Manabi Katoch, Author at The Better India

Reema Sathe, a chemical engineer, founded a start-up called Happy Roots, a food company that manufactures healthy, natural and preservative-free snack food, using local, farm-fresh ingredients. The raw material is sourced directly from small and tribal farmers in Maharashtra and is handmade by trained rural women’s groups. Reema Sathe is a young enthusiastic chemical engineer, who is also a post graduate in business. She was working as the General Manager of Marketing in Krishi Star, a start-up that works on building market linkages for small-holding tomato farmers in Gujarat and Maharashtra, when The Better India interviewed her in November 2014. Reema worked at Krishi Star for almost a year. But she wanted to do much more than what her job entailed, so she decided to visit some remote villages in Maharashtra. During her travels, she came to the conclusion that if farmers, along with farming, could also run sustainable businesses it could end the ordeal of small farmers who were barely eking out a living. Her idea was taking shape in the form of her own company, ‘Happy Roots’, when she came across another article in The Better India about a WhatsApp group of farmers, in June 2015. After reading the article, Reema wrote to us –

“I read an article about this WhatsApp group in The Better India and I was very interested to know more about them as they have a presence in Vidarbha as well. I got in touch with Amol Sainwar and Shishir Mandya and exchanged details of our work. We have found a lot of synergies, especially around our work in livelihood development of small farmers, and we are talking about how we can collaborate in the region.”

And now, after a year and a half of detailed research and hard work, Reema has achieved what she promised to these farmers.

Today, Reema Sathe is the proud founder and director of ‘Happy Roots’, a food company that makes healthy, natural and preservative-free snack food, using local, farm-fresh ingredients sourced directly from small and tribal farmers in Maharashtra and handmade by trained rural women’s groups.

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Reema Sathe - Founder Of Happy Roots.[/caption]

“After working closely with rural communities in Gujarat and Maharashtra for two years, we identified a few grim issues our farmers have been facing for generations. Every year, our farmers toil to grow the best food for us but fail to earn more than $ 2 (approx. Rs. 140) a day for their families. Lower market rates for farm produce and lack of modern processing skills lead to lower incomes and never-ending debt cycles for the farmers. We decided to change this,” says Reema.

According to Reema, earlier, the farmers made only a marginal profit of 10 to 20% on their yield as there were 4-5 middlemen in the process. But now, since Happy Roots directly buys raw material from small farmers and uses it to make products such as healthy snacks, the profit margin for the farmers has gone up to 100%.

“We currently have a network of 10,000 farmers across Maharashtra. We ensure the best market rates for our farmers and they reserve the best grains for us,” says Reema.

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Farmer Kalu Mondhe (left) and Farmer Maliv (Right) from Sangamner, Maharashtra who supply grains to Happy Roots directly.[/caption] Happy Roots, in association with local non-profits and farmer groups, is working on a CEE (Centre for Environment Education) project in Ahmednagar district. Under this project, the company is trying to establish a market for endangered Indian grains that are on the verge of extinction. Their mission is to revive these crops and bring them back to the urban consumer basket.

Their first successful initiative has been to revive battu (buckwheat) and kalbhat (black husk rice), which grow in the rain shadow areas of the Sahayadri hills.

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An indigenous rice variety (Kalbhat) that Happy Roots uses in its Crackers[/caption] The social work by the company is three-pronged: focus on skills development and employment of small and tribal farmers and rural women by supporting rural micro-enterprises; protect crop biodiversity by using locally grown produce, which often involves endangered crops and seeds; and promote fair trade practices.

Every time a customer buys a product from Happy Roots, a portion of the money is invested back in the training and development and capacity building of a local farmer community.

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Farmer producer company meet[/caption]

"Happy Roots is helping us solve the problem of marketing our high quality produce. With their guidance we have improved the product quality and learnt how to present it to our customers. They have also helped us revive buckwheat (battu), which is a part of our seed conservation project. Tribal farmers were growing this cereal grain only on one or two acres for their own consumption. After Happy Root's intervention and business planning, we sowed buckwheat on 20 acres of land and are expecting a production of one tonne in November 2016,” says Gangadhar Charude, a member of the Baliraja Producer Company.

So far, Happy Roots has had a direct impact on over 2000 small farmers in Vidarbha and also employs 100 rural women.

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Team Happy Roots.[/caption] To connect with the farmers, Happy Roots partners with local non-profit organisations like Lokpanchayat in Ahmednagar district, Chetna Organics in Vidarbha, and Chaitanya Foundation in Pune. The raw materials – like grains, millets, sugar, and oil – are then procured from these small farmers and farmer producer companies like the Baliraja Producer Company. Next, the raw material is handed over to rural women self-help groups like Nirmiti. The final products are packed and marketed at various cafes and outlets. "We are coming up with a Greenfield Project (food processing unit) in partnership with Happy Roots, Lokpanchayat, and Baliraja. This unit will help our rural women with skills development and employment. When our rural women get empowered, our village children will become educated and empowered too. We will no longer stay unseen and unheard," says Mrs. Shalan Shelke, Nirmiti Women’s Cooperative, Sangamner.

Some of the mouth-watering healthy snacks from Happy Roots include: fresh yogurt dip made from curd that comes from small dairy farmers; whole wheat whey crackers made from 100% whole wheat flour and natural whey liquid extracted from cultured dairy; and finger millet and rolled oats cookies.

Presently, the products can be bought from The Gourmet Food Company (an online store). The healthy snacks can also be found at French Window, Cafe One O Eight, and Yoga Room in Pune. People in Pune can also buy the products online from Faasos or order on this WhatsApp number: +919623385701 If you are a non-profit/NGO, farmer-producer company, women’s self-help group, or know a group of small or tribal farmers, reach out to Happy Roots at connect@happyroots.in for a fruitful partnership. You can also write to the company if you are a chef or restaurant owner and want to connect with the network of small farmers to purchase raw material directly from them. For more information, please visit www.happyroots.in

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Dr. Chandrani Prasad Verma fought tough odds to become India’s first female mining engineer. This is the story of her struggle, passion, dedication, and success. There was a time when virtually every profession in the country was dominated by men. But the winds of change have blown steadily but surely to be more inclusive today. Although there are still some professions that are the exclusive preserve of men, sometimes because of the demand of late hours or the physical strength required to tackle the job, women are beginning to enter these fields as well and break every misconception about their ability to work. Doctors, engineers, politicians, wrestlers, astronauts, and cricketers: name the job and women are everywhere, in every field. But, until this year, there was still one stream of engineering where the law did not allow women to enter: mining engineering. The Mines Act, 1952, said that women would not be allowed to work in any underground mines and would be allowed to work only on opencast mines between 6 am and 7 pm. Also, restrictions under the Coal Mines Regulations, 1957, would be imposed on women seeking admission to mining engineering courses in colleges. In May 2016, the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, declared that it will begin admitting female candidates to its mining engineering programmes from the academic year 2016-17 onwards. Several IITs and other prestigious universities in the country also welcomed this move and opened the doors of their mining engineering courses for female students this year. However, there is one woman who did not wait for the system to change. Instead, she fought it tooth and nail to become the first female mining engineer in India way before the rules and regulations on the subject changed.

Dr. Chandrani Prasad Verma, now a Senior Scientist at CSIR - Central Institute of Mining & Fuel Research [CSIR-CIMFR] – became the first female mining engineer in India in the year 1999.

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Dr. Chandrani Prasad Verma - India's first female Mining Engineer[/caption] Chandrani’s father worked as a mining engineer in Western Coalfields Limited, in Chandrapur, Maharashtra. She had always been fascinated by the stories about the mines that her father shared with her. By the time Chandrani was in Class 10, she had made up her mind to pursue a career in mining.

“Once there was a fire inside the mines and my father had to stay in the office for two days. When he came back, he told me how they had handled the situation. Everything seemed so interesting and surprising that I could not wait to work like my father,” recalls Chandrani.

After finishing her schooling in 1992, Chandrani did a diploma course in Mining & Mine Surveying in 1995 from Govt. Polytechnic College, Nagpur. It was obvious that after her diploma she wanted to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in mining. However, to her surprise, no engineering college would grant her admission in mining engineering.

“People kept suggesting to me that I take up courses in computers or IT, which are more women specific. But I would ask them: ‘Who has decided what is woman specific?’ Besides, my family was always by my side as they knew how passionate I was about mining,” says Dr. Chandrani.

Next, Chandrani and her father contacted a lawyer. A petition was filed that there can be no gender discrimination in education. The proceedings took a year and finally, in 1996, Chandrani got admission in the mining engineering course as a ‘special case’.

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Dr. Chandrani receiving Hirkani Award for becoming the first woman mining engineer, by DD Sahyadri[/caption]

“When I went to attend the counselling for my admission in engineering, the professors were shocked to know that I was opting for mining and had ‘wasted’ one year just to do so. They kept insisting that it would be a useless endeavour because I would not get any job after the course. But I just shook my head and asked them to give me admission,” said Chandrani.

Chandrani completed B. E (Mining Engineering) from Ramdeobaba Engineering College, Nagpur, in the first position, with merit, in 1999. She had opened the path for many more girls to follow in her footsteps; after her many girls took up this course and the colleges also did not restrict them.

However, despite being the university topper, Chandrani was not selected for any job during the campus recruitment process, simply because she was a girl.

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Chandrani receiving her PhD Degree from the Director, VNIT[/caption] But her determination to continue down this road did not waver for a second and her spirit remained indomitable. She started working as a lecturer in her college. Simultaneously, she continued on her journey to acquire more degrees in mining. In 2006, she completed her Master’s in Mining Engineering (M.Tech) from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), Nagpur. In December 2015, Chandrani completed her PhD on Web Pillar Design in Highwall Mining under the guidance of Dr. N. R. Thote, Professor, Mining Dept., VNIT, and well known Numerical Modeling Expert, Dr. John Loui Porathur, Principal Scientist, CIMFR, Nagpur.

Chandrani got married in 2007 and had a child in 2008, but she incorporated her family life seamlessly with her professional career, never hesitating to take up new challenges at work.

“Her best quality is that she does not hesitate at all. She is very clear about the fact that she is here to work and she never expects special treatment,” says Dr. Thote, Chandrani’s PhD guide.

Dr. Thote also recalls an incident where Chandrani had to work on the geo-technical testing of around 400 coal samples for her research. Usually, the testing is done by lab technicians who charge money for the same. However, in this case, the lab technicians wanted to charge extra because they did not think Chandrani would be able to manage on her own. But, instead of paying more, Chandrani tied a scarf across her face and entered the lab herself.

Within two months, Chandrani had tested and prepared almost 600 coal samples, all on her own.

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Chandrani working in Rock Mechanics Laboratory[/caption] Chandrani was the only woman candidate when she went for an interview at CSIR - Central Institute of Mining & Fuel Research. It was a walk-in interview and the candidates had to wait until midnight. Most of the members of the interview panel were hesitant to recruit a female as a research fellow in mining, given the fact that she would have to physically enter the underground mines. But one of the interviewers, Dr. Achyuta Krishna Ghosh, insisted that they recruit Chandrani. He had sensed her passion for mining and was impressed with her determination since she had travelled all the way from Nagpur to Dhanbad and then waited until midnight for an interview.

“It is because of Dr. Ghosh and the support of my family that I am a scientist in CSIR today and am living my dream. He has always encouraged me to go for the toughest challenges,” says Chandrani.

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Chandrani with her mentor Dr. A.K Ghosh (Extreme left)[/caption] If proof were needed, Chandrani’s courage and dedication show that women can achieve anything they set their minds to. It is just a matter of time before we see more diamonds like Chandrani shining in the mining industry in India. You can send your wishes to Dr. Chandrani Prasad Verma at chandranidp@gmail.com.

