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An Engineer Has a Unique Solution for Farmer Suicides. And It Involves Cows.

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Cowism is a startup founded by computer engineer Chetan Raut, who believes the integration of indigenous cows in agriculture is the only solution to stopping farmer suicides. Farmer suicides were at their peak when Chetan Raut was pursuing his engineering course in YCCE, Nagpur. Chetan’s father, Arun Raut, was once a farmer too. He actively participated in the farming revolution by Sharat Joshi when he was a student himself. But, after a few years, he resumed his studies because he was disappointed with farming.
“My father always discouraged us from taking up agriculture as career. But we could make out how much he loved farming by the way he spoke about it so passionately,” says Chetan.
Chetan had farming in his blood. So he could not resist staying away from it when he heard of Vidarbha farmers committing suicides. He joined the Vidarbha Youth Organization while his college. This organization worked with farmers to solve their problems and helped their children too.

To understand the reasons behind Vidarbha farmers committing suicides when farmers in western Maharashtra were doing so well, Chetan decided to visit both regions.

[caption id="attachment_54782" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]cowism1 Visit to progressive farmers in Western Maharashtra[/caption] In 2011, after finishing his engineering degree in computer science, Chetan went on a road trip to villages in Maharashtra with some friends. On this trip, lasting almost a month, he saw there was one huge difference between the farmers of Vidarbha and those of western Maharashtra. And that difference was integrated farming and livestock rearing, practised by the latter. Chetan realized the solution did not lie in creating alternatives to farming but, rather, in creating options for what could be done along with farming to make it more profitable and sustainable. With the desire to help these farmers and know more about farming, Raut joined the Social Entrepreneurship programme at Tata Institute for Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai in 2011. During this programme, he had the opportunity to visit three different institutes where he studied social and rural practices for 6 months. Under this project, he visited the tribals of Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh. He stayed for a month in the tribal parts of south Goa with a NGO called Green Basics.

And to study how a village can be transformed into a self-sufficient and ideal village, Chetan visited Baba Amte’s Anandwan in Maharashtra.

[caption id="attachment_54781" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]cowism2 The TISS team in Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh[/caption] Further, on studying the history of agriculture in India, Raut came to know that in ancient times, people could not afford salt and hence they crushed some kind of ants that were salty and had them with their chapattis. But soon, another alternative to salt was found. It was milk. People could have chapattis with milk, which they got from cows they could rear. Cows also gave them bulls for farming. Cows gave them fertilizer in the form of cow dung. Getting wood for cooking meant going into jungles that were full of wild animals. So they used dried cow dung cakes as fuel. And they got all these from a harmless animal that could survive on the leftovers of their farming yield and was, therefore, very affordable. There were animals like goats, which gave them milk, or chickens, which gave them meat and eggs, but they were of no use in farms. And so, the cow became a sacred animal for them and every household had a cow.

This was what Chetan was searching for. The cow was the answer to all the problems of a farmer.

[caption id="attachment_54780" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]cowism3 ‘Cowism’ would work towards reviving the old cow-based agrarian culture of India.[/caption] In January 2015, Raut finally decided to launch his startup, ‘Cowism,’ which would work towards reviving the old cow-based agrarian culture of India, with the aim of creating a sustainable future for agriculture. The journey was not easy and came with its own set of challenges. Though the concept of organic agriculture is as old as humanity, convincing farmers to adopt organic farming was a huge challenge. Chetan realized that by working in the fields like a farmer himself, he stood a better chance at convincing other farmers that sustainable and profitable farming is indeed possible through organic methods. The other challenge came in the form of a seed fund crunch: How could he continue working with limited funds and what part of the venture should he concentrate on?

However, the funding problem was solved when Cowism won the Global Indian Entrepreneur 2014 Contest. On winning this contest, he was approached by DBS bank, which came forth to support the project.

[caption id="attachment_54779" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]cowism4 Cowism won the Global Indian Entrepreneur 2014 Contest[/caption] During his research, Chetan also came across a book called Devil in the Milk, written by Dr. K. B. Woodford. This book helped him understand the difference between the milk of a Jersey cow and an indigenous cow. The indigenous or pure Indian breed cow milk has amino acids, which make the milk protein easily digestible and is good for the kidneys. It is a source of vitamin B2, B3 and A. It helps strengthen the immune system and greatly reduce the chances of peptic ulcers, and colon, breast and skin cancers. On the other hand, milk from a Jersey (hybrid) cow contains additional BCM-7, an element associated with paediatric diabetes, autism and metabolic degenerative diseases. Moreover, as the hybrid cows are basically from cold regions, they are more prone to diseases in the Indian climate, are less mobile, and require high maintenance. Chetan now started to emphasize the rearing of indigenous cows through his Cowism project. He started his venture from Chandrapur.

His first step was to get milk from the farmers who had Gir Gai (an Indian breed cow), pack it at home and sell it himself.

[caption id="attachment_54778" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]cowism5 Chetan distributes milk himself every morning.[/caption] “My mother and I used to pack the milk at home, and I distributed the milk every morning. People made fun of me, asking why I had done engineering if all I wanted to do was sell milk. But my mother stood strongly by me,” says Raut.

He started visiting the farmers and learning about their problems. But convincing them to use an age-old technique was not easy.

[caption id="attachment_54777" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]cowism6 Chetan makes organic fertilizers with cow dung and cow urine.[/caption] The conversion rate was really slow. Initially, only two farmers were motivated by Cowism and bought the Indian breed cow. However, since it takes a long time to see change when adapting to a new style of farming, farmers tend to get de-motivated. So Chetan started experimenting on his own land with the help of his cousin.

He says he has been seeing major changes on his farm with the use of self made fertilizers from cow dung and cow urine.

[caption id="attachment_54776" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]cowism7 Chetan has experimented his methods on his own farm and found good results.[/caption] His motto now is to help introduce one indigenous cow to each farming household in his area – “one cow, one farmer” – and, from thereon, work towards increasing the reach of the idea to more and more farmers. Watch the story of Cowism here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zimItIPp1Ls&authuser=0 To know more about Cowism, you can write to chetan30raut@gmail.com.

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This Man Uses His Limited Resources to Buy Drinking Water for Poor Residents in Drought-Hit Junnar

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A young man from drought-hit Junnar in Maharashtra is quenching the thirst of area residents with his own resources. Several major rivers like Ganga, Godavari, Krishna and Netravati have been reduced to a trickle this summer. Groundwater levels are at a record low. Hand pumps have dried up completely in many places. The number of people impacted by this water scarcity and the intensity of the impact are huge. This is only the fourth time in a century that there has been a back-to-back drought in India. According to recent reports by Groundwater Surveys and Development Agency (GSDA) Maharashtra is the most affected state. The government has been trying its level best to provide drinking water to people with water tankers. Recently, a special train carrying around 5 lakh litres of water was also sent to parched Latur in Marathawad, which is battling the worst drought ever. Junnar in Pune district of Maharashtra is another city that is badly affected.

People here used to mainly rely on hand pumps for drinking water but even those have dried up now. The municipality supplies water only once a month to different localities in the city.

sj1 Shrikant Jadhav, a young resident of Junnar, has been observing the severe problem poor people in the area face due to lack of drinking water.
“I see the rich people getting drinking water cans – this solves their problem. But the poor cannot even afford water these days,” he says.
Shrikant has a small mobile phone repairing shop in Junnar. His limited resources prevent him from taking any major steps to alleviate this problem. So he has approached a distributor called Matoshri in Junnar from whom he buys water cans at Rs. 35 each. Shrikant now distributes water at places where he sees people standing in long queues in front of virtually dry hand pumps. He pours the water from the cans in the empty buckets the people are holding and goes back to the distributor for refills.

Shrikant has spent Rs. 17,000 from his own pocket on this effort so far and distributed 20,000 litres of water.

sj3 Shrikant distributes water every day in the Pansumbapeth, Shukrawarpeth and Kumbhar Gali areas of Junnar. He now calls his initiative Parivartan Helpline Sewa.

His number is displayed on the card that he distributes in slum areas; the card says, “If you are struggling for drinking water then just make one call to get free drinking water.”

sj3 (1) Shrikant’s family has now started supporting him in his venture.

“We all earn money but the satisfaction that you get on spending your earnings to help the distressed and seeing them happy is unmatchable,” says Shrikant.

sj4 Please call Shrikant on 8055551616 for more information.

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In the Face of Extreme Hardship, This Farmer Did Something Incredibly Brave to Till His Land

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Meet Vitthal Hari Mandole (Vithoba) from Khadki Budruk village of Jalgaon district in Maharashtra, the farmer who tilled his land with a cot because he could not afford a plough and a pair of bulls. Vitthal Mandole’s family members have been working as farm labourers for many generations. Until about eight years ago, Vitthal (known as Vithoba in his village) was doing the same. But then, he realized things had to change if he was to make life better for his children and their children. So he stopped working on other people’s farms and took a farm on lease himself.

He had to pay Rs. 25,000 per year for this 3 acre land. But life began to improve.

[caption id="attachment_60325" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Vithoba Vitthal Hari Mandole (Vithoba)[/caption] Vithoba was sending both his sons to school. His wife would work with him on the farm and they were able to live a simple but decent life. However, the good days didn’t last long. Vithoba’s elder son, Santosh, kept falling sick and left his studies after Class 8. In 2013, Santosh had to go for a major operation as his intestines were infected. The medical expenses were huge and Vithoba had to take a loan of Rs. 2 lakh at a heavy interest rate. “The banks were not ready to give me a loan as I did not own any land. So I had to take one from a money lender at a high interest rate,” says Vithoba. This unfortunate incident was followed by a drought, which made things even worse for Vithoba. The interest on the loan was increasing day by day. But Vithoba was not going to give up. He and his wife worked day and night on the farm. But ultimately a farmer’s hard work can yield results only if the rains support him. And in Vithoba’s case, the rains failed him. The 3 acre land gave a yield of just 2 quintals of cotton in the year 2015. Vithoba just about managed to pay the lease amount for the farm. His wife too started falling sick because she was overworked, and his younger son Rahul had to stop his education.

The family was devastated! Vithoba, however, was still not going to give up hope.

[caption id="attachment_60324" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]VithobaFamily Vithoba with his family[/caption] He decided to take the land on lease again, in spite of the fact that he would have to pay Rs. 25,000 at the end of this year even if the yield was not good. But there was another big challenge before him. He did not have bulls and a plough. To hire a bull he would have to pay Rs. 500 per bull per day, and to buy a pair of bulls he would require Rs. 70,000. Both these options were next to impossible for him at the moment. He would go to the farm, sit on his cot and think about how he could till his fields without a pair of bulls and a plough. And he would come back home without a solution. June 22, 2016, was just another day when he went to his farm early in the morning and started gazing at his field. All of a sudden, his eyes alighted on a cot that was kept in a corner. He noticed that the foot of the cot looked similar to a plough and, immediately, the idea of using the cot as a plough struck him.

Vithoba placed two heavy stones on one end of the cot and started ploughing the field by holding on to the other end.

