According to a World Bank Group and UNICEF report, ‘Ending Extreme Poverty: A Focus on Children‘, India is home to over 30% of approximately 385 million children living in extreme poverty-the highest in South Asia.
To rise above abject poverty, and make a mark in this world is very difficult, yet for these kids in Chennai, battling difficult circumstances isn’t new.
Karunalaya Centre for Street & Working Children is a Chennai-based NGO that focuses on rehabilitating street children. Children who have been labourers, faced abuse, and been homeless have been rescued by the Society.
The NGO uses sports as a means to help these kids. Sports infuse discipline and other good traits in children.
The society sent an all-girls football team to participate in the Street Child World Cup, an event held just like its FIFA counterpart.
The girls from Chennai have all had a difficult past, but now, through sport, they are building a future. Image Credit:- Karunalaya
The team was led by 17-year-old Sangeetha, a Class 9 drop-out, who was a child labourer, rescued from a steel factory in 2013.
Due to adverse family circumstances, young Sangeetha had to discontinue her studies. But once she was rescued by the Society, her life turned around. Football is an integral part of her life, and she aspires to become an IAS officer.
Dr. N Paul Sunder Singh is the Founder and Secretary at Karunalaya. He told The Better India about how they are helping kids rise above their past and build a future.
“All the children have disadvantaged backgrounds”, he says, explaining the circumstances from which the girls have been rescued. Living on the street with their parents, they lack basic amenities, and day-to-day existence is difficult.
The girls from Chennai formed a team, and trained hard to take part in the event. Image Credit: Karunalaya
He explains that Karunalaya Society uses art, music, theatre and sports, to help the children living there. Participating in the Street Child World Cup for the first time in 2014, Karunayala’s team at the time consisted of boys.
It was the first time that girls have gotten the opportunity to shine for their country. And shine, they did! It was a well-fought tournament, Singh says, even though the team didn’t win the cup. Along the way, were difficult matches against seemingly superior opponents, like England and Russia. The girls from Karunalaya played extremely competitive football and didn’t let anything deter them. Singh is extremely proud of the team and its achievements.
“Education is a very important part of bringing up these kids,” Singh says, stressing on the fact that the sports programme is only open to kids who choose to attend school. As a result, many children who were not particularly keen on academics, took up books, in the hope of playing football one day. Singh says that education helps the children become more aware, and gives them a better chance at fighting their adverse circumstances.
For the girls, from Karunalaya, Chennai, playing at an international event in Moscow was an incredible experience. Image Credit: Karunalaya
Singh says, “The children were very happy and very enthusiastic about the tournament,” adding that there are certain criteria that a girl must fulfil, before being selected for the team. She must be a resident of the NGO for at least one year. She also must be between 14-17 years old. He explains that it takes about a year to work with them, and the time helps the NGO arrange important documentation required for the girls to travel.
The Chennai squad, from Karunalaya, ready for the Street Child World Cup in Russia. Image Credit: Karunalaya
“It was very difficult, because the girls did not have IDs”, Singh says, adding that in order to make any identity proof for a minor, the parent’s ID proof is required as well-which is something that is very difficult with these kids, who have lived on the streets with their families.
It took a lot of running to and fro, to get the girls proper documentation and passports so they could travel for their tournaments.
The game of football was far removed from the daily reality that these kids have to face. Take the case of Shalini, a 17-year-old who was saved from child marriage. Or Tamizharasi, the 15-year old mid-off player, who didn’t know where her parents were. Or Nirosha, who lives in the shelter after her parents abandoned her as well as her two younger brothers. Today, they all want to make positive impacts on society, to alleviate the lives of children like them.
“It is indeed very fulfilling to see these children rise,” Singh shares, talking about the current coach of the football team who had come to Karunalaya and stayed there for years. The coach then decided to stay back to train the girls, and give them tips because giving back is very important!
From Chennai, to Moscow, representing India, these girls have come a long way. Image Credit: Karunalaya
Karunalaya Society continues to pursue the sport, as a means to help kids staying there. “There is a Cricket World Cup for street children, very similar to the football initiative. We aim to get a team ready, and win that tournament,” Singh concludes.
As of now, the children at Karunalaya are basking in the experience of their Moscow trip, which went off very well. What’s more, during the event, the children even participated in a cultural initiative, showcasing Indian culture to the rest of the world. Through sports, Karunalaya has managed to help these kids who, given the circumstances they were in, would not have had a future.
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The contribution of a mother in nurturing and shaping her child’s life is undoubtedly one of the most precious and essential acts of nature for any living species.
From helping their children take their first steps, to remaining a pillar of support throughout their lifetimes, mothers have been undertaking this thankless responsibility with an unparalleled devotion and dedication, since time immemorial.
Other than having a family and responsibilities of their own, we also often come across mothers who involve themselves in shaping the lives of many other children and helping unlock their potential.
In collaboration with Seven Seas, The Better India partook in a Mother’s Day campaign that covered the stories of such amazing mothers who have been engaged in heartwarming and selfless pursuits to help other children reach greater heights in life while doing the same for their own kids.
Each of these real-life stories that featured one school teacher teaching kids from the streets; one adoption campaigner-activist; and one mother who rescues and shelters abandoned, young girls from streets; incorporated an immersive narrative to drive the attention of our readers and viewers towards the #UnlockPotential campaign.
At the end of each content piece, a Call-to-Action link was integrated to drive interested people to be part of the campaign in the form of an on-ground event scheduled to be held across four cities—Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Bengaluru—on May 13, to commemorate Mother’s Day.
Join Seven Seas and TheBetterIndia, and be a part of spreading the gift of love to hundreds of children across India!
#UnlockPotential
The collective impact of the campaign, through its videos and in-depth articles, included a total reach of, 1,96,21,137 and a total engagement of 10,21,783.
The #UnlockPotential campaign culminated with the on-ground events being simultaneously organised in collaboration with Signal Shala, Sharanam and Shelter Don Bosco in Mumbai, Bal Seva orphanage in Delhi, Siragu Montessori school in Chennai and lastly, Sparsha Trust in Bengaluru on Mother’s Day.
Besides ensuring that young children from underprivileged factions of the society learnt new skills by participating in a variety of programmes like dance, painting and origami sessions, it was the involvement of many mothers from different walks of life and their interaction with these talented lot of children, that made the event a massive success.
Also part of the Mumbai event was actor Raveena Tandon, who is the brand ambassador of Seven Seas.
The event proved to fruitful as a platform for kids to unlock their potential.
“It’s amazing to see this large group out here, without whom Seven Seas would have never been able to make such a huge impact all across India. Every single one of us has the power to change lives. In some way, we’ve managed to guide these kids towards their dreams—a thought that really excites me. Every child is talented in his or her own way and has the ability to achieve so much. All they need is a little bit of love and encourage and I’m sure they’ll accomplish amazing things,” she said at the event.
“I feel that most of us parents naturally spend time with our own kids but there are a lot of children who do not have parents and what we can do is that we could spend some time and share love with these kids as well,” says Zankhna Gogri, one of the mothers who attended the Mumbai event.
Join Seven Seas and TheBetterIndia, and be a part of spreading the gift of love to hundreds of children across India!
#UnlockPotential
In 2014, Chennai-based Angelin Prince founded her NGO, The Candles.
Apart from running projects in the areas of mental and physical health, a common practice for Angelin and her team was to distribute food to the homeless once in a week.
Shelling out money from their own pockets or with small-time donations from good samaritans on birthdays, anniversaries etc, the team would purchase food from hotels and deliver it to the underprivileged people on the pavements.
