It is a huge honour to have a celestial object named after you. And these nine Indians have made it to the elite list. Know more about their achievements and the minor planets named after them.

1. Hamsa Padmanabhan – “Hamsa”

At 16, Hamsa Padmanabhan had a minor planet 21575 named ‘Hamsa’, after her. She was then a second-year B.Sc student of Fergusson College, when she made a presentation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Lincoln Lab for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in 2006. Today, at 21, she is doing her post graduation in Physics from Pune University, after which she plans to do her doctoral research in Theoretical Physics.

2. Sainudeen Pattazhy – “Sainudeen”

NASA named a minor planet (5178 No CD4) after Kerala zoology professor Sainudeen Pattazhy for his environmental research and campaigns, including red rain, health hazard of mobile phone towers, biological control of mosquitoes and the eco-biology of trees of religious importance.

3. Vishnu Jayaprakash – “Jayaprakash”

In 2010, Vishnu Jayaprakash, then a Chennai Class XII student of Chettinad Vidyashram, demonstrated a microbial fuel cell that runs on cow dung and inexpensive graphite electrodes. The minor planet named after him is called 25620 Jayaprakash. He aimed to reduce power costs for India’s 700,000 villages. Today, he has done extensive research on renewable energy technologies, and is now focussing on Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) technology.

4. Anish Mukherjee – “Mukherjee”

When Anish Mukherjee and Debarghya Sarkar were only 16 years old, they noticed the large scale bottle tampering rampant in India. They took the idea of auto-disposable syringes—which, once used, cannot be used again—and implemented that for one-time use bottle caps. Their design enabled customers to know if the the bottle had been tampered with. For this, planet 2000 AH52 was renamed 25629 Mukherjee.

5. Debarghya Sarkar – “Sarkar”

In 2010, Sarkar and his school classmate Anish Mukherjee worked on an innovative design that would make bottle-caps completely tamper proof. For his contribution to electrical and mechanical engineering, 25630 Sarkar (previously 2000 AT53) is named after him. Debarghya Sarkar is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Southern California. He plans to take his interest in bottle cap design towards a larger goal – design, fabrication and integration of devices that modulate photons and electrons.

6. Hetal Vaishnav – “Vaishnav”

When class X student Hetal Vaishnav saw that ragpickers were not picking up waste packets made up of multilayer plastic, she found that recycling companies avoided buying multilayer film plastic waste from them as it cannot be reused or recycled. Hetal then spent months to develop a process to deliver an innovative material that is “sustainable to water, has good nail- and screw-holding capacity, and has features that are better than MDF (Medium-density fibreboard) and plywood.”. This let her use multilayered and metallised plastic used for packaging wafers and chewing tobacco. “I got a certificate from Lincoln Lab a few days ago,” Hetal said on telephone from Rajkot. Planet 25636 Vaishnav was named for her contribution to the environment.

7. Akshat Singhal – “Singhal”

After Akshat found how annoying it was to index documents in a computer, he developed a system to automatically categorise documents, and also find relations between them, using artificial intelligence. The planet named after him, 12599 Singhal, is in the same region of planets that has 8749 Beatles, 2001 Einstein and 7000 Curie.

8. Madhav Pathak – “Pathak”

Madhav Pathak has changed the conventional Braille slate, making writing easier for the visually impaired. After Madhav Pathak found that his uncle could not easily write in Braille, the system of six raised dots, he decided to change it. Braille has a steep learning curve: Blind children have to memorise more than 300 combinations of dots, since they need one set of combinations for reading, and another set for writing! Madhav has modified the Braille slate (used for writing the language), which lets students easily read and write the language. For this, he has 12509 Pathak named after him.

9. Viswanathan Anand – “Vishyanand”

Named Vishyanand, the main belt minor planet is between the orbits of planets Mars and Jupiter. The planet was discovered in 1988 by Kenzo Suzuki in Toyota, Japan and was nameless until now. A minor planet is usually named after the person who discovered it but if it remains nameless, then it’s in the hands of the committee members to name it. Hence Micahel Rudenko, a minor planet committee member and an ardent fan of Viswanathan Anand’s knack for chess decided to name the planet ‘Vishyanand’. He is only the third chess player in the world after Alexander Alekhine and Anatoly Karpov to be honored in this fashion

FYI: A minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is neither a planet nor originally classified as a comet. Minor planets can be dwarf planets, asteroids, trojans, centaurs, Kuiper belt objects, and other trans-Neptunian objects. The orbits of ~670,000 minor planets were archived at the Minor Planet Center by 2015. The first minor planet to be discovered was Ceres in 1801, though actually it was considered to be a planet for fifty years. It’s a great honor and privelege to have a celestial object named after you!

Daripalli Ramaiah is a man on mission to plant trees and bring back the green cover. Wherever he sees a barren spot, he takes out seeds from his pocket and plants them. People say he has planted over a crore trees. Know more about the unsung hero and his extra ordinary work.

“Of all the species that consider the earth as their home, the most exalted is the human being. He supposedly has intellect, can think, can do and can get things done. Nature has bestowed her choicest blessings on this form of life. Therefore, we have a duty towards Nature. Protect the nature; protect everything created by God, for the posterity,” says Daripalli Ramaiah, native of Khammam district presently in Telangana State.

No one knows how it all started. But people in Khammam know Ramaiah as “Chettla Ramaiah”, where Chettu means tree.

Ramaiah is passionate about his work. He recollects that as a child he saw his mother saving the seeds of ribbed gourd for the next planting season. He learnt his first lesson from her. He says, “seed is the secret of evolution. God has given life to it and it proves to the world its existence by giving birth to a plant when wedded to soil, during monsoon.”

The plant then withstands several onslaughts by the humans around her, finally to grow into a mighty tree and save the same people who tormented her. Not satisfied with just her own survival, she strews seeds on the ground to create the future generation and continue with her good work.

The people in Khammam know a person who carries plants on his cycle and seeds in his pocket and pedals miles together, planting trees and strewing seeds with a fond hope that the entire area will be green in the coming years. People say that he has planted more than a crore plants and made them survive.

Photo: namasthetelangaana.com

What is it that he gets in return, is the moot question one asks, in this materialistic world. Satisfaction, contentment and sublime peace is what he gets on seeing the millions of saplings grow around him, taking deep roots to stand erect as huge and mighty trees.

Ramaiah proved to this world that you need not be rich to start philanthropic activity. What you need is passion and the path starts appearing before you, paving the way for the road ahead. Peddling a cycle, holding the handle with one hand and sprinkling the choicest seeds on the sides of the pathways is how he started his long and audacious journey of greening.

