30 January, 2012

A plea - Contribute to Vaidehi ashram, Hyderabad

I frequently read blogs of Siri for cooking tips and interesting recipes. But this post in her blog moved me. This is about a fund drive organized by her to contribute to destitute girls in Vaidehi ashram which is in Saidabad, Hyderabad. Ashram works for adolescent girl child empowerment by providing education and vocational training for self reliance.


Some details about Vaidehi Ashram:
Ashram established in 1993, is home of 120 destitute girl children. The Ashram has two caretakers who bestow the children with motherly care. The girls are imparted education in Saraswathi Sishu Mandir High School, which has an exceptional academic record. 
Address:
Vaidehi Ashram 
17-1-473/v/3&4,
krishna nagar ,
Saidabad,
Hyderabad-500059.
Ph.no:(040)24075544
see more details :www.sewabharathi.org


This is how the Fund drive works..
1. Click on 'Chip In' button and contribute fund using paypal/ credit card. You can donate any amount. Each $10 donation will give you one raffle ticket towards a raffle prize of your choice. 1 raffle ticket = Rs.500
2. Check the list of 40+Raffle prizes to decide on which raffle prize you like.
3. Once the donation process is completed, please forward your payment confirmation message to info(dot)siri(at)gmail.com, clearly specifying which raffle prize(s) you are interested in.


Isn't the process easy?? Please contribute if you want to help the needy.

The event will close on 25th February and winners will be announced on 27th February via a random drawing by the Ashram kids. :-) 




Until next time..

25 January, 2012

A calendar too crowded - [Book review]

Book Name: A calendar Too crowded
Author : Sagarika chakraborthy
Publisher : Niyogi Books
Price : Rs.295
 I got introduced to this book through book review program by blogadda.com. If not this case, i would not have tried reading this book, considering it as a serious read from the book synopsis on the cover. Basically, iam not interested in books with serious note and love light reads like Chetan Bhagath's. But, from the day i completed reading introduction and first story, i felt like its worth reading. 


What this is about?                
         A calendar too crowded is a collection of heart touching and realistic short stories and poems on empowerment of women. The background theme of the book is to remind us international days dedicated to women and compare with the realistic world about how these days are forgotten immediately after celebration. It tells us that there is more to do for the welfare of women than celebrating some days dedicated on their name. Characters in this book are nameless, to signify that we can relate woman in each story to someone who is around us or even to us. 
                
Few words about the author and her writing style
         Sagarika, a law graduate have published and presented papers at international conferences on diverse subjects like corporate governance principles, monetary economics, religion etc., She is excellent in story telling with humorous, satirical and realistic touch. Even though it's a fiction work, each story moves you and makes you think about the concerned issue at least for some time. Personally, i felt writing style is good and interesting. 


Some of the best stories that i liked:
The gift called 'Life' - Excellent narration. Every woman can relate to each and everything mentioned in this story. Somewhere in life she might have faced any of those situations mentioned
Finding an Ideal mother to my unborn child - A good lesson for all those mothers who pamper their son from childhood  without letting him know their own problems, sacrifice their time, ideals and life for them and expect the same from their daughter in law. It emphasizes on imbibing good values in children and making them ready to understand and solve problems in life instead of taking all burden away from them.
Witch without a broomstick - This is about a story of a young window and the way Indian society treats her. 
Behind those whispers - It's such a nicely written poem which iam sure every Indian woman can relate to.
Selling a Body to gain a mind - Story is about a prostitute who doesn't want her child to be like her. Amazing spirit and positive attitude of the characters leave us spell bound. I appreciate the way characters are molded and the internal message they give to us. 
Naked - its a very realistic story about the way society reacts to a situation.
Knowledge beyond the printed letters - It's about an ideal house wife cum social welfare activist. This doesn't seem to be practical but we might see those kind of women rarely in our day to day life.
Living by double edged sword - this is about dowry law (IPC section 498A) and to show how it is being misused most of the times.


