I would like to thank several more people for donating to this fundraiser:

Vinaya Raghuram for a donation of $25;
Vinutha Kolathaya for a donation of $20;
Yaji Jayanti for a donation of $20;
Sandeep Prabhu for a donation of $10;
Priya Sureka for a donation of $10;
Varalakshmi Polamraju for a donation of $5;
Sini Sumedh for a donation of $5.

I’d also like to thank Neeta Vora contributing $50 to this cause. Thank you all!

Hello dear supporters,

I’d like to thank a few people here for making a contribution to my fundraiser:

– Eric Strong for a donation of $25
– Padma Joshi for a donation of $20
– Michelle Tran for a donation of $5

Thank you all for your support! I appreciate everyone who makes a contribution, no matter how small.

I’d also like to share two stories I received in the past few days of real children helped by your donations through Pratham.

1. Excited about English: Satyam

Thank you all for your support.

Thirteen year old Satyam now attends 7th grade at the government school nearby. He takes advantage of the English, Math and Science programs at the Pratham Urban Learning Center. At home, he lives with his parents; his father is a day laborer and his mother stays at home to take care of him and his older sister who helps him practice his English.

His goal after school is to become a scientist, and the programs that he takes through Pratham help him work towards achieving that dream.

Before he began the English program, Satyam could only read and write in Hindi, and only knew how to introduce himself in English. Now Satyam confidently writes all of his class notes in English and can carry out a conversation in English as well.

Satyam loves attending the Urban Learning Center as he feels that learning is now fun and interesting; He also feels confident when he goes to school.

In Satyam’s free time, he enjoys playing cricket in the park on Sundays and now, reading in English.

2. Fueling her ambitions: Vandana

Vandana is a girl with a dream. She has been coming to the library at the Pratham Hub Center for over a year now. Her devotion to education is inspiring: every day she wakes up at 5:30 in order to be at school by 6:00 where she is in sixth grade, and then right after school, she comes straight to the library. Her sisters used to come along with her, but as she says, they were too tired to come, but Vandana’s devotion never wavered.

As soon as she arrives at the library, Vandana and her supervisor collect the other seven girls who attend the library with her. Their community is very tight-knit where not only do the girls attend the library together but they also dance together and in a couple days will be going on a field trip to the Indian Cultural Center with the supervisor from the library.

Vandana is also extremely supportive of her classmates at the library. When they all sit down, she will pick out seven books, one for each of her friends; when anyone is struggling to keep up, Vandana will be right by their side because, as her teacher says, Vandana has read every book they have in the library. Vandana’s favorite class in school is English, and through her time at the library, she has excelled in both reading and writing in English.

When she is older, she wants to move to America and work as a doctor and artist. Her favorite pastime is drawing; often as the other girls in the library are reading, Vandana will pick up one of the books that she has already read, pick a picture from the pages, and create her own version of the illustration. Her masterpieces are hung up around the Hub Center, and her mother and library supervisor have encouraged her to enter a local painting contest for children. Bright Vandana has many ambitions and the community at Pratham has helped her thrive to make those dreams come true.

Thank you all for supporting Vandana in pursuing her dreams.

Thank you to Gurdev Jagpal for donating $10 towards this cause. Thank you very much, sir, I appreciate your support!

Hi everyone!

I’ve now decided to make updates to this page once a week; that will help regulate the number of emails everyone gets from SeeYourImpact.

Anywho, this week I would like to thank the following people for donating to my fundraiser:

– Manoj Chopra for a $50 contribution
– Vineeta Salvi for a $25 contribution
– Shuba Varadarajan for a $25 contribution
– Bobby Simmons for a $25 contribution
– Ravi Penmetsa for a $25 contribution
– Sapna Jaiswal for a $25 contribution
– Venky Venkatraman for a $11 contribution.

I’m so glad that all of you see that I really believe in this cause and that you’ve made the choice to support me. Thank you all so much!

I’d like to copy here another story of a child who has been helped by Pratham thanks to your donations.

Back on track: Kamlesh

Nine year old Kamlesh studies in grade three in a low economic neighborhood of the Pansar District of Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat, India. A Pratham intervention in that area showed that his learning level was way below his grade level, which meant that he was far from knowing or understanding what a third grader should know.

