A trip to Infosys

In late December, our kids were invited to the very fabulous Infosys campus in Mysore. If you're unfamiliar with Infosys, they are a global leader in the "next generation" of IT and consulting with revenues of over US$4 billion. Hugely successful in the business world, Infosys also places great emphasis on giving back to their community.

Manikanta and Lokesh, just slightly excited while on the Infosys Bus

The kids spent the day at the campus, enjoying a dance workshop and games, then a nice lunch and some outside playtime. The photos say it all:

getting ready to leave (that's Silvia in the back left, our volunteer from Germany who took these great photographs; our older kids were on a three-day field trip with their school to interesting places in South Karnataka)


...a far cry from the street...

entering the campus

Imran with his new friend

Netra and Sumitra practicing their balancing skills

Vishnu!


a yummy lunch

some outside time

...saying goodbye...

Thank you to the Infosys SOften team for all that you do for the underprivileged in your country. Your work and your dedication truly set the example for others to follow.

Trees and more trees (and an update on the garden)

In an all-day affair on a Sunday in August, the SOften team from Infosys arrived at Karunya Mane with 56 trees to plant on our grounds (we're so grateful), as part of their charitable environmental efforts.

Sreenevasa got to plant the first tree...
The kids and the SOften team worked together to dig holes and plant the remaining trees (mango, papaya, neem, and many others) both inside and outside of our fence.
Prema and little Nanjunda helped carry dirt...
And Kaleem and Manikanta made sure this little tree was comfortable in its spot.

On a similar green note, here's a recent look at the veggie garden, where tomatoes, okra, green beans, garlic, radish, carrots, and more... are flourishing.
Compare this to the site when we first saw it a year ago February.
Okra from the garden -- great for sambaar.

Socializing with the kids

An aspect of life that our kids have missed out on since now is the kind of socializing that we all take from granted with other members of our society. The kids, having spent most of their lives on the streets of Mysore, mostly interacted with their fellow street kids and the adults living there. The basics of interacting with others socially can be a bit foreign to them.

Now, the kids attend school with students from all socioeconomic backgrounds, which is helping them learn to socialize with their peers. We also welcome people from the community to visit with the kids on Sunday afternoons at Karunya Mane.

Several groups of young professionals from nearby IT firms have done just that. This past Sunday, a group from SOften, a socially conscious organization consisting of young, proactive employees from Infosys talked with the kids and played games with them.

The group played a version of spin the water bottle, where the recipient of the bottle stood up and sang a song to the group.