[caption id="attachment_60326" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Vithobacot Vithoba tilled his 3 acre land with the help of a cot.[/caption]
“I started at 10 in the morning and did not stop till 8 at night, until I finished ploughing the entire 3 acres. For the next three days I had severe body aches but I was happy that the job was done. And who would have done this if not me? My family relies on me and I have to do everything I can to feed them,” says Vithoba
Vithoba has sown 5 bags of cotton seeds and a little maize this year. He is hoping to get the right amount of rainfall so he can repay his loan, take his elder son and wife to a good doctor, and send his younger son to college. Many villagers have visited him to learn his ‘technique’ of ploughing the field and are motivated by his work. “Kadhi himmat haraychi naaye (Never lose hope),” concludes Vithoba. If you wish to help this brave farmer, you can call him at 7798348533. If you would like to offer financial support, his bank details are: Vitthal Hari Mandole A/P -Khadki Bk.Tal- Chalisgaon. Dist-Jalgaon Central Bank Of India IFSC Code-CBIN 0284237 AC NO-3251075525
Disclaimer: Please note that any contributions made by you are not routed through The Better India, and we are not responsible for how the money is finally used. We are just moved by the plight of this farmer and touched by his bravery in the face of adversity, and wish to highlight that.

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The Farmer Who Tilled his Land with a Cot, Now has a Pair of Bulls. Thanks to You, Our Readers!

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Just a week ago, The Better India shared the story of Vitthal Hari Mandole (Vithoba) of Khadki Budruk village, who tilled his land with a cot because he could not afford a plough and a pair of bulls. Thanks to the extremely generous response from our readers, Vithoba collected enough money to purchase a pair of bulls within five days of TBI running his story.

On July 1, 2016, The Better India team came to know about a drought-hit farmer in Maharashtra who tilled his 3 acre land with a cot because he could not afford a plough and a pair of bulls.

[caption id="attachment_61093" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Vithobacot Vithoba tilled his 3 acre land with a cot.[/caption] His children had to be taken out of school, his wife was ill and he had a huge debt to take care of. We wanted to bring the story of this brave man, who was using all possible means to fight the hard situation he was in, to our readers. We felt you all may want to help him out so we provided his contact number and bank details and left the rest in your hands. As always, our readers did not disappoint. Vithoba received more than 50 calls in 5 days, not only from Maharashtra but also from other states like Chennai and Andhra Pradesh. The article also caught the attention of the NGO HOPE, now known as Shivprabha Charitable Trust, Pune. The NGO decided to gift a pair of bulls to Vithoba. The story was also circulated in the Whatsapp group of farmers - Baliraja. Balaji Hendre Patil, a Baliraja member, took the responsibility of finding a good and reasonably priced pair of bulls for Vithoba. Balaji Hendre Patil is from Delub village in Nanded district. He searched for the bulls in three different markets of Nanded and finalized the best pair at a cost of Rs. 54,500 (which included transportation from Nanded to Khadki Budruk Village). He took this decision because the cost of a pair of bulls in Vithoba’s village is around Rs.70,000.

Balaji also did a "test run" with the bulls and other farming equipment on his own farm before setting off to see Vithoba.

[caption id="attachment_61091" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]2 (3) Balaji searched for the bulls in three different markets and finalized the best pair.[/caption] On July 7, he left Nanded at 4 am and reached Vithoba’s place at 3 pm.
“I was welcomed just like a film star by the villagers. The entire village was there. Not only the Mandole family but each one of the villagers was so excited and happy,” Balaji told us.

More donations continue to flow into Vithoba’s account. In just 5 days, Rs. 77,000 was donated by our readers, a princely sum for a poor farmer.

[caption id="attachment_61090" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]3 (3) Vithoba has a pair of bulls now.[/caption] Vithoba is going to repay his debts with this amount. His younger son Rahul has also taken admission in I.T.I. The local MLA, Mr. Umesh Patil has taken the responsibility for his education.
“I am so thankful to The Better India and Shivprabha Charitable Trust. Everyone heard our story and was moved but you were the ones who actually helped. This was like a miracle for us, like God answering all our prayers,” said an ecstatic Vithoba.
We, at The Better India, want to thank you, our readers, from the bottom of our hearts for your large-heartedness, kindness and donations for this brave farmer and his family. You rescued a farmer from the brink of desperation.

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No Band-Baja, No Flowers And No Sweets. But This IRS Officer had a Wedding with a Difference.

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At a time when couples usually want lavish weddings and grand honeymoons, Abhay and Priti have set an example by spending their wedding money on the education of children of farmers who committed suicide and by donating books to village libraries. Abhay Deware belongs to a farmer’s family in village Umbarda Bazaar in Karanja Lad of Amravati district of Maharashtra. The family has always given importance to education, in line with Babasaheb Ambedkar’s teachings. Abhay did his B.Tech from IIT Delhi and cleared the UPSC exams in 2015. After this he joined the Indian Revenue Services. While preparing for UPSC in Pune, Abhay met Priti Kumbhare who had also received a B.Tech degree from SGGS College, Nanded.

Soon, their friendship turned to love and they decided to get engaged.

[caption id="attachment_61917" align="aligncenter" width="1587"]1 (5) Abhay and Priti[/caption] While the marriage was still in the planning stages, both of them started their careers. Abhay was posted as Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax in Nagpur and Priti joined IDBI Bank in Mumbai as Assistant Manager. During training in March 2016, Abhay and his fellow officers had the opportunity to meet President Pranab Mukherjee during a field visit. The President encouraged these young officers to become agents of socio-economic change.

Abhay felt truly inspired by the President’s message and was determined to do his bit whenever he could.

[caption id="attachment_61918" align="alignnone" width="1200"]abhay3 Abhay was motivated by the President's address during his field visit.[/caption] In the meantime, he also came across some statistics about wedding expenditures in India. The report said that over Rs. 1 lakh crore is spent on marriages every year in the country.
"It's a staggering amount for a poor country like ours where even the annual budget of the country is only around Rs. 19 lakh crore. This is like saying we have Rs. 19 to spend and out of that we are spending Rs. 1 on weddings,” Abhay says.
At the same time, Abhay read that farmer suicides in India are increasing, the main reason being poverty. This year, the Finance Ministry has allotted just Rs. 36,000 crore for agriculture and farmer welfare, which is not even half of what Indians spend on weddings. The study further mentioned that despite the huge disparity in the standard of living, people spend anywhere from Rs3 lakh-Rs 5 crore on a wedding. The same survey also pointed out that marriages are one of the main reasons many families have to borrow money. Underprivileged people, especially, sell property, take loans and sometimes spend their lifetime earnings on the weddings of their children.
"Marriage is also one of the major reasons behind the rising number of farmer suicides in Vidarbha. All families tend to organize lavish marriages by imitating the rich classes. Yavatmal, the native place of my wife, and Amravati, both have gained infamy for the highest number of farmer suicides in the country. We wanted to help such families, from whatever little we have earned," Abhay adds.

And so, Priti and Abhay decided they would use the money set aside for their wedding to help the families of farmers who had committed suicide.

[caption id="attachment_61929" align="aligncenter" width="1280"]IMG-20160714-WA0028 Priti and Abhay's Wedding Invitation Card.[/caption] Their parents supported their decision whole heartedly. “My father was a farmer. He owned seven acres of land. However, he had to sell two acres of it when my sister got married. I was more than happy when my son decided to help farmer families instead of spending on wedding celebrations,” says Sidhartha Deware, Abhay’s father. On July 3, 2016, Abhay and Priti tied the knot at Abhiyanta Bhavan, Amravati.

The couple donated Rs. 20,000 each to 10 farmers' families, where the sole bread-earner of each family had committed suicide due to mounting debts and successive crop failures.

[caption id="attachment_61920" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]abhay4 The couple donated Rs. 20,000 each to 10 farmers' families.[/caption] Additionally, they provided books worth Rs. 52,000 to five libraries in Amravati. All this money came from their hard-earned savings that had been set aside for the wedding. One of the beneficiaries was Deepak Deshmukh, an old farmer from Amravati. His daughter in law committed suicide because of the extreme poverty the family was facing. A month later, his son sold off his 3 acre land, paid off all his debts, and also committed suicide. His suicide note said that he still owed Rs.1 to a tea seller and it should be repaid after his death. Deepak was left alone to take care of his grandson when Abhay and Priti’s donation gave him a ray of hope.

Priti and Abhay’s wedding was a simple affair. A short registered marriage ceremony was followed by a basic lunch - chapati, rice, dal, and sabzi.

[caption id="attachment_61919" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]abhay4 (1) Motivational speeches were given by activists in the wedding.[/caption] Then came inspiring speeches by activists like Madhu Uke, Ravindra Mundre, Ashish Lohey, Ramesh Katke and Arjun Thosare.

Instead of flowers and garlands, the venue was decorated with inspirational posters and banners exhorting guests to do something for society.

[caption id="attachment_61923" align="aligncenter" width="738"]abhay6 The venue was decorated with inspirational posters and banners.[/caption] “The idea was to inspire more people to stop competing and showing off their wealth by having lavish weddings. We could have done the ceremony at home but we wanted to set an example for people who succumb to social pressure and spend large amounts of money. The posters communicated the same message,” says Abhay’s brother Swapnil who decorated the venue. Abhay and Priti have also made plans for their first wedding anniversary already. They will celebrate it with the children of the farmer families they donated money to and help them in whatever way they can.

“If educated youth like us can’t do this much then our education is of no use. We must realise that we have a responsibility towards society,” says Priti.

[caption id="attachment_61921" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]abhay6 (1) The couple will celebrate their anniversary with these children every year.[/caption] When the couple was asked if they had any message for our readers, Abhay recited this beautiful poem by Dushyant Kumar: Sirf hungama khada karna mera maksad nahi, Saari koshish hai ki ye surat badalni chahiye. Mere seene me nahi to tere seene me sahi, Ho kahi bhi aag, lekin aag jalni chahiye. (Raising an uproar is not my aim, The whole effort is to bring a change. If not in my heart, then yours may be, Wherever it may be lit, the fire must be lit). We extend our warmest wishes for a happy married life to this exemplary couple.

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The Interesting Story of How a School Dropout Bookseller & His Customer Wrote a Book Together

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A Class 7-pass book stall owner from a humble background, Santosh Pandey authored a book based on the Ramayana with the help of his friend Vinod Cherian.
“Misfortune is the best fortune. Rejection by all is victory.” ― Valmiki Ramayana
Santosh Pandey, a 12-year-old from Amani Pandeypur in the Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh was a bright child. He especially excelled in Math. But there came a day when he did not even want to attend his Math classes. He sat outside his house near a tree and kept thinking about how he could help his mother. The night before, he had seen his mother begging a neighbor to lend her some money by mortgaging the little land they owned. But the neighbor would agree to give the money only if the land was sold to him. Finally, his mother agreed to his proposal so she would have enough to marry off her daughter, Santosh’s sister.
“Once, when I was in class 7, my mother gave my brother and I just boiled potatoes to eat, saying she was not in a mood to cook that day. We were surprised as we had never seen our mother feel lazy about cooking or doing any other work. Later, I saw her selling her tiny gold nose ring for Rs. 45 to buy some rice,” Santosh recalls.

Young Santosh decided he had seen enough. He made up his mind to leave school and start working to help his mother.