But since last year, the team gathers on Sundays, cooks the food and distributes it to over 50 homeless persons on their bikes.
It was during these visits that Angelin came across a number of elderly people suffering from Hansen’s disease or as it commonly known – leprosy. With the footpath for a home and the open skies for a roof, these elderly persons suffered silently.
It wasn’t just the physical pain of open sores they fought. The social stigma attached to those suffering from leprosy only added to their woes, ostracising them from mainstream society further.
Angelin knew she wanted to alleviate their sufferings. This led her to kickstart the initiative ‘Wound Care On Wheels’, a mobile medical service where she, alongside her team, cleans and dresses their wounds twice a week.
Using their own money or small offerings from volunteers the team buys dressing materials like betadine, gauze and gloves and approaches the people in need of help. They don’t force them or show sympathy while approaching these elderly persons in need of dressing.
Instead, with a lot of respect and empathy, the young volunteers guided by Angelin, who has a diploma in hand and leprosy physiotherapy, get their permission. The small team covers an area between Purusawalkam and Broadway, twice a week, to ensure the dressing is changed at equal intervals.
Speaking to The Better India, Angelin says, “We go to dress their wounds after 8 pm, usually on weekends, because during the major part of the day they are engaged in begging or menial jobs. We have taken down the contact of one of the persons who has a small phone, and usually, inform him to gather all those in need of dressing or medical attention on the days we visit.
“Most of these are elderly people abandoned by the own kids. About seven people we tend to regularly are all from other states who either speak Telugu or broken Hindi. Since most of us speak in Tamil, it becomes difficult. But that doesn’t stop us from helping them. Kindness has no language,” says Angelin.
But the struggles are many. Sometimes the elderly think that the team is doing it for pictures. So they avoid taking their cameras, and even on days that they do, they click only a few pictures to show sponsors who would be interested in funding this initiative says Angelin.
“Apart from dressing their wounds, we have started giving them accurate health education too. We serve them food and have started a drive to collect clothes, slippers, other daily items for them. Many of them are often dressed in the same pair of clothes and don’t have water to wash them. So these essentials come handy.”
Angelin adds how their vehicles always have spare bandages and ointments for those who need dressing more frequently.
Currently, Angelin’s team is in severe need of a scooty to help them distribute the food as well medical supplies and an auto to carry medical supplies and tend to the patients.
“An autorickshaw will really ease our mobility woes. We can make the elderly in need of dressing sit in the auto and attend to their wounds. Doing it on the footpath can be inconvenient since it is dusty and can soil the dressing,” says Angelin.
She shares the heart-wrenching story of two elderly persons and hopes it will help people to give up their prejudice against those suffering from Hansen’s.
“On the very first day, we met a couple. While the man from the Muslim community, the woman was a Hindu. Both of them were abandoned by their families after the death of their respective spouses. They both came to Chennai from different cities and have been living on the streets, begging to make ends meet. From the time they met, they have been helping each other, because they have no one to care for them. The woman is older, so the man shares everything he gets with her.
“If their families loved them enough they wouldn’t have to fend on the streets. When I asked the couple what they would do with the little money they were saving, they did not bat a lash before saying, ‘We will buy something for our grandchildren.’ They said they wouldn’t return home until they earned enough money. So, they are begging and saving to earn their respect back. These are just a few of the stories, we encounter everyday, as we tend to their wounds,” she adds.
Angelin hopes to get more sponsors on board to help them sustain this initiative. If you want to help her, get in touch with her at thecandles09@gmail.com or call at 09940161296. You can visit their blog here.
Indian Railways is in the process of undertaking a modernisation drive for some trains, under a banner called “Project Utkrisht”. According to the New Indian Express, this should put an end to criticism that the Railways only pays attention to improving passenger amenities in premium trains, like the Shatabdi, Duronto and Rajdhani.
The Railway Board recently approved Project Utkrisht, under which 140 rakes of 66 trains nationwide, will be upgraded.
The Railways, by way of Project Utkrisht, plans to modernise coaches, and fit them with amenities. Image Credit: CR Business Solutions
According to a senior Railway Board official in DNA, all 140 rakes will be refurbished at the cost of Rs 60 lakhs, by March 2019.
Plans drawn by the Railway Board speak of modifications like:-
· Vinyl wrapping of coaches
· Information posters
· Change of torn seats
· Compressed cushion seats
· Dustbins in coaches
· Braille signs
· Wi-Fi connections
· Toilet indicators, improved flushing valves and LED lights for the toilets.
· Fire extinguishers
Also, there will be regular inspection and maintenance, to ensure that the amenities remain top-notch.
In Karnataka, six express trains and superfast trains shall get a makeover, and provided with premium facilities for passengers to enjoy their journey. The Hampi Express train, Rani Chennamma Express Train, the Mysuru-Tuticorin Express Train, the Kamakhya-Yeshwantpur AC Express train, the Bengaluru-Kochuveli Express, and the Yeshwantpur-Howrah Duronto Express, have been selected for upgrades.
A senior Railway official told the New Indian Express, that Project Utkrisht is aimed at providing better facilities in trains used by poor and middle-class passengers. Whether the makeover will result in a ticket-price increase is yet to be decided, he said.
The Railways has continuously been taking steps to ensure passenger comfort and convenience. Introducing softer blankets and POS machines as well as better food has been the case till now. With ‘Project Utkrisht’, the national transporter aims to take development a notch higher and bring a comfortable and memorable railway experience for all its passengers.
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June 1, 2018: A usual day on the first floor non-AC seating area of Saravana Bhavan branch in Chennai’s Annanagar. Sounds of plates clattering as waiters in crisp uniforms rush from one table to another with hot mouthwatering food.
Clock strikes 11 AM. Two men finish their breakfast, pay the bill and make a beeline for the exit. 31-year-old Ravi arrives at the table and starts cleaning as is his usual duty. Little does he know the men have forgotten a bag behind. It is a polythene bag. He opens it to find wads of cash. Without thinking twice, the waiter picks the bag and hands it over to his manager.
This is only a summary of the one incident that turned the 31-year-old Saravana Bhavan waiter into an overnight hero!
On closer inspection of the bag, owner and manager of the eatery, Mr Loganathan, realised that the bag contained hard cash to the tune of Rs 25 lakhs. Unable to process why someone would leave behind a bag with such a huge sum, the staff decided to wait for the customers to come back.
Speaking to The News Minute, Ravi, who has served Saravana Bhavan for 13 years, says, “We waited for a whole day for the customers to come back and claim the money. How can they forget such a huge sum?”
When the customers failed to return, the staff checked the bag to see if it was counterfeit money.
After realising that it was real cash, they handed it over the K4 Police Station in the vicinity.
Ravi was praised for his honesty, not only by the staff and owners of Saravana Bhavan but also the police officers.
“I was taken by my manager’s boss to meet our owner, Mr Rajagopalan. He praised me and gifted me a gold ring for my honesty,” Ravi told TNM.
In addition, the police officers felicitated him with a Titan watch and thanked him again for his honesty and righteousness.
Ravi showing off his gold ring and Titan watch. Source: Facebook/Rtn K Manimaaran
Signing off, Ravi said, “People leaving their wallets and phones and coming back later to collect them is common. We always hand over whatever we see on the tables to the manager. That’s how we have been trained. I was quite shaken when I realised that this time, it was no wallet or phone but Rs 25 lakh. And what’s more puzzling is that these people never came back to take the money. But I know I did the right thing by handing it over.”
Had it been anybody in the humble waiter’s position, it would have been easy to have sneaked the bag and never uttered a word about it. But Ravi chose honesty, which is commendable! We hope that the rightful owners of the cash are tracked at the earliest.
Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs), commonly known as drones, are not a new invention—they are the modern-day versions of remotely-flown target aircraft used for the practice firing of a battleship’s guns in the 1920s and 1930s.
Drones have come a long way since then, and are today used for various purposes—shooting videos, delivering packages, and even surveillance.
Thanks to the efforts of the students of the St Peters Institute Of Higher Education and Research, in Avadi, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, drones are all set to become life-saving gear as well! The students have developed a drone which is capable of carrying a first aid kit to the scene of the accident in record time.
As per the Emergency Management Research Institute (EMRI), the average response time of an ambulance nowadays has come down to 9.33 minutes from 13 minutes.
However, this is the average time, and there can be variations in timings due to various reasons. For example, in cities, traffic jams can hold up ambulances, while in rural and remote areas, the condition of roads can affect the response time.
Source: Pixabay
This is where such a drone can come in handy.
“The drone has a built-in GPS system,” says S Parvez Basham, one of the team members who designed the drone, to The Times Of India. “The drone can carry a first-aid box weighing 8 kg and fly at a speed of up to 70 kmph. The prototype can be remotely controlled for up to 3 km, and the team is working on a model capable of being controlled for a longer distance,” adds M Yuvaraj, the project guide.
Although there won’t be a medical professional on the site, the first aid could be put to use by anyone around the scene. “The drone has an interactive display that can play out videos explaining the kind of first aid that needs to be given for various types of accidents and injuries,” said S Samraj, another team member
The drone as of now is in the development phase and still needs a lot of modification. The team claims that the upcoming automated version of the drone will have enhanced features which will avoid collision with birds, insects and airborne objects.
It’s not just the drone that has come a long way, but it’s also the people who engineered it. Kudos to the team for having developed an innovation that can save the lives of people!
By his own admission, he collapsed due to dehydration during a routine drill, after running a distance of 10 km with a heavy load on his back. Soon after, he found himself at the Dehradun Military Hospital, where his chances of survival were ruled out due to multiple organ failure.
As reported by the Hindustan Times, the doctors said that 70% of his kidney and liver had suffered damage, and he was confined to the hospital for 40 days.
Today, he has received his first posting as an Indian Army officer.
It is nothing less than a miracle that 27-year-old Gentleman Cadet (GC) Rajshekhar, was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Indian Army from the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehradun on Saturday. Admitted in the hospital’s ICU for 18 days, and in the High Dependency Unit (HDU) for 22 days, doctors had told the cadet’s trainers, that he wouldn’t survive.
Indian Army Lieutenant Rajshekhar, who cheated death, with a burning desire to serve the nation!. Image Credit: A C Kanade .
In fact, two gentlemen cadets had already died that year doing the exercise.
Once he started to recuperate, everyone, including his doctors, mother and brother, advised the young cadet to quit the course, due to medical issues. However, he did the opposite.
Refusing to give up, and determined to complete the course on time, Rajshekhar worked out in the gym for four hours daily, became fit and achieved his goal.
He told the Hindustan Times that his company commander and platoon commander in the Indian Army gave him invaluable support, while he was in the hospital.
Befittingly, he received the best motivator award at the passing out parade, for his attitude.
The youth is no stranger to hardship. Having lost his father in 2005, when he was in class 10, he and his brother were both in school, when his mother, Santhi, took up tailoring jobs. However, even through the hard times, Rajshekar nursed a dream to serve the country.
The young Indian Army officer is well-aware of perils that come with being posted with the 12 Assam Rifles in Siachen and says that the medical conditions that he overcame are nothing compared to what lies ahead.
We wish Rajshekhar the very best and salute him for his decision to serve our country.
(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)
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The global automobile industry has been traditionally dominated by men. However, this trend is slowly changing and the decision by General Motors, the US-based MNC, to appoint a woman as its Chief Financial Officer for the first time in its history only proves that point.
The iconic carmaker’s decision has been met with applause from all across the globe, especially India. Why is that? Well, the new CFO of General Motors is 39-year-old Dhivya Suryadevara, who hails from Chennai.
Mary Barra, the first female CEO of not just GM but the auto industry, chose Dhivya to oversee the Detroit-based company’s financials. She will replace Chuck Stevens, who has served the American auto giant for 40 years.
Before her appointment as CFO on Wednesday, Dhivya was vice-president of the company’s Corporate Finance unit and was responsible for a whole host of major deals that the company has closed.
“Dhivya’s experience and leadership in several key roles throughout our financial operations, positions her well to build on the strong business results we’ve delivered over the last several years,” said Barra to several business publications earlier this week.
Here are some interesting facts about GM’s new CFO:
1) Born and raised in India, Dhivya acquired a Bachelors and Masters in commerce from the University of Madras. She then moved to the prestigious Harvard Business School at the age of 22 for her MBA.
2) Dhivya’s father passed away when she was very young, leaving her mother to raise she and her two sisters all alone. “My mom had to raise three children on her own, which is difficult to do anywhere, let alone in India. She wanted to make sure there were no corners cut when it came to our education and to prove that we could have the same resources as a two-parent household. Her high expectations made us want to do better, and we learned that nothing comes easy. You have to really work hard to get what you want,” she told Real Simple magazine.
3) She got her first job at PricewaterhouseCoopers before moving to UBS, an investment bank. Dhivya joined GM, a year later, as a 25-year-old.
4) Dhivya was named by Crain’s Detroit Business 40 under 40 winner as the Automotive New Rising Star in 2016.
5) Appointed as the VP of the company’s corporate finance department in July 2017, she has played a significant role in helping GM sell off Opel, acquire self-driving vehicle startup Cruise, invest in cab-hailing startup Lyft and more recently garner a $2.25 billion investment from Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company SoftBank Group Corp for Cruise operations.
6) She also assisted the company garner better ratings from all three major credit rating agencies, “completed $2 billion in notes issuance to fund discretionary pension contributions and upsized and renewed GM’s $14.5 billion revolving credit facility,” according to this Reuters report.
(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)
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When all is lost, there is still hope, and when you lose hope too, sometimes, something much stronger takes birth–something that sets the wheels of fate in motion and inspires you to not only do well in life but also to go well for others.
The life of Yasminee Bashir, from the islands of Andaman and Nicobar, is one such heart-warming story that shows how deep a mark personal experiences can leave and how they can inspire people to do great things in life.
Yasminee belongs to a middle-class family in Port Blair. She would never have thought that the year of 2004 would wash away everything that she grew up with.
Yasminee’s father did not have a good relationship with the family. Addicted to alcohol and unhappy with his family life, he decided to leave them in 2004. There was no way Yasminee’s mother could have tracked him down since her family had cut ties with her after marriage.
What Yasminee thought was the worst that could have happened to her family, unfortunately, was only the beginning.
Some women in Chennai that Yasminee has helped.
A few months after her father estranged the family, the brutal Tsunami hit the Andaman islands. It took away everything from them–furniture, money, their home. Life as they knew it had come to a standstill.
“I was in 10th std, and my board exams were in three months,” recalls Yasminee. “We almost came on the road and starved day and night on the streets. Slowly, as time flew, we started repairing the old house and stayed there in darkness… I worked part-time here and there and managed to complete my 12th class. I was never good in school but wanted my brothers to study well,” she told The Better India.
After her 12th board exams, Yasminee decided to shift to Mumbai– the city of dreams to earn for her family.
At the young age of 17, she wanted to shoulder the financial responsibility of her family and help her mother, who worked in a government office at a low salary.
Better days were yet to come for her.
