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Pensioners helping poor students.

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A group of pensioners in Kanpur have come together to help needy upper caste students with scholarships. Please read more about this phenomenon here: In Kanpur, the elderly extend helping hands to young brains

I am interested in participating in any such endeavour which will support poor Tamil Brahmin students. Is there already such an initiative? If so, I would appreciate being directed to that. If not, I would appreciate ideas as to how to go about it.

I live in Pune and can also be contacted by my email [email protected]
 
ramana,

why only upper caste students? are not the others deserving your charity too?

i agree that charity, many a times, need to be selective and targetted at the most needy. how one defines 'needy' is based on one's perspective.

but somehow, reading 'group of pensioners in Kanpur have come together to help needy upper caste students ', to me, sounds jarring.

cannot these people open up their minds a wee bit more? why would you want to imitate their model?

it looks like the pensioners will be spending time and not money, from the look of it. why not spread knowledge to the needy?

by 'needy' i mean here, those who have thirst for it, irrespective of caste?

to me,this whole thing smacks of exclusivity and rampant casteism and bigotry, which is one reason, we as TBs should maintain our distance from our north indian cousins.

i do not think, that the average TB pensioner, if he is willing to give free tuition, will differentiate between castes or creeds.

we TBs are much better than that :)

thank you.
 
Why only upper caste students?

I fully empathize with your sentiments as I hope you will with mine.

I am a veliyerina Pappan. I doubt that it would mean as much to other Pappans as it does to me for the simple reasons that I doubt that many Pappans of those days had as many fights, including with weapons, as I and a few other Pappans did in the late fifties.

Since then, I have been seeing not only in Tamil Nadu from where I emigrated, all over India, the upper castes being totally sidelined by all developmental processes. It is even now presumed that the minute that a Dalit atrocity is reported, it should be by Brahmins. When the details come out, it is always, the intermediate classes which are responsible, but the stigma imagined or otherwise continues. If you have travelled as I have in the Northern parts of India, the most down trodden caste today is the Brahmin. It may not be quite as bad in Tamil Nadu, but that, poverty exists among the Tamil Brahmins cannot be denied. Not due to any reason other than their inability to benefit from the existing educational system due to various factors key among which is poor financial standing. I personally know of many bright students unable to enter Engineering or Medical Colleges, because of the quota system, which denies them the opportunityl unless they can use the Capitation method. How much parents have sacrificed and suffered to provide that opportunity is what prompts me to seek an opportunity, where I can participate in alleviating some of the grief that such parents undergo.

Our system of governance and laws takes care of the lower castes. I would like to be part of a movement which will support our own caste/class.
 
Ramana,

Thank you.

I appreciate and empathize your state of mind. It would be the natural reaction of normal people. After all, do we not wish tit for tat?

I am going to take a different, but necessarily an acceptable path for you.

Two wrongs do not make a right.

I agree, there are instances, where the concept of reservations has harmed poor tamil Brahmins. To discuss reservations is out of scope here.

But we can discuss, whether, in dealing with a charitable act such as imparting knowledge, we need to be selective.

You live in pune. It was in this place, a few hundred years ago, the peshwa edicted to pour lead into the ears of any dalit who wished to hear the Vedas.

If the dalit should ever utter the veda, his tongue was to be cut off. This can be verified, I believe.

It may be useful to remember the antecedents of exclusivity of knowledge, and denial of the same to many many groups in our culture. Memories are long, and unfortunately, selective.

To me, the refusal of a TB to impart knowledge, particularly in the name of charity, to any other caste, smacks of ancient wrongs and in the eyes of the other communities would echo even more ominous memories.

Do we in this day and age, want to perpetuate such feelings?

Knowledge is only book deep. Scratch the book and all you are left is torn paper.

But Wisdom is a deep well, the more you extract, the more the replenishment. A wise person would be glad to spread knowledge for in doing so, he knows that he is doing this right thing. Would you rather not take the latter path?

Sir, all I am imploring here, is for you to do better than the norms.

People, you might have felt, have done you wrongs.

Are you not a better person to forgive and keep moving on to do better things? What joy does it give one to bear grudges and remembered hurts?

I think the human is programmed to be good.