This was a major eye opener for his parents, who immediately decided to enroll him in a Pratham Learning Camp.

The pre-test conducted on day one of the learning camp showed that Kamlesh could only read single words and count numbers from 1 to 99. During the course of the camp, he was grouped with other children who were at the same level as him and taught via Pratham’s teaching methodology.

What a difference one week of teaching can make. By the end of the camp, Kamlesh could read full paragraphs and do addition and subtraction. And now, he knows all his numbers up to 1,000. In fact, all school lessons are easier for Kamlesh now.

Thanks to your donation, Kamlesh is a happy, confident learner. Thank you for making this possible.

Thanks to Kalyan Sadaram for a contribution of $25. I really appreciate your donation; thank you sir!

Thank you to these four people for making a contribution to this cause:

Sunil Talati for donating $50;
Shivani for donating $50;
Kanwar Singh for donating $25;
and Prashanth Saidu for donating $25.

Through your donation, you’ve helped provide for the welfare of children in India and made a difference in their futures. Thank you all!

Thanks to Ranjani Venkataraman for a donation of $50 – I’m glad the website worked for you this time!

Thank you as well to Nagarajan Muthusamy for donating $5.

I’ve passed the $1,500 mark! Wow! Back when I started this fundraiser in early June, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I’d make it this far. Thank you all so much for your support, both monetary and otherwise. I appreciate it so much, truly. It’s really quite heartwarming to see that people are ready to support such a charitable cause – that they’re willing to make a difference in the lives of the impoverished, the underprivileged, the unfortunate. It’s absolutely amazing.

I know I’ve said it a thousand times already, but I have to say it again – thank you ALL so much. Without you guys, I wouldn’t be here today. Thank you for making this possible. (So far, thanks to your contributions, I’ve helped 60 children! That’s 60 lives now enriched with endless possibilities – thanks to you.)

To everyone who has donated and helped me thus far: thank you! If you could please spread the word about this fundraiser, I’d appreciate it immensely. The more people who know about it, the better chance kids in India have at receiving an education. To everyone else, it’s still not too late to make a donation! This fundraiser runs till October 31st, so you’ve got about two months left to make the decision to support a child in India. Remember: just $25 funds one child’s education for one whole year.

Please consider making a donation today.

Thank you to Ramanathan Ekambaram ($25) and Satish Maramreddy ($20) for taking the time to make a donation to help children in India receive an education!

Also, yesterday’s update contained an error – I accidentally typed $25 instead of $20 for Neeraja Sunkaramuni’s donation. I apologize for the mistake.

Thank you to Reshma Parikh for a donation of $25, Neeraja Sunkaramuni for a donation of $25, and Roopa Mukund for a donation of $5.

Thank you all so much! I really appreciate your supporting me in this fundraiser and giving children in India the chance to succeed. Your donation makes a huge difference.

Thank you so much to Annie Hang, one of my best friends from Belmont, Massachusetts (we went to middle school together) for contributing $20 to this cause! Thanks for your donation, Annie, I appreciate it

Thanks to several of my neighbors for donating a combined amount of $60. I really appreciate your support. Thank you all!

Recently, I received the stories of three children in India whose lives have been improved thanks to your donations. I’d like to share those with you here. (Unfortunately, I can’t copy and paste the pictures of the children, but you can still read their stories below!)

1. A future leader: Dhruv

When we first encounter Dhruv, he is animatedly playing and laughing with his little sister and a group of children. He is a social little boy — his favorite part of the day is meeting other young children. But don’t let this animated little joker fool you — according to his teachers, Dhruv is an exceptionally talented student. And his aspirations are noble — Dhruv wants to be an army officer when he grows up.

Seven year old Dhruv is a student in Pratham’s Early Literacy and Numeracy program (Balwachan), which is designed specifically for first and second grade students that are falling behind. Balwachan helps children develop and improve upon their reading and writing skills, recognize numbers up to 50, and solve simple addition and subtraction problems.