But the city of dreams does not offer them to you without a heavy price. Yasminee managed to get a job in a small firm which would pay her Rs 6,500. Most of the money would be spent in her PG accommodation and whatever remained, Yasminee sent back to her family. She had to live with no money for urgent expenses, she starved for days together, and she was lonely through it all.
But through these years of ordeal and loneliness, Yasminee came to understand one very important thing- that she was not alone. She looked around herself, and there she was there they were–on the streets, near temples and at traffic signals- hundreds of homeless people who might not be sure if they would sleep with a full stomach- who might not have anyone to go home to. “I started celebrating my birthday with the poor people on streets,” Yasminee told TBI, adding that,
“I always made it a point to visit orphanages and slums and play with the kids all day long. I used to go to stations and serve food to the poor on weekends.”
Yasminee celebrates with Chennai kids.
Gradually, Yasminee’s days of poverty and struggle were left behind. She got a job in a real estate firm and started earning a regular salary plus commissions. She reconnected with a school friend on Facebook, fell in love and got married to him. Today, they jointly own a business in Chennai, catering to rental places in tourist destinations. From the onset of the business, they made it a point to continue their services to the needy.
The business made the Bashir couple shift their base from Mumbai to Chennai, but their goodwill was never lost. “As I love cooking, I cook interesting dishes after my work or buy it from hotels, and with the help of my husband, carry the food in my car and distribute it to the needy. I travel 27-30 kms daily since I know there are people waiting for me to come. We not only distribute food but clothes, footwear, bags, toys, chocolates etc.
The children there now recognise my car and come running behind me, screaming ‘Didi is here!’ I sometimes even give them makeovers too!” Yasminee said.
Sometimes Yasminee gives Chennai children makeovers too.
Apart from children, transgender people have also carved a place in Yasminee’s heart. “They are all so well educated and come from good families. But just because they are transgender, they are thrown out of their houses. They all come smiling at me when I visit them. Often, they show off the sarees I have distributed to them, showing their appreciation.”
Yasminee plans to continue this service for a long time. She has been keeping aside about 50% of her income for the underprivileged and working tirelessly in their service. She plans to build a home for the needy where they will be given free food and education- securing their future by making them independent.
“I just want my mom and my people from the Andaman to feel proud. No individual or company has sponsored my work till date- I am doing it from my expenses. I just wish more people come and join hands with me. A little help can change many lives,” she concludes.
If you wish to help Yasminee in her noble cause, you can write to her at fairyinmydreams@gmail.com.
A grass species native to India, the vetiver or Chrysopogon Zizanioides has many purposes to serve.
From stabilising soil and preventing erosion to the usage of oil procured from its roots in cosmetics and ayurvedic products, the unassuming vetiveru, as it is known in Tamil, is a wonder plant which has various uses across the country.
But did you know that this grass has air-purifying abilities that could be implemented to tackle air pollution?
We assume that you did not and neither did we until we chanced upon this Class 6 student from Chennai, whose path-breaking innovation of a nose mask with vetiver filters was capable of helping one breathe easily even amidst vehicular emission scale pollution!
Arul Srivastva is a student of Vana Vani Matriculation Higher Secondary School located in the IIT Madras campus.
Arul Srivatsva with his innovation. Courtesy: Dr M Vijaya.Courtesy: Dr M Vijaya.
He has always been intrigued with plants and often spends time researching about the properties of any new plant he comes across.
Arul’s interest with nature sprouted young with homegrown inspiration straight from his grandfather, V Muthukrishnan, a civil engineer who began farming after over 35 years of government service and retired as the Chief General Manager of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS).
Arul’s mother, Dr M Vijaya, told The Better India, “This became even more pronounced when his school kickstarted an environment-centric initiative named ‘Greendom’ three years ago, under which projects and activities were given to students to help them connect with nature.”
In 2016, the eco-club entailed students to come up with ideas to tackle pollution, and a curious Arul’s mind started looking for ideas. Interestingly, vetiver had always been used at his home as an addition to water or hair oil for its medicinal properties, and suddenly he wanted to know what else this grass could do.
“After relentlessly researching about vetiver, Arul found that not only did it have air purifying properties but also that curtains were being made out of the grass to keep a tab on the pollutants in the air. This led him to wonder, why couldn’t the same methodology be incorporated to something like a nose-mask,” Vijaya explains.
That had been the beginning. But the grass had to be contained as a filter that could be used in a mask, solutions for which drove the entire family looking in all corners.
Arul weaving the vetiver filter on the balcony railing of his home and the final prototype. Courtesy: Dr M Vijaya.
“Because of the close semblance that vetiver had with bamboo, we zeroed down on weaving the grass and approached bamboo screen weavers to learn the process. Such was his passion in making the project a reality that Arul himself wove the filter with the help of the railing in our balcony. His project went on to receive great appreciation from his school authorities, who further motivated us to send his findings to the National Innovation Foundation with Dr APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE Awards in mind,” she adds.
To further corroborate the functionality of Arul’s anti-pollution mask, his parents even took him to an automobile pollution-testing centre at a petrol pump in Thiruvanmiyur. She explains, “We noted emission readings from both two and four-wheeler vehicles before and after fixing the filter to their exhaust pipes. There was a stark difference in the readings which we sent out to NIF.”
The Ahmedabad-based Foundation, which is an autonomous body under the Department of Science and Technology, invites children from across the country to send their innovative ideas to motivate budding scientists and innovators.
“Our happiness knew no bounds when we received a letter from them after three months that said Arul’s innovation was accepted by NIF, which meant that his vetiver mask was credible and would be documented by the foundation,” Vijaya shares, happily.
Based on what the young genius has inferred from his study, the same grass filter when scaled up could play a defining role in filtering the polluting emissions from the chimneys of factories and automobile manufacturers.
Arul testing his vetri mask on the exhaust pipes of two and four-wheeler vehicles. Courtesy: Dr M Vijaya.
It is incredible how children like Arul come up with extraordinary ideas and innovations that incorporate rudimentary resources yet have a path-breaking impact. Given the frightening levels of air pollution in our cities, his idea could give a new lease of life to the countless people suffering from respiratory conditions and ailments.
To know more, you can reach out to Dr M Vijaya at 9840576485.
While most people prepare for retirement in their 60s, a 65-year-old Chennai engineer is using his time to create innovative gadgets that can benefit women and senior citizens in times of emergencies.
K G Radhakrishnan, a resident of Nolambur, graduated with a degree in electrical engineering in 1976 and worked as an A-grade electrical contractor. But he took a two-year sabbatical to immerse himself in the designing of three gadgets that he claims could be one step forward in ensuring the safety of women and senior citizens.
Here’s a look at the three gadgets:
1. Usha Lifesaver
Named after his wife, Usha, this first device is a chic wristwatch. Radhakrishnan says that it that can come handy for women as well as senior citizens who stay alone in an apartment or individual homes with a neighbourhood.
His first device is a speaker that can be mounted at the entrance of the house and comes with remote control, which, instead of a switch is, in fact, a wrist-watch-like gadget that the user can wear at all times, without the fear of misplacing it.
In case of a medical emergency or if a miscreant barges into their home, the user only has to press a button on the device. It will immediately activate the alarm, and the speaker will give out a screeching call for help that can cover a distance of 500-600 meters, thus alerting even sleeping neighbours. Speaking to The Better India, he says that the device can be worn even while sleeping, as it will not give off a false alarm.
Another feature of this unique watch is that even if it is damaged, it won’t stop making the noise. Only the wearer can deactivate the alarm. It runs on a battery, so miscreants switching off the power supply of the homes to break in and enter, wouldn’t affect its working either.
