Forgetting Don Rua!

Well the day began and it ended... well just before it did, I was wished: "Happy Feast!!" I immediately looked up at the calendar before me to see what feast was it today. Finding none I asked what were the wishes for? "Of course, for Don Rua", came the reply. I said, "Oh, wow!! So it was his feast today... Oct. 29."

For a moment I felt guilty of having totally and absolutely forgotten about it all. Though talks and mails and animation materials and pictures of Don Rua were surfacing everywhere, that his feast day was today, completely skipped my mind. But I know Don Rua will not feel the least bad that I did not remember and wish him (not because he is dead and gone) but because, true to his spirit I spent the day wearing my **** off!! In the morning cleared up quite a few things in the office (including the whole mystery and solution about cooking gas and all related stuff), then rushed to meet the Archbishop. Thank God Fr KT was with me, or else I'd have been throw out of the first floor the moment I had uttered "Don Bosco Navajeevan". I guess the Bishop has not forgotten some of his bitter experiences of the past. Anyhow, that went on well and then came the drama in the bank. I had to withdraw a huge amount and neither was I the account holder nor the signatory nor the beneficiary. So the bank personnel had to do some cross checking till they were convinced that I was no conman!!

Had lunch at 2.30 pm and reached back to Kondadaba just in time when the Brothers began their mission sunday game. Evening prayer, supper, movie, paper correction... and to top it all the report on the Mission congress and the whole discussion with Fr Sojan for the Sabbavaram inauguration.

Now I don't have the least of guilt of having forgotten Don Rua on this special day! Anyway, just like you, dear Don Rua, am proud to be a Salesian!! Hope to be at least half of what you were - which led Don Bosco to trust you so much! That would be a great achievement ... "If I had just a few more of him, I'd win the world!"

About Don Rua

Values, before and after!!

Yesterday's programme at Beach Blossom's was good... just as I planned and hoped it would be. It was meant to target those people who do not send their children to school. I got the crowd on the main road, just as I envisaged it would. I also kept the programme crisp and to the point - message laced with entertainment and not entertainment overriding the message. So when Gopi wanted to put up another dance after the planned programme was up (in exactly 35 mins) I refused. Later I heard another staff member explaining this to a collegue. "Brother did not want to distract people from the message already delivered or send out mixed signals. Hence he did not permit the performance of a film song." That was great consolation. If a lay staff could grasp that and explain it to another without my telling it, it means progress! Not only were values spoken of and enacted on stage, they were passed on even off it!

Differentiating Care and Protection from Formation

Everytime I come to Vizag and have to get back to Kondadaba, I end up with a different opinion about both the places!! At times, I feel that this work here in Vizag, with the 'street children' is difficult... not my cup of tea. The task at Kondadaba is more cut out and merely formal. Other times, I feel this is more meaningful and sensible but with its own hazards, which I fear I will not be able to really do justice to. One of those dilemmas was out in the light this evening during the staff meeting. With all my 'disciplinarianship' felt that study of the boys needs more focus and attention. But then this isn't a boarding!! But wait!! When most (95% of them) are not street children why then treat them so. But the question that came up during the discussion, what when we get new children, straight off the street. Our rigid timetables and organised structures would scare the wind out of them. And I immediately responded, that this timetable does not apply for them, at least for two weeks or more, till they start feeling at home here. I got to keep that in mind with the three boys who are new now to the Navajeevan. One of them is quite happy and cheerful to be with other boys. One just landed up from Bihar this morning, and to his bad luck he speaks only hindi and none of the other boys speak hindi. I'll have to keep an eye on him especially. Another one who had come from Mumbai the other day vanished the second day. Hope this fellow does not repeat history!

Making sense of DBNJ, Vizag

This evening I had called for the staff meeting of the Home staff. It was good that I did. Of course, there were more fireworks than real discussion or sharing of resources. But at least the difference were out in the open and I now know of some more things. However, there was some insightful sharing as well: regarding study, discipline, games, collaboration and efficiency of our work. I was happy that somethings which I intended to share were already proposed by them directly. That way, I didn't have to 'create' the ambience or the theme for discussion.

However, one thing that I wanted to bring out strongly was the need to make sure that we get boys to the home - either to their own home or our Home. Children do not belong to the street but the home, amidst the love and care of their loved ones. It is surprising that out of the 26 children here only 3 are really of the street. The rest are from families and here with us for education or upbringing. Hope with this pep talk and drawing up of a couple of plans for the weeks ahead, something concrete and meaningful emerges.

