February 8th - updates
Quotable Quotes of the week
We are like Siamese twins-- Shah Rukh Khan Actor , on actor Kajol.
Al Qaeda is probably the biggest killer of innocent Muslims of any entity out there - Barack Obama US President
No, I was just trying to smell it , as to how it feels - Shahid Afridi Pakistani Cricketer, after being accused of ball tampering in a match against Australia
He is resolute and firm as ever and in that resoluteness you discover a sudden soft moment which has always made his presence so strong and affectionate - Amitabh Bachchan Actor on the Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray
The Rotary District Conference
Feb 6/7th Week end
The annual Rotary district Conference is a great event to understand the Power of Rotary , the magic of Rotary , the Goodness of giving and enjoy fellowship . I will explain how I was able to understand all of this during my participation in this wonderful conference . Our District which is called 3230 in Rotary parlance has affiliation to 105 clubs in the district ( Chennai city and up city ). This year there were around 4200 registrations for the event , which I understand is one of the highest ever for such conferences and the Trade Center Convention hall was packed with people even standing up for many a session.
We had the conference inaugurated by Minister for Corporate Governance Honourable Salman Khursid . I thought this choice was great in view of the importance of the portfolio which the Minister headed ( Satyam and its fall out ) . The Minister was very brief in his presidential address. Talked about doing all the "good work" by Rotarians " on a sustainable basis and to use Technology to help governance. He has had many a connection with Rotary from his school hood days and hence he was able to appreciate the work done by Rotarians .Sustainability and reaching out was a key message.
The conference is also a opportunity for the Rotarians to honour distinguished performers with Life time achievement awards --
This conference honoured Dr Pratap C Reddy Chairman Apollo Hospitals for pioneering work in medical field . Dr Reddy in his acceptance speech of the award , spoke of the motivation to come back to India and of his desire to prove to the world that Indians can do world class work in th field of medicine. He missed his parents who made him take the decision to come back to India in 1973 to start Apollo hospitals ( Dr Reddy must be past 75 and he was missing his parents who could not watch him get this award ).
He talked about the difficult times when banks would not fund hospitals and thanked late PM's Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi for the changes they passed through legislations. Without those changes , the hospital industry could not grown to what it is today. He talked of standard process in his 52 hospitals and amongst 61,000 employees and investment in latest technology and people were his reason for success. He talked about a equipment that could locate blocks in your heart in seconds and which is available in Apollo compared to the Angiogram process which takes time . He also touched on the medical costs that are relatively cheap in India compared to overseas. What drove him to this ? He explained that he could not save a 38 year old man in 1973 as he did not have money to go to the US to get treated for his cardiac ailment . Dr Reddy said he could not face up to the dead man's 31 year old wife and two young children. That prompted him to write to Mrs Indra Gandhi in a forceful manner and that letter changed the way hospitals functioned. Truly inspirational to listen to and to find ways to overcome constraints.
The Conference also conferred honours to Dr Madavan Nair former Chairman of ISRO and to Ms Joshna Chinnappa Squash Player on Day two of the event that I missed due to other commitments
I also attended the session where the conference offered felicitations to Kalyan Bannerji who will be the Rotary International President for 2011-12 year. This is the third time when a Indian will hold this highest position in the Rotary world and it will be proud moment as well. One of was not sure if Rtn Bannerji will turn up for the event for he had lost his brother in law two days back. But such is the power of this organisation , the he and his spouse turned up from Mumbai just for that time slot of his felicitation -- Amazing commitment - As the felicitation was on , one of our past district governors showed what goodness of giving his. He Donated US$ 100,000 to the Rotary foundation to celebrate Bannerji being elected to this post . Not small amount of money . Also , you can have all the money , but giving it for Goodness requires greater commitment . I am aware of what all good things , the Rotary Foundation does and know that this money will be spent for the betterment of mankind .This is Rotary magic for you.
The fellowship ( networking in corporate lingo ) was great - Food was amazing -- Need to do more to ensure that I do not get more weight as the lunch and dinner sessions of eating was outstanding.
This year , I took my wife as well to see how these conference go and she was shocked by the crowd and thought , we had come to a Trade fair or a exhibition,, none of it -- the evening fellowship programmes which were to relax was very nicely done with a Russian Dancer performing a dance inside a balloon being outstanding amongst all events
EPL
Did I say that Arsenal are looking good ? No -- Over the past two week ends , they lost their matches and now are trailing leaders Chelsea by nine points and second placed ManU by seven points. Arsenal are at 49 points. Last weekend , ManU went to Arsenal's Emirates stadium , played brilliant counter attacking football and with goals from Nani , Rooney ( this goam was a great counter attacking move started by Rooney well inside the ManU area and he sprinted the pitch to get the ball back and bury it in the back of the net ) , Park , came through with this massive win to keep them close to Chelsea. Over this week end , Arsenal went to Stamford Bridge and lost again , this time to Chelsea. That pushed the gap to where it is today. It looks like Chelsea and ManU are taking the big leap away from others in their title quest. Chelsea meet ManU at Old Trafford on April 3rd and that may be the decider match
Abacus - Mathematics Speed Skill Competition and how our daughter made us proud
Self Bragging but I enjoyed writing this the most in this post
My daughter has been attending the Abacus classes to learn Mathematics for the past six months . On Sunday ( Feb 7th - reason to miss day two the Rotary event ) she participated in a State wide Competition that attracted over 1000 kids from all over the state. The challenge was to complete 75 sums for her level in five minutes and all of them had to be correct.
