The day started off like any MAD day at the Centre…scrambling children, scrambling volunteers…2 hours of class…and then after a quick tea break…the FUN began…

The kids all assembled in the TV hall where we divided them into groups according to their classes…each volunteer was in charge if his or her own class. After laying down the ground rules, Abhilash did a rather interactive narration of the “Origin of Diwali” which had quite a few of the kids on their feet.

In order to maintain the high energy levels we next had a game/ice breaker entitled “Human chain”…which required the kids to form circles holding hands and then tangled and detangle themselves in the same fashion.

What followed next was one of the main events of the evening…while the primary and pre primary kids stayed indoors decorating diyas…

The older ones moved outside to make rangolis…

However…someone got a crazy idea (volunteer or kid…the real culprit is still undetermined) and Diwali morphed into Holi…

In an attempt to recreate the MADness of the “onam dance off”…Sumesh hosted another one of the same and it went pretty much the same way…volunteers and kids let their guard down and danced their hearts out, inventing dance moves as they went….

The evening ended beautifully…in spite of the rain we managed to light the diyas (which the kids had decorated) and also smoke up the place with a bunch of colourful star lights….

Now, the point of all my rambling is that I was prepared!!! I googled for crying out loud! But of course, I was forgetting this was a MAD AVM; and as I should know by now, you’re never prepared for a MAD AVM. The Philippines; I should have googled the Philippines (how silly of me not to think of that -_- ), and “ Bahao, Babao and Bhahayio”. Those were the keywords. And then what followed was a series of superb hand-eye coordination by our volunteers.

After about 20 min of 40 or so of volunteers running around like headless chickens, we put the fun-part behind us and got down to business.

We started with Sumesh, our president ( All hail the king!) talking about MAD-values and about what it meant to us. He talked about family (the MAD family) about leadership and ownership; about taking responsibility. The family “enthu” was well shown when all the volunteers answered in one voice that we are in MAD for our kids.We talked about what it means to be passionate about our cause and about the individual volunteers in MAD that inspire us and go the extra mile.

There was a distinct difference to this AVM. It was not only about having fun (that’s given for any MAD event ), but more importantly about getting to know fellow volunteers we usually never get to meet. It was about sharing problems and finding solutions together. So, by far the best part of the evening was Center Circle time.

We all get busy with our lives. Most of the time, it’s all we can manage to just show up, take class and leave. So it’s easy to feel frustrated and alone; to feel like no one else faces the problems you do. That was the best thing about Center Circle time.
It felt like group therapy. A time when you can share and not be judged; speak out and be sure to be heard. From problems with resources to kids acting out, we discussed everything! What’s that saying about when you share; you divide sorrows and multiply joy??? However it goes, it’s apt here. It felt amazing to know that I’m not alone.

Next, we discussed each vertical. We came up with ideas to raise funds and guidelines to improve the MAD image. We made our family tree ( Thanks to Sharon, our designer ) and finally got to the snacks we’d been eyeing for a while.

At the end of a heart-to heart event, I believe there are only two things that make you feel better; chicken soup or a good tight hug from the people who care about you. I’m guessing we were running low on the chicken soup, coz that was some group hug!!!

Thanks a ton to the HR team for a wonderful day and a fantastic job. If I were wearing a hat, I would have tipped it off to you.

This September we don’t teach the kids, they will teach us. And change the way indifferent, glutton teachers think about the country’s future.

Our captain for the day was the oh so adorable ARJUN who was in one of his maddest forms…!!!

the session started off bang on time considering all were petrified of arjun and his late fee system…but at least one thing got cleared up..all those times..all those excuses…this time…perfection!!!!  well done captain arjun…

it was very nice to see pleasant faces of some familiar and some not so familiar maddies from both the chapters and it was even more fun with the crazy icebreaker game we played..of the “pig in a house”!!!  After all the babao and bahai and bahaio..anagha and team took the ever rolling trophy!!

There were a few late comers who were meted out the arjun treatment!! poor fellas…

And then the session began with captain giving us the look into your inner selves lecture and the brilliant talk which started with what’s the meaning of MAD? and continuing onto writing down our opinion and concerns and suggestions.

The center heads spearheaded the next set of discussions which dealt mainly with each centers main concerns and their needs and necessities..It was a great opportunity to let everyone know how good or bad one was doing and what if at all was needed to improve..

Reached out—and got help!!

There were some real feel good moments as in when volunteers were applauded for their brilliant madness..And bars were raised in everyone’s hearts on what they have to achieve ..After hearing to what madam Priya Mohan and her team have accomplished in their lil piece of heaven…

And after the great success of late comers fees implementation..it was taken to the next level where it was decided in the centers also that there would be a fine to your late coming.. Decisions were taken on new placement activities and ideas floated around …

a small break here and there—yummy refreshments and then a great big group hug…

there was never a dull moment…. and it all ended with everyone getting chance to write a secret message onto a piece of paper stuck to their backs—by all and sundry..

mine was filled with sweet nothings which I will cherish for a long long time…

all in all…I should say—AVM..  awesome volunteers meet!!!!

When I stumbled upon Kiran Bir Sethi’s video on TED last year I was so happy. Even if that sleepy teacher didn’t believe it we were the change. But one thing kept me thinking, will this movement ever touch the children who needed to believe in its message? The ‘underprivileged’ children who needed to know that they can.

Fast forward one year and I have my answer. Design For Change. Maybe we cannot help every child in this country but we can make every child in MAD believe they can.

Feel. Imagine. Do. Three words. Three steps to empower children. Three steps to make the children believe they can.

