Do Right: Help Varanasi's Boat School

The population of our country is bursting at its seams and we cannot harp enough on the vicious circle of issues and concerns that the problem of overpopulation leads to. No amount of infrastructure development seems to be able to cope with the alarming rate at which our population keeps expanding. Literacy is the most basic requirement for a country's economic growth, but how can we aspire to march steadily ahead on the road to development, if a huge section of our people have no access to quality education? India currently has the largest population of illiterate adults in the world with 287 million, which is 37 percent of the global total.

As per the India4India Survey conducted under Tata Capital's Journey of Doing Right initiative, illiteracy is the biggest challenge facing our nation. So it's imperative that we all come forward and contribute our bit in helping overcome the illiteracy menace. And while we contemplate about how to make a difference in the dismal literacy statistics of our country, we can take inspiration from men like Ajeet Singh, who are doing their bit in ensuring that the less privileged children of Varanasi are not deprived of basic education. These less privileged children are those that hang around the ghats of river Ganges, engaged in some petty activity or the other. Many of these spend their time trying to make a living out of fetching coins out of the river, while many others are engaged in some other small trade or aimless wanderings.

Mr. Ajeet Singh's Boat School, started under his NGO Guria, came as a blessing for all of them, for here they first experienced the joys of learning and first sampled delicious taste of education.

It is so heart-warming to see these little kids talk about their 'boat school' in such glowing words. And to imagine that had it not been for men like Mr. Ajeet Singh, these kids would have instead been on the streets, engaged in petty brawls or just probably just toughening up to prepare for the harshness that they assumed life had in store for them. But thanks to education, they now know better and are full of dreams and aspirations. They now want to explore the magical world education and for their dreams to become a reality, the onus is on us.

For any school to run efficiently it needs funds. Ajeet Sigh's magical 'Boat School' is no exception. The students here need basic facilities like a computer, stationery, a library, and educational toys. Besides these, this innovative school is in need of some quick repair, restoration and renovation too, for with Mr. Singh's meagre funds, it's difficult to keep the school going without running into obstacles. So if we all come together and contribute towards this cause of Varanasi Boat School, it will definitely give these children, a better learning environment. 

About the Do Right - The Journey of Doing Right initiative 

Tata Capital's Do Right - The Journey of Doing Right initiative is about real stories of obstacles, sacrifices and challenges. These stories need our help for them to have a happy ending.
For more details about this heart warming initiative by Tata Capital, please do visit the Do Right website. Details of how you can donate funds and support the cause are given on the website.

The Curious Case of the Great Indian Litterbug

The Great Indian Litterbug,
he amuses me much.
His curious case befuddles me too,
the country is in his clutch!

Ah, that was a pathetic rhyme I know, but I guess not as bad as the state of our streets and roads oozing with the love constantly being left behind by the Indian Litterbug. Ah, before you wonder who this seemingly larger-than-life sounding gentleman is and try to put two and two together, let me do the honours - here's a video introducing him.

So you see, here he is, THE OMNIPRESENT, OMNIPOTENT - the Great Indian Litterbug, forever armed with powerful gears to litter the road. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan be damned, he says, for no abhiyaan or mission can come in his way to keep our oh-so great country littered and teeming with filth.

But despite his myriad ways to keep his surroundings God-awful, the Great Indian Litterbug is beyond my comprehension. For the life of me, I fail to understand this man and how his mind works and what keeps him going!  He uses the roads as his spittoon,  the pavements and the roadside walls as his urinal, and the streets at large as his garbage bin! Sigh. No pleadings, no threats, no sarcasm works on him. No mocking either - you write on a wall

Gadhe ke poot,

Yahaan mat moot

but no, he has to moot (pee :D) right on that wall, right under those words berating him. He's an idiot, assh*le aright, for all he cares. When a man has to go, a man has to go, you see. When the nature calls, the call must be answered right away, that's his logic and you dare not defy that. Cleanliness is next to Godliness bullshit be damned too, such preachings are for the books, and of course the phoren countries, he argues, and not for the desis like us. Duh, sir.

Do get to know more about the Great Indian Litterbug and his many shenanigans, you can check out this quirky website - The Great Indian - but readers, I plead you, yes I plead you, do not, I repeat do not, in any way be influenced by the Great Indian Litterbug's reckless abandon. Do not be taken in by his filthy ways. For you see , he is 'like that only' - and you are not him, and he is not you. (I assume, I hope!) You know better, no? On that note, let's all come together to decipher the curious case of the Great Indian Litterbug, and pledge to be  part of our Prime Minister's Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan, for his clarion call for cleanliness is addressed to every single one of us.  

