Me, Maths, CSA and more…

Hi all,

I had a truly out of the world experience yesterday. I had volunteered for the CSA, Center for Social Action, at Christ College, and I had joined the wing of CSA named Activity Center, which took classes for students from a slum area called Rajendranagar. The Activity Center head asked me if I wanted to join them yesterday, even before the official CSA inauguration on the 7th.

At Rajendranagar, we were greeted by eager kids shaking hands and  saying “hello”s is several dialects. They were a bit apprehensive about approaching me, maybe because I was new, but we got on ok… I went with 2 Activity Center members, the Activity Center head Swathi, and another member, Vandana.

I was assigned to take Maths for the 8th grade students…

And there the story starts.  Many students didnt even know the basic principles of multiplication and division. Everyone kept calling me “sir” :D And they were like so enthusiastic with my presence, though I should say that at the end of the one and half hour session, I didn’t have kids hanging onto my hands, unlike my co-activists’ experiences. I succeeded in teaching a few the principles, and making everyone very Mathusiastic :D The smiles on their faces when they got the solution to a problem, or when they did a few sums even faster than I did were sights I would never forget in my entire life. And when the time came for me to leave, a few of them did escort me down the stairs till the road. All of them said passionate “bye”s, though they didnt treat me to the traditional Rajendranagar hand shake.

And I left, walking through the broken streets with my counterparts, I had this unexplainable feeling… A mix of happiness, empathy, and enthusiasm. I was happy that they accepted me. I was happy that whatever little I did DID make a difference. I understood their situation and wanted to help in whatever way possible. And enthusiastic to be back and make more of that special difference!

Today, when I submitted my report, a CSA activist asked me about my experience. I told her that I had a “wonderful experience”. She asked me if I was being sarcastic. I gave her a quick smile, and my heart was grinning… Because little did she know how much my heart was willing to go to Rajendranagar every day; how much I would love to do this for the larger part of the day; how much I was looking forward to the next Thursday… the next Maths class… the next difference…

June 29, 2007 | Filed Under General World, Utopia, World Peace | Leave a Comment 

Poem - A walk through the gardens of Peace II

Hello,
Here is a poem I wrote today during an ultra boring session of Computers in Communication, where the professor was raging on about the history of computers and the fullform of ALU… :D

A walk through the gardens of Peace II

A bay lead drifts in time with the eastward draft,
The smoke trail raises, it came from a shaft!
Another life rose; a lifeless kissed the ground.
The pigeon fell, and She lay closely bound.

And doubly bound, she lays; awaits her fate,
The lily drops, leaving droplets red in her wake!
They say where love doth fail, hate begins,
And that is how, the story, fate spins…

As pursuit flew, for Laurels more,
Leaf by leaf, the Bay tree doth sore.
Now bald, with pseudo-leaves a part,
Lies the tree, lamenting, for naught defensive darts.

Sooth do I speak, I say the garden transforms?
To become but a spring time dorm?
“No sir!” Cries She from her present past;
Contemplating late, Oh, a fool’s repast!

- Neo Garfield
27.6.2007

I was treating the issue of world peace sarcastically. They say that we are in a peace situation now. Oh really?!!!

Today, there are wars fought for the cause of peace… Relegious battles… Racist issues… Terrorism… Show of arms… Silent threatning… And they say we have attained peace?

I would love to hear your take on the issue :) Please do comment! Cheers :)

June 27, 2007 | Filed Under My writings | 3 Comments 

My transformation to literature…

Hello all,
I would like to inform all of you that I wont be “blogging for peace” as often as before. Indeed, as a regular reader, you might know that the standard of my “peace” articles has been on the steady decrease for the last half a year or so because of my busy schedule.

But does this mean that I’m shutting down BlogForPeace? Definitely not.

I wanted to tell you that for the next 3 years I will be using BlogForPeace as my voice to the world. In short, I will be writing all my pieces of literature and poetry here, along with peace and socially relevant articles. I’ve joined up the Center for Social Action in my college, and I will be writing about my experiences. I’m converting BlogForPeace from an exclusively peace blog to one of my writing, poetry, social articles, and ofcourse, peace.

If you have any complaints/suggestions/feedback or difference of opinion, please do mail me -

coolmohan [AT] gmail [DOT] com

        Thank you for hearing me out… And if you’re interested in my take of the world, stick around :)

June 26, 2007 | Filed Under My writings | Leave a Comment 

Indefinite Intermission

Ladies and gentlemen,
    It is with greatest regret that I pronounce that I’ll NOT be blogging for an indefinite amount of time, starting today. I’m leaving my cozy cul-de-sac to follow the path that destiny has in store for me…

    In other words, I’m leaving home to pursue my future in higher education. :) I’ll take some time to get acquainted with the facilities at my new college, and therefore the lag in my other leisure activities, like blogging.

    You can expect me back in 1-2 weeks, until then, hold on tight :).

    If you would like to contact me directly, I’ll be at Christ College, Bengaluru (Bangalore), studying BA FEP. Mail me, and I’ll provide you with my email id. Please note that I’ll be checking ONLY my personal email -

coolmohan [at] gmail [dot] com

    Cheers, and ciao…
    Mohan K.
    aka Neo Garfield

June 13, 2007 | Filed Under Blog For Peace News | 1 Comment 

Close
E-mail It
Socialized through Gregarious 41