Radhakrishnan explains, “One might say, even if the neighbours wake up, there is a tendency that the call for help may disorient them, making it difficult to understand what direction the noise is coming from. So, another feature of this device is the minute the call-for-help button is pushed, the watch will emit a blinding red light that can reach a huge distance. So, if the ears are confused, their eyes will direct them to the source.”
But after getting feedback from his near and dear ones about how the reach of the gadget is limited because the speaker is stationary, Radhakrishnan began working on a portable version of the first gadget.
2. Usha RAVVs Saviour Pouch
The engineer next created a gadget that could fit in a pouch that could be strapped to the hip.
“All the user has to do is press the button on the pouch to sound the alarm, which is set as a woman’s cry for help by default (with help from a dubbing artist). The sound is loud enough and can reach even reach a passerby 60 metres (190 foot) away from the victim,” he explains.
The pouch is equipped with a mini speaker and amplifier.
The device also has a slot for a sound card which the user can use to reset the call-for-help alarm to any language or voice. The pouch even has space to keep a mobile and valuables while on the go.
Usually, when a chain is snatched in the middle of the road, the person goes into a panic mode and cannot react for a while. The miscreants use this time buffer to flee. But in this case, even if the victim presses the button after a minute, the sound will cover a distance of 250-300 meters, alerting passersby.
After his daughter shared her experience of being eve-teased as she alighted her scooter, Radhakrishnan got the idea of developing an alternative version for women on two-wheelers. The main circuit, including the speaker, is placed right below the horn and the switch is embedded in the remote key of the vehicle.
Radhakrishnan spent the last one year developing and redeveloping over 20 models, till he arrived at these three final versions. He aims to mass produce these in his capacity and is happy with the attention his innovations are receiving.
If Mr Radhakrishnan’s story inspired you, get in touch with him on 9884621378 or write to him at volt.amps.consultancy@gmail.com
Compared to towns and villages, the waste burden of metropolitan cities is not only moving forward at an unprecedented rate but is also causing significant repercussions to the environment by way of landfills as well as heavily polluting the water bodies.
Have you ever wondered about how the vegetable sellers and vendors in vegetable markets across cities dispose of the produce that ends up unsold and has begun to decay?
These are not small quantities we are talking about, but mounds of crop refuse that have to be cleared with the help of JCB loaders and tippers, only to end up in landfills or dump yards.
Since crop refuse is completely biodegradable, it makes little sense in routing this waste to the same channels where plastics and other non-biodegradable waste is sent. Instead, it could be utilised for composting and other agrarian purposes.
That is exactly what Shri Shankarlal Sundarbai Shasun Jain College for Women in T Nagar, Chennai has been doing by running a biogas plant to fuel its canteen operations on the campus.
Routing a portion of vegetable refuse from the vegetable market on the Station Road in West Mambalam, the biogas plant has managed to replace six out of 90 commercial LPG cylinders used every month by the college kitchen.
“Students and the staff of the college would pass through the market while heading towards the Mambalam railway station. The place is littered with garbage and is slippery. We decided to use biodegradable waste from here for our biogas plant, as we knew that the biodegradable waste generated on the college campus would not be sufficient. The gardener of the college goes to the market every day and collects the vegetable waste,” Sundara Meena, a faculty member at the college told The Hindu.
For every 50 kg of biodegradable waste that is fed into the biogas plant, it produces 2 kg of biogas, and alongside the fuel, the slurry that is produced by the plant as a byproduct is used as manure. One particular thing the college keeps in mind is to avoid acidic and fibrous waste including banana leaves and peels of citrus fruits as well as dairy products.
The concerned team now intends to expand their initiative and tie up with two textile shops in T Nagar to collect food waste and vegetable peels generated in their food courts.
Not too far away from is the Tambaram Municipality, which has begun executing different waste management initiatives with the objective of reducing the amount of waste ending up in landfills.
In a meeting recently convened under the leadership of G Prakash, who is the Commissioner of Municipal Administration, the decision of segregating waste right at source points was given the nod.
A stretch of road in Tambaram strewn with garbage. Source: Facebook.
To mobilise the scheme, the civic body would be constructing 20 sheds for micro-composting under a budget of ₹6.6 crore. The the first such shed was recently inaugurated by K Krishnamurthy, the Tambaram Municipal Commissioner, on Velachery Main Road in Aadhi Nagar, Selaiyur.
“These micro-composting centres will use the kitchen, garden and food waste from households and produce organic garden manure in 40 days. The manure will be supplied to residents free of cost,” Krishnamurthy told The Hindu.
According to Sanitary Officer C Arivuchelvam and Inspector N Sivakumar, who oversee solid waste management in the municipal limits, not only are these micro-sheds environment-friendly, these also do not emit a foul stench which usually arises due to waste decay.
Municipal authorities have identified seven locations, where slightly larger micro-composting sheds would be placed at the cost of ₹50 lakh and work for which is already underway. For the remaining areas, the project would be initiated in a phased manner.
“Residents have been requested to send biodegradable waste for six days, and on Wednesdays, they can send non-biodegradable waste through the conservancy workers. The details of the new system are being disseminated to residents through awareness programmes. With cooperation from residents and commercial establishments in the coming months, the recycling of these wastes will bring in more greenery in the municipal limits,” added the Commissioner.
September 2nd, 2017 was a regular work day for Dr Sunay Bhat— a laparoscopic surgeon based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. At that time, he was working as a surgical consultant in a Christian charity hospital in Coimbatore and also ran a private clinic.
Dr Bhat was winding up for the day when he received a call from a nurse. A 13-year-old girl had been diagnosed with peritonitis—an inflammation of the abdominal lining caused by bacterial infection or the rupture of an abdominal organ. She needed to be operated upon urgently, and Dr Bhat was the doctor for the job.
Speaking to The Better India, Dr Bhat said, “I regularly drive a Honda two-wheeler to work. The shortest route takes about 14 km from my regular workplace to the mission hospital, and I left the hospital at 5 pm.
I looked up and noticed that the dark clouds had taken over the entire sky. It was only a matter of time it would rain heavily.”
(L) Dr Bhat in his scrubs. (R) for representative purpose. Source.
Its human nature to avoid a long commute when you see dark skies in the evening; more so when you are riding on a two-wheeler. The chances of getting caught in the pouring rain and being drenched to the bone, and perhaps even getting into an accident, just cannot be ignored. Similar thoughts were floating in Dr Bhat’s mind, but he decided to take his chances and started going towards the hospital.
“I had only travelled 2 km when it started raining heavily, and within a minute, I was fully wet,” Dr Bhat said, adding that “It was difficult to see the road ahead. Cars and trucks were passing by, and people gathered around bakeries, grocery stores, bus stops for shelter. I looked around to hire a cab or auto, but none would stop.”
He waited there for 15 more minutes, hoping that the rain would stop, but that didn’t happen. Thinking about his patient, who was in distress, Dr Bhat started his commute to the hospital again.
Representative image of flooded roads in Tamil Nadu. Source: yashima.
“I decided to take a chance and drive myself amidst the heavy rain and water clogged uneven roads. I must admit, the thoughts of my family waiting back home crossed my mind as I feared some mishap on the way. But I knew this road well, each pothole or speed breaker. All I needed to do was drive carefully.”
After over an hour of riding in unmerciful rains, Dr Bhat finally reached the hospital, soaking and tired. But he quickly changed into his scrubs, and without wasting any time, he and his team got to work and performed a successful laparoscopic appendectomy.
The patient’s parents thanked the kind doctor for having saved their daughter. The fact that he had driven over 14 kms in heavy rains only to operate on their daughter was not lost on them.
