Thursday,June11,2009

ABYTE OF LIFE

A HELPING HAND

Alcatel-Lucent donates Rs.5 lakhs toAruwe

FREE CIRCULATION

Vol. 3No. 108

The forever man is here!

Director Selvaraghavan’s magnum opus ‘Aayirathil Oruvan’ is ﬁnally gearing up for an August release. Theyoung director talks about his dream project, the supposed rift with Yuvan Shankar Raja and more …

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ERGO

Thursday, June 11, 2009

NAMMA CHENNAI

une is environment month, at least for someorganisations keen on celebrating the day formore than a day. The Madras Terrace House, thistime, is playing host to a eco expo. ‘Eco Fest’ willsee eco-stalls, eco-fashion, trash brands, photoexhibitions, organic counter and film screening.The fest starts from June 12 and will continue tillJune 30. Keeping with the eco-friendly theme,each of the items on sale will stand for that. Like,Udbhava will be showcasing table mats, trays,boxes made out of banana fibre and other agrowaste. Organic store Restore will sell organic foodgrains, Conserve India will display bags andfootwear made from recycled plastic bags, Lets isinto selling laptop sleeves which are recycledfrom vinyl hoardings and Street Trust will sell itsrecycled plastic baskets, to name a few.For film buffs there is screening of

CrocodileBlues

– adocumentary on theGharials, followed bya discussion withwildlifephotographerSaravanakumar. OnJune 19,environmentalistNaina Shah will holda talk on ‘Wastemanagement in yourhome’. There aremany other eventsplanned, so keepdropping in atMadras TerraceHouse, No 15Sripuram, II Street,Royapettah.

Ergo Correspondent

ur first Tree Walk was held in BesantNagar. Led by Dr. Narayanaswamy,a retired professor of Botany, a mot-ley group of 30 tree enthusiasts wentalong observing and learning about treesby the roadside. While learning about the trees, walkerslearnt about issues that trees in urban ar-eas face – abuse, nailing, and suffocationby indiscriminate paving. People don’t re-alise the long-term effects of a tree that iscut and not replaced. In one act of destruc-tion, a vital eco-system that provided ahaven for many birds, squirrels and insectsis removed. So, the damage goes on until worrying stories about global warming (formany individuals, this too seems to haveno effect) make you think you’d better dosomething. There are several things we cando to create a greener Chennai.• Being aware of the correct procedurefor planting and caring for a sapling is very important. Also, choose species that helpregenerate local biodiversity.• Begin to notice the trees around you –the beautiful shapes, colours, flowers andfruits. Also notice the insensitive pruning,stakes that need removal, tree guards thatcan harm, and trees dying from wounds,drought and pollution and do everything you can for them.• Become a tree guardian. Begin by adopting one tree in your own street, then wash its leaves, give it a drink, and see if itneeds any special care. Then take on an-other and another. Check up on them ev-ery once in a while to see how they’redoing.Nizhal invites corporate organisations tobe part of our movement for sensitivegreening. One could take part in tree sur-veys, awareness campaigns, and most im-portantly, to dispel the myth that‘greening’ is only about ‘planting saplings’.To be a responsible tree planter is mostimportant, and this means taking care tomonitor the growth of the saplings planted(it should never be about the number of saplings planted), and to help regeneratebiodiversity of flora and fauna with a care-ful choice of species and a focus on bring-ing back indigenous species that are fastvanishing.Often, in the course of my work, I re-member the concluding line from LateSundara Ramasami’s poem, Vriksha Ma-nidhargal –

Manithargal marangal pol vaz-hum kalaam varum

(There will come atime when men will live like trees!). Nizhalhopes so too.

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The author is one of the ﬁve founder trustees of Nizhal (‘Shade’ in Tamil), aChennai-based NGO that promotes tree culture in urban landscapes. Reach them at nizhal.shade@gmail.com or call 044-42045137. More information on Nizhal and its activities can be found at www.nizhaltn.org

Learn about issues treesin urban pockets faceon a walk with Nizhal

SHOBHA MENON

Shobha Menon

A walk amongst the trees

Take me home

Max is a four-year-old black, male labrador, neutered. He’s healthy,friendly and playful. He needs a home that preferably has a largegarden. Email maisie4829@yahoo.co.in for adoption.

Lets go eco-shoppingthis month

An eco-friendly footwearand earrings made fromwaste cloth

Participants at a Tree Walkin Guindy National Park.

