What matters, in the end, is the value you add to the people around you. This essentially is what I learned reading books and teaching chess to children here in Mangalore.
Of course, life is more than just money, jobs, family, etc. They have made countless films and written a zillion books to tell one simple thing to a generation of humans – be happy. But how to be happy? Life would become simpler if we could answer just this one question. Like you, even I wrestled with this problem for the better part my life.
I discovered Bookwallah thanks to a friend in Pune who works for the NGO. A simple Google search revealed that Bookwallah has tons of volunteers, a compassionate bunch of young people that makes it a vibrant community. They used books to change lives. The concept looked simple and interesting.
There were books, and there were children; there was nobody to guide them.
When Bharat and I first walked into the orphanage where Bookwallah operates in Mangalore, it was not exactly what I had expected it to be. Volunteers were nowhere to be found. Except one, and she was painting cartoon characters on the walls.
There were books, and there were children; there was nobody to guide them. We felt responsible for these kids. Ms. Sharon Lewis, the volunteer who was painting the walls, later explained that the volunteers do join them. The problem was that they were not committing themselves. College attendance and jobs would mean that nobody could stay for long, and hence, the children never connected with anyone deeply. How could they?
That is Bharat (red) with the kids. We started working with these children in early August. Our first mission was to win their trust, and this we did in a variety of ways.
In the beginning, there were volunteers who would come regularly, but they had their own commitments to take care of. It was understandable, but it also motivated the ones who remained to work harder.
We saw that these books were making the children better individuals. It was clear that we were adding value to their future.
We read them stories from the books in the library, making the sessions as interactive as possible.
Books make you a great problem-solver. However, I realized that it was not enough to be monotonous. We needed a way to impart the same problem-solving skills to the children, but with newer methods.
Luckily, I had the perfect tool to do just that — chess!
Chess develops a child’s calculating ability and imagination — both the right and the left sides of the brain.
The children loved it! Chess and books turned out to be a delicious combination of education and fun.
Bharat used a laptop and internet connection to make it a better experience. In today’s day and age, a child must learn to operate the computer and surf the internet responsibly.
Things got a little better early this month — Bookwallah Mangalore received an assortment of activity books for the children from Disney!
And now, the children have so much to do and learn. Not to forget, have fun!
The kids had their own way to thank Bookwallah and Disney:
Mighty pleased with their new books, aren’t they?
The girls have their own unique way to say ‘Thank You!’
Another thing we worked on and still teach them is discipline.
The results are there to see. They pack up their books and keep them at the right place after the activities for the day finish.
One of the kids even learned to take pictures with my point-and-shoot. Here, a kid got a picture of the Mangalorean Kingfisher.
Mangalore
Dakshin Kannada (South Canara) is one of the most pleasant places one can visit in India. The district is a picture of narrow, winding streets, fringed with coconut palms, quaint houses with terracotta-tiled roofs, pristine beaches, temples and churches, and the aroma of spicy coconut curries. It has preserved its old-world charm.
Rivers and beaches are a common theme in Mangalore.
You can always walk to the beach and have child-like fun like this!
It is a pleasant place to be! Do visit Bookwallah Mangalore, and add value to these children’s lives with books!
In my twenty-two years of existence, I have lived in and
visited numerous cities, spanning across the cultures of India. However, never have
I felt at home, as I feel in my hometown of Mangalore. The delectable seafood
with their enchanting aroma, the narrow winding streets fringed with coconut
palms, the terracotta-tiled house rooftops, the pristine beaches and the calm
religious places – all make it the city where I want to live, forever.
This is the scene
right outside my ‘home cum office’ window.
In Karnataka, especially in the areas of Coorg and
Mangalore, there is a resentment in the public with regards to the Karnataka
government’s idea to hold a festival to commemorate Tipu Sultan’s birth
anniversary (November 20, 1750). The Sultan is widely known as one of the most
powerful kings and battle commanders of India, with the British considering him to be their last big challenge during their invasion of India.
The resentment among the people, however, is about Tipu’s
intolerance towards non-Muslims. Nothing is clear about the functioning and the
thinking process of Tipu, who in my opinion was a ruler who went through a
change of ideologies. Tipu was known to ransack temples and churches and
convert non-Muslims. On the other hand, there is a proven account of Tipu
helping rebuild the Sringeri Mutt after the Marathas (who themselves were proud Hindus) raided and destroyed it. I
don’t have any opinion about this – maybe the Sringeri case was just a political
move to appease the followers of Hindu religion? However, even the capital city
of Tipu’s kingdom was and still is a place of religious importance for the followers
of the Hindu religion. Of what I know, he used to consult astrologers and even
did rituals at the Sree Ranganatha Swami temple in Mysore. Maybe, he didn’t
attack temples and churches in the areas which were already controlled by him,
and destroyed those in the kingdoms he was invading to show that he was their
new ruler? Maybe, he saw that the only way to defeat the British is to stop being communal, and unite against the common enemy?
Okay, Tipu Sultan was a complicated man. All that said and
done, there is no doubt that he was an astute battle commander with artillery
about a century ahead of its time. The British, though, had weapons that are more
intellectual: politics and economics.
I made a trip to Sultan Battery in Mangalore, to have a
look at the famous battery situated at the banks of the Gurupura River, which
Tipu used effectively while battling the invaders, especially the British. The
Sultan’s Battery used to be a unit of guns, mortars, rockets and missiles that
would work as a single machinery while battling battle ships and enemies
invading from the sea.
Sultan Battery: The
structure built in 1784 A.D., reportedly from the stones of the 23 churches
that Tipu destroyed in his 15-year imprisonment of Mangalorean Catholics.
The cannons and
rockets have vanished.
So, if a cannon is
placed in one of the gaps, this is how a target would look like…
And this is all that
would be visible to the target.
The battery is
situated a short distance ahead of the point where the Gurupura river meets the Arabian Sea. This is also the headland of the Mangalore Port. (NMPT: New Mangalore
Port Trust)
Palm trees at the
other side of the river, opposite the Battery.
I decided to take a
ferry across the river, which cost me a mere Rs. 5 for a trip.
At the ferry point, I
observed this trawler stationed in all its glory.
Ah! This is how they
move!
The
closest I have ever been to look like Jack at the tip of the Titanic.
While
in the ferry, I spotted this guy (gal?) atop a trawler.
More palm trees in
the banks of the river!
After the ferry ride,
I walked some 3 minutes across this hamlet to reach…
…Tannirbhavi Beach!
I love it when they rise…
… and rise higher…
… and then crash!
In case you are interested to watch it in action, here is a
9-second video:
Am I the only one who loves to just sit and watch this?
This gives you an
idea about how clean the water is…
The bigger ones are
very tasty and a must have treat in Mangalore.
A practice I have
stuck to at each of my beach visits. I have done this at Juhu (Mumbai), Miramar
(Panjim), Calicut, Kanyakumari, Marina (Madras) and now at Tannirbhavi
(Mangalore).
If you are tired of visiting Goa, why not try Mangalore?
The Sultan Battery is situated approximately 4 KMs away from the main city. The place is open all the time, of course. There are numerous city buses (Bus No. 16) that ply to and fro between State Bank (main city) and Sultan Battery/Tannirbhavi Beach. The last ferry across the river is between 7:00 PM and 7:20 PM. A bus ride from the main city to the Battery/Beach costs less than Rs. 10 (one-way) and the ferry ticket costs Rs. 5 (one-way). There are numerous stalls serving eatables in the hamlet across the river, around the Beach.
You are free to use
the images, with due credits to the author.