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In April 2016, we appealed to our readers to help us transform a village. And within six months the mission has been almost accomplished. Pimpaldhara is situated in the Yavatmal district of Maharashtra. Many years ago, some 30-40 odd farmers, along with their families, migrated to Pimpaldhara from the Londhari and Khadakdari villages of Pusad. They did so to live closer to their fields. Despite its sizeable population, Pimpaldhara has by and large been ignored by the government. Moreover, the panchayats of both villages from where these farmers migrated have done nothing to help the residents of Pimpaldhara either. In January 2016, Shivaprabha Charitable Trust visited Pimpaldhara and found that the village was facing acute water scarcity. There was no provision for drinking water and sanitation was a major problem as there were no toilets. The village had no electricity, hence no street lights either – wild animals from the neighbouring forest would often wander close to the residents’ homes. The high price of kerosene made it impossible for many people to use stoves for cooking, so they would regularly cut trees from the nearby jungle to use wood as cooking fuel. Shivaprabha Charitable Trust of Pune and The Better India decided to join hands to transform the lives of the villagers of Pimpaldhara. And our readers wholeheartedly participated in this campaign as well.

We all connected to help this village through the stories shared on The Better India. Shantabai from Pimpaldhara shared her woes about living in a village that had little water and no electricity.

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Shantabai[/caption] She told us that the two wells, which were the only source of water for the villagers, were drying up. Everyone, including children, had to wake up early and walk miles to fetch water.

So, after the fundraiser, the first piece of business was to install a hand operated borewell pump in the village. Shantabai shared her joy by telling us how the hand pump works:

“Some 10-15 people came and installed a hand pump here. So now, even kids can get water if needed. The hand pump is so much easier to operate. Have you seen it? You just have to pull the handle down and so much water comes out,” she said. The village still does not have electricity. Although Shantabai did not complain about this, she was worried that using kerosene lanterns after sunset was becoming unaffordable due to the rise in kerosene prices.

With the help of the funds raised, Shivaprabha distributed solar lanterns to each household. And Shantabai could not be more thankful!

Aside from the lanterns, three solar street lights were also installed. Now, children can be seen playing outdoors after sunset without the fear of wild animals wandering into the village.

Shantabai also used a mud chulha, which consumes wood for fuel, for cooking. The smoke emanating from this chulha was harmful to her health. She would spend a major part of her day gathering wood in the nearby jungle.

Shantabai and the villagers of Pimpaldhara were overjoyed when our readers raised enough money to buy a solar cooker for every household in the village.

We thank our readers for bringing light and happiness to the lives of so many people in this small corner of India.

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The demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 banknotes by the Government of India on November 8, 2016, ensured that all such notes ceased to be legal tender starting November 9, 2016. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an unscheduled live televised address to the nation at 8 pm on November 8. In the announcement, Modi declared the circulation of all Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series as invalid and announced the issuance of new Rs. 500 and Rs. 2000 banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi New Series in exchange for the old banknotes. Many citizens supported this move as the first step towards curbing black money in the country. However, virtually everyone was inconvenienced by the move, with people waiting in long queues to deposit or exchange their money at banks that were overwhelmed by the sudden rush and were also ill-stocked with the new banknotes. But there was another side to the story too. There were many instances of common men and women helping each other. Stories of people who did not complain but tried to deal with the situation by making sure the needy were well served.

A hospital announced free treatment, medicines to patients who did not have the new currency to pay for its services.

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Dr. Chandan Kumar Yadav[/caption]

Photo source - Twitter

Vinayaka Hospital And Research Centre, a private hospital in the Mahuatoli Namkum area of Ranchi announced free treatment and medicines for all patients from 10-13 November, in the immediate aftermath of the demonetisation that inconvenienced most people. This initiative was taken by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and owner of the hospital, Chandan Kumar Yadav.

"We are supporting the Prime Minister's step that is the important thing. And the most important thing is that lives matter, not money," Kumar said to ANI

"This will go on till November 13, till the country's economy normalizes a little and till people do not get Rs. 2,000 or Rs. 4,000. I have even put up notices in nearby areas that Dr. Chandan Kumar and Vinayaka Hospital will provide everything free from patients' treatment, operation, surgery, ICU, anything. Be it medicines, tests, ECG and X-ray, we are doing it free of cost," he added.

A tea-seller embraces demonetisation by accepting online payments

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Monu, the tea seller accepts his payments through Paytm[/caption]

Photo Source

Monu, a tea seller in the R.K. Puram area of Delhi, has started using Paytm to accept customer payments as low as Rs.7. "I have recently started using Paytm because there is crunch of change. This step helps my customers as they can easily pay through Paytm and sip their tea without any worries. Ever since I have started this service, my Paytm customers are increasing. Accepting online payments even for as less as Rs. 7 is my way of helping the people and showing support for demonetisation," says Monu. Monu’s customers are also happy since they don’t have to worry about bringing in change to have their daily cup of tea.

A hotel is offering free food to tourist families affected by demonetisation

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“All tourists (families) please do not worry if you are carrying only Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes. Please have your meal here and pay on your next visit.”[/caption]

Photo source

Travellers on National Highway 6 near Balapur, Akola (in Maharashtra) will be pleased to see this banner in front of a hotel.

It says, “All tourists (families) please do not worry if you are carrying only Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes. Please have your meal here and pay on your next visit.”

The banner has been put up outside Maratha Hotel in Akola by its owner Murlidhar Raut. Raut realized that tourists would be the people most affected by the demonetisation move since they would not have access to any cash to have their meals. So he came up with this heart warming idea of offering free meals. The Better India commends these businesses for the thoughtfulness and compassion shown towards their fellow citizens.

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Lonewadi, a small village in the Yavatmal district of Maharashtra, got its first vastishala (a makeshift primary school arranged by the government for villages that are far away from education facilities) in the year 2005. Mr. Ingle was appointed as the first teacher. Slowly, the vastishala was converted into a proper primary school and it was decided that one more teacher was needed. But who would want to be posted in a remote village like Lonewadi? Surprisingly, there was one teacher who actually insisted that the authorities transfer him to this village. This teacher, who joined the primary school at Lonewadi in December 2005, was about to change things very soon. The teacher’s name was Parsharam Narwade. Unlike most other government school teachers, he did not plan to teach just text book contents to the children of Lonewadi. His vision was to impart wisdom along with knowledge to his students. And his mission was to make each child a responsible citizen of the country.

Narwade began with the basics! His first lessons addressed something very fundamental to existence, that is, the importance of nature.

Narwade would take his students for 2 km long walks through the jungle near school, something like the field trips arranged by reputed and expensive schools in cities. However, there was a difference. The field trips of the Lonewadi school were not just entertaining and educational for the kids but also taught them the importance of preserving and growing forests. The walks would begin with the children collecting seeds of neem and tamarind trees. Once they had all their seeds, the students had to count them and the kid with the maximum number of seeds was rewarded. This also helped the children improve their math skills.

The next step was to find places where they could sow the seeds in the jungle. The seeds need had to be planted inside the bushes that grow near big trees so the saplings would get the initial support they needed to grow.

“I have had this habit since childhood. My mother always asked us to sow the seeds of the fruits we ate on the way to the school. We stayed in Kharus village in the Yavatmal district and my school was 4 km away in Dhanki. We used to throw the seeds in the jungle on the way to school and also take care of the plants when the seedlings sprouted,” says Narwade.

Narwade and his little student army also made nests for the birds in the forest and placed water pots for them to quench their thirst.

In the year 2012, the NGO Shivprabha Charitable Trust came to the village of Lonewadi. At the time, the village lacked water facilities, electricity and roads. In the same year, Narwade became a member of the Trust and started working on all these fronts. Today, the village has paved roads, a solar operated water distribution system and electricity, thanks to the efforts of the NGO.

The Trust has also constructed one bio-toilet in the village and is now on a mission to make the entire village open defecation free.

The village has 41 households. Therefore, only 40 more toilets need to be built in the village to fulfill this aim. The Better India appeals to its readers to help make this beautiful and inspirational village meet its target by contributing money for the construction of toilets.

This World Toilet Day, The Better India is supporting Lonewadi, a village in Maharashtra, to become open defecation free in just one month! The residents want to build a toilet in each home and secure a healthy, hygienic and dignified life for themselves. Please lend your support to the residents in their quest and help them get access to toilets, sanitation facilities and a healthy future like all of us. Unable to view the above button? Click here

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Ashish and Ruta Kalawar left their well-paying jobs in England and returned to India to help empower the rural citizens of the country. Help them make their adopted village open-defecation free! Fifteen years ago, Ashish Kalawar, a young electronics engineer posted in Bokaro, was waiting at the station for a train to his hometown of Pune. A little boy approached him and offered to polish his shoes. Ashish immediately told the kid that at his age he should be going to school and not working. The boy replied that he was working to support his education and used the money he earned from polishing shoes to pay for school. Impressed with his spirit and determination, Ashish let him do his work and paid him double the price for the shoeshine. The boy was delighted and could not stop himself from jumping with joy.

“It cost me just an extra Rs.10 but I could see how much happiness this little act of kindness gave him. I was content with my life but the satisfaction I got from looking at his face was priceless. This incident has stayed in my heart ever since.”

Ashish’s career was growing fast. He now felt it was time for him to get married and settle down. When he met Ruta, another electronics engineer, his happiness was complete.

The couple married and, in 2009, moved to the United Kingdom in search of better paying jobs. As their income grew, the two thought they should apply for citizenship to that country.

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Ruta and Ashish Kalawar[/caption]

“We had everything, a nice car, a beautiful house in the UK and a great future to look forward to. But, somehow, we were not at peace,” says Ashish.

Soon, the couple started visiting the Skanda Vale temple located in South Wales frequently. They would volunteer their time at the temple on weekends and find solace in meditation and helping others. They also participated in a 7 km charity walk to raise funds for the Skanda Vale hospice.

“While volunteering at this temple I kept remembering the little boy back in Bokaro who had polished my shoes. I wanted to do something for him and other people in my motherland too,” he adds.

Ashish and Ruta finally found their mission in life when they visited India for a short period in 2012. One of their relatives, Amol Sainwar, had started an NGO called Shivprabha Charitable Trust and was planning to adopt a remote village in Maharashtra.

The village, Lonwadi in the Yavatmal district of Maharashtra, was located on a hill. It had no electricity, no water system and no roads. Ashish and Ruta visited this village along with other team members of the Shivprabha Charitable Trust.

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Ashish and Ruta with the kids of Lonwadi[/caption] The villagers had to go down the hill every day to fetch water and so, the first thing they needed was a solar-operated water pump to draw water to the top of the hill. Another thing that Ashish and Ruta noticed was that many villagers in Lonwadi were victims of addiction to alcohol or tobacco. They wanted to do something about both these issues but it was time for them to return to England. They did the best they could under the circumstances by donating some money for the water system and left the country again. Meanwhile, Shivprabha Charitable Trust continued to work for the betterment of the village.

“My friend Unmesh Kulkarni and I raised 90% of the funds required for the water project. After its implementation, the number of students in the school increased as well because the children were freed from water-fetching duties. This incident really inspired and motivated me to move to India and work for rural empowerment.”

In January 2014, Ashish and Ruta left their lucrative jobs and bright professional careers behind to pack their bags and return to the motherland.

“This was the first time I did not have a job in hand while leaving the previous one. But I was not afraid at all. Something made me feel that this was right. Moreover, Ruta helped me believe that if we were doing something good there was nothing to worry about,” says Ashish.

Back in Lonwadi, Ashish and Ruta started counselling the villagers suffering from addictions and holding meditation sessions for them. According to Ashish, within six months, around 80% of the villagers were addiction-free.

“I never asked the villagers to stop consuming alcohol or tobacco. I asked them to just join us for meditation. The self realisation that occurs when you meditate compels you to stay away from everything negative,” says Ruta.

