Promo films screened on beach

By Anirudh Ramesh

Short films propagating the schemes of the Small Savings Department were screened recently on Elliots Beach.

Staff of this department said this was done to create awareness among the people about the various schemes and facilities provided by the State government and the Central Government.

The films were shown from 18th of May. Many people viewed them on the beach.

Besant Nagar's very own music shop

Reported by Anirudh Ramesh

Five years ago, Ramesh Kumar, started a music shop 'Shridi Sairam Musical Instruments store' in Besant Nagar.
It is on Beach Home Avenue, near the Ellaiamman Kovil and the Besant Nagar MTC bus terminus.

Today, this shop is packed with all kinds of music instruments.

"My shop sells all kinds of musical instruments of genuine brands. violins, keyboards, guitars, veena, tabla, mridangam and drums are available here ", says Ramesh.

This store also provides servicing of music instruments.

One offer on now is that the shop provides the cases, stand, adaptor (for electric instruments), strings(for stringed instruments), free of cost on every purchase of a keyboard or a guitar or a violin.

The shop is open on all days of the week (including Sundays), from 10:30am-9:00pm.

All credit cards are accepted.

For further details, contact- 9444072475 or 24462632.

The address of the shop-
Lakshmi Complex, no. 1/11 Beach Home Avenue, near Ellaimman Kovil and Besant Nagar Bus Terminus, Besant Nagar, Chennai-600 090.

Tree Park comes up on Adyar River banks

Reported by Sankriti Krishnan

Two years ago this land was a dump yard, highly encroached and devoid of any vegetation.

This face is changing because of a project called Tree Park, thanks to Nizhal and the state Public Works Department (PWD).

Nizhal (meaning shade) is an NGO that was started back in September 2005 with the objective of promoting tree culture in urban areas. Since then, Nizhal has been involved in various campaigns and programmes, namely – the greening of the Puzhal state prison campus, greening of the stations at Kotturpuram and Kasturbai Nagar, besides other areas.

Nizhal along with the PWD facilitated the development of a Tree Park along Adyar River bank, Kotturpuram to commemorate 150 years of the PWD. About four acres of land was cleared, fenced and around 200 different species of tropical dry evergreen forests (TDEF) / indigenous, naturalized plants and trees were planted.

During the greening process this land was divided into four sections where saplings were planted and citizens and students came to the park in the evenings to pump water from a hand pump to water the plants, to add manure and help the saplings to grow in a healthy manner.

Nizhal saw many volunteers take part in this process. Members from other NGOs like Bhumi, student volunteers from the American International School, AMM Matriculation Higher Secondary School, college students from Anna University, and members of the Youth Red Cross pitch in at different periods.

Volunteers also regularly meet at the Tree Park every Sunday evening between 4.30 and 6 p m to do their bit for the greening process. Supportive citizens of the area also provided lime juice to the volunteers who worked on the Park.

In the same park, Nizhal has tied up with a team of young landscape architects led by Satish Moses, who have provided a unique idea in urban design.

Says Shobha Menon, Founder Trustee of Nizhal “Their idea involved tying ropes in a careful design to the branches of a dead tree within the Park. The rope is firmly planted to the soil with boulders and climbers are carefully positioned so that when they grow, they do so along the rope. Over time it will form a natural green design! ”

Apart from watering the saplings from time to time, Nizhal has also adopted the idea of placing water in earthern pots in the soil so that roots absorb water from these pots. The Corporation of Chennai is proposing to develop this as a unique Tree Park for the city.

Currently, Nizhal holds a number of tree walks conducted by experts so that citizens get an idea of what kind of trees are in their neighbourhood.

In the interest of promoting tree culture in urban areas, Nizhal invites interested volunteers to help make name boards for the various saplings planted at the Tree Park on River View Road, Kotturpuram.

For further information, contact: Vaishnavi Srinivasan, Program Coordinator, Nizhal : 98408 68441

E-mail: nizhal.shade@gmail.com Website: www.nizhal.org

Physiotherapy and dance: Simy's passions

By Sankriti Krishnan

Meet Simy T. A., a young woman of 27 working with special children at Vidya Sagar in Kotturpuram.

Hailing from Kerala, Simy did her schooling at Kristu Jyoti English High School and later did higher studies at M G University where she studied physiotherapy for four years.

She later did her internship for six months at S H Multi-Speciality Hospital.

“I had no idea what physiotherapy was when I started in college, but I got interested later and pursued it further,” confesses Simy.

She came down to Chennai in 2000, and has since stayed in Vidya Sagar for the past six years, where she started working with babies and then moved onto treating children with disabilities whom she wants equip so that they become independent and fit into the world better.