[caption id="attachment_63625" align="aligncenter" width="374"]santoshwithMother Santosh with his Mother.[/caption] He left home and went to a relative’s place in Mumbai. The relative was a wholesale book dealer. Every morning, Santosh would take some books from him and sit near the bus stop at Vakola Bridge. It was a busy area during the mornings, so sales were brisk - Santosh would turn over the day’s earning to his relative every evening. After a year, when Santosh left to go back to his village, the relative gave him Rs.500 for the work he had done. This encouraged Santosh to come back to Mumbai and start a book ‘business.’ He started collecting bestseller books from scrap dealers and selling them at bus stops and railway stations. He also got married and had children. In just a few years, Santosh was able to put up his own shop at Ville Parle. He was doing extremely well until one day, in 2009, his shop was broken down by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and he had to shift to a small alley where there were hardly any customers. This came as a major setback. He had to repay the book dealers from whom he had bought books for his shop. No one helped him during this hard time. It was difficult for him to even pay the school fees for his children. Dejected and miserable, Santosh returned to his village. Since he did not have much to do now, he started reading the Ramayana.
“I had read the Ramayana before but this time I was reading it to look for answers... answers to all my questions,” says Santosh.
Within a month, Santosh had read various versions of the Ramayana – from Valmiki’s Ramayana to the Ramayana by Tulsidas. He began to feel that this great epic had the solution to every problem he had ever encountered. The simple story about the victory of good over evil and everyone getting the fruits of their karma appealed to him.

The Ramayana inspired him to get back to work in spite of all his difficulties. He returned to Mumbai, restarted his book business, and started to do well for himself again.

[caption id="attachment_63629" align="aligncenter" width="402"]Santosh at book shop Santosh at his Book Shop.[/caption] Simultaneously, in 2011, he began to write a piece of fiction based on his learnings from the Ramayana. Santosh felt that even the most villainous characters in the epic, especially the demon king Ravana, had some redeeming qualities to them. So his story explored Ravana’s past before he encountered Ram - his years growing up as a Brahmin boy in a forest and the ascent to the throne of Lanka before he was decimated for his evil deeds. Although he had no intention of publishing the book when he started writing, once the book was complete Santosh decided he wanted to share the story with the rest of the world. But he had written it in Hindi and he wanted his first book to be published in English!
“Most of my customers were English readers. I thought since I had written a book they would surely buy it. So I wanted to get it translated,” says Santosh.
Vinod Cherian, a marketing professional in Mumbai, was one of Santosh’s regular customers. Santosh had always surprised him with his vast knowledge despite being a school dropout. When Santosh narrated the story of his book to Vinod, the latter encouraged him to publish it. But a professional translator was beyond Santosh’s budget so he asked Vinod if he could do the job.

Vinod was reluctant. He was a Christian and knew practically nothing about the Ramayana except for some stories he had read in children’s magazines when young. Besides, Santosh’s book was written in classical Sanskritized Hindi while Vinod was conversant only with everyday colloquial Hindi.

[caption id="attachment_62157" align="aligncenter" width="500"]SantoshAndVinod Santosh (Left) and Vinod (Right)[/caption] Not to be dissuaded, Santosh continued to implore Vinod to work on the translation until the latter gave in and agreed. After that, the two met regularly at a small restaurant after the day’s work was over for both of them. Sometimes they started as late as 10 pm and worked well into the early dawn. Vinod read every version of the Ramayana suggested by Santosh. And slowly, after two years of hard work, the book took its final shape in English - with both their names as authors. “I did not find it any different. Though I have never compared the Ramayana and the Holy Bible as such, my knowledge and understanding of the two books is that they are very similar; the basic message is very simple: Live a life in complete harmony with one another and with nature. We want to give the same message to our readers through our book Karmaayan,” says Cherian.

The book was finally published in 2016 and can be bought here.

santosh You can mail Santosh and Vinod at santoshbookstall@gmail.com Or you can meet Santosh at: Santosh Book Stall, Irla Society Road, Near Bhagubhai College, Alpha market, Ville Parle West, Mumbai.

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Buy and ‘Plant’ This Special Rakhi To Help Save a Farmer from Poverty

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This Rakshabandhan get to know what goes into making the thread that binds – the farmers, weavers and spinners behind the scenes. You can also grow a small plant from the seed encased in this very special rakhi. Ever wonder where the cotton used to make your branded kurta was grown? Or who was the weaver who crafted your beautiful hand woven duppatta? Have you given any thought to the question why 2 lakh farmers in India, mostly cotton growers, have committed suicide in the past two decades even though you’ve been paying hefty prices for the cotton products you buy? Or why more than 1 lakh textile mill workers have lost their jobs in Mumbai alone, when the textile industry is one of the fastest growing industries in our country? If you haven’t looked for these answers, it doesn't mean you are insensitive. It just means that we now live in a society where the producers of everyday products and their consumers have grown increasingly apart. We hardly know anything about the farmers growing our food or the weavers weaving our clothes and, unknowingly, we have become part of the system that exploits them. Today, India is the second biggest producer of cotton globally. The East Asian region is the birthplace of two different species of cotton. Yet, more than 95% of the cotton grown here is the American Genetically Modified (GM) cotton, which is not indigenous to our region and is ecologically damaging. This has economic implications for the cotton farmers as well because the seeds for this cotton are patented and the farmers have become completely dependent on the seed companies in order to farm. Similarly, innumerable spinners and weavers have lost their jobs due to the monopoly of textile mill owners. The textile mills have machines that can do the job of 60 spinners at a time. This has affected the livelihoods of spinners and weavers. It’s time that we look beyond the names of the brands we are wearing – that we get to know the names of the cotton growers, spinners and weavers too. We need to protect these farmers and craftsmen before we lose them completely. The Gram Art Project has started an initiative that aims to do just that, by creating unique rakhis that tell the story of these labourers and workers. For the first time ever, consumers will get to know where the cotton for the rakhis they are buying was grown, how the yarn was made and who has woven and designed the finished products. Not only this, the buyers will also get an indigenous seed along with the rakhi, to grow a plant that represents the blooming of the relationship between a brother and sister.

Growing the raw material

Image for representational purpose. Source - Wikipedia
Cotton of two varieties, AKA-7 and Anand 1, is used as raw material for the rakhis. Anand 1 is a farmer bred variety of cotton grown by a farmer named Anandrao Patil-Chiwalikar from the Nanded district of Maharashtra. The cotton with these seeds is also grown by the farmers of Gram Sewa Mandal, Wardha, Maharashtra. AKA-7 is grown by many farmers in Akola district.

The pre-spinning process

Picture source
The entire process of pre-spinning (roving cotton to sliver) takes place at Gram Sewa Mandal (GSM), Wardha.

The cotton sliver is spun by the women of Wardha on ambar charkhas by hand. The sliver bobbins made on the Simplex machine are placed on charkhas and hand spun to make yarn.

charkha  

The colours of the rakhis

Untitled Dyeing is done with natural colours at the Rangaai Unit of Magan Sangrahalay, a khadi Institute in Wardha. And so, the coloured yarn is readied for the rakhi.

Designing the rakhi

[caption id="attachment_63776" align="aligncenter" width="1280"]IMG-20160805-WA0010 Nutan teaches 50 women from different villages to make these Rakhis.[/caption] The coloured yarn is taken to Paradsinga village in Madhya Pradesh where Nutan Dwivedi, a second year B.Sc. student, teaches 50 women from four nearby villages of Khairi, Paradsinga, Satnoor and Kelwad how to make the rakhis.
“Most of these women are housewives or farm labourers. They are thrilled with the little extra income they are earning by making these rakhis. Moreover, they tell me they don’t have to buy rakhis any more for their brothers,” says Nutan
After the rakhis are made, indigenous seeds for plants that will be useful in a kitchen garden are attached to their centres. The seeds could be lentil, vegetable or even cotton seeds at times.

And the rakhis are ready!

IMG-20160805-WA0009
“I am a housewife. My children are so excited to see me doing something creative and earning money too. I request people to buy our rakhis so we may have more work in the future,” says Suman Humne.
The rakhis cost Rs. 20, 25 and 30, depending on the cost of production. This includes the cost of raw material, labour and packaging. Shipping charges are levied based on the place of shipping. rakhirs30e You can order the rakhis by sending a mail to gramartproject@gmail.com

Happy Rakshabandhan!

https://youtu.be/wn2tmwuNjRw

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This Engineer Left His Government Job to Become a Farmer and Is Earning in Crores Now!

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Harish Dhandev, a 24-year-old engineer, left his government job in 2013 and started doing aloe vera farming. Today, he is the owner of a company with a turnover in crores. At a time when the number of individuals taking up farming in India is gradually shrinking, this engineer-turned-farmer’s story stands out like a beacon of hope to young graduates who may want to consider agriculture as a career. According to Census 2011, India has 127.6 million cultivators for whom farming is the main occupation. They make up less than 10% of the total population. There are nearly 15 million farmers (‘main’ cultivators) less today than there were in 1991, and over 7.7 million less since 2001, according to the latest Census data. On average, that’s about 2,035 farmers losing ‘main cultivator’ status every single day for the last 20 years. The 2007 report Findings on the Plight of Small Farmers by the Arjun Sengupta Commission noted that, “Agriculture has become a relatively unrewarding profession due to generally unfavourable price regime and low value addition, causing abandoning of farming and increasing migration from rural areas." On the other hand, around 1.5 million engineering students graduate every year in India – 80% of them remain unemployed, a report says. Despite this scenario, the youth of our country are reluctant to choose farming as a career option.

But, Harish Dhandev is one engineer who left his government job and opted for farming. Today, the annual turnover of his farm ranges from 1.5 crore to Rs.2 crore.

[caption id="attachment_63602" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]harish Harish Dhandev[/caption] Harish had 80 acres of ancestral land in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. Though his father Roopa Ram Dhandev was very passionate about farming, he could not devote much time to agriculture because of his regular government job as an engineer. A civil engineering graduate from Arya College, Jaisalmer, Harish started working as a junior engineer in the municipal corporation in 2013. He was posted in Jaisalmer. In the meantime, his father retired and took up farming. Harish too started taking care of some of the farm work but had no intention of turning into a full-time farmer. He did, however, observe that many farmers worked hard but not smart, hence failing to achieve their best. “I remembered this story about three woodcutters who were given an axe and were asked to cut a tree in three hours. Two of them started to cut the tree immediately. However, the woodcutter who won the challenge took two hours to sharpen the axe and then started cutting the tree. You need to plan and prioritise your work in order to get the best. The farmers I observed were lacking in these skills,” recalls Harish. Slowly, as time passed, Harish started to feel drawn to the idea of applying his planning and executing skills, which he had learnt as an engineer, to farming. But he feared leaving his well paying, stable government job and taking a leap into the unknown. It was at this crucial juncture that he drew inspiration from his older sister, Anjana Meghwal. Anjana, a mother of two, lost her husband in a car accident in 2011. She herself was in the hospital for 9 months, recovering from her injuries. But, she restarted her life all over again and is the Mayor of Jaisalmer today. “My sister is my biggest motivation. I learnt from her that you have to take chances and if you are dedicated, then success is guaranteed,” says Harish. And so, in 2013, just after few months of joining his government job, Harish quit and took up farming as a full-time career.