Today Lonwadi has good roads, electricity, a water system, and a digital school too – thanks to the efforts of the Shivprabha Charitable Trust and people like Ashish and Ruta. Now, this village is just one step away from being an ideal village – it still needs to become open-defecation free. Ashish and Ruta’s counselling sessions have helped the villagers realise the importance of using toilets. All households have applied for subsidies to build toilets at home but have not heard back from the government as yet. Therefore, Shivprabha and The Better India have come together to find ways of gifting toilets to all the households in Lonwadi. We appeal to our readers to donate generously and help the villagers’ dream of living in an open-defecation free ideal village become a reality.

This World Toilet Day, The Better India is supporting Lonwadi, a village in Maharashtra, to become open defecation free in just one month! The residents want to build a toilet in each home and secure a healthy, hygienic and dignified life for themselves. Please lend your support to the residents in their quest and help them get access to toilets, sanitation facilities and a healthy future like all of us. Unable to view the above button? Click here

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A young girl from Lonwadi village recalls how her village has developed in the past four years but one important thing is still missing. Rukmina is a 16-year-old girl from the village Lonwadi in the Yavatmal district of Maharashtra. Lonwadi was one of the most underdeveloped villages of Maharashtra until four years ago, when Shivprabha Charitable Trust adopted it.

Rukmina spoke to The Better India about how her village has been transformed into a self sustainable village in the past four years but how there is still one important thing that is missing.

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Rukmina[/caption] “Namaskar! My name is Rukmina Vilas Bhuse. I stay in the village of Lonwadi with my parents, grandparents and six siblings. My oldest sister used to also live with us but since she is married now there are just 11 at home. Both my parents work on our farm and we help them too. We don’t take our youngest brother to the farm but the rest of us have to help them earn a livelihood so they can feed us.

Despite all the hardship, I am proud of the fact that all of us go to school.

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Rukmina with her family.[/caption] One of my older sisters has appeared for Class 12 and wishes to study further. I am the third oldest one and am in Class 10. My other two sisters are in Class 8 and Class 6. The village school is up to Class 5 only so the three of us go to Khadakdari, 7 km away from our village to study. The rest of my siblings study here in the Lonwadi school.

This school has changed drastically in the past four years. My sisters say they can operate a computer now and they do many extra-curricular activities too.

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The Digital School at Lonwadi[/caption] Much has changed in our village too in recent years. I remember, as a kid, we used to get water from a small lake down the hill. But now there is this pump that does the work and all we have to do is fill water from the taps. There’s electricity too, which makes life so much easier. The irrigation facility provided by the NGO has been a blessing; now my parents don’t have to sit idle for the six months it does not rain, nor do they have to migrate from the village to find work. My mother also contributes by working in the Gruh Udyog (handicraft unit) started by them. Thank God some roads were built before we started going to the Khadakdari School, otherwise we would have to walk all the way. Now, a tempo comes to pick up and drop us from school.

The only thing that I miss in my village is a toilet. The NGO that helped us get all the other facilities has also built two toilets in the school and a common toilet in the village.

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The common bio-toilet built by Shivprabha Charitable Trust at Lonwadi.[/caption] But that’s not enough. I wish there was a toilet in my house too. I am 16 years old now and I feel shy about going to the jungle. But there is no other option. There are snakes, scorpions and other dangerous insects around the place where we go. It’s scary, especially in the rainy season. Moreover, we have to sit somewhere between the bushes to hide ourselves.

My brother is too young to go alone to the jungle so one of us has to accompany him every time. And it’s difficult for him too. He often comes back crying because he gets pricked by thorns or is bitten by ants.

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Rukmina's youngest brother[/caption] My father tells us every year that he will build a toilet at home. But we know his financial condition. How can he?

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Lonwadi is a small village in the Yavatmal district of Maharashtra. This backward village has made great progress, thanks to the patronage of one trust. But the villagers still lack one basic amenity - the toilet! Here's the story of how one elderly woman set them on the path of good hygiene. When Amol Sainwar, the founder of Shivprabha Charitable Trust, visited Lonwadi for the first time in 2012, he was disheartened to see a village that was still lacking in basic facilities like electricity, water and roads even 65 years after Independence. His NGO sent an application to the government to provide electricity to the village. However, it soon became apparent that the process would take at least another two years. Not wanting the villagers to suffer in darkness for so long, Amol decided the NGO should distribute solar lamps to each home. Along with electricity, Shivprabha also took on the challenge of solving the water problem in Lonwadi. The village is located on a hill and the only source of water was a small lake at the bottom of the hill. Every morning, the villagers, and often children, had to walk down a dangerous path to fetch water. This became even more treacherous during the rainy season when the trail became slippery.

A solar water pump to draw water to a tank at the top of the hill was installed in the same year. The villagers were ecstatic.

The next target was to get proper roads for this village. The NGO wrote several letters to the government until it finally received help. Shivprabha helped build the roads in collaboration with the government.

Vehicles can now reach the top of the hill and villagers can easily travel to nearby towns.

A young couple who left their jobs in the UK and joined Shivprabha taught the villagers yoga and meditation. They also provided counselling services and helped Lonwadi become an addiction-free village. Since most villagers have large families but only small farms, they had to often migrate to cities in search of work for some extra income. Although the irrigation facility provided by Shivprabha helped them do farming year-around (as opposed to only six months during the rainy season every year), there were still many needy farmers in the village. The solution to their problem came in the form of Mahila Gruh Udyog, a small manufacturing unit that Shivprabha set up for the women of Lonwadi.

Today, the women make and sell their own brand of incense sticks and contribute to their family incomes.

While ensuring the village received other facilities, the Shivprabha Charitable Trust also continued working on renovating and improving the village school.

In 2016, the schoolchildren were overjoyed to finally get computers too.

While it may appear that everything that is needed to develop an ideal village has been done already, the story of Anjana Bai reveals there is one more thing that the villagers are in dire need of.

Anjana Bai Malkar was an old woman Amol met when the NGO was distributing solar lamps.

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Anjana Bai Malkar (Left) with the Founder of Shivprabha Charitable Trust, Amol Sainwar[/caption] She could walk only with great difficulty and would often complain about the fact that she had to defecate in the jungle since she did not have a toilet at home. Shivprabha had built two toilets in the school but those were meant for the kids only.

The NGO decided to gift a toilet to Anjana Bai and other elderly people in the village. The toilet was built right in front of Anjana Bai’s hut so she could use it any time of the day or night.

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Shivprabha built a bio-toilet in front of Anjana Bai's hut.[/caption] Anjana Bai passed away last year after using the toilet for almost one year. But thanks to her, the villagers have also now become aware of the importance of having toilets at home, in order to secure healthy, hygienic and dignified lives for themselves. This World Toilet Day, The Better India and Shivprabha have come together to raise funds to help Lonwadi become open defecation free within a month. Please lend your support to the residents in their quest to gain access to toilets, sanitation facilities and a healthy future like all of us.

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At the beginning of every new year, we thank everyone who made the previous one wonderful. Along with your near and dear ones, it’s time to thank those too who are responsible for the food on your plate, the farmers. So, come and join this group of enthusiastic artists and farmers to begin the year 2017 with music, dance, art and joy by staying with a villager at India’s first land art festival – ‘Gram Dhara Chitra Utsav’ - scheduled from December 25-31 at Paradsinga village in Madhya Pradesh. Consider this: Five artists from different states of India, five social workers working on farmer issues from the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, a writer from Pune, a psychologist from Netherlands, a choreographer from Nagpur, a young singer as well as farmers and young volunteers from Paradsinga village will all converge at a single location to interact and collaborate with each other. Their joint effort will result in seven important images highlighting contemporary farming issues and seven unique paintings that will reflect these issues. And unique because they will not be drawn on any canvas or paper but on the farms.

Seeds have been sown in seven different farms of Paradsinga village covering 24,500 square feet of farmland with red and green leafy vegetables, which will grow in the shape of these paintings.

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One of the land arts in progress[/caption] This is what will make for the ‘Gram Dhara Chitra Utsav’, India’s first land art festival, scheduled to take place at Paradsinga village in Madhya Pradesh from December 25-31. The festival is also open for everyone to perform, paint, sing, sculpt, click, sow, farm, cook, stay, learn, enjoy and collaborate to make it all the more meaningful.

“We are not any NGO or organisation; we are a group of artists, farmers and people from various other fields who believe that art and farming can be the catalysts for social change. We are celebrating this festival, because we feel a strong need of celebrations of a different kind that bring the community together at a stage beyond power, religion, and caste to celebrate nature, life, soil and food,” says Shweta Bhatad, an artist from Gram Art Residency.

The Activity Schedule

December 24

If you reach at the venue by the evening of December 24, you can watch a magic show arranged by the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (Maharashtra Blind Faith Eradication Committee). The show will be followed by an awareness programme on snakes, called as ‘Know Your Snakes’ by Sarpmitra.

December 25

A wall painting performance by artists from Sasatwa Foundation, Orissa in the morning. Inauguration of the seed festival in the afternoon. Revolutionary farming songs by Prabhakar Devtale and Group in the evening. Prabhakar Devtale and his wife are organic farmers. Their children have also joined them in farming although they have a degree in Engineering. This is a group of like-minded urban farmer couples and families who now have an orchestra that plays only farming-related songs.

December 26

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International artist, Shweta Bhattad[/caption] A participatory mass performance for everyone present at the festival in a farm in the morning. International artist Shweta Bhattad will also present one of her best performances titled ‘Faith’. There will be a presentation by progressive organic farmers on their success stories of farming and value-addition of farming products at Bazar Chowk, Pardsinga in the evening.

December 27

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Zubaan Music Group[/caption] The music group ‘Zubaan’ will present a performance of their indie songs. This group holds concerts and collaborates with artists across the mainstream/local music industries to consolidate into one indie music industry. In this concert farmer-artists and artists from Nagpur, Mumbai, Paradsinga and Sewagram will collaborate and present their songs.

From December 28-31

You can explore village life and connect with the farmers and artists as well as learn skills such as making Chulhas (mud stove), cattle grazing, working in the farms along with the farmers, making your own land art in a small farm and a visit to all seven land arts. Interestingly, a group of cyclists will ride all the way from Nagpur to join the festivities. You can be an integral part of this festival by opting to stay with a farmer’s family at a cost of just Rs 310 per day. This would include morning tea, breakfast, lunch, dinner and a bed to sleep.

How to Reach

Paradsinga is 55km from Nagpur, Maharashtra. Direct buses from Nagpur to Paradsinga are available from the M.P Bus Stand near the main railway station of Nagpur and this would approximately be an hour’s journey. If you are coming from Madhya Pradesh, you can take a direct bus from Chhindawara to Paradsinga which is a 70 km journey and takes approximately one and a half hours. This is a crowd-funded event and your monetary contributions are welcome and needed. To know more about the event, please e-mail at gramartproject@gmail.com or call on 09373112912/09373112320. Website: www.gramartproject.org.

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When a daily wage worker’s son got an opportunity to get into the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, the entire town came forward to help. And today he is working as a software engineer in Google’s Seattle office Teja Ram Sankhla and his wife Rami Devi used to sell vegetables in a small town called Sojat in Pali district of Rajasthan. They used to live in a joint family in their ancestral house along with their three children. Soon they felt that they needed to earn more to support the family and hence Teja Ram started working in a henna-making factory, where he would load and unload cartons full of henna products. His wife too took up a job at a construction site. One of their primary goals in life was to build a house of their own. Hence they borrowed funds from a moneylender and bought a parcel of land.

Now, they would work during the day and then spend the nights building their dream home brick by brick.

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Teja Ram Sankhla and Rami Devi[/caption] Ram Chandra was the eldest of their three children and at an age when he was able to understand the hardships that his parents were going through.

“My parents would come home late in the evening. Being the eldest at home, I cooked for the family in our open kitchen,” recalls Ram.

