ASHA: India Together newsletter, Feb 1999 (fwd)

[Subramanya Sastry <sastry@cs.wisc.edu>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 21 Feb 1999 01:21:48 -0700
From: indiatogether@hotmail.com
To: indiatogether@hotmail.com
Subject: India Together newsletter, Feb 1999

February 1999
India Together Newsletter Service
http://www.indiatogether.org/

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This newsletter is a free service of the India Together public awareness
and solidarity campaign. If you received this newsletter forwarded through
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Dear Reader:

The February 1999 newsletter from India Together is presented here. Links
to new articles, as well as recent earlier ones, are included. All
our articles are available at the site through links from the main
page itself or from the archives. As always, India Together requests that
you pass on this newsletter to any others who share your concerns and
determination to build a better nation.

Editors' note
*************
Our sincere thanks to those of you who continue to offer your ideas and
support to this campaign and newsletter. We have noted with considerable
satisfaction that many of you now carry our logo and/or motto on your
personal web pages, with a link to the India Together website. Thanks to
your gracious assistance, the India Together community is now 300-strong,
and growing steadily. We have followed through on some of your
suggestions, and we will make every effort to get to your other ideas at
the earliest opportunity. In the meantime, do keep them coming. 

In this edition
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In October 1978, a small group of people joined hands to create an
organization that would dedicate itself to assisting the less fortunate in
India. They began with a simple premise - that the assistance they would
provide must extend beyond conventional charity. Now, more than 20 years
and $260,000 later, People for Progress in India looks back on a
generation of service, and looks ahead to more years of the same.
http://www.indiatogether.org/finish/stories/ppi.htm

With some hurdles, it takes a special person to see that they can be
surmounted. Mrs.Dandapani and her team at Gnana Deepam have worked hard
over five years to arm mentally handicapped children will basic skills
that make them an asset to society. In that process, these teachers have
enabled a number of them to become less dependent on others as they grow
up. Truly, their lives in service have lit up dozens of lives.
http://www.indiatogether.org/finish/stories/deepam.htm

Earlier stories
***************
Years of subconscious conditioning have persuaded us that we need not be
aghast at seeing children and dogs compete for the same food under our
balconies. There's no need to feel any wonder, any surprise, any outrage,
any compassion. Do we really believe that all Indians, all humans, have
rights simply by virtue of being human? Dilip D'Souza calls for a
public reawakening to outrage and compassion.
http://www.indiatogether.org/finish/edits/dsouza.htm

Sometimes, the small decisions make all the difference. Although
government run schools in Varanasi are free to all children, there is
often a cost in attending them. Only the education itself is free, the
uniforms and school supplies needed to avail of the education cost money,
Asha Pandey decided that as a first step, she would remove this obstacle,
and provide the necessary supplies herself. 
http://www.indiatogether.org/finish/stories/lilstars.htm

Have you ever felt that you have the ideas needed to change a small part of
our nation for the better, and wondered how you might discuss them with
others, and propagate them? The IndiaPolicy Institute has put together a
web-based discussion forum specifically to facilitate this process, and
would love to have you bring your ideas to the discussion table. Here's the
first in a series of ideas from past discussions - a draft education policy
for a better India.
http://www.indiatogether.org/finish/policies/ipeduc.htm

The life of a great person is enacted on the world-stage not for our
entertainment, but for our education. In our wait for the next great
leader, we have neglected the messages of the ones we've already had.
Premkumar Rallabandi reminds us that the road to fulfilling our dreams is
best paved with our own initiatives. 
http://www.indiatogether.org/finish/edits/ralla.htm

For your convenience
********************
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mailing list. Simply enter your email address in the subscription box on
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http://www.indiatogether.org/unsubscribe.htm

Thank you for your time. 
Sincerely,

______________________________________
INDIA Together: "we know, and we care"

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India Together has been made possible by the efforts of several Indian
professionals and students in India and abroad, editors of neighborhood 
newspapers in various Indian cities, and a whole host of other interested 
people. Please visit our website at http://www.indiatogether.org for 
the latest stories and good news related to India. 
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