Soil Testing

The first step that Harish took was to approach the agricultural department and get the soil on his land tested.

soil “The agriculture department suggested I grow crops like bajra, moong or gawar – crops that require little water. They did not suggest growing aloe vera, in spite of the fact that we were already cultivating it, because of a lack of market opportunities for the crop in the Jaisalmer area,” says Harish. However, Harish did some research and discovered there were good possibilities of selling the product if he set his sight further afield and used online portals such as Indiamart to get to national and international markets.

Planting

Harish planted aloe vera in about 15 to 20 acres of land initially. The initial investment was high due to the cost of aloe vera saplings but the plants quickly sprouted several baby plants around themselves.

Hence, Harish’s initial 80,000 saplings quickly grew in number to 7 lakh.

[caption id="attachment_63604" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]farm The farm has 7 lakhs saplings now.[/caption]
“Farmers hesitate to come out of their comfort zone and hence they keep growing the same crops planted by previous generations. But a basic rule of thumb should be to test the soil every year and change the growing pattern accordingly,” says Harish.

Fertilizers

Harish does not use any chemical fertilizers or pesticides in his farm, preferring to go organic with cow dung and cow urine.

[caption id="attachment_63606" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]cow Harish gets his fertilizer from the 20 cows he owns and some from his neighbours.[/caption] He gets his fertilizer from the 20 cows he owns and some from his neighbours. His farm is also certified by ROCA (Rajasthan Organic Certification Agency).

Pulp extraction

Within six months Harish managed to get 10 clients for his aloe vera leaves within Rajasthan itself. But he found they were selling the extracted pulp at much higher prices in the market. So he researched the procedure of getting the extract.

“Extracting the pulp is a very easy process. It can be done manually. No machinery is required. One just has to take care of the hygiene angle while extracting the pulp,” says Harish.

[caption id="attachment_63607" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]pulp Pulp Extraction Process[/caption] Harish soon stopped supplying the leaves to his clients and trained his farm labourers to extract the pulp. This helped provide the labourers with some extra income.

Over the years, Harish has bought more land and now grows aloe vera in 100 acres. He also plants pomegranates, amla and gumba in some of the land he has acquired.

other plants His company, Dhandev Global Group, is located at Dhaisar, 45 kilometres from Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. His turnover ranges between Rs. 1.5 and 2 crore. The aloe vera products of Dhandev Global Group are known by the brand name, ‘NATUREALO’ and he plans to supply them internationally very soon.

Harish believes that knowledge is the key to success and guides other farmers in Jaisalmer with the resources available on the internet.

harish 1 (1) He downloads booklets and materials on various loan schemes made available by the government and distributes them among the farmers who have limited access to technology. “Exposure to new resources, planning, optimization and execution – these things have helped me and I believe every farmer can benefit from such knowledge. But farmers too have to leave their fears behind and come out of their comfort zones,” says Harish. To know more about Harish and his work, you can mail him at harishdhandev@gmail.com or log on to http://naturealo.com/

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The Incredible Story of India’s First Female Barber: Shantabai

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She saved her family from starvation and death by embracing her late husband’s profession. In the process she broke gender stereotypes to become India’s first female barber. From India’s first woman bartender, Shatbhi Basu, to India’s first female wine sommelier, Sovna Puri, the country’s women are making a conscious effort to pursue their passions and careers, breaking gender stereotypes and crashing the glass ceiling. But, 40 years ago, there was a traditional woman who did not even know what gender stereotyping was. All she wanted to do was lead a quiet life with her family in a village. But when life threw her a challenge, she gathered the courage to take it on, rising to the occasion to enter a man’s world so she could feed her hungry daughters. This is the story of Shantabai Shripati Yadav, India’s first female barber.

This 70-year-old from Hasursasgiri  village in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra is indeed an inspiration to all.

[caption id="attachment_64489" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]1 (1) Shantabai Shripati Yadav[/caption] Shantabai was married when she was just 12 years old. Her father was a barber and so was her husband Shripati. Shripati farmed the three acres of land that he and his four brothers owned in Ardal Village of Kolhapur district. He also worked as a barber to add to his income. But soon, the brothers had a falling out and split the three acres of land between themselves. As Shripati had less than an acre of land to do farming on now, he started travelling to other villages to find more customers he could give shaves and hair cuts to. However, it was still hard to make ends meet and Shripati had to take loans from moneylenders. Haribhau Kadukar, the sabhapati of Hasursasgiri village, saw Shripati’s dilemma and offered to help him relocate to Hasursasgiri. There were no barbers in that village so there were good chances of Shripati earning well. And so, Shantabai and Shripati came to Hasursasgiri to start a new life. In the next 10 years, Shantabai gave birth to six daughters, two of whom died as infants. However, Shripati was earning well from his barber shop and could take care of his family. But in 1984, when Shantabai’s eldest daughter was 8 years old and youngest one was not even a year old, Shripati died of a massive heart attack. For three months, Shantabai worked as a farm labourer for eight hours a day. She would receive 50 paisa at the end of the day for her back breaking efforts, not enough money to feed her four daughters. The government paid her Rs.15,000 for the piece of land that her husband owned. Shantabai used the money to pay off Shripati’s debts. But she still struggled to feed her children. For three months, she toiled in the farms. On some days she managed to get two meals for her family but on other days there was nothing. Finally, she lost heart and decided she was going to commit suicide along with her four daughters. But this time again, Haribhau Kadukar became her saviour. When he came to know about Shantabai’s ordeal, he suggested she take up her husband’s profession. After Shripati’s death there were no barbers in the village and Shantabai could earn well like her husband had. Shantabai was dumbfounded at the idea. After all, who had ever heard of a female barber? But did she have a choice?

“I had only two choices, either to kill my daughters and myself and give up on life altogether or to hold the ustra that my husband left behind and struggle. I decided to choose the later,” said Shantabai.

[caption id="attachment_64486" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]2 Shantabai took up her husband's profession.[/caption] Haribhau became Shantabai’s first customer. Initially, the villagers found what she was doing ludicrous. They mocked her and called her names. But nothing was going to destroy Shantabai’s spirit now that she had decided to take on a barber’s role. She would leave her kids with her neighbours, the Gadiwadars, and walk 4-5 kms everyday to go to nearby villages in search of more customers. Soon, the residents of Kadal, Hidadugi and Narewadi villages, where there were no barbers, became her customers. The news spread and Shantabai’s story was covered by local and regional newspapers like Tarun Bharat.

She also received awards from various organisations like the Samaj Ratna Puraskar for being an inspiration to society.

[caption id="attachment_64487" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]3 Shantabai has been honoured with several awards for her courage.[/caption] Way back in 1984, Shantabai used to charge Rs. 1 for giving a haircut and shave.

Soon, she started shaving cattle too, for which she would charge Rs. 5.

[caption id="attachment_64438" align="aligncenter" width="1920"]Screenshot_2016-07-28-16-36-18 Shanta Bai shaves cattle too.[/caption] In 1985, she got money from the government to build a house under the Indira Gandhi Awas Yojna. Shantabai married off all her daughters without taking financial help from anyone. She is a grandmother of 10 today.

Now 70, Shantabai cannot walk to nearby villages anymore. She depends on the few customers who come to her from her own village.

Screenshot_2016-07-28-16-35-17 “There is a salon in the village. All the youngsters go there. I get only a few old customers. I charge Rs. 50 for a shave and haircut now and Rs. 100 for shaving the cattle. So I make around Rs.300 to Rs.400 per month and get Rs.600 from the government. That’s actually not enough but I have fought before to rise out of difficult circumstances and can do so again,” she says.
“This profession has given life to me and my kids. Until I can see with my eyes and hold the ustra with my hands, I will carry on with this job,” says Shantabai, who is determined to work until the day she dies.

Shantabai gives the credit for her courage and determination to Haribhau Kadukar, who encouraged her during her toughest days.

[caption id="attachment_64488" align="aligncenter" width="500"]5 Haribhau Kadukar[/caption] Haribhau passed away in 2008 at the age of 99. His great grandson, Baban Patil, still visits Shantabai regularly to check on her well being. You can call Shantabai at 7588868935 or mail Baban Patil at patilbaban02@gmail.com if you wish to provide financial help. 

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This Heroic Sportsman Worked all his Life Helping Others and Died Trying to Save Three Children

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Bablu Martin was a cricket and football player. He dedicated his entire life to sports and to helping people. On Saturday, he lost his life trying to save three children from being buried under the debris of a building that collapsed in Maihar. At around 10:30 am on August 20, Benedict (Bablu) Martin, a 40-year-old sportsman from Maihar in Madhya Pradesh, was going back home after conducting his routine coaching classes. On the way, he stopped in front of the Madhya Pradesh Housing Board building to have tea with his friends at a roadside stall.

All of a sudden, he saw the three-storey structure of the Housing Board building tilting dangerously.

[caption id="attachment_66018" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]bablu Benedict (Bablu) Martin[/caption] As soon as he spotted a 12-year-old girl standing under the building, Babloo made a dash to save her from being buried under the debris of the now collapsing edifice. He managed to rescue her and another child too, before going back to try and save another.

Unfortunately, while the child was saved, Bablu himself never found his way back to safety.

[caption id="attachment_66023" align="aligncenter" width="1280"]building The collapsed building under which Bablu was trapped.[/caption] Bablu was trapped inside the debris, buried up to his neck. It took one-and-a-half hours for the people gathered around to pull him out. Other than the efforts of these locals, no other medical help reached the accident spot. Finally, the people rushed him to the nearest hospital where his wounds were quickly stitched in a haphazard manner and he was referred to a hospital in Satna. Bablu was still alive at this point. The ambulance in which Bablu was being transported to Satna had no medical staff. A temporary oxygen mask was placed over his mouth – it kept falling according to his older brother and a friend who accompanied Bablu in the ambulance. Due to heavy rainfall over the previous days, the road to Satna was closed. So the ambulance changed course and headed to a hospital in Katni, where the doctors declared Bablu ‘brought dead’.
“My brother did his job. The people who pulled him out from under the debris also did their job. But the authorities and the system did not! One can reach Maihar from Bhopal in 1.5 hours by air. But no doctor from Maihar reached him in those 1.5 hours. He could have survived if he was given first aid immediately when he was trapped. He saved three lives. He would have saved 30 if he was alive! As there were no medical staff in the ambulance, we didn’t even know when our brother left us,” said Bablu’s brother Rabert (Raju) Martin.

Bablu was a member of the Chattisgarh State Cricket Sangh (CSCS). He had represented Satna in cricket and soccer tournaments across the state. He also ran his own cricket coaching centre, known as Sharada Cricket Coaching Centre, where he used to teach cricket to kids for free.

sports (1) A dedicated sportsman, Bablu was not only good at cricket but also played football. He taught football to kids at the Maihar Sporting Club. It was Bablu who first encouraged girls to play football and cricket in Maihar. About 35-40 girls played football regularly at the Maihar Sporting Club under Martin’s guidance. One of them will be representing the district in the state level football championship soon.
“Martin was a gem of a person. I knew him since childhood and he was the one who taught me wicket keeping and batting. He was a big fan of cricketer Azharuddin. He followed Azhar’s style in fielding and batting and Kapil Dev’s in bowling. You would think it was Azhar who was fielding if you saw Bablu on the cricket field from afar,” said Islam Ahmed Mansuri, a close family friend of the Martins.
Bablu had no interest in academics from early on in life. His parents sent him to five different schools and even a boarding school in Allahabad. But all he wanted to do was to play cricket and other sports. Finally, Bablu left his studies altogether after Class 8 and became a full time sportsman. He started coaching children in cricket and football. He was so crazy about sports that if no one helped him financially, he would spend his own money to buy sports equipment for his students and arrange for their transport to matches outside Maihar.