The so-called kitchen was nothing but a mud stove outside there two room house. Ram was a bright child but his parents could afford to send him only to the local Hindi medium government school.

However, when he scored above 90% in his Class X examination, the family could see a ray of hope.

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Ram Chandra Sankhla receiving a merit certificate after excelling in class 10.[/caption] "When Ram scored a merit position in class 10, I knew he was going to do something good with his life," says Rami Devi. Ram also received a letter of scholarship from the Rajasthan state government but never got the money.

“We received the letter late. My father and I went several times to Jodhpur to withdraw the scholarship amount but the officials kept asking us to visit again and again. We spent almost Rs 2,000 to commute to Jodhpur and yet never got the money,” Ram recalls.

He then moved to Pali, which was 40 km from his town Sojat, to continue his studies. Every day his parents used to send his lunch in a bus, which Ram would collect at Pali. Although Ram could not fare very well in his Class XII exams, he got a good exposure staying at Pali and knew what he was going to do further. He now decided to prepare for the IIT entrance test by enrolling for coaching at Kota. Ram’s family too fully supported his decision in spite of the fact that they had to take a loan to pay the fees.

This struggle proved worth it when Ram secured admission at IIT Roorkee.

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Ram (Third from right) at IIT Roorkee.[/caption]

"I took him to the farms once to work with me, but he said he has to study and never came back to the farms. That's when I decided to let him study as much he wants," says Teja Ram Sankhla.

But now the question was about how they would arrange for the expenses of the counseling and the fees.

“All I can say is that it was all a miracle. There was a childhood friend I used to play with. I had never been to his place or met his parents. But on hearing the news of me getting into IIT, his parents came to our place and gave us a cheque of a certain amount which was enough to pay the fees of the counseling and the first semester,” Ram informs.

The family also helped him buy new clothes and a suitcase to begin this new inning of his life.

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Ram Chandra Sankhla with his mother, Rami Devi.[/caption]

“I will never forget their kindness. When I went back to repay their loan they did not accept the money; instead they asked me to help another child,” he says.

When Ram returned home for his first Diwali vacation after joining the IIT, there was another surprise waiting for him. One of his neighbors insisted that he accompany him to their community gathering.

“I saw unknown faces at this gathering and yet strangely enough, they had collected Rs 30,000 for me to buy a laptop,”

“I was a computer science engineering student. A laptop was necessary to complete all our assignments but I could not afford one. This was a pleasant surprise. I am so thankful that I came across such wonderful people in my life,” adds Ram. Meanwhile, the start of the second semester brought with it some worries. The fees had to be paid and he tried to get an education loan from a bank in Sojat, but to no avail. His father therefore had to take another personal loan to keep Ram’s education going.

“My father never begged of anyone. Whenever he needed money, he took a loan and paid it with interest. Unfortunately, our system is such that it discourages financially weak students to get ahead in life. Getting an education loan was a nightmare,” says Ram.

He finally got an education loan when he entered the second year. He also excelled in studies and won a scholarship of Rs 30,000 per year. The first thing he did with his scholarship amount was to get a moped for his father, which his father rides proudly even today. The next thing he did was to get the kitchen and toilet constructed with his next two years’ scholarship.

In 2013, Ram completed his BTech degree in Computer Science from IIT and got a job as a software engineer in Google India’s Bengaluru office.

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Ram Chandra Sankhla (Right) at Google's office in Seattle, U.S.A[/caption] He moved to Google’s Seattle office in USA in April this year. Incidentally, his father continues to work as a loader in the henna factory by choice and his mother looks after their home.

“I am really proud of my son. He keeps telling me to relax at home but I like to work. It keeps me healthy,” says Teja Ram Sankhla, the proud father of Ram.

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An engineer by profession, Ganpat Krishna Yadav could have held on to a lucrative job. Instead, he chose to set up an organic farm in Jaipur with the focused intention of providing employment opportunities to beggars. Ganpat Krishna Yadav of Mundru Cholai village in Sikat district of Rajasthan was just 13 years old when he heard his father and uncles discussing that they were in big trouble. They lived as a joint family, all members dependent on the earnings from their ancestral land. Now, however, the reducing water level had been making the land infertile. To bring about a turnaround, they invested all their savings in a tube well. Unfortunately, the plan failed. Eventually the men of the family had to per force migrate to cities to work as labourers and the children were left behind to take care of the cattle and the farm, some of whom worked in the local groundnut mill to eke out extra earnings.

For the young Ganpat, all this had been a heart-wrenching experience, especially when he was witness to farmers reduced to begging to feed their families.

This is precisely when the thought of doing something for beggars crossed Ganpat’s mind for the first time. At that time, however, he focused on his studies. But the thought of starting a venture that would provide employment to those forced to seek alms never left him. Those were tough days then. He would attend school, work in the groundnut mill, and graze the cattle in the evening, catching up with his studies in the night. Never though did all this pressure get to him. In fact, he cleared his Class X examination with a merit position at No. 2 on the district level and No. 14 at the state level. When one of his relatives from Jaipur came to know about this achievement, he took Ganpat under his wings and encouraged him to study further. The determination and efforts paid rich dividends once again with him bagging the 18^th position on the merit list in the Class XII examination and obtaining admission in the prestigious Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT), Jaipur. His roots, however, he never forgot.

Whenever he would get the time, Ganpat would return to his village, sparing several hours to provide career counselling to the children in his and neighboring villages.

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Ganpat Yadav counselling students at his village[/caption] More so, with his newly acquired engineering skills, he made a gadget to ensure the safety of women. In 2013, Ganpat graduated with an engineering degree in Metallurgy and Material Science and was placed in a reputed company through campus recruitment.

“I actually wanted to start off as an entrepreneur but I had an education loan to repay. And my parents wanted me to get financially sound first,” he says.

However, with the spirit of social reformation burning within him, he never let go of the idea of providing opportunities to beggars. An organic farm, he thought, would be a good project to do so. This jotting down of ideas and the grand plan took the shape of a book.

The book titled ‘Raj Tilak’ was published in 2015. It also had details about the gadget that he had invented.

In its wake, a Noida-based company got interested in the gadget and decided to invest in it. Ganpat quit his job in 2015 to help the company make the gadget. Unfortunately, the company backed out and Ganpat was left high and dry. To raise enough funds to go on, he started searching for another job and during this time, in one of the recruitment interviews, he mentioned his dream of setting up a company to employ beggars. To his surprise, one of the interviewers not only asked him to pursue his passion but also agreed to invest in his start-up. And that is how the foundation was laid for Triveni Krishna Organics Private Ltd. He took a farm on lease and started organic farming of groundnut, lentils, wheat, millets and carrot.

He then started locating beggars at the Jaipur Railway Station, footpaths and outside the temples to counsel them and prompt them to take to farming.

“Initially it was difficult to convince them to join me since many of them were quite comfortable begging for their living. It was painful to see their condition, especially the children and women. Many young girls would become rape victims. The parents were not interested in sending the children to school since that would cut down on their income,” Ganpat narrates.

Despite the initial resistance though, Ganpat persevered, and finally found some success.

“They would come with me, get trained and work too. But soon they would realize that they could earn more by begging and therefore run away. But I never let my spirits down and eventually managed to put up a team of about 100 beggars to work on the farm. New recruits and dropouts was a regular feature of this process,” he says. To resolve the problem, he registered an organisation called Krishna Bhaiya Foundation to work on counselling the beggars. He requested people to donate money to this organisation instead giving alms to beggars and asked them to advise the beggars about why working was better in the long run. Ironically, today, Ganpat’s organic farm’s yield is ready but he is finding it hard to sell the produce. That’s because the government gives an organic certificate only after the third year of the yield. Therefore, if you would like to chip in and help Ganpat in his efforts through buying any of his products or helping a beggar find a job, you can call him on 9785336749 or e-mail at ganpat.bharat@gmail.com.

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Her daughter’s late auditory impairment diagnosis set this mother on a journey to change the way treatment is handled in India. Ritu Nakra was an all-rounder in high school, a national hockey player and a graduate of Delhi’s renowned National Institute of Fashion Technology. By 2000, she was at the top of her game, running her own line of handicrafts, newlywed and expecting her first child.

“It was all perfect!” Ritu recalls.“The entire pregnancy was normal, Ananya was a healthy baby and I would only take her to the doctor for immunization. She would never fall sick. Not even a cough or cold.”

By her first birthday, Ananya was already running. She was a happy child, achieving all regular milestones before time except for one:she had not begun to speak.

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Ananya - On her first birthday[/caption] Ritu’s pediatrician reassured her initial worries, explaining that some children tended to talk late.

“It was when Ananya was 1.6 years old and we went on a trip with my brother’s family,” recalls Ritu.“My brother’s son was almost the same age as Ananya. When my brother made a loud sound with a balloon, his son started crying, but Ananya didn’t even react.”

The day after the trip, Ritu mentioned the incident to her doctor. When the doctor clapped behind Ananya to check, she did not turn around. He recommended a Brainstem Evoked Response Audiometry (BERA) test.

The resulting reports gave Ritu the shock of her life; Ananya was diagnosed with Sensorineural Profound Hearing Loss in both the ears.

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Ananya Nakra[/caption]

“I don’t know how to explain it,” Ritu says.“There are certain things which you can expect. But here there was no family history, no accidents, nothing! Before this I hadn’t even met anyone who had this problem. I remember as a child, we just saw those news stories about the deaf and dumb and imitate them. And when I came to know that my daughter couldn’t hear, it was tough.”

Soon Ananya was provided with hearing aids. Putting them on an 18-month-old proved to be a challenge in itself, but dealing with the social stigma of a child wearing hearing aids proved to be just as difficult.

“Initially we were hesitant to put them on Ananya in front of others but then we realized the importance of this technology and started putting them on during all her waking hours,” Ritu explains.

Ananya’s diagnosis made Ritu decide to close the chapter on her flourishing career to be able to better focus on her daughter’s needs. She met with other parents in the same situation. Interacting with older children who lived normal lives despite their hearing disabilities gave Ritu hope for her own daughter. She began visiting different institutes offering hearing therapies in order to learn more.

“I met a parent during the therapy sessions, who told me that her son had a similar problem and was a computer engineer now. Ananya was just two at that time and her son was 22. I was looking forward to meeting him as I thought this might give me a sight of Ananya’s future. But when I talked to him, I was not able to understand 60% of his speech. And I cried. I kept thinking, is this how Ananya is going to speak? This is not acceptable!” remembers Ritu.

The incident disheartened her, but only made her broaden her search for better treatment, diversifying it to include centres in Australia and the United States. In 2002, Ritu took Ananya to the John Tracy Clinic, in Los Angeles. It was here she first learned about cochlear implants. This technology involved a surgical procedure where in a ray of electrode would be implanted in the cochlea. It had only been recently introduced in India but in the U.S.A, Ritu was able to meet lot of young children already using it.

“The difference was very clear. With a hearing aid I had to shout to make myself audible to Ananya but with this technology kids could clearly hear a normal sound too.”

When Ananya was nearly three, she underwent a cochlear implant surgery.

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Ritu and Ananya[/caption] Within six months her speech began improving and she was admitted to a mainstream school. At the end of the year, Ananya won a Global Genius Award for being able to read any book given to her. From then on, there was no looking back. Once Ananya was completely independent, Ritu decided to pursue formal education to help others suffering from the same problem as her daughter.

In 2007 she completed a B.Ed degree, specializing in education for hearing-impaired children and was registered as a special educator by the Rehabilitation Council of India.

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Ritu with her son, Naman[/caption] That year she also gave birth to her second child, Naman.

“The day my son was born, I called an audiologist immediately to get him checked. This is a routine check up in the USA upon delivery. But unfortunately these tests are not considered important in India and I did not know anything about them when Ananya was born. I decided to fight against this ignorance in India.” Ritu says.

