2005 - the beginning

Saturday 1st January 2005…. Woke up early in the morning (4:45 AM very very early indeed) by my Sir’s call. We had already planned to go to the temple for the New Year. We went to the Kabaleeshwarar temple at Mylapore and had a cool Dharshan. It wasn’t so cold as I had expected but turned out to be a very pleasant beginning for the year ahead. After that I planned to make Pongal at home. So, went straight to the market and purchased the materials as per instructed by my Mom through Mobile and started my preparations. When I had almost done with it the Gas was exhausted and the Gas agency was on leave. I was totally screwed up. Then I said to myself that I’m not giving up today and borrowed a cylinder from my neighbor’s house and finished the preparations. It was sort of Ok as none of my roomies scolded me. But wait a minute; you can tell me “Don’t be so happy man. Your roomies might not have enjoyed the dish but in order not to disappoint you they could have said its Okay, so that not to disappoint you.” Hmmm… that has more reason for me to feel happier. Coz in this angle I feel that I am blessed with such nice roomies who doesn’t want to disappoint me. Then did some shopping at Food world and had a quick nap. Evening went with Venky to Odyssey to collect fund for the Tsunami victims. Believe me I had been regular to Odyssey for more than 5 years, I had spent hours hanging out here but this is very much different. After quickly observing from the AID volunteer on how to approach people and talk I slowly tried to convince some people myself. Got some quick inputs from Venkat as well. Many people contributed liberally. Some said they have already contributed through their office. Met a person and was really impressed on what he said. The people in their company didn’t want to put in their money through NGO’s or to any Government relief fund. They are planning to adopt about 15 families from Nagapattnam and to sponsor them and brood them for the next 6 – 12 months. He said that we are willing to support them till they get back to their normal life. Also they were in touch with the Government officials over there and getting guidance on how to proceed over their plan. It was really inspirational stuff. Then there was another gentleman who said that he is already coordinating with another organization. I just wanted to flatter him saying people like him are the driving force for us. He complimented back saying that don’t forget that you also can encourage us even though you are very young and also added saying its really nice to see a lot of youngsters getting involved these days and patted me at my back. I was really pleased by that man. Only one thing I wasn’t able to understand. Some people kept walking away saying that they had already done enough and they had done a lot. They could have just said I have already contributed or something like I am not interested. We went to the office of AID and handed over the amount to them and then I went to Satyam and saw Swades. I had to skip dinner as I didn’t have time. So grabbed a Sandwich and a Pepsi at the theatre and went for the movie. That was a beautiful movie and I enjoyed it a lot. The day was complete with no regrets what so ever. A nice way to kick off the new year.