StoryTrails provides a unique way of learning about India. In stead of carrying out the usual touristy routes of sight-seeing and visiting the famous locations, StoryTrails adopts a new path. They carry out what they term as “Trails” which visitors can be a part of. These trails, to use their own words, are “a subtle presentation of some fascinating arts, customs and practices that are unique to the region, which we help our guests discover and learn about“.

We believe this is a great way to actually immerse yourself in the culture of the region and learn about India in your own way, at your own pace.

One such trail that was recently organized by StoryTrails was “The Animal Trail” in Chennai. The idea of this trail was to make children more comfortable with animals, and to dispel the fear and myths that children usually associate animals with. As part of this trail, the children were taken to the Blue Cross which is a shelter for abandoned and stray animals at Velachery.

This article by Kamini Mathai in the Times of India provides more details about this initiative by StoryTrails.

The other such “trails” carried about by StoryTrails include the Peacock Trail, Bazaar Trail and Family Trails.

Click here to check out their website and to participate in their unique way of knowing India better.

Update: The ToI today carries an article stating that this entire piece of news does not seem to be validated. Most likely the device is just capable of simple computing operations and not as full-fledged as a laptop. End of update

Laptops and the internet are more or less ubiquitous for most urban high school students. However, the cost barrier is still high and hence only a limited section of the student population can afford it. This is poised to change in the near future with the advent of a new Rs. 500 laptop (currently in prototype phase)
This Rs. 500 laptop prototype will be on display on February 3rd at Tirupati. This prototype is a joint effort by the students of Vellore Institute of Technology, scientists in Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, IIT-Madras and involvement of Public Sector Units like Semiconductor Complex.

Akshaya Mukul writes in this article at the Times of India:

The $10 laptop project, first reported in TOI three years ago, has come as an answer to the $100 laptop of MIT’s Nicholas Negroponte that he was trying to hardsell to India. 

“At this stage, the price is working out to be $20 but with mass production it is bound to come down,” R P Agarwal, secretary, higher education said.

Another very interesting launches on this day will be those of an e-classroom, a virtual laboratory and an improved version of the existing ‘Sakshat’ portal.
The following is an interesting turn of events:

Sources also said that the ministry has entered into an agreement with four publishers — Macmillan, Tata McGraw Hill, Prentice-Hall and Vikas Publishing — to upload their textbooks on ‘Sakshat’. Five per cent of these books can be accessed free. 

Of course, all these initiatives also require that the current infrastructure be improved significantly. The article mentions that:

In this context, government would give Rs 2.5 lakh per institution for 10 Kbps connection and subsidise 25% of costs for private and state government colleges. 

The mission would seek to extend computer infrastructure and connectivity to over 18,000 colleges in the country, including each department of nearly 400 universities and institutions of national importance.

It is wonderful to see that the government and other institutions are coming together to herald in a new age of education and making use of technology to drive positive change.

Read the complete article here.
Image courtesy: incasoftware.co.uk

A 16-year old who teaches 600 students in his backyard. A single man who led to an entire city being declared smoke-free, a year before the nation enforced it as a law. The saviour of the endangered whale shark who has rescued as many as 50 so far. A former Tisco employee who gave up her secure job to help poor tribal families in a remote Maoist-infested village build a new life. And a Physics professor who learnt all there is about rain water harvesting and then made it mandatory for all official buildings in Tamil Nadu. These are just some of the everyday heroes that are doing their bit to change lives, whether they are recognized for it or not.

Babar Ali is a class XI student in Berhampore, West Bengal. Moved by the plight of poor parents who could not afford to send their children to school, this youngster has been conducting classes after his school hours since he was 11. His students come from nearby villages, some even walking four km to reach his house. In order to induce better attendance, Ali also managed to get government officials to distribute free rice at the end of the month.

Besides lessons, the children are drawn by the free rice distributed at the end of each month. “Attendance was falling drastically. That is when I hit upon this idea. As my school is not recognised by the government, I couldn’t have got free rice. But government officials helped me,” says Ali.

Ali has big dreams for the future. “I dream that my school will grow and expand to other parts of the state and country where children want to but can’t go to school.” But for now, he will be content if his students get a proper classroom.

——

Hemant Goswami had been committed to act against tobacco since a school project he did in 1987. In 2004 he filed a writ petition with the Chandigarh High Court, following which the government was instructed to follow the tobacco Act in letter and spirit.

In 2005 when the Right to Information Act (RTI) came into force, Hemant decided to use it to make Chandigarh the first smoke-free city. He filed over 300 RTI petitions with all government departments and offices, raising questions about their adherence to tobacco control laws. In a year, more than 1,800 signboards warning people of the health implications of smoking were up in all government offices. Educational institutes too fell in line.