Thereafter, she began working with families and conducting therapy sessions. Alongside her practice, she enrolled in a programme from AGBell U.S to become a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist Certified Auditory-Verbal Therapist.

It took five years to obtain the certification, making her only the fourth person in India to do so.

Ritu’s journey from desperate mother to professional therapist introduced her to many families who found themselves unable to help their children because of a lack of awareness. One such encounter was with entrepreneur Chetana Misra, whose own son used cochlear implants. Chetana encouraged Ritu to start HearMeSpeak, a support group on Facebook for parents who shared their circumstances.This closed group has now 270 families enrolled across India.

Ritu discusses her current aims. “My only dream now, is to reach out to more and more parents, especially in areas where there are fewer facilities in terms of speech and hearing clinics and therapists to help them in the journey ahead. I want to hand-hold parents to help them bring their hearing-impaired children to mainstream schooling.”

Ritu believes that parents are the best therapists for their children. She began planning a series of audio-visual films to demonstrate to them what strategies to use while caring for their children within home environments in order to develop and facilitate spoken language.

Watch the first film in the series, 'Mumkin'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4nDasI94MA Her next film will cover the kinds of diagnostics required to identify hearing loss, the status quo on available technology and the protocol for each test.

“Through this platform, we did need to request the Government to make new born hearing screening tests mandatory in all hospitals,” Ritu explains. “It’s called the O.A.E and is actually just a five to seven minute non-invasive test! Early diagnosis will lead to early intervention and hence faster integration of these children into mainstream schools just like their normal hearing peers.”

Ritu has begun work on raising funds for the film and urges donors to contribute.

“It’s always amazing to watch how a child hearing his or her first sound changes the whole family. We need your support to bring music to many lives,” says Ritu

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Ananya (Right) is a confident young girl now and wants to become a travel blogger in future.[/caption] Donate to Ritu’s project by following the link: https://milaap.org/fundraisers/hearmespeak

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“A woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water," said Eleanor Roosevelt. An example of one such story of grit is that of Urvashi Yadav from Gurugram who did not know about her own strengths until she went through a hard test in life.

Urvashi Yadav belonged to a well-to-do Punjabi family. After finishing her graduation, she worked as a front office executive in the prestigious Intercontinental Hotel, Delhi. In 2004, she got married to Amit Yadav, son of retired Wing Commander N K Yadav. Amit worked as the facility manager in a reputed real estate company.

Soon they had two beautiful kids and were living happily in a joint family.

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Urvashi Yadav with her family.[/caption] In 2010, Amit met with a small accident while playing cricket. Initially, the family ignored the injury but gradually the pain became unbearable. One of the nerves in Amit’s right leg was pressed in a way that blood flow had stopped.

“We met many doctors and were finally told that my husband might have to go for a hip replacement operation in the near future. But with medicines he felt better with time and hence I did not bother much about the future,” says Urvashi.

Time passed and Amit and Urvashi got engrossed in their busy life again. Once both her kids started going to school, Urvashi decided to restart her career. She did a diploma course in Modern Montessori International Teacher’s Training (MMI) in 2013 and started working as a nursery teacher in Kidzee Preschool. Life was going on exactly how she wanted, when suddenly one day in May 2016, Amit met with another accident at their house. This time, once again, he was hurt on the right leg and had a fracture in the right toe. Amit was advised bed rest for about two weeks.

“I never thought much of such situations. But that one fracture changed my entire perspective towards life. I kept thinking what would happen when Amit would go through a hip replacement operation. I wanted to do something to secure our future,” recalls Urvashi.

She discussed her concerns with her husband and confided that she wanted to quit her job and go for a better paying option which would help secure their future in the long run, even if Amit had to quit his job. The couple then started looking out for various options. They thought about numerous business ideas like starting a beauty parlour or a boutique, opening a restaurant or just taking tuitions. But all of them either required a huge investment or were hard to attract customers. The very next day after this discussion Urvashi passed by a street vendor who was selling ‘chole kulche’ on his cart and an idea was born.

“I am very passionate about cooking and always wanted to own a restaurant. My husband and I thought about it too but then dropped the idea as we didn’t want to take another loan to invest in it. Moreover, there was no guarantee that customers would want to try a new food outlet,” says Urvashi.

She stopped by the street vendor and asked him all about his business, right from the investment to buying a cart and the profit made. She came to know that this business demanded the least investment, was within her approach, and the profit was quite high.

So she decided to have her own cart of chole kulche.

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Urvashi's Chole Kulche Cart.[/caption]

“You don’t have to have any marketing manager if you are selling your stuff on the road. People will feel hungry and they will come to you,” she points out.

When Urvashi outlined her plan to Amit, he was shocked. He said he was with Urvashi in her decision but was afraid if she would be able to sustain the hardships and the humiliation of doing something like this. But Urvashi assured him that she was determined to do this for the betterment of her family.

Amit’s father was the one who encouraged Urvashi the most by saying that she should not bother about what people say and do what her heart says.

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Urvashi with her father in law Rtd. Wing Commander N K Yadav at her cart.[/caption]

“As a teacher, I taught my kids that no work is big or small and it was time to implement the same,” says Urvashi.

Urvashi took help from the street vendor she spoke to, and bought a cart, utensils, and all the raw material required to start her new business. On June 15, 2016, she took her cart to Sector 14 of Gurgaon and started selling chole kulche on the street. But it was not easy for a woman to work in this line of business. As expected, people teased her and passed negative comments. She narrates one incident when a customer took her phone number promising a bulk order and then kept harassing her by calling her late in the nights. She finally had to lodge a complaint against him. But her family and friends’ support kept her going. And her prayers were answered just after 15 days when she met Sunali, a blogger who had heard Urvashi’s story at a gathering. She insisted on writing her story on her Facebook page. But little did they know that this Facebook post was going to change Urvashi’s destiny.

The story went viral in no time and she started getting customers from all over Gurgaon.

“People’s perspective changed after that post. They started looking at me with respect. Girls would come and tell me how I was an inspiration to them. It began to feel good,” says Urvashi.

Several other good things happened too after the social media booster. Urvashi got an offer from the Sharp Group to tie up for buying white peas required for her chole kulche cart. A biodegradable tableware company, Grabeco started supplying her plates and bowls.

Now she uses these hygienic biodegradable plates and bowls at her cart.

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Urvashi uses biodegradable plates and bowls to serve her chole kulche.[/caption] She has also started getting party orders and recently catered for the first anniversary of a startup called NearBuy.

Her husband has now quit his job due to health issues. But he helps Urvashi in her business.

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Urvashi's husband, Amit (extreme left) helps her at her cart now.[/caption]

“My parents have taught me that one should never stop anyone from doing any work. The mentality that a lady cannot go out and work on the streets needs to be changed. I am proud of my wife for what she is doing,” says Amit.

But the publicity also came with greater responsibilities. Urvashi has to be very careful about the quality and taste of the food she is serving because people come with great expectations. She also has to tackle questions about some rumours about her.

“Someone started a rumour stating that I owned a Rs. 3 crore house whereas the fact is that the house belongs to my father-in-law. There was another rumor about me owning two SUVs. People come and advise me to sell my house and cars instead of selling food on the street. I have to fend off such irritating queries all the time,” she says.

But in spite of all the hardships, Urvashi is determined to do what she is doing. The demonetization phase is also a little difficult for her but she has a positive attitude towards it.

She has started accepting PayTM payments for bulk orders and is also teaching other street vendors to use PayTM.

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Urvashi is using PayTm for all her payments[/caption] “Being the only educated person here, I feel it’s my responsibility to spread the knowledge that I have,” she says. She has applied for a license for her cart and might get it soon after which she will be relocated to a new sector market allotted by the municipality. She has also planned to have a new surprise menu at the new joint.

“Eventually, I want to own a restaurant but only with my own earnings. I know my dreams are big but they will come true one day,” she says.

Urvashi’s 11-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son are also proud of her and they often point out her mom’s cart when they pass by on their school bus. If you wish to contact Urvashi for party orders, please visit her Facebook page. You can also visit her cart at Sector 14, Gate No. 5, M G Road, Opposite Gulab Restaurant, Gurgaon, Haryana.

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Engineer and business graduate Devi Murthy identified growing difficulties faced by small-scale Indian farmers. A majority of agrarian workers in the country were finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with rising labour costs, but were unable to mechanise their cultivation processes because imported farm equipment was unsuitable to their modest farm sizes. With her farming equipment development company, Kamal Kisan, she began to customise her products to suit the needs of the small-time Indian farmer. In a survey done in 2014 by CSDS it was found that, given an option, 76% of farmers in India would prefer to take up alternative lines of work. Poor income, bleak future prospects and job stress were cited as the main reasons for this trend. The survey covered a comprehensive 5,000 farm households across 18 states. With farmers spending over 40% of their total cultivation costs on labour alone, the profession is no longer deemed profitable inciting over 100,000 farmers to give up farming every year. A lack of relevant technology and the burgeoning costs of labour– increasing by nearly double over every three-year period – set the stage for serious food security concerns by 2020. On the other hand a PTI report, published early in January last year, states that while around 1.5 million engineering students graduate every year in India 80% of them remain unemployed.These students mostly end up working out of their areas of expertise, in roles that don’t interest them.

The founder of Kamal Kisan, Devi Murthy, saw a potential solution to both problems.

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Devi Murthy[/caption]

“India, as a country, is capable of a lot more innovations in agriculture but we are not doing enough in that area. Indians are known for their jugaad mechanism. We need to take this mechanism to the next level where it gets community focus and not individual focus,” she says.

It was with this belief that Devi– who holds an electrical engineering degree from Drexel University, USA and Masters in Entrepreneurship from IIM, Bangalore –began Kamal Kisan. Her aim was to kick-start a company that would develop cost-effective, smart mechanization solutions for India’s small and marginal farmers, to reduce labour dependence and increase profitability. It was taken for granted that Devi would join the family business, an established sheet metal fabrications and components manufacturing company called Kamal Bells. Keeping with tradition, she joined the firm as Head of Product Development and Business Development and worked at the post for over six years. However she was unable to shake off a desire to begin a project that would create social impact. The idea first occurred to her while she was pursuing her Masters in Entrepreneurship at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore. One of her classmates, who belonged to a farmer’s family, suggested that she use her skills to help farmers. Devi began her journey to start Kamal Kisan by spending two years travelling across the country to meet small farmers. She also visited various institutes such as the CIAE in Bhopal and the UAS in Dharwad. Her research made her realize the large gap that existed between the needs of the Indian farmer and the expensive, large-sized, imported machinery used in farming. Despite the fact that India is the 3^rd largest tractor manufacturer in the world, less than 2% of the country’s farmers use mechanization. A dearth of equipment and scarce availability of hands-on-the-ground have driven up labour costs. Farmlands with less than five acres of area constitute more than 80% of farm holdings in the country today. The increasing non-availability of labour has become a major concern among farmers as it leads to low productivity. Furthermore, adapting modern, mechanized techniques in cultivation have proven to be difficult because most available machinery is unsuitable for small farms.

Devi decided to use her machine development skills to help small farmers.

“We, as innovators, never see small farmers as our customers. I think this perspective has to be changed,” says Devi.

A hardcore city girl, Devi had never visited a farm before. But once she became focused on developing products for the sector, she began to attend farmer fairs, travel to fields across the country and survey farmers to better understand their needs and the products already available in the market. Often, she juggled her newfound interest in farm equipment with her day job at the family firm.

“I would sneak out two hours earlier than usual from my regular job and spend time at my workshop in the same facility. I had hired two people with my salary and together we would inspect existing farm equipment from China and tinker around to see how we could make it better and suitable for the Indian farmer,” she recalls.

Finally, with a seed fund of Rs.5 lakh from the Rural Technology and Business Incubator (RTBI) at IIT Madras, Devi began her experiment in 2013.