“There is no proxy when it comes to praying to a God or planting a tree. You should do it all by yourself to get the benefit,” he adds

To this end, he collected various native seeds such as Bael (Bilva), Peepal (Bauhinia Racemosa), Kadamba (Nanclea Cadamba), Nidra Ganneru (Albezia Soman), Kanuga (Pongamia), Neem (Azadirechta Indica), Erra Chandanam (Red Sanders), and many more and chose the canal banks from Khammam, Palleguda Bridge and started greening the four kilometre stretch on both sides of the path. He raised plants in every small piece of barren land, which have now become huge trees saluting him with all their humility.

His activities did not stop here. He read every available book on trees and in the process planted many trees in the local library premises as also the local temple. He knows the history of almost every tree there. He recollects with satisfaction how he requested the then local MLA to plant a tree and shows it to people with pride. He makes it a point to request any big dignitary visiting his area to plant a tree.

This nature lover not only plants trees but also paints slogans and messages about the environment and the need for trees in Telugu on all the walls of the villages.

Not stopping here, he collects all waste material such as used clutch plates, tin pieces – you name it – and paints slogans depicting the importance of trees. His main slogan is “Vrikshio Rakshati Rakshitah”, which means if you save the trees, they will save you. He wears them as his crown and moves about in his area with pride, jocularly remarking, “Am I not as beautiful as ‘Miss World’? This is my identity.”

One who smears sacred ash is a priest, one who wears Khaki is a policeman and one who adorns a green scarf is Ramaiah, is his reply to all his critics who feel that he is wasting his time.

Yes! He is the uncrowned king of nature. He equates plants with children and professes that both require initial care so that they grow strong to take care of you.

It is not just that he plants trees, he also knows their uses. His profound knowledge acquired by reading old books purchased from the second hand book shops along the road side by means of his very limited resources makes him a walking encyclopaedia on plants.

Once, an elderly person who liked his work gave him Rs. 5,000/- on the occasion of his son’s marriage. He used the currency notes to propagate his mission. Money, or lack of it, does not deter him from pursuing his passion.

A relative who knows only the commercial value of trees advised him to cut and sell the red sanders trees in his court yard which had attained sizable girth. Ramaiah did not give this a thought even for a moment. He said that he is developing a seed bank for posterity and all his trees will only help in producing more trees.

“I do not believe in people who cut trees but prostrate before a stone. For me, Nature is God and God is Nature.”

He collects the seeds every season and raises a nursery of red sanders and distributes the plants for free. He takes whatever anyone gives as price for his plants and uses the money for raising more plants. He is not just an environmentalist but also an economist, sociologist, scientist, mathematician and, above all, a Metaphysicist.

He asks, “Why doesn’t the State plant commercially useful species like Teak and Red Sanders in the waste lands, rear them and sell them in the market?” Maybe the State Governments have to seriously think of this option. (It is learnt that the Govt. of Andhra Pradesh is planning to auction the red sanders seized from the tree mafia. Ramaiah had suggested this as an economic activity and exhibited his fore thought).

Ramaiah became a sculptor also by accident, or should we say, because of an accident.

When he was chased by children while on his cycle, he fell and sustained a fracture. This immobilised him for few months. His undying spirit told him that while his legs are immobile, his hands are still free. Thus he learnt sculpting with the help of nails and hammers. He left no stone un-sculpted with slogans and images of leaves, plants and trees.

“Every sapling that I plant should survive, come what may. That is my motto.”

Once, he found it difficult to break the shells of teak seeds, it being painful and time consuming. While he spent all his spare time on this, he still found that his task was far from being completed. He then made a seat of it for his wife who sits near the fire place for cooking. Her constant movements and her frequent sitting on the bag helped in breaking the shells, making his task easier. This small episode only tells how involved was Ramaiah in his task.

In his journey, his wife also played a very important role. She stood by his side through thick and thin and helped him in fulfilling his passion. He has developed his own green philosophy.

He says, “Instead of giving a fruit to a child, give them a plant. Let them nurture the plant into a tree and enjoy its fruits forever. This way, they learn to love nature. Today children are tomorrow’s citizens. Similarly, today’s plants are tomorrow’s trees.”

What great thoughts. Ramaiah does not require a doctorate to profess these words. He is a highly honoured man in his area. He adorns himself with crowns and scarfs with slogans written on them and parades his area on his cycle like an emperor. All those who heckled him once, adore him now. He has spent his entire life time in greening the land like a soldier who spends his life time protecting his mother land.

There could be many people who have done their jobs with passion, but Ramaiah chose his passion as his unpaid job. There cannot be another Ramaiah when it comes to raising trees. He is a great model of humility and devotion to work. He is an inspiration to many, and at least at this late age, he deserves recognition.

Translated from an article written by Kranthi Kumar Reddy in ”Prakruthi Nestam”, a Telugu Monthly magazine by J. Srikar, Vice President, Palle Srujana, 67, Vayupuri, Sainikpuri post, Secunderabad -500094.

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Here is how a small kid sees the bigger picture and sacrifices some of his most prized possession for an incredible idea. Watch the heartwarming video.

Here’s a story of a regular kid. What makes him different is his vision.

He may be too small to understand the actual picture but he has got the bigger understanding.

How innocently he gives away some of his most prized possessions, and for what reason, is something we can all learn a thing or two from.

The eyes might not be his own but the idea surely is. Watch the inspiring and heartwarming video that might touch a nerve in you –

This video was first published by The Free Spirit Project here.

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In the Ghogalgaon village of Madhya Pradesh, 213 protesters have been standing in water for 32 days now. Here’s why, in spite of all the hardships they have to bear, they seem stubborn in the hope that the government will eventually provide them with justice.

In the Khandwa region of Madhya Pradesh, 213 protesters stand with half their bodies submerged in water. This act, embodying profound perseverance, is being carried out in the hope of persuading the government to provide the low-lying villages of the region with rehabilitation. This demand has risen in the face of the threat which haunts these villages, posed by the opening of gates of the Omkareshwar dam.

Marching into the 32nd day of the Jal Satyagraha, the gravity of the situation runs deeper than the water level of the dam which is creating such havoc.

In the event of such a transition being made on the part of the government, like the one concerning the Omkareshwar dam, the Supreme Court must notify the villagers and provide them with rehabilitation 6 months prior to the action being undertaken. However, not only were the villagers notified late, they were also not provided with any such compensation.

Continuous dialogue is taking place between the government and the protesters, albeit with barely any progress made so far. The government is forcing the villagers to accept the remuneration, which is in the form of a land, being provided to them.

The woe of the people rests in the fact that the land which has been given to them is of extremely poor quality and the hope of bountiful cultivation seems scarce.