It is in the name of this goodness, that I invoke you and suchlike, when you wish to impart knowledge on a charitable basis, do not turn away an eager mind, just because he is not your caste.

To me, that would leave a permanent stain on the cloak of charity that I wish to adorn.

Finally, one other consideration ie self interest of the community might sound a favourable chord?.

Perhaps the non Brahmin student, when his days become better, will remember the charity of the Brahmin, and he in turn, would bend to help a Brahmin.

should this not be kept in mind all along, after all, one good turn may result a better turn in later years.

Thank you.
 
There is wrong notion among our community members that money will get them the best education. Another problem every body feels is that reservation has denied us our rights.

Today inspite of 69% reservation in Tamilnadu, how many TB students are attempting for Medical admissions. If our students try, we can definitely get substantial number of seats in Medical colleges. However our students don't want to go for medical for reasons best known to them.

As far as engineering colleges are concerned, there is substantial number of vacant seats (almost one third) after counselling. Any TB student who gets fairly good marks (not necessarily very high marks) can get into a reasonably good Engineering colleges under Government Counselling without any problem.

If the student has not scored much in Plus two, he can get into Arts, Science, Commerce stream without any problem. They can pursue professional accountancy courses like CA, ICWA or Company secretary which are in very high demand throughout the globe. Probably after graduation, they can pursue MBA also.

Government of India has made available through all the banks that loans are available upto Rs.4 lakh without any security subject to normal terms and conditions which are not very stringent.

All that is required is to assess individuals strength as well weaknesses. I always believe every threat has an opportunity. Almost 37 years back I was searching for a bank clerk job, which I couldn't manage but destiny made me to start my own business where I am able to provide employment to others.

Today through our forums we can guide lot of youngsters at the appropriate stages of their career. Money alone will not solve the problems. Reservations in education is no more bottleneck for us. We have lived with 69% reservation in Tamilnadu for more than 25 years but our community has not gone down during this period.
 
Sri Venkataramani ji,

You have put it very well sir.

I used to be very upset about reservations as well. But i realized that what it was in my time does not hold true anymore.

In my time it used to be a sad tale of young ppl losing out engineering and medical seats even with good marks, just bcoz they had no BC, OBC, MBC, etc certificates in hand.

But now there are so many colleges, tehre is even a choice. I also heard from someone who is a friend of a private engineering college owner that seats (even medical) actually go empty these days.

After some asking around, i realized that these days nobody i know of is complaining about reservations now. The younger lot is able to get admissions of choice even if they do not have the BC, etc certificates in hand.

Kids from families i know of have started using bank loans to go overseas to study (even if they have parents who can very well sponsor their education), this is quite a change in trend when 'dad sponsored everything'...but i suppose these days its all about asserting their ability to do it "on-my-own".....
 
Thanks for understanding my views Sri Happy Hindu ji,

I earnestly feel that the worst isover in Tamilnadu as well as India for our community. In the past few decades we have managed the situation effectively and efficiently. However we cannot sit on the past laurels and have to plan for the future.

May be getting into IIT, NIT, AIIMS etc have become more difficult as compared to earlier years. But if we consider the quality of teaching staff in these institutions, we don't have to bother about them in the future. The salary levels in these instituitions are very low as compared to private sector. Our own youngsters are going out of India to USA, Europe and Australia for higher education particularly relating to Ph.D etc.Once they complete, they don't want to join the Government controlled educational institutions in India and mostly stay back in western world were the environment and economic conditions are much better. I expect IIT, NIT, AIIMS etc will go down on quality in the near future and hence will not attract our youngsters.

BITS is the only exception since it is managed by Birlas and only merit based admisssions are taking place even now. However due to court order, they have also introduced entrance examinations. Once entrance exam is introduced, only coaching centres will thrive and there is no place for high school education marks.

There are lot of opportunities for our youngsters in the accounting field. Accountants are in short supply throughout the world. If an youngster completes, CA or ICWA or CS, he can get good salary in the Indian private sector. They can migrate to other countries also. Indian ICWA has reciprocal arrangement with their counter parts in USA and UK. If a person passes ICWA exam in India, he can become a Certified Management Accountant of USA (CMA) without any additional exam. ICWA qualified person has to pass only three papers to become a member of Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, London (ACMA). These qualifications are recognised globally attracting very good salaries. Cost of education is also very low, i.e. only few thousand rupees as compared to few lakh rupees for Medical and Engineering.

