay competitions. Their books are read. They are adulated and showered eulogies. School students, who win prizes in elocution competitions, on Abdul Kalam-centered topics, run to their homes holding the prize aloft, received with all the smiles and big open eyes in awe and get hugged by their parents. The whole family is in cloud 9.
The dad, who is a Vice President in a Tier-1 IT Company, want to celebrate the grand success of the child by taking the whole family to the nearby cozy restaurant. The child is in ecstacy and the parents see each other with a great sense of joy that they have been the cause for bringing out such a great intelligent child.
The prize goes to the show case in the Drawing Hall of the house. The doting grandma of the child visits the home in the week end. The whole family again is in cheers to the roof and the child remains a center of attraction.
"Abdul Kalam's vision on India as a global leader in the year 2025" is the topic of the elocutory competition in which the child got that coveted first prize.
The ebulient child, Surakshana, completes her school education with top scores, joins BITS, Pilani, completes it with distinction and goes to US to do MS in Telecom Engg. Coming out with flying colours, she gets placed in a leading Telecom Solutions Company on H-1B Visa.
Surakshana gets married soon and a few years after, becomes a pround mother of a chubby infant. She and her husband, decides to make it back to India to take a pot luck on the emerging top notch professional opportunities in India itself. They feel that America may not offer so much of challenge and spendable money as what India can. Surakshana gets placed in a company in India, even when she is in the US itself.
A few years after, on the Vijayadasami day, Surakshana, accompanied by her very accomplished husband, takes Sameetha, her daughter to a prestigious neighbouring Play School and Sameetha begins her scholastic life.
Sameetha is brought up with all the affection and the parents are very keen that she should excel in whatever she does in her life. Sameetha too starts winning in elocution competitions and the success of Surakshana gets replayed again in the family.
A true picture of middle class / upper middle class life.
Can India be built to greatness with such elocution competitions alone? Did Abdul Kalam visualize building of a great India just through elocution competitions centring around his noble and deep thoughts?
The true poverty of India is not in slums, but in the apathy and the nonchalant family-limited happiness of the middle and upper middle class people of India.
The power of the middle and upper middle class is something incredible. The last example is the tirade of the "Youth for Equality", which did not budge against all threats and appeasements and decided to continue their protest to challenge all the powers in command in India.
I was moved when I read that the medicos didn't want to just save the future of their own future fraternity by limiting their demands just for medical profession but encompass the entire higher education admission system, covering every single professional field. The Supreme Court took cognizance of the magnitude of the issue, only because of the spill over effect that the agitation was spawning out. How many medicos were there out in the open in the struggle, whatever be the form? 1000? 5000? Ok, say 20000. But how big the country is? Caught the point?
WE CARE FOR CHENNAI requires just 15-20 active down-to-earth enthusiasts to make the platform into a solid CHANGE AGENT. Problems are ever-growing in any city and even in rural areas. The apathy of the middle class population is the one single reason why Governments take their population for granted.
Many things can be achieved by proactive and easily implementatable activities themselves. I am not asking for people to come out and struggle in streets, conduct hartals and make out processions.
Touch your heart, if the net itself can give you the satisfaction of doing something solid for all your environment in this bulging city. Let your conscience decide if you have to allocate some solid time to take part in attending to ever increasing problems of the city - CHENNAI.
If this cause endears you, I know you will log your membership into the WE CARE FOR CHENNAI YAHOO GROUP.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wecareforchennai/
I am sending an excellent e-book for those who want to take up the cause of WE CARE FOR CHENNAI. I will send either the book or the weblink to every one, whose e-mail IDs I find in the Yahoo Group before the end of this week.
WE CARE CHENNAI also means WE CARE FOR INDIA, which also mean that WE CARE FOR THE WORLD.
Just a rider. WE CARE FOR CHENNAI cannot just be a "Hi', "How are you" "Bye", "Gorgeous" "See you later" "WoW" "What a wonderful picture it is, simply superb", "Can we meet this week end" alone, while I am still young at heart, however old I am. :-)
I am eagerly looking out to meet those irritated and agitated with the system, the roads, the water, the environment, etc., etc., so that we all can channelise our energies into a common grid and become successful change agents.
Govind Srinivasan
98410 36526
Private Reply to Govind Srinivasan | | Jun 02, 2006 11:46 am | | re: For those who can think beyond self - An excellent Book Download LInk | # | 
Don't give up at halftime. Concentrate on winning the second half | | Brilliantly written!
What a harsh truth to read!
the mediocrity-laden upper and middle class thinking of 'our child should study well and earn well' while forgetting what needs to be done to just keep the city and surroundings a better place to live in!
GS, I am purposefully not joining the group. I dont want to sit pot-bellied in front of my system this time and type out ideas.
When I join this group, it wud mean I won't write anything but I will act. Hopefully when I come back to Chennai again! Private Reply to Don't give up at halftime. Concentrate on winning the second half | | |
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