The south-west monsoon has announced its arrival in my city with thunder and lightnings, and I was idly looking out of my kitchen balcony. The children of a school nearby - waiting for their ride home, were screaming, laughing and trying to dance in the rains, and the staff were running around to control them,...
For my father’s Sashtiaptharpurthi (61st birthday) in 1990, we had a big celebration and the extended family and friends from various places, including from far North of India, assembled in Thirukadaiyur where we had made booking for all of them. It was an elaborate function spread over 2 days. It was a wonderful event and...
My earliest memories of Manjuma were of a rather intimidating person, always clad in white (which I later learnt was khadi), severely pulled back pepper-salt hair and thick- rimmed glasses with high-powered lenses. She came often to my parental home as our families were close friends and my grandmother and she advocated fiercely for independence...
June is in, and the planning for upcoming events in the month of July has already started in Bala Mandir. We generally start the planning and checklist work, a month earlier, and the plan was for the upcoming ‘Education Day’ celebration in Bala Mandir in memory of ‘Karmaveerar Kamarajar’ on his birthday – which is...
My association with Bala Mandir began in my childhood and was a large part of my growing up years, with many family members being involved with it. So when the opportunity came to help set up a blog for Bala Mandir, to record, express, narrate and describe the many facets and experiences of Bala Mandir,...
As the first employee of Bala Mandir Kinship Care, I was given a list of Covid deaths and asked to meet their families. There were clear criteria for selection, including the financial status of the family and children under 12 years of age, among many other factors to consider for a child to be part...
The life of a social worker teaches us many things and exposes us to the stark reality of life. Generally, I fix an appointment before visiting a family. One fine day, I fixed an appointment with a mother in a family impacted by the death of the father and the only bread winner of the...
Rewind: June, 2021The pandemic looms large. While the world is gripped by fear, shock, uncertainty; Bala Mandir takes the plunge to help orphaned children in need.Social workers of Bala Mandir – Y Arulraj (Arul), Pradeep Chellan and Anand M are roped in and briefed about possible help to children who have lost one or both...
