Along with six other Gujarati housewives,she had gathered on March 15 1959 for rolling “papads” on the terrace of an old building in a South Mumbai suburb in order to supplement their meagre family income. Yesterday, Jaswantiben Jamnadas Popat, the sole survivor of the founding group of ’seven sisters’, celebrated 50 years of Lijjat along with 45,000 other women who form part of this women-only co-operative.

Started with a loan of Rs. 80 from a social worker and entrepreneur, Chaganlal Karamsi Parekh, the business grew quickly as word spread about the taste and quality of the papads (or “poppadoms” as they are known in other parts of the world). Zubair Ahmed tells the tale of the humble beginning in this BBC article:

Mrs Popat says: “We were semi-literate which restricted our chances to get jobs. But we realised our papad-making expertise could be used to earn small amounts of money to help our husbands reduce their financial responsibility.”

Lijjat is now a co-operative with a turnover of nearly $100m and a sustainable business model that provides opportunity for employment and financial independence to thousands of illiterate but skilled women who live in abject poverty. These women get a sense of empowerment by being able to earn a living, and can their children to school or improve their living conditions. This, according to Mr. Ahmed is the biggest reason behind Lijjat’s success.

Most of the 45,000-strong female workforce live in slums or one-room hutments, with communal bathrooms and toilets.

They are still part of what is known as the working class. But working for Lijjat Papads gives them financial security.

Read more about Lijjat and the women behind its success here.

Photo courtesy: BBC News

It has been difficult for us here at The Better India to continue to keep our spirits high during these times. The Mumbai tragedy has shaken our belief in a secure and progressive nation. And when we were just beginning to flounder in our faith of keeping this initiative alive, there appear sparks of hope in the form of people like V D Zhende, who did a great job of saving hundreds of lives during the CST station firing in Mumbai.

Mr. Zhende is a Railways timetable announcer at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. Nimisha Srivastava writes about Zhende in this article at IBNLive:

VD Zhende says, “I heard a loud explosion and then I saw public running. So, we started announcing for the government railway police (GRP) and the railway protection force (RPF).” 

However, the police for some reason did not appear on time.

“Only when public started coming with blood all over, I realised that there was some gunfight happening. So I started announcing that all passengers go out from platform 1 and not go towards the main line, recalls Zhende.

We thank people like Zhende and the numerous other unsung heroes who did their bit to save the lives of our countrymen.

Please click here to watch the video interview of Mr. Zhende.
Read the article here.

We find people complaining about bad governance and irresponsible government officials. We find elected representatives who are not doing their jobs well. We complain about the lack of transparency in the government system and the electoral process. We say that we have lost trust in the Indian democracy and it makes no difference whoever we vote for – everyone is equally corrupt. But, how many of us vote?

This is the gap being addressed by several NGO and individual movements. It has been found that most of the youth in the 18-25 year age group do not have a voter ID, and hence have never exercised their right to vote. It was also found that while there was tremendous enthusiasm amongst this youth to select their representatives, it all fizzled out to the magnitude of the bureaucratic procedure in achieving this goal. To enable these young people to become responsible citizens and exercise their right to vote, Action for Good Governance and Networking for India (AGNI), has decided to set up kiosks at colleges and allow the eligible voters to register with ease. Reports Times of India:

“For these Lok Sabha elections, we decided to take the water to the horse. AGNI will go from one college to another with the required forms and get students to fill them. We will also facilitate the registration of forms at the specific election registration office (ERO),” said Kulkarni, coordinator for Action for Good Governance and Networking for India (AGNI). She felt youngsters are charged up after Barack Obama’s win and want to ensure their chosen leaders to rise above petty politics and work for the development of the country.

Another NGO Swabhiman has also been taking similar steps to get the youth enlisted:

“We found that most collegians in the 18-25 age group didn’t have their names on the voters’ list, had no clue about the documents needed and didn’t know how to vote. We wanted them to snap out of the habit of cribbing about politicians and enforce their voting rights instead,” said Nitin Varayanan of Swabhiman, which has got 15,000 youngsters enlisted till date. The organisation recently launched a “One Youth One Vote” campaign across Maharashtra with a target of enlisting 1 lakh voters.

Those interested can either log onto their website or send an SMS, “OYOV”, to 55454 and volunteers will guide them on what to do.

Most people must be familiar with the “JaaGo Re! One Billion Votes” movement, which has been making a splash on television and radio channels as well. Their campaign involves an online voter registration module wherein people can print the form and get directions on what to do.

Founder Surendra Shrivastava said youngsters could fill the form online. “A printout of the completed form comes with an instruction sheet and a map of the ERO’s office. There is a facility on the website where one would get constant reminders through emails and SMSes. Even reasons for rejection of forms are stated,” he said.

If you haven’t registered yourself already, do so now! Until then, stop complaining about politicians you have not elected.

Read the complete article here.

For more information on JaaGo Re and to get yourself enlisted, visit their website: http://www.jaagore.com

Photo Credit: PRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images obtained from www.andhravoters.com

About DEEDS:
DEEDS is a Charity for the Hearing Impaired. It is an acronym that stands for Development Education Empowerment for the Disadvantaged in Society.

Their Vision:
‘To Enrich & Touch the lives of at least 10,000 deaf persons  by the end of this decade’. In pursuance of this Vision, so as to make the deaf financially Self Reliant & Contributors in main stream Society’.
 