The silver lining amidst all this painful chaos rests in the tenacity of the protesters. They hold profuse faith in their cause. Even though protesters have been fainting, with many having to be carried out, the number seems to be adamantly rising.

A majority of the them stand undeterred, even though their limbs have gone numb. With fishes feasting on their wounds, it seems as though their resilience is only growing stronger.

The feet of a protestor are displayed during the Jal Satyagraha at Ghogal in Khandwa MP.

Their claim is that they only ask of the law, the policy makers and the Supreme Court, that which is right. Nothing else. A similar fight such as theirs in 2012 won, then how is their cause any different?

“We know we are going to win,” says Chittaroopa Palit, writer and one of the activists protesting the move.

When Ms. Palit was asked if she wanted to convey anything to the people of India through the medium of this article, she sheepishly asked, “What should I say?” Such is the honesty of their fight. It does not matter to them what the magnitude of their reach is, so long as the ones who are being hurt the most have justice served to them.

With the threat of such an impending disaster of broken houses and shattered livelihoods looming over their heads, their only hope is that the country also sides with them.

There has been police intervention and without due support, their physical capabilities can only survive for so long.

Police intervention at Jal Satyagraha

Peaceful protest against the police intervention

When Chittaroopa was probed further to say at least a few words, this is what she had to say,

“I appeal to the people of India to support the farmers who are being sidelined. In the process and name of development, resources are being taken away. Are we going to afford lives for them? Or shall they be pushed to the margin?”

The funny thing is, that even though it may seem like a lost cause to us, there was not a hint of surrender in her voice. It was almost like she knows the only ending is a happy ending. This faith is one which resonates with all the protesters. They seem far from defeated, injured as they may be.

They know that their cause is a just one and the fight has only just begun.

Temsutula Imsong and Darshika Shah took matters into their own hands and cleaned some of the filthiest ghats in Varanasi on their own, with help from social media. Here’s how they even caught the attention of the PM.

We all have been hearing about PM Narendra Modi’s Swachha Bharat Abhigyan. While some have started following it in their communities, this girl from Nagaland has taken the initiative to next level.

It is very rare that the PM himself commends you for your efforts, and Temsutula Imsong is one such change maker who has impressed the PM with her extra ordinary work of cleaning the Ghats of Varanasi.

This effort by @temsutulaimsong & the entire team to clean the Ghats in Varanasi is phenomenal! I salute them. http://t.co/MVp6apZA3B

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 1, 2015

Imsong, who runs an NGO named Sakaar Sewa Samiti along with her friend Darshika, started her cleanliness drive long back in 2012 and has been promoting cleanliness of the ghats since then. But it was the success story of Prabhu Ghat in Varanasi that caught everyone’s attention.

Imsong’s Mission Prabhu Ghat came into existence when a casual boat ride turned into a bad experience due to the unbearable filth on the ghat.

Temsutula is highly inspired by PM Modi and wants to see a clean India.

“There was such a foul smell and the Ghat looked so filthy. It was a very disgusting sight, I wanted to puke. I could not believe that a holy site was in such a condition,” she recalls.

This ugly boat ride gave shape to the much talked about cleanliness drive of Prabhu Ghat on 14th March 2015, and within a week, managed to get over 20 volunteers who contributed in cleaning the filthy ghat.

“We were sure we wanted to do something and change the scenario. We contacted local authorities but we did not receive a positive response. So we decided to take matters into our own hands and started cleaning it ourselves,” she says.

The young team has taken matters into their own hands.

They both pitched in Rs. 5,000 each for some basic expenses to clean the filth from the Ghat. They hired some people to do the initial cleaning and purchased brooms, buckets, phenyl, masks, trash bags, etc to carry out the task. They used the power of social media to gather more volunteers for their initiative and planned to clean the ghat by 22nd March.

“There were polythene bags, waste clothes, excreta and so much filth. Initially, it looked like an impossible task, but we were determined to finish what we had started. We began spreading awareness among local communities and asked people to sign a pledge to keep the ghat clean,” says Imsong.

They also started using hashtag #missionprabhughat to make their initiative more popular and reach out to the masses.

Before and after view of the ghat

What was once a filthy place is a transformed site now. But all was not a piece of cake for this duo. The high footfall at the ghat made the task difficult to carry out. Also, as the team would start working early in the morning, it became tiring for the volunteers to continue the work in the heat for such long hours.

“But we kept motivating each other. As more people joined, our determination became stronger. We became a regular presence at the Ghat and the children who played there started accompanying us everywhere,” she says. Gradually people started recognising them and they managed to get some good-hearted people to contribute to their cause.

They have been working without any external financial support.

The team’s efforts created an impact which was visible in the attitude of people. Whenever the children saw anyone relieving or defecating in the open, they would start yelling and taunting them. “One day they chased and a made a man run away from the ghat while he was peeing there,” Imsong laughs as she recalls the incident.

Temsutula Imsong

The team has been implementing the project with their personal savings and some help from family and friends. Their initiative #MissionPrabhuGhat has reached hundreds of thousands of profiles on social media and has received appreciation from many people.

Even as the ghat looks much cleaner now, Imsong and Drashti’s journey does not end here. They want to keep their work going to spread more awareness in order to prevent people from dirtying it again.

They pitched in their own savings to give shape to their project.

“I want to tell people to treat the country like their home. We clean our houses everyday. Just like that, if we clean our roads and colonies regularly, filth from the entire country will be gone,” says Imsong.

As this dynamic duo moves from one Ghat to another to make it cleaner, we wish to see many more people getting inspired from their amazing work.

The ghat looks much cleaner now

To know more about Imsong’s work, contact her at temsutula@sakaar.co.in or check out their website.

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Having developed a love for boxing at the age of 12, Mrunal has a national level bronze medal under his belt but is still struggling to make ends meet. Know more about this talented boxer and how you can help him.

Mrunal Bhosale from Pune was just 12 when he first entered a boxing ring. Since then, he has not looked back, spending every single minute of his life following his passion. But Bhosale is not among the few fortunate ones who get to achieve their dreams without much hindrance.

“I am not sure for how long I can continue my boxing, and if things don’t change, I may have to abandon the one thing that gives meaning to my life,” he says.

As Bhosale made boxing the ultimate aim of his life, his economically poor circumstances came in the way. Born in a family where his father works at a hardware workshop and mom is a homemaker, taking up a sport full time was not easy.

But he didn’t let his dreams die a young death and joined a local boxing academy where one of his relatives worked.

As he grew older, his passion for the sport became stronger. But life had different plans for him. His journey towards sporting success hit a huge roadblock at the age of 17 when he met with an accident which tied him down to bed.

