The Blue Whale Challenge, also known as the Blue Whale Suicide Game, is a social media phenomenon which enters social media networks from secretive groups. Usually considered to be an urban myth, the game has gotten increased attention after a spate of teen suicides were said to be linked to the game and is now making sinister headlines. It is not a downloadable game, app or software.

The game reportedly started in Russia in 2013 with F57, one of the names of the so-called “death group” of VKontakte, Russia’s largest social network and allegedly caused its first suicide in 2015. Philipp Budeikin, a former psychology student who was expelled from the university, claimed that he invented the game.

According to Budeikin, his purpose was to “clean” the society by pushing to eliminate those he deemed as having no value.

According to him, his victims were nothing but “biological waste” and all he was doing was cleaning society. The term “blue whale” comes from the phenomenon of beached whales, which is linked to suicide.

Beaching is a phenomenon in which cetaceans strand themselves on land, usually on a beach.

The Blue Whale game uses social media to target vulnerable adolescents and uses abuse tactics, grooming and manipulation to drive them to commit suicide. Spread over 50 days, the challenge reportedly instructs participants to complete 50 tasks that include self-harm, body mutilation and watching scary videos.

The participants, who are emotionally vulnerable adolescents, are made to believe through warnings and messages that their backing out would impact the lives of their near and dear ones. As the game progresses, participants reach the final day that supposedly culminates in the act of suicide.

The contestants must prove that they have completed the tasks by sending proof, pictures and videos to their “curator” or the “whale” who has been instructing them all this while. It is clear that the game’s objective is to lead the target to his or her death. The series of steps and messaging creates a situation where the victim gets hypnotised and follows the suggestions scrupulously.

The challenge is understood as- to find victims, create an emotional bond with them through arbitrary set of steps demanding completion in order to move forward in the game and then hope they follow through to step 50. ‘Jump off a high building. Take your life.’  It’s simply a control and manipulation scheme directed toward vulnerable people who are predisposed to have serious thoughts of suicide, loneliness, and death. When a person is suicidal, they feel, most of all, alone and worthless. The game creator understands these feelings and is taking advantage of them. Some experts believe these tasks may convince an impressionable young person to hurt themselves because of the “whale’s” influence. A number of tasks involve talking to a “whale” or Skyping with them. This might be the time when psychological manipulation takes effect. Teenagers generally take these risks because they are vulnerable and prone to seek validation. It also makes them feel like they are a part of something that is bigger than them. It has been observed that some teenagers have very low self-esteem, and rely significantly on peer approval. For them the external environment becomes a source of inspiration, which is why they are willing to do anything to project a certain image.

Especially so because the game has its own community of other equally vulnerable adolescents.

To understand the psychological underpinnings of Blue Whale, one sees how the game attacks the adolescents and youth with predisposed vulnerability to low self esteem, suicidal intent, depression and possible traits of borderline personality disorder or other psychiatric vulnerability (by a matter of chance, since the revelation of how the people reached out to is blurred) and this makes them the targeted users of Blue Whale.

The game makes it appear to the user as if it is another community to where they belong (since those playing Blue Whale can exchange messages and talk about tasks) and then slowly induces risk taking behaviour at the cost of psychological and emotional vulnerability of the users. The game is parasitic to adolescent and youth mental health.

This challenge has been linked to more than 150 deaths across the world. There have been reported cases of suicide due to the challenge across the word: Three cases from the United States, two from Brazil, two from Argentina, one from Italy, more than 130 cases of suicide in Russia, one in China and at least 90 victims of the challenge are identified in Portugal. Now, it is also being traced in India. The first case of alleged Blue Whale suicide in India was reported on July 30, when a 14-year-old boy jumped to death from the seventh floor of a building in Mumbai. On August 10, a Class VII student in Indore was pulled away before he could take the final leap. He apparently recorded all 50 stages in his school diary. A Class X student in West Bengal, allegedly playing the game, committed suicide on August 12. His body was found in the bathroom, his face covered in a plastic bag, with a cord around his neck. Recently it was heard on the morning of 29^th August that the next victim was a 17 year old boy in Tondiarpet, who left a suicide note and evidence showed that the reason behind is suicide was the game, Blue Whale. The most recent incident reported today, (August 31) is of a 19 year old, second year college student, named Vignesh who was from Thirumangalam, Madurai. He committed suicide by hanging himself on Wednesday at around 4:15 pm.

There is an urgent need to address what can we do to prevent other adolescents from falling prey to this game. Parents, school and the health care professionals (both, medical and mental) are the major takeholders that can play a key role in educating about the harmful impact of Blue Whale and thus, hep prevent our youth from access. One of the important tasks is also to identify potential victims through social media profiling of children, supervision of their web activity and changes in behaviour. Part of this can be done by the parents, friends and through schools. Children are more cooperative with their schools and amenable to receiving suggestions from their teachers rather than from their parents. Hence the schools have a big role in ensuring that the Internet addiction risk of every kind is mitigated.

Some signs to watch out for that will help identify adolescents at risk are: signs of self-harm, strange updates on social media, sympathising with other suicidal individuals, low and depressive mood swings and unhappiness, withdrawal from friends and family and activities one enjoyed earlier.

India’s Ministry of Electronics and IT has directed internet platforms like Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Yahoo to remove the links to the online game. This follows a petition from the Ministry of Women and Child Development, demanding a ban on the game. The Russian Duma (parliament) passed a bill on May 26, introducing criminal responsibility for creating pro-suicide groups on social media. President Vladimir Putin has signed a law imposing criminal penalties for inducing minors to commit suicide. The law imposes maximum punishment of 6 years in prison. Despite these steps taken by the government, other steps and precautions that can be followed for effective outcome include- awareness programmes for children and parents; introducing a “Whistle Blower” scheme where students report to the authorities about any abnormal behaviour of other students; appointing a psychology expert as an “Internet Counsellor” to visit the school once in 15 days, to spend some time addressing the students and to meet any children who would like to seek guidance.

The emergence and proliferation of the Blue Whale Challenge on social media provides a somber reminder of the need to reinforce positive interactions for adolescents and youth, when the internet has become ubiquitous. The well being of our youth is at threat and we all can take part, understand and take care.

Written by Anoushka Thakkar (Blogger) and Pragya Lodha (Associate for Programme Development) The MINDS Foundation, Vadodara, Gujarat.

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Alcoholism, gambling and domestic abuse were once rampant in villages like Khushiyari, Deura, Bhadrasi, Ramsipur and Jagardevpur in Uttar Pradesh, but today these places are known for empowering the women who live there. Twenty-five women dressed in green sarees go on rounds of these villages every day and ensure there is not just peace, but discipline too. Not very long ago, the same women were helpless victims of domestic abuse.

One night in 2015, Divyanshu Upadhyay, a  political science student from Kashi Vidyapeeth, Banaras, was returning from a birthday party with his friends. The boys spent their spare time hanging out in the Assi Ghat in Banaras, and what they saw here on that night changed their lives.

“We saw a lady and her two children looking for some food in the filthy and smelly garbage. Few dogs were also doing the same beside them.  We managed to get some bread and offered it to the kids. But we couldn’t forget that scene for the next few days,” says Divyanshu.

The boys then decided to round their friends from Kashi Vidyapeeth, Banaras Hindu University and Delhi University and do something about this situation. Ravi Mishra, a senior student and IAS aspirant, led the initiative of going to the slums between Durga Kund and Ravidas Park.

The slum had around 500 people. The old and young survived by begging, pulling rickshaws or selling things like balloons etc. at the signals. None of them went to school as they weren’t aware of the free education as well as meals at the government schools.

Divyanshu, Ravi and his friends made it their mission to see that these kids get an education, and started a drive to send the children to school.They also decided to clean their city, starting with the Durga Kund area in the centre of Banaras. Soon,15 students would clean the area every Sunday.

Formation of the NGO

As people came to know about their work, the team’s spirit was boosted, and they registered themselves as an NGO, Hope Welfare Trust in March 2015.

By this time the team had 30-35 students from Kashi Vidyapeeth, BHU and DU. They continued to visit the slums and started to build a bond with the people there. While talking to many of them, the team realised that the slums and its problems are the results of migration from the nearby villages to the cities.

“We realised that we need to reach to the root cause of the problem, which was migration from villages. For this it was important to develop the villages and not the slums,” says Divyanshu.

A survey was conducted in the villages that surrounded Banaras by the NGO, with the help of MSW students. The survey highlighted that the migration rate to Banaras was more from the villages that lacked electricity, roads and educational institutions.

On August 9, 2015, the team visited Khushiyari village near Banaras and found out that other than lack of electricity or roads, the biggest problem in the village was alcoholism, gambling and as a result of the former two, every woman in the village was a victim of domestic abuse.

“When we first stepped into the village and asked a woman standing at her doorstep a question, she did not even respond, instead, she went in and called her husband to speak to us. It was really awkward for students like us who had seen girls excelling in all fields in the cities. Small children would sit in group of 4-5 and gamble. Men were seen drunken on the roads and would hit their wives every night. Women were absolutely helpless in the village,” says Divyanshu, now Secretary of Hope Welfare Trust.

The birth of Green Group

As these were just a group of students, who were managing everything from their pocket money without any financial, political or media backing, they wanted to take it one step at a time. The team started talking to these women in the absence of their husbands and explained them the importance of education. The team would teach and discuss with these women under a tree in the village.

“By the time we started working in Khushiyari, more students had joined our NGO. We divided our teams and every team would visit the village to conduct classes whenever they had free time on weekdays and on Sundays,” says Divyanshu.

The classes started with just few women, and soon, each woman of the village knew how to write her name.

There were clear instructions from the HWT team that none of the women would use their thumb impression for any legal documents henceforth. This was like a sense of achievement for these women who had never been out of their houses and they started feeling empowered. The classes also included the heroic stories of Rani Laxmibai and Savitribai Phule, which made the women realise their power.

They were also taught how to lodge a complaint in case of domestic abuse. Within few months the students helped each woman open their own bank account. The women were also given self-defence training.

Now, it was time to empower them financially.  The team approached a Woman’s group in Banaras, who travelled to the village and taught them skills like stitching, beauty salon work and knitting.