PHOTO: M. KARUNAKARAN

Thursday, June 11, 2009

he 30-odd elders of Aruwee, aday care home for destitute el-ders and deprived children, arebreathing a sigh of relief. Forthe Rs 5 lakh donated by the CSR wing of Alcatel- Lucent would surely help them shift to a much largerplace than the asbestos toppedsmall rented room on a terrace, in which they are staying with muchdifficulty now.The WELCOM (welfare commit-tee), is a voluntary corporate socialresponsibility group started within Alcatel Lucent, Chennai, whichserves many orphans, disabled chil-dren and destitute elders joining hands with various NGOs. Thegroup has been working closely withNGOs Good life Centre, Aruwe, An-bu Karangal and Gnana Deepam.Recently the WELCOM groupbagged the CSR Champions Award2008 and a cash award of US $10,000 by competing with the 130centres of Alcatel Lucent spreadacross the world.B.V.S. Krishnamoorthy, Director(R&D) Alcatel- Lucent, who gaveaway the cheque to Aspy Joyson,founder trustee of Aruwe, said thatthe WELCOM group is working with Aruwe for the past eight years andthey found them doing true service.“The sustained effort of the volun-teers has helped them win theaward. There are 10 core membersin the group supported by 350volunteers. Supported by the HRand communications wing of thefirm, the volunteers are involved inlong-term social responsibility ac-tivities,” Krishnamoorthy said. Apart from the fund provided by the corporate, the Pay Roll Giving (PRG) Scheme of the WELCOMgroup is also a constant source of finance from the employees to- wards various welfare activities. He-ma Mohandas, DGM, HR, Alctael-Lucent, who heads the CSR wing inChennai, says that they are alsoplanning to provide old PCs toNGOs which take care of children.“Alcatel Lucent, not only aims forthe welfare of its own employeesbut also to improve the society in which they are living,” Hema adds.

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The CSR wing of Alcatel- Lucent, a global telecommunications corporation,donated Rs. 5 lakhs to Aruwe, a social service organisation whichtakes care of destitute elders and deprived children

V.HARIPRIYA

haripriya@goergo.in

A helping hand

B.V.S. Krishnamoorthy, Director(R&D) Alcatel- Lucent (third fromleft) presents the cheque toAspy Joyson (third from right),founder trustee of Aruwe.

ruwe, a social welfare organisation,founded in 1993 is run by Aspy Joy-son and Rachel Victor, both alumni of Social Work Department of Stella MarisCollege. Inspired by the field work they did among the fishermen community in Kanyakumari and at Otteri Slum with YWCA during their college days,they set out to help destitute elders.Since Aspy was from Aynavaram, shedecided to help the elders in the slumsnear her house. Aruwe, started as a day care homefor elders now also works for the reha-bilitation of children in slums. Aspy and Rachel visited the slum and invitedthe elders to their one room office lo-cated on the terrace of Apsy’s maternalhouse. Now the office has turned into ahome for more than 30 destitute eldersout of them 15 reside there, while therest go home after dinner and returnsin the morning.“We never thought that it will turninto a complete destitute home. Now the problem we face is space con-straint. It is difficult to accommodateso many people in one room. And alsothe elders find it difficult to climb thestairs. We are looking for sponsors whocan provide us with a piece of land. Themoney we got from Alactel –Lucent willbe used for the building,” says Aspy, who has a team of seven, to look afterthe elders plus the 80 children of theslums who they provide with dinnerand supplementary education.“Children in slums also have dreams.One such boy who fulfilled his dream isnow placed in a famous IT company inChennai. “He lost his father at a young age and his mother is mentally retard-ed. He asked us for help and we foundsponsors for him. After finishing hisengineering degree from Anna Univer-sity, he was placed in a software firm.Now he is in U.K.”“Last academic dear, one of our stu-dents got more than 400 marks in theSSLC examination,” says Aspy adding that it is difficult to make people un-derstand the importance of education.“But there are really bright students whose lives are spoilt by their very ownparents. One thing I ask educated peo-ple is not to give alms to kids who beg on roads especially near traffic signals.Because the more money you give, infuture there will be more on thestreets.” Aruwe’s next project is to find spon-sors for the 38 children of Tirunelvelidistrict. “The children need Rs. 600each per year for their studies. We haveto find sponsors for them. Though weare struggling here to run this home, we cannot ignore these children whohave come to us for help. God willshow us some way,” says Aspy whilesorting out the application of the chil-dren class wise.To know more about Aruwe call23745960 or visit www.aruwe.org