Kamal Kisan first manufactured a vegetable planter in July 2015. The product was priced low to make it affordable to small farmers. The feedback was overwhelming.

“A small farmer who bought our product was so happy with the reduced labour and cost effectiveness that he personally came to thank me. You get to enjoy such experiences only if you are working for a social impact,” says Devi.

When asked about whether she found her line of work difficult because she was a woman in a typically male-dominated field, she responds positively, saying that her gender never made a difference to the farmers she worked alongside. On the contrary, most people seemed taken with the idea of a foreign-educated girl working for them. Devi soon discovered that it was often times the urban public who came with a discriminatory mind-set with regards to gender-specific work, rather than the vast workforce across rural India.

Today, Kamal Kisan has been able to reach over 800 farmers and deliver a cumulative saving of over Rs. 10 lakh.

At present, the firm has several innovative products for small farms on the market, as well as plans to develop at least two products in the pipeline per year.

Foremost among these is the Vegetable Planter, a handy low-cost machine that eases the cultivating process of most fruit and vegetable saplings with an increased process efficiency.

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Kamal Kisan Vegetable Planter[/caption] The planter allows for a single laborer to plant a one acre plot with vegetable seedlings within four hours, as opposed to a conventional planter that requires four laborers to achieve the same results. Furthermore, it is portable and easy to operate, manufactured with high-quality steel and equipped to adjust planting depth according to the seeds being worked with.

Another popular creation is the Kamal Kisan Mulch Layer, a tractor-attached device that can lay plastic mulch sheets between three to four feet, covering soil in a single pass.

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Kamal Kisan Mulch Layer[/caption] The mulch layer has reduced labour requirements from six to just two laborers, while completing the laying of one acre of mulch film within three hours.

The first-of-its-kind Sugarcane Planter has also received positive reviews.

The device combines three processes – ridging, planting and furrowing – to increase efficiency and has reduced the time required to plant a one-acre area to just three hours. Moreover, it mimics current planting methods and easily be can be used with small tractors with powers as low as 30 HP. Apart from these, the company is researching two new products and is soon to launch a mini rice mill.

“I just have one message,” says Devi in conclusion.“There is huge opportunity in this field and more and more people should come forward to use their skills to help our farmers.”

For more information on the products please log on to www.kamalkisan.com

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Manoj Bhavsar noticed a chilling trend in the accidents occurring during Ahmedabad’s kite-festival. This is how he decided to help. It was on a cold morning in December 2006. Ahmedabad-resident Manoj Bhavsar, an air-conditioner technician, was heading towards his office on a two-wheeler when a stray kite string crossed his path. It came out of nowhere, almost slitting his neck.

“It was not a major injury, but I was scared. I kept thinking -- what if it had cut my throat?” recalls Manoj.

Not long after, he built a simple protection device using a copper wire, which would save the driver and also the pillion rider.

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Manoj Bhavsar[/caption] The copper wire will sever any kite string that comes in contact with it, thus keeping the riders safe. “Initially, people used to laugh at me when I would put this wire on my bike and drive. But all I wanted was safety,” says Manoj. He was happy to fabricate similar copper wires for free, for the few people who did understand the importance of his precautionary action. In December 2008, with the start of the annual International Kite Festival, Uttarayan, the Ahmedabad skyline was once again filled with the bright-coloured kites. Unfortunately, it was also time for an alarming statistic to be realised; 40% of the accidents that happened during this period were attributed to kite strings. Preeti Ben Shah became the victim of one such accident and lost her life on the spot. Manoj became restless when he read the news. He wanted to do something to ensure safety of people who didn’t want to use safety wires on their vehicles. That was when he thought of fitting safety nets on over bridges to protect riders on the road from kite strings. “Usually, cut-off kites have a long manja attached to them and take a lot of time to reach the ground. With safety guards on over bridges, descending kite strings are blocked mid-way,” Manoj explains.

Since then, every year on Uttarayan, Manoj Bhavsar spearheads a project called 'Mission Safe Uttarayan'.

He also became a volunteer for the helpline 108 and provided first-aid to injured people and birds. Nonetheless, his mission was difficult. There was virtually no support from the authorities. On the contrary, he had to regularly convince them to permit him to continue his task. Finally his persistence was rewarded. His pleas compelled the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to give him permission to tie GI wires on all bridges of the city.

According to Manoj, he has to spend nearly Rs.1 lakh to do this every year.

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So far, Manoj has safe guarded 18 bridges in the city.[/caption] So far, the technician has safe guarded 18 bridges in the city. He obtains permission from the municipality, seeks help from the fire brigade, hires hydraulics from a private agency and purchases the necessary copper wires -- all using his own money.

Recently, he also invented a neck-band that can be worn during Uttarayan for additional safety.

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Manoj has invented a neck-band to ensure safety while driving.[/caption] “I just want everyone to be safe. Life is very precious, whether it is a human’s life or a bird’s,” he concludes. For more information on his work or to contact Manoj Bhavsar, please log on to his website.

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The word Uttarayan originates from two Sanskrit words: ‘uttara’ meaning North and ‘ayana’ meaning movement. In combination they refer to the movement of the earthon the celestial sphere. The festival that draws its namesake from the word marks the gradual end of the winter season and the beginning of summer. To farmers, it is an auspicious sign, indicating the start of the harvest season. Known as Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, Bihu in Assam and Maghi in Punjab and Haryana, the essence of this festival is the same throughout the country. In Gujarat, the festival is popularly celebrated by flying kites.

The International Kite Festival is one of the biggest festivals celebrated in the country.

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International Kite Festival -2017[/caption] The state of Gujarat becomes a manufacturing hub months before the festival, giving a boost to the local economy.Each year the mega festival, organised by the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited, grows bigger and better.

This year, the International Kite Festival is being celebrated between the 8th and 14th of January at the Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad.

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Glimpses of the festival[/caption]

As many as 2000 students from schools run by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation performed the suryanamaskar on the morning of the inaugural day.

Special attractions at the IKF this year include a theme pavilion based on ‘Tourist Destinations of Gujarat’, a kite workshop, adventure games for kids, craft stalls to display local art and food stalls where visitors can sample local delicacies. kite1-4

An estimated 186 kite fliers, including 51 from eight different states and more than 100 from over 31 countries, are participating this year. Participants from Argentina, Australia, France, Brazil, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Netherlands, New-Zealand, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the U.K, the U.S.A and Vietnam are all part of this mega event.

People Speak

The Better India Team visited Uttarayan this year and spoke to international guest kite flyers, asking them what they thought the ‘Better side of India’ was. We turned up some amazing answers.

1. Team Poland

The first team that we met was team Poland. Mr. and Mrs. Przemyslaw Lasecki owners of Poland’s kite-manufacturing company IKAR told us they love coming for the festival every year.

“We love India! We haven’t found such a grand kite festival anywhere else, which brings us to India again and again,” said Mr. Lasecki

To know more about them you can log on to their website.

2. Team Vietnam

Team Vietnam comprised four enthusiastic people. 79-year-old Mr. Nguyen shared his excitement about the event. This is his second visit to India.

“Indians are very good people. One thing that we like about India is that they are vegan. We are vegan too. My favourite Indian dish is the daal. It is very tasty.”

3. Switzerland

Marcel, Jeannine, Manuel, Simon and Adrian Burri from Long Valley Kite Flyers, Switzerland were happy with the weather in India. They said they often long for the sunshine, which they can see every day in India. They are professional kite flyers and wish their homeland offered as huge an arrangement for kite flying.

“Our country has just one small kite flying event and we are the only ones there. So we love this grand festival. This is our first visit to India and we are enjoying the warm weather,” said Adrian Burri.

4. Lithuania

Saule Varskeviciute, Giedre Aleksandraviciute and Kasttis Prakapavicius joined the International Kite festival from Lithuania. Saule and Giedre looked beautiful in sarees at the inaugural function, while Kasttis wore traditional Lithuanian attire.

“I love everything here, especially the weather. It’s -14 degree right now where we live. We have to cover ourselves from head to toe but see we are wearing this lovely saree here,” said Saule from Lithaunia.

5. Russia

Anna from Russia is visiting India for the first time and is already in love with the people here. She has been to kite festivals in other countries as well, but loves the way the Uttarayan is organised in India.

“India is very beautiful. Indians are so polite and welcoming. I am enjoying this stay very much. I love the people of India,” said Anna.

6. U.S.A

When we met Barbara at her kite counter she was already meeting her Indian friends. It was evident she was not new to the country.

“This is my fourth time in India. I have been to Kolkata, Sunderban, Goa and all over Gujarat but Ahmedabad is my favourite. It has been very interesting to see the city change over the years. The tradition is what we come to enjoy here. It’s the joy of the city that makes me come here every year,” said Barbara.

7. Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan team was busy with their work when we reached their counter. But once we asked them what they felt about India, they had lots of good things to say.

“This is our first visit to Ahemdabad. And this is our first Asian event. We have been to Europe and America but this is the largest Asian event that we are attending. Here the community contribution is really high. We can see people right from the airport celebrating the event. The excitement is all we need for a festival and Indians have that. We will tell every one in Sri Lanka that India is a great country,” said the Sri Lankan Team.

8. Singapore

We met Gadis Widiyati from the Singapore team. Gadis conducts kite workshops around the world.

“This is the 14^th time I am coming to India in the past 16 years. I come here every year only for the kite festival. I have been to Goa, Jaipur, Jodhpur, so many places in Rajasthan and Pune. I like India all over. Every city is different and beautiful. People are really amazing everywhere in India. We don’t have a kite festival back in our country so this is like a wonderful event for kite lovers.” said Gadis Widiyati.

9. Indonesia

While Team Indonesia was busy trying to fly their huge kite in the little wind that the city of Ahmedabad was enjoying on a warm morning, Ellie from the team was enjoying a selfie session with local Indians.

“India is like a holy land for us. Only in India there is Makar Sakranti. In Indonesia, we worship the son of Lord Shiva and we fly kites to say thank you to son of lord Shiva after the harvest. But this is the only place where we can celebrate this festival. I like the Indian philosophy. The people are so friendly and loving,” said Ellie from Bali, Indonesia.

10. Estonia

The Estonian team was super excited with their huge kite, when we requested Tarmi from the team to share his experiences. Though he could speak little English, Tarmi managed to tell us how happy he was in India and what made him so happy.

“I like the people here. They are always happy. Everyone greets you, smiles at you and makes you feel nice. Estonia is a very small country but India is so big and this kite festival is so good. In Estonia we use lot of chilly or pepper in our food. Indian food is very healthy,” said Tarmi

11. Curacao

The kite flyers team from Curacao danced and enjoyed the local music on the inaugural function of the International Kite festival. They were also super excited to see 2000 children doing the suryanamaskar together at the beginning of the event.

“I like to work out and I loved the yoga here. I want to learn yoga. Whenever I come to India people treat me like a celebrity. Every one would come and greet, take selfies and help in all the ways possible. In my country, only if you are a celebrity you can get so much attention, but when I go back from India I tell my people that I felt like a celebrity in India and I love it. I want to come again and again to India and would like to indulge in some social work too,” said Natalie Reinita.

12. Belgium

From team Belgium there were two people, totally in love with each other and the kites. Vinita Vij is an Indian married to a Belgian. The couple has a special kite which flies even if there is no wind. It has also been signed by the Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, while he was Chief Minister of Gujarat. Later it became a tradition to get the kite autographed wherever they attended kite-flying events. The kite is full of signatures from people all over the world.

“Prime Minister, Modi signed our kite first when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat and that initiated a tradition of signing our kite wherever we go,” said Vinita.

13. Cambodia

The Cambodian team had amazing sketches made on their kites. When we asked them about the beautiful kites, they said that kites are a part of Cambodian culture and hence they value them a lot.

