Hello Ratanji :) First of all..I am superglad to see ur mail. Thanks a bunch. This is exactly what I was hoping for...though not from you.. :) since I have known of your participation through Prasanthi. But again..this was my very idea when I mailed..and I hope to see many more like this. I dont' mind if they are on the same scores...and I am right here to reply. Ur mail just lit my hope alive...that there is ofcourse a way to make people mail...if that makes any sense.
Now...my reply to ur mail. This mail goes out to ppl in general. I dont' want you to think that all these points are aimed at u in particular :) Member & Volunteer...these words go together. U r volunteering & voluntarily accepting to be a member. Wht is just being a Member Sir?? U r there but not there? Is this what a Member's definition is supposed to be since many I have mailed in context to have somehow gladly taken this as the meaning of it????? We donot say only Volunteers can be members...but isn't it obvious that we expect you to be a part of this group??? And is being a part of the group keeing silent all the time??? If so...wht is the difference between u and a non-member?? A tag to ur name sayin u r a member??? When we say Volunteers...we donot expect each n every to go do the work for us...or go out meet ppl in our cases..or donate money whenever we ask and so on. BY ACCEPTING TO BE A MEMBER...U R ALSO ACCEPTING THAT U WILL BE A PART OF THIS GROUP. THIS GROUP IS NOT SLEEPING MEMBERS...THIS GROUP IS PEOPLE WHO ARE ALIVE & WORKING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO WHERE EVER WE CAN. If all decide that we are busy..but we are ofcourse members and there is nothing wrong in it....then I dont' think we will have anything here but a group name and a big list of members sir!! (Infact..plese take a minute here and ask if you think any of the active members are not busy. Some of these people who are actually doing the work in hyd...like Prasanthi...Krishna...Murali...Jayaram...Soumya...Chandra...do you feel all of these have lots of extra time to spend of these activities?? They pull out time for this and god knows against how many extra sleepless hours of work or giving up lunch hrs to work. I will understand that sense of responsibility might differ from person to person...which is the deciding factor on how much you want to be involved in a particular thing or how much time one wants to spend against it....but...sense of responsibility to an extent that its okay to just maintain silence all the time...isnt' enough to be a member of this group in particular...and it is nothing but lenience on our part that kept the list intact till now sir!!). I have a list in my hand...with 113 members...to my shock ofcourse..since I never noticed that we have so many members in here. The shock was that hardly 15 perhaps are active members...and adding another 10 who try mail or communicate to us somehow...rest are all a mystery. I will get to the part where I might feel a little better knowing that perhaps some of these donot have internet access and so on..but what about the rest??? To all the lines u wrote saying u have interenet access 24 hrs..u r on computer 12 hrs...u dont reply does it mean the mails go to junk..u open one mail where all the other mails are tagged right behind eachother...u have never donated does it mean u will never donate --- HOW AM I TO IMAGINE ALL THIS IF U DONOT COMMUNICATE? U wrote me now...and hence I know it all from ur end. THT IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANT' - PPL TO COMMUNICATE. We donot mind knowing that u r superbusy to answer us....and hence cannot be an active participant...but...u have to tell us that...for us to know. What is Member in a true sense - this is a question to urself sir! It is not something I would section under Eligibility Condition since IT IS YOU WHO DECIDES IT...and if u answer urself truthfully...it is not sitting in silence!! Ur group name is SHIFT u said...saying u r people who are busy with work.So u all work hard. When u take up a job...u decide how to do it..but u aim at accomplishing it. U work around ur time n means but u make sure u r doing justice to ur job. Taking up a task of being a member is equal too...except that it doesn't pay u money..but it pays u satisfaction in various aspects that u had in mind when u joined. Infact this is one of those that is happy with just 2 mins of ur time...and that too once a while and not everyday. Why does this totally get unnoticed all along then??? How is it soo super different that it can wait all life...??? and everything els including n not limited to watching movies..chatting with friends...going around places....taking tea/coffee/snack breaks...running some air....listening to music and all those hobbies of urs....n what not including reading a book in the restroom is more important than this??? I am sorry...but dont' you think we should perhaps take this a bit more seriously than what most of us are doing??? What is responsibility that we are talking about relieving you - See...you could never associate the word responsibility with u being a member here! Is there no responsibility really??? U see none??? Every so often Prasanthi has been mailing ppl to write something..say something and