Sirens

Went with Rick-Dana n Team Asha for a drama performed in the Hippodrome State Theatre-Sirens. This is my 2nd visit to a theatre in the US. The one for Dallas symphony was similar to any theatre back home. But the Hippodrome is a courtroom remodeled as a theatre. The audience is in close vicinity to the performers.

Awesome minimal set: a blue floor with 4 small rectangular blocks (serve as seats, or rocks on an island)  and a huge block (serve as a table, a ship's deck or the Siren's lair) . Windows etc suspended from the ceiling by wires. The lead pair is in their fifties. Great timing and chemistry.

After the drama, the lead actress- Nell Page talked to us briefly; to answer any questions- one of the few advantages of hanging out with Dana. Nell thanked us for being a wonderful audience. She mentioned that audience transfer their collective energy to the actors, and the actors retransmit the energy during the performance. According to her that's why the recorded plays are so flat, they lack the audience vibe. Its awesome, especially when it comes from a veteran actor. I remember my 1st rendezvous with Aayushyavar Bolu Kahi..Sandeep Khare too requests that the auditorium lights be dimly on, so that he can see the audience.

नेता असावा  लोकाग्रणी.. तसा अभिनेता रसिकाग्रणी..

Back to school

Working was awesome..but school is fun. Its more relaxed (at least till the mid-sem). Glad to be back to school..so how was my 1st day..
A guy in Computers asks me what subjects I am taking.. I say Bipolar.. he stares at me.. I say.. not the Psychiatry one! My friend from ECE dies of laughter..
In Bipolar class: The Prof is discussing system arch. diagrams..he says..these are my conventions..but many others follow it too :)

My friend majors in Signal Processing, and wanted to attend a electronic music generation course..he asks me to tag along..We go to the class..its an empty computer lab and not a single living soul..just when we are about to leave I notice that there's a man in the far end of the classroom..the man shoos us away saying the time is reserved for a class not for lab. My friend very politely asks if he can attend the class..the guy says NO! My friend prods..He asks if he is a music major..or has taken a pre-requisite course called "history of music". My friend says he is from Signals..The guy says..you will academically do good probably..but artistically you will enjoy the class better if you know the history of music. :P My friend, still hopeful, asks if he can audit the class. The guy goes nuts..

This time the ratio of gals to guys amongst newcomers is reversed..i bet my guy friends are super happy :P Bantering my friend about why he wont be singing a duet with a newcomer for the upcoming Team Asha event, when he knows that she sings well..Chatting with old friends..meeting juniors.. "window shopping" for the 3rd course which I have not finalized yet..and other stuff..

The campus is re-done..and it looks great! New statues have been put up in the lawns, and my favourite is this one, titled "coming home".

Indian students from UF had a candlelight vigil too today. A interesting aspect was brought out today, the scope of corruption is not just bribery. It encompasses everything, we not following civil laws in social life, we being unethical, basically the fight against corruption starts from us. 

Running for a Mission

8 months ago, a few days before my flight to US, I convinced my Mom, that scaling Torana is THE adventure and if she allows me to do it, I will be a ideal "i-take-no-risks" person in USA..AS IF :P

Torana changed me, made me more in sync with self, instilled the confidence that if I can scale Torana, I can manage anything..

My temp host in UF started running with Team Asha since September, I kept postponing it till another friend chalked out bus route nitty-gritties n off I was to Kirkwood trail..since it was my 1st day, I decided to walk the track..the best thing about being a part of Team Asha is that you are never alone, whatever you do, you do it as a team. Our coach, Dana walked with me lest I lost my way..and thus started my tryst with Team Asha.

The next step was to get promoted to the longer and more "happening" Hawthorne trail, and I run-walked 4 miles..I expected that I would be bogged down by the exercise and would spend the rest of the day resting, but the run, coupled with being away from daily hum-drum, fresh air, and of course, Dana's pointing out birds and hitherto unknown flora energized me.