The team then selected 25 women in the village who could go out spread the word, and help empower others. The students bought them green sarees and jute bags and formed a ‘Green Group’ of 25 empowered women.

The Green group was supposed to make a round of the village every day and tell people about the harms of drinking, gambling and abusing. They were also instructed to complain to the police if things went out of hand. The women would try and stop any domestic violence they witnessed and then lodge a complaint against the culprit.

The students then invited the Superintendent of Police of the area to felicitate these women. At the event, the SP provided these women with an I-card and announced that they will be considered Police-Mitra (Police- friends) from now on and any complaint from them would result in immediate action from the police.

Due to the effort of the team and Green group the village now also has electricity and toilets at each household. The women also emphasize on stopping the use of plastic and using jute bags. They also make sure that the village is cleaned every day and plantation is done at open spaces.

More than 300 students changing one village at a time

On the other hand, Hope Welfare Trust is a group of more than 300 students now. The team uses social media to reach out to the officers and authorities to make any work done at a particular village.The team has also made whatssapp group of Gram Pradhans wherein they get motivated and inspired by each other to develop their village.

After Khushiyari, the team has worked in a similar way in five more villages in the past 2 years. The team takes a monthly report from all the green groups in these villages and works and guides these groups accordingly.

Recently during the UP elections, the Green Group women urged other women to cast their vote.

Hope Welfare Trust is now making an appeal to the government to declare one day in the year as Grameen Diwas (Village Day) to get the focus of the entire country, media, tourists and the government itself on villages on this day.

“Like we celebrate NRI day or Women’s day and those days really help to focus on those issues, if we celebrate Grameen Diwas then we can definitely get the entire country’s attention on the problems faced by these villages. NRI’s belonging to these villages would come back on this day and help it improve. Media might focus on the village tourism and various problems too. And the Panchayat will be responsible to show what they have done on this day every year,” says Divyanshu.

The students of Hope believe that if the youth of our country work in the right direction and women are empowered, then we can soon change the sad plight of many villages in India.

Know more about Green Group and Hope welfare Trust here. You can also call Divyanshu on 7785814237 or follow him on Twitter

The Sikh Human Development Foundation (SHDF) in Washington, USA has been working towards the education of underprivileged children in India, and has provided scholarships worth ₹12 crore since 2001!

The foundation provides scholarships to students who are academically brilliant but cannot afford to pursue higher education. Although the SHDF focuses on children from Punjab, they also extend assistance to the youth in neighbouring areas.

“The SDHF has so far given more than 5,000 scholarships to students. 2,700 students have graduated and found jobs, and some of them are now helping other needy children” Gajinder Ahuja, the chairman of SDHF told Times Now.

One such beneficiary of the fund is Jasdeep Singh Juneja, who is an IT professional. He now works at ATT in Dallas, Texas.

Juneja says, “I would not have been in the US, had SHDF not helped me out. My family was not able to support me, and it is only because of financial assistance at a very crucial time that I was able to become a professional. Now I can support the education of my own younger brother.”

You may also like: Sikh Volunteers Feed Thousands of Rohingya Refugees Langar in Bangladesh!

There are numerous people like Juneja who have benefitted from the funds collected and distributed by the SDHF. A media release confirmed that the participants in the latest event by the SDHF donated funds for 420 scholarships worth more than ₹32,000 each. The event also featured actor and comedian Gurpreet Ghuggi.

Education is certainly a priceless gift and the Sikh community in Washington is providing an invaluable service to underprivileged youth in Punjab. The youth can now pursue higher education in the stream they wish to take up, and in turn, once they acquire jobs, can continue the cycle of helping other children.

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Historically, virginity tests have been performed on women to regulate their sexual activity and for men to assume control over their sexual behaviour. These are often performed without the woman’s consent. As women’s bodies become objects of male domination, these tests have been used to justify violence enacted towards them. They are still practised in a number of countries, despite being identified as a form of sexual abuse.

In some cultures, virginity tests are carried out to gather proof of a bride’s virginity. For instance, take the Kanjarbhat community.

According to their tradition, the panchayat sits outside a newly-married couple’s house or even bedroom before they consummate.

The act is performed on a white bedsheet, acting as proof of the bride’s virginity the next morning. If the sheet contains a blood stain, the bride passes the test. If it doesn’t, she is accused of salacious behaviour followed by a number of social problems.

A virginity test relies on the false assumption that the presence of the hymen determines if a woman is a virgin, but that is not so. It is a sexist, harmful practice which preserves the notion that it is unacceptable for women to have sexual relations outside of marriage, but not for men.

Krishna and Aruna Indrekar, a married couple from the Kanjarbhat community decided to shun this custom. They stood against this humiliating practice and have faced ten years of ostracism by the elders.

According to Pune Mirror, they got married in 1996 by skipping the customary ceremony and getting a court marriage instead. They also refused to follow the virginity test. The couple was socially boycotted by the elders after they refused to pay the penalty. Their fight has now found a new platform. Krishna and Aruna have joined hands with the youth from the community to oppose unjust practices of their caste panchayat.

A few years ago, some 40 members had formed a WhatsApp group called ‘Stop the VRitual’, spreading awareness about these practices. The youth plan to hold workshops in their community to ‘introduce, discuss and plan.’

“We are creating awareness since the caste panchayat issued a social boycott in 2006. I had tried hard to convince them to stop the virginity test, agnipariksha and shudhikaran. People from the Kanjarbhat community have been working in progressive fields like medicine, politics and education and still, they refuse to change their mentality,” Krishna told the Pune Mirror.

Vivek Tamaichekar, a Masters student at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, was the one who formed the WhatsApp group. He told The Indian Express that he and his fiance are against this practice, but felt that just opposing it won’t be enough. So, they held a meeting of all the members of the group in Akurdi on December 3 to plan an awareness campaign.

To their shock, many women have stood in support of the virginity tests. Those who have opposed it, have received no support from the police. Some members of the panchayat have even claimed that no such tests have been performed on couples.

However, the WhatsApp group members hope that they will gradually be able to spread more awareness and help unwilling couples join the fight so that they can together stop such unethical practices in the community.

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Sir Alex Ferguson, the legendary manager of Manchester United football club, once said about young players, “If you’re good enough, you’re old enough.” Our Constitution, however, does not believe the same when it comes to contesting elections to the Legislative Assembly and Parliament.

Under Article 84 (b) of the Indian Constitution, the minimum age for becoming a candidate for the Lok Sabha is 25 years. For a candidate to the Legislative Assembly, Article 173 (b) prescribes a similar age limit of 25 years.

As per recent census figures, more than half our population is under the age of 25.  Does this age limit for contesting elections to important institutions of democracy make sense at a time when people under the age of 25 are emerging on the political scene?

In January 2010, the Supreme Court was confronted with a public interest litigation, which raised a pertinent question. Why can’t the age limit for contesting Lok Sabha and legislative assembly elections fall from 25 years to 21 when three decades ago Parliament passed a constitutional amendment bringing down the age for voting from 21 to 18?

“What is the hurry? Why not have some experience of politics before entering the fray,” responded the Supreme Court bench led by former Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan.

What is crucial to note is the court’s approach to the question. The familiar refrain is one that young people lack the maturity and experience in dealing with complex concerns of governance. In 2003, the United Kingdom’s Election Commission issued a consultation paper on the same issue, while also dealing with demands to reduce the age of candidacy to 18 from 21.

“The main argument supporting the status quo has been that most voters under 18 and candidates under 21 would not be sufficiently mature to use those rights properly, because they would—have insufficient understanding of the issues, be more likely to act irresponsibly, and be more easily influenced by others,” the paper stated.

In 2006, the UK Parliament lowered the age limit to 18.

Let’s take the case of the United States. One has to be 25 years to be a candidate for the House of Representative and 30 years for a US Senator. Founders of the US Constitution had initially set the age limit to 21, but an amendment tabled by one of its members sought to change it back to 25. The concerned lawmaker articulated that there should be a period between being “free to manage one’s own affairs and managing the affairs of a great nation.”

The early years of India’s Independence was marked by real turmoil, low literacy levels, a critical shortage of skilled workforce and a political sphere dominated by veterans from the Independence struggle.

With inspiration taken from the constitutions of the UK and US, it isn’t a leap of imagination to suggest that our founding fathers probably thought the same.

The very concept of establishing a specific minimum age for voting or contesting elections is arbitrary, considering that people mature at different times in their lives.

To establish a working legal system in a democracy, however, one cannot depend on the subjective test of individual maturity, and lawmakers have to determine a particular age.

At what age do young people have the necessary intellectual and emotional capacity to deal with that responsibility and understand the broader ramifications of their actions? That’s hard to discern.

Read also: NOTA Is Good for Electoral Democracy, but It Needs This One Crucial Change 

In the medical community, the growing consensus is that the brain is not fully finished developing until about age 25. At the age of 18, when Indians are allowed to vote, the prefrontal cortex or the part of the brain that deals with controlling impulses and imparting organised behaviour isn’t fully developed. This is an argument that some have made against lowering the age limit from 25 years.

But the obvious question is if people need to achieve a certain degree of maturity for voting, why give universal enfranchisement at 18? Giving voting power only to the mature, wise and cultured breeds a particular kind of elitism that Indian democracy broke away from in a much shorter span of time than its counterparts in the United States and the United Kingdom.

By vesting individuals with the power of the vote, the underlying assumption is that the person is capable enough to know what he/she wants and which political candidate can get it done for them.

Moreover, as a society, the whole process of fixing the age limit must depend on the age demographics. In India, where more than half the population are under 25, the current age limit set under the law to contest elections feels like an anomaly.

You cannot have one age group that isn’t vested in the hopes and aspirations of young people determining policy that might have a detrimental effect on their future. It’s not as if our elected representatives don’t reach out to young people, but there is something incredibly unrepresentative about our MPs with an average age is 56 years representing a populace in which half the constituents are below 25. The generation gap is real.

