శుక్లాం బ్రహ్మ విచారసార పరమాం ఆద్యాం జగద్వ్యాపినీమ్
వీణా పుస్తక ధారిణీం అభయదాం జాడ్యాంధకారాపహామ్
హస్తే స్ఫాటికమాలికాం విదధతీం పద్మాసనే సంస్థితామ్
వందే త్వాం పరమేశ్వరీం భగవతీం బుద్ధిప్రదాం శారదామ్
The above verse is in praise
of the Goddess of Knowledge, Saraswathi, wherein the Goddess is praised as the
One who holds the Book of Knowledge and thus provides an assurance and also
drives away the deep darkness of being idle. Knowledge is indeed the assurance
of good life, and the light that illuminates everything around us and inside us
too! Knowledge gives the discretion of good and bad, and provides insight into
ways of the world, and is the great power that drives our senses, our
intelligence, our experience. Not only that, but knowledge also gives comforts,
brings name, fame and fortunes, and garners respect from the greatest people. “vidyaa bandhu janO vidESa gamanE” wrote
Bhartru Hari, meaning “knowledge is one’s relative in a foreign
land”. Such knowledge is represented, and preserved, in alphabet (aksharam) in speech or written form.
“na ksharati iti aksharam” is an etymological elucidation of the
word “aksharam”, meaning “that which does not get destroyed”. Thus, Knowledge
is that special Wealth which can neither be stolen by a thief nor can be
divided among brothers; it does not cause any load on the acquirer either – it
increases as it is spent! Knowledge is acclaimed to be one of the greatest
forms of Wealth, and imparting Knowledge is praised as being the best gift (dänam) one can offer.
The community of “Akshara” is
our small effort to help poor Brahmins struggling to overcome the financial
hurdles for getting quality higher education in the present globalized world.
Please come forward to join our Akshara team for this noble cause. It is inspired
by the spirit of the word aksharam,
and our effort is to keep the rendered help alive, self-assuring, and
knowledge-giving.
Akshara Structure
Akshara Structure has been modified for the effective functioning of different activities in the team. This restructure helps in improved mentoring to the beneficiaries with the concept of Mentors/Recognized Mentors and hassle-free funds transfer to the beneficiaries. With the new structure, Akshara team now consists of mainly four kinds of members: Administrator of Akshara, Members, Mentors and Recognised Mentors.
Administrator: Administrator is the
sole owner of all the mailing groups, blogs and forums related to Akshara. The
decision of the Administrator is final in any matters related to Akshara. The
Administrator will interact with the Akshara members group from the e-mail
address
<admin.akshara@gmail.com> .The Administrator will
participate in the e-mail discussions among members in Akshara group and will
take feedback from discussions in the group.
Members: Members have to
contribute at least certain amount as donation to Akshara, and the minimum
amount of donation is decided by the Administrator every year. Members
can join as a regular member by choosing one of the available Recognized
Mentors. Each Recognized Mentor has 15 regular members attached to him. Regular
members contribute a fixed amount on yearly or monthly basis. All Regular members are
added to the Google Group Akshara, where they can interact with the Group
members by e-mailing to <aksharatb@googlegroups.com>. Members can propose a beneficiary
to the community and can also become a mentor to the beneficiary if desired. A newsletter of Akshara
will be sent to all the members periodically from the Administrator of Akshara.
Members are subscribed to the Akshara news letter automatically. Occasional
contributors who want to help for any particular beneficiary on one time basis
can contact the concerned Recognized Mentor for that particular beneficiary
Mentors: Mentors
are the members who propose a beneficiary to the community, generally. If in
any case the proposer of beneficiary is not in a position to handle the case as
a mentor, such cases may be transferred to some other members who are
interested in mentoring that case. It is the primary responsibility of the
mentor to work with one of the recognized mentors to raise the fund. Mentor is
a bridge between the community and the beneficiary. Members may not directly
send the fund to these Mentors. Mentors will receive the required fund from the
recognized mentor and he will submit the records of fee payment etc. to the
concerned recognized mentor.
Recognized Mentors: Recognized
mentors are the members who had handled one or more cases in Akshara previously
and they are closely associated with the moderators. Recognized mentors shall
be identified by a separate thread in the Orkut Akshara community with link
given
http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#CommMsgs?cmm=42454231&tid=5496445909986268660&start=1.Members are requested to send the monetary help only to these recognized mentors to enable double checking in the funds flow to the beneficiary.
http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#CommMsgs?cmm=42454231&tid=5496445909986268660&start=1.Members are requested to send the monetary help only to these recognized mentors to enable double checking in the funds flow to the beneficiary.
Community: We believe that people
need to understand our activities before they pitch-in. We want to build a
community where everyone is aligned with the goals of the community and
motivated to help our fellow Brahmins. There are forums where people can join
and understand us before they can actually take part in Akshara. The idea of
Akshara itself started in the Orkut community of Telugu Brahmins (TB) <http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=1725955> and Akshara community
will try to work closely with the Telugu Brahmins community in future
also.