Mrunal has been boxing since he was 12

“I suffered serious leg and shoulder injuries. I could not practice for two years, and I’m still on the path to recovery. But I didn’t want to give up my dream. So once my wounds healed and I got better, I started playing again,” he recalls.

This setback only made him stronger as he started practicing with twice the passion and determination. Though he was focused, he had other responsibilities to fulfill.

He drove a goods carrier tempo to run his living expenses. He was also completing his Bachelors degree from Pune and, in his spare time, he took up many part time jobs to earn a little extra. From putting up hoardings on streets to selling DTH connections, Bhosale accepted every job that came his way.

“I would practice for four hours a day, go to college, and in the night, paste posters on walls. I spent many sleepless nights pasting posters all night. But it all becomes really exhausting and affects my health,” he says.

Bhosale’s handwork finally paid off when he won the Bronze medal at the National championship in the 64kg category in January this year.

He drives a tempo to earn a basic living.

Though this 28 year old medal holder has proved his calibre in boxing, but he is still waiting for the right opportunity and recognition to come his way. He might be the next boxing sensation, but for many, he is just a tempowallah.

While most players depend on a heavy diet and dietary supplements, Bhosale maintained his health and fitness just by eating regular home cooked food. “I can’t afford to spend on supplements. So I try to get all the nutrients from a home cooked meal,” he says.

The club where he practices does not have a boxing ring and Bhosale practices on the road. To improve his boxing skills and reach an international level, Bhosale needs proper training and facilities. Until he gets enough funds to do so, he is driving a tempo to make his living.

“I practice and work really hard. I feel angry too that in spite of my strong determination, I can’t give more time to boxing due to other commitments. I want to earn a Gold medal and participate in the Olympics,” he says.

He also coaches a few students at the same club where he practices. Heavily inspired from renowned Indian boxer Manoj Kumar, Mrunal wants to become like him some day and make the nation proud of him.

Photo for representation purpose only. Courtesy: wallpaper-kid.com

Bhosale needs funds to travel and participate in various competitions and get access to quality training and facilities. He has started a crowd-funding campaign to raise funds for the same.

A part of the funds will be used to treat the injuries which were caused during the accident. The rest of the amount will be used to improve his diet and get better resources to practice.

Click here to help this budding and talented boxer to follow his passion and not let him give up on his dreams. To know more about his work, contact him at – 09765602537.

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Rajeev Sharma was heavily influenced by the ideas and life of Prophet Muhammad and decided to translate his biography into Marwari. The book is called “Paigambar Ro Paigam” and is available online for free download. Here’s what influenced him to take on this commendable task.

Rajeev Sharma was just in 9th grade when he started a library, “Ganv ka Gurukul”, in his village called Kolsiya in Rajasthan. His love for reading made him read a lot of books on various topics and people. But it was when he read about Prophet Muhammad that he got heavily influenced and wrote a book on him in Marwari, a regional language of Rajasthan.

The book is called “Paigambar ro Paigaam”, and it talks about the life of Prophet Muhammad in 112 pages. Also, Sharma claims that this is probably the first biography of Muhammad to be written in Marwari language.

Rajeev Sharma

Often, we read about a religion and get influenced by its ideals. But how often does it happen that in a country like India, where religion plays such an important role in defining your identity and place in society, a Hindu boy not just got inspired by a Muslim leader but also wrote an entire book on Him.

“When I was a kid, our teachers would tell us to read books as part of our course. Since those days I spent a lot of time reading. I read Muhammad’s biography too and I thought that I should write about this amazing personality,” he says.

Sharma recall a personal experience where one of his relatives got married at a very young age of 5. The girl’s husband died during the last phera (ritualistic circle taken by bride and groom in an Indian wedding), and she had to spend her entire life as a widow.

“She did not even know the meaning of marriage and she had to live as a widow for her entire life. It was a long time ago and I wasn’t even born then, but I have heard about her hardships. I leant that Muhammad was against child marriage and supported women empowerment. I was highly influenced by this,” he recalls.

After reading many books about him and doing a good amount of research, Sharma was all set to write the book. A book on a Muslim prophet who had left a great impact on the life of this Hindu Marwari boy.

“I didn’t consider religion to be a big deal here. If we think about our past, all religions would live with mutual harmony. It is recently that the intolerance levels have increased. Also, it didn’t occur to me that being a Hindu boy, writing a book on a Muslim leader can create an issue as I am not hurting anyone’s sentiments here. I am just inspired by him and writing the truth. And I received a great response and encouragement from all my friends,” he says.

Paigambar Ro Paigam,  is available for free on Sharma’s E-library, which has collection of over 300 books.

The book is available for free download on his blog.

When Sharma met with an accident, he came to Jaipur and had to shut down his village’s “Ganv ka Gurukul” which had almost 1,500 books in it. He started an e-version of the same.

He studied Naturopathy in the city and started selling herbs which earned him some money to run the new version of the library.

“Paigambar Ro Paigam is already being appreciated by many. I have already received over 12,000 hits on my website for this. People across the globe have downloaded it,” he says. If he finds a good publisher, he is all ready to print the book too.

Highly influenced by the Quran and Muhammad’s ideas, Sharma says there is no other book that talks about peace and harmony better than the Quran. In the future, he is planning to translate it in Marwari too.

Having translated other Hindu religious books in Marwari, Sharma’s first experiment with a different religion has already created a stir. “I want to create libraries in all the villages of India. Books are the best thing one can have and children should inculcate the habit of reading,” he says.

You can read and download the book here.

For more information contact Rajeev Sharma at – write4mylibrary@gmail.com or check out his e-library Ganv Ka Gurukul.

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Giving up a fledgling career in Corporate Law, Sunayana K moved to a remote Gujarati village to work with a SHG. Here she helped the 18 women rejuvenate their failing restaurant business with innovative meal plans and recipes. She now hopes to use her experience and legal training to study issues faced by migrants and thus push for better and more inclusive policies for the rural poor.

What does a lawyer and a restaurant on the highway have in common? Not much it would seem. Yet Sunayana K, a lawyer by profession, has been putting her skills to good use in the remote village of Gangpur in Gujarat.

This city girl has helped a local SHG (self-help group), that runs a restaurant, to improve services and profit through her interesting approach.

Sunayana has changed for good in this journey.

The restaurant, Nahari, is located on the highway which is a perfect spot to attract customers. Serving authentic tribal food and nutritional products at affordable prices, this restaurant had all the ingredients to be a hit but failed to attract customers due to its setup and services. Nahari offered no variety, with just one meal plan, and its focus on authentic tribal food meant that only the adventurous would stop to try such unfamiliar foods. In addition, the women running the restaurant were shy and could not communicate well with customers.

