Sewa International - Chennai flood relief update- Day 2 - Part 2

Place 2 - Dheedir nagar near Manjambakkam / Madhavaram area

• Let's say your smart phone battery is about die and you do not have any spare power bank or access to charger for next few hours. Or let's just say that your wi-fi has stopped working. What would be your reaction ????

 Now contrast this to the situation this village has been facing since past 3 weeks. 

• Dheedir nagar (near manjambakkam trucking yard) is probably the only area which was still inaccessible by foot due to the water deposit and muddy soil.

Place from where the village is accessible via it's walls

Road has become so muddy/soiled that it's impossible to walk

                    

• The way this area / colony is set up that there was only one entrance (same used as exit) route to enter the colony. The rest of the parts of the area are surrounded by 15+ feet walls of the adjoining Manjambakkam truck parking Yard.  

While we live in a world where not finding a cell phone charger makes us frustrated, imagine being trapped in a condition like this :-(.

Resident showing the water level which was there during the peak flood.

• The only way for residents to come out for their basic needs like shopping, school etc was via tall ladders.

• Sewa bharati / Sewa International volunteers distributed the relief packages to these people.

This post would not be complete without mentioning the countless RSS - Sewa Bharati volunteers (do read the article on the link). 

Almost all the volunteers I met had been staying at the Sewa bharati office from past 3 weeks and undertaking whatever is assigned to them without any objection.

I got tired in just 2  days of  roaming around in bike in sweltering heat, whereas these folks have been doing  it from days and sometimes forgetting about their lunch / dinner etc. 

Sewa International - Chennai flood relief update- Day 2 - Part 1

On Day 2,  I expressed my desire to join relief distribution activity. We visited two places and I had one of the most humbling experience till date of any Sewa activity !!. 

Do check below part 1 and also part 2 - it is a quick 5 min read.

Place 1 - Erikarai  in North Chennai -

• This place lies in the interior and is at a very low level as compared to the roads. It was one of the most affected area and one could just imagine the flooding which would have happened.

• One had to cross a small creek (it's bridge was washed away) in order to reach the 15 impacted families .

View of the small creek whose bridge has been washed out.

• I met two local RSS Sewa Bharati volunteers - Uma Shankar jee and Dhanraj who were introducing me to the families as the relief material was being handed out.

Relief materials being brought from the bus

• There were around 15 families who had their shanties build on the border of a small creek.The way their houses were built, it was totally devastated by the floods. 

              10 seconds video of Uma jee explaining the flood devastation              

  

      

During such trying times - it is faith which helps !!!

• Uma shankar jee knew many families and introduced to me an old lady called as "Dayalu Amma" and her nick name being "Brave Inspirational Lady" !!

               Must watch 50 seconds video of Dayalu Amma 

She is a widow running her own mobile canteen and helped to throw away snakes etc which had entered the houses of other  families. It was really a humbling experience. #Respect !!

Sewa International - Chennai flood relief update- Day 1

My trend with experiencing the selfless service of RSS volunteers continued ......... 

On Thursday - Dec 17, I arrived in Chennai as a Sewa International volunteer. 

One of the main goal was to experience first hand the  relief activity being undertaken by the local Sewa volunteers who are working tirelessly in helping those affected by  Chennai Floods , and in that process also try to do my 0.0001%. 

 At the outset, I would like to clarify that although there are  photo's of me  doing the volunteering work,  my contribution is minuscule as compared to the countless volunteers who have been helping, day in day out since past few weeks.

Day 1 :- Medical camp for school kids @ Perumbar Government school

• Currently the relief activity work comprises of  "distributing the relief materials", "Counseling for the impacted people", "Providing medical advice via medical camps etc".                  

                              

RSS-Sewa bharati center 

Hub of the relief activity / logistics 

• We went to the Perumbur Chennai government school. In one of the classroom,  essential stuff like medicines, cotton swabs etc were stored. 

Manivannan & me getting the stored boxes inside the school

• Doctor's from nearby government college were taking care of seeing the Kids and prescribing them any medicine, depending upon their health.

          

• We were taking in Kids in batches inside a room, where all the medicines were located. Doctors were also seated in these rooms in group of 2.

• After registering the Kid, they were then directed to the doctors who very patiently listened to their queries and helped them provide the medicine.

• Total of 429 kids were examined and helped during the 5 hour medical camp.  

Do not miss Day 2 update. Click on this link  - it was  one the most humbling experience ever

       4 seconds video of school kids thanking Sewa International 

          

               RSS- Ready for SelfLess Service

As per Hindu dharma before you can analyze  any knowledge & before accepting it as 100% true, there are four types of "pramanams (proof)" required to be fulfilled. Below are the four different types. 

• Shastram pramanam  ( given in scriptures etc)
• Aapta vakyam pramaman ( opinions, observations given by great scholars) 
• Pratyaksham pramanam (Seeing is believing, first hand knowledge)
• Anumanam pramanam (experience + guessing+estimating + analyzing)

Take/collect  as much information as possible, convert that information into knowledge , convert that knowledge into wisdom and finally convert the wisdom into Experience.The totality of these experience's is known as LIFE.