Hemant’s efforts finally resulted in Chandigarh being declared smoke-free in July 2007. But he didn’t rest even after that. He continues to monitor the proper enforcement of the law, and smokes out the violators.

——

Dinesh Goswami is a daily wage earner in Junagadh district of Saurashtra in Gujarat. But every time he hears of the whale shark being indiscriminately hunted by fishermen on the rough and choppy sea off the coast of Saurashtra, he rushes to their rescue.

Describing his most dangerous rescue so far, Goswami recounts, “State officials called me after reports that a shark was trapped in a net. After we set off, the sea got very rough and every minute, we thought the boat would overturn. Thankfully, we managed to save the whale shark and return safely.” Goswami now runs Paryawaran Mitra, an NGO for the protection of sea animals.

Having learnt about the whale sharks and their plight in a documentary by environmentalist Mike Pandey, Goswami decided to make it his mission to save them every time they are in danger.

——

In Purulia, along the Bengal-Jharkhand border, Jayati Chakraborty has started a school to help a tribe called santhals build a better future. Inspired by an NGO run by Kamalesh Chakraborty for developmental work in the area, she decided to stay on and make a difference.

She quit her job, faced down appalled friends and family. “They found it hard to believe that I would be better off working with poor people in a godforsaken village.” And she tried new things — linseed and tomato farming — finally deciding the area needed a school. “We converted a hall into a classroom and started with 66 students in 2001. It seemed the school was waiting to happen,” she says. Students pay Rs 30 a month. But paid pupil or not, no one is turned away.

—–

Chennai-based professor Sekhar Raghavan’s passion for saving and harvesting water found an outlet when he worked with the Centre for Policy Studies, which examines traditional ways of living.

He says he found “we had the complete records of Chengelpet district for 200 years and realized rain-water harvesting is not new, it’s just something we had forgotten”.

His Akash Ganga Trust eventually led to rainwater harvesting becoming compulsory for all buildings in Tamil Nadu in 2002.

—–

Thus we see that it is possible for a single person to change the lives of many, even while performing normal duties like going to school or earning a daily wage. All our barriers are just imaginary.

Read the complete article in Times of India here.
Image Courtesy: jyothsnay.wordpress.com

This is no ordinary train journey. This is a train where the journey itself is the destination. A train that will carry 350 passengers in the age group of 18 to 25 on an 18-day trip from Delhi to Kanyakumari, and teach them lessons on Entrepreneurship and Leadership along the way. This is the Tata Jagriti Yatra.

Flagged off on the 24th December, the educational tour is currently making its way through several locations, exploring innovative initiatives, interacting with role models and getting insights into social entrepreneurship. Be it the dabbawalas in Mumbai, the ‘model village’ of Kuthambakkam in Chennai or Anand in Gujarat, the youths will get a sneak peek at what it takes to run a successful enterprise. Madhavi Rajadhyaksha reports in Times of India on the purpose of the ‘yatra’:

The whole purpose is to get the youth to connect with the genius of India and the focus is on enterprise-led development. Today, enterpreneurship and enterprise are no longer a luxury, but a necessity and we hope to spark interest in the youth,” said Shashank Mani, an ex-IITian and one of the founders of the concept, adding that they hope to make this an annual feature.

The students will also enjoy an interesting itinerary that will give them the opportunity to pack maximum learning in their limited time.

Explaining that the format wasn’t a classroom session but a see-and-learn experience, another organiser Raj Krishnamurthy offered an insight into their itinerary. “There will be conferences inside the train and stopovers to meet role models such as scientist R A Mashelkar (who formerly headed the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research), Dr M S Swaminathan who is known as the `father of the green revolution in India’ and Ela Bhatt who founded SEWA,” he said.

The final 350 were selected from nearly 10,000 applicants. Let us hope that many of them will be enthused to create successful social enterprises of their own.

Read the complete story here.
Image Courtesy: Tata Jagriti Yatra 2008 website

There is a new trend in website hosting. It’s called “Green Hosting”. The essential premise is that some of the money paid by the website developer will be used by the website hosting company to host the website on a carbon-neutral server, viz one whose carbon emissions are offset by the web-hosting company’s green activities like planting trees or purchase of carbon credits. While this concept is widely in use by some of the American web-hosting companies, it is starting off in a small way in India. It needs to create a lot more awareness to get the requisite impetus to make a large difference.

Aditi Utpat of Times of India explores this phenomenon in its infancy and talks about the steps being taken to promote it. Although she has found only one website as of now, the Pune Gourmet Club Association, who has adopted the green hosting feature for its new website, we all hope this is just the beginning of a whole new internet revolution.