Proof of Divinity in religion

The fact that the Catholic Church has survived so many years of scandal and such degrees of insult, is a living proof that Christianity is more a religion of God than of man! It is true that not all the Priests and those who are to be role models are 'scoundrels' but not everyone is a saint either.

I think, perhaps we can say that of every religion.

Empowering others

What an apt quote from Zig Ziglar, to sum up the experience of the youth day:

The greatest good we can do for others is not just to share our riches with them, but to reveal theirs.

Click here for a couple of more quotes from Zig Ziglar. I am happy I also got a chance to personally meet the youth of several places. I still do not know why Sudhakar and Anthaiah got their youth group to me after the whole thing was over, but I'm glad they did. It gave me an opportunity to share with them something that has been gnawing me from within, especially about their village: helping them make a shift from dependence to independence through empowerment rather than mere charity.

Youth Day

Wow! What a day!! I sincerely thank God for this day... the Youth Day at St John's Kondadaba. I had great amount of anxiety and fear as to what would be the outcome of this one day animation programme for nearly 200 youth of the neighbouring villages and Parishes. What I literally feared was that I had taken upon myself the animation of the day - to be done in Telugu. I feared words would fail me. I feared, I would make a fool of myself. I feared it would be an utter fiasco. However, thanks to the inspiration from Frs KT and Wilson, and certainly a great amount of help from God above... I surprised myself (leave alone the Brothers)! Words, sentences and what not just flowed from my mouth... in Telugu. I know not how much of what I really wanted to say, reached them, but this I know, I did not once feel restricted or held up for want of appropriate words or proper use of language.

The youngsters too were fantastic.... lively, involved and ready to join in for all the learning. Another great difficulty I faced was the choice of animation themes. I really could not zero in on what exactly I wanted to share about. However, things fell in place more or less by last night... that too at 1 am in the morning (after I returned from the launch of the Evangelisation programme).

Rather than speak all the while, I made use of some powerpoint presentations, a couple of video clippings and plenty of games... all as part of the theme and as tools for drawing out a message. It did work out very well.

One of my greatest joys was to see the Youth Alive group members fully active and 'alive'. They indeed did their best in making the day a very memorable one for the youngsters - and in turn for themselves. They planned well, interested in doing many things with great finesse ... and did not resent being pushed to do their best! Satish, was the most interested of all.

A surprise for me was that he quoted one of my goodnight thoughts for the young people... that of being men who can move others to a better life. Thanks to him and his acknowledgment of my impact on his life! All in all, a great day! A detailed report can me read here.

Thank you, Lord!

Preparing for the youth day

For the past two days I've been busy trying to put my thoughts together for an animation programme for the youth (nearly 250 of them) who would be with us for a day on this Sunday (October 24, 2010). I was - perhaps, still am - in a dilemma as to what to project, what to say, what game to conduct, which song to sing, what theme to discuss....! I found myself collecting things without having a clear ideas as to what I ultimately want to communicate. I found that very foolish... saying things without knowing what exactly is that I want to communicate. I think the Brothers methodology for their research papers is contagious!!

Anyway, I was able to pull myself up today (tonight, rather) and have some rhyme and rhythm in my animation. I now feel I've something worth and precise to communicate, rather than 'something'. I wish to basically get the young people to think and act with a passionate zeal to bring about a change, atleast/beginning in themselves. That young people are the light of the world.

Easy money and earned money

These days I've been dealing with a lot of money... mostly currency notes of 1000 and 500. However I realised that constantly dealing with huge sums makes one callous or not really grounded. To a lady needing to undergo a MRI scan, she has to think MUCH!! Not because she has to decide if she needs to undergo the scan or not, but whether she can afford to pay the Rs 7000 bill that will land up in her hand after the scan. On the other hand, I would not hesitate perhaps to spend that amount of money for a confrere who has to undergo some test... or even on myself. After all the amount is there to spend. But for that lady, Rs 7000 is the earnings of two full months of hard labour.

I have the money in hand, but am not in touch with economics. I have it and I spend it. When that what I have in hand is over, I'll ask for more and it's be given. The monthly wage earner does not have money in hand, but would calculate each and every pie that he or she has to part with. He or she knows that if all that is in hand is spent, there has to be another couple of months of hard labour to replace that amount... and in the meantime what about daily bread and the regular stack of bills?!!!