The doctor and the hospital he worked in. Courtesy: Dr Bhat.
Right after the surgery, Dr Bhat decided to go back home. There were no more patients waiting at the hospital, and the rains had let up as well. However, as soon as he took to the road, the skies played a joke on him.
“It started raining heavily again, and home was still a good 10-11 km away. By now, I decided not to feel bad about it and was enjoying the drive,” says Dr Bhat. Pleased with the fact that he had saved a 13-year-old girl from a dangerous infection, even if it meant riding in heavy rains, Dr Bhat continued his journey home with a smile on his face.
“There was a sense of an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction which seldom crosses my mind consciously. There were at least three strangers I on the way, who asked for a lift, and I happily obliged. The last person even enquired if I had eaten and asked me to drive safe.”
It is heartwarming to see that the doctor helped so many people on a day when he could have happily enjoyed a cup of tea inside his home. Not only did he potentially save a life, but he also helped strangers get home safe and sound.
“We live in a time where doctors are often judged, criticised and punished. Like many others, I too have experienced the transition in the patient’s faith in our fraternity. Our work is still sacred, and we should never lose heart. Each one of us is destined for a higher cause, and as doctors, we must utilise every single opportunity to help the needy,” signs off Dr Bhat.
Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes is a disorder as old as the ancient manuscripts of Egypt, which are believed to be the first record describing the disease. The script describes diabetes as “too great emptying of the urine”. This refers to the classic hallmark symptom of diabetes–-frequent urination.
The other common symptom of the disease is how it got its name– diabetes mellitus.
Diabetes mellitus translates to “pass through sweet”. This was attributed to the symptom that diabetic patients have sweeter urine.
Yes, you read that right. Diabetic patients, for the most part, were diagnosed by their sweet pee. This was due to the higher concentration of glucose in their urine.
Where even Sushruta (6th century BCE), an Indian healer identified diabetes and classified it as “Madhumeha” meaning “sweet urine”. Ancient Indians tested for diabetes by looking at whether ants were attracted to a person’s urine.
Turns out, it’s not just with urine with which you can diagnose diabetes.
Having high levels of glucose in urine, though a classic tell-tale, occurs only at the later stages of the condition, where the disorder has gone out of hand. Blood tests are common, but they still need some sort of supervision.
But with this latest news, it turns out that you can diagnose the disease in just a puff of air.
A common test for diabetes include pricking of fingers to test the blood sugar level. Source: Pixabay
Students from the Biomedical Engineering department at the St Peter’s Institute of Higher Education, Chennai, have innovated a device that can detect diabetes using a breathalyser. It will only require the patient to breathe into the device to determine if they have diabetes. The device can also be used to determine their sugar levels.
The students were mentored by their guide, Dr K Kantharaj, who told The Indian Express, “Through my experience as a doctor, I’ve found that a diabetic person’s breath contains acetone and the device measures the acetone levels that can be used to determine the diabetes level. That’s why I suggested that the students could work on a device like an alcohol breathalyser.”
The project titled “Prototype Development of Gluco L” was conducted under the government scheme – Support for Entrepreneurial and Managerial Development of SMEs Through Incubators.
G Gnancy Subha and M Fazilath, both final year Biomedical Engineering students, had taken about three to four months to develop the device and have tested it on about 150-200 people in and around the campus. Their study yielded 90 percent accuracy in results.
“We’re now looking for funding so that we can patent the device and make it available to people,” said Gnancy.
With prevention being better than cure, detection seems just as important.
Welcome toMy Garden Seriesby The Better India, where we feature stories about gardening and homebound farming initiatives submitted by our readers. If you have any stories to share as well, write to us at editorial@thebetterindia.com.
Gardening for Chennai boy Pavan Kumar Raghavendran has always been much more than just a hobby. By the time he was in class 12, he already had a thriving terrace garden that he took care of himself.
After completing his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering, Pavan joined an automotive company as an intern. But his heart lay elsewhere, and after three months of working, he quit the organisation to chase his dream of establishing a social startup.
And what a better course of action than to convert one’s passion into a profession?
The avid terrace gardener.
Just the way he has been tending to plants and crops across his terrace, Pavan decided to model his venture upon the same lines—but on a slightly larger scale—by helping people in the city grow their own vegetables through organic indoor and outdoor gardens!
For this, he spent significant time learning various organic farming practices before launching his dream project as PKR Greens and Consultants in September 2016.
Sticking to the social venture paradigm, the company doesn’t charge customers for site visits and also gives customers the option of either requesting plants that they want or let Pavan and his team work out which plants would work best in a given amount of space.
“Besides setting up terrace and regular gardens, we also create awareness and motivate people by conducting gardening workshops in residential complexes, offices, clubs and educational institutions,” says the 22-year-old gardener.
However, Pavan explains that their primary focus rests on schools because he wants more children to learn where their food comes from. “We help them learn this through seed ball creation and free sapling distribution events in schools”, he adds.
With a core team of five, Pavan has managed to install over 400 terrace gardens along with several workshops across Chennai in the past 18 months.
A typical terrace garden layout. Courtesy: Pavan Kumar Raghavendran.
However, according to Pavan, that is not the most significant achievement so far.
What Pavan is truly proud of is a flagship service that he has introduced through his venture—the unique concept of giving plants as return gifts.
“There is so much waste being generated today due to ostentatious material items that people buy as return gifts. We hope that we will be able to change this practice and influence others to make better choices. We had an opportunity to provide plants at many film events, and the ‘green’ gifts were appreciated by all the guests,” he happily mentions.
Pavan also shares that besides their core team, he is particular about hiring only college students as interns and volunteers. “Just the way I found my vocation in something I loved doing, many of these students are equally passionate about gardening. I am only providing them with a platform through part-time jobs that they can take up in a full-fledged manner later,” he says.
Besides gardening, he also finds interests in collecting and preserving heritage crop seeds from across the country.
“I grow most plants from seedlings in my home garden. So far, I have saved seeds for 30 types of heirloom eggplants, 4 types of bitter gourd and 10 types of okra. I have also started collecting rare seeds from other people to multiply them in my garden and preserve them for future. I also swap these seeds with other gardeners,” Pavan explains.
All this at the age of 22!
One must appreciate Pavan’s dedication to what initially began as a hobby, and eventually became a fully-fledged venture and his determination to push for an environmental revolution through it.
“I am only a 22-year-old with very little insight into the business world, and very few connections. But in the past 18 months, we have tried our best to reach every corner of the city, and it hasn’t been an easy ride. Even though our goal is to use business to drive social and environmental impact, we have to work hard to create awareness. I am delighted to be pursuing my passion and contributing in my own way to a better society,” he adds.
We hope that Pavan can scale great heights through his gardening venture and is able to guide more citizens across cities and towns in Tamil Nadu to grow their own organic veggies or create a green patch within their living spaces.
You can look up PKR Greens and Consultants on Facebook here. You can also reach out to Pavan at pavankumarofficialid@gmail.com or call at 8754445850.
‘Chess Prodigy’ is the only way to describe Chennai’s Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa. Only 12 years, 10 months and 13 days old, Praggnanandhaa is the second youngest person ever, to become a Chess Grandmaster.
In fact, at the tender age of just 10 years, 10 months and 19 days, this chess wizard, had become an International Master—the youngest in history.
Chennai’s Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa is the second youngest Grandmaster, in the world. Image Credit: Shree
With this distinction, he is second to only Sergey Karjakin, of Ukraine, who became the world’s youngest Grandmaster in 1990, reports the Times of India.