We have also created <http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=42454231>, a separate and
exclusive Orkut community owned by the Administrator and moderated by people
chosen by him. This will be used for Akshara related discussions among Orkut
community members. You can also read our blog with Akshara articles at
<http://aksharatb.blogspot.com>.
Please be part of these
communities, understand our motives and suggest others to join.
Note: Akshara is not
affiliated to any organizations. Mails from <admin.akshara@gmail.com> should only be
considered as authentic. In case of Orkut communities, posts from moderators of
TB or Akshara should only be considered in decisions related to Akshara in the
respective communities. In case of any queries/issues/conflicts please contact
us at the E-mail address <admin.akshara@gmail.com>.
Akshara Beneficiaries: We are currently
considering only poor Telugu Brahmin students who want to pursue their higher
education above 10th standard as Akshara
beneficiaries. However, depending on the case and the availability of our
financial resources, we can consider other beneficiaries.
Any person related to
Akshara community can propose a new beneficiary by way of e-mail to <admin.akshara@gmail.com>. The decision about offering financial help
shall be taken by the Akshara Administrator or shall be discussed in the Google
Group for Akshara, depending on the time and financial resources available to
the group.
Akshara Beneficiaries 2012
As discussed in the last
year’s upcoming projects, we are happy to announce our association with Tummalapudi Annapurna Brahmin Student Home,
Vijayawada in the year
2012. We have selected the most deserving students from different educational
backgrounds (1-MCA, 1-Engineering, and 1-Bcom/ICWA) to help them in meeting
their educational needs and prioritized 3 beneficiaries from the Student Home based on their financial background. This year we have added 4 beneficiaries, 3 are
from Student Home and one is from Vijayawada
for a scholarship in Intermediate. Apart from this we have continued our help
to Siva Rama Santhosh in his final year of engineering and our other
beneficiary, Laxmi Aditya (to whom we have helped for her Intermediate in the
past 2 years got seat in Engineering under government scholarship) for her
first year in Engineering. In total we have helped 6 beneficiaries this year
with a total fund of INR 53,000.
1)
Beneficiary Name: M.Harshita Lakshmi Kalyani Kumari
Beneficiary ID: 2012001
Village/Town: C/O Naga electricals, RR Complex, Srinivasa Agraharam,
Vijayamahal gate, Nellore
Vijayamahal gate, Nellore
Father’s Name: M.Lakshmi
Narasimha Rao (working @ Naga electricals)
Qualification: 10th
class, 9.5 grade points
Support from Akshara to pursue: Intermediate MEC, Master Minds Junior
college, Nellore
Recognized Mentor: V.Pavan Kumar /Indira Ghadiyaram
Mentor: Shravan Kumar Hullur
Funding for current year: Rs. 5000 as a scholarship
Funding in previous years: None
2)
Beneficiary Name: Repudi Pattabhi Ramaiah
Beneficiary ID: 2012002
Village/Town: C/O Sri.Tummalapudi Annapurna Brahmin.Student Home, Peddibhotla
Vari Street, D.NO:27-17-75, Governor Pet, Vijayawda
Father’s Name: R.Phaneswara
Rao ( Temple Archaka)
Qualification: B.Sc. (Computers)
Support from Akshara to pursue: MCA 3rd Year, Gudlavalleru
Engineering College
Recognized Mentor: Krishna Kishore Gunturi
Mentor: Sriram Popuri
Funding for current year: Rs. 4000 as a scholarship to meet building fund
etc. from the fee that is not covered by Govt. scholarship scheme
Funding in previous years: None
3)
Beneficiary Name: B.Phani Kiran
Beneficiary ID: 2012003
Village/Town: C/O Sri.Tummalapudi Annapurna Brahmin.Student Home, Peddibhotla
Vari Street, D.NO:27-17-75, Governor Pet, Vijayawda
Qualification: 2nd B.Tech. (ECE)
Support from Akshara to
pursue: 3rd
Year B.Tech, NIMRA Institute of Science & Technology, Vijayawada
Father: B.Dakshina Murthy
(Watchman)
Recognized Mentor: Krishna Kishore GP
Mentor: Krishna Kishore GP
Funding for current year: Rs. 4000 as a scholarship to meet building fund
etc. from the fee not covered by Govt scholarship scheme
Funding in previous years: None
4)
Beneficiary Name: SNVP SAI VEDA
Beneficiary ID: 2012004
Village/Town: C/O Sri.Tummalapudi Annapurna Brahmin.Student Home, Peddibhotla
Vari Street, D.NO:27-17-75, Governor Pet, Vijayawda
Father: S.Naga Pradeep (STD Booth)
Qualification: II B.Com Including ICWA
Support from Akshara to pursue: To continue the ICWA coaching as well as
B.Com courses
Recognized Mentor: Krishna Kishore GP
Mentor: Krishna Kishore GP
Funding for current year: Rs. 20000 to meet the coaching fee of ICWA and
B.Com
Funding in previous years: None
5)
Beneficiary Name: VeeraGhanta Laxmi Adhitya
Beneficiary
ID: 2010003
Village/Town: Hno:1-4/3-7 C/O J. Krishna Rao,
Jonnavithulavari street, KK Nagar,vijayawada
Father’s Name: V.V.Ram
(Late)
Qualification: Intermediate, 91% MPC
Support from Akshara to pursue: B Tech 1st year, ECE, Nimra college of
Engineering & Technology
Recognized Mentor: V.Pavan Kumar
Mentor: Krishna Kishore GP
Funding for current year: Rs. 10000 as a scholarship to meet building fund
etc. from the fee not covered by Govt
scholarship scheme
Funding in previous years: 2011: Rs 8,000/-
2010: Rs 6,500/-
6)
Beneficiary Name: Siva Rama Santhosh
Beneficiary ID: 2007002
Village/Town:
Srimukhalingam (Srikakulam District)
Qualification: Diploma in
EEE with 80%
Support from Akshara to pursue: B.Tech in CSE from AITAM College,Tekkali
Recognized Mentor:
Chandra Sekhar
Mentor: Kamesh
Telikicherla
Funding for current year:
2012 - Rs. 10,000/-
Funding in previous years:
2011 - Rs. 10,000/-
2010 - Rs. 10000/-
2009 - Rs. 10000/-
2008 - Rs. 5000/-
2007 - Rs. 10,000/-
(Akshara
funded a total of 25,000 for his Diploma in EEE)
We would like
to thank Amulya Sharma,Goutham Mylavarapu and Vijaybharadwaj G for their
contributions
Akshara Success Stories 2012
The year 2012 has been a fruitful year for Akshara in terms of
adding more beneficiaries and beneficiaries getting settled with good jobs from
campus recruitments.
