Really Strange… Don’t you think so?

 

There’s nothing more to say…

Magical Methods Training Pvt Ltd re-kindled the fire and passion within me to take sessions on Vedic Maths.

Taking sessions for under-privileged children and students of engineering and technology is nothing new for me. For those of you who do not know about me, here’s a brief introduction:
1. I am the founder and Chief-coordinator of Paritraan – a social initiative started by me and supported by friends, faculty and juniors not only from BIT Mesra but from other colleges in India.

2. I am the Chairman of Microsoft Software and Technology Club, India, a club that gives free sessions on Microsoft technologies to students, faculty ad professionals across India. We also organize, from time to time, several national and international events to promote programming and software development. DreamSpark Professional Programming contests conducted in 2010 and 2011 are such examples.

3. I have trained more than 1000 students, faculty and professionals on various technologies & subjects like:

• Microsoft technologies like .NET, SilverLight, Windows 7,   Windows Phone 7, Visual Studio, SQL Server 2008
• Personality development skills
• Computer/Digital Literacy
• Vedic Mathematics

Infact, Paritraan began with my first session in Vedic Maths. However, after joining Samsung Software Engineering Lab as a Software Engineer in June 2011 I was unable to carry out my sessions because of office timings. But then a few days ago, I came across a Facebook Page by the name Magical Methods Training Pvt. Ltd. in which I saw a committed Mr Pradeep Kumar carrying out the task of creating awareness of Vedic Mathematics and  I saw pics of him teaching Vedic Maths and it re-kindled the fire in me to take sessions on Vedic Maths.



In the time of writing this blog-post, I am in Nagpur, in the house of my eldest maternal aunt. She is a lecturer in a junior college and also teaches in a Coaching Institute. I offered her to teach Vedic Maths to her students and she agreed and I began taking sessions on Vedic Maths. Its been 2 days already and tomorrow will the third day. Its a mix batch of students from class 7-12.

I would like to point our the syllabus of Maharashtra board is not at all up to the mark and the children even in class 11 are unable to do simple 2 digit multiplication or 3 digit addition/subtraction mentally. They need to be spoon-fed! Most of them are either afraid of Maths or hate it! Imagine hating such a beautiful subject…



So in the last two days I took 2 sessions of 2.5 hours each and now they have gained confidence and some of them have started liking Maths, I get the same feeling as I get when I convert a Naasthik (Atheist) into an Aasthik (Theist)!




The movie Spiderman had a really nice message – “With great power comes great responsibility!” And I believe being an Engineer its my responsibility to engineer a better society, a better India – A Better Future.

Magical Methods Training Pvt. Ltd. details:
Website: www.magicalmethods.com/
Blog Link1: http://vmfortrainer.blogspot.com/
Blog Link2: http://magicalmethods.wordpress.com/
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Magical-Methods-Training-Pvt-Ltd/161663113891616

MY Experience at Paritraan

Hi frenz,
  First of all,I am sorry that I could not post my blog for the long time due to several reasons. But now I am there for all of you.I would like to share the nice and satisfying experience with all of you when I was with the children
and when I shared some moments of my life with them.

     To be honest, before I joined "Paritraan", I was not so passionate to be a part of it, but I am thankful to my friends specially Vishal who threw some light on it and encouraged me to be a part of that. When I went there ,I
stongly realized the innermost joy and satisfaction to help those innocent, talented and aspiring children who will be the future of our country one day. From the next time, I was automatically drew towards those children to help them,but this time, not for them ,but for myself to get the hillarious enjoyment to be with them, to share a
moment of life with one with purest mind and beautiful heart. Believe me , its so much enjoying.
 
  Then ,our journey continued. We took classes for them whose aim was to impart them with a
good quality of formal education alongwith nourishing them mentally and psychologically. We made them realize that no matter how much scarcity is there in their life , they can always achieve their aim if they
are ready to struggle for that, if they want it by heart. We also arranged some educational trips for them
so that they can feel what type of life they want, to make them realize their goal more closely and what they can do on their part to be in line with such goal .The photographs of those tours can be easily seen on Paritraan's website.
We also told them that we are with their side for whatever the problem they might face in order to achieve their goal. We must acknowledge that there are many children who come from different background too. In that case, we,the members of Paritraan try to understand their problem on their level and try to give them a practical solution
for that. We must understand that they are the future of our country and the history has a lot of postulates when a child who is not so fortunate to got the necessary facilities, has come forward and made his/her presence felt on the map of this country by his work. We definitely cannot afford to loose those personalities who has capability to change the face of this country. 

     Therefore, I urge you all to come forward and provide a helping hand so that you too may contribute
in this holy task. I would also like to add that if anyone want to suggest us any idea to bring this
mission on a newer and higher plane, that too is most welcome. Your activity will inspire many of others to follow
like I did.
       "COME FORWARD , JOIN PARITRAAN AND CONTRIBUTE YOUR PART IN BUILDING A FUTURE OF NATION BEING A RESPONSIBLE CITIZEN OF THIS COUNTRY"

Why should we Serve? What is the need of (Social) Service?