A democracy represents a battlefield of divergent ideas. Ideally, an election should determine which candidate presents the best or most convincing idea. If a 23-year-old can manage to do it, and if voters cast their ballot in that person’s favour, who are we to judge? Admittedly there are a lot of other structural issues that our polity needs to address—intraparty democracy, anti-defection provisions, money power, anonymous corporate funding, and dynasty politics, among others.

Read also: Our Democracy Needs to Be Better. Fixing This Law Might Make All the Difference 

Nonetheless, the supposed risks with electing a 21 or 23-year-old, are the same as casting your ballot in favour of a 40-year-old. There are inherent risks with voting for someone espousing a particular caste, class or religious identity, irrespective of age.

The very project of democracy entails real risks. Should that stop people from voting for a young candidate who represents the hopes and visions of a particular segment of society? It is not as if these candidates emerge out of thin air and win. These young candidates also have to undergo the grind of engaging the electorate, addressing their concerns and finally convincing them that they can get the job done.

So, what should be the age limit for contesting elections?  In 2014, the Aam Aadmi Party wanted to lower the age limit for contesting MP and MLA elections to 21 years from 25. Others have suggested 23.

Whatever the consensus, the Parliament must sit down and amend the current rules, and come to an agreement which will allow candidates from the age demographic with the highest numbers in this country to find some degree of representation in our temples of democracy.

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While his friends and acquaintances hang around cafes or are found hunched over smartphones, Rohan Parekh, a 16-year-old student of Ahmedabad International School, is working to better the lives of farmers. Rohan was deeply affected when he came across the news that 20 farmers died and 25 lost their vision due to infection caused by spraying poisonous pesticides in the farms in the Yavatmal district of the drought-prone Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

Also Read: A Walking Stick That Charges a Phone & Lights Your Way, This UP Teen’s Innovation Is a Wonder!

He decided that he needed to do something about it, and took some time out of the gruelling schedule of the school, to educate himself about the harmful effects of pesticides. The result of that was a unique campaign which educates farmers about the many hazards of pesticides and teaches them how to use them carefully.

As a part of this campaign, Rohan has prepared an educational kit and distributed about 500 masks to the farmers for free.

Rohan recently visited Kuvara and Vagdod villages in the Patan district of Gujarat, equipped with the educational kit of placards and banners showing the right way of using the pesticides.

Working with the local NGO, Rohan spoke to the farmers about the health hazards of the pesticides. He showed them samples of face shields, safety glasses, hard hats, safety shoes, goggles, rubber gloves, vests and earplugs which could work as protective gears for them.

Explaining to the farmers the use of what is called the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), he emphasised that the right clothing and devices be used to protect the body from contact with chemicals such as pesticides.

Rohan primarily focused on the three factors affecting PPE’s chemical resistance—the chemical properties of the pesticides, the exposure time and the exposure position.Appealing to the farmers to use only certified pesticides, he also asked them to read the pesticide label which provides information on the correct equipment to be used for the specific chemical.

Also Read: No Pesticides, & yet Bountiful Cotton Crops – the Secret of Farmers in Haryana & Punjab

How do pesticides enter the body?

Rohan explained that pesticides enter the body through three main routes: skin, eyes, and nose, and PPEs are designed to protect exposure to humans from a wide variety of pesticide-related toxicities.

Long-sleeved shirts and gloves prevent skin (dermal) exposure to arms and hands; respirators protect lungs and the respiratory system while goggles and protective glasses shield eyes.

Rohan also worked on some do’s and don’ts for farmers:

1) Be careful that pesticide does not spill out of the nozzle while
filling the spray tank.
2) Do not store food or water in the pesticide containers.
3) Spray only in the direction of the air.
4) Don’t blow into the nozzle to cleanse it.
5) Do not eat or smoke while spraying pesticides.
6) Don’t allow children to spray.
7) Don’t keep eatables on the site for spraying
8) Wash your hands and face before meal and smoking.

In addition to the above, farmers also need to be aware that the following steps should not be skipped after they have used pesticides—

1) Laundry care: Remove clothes after spraying is over and wash them immediately or wash separately from family laundry. It is crucial to wear chemical resistant gloves while handling contaminated clothing.

2) Disposing of pesticides: With the use of the pictorial kit, Rohan explained how to rinse the container clean and eliminate it as regular solid waste.

In the course of his stay with the farmers, Rohan learnt that some of them realise the importance of protective gear. As one farmer aged 90, said, “Prevention is better than cure.”

Rohan is currently working on a video presentation covering all aspects of the use of pesticides.

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A disrupter—as we understand the term in business—is someone who upsets the apple cart and changes the way business has traditionally unfolded. A disrupter could be one who crashes the prices, one who comes from behind and steals the show through an innovative thought, or someone who forever changes the way the business works in the future.

However, what does one call someone who disrupts the way of life in an entire region? Someone who puts new aspirations and thoughts into the minds of the young? Who changes the power equation within the family? Rocks the whole boat so to speak?

In this case, one calls him Dhiraj Dolwani.

In 2008, Dolwani, an M-tech from BITS-Pilani, decided to quit a career that spanned the IT and BPO sectors to set up his own company B2R (Business To Rural). An avid trekker, it always troubled Dolwani when he saw the youth in the hills question why they need to educate themselves when they had no opportunity to use the education. No jobs, no prospects and nothing to look forward to except migrating to the cities and living a wretched life more often than not. “I saw so many things broken and began to ask what I was going to do about it,” he says.

By September 2009, Dolwani and his former colleague and co-founder R. Venkatesh Iyer (with personal savings and some angel investors) had started the first centre in Orakhan, Uttarakhand, with 20-odd employees.

The company got its first round of funding in February 2010 and growth post this was rapid. In two years, B2R had four centres doing back-end work for clients spread as far as the United States and employing close to 150 people.

As the number of locals who were employed in the BPO rose, so did the disruption the new and alien environment was creating in the community. The young people especially women were not going to the cities to find a job but working in an office environment not far from home—changing gender equations and long-established traditions in the community.

Local women aged 22-25 started working for the first time and became important earning members of the family. In some cases, they were the only earning members.

The starting salary was low (Rs 3500-4000 a month), but for high performers, it could rise to Rs 9500-10,000 within 2-3 years.

“The change is bigger than it appears. As happens in these parts, as an economic contributor, these women began to have a greater say in household matters” says Himjoli’s founder Pankaj Wadhwa who has closely followed B2R’s journey and acts like a mentor and guide to the business.

In a region where annual earned income for families is as low as Rs 6000, a monthly salary of this magnitude is like a “mini-fortune,” he adds.

At a typical centre of B2R, young women and men work together in close proximity, sitting next to each other and chatting freely— something that is alien to the culture of the region.

Women, post-training and after a few months of working, began dressing differently. “Jeans and other western clothing became the norm; the aspirations of the people working at our centres changed as did their way of thinking.”

By 2013, the company had six centres, 335 odd employees and was looking at further expansion when its second round of funding ran into trouble, and the investor pulled out. “This is a business where you burn before you earn and the business needed far more patient capital than the investors were willing to give”, explains Dolwani. The investor was keen on quicker returns than the business was generating.

The financial crisis in 2013 coincided with a personal one for Dolwani when he was diagnosed with a serious illness and hospitalised for a few months. At some point, Dolwani even felt that it would be the end of the road for B2R—his illness and the investors pulling the carpet at the same time seemed like more than a coincidence.

But when Dolwani discussed options with his employees, many agreed to take salary cuts but wanted the business to continue because the possibility of leaving their homes and moving to the bigger cities in search of jobs was not an attractive one for most.

The company downsized, reduced its monthly outgo and started focusing more on our customers than investors. Within two years by 2015, B2R reached an operational break even, and now in 2017, it expects to make a modest profit. It’s back to six centres and 300 employees today.

But more than the financial rewards, the fringe benefits of B2R’s journey is what gladdens the hearts of its promoters. All these youngsters who would otherwise have headed to cities are earning and contributing to their own environment.

Recently—having studied B2R’s journey from a distance—the governor of Yucatan in Southeastern Mexico asked them to help set up similar centres in their province. As a result, five locals from B2R’s Uttarakhand centres have been to Mexico to train people, none of whom had visited even Delhi before this!

Changes in the social fabric are also welcome. Women are not only getting married later than they would have but are even choosing who to marry.

Dolwani recalls the story of two of his initial cohort of staffers in 2009—a young man named Deepak and a young woman named Deepa met at B2R, fell in love, rose through the ranks to become supervisors (and subsequently left to move onto newer assignments) and recently got married. Marriages are apparently not always made in heaven; some are made at B2R, he adds in jest.

(This article has been written by Anjuli Bhargava and was originally published here: https://tinyurl.com/y939nr5r)

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A Uttar Pradesh bridegroom found an unusual way of celebrating one of the happiest moments of his life!

Tapan Pandey, from the city of Ballia in Uttar Pradesh, welcomed some special guests to celebrate a new chapter of his life with his wife, Anjali Mishra.

These were none other than some orphaned and differently-abled children.

The newly-wed also pledged to donate his eyes on the auspicious occasion – which was graced by doctors from Bihar Hindu University.

Doing away with the custom of dowry, he asked the bride’s family to donate five saplings instead.

Tapan, who currently works in an administrative position at Indian Space Research Organisation, spoke to the Times of India, “They are also part of society, and I am happy to share this event with them.”

It isn’t just Tapan who is setting the trend for new-age couples. But the past few years have seen some exceptional couples who have broken stereotypes! Here’s a list of a few of them.

The single dad who fought for adoption and then had a wedding reception with a change.

On January 1, 2016, Aditya Tiwari, a resident of Pune, made history by becoming India’s youngest single parent to adopt a special child. He adopted Binney, a child living with Down syndrome. He fought a rigorous fight to change the adoption policies in the country for over two years. (Read his story here).

He made headlines yet again when he got married. The guests at his reception included 10,000 homeless, aged people and orphans. Over a 1000 animals from a zoo in the vicinity were also fed along with hundreds of stray dogs in his locality. Apart from planting 1000 saplings, he even had books and medicines in mind as return gifts to all his special guests.