While an extensive search by TOI threw up only one website that was hosted on a green server, Znet India, one of the country’s largest web-hosting companies, has confirmed that they have up to 100 clients who have opted for green hosting.

Munesh Singh, CEO of the Noida-based company, said, “Our contributions have helped towards the purchase of one hectare of land in Noida. Our staff are taking responsibility to grow trees on this land. This is a long-term project and will take twenty years before the forest becomes well-grown. The whole project is expected to sequester some 200 tonnes of carbon dioxide while making a real contribution to wildlife conservation.”

And since reducing (or neutralising) one’s carbon footprint attracts benefits from the government, green hosting is actually more cost efficient in the long run than conventional hosting.

Be it to reduce costs, gain publicity or make a difference, the efforts of web hosting companies to introduce and popularize the concept of green hosting will have long term benefits. It is good to know that corporate India is taking note, and the idea is getting the support of organizations like NASSCOM and the government.

Directi, a multinational conglomerate, told TOI that the Green IT’ agenda is gaining momentum in India and has already attracted private and government funding.

Bhavin Turakhia, CEO of Directi, added that while the company does not undertake green hosting initiatives of its own, green hosting is sure to become “increasingly popular” among the consumers, as “concern for the environment increases”.

So while we have a long way to go before we can boast of a ‘green internet’, it is still a great sign that web-hosting companies and consumers in India are waking up to the fact that there is a way to do things in a more environmentally friendly manner, and are playing an active role in propagating it. The Better India supports them in their efforts, and is also now attempting to move to a green server on its part.

Do read the complete article here.
Link Courtesy: Munesh Singh, CEO and Founder – ZNet India
Image Courtesy: www.metaefficient.com

Women who had never stepped out of their houses now travel across the country to display their crafts and dream of setting up their own fashion range! This is no small feat, and has been achieved by an NGO, Hunnar, which has freed 75 women from the backward section of Jaipur and shown them the route to financial independence. These women have traditionally been adroit with hand embroidery and stitching, and these were the easiest skills to enhance. Shara Ashraf reports in Times of India:

“We introduced workshops where these women learn hand embroidery which is quite a rage these days. It’s remarkable that within 6 months these women have got orders from another Delhi based NGO, that does handwork for various national and international fashion houses,” shares treasurer Nirja Mishra, who is also the ex vice-principal of Kanodia College.

The initiative has brought about tremendous change in the lives of these women.

From being totally dependent on their husbands for a living to gaining financial independence, they are on the fast track to discover themselves. There are some women who have been victims of wife battering, marital rape and molestation too. “As these women are now contributing to the family income, they command respect from their families and their relationships with their husbands have improved as the husbands have started believing in their wives’ capabilities,” says Lee, a volunteer from Taiwan, who works with these women now.

There are women who have already been benefited and now are devoted to helping others in the basti (community) find a similar foothold. Sanjeeda is one of them, and here she explains about the many benefits of the program:

“Besides the technical training, the women are also getting trained in various other aspects such as understanding the market, the current demand, networking, importance of networking, quality control, discipline and delivering orders on time,” explains Sanjeeda.

The excitement of these women to escape the shackles that bind them and experience freedom and appreciation for the first time is something palpable. We do hope that there are many such initiatives all over the country to uplift the millions of other women living in similar conditions.

Read the complete article here.
Image Courtesy: Times of India

About YFS:
There is a growing desire among the youth in India to volunteer their time and talent for community development. But most of them are not currently involved in volunteering work because of three major reasons:
1. Not knowing where to start.
2. The fear that it may be too much of responsibility.
3. Concern that it cannot be done with their limited time availability.

“Youth for Seva”(YFS) was formed in April 2007 to fill this gap so that youth with an intention to volunteer and with different time commitments can easily find meaningful opportunities to serve the community.

Mission:
The mission of YFS is to inspire youth to volunteer, connect them to the grass roots projects, and provide ongoing support and training to the volunteers and the NGOs.

Achievements:
Since its inception in April 2007, YFS had secured the help of nearly 1,100 volunteers and assigned them suitably. However, in 2008 they were one of the NGOs to partner with Teach India program of Times of India, and helped engage more than 2000 volunteers in various government schools and slums of Bangalore. Besides schools, YFS has also helped hospitals, old-age homes and other institutions secure volunteers to help them with their needs.

