Request for help by Srividhya

[Vaylan]

Share:

Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp Email Share Link

Once again SV-sir comes up with an incisive analysis. Namastubhyam SV!

Let me add a few points -

1. Brahmins doing OK -

• It's true that Brahmins are getting educated and getting out of TN. I have a cousin who could not get into Engineering. She did B.Sc, wrote GATE, did M.Sc, finally got into software and is now in the US
• Other people take various different paths but are ultimately either in software in India or doing software in the US

3. Dispersal of Brahmins -

• In the past, Brahmins would live in Agraharams. Living in same location ---> reinforcement of Brahmin way of life ---> accumulation of intellectual pursuits ---> they could help each other economically, spiritually, socially ---> preservation of Brahmin genetic potential.
• Today, due to the dispersal of brahmins, we are all far from each other. Even in the same city, we are living in far-flung areas unlike in the past. Reason - we need to be where the livelihood is.
• Now, the needy Brahmins do not have access to the "brain-trust" of the Brahmin community. Consequence -> degeneration of Brahmin potential.

2. Guidance and counselling -

• If there is one thing that we MUST do, it is to create some kind of a meeting ground where needy Brahmins can get guidance from wealthy brahmins. With the advent of Internet and E-mail, this is much more feasible today.

 

[Vaylan]

I realize I'm a couple of posts late. Thanks hariharan .

SV, I do not disagree with what you're saying. However, consider this - Srividhya came to this forum asking for help. Somehow arrangments were made this time. However, this is ad-hoc.

1. Say someone else comes - will the same people contribute ? How can we make this a scalable, repeatable process ?

2. Consider Srividhya's case. Right now all we can do is cobble money together and give it to her. Even if she wants to repay, there is no system for her to do so. Instead, if we make proper arrangements, not only can we create a fund , we can also make it possible for people like Srividhya to repay the loan once they start earning. The money can then go on to benefit the next needy person.

Increasingly, it looks like the solution is a mix of money and guidance. But we will have to come up with some kind of a structure.

 

[Vaylan]

Ideas -

1. Send email to all the Brahmins you know. Friends, family, etc - invite them to join this site
2. If you come across blogs run by Brahmins ( there is a HUGE number of Brahmin blogs, believe me ) contact them and invite them to visit and contribute their ideas here.
3. As we start getting more people, a critical mass develops and you start seeing the beginnings of a self-aware community.

Right now there are 500 users, 120 active ones and the max number of users at any one time was just 26 !!

There is a long way to go before we can make any impact in the real world !!

 

[Silicon Valley-an]

Fair Enogh

Excellent point about repayment of loan, Vaylan.

This should be simple to achieve. Open a bank account with 3 joint signatories presumably all based in Chennai. The document detailing the account details will be posted on this site.

This bank will have sophisticated on-line services including an ability to see copies of checks posted and deposits made - by whoever has the user id and password. (All doners get this user ID and password)

This needs to be done as a special request because usually bank accounts can be accessed only from specific computers sometimes.

Let them publicize the account number and the name of a bank official who will manage the account for us. Anyone who wants to contribute sends a check to the designated manager who can deposit the money to that account number. That is our kitty, so to speak.

Once this is in place, one of the three signatories who is designated a manager of the account will send a contract to the designated recipient
(determined after an interaction on this site) in which the recipient acknowledges that the money he/she will receive is a loan which he she will pay back to the same account whenever he/.she is able to. Upon receiving this contract, the 3 signatories sign the check and the manager sends it to the recpient. The cancelled check is the receipt.

The manager keeps a record of the loan documents and the cancelled check, scans them and posts it on to a section of this website designated for everyone to see.

The bank provides a read only user id and password for anyone to see what transactions have happened on this account - which provides public transparency - that will attract even more donors.

Any other ideas along these lines will be appreciated..

SV

 

[Silicon Valley-an]

Also...

All interactions with potential recipients of help should be within a thread so anyone can verify what he or she had to say about his/her circumstances and needs. Their resumes should also be available for potential donors to see. Also URL's of contract docs and disbursements should be made available by the disbursement manager - within the thread.

SV

 

[Vaylan]

Solid ideas - thanks SV. Right now the need of the hour is to drive more traffic to this site so we can have more people - both people who can help as well as people who need help.

Does anyone want to improve upon my email idea ? Please suggest

BTW, SV - do you know Kannada ?

 

[Silicon Valley-an]

Ads

We need to place AD's in publications that TB's read frequently. We do not need to spend money on this. We can request them to donate AD space for that. This will be their contribution to this effort. We are a purely non-political entity - only trying to help students excluded by reservations enabling them to study in private colleges in TN or elsewhere even if they personally cannot afford to. That is the simple objective of our effort. Even if the DMK comes to know about it, it should not cause any objections.