The Malayali Bride who asked for 50 books instead of Gold as Mehr

A postgraduate in political science, Kerala’s Sahla Nechiyil decided to follow mehr, the customary exchange of goods and golds gave to the bride by the bridegroom during marriage with a change. Instead of lavish clothes or jewellery, the unconventional bride made an unusual request of her husband. 50 books as mehr, she told him. Read more about her story here.

This Gujarat businessman dad who inviting 18,000 widows to his son’s wedding

For years widows have been looked down upon and ostracised during the most auspicious functions, simply because of the superstitious belief that their presence at these functions is a bad omen. But one man decided to break this stereotype and turn it on its head. Gujarat businessman Jitendra Patel opened the doors of his son’s wedding for over 18,000 widows.

They blessed the bride and groom and were presented with a blanket and a sapling each. Of the number of widows who attended, over 500 of them from underprivileged backgrounds were gifted a milking cow each, to help promote their livelihood. Read more here.

Another Gujarat businessman who decided to save money on his son’s wedding to fund mass wedding ceremony for over 100 girls.

Another Gujarat businessman decided to do away with the quintessential band baaja big fat Indian wedding for his son. Instead, Gopal Vastapara, with all the money he saved on his own son’s wedding, funded a samuhik vivah a mass wedding ceremony for 100 girls from underprivileged families.

All of these couples not only pledged to save the girl child but also work towards protecting the environment on their wedding day. Read more here.

Read more: 12 Unusual Weddings That Will Forever Change the Way You Think

These 258 Surat bridegrooms who cycled to their weddings to raise awareness about traffic & pollution

Over 258 Surat bridegrooms decided to make a sweeping and important statement on the wedding day when they decided to pedal their way to their wedding with community leaders and family members, instead of arriving in cars or on horses, to encourage people to switch to sustainable practices. Read more here.

The IRS couple who spent their wedding money on the education of kids of farmers who committed suicide

IRS couple, Abhay Deware and Priti Kumbhare decided to trade a lavish wedding to spend money on the education of children of farmers who committed suicide. The couple also donated Rs. 20,000 each to families of 10 farmers, where the farmer was the sole bread-earner but had committed suicide due to mounting debts and successive crop failures. They also donated books worth Rs. 52,000 to five libraries in Amravati. Read more about their story here.

These brides, bridegrooms and their families have probably changed the definition of Indian weddings! Let’s hope, their unusual weddings inspire many more modern-day couples to have a wedding with a cause!

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Historians will tell you that a burst of creativity occurs when we start believing that the search for solutions to complex problems has come to an end and there is no light ahead. This explosion is fate’s way of reminding us that there is always something just over the curve of innovation.

As we face mounting challenges, social entrepreneurs are pairing their ingenuity and learning, with a passion for bringing lasting solutions to several entrenched problems at a time when the world has never needed them more.

One of the most challenging issues of our times is unemployment, which is mostly the result of an inevitable, but painful historical transition.

An enterprising couple from Mumbai, Kishor Kher and his wife Mrinalini, is working with school dropouts in both villages and urban slums across the country to train them in livelihood trades and vocations.

In the process, they are nurturing grass-roots social entrepreneurship so that these barefoot professionals take control of their own lives and steer their path out of poverty and hopelessness.

Volunteerism runs in Kishor’s blood. In 1928, Kishor’s grandfather, Mr BG Kher, the first Premier of the Bombay Province, happened to visit the present Bandra-East area. The appalling conditions of the 100-odd tanner families who inhabited the area touched him deeply.

Also Read: This Man’s Low-Cost Technique Has Helped Hundreds of Struggling Farmers

An urge to help them and uplift the area which was a chaotic slum led to the birth of the Kherwadi Social Welfare Association. Kher was not an archetypal politician; he was a man with a social vision.

While he was involved in the freedom struggle, leading two ministries in 1937 and 1946, interspersed with prison terms, Kher’s friends and associates started the Chamdewalla-ki-wadi or “The Tanners Commune”, and it later came to be known as “Kherwadi”.

In the early 90s, Kishor desperately wanted to do something useful, and when his enterprising wife Mrinalini, a sociologist, urged him to follow his heart, an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad, Kishor left a well-paying corporate job to pursue his passion—empowering the youth.

The Khers established an exclusive organisation with a singular focus on youth and baptised it Yuva Parivartan (YP), which began a journey that has led to successful pathways for thousands of unemployed youth. The movement was formally launched in February 2003 by the then President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.

YP has played a prime role in the shaping of the ecosystem for skill development and has been an active supporting associate of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).

It has a flexible and innovative model with a motivated learning environment that has been appreciated by the Planning Commission and has proved effective in the urban, rural and tribal belts.

The interactive teaching complemented with a variety of interesting techniques, exercises, role plays and extensive use of audiovisuals. The model ensures that the needs of the local community are met thereby benefiting the youth as well as the entire village. Rather than giving the people a fish, it teaches them how to fish.

Lack of skills breeds joblessness which impedes local economic development and contributes to rural migration. YP provides the youth with vocational and other skill-based training through a wide spectrum of 25-odd courses based on local needs and demand.

Popular courses include computer education, beauty courses, basic wire-man training, tailoring and fashion designing, mobile repair, arc-welding, etc.

Unlike most training programmes that are undertaken in a classroom setup, YP’s on-the-job training is offered in partnership with the industry. The emphasis is on hands-on learning. Some of its industry partners include Blue Star for air conditioning, Larsen & Toubro for masonry and Marriot, Taj, Oberoi and Hyatt for catering and hoteliering.

Apart from advanced skill training, YP also does a lot of extension work in villages for strengthening local participation in governance and economy. Farmers are trained in good farming practices, and there is a special focus on promoting self-help groups and imparting basic livelihood skills to women.

YP has slowly grown into one of the largest social sector enterprises, training nearly 1,50,000 youth every year.

Through over 70 centres spanning 18 states so far, it has trained more than 7 lakh youth and aims to create livelihoods for 1 million youth every year.

Apart from endowing physical skills, YP tries to bring about attitudinal changes so that the youth are motivated and become local change-makers who transform their ecosystem. It does this via Sochka Parivartan (SKP), a behavioural module, which is central to all training programmes. SKP is a proprietary program for attitudinal change and imparting life skills such as decision-making, time management, money management, values and perception, and health and hygiene.

YP also has rural mobile camps that take the vocational skills courses to the rural interiors and tribal areas, that are difficult to access and out of reach for government or corporate projects. Its partnership model offers opportunities to small local NGOs and training institutions to standardise processes and modules within the spectrum of NSDC framework to create a chain of authorised centres.

Having created a scalable and replicable model, it is helping smaller and like-minded NGOs build a similar model. YP has joined hands with more than 600 partners in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Patna.

It has been a long, arduous trek for the Khers whose small sapling has grown into a banyan tree. They encountered several challenges, but their determination paid off. Their work is proof that a greater synergy between the corporate, non-profit and government sectors may resolve several impending issues that plague the skills missions in the country.

It doesn’t require a genius to change the story. We have the tools, but we need to muster the will like the Khers. People like them have shown that there are solutions if we think out of the box, and don’t accept limits to how the world works.

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Abhishek Kattuparambil and Rishi Arjun are high school students in the San Francisco Bay area, in the United States. They recently got to know that one in 30 kids throughout the Bay Area would face homelessness.

Aiming to do something positive, they started “Cricket-For-A-Cause”, an outreach programme fuelled by their passion for cricket.

Partnering with a non-profit called Project Night Night, which provides free ‘Night Night Packages’ to homeless children from birth to pre-teen, they conducted a cricket match with six tech companies to raise funds.

Teams from Amazon, Hortonworks, Infosys, Oracle, PwC and TechMahindra took part in a “Six by Six by Six” game with six teams, six overs and six players in each team.

The events took place on March 31 and April 1,where the competition was won by the Amazon team who later raised funds for the non-profit. Sixty percent of the funds went to Project Night Night.

“We are honored that Cricket-for-a-Cause has selected us to benefit from their generosity,” Kendra Robins, Founder and Executive Director of Project Night Night, said to India West.

“We are delighted that through sport, athletics and camaraderie, Cricket-for-a-Cause will make an impact on homeless children in the community This philanthropy initiative will help us provide our Night Night Packages to more than 25,000 homeless children this year.” added Kendra Robins.

Abhishek and Rishi’s passion for cricket has brought together people who will fund a cause that will provide children with a sense of security and an exposure to high-quality literacy materials.

(Edited by Shruti Singhal)

Hey, you may also like: These 6 Indian Americans to Receive One of the Highest Scientific Honours in US from Obama

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When Aurangabad-based Omkar Deshpande’s sister, Pooja, was to marry Devendra Pathak, the pressure on the traditional family was huge. It was the first wedding in their home and the last few months had been particularly difficult for the family due to the death of a loved one and serious health issues of the others.

Naturally, both families wanted to have a smooth wedding ceremony.

Speaking to The Better India, Omkar says, “During ecstatic moments like a wedding, the guests offer blessings to the newly-wed couple. But do we ever think about the practical outcome of these oral blessings and prayers? It may give psychological satisfaction but does it ensure the happiness and prosperity of the couple?”

With this in mind, the family decided to try innovative ways to give meaningful blessings to the couple, all in an environment-friendly way.

1. Plant Parenting

Using the concept of child adoption in an environmental setting, the family distributed 50 saplings and asked their guests to grow them with the same love and care they would show while raising a child. Apart from sowing and watering it daily, the guests were requested to spend small amounts from their own pockets to build fences or protection around the budding plant to protect them.

“We have a population of 132 crores. Even if each of us pledges to become parents to one sapling, we could make the nation a greener place. Ours was only a small attempt at raising awareness about the concept. Instead of giving the newly-wedded couple a verbal blessing, we thought we would request guests to show it through their actions. Secure them and their future kids with cleaner air, water and a greener environment. All it would take is–planting a sapling and raising it like a child,” says Omkar.

2. Blood donation

One blood unit can save three people as it is separated out into plasma, RBCs, and leukocytes. The blood bank made each of the guests aware of the benefits of donation. When asked about why the blood would have to be sold when we were donating it for free, the authorities explained that every unit has to be tested for any blood transmitted diseases (aids, malaria, TB), which requires resources. Besides, the blood bank worked as a Trust and would require a certain profit margin to run.