If you apply the same analogy for understanding Sangh and it's goal of SelfLess Service, I would say I have been through the first two pramanams many times (shastram - books, Aapta vakyam - meeting with karyakartas/pracharaks).

However IMO the 3rd and 4th pramanam's (pratyaksham and anumanam) are the one's which always provides the greatest confidence.

Two days before I was scheduled to leave for India, a massive fire had broke out on Dec7th in Damu nagar slum in Kandivali area (in Mumbai city) engulfing around 2000 shanties. 

Before leaving for Bharat, I had got connected to Devendra Pai (a.k.a the Toofani guy) via Facebook and with the help of our National Sah-Karyavaha.

As I arrived at my mumbai home at 3:30 AM on Friday (Dec 11th) morning, I  came across latest post by Devendra  where he had posted photo's of volunteers (from RSS and  other organization /colleges as well) helping to prepare relief kit for the fire victims. 

RSS JanKalyan samiti organized relief camp 

Relief material being packed and inspected

After checking with Devendra regarding the relief activity,  I accompanied him to the relief camp at around 2:30 PM Friday.The relief camp was set up in the big play ground area near Damu nagar. In the middle of the area, there was a huge tent which consisted of all the different materials to be assembled in the Kit.

Swayamsevak explaining the plan to everyone while others are involved in packing relief material

A typical relief kit consisted of approximately 7-8 items which included Flour (atta) bag, Soap, Oil, Masala, Chatai (small carpet), Water etc. There were also plastic buckets with small stoves in them to be given to the impacted folks.

Swayamsevaks and other volunteers being given instructions regarding the distribution plan

We sat down inside the tent area and each one of us were assigned to help pack one material into a big plastic bag. I along with few of other swayamsevaks, got assigned the flour bag section. 

Ready to put flour bag in the relief bag

It was  heartwarming to see that everyone had came together in this hour of need. 

 The relief effort was led by RSS JanKalyan samiti but there were also volunteers from various other organizations like Rotary club, nearby society's, mandals (clubs) etc. 

This was another live example for me of the Sangh where it plays the role of that vital thread which helps to bring together all different flowers (sections of society) together so as to create a beautiful garland !!.

Everyone, from young kids to adults to  senior citizens, from purush to mahila, were helping in this mammoth effort of preparing the relief kit. Most of them had background of sangh either via RSS, Sevika samiti, ABVP or other sister organizations.

There were also students from many nearby colleges like Dalmia, NSS and other colleges who were actively involved in helping, putting into practice the proverb that  "Youth are not Useless but  are Used less" :-). 

Being involved with Bala vishay back in USA, I could not help but take this photo with one of the youngest swayamsevak , "Yuvraj" who was actively helping to pack water bottles in the relief kit. 

Me and the real "YuvRaj" !!

It was also a humbling experience to meet swayamsevak "Ram bachan" who drives auto rickshaw for a living. He was out there helping pack the relief material, knowing well that he would be losing out on his one day of earnings. 

When I enquired what makes him do this, apart from the sangh bhaavna, he mentioned that after going up (i.e after dying), when god will ask me what I did for helping the society, I can proudly say that I helped in these kind of Sewa activities. 

He also added the losing one day earning is nothing as compared to the satisfaction one gets helping personally in such times. 
And this comes from a guy who probably depends on his day to day earning for feeding his family and who might not have a big bank balance. Respect !!

Ram bachan - A man from you can learn many things !!

At around 5 PM, the gates of the ground were opened and 10 families were called one at a time. They were given identification cards and were requested to go at the numbered booth. Each one of them were given the relief kit and other materials. 

Ten families allowed each to take the relief material

Very long queue to pick up the relief materials

I left around 6:30 PM while the countless sangh volunteers continued to work tirelessly with  selfless service goal in mind !!

How Kargil war helped me to overcome depression

While  I was in my final year of Engineering in 1999 - I had got operated for "aortic valve replacement". It was an open heart surgery which involved replacing my defective valve with mechanical valve.

Post surgery I came to know that apart from valve replacement - doctor's also had to perform emergency bypass due to some medical complications. This in turn also increased my medicines to be taken for  entire life :-(.

My mind was already going through emotions regarding why me for Aortic valve and now after knowing about the bypass - I was shattered internally.  

 

                "Defective Valve" -  Why me?. 

                "Bypass surgery " -  Why me?.

As I lay on hospital bed blaming my fate, some 2500 KM north of Mumbai, our brave soldiers were fighting fiercely &  sacrificing their lives for protecting the mother land. Yes - Kargil war had started !!.

 

I was reading / hearing countless stories of young soldiers who were getting martyred defending Bhaarat !.

Stories of how a young soldier who had just got engaged and was going to get married next year - doing the ultimate sacrifice, someone losing their father, someone their brother, husband etc all  started making a deep impact on me.

The vivid image of Captain Jayshree Gupta (who lost her husband "Major Vivek Gupta" )  saluting with all the pride but with sorrow in her eyes is still fresh in front me. (pic courtesy from internet)

 

 

 

I told myself - that I am alive and still have  good amount of life ahead of me. Just  think about all these brave soldiers who are  sacrificing  their lives without expecting anything in return and that too for strangers like me.

