A New Beginning
Social Contribution
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Pongal
celebrations at Pudiyador |
A little child, about 10
yrs old, scurried under a car with a welding torch at a
time when he must have been playing with his friends is
not a very uncommon sight in our streets. Being
disturbed at seeing this child, moved by this sight,
Manickam acting upon it is what makes the entire
incident significant.
Manickam Narayanan, who lived in USA was on a vacation
to India and chanced to see this young child when his
car broke down on the road. He shared the incident with
his father and Narayanan, a retired Tamil Professor started
‘Pudiyador’ and Manickam has been the back bone to this
concept born in 2001.
Manickam and his father reached out to a bunch of the
poorest children from a slum near their house in
Ramapuram, provided them access to the same kind of
childhood that you or me has had. They got them
together, provided them with food, exposed them to
extra-curricular activities like music, dance, yoga,
karate, sports etc. This basically kept them off the
streets and out of trouble, away from their drunken
fathers and other elements that wielded a negative
influence on their lives. What started off as a little
gathering in their backyard with 5 children in their
garage in 2001, has now grown into an organization that
supports more than 150 children at three centers in
Chennai.
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Yoga class at
Pudiyador |
A bunch of students from Crescent Engineering College
visited Pudiyador, Ramapuram, got inspired by the
concept and decided to start one on their own right next
to their college. So, in 2005, these students Nithya,
Aravind, Vinod, Ramana and others got together and with
some initial help from Narayanan and Manickam started a
Pudiyador at Urappakkam. They pledged a percentage of
their 'future' paychecks to run this center! Sabana
Yasmin is the coordinator at this center and makes sure
everything is running as per the vision and gives a
definite direction to the volunteers.
Urappakkam is
a village on the GST Road, a little after Vandalur.
People here have limited access to basic amenities like
water, electricity etc! They have just one
bathroom/toilet for many houses together and even those
are not properly constructed. Parents barely have enough
money to feed their children three square meals a day
and when faced with such adversities, they don’t even
think about education or the little things that make a
child happy.
But
now, the transformation in the children of the village
is visible. The children have started going to the local
school, come to a common area every evening, finish
their homework, and then study further, or practise
their singing, dancing, arts or crafts. The
Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram conducts regular yoga
sessions for both the children and the parents. Children
learn carnatic music and some learn to dance. They are
getting trained in theater. On weekends they are given
breakfast before starting off their various activities
of the day. The children also do much better in school
due to the constant attention and importance given to
education and there is even one child in 9th standard
who wants to pursue medicine.
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'Sidharthan' a
dance drama enacted by Pudiyador children |
Not stopping here, Manickam motivated
some youngsters at Ann Arbor, USA, where he lives now.
He is in regular contact with many students of that
University and so he told them about Pudiyador,
functioning back in India. A small group slowly formed
there in the last one year. They meet up every weekend
and talk about what is going on at the different
Pudiyador centers, plan for the future, discuss the
challenges faced by the children and their parents in
the community, spread awareness in the Indian community
in Michigan etc. One such student, Swapnaa Jayaraman, on
her last visit to India started a new Pudiyador in an
underprivileged community in Besant Nagar. Thus the
third Pudiyador center at Vannandurai was established in
June, 2007.
Pudiyador functions with a core team of around 10 people
which includes Manickam, Prof. Narayanan, alumni from
Crescent Engineering College and students from the
University of Michigan. This closely knit group runs
these centers with help from a large network of student
volunteers from different colleges.
We feel that this is a replicable and sustainable model
for Pudiyador. In communities that need help, the
students and alumni from a college nearby can establish
a Pudiyador, the students form the volunteer network and
the alumni to take care of the funding. We are looking
forward to working with more colleges and students who
are willing to take up the initiative to establish new
Pudiyadors.
For our current centers, we are looking
for volunteers and funding to support our activities.
There is a lot being done at these Pudiyadors, but more
importantly, there is a lot more that can be done, with
help from people, both in terms of their time and
resources. We realize that what might just be a passing
thought to you, to help someone in need, is a boon for
the child in need. We are very confident that we are
building a better future by introducing ‘Pudiyador – a
new beginning’ to the lives of the under-privileged
children of this country.
Report by Pudiyador
Contact Details
Telephone numbers 99400 23940, 99400 33940, 93811 71028
Visit
www.pudiyador.org
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issue
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Light House
Vintage Chennai
Lighthouse is a visual aid to navigation and is a
conspicuous structure on land, close to the shore line
or in the water. By day, it may be identified by its
shape and color. Generally, it is provided
with a powerful light. A Lighthouse may be used indicate
dangerous shoals, sand, bank, rock etc. It is useful to
obtain a line of position and to indicate landfalls,
headlands and entrance to estuaries/ports, etc. The
history of the Lighthouse at Chennai dates back to 1795.
Read
More..
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