The family was a bit reluctant at the start since the wedding was in the noon, and they were sceptical about the guests volunteering to donate blood during the summer. But the blood bank assured them that they were equipped to handle such instances.

At the venue, over 16 guests complied by donating blood. Omkar carried out the donation drive with the assistance of the city-based Dattaji Bhale Blood Bank.

3. Organ donor registration

As part of his research, Omkar had visited Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, (PGIMER), Chandigarh, which housed an eye donation centre. The idea of donating his eyes appealed to him, and he registered at the centre at the time.

He decided to create awareness about the concept at the wedding too. “Organ donation is just as important as blood donation. We should see organ donation as an opportunity to live in this world even after death,” shares Omkar.

They had over 20 organ donation registrations, including the bride and groom. The Zonal Transplantation Coordination Committee (ZTCC), Aurangabad, assisted them in this cause.

4. Other green initiatives

Further, the usage of plastic cutlery for consumption of beverages water was minimised. These were served in steel glasses and cups instead.

A popular Hindu tradition ‘akshata’ where the rice grains are showered on the couple as a metaphor for ‘blessing’ was alternated with flower petals. “There are millions of people who don’t have enough to eat.. So why to waste or disrespect the food, by wasting it?” asks Omkar.

To avoid food wastage, they had a buffet system where placards were put up requesting guests only to take the portion they were confident they could finish.

They discarded the tradition of donning turbans as these are disposable ones made out of non-degradable pieces of cloth and are later burnt adding to environmental pollution. Additionally, they also avoided bursting firecrackers or playing high decibel music.

Read more: Band, Baaja, Donation: 2 Mumbai Couples Used Their Weddings as a Platform to Raise Funds for NGOs

5. Plans for the one-year anniversary

Omkar now hopes to create a WhatsApp group for all the guests through a unique initiative called ‘selfie-with-saplings’, where plant parents will be encouraged to send selfies at regular intervals to ensure the saplings grow into trees.

“I have a rough plan to celebrate the wedding anniversary as birthdays of the saplings with all the plant parents in a separate function by next year,” he beams.

It is thrilling to see couples and their families, redefine the quintessential Big Fat Indian Wedding. The initiative was a success, as not only the bride but also the groom and his family extended their unconditional support.

Omkar concludes, “Most people think if they want to bring about a positive change in this world, they need to be in an influential position. But that’s not true. At individual levels, each one of us can step forward and do our bit.”

Amen, to that.

If Omkar’s ideas inspired you, get in touch with him on 9422709920 or write to him at omdeshpande227@gmail.com

(Edited by Shruti Singhal)

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What is your idea of the perfect wedding? A grand location, all your loved ones under one roof, celebrating the perfectly dressed couple who are about to take a vow to spend the rest of their lives together?

The Band, Baaja, Baaraat is typical of any Indian wedding. For Prashin Jagger and Deepa Kamath, however, their special day was also a day to celebrate the environment.

Rejecting the conventional ideas of grand decorations and plastic cutlery, the eco-conscious couple decided to go green. It was, however, their day and they didn’t want to add on to the plastic burden of the planet.

In a humble ceremony in Mumbai, with a few close family members and friends, the couple used recycled, eco-friendly products for decorations. And it was not just replacing plastic products with bio-degradable ones, but making a conscious decision on the utilisation of natural resources in the products.

Deepa told The Better India, “Our first thought was to have only a court marriage. But following our ancient rituals which have their own significance is important to families. And we decided to choose a middle ground between both.

“Now we see its importance because, at each step, the exercise of thinking about each choice seeped through everyone, from us to the close families to the vendors to our friends and finally to all those who graced the day.

“And now we’re grateful that it’s spreading even further.”

Speaking to the Indian Express, Prashin said, “There is a lot of misunderstanding about what exactly is eco-friendly. Vendors argued that using tissue papers was justifiable as it is bio-degradable, not understanding that to make them, thousands of trees are cut and it’s made from fresh pulp.” Deepa told the publication, “They tried to coax us to give in to the ongoing practice saying ‘log kya kahenge’ (what will people say).”

Deepa told TBI, “Surprisingly, the greenest alternatives are the most hassle-free and at the same time they are more economical. What took effort was to convey the thought behind it. Because the simpler choices left people baffled. It took us multiple iterations to convince the vendors of our decisions. Some took it in good stride and played along and some even completely ignored our directions and went about it their way.”

The couple even refrained from sending out physical invites for their wedding ceremony.

Paper itself costs quite a few trees for manufacture and add to that the ink and plastic embellishments that beautify a wedding invitation and you’re looking at an aesthetically pleasing environmental hazard.

Instead, the couple send the word out through WhatsApp and by personally meeting their friends and family in Mumbai.

Their journey to an eco-friendly wedding began when Prashin decided to propose to Deepa at a friend’s farmhouse in Kerala.

“I knew a diamond ring won’t work for Deepa,” Prashin told TBI adding that, “That’s when I asked a friend of mine, who makes musical instruments to make a wooden ring for her. I inscribed our initials on the rosewood ring, which actually looks like a design!”

From there, the couple decided on a local wedding hall that has good ventilation and doesn’t need air conditioning.The decorations were also minimal and the food at the wedding consisted of six dishes–each made of seasonal vegetables, cooked simply and tastefully. The leftover food was taken away by the guests and given away to the needy.

You may also like: 7 Couples Who Changed the Definition of the Big Fat Indian Wedding!

Although Deepa and Prashin’s parents were on board with the idea of a green wedding, certain traditions during the ceremony were not very easy to reject or avoid. Weddings in India are a massive event where hundreds of near-and-dear ones can meet each other and bless the couple.

But soon enough, all the people who mattered to the couple joined in their eco-friendly celebration. They even contributed to making decorations that were eco-friendly!

“Many friends made hand-made posters using old papers and things lying around in their homes, on which we explained what we had tried to do,” Prashin said.

“In fact, the main welcome board with our names was also made from a cupboard box of an LED TV purchased by a friend. With some pens and colours, he turned the board into something special inscribing our names–and it was beautiful,” Deepa added.

The wedding ceremony seemed to be a wonderful event, one that was celebrated with loved ones who genuinely understood Prashin and Deepa’s way of life, one that incurred minimal costs to the environment! What’s more, they even gave “return gifts” to their guests in the form of seed balls–a ball of cow dung, manure and a plant seed that the guests can simply throw out, and grow a plant!

You may also like: Maha Couple Requests Books as Wedding Gifts, Sets Up Library For Needy Kids!

Signing off, Prashin told TBI, “I’d also like to point out that this is not a concept wedding for us- it’s a way of life for us. This wasn’t just for the wedding, this is how we intend to live our life. We believe in bringing something to our home only when there is a real need than a perceived want. So we still haven’t purchased/sourced a fridge, washing machine, microwave and so on. We are planning to continue this till we reach a point where we cannot function without it. We have not reached that point yet. Most of the things in our house are either from our families home (unused/recycled utensils) or purchased second-hand from friends. We hope to continue this in as much detail as we possibly can.”

(Edited by Shruti Singhal)

All pictures courtesy: Prashin Jagger.

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Naga Sravan Kilaru isn’t your average 24-year-old. The winner of the 2017 National Youth Award for “outstanding work in the field of national development and social service,” Sravan considers himself to be a responsible and self-conscious citizen who wants to do his bit for society and make a difference.

On International Youth Day, which falls on August 12, Sravan will kick-start a mass youth campaign called ‘YuvaGalam-A March for Million Dreams’ in his home state of Andhra Pradesh, where elections are slated to be held early next year. Through this campaign, Sravan and his team of friends and volunteers will walk and cycle for more than 3,000 km over 100 days, meeting and speaking to 100,000 youngsters to draft the state’s “first ever youth manifesto.” He also hopes to engage 1 million youngsters online as well through the course of his 100-day campaign.

Suffice it to say; this isn’t Sravan’s first rodeo with social and political activism. He’s been doing this since he was 17, an age where a person’s thoughts are often occupied by choice of college, the latest gizmo on the market and the fate of their favourite sports team.

Like many among the current crop of youth leaders, Sravan’s engagement with social activism began with the 2011 Lokpal anti-corruption movement spearheaded by Anna Hazare.

“When I was 17 years old, I took the initiative of forming a team and explaining the concept of Lokpal to students and its importance. This is because I saw many of my friends support the Lokpal movement, although they had no clue about what it meant. That’s where my journey in social activism began, and from there I began to pivot towards political activism,” Sravan tells The Better India.

During the nationwide Lokpal campaign, Sravan organised public marches, addressed over 40,000 students and collected more than 25,000 signatures from his home city of Vijayawada supporting the passage of the Lokpal Bill in Parliament, which many had hoped would strengthen accountability in our democracy. Unfortunately for Sravan, the movement fell apart within a year.

However, it did not deter him from walking on the path of activism and the strengthening spirit of participative democracy.

“I can’t teach anybody anything, but only make them think. My biggest contribution to change would be empowering the youth to think and make informed choices. I strongly believe that if we can provide the right information to people, they will make the best decisions. Often, what we lack is the right kind of information,” the youngster from Andhra tells The Better India.

After completing his schooling in Vijaywada, like many students from his part of the world, Sravan moved to Bengaluru for his Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management. Despite the daily rigours of daily academic life, the youngster from Andhra found the time to meet and engage people from different parts of the country who carried the same activist mindset.

During his four-year stint in the Garden City, he set up Revolutionising India through Social Empowerment (RISE)—a non-profit for youngsters, which promotes active participation in public life, raising awareness of civic issues and empowerment. Among the activities that the non-profit carried out in the city, was an awareness campaign for the preservation of the Kengeri Lake.

“We filed multiple Right to Information (RTIs) to bring the attention of the local public and media on the condition of Kengeri Lake and make efforts towards rejuvenating it. Through the RTIs, I found that the funds meant for the preservation of the lake were used to construct a shopping complex. After the campaign picked up pace, the officials began cleaning the lake,” he says.

In September 2014, he launched a platform for Vijayawada’s youth called ‘Vijayawada Needs U’ to empower them and discuss issues of public interest. This is where his work in spreading the gospel of participatory governance went into overdrive.