The restaurant was also losing its USP by replacing the authentic tribal vegetables and grains with regular vegetables that one could get in the city.

Sunayana has transformed the restaurant.

The appealing exteriors of the restaurant

This was the scenario when Sunayana got involved. She started with some research into the kind of customers Nahari gets, what kind of vegetables are available and how the enterprise could be scaled up. She improved the decor of the restaurant, worked with the 18 women of the SHG to boost their confidence and communication skills. She also designed a menu card offering different meal plans and dishes suitable for both local villagers and outsiders.

Thanks to Sunayana’s efforts, Nahari’s profits have increased by 30 per cent in just a few months. “The women are more energetic and confident. They now go and talk to the customers and tell them about various offers. The change in attitude is clearly visible,” says an upbeat Sunayana.

She has helped the women open personal bank accounts so they can save some money every month. In addition, she is bringing tribal vegetables back on the menu and is experimenting with recipes.

Nahari serves authentic tribal food.

“Being a lawyer, I thought in terms of improving the business standard, spreading legal awareness about issues like raising funds, investment, etc., helping them with the necessary paperwork as well as improving the working conditions,” she says.

Sunayana’s journey has not been a bed of roses. “Initially it was difficult, especially because I didn’t know the language. But I had help from the local community. And I broke the ice by spending time with them. After 2-3 weeks, when they saw me every day, they began to welcome me with an open heart. Today, we are friends,” she says.

With the success of Sunayana’s model in Nahari, it will be replicated in other branches of the restaurant. There are currently eight Nahari restaurants run by local women at different locations in Gujarat.

Women are also experimenting with the type of dishes.

But Sunayana’s life did not always revolve around these women. After completing her law degree from a prestigious school, she joined a law firm only to quit in three months. “Most people who do law want to get into the corporate world and earn good money. But I was never into this. I always wanted to do something for society,” says Sunayana.

This was when she got to know about the SBI Youth for India fellowship. She didn’t think twice before quitting her job in Mumbai to shift to this tribal village in Gujarat for a year. “I wasn’t sure what I would do, but I knew I wanted to do something in the field of women empowerment and alternate livelihood. After some field work and research, I found out about this restaurant called Nahari which was running for the past 8 years but had hardly progressed,” she recalls.

Women who were first shy now are more confident.

Having always been interested in women’s empowerment, Sunayana plans to use this experience for her research paper and law career.

“Most of the policies in our country are made without considering the masses. Rural India is invariably ignored or doesn’t get the due benefit. As more people migrate from rural or urban areas, many issues are cropping up. For example, how do such migrants access government schemes? I want to understand these issues so it can be used in policy making,” she says.

To know more about Sunayana’s work, contact her at – sunayanakumar@hotmail.com

Do you want to make real impact too? Then click here to join the SBI Youth For India program.

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Dhananjay Chakroborty, a taxi driver in Kolkata, has decided to use his green hands and transform his taxi into a miniature, mobile garden. A green crusader on the move.

Imagine our surprise when we came across Mr. Dhananjay Chakraborty, a taxi driver in Kolkata, who has created a rooftop garden on his cab and has a mini green cavern in the trunk of his car with potted plants. It was truly an amazing and awe-worthy sight. He calls it the ‘subuj rath’ or the green chariot.

The car has metal containers on the rooftop whose bottom is laid with soil, white sand and stone chips and the original green grass grows up with the aid of those mechanizations. It weighs about 65 kgs and cost Mr. Chakraborty about Rs. 22000 to build. It continues to cost him with the increased fuel consumption because of the added weight. However, Mr. Chakraborty said he does not mind it.

The Kolkata cabbie is 40 years old and works from the taxi stand at Tollygunge Karunamoyee in Kolkata. In fact, he has planted flowers at the taxi stand too.

His Taxi, an Ambassador, apart from having a green grass-bed on the roof, has eight potted plants in the trunk and has a green interior completely to promote the message that trees and plants should be planted and taken care of.

Mr. Chakraborty’s project came to fulfillment in parts. It began three years ago when he potted a money plant in a beautiful glass bottle that a passenger had left behind in the back seat. Mr. Chakraborty took care of it and nurtured it, while keeping it in the Taxi.

The bigger idea of a green garden taxi, came from one of his friends who found something similar on Internet and suggested the initiative to Chakraborty. He, being so much in love with nature and trees, decided to give it a try.

Making of the green taxi. Mr. Chakrobarty, with help, adjusting the metal tray onto the roof.

His inspiration also came from fellow passengers who appreciated the small money plant that he had begun with.

The painting of the metal tray on the Subza Rath.

He has also been distributing leaflets with messages and sketches that he has made to passengers who are curious and delighted by his initiative.

However, Mr. Chakraborty does not own the Taxi that he has morphed into a mobile awareness masterpiece on environmental preservation and conservation. He had to sell his taxi, about eight years ago, when he required funds for his treatment post an accident.

But the owner, Mr. Amrish Singh, who owns some five more taxis, has stood up in full support of Chakraborty’s efforts. He says that Dhananjay is one of the safest drivers out there, and since this is for a good cause, he cannot do anything but extend his full support.

This is how the Taxi looked before it underwent the transformation to become a miniature mobile garden.

Although, it was not an easy ride, some fellow drivers ridiculed him. In fact, most people before looking at it in a deeper perspective thought he was crazy to even think of such a thing. But Mr. Chakraborty did not pay it any mind, and decided to go on with the project anyway.

Mr. Chakraborty gives an added message. According to him, planting trees is not enough; taking care of them and nurturing them is crucial. Because tree planting initiatives keep happening but most of the saplings just wither away due to lack of water. It is time people, all of us, begin doing our bit.

Apart from being an eye opener on environment, there are other benefits of the plants and the grass in the car. Mr. Chakraborty drives a Non- AC Taxi and because of the plants, his taxi remains much cooler than any other non-AC taxi.

Mr. Dhananjay Chakraborty sitting proudly in his subza rath.

Also, we believe people would be fascinated with such an idea. We know we are. So, the next time you are in Kolkata, do not miss a ride in the green taxi, or as Mr. Chakraborty likes to call it, the ‘sabuj rath’.

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During the Indian freedom movement, these six amazing women broke the stereotypes and achieved what was no less than a miracle at that time. How many of them have you heard of?

The role of women in the Indian freedom struggle is of paramount importance, with examples such as Jhansi ki Rani, Kasturba Gandhi, Sarojini Naidu, to name a few. The Sati Act of 1829 and the Widow Remarriage Act of 1856, coincided with the rise of English education in India. This led to women emancipation in the fields of education and social work. The only setback was that British education created an urban elite that was alienated from its own people. But the creation of this intelligentsia was in a sense a positive achievement, since it was this group which provided the administrators, the professionals, the political leaders and the social reformers who initiated the process of modernization in India. Here are 6 Indian women who went unnoticed in the midst of the freedom movement:

1. Chandramukhi Basu and Kadambini Ganguly – These two Bengali girls took advantage of the intelligentsia movement and passed the B.A examination in 1882.