Balwachan includes creative learning activities that are often not part of the government school curriculum. Pratham aims to build both literacy skills and self-confidence through activities such as Picture Reading, where a child builds a story through pictures, and Story Time, where the students tell their own tale. Students also learn the concept of time and how to tell the time.

2. Presenting a future “famous doctor”: Hanok

Seven year old Hanok is a student in Pratham’s Early Literacy and Numeracy Program (Balwachan), which is designed specifically for first and second grade students that are falling behind in their studies. Balwachan helps children develop and improve upon their reading and writing skills, recognize numbers up to 50, and solve simple addition and subtraction problems.

Balwachan includes creative learning activities that are not often part of the government school curriculum. Pratham aims to build both literacy skills and self-confidence through activities such as Picture Reading, where a child builds a story through pictures, and Story Time, where the students tell their own tale. Students also learn the concept of time and how to tell time.

Hanok is an enthusiastic learner — he enjoys his classes so much that he comes to the center every day. You may be surprised by his favorite aspect of his school – his teachers! He is delighted to see them each day. And his teachers are equally impressed with him, even if he needs to work on his concentration.

When Hanok grows up, he doesn’t just want to become a doctor, he wants to become “a famous doctor.”

3. Never too soon to start succession planning: Chirag

The teachers at Trilok Puri already have a successor — Chirag! Indeed, the seven year old boy has decided to become a teacher to help poor children. The teachers at the center have been able to give him the special care and attention he needs, and Chirag has become a very good student.

Chirag is a student in Pratham’s Early Literacy and Numeracy Program (Balwachan), which is designed specifically for first and second grade students that are falling behind. Balwachan helps children develop and improve upon their reading and writing skills, recognize numbers up to 50, and solve simple addition and subtraction problems.

Balwachan includes creative learning activities that are not often part of the government school curriculum. Pratham aims to build both literacy skills and self-confidence through activities such as Picture Reading, where a child builds a story through pictures, and Story Time, where the students tell their own tale. Students also learn the concept of time and how to tell time.

Chirag’s hobbies include solving puzzles, coloring and reading story books.

My sincere thanks to Rakesh Chanana for making a donation of $51. I really appreciate your contribution, sir. Thank you so much!

Also, thank you to Vineeta Salvi for giving $35! I appreciate that as well; thanks Vineeta Aunty!

I just started reading Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver today. If you noticed, yes, I’m trying out more of her books. After reading The Poisonwood Bible for school, I realized that I really loved her writing style and I wanted to read more of it. I picked up this book at the library a couple of weeks ago because the synopsis sounded interesting. (Actually, I checked out most of her other books from the library, this is just the one I decided to start with :D)

Review/summary coming soon!

Thank you to my mom, Chitra Iyer, for a contribution of $50, and to Shridhar Krishnamurthy for a contribution of $25.

I’ve crossed the $1,000 mark! I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has believed in this cause enough to support me. It’s a really great thing to see that so many people are taking the initiative to help brighten the futures of poor, underprivileged children in India.

Thank you to Atul Barve for donating $25 to my fundraiser! I really appreciate your support; now I’m less than $50 away from $1,000! (Ahh, so exciting! :D)

School starts in two days, but that’s not going to stop me from continuing to fundraise and support Pratham. In fact, I hope to keep at it until the very end of the Readathon, which is in October.

Thanks to everyone who has given me the motivation, help, and support to carry on thus far!

Today, I finished reading 1984 by George Orwell. (And before you ask, no, it wasn’t required summer reading.)

The book details the life of Winston Smith in the year 1984, where the former Great Britain – now part of the area known as Oceania – is a place of continuous warfare and constant surveillance (hence the phrase “Big Brother is watching you”). This dystopian society has evolved to a point where the government rules under a political system called Ingsoc (short for English Socialism), constantly monitors its citizens using telescreens – devices that contain hidden microphones and cameras that are on 24 hours a day – and weeds out dissidents using the Thought Police.

Winston Smith is a member of the Outer Party. The social structure of Oceania is a pyramid, wherein the upper-most level is Big Brother – the ultimate embodiment of the government; the Inner Party – the elite government officials; the Outer Party – the minor officials that work for the Party; and the proles – the common people.