In a country where academic achievement is highly prized, Bablu did his best to encourage children to play sports.

football
“Once, Bablu was suffering from malaria and had been put on a drip. But when he heard that there was a tournament taking place in town, he removed the drip himself and took off from the hospital without telling anyone,” recalled Raju fondly.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has announced that the government will pay Rs 5 lakh to Bablu’s family and give a government job to one family member. He has also promised to fulfil the family’s wish of naming a sports complex in Bablu’s honour in Satna, as encouraging sports as a career for the coming generations was Bablu’s only dream.

Bablu’s mother and wife are still in shock and could not speak a word. His two sons, 6-year-old Vaibhav and 4-year-old Ahem still feel their father has gone for another tournament and will be back soon.

[caption id="attachment_66011" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]kids (1) Bablu Martin's sons- Vaibhav and Ahem[/caption]
 “Up until 4 days ago we were all upset with my brother – that he doesn’t take any responsibilities at home, does nothing to help financially, that he just keeps playing and helping others. But we didn’t know what great things he was doing. We came to know after his death that he helped people so much. All his students, including the 40 girls who he taught football and cricket to, came to the graveyard for his funeral. We are all proud of him for helping so many people all his life, for encouraging children to take up sports and finally, for giving up his life to save three children. Not just me, any brother would be proud to have such a brother who left the world helping someone and became immortal,” says Rabert Martin.
funeral You can write to Rabert Martin at rabertrtpl@rediffmail.com .

12-Year-Olds Win Battle against School to Reduce Weight of Backpacks. Want to Take Fight All-India.

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Two students held a press conference last week to raise the issue of kids in their school carrying heavy bags to class every day. A few days later, their efforts paid off and the school authorities installed lockers. “I don’t want to be called a ‘hero’. I don’t want to be a hero until all kids can get rid of their heavy bags,” says Rugved Raikwar who, along with his friend Paritosh, successfully managed to get his school in Chandrapur, Maharashtra, to lessen the burden on the backs of school kids recently. The two pre-teen boys held an audacious press conference on the issue of children having to carry overloaded schoolbags to class every day.

In April 2015, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by Chembur-based social worker Swati Patil, seeking a directive to the Maharashtra state government for implementing its own rules issued in 2006 to ensure that children do not have to carry heavy bags to school daily.

IMG-20160826-WA0006 In her petition, Swati relied on a certificate issued by a doctor from the government KEM hospital, stating that children may suffer from backaches, spondylosis, neck pain, and other orthopedic problems if they continue to carry heavy bags regularly. After a prolonged hearing, the Bombay High Court finally ordered on March 31, 2016, that schools should reduce the weight of the bags carried to schools by students. The state issued a circular to schools, fixing the responsibility on principals and school management to follow the directive or face action for not obeying this rule. The circular is binding on all 1.06 lakh schools in Maharashtra.

Twelve-year-old Rugved Raikwar, a student of Vidya Niketan School, had no clue about this new rule until he watched the Education Minister of Maharashtra, Mr. Vinod Tawde, addressing the press proudly about this positive change being implemented in the state on television.

[caption id="attachment_66435" align="aligncenter" width="800"]rugved Rugved Raikwar[/caption] Rugved asked his uncle to confirm the news. He was surprised by the fact that even by July 2016, three months after the High Court’s order, the rule was not being followed by his school. He had to carry a bag weighing 4-5 kg to school every day. Rugved discussed this with his schoolmate Paritosh and both kids pleaded their case with the Principal by writing a letter. However, there was no response from the school authorities. They also tried calling the Education Minister of Maharashtra but could not speak with him. Rugved, who stays with his maternal uncle Mayur Raikwar in Chandrapur, had been to a press conference with his uncle once and seen how issues raised by the press often get resolved sooner that they would otherwise. So he approached a local senior reporter named Mr.Pramod Kakde, along with his friend Paritosh. The kids expressed their desire to hold a press conference to talk about their grievances.

On August 22, their wish was fulfilled. The two students held a press conference and spoke in front of many reporters about the issue of heavy schoolbags.

[caption id="attachment_66436" align="aligncenter" width="800"]rugved1 Rugved and Paritosh at the Press Conference[/caption]
We carry a minimum of 16 books for 8 subjects daily and sometimes their number increases to 18 or 20, depending upon the subjects for which the classes would be held for the day. Our school bags weigh between 5-7 kg and it’s exhausting to carry them to our classroom located on the third floor,” the Class 7 boys told the reporters.
The boys also said that if the school did not address their grievances they would go on a hunger strike until their demands were met.
“A few reporters asked me whether I was afraid my teachers would not like my holding a press conference. I told them that the teachers may punish me for it but that punishment would be far less than the weight we carry every day,” said Rugved.
After the press conference, as the news spread to major newspapers, the school authorities were upset with the two kids for what they had done. As a result, Paritosh’s parents asked him stop speaking publicly on the subject anymore. Rugved also had to face some opposition in his school but he did not back down because his family was supportive of the stand he had taken. However, finally, the efforts of the two children paid off and lockers were installed on the school premises for students. They could now keep their textbooks and other study materials at school, instead of lugging them back and forth from home every day in heavy school bags. All this happened on August 24, within just two days of the press conference.

Rugved, however, says the battle is not over. He may have been instrumental in reducing the weight of schoolbags for his fellow students at Vidya Niketan, but he now wants to take the fight to every primary and high school student in India.

rugved2
“I will try to speak to the Education Minister about this and ask his help to implement this rule in each and every school. I appeal to all the parents through your website to support their children and help us to implement this positive change all over the country,” said Rugved.
To support his campaign, you can write to Rugved at rugvedr39@gmail.com.

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This IAS Officer Carried Heavy Sacks to Prevent a Dam from Collapsing and Drowning a Village

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A Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), who thought on his feet and acted quickly, was able to save hundreds of villagers from drowning in the Balia district of UP. Over 2 million people from over 1,000 villages in Bihar have been affected by devastating floods this monsoon season, forcing 1.7 lakh people to take shelter in 179 relief camps set up in various affected areas. The Ganga and Ghagra rivers in the central Uttar Pradesh and Bundelkhand regions have also breached the danger mark. Recently, a small village called Bairiya in Balia district was alerted that it was in danger of being flooded. However, a ring dam built on the Ganga in Dubeychapara district, although over 60 years old, had been protecting Bairiya and about a dozen other surrounding villages from this calamity. Repairs to the dam were ongoing because the force of the water was building up, but the structure itself was expected to hold up.

On August 26, SDM Arvind Kumar of Balia received a call from one of his officials that the villagers in the area had abandoned repairs and were running away from the work site because the dam was about to collapse.

IMG-20160830-WA0008 Arvind Kumar quickly got into his car and drove to Bairiya, getting there at 2 am. He had to use a boat to get to the dam’s repair site, where he witnessed panic and confusion firsthand. The first thing he tried to do was to restore some calm by letting people know that he had heard the water level was falling upstream near Allahabad.

He then made announcements, asking the villagers to evacuate their homes and climb to higher ground near the national highway.

[caption id="attachment_66807" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]sdm4 SDM Arvind Kumar ( left ) making the announcements.[/caption] Arvind Kumar had his staff wake up the local boatmen to help rescue the people. He paid the boatmen from his own pocket to get diesel and other essentials needed for the purpose. While arranging for help, Kumar noticed several geo-bags lying at a construction site near the dam.  Geo bags are synthetic bags made from polyester, polypropylene or polyethylene and are used to protect hydraulic structures and riverbanks from severe erosion and scouring. All Arvind Kumar realized he needed now was manpower to place these bags on the dam in such a way as to prevent water from entering the village.

When he found no one around him willing to come forward to help, he started to lift the bags himself and place them where needed.

[caption id="attachment_66808" align="aligncenter" width="500"]sdm He started to lift the bags himself and place them where needed.[/caption] Watching him do this, some workers started to come forward. Elderly people from the village also started helping. Slowly, about 100-150 people made a human chain to pass the bags to each other and, within an hour, there were around 400 people trying to save the 3.5 km long dam.
“The elderly people started helping me first. I could see the fire in their eyes. They would do anything to save their houses. Someone asked me to stop as there were 400 people working there already. But I was no longer just the SDM of the village. I felt like one of the villagers trying to save his home,” said Kumar.
Once the situation looked under control, Arvind Kumar called the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team at Navranga, 8 kms from Bairiya. The team responded quickly and took over the rescue effort of evacuating villagers. However, many of the able-bodied villagers continued to work at the dam repair site, keeping the structure intact for another 36 hours before it finally collapsed due to the damage that had taken place on the other side.

However, thanks to the efforts of the SDM and the locals, everyone had been evacuated safely by then.

[caption id="attachment_66810" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]sdm1 Arvind Kumar kept contacting the local officials to ensure safety of the locals.[/caption] A follower of APJ Abdul Kalam, Arvind Kumar belongs to a poor family of Banaras and has struggled a lot during his life. His friends would gather money to somehow pay his college fees so he could complete his education. Arvind was 28 years old when he started his job as SDM of Balia in July last year.

Kumar has been working for the upliftment of the villagers under his jurisdiction ever since then.

[caption id="attachment_66809" align="aligncenter" width="500"]sdm3 Arvind Kumar helping an elderly woman.[/caption]
He was so moved by the manner in which they came together to stop the dam from collapsing that he said, “I was overwhelmed by their response. They worked with such dedication and trust after seeing me pick up the bags and work with them.”
The villagers, on their part, are thankful to have an SDM who is so concerned about their welfare.

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VIDEO: Riteish Deshmukh’s Rap Debut Will Make You Agree & Say ‘Thank God, Bappa Is Not Like Us’

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Thank God, Bappa is just not like us.. That’s how Actor Riteish Deshmukh starts telling us about GanpatiBappa, in his debut as a singer in a new video. The video is a Mumbai Film Company and Star Pravah initiative. It is produced by Genelia Deshmukh and music is composed by Amar Magrulkar. The lyrics by Kapil Sawant tickle us all through the song by comparing the Almighty with human beings. With satirical questions like what do materialistic and selfish humans do in different situations and what would Bappa do in similar situations, the song gives us some serious food for thought while also making us smile.

Here are some snippets from the eye-opening, entertaining song:

1 What would he say, had he been like us? Seeing our Offerings, "Only 21 modaks? What big deal sir?" Would He have said that?

To a Devotee with un-fulfilled wishes, “Oh. Ma'am you failed to stand in the queue of Wishes” Would He Have Said that?

3

To a devotee from Andheri, visiting the Lord from Lalbaug.. “This falls under Andheri Jurisdiction Please contact the Bappa from Andheri” Would He have said that?

4 Would he have offered his blessings as packages? Ganpati& Shankar 'Blessings Combo' Just Rs. 20,000 We placed him in every corner of our streets... For a moment, how about placing him in our Hearts?

The fun video directed by Kapil Sawantand edited by Adele Pereira raises some serious questions at the end about the state of affairs on the day after the immersion.