My wife made the difference to her preparation and sucess. Three weeks prior to the event , preparations started with model question papers. My daughter was doing 53 to 54 sums with errors. My wife kept at her , changing the sample papers . Over time as we came closer to the event , Sahana was able to get close to 70. I for my part just watched. Did no help -- My wife got all the sample question papers , printed them in A3, got copies and worked with my daughter on this success. Sahana for her part enjoyed doing this and that was one of the reasons for her to do very well .
Sunday , we had to report at 8 AM -- the test was to commence at 9:30 and end at 9:35 and we had to be in by 8 Am !!
As we waited outside and the whistle sounded the start , my wife was a nervous .. I was busy with my mobile , clearing out 'Sent Messages" and sending out "Polio Campaign "messages.. No tension for me !! Typical husband behaviour ? !!
My daughter came out at around 9:40-- She did all the 75- We were happy and went back home from the venue ( MIT at Chrompet ). At 1:30 we were called by the teacher of the Abacus franchisee and told that Sahana won the award for getting all the 75 sums right and with some time to spare. We returned back the venue for Sahana to collect her trophy. The award is called " Champion of Champions".
It was one of those days where you feel happy not at what you did but what your kid did. Full credit to my wife for the way she prepared Sahana for the event . Just not the sample questions papers but ensuring that other things were proper -- A writing pad to manage the desk at the hall , sleep early the previous day to be fresh next day , not talking about prizes but just emphasising the need to do well .All these make an impact.
The benefit of this Abacas class is in addition to getting the Math right , is the time management piece
Some snaps from the award function
http://picasaweb.google.com/Srikanthsrividya/Abacas?feat=email#
We are like Siamese twins-- Shah Rukh Khan Actor , on actor Kajol.
Al Qaeda is probably the biggest killer of innocent Muslims of any entity out there - Barack Obama US President
No, I was just trying to smell it , as to how it feels - Shahid Afridi Pakistani Cricketer, after being accused of ball tampering in a match against Australia
He is resolute and firm as ever and in that resoluteness you discover a sudden soft moment which has always made his presence so strong and affectionate - Amitabh Bachchan Actor on the Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray
The Rotary District Conference
Feb 6/7th Week end
The annual Rotary district Conference is a great event to understand the Power of Rotary , the magic of Rotary , the Goodness of giving and enjoy fellowship . I will explain how I was able to understand all of this during my participation in this wonderful conference . Our District which is called 3230 in Rotary parlance has affiliation to 105 clubs in the district ( Chennai city and up city ). This year there were around 4200 registrations for the event , which I understand is one of the highest ever for such conferences and the Trade Center Convention hall was packed with people even standing up for many a session.
We had the conference inaugurated by Minister for Corporate Governance Honourable Salman Khursid . I thought this choice was great in view of the importance of the portfolio which the Minister headed ( Satyam and its fall out ) . The Minister was very brief in his presidential address. Talked about doing all the "good work" by Rotarians " on a sustainable basis and to use Technology to help governance. He has had many a connection with Rotary from his school hood days and hence he was able to appreciate the work done by Rotarians .Sustainability and reaching out was a key message.
The conference is also a opportunity for the Rotarians to honour distinguished performers with Life time achievement awards --
This conference honoured Dr Pratap C Reddy Chairman Apollo Hospitals for pioneering work in medical field . Dr Reddy in his acceptance speech of the award , spoke of the motivation to come back to India and of his desire to prove to the world that Indians can do world class work in th field of medicine. He missed his parents who made him take the decision to come back to India in 1973 to start Apollo hospitals ( Dr Reddy must be past 75 and he was missing his parents who could not watch him get this award ).
He talked about the difficult times when banks would not fund hospitals and thanked late PM's Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi for the changes they passed through legislations. Without those changes , the hospital industry could not grown to what it is today. He talked of standard process in his 52 hospitals and amongst 61,000 employees and investment in latest technology and people were his reason for success. He talked about a equipment that could locate blocks in your heart in seconds and which is available in Apollo compared to the Angiogram process which takes time . He also touched on the medical costs that are relatively cheap in India compared to overseas. What drove him to this ? He explained that he could not save a 38 year old man in 1973 as he did not have money to go to the US to get treated for his cardiac ailment . Dr Reddy said he could not face up to the dead man's 31 year old wife and two young children. That prompted him to write to Mrs Indra Gandhi in a forceful manner and that letter changed the way hospitals functioned. Truly inspirational to listen to and to find ways to overcome constraints.