On this platform, he regularly conducts regular ‘Mock Parliaments’ where he has managed to engage nearly 500 youngsters through various campaigns and workshops. The initiative provides information about how the parliament functions, discusses issues of public importance and also encourages the youngsters to take up politics. In a country where less than 2% of MPs in Parliament are less than 30 years of age, this is essential.

Also Read: One-Third Reservation in Parliament: Here’s Why Indian Women Need This Bill  

In fact, amongst the most interesting campaigns he started with VNU was to conduct a report evaluating the performance of 24 MPs from Andhra Pradesh based on critical parameters—attendance, questions raised, debate participation, funds allotted and spent, and bills of private expenditure.

A key finding by the VNU was that a mere 14 out of 24 MPs maintained an attendance of above 80%. “We put out the report cards of MPs in the public domain,” Sravan tells The Better India.

So, what inspired YuvaGalam, his latest endeavour?

“My motivation is simple. Politicians make a lot of promises to young people, but hardly any of those are fulfilled. Although a lot of public conversation during election campaigns revolves around the youth and farmers, very few reform-driven policies that would both harness their true power and help them contribute towards the goal of nation-building, come to the fore. One of my major objectives through YuvaGalam is to develop an institutional framework that would allow young people to participate in governance,” says Sravan.

As stated earlier, Sravan and his team of volunteers will walk and cycle for more than 3,000 km over 100 days, meeting and speaking to 100,000 youngsters across Andhra Pradesh. The objective here is to have a conversation with the youth of Andhra, take their opinions, understand their problems and draft a manifesto that reflects their aspirations.

“Besides urban areas, our other major focus group comprises of rural youth and urban poor youth. Our target is to cover at least two colleges a day and 500 students in each college. This will go on for 100+ days, fulfilling our objective of meeting 1,00,000 youth. We also hope to engage online media platforms, social media networks and missed call campaign to engage 1 million youngsters,” he says.

Sravan says that he has already reached out to multiple colleges, and many of them have come on board. “We will cover at least 70-80 engineering colleges, nearly 60-degree colleges with Class XI and XII students. Among the colleges on board are Sivani College of Engineering, Gitam University, Maharaj College of Engineering, Nalanda Degree College and Siddhartha College of Engineering, among other medical and engineering institutions. We also have volunteers at the district and constituency level who will get all the police and college permissions to address students,” he says.

After engaging these students, Sravan and his core team of 8-10 members who have worked with him in some capacity over seven years, will draft a youth manifesto for Andhra Pradesh and lobby with every political party to adopt it.

However, as he tells The Better India, there are significant challenges that stand in the way. “The biggest challenge is the monetary constraint we are under. For now, all the money is coming from my pocket and friends who are part of the team. They are also assisting a great deal in working out the logistics. We want to ensure every youngster who wants to participate in this movement is given an opportunity to express themselves,” he says.

Another major challenge Sravan believes is institutions allowing young people to have a non-partisan political debate. This is a major concern since educational institutions don’t want their students to go beyond the remit of academic work. Moreover, many of these institutions in Andhra Pradesh are owned or controlled by politicians. “How open they are to such debates is a major question,” he says.

While speaking to Sravan, what immediately stands out is his steadfast belief that young people should engage themselves further in the political arena and be a part of the potential change it could result in.

When asked whether young people today are too disengaged in the political sphere, he responds in the negative.

“I would rather say that they gave up or see this as a waste of time. Given the right direction and motivation, we have seen what the youth of India is capable of. We have the ability to bend the knees of governments and compel them into taking corrective measures. We need to focus more on local governments rather than just state and national elections. Moreover, young people must realise the importance of voting and casting a vote based on relevant information and capabilities of the legislators than just caste, community and region,” proclaims Sravan.

Also Read: Transparency Is the Name of the Game. Will Electoral Bonds Ensure It? 

However, once again, one must raise the question as to why Sravan, who also works at SatSure, a successful Switzerland-based farm start-up, would invest so much time in this endeavour.

“The freedoms we enjoy today is due to the sacrifices and astute observation of many people. I want to do my part to ensure that this freedom reaches every individual and that it is protected in the right spirit,” concludes Sravan. This is indeed an admirable aspiration.

Those who want to support the idea of YuvaGalam can express their support by giving a missed call at 7567144433. However, if you want to go beyond this measure and help Sravan, you can reach him on his mobile number at 90322-36555.

You can also reach the YuvaGalam initiative on:

Facebook- www.fb.com/nagasravan.kilaru

Their website: www.yuvagalam.com

Email ID: join.yuvagalam@gmail.com

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

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When we think of Kargil, I am sure we only recall of the war that cost us many brave soldiers, who died defending the country from the hands of enemies and infiltrators.

Two decades later, the place continues to exude a certain sense of fear and brings to mind the images of war and destruction, which in result, has had a drastic effect on the lives of people living in the region.

To change this very misconception about Kargil and its unfortunate association with war and destruction, a group of youngsters from the city have been passionately working towards raising awareness, and spread the message that there is a lot more to it than what people presume.

We For Kargil (WFK) is a non-profit organisation spearheaded by 25-year-old Najum Ul Huda and his friends, who want Kargil to be known as a place with a rich cultural heritage and not just a former war zone.

Located right in the heart of the former war-torn city, WFK was conceived as an organisation which would work for the betterment of the local community and also bring greater visibility to the city.

All of the members and volunteers who have worked and have been working with WFK are students, including Najum, who put in their own money to make WFK a reality.

“Before the idea of WFK took form in my head, I’d volunteered with the Charkha Development Communication Network, a non-profit organisation that focuses on improved social and economic inclusion of rural marginalised communities across India, on many occasions during my college days. This led me to think why don’t we as residents from Kargil do something for the people and in the process, help change the ‘war zone’ tag that has inevitably become synonymous with the identity of Kargil,” says Najum to The Better India.

From healthcare and education to tourism and environmental sectors, WFK has been taking small strides towards the welfare and development of the residents of Kargil, who in turn have been incredibly supportive of the organisation, shares Najum.

One of the initiatives that they had organised was to provide alternative employment for the women during the winter through the sale of local and authentic woollen products.

“Because it is peak winter and the women had a lot of time in their hands, this proved to be a good investment of time and skills for them that would earn them some income. Our role here was to help them get training and later connecting them with concerned individuals who would help market and sell their products,” he explains.

Another noteworthy step taken by the organisation was to donate some computers to a local school, funds for which were completely put together by the members and volunteers of WFK.

However, one of their primary concerns continue to centre on women and quality education for school children and they aim to work towards the same.

Najum shares that they have also been working hard towards highlighting the rich heritage of Kargil along with the preservation and promotion of its traditions and languages that are relatively unknown to the rest of the country.

To realise this, in 2014 WFK collaborated with the Ministry of Tourism and the Handloom/Handicraft departments of the district and flagged off ‘Visit Kargil to promote Kargil,’ an initiative aimed to promote the tourism in Kargil.

“So far, Kargil has always been a transit point for travellers, who never stay in the city for fear of their safety. This is one misconception we really want to break as people continue to think that nothing is left in Kargil post-war. Until people come to Kargil, they would never know how things have changed and that it is quite safe to stay as well. What we do here is when anyone reaches out to us, we take them to the places worth visiting in Kargil, and there are quite a few and don’t charge anyone for this,” adds Najum.

Several people have reached out to Najum to volunteer for WFK from across the country but back out at the last moment after apprehensions over their safety.

However, a recent call from a travel consultant from Lonely Planet has proven that their work towards promoting Kargil is definitely scaling up.

At present, WFK comprises of four core members including Najum and a couple of volunteers who dedicate their time to Kargil during vacations.

The members of the organisation continue to shell out money from their own pockets and don’t take donations or contributions from others. “We would love to have more volunteers though, whose involvement would further help in raising visibility to Kargil amidst their circles and pass on further,” concludes Najum.

You may also like: A Journey to Uncover the Source of Kargil’s Communal Harmony

You can check the initiatives of We For Kargil on Facebook here. You can also reach out to Najum at 8588047464.

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

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Meerut resident Rohan Prakash is like any other enterprising youngster in India who aims to make it big and also drive a social change in the process.

But what sets the 23-year-old apart from the rest is the fact that he is the only certified organic mango farmer in Uttar Pradesh and in the last three years, the produce from his farm has distinctly garnered a name for itself across the organic markets of northern parts of India.

Interestingly, Rohan is a civil engineer, who graduated last year and whose passion for agriculture, one could say, is entirely homegrown, as both his father and grandfather, who were also civil engineers by profession, have been passionately invested in farming and agriculture.

Rohan, however, took that legacy a notch forward by turning all the agricultural practices on their farm completely organic.

Speaking to The Better India, “Having grown up seeing both my grandfather and father taking up farming alongside their professions, I was definitely inclined towards taking up agriculture. After observing farmland and produce quality for a while, I began to think about organic farming seriously. The idea sprouted in my head somewhere during my second year in college, and together with my father, we decided to replace all chemical fertilisers and pesticides with an extract of Neem oil.”

According to the young man, this move worked wonders for them. With a visible change in the size and taste in the fruits from the first year itself, he and his family decided to take forward the venture as a completely organic one, and after three years of functioning, Rohan managed to clinch the accreditation of being the only organic mango farmer from the state earlier this year.

“The interesting part here is that although the organic farm produce, which we have branded as Sure Organics, was indeed ranking in revenue 3-4 times higher than before, what truly opened up our eyes to the massive scope and prospects of organic farming was the period after we received the certification. In a matter of two months, not only has our returns shot up multi-fold, even our overall productivity has increased by 40 per cent after converting to organic farming!” says a happy Rohan.

Besides many varieties of mango including dussehri, langra, chaunsa, gulab jamun and safeda, Rohan has also been growing lychee and turmeric in his farm.

While these fruits have a farming cycle of four months, Rohan has even begun paddy farming along with growing fruit trees of peach and guava, which he feels would give way to a round-the-year crop cycle.

“We had planted the peach and guava plants some time back. These are already gearing up for fruition, and we hope by December, these fruits too shall find as much popularity as our mangoes and lychees have so far!” adds Rohan.