This post is a part of the Great Indian Litterbug campaign by The Times of India, in association with Indiblogger.

Making Road Safety in India a Priority

'Two cops killed as drunk cabbie hits barricade.'
'18-year old Delhi University topper run over by a speeding car.'
'Noida biker dragged to death by a speeding car.'
'DTC buses cause 239 accidents in 5 years due to rash driving.'
'Hit on head in road rage, man in coma.'

Headlines such as these are a regular affair for us. Open any newspaper on any given day, and you will find news on similar lines filling up the city section. In fact, if I were to be brutally honest, I will say that there are times when headlines such as the ones I have mentioned above fail to leave any impact on our hearts and minds. We just glance through them - untouched, unmoved, indifferent - and move on to other bits. Or may be sometimes if the accompanying image is grotesque enough, we might let out a shudder or two, and lament about fate to the unfortunate victim in passing, and then move on. The point I am trying to put across is that - we just move on, we never learn from them. Do we?

No, you are wrong if you think drinking and driving is the only mistake one can do.  Or that besides drunk driving, speeding on the road causes accidents. Many other big and small negligences on the road can not just cause accidents but also cause great inconvenience to others on the road.

High time we learn some driving etiquettes 

Road rage, cutting corners, overtaking, unnecessary honking, jumping traffic lights...and yes, Yo Yo Honey Singh blaring out of those rolled down windows. High time we learn some driving etiquettes and make road safety a priority. Here are some steps that can go a long way in helping with road safety:

1. Buckle Up! Always, always, always wear your seatbelt while driving. Even if you are just taking a short trip down the road. One cannot emphasize the importance of a seat belt enough. And now just the driver, ensure that everyone in the vehicle is buckled up!
2. Indicate Your Intentions! Always use indicator to make fellow motorists aware of your next move on the road. But of course, use them judiciously, and not just to justify your sudden/rash decision to take a turn or stop in the middle of the road.
3. Feeling Drowsy? Take a a Break. While on long drive, if you are feeling even a wee bit sleepy while driving, please take a short break to refresh yourself. You can also opt to go off the road and take a short nap, before resuming your journey.
4. Do not drink and drive. This sounds rhetorical, but we all know many a gory accidents on the road were result of a tipsy driver behind the wheel.
5. Keep that phone away. Many a terrible accidents have been a result of that quick and easy text/whatsapp message one wanted to send, or that innocuous phone call one wanted to take or make.
6. Following lane discipline is another must. Many unpleasant incidents on the road can be avoided if people use some common sense and follow lane rules. If you wish to change lanes, please use the relevant indicator to let the vehicles behind you be aware of your intentions.
7. Say a big NO to tailgating. Always maintain safe distance from the vehicle in front of you so that there's enough room between the two vehicles in case the vehicle ahead has to brake suddenly.
8. Go easy on the horns please! We are a country obsessed with honking! Whether there is space enough to allow us to pass, irrespective of the fact that the red signal has caused the traffic to halt...we honk. One annoying habit we most definitely need to get rid of.
9. Be courteous on the road. Since we all know good gestures on Indians roads are hard to come by, whatever little comes your way, acknowledge them. And yes, please return the favour too. This will help make Indian roads a happy, or rather a less angry place.
10. Please obey ALL traffic rules. Yes, all. It's very tempting to jump that red light in the middle of the night, when you see that straight empty road ahead of you, and say to yourself - 'oh, how does it matter, there's no traffic at this hour,' but then you never know on which empty road another such vehicle, ignoring similar red lights will come down to meet you head on. 

There are several other measures that can help reduce unfortunate incidents on the road, but even if follow the ones listed above with diligence, it will go a long way in ensuring safe driving experience for us all. So let us promise ourselves to do our bit in ensuring that Indian roads are a safer place for us to drive on. 

While the onus of learning and following traffic rules and driving etiquettes to the tee lies on us and us alone, the Nissan Safety Driving Forum (NSDF) initiated by Nissan Motor Company Limited, has taken up the exemplary task of sensitising people about road safety measures. Under its Blue Citizenship CSR umbrella, NSDF works to build awareness of safe driving in India. Let's us hope that a combination of our own efforts and the expertise and guidance from NSDF helps us make road safety not just a temporary concern but a permanent habit.

About Nissan Safety Driving Forum

The Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., conducts the Nissan Safety Driving Forum (NSDF) in India as part of its safety driving promotion activities. The program began as an annual activity in 2012. In its initial phase it covered three main Indian cities – New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai – and since then has gradually expanded to several additional cities across India. This year, NSDF would reach 8 new cities – Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Jaipur, Vadodara, Nagpur, Chennai, Mangalore and Kochi. In addition to sensitisation of wearing seatbelts, NSDF also conducts live simulated experiences to understand how safety features function through a simulated car crash. A 360-degree turn over highlights the use of seatbelts, while sessions on road safety emphasises on road etiquette to stay safe.