every so often we have had discussions on what to do with members who are never there for anything. Seriously...think twice n answer me please....when everything in this world comes with a responsibility...why dont' u c any in this???? LIKE: U go to a movie - ur RESPONSIBILITY to buy a ticket n not tear ur seat when u r mad. U buy something - ur RESP to take good care of it - or u loose it. U talk to someone - ur RESP to talk in a social fashion making sure u dont' talk otherwise. U walk and ur RESP to not fall on someone. U eat or drink something...and it is ur RESP to get it down ur throat and not up ur nose. EVERY LITTLE THING THAT YOU DO EVERYDAY...COMES WITH SENSE ON HOW TO GO ABOUT IT....WHICH IS NOTHING BUT "RESPONSIBILITY". When we are blessed with a brain that tells us all this automatically...isnt' that brain up on our head not saying anything about what is the sense that comes with being a member of this group???? Or have we chosen to ignore it somehow??? Earning bread for a family or raising a child is not just what comes under responsibility. This word has more broader meaning as u see. Everything comes with a responsibility..and everything actually comes with a price too. In groups such as these...the price is that if u choose to ignore the group...the group has but ofcourse a choice n every right to ignore u too. U mentioned that ppl are silent in this group and it is not helping and u added 'never know' indirectly. I SERIOUSLY DONT' KNOW actually. Please enlighten me on this. Of what good are these members other than for headcount?? What should I do with their names...and with all due respect - OF WHAT GOOD IS THEIR NAME TO ME SIR??? No..ur silence is not harming us or hampering us in anyway...but of what good is it too again??? U r as good as a non-member isnt' it??? Then why do u deserve to be a member??? U said many time ppl donot reply becos someone els has said the same u wanted to already. In case of active members...it makes sense if u dont' reply thinking this way. But..in case of others...cant' u type two small words "I AGREE" and click on send??? R u super busy to do that...specially when u had time to read through all those mails spending time already??? Is that half extra minute that hard to spend??? What should I call this thought behind not replying??? We are not here to strengthen our points by mutual voting U said..but to go with what is generally accepted. When we are going with what is generally accepted....we did not miss you as much as when we were ofcourse hoping to see ur vote to strengthen our points....or to decide on picking one amongst more than one options. Here when I mentioned Krishna n Arjuna part...the context behind my mind was about a member who when I asked about why this person didnot vote....actually thought we were wasting time debating on something like this and there could be a better name which is more nicer, beautiful and sweet n simple to this group. Tht is why I said..we are open to even ppl thinking we are wasting time n so on. We are open if ppl want to enlighten us on something aswell....and we will consider and try correcting ourselves too if required. Ofcourse I've known of ur participation thru Prasanthi Mr.Ratan. And that is why I am not too happy that U were the first one to reply my knock-knock mail....since my target were those who sleep totally over this group. These silent spectators can be potentially helpful to society u wrote. Well n good and I hope so too. But...today I keep them a part of this group...even if they are totally sleeping over us...hoping tomorrow they might be potential helpers to society....well...here...ARENT' U ASKING TOO MUCH OF US??? ''''Going by the dictionary meaning, volunteer means a person who performs or offers to perform a service voluntarily. And by reading the group mails, keeping quiet, is that person violating the eligibility to be a volunteer? ''''' - to these words of urs....BY ACCEPTING TO BEING A MEMBER OF A GROUP - UR SERVICE BEINGS n NOT ENDS. ...and in these people I am trying to reach...I see no service or wantingness to serve or even a word communicated on record whatsoever about anything related or unrelated to this subject or any subject actually. Always expect a reply from me Mr. Ratan..if the mail or reference was to me. I never forget to reply...even if there would be a scenario when I have to apologise, or even in the busiest of my schedules. I speak upfront..and speakout my thoughts too. I believe that communication is a gift to mankind...specially using such ocean of words to pick from...and that is why I said if some of the people here are shy...then we need to talk...and I will give my best to try make them understand how much an impact Speech n Communication can make. No..I am not the banging on the face kind :) bothways actually...and hence cannot extend the same courtesy to u too :D So...feel free to write back...and I am right here to reply n TALK. I luv to use phrases that add some fun n color to mails...but thats about it :) No actual harm intended :) I am a Girl..U C SIR...I keep off from trouble :) hehe. Last but not the least...We want you to be members of this group...and we are doing all we can to show or convey the same...but...what are you doing to show us u