Simy is also a trained Western dancer. Dancing was something that came to her when she had to put up a dance show for Cancer Awareness. And so in 2002, Simy and four of her friends started ‘Studio D5’ a dance company that coaches students in styles including Modern Ballet, Jazz, Hip-Hop and Salsa.

So is her passion physiotherapy or dance?

“Physiotherapy will always remain close to my heart and so will dance!”

Ask her about her goals and she says, “ I want to travel around the globe to find a place where there are no resources so that I can help disabled children adjust to the various demands of the world."
Simy can be reached at: Vidya Sagar, No.1, Ranjith Road, Kotturpuram, Chennai-600 085. Mobile: 98407 00612

'Art of Living' yoga courses in Thiruvanmiyur

By Anirudh Ramesh

The Art of Living yoga centre on Kalakshetra Road, Thiruvanmiyur, is a voulantry organization. It offers a wide range of self developement courses and yoga courses for physical and mental fitness.
The Sudershana Kriya Program is held for 6 days in a week.

There is also a free half-hour programme, everyday in the morning, from 6 a m. Membership or registration is not required and anyone can participate in this programme.

Also, every Saturday, from 5 pm to 6 pm, there is a programme for kids in the age groups of 8 - 14 years, where they will be taught some yoga asanas.

There is also a self-developement programme, that is followed by story-telling programme. Fresh batches start from June 10 for kids and on June 15 for adults .

Course in Fine Arts introduced at Besant Arundale school

By Anirudh Ramesh

The Besant Arundale Senior Secondary School in the Kalakshetra Foundation campus has produced good results in its Std. 12 exams this year.

This school, is run by the Ministry of Culture, under the umbrella of the Kalakshetra Foundation.

This year, the school has introduced a new stream this time, for the students of our school. It comes under Fine Arts, and includes Carnatic Music - vocal, Carnatic Music - instrumental (melody) 3. percussion 4.painting
These courses are exclusively taught in this school.

"Any student from any Board is eligible to choose this stream", says Kalaiarasi, the principal of the school.

However, the admissions for all the classes but for a few seats in eleventh class are closed and full.

"We have also introduced the Continuous Comprehensive Assessment (CCA) from the sixth standard whereas, from classes one to five, learning and evaluation is based on various activities." she said.

The school gives equal importance to arts as it gives to science and commerce. The school re-opens on June 14.

For further information, people can get in touch with the office at 24526211

Sai Vidhyashram: School for special people in Tambaram

By Sai Janani
N.G Mirunalini started a centre for mentally challenged people in 2006 at Kalidasar Street, East Tambaram to train them to help them live independently.
At present there are 18 people studying here. This centre doesn’t have an age bar and they categorize people based on their mental IQ.
They are given basic academic and vocational training skills and are taught to make candles and paper covers.
At present the training is conducted in a small outhouse.
Mirunalini says they need a larger place. People who want to contribute funds or can give them a place on rent can contact Mirunalini at No:4 Kalidasar street, Poondy Bazar, East Tambaram. Phone: 9444810610

KV CLRI school: CBSE Class X exam results

By Umesh Kumar

CBSE Class X results were announced on Friday, 28th May.
From this year onwards, CBSE has come out with new grading system and so, there is no school ranks. 5 students of KV CLRI , Adyar got 10 out of 10 in this grading system.

According to R. Radhakrishnan, Principal of the school ' Grading system has eliminated 2 to 3% marking errors by the examiners. This has avoided unhealthy competition and comparison and removes stress among students."

May 28: Locating local stories and reporting them

Today's ( 28-05-2010 - Friday ) class emphasised on how to plan the day's work ;
how to get the real story and how write it.

Some of the tips shared -

Be methodical - do the things in order and in systematic way

Be prepared - make note of background info before going out on an assignment.

Be smart and sharp - be curious and look beyond what you actually see.

HOW TO LOCATE A LOCAL STORY:

- The story can be anything based on your neighbourhood.

- Discover the place & explore it a little bit

- Look at the interesting angles.

- Choose the one which is challenging

- The best place for News are happening hot spots like 24x7 public places.
( Rly station, Bus stops, Religious places, School / Colleges, Beach, Exhibitions, Entertainment places etc., )

WRITING A NEW STORY:

- Write in a way that readers easily get the story.
- Mark and underline the important info you have gathered in your notepad
- The story must contains 5 Ws
( Who, What, Where, When, & Why )
- Keep te story simple & short using simple lines
- Put the most important details in the first paragraph ( also known as lead )
- Vital additional information in second para ( support lead )
- Go on to tell the story
- Recheck the story and then file.