Kadambini Ganguly

Photo:  Ragib/Wikipedia

Chandramukhi Bose

Photo: P.K.Niyogi/Wikipedia

They became the first women to do so in India. Two years later, Chandramukhi passed the M.A exam, again the first woman to do so in India. Basu then started her career as a lecturer in Bethune College, before going on to be its principal. She was the first female principal of an undergraduate academic establishment in South Asia.

2. Swarnakumari Devi (1855-1932) – She was the first woman to write a novel in the Bengali language. She did so at the age of 21 in 1876.

Pic from Bethune School and College Centenary Volume 1949

She founded the Sakhi Samiti (Society of Friends) in 1896. Devi’s other novels include Kahake (1898), Bichitra (1920) and Milanrati (1925).

3. Ramabai Ranade (1862-1924) – She was the first Indian woman to address a public meeting in English in 1883.

Photo: wikipedia

She also established the Hindu Ladies Social and Bombay Literary Club. Ranade was the president of the first All India Women Conference and was instrumental in establishing Seva Sadan in 1915. Seva Sadan continues to this day, with its objective of educating girls.

4. Sister Nivedita (born Margaret Elizabeth Noble) – Though she was born of Irish descent, she met Swami Vivekananda in 1895 and came to India in 1898.

Photo: wikipedia

Her book ‘Kali, the Mother’ inspired Abanindranath Tagore, who painted Bharat Mata. When plague broke out in Calcutta in 1899, it was Sister Nivedita who helped with the treatment of patients, and even encouraged Jagadish Chandra Bose to pursue scientific research. Her epitaph reads, “Here reposes Sister Nivedita who gave her all to India”.

5. Usha Mehta (1920-2000) – She operated a secret radio transmitter when the Government tried to suppress news about the Quit India movement.

Photo: www.junglekey.in

She was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department, and was offered incentives to study abroad during her time in jail, but refused to budge and did not give out any secrets. Mehta was conferred the Padma Vibhushan in 1998.

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At 11 he is a high school graduate, a TEDx speaker, a NASA speaker, a child prodigy, and aspires to become President of the USA. Here are 10 things you should know about the little genius.

He aspires to become a doctor, a medical researcher, a Nobel Prize Winner and President of the United States of America.

Not bad for 11 year-old Indian American child prodigy Tanishq Abraham, who just graduated from the American River College in Sacramento, California.

Photo source: Facebook

He received his graduation certificate on 20th May 2015, with degrees in Mathematical and Physical Sciences, General Science and Foreign Language Studies, with a Grade Point Average (GPA) score of 4.0.

Emblazoned on his graduation cap where the words “2-Infinity and Beyond” taken from his favorite cartoon ‘Toy Story 2′.

In a TEDx talk that he delivered in 2013, the then 9 year-old Tanishq is reported to have said,

“People should go to university and college when they are ready, not when they are old enough to go.”

Tanishq Abraham was born in Sacramento, California, USA in June 2003; his parents – father Bijou Abraham, a software engineer and mother Taji Abraham, a veterinarian, migrated to America from Kerala, India.

His parents, especially his mother, noticed that even as a toddler he loved children’s books and by the age of two, he could remember and recall everything he heard and read, including how to tell the time on the clock.

At age four he became a member of Mensa, the international society whose only qualification for membership is a score in the top 2 percentile of the general population on a standardized intelligence test.

It is reported in Wikipedia that, “Tanishq and his sister Tiara are the youngest South Asians (by ethnicity) to join Mensa and among the youngest Americans in Mensa. To join Mensa, one needs to score in or above the 98 percentile on a Mensa-approved standardized IQ test. Tanishq scored 99.9 percentile and Tiara scored 99 percentile on the test.”

Mensa was just a tip of the iceberg in the career of this young genius, there was more to come. Here is a brief look at his achievements so far:

1. As a five year old, he took the math courses offered by Stanford University’s Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY) in five grades and completed the course within a span of 6 months.

At age six, Tanishq is reported to have taken online high school and college courses in subjects such as chemistry, paleontology, biology, and geology.

10 Year-old Indian American Tanishq Abraham graduating from school

Photo Source: media3.s-nbcnews.com

2. At age seven, he enrolled for the Geology and Astronomy courses in the American River College, Sacramento and cleared the courses with “A” grades.

Photo source: Tanishq’s facebook page

3. His prodigious talent was evident when he expressed his intention to join an Astronomy club at his college. As there wasn’t one, his Astronomy professor decided to start one. Tanishq became its founding vice-president for the terms 2012-2014, quite an achievement for a 9 year-old.

Photo source: dailymail.co.uk

4. In-between, Tanishq finished an online chemistry course from the University of California, Berkley.

Photo Source: Twitter

5. When he was 8, young Tanishq became a member of the venerable Liberal Arts and Science institution Phi Theta Kappa, and at age 10, he was elected Vice-President of Communications for the 2013-2014 term.

Tanishq with his parents, mother Taji (Left) and father Bijou (Right) and young sister Tiara. The family photo is courtesy his parents: Bijou and Taji Abraham.

Photo Source: www.today.com

6. Musically inclined, Tanishq plays the piano and is a member of a choir group, just like many kids of his age. He cracks jokes as well!

Here are his science jokes on CONAN:

7. Tanishq enjoys playing chess, table tennis and tennis. He loves to swim and is passionate about American Soccer, and when time permits, he enjoys watching his favorite programs on television.

Watch the PRODIGIES video of Tanishq to understand what went into the making of this child genius:

8. At age 10, Tanishq graduated from high school.

Watch his graduation speech here:

At the tender age of 11, Tanishq is now an international celebrity, appearing both in print and the electronic media around the world.

9. When he was just nine years old, Tanishq became the youngest person to speak and present a poster at one of NASA’s conferences in July 2012.

Here’s Tanishq at NASA:

10. Another feature in his cap was when he was invited to speak at a TEDx conclave that was held in Sacramento, California, in 2012.

Can’t believe it? Here’s Tanishq at TEDx Sacramento:

For this 11 year-old Indian American genius, the sky is the limit and his journey has just begun. And by the way, he has been home-schooled by his parents, until he enrolled for courses at the American River College.

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As Kangana Ranaut declines a whopping offer of Rs. 2 crore to endorse a fairness product, she is on her way to changing mindsets once again. But will she succeed in a country like India which has a fetish for fair skin? 

