..only some 25 min after we are suppose to have started the agenda do we actually seem to be taking off - i am not sure yet, the noise from the huge gathering of teenagers is just insane, you can barely hear what your next door neighbour is saying, let alone to think any thoughts on your own .. oh and it seems like i got placed in the corner of the real real teenagers (although one of them introduces himself as a HR officer in a IT company - he looks like he is 17 at most..), i guess teenager are teenagers wherever you go...The program set off and the group next to me continues to talk, listen to music, and snaps a couple of pictures of me, one of them starts to translate some of the tamil being said, on a rusty old loudspeaker, that seems to have everything wrong with it, "and now sir, she says...", "and now sir,...", and now sir...." and "now sir, the sentence is over" ... that made me crack up totally (Tamil or no Tamil, when a person gets of the stage i kindda can do the math myself .. )
(official welcoming speech..YES you guessed it - in Tamil..)
So on my right side i get introduced to our translator, her name is Vanitha, and through this organization - she just came back in August after spending some 14 months in the US, and now she is working as a system administrator in a large company here in Chennai, Vanitha is another true success story of how you can change with the right support and help, Vanitha tells me that she never could have done this, what she is doing without the learning experience as the one in the US, i ask her to clarify what she means with "this", she looks at me, smiles and tells me "talk to a foreign man" .. well Vanitha i am happy you went to the US and that i got to know you .. it was very much worth it.. So Vanitha tells me about their traditional dance "Parai" as it starts, and here is how i will describe it to you, loud, a ton of energy, a lot of rhythm, and incredible amount of power - seriously it was brilliant.. after some more dancing some role-plays are played - describing disruptive behaviour of parents, alcohol abuse of parents, and how group pressure is a big problem if you are not mentally strong enough, it is all in all summarised as, there are so many things that impacts children, and if you need help - seek counselling - and this is the message, we are here to help and support you, young and old! After these role-plays the Police inspector of Chennai is introduced to all of us, and is officially handing out some ID cards to the youngsters, i didnt catch why that was.. - anyways good of him to drop by.
(a bit of Parai being danced on stage)
Last but certainly not least a video followed up with a speech from "Madam" where a lot of questions are being asked, a lot of thought provoking points are being send to the kids, and a lot of ideas and suggestions to them, i feel the interest from the teenagers, even the one sitting next to me, having banged his chair against mine for the last 45 min, has stopped and has even turned his music on his mobile of .. (see how patient i am becoming, if this would have happen some three weeks ago - the outcome would have been very different...) - Madam, focuses a lot of her energy, and effort on education, self-development, self-reflection and finally asks the question that almost gets me standing - "can we change ourselves?", "can we change our society to something better?" - now i have the answers to these two questions, do you ? - let me know what you think... - and with those two questions in mind, we catch a rickshaw and head back, short by insightful day, "can i change myself?" and "can i change society to something better?" ... - i personally believe you need to add a last question - which will be ...."how?"
(official welcoming speech..YES you guessed it - in Tamil..)
So on my right side i get introduced to our translator, her name is Vanitha, and through this organization - she just came back in August after spending some 14 months in the US, and now she is working as a system administrator in a large company here in Chennai, Vanitha is another true success story of how you can change with the right support and help, Vanitha tells me that she never could have done this, what she is doing without the learning experience as the one in the US, i ask her to clarify what she means with "this", she looks at me, smiles and tells me "talk to a foreign man" .. well Vanitha i am happy you went to the US and that i got to know you .. it was very much worth it.. So Vanitha tells me about their traditional dance "Parai" as it starts, and here is how i will describe it to you, loud, a ton of energy, a lot of rhythm, and incredible amount of power - seriously it was brilliant.. after some more dancing some role-plays are played - describing disruptive behaviour of parents, alcohol abuse of parents, and how group pressure is a big problem if you are not mentally strong enough, it is all in all summarised as, there are so many things that impacts children, and if you need help - seek counselling - and this is the message, we are here to help and support you, young and old! After these role-plays the Police inspector of Chennai is introduced to all of us, and is officially handing out some ID cards to the youngsters, i didnt catch why that was.. - anyways good of him to drop by.
(a bit of Parai being danced on stage)
Last but certainly not least a video followed up with a speech from "Madam" where a lot of questions are being asked, a lot of thought provoking points are being send to the kids, and a lot of ideas and suggestions to them, i feel the interest from the teenagers, even the one sitting next to me, having banged his chair against mine for the last 45 min, has stopped and has even turned his music on his mobile of .. (see how patient i am becoming, if this would have happen some three weeks ago - the outcome would have been very different...) - Madam, focuses a lot of her energy, and effort on education, self-development, self-reflection and finally asks the question that almost gets me standing - "can we change ourselves?", "can we change our society to something better?" - now i have the answers to these two questions, do you ? - let me know what you think... - and with those two questions in mind, we catch a rickshaw and head back, short by insightful day, "can i change myself?" and "can i change society to something better?" ... - i personally believe you need to add a last question - which will be ...."how?"
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