This post is a part of Nissan Safe Driving Forum campaign in association with Indiblogger.
Photo courtesy: Zee News

UNICEF Launches 'Baap Wali Baat'

UNICEF's latest report says that one in four adolescent girls experience physical violence. This report, 'a compilation of data revealing the magnitude of violence against adolescent girls' lists down some alarming statistics - 

• Almost one quarter of girls aged 15 to 19 worldwide (approximately 70 million) report being victims of some form of physical violence since age 15.
• Around 120 million girls under the age of 20 worldwide (about 1 in 10) have experienced forced intercourse or other forced sexual acts, and one in 3 ever-married adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 (84 million) have been victims of emotional, physical or sexual violence committed by their husbands or partners.
• Data suggest that in some countries, as many as seven in 10 girls aged 15 to 19 who had been victims of physical and/or sexual abuse had never sought help: many said they did not think it was abuse or did not see it as a problem.
• Worldwide, more than 700 million women alive today were married before their 18th birthday. More than one in three (about 250 million) entered into union before age 15.

The enormity of these facts and figures is overwhelming. Needless to say, there's an urgent need to raise awareness about violence against girls and educating people about their right to education. To this effect, UNICEF's new anthem 'Baap Wali Baat' is sure to strike a chord with the people.

Launched on the eve of International Day of the Girl Child - October 11 - 'Baap Wali Baat' is an anthem that presents a violence-free scenario, where girls are given all the freedom and equal opportunity to flourish. A part of UNICEF India's #ItStartsWithMe #EndViolence campaign, this anthem aims at inspiring all the fathers to nourish and help their daughters to blossom into strong and independent individuals. The song also pays tribute to those fathers who go all out in support of their daughters' dreams and aspirations.

And what a coincidence it is that this anthem is unveiled on a day when the Nobel Peace Prize for the year has been awarded to two leading child rights activists - Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzay, for their relentless struggle for children's rights. One can only hope that developments such as this pave way for a better future for not just the girl child but for all the oppressed and deprived children in general.

Coming back to Baap Wali Baat, this song has the 'baat' to make people aware of the challenges faced by girl child and come forward to pledge their support to the cause of #EndViolence. Let us too spread the word and share our support for this campaign. The #EndViolence #ItStartsWithMe campaign aims at raising awareness about different forms of violence, including physical, emotional, sexual and child marriage. Join hands and take a step to #EndViolence against children. I can #EndViolence because #ItStartsWithMe.

Observed on October 11, the International Day of the Girl Child was declared to recognise girls' rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world. This year, the theme is Empowering Adolescent Girls: Ending the Cycle of Violence.

Raising a Toast to Mardaani

'I've often thought it unfair that women are expected to stay at home when there's a fight to be won. If a woman has the strength to bear a child, she can swing  a sword as well as any man.'

Karen Hawkins, How to Abduct a Highland Lord

We women are a strange specie. Fragile and yet strong, yielding and yet determined - the perfect paradox, that’s what we all are. But the fact remains that there are so many shades to our personality. Yes, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US has many different shades within us. We might be all laid-back for days, but push us to an extreme, and there you see a different woman, all geared up, picking herself up and emerging stronger than ever.  She’s a mardaani, for she refuses to give in and blame it all on fate.

And here I proudly present one such mardaani from amongst us - Mrs. Aarti Goel

Aarti Goel with her husband

Aarti comes across as a petite every-day woman, your friendly next-door neighbour who loves supervising the household chores, picking her daughter from the school and spending time with her family. So what’s so special in that – you must be wondering, and rightly so. So many us do these and more. Yes. But what makes Aarti special is the fact that when is she is not involved in the mundane household and office routines, she is trained enough to ply passengers on Delhi roads. You read that right. Aarti is the second registered woman auto-driver in Delhi.

Aarti Goel - Challenging stereotypes

Always ready to take challenges head-on, Aarti is an inspiration for all. I first met her while on a road trip to Lansdowne. We had stopped over for a tea break at the same dhaba. Her's was a regular family, chatting away delightfully about this and that, and since my friend and I were the only other people eating there, they invited us to join them for tea. And it was there, sitting with them, and lazily sipping my extra milky tea that I discovered that the husband whom I had started addressing as Sushil bhaiya, only had one hand. I also discovered that they too were headed to Lansdowne and it was the wife Aarti who was driving them all to their destination. There was an awkward silence after this discovery, and it was Aarti who dispelled the quietness that had suddenly taken over our group. Calmly she narrated to us how many years ago her husband had met with an accident, resulting in the loss of an arm. Initially she found it difficult to get over the cruel incident and faced difficulty coping with the unfortunate developments. But she soon realised that the onus to reclaim her family's happiness was on her. She had to get a grip on not just her life.