It is high time our youngsters and their parents rethink on strategies about education and career development.

எண்ணாயிரம் ஆண்டு யோகம் இருப்பினும் கண்ணார் அமுதனை கண்டறிவாரில்லை உள் நாடி ஒளி பெற உள்ளே நோக்கினார் கண்ணாடி போல கலந்து நின்றானே
 
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Helping poor students of our community

Mr. Ramana Rajagopaul of Pune suggested a very nobel idea and he was even willing to lend a helping hand. Instead of supporting his cause, Mr. Kunjuppu has sought to completely sideline Mr. Ramana.

There is one Forum called Kerala Iyers Trust which helps lending hand to poor students for their education or poor people for their medical aid. The system has stabilised fairly well. Any appeal is screened properly and circulated to all the participating members. Donations start pouring in for the good cause. Luckily, there are no pessimistic persons like Kunjuppu in their forum.

Mr. Ramana Rajagopaul of Pune, Sir, keep up your good cause. Initially there may be hiccups but sooner or later, you will find support.


(P.S. VENKATARAMANAN)
VARANASI
 
Mr. Ramana Rajagopaul of Pune suggested a very nobel idea and he was even willing to lend a helping hand. Instead of supporting his cause, Mr. Kunjuppu has sought to completely sideline Mr. Ramana.

There is one Forum called Kerala Iyers Trust which helps lending hand to poor students for their education or poor people for their medical aid. The system has stabilised fairly well. Any appeal is screened properly and circulated to all the participating members. Donations start pouring in for the good cause. Luckily, there are no pessimistic persons like Kunjuppu in their forum.

Mr. Ramana Rajagopaul of Pune, Sir, keep up your good cause. Initially there may be hiccups but sooner or later, you will find support.


(P.S. VENKATARAMANAN)
VARANASI

Dear Sri PSV Ramanan Ji,

I fully appreciate the views of you as well as Mr.Ramana Rajagopal of Pune.

Recently if you noticed in these forums, an appeal for higher education and an appeal for medical help came. In both the cases, some of our members immediately reacted positively.

In the case of medical treatment, I personally suggested a hospital where charges are very low and treatment is also good. The concerned person got admitted in the suggested hospital and got operated. I am personally in touch with him and he is likely to be discharged in a day or two. Whatever financial support required is also being taken care of.

In the other case where higher education was involved, some of our members offered to arrange bank loan. But the member didn't come back.

Even though we don't have a formal method of responding to the requests, some of our members are definitely coming forward. I am sure a formal organisation will evolve during the course of time.

Right now school education has become very costly particularly in Tamilnadu where members of our community belonging to poor and downtrodden sections find it very difficult to afford. Two days back I met one of my friend belonging to our community who is retiring as Principal of a leading school in Coimbatore in the next two years. We are discussing about opening a school on charitable basis where we can support some of the members belonging poorer section of our community. You please suggest your views, which we shall consider at the appropriate forums.

As far as higher education is concerned, bank loans are available upto Rs.4 lakhs without any collateral security. We are always ready to help in getting the loans. Please understand that we cannot help for paying capitation fee etc.

The quality of Government hospitals has improved very well in Tamilnadu particularly in Chennai where treatment is almost free. We shall support to the best possible extent in case of emergency.

Let us unite and do something for the poorer and downtrodden sections of our community. I request you to come out with positive suggestions for further improvement of our movement.

All the best

எண்ணாயிரம் ஆண்டு யோகம் இருப்பினும் கண்ணார் அமுதனை கண்டறிவாரில்லை உள் நாடி ஒளி பெற உள்ளே நோக்கினார் கண்ணாடி போல கலந்து நின்றானே
 
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Mr. Ramana Rajagopaul of Pune suggested a very nobel idea and he was even willing to lend a helping hand. Instead of supporting his cause, Mr. Kunjuppu has sought to completely sideline Mr. Ramana.