'Seva' is a Sanskrit word which is close in meaning to the word 'Service'. Its more close to 'Selfless Service'

[Thoughts by Sri Sri Ravishankar]

Seva is something that is needed by other people. Suppose you are carrying a weight, heavy luggage, and you cannot carry anymore, then you look here and there, you want someone to help you, don’t you? See, we are all interdependent; everybody needs some help from somebody and doing that help without expecting anything in return is seva. Without seva nothing can happen on this planet, isn’t it? By seva don’t think you are changing the world. Seva you do, because you can’t but do it. It’s in your nature. If you are good, if you are loving, if you are happy, you can’t but do seva. And when you are unhappy, if you do seva, you become happy.

A Microsoft employee left his job to create a University in Africa and succeeded with a lot of hard-work of 10 years.

[An article by Brier Dudley. I have reposted this here so that people get inspired by it.]

It took a bit longer than expected, but the university in Ghana started a decade ago by a visionary Microsoft engineer finally has its own campus.

Ashesi University is moving from rented space in the city of Accra to a 100-acre suburban campus formally opening Saturday.

A contingent of supporters from the U.S. — many with Microsoft ties — will join ambassadors, Ghanaian officials and village chiefs for the opening.

Several said the campus is much more than a collection of new buildings for the school. It represents the vision and commitment of Patrick Awuah, who left the security of a job writing software in Redmond to pursue a crazy dream building a university in his homeland.

Awuah, 46, wasn't one of the Microsoft stock-option jillionaires. He was just an engineer in his 30s with an audacious idea he left to pursue in 1997.

Awuah's goal was to offer Ivy League-caliber education in Africa, to create ethical, broad-minded leaders who would go on to elevate the continent.

That started happening even before ground was broken on the campus, where the first students began moving into dorms last week.

Ashesi began offering classes in 2002, and enrollment has grown from 30 to about 500. Most graduates have stayed in Africa and all have jobs in fields such as finance, technology and education.

In 2008, the school began breaking even financially and started raising money for the campus — just as the economy crashed. But Ashesi's early success helped raise $6.9 million for the project.

Among Awuah's early backers was Paul Maritz, a Zimbabwe-born former top Microsoft executive now chief executive of VMware in Palo Alto, Calif.

"Ultimately, the future of Africa lies in the hands of Africans, and in particular a new generation of leaders who can give the continent the leadership it deserves," Maritz said via email. "Ashesi represents an extraordinary effort by a true African hero [Patrick] to prepare this next generation of leadership and imbue it with the values that they will need."

Awuah said he's thrilled and relieved that the campus is finally open, but his project continues.

"It feels wonderful to be in our own space and it's a major milestone for us, but no, we're not done," he said.

 

 

Growing new majors

After the opening ceremonies, Awuah is meeting with trustees to chart the school's next decade of growth.

Plans aren't final yet, but Ashesi is likely to begin offering new majors in engineering and science — in addition to the current, four-year degrees in computer science, business administration and management information systems.

Ashesi already has been working on curriculum with Awuah's alma mater, Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. He arrived there from Ghana with a scholarship and was hired by Microsoft after he graduated.

Among people he initially worked with was Mike Murray, who co-founded the international philanthropy Unitus after retiring from Microsoft in 1999. Murray and his wife gave Awuah one of his first grants.

"Ashesi's unique in that it takes an extremely bold vision and courage to say, 'I'm going to start a new university in a developing country from the ground up,' " Murray said. "The common response to that would be, 'You're nuts' or, 'You're crazy.' "

It turned out to be a great investment. One college graduate in Ghana potentially helps up to 100,000 others directly and indirectly, Murray said.

"Not only are you going to help individuals, it's going to help the entire country," he said. "The proof is in the pudding — the goal and the dream was that these students would get great educations and then stay in country, and that is proving to be what's happening."

The campus will keep growing. It can now accommodate 550, with room for most in its dorms, but there's space for 2,000 students eventually.

Among those at Saturday's ceremony will be Ruth and Todd Warren of Seattle, who helped raise money for the campus and will have the library named after them. Todd Warren retired from Microsoft in 2009 as vice president of Windows Mobile and is on Ashesi's board, and Ruth Warren led the campus capital campaign.

 

 

"Unique model"

"We're so excited to have the campus and buildings but the school is more than that. We have this unique educational model," she said. "We couldn't have done this and built the campus without proving that the model works. The success of our graduates provides this."

One priority may be adding more space for large gatherings.

The school has a central courtyard that serves as a natural amphitheater. That's where Saturday's ceremony was going to be held.

But a regional chief invited so many other chiefs and dignitaries that more than 1,000 attendees are expected. Events had to be moved to a larger, open space that serves as a parking lot.

When Ashesi asked the chief about the protocol for such events, "He basically told us we didn't understand how significant this was — this is the first university in the whole region and they really care about education, and they invited all the chiefs from this whole traditional area," said Matt Taggart, associate director of development.

 

 

"Bottom-up change"

Maritz also sees broader significance in the school's milestone.

"The most leveraged thing those of us on the outside of Africa can do is to support these kinds of efforts to bring about deep, bottom-up change. Everything else is just a Band-Aid," he said.