On 21^st the Sunday, we Maddies filed inside Rotary Bal Bhavan to know more about DFC. A video and a slideshow later we knew all that we needed to know about DFC. The format, the schedule, the payback (will Cochin1 outshine Hyderabad this year?!).

Each centre huddled together to make plans for the coming weeks.

Once the battle plans were drawn each huddle got up with a smug smile.

This September we don’t teach the kids, they will teach us. And change the way indifferent, glutton teachers think about the country’s future.

For those who haven’t seen her, Maya Mam has the wisdom of a 4000 year old with the spunk of a 14 year old. She also is a part-time drill sergeant which is how she whipped us all into shape on a sleepy Sunday morning. Her imitation of teenagers, mock jibes and CCTV vision all ensured that we paid attention to her.

Our session started with The Make A Difference Movie – The Teddy Stallard Story – by Mary Robinson Reynolds and a small talk on what to expect and what not to expect as teaching volunteers. Any notion that we were teaching the kids was put to rest when Mam reminded us that these children know more than us. They have learnt the harder lessons of life at a young age and in a hard way.

Maya Mam and veteran volunteers were equally helpful in clearing newbie volunteers’ doubts. Mam shared incidents from her teaching career to help the volunteers understand the more delicate aspects of teaching. We were encouraged to discuss and question the syllabus which we did happily. After all, where else will you get a chance to rebel with national permits? What followed was the quiz-master’s version of food fight. Well, almost. You can’t get far with Maya Mam in the room.

After the completion of the first book we moved on to demos.

We had our first demo by the perpetually curious Soni who just had to try it before being sure of the system.

Sadly, I had to leave the session before it finished which I did cunningly after Maya Mam’s stick broke. Yes, she even used a stick! Trashing all my previous experiences with teachers and sticks, she sent me home with a big hug.

Man, I so wish she was my teacher!

You don’t contain it. You channelize it. You take hold of the reigns and charge forth into a brand new year with ICEBREAKERS!!!

Musical chairs in Snehabhavan, Hangman in Big Boys, Dumb charades in YMCA and Chinese whisper in Crescent… The city burst alive with frenzied activity in four different corners of Cochin II like colourful fireworks in a star-lit sky.

It was the crack of a glorious new dawn.

There was the birth of new centres, the closure of old ones, adjustment of time-tables, sorting of children into respective classes, distribution of books, introductions, revision of ground rules, random MAD banter, shy kids, happy kids, naughty kids, restless kids, curious kids, enthusiastic kids, fumbling kids, kids crawling up the walls, kids begging you to chase and seek them, kids kicking up a fuss, kids with springs in their soles, weeping kids, groaning kids, sighing kids, bored kids, interested kids, uninterested kids, loud kids, kids, kids and more kids.

And all of a sudden… if you strained to hear it, there was a deafening momentary silence.

For the briefest of pauses, for a fraction of a second between blinks, all of the madness stopped. A pause so personal, one could reach out and touch innocent wonder, relive the reasons for joining the MAD fold, and capture those déjà-vu MAD moments all over again, before MAD routines took precedence.

As I look at the new batch of ten in my class, I can make out that restraint has turned to hesitancy, downcast eyes are peeking curiously, mousy frowns are being upturned into tentative smiles. We smiled at the madness in each other’s existing methods and wondered how we would bring a method to our existing madness.

As the friction eased, ten pairs of eyes looked back expectantly, trustingly. The nicknames faltered, the teasing faded out and mellowness had descended.

It was time to learn, for the both of us.

I knew I was going to chase that smile before the sun goes down on me.

By Susan Paul Mathew

The painting competition was followed by a football match between the volunteers and the kids of which our kids emerged the winners. According to one of our old volunteers this is the first time that the margin of scores between the kids and the volunteers is less: 2-1 .

Overall it was a fun filled session for both the kids and the volunteers. The winners of the painting competition have already been declared and the prize winning paintings will be displayed at our next photo-exhibition which going to be conducted in Cochin. These painting will be the new face of Cochin MAD made by our very own kids.

By Kavya Pankaj

The long day had started off with a game for the unsuspecting candidates assembled at Rotary Balabhavan. Around 40 pairs of nervous eyes absorbed the rules of the game slowly. Form a circle, remove your footwear and pile it in the centre. We will pretend they are freshly chopped veggies and toss them as though for a salad. You will then be required to retrieve your pair from the judiciously tossed mix. Do this asap and you will be adjudged the winner.

With the ice broken, the Cochin 2 president took over, giving them a tour guide of the MAD territory. He went on to outline the map of MAD- our boundaries, what we stand for and protect, what we pride in and expect, our history, our present and a warm invite to be part of the MAD future.

The race to the finish line had begun. The sound of the gunshot fired, was near audible, as the introduction drew to a close.

The lawns and classroom walls were silent witnesses to the general discussion. Conducted neatly by Jithin and Loy, they were within groups of ten. The debatable topics given were administrative issues within MAD. The rules were simple : Pick your stand, shed your fears and battle your storm. Laid- back college goers, were pitted against the opportunistic employed and the happy homemakers. In the face of mighty gales and stormy currents, they charted out their own course, to see the light of day.

Next phase – the individual interviews. The interview panelists sat in silent glee with memories of their own interview, from long ago floating back to them, as they grilled the hotseat contenders. The demo session saw the candidates taking class for the panelists (who are, by default, adept at imitating their own bunch of crazy students). This session requires a serious paradigm shift as there lies a world of difference between answering questions and teaching irrepressible kids who want to be thrown out of class in order to play with other ousted students.

*Sigh*

Can you really wage a war with a child and expect to win? I’m not so sure, but experience teaches me otherwise.