SV

 

[Silicon Valley-an]

Kannada

Yes. I know Kannada. Much better than my Tamil

Solid ideas - thanks SV. Right now the need of the hour is to drive more traffic to this site so we can have more people - both people who can help as well as people who need help.

Does anyone want to improve upon my email idea ? Please suggest

BTW, SV - do you know Kannada ?

 

[Silicon Valley-an]

Hindu

We can even ask widely read publications like 'The Hindu' to donate AD space for this. We can say that this service is available to every resident of Tamil Nadu who does not qualify under any reservation classification. This way, if some non-TB's come to our site but belong to any of the Forward communities, they can avail of our services too. This way we can invite non-TB donors to give to our services as well. This way, our charity will not appear restricted only to TB's and will have a better legitimacy and will help bring all FC's together.

SV

We need to place AD's in publications that TB's read frequently. We do not need to spend money on this. We can request them to donate AD space for that. This will be their contribution to this effort. We are a purely non-political entity - only trying to help students excluded by reservations enabling them to study in private colleges in TN or elsewhere even if they personally cannot afford to. That is the simple objective of our effort. Even if the DMK comes to know about it, it should not cause any objections.

SV

 

[Vaylan]

About the Hindu

Good idea but I'm doubtful about its efficacy. The Hindu is not known as "The Hundi" for nothing. But this is my personal observation, we will try this idea too.

 

[Silicon Valley-an]

Subalaji

Subalaji now has a whole lot of specific action items to follup on on after he wakes up.

SV

 

[hariharan1972]

Only 20% active members

Hariharan,

Why not we just place advertisements in Brahmin oriented magazines and ask them to come to this site and identify themselves - so we can directly help them? That way, as soon as a person comes up, tells his story and convinces us of his/her need for help, we can send checks to cover his/her need after some due diligence.

SV

This is a good start point for sure. Often i wonder that why the "active members" in this forum is only 20% or so ? Ever since i registered few months back, i have always seen the "active member" mark hover around 20% mark. I don't know the criteria for flagging a member as "active or inactive". Presuming that this is based on the "frequency of their visit(s) or posting(s)" in the forum, i am sure most will agree that this is a disappointing number.

I hope there is some way the "inactive registered members" can be reached out to & gently reminded / cajoled to take more active role in the forum. Probably they need to be reminded that they owe this to our future 'sandadi' even if they feel this forum isn't of help to them personally.

 

[Silicon Valley-an]

Subalaji

I was hoping to hear from you this morning. What's cooking dude?

SV

 

[Vaylan]

SV, what's going on dude

 

[navy-eswaran]

dear members,
pl start something immediately so that the better off members can help our brothers/sis
members located at chennai should take lead Plzzz
all the best

 

[Silicon Valley-an]

Patience....

Ramki etc.. are already working on it. Things with lasting value do not happen overnight. They take time. Let the process run its course.

I am reminded of Kabir's Doha here:

Dhire Dhire Re Mana, Dhire Sab Kuch Hoi
Maali Seeche Sau Ghada, Ritu Aaye Phal Hoi.

( Slowly slowly my friend, everything happens slowly
Even if the gardener irrigates the garden with hundreds of buckets of
water, only when the season arrives, will the plants yield fruit )

regards,

SV

dear members,
pl start something immediately so that the better off members can help our brothers/sis
members located at chennai should take lead Plzzz
all the best

 

[rxrajamo]

Thanks SV.

Navy-Eswaran, Silverfox is meeting with Praveen this month in Chennai and we all are trying to explore the possibility of a fund or a trust. As we all are aware it involves legal & financial implications. Please bear with us and be rest assured that we are moving as fast as we can. In the meanwhile, Subalaji is also on the task trying to come up with a business plan.

BTW, I am very pleased to see a lot of members like SV, Vayalan etc are coming forth their ideas. Earlier it was only a handful of us trying to come up with ways to help our community. Hope we get more participation from all the members.


Ramki

Ramki etc.. are already working on it. Things with lasting value do not happen overnight. They take time. Let the process run its course.

I am reminded of Kabir's Doha here:

Dhire Dhire Re Mana, Dhire Sab Kuch Hoi
Maali Seeche Sau Ghada, Ritu Aaye Phal Hoi.