The Gredine Open, in Ortisei, Italy, has seen this lad play skilful chess, defeating several worthy opponents like Iran’s Aryan Gholami, and Italian Grandmaster (GM) Luca Moroni. Playing against the latter, the Chennai boy took the upper hand in the match at its outset, and held on, playing attacking chess, eventually forcing Moroni to buckle under the pressure mid-game.
Praggnanandhaa breezed through the first eight rounds, but in order to achieve his third GM norm, he had to play an opponent above the rating of 2482 in the ninth round. Luckily for him, he was drawn with Pruijssers Roland, of the Netherlands, who had a 2514 rating, and thus, he became the second chess player, to become a GM, before he turned 13.
Now, as far as the Gredine Open goes, Praggnanandhaa, is at the second spot, behind Croatian GM Saric Ivan.
Praggnanandhaa had already achieved his first GM norm in the World Juniors 2017, and then his second GM norm, at the closed round-robin Herkalion Fischer Memorial GM Norm tournament in Greece. He has also crossed 2500 Elo rating points.
(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)
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It is true that most superheroes don’t wear capes. A lot of them wear a rundown grey t-shirt with tattered jeans. Instead of a sharp jawline and flawless mane, they have a sheepish grin and messy hair.
But everyone can agree that all superheroes have one common goal—to protect what matters the most to them.
Vignesh Vijayalakshmi, a 22-year-old rescue worker with the Blue Cross of India (BCI), an animal welfare charity based in Chennai, certainly qualifies as a superhero.
The youngest member of the Blue Cross team, he has individually rescued over 77 animals in a year. Shy and awkward, he admits that he deals better with animals than his fellow humans.
Snug in a Blue Cross ambulance, Vignesh opens up about his life. “I am an engineering graduate and would sometimes leave classes for animal rescues. Dogs get stuck in wells, or are injured and need medical attention. Abandoned cats and rabbits are found mostly on the roads, and we shelter them until they are adopted.”
Enroute Tambaram, he receives an emergency call about a dog who is stuck in a closed lane between two houses. Fearing that the animal might die of hunger or worse, some individuals in the area contacted Blue Cross. Without a word, Vignesh reaches the stop, puts on his orange jacket and jumps into the lane. He knows what he is doing.
He coaxes and comforts the frightened dog who bares his teeth at him in response. Vicky then asks for his blue net. The only way for the dog to be rescued is to scoop him inside the net and release him outside.
Unfortunately, the cornered animal goes berserk upon sighting the net and begins to snarl and howl.
“The poor animal thinks that he’s getting caught for a slaughterhouse,” says Dawn solemnly. Indeed the sight was pitiful. The heart-wrenching howls of the dog made people pause on the streets.
Undeterred, Vignesh moves forward with slow, steady steps and nudges the dog’s backside, encouraging it to enter the net. Once the dog is in, he scoops up the net in one fluid motion and transfers the rescued dog to another worker.
“Sometimes the animal doesn’t want to be friendly because they’re too scared. So they have to be carried in the net. A few minutes of discomfort means a lifetime of freedom,” explains Vignesh.
The net is lowered and untangled, and the dog tastes freedom once again. He runs down the road, without looking back even once.
Another animal rescued; another mission successful. The workers pack up and drive back to the shelter. There’s an atmosphere of ease, and Vignesh opens up, “This was a fairly easy mission. Once I had to rescue a dog whose face was blown up during Diwali, and he had crawled away to die.”
Looking away, he recalls, “Maggots were eating away the skin on his face, and you could smell the odour from a 100 meters away.”
Showing a video of the dog, he continues, “Maggots were falling on my lap, and the smell was almost unbearable, but I was determined to save it and carried him on a bike for 40 km so he could be treated. Today, he has completely healed and is living in the shelter.”
Why is it so crucial for him to go through such discomfort to rescue an animal? Why is each mission, no matter how life-threatening, given equal priority?
“Everyone must respect the life of another being,” he says, lost in thought.
As the sun sets, he reaches the shelter and greets Sunface, a rescued dog who lost his upper jaw due to a fireworks explosion. Wagging his tail, he circles Vignesh. With a similar twinkle in both their eyes, they take a few moments to greet each other after a long day.
“I am determined to save every animal that I possibly can. There are a lot of other people better than I am, but I want to improve with every mission.”
He reveals how secretly he cannot calm down until an animal is rescued and treated. Other rescue workers would only find out about his difficult missions through Dawn, who is exceptionally proud of his work.
Although quiet about his personal life, he considers his mother and sister to be his role models and inspiration.
Taking a walk around the shelter, he remembers the name of every buffalo, pig and dog and recounts the harrowing experience that each animal was subjected to. Cows and bulls cultivated only for their semen and milk are abandoned when they are infertile, dogs are mercilessly beaten and left to die, birds with snapped necks—such is the plight of helpless animals that don’t have a voice of their own.
Running his hand through his hair, he says, “I don’t want to be acknowledged as a hero among anyone. I’m happy just being who I am. I’m no superhero.”
(Written by Mohini Chandola and edited by Gayatri Mishra)
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Play is the work of children. It’s very serious stuff.
And serious it is! Children playgrounds and open parks are increasingly becoming difficult to spot in our urbanised congested cities. The buildings are clamouring for space and shooting upwards; the streets are widening, and highways are almost knocking on our doors to accommodate the vehicles and ongoing traffic.
In all of this urban mess, where are the open green spaces that breathe life into the utter chaos? Where is the innocence of childhood that swings carelessly and slides away from all troubles?
Let me take you for a walk through the metropolitan city of Chennai, which thankfully can boast of 578 parks within the city limits, a feat that needs to be applauded and appreciated.
The Greater Chennai Corporation or GCC can be credited for its initiative of building and maintaining park areas within the city.
Children’s play area in a Chennai park.
An official of GCC told The Better India, “578 parks in Chennai have been created by GCC for the public. All these parks have been developed by GCC. At present, 40 parks have been handed over to various agencies for adoption and maintenance for one year which would be renewable every year based on the maintenance performance.”
So who decides where to construct a park? The GCC primarily makes these decisions, based on the availability of vacant OSR (Open Space Reservation) land. According to the specifications of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority or CMDA, an open space area for the community should be reserved for a building or development plot area exceeding 3,000 sq m. The main purpose of this is to use the area for recreational purposes or community needs of the resident’s association. According to GCC officials, residents or residential welfare associations too can request the corporation for parks.
Besides, 38 new parks are under creation under the Atal Mission For Rejuvenation And Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme, to be completed and open for public use by the end of this financial year. A budget of eight crores has been set aside for this scheme.
The GCC, of course, has set its targets and like all cities, the planning and maintenance of parks is a significant duty. However, unlike, say, Delhi, which is famous for its historic gardens, or Kolkata which is blessed with the central Maidan area or Chandigarh which is a planned city, Chennai does not have similar advantages.
Thus, the effort of actually building parks around residence complexes or converting available OSR into parks is a conscious decision undertaken by locals as well as the government.
Gym area in the Nageswara Rao Park.
However, on the other hand, it is estimated that Chennai has only 0.81sq m of open space per capita, which is low compared to other metropolitan cities. Officials argue that this number is a lower estimate since major open areas such as the Guindy National Park are designated as protected areas.
Also, Chennai is nowhere near the top 10 green cities in India, in fact, only a little about 2% has a green cover, as opposed to 33% as per the National Forest Policy.
But essentially, not all parks have a healthy green cover. Earlier, designated park areas were usually constructed with concrete and shrubs provided for the only greenery. However, this is changing where officials look to keep at least 70% of the park area under green cover and the remaining 30% for children’s equipment, furniture, walking tracts and more. Read the 2016 report published in The Times of India.
