Makkala Jeevodaya (11-12-2011)

Christmas – the very mention of the word brings to mind images of Santa Claus and candy canes, Christmas trees and beautiful wreaths, cake and wine and loads to dine. But in all the merriment and enjoyment, do we ever stop to think of those less fortunate than we are? The true “Christmas spirit” that makes one more selfless, more friendly, more kind and generally, more nicer. This year, Living C.L.A.Y. looked at Christmas as an opportunity to spread the Christmas cheer and brighten the lives of 21 young girls in Makkala Jeevodhaya.

Preparations began early on, with shopping for sweaters, stationery, bangles, chocolates – things that would bring a smile on any little girl’s face; meeting up after work and on weekends to practice carols and action songs. The beautiful Sunday dawned clear and bright, we couldn’t have wished for a more amazing start. Carrying our gifts and beaming with joy, we entered the gates of “Makkala Jeevodaya”. This place is home to young girls who’ve been rescued from the red-light areas. The sisters who run the home aim to provide each girl with the ability to fend for herself and to lead a life of dignity.  They have a strong track record, having rehabilitated over 586 women and girl children, with 50 women now married and settled, 17 women professionally trained, well-prepared to face the future.

We had visited the place 2 years ago, but we did not expect the children there to remember us. So we were in for a pleasant surprise when they not just recognized us and also inquired about the members of the group who weren’t there for this visit. We sang carols and action songs, followed by introductions for the benefit of the new ones. Those who were initially shy and reclusive, soon warmed up to the other and in no time at all the whole group and kids seemed like a family having fun together, playing, shouting, singing, screaming and clapping. The girls enthusiastically showed us their dance performances that had won them accolades at school. With ear-to-ear grins and enthusiastic leaps, they pounced on each other’s balloons during the game of balloon bursting, and pop-pop-pop went the balloons.

But what’s Christmas without Santa, right? To the merry tune of Jingle Bells, Santa Ho-Ho-Hoed his way in, bearing balloons, gifts and chocolates for all the kids. The squeals of joy and delight were reward enough for us. A small cake cutting ceremony ensued and we all gathered in the dining rooms to gorge on delicious plum cake, chips and soft drinks. As we watched the little kids savour the cake and chips, we felt a glow, the spirit of Christmas slowly spreading its warmth through all of us.

Tired yet content as we looked at the gleaming eyes of the elated girls, we trudged our way back with a sense of accomplishment, the glow of Christmas now radiating through us.  

I recently went to my hometown and as my brother and I were window-shopping in the mall, we decided to grab a bite to eat. We barely entered the food court when my brother waved his hand in the air, acknowledging his friends sitting over in the corner. We moved a few steps ahead and his hand goes back in the air, this time to a different group of people. "Another set of friends", he tells me. He keeps waving at every alternate group of people and I begin to feel he's some kind of famous celebrity while I'm the umbrella-holding assistant of this star.

His network, he claims. But isn't networking something we all do? We network through various media, be it through the social forums of Facebook or the primitive Orkut, texting our friends through mobile phones, phone calls or Skype video chat - life is all about our networks and friends and family. Meeting up at the local coffee shops, or our college canteens, hanging out at the movies, malls or friends houses - various ways we choose to converse and enjoy with those close to ourselves. As I look back, I realize I have made a lot of friends on my journey to where I am today - classmates, colleagues, church friends, dance class friends, Toastmasters, the list is endless. And the World Wide Web is just one way of connecting them all together.

Google, with their new feature, Google+, helped make these social 'circles' a virtual one as well. You can create your own circles of 'Friends' and 'Family'. A different implementation of a common concept. Although many sites have offered the feature of creating groups, the visual imagery that Google offered was intriguing. Yes, it does have its drawbacks, but I do find the concept pretty fascinating. Though I haven't use it much, the new merger of Circles into Gmail makes for easy linking of various friend groups.

Looking forward to see what Google has to offer next....

The first article I ever wrote!

This was a write up for Pit Stop 2009, an event by the youth of my parish, where the aim was to just sit back, relax and enjoy. :) Hope you have fun reading it!