“We have been a regular participant in the festival in the past but could not come for the last two years. But this year again we got an invitation from the Indian government and here we are. We are totally in love with your country,” said Cheang Yarin.

14. Brazil

Silvia Dearaujo Cardoso could not talk much as she was all set to fly the traditional kite from Brazil. But all she wanted to say was –

“I love India!”

15. Australia

Baker Trent James from Australia who managed to speak to us while flying his kite loves the warmth of the people of India. He is amazed to see so much love among the people and so much courtesy towards foreigners.

“The people here make India so beautiful. I also love the food here,” said Baker.

16. Korea

The Korean team belonged to the Korean Kite Association Festival. Mr. Kin Soo Shin spoke to The Better India about his experiences in India.

“This kite festival is something we look forward to every year. We love flying kites and eating Indian food,” said Mr. Kin Soo Shin.

17. France

We met kite flyers from France but what amazed us was a photographer from France who was totally in love with India. Nicole, a French professional photographer, has been capturing the International kite festival in Ahmedabad for the past 10 years.

“I love travelling in India and capturing the colours of India. You can visit my website to see all the beautiful pictures across India,” said Nicole.

You can log on to www.lovindia-pechoux.com to see Nicole’s work.

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When 16-year-old Mahima Rathod watched Dangal, she was unable to control her tears. The reason was simple; she saw her own father, Raju Rathod,in Mahavir Singh Phogat’s character.

Mahima happens to be a 61^st National School Games Wrestling (Girls) Championship 2015-16 silver medalist.

But being a female wrestler came with its own set of challenges. Fortunately for her, her father took her side for ten years, supporting her pursuit of the sport.

Having grown up in a ‘wrestler’s family’, her story is surprisingly similar to that of the Phogat sisters.

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Mahima Rathod is the only female wrestler from her village.[/caption] Wrestling seems to run in Rathod blood; Mahima’s great-grandfather was a well known wrestler. Her grandfather and his eight brothers were wrestlers who moonlighted as farm laborers to pay the bills. Mahima’s father, Raju Rathod and her uncle, Santosh Rathod, both started wrestling at an early age along with their father.

Raju managed to qualify for state-level wrestling as well, but had to quit because of a lack of finances to support his dream.

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Mahima's father Raju Rathod was once a wrestler too and now he is coaching his daughter.[/caption]

“You have to eat well to become a wrestler. We could hardly afford a meal so how could we keep wrestling?” he asks.

Raju, too, started working as a farm laborer. Eventually, he bought about 3 acres of land. But he found himself unable to restrain from the sport for long. Raju hoped for a son that he could instruct in the nuances of the sport. When his first-born was a girl, he was disappointed. Soon his younger brother, Santosh Rathod, also a state-level champion, was blessed with a girl.

“Once my brother and I were discussing how God has been so cruel to us by giving us daughters. But then during the discussion itself we came to the conclusion that, what is the difference? I did not know about the Phogat sisters then. No girl around us was into wrestling but we decided to teach our girls,” says Raju Rathod.

Thus began the training sessions. Santosh’s daughter did not show much interest in the game –when he father passed away she made it clear that she wanted to become a doctor.

Mahima went on to be the only girl in the village who could wrestle.

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Mahima started wrestling when she was 6 years old.[/caption] Raju faced his share of name-calling and jibes, continued to do what he was doing. The state-level players he was familiar with encouraged him by giving him information about girls’ wrestling in India.

“No one was ready to practice with her, hence we used to get some boys, give them Rs.5 or Rs.10 or sometimes just gave them some goodies and asked them to play with Mahima,” he says.

Soon Raju started taking Mahima to other villages to play matches organised there. People continued to insinuate he was ruining his daughter’s life, but Raju remained undeterred.

Eventually Mahima got an opportunity to fight against a female wrestler, when she was selected for the Taluka-level match. Since then there has been no looking back.

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Mahima has won many dangals, district level matches and state level matches too.[/caption] Later this year, Mahima will represent the state of Maharashtra in the national wrestling championship at Patna. Her first match is on 14th January 2017. To participate in the 40kg category she needs to loose at least 3 kilograms. Apart from this she also has to cope with her studies as she will be appearing for her 10th board exams this year. She is striving hard to find a balance. Her daily routine is grueling; she wakes up at 4 in the morning and studies for an hour. Then she exercises for an hour, and heads to school at 7 a.m.. After class, she attends tuitions till 5 p.m. after which she practices for as long as she can on the wrestling ground.

“Peoples’ perspectives have changed a little after watching the movie, Dangal,” she says.“But we girls still have to prove ourselves in every field at each step, especially in sports. I am going to make my father proud one day; I have promised that to myself,” says the ‘dhakad’ girl.

Mahima is studying in Koshatwar Vidyalay, Pusad and stays in a government hostel. Her education is free but, in spite of winning a silver medal, she has not received any help from the government apart from a Rs. 15,000 scholarship .

Raju Rathod is a small cotton and soybean farmer in the Dudhagiri village of the Yavatmal district of Maharashtra. So far he has personally trained her and taken care of all expenses despite having to face a financial crisis of his own.

But at present, Mahima requires a special diet and training to reach the international level.

“Recently ABP News came to our village and covered Mahima’s story. The villagers have realized the importance of the game now. But we have not received any help yet. My daughter wants to play for the country. She says she won’t accept a job but will keep playing until she brings glory to the country,” says Raju Rathod.

A school teacher from Pusad, Mr. Parsharam Narwade, who is also associated with the NGO Shivprabha Charitable trust took a note of Mahima’s ordeal and contacted The Better India, requesting help.

[caption id="attachment_81846" align="aligncenter" width="500"] mahima1-6

Parsharam Narwade (Extreme Left) wants to raise funds for Mahima.[/caption] As TBI readers, you can lend your support by contacting Raju Rathod on 9011984333 or donating here .

Watch Mahima wrestling with a boy in one of matches in Pusad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oucNfSmkzk0

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Recently, the heart-warming story of Jayavel, a beggar from the streets of Chennai studying in the United Kingdom, went viral. The Better India team spoke to Jayavel and discovered some amazing anecdotes from his life, and the story about the two people who changed the course of his life.

From the streets of Chennai to Europe: Jayavel’s story:

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Jayavel (Right) with his brother and mother[/caption] Jayavel was born here, on the streets of Chennai. His parents, farmers from Nellur village in Andhra Pradesh, moved here after severe financial losses buried them in debt that would take them a lifetime to repay. They sold their land and left for the city in hopes that they would find work. However,after months of looking for employment with no success, they started begging on the streets to survive. Jayavel too started begging, along with his 3 elder sisters and one younger brother. Despite this, his parents were unable to repay their loans. 2 (7)

The family’s misfortune didn’t stop there. Jayavel’s father died when Jayavel was just three. His mother became an alcoholic, making her unable to look after her kids. Life had been hard, to say the least, for Jayavel, until a chance encounter in 1999. The founders of Suyam Charitable Trust, Uma and Muthuram, were documenting the condition of street kids in Chennai when they met Jayavel and decided to extend their help to him. Jayavel and his sibling were sent to Siragu Montessori School, which is a special school run by Suyam Charitable Trust for such underprivileged kids. After this, there was no looking back. After passing class 12 with flying colors, Jayavel appeared for the prestigious Cambridge University’s entrance exam. Today, 22-year-old Jayavel has done a three-year course in“Performance Car Enhancement Technology Engineering”from Glyndwr University, Wrexham, United Kingdom. 2 (6)

Last September, Jayavel was slated to go to Turin, Italy, to pursue his studies with a full scholarship, but that didn’t work out at the last minute due to external problems with the consultancy. Now, he is going to the Philippines to study Aircraft Maintenance Technology.

“I have taken a loan for my education in the Glyndwr University. Once I finish my course I want to first repay my loan and build a house for my mother. After that I will dedicate my life to work for other street kids by joining Suyam. I owe everything to them,” says Jayavel.

Jayavel is not the only one whose life was transformed by Uma and Muthuram. There are at least 50 odd students below the poverty line, who have benefited with higher education thanks to them. And there are 250 begging families who have been rehabilitated by the trust.

Brothers, once child labourers, now doctors and engineers:

[caption id="attachment_84527" align="aligncenter" width="500"] 1 (1)

Dhasarathan and Dhanraj with their parents[/caption] Dhasarathan Rajaramani, 23, is studying MBBS (4th year) in Crimea State Medical University. Dhasarathan’s brother, Dhanraj, is doing a course in Bachelor of Design from Indian institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacture, Jabalpur (IIIT DM Jabalpur). Both these brothers were working as child labourers in a brick kiln until 2005, when they met Uma and Muthuram. [caption id="attachment_84525" align="aligncenter" width="500"]

Dhasarathan in Russia[/caption] Uma used to visit these brick factories to spread awareness on child labour, and was able to convince the owner of the factory to let Dhasarathan and Dhanraj come with her.

“I feel proud to be student of Suyam because they gave me everything right from food, shelter and education. Uma Ma'am and Muthuram Sir are like my second parents. They allowed me to choose my career and were always encouraging. What can I say about Suyam... It's my home, where I learnt everything. I was not born there but I belong to Suyam,” says Dhasarathan, speaking to TBI from Russia.

Meet the people responsible for transforming so many lives:

[caption id="attachment_84540" align="aligncenter" width="500"] 2 (4)

Uma and Muthuram[/caption] Uma and Muthuram met in school when they were just in class 1 and had no idea that they would become soulmates in the future. Uma’s journey began when she was just 12. Uma’s mother was a government school teacher, giving Uma a chance to interact with slum kids. A bright child, Uma started teaching mathematics to these kids. Muthuram and few other friends also pitched in in this noble deed. By the time she was 16, she was addicted to her passion of helping others. Uma would visit camps for cataract operations for the poor and elderly people, blood donation camps and those for accident victims. She attended to thousands of patients in such camps.

“We needed money to do service, so we decided to keep aside Rs.10 for this from each one’s pocket money. We named it ‘Anamika Fund’. More friends joined and more 10-rupee notes started pouring in,” says Muthuram.

In 1997, when Uma was studying M.sc. Mathematics, she got a call from one of her journalist friends about a 16-year-old boy, Mahalingam, from Ambasamudram village in Tirunelveli. Mahalingam came from a financially poor family where he was the only boy among his 12 siblings. To support his family, he started working in a unit that manufactured bronze lamps during the holidays after his class 10 exams. Once, when he was cleaning the compressor, which was filled with heated bronze particles, someone switched it on by mistake. The molten bronze burst out on his face, and as he opened his mouth in pain, the molten metal went through his mouth and burned his food pipe and respiratory system. He was admitted in the government hospital in Tirunelveli where the doctors gave him basic first aid and sent him home with a food pipe inserted in his stomach to feed liquid food for survival. Uma immediately shifted the boy to her home in Chennai. After requesting almost 100 doctors for help, Dr.J.S.Raj Kumar, chairman of RIGID Hospitals in Kilpauk, Chennai, operated on the boy for free. It took a total of 13 surgeries, and through it all, Uma took care of Mahlingam. [caption id="attachment_84533" align="aligncenter" width="500"] 2 (1)

Little Mahalingam studying at Uma's house.[/caption] She would visit the hospital regularly and teach Mahalingam mathematics. He even travelled by ambulance to write his class XII exam, and cleared it. Today, Mahalingam has done his masters in economics, all with Uma’s help, and has a happy life with his wife and daughter. Just after Mahalingam, in 1998, when Uma was 22, Uma rescued a 5-year-old boy who was on the verge of being sold by his father. It was after this incident that Uma felt the need to register for an NGO, so she could help more children trapped in child labor. She and her friends registered Suyam Charitable Trust in 1999. Muthuram and her shared a common passion and later married to help these kids together.