Not delving too deep into numbers, let me say this. I have been living in Chennai for the past eight years and only when I began to take my child outside the home to play, did I realise that the city had quite a few of them. In most areas that I frequented, I was pleasantly surprised to see an open gate park area, which had its stock of swings, slides, see-saws, benches and walking paths. Some were small and sufficient for the adjoining residence complexes, whereas, others were big enough to accommodate people from other localities as well.
The parks are not only a good source of play-time for toddlers and children but also act as leisurely walk areas for the elderly and in many cases also as exercising zones for fitness enthusiasts. Nageswara Rao Park is a perfect example of how a park is a place for the culmination of many things.
As Sangeetha, a frequent visitor to the park says, “It is refreshing to come here. The kids enjoy playing, and I can do a quick walk myself.”
A local park with a broken slide.
A shed area within the park is a common place for youngsters and groups to practice their various art forms of dance and drama. The open badminton court area is often active with people forming pairs and enjoying a game or two with the racquet. However, what strikes most is the little gym area very recently opened within the park which is a great place for people to flex their muscles for free. This very recent development was a sweet, pleasant surprise for the park visitors.
Needless to say, though some of the bigger parks are maintained and regularly upgraded, like the Nageswara Rao Park, Semmozhi Poonga (a botanical garden set up by the Horticulture Department, which boasts of a variety of flora) or the Guindy National Park. However, there are lesser known local parks that take the brunt of negligence and may consequently lose out on their true essence.
A local park in Santhome area, for example, is in sad shape, with almost every play item distorted or broken.
The slides are damaged, some have the ladder missing and the see-saws precariously hinged.
A slide without a ladder.
Similarly, the play park a little away from the main Secretariat area lacks tree shade and looks almost like a decrepit desert zone, with the slides and swing poles standing out like cacti.
As mentioned by a GCC official, “The parks are inspected regularly by the Park overseer on alternate days. In addition to this, the concerned Assistant Engineers (AEs), Assistant Executive Engineer (AEEs), and Executive Engineer (EEs) inspect the parks periodically.”
It is heartening to see green spaces within the city and more so when they also incorporate children’s play areas. With many newly-constructed apartments making it mandatory for play areas to be a part of the complex, the future doesn’t look too bleak.
As concerned citizens, if you find any parks near your locality or elsewhere that need attention, post your grievances online at www.chennaicorporation.gov.in or through the 1913 complaint cell.
(Written by Tasneem Sariya and Edited by Shruti Singhal)
With the aim of reviving traditional millet-based food in Tamil Nadu through farmers, IAS officer U Sagayam had flagged off the ‘Uzhavan Unavagam’ initiative in Madurai almost eight years ago.
A few years later, the initiative deeply inspired a young IT professional in Chennai, who had begun to feel saturated in his well-paid job and instead wanted to start something new and meaningful. Having followed the work of organic farming scientist G Nammalvar, J Suresh initially began with attending his workshops and later took to conducting his own research in the field.
The young man then stumbled upon the idea to launch a catering business in the city and in 2014, ‘Thirukural Unavagam’ took flight in Virugambakkam.
The meals were prepared using only millets, but sadly, the venture only lasted for two months.
However, the resilient young man refused to give up and started a two-table restaurant at Karayanchavadi, which was in the outskirts of Chennai and became popular with the industrial workers in the vicinity. Here, he was joined by his friend, Karthikeyan E. Suresh had been the caterer during his wedding and served millet-based food to guests.
Together, they began researching local food habits and decided to club together traditional recipes with contemporary yet healthy twists that would appeal even to the younger population. In 2016, the second innings came in the form of a restaurant, which the duo strategically launched in Adyar, for the area had a plethora of purely vegetarian restaurants as well as the entire IT corridor in the vicinity.
Initially starting with 12 recipes, today as many as 45 varieties of dishes are served at the restaurant, of which many have been pioneered by the duo.
“Standard menus don’t work here, and therefore we constantly innovate. Tricolour puris and sukku malli rolls appeal to younger customers. I have even developed pani puri with ragi, served with mudakathan juice. However, the most popular items on our menu are the two traditional set meals—Tholkappiar and Nammalvar Thaali,” said Suresh to The Hindu.
According to Suresh, all the recipes have three things in common—millets, herbs and heritage rice varieties of Tamil Nadu and that their working foundation rests on the belief of serving customers “not what they like, but what is healthy for them.”
Besides millet chapattis that are stuffed with traditional herbs and vegetables, the restaurant also has vegetarian omelettes, made by grinding together sprouted moong with green chillies as well as herbal tea, concocted using thipili, adhimadhuram, dry ginger, pepper, tulasi, mint and karupatti on its menu.
The ‘Tholkappiar Virundhu’ includes 18 traditional dishes, served with heritage rice for just ₹148 while the ‘Nammalvar Virundhu’ replaces rice with millets and has 20 items, for ₹158.
The restaurateurs mention that a lot of their customers include the health-conscious population, among which many are youngsters. They intend to start a meal box scheme on a subscription model to cater the professionals working nearby.
Having found great success in last two years, the duo is now keen on taking up farming as their next pursuits for they believe, “our heart lies there.”
22-year old Royston from Kambar Nagar Chennai, met with an accident and was hospitalised for more than five months. He was hesitant to claim insurance, as he feared he would have to go to the police station time and again, to obtain case documents, and then haggle with the insurance company as well. It was an uncle, who told him about a new facility.
Royston filed a case with the MCOP tribunal, producing the documents which he downloaded. The insurance company also came through with a Rs 3.25 lakh settlement in just 41 days.
According to The New Indian Express, a new online facility by the State Police in Chennai allows families of victims to claim compensation.
The online facility is part of the Crimes and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS) which allows the victim or their families to download case documents directly to claim insurance.
In Chennai, it is easier for accident victims to claim compensation.Representative image only. Image Credit: Mrs K M P M Inter College Jamshedpur
Insurance companies are also given access to the documents so they can get in touch with the victim directly, offering compensation. This saves a lot of time.
Until now, around 18 families of accident victims have received claims from the insurance firms, within a few months from their incidents, thanks to the CCTNS, and the State Crime Record Bureau (SCRB). The online portal allows victims to gain access to case documents relevant to them, through the mobile number registered with the police.
According to advocate V S Suresh, it would normally take years to get this amount, with Royston’s claim joining thousands of other such cases pending before the courts. The lawyer specialises in road accident claim cases, praised the online initiative, saying that it has brought in transparency. He said that the loophole in the process delays in filing charge sheets by the cops must be plugged.
Elaborating, the lawyer said that traffic investigation wing in the city deals with accident cases, whereas in the districts, it falls under the law-and-order of the police station, which further delays the process of filing a charge-sheet. Cops blame the lack of witnesses and department work for the delays.
A senior cop said every police station will upload road-accident documents. Companies could directly access the claim cases filed, and the system allows insurance companies to verify facts instantly, and pay compensation to victims, instead of waiting for the tribunal to hear and decide the compensation.
Insurance companies are happy about this arrangement, with MS Sreedhar, MD of Royal Sundaram Insurance company praising it. He said that every day, the firms check accident details filed on the CCTNS, and also check if any victim has filed claims to their company. Victims are contacted, and compensation is filed. Other documents, like damage cost from the victim, are also collected, and the insurance companies offer a settlement amount.
Well, for accident victims in Chennai, claiming compensation is easier–a great initiative to take the burden off someone who is already facing trauma due to a mishap.
(Edited by Shruti Singhal)
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