Monday, January 30, 2012
Mumbai Marathon 2012
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Nurturing shades of Scientific thinking!
In my journey as a Scientist at the BARC I have experienced many facets of Science not limited only to new inventions but new thinking, bringing changes in environment, a creative work culture and much more.- I believe these are all shades of scientific thinking... There is a scientist in each of us seeking an outlet for expression. We can see him in the bright light of knowledge by creating a suitable environment.
The Science Exhibition at Umang on the 27th of November this year was just that... bringing out creativity and fostering learning in a conducive atmosphere... The experiments were small but the idea was BIG! To me at a personal plane it was no less than a holy ritual and in the language of our forefathers a " Dnyan Yagna" ... burning out ignorance and letting the light of inner knowledge stream in!
Chandrashekhar Bilaye
Retired Scientist BARC
Volunteer VIDYA - Umang
Thursday, November 10, 2011
VIDYA Mumbai
Thursday, August 4, 2011
First Byte
The participants ranged from 10-year old Vanshika, who would eagerly walk in 10 minutes earlier than the scheduled time to 50-year old Mrs. Manju Pandey who needed a lot of convincing to join the course along with her daughter. "Ab umar nahi rahi seekhne ki" was what she had said when I asked her to give it a try and I countered it saying "Seekhne ki koi umar nahi hoti". With shaking hands when she first tried to control the mouse she almost gave up, but I reassured her that those hands had handled much bigger responsibilities of life than a mere computer mouse. And thus she took off. Soon she was drawing a collage of colourful circles in MS-Paint.
The impact of a ICT4D - Information and Computer Technology for Development - is showcased in these examples of Janki and Manju. Not only the individual's knowledge, technological advancement and self-confidence receive a terrific boost, but it also breaks barriers paving way for a confident and daring exploration of the unknown.
Manvi Singh
VIDYA Volunteer
Friday, March 18, 2011
"All i want is a place of mine"
Sunday, December 19, 2010
VIDYA Umang - Inspiring Confidence
On November 27th, 2010, I had the privilege of attending the Science Exhibition put together by the students who participate in VIDYA's Umang program in Powai, Mumbai. As a former volunteer with VIDYA it was a real pleasure to attend this event and see familiar faces. More importantly, I had a fabulous time being explained the various science projects the students had put together for the exhibition. Each group of students had clearly rehearsed their presentations and worked very hard to express themselves clearly and thoroughly. They of course spoke in Hindi and Marathi, but made an extra effort to practice their English skills with me. On my way out of the exhibit, if there is one thing I took away with me, it was the smiles on the students' faces as they teemed with confidence while presenting the projects they had worked so hard on, to all the guests that had come to see and learn. Just being able to see that impact that this event had on those participating children made the whole exhibition a huge success in my view.
Archana Pandaya,Volunteer
“ ----- VIDYA Umang(150 children) worked out of the comfort of the IITBombay Campus School till a few months ago when they were stopped from entering the IIT Bombay by the security. They decided to shift their classes to a Ram mandir, located in the poorest part of Powai and instead of complaining about the difficulties of working out of this new space they adjusted in a day, found a new found happiness and organized an outstanding science exhibition for the entire community children and were reported in the press!
I am really proud of these amazing children and their teachers and leaders!
Bravo!”
Rashmi Misra
Bonding over books
23rd October,2010, 10 Am. Crossword BookStore, Nirmal LifeStyle Mall, Mulund
This was an impromptu from the heart visit spurred on by the enthusiasm of VIDYA Umang staff,Geeta Joshi, the planning by Gurav Sir and support by Balaji Sir. 11 children of class 9 and 10 children hopped on to a BEST bus, bought their own bus tickets accompanied by the 3 teachers,reached NIrmal Mall in Mulund. For Manisha it was the first ever ride in a BEST bus. The morning's plan to browse at Crossword a sprawling bookstore. The mall was quite colourful and the Diwali colours were still on. They began the visit at the art exhibition by 71 year old, national award winning Prabhakar Mohite's oil colours. The art work was human faces and the children were freely expressing what they felt about each picture. Rekha spotted a huge Buddha painted on the pillars and was ecstatic.
At the store they were given a brief of how the books were classified under various heads- fiction, classics, crime and mystery, art, business management. A little in awe and hesitant to touch the books, once they were encouraged that the whole idea was to choose the books of their own liking there was no stopping them.
The colourful atlases, the Amar Chitra Kathas, stories of India's musical genius A R Rahman, Lata Mangeshkar, recipe books, and a small section on the Marathi books too. When Raju asked me what was an octave and getting a break meant I was happy beyond words. In the traditional classroom not often we see them letting down their guard. Here, neither right nor no wrong just touch, read, feel talk and explore...words like black mamba, was part of that day’s vocabulary. Dipesh, was looking at Surinam in a kids atlas and as he looked at Egypt in the atlas, the pyramids were familiar- courtesy Singh is King! And yes, the Colombian coffee beans- when asked to guess what it was he said it was chocos!! For Mohan, it was the Ramayan and the Dasavtar in Marathi which held him spellbound. Priyanka and Preeti were busy copying the fact file from the atlas for the presentation on Egypt and US for the UN Day.
Tarla Dalal's books and Sanjeev Kapoor's books had them excited! For each one the morning's expedition meant something- be it depositing the bags at the baggage counter, putting the books back in the right rack, being frisked by security and the escalator ride! .
It was a reluctant group that had to be gently asked to put down the books for their return to Powai.
Over Diwali faraal which they had brought and Masala Dosas and chai, they boarded the bus back to UMANG in time for the afternoon session but not before extracting a promise for more visits! It was truly a bonding over books especially for the adolescents who felt special to be part of an intimate group. Crossword Mulund was very helpful and told me it was the first time that such a visit had taken place at their premises.
Jayshree Murali
Mentor,VIDYA Umang
Core Management,VIDYA Mumbai