Even though it is very tough for me to chose best out of many good short stories, i tried to share some above. I liked the way author has explained or touched upon an issue in a very simple way and with subtle manner. I surely recommend this book to everyone, especially women. 
You can buy this book from here:


This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Until next time..

17 January, 2012

Too busy to care for the society??

              There are many things in our life, which move us and seek our help, but we still ignore them due to our busy routine schedules. Sometimes, its not because we are busy, its because we don't give much preference to it or just that we don't care. 


              Today, found about a contest 'Too busy to care' by Jaagore in collaboration with blogadda.com. You too can participate in the contest, follow the below link:
http://blog.blogadda.com/2011/03/02/too-busy-to-care-tbtc-syndrome-tata-jaago-re
Iam too busy to care, but want to do something. Jaago Re and BlogAdda.com are helping me do my bit for the society.
Sharing my experiences -


               First thing that comes to my mind is removal of dead animals on roads. Many a times i have seen dead animals on Old bombay road (Knowledge park right from Gachibowli road) on the way to office. Everyone will be busy to go to office, so, no one does anything to move dead animal off the road. Many times, i wanted to call any animal welfare organization to remove them off the road, but i couldn't as i don't have number handy and i don't have time to Google for it. It seems bad and inhuman when vehicles go fast over dead animals and the rotten smell pollutes the air. 


Here are contact numbers for Hyderabad (got from google):
Blue cross for animal welfare: (0)40-244355 / 238071
GHMC (Great hyderabad  municipal corporation) : 9440448158
If we save these numbers and keep them handy, it will be useful.

           Second thing that comes to my mind is wastage of food in marriages. We, Indians celebrate functions/ marriages with at least 10 varieties in lunch/ dinner to show our affluence and prestige in society. When our estimates go wrong, many items are left out and they are thrown to dust bin. I always think,  it will be nice, if we can distribute these left overs to some one who are hungry. There are many non profit organizations set up these days to help hotels/ marriage parties to distribute these left overs to slums and orphanages. They will check that food is not spoiled before picking up.
Here are the contact details of an organization called RHEED - Rural health employment education development which does this in Hyderabad


I believe in this - whatever good we do as an individual will help the society, however small it is. 



Until next time..

10 January, 2012

Prajwala Foundation

This time, it is a serious issue that moved me after watching the below video in you tube. This lecture given by sunitha Krishnan is doing rounds in face book and emails from long time. This lecture makes us realize how lucky we are, to be born and brought up in a very good environment with all amenities and with various options in life to chose from. Please watch the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeOumyTMCI8 


          Dr. Sunitha Krishnan is a mental health professional, she has done extensive research and is essentially a field practitioner. She has been instrumental in rescuing hundreds of children from severely abusive conditions and restoring childhood to them. She co-founded 'Prajwala Foundation' with Bro Jose Vetticatil. 


Activity: Prajwala is an non-governmental organization in Hyderabad, India, opposed to forced prostitution and sex trafficking.Today, Prajwala runs over 17 transition centres in different areas of Andhra Pradesh for the sex workers’ children. Over 5,000 children have benefited from the second generation prevention programme. The organisation, so far, has rescued more than 2,500 victims with the help of the information provided by its partners and through police intervention. The organisation has 80 members in India and 25 members abroad.
Support: Sex-slavery, prostitution, rehabilitation, girl-child
Note: Financial support, volunteers
This post is a part of BlogAdda's Bloggers Social Responsibility (BSR) initiative. I am exercising my BSR. You can too with three simple steps. Visit http://www.blogadda.com/bsr/ and support the NGO's.


Here is their official website http://www.prajwalaindia.com/ 
We can contribute financially or volunteer ourselves for help. Please support the good cause, if you are interested.

Address:
Prajwala 20-4-34, III Floor, Behind Charminar Bus Stand Charminar,    Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh, INDIA Zip/Pin: -500 002 Ph: +91 40 24510290 Fax: +91 40 24410813 




Until next time..
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