Friday, July 17, 2009

Editor's Note

The exhilarating feeling of actually becoming the Editor of Dautya has sunk in finally and I'm ready to launch this year's newsletter with a humble note of thanks to all the people who support me always and of course GISO for giving me this wonderful opportunity.

On a happy note, let me introduce you to bright new members of the GISO committee. Omkar is the President who is currently holidaying in India. (I envy him). Watch out for his talents right from sand-animation to poetry to drama. (P.S. He also makes excellent chai, so his home has become our official meeting place!!). We have also got an amazing trio of Vice Presidents. Bhushan -The logistics guy. A true philosopher who will make you see the world from a different perspective everytime. (His favorite line- I have got an idea!), Vishnu - He is in incharge of finance and a member of Pratham (Oh boy, i can hear the jingle of the money already), and Tejas - the PR and publicity guy who gets to know a million people wherever he goes.

The gorgeous Gauri is the Cultural Secretary who is also a great dancer. She provides the insights in the planning of the events and will make sure that the crowd is never disappointed. The ever-smiling Ravi is the Sports Secretary who wishes to take sports to a new high. So get ready to play your best game. Not to forget Sandeep- the Webmaster, whose efforts in putting up an attractive website and posters will earn him scores of brownie points.

Well well, I'm proud of the new team and wanted to give them a boost before they get to work. Coming to me, this is my first summer in Houston and it has been a fulfilling one too. Thought I would be bored with my dreadful research but thankfully I'm still excited about it. Weekends are packed with novels, movie nights and masti with friends. Started discovering new dance styles at the Miller theatre which hosts some great performances from around the world. Tried some new cuisines but cannot let go of the taste of the chatpata Indian food. That reminds me, I need to grab my lunch before my stomach starts yelling!!

So, before signing off, a note to the incoming new students - We welcome you to your new life and hope that you have a great time here. We need your cooperation and participation in all our activities to make them truly wonderful. Goodluck and have fun!!!

-Rajatha

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Friday, July 3, 2009

The Path of Philanthrophy

Ah Ha!! So it’s that time of the year again. Hoards of new faces would be streaming into the campus - the bus stops, the subway, the library , the parking lot and even the red route bus. Experience having made me wiser, I thought I could afford to dole out a little advice to the new-bies. (Who doesn’t love “giving” advise : )? ).

I recently came across an article which listed out the top 20 ways to stay happy. Getting richer than your peers was one of them – ah – if only things were that simple! However, philanthropy and “trying out new things” also figured on the list. I have always regretted not having had enough time for both philanthropy and experimenting. If you are a new-comer, here is something you could do at U of H - to - you guessed it right – to stay happy! I have done some of them myself- with – should I say – “resounding success” :)

  • Enroll for free Salsa dance classes. They are held both at the recreation center and the cougar den once a week.
  • Join “Cougar for kids”. I saw a guy sporting the “Cougar for kids” T-shirt. Trust me. From the look ron his face, I am sure it was worth the volunteering efforts.
  • Buy a 35 dollar guitar or any other musical instrument of your choice and enroll for a course. At the end of six months, you would be a ‘certified’ and also ahmmm… hopefully a good entertainer. The catch here being that, you would also be poorer by 1000$ – 1500$.
  • Join AID – Association for India’s development.
  • Participate in marathons – the regular rush of fresh oxygenated blood to you head might do you some good in the long run :P
  • ‘Pratham’ holds small fund raising events every 3 months or so. Volunteer in it.
  • Register for donating your Bone marrow – you will be surprised how simple the process is.
  • Learn Turkish for free for 3 hrs on Tuesdays – for all you know, you might one day see yourself at an Indian restaurant with a Turkish date. ( ‘Kind old lady experience’ tells me that’s a far-fetched idea though…)
  • And last but not the least, Houston – it seems, has a separate season set aside for it – the hurricane season! Pray for a few hurricanes...and when the hurricane arrives, stop, take a deep breath and then move around effortlessly as the world around you comes to a mesmerizing stand-still.

Anyways, here’s the original article that I referred to earlier:

Ok, so how about starting your philanthropy sessions by advising the next person you come across? If you look closely, I just did that : )


-Sandeep Bellure