The Conference also conferred honours to Dr Madavan Nair former Chairman of ISRO and to Ms Joshna Chinnappa Squash Player on Day two of the event that I missed due to other commitments
I also attended the session where the conference offered felicitations to Kalyan Bannerji who will be the Rotary International President for 2011-12 year. This is the third time when a Indian will hold this highest position in the Rotary world and it will be proud moment as well. One of was not sure if Rtn Bannerji will turn up for the event for he had lost his brother in law two days back. But such is the power of this organisation , the he and his spouse turned up from Mumbai just for that time slot of his felicitation -- Amazing commitment - As the felicitation was on , one of our past district governors showed what goodness of giving his. He Donated US$ 100,000 to the Rotary foundation to celebrate Bannerji being elected to this post . Not small amount of money . Also , you can have all the money , but giving it for Goodness requires greater commitment . I am aware of what all good things , the Rotary Foundation does and know that this money will be spent for the betterment of mankind .This is Rotary magic for you.
The fellowship ( networking in corporate lingo ) was great - Food was amazing -- Need to do more to ensure that I do not get more weight as the lunch and dinner sessions of eating was outstanding.
This year , I took my wife as well to see how these conference go and she was shocked by the crowd and thought , we had come to a Trade fair or a exhibition,, none of it -- the evening fellowship programmes which were to relax was very nicely done with a Russian Dancer performing a dance inside a balloon being outstanding amongst all events
EPL
Did I say that Arsenal are looking good ? No -- Over the past two week ends , they lost their matches and now are trailing leaders Chelsea by nine points and second placed ManU by seven points. Arsenal are at 49 points. Last weekend , ManU went to Arsenal's Emirates stadium , played brilliant counter attacking football and with goals from Nani , Rooney ( this goam was a great counter attacking move started by Rooney well inside the ManU area and he sprinted the pitch to get the ball back and bury it in the back of the net ) , Park , came through with this massive win to keep them close to Chelsea. Over this week end , Arsenal went to Stamford Bridge and lost again , this time to Chelsea. That pushed the gap to where it is today. It looks like Chelsea and ManU are taking the big leap away from others in their title quest. Chelsea meet ManU at Old Trafford on April 3rd and that may be the decider match
Abacus - Mathematics Speed Skill Competition and how our daughter made us proud
Self Bragging but I enjoyed writing this the most in this post
My daughter has been attending the Abacus classes to learn Mathematics for the past six months . On Sunday ( Feb 7th - reason to miss day two the Rotary event ) she participated in a State wide Competition that attracted over 1000 kids from all over the state. The challenge was to complete 75 sums for her level in five minutes and all of them had to be correct.
My wife made the difference to her preparation and sucess. Three weeks prior to the event , preparations started with model question papers. My daughter was doing 53 to 54 sums with errors. My wife kept at her , changing the sample papers . Over time as we came closer to the event , Sahana was able to get close to 70. I for my part just watched. Did no help -- My wife got all the sample question papers , printed them in A3, got copies and worked with my daughter on this success. Sahana for her part enjoyed doing this and that was one of the reasons for her to do very well .
Sunday , we had to report at 8 AM -- the test was to commence at 9:30 and end at 9:35 and we had to be in by 8 Am !!
As we waited outside and the whistle sounded the start , my wife was a nervous .. I was busy with my mobile , clearing out 'Sent Messages" and sending out "Polio Campaign "messages.. No tension for me !! Typical husband behaviour ? !!
My daughter came out at around 9:40-- She did all the 75- We were happy and went back home from the venue ( MIT at Chrompet ). At 1:30 we were called by the teacher of the Abacus franchisee and told that Sahana won the award for getting all the 75 sums right and with some time to spare. We returned back the venue for Sahana to collect her trophy. The award is called " Champion of Champions".
It was one of those days where you feel happy not at what you did but what your kid did. Full credit to my wife for the way she prepared Sahana for the event . Just not the sample questions papers but ensuring that other things were proper -- A writing pad to manage the desk at the hall , sleep early the previous day to be fresh next day , not talking about prizes but just emphasising the need to do well .All these make an impact.
The benefit of this Abacas class is in addition to getting the Math right , is the time management piece
Some snaps from the award function
http://picasaweb.google.com/Srikanthsrividya/Abacas?feat=email#
Comments
Regards
Sateesh
Anoop
We(Indians) have a great family tradition that centers around offspring yet no manuscripts that I know off in popular press are found - eg., `Father hood` by Bill Cosby; `Raising a Tiger` by Earl Woods or the upcoming one from Williams Sisters dad `How I made it with Venus and Serena` in the western world.
My two cents worth :-) Guys like you(who have tasted the best of fruits of efforts)could collate the actual efforts being put in the development and nurturing of our young ones in our culture. Down the lane it might come out in a print form as well.
Again, a salute to you and Vidya.
Suresh