Here’s a link to a picture of this social pyramid: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/1984_Social_Classes_alt.svg

Smith works for the Ministry of Truth, where he changes official records and newspaper articles to keep them in alignment with whatever the Party says. He is satisfied with his job, but he is a thoughtcriminal; he harbors secret feelings of resentment towards Big Brother. One day, he meets a young woman named Julia who, like him, hates the government, and together, they begin a secret love affair. They look to join the Brotherhood, an organization dedicated to fighting the influence of the Party, but soon are captured in their fatal attempt. 1984 is a harrowing tale, a haunting vision, a chilling prophecy.

Needless to say, I really enjoyed this book. A friend of mine recommended it to me, and I’m so glad I picked it up. It’s honestly mind-blowing and truly a remarkable piece of literature. It is so good.

Thank you to Balaji Natarajan for making a donation of $25. I’m truly grateful for your support.

To everyone else who has made a contribution so far, thank you so much! I really appreciate your help. I’m now a little over three-quarters of the way to my current goal of $1200

Thanks again!

Thank you to Bena Patel for donating $10 and helping me reach my next hundred. I’m truly grateful for your support and dedication to this cause, Bena Aunty; without your help, I wouldn’t have gotten this far. Thank you so much!

Thanks to Preeti Sharma for a contribution of $20. I really appreciate your support, Mrs. Sharma, and I will definitely let you know what I think of “The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri!

Thank you to Vineeta Salvi for a donation of $51. Without your support, this fundraiser wouldn’t be possible!

I’m currently in the process of reading 1984 by George Orwell and Star Trek: The Search for Spock by Vonda McIntyre. I also have several other books lined up – Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver, Going After Cacciato by Tim O’Brien, Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick, and Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. I hope to finish reading all of these books in these last 2 weeks before school starts.

Thanks to several donations, I’ve crossed the $800 mark and am more than three-quarters of the way to my $1000 goal. I’d like to thank the following people for making this possible:

– Ranjani Agarwalla, for a contribution of $20,
– Ketaki Dave, for a contribution of $25, and
– Sanjay Mazumdar, for a contribution of $25.

I’m truly grateful for all your support, and I hope that in the coming weeks, you continue to do so.

Thank you to Ram Iyer for donating $50 to this fundraiser. Your contribution and support is greatly appreciated!

In the next two weeks, I hope to read as many books as possible before school starts. I got a lot of books from the library today for being a volunteer, so I have my work cut out for me! Hopefully, you will continue to support me in this fundraiser as I work towards my ultimate goal of helping as many children in India achieve success through education as possible.

My sincerest thank you to Pankaj Kumar for an incredibly generous donation of $162. I cannot express how grateful I am for your support of Pratham and this fundraiser! It means a lot to me, it really does. Thank you so much!

Many thanks to Kamal Patel for contributing $25 to this cause. I really appreciate your support, Kamal; thank you so much!

Thanks to four generous donors, I’ve now crossed the $500 mark! I’d like to thank:

– Susan Wilson for a donation of $25,
– Nitin More for a donation of $25,
– Santosh Jayal for a donation of $51, and
– Christopher Patton for a donation of $6.

I’m really grateful for your support of this cause! It means a lot to me that you’re willing to donate to my fundraiser when I know that you have so many other things that demand your time and money.

In the coming weeks, before school starts, I hope to read three more books to meet my initial goal of reading a total of 10 books. Thanks once again for your support; I couldn’t do it without you.

I have officially completed my summer reading assignment for senior year! I just finished reading “How to Read Literature Like a Professor” by Thomas C. Foster. It was an in-depth look at various literary devices, archetypes, and models, how to identify them, and how that can enrich your reading experience. I really enjoyed this book, especially because Foster used TONS of examples from books to illustrate his point. So not only did I get a good idea of just how to look for deeper meaning in a literary text (I especially enjoyed the short story “A Garden Party” that he incorporated as practice near the end of the book), but also got a lot of book recommendations! Overall, I had a great time reading this book, and I’m looking forward to practicing my newly-learned skills with literature in the future. (Hopefully, it’ll come in handy when I take the SAT Literature Subject Test!)