Every Friday works in two ways for a film star – either it opens up a war chest in the form of endorsements of a myriad products arising out of sweet success at the box office, or there is an aura of melancholy that hangs in the air refusing to dissipate after rejection of a film by the audience. When the film becomes a hit, one finds the stars suddenly endorsing a plethora of products riding on the bandwagon of success achieved. After all, it is ephemeral and lasts only from one Friday to the next.

So the advertisers would have thought that Kangana Ranaut would also follow suit after the phenomenal success of Tanu Weds Manu Returns by embarking on a trip of endorsements and, in case of a female star, it usually is in the form of beauty product endorsements. More so those products that supposedly enhance the color of the skin and convert dark skin into white skin overnight as a successful star has started endorsing it.

But Kangana being Kangana Ranaut refused to bite the bullet of endorsement (reportedly Rs. 2 crore) and has created a stir in the market as she has once again chosen to tread on a path of her own.

Kangana Ranaut

Her reason for doing so stemmed from the fact that her sister has a dusky endowment, but it indeed has given a strong signal to the industry to not take the film stars for granted to endorse products that may not have a social acceptance.

One needs to underline that Kangana Ranaut is not ploughing the lone furrow, but she is the most successful ambassador espousing the cause supported ably by the likes of Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Irffan Khan etc., who also refused to take the bait.

For Kangana, the celebrity endorsement if not done with objectivity, is more akin to spreading disinformation about a product as also undermining the confidence of an individual who is not fair, as one hardly finds an endorsement underlining the dark complexion. For Kangana Ranaut, being a celebrity comes with lots of social responsibilities that cannot be crucified at the altar of commerce.

Nandita Das indeed would be proud about this bold step that Kangana Ranaut has taken as she was the first actress in recent times who raised the clarion call against the supposed fetish for white skin (more a product of media and associated industries than a reality).

Nandita Das

After all, the covenants of beauty as defined in the Indian context have waxed eloquent about a skin that has subtle tones of darkness, which add mystique to the persona and the beauty from the times that treatise of beauty and love were written through our ancient texts, most eloquent being espoused through Kama Sutra of Vatsayana.

The fetish for white skin, as a matter of fact, is more a result of the sustained media campaigns backed by established stars who continue to endorse it, forgetting the fact that while they may be doing it for the moolah, their endorsement in a way undermines scores of individuals out in the countryside who are not blessed with the supposed white skin.

This fetish reached its apogee when stars of the likes of Shah Rukh Khan started endorsing it for the male of the Indian species as well.

Photo source: www.emamiltd.in

It needs to be underlined that Shah Rukh Khan was the first male star who endorsed a beauty cream synonymous with supposed characteristics of facilitating fairness of the skin along with a host of divas of the past and the present who had endorsed this product.

Searching in the annals of Hindi cinema, one would find that perhaps only a Mehmood had the guts to sing the song – Hum kaale hain to kya hua dil waale hain.

Photo source: Youtube

One only hopes that more such stars come forward and take the role of being a harbinger of social change as well, and not fall into the trap of commercialism and endorse a product that could spell a doom for more than half of the population of the country and undermine their confidence owing to the color of the skin that they have inherited from their birth, but find it, when they grow adult, to be a cause of being sidelined by the society.

– Nalin Rai

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Sushila was 79 and died in her sleep. Here is a tribute to the amazing lady who made Viswanathan Anand what he is today.

Sushila Viswanathan, mother of chess champion Viswanathan Anand passed away in her sleep on Tuesday, May 26 in Chennai.

The 79 year old lady was known for her impeccable contribution to Anand’s successful chess career.

Sushila found Anand’s interest in chess when he was just five. Since then she has supported him, taught him basic moves of chess and even accompanied him to the tournaments when he became a professional player.

Photo: Twitter

“I don’t want to say that I was behind his achievement. A mother has to be by the side of the child taking baby steps in any field. In my case, it happened to be chess,” she said in one of her interviews earlier.

This mother of five times chess champion hailed from a family of lawyers who played chess and it came naturally to her.

Photo: Twitter

She made sure that her son who was keen on learning the skills not just becomes a chess player but a chess champion.

Photo: Twitter

Sushila has been an inspiration to many mothers and given them strength to stand by their children and support them to follow their dreams. The strong lady will surely be missed.

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From capturing the early lives of bees to Humming bird Biomechanics, this wildlife photographer has captured some of the most stunning images. Here is all you need to know about National Geographic’s Anand Varma.

As I write this article for The Better India, the number of views for Indian American, award winning National Geographic Photographer, Anand Varma’s TED talk, “A thrilling look at the first 21 days of a bee’s life’, has just touched 1,066,762. That’s a million plus views.

This amazing time-lapse 60 second video will hold you spell-bound with astonishing never-seen-before images of the early life of a bee, revealing one of nature’s best kept secrets.

In the TED talk he reveals how he came about making this stunning video. “These bees are in my backyard in Berkeley, California. Until last year, I’d never kept bees before, but National Geographic asked me to photograph a story about them, and I decided, to be able to take compelling images, I should start keeping bees myself. And as you may know, bees pollinate one third of our food crops, and lately they’ve been having a really hard time. So as a photographer, I wanted to explore what this problem really looks like. So I’m going to show you what I found over the last year”.

He further adds, “Now, bees are the most sensitive when they’re developing inside their brood cells, and I wanted to know what that process really looks like. So I teamed up with a bee lab at U.C. Davis and figured out how to raise bees in front of a camera”.

1. Indian American Anand Varma was born in Atlanta, Georgia, USA and currently lives in the city of Berkeley in California. He has a degree in Integrative Biology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Award Winning Indian American National Geographic Photographer Anand Varma

Photo: https://i.vimeocdn.com/video/501450706_640.jpg

2. He was exposed to the camera and nature early on in life

A curious young lad, Anand was fascinated about the natural world around him. His first tryst with photography came about when he picked up his father’s old camera that was lying around the house. Camera in hand, Anand went about exploring nature’s wonders in the woods and streams surrounding their house. This early foray into the natural world would eventually become Anand’s lifelong passion.

Indian American National Geographic Photographer Anand Varma on Assignment

Photo: Facebook

3. Young Varma wanted to be a Marine Biologist when he grew up.

When asked, in a recent National Geographic interview, “What did you want to be when you were growing up?” Anand Varma said, “As a young boy, my dream was to be a marine biologist. I have always enjoyed exploring nature but I was especially fascinated by fish and other aquatic creatures. I got a job at my local aquarium store on the day I turned 14 and could get a work permit. Any spare time I had was spent identifying the exotic creatures we had for sale and learning about their biology.“

Photo source: afterschool.my

4. His real big lucky break came when he was asked to assist the legendary National Photographer David Littschwager.

From then on there was no looking back for Anand, his journey as an award winning National Geographic photographer had just begun.