Another interesting aspect about the farm is that close to 15-20 people from a low-income background in Rohan’s own village have been employed directly in their farm, and work in different areas including harvesting, processing, packaging and even transportation.

The father-son duo also manufacture bio-fertilisers and pesticides at their farm and sell these to local farmers at really economical prices.

At present, Sure Organics caters to all organic chains and circles across New Delhi, and requests from across the country often surpass their farm’s productivity, especially during the season, and cannot be fulfilled. This, Rohan intends to change through the farm’s reach which he aims to scale up in a phased manner—first throughout the country and subsequently, export the fruits to other countries.

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In a time where the younger generation in the country is visibly steering away from the agricultural sector, Rohan really hopes that his story inspires the youth and especially the educated ones, to take up organic farming and find success in their lives too!

You can look up Sure Organics on Facebook here. To reach out to Rohan, you can call him at 7017294146.

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

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Welcome to My Garden Series by The Better India, where we feature stories about gardening and homebound farming initiatives submitted by our readers. If you have any stories to share as well, write to us at editorial@thebetterindia.com.

Maithili Panikar, a resident of Kochi, was always interested in gardening, and one could say that she had inherited this fascination from her mother, Bindu, who is a passionate gardener and has an enviable ornamental garden.

A design graduate from the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in Bengaluru, the ‘garden’ city, Maithili’s first tryst with gardening began after being inspired by a project she was working on which included designing play stations for children using natural elements.

For the next two years, she put her heart and soul in the pursuit and managed to grow everything from herbs and vegetables to even ornamental plants, well-within the peripheries of her living space.

However, Maithili had to bid goodbye to this green space that she had lovingly created and nurtured, as she was moving to Kochi, but before she left, she ensured that her plants found a new home with her friends, who were as inclined towards gardening and plants as she was.

In Kochi, where she currently lives with her parents in an apartment complex, Maithili found that a lot of common spaces in the residential premises were left unused and she wondered if they could be put to better purpose.

After pitching the idea and receiving consent from the residents of the apartment complex to revamp one such common space into a community garden, Maithili and Bindu got to work and with the nurturing touch of their green thumbs, the garden today has organically grown veggies and herbs ranging from many varieties of gourds, basil, eggplant (brinjal), okra (ladies finger), beans, spinach, red amaranth, peppercorns, Spanish tomatoes, passion fruit, curry leaves and even the Chinese potato, which is locally known as ‘koorka.’

“I could call myself a relatively new urban gardener who has just stepped into the arena. Right from a very young age, there was always this fascination with the environment, science and the intricate machinery of nature. Those projects did have a significant impact in my outlook towards gardening, which I now believe plays a great role in community building as well as helps one understand consumption in a holistic perspective,” says the 25-year-old gardening enthusiast.

Since there is limited space, Maithili has been growing the plants in containers. However, she finds this to be a fun challenge.

“As much as urban living spaces come with their own benefits and convenience, what deters most people from gardening is probably the spatial constraints. For me, it is this very lack of space that gives the push to think creatively and figure out how one can grow plants within these walls,” she says.

Although she can always turn to her mother for all gardening related tips and queries, Maithili also follows various groups and collectives on social media that brings together young and old urban gardening enthusiasts under one platform, who share their knowledge as well as experiences.

It is through such connections that Maithili has sourced and collected heirloom seeds, and the mother-daughter duo has successfully harvested them as well. In fact, the tomatoes that she has been growing are from the seeds she had collected from a farm in Spain, where she had once volunteered.

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While people in Kerala are already taking up terrace farming to the next level —almost every rooftop and other contained setups have at least one type of vegetable being grown in grow-bags—Maithili feels that this is indeed a good sign and if the concept of community farming becomes popular, nothing could be better.

“In India, a strong sense of community dwells deep within every individual, and I truly believe that community gardening has a great potential, and we really need to tap into it. When an entire community is involved in something as rudimentary as farming, not only does it bring people together and help children have a holistic development, it also makes us closer and sensitive to our environment,” explains Maithili.

Though the idea was conceived as a community garden, it is just Maithili and Bindu who have been actively partaking in its development—something Maithili hopes to change overtime by involving people from the community in the actual process.

A multidisciplinary designer and illustrator in professional life, Maithili is also a practitioner of permaculture, a philosophical system of agricultural and social design principles that is centred on simulating or directly utilising the patterns and features observed in natural ecosystems.

“What makes permaculture different from the sustainable way of farming is that we focus on an agricultural system that is regenerative than being just sustainable. It is a way of thanking and giving back to nature from which we take so much from,” she says.

A year might sound little short for most, but for Maithili, it has been a journey of experimenting and experiential learning, and she has only started. “Gardening will forever be something I want to be involved in, and my ultimate dream is to leave behind a garden at every place I live in hereafter,” concludes Maithili.

You may also like: Chennai Boy’s Love for Gardening Now Helps City Folks Grow Their Own Food!

You can follow Maithili’s urban gardening journey on Instagram. If you have any gardening story to share, do write to us at editorial@thebetterindia.com.

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

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Can you believe that a four-year-old would try to replicate paintings and sculptures he had seen during a tour?

This young man’s story and talents will leave you more than impressed.

“I was probably four years old. I was with my parents in Kathmandu. We had spent the day visiting many historical temples there, and when we stopped at a restaurant, I grabbed a tissue, paper and a pen. I started drawing whatever paintings and sculptures I saw earlier that day. It was at that moment when my parents realised that my interests lay in history and culture,” says Arsh.

At 17, Arsh Ali is the youngest archaeologist in India today. He has worked at numerous excavation sites belonging to the Harappan and Egyptian periods and is presently working on ten projects with five already being done.

One of the research papers he is currently working on is about the dispersion of Buddhism to Egypt by Ashoka, where Arsh has found new evidence linking Ashoka’s Dhamma to Egypt. This widely-awaited paper will be published this November.

Arsh explains, “During the Mauryan period, when Emperor Ashoka converted to Buddhism, he wanted to spread its teachings across continents. He was successful in spreading Buddhism to most of the East. But what we didn’t know was that Buddhism reached many parts of the west with Ashoka’s efforts.”

This was proved to Arsh when he found evidence in Sanchi, a known Buddhist site, that linked back to Egypt. When he was going through archaeological expedition journals, he came across a pottery piece with Brahmin Inscriptions, an ancient Indian language. Arsh notes, “This was some evidence that linked the spread of Buddhism to the west, with Ashoka.”

Arsh has always been curious about history and various practices in culture. He recalls how he came across the infamous process of the Egyptians– The mummification. He was reading an encyclopedia when he came across a peculiar image of a creature that had a canine head and a human body. His curiosity peaked, he asked his parents about it.

It was the image of Anubis– The ancient God of Mummification. As he read about it, he grew interested in Egyptian cryptology.

Cryptology is the study of codes and the art of solving them. And hieroglyphs, which are ancient Egyptian writings are decoded using cryptology. This, Arsh started mastering when he was seven years old!

Along with mastering hieroglyphs, Arsh knows about ten languages which include basic knowledge in Arabic and Latin. Along with that, he is well versed in about 18 scripts, like Kharosthi and Ugaritic which are almost extinct today.

He told me how he practised the process of mummification on dead fish and noted his observations.

And like the mummification project which he did when he was young, a major part of his projects are also solo ventures. “But occasionally, I take help from experts, because we do need guidance. I try to abstain from it because most of it comes out of curiosity and that powers me through,” he shares.

And Arsh owes his journey in archaeology to his parents; he says, “My parents were most supportive. They recognised my curiosity and were most helpful.”

Arsh is one of those examples of what happens when parents incite curiosity in their children. His parents moulded his sense of wonder, bringing out such unique skills in him. Arsh displayed skills of drawing ever since he was young and even put on showcases of his work for his peers.

His parents’ ability to recognise his talent and mould it, is something that we should all carry forward to future generations.

When asked why he chose archaeology, Arsh says, “Archeology is a culmination of subjects like biology, chemistry, geography and history and my interest in these subjects led me to that.”

And through archaeology, he wishes to contribute something meaningful to the world, so that all organisms can benefit from it.

He narrates how his interest in these subjects came about, “My parents would buy me books, and though I didn’t know to read when I was a child, I would be intrigued by the images. And since I started reading books, I haven’t stopped reading them.”

His advice to youngsters? “Read a lot. Don’t leave behind reading. Reading about history gives you a sense of the past and prepares you for the future. It allows us to make a better future. Read with love. Read with curiosity.”

I was grateful to talk to one of the brilliant minds in India. With curiosity and dedication going hand in hand, Arsh is not just leaving a mark in history but revolutionising the future.

(Edited by Shruti Singhal)

Hey, you may also like: After Class X at Age 10, 16-Year-Old Becomes Telangana’s Youngest Woman Engineer!

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Terminator, RoboCop, Wall-E, R2-D2, C3PO—these iconic robot characters from films have fascinated most of us and made us wish that we had one of our own because their superhero-like abilities would help us finish our homework and chores in a jiffy.

Many of us would also remember attending countless science exhibitions during our school days. There, a few students would showcase amazing robotic contraptions and gadgets that they had created, and when these would perform certain actions on command, everyone would be left dumbstruck!

Often, the curiosity that children have about the world around them drives them to wonder about how things work. While some are drawn to nature and want to understand its many mysteries, for others, it is science and technology.

For Thiyam Nandlal Singh, a student of Class 12 at the Johnstone Higher Secondary School in Imphal, it was most certainly the latter.

Right from his childhood days, Nandalal was fascinated by the inner workings of electronic items and was quite fond of dismantling electronic toys to study them, and once that was done, he would put everything back together.

In fact, this inquisitiveness soon changed Nandalal’s focus from just observing, to applying what he learnt and understood. He began to efficiently repair home appliances and gadgets like the television, radio, and emergency lamps at home that would otherwise require the services of an electrician. He even ended up devised his own way of checking electrical wiring and circuits.

Interestingly, the teenager, who hails from a family of farmers, has had no formal training or expertise in the field other than his own observation-driven knowledge.