"The fact that Ashesi has survived its infancy and is now entering into the next phase of its growth is an enormous testament to what can be done with comparatively modest resources to create what Africa most needs, which is lasting and effective institutions — the new campus is the visible symbol of that."

Awuah said he's especially pleased that alumni, students and faculty contributed to the school's permanent home.

"I can feel it when the staff sees the donor wall. The pride they have is phenomenal," he said. "It feels great."

Brier Dudley's column appears Mondays. Reach him at 206-515-5687 or bdudley@seattletimes.com.

A hundred rupees seems too much to give to the beggar, but too less to order a lunch in a restaurant.

Most of the days in TOT Mall near my residence, here at Sector-62 in Noida, I see a different beggar without food. I happily give them 10/- or 20/- rupees. Some people may think I am stupid. But now since I earn my own money I have every right to do so. I don’t think I am wasting my money in alcohol or cigarettes, am I?  Moreover, out of my salary if I can give 500/- per month its not a big deal, is it?

People will say – feeding the hungry, teaching a child, doing this for one day - what difference would it make? Let me tell you one of the many incidences which will answer that question. I was at the juice shop at the Tot Mall when a kid hardly 2-2.5 years came up to me, wearing a dirty dress and a lovely smile. 

He could not even talk! He just gestured to me that he was hungry and wanted the juice I was drinking. I would have given it, had I not started drinking from it. So I ordered a fresh glass for him. The shopkeeper did not know that I ordered for him. He started scolding the boy  and asked him to leave. When I told the shopkeeper that the juice I had ordered was for the boy, he was surprised.

Finally he gave the juice to the boy. The glass was big. I thought I should have ordered a small glass, the boy would not be able to drink it. I then left the scene to buy some other stuff. On my way back I saw the boy. He was so hungry, he finished all the juice in the glass. Suddenly a lady made way to the small kid, saw him, saw the empty glass, lifted it up like a ‘World Cup’, smiled, thanked God, and the unknown person who fed his child. I could see emotions on her face. It had lit up. It had brought her peace and me a feeling that goodness had not died yet. I was moved by that scene.

The juice had hardly cost Rs. 20/- and I had visited a moment of a lifetime. This was not the first time I had experienced such an emotion and I know for sure, it wasn’t the last either. The real happiness - an everlasting one - comes from a life of giving.

This reminds of my friend  Akhil Ranjan. Whenever we traveled together, he used to buy stuff to eat often. He really liked those ‘Thela Wala’ items. But, most of times, some begger or some poor woman carrying a baby would be there. And since he used to get limited pocket-money he could not buy a new plate of fruits/food-items, so every single time, he used to give his own plates. 

  

“A hundred rupees seems too much to give to a beggar, but too less to order a lunch in a restaurant.”  

Think about it, will ya?

What do we gain from Paritraan?

Today the society is very-very different from what it used to be a decade ago. Mistrust has grown and people really don’t believe in unselfish deeds. And if you are carrying out something unselfishly, people will have their eyes fixed on you, to catch you whenever they get a chance and say – “I knew there’s was something in it. Social Service my foot! He/She was doing for so & so….”

If you tell people that you are doing Social Service majority of them will raise their eyebrows like you said – “I’m coming from the moon!”

I remember the days when I was 13-14 year old boy and the elderly talked about helping the needy. It was considered a noble deed! But not today… not in the same way.

I don’t know why have we become so individualistic that we have forgotten that we are social beings. We have forgotten that we are citizens of a society, of a nation? Why have we grown so insensitive towards the needs of a fellow human being?

I read a Facebook status a couple of months ago which I cannot forget – “A hundred rupees are too much to give to a beggar but too less to feed ourselves in a restaurant.”

The aim of the Paritraan is nothing but to spread the message of love and humanity. Its about performing your basic duties as a human – to contribute in the development of the society and the people. To lend a helping hand to those who need it! Its as simple as that.

We don’t have any reasons to do this. Its something that comes from our souls; our hearts. It tells us to live a meaningful life rather than a selfish one. We just know we HAVE to do it. Its our duty.

But yes, we do get something in return. None of the efforts are ever wasted. God watches our every move. Well, have you seen a smiling child? Imagine seeing such a lovely face everyday. You forget all your tension. You live fully! You get energized. And this is what we have gained from Paritraan.

Imagine when you enter a classroom and you get a standing ovation. Just imagine how does that make you feel? That is our salary.

Imagine walking down 800 acres of campus in BIT Mesra and suddenly a gardner or a peon or a washerman comes to you and says – “Bhaiya, aap ka bahut-bahut dhanyawaad. Aapne hum garib ke baccho ko sikhayaa. Ab wo school jaana chaahte hain. Wo seekhanaa chaahte hain. Bhagwaan tumhara bhalaa kare.” [Thank you very much. I know you teach our children. Now they want to go to school. They want to learn. May God bless you!]

Just imagine that situation! Feel the emotions. That is our reward and that is what we’ve gained from Paritraan. We have gained friends, we have gained families, we have helped to raise aware citizens, who some day will be Dhirubhai Ambani or Ratan Tata or Kiran Bedi or Dr Kalam of India!