ERGO
Thursday, June 25, 2009
NAMMA CHENNAI
02
Reaching out
Eighty Plus Two students of theGovernment Higher Secondary School atThoraipakkam have scored good marks inEnglish and Computer Science at the lastBoard exams. The credit goes to thevolunteers of Outreach, the novel socialparticipation programme of IT and BPOmajor Cognizant.By setting up a computer lab and doublingup as teachers at this school with whichCognizant partnered as part of theirOutreach in March 2008, the associates ofCognizant helped these students make theirlearning easier, more enjoyable andpractical.The three-hour classes on Computer Scienceand spoken English skills were conductedtwice a week. Although the medium oflearning is Tamil in the school, all thestudents got through the exam, which is arare phenomenon.Outreach, launched in 2007, partners withorphanages and educational institutionscatering to underprivileged children andhelps them raise the required infrastructureand meet their training needs.
Ergo Correspondent
H
ave you ever seen the dogson your street jump up, wag their tails in excite-ment and run to hug thelitter collector who works in yourarea? I have. Dakshinamoorthy isthe Sembakkam Panchayat’s lit-ter collector whose routine is tofeed all the community dogs ev-ery morning when he is on duty.He starts as early as 6.30 a.m. We call him the pied piper of Rajakilpakkam. What’s heart warming about his story is not just his popularity amongst thefour-legged ones but the meanshe uses to do what he does. Henever wastes any of the food orbread loaves collected from vari-ous houses or bakeries in our ar-ea. Instead, he makes an effort todivide them into equal quantitiesand offer it to all the homelessdogs. He is a true champion of this cause and makes sure that heat least guarantees them onemeal a day.Even though I feed these dogson the way to work and on my way back home, the tiny totsdon’t even give me a secondglance if Dakshinamoorthy isaround. The ever-smiling man of-ten tells me proudly that “they have all eaten”. I can sense theexuberance and satisfaction hefeels when he says those words. We are told that charity beginsat home and Dakshinamoorthy isour live example, doing whateverhe is capable of, his financial sta-tus notwithstanding. I draw inspi-ration from his choices. Offering even a handful of food to a cat,dog or a crow is a process so re- warding that it’s hard to describe. After all, helping animals is a way to stay close to God.
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Meet the pied piper of Rajakilpakkamwho collects food or bread loavesfrom houses tofeed all thecommunity dogs
He wastesnothing
THANK YOU, ERGO READERS
Thank you for responding to my request for fans for AWPT’sextended shelter. The animals now sleep more comfortably andpeacefully than before. AWPT is also in need of a camera thatthey use for taking pictures during rescue operations and also tosend the pictures to various newspapers for their adoptioncolumns and appeals. AWPT is temporarily taking the help ofvolunteers to take photographs. This is quite difficult to continueas rescue requests are enormous. So if any of you have a old digicam in working condition or willing to donate a new one, pleasecall AWPT at 22781381 / 9962968265 / 9941597790 and they willcollect it from you.
Meet Arzee the Dwarf
Odyssey in association with Harper Collins will play host to launch ofChandrahas Choudhury’s book Arzee the Dwarf. The book will belaunched by Tulsi Badrinath today at Odyssey bookstore, GandhiNagar, Adyar at 6.30 p.m.
MAHALAKSHMI PARTHASARATHY
mahaaparthasarathy@gmail.com
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