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A whole new world

A new fantastic point of view

No one to tell us no or where to go

Or say we're only dreaming

A whole new world
A dazzling place I never knew
But when I'm way up here
It's crystal clear
That now I'm in a whole new world with you
Now I'm in a whole new world with you

Unbelievable sights
Indescribable feeling

Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling…..

The words of this beautiful song kept going through my head throughout the day. The feeling of togetherness, calm and several other mixed emotions that we felt are truly “indescribable”.

We started in the morning with the Eucharistic celebration by Fr. Fidelis D' Lima OFM who despite his age is very modern in his thoughts. With the readings of the day focusing on how we need to prove our faith in action, Fr Fidelis explained to us how we need to constantly ask God for the strength to overcome difficult situations, to find our “true selves” by letting go of our egos. Aligning our priorities so that we will consciously participate in the life of Jesus is not necessarily the easiest thing to do, but it always brings us closer to our faith’s goal, our salvation.

After the mass, we celebrated “Bumper Birthdays”. As we all joined together in singing the birthday song, Sandeep had an extravagant vanilla facial done as the rest of us wiped off the cake together with some lovely biscuits and coffee provided by the brothers.

Stomachs temporarily filled, we sat down for a session by Fr. Fidelis, wondering what he would talk to us about now (the topic for the session was not known to us). We were surprised as he honestly admitted being initially stumped for a topic that he felt he could talk about to a bunch of people less than half his age (at least in the physical sense – at mind, he’s younger than most of us). He asked us to think of a single thing that would give us “greatest fulfillment and contentment in life”. As we all came up with our thoughts on what we felt would make us happy in life, he classified the same into 3 categories – Being, Doing and Having. He explained to us how what we “have” or what we “do” is mostly based on the circumstances around us; anyone who believed in living a problem free life was, as the author Scott Peck put it, living in a “fool’s paradise”. We only have control over “Being” who we are – we are responsible for our own actions and we need to continue doing our best irrespective of the circumstances. Our norm of living our lives should not depend on our circumstances. We need to do our best in every sphere of activity. This will ensure that we are not disappointed. While telling us all about this he came to the topic of the day “INTEGRITY”

Integrity means

1. Honouring your core word – Your “core word” is a promise that you may have made to yourself or to others.
2. Matching your word with actions towards others in keeping with your core word
3. Admitting fully to ourselves (and if need be, to others), your lapses in your core word – your inauthenticity.

After the food for thought that Father gave us, we now realized we needed some food for our stomachs – we were really hungry. With rumbling stomachs, we all went down to the Friary dining hall, where we were met with the sight of a really scrumptious looking chicken biryani. After the Grace before meals said by Fr. Tom, we ate with the brothers who seemed as excited to meet us as we were to get to know them. The biryani was every bit as delicious as it looked – some even debated joining the Friary for the food. We all chatted with the brothers, laughing our way through lunch and discussing our different cultures and lifestyles. I’m sure they enjoyed the change in their regular patterns with all the noise and liveliness we brought in. It was a welcome change for most of the brothers.

Post lunch, we all marched to the basketball court, geared up to win the matches to follow. As Br. Tomy came with enough lemons and Glucon-D to feed an army and Ravin turned up with a First Aid kit, we all got together and formed teams. Naming the teams “Creative”, “Loving”, “Active” and “Yielding” to go with our group name, we formed teams of 6 members each, mixing up the brothers and our group members. What ensued were matches between the teams “Creative” and “Loving”, and “Active” and “Yielding”. As two of the teams “Creatively Yielded”, the “Lovingly Active” teams made it to the finals. Those who weren’t playing cheered with all their might as the teams competed to win the match. After an exciting match, the “Loving” team won, and Br. Francis was unanimously declared “Man of the Match”. After the prize distribution, we all went in for tea which we had in the bowls used by the Friars for tea along with some delectable snacks – a truly unique experience of having tea from a bowl.

As the evening progressed towards an end, we all gathered together in the garden for photo sessions with the brothers. It seemed like we’d all been together for years. “A whole new world, a wondrous place” was now opened to us and the memories of this day will linger fresh in our minds for a long time to come.