8 A Day after the immersion is a sight so awful! Millions of people who bowed at his feet The feet are now seen lying somewhere The hands that blessed all the living Is badly broken and is somewhere lying.. The Bappa who brings us all together himself is now wrecked and scattered on the beach.

Let’s learn from Bappa and be kind, generous and treat everyone equally as an offering to Him on this Ganesh Chaturthi!

Watch the complete song here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A7y-mMAA60

Is anyone else reminded of Joan Osborne’s “One of Us”? Watch it here with us:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPFnHdJ0dl0

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This Engineer Lost His Eyesight When He Was 28. But He Studied All Over Again To Work In A Bank!

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Nitin Prabhakar Sirmokadam is determined to follow his dreams despite being visually disabled. His mother’s love and efforts have enabled him to get this far. He greets you cheerfully as soon as you reach the State Bank of India’s Chandrapur branch. His eyes keep wandering around but his mind has already grasped the complete details of the documents and forms you have asked for. Nitin Prabhakar Sirmokadam serves his responsibility as the Asst. Cashier of the Shastri Nagar, Chadrapur SBI branch to the fullest, even though he is visually challenged.

Nitin was not always meant to be a banker. In fact, he did not want to become one.

nitin1

The only son of a father who was a professor of maths and a mother who was a scholar in history, he was a bright child right from the beginning. After doing mechanical engineering from Chandrapur in 1997, he finished his post graduation in piping and design engineering from MIT, Pune. Nitin worked with R.M Page Consultants and Jacob HNG in Mumbai as a Senior Design Engineer from 1999 to 2004. During this time he travelled almost all over India. He headed the design team at Jacob and helped design Japan’s biggest refinery for Mitsubishi. Nitin was climbing the ladder of success faster than any of his batchmates. But in December 2004, while sitting in his chamber working on an important project, he got a call from his mother saying his father was in the hospital. Nitin rushed back immediately but soon lost his father to a heart attack. Soon after the cremation ceremony, Nitin began to feel a little feverish. He did not say anything to anyone though. On the third day after his father’s demise, Nitin’s aunt, a doctor, found him sitting in a corner and muttering to himself. She examined him and realized he was running a high fever. He was immediately rushed to the hospital where the doctors told the family that Nitin was suffering from Cerebral Typhoid Menangitis; pus had formed in a few nerves in his brain.

He went through a brain operation and was kept in the ICU for about a month and a half. But the disease left the bright young man with no vision in his eyes. Nitin was blind now at the age of 28!

[caption id="attachment_67705" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]nitin6 Nitin was almost immobiile after the tragedy.[/caption] He was in the hospital for another three months and kept entirely on a liquid diet. This made him almost immobile due to weakness. However, Nitin’s mother never gave up hope. She took care of Nitin as she had when he was born. After months of physiotherapy, Nitin was able to walk with the help of a walker by the end of the year 2005. A never-ending stream of visits to doctors started now. Mrs. Sirmokadam took her son to every possible specialist in Maharashtra, only to hear that there was no cure for his disease as yet. Nitin had to take a call now as to how he was going to live his life going forward. He decided to take training in computer and telephone operations from the Technical Training Institute Of Poona Blind Mens Association in Pune.

In 2008, Nitin started preparing for exams that would help him get a position in a bank. Nitin’s mother is educated but has studied only in the Marathi medium. But a mother can go to any extent to nurture her child’s dreams and so did Mrs. Sirmokadam. She learnt English, studied all the exam books and read them out to Nitin.

[caption id="attachment_67706" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]nitin5 Nitin with his Mother.[/caption] The duo’s hard work paid off and Nitin cleared the exam to get a job in the State Bank of India. He is still preparing for the next level of exams at the Bank with the help of a reader.
“I enjoy my work at the bank. I can take more responsibilities if given. I work on a computer at home with software called JAWS that has been specially designed for the blind. This can also be used at offices where visually impaired people work alongside normal people. But I am not given the kind of work I can handle according to my qualifications. This makes me a little disappointed sometimes. I wish I could work in the area of design again,” says Nitin
In August 2010, Nitin caught an infection again. He had high fever. Mrs. Sirmokadam was all alone at home, feeling helpless because it was raining heavily outside. An old acquaintance of the Sirmokadams had come to a wedding hall located just a few steps away from Nitin’s house to attend a wedding. She happened to come and take shelter from rain at their place. Seeing Nitin shivering with fever she immediately went out and got help to transport Nitin to the hospital. In fact, she did not budge from his side till he was well again. Mrs. Sirmokadam realized she would never find a better match for Nitin than this girl who looked after him with such dedication.

Sujata, an HR manager, left her job in Nagpur and married Nitin on December 9, 2010, in spite of opposition from her parents.

[caption id="attachment_67707" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]nitin3 Nitin and Sujata[/caption]
“I knew him since I was a kid and often wished for a husband like him. People ask me why I decided to marry a visually impaired man when I could have married a normal person. I ask them in return ‘What is the difference?’ Nitin does not have any bad habits. His family is well educated and supportive. He helps me more than a normal person does for his wife. I have dropped my son several times by mistake but Nitin has not dropped him even once. Moreover, he trusts me. He will never question me even if I come back home at midnight," says Sujata Sirmokadam.

Nitin and Sujata are blessed with a lovely child now. Nitin spends hours telling him stories on the swing placed in the verandah of his house.

[caption id="attachment_67709" align="aligncenter" width="612"]facebook_1473323006613 Nitin with his son Arya.[/caption] If you know of a doctor who has a cure for Nitin’s disease or if you know a place where Nitin can pursue his original dream career of working as a design engineer in spite of his disability, then please let us know at bacher.manabi@gmail.com.
This story is presented as part of our effort towards the National Eye Donation Fortnight 2016. You too can help the visually challenged. Donate your eyes, change someone’s life forever.
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How Mohan Got to Go Back to School at 18, Thanks to a Shipping Container under a Flyover

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Like many other places in Vidarbha, 18-year-old Mohan Prabhu Kale’s village, Siradhan in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra, was also affected by drought again this year. He had studied till Class 7 in the village school. But then his education came to a standstill. The three acres of land that Mohan’s father owned yielded nothing at all the third year in a row. And the loans were making their life even more miserable. Mohan’s mother had to walk at least 2 kms everyday to get water. Some days she would not even get any water after walking for miles.

Unable to see the pain of his starving family, Mohan’s father decided to head towards Mumbai to find some work that could get them at least one meal a day. The family sold their land and house to repay the loans and came to Mumbai, empty handed, in 2014.

[caption id="attachment_69037" align="aligncenter" width="500"]mohan Mohan Prabhu Kale[/caption]
“Many years ago, my father had fallen under a train and lost one leg. I was very young then so I don’t remember much about this incident, but I remember him working in our farm with just one leg. My uncles helped him. But here in Mumbai, he could not get any work. He begs on the streets now,” said Mohan in a low voice when asked about his father.
Mohan, his mother, and two older brothers sell flowers and garlands at the Teen Haat Naka Signal in Thane.

“I like it here. We have to sell flowers in the scorching sun or even when it is raining. Sometimes, if we don’t earn enough for a meal, we have to beg too. But we don’t starve here like we did in my village,” says Mohan.

img-20160922-wa0008 Four months ago, Mohan’s life changed again. He heard about Signal Shala, a school that operates from a shipping container under the Teen Haat Signal flyover in Thane. Mohan studies in Class 8 now, back in school at the age of 18 after a long gap. He gets up in the morning, sells garlands at the signal for an hour and then rushes to school. After school finishes at 4 pm, it’s peak business hours again so he goes back to the signal and sells flowers and garlands till 9 in the evening. Once he has earned enough for a meal, he goes back home and does his school homework for the next day.

“I don’t know what will become of me. But I will become something if I study… right?” he asks.


You can help keep Mohan's hope alive. Donate to India's first registered 'Signal School' today, and help Mohan and 35 other kids living on Mumbai's streets get a shot at a better life through education.
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Read about Signal Shala here: India's First Signal School, Where Street Kids Study in a Shipment Container Under a Flyover!

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This Engineer Left His Job To Adopt And Educate The Children Of Drought Affected Farmers

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In 2015, Ashok Deshmane founded Snehwan – a home and school for children of marginalised and drought-affected farmers. Vishnu Gite, a gifted and intelligent child from a farmer’s family, is not interested in eating chocolates and ice cream like the city kids he sees on TV. All he wants is to be in school because he is attracted by the sight of educated, well dressed adults and he dreams of being like them every night.

The main source of income for Vishnu's family was farming. But, due to the drought, their land stopped yielding any food crops and they migrated elsewhere to work as daily wage labourers.

[caption id="attachment_68960" align="aligncenter" width="500"]vishnu Vishnu Gite's family had to migrate from their village due to drought.[/caption] His parents fought for survival on a daily basis and even contemplated suicide like many other farmers in drought affected areas. Vishnu missed his old school but kept quiet – he knew better than to ask his parents for the impossible.

Ram and Lakhan’s story is not very different from Vishnu’s. Their father, Santosh Rathod, was a daily wage worker in the Jalna district of Maharashtra.

ramlakhan Santosh had to take care of his entire family all by himself with the meagre income he earned daily. But then the drought happened and things went from bad to worse. He started losing whatever little work he had and there were days when his family literally starved. In the hope of finding a job and giving his family a better chance at survival, Santosh moved to Thane in the Mumbai area. He started working at a brick furnace here and his wife found a job as a domestic help. Living from hand to mouth, they could only think of feeding their kids; the question of sending them to school did not even arise.

So, when a man named Ashok Deshmane offered to look after these children in his NGO Snehwan, and take complete responsibility for their education too, the two families were dumbfounded to say the least.

children

Today, Ram is studying in Class 4 and aspires to become a policeman, whereas Lakhan is studying in Class 3 and wants to serve the nation by joining the army. Vishnu’s education is being taken care of as well. But it’s not just these three – many more farmers’ kids like them have also found a home in Snehwan.

The founder of Snehwan, 27 year Ashok Deshmane, had a childhood similar to that of the kids he now looks after. He was born in a farmer’s family in a small village called Mangrul in the Parbhani district of Maharashtra.

[caption id="attachment_68967" align="aligncenter" width="500"]deshmane Ashok Deshmane[/caption] The four acres of land that his father owned gave them enough to survive on only if it rained well. Maharashtra had been experiencing a drought every four years since 1972. This was extremely hard for small farmers like Ashok’s father, who cultivated just enough to feed their families and had no other savings. They had to depend on loans from local money lenders, who gave them money at high interest rates every time there was a drought. It soon became difficult to survive on farming alone, so Ashok’s father started doing tailoring too. The hunger, the pain, the distress, and the helplessness of farmers like his father found expression in every word of Ashok’s poems when he started writing at the age of 13.
“Poetry was my only medium of dealing with the pain. But that was when I didn’t know how else I could help the farmers. I soon realised that my poetry was worthless if I did not do something to change the situation I was writing about. I understood, early on in my teens, that it was possible for farmers to get out of the vicious cycle they were caught in if they were educated. So, I started teaching their kids for free. ”

When Ashok was in Class 12, he came across a documentary on Ramon Magsaysay Award winner, Dr. Prakash Baba Amte. Ashok was so inspired by Amte’s work that he became even more determined to help farmers.

