Short Ramble

Speakers were finally refitted on my PC a few days back, and hence am enjoying some ear-phone free music.

Opted to listen to Mangal Pandey's songs from musicindiaonline just for a change, instead of listening to my favourite oldies as usual.

First intriguing thing: Singer is listed as Mangal Pandey. Hmmm....interesting.

Idly glanced at Related Stories section. Looked like old news: Bhansali moves to new perfection with ‘Black’. Whatever.

Last intriguing link: Shabana habitually loses her keys!

How was this related to Mangal Pandey? Beats me.

Checked it out anyway, and did a double-take on a couple of sentences.

"It is really heartening to see that today people are ignoring small movies when their content is strong. I really wish that sponsors back such movies rather than just support big budget films," she said referring to Reliance's support for "Morning Raga".

Heartening? Hmmm…

"I'm not worried about vulgarity and nudity on TV and movies as we are all adults and can deal with it. But what worries me is the image of Indian women dancing in a chiffon sari in Switzerland. Why are women shown and treated as second-class citizens?

Chiffon sari in Switzerland=second-class citizen? Hmmm…

:)

Slick

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To A Marked Tree

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The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

He offers me the sweets proudly. He's just landed a job at IBM. The entire room is abuzz with optimism, and the people I see around me are all pumped off, ready for take-off.

Shanti Raghavan has done it – she’s well on her way to realizing her dream, with every step of the way being an accomplishment. I remember when we met at the Indiranagar Coffee Day, almost 5 years ago. The enthusiasm hasn’t dimmed yet. EnAble India has come a long way from then. Her latest statistics are impressive: she’s managed to find employment for over 60 hearing impaired/visually impaired/physically disabled people within the first year of operation, 60% of them earn Rs. 4000 or more, and most of them have been placed in IT companies.

Her optimism is contagious: I see that in every person who has come to the class I’m taking. Few of them training on Excel, a couple on configuration management, and I can see that her magic has touched everyone. It’s hard not to get excited by such an atmosphere, to feel you’re part of a miracle that’s unfolding right in front of your own eyes. I’ve missed this for some time now - it feels good to be back.

***

I check my order status in a glum mood. Shipping, it says. WTF does that mean? They’re loading the pages one by one into the delivery van?

My niece is on the phone, ecstatic that she’s beaten me to the latest Harry Potter book. I try not to sound too thrilled when I hear that she’s actually having tests and so she can’t really read the book pronto. Jealousy is a strange beast, I tell you.

I call the Fabmall customer service first thing on Monday morning. They are politely surprised it hasn’t reached me. Yeah right! Please call us back if it doesn’t reach you today, they say. Tuesday morning, I’m back on the phone with them. No, I didn’t get it, and no, I did not step out of the house the whole darn day! The courier service calls up later: no one came yesterday? I am icily calm as I reply in the negative. All idiots, bah! Feels like someone’s cast a Petrificus Totalus on my book!

PS: It did come yesterday mid-morning, and I did devour it all down at one sitting. Life’s not so bad after all. My review: ASSAM as usual, full speed ahead for last leap.

***

The acting was awesome, but the theme was utterly revolting.

It was a production of “Filth” by Irvine Welsh (author of Trainspotting), adapted to stage by Harry Gibson, performed by Black Coffee, a pretty active and good theatre group in Bangalore. Preetam Koilpillai directed the play that starred the lone actor, Rajeev Ravindranathan.

It was sick to the core, portraying the filthy life of a cop Bruce Robertson, with all the dark, dank and sordid elements of life thrown in. Drugs, racism, office politics, pimps, sex, prostitutes, transvestites, genital eczema, toilet talk, and a monologuing tapeworm: Rajeev did it all, and was simply amazing: switching accents, postures and roles.

I came away feeling terribly low and repulsed. What an utter contrast to the splendid optimistic morning I had at my class. I wish Art would uplift, not depress! Perhaps I should have stuck around and had the complimentary Kingfisher beer (courtsey of sponsor), to cheer myself up.

Shanti Raghavan

Her boundless enthusiasm is infectious, her mischievous eyes twinkle, and she sweeps you away with her passion. Meet Shanti Raghavan, Founder and Managing Trustee of EnAble India, an NGO with the mission to empower people with disabilities.

Shanti’s initial encounter with disablity was right at home, when her brother was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease which leaves the patient progressively blind with the passage of time. She and her husband, Dipesh, (who is also a Trustee of EnAble India), played an active role in rehabilitating her brother. This was not just limited to orienting him to speech-enabled computers, or identifying tools and techniques for his studies, but also to various outdoor activities such as cycling, rafting, and snorkeling too!

When Shanti returned from US to India in 1997, she decided to set up her own organization, so that she could use her invaluable experience in empowering other disabled people too. EnAble India took birth in 1999, and since then, has been actively involved in Education, Employment, and Rehabilitation of people with disabilities. It currently has over 80 people registered with it.

Most popular is the Computer Center, which caters to nearly 30 students currently, of mixed age groups and education levels, using speech-enabled computers. She has involved herself in many volunteer-driven technology projects that would aid the disabled. She has also associated with various industries for creating awareness and generating employment. She has also conducted several workshops for parents of disabled children.

Shanti’s unique ability is to think big and yet focus on the details. She thinks of herself as a “road builder”. “Everyone”, she says determinedly, “has the right to have a good road”. What really motivates her is the thrill she gets out of realizing the “impossible”. “I’m still a child inside,” she says with a laugh. “I love to see things being done differently – things which are dismissed as impossible, made to happen”.

A multi-faceted woman with an MS in Computer Science from Monmouth University, NJ, Shanti gave up a lucrative career in GE Aircraft Engines as Program Manager and Engineering Manager to concentrate full-time on nurturing EnAble India. She uses her 12 years of experience in the software industry to give substance to her vision, and manage its affairs. Shanti is talented too – she is a Carnatic music singer who has sung in concerts, she’s an excellent mimic, she plays golf, and she loves cycling.

“Live life to the fullest –that’s my credo!” Indeed, she is a living example – a truly inspiring woman!

My Favourite Things!

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Bangalore

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Forget-me-not

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