There is one Forum called Kerala Iyers Trust which helps lending hand to poor students for their education or poor people for their medical aid. The system has stabilised fairly well. Any appeal is screened properly and circulated to all the participating members. Donations start pouring in for the good cause. Luckily, there are no pessimistic persons like Kunjuppu in their forum.

Mr. Ramana Rajagopaul of Pune, Sir, keep up your good cause. Initially there may be hiccups but sooner or later, you will find support.


(P.S. VENKATARAMANAN)
VARANASI
hi Ramanan Sir,
I agreed with you...The Kerala Iyer Trust(KIT) doing very well.
well organised and well managed...there is no doubt brahmins
can do like this mission...but we tamil brahmins have to learn
from them...nice work...like KIT , they have like job opening/
ikalyanam are doing well. we have to appreciate our brethern
Kerala iyers are doing good for brahmin community...

regards
tbs
 
hi Ramanan Sir,
I agreed with you...The Kerala Iyer Trust(KIT) doing very well.
well organised and well managed...there is no doubt brahmins
can do like this mission...but we tamil brahmins have to learn
from them...nice work...like KIT , they have like job opening/
ikalyanam are doing well. we have to appreciate our brethern
Kerala iyers are doing good for brahmin community...

regards
tbs

First of all, dividing us as Kerala Iyers and Tamil Brahmins have to be avoided. When we talk of Tamil Brahmins, it includes Tamil speaking brahmins throughout the world including all the subsects such Iyer, Iyengar, Madhwas, Gurukkal etc. I have already noticed lot of TB's of Kerala Origin participating in our forums and contributing very much to our cause.

If there is a trust formed as Kerala Iyers Trust, is it possible to expand it to include all TBs placed throughout the world. Our intention must be unite all the TBs throughout the world.

Probably if some body takes the initiative and unite all of us, it will be better for the whole community.
எண்ணாயிரம் ஆண்டு யோகம் இருப்பினும் கண்ணார் அமுதனை கண்டறிவாரில்லை உள் நாடி ஒளி பெற உள்ளே நோக்கினார் கண்ணாடி போல கலந்து நின்றானே
 
venkat,

kit is run and managed by a very dedicated couple, with volunteers serving as verifiers for requests, and are spread throughout the country.

the reason for its success, is not only the dedication of the sponsors, but also because it is small and very focussed in its goals ie help out brahmins.

the term kerala iyers is just a nomenclature, and not divisive in any respects as referred to in kit.

there has always been calls for kit to expand its role, but i think it would be selfish for such calls, as this demands more committment from one dedicated couple who are giving up a lot of their own time.

also, this would mean, a bigger group and also admin costs, which is zero for kit.

one suggestion, is to repeat the kit formula in another group. to start this off, we need one dedicated volunteer to give up atleast 6-8 hours per day, as this would involve setting up a trust, collecting money, getting requests vetted out through volunteers in the town from where the requestee resides, sending the money, and above all, provide government audits.

it is like running a small business, with all the effort, and the reward is just the satisfaction of helping our own kith.

kit does not discriminate between tamil and kerala iyers, though the bulk of the donors are pattars like me. :)
 
Dear Sri Kunjuppu ji,

Thanks for your excellent presentation about KIT working. As you rightly said, some body has to devote almost full time for the cause. There should be volunteers to verify the claimants. There should be complete transparency of collection of money, disbursements, proper accounts & audits etc.

Eventhough I am from Tamilnadu, I have lot of relatives in Kerala. Kerala TB's in Trichur area are mostly in to business or migrating to gulf countries. Generally they are more prosperous as compared to their counterparts in Tamilnadu. Probably due to ethnic nature, they are more united as compared to Tamilnadu.

Along with some of my friends, I have already ventured into a charitable school project. Most of us are retiring in the next two years and I shall request some of them to work for the project. I shall try to make a personal visit to KIT and understand their working also. If possible, let us try to work under the same banner also.

Thank you once again for the valuable inputs.

எண்ணாயிரம் ஆண்டு யோகம் இருப்பினும் கண்ணார் அமுதனை கண்டறிவாரில்லை உள் நாடி ஒளி பெற உள்ளே நோக்கினார் கண்ணாடி போல கலந்து நின்றானே
 
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