Be Prepared

At 102, blind UK woman is the oldest Girl Guide. A 102 year old visually impaired British woman is now the country’s oldest Girl Guide, a media report said. Betty Lowe joined Girl Guides volunteers aged 11 in 1919. And, in the finest Guides tradition she does a regular good turn by spending a few hours washing up at Salford Royal Hospital canteen and chatting to patients. – Times of India – 14th September 2010.
When I read the above report in the said paper, it got me thinking of this wonderful movement called Girl Guides and my participation in the same. Later when I Googled to refurbish my memory about the salient features of the movement, I realized that the movement began in 1910, thus making this the Centenary year. I consider this a humble tribute to this great movement which has taught me so many things and has also given me some great times in my youth.
At 102 if Betty Lowe who is visually impaired can continue to be a true Girl Guide, it just speaks volumes of the impact the Guiding movement must have had in her life. I cannot talk or write of myself in the same league as her or of other great leaders of the movement who devoted their time and energies doing the things the movement taught them and imparting the same to the younger generations. However in some way, I think I am still a Girl Guide as in every action I do I make sure that I never go against the Guide Promise which is – 1. To do one’s duty to God and to one’s country,
2. To help other people at all times, and
3. To obey the Guide Laws.
Over the years the Laws have rusted from my memory however the gist is well ingrained in me and even if I were to deviate, I think I end up having a restless feeling for days to come.
Girl Guides was part of my school life. I joined the movement in the year 1967 when I was in the sixth standard. I wouldn’t say that our school could boast of a big unit; however we did have enough students and Mrs. Chandran was our Guides Teacher. My patrol was named Aster and the other patrols had similar names of flowers rarely seen in India. I think this is something to do with our school in that era when everything was Anglicised. I guess that was fine for after all the Movement had its origin in the UK. On joining I became a Tenderfoot Guide and was in that category for almost year. This was a time when we learnt all the wonderful Guiding songs and on the whole had some fun time after school on all Wednesdays. Slowly skills were taught to us and in a prescribed time frame, I became a Second Class guide. Thus apart from my Guide Emblem and my Patrol Emblem, I had the Second Class Guide Emblem sewn on my sleeve. By now I knew all the knots like the reef knot, the sheep shank, the sheet bend, the bowline, clove hitch so on and so forth. The rope which was part of our gear became a play thing and we competed among ourselves in becoming a pro. The Morse code was taught and with the help of flags we could communicate. We also learnt to get a fire going and had some wonderful time learning cooking. Collecting twigs and making the fire was a group activity and so too was the cooking that ensued. There was no competition involved and this made the whole activity pure and simple fun.
I became serious about my Guiding and never missed a class or a camp. Camps were fun with so many meaningful day time activities and always ended on a high note with the campfire around which we showed cased all our music and dance talents. Any knowledge gained was tested and on completion ended in a badge. Thus the zest began to collect badges. In the meantime classes were also conducted in First Aid and Home Nursing by the St. John’s Ambulance and on qualifying we were presented with a certificate and the relevant badges. Slowly or was it in quick succession, I got qualified to be a First Class Guide. The next aim was to become a President’s Guide, the highest honour for any Guide and I worked for it. Thus at the age of 14 years, I achieved this feat and on the 11th of November 1971, received the certificate from Shri V. V. Giri the then President of India. I would definitely call this one of the highlights of my life. Being in the Mughal Gardens of the Rashtrapati Bhavan was a dream come true. The build up to the trip was in itself exhilarating. We had a pre camp at the Wesley High School, Royapettah, were the freshers in the movement came to us and asked for advice. We were treated and looked upon as high end achievers. Looking back I think the experience was scintillating.
It is indeed sad to note that the Movement is in wane in India. There are hardly any schools in Chennai which promote Guiding and Scouting. I wonder why the people in authority have shunned this wonderful activity from their curriculum. The focus just seems to be on individual activities and the sense of competition has become all pervasive. It is truly disheartening because the child of today is not really prepared to face the reality that the world has to offer. A small discomfort and they are ready to jump out of the system. I have seen this happen among young kids as well as graduates and post graduates. I wonder how the kids of today would react if they were to go to a Jamboree where thousands of children live in next to a primitive condition. Then I wonder if such Jamborees still exist. I consider myself lucky to have gone to Mumbai in 1970 to attend a Jamboree. At 13, it seemed then that we were out in the big world all on our own. We managed extremely well on the basic meals offered and on the most basic of accommodations that was available. No kid from our background would even want to venture into such a scenario now. How will they survive without their fancy gadgets and even fancier attitudes? I wonder as to who is to be blamed - Is it the school system for not instilling in them the values that really matter or the parents for over protecting the child and dancing to all their whims and fancies?
I wish some responsible authorities would get to read this blog, for apart from being a Tribute, it is also a request to schools to revive this Movement. The results would be wonderful for I can be sure that they will have as students not only geniuses (as is the trend these days) but also good children who have in them the urge to do good and to be worthy citizens in their later life. The end result would be generations of children and adults who would always follow the Motto – Be Prepared.