That's me with Aarti Goel and her daughter Samiksha Goel

And she had to start from scratch. While earlier she had been a happy-go-lucky middle class wife who was dependent on her husband for all things big and small, now it was time to take the steering wheels in her hand - literally as well as metaphorically. Soon she learnt driving and was assisting her husband at his petrol pump and motor workshop. One thing led to another and now she's a trained auto-rickshaw driver too.

Aarti Goel is a mardaani in every sense of the world. Like the proverbial phoenix, she has risen from the ashes to reclaim her family's happiness. She did not give in or blame fate for the misfortunes that came her way. Rather she worked around the misfortunes and wrote a new destiny for herself. 

Aarti Goel's story has been covered by a couple of newspapers already, but it would be great to see her story inspiring people beyond Delhi. Hope the stories of grit and determination of all such mardaanis motivates us all to be positive and determined in the face of challenges.

Mission Megma: Doing Right

The past week had been terrible. Unmet expectations, sundry drawbacks, exhausting but not adequately rewarding work pressure, and the big tug of war between the material and the immaterial needs. 'Disappointed' was the big word of the week. 

And with this down and out state of mind I sat down to read about the latest half story of Tata Capital's Do Right - Half Story initiative. This half story is about Mr. Chandrakumar Pradhan and his dilapidated 3-room school in Megma, a sleepy remote village located on the Indo-Nepal border, on the Singalila ridge at an altitude of approx 10,000 ft. above sea level.  A cursory glance through the story and I learn that Mr. Pradhan has retired as the Principal of Saraswati Mandir School, where he had been working since he was 19 years old. 

Even after retirement, Mr. Pradhan continues to teach the 20 odd students here, all for his passion for teaching. The humble 3-room school is in a state of disrepair, with walls peeling off, blackboards cracked up and not-so black any-more and benches that are all run-down and shaky. There's not enough stationary too. When the basic supplies run out, Mrs Neela, the only other teacher at the school, a mother figure for the students, helps them with practising their lessons on the floor, with chalk outlines and stones placed on top of them.

The run-down Saraswati Mandir School in Megma, on the Indo-Nepal border

Cracked and not-so-black blackboard in the classroom

The students come from economically weaker families but want to continue studying

The students at this school come from economically weaker families. There are days when they have to go without meals. They use their pencils right till they become stubs in their little hands, so the idea of good stationary items and a decent school kit is but a distant dream for them.  And this is just what Mr. Pradhan wishes for his students - basic stationary and supplies to keep their love for learning alive.

Mr. Chandrakumar Pradhan features in this video and shares his dreams for his school with the viewers. Despite the many shortcoming he faces everyday, the warmth and happy tilt in his voice and the light in his eyes lighten up my spirit too. 

 

The dedication and passion is inspiring indeed - but what warms up my heart is the selfless spirit - Mr. Pradhan does it all, and gives private tuitions too - without charging a single rupee for his services.  Wow! Here we are, the lesser mortals, expressing disappointment over this and that, and here's this gentleman - warm and encouraging with much passion for his work, despite the many challenges he faces everyday.

Mr. Pradhan's half story inspires us all. It inspires us to be selfless and to think beyond the I-Me-Myself syndrome that we have all got caught up in. It motivates us all to be more giving and to reach out to those who are less privileged than we are. So let us all help Mr. Pradhan in his selfless mission of educating the kids with lesser means and ensuring that every house in this remote village is educated.

 With the kindness of many 'Do-Righters', his immediate need of blackboards for the school and stationary kits for the 20 students has been met with. But we all know, a humble school with humble students has many a humble needs - uniforms, woollens, basic furniture...little things that make the process and experience of learning better and cherished. So do contribute whatever you can towards this noble cause. Let us all 'Do Right' and make Mission Megma our own. A happy ending to the Megma half story is in our hands.

Mr. Pradhan, working at the school since he was 19

About the Do Right - Half Stories initiative:

Tata Capital's Do Right - Half Stories campaign is a journey to identify unique stories of courage, perseverance and determination from some of the remotest parts of the country, highlighting the challenges faced by the individuals/communities living there and letting ordinary citizens step in and support their needs and dreams, effectively scripting a happy end to their stories.

For more details about this heart warming initiative by Tata Capital, please do visit the Do Right website. Details of how you can help and support the cause are given on the website.