Kaleidoscopic Santosh - Never Ignore Warning Signs

Santosh was nearing forty but he prided that his hair never turned grey. One fine morning when he woke up he saw two blue hairs.  When he went to brush his teeth, two of his teeth had also turned blue. Funny, he thought. He ignored it thinking it was a temporary color change. Next week, two of his hair and teeth turned violet. The following week, two strands of hair and teeth turned yellow. Now, he was starting to look like a comedian and Santosh was worried. 

He wondered what could be the cause of the color change? But, he was very busy with office work and did not check his daily habits. The color change continued and there was a kaleidoscope of colors in his hair and teeth. One day, his company HR manager called him and questioned him about the color change. "We need multi-talented people, but we can't have multicolored people. We need employees and not jokers in office," the HR guy said. 

Santosh was deeply disturbed about this HR encounter. So, he introspected and started thinking about his daily habits. How and why did the color change happen? He was thinking deeply, and realized that he started taking the train instead of bus. So! There was a small shop in the station with multicolored gems, chocolates, and mithais. Oooops, so he found out his sweet tooth had led to color change. But, what was the remedy he thought?

He met the sweet shop girl the next day and angrily told her about the color change. The girl giggled and laughed out aloud. But, the small girl was a clever businesswoman. She said, you start eating white colored gems and mithai from my stall, then the color will go away from your hair and teeth. So, Santosh got back his original white teeth and the girl made a lot of money. But Santosh's hair turned grey now! And the moral of the story is, never ignore early warning signs. 

Note: In his book "Blink", Malcolm Gladwell talks about 'thin slicing'. Thin slicing refers to the many interactions that happen between two people, organizations and people, and even between a human being and the human body. These thin slices of interactions must be very positive to have a positive outcome. But, if the thin slices are negative, then the end result is negative. So, if a boss talks about firing people every day, he invariably fires atleast one person in a month. If a husband or wife talks about divorce every month, then they invariably end up getting divorced. 

Interesting Summer Camp for Chrompet Kids - Do Enroll and Enjoy

Social Worker Prema Shankar and team are conducting a summer camp at Chrompet targeting lower and middle income group. They are enrolling few disabled and underprivileged kids in this course without fee. This is a volunteer driven effort and they are looking out to for more volunteers to help in this camp esp to share skills, and help during field visits and exhibition. Certificates will be given and sponsorships are welcome. Do call and enroll your kids - Sure its going to be great days of camping.

AIKYA Founder Wins International Award

Lion. Parvathy Viswanath, founder of AIKYA, has won an international award for "Community Leadership" from Canada. She was unanimously selected for the award, which she received in person. Congrats ma'm. The award is a recognition for all people in India who work for special children. 

On World Autism Awareness Day, that falls on April 2nd, let us wear Blue and remember the foot soldiers who work for children with special needs. May God give them the courage and energy to continue their good work.

Dr. Republica Sridhar Speaks about Palliative Care

Visit http://www.rmdpainpalliative.com/

Karuna Sagar of RMD Pain and Palliative Care Trust

                    

A Visit to RMD Palliative Care Centre in T.Nagar, Chennai

Yesterday, I walked into the RMD palliative care centre to chat with the patients. There are 12 beds in the home. And the staff were busy executing their early morning duties. 

The patients have varied diseases and also mindsets. There were quite a few patients recovering from cancer. One such patient was a carnatic singer who sang in sabhas along with her daughter and grand daughter. She was very happy to sing a "Keerthanai" for me. All her children were busy with their professions and so they have admitted their sick mother at RMD palliative care.

There were few people with fractures and one inmate had lived in London. But the challenge for the staff is to adjust with old patients who may be very demanding. Some inmates want to join their families at the earliest. 

"Be Good, and Do Good" was the philosophy of one of the patients. So, it was a happy day and meeting patients with varied mindsets was an eyeopener. Good luck to Dr. Republica Sridhar and her staff in continuing their service for the old and other patients who are in pain.

To know more about RMD pain and palliative care centre, click here. 

Palliative Care - Certificate and Diploma Courses

Palliative care (from Latin palliare, to cloak) is an area of healthcare that focuses on relieving and preventing the suffering of patients. Unlike hospice care, palliative medicine is appropriate for patients in all disease stages, including those undergoing treatment for curable illnesses and those living with chronic diseases, as well as patients who are nearing the end of life.

Freedom 2013 - 3 Day Worship by Ruah Ministries

Peppy songs, breathtaking display of colours, trendy conversion of good old christian songs, and dance marked the first day of the gathering at St. George's School, Chennai. The worship is from 5:30 pm and is on  25th - 27th January. Don't miss this spectacular prayer gathering and the words of E. Alwin Thomas. (The school is opposite to Pachaiyappa's College).

Murali's Mouna Raagam in Dubai - SPB Sings

Please stay tuned for 8th March 2013 in Dubai. 

Youth Health Mela in January 2013

To raise awareness of undesirable lifestyle issues a consortium of likeminded organizations have come together and conducted a series of activities under the banner ‘Youth Health Mela’  targeting schools, colleges, youth at  corporates, community and general public. The Key focus areas of the Youth Health Mela are Substance abuse, Diet and Nutrition, Exercise, Fitness and Hygiene: Personal and Environment. The aim is to prevent spreading of non-communicable diseases. The event is expected to create greater awareness of health through active participation of the target group.

Youth Health Mela-YHM

Date:  24th to 27th January 2013

Venue: Valluvar Kottam, CSIM Chennai 

Happy Pongal and Bhogi

           

A Slum with 100 Houses - 500 Poor People - Can We Help

A Slum with 100 Houses - 500 poor people – CAN WE HELP?

In December 2012, I (Anitha, Blogger) visited a slum near the Cooum River Bridge in Choolaimedu. The stairs from a litter-filled pavement lead you to an underground made of small houses. There are cement roads, prayer rooms, temples, and mosques. The people wear decent clothes. The kids study in the nearby corporation schools.  But, cleanliness is missing. The houses are dirty. And the rooms are small and dingy with no air circulation or air supply.

Lack of Cleanliness is a major health issue in this slum.  We need to educate people here about personal hygiene and environmental cleanliness. We all know that, “Cleanliness is Next to Godliness.”

The contact person in this area is one Mr.Perumal. Social activist Ms. Prema Shankar and I can co-ordinate intervention activities in this area.

Possible Charity Activities in the Slum:

1.     Cleanliness Drives and samples.

2.     A library in one of the halls.

3.     Edutainment (Education + Entertainment) activities once in a fortnight.

4.     Soft Skills Training.

Benefits for Donors and Corporates:

1.     The ladies work as maids in many middle-class / upper-class homes. And can circulate your product brochure were they work.

2.     The school children will do Word of Mouth marketing.

Mr.Perumal comes to the Amman Temple at 7 a.m in the morning and 7 p.m in the evening.  Volunteers and CSR people can connect with him at that time.

Look forward to a positive response from social entrepreneurs, volunteers, and philanthropists. We can “make a difference.”

Please find an attached Google Image for approximate location.

Mail ids: Prema -  premasank@gmail.com

Anitha.S – anithajebaraj@gmail.com