Key Areas of Focus:
 - Free Education for the deaf
- Free Vocational Training for the deaf
- Ensuring Job Placements

Ongoing Projects: 

They have 11 ongoing projects in Mumbai ,Vadodara , Noida and Dehradun.  
Some of their projects are as follows:

• Noida Deaf Society – Noida (Computer centre providing Basic & Advanced Computer knowledge)
• DEEDS Ishara Initiative – Mumbai (Teaching English Literacy with the help of Sign Language)
• The Bajaj Institute of Learning – Dehradun (Provides education from KG to XIIth totally free
• DEEDS Catering Institute – Mumbai (Provides a one-year full-time diploma with stipend in catering certified by Maharashtra State Vocation Board)
• DEEDS LTMG Tailoring Project- Mumbai. It provides free training in the tailoring vocation.
• DEEDS Computer Center at Sanskardham at Goregaon. It imparts basic and advanced skills in computers.
• DEEDS Computer Center at Samvad Karnabadhir Prabodhini at Dombivali. It imparts basic and advanced skills in computer.
• DEEDS  Computer Rooms in  schools like Rochiram Thadani School for the Hearing Handicapped, Chembur and Pragati Vidyalaya for the deaf, Dadar.
• DEEDS also provide material support to 27 schools for the deaf in Mumbai as per requirements.

Achievements:

Their success rate in placements also has been considerable.  They have placed over 400 candidates in various fields like banking, hospitality, catering, house-keeping, traffic attendents at petrol pumps, Brew Masters, Jewellery-making, diamond sorting, clerical jobs and back office processes. They are constantly striving to improve our ties with the various sectors of industry to identify lucrative opportunities for their candidates. 

Upcoming Events:
DEEDS is conducting a fund raising event on the 22nd October in Mumbai. It is a hilarious play with a comic twist, adapted and directed by Shubha Khote. Click here to know more about the event.

Stay tuned for volunteering opportunities with DEEDS.

Contact DEEDS at:
Development, Education, Empowerment of the Disadvantaged in Society
8 Bajaj Arcade,
31, Union Park, Khar(W),
Mumbai 400 052. India.
Tel: +91-22-26005083/84.
Email: humanity@deeds-india.com

Read more about DEEDS and their work at their website: http://www.deeds-india.com/

Akanksha Foundation, a non-profit organization trying to improve the lives of slum children via the medium of education, recently held a literary fest. The objective of the fest was to get these children excited about reading, and also to explore their and encourage their creativity in writing and expression.

Preeti Srivastav reports in ExpressIndia about the programme in which more than 300 children participated and enjoyed. Excerpts:

“Nothing can replace the joy of reading, but children are so over burdened with their courses that they tend to loose interest. We are conducting festivals of this kind to encourage reading among the children. These children hardly come across good books. So we are here to bring some good reading to them,” shares Reeves Rodrigues, general manager, Aakanksha foundation.

Read the rest of the article here, and check out the Akanksha Foundation and the work they do here. For people who love to work with children, especially in Mumbai and Pune, they could offer several opportunities for volunteering.

Alright, the restaurants talked about in this article are not quite as philanthropic as the title seems to suggest. Yet, it is a great business model where the poor benefit too. Those of you who might have never been to Mumbai, India’s financial capital, there is a possibility that you are unaware of the restaurants in this city which feed the poor and needy, based on the donation or charity they receive on a daily basis.

The New York Times carries this article in its Mumbai Journal, written by Anand Giridharadas:

The world is filled with eating houses of every kind, from hamburger joints to three-star restaurants. There are places you drive through and places where you sit down. But the world may be unfamiliar with a Mumbai variation on the theme: the hunger cafe.

It takes a city like Mumbai, formerly Bombay, frenetic, transactional and compassionate, to erect eateries for the malnourished. They are not soup kitchens, for denizens of this city have little time to serve other people food. In a city that never stops selling stocks and shooting movies, they prefer drive-by benevolence.

In addition to describing the business cum charity model of these restaurants, donors and beneficiaries, the article also talks about the unique ‘latent’ sense of charity that we Indians possess. Essentially, the people who are hungry and in need of food sit outside these ‘hunger cafes’ waiting. Frequently, one or more cars drive by and deposit their ‘tip’ with the restaurant manager. Based on the amount of this tip, the manager invites a certain number of poor hungry souls waiting outside to a full meal.

Personally, I have seen many affluent business class people offering their money here – sometimes out of sympathy, sometimes as a dutiful charity and sometimes to appease one of their Gods. Whatever might be the reason, it is nice to see that hundreds of people go to sleep on a full stomach due to these restaurants and their respective donors.

Read the complete article here.

Kiran Wadhwa reports on the “Urban Oasis in D lane” in this article at the Hindustan Times.
The article talks about how the residents of this neighbourhood have been striving for over 12 years to keep their vicinity clean and green.

Excerpts:

Children who help keep the lane clean get a chocolate as a reward. “I planted this tree when I was four,” says 14-year-old Kruti Shah proudly. “Every Sunday, all the neighbourhood children come down and either plant saplings, do vermiculture or just clean the area.”

Additional interesting thing about this neighbourhood is the way they manage their wet garbage. The garbage is put into a vermiculture pit and the subsequent fertilizer that is produced is used to nurture the various trees and plants in this area.
The ‘D’ Road is 600 metres long and located in Marine Drive.

Read the complete article here.