Sunday,
4th of August, 2019 would ever remain a gold letter day in the annals of SYMA
history. We have been aspiring, dreaming
for this ~ ‘dreaming big’ to serve the Society more. SYMA [Srinivas Youngmen’s Association] has been in the field of Social service since
1977 starting with street cleaning campaigns and keeping environment, more
specifically, the temple tank and its surroundings clean. We at SYMA, feel strongly the primary
responsibility of improving the Society and helping the underprivileged.
We
have been dreaming of expanding ~ and the foremost impediment in realizing our
endeavour was perhaps lack of space.
SYMA has been functioning in a 270 SFT approx premises at 29 TP Koil
Street, Opp to Bharathiyar Illam.
On 4.8.2019 with the munificent
support of Vasavi Builders, SYMA moved
to a sprawling premises at 37 Car Street, Triplicane, Chennai 600 005.
In a
few months – the visibility grew bigger and so did the activities – the Rs.2
Medical centre started attracting more patients. We have : Medical centre, Blood analysis lab,
Gynecological consultation, Physiotherapy, Dentistry, Eye clinic – all under
one roof – added private Doctor for ENT (Dr Sunandha); Pediatrics (Dr V
Venkatesh) and Ortho (Dr Subramaniam) .. .. .. SYMA has become much bigger and
.. ..expenses too were shooting up. The
12th year of SYMA Growth too concluded with pooja – wishing the students all
the best in the examinations and career.
Suddenly
Mar 2020 has thrown the World out of gears – life has changed suddenly and
totally. As the Nation announced
lock-down, we had to stop all our activities. The medical centre, lab and other
facilities can no longer cater to the benefit of poor people. With grave heart, Notice Board had to be
placed stating ‘We are closed till further instructions of the Govt’ and it
pains us to receive that odd call from people asking when they can come for
treatment !
The
dreaded Corona Virus has changed the way people have lived thus far. It is
stated that India has so far recorded over 18000 positive cases of the novel coronavirus while
the death toll has climbed to more than 500 in the country. The no. of people affected in Tamilnadu too
has been on the rise.
Globally
– the situation is far different than what it was a couple of months ago ! - After
trading below $0 for the first time ever, the US crude turning positive as oil
prices rebounded on Tuesday. Donald Trump has said he will order a temporary
suspension of immigration to the US. U.S. oil prices crashed to the negative
territory for the first time in history on Monday, fueled by pandemic-related
demand shock and oversupply fears. It marks the first time an oil futures
contract has traded negative in history, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
When most
Nations are floundering, China seems to be recovering on economic fronts
too. Chinese truck maker Foton is moving
to online sales in Brazil, due to an expected rise in demand for light
commercial vehicles driven by the boom in online sales and home delivery
services. "Due to the lockdown, online sales have become more important,
and that is a trend that is here to stay," said Luiz Carlos Mendonca de
Barros, president of Foton's board of directors in Brazil, Latin America's
largest economy, in an interview with Xinhua.
Back
home, Prime
Minister Narendra Modiji has urged 130
crore Indians to act as national volunteers in fighting the Corona virus
pandemic. Prime Minister exhorted the
media and people to disseminate positive
stories and case studies, particularly of those patients that have fully
recovered from coronavirus infection, and also inter-play such stories in different
parts of the country, thus bringing the entire country together.
On 24 March, the
Government of India ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, limiting
movement of the entire 1.3 billion population of India as a preventive measure.
As
the end of the lockdown period approached, state governments and other advisory
committees recommended extending the lockdown. On 14 April, Prime minister
Narendra Modi extended the nationwide lockdown till 3 May, with a conditional
relaxation after 20 April for the regions where the spread has been contained.
Lockdown is
necessity and reality – people must maintain social distancing and remain at
home in fighting the dreaded virus, as directed by the Govt. The State and Central Govts are taking great
measures in fighting and in preventing the spread despite some foolish moves by
a few citizens in not adhering to the guidelines. Life
is sustainable for those of us in regular employment and in the comfort of our
homes – we miss lot of things – especially our Sri Parthasarathi Perumal and
purappadu. However, we get food at appointed hour and sleep in the comfort of
our homes. We must appreciate those personnel – Doctors, Nurses, para-medics,
Govt machinery, Police and everyone else who are out on the roads, protecting
the citizens of this Nation.
Life is difficult
for the daily wage earners. There is
some sprinkling of migrant population in and around Triplicane too. One could see hundreds of construction
workers standing at Triplicane High road in the mornings, waiting for
contractors to pick them up and send to some sites. Life perhaps has come to a
standstill for them.
SYMA members Mr SR
Parthasarathi (SRP), VP Manivannan, S Parthasarathi, TJ Ramani, S Venkatesh,
Sanjeevi, Kasthuri Sir, MA Sadagopan and others have
been trying to support those with difficulty.
Rice, provisions and other items in neat packets have been distributed
to Sanitary workers, Govt agencies and needy people in and around
Triplicane.
While
the functioning of Medical centre hinges on Govt announcement, the fact of our
distributing medicines through a druggist – Radha Medicals, near Kellet High
School has helped immensely. SYMA
officials have taken a decision that those who have been availing the medical
services of SYMA medical centre and taking their weekly medicines, can now go
direct to the medical shop and continue to get the same medicines for another
period or so. The medical shop as also
the patients have been individually informed this and this measure too has
helped people in a big way in ensuring that they continue to get medicines free.
Appreciations to
SRP, Mani, TJ Ramani and all others involved in this. We will also join
with our little contributions and be of help to the Society.
ॐ
सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः
लोकाः
समस्ताः सुखिनोभवंतु ॥
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
Secretary, SYMA
22.4.2020
PS : I have not
ventured out of home during these days of lockdown and hence has not partaken
in the relief measures organized by SYMA.
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