The ultimate goal of training with Team is to run the 15K Gate River Run in Jacksonville. I had 6 miles of consistent practice in my cape, but every experienced runner boosted my confidence. They cited example of another runner who ran the 9.3 mile race previous year with 6 miles practice. They told me that "Group Dynamics" is a wonderful phenomena..I wont even realize that I covered 8 miles till I reach the Green Monster, the last and most tiring leg of the run. And there, it would be the start of kid's race, and the mere fact that <5 age kids are outrunning me will make me run faster and I will cover the "longest last mile".

I left for Jax on 12th march thinking that I am putting my self-motivation to test. My project partner wished me luck on behalf of all friends and the kids I am running to raise funds for. My roomies stayed up all night, just to be around when I start. We were assigned cars by the team. We had intense discussions with assigned teammates in car, right from political reason why India sent Chandrayan to Microchip antenna used to record our race timings.

Traffic jam enroute race start, and our discussion about how we have shuttles from far apart for Delhi marathon. We reached just in time, and the enthusiasm started enveloping us. The whole city was on road to cheer, voluntarily give away cookies/ beer or just read out your name from the race bib and encourage you to run faster..feels great! As predicted by me, I got tired at 4th mile, with a voice chiding me..you've practised for 6 miles dee..but at the 6th mile caught up with Asha gals, and lo n behold..i completed the race :)
So now, my new motto is..if I could manage Torana n Jax run, I am capable of any challenge.

Oh by the way, what happens to the "i-take-no-risks" person? Yesterday I canoed in Lake Wauberg, knowing that there are alligators in the lake, and scaled a wall too..what next? surfing or sky-diving may be..

Let's keep the hope alive

I am participating in the Gate River Run in Jacksonville on March 12, 2011 to raise funds for the education of underprivileged children in India. I will be running the 9.3-mile (15-km) run for the first time in life. 

We, the Team Asha, genuinely believe that there is a need for socio-economic change in India and education is the right way to bring about this change. We do our best within our limitations to facilitate and support education of underprivileged kids in India. For some of these underprivileged kids, a single meal a day and a decent education is much more than having a good time. Its bliss!! Please read more about Asha's projects at http://www.ashanet.org/uflorida/index.html

http://www.ashanet.org/projects/chapter-view.php?a=85

We, the team members, were initiated with us pledging to raise at least 300$ from our run. As the phrase goes, charity begins at home. Every year my grandmother donates a certain sum in the memory of my grandfather. Back home, I, along with other Cummins batchmates and "Seva Sahayogis" helped school kids of Sri Saraswati Vidya Mandir with Maths and English. I was also a part of School Kit drive of Seva Sahayog.

At UF, I have volunteered on a gameday and wish to donate an hour's worth of my first salary to Asha, http://www.workanhour.com.

Asha is highly ranked (highest 4 stars) by Charity Navigator, an independent charity evaluator from US.
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=7630

I have witnessed the impact of every single penny in the lives of these children. To give you a better estimate,

15 – Covers food, boarding, and healthcare needs of a child for one month
$100 – Helps educate hundred rural pregnant women on infant health
$150 – Covers books, uniforms, meals, vocational training, counseling and medical costs of a child for 1 year
$200 – Higher Education for one student for one year
$500 – Can completely take care of a ten year old child until she graduates from high school 

Here is the link to my profile: 
http://www.ashanet.org/uflorida/TeamAshaRunnerProfile2011/Deepika.html

Donations are accepted in the form of cash, check or credit card (online). Make the check payable to 'Asha For Education' and send to the following address: 

Gators for Asha, 
300-9, J.Wayne Reitz Union, PO Box 118505, 
Gainesville, FL 32611-8505

Please select me as the runner when donating online or indicate my name in the memo field of the cheque.

If you can, please forward this email to your friends and colleagues.
For an amount > $20, sending a check will offset the 3% towards credit card service charges.

Help us to keep the hope of education alive in the kids we support.