Their first group was the children who were forced to beg and live on the streets. Soon they met children like Jayavel and Dhanraj.

[caption id="attachment_84535" align="aligncenter" width="500"] 2 (3)

Little Jayavel (Extreme left) with other street kids at Siragu.[/caption] In 2003, Suyam Charitable Trust started the Siragu Montessori school for these kids, and in no time, the number of children enrolled increased from 30 to 300.

“35 years of friendship, 30 years of service to mankind,more than 10 educational degrees- B.Sc Maths, M.Sc Maths, MBA, MSEM, PGDCA, Sahitya Ratna in Hindi, B.Ed in Hindi, Sanskrit, Ph.D - DrV.Uma still wants to study more! An educationist, an optimist, a courageous woman, she is the face of Suyam who meets all the struggle to help children sleep with happiness,” says Muthuram.

Under their wing, the Dhanrajs, the Jayavels, and many more such students are pursuing their college education, many others are in queue to clear their class 12 and hundreds are watching their seniors rock at studies. “When they get free seats out of merit, we can say that we did our best in best possible ways,” says Uma. Please visit Suyam Charitable Trust's website if you wish to donate for more students for their education. You can also email at info@suyam.org or call on 8148151987/ 914442826303.

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“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

― Nelson Mandela This is a story of an engineer whose 6 daughters are excelling in various fields, right from politics to law enforcement, and a son who is an engineer-turned-farmer with a turnover of crores. What’s unique about this story? There are thousands of engineers who have educated their children. But what if we tell you that this engineer was once a farm labourer and belongs to a village where daughters are considered a curse. What’s more, his daughters are the first-ever girls in their respective fields from Jaisalmer. Rooparam Dhandev from Chelak village in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan was born to a Dalit family. His father worked as a farm labourer in others’ land and struggled to make ends meet. Little Rooparam went to the village school, which was only till class 5. But when he topped every year till that class, his teachers encouraged his father to take him to the nearest government school at Nachna, 275 km from Chelak. As this school too taught only till class 9, Rooparam then had to move to Jaisalmer city where his school principal helped him choose his subject as mathematics.

“That was the turning point of my life. My parents were illiterate and I was too young to decide my subject. Back then in 1972, we had to choose our subjects in class 9. My principal decided my subject as mathematics by looking at my marks,” says Rooparam.

Meanwhile, as per the tradition of child marriages in Rajasthan, Rooparam’s parents also got him married while he was studying in class 9. But this did not distract him from his studies. He again topped in class 11 with 83% and got selected as a patwari. He took up the job to support his family. However, looking at his caliber, one of his teachers pushed him to pursue engineering. An engineering course would mean an extra five years before Rooparam could earn for his family. And he could not even afford the course. But this teacher took him to his home in Jodhpur and made sure he applied. Rooparam made it to the top list of merit students even in the general category, and bagged a seat in M.B.M. Engineering College, Jodhpur.

The news spread like wildfire in Chelak, with every resident rejoicing in Rooparam’s success. After all Rooparam was the first Dalit boy from the village who had gone so far.

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Rooparam Dhandev[/caption] But the question of the fees remained. Then, his father’s landlord lent a hand.

“We believe that there is a lot of castiesm in India. I agree that there are people who still believe in caste system but for me reality is different. My teacher who encouraged me to study after class 5 was not from my community. The teacher who encouraged me to do engineering was a Brahmin. My father’s landlord, who helped us with the fees, was a Rajput. And I was always helped by all Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians during my service,” says Dhandev.

To take care of his other expenses and to support his family, Rooparam would travel from Jaisalmer to Chelak on holidays and work as a farm labourer. His wife too supported him throughout his journey.

[caption id="attachment_85332" align="aligncenter" width="500"] dhandev2

Rooparam Dhandev with his wife Jatana Devi Dhandev[/caption]

“It is said that once you get married, you cannot carry on with your studies. But this proved absolutely wrong in my case. It was in fact due to my wife’s support that I could come so far,” says Rooparam.

Rooparam’s first daughter Anjana was born when he was in the third year of his engineering. He passed B.tech with flying colours and was posted as an assistant engineer through the Rajasthan Public Services Commission (RPSC) in Jaisalmer. Rooparam and his wife had four more daughters, and soon the villagers started suggesting special prayers for a son. Jaisalmer, a well-known city in India, is also notorious for cases of female feticide. But Rooparam Dhandev made sure that his family set an example for all of Jaisalmer.

Rooparam’s eldest daughter, Anjana is the first Dalit post graduate girl from Jaisalmer, and is an inspiration for all women. A mother of two, she lost her husband in a car accident in 2011. She herself was in the hospital for 9 months, recovering from her injuries. But she started her life all over again and is the Mayor of Jaisalmer today.

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Rooparam Dhandev's eldest daughter - Anjana Meghwal is the mayor of Jaisalmer[/caption]

“After I lost my husband in an accident, I lost the desire and hope to live anymore. But my father made sure that I got the best of treatment to survive. He spent all his savings on my treatment even though my siblings were still studying. Once I recovered, my father motivated me to appear for the civil services. I too decided to fulfill his wish of helping people and now working for the people of Jaisalmer has become the aim of my life. The journey was not at all easy. Initially when I visited the villages in my constituency, people would ask for my father or brother to talk to, as here even if a lady holds a powerful position, the power stays with the male members associated to her. But in my case, my father motivated me to handle everything alone,” says the Mayor of Jaisalmer, Anjana Meghwal.

Rooparam Dhandev’s second daughter, Gomati, is the first dentist. His third daughter Rajeshwari is the first pediatrician from the district.

[caption id="attachment_85359" align="aligncenter" width="500"] dhandev2 (7)

Rooparam Dhandev's third daughter Rajeshwari[/caption] Dhandev, who had a transferable job, sent all his daughters to a residential school in Jodhpur so that they could study without any obstacles.

“I wanted to set an example in my village that daughters are not a curse but our pride if we treat them like our sons and so I was very particular about their education right from the beginning,” says Rooparam.

His fourth daughter Prem’s story is another example of courage and dedication.

[caption id="attachment_85334" align="aligncenter" width="500"] dhandev2 (2)

Rooparam Dhandev's fourth daughter - Prem Dhandev is the first female RPS officer from Jaisalmer[/caption] Prem was an IT engineer and had a MBA degree when she got married. When her eldest sister, Anjana met with the life changing accident, Prem accompanied her to study for the RPS (Rajasthan Police Services) exams. Both sisters came out with flying colours in the exam. While Anjana opted to remain the mayor, Prem took over the role of deputy superintendent of police.

“My in-laws belong to a small village where a woman is not allowed to wear anything other than a saree. My husband supported me to study further but then he was skeptical about the dress code in the police services. But when he came to know about my choice, he helped me at every step. People say that there is always a woman behind a man’s success but in my case my father and my husband are the reason for my success,” says Prem.

The fifth daughter Dhwana is a dentist and his youngest one has done B.tech in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur. Priya, the youngest, is currently pursuing her masters in California.

[caption id="attachment_85337" align="aligncenter" width="500"] dhandev2 (4)

Rooparam Dhandev's seven children. Each one of them is an epitome of inspiration.[/caption]

“It was difficult both socially and financially for my father. It was only his salary with which he managed to educate all of us. We would never go for a holiday or spend on luxuries. But he made sure that we got the right values in life,” says Prem.

Rooparam’s only son, Harish,was a junior engineer in the municipal corporation in 2013. Around that time, when his father retired and took up farming,

Harish also left his well-paying job to farm. Today, Harish is a successful aloevera farmer with a turnover of crores. You can read more about him here.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] other plants

Harish Dhandev[/caption]

“I had only one dress when I studied engineering. I would wash that dress every night and would sleep without any clothes. I think it doesn’t matter where you come from, the only thing that matters is where are you going to be,” concludes Dhandev.

Rooparam Dhandev and his family are an inspiration to all, and his story proves that even one man can bring about a change.

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“We get offers from the nearby competitor schools, too, to join on a higher salary. But money is not what I am here for. I want to give and gain knowledge. That’s what a teacher is supposed to do, isn’t it?” says Priyanka Jaiswal, a teacher at Ajivam School in Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh.

Ajivam School was founded by Surya Sen Singh, a resident of Kansaharia, to help underprivileged children, especially girls, get education at a minimal cost.

[caption id="attachment_85922" align="aligncenter" width="500"] ajivam

Ajivam School, Ghazipur[/caption] Priyanka, a B.Sc. graduate in botany and a student of Bachelors of Teaching Course, could have landed a better-paying job in any of the top private schools. However, she has decided to dedicate her life to educate the children of Ajivam.

Her decision has roots in her own struggle to reach where she is today as a girl from a remote village in Uttar Pradesh.

Priyanka’s family comes from Sarhara village Uttar Pradesh’s Mau district. The family, however, set up a business in Kolkata and lived there. When Priyanka was born, her mother, who was suffering from a mental illness,was unable to take care of her.She was brought up by her grandparents. Priyanka loved her school in Kolkata and topped her class every year. But when she was in class 5, her grandparents decided to move back to their village in UP and took Priyanka along. The village school was only till class 10, and the junior college there did not offer a course in science, which Priyanka wanted to take up. However, her family did not allow her to leave the village to study in a college 10 km away that offered the science stream.

“There were no girls from the village who had taken mathematics as the village junior college offered only arts subject. No one allowed their daughters to travel 10 km to study. But I fought with my family for this and would walk 10 km every day to reach to my college in Chiriyapur market,” says Priyanka.

But her fight didn’t end there. Her family fixed her marriage when she was still in class 11.

She somehow convinced her parents to postpone the wedding for the next two years until she finished her junior college. She passed class 12 with flying colours and took admission in B.Sc. But her parents could not wait any longer, and got her married when she was in the first year to Vijay Jaiswal from Kansaharia village. Luckily Priyanka’s in-laws and her husband were supportive and she was able to study further. She soon got pregnant and delivered her son just before the second year exams.

In the third year, she rented a room in Azamgarh and stayed there to do regular classes while also taking care of her 6-month-old baby.

[caption id="attachment_85918" align="aligncenter" width="500"] IMG-20170207-WA0007

Priyanka Jaiswal with her son[/caption] Through her entire journey, Priyanka wanted to do something for the girls of her village, who were deprived of education just because of their gender. She got the opportunity while doing her teachers training course, when Ajivam came into existence.

“I teach them computers and I make sure that they don’t have to do an extra course to learn anything about computers like I did,” says Priyanka.

Priyanka is determined to study M.Sc. (Botany) after she finishes BTC, but insists she will remain in Ajivam even if she gets more degrees.

[caption id="attachment_85934" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Priyanka Jaiswal

Priyanka with her students at Ajivam[/caption] Ajivam is now working on opening a public library in Ghazipur. With this library, the school wants to serve local communities by providing free and easy access to a broad range of knowledge resources, information and training. It also wants to promote the idea of higher education for girls and self-dependence through better employment for the village residents.

Priyanka says she feels the library would be beneficial for both the students as well as teachers.

“I always study before teaching topics to students. It puts me in a position to explain things better to children. And it is an iterative process, where my understanding of the subject improves; my approach to teaching improves whenever there is feedback from students. It allows me to grow as a teacher, as a person. It is a very interesting process and I am really enjoying it," she said.

A library will help immensely as it will allow students, who don’t have such books, get access to it. And students will find a place to study in their free time. It will also add to the atmosphere of learning and students will tend to study more because of that. For me, I’ll be able study and prepare for classes. And if there are books on botany, then I would be able to read it as I want to pursue my Masters in Botany. It will help us a lot,” she adds. While the founder of Ajivam, Surya, has started the school using his own money, he is now raising funds to equip the library with the required resources. You can donate to help him here.

Interested in supporting Surya? Here's the link to his crowdfunding campaign!' Unable to view the above button? Click here

You can also contribute books and computers by clicking here.

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