… to Sudha Shankaran for donating $100 – the most of anyone so far – to my fundraiser. I can’t thank you enough! This Readathon means a lot to me because I truly believe in its cause, and it makes me so happy to see that people are seeing this and making the choice to support me. I’m really truly thankful for all your help these past few months, and I hope you continue to do so through the rest of the Readathon.

Thank you so much to Annie Guo, one of my best friends from Belmont, Massachusetts (we went to middle school together) for donating $10 and helping me (finally) cross the $300 mark! (The $4 difference was bothering my OCD, I’m telling you.) I’m now a little over halfway to my goal. Thank you again to all my supporters for helping me out thus far! And thanks again, Annie. (I LOVE YOU TEDDY BEAR

In just a day, I went from $215 to $296, thanks to your generous contributions. Here, I would like to take the chance to thank all of the people who made this possible:

Amir Alwani, my next door neighbor, for a donation of $25;
Two kind neighbors of mine, for a donation of $20 and $5 respectively;
Bena Patel, my little brother’s nanny, for a donation of $11;
Antonio Chavez, a colleague of my dad’s, for a donation of $10;
and my own father, Nagarajan Muthusamy, for a donation of $10.

Thank you all so much for helping me as I work towards my goal of raising $500 and funding the education of 20 underprivileged children in India. As the fundraiser continues, I hope to not only meet, but exceed this initial goal so that I may give even more children the chance to go to school and learn.

Thanks for your support!

Thanks to my dad’s colleagues’ contributions, I have crossed the $200 mark and am almost halfway to my goal. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped this cause, and to those of you who have yet to make a donation, I would urge you to consider making one today. Every dollar you contribute goes towards these children’s futures. Please help make education a reality for them.
Thank you.

Thank you very much to three people – Sanjeev ($25), Mujahed ($25), and another one of my dad’s colleagues ($5) – for contributing to this fundraiser!

Thank you to Sudheer Talasila and Sainarasimham Pemmaraju for donating $25 each. I’m incredibly grateful to both of you for your support, and thanks for helping make this fundraiser possible!

Many many thanks to Neenu Kainth for a generous donation of $50. Not only have you helped fund the education of two children for a year each, but you have also helped me break my first hundred! Thank you so much, Neenu – your support is greatly appreciated.

… to two generous donors who have donated $25 and $10 – Ms. Keishar Dewberry, my AP Biology teacher, and a very kind neighbor of mine, respectively. Thank you both so much! Your contributions mean a lot, both to me and to the organization. Your money will undoubtedly make a difference in children’s lives.

Yesterday, over the course of an eight hour road trip, I read two books – The Clockwork Scarab and Vessel. My reviews are below:

First in the new Stoker + Holmes series, “The Clockwork Scarab” follows the story of Mina Holmes, the famous detective Sherlock’s neice, and Evaline Stoker, half-sister to the famed vampire hunter Bram Stoker, as they work together to investigate a series of disappearances and murders with only one clue: an Egyptian scarab. This book incorporates elements of murder mysteries, vampire hunting, and alternate worlds in a Steampunk London setting into a fantastic first installment. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series!

Liyana is a member of a tribe which uses magic to appease the gods to bring rain upon the desert. Liyana is to act as the vessel for the goddess of the Goat Clan to inhabit her body. But when Liyana’s dance fails to bring Bayla, their goddess, into her body, her tribe abandons her. She expects to die, but then a boy named Korbyn – the trickster god of the Raven Clan – comes looking for her. From him, Liyana learns that someone has captured all the other gods, and now she must go on a quest to find the vessels of the other clans before they, too, are cast out for being named ‘unworthy’ of their gods. I really liked this book, which kind of surprised me, because I don’t particularly care for YA fiction in general, but then again, Sarah Beth Durst is one of my favorite fantasy authors, so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised.

If you’re reading these updates, I hope you take the time to make a contribution. As you can see, I still have a long way to go to my $500 goal, so I would appreciate it if you could help me out by donating today. Your money goes to help underprivileged Indian children living in rural towns learn how to read and write. Please take a few moments to make a contribution to my fundraiser today.