Interview with Venkatesh Murthy – Co ordinator:
I met Venkatesh Murthy, Co-ordinator of Youth for Seva, several aspects of the vision of YFS were revealed. After working in the US for nearly 12 years, and observing the deep sense of community service ingrained in the culture, Venkatesh began to yearn to bring in a similar culture in the youth of his home country. So he moved back to India in early 2007, and began to float the idea of a community building and involvement program for individuals. His ideas received a lot of positive response, and he was encouraged to lay the foundation of Youth for Seva in April 2007.

Venkatesh was also deeply influenced by his readings of the ancient Indian scriptures, which talked of the 5 debts of man – his debt to his teachers, to his ancestors, to animals, nature and society. He believes that if only man would consider it his duty to repay his debts, we would not be witnessing the widespread damage to our habitat, environment, wildlife and the sufferings of the poor.

Though Youth for Seva is an NGO, Venkatesh wishes he could do away with the entire notion of NGOs.

“I want to encourage the concept of Individual Social Responsibility (ISR) – each individual taking charge of improving the conditions all around him. With a holistic approach encompassing all the five debts, it is possible for each person to do his bit and we will not have to worry about the world. Instead of calling up an NGO and asking them to pick up old clothes from your house, you could donate them to the construction workers at a nearby site. Instead of going to the slums and teaching children, you could start with taking lessons for your maid’s or watchman’s children. It’s all about looking around you and bringing about change”

Venkatesh’s ideals are reflected in Youth for Seva as it empowers the youth to find their niche, and participate in the change they want to bring about. Hopefully, this will lead to his mission of Individual Corporate Responsibility, where they will no longer be NGOs. Just a world full of hope.

How you can help:
Youth for Seva offers various options to the youths with varying time commitments.
• Few months after graduation and before starting your professional career-Volunteering provides true-to-life experience and also helps you develop better communication skills and leadership qualities. If you volunteer for three months or more, you are eligible for a fellowship (stipend).
• For few hours every week throughout the year you can be associated with one or more projects closer to your home or college.
• Semester breaks-Here you can volunteer full time for 10 days or more. Your time will be utilized based on your interests and abilities. Remember that the longer you volunteer, the better are the fruits of service.
• We can assist Master of Social Works (MSW) students in doing their project work with credible NGOs.
• You can sponsor a school kit containing a school bag, 10 notebooks, one pen, pencil, eraser and geometry box for needy children with a donation of Rs.200
• Non-field work- You can help us with your writing, photo and video skills, graphics work and/or website development. Just let us know your areas of specialization and we will try to find ways to help the NGOs which share the same interests.
• Something that every one can do is subscribe to our e-newsletter.

Whether you want to work with children, physically and mentally impaired or senior citizens at schools, hospitals, slums or old-age homes, Youth for Seva has something for everyone as long as you have the desire to help others.

Contact Youth For Seva at:
8/28, Bull Temple Road,
Bangalore – 560 004
Karnataka, India
Tel: 9900227382
Email: youthforseva@gmail.com

Read more about Youth for Seva and register to volunteer with them at http://www.youthforseva.org/

 Do you decline to use your right to vote on the basis that you do not know the candidate well enough? Or do you vote for anyone on the basis that they are all equally corrupt and it makes no difference? Now, voters of Delhi can eliminate these gripes from their lives as they go in for assembly elections in a month’s time.

An NGO Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) has started this initiative using RTI, where they will make the elected representatives more accountable by assessing their past performance. So, now, as the candidates’ come knocking on the doors of Delhi-ites with a smile and a host of promises, they can be taken to severe task by the citizens of their constituencies and asked to explain their past performance. The MLA Report Card will demonstrate how concerned the MLA was about your concerns the last time you elected him and how much he has delivered. Times of India will publish these reports in a new series, and empower people to take informed decisions regarding their precious vote. Reports TOI:

Under the MLA Local Area Development Fund, each MLA can spend up to Rs 2 crore on development works in his constituency each year. Did your MLA align this work with your needs and priorities? Or was it to help his cronies? In short, was public money – Rs 10 crore in five years – well-utilised or wasted?

You can now judge if you really needed those parks when the roads in your colony were crumbling. Or if you got water when you really needed it. And what about the promised baraat ghar ? Give your MLA a pat if he has performed well. Or tell him to get off. That will tell our MLAs that they can’t take you for granted. It will clean the system and give you a role in governance.

With elections just around the corner, this is the need of the hour. Indians have always felt the limitation of not knowing enough about their elected representatives, and the work they were doing seemed to be shrouded in a veil of mystery, unless some scandal exploded in their face. This will go a great length in enabling people to make an informed choice, so that lack of information no longer remains an excuse for electing the wrong people to power.

Read the complete article here.