My mind asked me to "stop complaining" and start viewing life from positive perspective.

 

The popular song from 1986 Rajesh Khanna's movie  - "Duniya mein Kitna gam hai..mera gam kitna kam hai" summarizes it all !!!.

Watch this  90 seconds video as my tribute to our brave Indian soldiers.

 

I would like to express deep gratitude and thanks to all the  brave Soldiers (& their family members) who have given up the comforts of  life and are protecting the borders !!

Jai Hind !!!

The Monument's Men of India !

In the recently released and critically acclaimed  movie  "The Monuments Men" (pics courtesy columbia pictures) - director / actor - George Clooney (who plays Frank Stokes and is the leader of the army team put together to protect the art pieces being destructed by Nazi’s) peps up his team with this amazing dialogue -

 "Culture is a way of life.. you can wipe out an entire generation, you can burn their homes to the ground, and somehow they will still find their way back. But if you destroy their history, if you destroy their achievements then it is as if they never existed.”

Nazi's had plundered, stolen & destroyed Europe's master pieces of arts like sculptures, paintings etc. Few passionate men decide to team up and protect these master pieces. The movie is based upon this story line.

India during the Islamic invasion also suffered similar fate (albeit on a much larger scale)  when ruthless Muslim invaders raided & looted everything Hindu -  from Hindu temples to Hindu idols/sculptures  to Villages & to Institution’s of Knowledge (Nalanda university / library is reported to have burned for three months after the Islamic invadersset fire to it)

Brave Hindus (both men and women) provided an  amazing resistance and fought bravely against these heinous acts . From ordinary village folks to Kings and Queens of India had given up their life for the protection of their Culture/History.

I call these people “The Monuments (wo)Men of India” !!. 

As part of my recent India trip in June 2014, We  visited Somnath Temple. This Jyotirling temple can probably go down in history as the ONLY religious place which has been attacked & destroyed the maximum times (17 times by Mahmud Ghazni alone). 

(View of Somnath temple from Sagar Darshan where we stayed)

Per the book written by their own Islamic historian (Habibu-s Siyar by Khondamir)  during one such raid at Somnath - "Fifty thousand infidels (non Islamic - i.e Hindus) were killed round about the temple who were trying to defend the temple".

One such act of bravery is the amazing fight put up by Hamir Gohil  who gave up his life in 14^th century defending the Somnath temple from the attack of Muzaffar Shah. On the path leading to the temple complex, you would find a huge statue of Hamir Gohil, who attained martyrdom while defending the Somnath temple. 

In current scenario the challenge is of different kind. In my view Hindu’s (those who are not aware & unfortunately there are many) need to first start knowing about the real history of India, pass on the Hindu values/culture to their next generation thereby creating a proud Hindu Generation - Next !!

It would be great if all these  heroic events are taught in our school history classes as every Indian has the right to know the "correct" history of India.

Lastly please take out time and tell stories of these real heroes to our kids, grand kids during bed time instead of handing them over an iPad / tablet.

P.S –

1) I came to know about Hamir Gohil via an excellent Gujrati movie called “Veer Hamir” , which prompted me to plan my visit to Somnath. Would love if it is made in Hindi as well (Dr ChandraPrakash Dwivedi comes to my mind :-) ). 

2) In order to portray these real heroes of India - my cousin Pratik Parmar helped me to create the above photo which you see at the top of this post. As there are many unknown people who gave up their life - we have denoted it by the "unknown person with question mark". Photo Courtesy - Mahee Productions and Hindu Jagruti.

Bharat Mata ki Jay !!

My first RTI (Right to Information) application.

Since the time RTI act had been introduced, I always had a plan to try out the RTI act. However like those 10 good things which we always plan to do (like doing some good work, doing social service, learning Samskrit etc etc), filing of RTI was getting delayed and delayed.

Then a blog post by one of my favorite blogger - "Shantanu" jolted me and inspired me to file RTI via RTINation.com (http://satyameva-jayate.org/)
 
So finally in September 2012, I  filed two RTI application - 

1) First RTI to get information from Mumbai government regarding validity of the event where - "Shivkar Talpade" flew the first airplane (yes the first) in 1895 in Mumbai chowpatty even before the Wright brothers.  TOI article here - http://m.timesofindia.com/articleshow/msid-890055,curpg-1.cms . 

2) Second RTI is about an Indus civilization archaeological site in Haryana. As per one report this site is now in ruins and government is not taking proper care of it. I have filed an RTI asking the information regarding the total money allocated and how it has been spent for the past 15 years.

I got the updates for my second RTI about Rakhigiri in less than two months. Attached is the information which I received from ASI. Need to follow up on the first RTI about Shivkar Talpade. Will post updates over here.

I would suggest folks reading this blog post to file RTI applications. Its very simple. You can file it sitting anywhere in the world (as long as you hold Indian passport) by visiting http://www.rtination.com/.  

Bharat Mata ki Jay !

Expenditure details received from ASI