The following are the key Success Stories of Akshara in the year
2012:
●
Association with Tummalapudi
Annapurna Brahmin Student Home, Vijayawada which helped in adding 3 more beneficiaries this
year
●
Our Beneficiary Siva
Rama Santhosh (2007002 to whom we helped with an amount of 25000 for Diploma
in EEE and 30000 for Engineering in CSE) got selected in EXL INFOTEL as a trainee from Campus Recruitments held at
AITAM College, Tekkali.
●
Our other Beneficiary Pavan (2010002 to whom we have helped with an amount of 12500 for his
B.Sc Computer Science) got selected in L&T and currently working as
accountant in one of the L&T Ventures at Jaggayyapeta. He is also
interested in pursuing MBA as a part time or full time from the same college
where he has done his graduation.
Thank you note from Our
Beneficiary Siva Rama Santhosh
first of all i am very thankful to akshara...There are so many students
just like me whose financial status is just above average....they are many
students whose dream is to pursue higher education but they are not in a
position to spend that much money....so just like me many of my friends can
fulfill their dreams only because of AKSHARA....I feel very proud for AKSHARA
because of their cooperation i fulfilled my dream and settled......heart full
thanks to you and entire akshara team.....
Other Interesting Community Topics
Veda Vidya Paathsala at Chandolu (Narration By Krishna Kishore GP)
I visited in early 2012, a Vedic school being run by one
Tadepally Raghavanarayana Sastry Kanchi Chandrasekharendra Saraswathy Samy Veda
Vidya Society. You can refer to following links to know about Late Sri Tadpaly
Raghavanarayana Sastry garu also known as Chandolu Sastry garu.
They didn’t affiliate the Vedic school run by them to Vedic
University of TTD, as TTD can send anybody to their school for Vedic education,
which they don’t want to do. They are running a Vedic school with about 30
students. It is located at Chandolu in Guntur District, AP. You can reach there
by bus from Ponnuru (Nidubrolu Railway station) to Repalle. About 15 min from
Ponnuru by bus and no train route available to Chandolu. There is a Sakthi
Peetham and associated Vedic School. One should not expect a big temple there
but a sanctum worshipped in a small old building. They are constructing a
building for permanent housing of teachers at the Vedic school. Interested
people can contact them if they want to give any donations for the same. The
Vedic school Secretary, Tadepaly Lashmidhara Somayajulu garu gave me their
contact number and address on my request, as they never seek funds. They feel
it will be taken care by Sakthi sitting there.
Tadepally Lakshmidhara Somayajulu,
Secretary, T.R.N.S.K.C.S.S.VV. Welfare Society,
Chandolu-522 311, Guntur District (AP)
Phone: 08643 255216
My mother had told me one interesting story when I visited that
place. Her grandfather Sri Mulukutla Satynarayana Sastry garu helped Chandolu
Sastry garu in bringing the Sakthi from Chandaluru to Chandolu. According to my
mother her grandfather used to practice Asta Digbandhana and Devata Aavahana
and Chandolu Sastry garu gave him the duty to welcome the Sakthi from
Chandaluru to Chandolu. Chandaluru
Mahalaksmi is again one well known Sakthi peetham in Prakasam District of AP.
In his dreams, Chandaluru Mahalakshmi Devi had asked Cahndolu Sastry garu many
times to bring her to his house and to establish a peetham in his house.
Chandolu Sastry garu was reluctant initially as he needed to do daily pooja and
other offerings to the deity, if brought to his home. He would not be able to
do it as he would be spending most of his time in Samadhi with Sri Balatripura
Sundari. Later when his wife assured him that she would take care of such daily
rituals, he agreed to bring her form Chandaluru to Chandolu.