Over the course of the last few weeks, I read two books and am currently in the process of reading one more – Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, The Poisonwood Bible, and The Clockwork Scarab. My reviews for Wrath of Khan and Poisonwood Bible are below:

Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan! This book is the novelization of the Star Trek movie of the same name; it follows after the events of The Motion Picture. When, after 15 years, a genetically engineered superhuman named Khan reappears after being banished to a planet by Captain Kirk fifteen years prior, the crew of the Enterprise must fight him once more, this time to prevent him from getting hold of Genesis – a planet-forming weapon that could be deadly in the wrong hands – and save the galaxy from destruction. This book was really well written; it was, obviously, based on the movie, I have not watched the movie yet, but I’ve wanted to for quite a while, and reading this made me want to watch it even more!

Now, my review of The Poisonwood Bible:

The Poisonwood Bible is the story of a family who travels to the Belgian Congo in 1959. Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist, works to convince the people of Kilanga of the superiority of Christianity and convert them, while his wife and four daughters work to make their life in the Congo. They bring with them everything they think they’ll need, but soon, they find that they are ill-equipped to deal with the ways of life in Africa. What follows is a tale of one family’s undoing as they struggle to maintain their purpose and beliefs in the turmoil of transition in post-colonial Africa. I had to read this book as part of my summer reading for senior year, and to be quite honest, I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did. In general, I try to avoid books that deal heavily with religion because that’s not the type of book I typically enjoy. However, this was an exception (and a fantastic one at that!). The book wasn’t completely about religion, of course; the rest of it was great too. I loved especially the distinctive voices of each narrator – there were five – and the writing flowed very smoothly. I finished the book much faster than I expected to, and I can honestly say that The Poisonwood Bible is one of my favorite books now.

Many thanks to Megan McMillan for being the first to make a donation. Your support is greatly appreciated, Megan; thank you so much!

A few days ago, I finished reading my second book – In the Shadow of the Lamp by Susanne Dunlap. It’s a historical fiction novel, and I’m giving it 3 stars. Review is below:

In the year 1854, Molly Fraser, a parlormaid who worked in a posh London home, signs up to travel with and work as a nurse under the direction of Florence Nightingale in the Crimea. There, the work is hard and the conditions are deplorable. But Molly soon finds that there’s more to it than just caring for the wounded soldiers as she finds herself falling in love with two men – one a young doctor and the other a soldier who enlisted just to be near her.
This book was well-written in terms of the history, and I felt the author’s characterization of Florence Nightingale was realistic and believable; however, this novel’s plot focused a little too much on the romance and not enough on the war. The book was almost 300 pages long, but I felt it was a lot shorter than that because hardly anything really happened. There were no major plot twists or turning points; indeed, there wasn’t even a climax. Molly also seemed to be an emotionally fickle character, because at one point, she confesses her love to the doctor, asking how she would ever live without him, but then just ten pages later, she realizes that she’s actually in love with the soldier and that her relationship with the doctor would never have worked out anyway.
Overall, this was a solid historical fiction novel, but rather disappointing otherwise. The author’s other works (The Musician’s Daughter and Anastasia’s Secret) are much better.

Again, please continue to support me through this Readathon and be sure to make your contribution today. Together, we can make a difference!

I just finished reading my first book – Star Trek: First Strike! It’s a Star Trek novel that takes Captain Kirk and his crew on a new adventure to the edge of Klingon space. This is my summary and review of the book:

Captain Kirk is suprised when a Klingon ship sends out a distress signal from the border of Federation and Klingon territory. He finds the general – a normally stoic man – completely horrified as though he had just met his worst nightmare. Kirk agrees to make an uneasy truce with the Klingons in order to further investigate a strange ship that contains what the general calls “the Havoc.”
This is the first Star Trek novel I have ever read. I absolutely adore Star Trek, and this book made me love it even more. The plot was well-developed, and more importantly, the characters were perfect. I could actually hear the actors speaking some of the dialogue from the book in my head as I read. All in all, it was a great book. Highly recommended to any and all Star Trek TOS fans.

My goal this summer is to read ten books for Pratham Readathon, and with your support, I will be able to make a difference in children’s lives. So please, if you haven’t yet, take a few minutes to make a donation. 100% of your money goes towards helping these children.