People who have known Nandalal wouldn’t be surprised if they found out that he has constructed a robot all by himself.

Well, guess what? Last year, Nandalal constructed a robot, JON17, which went on to garner him many accolades across science exhibitions held in Manipur!

But there is something quite unique about JON17 that makes it even more impressive than just being created by a school student—every component of the robot comprises discarded scrap materials like emergency lamps, electronic toys, DVD drives, syringes, speaker frame and even IV-fluid tubes.

“The idea to create a robot with scraps took form in my head after watching an English film that inspired me to tackle the issue of garbage piling up in our surroundings, with robots,” says the young innovator to The Better India.

He had first constructed a model of the robot using discarded emergency lamps as its arms, a pair of old toy binoculars as the head, and an empty bottle as the body that was mounted on an unused speaker frame.

“The main mechanical movements of the robot are provided by the DVD drives used which are connected to a pair of syringes filled with water and inter-connected with IV-fluid set tubes. This functions as a hydraulic system and allows parts like the head and hand to perform their functions. The robot can move forward, backward and sideways. The head can be rotated left and right, and the hands can perform some simple activities like holding objects, picking objects, etc. All the movements of the robot are remote controlled,” he explains.

Jaichand Oinam, Nandalal’s Chemistry teacher, who was incredibly impressed with JON17, decided to make a short clip on his creation and posted it on the school’s Facebook page as well circulated it on Whatsapp.

“In a short span of time, the video of his robot went viral and ended up reaching Th Kirankumar, the Director of Education (State), who took a special interest in Nandalal’s project and provided him with adequate funds so that he could make the robot properly. This really encouraged Nandalal, who took about 15 to 20 days to develop the robot with various discarded materials,” says Oinam, who has been the guiding force in Nandalal’s journey as an innovator.

Interestingly, it was Oinam who helped Nandalal coin the name JON17 for his robot, where JO stands for their school, Johnstone, N from his name Nandalal and 2017 to mark the year of creation.

After much encouragement from his school administration, Nandalal started participating in various science fairs and exhibitions across the state, where his creation would go on to win many prizes and accolades.

From winning the second prize at the Zonal Science Exhibition and the first prize for being the Best Individual Exhibitor at the State Level Science Exhibition last year, he went to bag the Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose Best Individual Prize at the 2018 edition of the Eastern India Science Fair held at Birla Industrial Technological Museum, Kolkata.

And for mentoring the young innovator, Oinam received the Best Guide Teacher prize at both the state exhibition and the science fair in Kolkata.

Earlier this year, his school felicitated the achievements of the budding innovator in an event jointly organised with the Information Centre for Hill Areas Manipur (ICHAM).

The event was attended by Th Kirankumar along with ICHAM chief advisor Kangujam Modhumangol.

Today, Nandalal is a local celebrity in Manipur, and most Northeastern media agencies and publications have widely covered his innovation. In fact, the young boy got the rare opportunity of participating in the Indian Science Congress 2018 at Manipur University recently, where he was sent as a representative of the education department of Manipur.

Nandalal lives with his parents, grandparents and five siblings. Besides his passion for electronics and robotics, he is also an avid footballer and has played for his local club in many tournaments.

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Because of his love for robots and electronic gadgets, Nandalal utilises most of his free time to create simple devices comprising waste materials and discarded electronic toys like JON17 and hopes to build many more in the future.

Our country is full of such young individuals brimming with great talent and creativity, and they can achieve great heights with guidance and motivation. Had it not been for the encouragement and support of Nandalal’s mentor Jaichand Oinam and Th Kirankumar, JON17 would have probably just remained a dream for Nandalal.

We wish the young innovator a great future ahead and hope his story will inspire other students in India to work never stop chasing their passion.

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

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Since the 2006 Dengue outbreak in India, the mosquito-borne tropical disease has become a major public health threat, and the number of annual casualties have drastically increased. What makes the disease so endemic in India is the widespread presence of mosquitoes across cities and towns at large, thanks to irregular garbage collection, and the lack of reliable sanitation.

In this situation, keeping one’s surroundings clean to control a dengue outbreak is extremely imperative as every nook and corner with standing water, including puddles, water tanks, containers and old tires, is a potential breeding point for the infectious Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus female mosquitoes.

But this is easier said than done. While on the one hand, affluent residential and corporate areas have adequate access to proper garbage collection and regular cleaning drives mobilised by municipal workers, we cannot ignore low-income areas and slums where the possibility of clearing garbage or even employing measures to eradicate mosquito infestations is rare or possibly null.

Understanding this shortcoming and how a large percentage of dengue-related deaths arise from slums and low-income areas, led one 19-year-old college student from Hubbali in Karnataka to singlehandedly take up the reins and act for those who can’t afford protective and preventive measures.

Immanuel Pathare is a second year BCom student at Fatima Degree College in the city, who was visibly shaken when few people in his locality passed away due to dengue a year back.

“It could have been me or any one of my family members. This thought made me ponder over how the situation could be brought under control. The usage of mosquito defoggers was a known solution but who would come to defog slums and low-income areas at their personal cost and interest?” says Immanuel to The Better India.

A defogger is not a cheap machine and often, to cut down costs, communities purchase a common one to meet their requirements. This was a daunting issue for Immanuel, who finally found help from the Deshpande Foundation—he is a part of its Leaders Accelerating Development (LEAD) programme.

“The foundation had a defogger, and they were willing to lend it to me. In fact, they also taught me how to use it. This is how I began my defogging crusade across slums in Hubbali and Dharwad last year in October, despite no support from my family members, college or the community,” he remembers.

It was difficult for Immanuel to keep doing what he had initiated. With no support from the local corporation or residents, he was completely on his own with a heavy machine, and its fuel consumption and charges were quite high.

“People kept discouraging me, and this often had a very bad impact, but I kept striving on. I didn’t want anyone else dying because of dengue and criticism was least of my worries. When the costs started getting out of the Foundation’s limits, we started charging people from well-off areas but only for the gas and fuel expenses, which can be easily met if communities team up together,” Immanuel explains.

He also shares that often people end up paying more than what is required. What he does in such situations is to utilise the extra money by going to slums and defogging the areas for free. “So far I’ve managed to reach out to 15 slum pockets and hope that I can continue doing it for free in similar areas where people can’t afford for these services,” Immanuel says.

In a span of three months, these defogging initiatives have managed to reach about 1.5 lakh people, but Immanuel feels that it is a very small number in a city like Hubbali, that has a population of about 11 lakhs.

“But we are doing our level best here and what we really need here is for the people to become more forthcoming to the idea. They need to understand that this is for their own good health and cooperate with us,” he adds.

What Immanuel had started last year is now being emulated in towns like Belgaum, Chitradurga, Davanagere and Vijayapur by volunteers under the Deshpande Foundation, who are being guided by Immanuel himself.

“The team in Belgaum has already started their work while teams in Davanagere and Vijayapur are gearing up to go. We hope the initiative finds greater reach in these areas and inspires others to volunteer too,” a hopeful Immanuel says.

Immanuel has been spending a great deal of time defogging areas in his vicinity, and it often becomes quite difficult for him to make time to study or take care of his health.

“Although my parents were quite against what I’d been doing, they came around after seeing and comprehending the positive outcomes. However, the machine weighs around 40 kilos and heats up to 80 degree Celsius, and I alone have to carry it around on a daily basis. This often leaves me feeling very tired, but I’m willing to continue with this work,” he says.

Everyday Immanuel goes on two defogging rounds. On days when he has to attend college, he sets out by 5:30 a.m. and gets done by 7:00 a.m. Once he returns from college, he heads out for a second round by 5:30 p.m. and winds up by 7:00 p.m.

To continue his defogging activities, Immanuel has sought the help of Milaap, a crowdfunding platform, to meet the daily fuel and gas expenses.

“So far we have only managed to raise ₹18,000 and what we intend to raise is about ₹6 lakhs. Also, if more volunteers would be willing to join this cause, it will make our work more widespread and make more areas free from mosquito infestation and dengue,” he adds.

We salute Immanuel’s determination and persistence. If more people come forward and help this 19-year-old in his endeavours, it won’t be hard to beat dengue, especially in slums.

If you wish to help Immanuel through monetary support, click here. For queries and volunteering-related information, you can call him at 8618411250 or his mentor, Aarya Vishwanath Hallikeri at 7022680645.

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

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“What years of education could not do for me, just four months changed me completely. Now I have a job, and I believe I can do it!”

These spirited words were expressed by Shivraj from Karnataka, and one can hear the relief in his voice after a timely intervention changed things for him.

This is a common situation in India – education alone is not enough. Passing the exams requires hard work. But confidence, life skills and the ‘can-do’ spirit are often missing for many young people.

The fifth edition of National Employability Report 2015-16 found that over 80 per cent of engineers in India remain unemployable. One of the reasons for this is a significant gap in skills imparted by our educational institutions and what is expected from the industry.

Communication English, Life Skills, Digital Literacy – these are some of the skills that most companies look for when hiring individuals for their organisations. Very often, despite having high scores in examinations, candidates fail to ace interviews because they lack in one or more of these skills.

Most of our educational institutes fail to invest in equipping students with these essential skills. So can this be fixed?

Source: Facebook/Quest Alliance 

Yes, it can!

To bridge that gap and make students industry-ready, Quest Alliance, a not-for-profit trust, is working in collaboration with Accenture, to skill students. Accenture works with Quest Alliance to enable the under-served youth to pick up critical life, work and communication English skills. Accenture’s learning and knowledge management experts have helped create a unique ‘Blended-Learning’ experience that combines digital self-learning, classroom activities, games and instructor facilitated peer learning at Quest Alliance.

With the aid of technology, Quest Alliance is combining digital self-learning modules, gamified assessments, and classroom group activities to help students hone their skills.

So far, 90,000 people have been impacted across India as part of the Accenture-Quest Alliance collaboration. What’s heartening is that 70% of those who enrolled for the course have been placed in various organisations and have kickstarted their career.

Shivraj today has a job and a bright future. His journey needs to be replicated a million-fold. And it is happening even as we speak.

Learn more about Quest Alliance here:

To find out how New is doing Good, click here.

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