Image courtesy: www.india-briefing.com

In a city plagued by water and electricity shortages, a housing community has taken steps to make itself ecologically independent of the vagaries of rains and borewells. Rainbow Drive Layout in Bangalore has undertaken Rain Water Harvesting since February 2008, and now boasts of 20 rooftop water-harvesting systems and 10 groundwater-recharging systems. Jayashree Nandi reports in The Times of India:

Rainbow Drive Layout on Sarjapur Road has put in place over 20 rooftop water-harvesting systems and 10 groundwater-recharging systems in stormwater drains since February 2008. The residents are delighted that they no more have to depend on the uncertain supply of borewell water or spend on tankers. They are ecologically storing abundant water to sustain themselves. Added to this is the incentive that their layout doesn’t flood after rain, because all the water gets stored in stormwater drain recharge wells.

Committee member of the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) of Rainbow Drive Layout, Jayawanth Bharadwaj, was one of the first to take up rainwater-harvesting project. “We were completely dependent on borewell water till a year ago. When the borewell used to dry up, we would get tankers, which are very expensive. I realized there has to be a way out. That is when I started a door-to-door campaign in my layout to get people to set up rainwater harvesting systems. Some understood its importance, while some were wary of the investment. Gradually, it picked up.”

Besides the environmental benefits of recharging groundwater and financial savings, there are also huge energy savings, as explained below by Nathan Stell, a member of Rainwater Club in the city:

Nathan Stell, a member of Rainwater Club, points out the larger bounty from rainwater harvesting. Bangalore pumps water from the Cauvery, which is around 100 km away from the city and 500 metres below the city’s elevation. The amount of energy required to pump water to the millions of households is enormous, while an important feature of rainwater harvesting is saving energy. The water supply is far less expensive than tankers, that costs about Rs 50 per kilolitre. Groundwater recharging helps replenish borewells and raises the groundwater table. He also added that the quality of rainwater from the roof is high, and can be used for all kinds of household work and even filtered for drinking.

So go ahead and install that rainwater harvesting unit. And start reaping the benefits, besides feeling good about contributing to the environment!

Read the complete article here.
Home Page Image Courtesy: www.rainwaterharvesting.org/

Alcohol can be the cause of many evils. This was known by Mahatma Gandhi, as he encouraged abstinence among his followers. But it’s not an easy ideal to follow or preach.

Yet, this was achieved by the gutsy women of Bhilkeshwar in Chandrapur district, a few hours away from Gandhiji’s ashram in Gujarat. The women of this little village decided to take a firm stand against liquor after having suffered for its consequences since ages. Writes Madhavi Rajadhyaksha in this article in The Times of India:

The women first took up the cudgels against the liquor menace around six years ago. “When we’d stand in the village courtyard and chat in the evenings, we realised that our neighbours would come home drunk, eve-tease our children and even ill-treat their wives,” says Devangani Gajbhiye, explaining how the seeds of the movement were first sown. Cringing as she recalls those days, she says they were forced to act when they realised that menfolk in many households were blowing up money meant for the family’s grain and kerosene supplies on alcohol.

For the 10 women who initially formed a self-help group with the help of a local NGO called Association of Women Awareness and Rural Development (AWARD), the path to achieving their goals was not only difficult but also dangerous. Their targets were mainly the three local liquor shops on the main street, and they faced brutal retaliation. One of the protestors also lost her husband when he was stabbed to death by a local alcohol vendor. However, this did not break the resolve of these brave women. They laboured on with their cause, and it finally began to bear fruit.

Slowly the shops folded up, the policemen became more vigilant and the menfolk were forced to give up their habit. Today, 40 more women have joined the campaign, and there’s one proud achievement they all like to relate. “Nobody dares sell or drink alcohol in the village. Some villagers still go to neighbouring villages to get their quota, but can’t bring it back into our village,” they chorus. Buoyed by their success, neighbouring areas have taken a cue from the courageous women, and nearly 36 villages in the block have gone liquor-free.

As the sweet taste of victory sank in, the women formed a brigade of their own, taking on new challenges and crossing new milestones. With the backing of more voluntary organisations such as UNICEF, more self-help groups mushroomed and women began tucking away household savings, formed monitoring committees to keep a watch on the anganwadi workers and schoolteachers and even began addressing the village panchayats on safe drinking water and maternal care. Today, 80 per cent of deliveries take place in the hospital and every household has a toilet of its own. The self-help groups dole out money at lower interest rates than the local moneylender.

It is amazing how much a small group of women with no education or special skills, but a steely resolve and oodles of courage can achieve. Sticking to your cause against all odds can bring about a sea of change and positive impact on so many lives. This is a true inspiration for all of us.

Read the complete article here.

Home Page Image Courtesy: Google Images