[caption id="attachment_68968" align="aligncenter" width="500"]baba-amte Ashok with Dr. Prakash Baba Amte[/caption] But all he knew was that he had to educate himself first before helping educate others. So he started working with a transport company to support his own education. After a tremendous struggle, Ashok finally completed his Bachelor’s in Computer Science and then Master’s in Computer Science. Next, he got a well-paying job with a known software company in Pune. In the meantime, he had also been visiting his village to help the children there with their studies. Now, he also started teaching the children of street vendors in Pune on weekends. However, since the street vendors kept moving from one place to another, it made it difficult for their kids to study. This is when Ashok realised that it was very necessary to have a permanent shelter for the children of migrant labourers. By the end of 2015, Ashok had completed five years of work and had enough savings to buy a house and a car. But, at about this time, a visit home on the occasion of Diwali changed everything. Parbhani had once again been affected by drought. People were leaving their homes along with their families. There was no water in the entire village. Ashok had to walk 4-5 kms with his mother to get water to celebrate Diwali.
“When I asked these people why they were leaving the village, they said there was no water, no crops and nothing to eat. These people were moving to the cities to work as daily wage labourers – jobs that would give them only as much as one meal a day. When I asked about the education of their kids they bluntly told me they could only think of filling their stomachs right now and school was a luxury for their children in such a situation.”

Ashok came back to Pune in December 2015, registered his NGO Snehwan, and quit his job. Snehwan would be both a home and school for children of marginalised and drought-affected farmers.

[caption id="attachment_68969" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]yoga Children are also taught yoga and meditation at Snehwan.[/caption] When Ashok’s boss came to know why he had quit his well-paying job at the peak of his career, he told him he wanted to support him. He gave Ashok the option to do night shifts so he could dedicate his days to the NGO. Ashok accepted the offer. He would leave for his office at 8 pm and return at 8 am, after which he would visit several villages in search of kids who needed his help. By June 2016, Snehwan had 17 children whose parents had migrated from their villages, or had committed suicide, or were living hand-to-mouth. Ashok’s friends helped him in every possible way to set up Snehwan. Anil Kothe offered his five-room house where the kids could live. Uma Kommineni, an NRI, gave computers to the home. The iLeadFarmers company developed the NGO’s website and now maintains it for free so that people can donate through the website. Webonise Lab gave funds for the renovation of the house. A nearby school, Samta Vidyalay, gave admission to the children at nominal fees. Rahul Deshpande and Asha Thipse started working with Snehwan as volunteers. But this was not as easy as it sounds. Ashok’s night shifts continued. When he would return home after work he would find the kids crying because they missed their parents. Ashok started feeling that along with education, food and clothing, these kids needed a lot of attention and love too. So, in August 2016, he finally quit his job and dedicated himself full time to the kids of Snehwan.
“I could sleep only during the two hours while I was commuting to and from work. I was not able to give enough time and energy to these kids, so I left my job. I knew that finances would be an issue. But there was an inner voice that said everything would be taken care of.”
On seeing their son’s dedication, Ashok’s parents too left their village and came to stay with the kids of Snehwan.
“My parents were not very happy initially. They told me I should get married and settle down. But I told them that although I did not have a big house or a car or a lot of money, I was getting the satisfaction of educating the future generation of farmers. Maybe if I continued working at my job my family would get a better life in Pune. But how would that change my village? It would still be the same as it was when I was struggling to study 15 years ago. And if I continued with my wonderful career, the village would remain the same for the next 15 years too. I had to take a step right now.”

Snehwan has 17 kids in the age group of 9 -14 years. Most of these kids have never been to school before; even if they have it is only so they could get a midday meal for free. Ashok has worked hard to teach them everything from scratch. And now the kids can read newspapers, use PCs, write letters, etc.

kids
“Even when there used to be a drought in the village, you could always find some farmers who were unaffected. The secret was knowledge. These kids will learn farming without even going to school. But they will learn to deal with farming problems only if they have knowledge, and only quality education can provide them with that,” says Ashok.

Ashok is leaving no stone unturned to give the best opportunities he can to the bright yet deprived children under his care. Today, kids from the districts of Parbhani, Jalna, Beed, Hingoli, Aurangabad, and Wardha are living happily in Snehwan.

happykids However, as there is no income, Ashok is struggling to arrange for funds for their daily needs.
“Recently, due to bad weather, most of my children were suffering from viral fever. It is difficult to arrange for their medical expenses at times because generally we get donations in the form of clothes and other utilitarian items. Also, we had enough donations to start the shelter home. But very few people know about the existence of this place now. We appeal to our well wishers to donate some funds so we can take care of the children’s health and other issues that arise from time to time.”
Please donate money, clothes, and stationery, or become a volunteer at Snehwan. You can visit Snehwan Sr.no. 186, Mayur Colony, Near Chakrapani Vasahat, Bhosari, Pune-39, Maharashtra, India. Email at ashok.deshmane123@gmail.com Or call at +91-823 727 7615 to help these kids. Click here to Donate through Milaap.

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Have You Ever Wondered What Happens to Street Children When They Fall Sick? Let Kalpana Tell You.

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Kalpana, 12, a street child who stays under the Teen Haat Naka flyover in Mumbai, could have died of malaria last month had it not been for the help arranged by Signal Shala. There are an estimated 37,059 children living on the brutal streets of Mumbai, reveals the first ever census of street children conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and voluntary organization Action Aid India. Besides being extremely poor they are vulnerable too – two out of five have witnessed physical, verbal or sexual abuse or forced starvation at some point in their lives. Despite the government’s Right to Education Act, nearly one out of every four kids in the school-going age remains illiterate. One out of four of these street children also admitted to not having regular meals due to lack of money, illness, injury, or dependence on others. Street children in India face even greater challenges because of lack of access to nutritious food, sanitation, and medical care. Many are dependent on leftovers from small restaurants or hotels, food stalls, or garbage bins. In a study of street children in Mumbai, 62.5% of the children obtained food from such places. Lack of sanitation and hygiene due to extremely limited access to toilets and water also contributes to poor health. Approximately 26.4% of the children use the roadside or railway line for going to the toilet. For water, the children either beg restaurants and hotels to provide them with some, or use outdoor pipes and water taps.

Most of the street children also do not have access to medical care, which is especially detrimental during times of illness or injury.

[caption id="attachment_70073" align="aligncenter" width="500"]kalpana Kalpana Satish Pawar[/caption] The study of street children in Mumbai found that 34.9% had an injury and 18.9% had a fever in the past three months. Only about one-third of the children received any help with the illness or injury. Kalpana is one of these children too. Her father, Satish Pawar, came to Mumbai from Beed district in Maharashtra in the year 1997. He hoped to find work in the big city and build a better future for his family here. But little did he know that he’d have to survive with his family on the streets for years on end. Kalpana stays with her parents and four other siblings under the Teen Haat Signal flyover in Thane.

Until four months ago, all Kalpana did was sell flowers at the signal and think about how she would fill her stomach if she did not earn enough. But now she attends Signal Shala, India’s first registered Signal School meant for children living and working near traffic signals in Mumbai.

school3 Thanks to this school, when Kalpana was down with a fever last month, she was taken to the hospital by volunteers working at Signal Shala. She was diagnosed with malaria and the school took care of all her medical requirements.
“Education is very important but how will these kids study if they are sick all the time? We have spent the first few months teaching them basic hygiene like taking a bath every day and washing hands before meals. These kids stay in the open, so most of the time they suffer due to the cold. They have various skin diseases that become chronic. Their immunity is very low as they hardly ever eat freshly cooked food. They either have leftovers from the nearby restaurants and hotels or just eat a vada pav and go to sleep,” says Aarti Parab, one of the teachers at Signal Shala.

Kalpana is fine now and loves to come to school every day.

[caption id="attachment_70075" align="aligncenter" width="500"]kalpana2 Kalpana loves to come to Signal Shala.[/caption] She sells gajras (flower garlands) after school is over. But her little eyes are full of wonder and hope now. Since the day her teacher taught her about different modes of transport, her only dream is to fly an aeroplane. She wants to become a pilot when she grows up.  
Please donate to Signal Shala so that every Kalpana gets medical and educational support to grow up happy and healthy. Donate to India's first registered 'Signal School' today, and help Kalpana and 35 other kids living on Mumbai's streets get a shot at a better life through education.
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Read about Signal Shala here: India's First Signal School, Where Street Kids Study in a Shipment Container Under a Flyover!

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Meet the Dental Surgeon Who Improved Sanitation and Revived Water Bodies in 70 Maharashtra Villages

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Dr. Avinash Pol, a dental surgeon from Maharashtra, guided the residents of more than 70 villages in the state to help revive water bodies and learn about beneficial government schemes. He also helped them with sanitation work. He has been honoured with many awards, including the Baba Amte Manavta Puraskar and Rajashri Sahu Award. It all began back in the 90s when young Avinash was a medical student in Pune’s prestigious Bharati Vidyapeeth Dental College. The college was often flooded with long queues of needy patients who were treated for free. Most of them arrived from remote villages and would wait for days for their turn to see a doctor.
“There was an old lady who came to me. Her gums were swollen and she was in tremendous pain. I asked her why she had not come earlier but she did not answer. Finally, when she was about to leave, she told me that she was a widow and a mother of two children. Her son was blind and her daughter was a special child. She had to work all day in order to provide for them. When the pain in her gums became unbearable, she sold a kitchen utensil and came to see me. She also said she might not return for further treatment,” said Dr.Pol
The old woman had no idea that there were government schemes like the Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana for widows. Similarly, there were other patients who were in bad health due to poor sanitation practices; they were unaware that there were schemes to help them build toilets at home. Dr. Pol would inform them about the existence of such benefits and also help them with other problems. He was determined to work with these villagers once he finished his degree. After graduating, he set up his dental practice in Satara but his heart was still set on working with the poor and needy. So, when a young man named Arun from Beblewadi village told him about the sanitation problems his village was facing, Dr. Pol went to visit it in 1997. Very few people showed up for the gram sabha (meeting) he held there. No one trusted him as he was just a 23-year-old young man with no power and influence. Next, Dr. Pol and Arun decided to build a toilet in the village. Watching them work alone on the project, some villagers pitched in too and soon there were toilet blocks in every household. As they continued to gain the trust of the entire village, roads were made, an assembly hall was built and people benefited from the various agricultural schemes that Dr. Pol told them about. When the residents of surrounding villages came to know that Beblewadi had become open defecation free and was doing well in terms of agriculture too, they started approaching Dr. Avinash Pol for solutions to their problems as well.

Dr. Pol would visit these villages to survey them, hold gram sabhas, ask the villagers to raise funds, and start working with them. He also started holding these meetings over the phone from his clinic in Satara. work

Once the initial work had started, Dr. Pol would approach the government for help with the rest of the work. “There are many government officers who are keen to help our villagers. I always had full support from such officers. And the government schemes have always played a major role in developing these projects,” says Dr. Pol. The doctor would also ask every villager who visited him as a patient if he/she had a toilet at home. For those who could not afford to construct one, Dr. Pol would tell them about the various government and bank schemes available to get loans. For those who said they did not have any space to build one, the doctor would show them how to go about constructing a toilet in the minimum space available. And for those who did not want a toilet at home thinking it would create a stink, Dr. Pol would help break the misconception – he kept a toilet seat in his clinic and would demonstrate how the toilet should be fitted so that it would not smell. Dr. Pol focused on sanitation for almost 6-7 years. While doing so, he came to realize that insufficient water supply was a big challenge for the villagers. He was also inspired by the work of Mr. Popatrao Pawar who revived the water bodies of the village Hiware Bazar in Maharashtra. So he started taking up water projects too.