want' to remain a member?? -Divs Hmm...I am soo hoping we get many more mails like this. ********************************************************************** Yes...I have known of u from number of Prasanthis' mails. --- In [email protected], "Ratan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hello All (esp. Divya), > For all except one or two members in this group, I am Ratan Kumar Singh, a member of this group (read mailing) from the beginning. I was interested to be posted about the developments that are taking place at Prasanthi/MAD's end. I am associated with another group in the name of SHiFT. Now probably you know me a little more. Prasanthi mentions about SHiFT sometimes in her mails. I am one of the many targetted by Divya. I do understand her concern very well because I do have a group and I know how it feels when members don't reply to mails especially when we ask for some information/suggestion. Despite all these odds, we are trying our level best to keep the hopes alive amongst all of us and to do whatever we can do for the society. I have figured out that the major problem our members have is the lack of time. Aptly we have registered our group as SHiFT (Service and Help in Free Time). Now you can understand the logic of the name. > Divya asked, if by accepting to be a member of this group (read yahoo mail group) makes one a volunteer or not. Very good question. And as I am at the receiving end here, I would like to reply this way: I prefered to be a member in MAD yahoo group. But by becoming so, did I claim that I am a volunteer? Does MAD says ONLY VOLUNTEERS CAN BE MEMBERS IN THE MAIL GROUP? The very intention of any mail group is to share the thoughts of members thinking MOSTLY alike and have some common objective. If for some reason I am not able to write to the group, does that mean I am forwarding these mails to junk/trash? I have never given any donations for any cause MAD has taken up so far. Does that mean I wont be donating anything for the rest of my life? I have net at office, connected all 24 hours and as I work for about 12 hours a day, I am literally connected to internet all these time. But does that really mean I have time to reply mails? Or does that either mean I am not reading all the mails? Here most of the mails go in a replied manner. You write something, someone else will reply to it with your message contained therein, a third member replies to that mail with his thoughts and never forgets to add the previous two mails (see this particular mail for example). So if I open the latest mail, I get to read all the mails (without opening them) with the same caption. > Now I am facing Divya's question directly. What will make me a member in true sense? What is that true sense? If there is any, please put it upto the forum under the head: ELIGIBILITY CONDITION. If someone fulfils one or some of those conditions,then only s/he will be accepted as a member to the group. > And if we are talking about relieveing from responsibility is concerned, what responsibility was assigned which could not be done hence relieveing from the same is being questioned? People like me are silent in this group. And I know this is not helping in anyway (we never know). But is it creating any sort of trouble to the group/members/objective? If yes, please remove such ids who are silent, but reading your mails, appreicating your thoughts and if they are not agreeing to your ideas/suggestions,then they are not replying anything to that effect because by that time somene more active is pointing out the same which supports their thoughts. I have seen few memebers are so active that when some sugegstion comes up, they immediately give their feelings/sugeestions to the group. And SOCIAL SERVICE being the objective of this group, there are not much deviations from what is there in one mail or the other replies. So wehn they find their disagreement is also being mentioned by someone else,they keep quiet because we are not here to strengthen our suggestions by mutual voting, but to go with what is generally accepted. So the question of exchanging roles of Krisna or Arjun is really not coming into the scene. > Personally when I feel like sharing some information, I do call up Prasanthi and sometimes she calls me up. I do read all the mails, keep myself updated about the developments in MAD and when I will feel I can be of help in someway, I will definitely volunteer for the same, either through mail or over phone. So though I appreciate all your concern about the silent members, I request not to be so harsh to them by deciding to delete the ids fromt he group mails. Be blunt but be lenient. You never know many of those silent spectators could turn out to be potentially helpful to the society someday. Going by the dictionary meaning, volunteer means a person who performs or offers to perform a service voluntarily. And by reading the group mails, keeping quiet, is that person violating the eligibility to be a volunteer? > I don't expect any reply/explanation to my mail. I just felt like saying here.But I welcome any comments/criticism on my mail. Feel free to bang me on my face, either through group mailing or directly. > Regards, > Ratan > > On Thu, 04 May 2006 Lakshmi Prasanthi Uppalapati wrote : > Hi Divya, > Good Evening.Nice to see that you begin to play your role. A very good mail.My suggestions are: > 1. See the members' profession and the accessibility of internet to him. > a) If he is other than soft pro, there are little chances that they can get access to NET. Example: Sri Koteswara Rao garu. But he is very much interested in being a part of the group and he has been donating money on project basis. He even collected from his friends and send to us. b) Software pros who are too busy to check their mails. > Example: Prabhakar garu. He is the brother of a friend of mine. And most of us would be really busy at times. > So let us request our members to send one mail a month just for our information that they are following the group mails and also send in their complaints and suggestions. (I hope this much they can do). I don't think so that expecting an hour or two in a week and few hours in a month would be heavy. We will try to send a summary of cases or latest that is going on in the group in a special mail or a newsletter form of setup, so that the people > who do not have access to internet, can just go through it instead of reading all mails. What do you say? Other members, please respond. > Thank you. > > >On 5/3/06, divyapryga <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On and Off I have been wondering on the Volunteer count ratio against Active Volunteer number. Now that I am working towards Volunteer Retention aswell....I think this mail is part of the project too. How are you a Volunteer of MAD?? Does accepting to be a member of this group make you a Volunteer and its as simple as that?? If your reply is a yes...please mail me ur id and I will make sure I talk to Prasanthi on deleting your id. As blunt as it sounds....I donot think many of us here really are members in true sense. This group doesnot expect its members to respond to every mail, respond to our calls all the time, send in your donation whenever we ask (though I would personally love that). But....not bothering to read mails....ignoring them totally...or maintaining silence all the time would not help it either. We need feedback...some kind of a sign that you want to be as much a part of this group as we do. > What makes you a Volunteer? > > What have you actually Volunteered for?? What made you join this group??? If its a request from a friend...that you couldnot say no to...or if its a decision you think was spontaneous and you regret it now...or could never find time for again from joining till now...please...again...mail me ur ids. The term Volunteer itself communicates...that you out of ur will have agreed to render certain services. Where in the world are those services when it comes to more than half of members in this group??? Like I said...we donot expect more of you..but...not expecting anything doesnt' make sense to me. It is this expectation of help and assurance from eachother that brought us all together....and it is this mutual help n efforts from us all that will keep the group going towards saving lives. > > We will understand if you have not been able to be an active member of this group though ur intentions were very right when u joined and still remain equal. Same goes with people who are not able to respond becos of time constraints. But..this is the time. I need to know ur thoughts. If you wish to continue a member....and hope to become an active member in future when things might ease out a little for you...I would be more than happy to keep you under our Volunteer Reserve list. If you think you cannot really participate in all this....please communicate the same. We will be more than happy to relieve you of this responsibility. If you are a person who hesitates writing to the group...but prefers being a part of our Group..and does go thru all our group mails and > happenings....then....You & I NEED TO TALK...becos ur silence isnt' helping sir :) The best part is you can talk one on one with me...and I will figure out the solution :D hehe. > If you are one of those who thinks our direction is wrong...the way we work is not right...or donot agree with anything this group concerns....mail rightway. We are here to listen to you and correct ourselves if you are right and we are not. Please enlighten us. We never said we cannot play Arjuna n let you be Lord Krishna. We are always ready for an episode of Geetha :) but you have to SPEAK. Any thought, any suggestion, any thought just anytime...MAIL US...we are here to go through each and every mail and reply. > If this mail reaches one of those who puts this groups' mails into Junk...Godforbid...their angels hope I dont get hold of their details in group profiles here. For if I do...then there are not many pretty options left. (Its BARBECUE time...n the suns' shining bright in this part of the country) I EXPECT MAILS either to the group id..or to my personal id at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or my yahoo id available in this group. > RESPOND NOW PLEASE. I would also love to hear from people who mail us once a while or who catch up with our donation calls as and when they can. It is always nice to hearback from you....and that will also keep us reassured that we are not wrong about you n your support :) > > Divya >