( Slowly slowly my friend, everything happens slowly
Even if the gardener irrigates the garden with hundreds of buckets of
water, only when the season arrives, will the plants yield fruit )

regards,

SV

 

[Vaylan]

To Navy-eswaran

dear members,
pl start something immediately so that the better off members can help our brothers/sis
members located at chennai should take lead Plzzz
all the best

Navy-eswaran,

please suggest WHAT we can start immediately. This seems to be me the hardest question of all ! :lol:

Regards
Vaylan

 

[Silicon Valley-an]

Good question

It is not a trivial question. Which is why people do market research in the first place before beginning a venture. Often market research reveals facts which are counter-intuitive. Often what we think is true is not so. What we see without an unbiased study is often is what we would LIKE to believe. What we gather after talking to people reveals what pepole really want.

The DMK propaganda all makes us believe that we have to do SOMETHING and we feel pressurised. But the actual facts might not match the propaganda which is tailored to get votes. TB have been facing this propaganda for many many years now. It is possible we have already factored limitations created by this in our long range plans. May be families have been squirreling money for private college education the very moment they had children because they knew that the TN goverment is not to be trusted. Since TB's are so smart intellectually, I would be surprised if any of them left such an important thing to chance.

SV

Navy-eswaran,

please suggest WHAT we can start immediately. This seems to be me the hardest question of all ! :lol:

Regards
Vaylan

 

[Ambutha]

Srividhya's Education

Dear Sirs:

My name is Sekhar and I live in Denver, Colorado. Just by chance, I came across your site this morning. In fact, I was googling for a Tamil Song in Google search and your name popped up. I joined your organization, came across this worthwhile cause and would like to contribute. Pl. let me know where we stand for her third and fourth year studies' finances.

There is an organization headed by one of my good friends in California,It offer financial help for academics to deserving students in India - not necessarliy, only to Brahmins. It is a trust based in the US, run by a handful of well-wishers like you. Mostly, if not all, are Thamizh or Tahmizh speaking Brahmins. It has been in operation for six years or so. I can contact him if you want.

In the mean time, pl. accept my sincere appreciation for your efforts. Look forward to hearing from you.

Sekhar

PS: I am not sure if it is approrpriate to post or ask for telephone numbers. Pl.let me know.

 

[silverfox]

Welcome, Sekhar!

Dear Sekhar:
Welcome aboard! We are delighted you have found us and have joined us; this is YOUR community. Please help us by helping our less fortunate folks. Please also actively participate in our forums and contribute.

Tamilbrahmins.com members do not necessarily believe in castes but the current political environment in TN has made many of us sit up and take notice of the trends. This site is strictly for all the Tamil brahmins to come together as a community, to learn about our roots, to help out the needy, etc. Please read Praveen's 'Guidelines' in the frontpage.

Sekhar, please do not address us as 'Sirs'!! We are your friends!

Dear Sirs:

My name is Sekhar and I live in Denver, Colorado. Just by chance, I came across your site this morning. In fact, I was googling for a Tamil Song in Google search and your name popped up. I joined your organization and came across this worthwhile cause and would like to contribute. Pl. let me know where we stand for her third and fouth year studies.

There is an organization headed by one of my good friends in California, which does offer financial help for studies to deserving students in India - not necessarliy to Brahmin students alone. It is a trust based in the US, run by a handful of well-wishers like you. Mostly, if not all, are Thamizh or Tahmizh speaking Brahmins. It has been in operation for six years or so. I can contact him if you want.

In the mean time, pl. accept my sincere appreciation for your efforts. Look forward to hearing from you.
Sekhar
PS: Though I don't believe in caste system, I had been victimized for being a crsoss-belt, as I was referred to once. It is about time that we do something to help the deserved ones.

 

[Ambutha]

Srividhya's Education

Hi:

That was fast and thanks for your prompt repsonse. Assume you will give the info. regarding Srividhya's 3rd and 4th yr. eductional expenses and your consent to contact my friend in California, later.

Regards,

Sekhar

PS: Forgive me. I am not sure how to address, stilll don't!

 

[Ambutha]

Hi:

That was fast and thanks for your prompt repsonse. Assume you will give the info. regarding Srividhya's 3rd and 4th yr. eductional expenses and your consent to contact my friend in California, later.

Regards,

Sekhar

PS: Forgive me. I am not sure how to address, stilll don't!

 

[silverfox]

Dear Sekhar:
Please, no 'forgiveness' is necessary!! I was being jovial about being addressed as 'Sir'!! You can address members by their sign-on names. We are right now working on setting up a trust and then send out an appeal for funds. I will certainly keep all members informed of what is going on. You can go ahead and contact your California friend; any help from any source is appreciated.

 

[Ambutha]

Shall do so and keep you all informed.

Regards,

Sekhar