He started building channels and linking wells and rivers to begin with, thus making many villages free of dependency on tankers. The water revolution gained such momentum that the people started calling him ‘Panyacha Doctor’ (Water Doctor).

[caption id="attachment_71105" align="aligncenter" width="500"]satara-1-869x568 Dr. Avinash Pol is well know as Panyacha Doctor (Water Doctor)[/caption] Residents of Satara today thank Dr Pol for helping them build a lake that is full of about 10 crore litres of potable water, available throughout the year. Dr Pol was also able to help revive lakes like Bichukale, Palshi, Kirkasal, Panwan, Jakhangaon, and Velu in Satara, Akoladev and Ghanewadi of Jalna, and Kingaon of Aurangabad. His project of linking 15 wells and two borewells has turned out to be a unique initiative in the state. In all his projects, the initial investment and labour are offered by the villagers and he approaches the government for help only later.
“I do this for a simple reason. If you invest in something you always maintain it. I want people to take care of these public properties like their own. When the government does the entire project, people don’t feel responsible for protecting it,” says the Water Doctor.

Dr. Pol has helped develop more than 70 villages in the past 19 years. However, he does not run any NGO of his own. He does not plan for the next project, nor does he dream of doing anything big.

[caption id="attachment_71115" align="aligncenter" width="500"]pol Dr. Avinash Pol[/caption]
“I just keep going. I take every day as it comes. Anyone can call me to their village and I will help them find solutions. I feel every educated individual should do this. Just make a visit to a nearby village. Share your knowledge with them. Try to find solutions for them with your knowledge and see the miracle,” he says.
Dr. Pol is now a trustee of the Naam Foundation, an NGO started by actors Nana Patekar and Makarand Anaspure. He is also on the advisory committee of the Pani Foundation started by actor Aamir Khan.
“There has been a huge difference after these well known actors became associated with rural development. People look up to them and if they do something like this even the common man gets motivated to bring about a change,” says Dr. Pol.
Villages from other states have also started approaching Dr. Pol for help. Recently, he visited village Bonli of district Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan. The village is facing water scarcity and the government has to supply 110 tankers every day to this village. Dr. Pol visited the village and conducted a gram sabha in the presence of District Collector and other officers. A detailed survey was also done with the help of the villagers and the officers.

The result was that the women of this village took up the mission of water conservation through the MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) scheme, which will make the village tanker free in another year’s time.

rajasthan-1
"I consider problems as my patients and the public as my NGO. There is nothing beyond these two," says Dr. Pol.
To know more about his work or to get his advice on water conservation and sanitation, you can write to him at dravinash.pol@gmail.com  

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Daughter of Lifetime Imprisonment Convicts Goes To School With The Help Of Jail Authorities

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Four-year-old Priti Kewat from Rewa, Madhya Pradesh started going to the BNP Memorial Higher Secondary School this week. It’s normal for a small child her age to step out of the house, holding her parents’ hands, to attend school. However, what was unusual about this little girl’s first day at school was that she was not coming out of her home but stepping out from behind the thick bars of Rewa Central Jail. Her tiny hands were not holding on to those of her parents but were gently held by police officers.

Priti was taken to jail in October 2014 when she was just two years old; her only crime was that she was the daughter of two murderers.

[caption id="attachment_71796" align="aligncenter" width="500"]central-jail-rewa_08d4c712-5ec1-11e6-93fe-9ac2f090b545 Central Jail, Rewa.[/caption]
Photo Source
Mishrilal Kewat and his wife Chameli Bai Kewat from Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh were convicted for murder and sentenced to lifetime imprisonment by the Waidhan District Court in October 2014. As there was no one else to take care of their only daughter Priti, she was allowed to stay with her parents in jail by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). In 2006, the Supreme Court of India ordered that children could remain with their incarcerated mothers up until the age of six and should then be placed with surrogates. Following the Supreme Court ruling, Indian prisons also had to provide crèches for children under the age of three and nurseries for children aged three to six. However, as Rewa Central Jail did not have a nursery within its premises, the jail authorities proposed that Priti be sent to the nearby BMP Memorial School, which is just 500 metres from the jail. Once the CWC approved the jail’s proposal, the school authorities also lent full support to their decision and offered free education for Priti. The jail authorities have appointed a lady constable to drop and pick up Priti from school. phpthumb_generated_thumbnail
photo source
This is the first time that a jail has taken the initiative to provide a good future to the children of prisoners. There are four more kids in this jail who are staying with their convicted mothers; they are all two years of age. But after Priti has started going to school, their mothers are very hopeful about the future of their children too. According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s Prison Statistics India Snapshots – 2012, 1,394 existing prisons house 385,135 inmates in the country.  There are a total of 344 women convicts with 382 children, and 1,226 women awaiting trial with 1,397 children, lodged in various prisons in the country. This beautiful initiative taken by Rewa jail authorities for Priti has opened new doors for all of them.

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What Happens When A Young Musician Gives Voice To Poets Like Nirala, Pash And Bulleh Shah

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Harpreet is an independent musician who is bringing back the voices of India’s forgotten classical Hindi and regional language poets through his music. Thanks to Jagjit Singh and his soulful voice, we today know a number of poems (shayari) by Urdu poets by heart. Many people may not have read Ghalib or Faiz Ahmed Faiz or Sudarshan Fakir, but we still sing their shayari unknowingly when we hum along with Jagjjit Singh. Similarly, our country is blessed with writers who have composed exquisite poems in Hindi and other regional languages. Legendary poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar’s poem ‘Kurukshetra’ is counted among the 100 best poems in the world. But even some of the most literate people in India are not aware of the accomplishments of Dinkar and other Hindi poets – the uncelebrated heroes of our classical literature. However, one musician is doing for classical Hindi and regional poetry exactly what Jagjit Singh did for Urdu poetry. He is popularizing it by picking some of the best and purest Hindi compositions and setting them to music in his own inimitable style, to the strings of the guitar.

One such composition is ‘Nirala’ based on ‘Badal Raag’ by the great poet Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’.

https://youtu.be/qzXymuA1XY8
“I had never read these poems, not even at school. A friend of mine just wanted me to compose something about the monsoon. I could think of nothing so she gave me some poems to read. Nirala’s ‘Badal Raag’ was one of them. When I read it, I felt like no one had written anything better than this on the beautiful season. I kept reading the poem for the rest of the day. Finally, when I picked up my guitar, the music just happened,” smiles Harpreet.
This is how he worked on most of his other songs too. Poems by Pash and Faiz - as well as Baba Bulleh Shah, Nirala, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Pash, Dr. Shiv Bahadur Singh Bhadauria, Dr. Gurbhajan Gill, Kaana Singh, and Varun Grover - remained with him for more than a year; he kept reading them again and again until they became tunes on his guitar.

Thirty-year-old Harpreet was born in a farmer’s family in Sherpur village in Karnal district of Haryana. His father loved singing Bollywood songs and this was his only exposure to music.

1   When Harpreet was just six, he started playing the toy keyboard that his father had bought for his older brother. Just like any other child, the first song he learnt to play on the keyboard was ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’. But, to everyone’s surprise, little Harpreet soon started playing the keyboard to the tunes of the songs his father sang. Harpreet continue to enjoy this simple and playful childhood in a joint family in the village, until his father and uncle, in order to give a better education and future to their children, sold off their ancestral land to move to the nearest town Nilokheri near Kurukshetra. Life was no longer easy because the family now faced a financial crunch. By this time, Harpreet was also well-known among his teachers as a good singer but a weak student academically. He would hardly study. All he wanted to do was play music and he played whatever instruments he could lay his hands on.
“I wanted a better keyboard but there was no money to buy one. So, instead, I started playing my cousin’s guitar,” says Harpreet.
Finally, with great difficulty, Harpreet finished his schooling and took admission in a diploma course for civil engineering. But his heart continued to remain in music and, instead of studying engineering, he spent his time teaching the students at college how to play the guitar. Within a year, Harpreet quit the diploma course and started going to Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in Delhi to learn music. He would travel 6 to 7 hours from Kurukshetra to Delhi everyday just to attend an hour’s class.

In 2002, after losing his father, his first teacher in music, Harpreet found solace in music yet again. He moved to Delhi to learn Hindustani classical music at Gandharva Mahavidalaya, where he met Diwanji, who tought him to practise with the tanpura.

fb_img_1476091831777 But academics and Harpreet were not made for each other - he failed the music exams too.
“My mother and my brother did not want me to pursue music as a career. But they gave in when they saw how dedicated I was. However, they were naturally surprised when I failed the music test too. They expected me to do riyaz every morning since I was a musician. But all I wanted to do was to learn music and play music. I had no interest in getting a formal education or degree,” laughs Harpreet.
And the real struggle began here. Harpreet had no money to stay in a city like Delhi. Some days he would get some money from his family and on other days from his friends, until he got some work.
“I would not step out from my room for days. I would go out if I had money and stay back if I didn’t. But I never got bored or tired. I enjoyed my ‘alone’ time with music. I utilised this time by practising on my guitar or playing the keyboard all day long,” says Harpreet.
In order to make a living, Harpreet started singing covers at a club and also started performing at gatherings. The applause from the audience encouraged him and gave him confidence. He started writing and composing more songs of his own. But mostly, he composed his music around the writings of famous poets, unknown poets and even playwrights. But this was also a time when he could barely make ends meet. And yet, his craving to buy and learn more musical instruments was not yet fulfilled. Once, he borrowed someone’s flute, played it, and decided he really wanted one.

With no money to purchase a flute however, he made one from a PVC pipe and played the song ‘Gopala Mori’, which became a big hit on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L5uJhhjHXk
“A flute would have cost me Rs.5000 to Rs.6000. I thought, ‘It’s just a pipe with holes. How can I pay so much money for it?’ So I just made one for myself. It was pretty easy, I just made holes wherever I keep my fingers while playing a flute,” he says.
After the positive feedback on Youtube, there was no looking back. Harpreet rocked every show he participated in with his compositions from Pash, Baba Bulleh Shah, Nirala, and many other poets. He got opportunities to compose music for plays and even puppet shows by Dadi Pudumjee. He had indeed arrived as an independent musician and he received invitations to perform at prestigious music festivals all around the country.

Harpreet got his biggest break when filmmaker Dibakar Banerjee heard him sing at a show. He picked Harpreet’s popular song ‘Kutte’, for the film Titli in 2015, as the promotional song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OtM1us3Sjg In May 2015, Harpreet launched his first album, Ajab Ishq Mati Da, with its different flavours of music. Harpreet is trying to bring back other languages to the current generation also in a more contemporary format.

His recently released song, ‘Ghah,’ based on a revolutionary poem by Pash can give goosebumps to the listener.

ghah Ghah, which means common grass in Punjabi, is compared to the youth of the day… “I am grass and I will do my job. I will grow everywhere, on everything you have done. You can bomb the universities You can bring down the hostels to mere debris But what would you do about me I am grass… I will grow everywhere!” Listen to this terrific song here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHe9HJekJVc

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