Anand Varma

Photo: www.serengeti-eyewear.com

5. Since 2006, Anand has worked with some of the best nature photographers in the world with whom he has about 13 articles in the National Geographic Magazine; they include Christian Ziegler, Joel Sartore and Tim Laman.

Here’s an interview of him:

6. In 2010, Anand was awarded the ‘Young Explorer Grant’ from the National Geographic Society, to photograph the wetlands of northern Patagonia.

amazing time lapse from larva to bee in 60-seconds

Photo: ngs-remote-video-import.s3.amazonaws.com

7. His first full length feature story that appeared in the November 2014 issue of the National Geographic was on “Mind Suckers”, images of parasites that look like ‘aliens’.

Watch Anand Varma talk about Mind Suckers here:

8. These days, Anand helps biologists communicate their research through photographs.

His scientific collaborative forays tell the story behind the science of fields as diverse as Primate behavior and Humming bird biomechanics to Amphibian diseases and Mangrove forests.

Anand Varma speaks at TED2015 – Truth and Dare, Session 8, March 16-20, 2015, Vancouver Convention Center, Vancouver, Canada. Photo: Bret Hartman/TED

Photo: https://www.scoopanalyser.com

9. In a stunning 13 second time lapse video, which condenses four hours of photography, Anand shows us the extraordinary footage of the Puyehue Cordon-Caulle volcanic complex that was still dumping ash all over Northern Patagonia in January 2012.

The volcano first erupted in Chile in June 2011.

Another must watch video is of the wildlife that Anand took during an assignment with Christian Ziegler in Panama.

10. Anand’s stunning range of photographs captured during his many assignments so far, have won him several awards.

Here is what Anand, posted on his Facebook page, when he won the first of his many awards, “Hey folks, just won my first award: 1st prize Nature Stories at World Press! 2015 Guess I’m going to Amsterdam!” The award winning photograph was of a “Male Sheep Crab feminized by a parasitic barnacle”.

National Geographic Photographer Anand Varma on Assignments

Photo: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/

From Patagonian landscapes, to the early life of bees; from humming bird biomechanics to ants infected by mind controlling fungus; from frogs deformed by flatworms to the wildlife in Panama. Anand Varma’s stunning range of images has captivated nature lovers around the world.

First Prize Nature
When spores of the fungus land on an ant, they penetrate its exoskeleton and enter its brain, compelling the host to leave its normal habitat on the forest floor and scale a nearby tree. Filled to bursting with fungus, the dying ant fastens itself to a leaf or another surface. Fungal stalks burst from the ant’s husk and rain spores onto ants below to begin the process again.

Photo: media3.s-nbcnews.com

Indian American award winning National Geographic award winning photographer, Anand Varma is as “busy as the bees he is photographing”, since he spends all his time either in the field on photographic assignments or at home sifting and sorting through the photos from his last assignment or researching for his next project.

Quoting from the National Geographic interview, Anand Varma said, “The most rewarding moments come from learning about new creatures, behaviours or interactions and sharing those discoveries with others.”

Keep exploring, discovering and sharing with us the wonders of the natural world.

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Distinguished scientist S. Christopher became DRDO’s new chief on 28th May, 2015. Here are 11 things you probably didn’t know about him.

After four months of being without a chief, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has appointed prominent scientist Selvin Christopher as its Director General on Thursday.

Christopher has been appointed as DRDO chief for a two year term. Here are 11 amazing things you should know about the distinguished scientist who’s going to be heading the country’s premier technology organization for defence –

1. He completed his BE (Hons) in Electronics & Communication Engineering from University of Madras and M.Tech in Microwaves and Radar Engineering from IIT, Kharagpur.

He then joined IIT Madras as Project Associate in 1980, where he conducted research on Microwave Antenna Design and Near-field Measurement Techniques. He further got a PhD in Antennae and Measurement Techniques from IIT, Madras.

2. After his PhD, he worked with Bharat Electronics, Ghaziabad, as senior engineer designing antennae for Digital Tropo-scatter Communication systems.

3. He was the Indian scientist responsible for the manufacture of India’s first indigenous Airborne Early Warning & Control System (AEW&C) system, a supersonic defence fighter jet.

The system is efficient is detecting and classifying threats present in the surveillance area and acts as a command and control centre to support different air operations.

4. He is a respected Indian missile scientist with the DRDO and was heading the Bengaluru-based Centre for Airborne Systems before his new appointment.

Christopher has been entrusted with the task of strengthening the DRDO and bringing back the reputation which it has lost due to slipping on deadlines, poor research, delays, corruption and other issues.

5. Christopher is a Padma Bhushan Awardee and has received various other distinguished awards including the DRDO Outstanding Scientist for 2012.

He was also awarded Scientist of the Year Award in 1998.

6. He made way for the electronically scanned array antenna evaluation at Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE) where he led a team to create the Automated Planar Near Field Measurement Facility for the first time in the country.

7. Christopher also worked for the Indian Navy as Project Director for Airborne Surveillance Platform (ASP) project and for development of the Maritime Patrol Airborne Radar, SuperVision 2000.

8. He played a crucial role in developing slotted array technology, which was used for several airborne and missile projects. The technology was even exported to Poland, becoming the first ever export from LRDE.

9. Before Christopher, Avinash Chander held the posts of director general, DRDO, Scientific Adviser to the defence minister, and secretary DRDO.

Avinash Chander

He was terminated w.e.f from January 31. His term would have otherwise ended in May 2016.

10. Earlier, the DRDO chief was also the scientific adviser to the defence minister but the post has now been split. Missile scientist G.S. Reddy has been appointed as the scientific adviser to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

11. Christopher has published over 70 papers and holds copy rights and patents for many of his works.

With the appointment of S. Christopher, the government has shown its intention of encouraging younger talent to take up leadership positions. We wish the dynamic scientist a very fruitful stint at DRDO’s top job.

All pics: Twitter

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Farmers are more self-reliant and empowered, village kids are more hygienic – all thanks to one man’s intervention. Learn about this chemical engineer who quit his job to bring about change in a remote village in Tamil Nadu.

Born in Chennai, Anirudh Prasadh spent a major part of his life in Maharashtra. After completing his engineering, he went to Manchester for a Masters degree in Chemical Process Design and got a great job when he came back to India.

After a successful stint in the corporate job for two years, he decided to quit.

“I was not satisfied. Being in Mumbai, most of my time was spent in travelling to and fro from office. Also, I realised that we had all become accustomed to the problems that affect us regularly. We preferred to avoid them and look for an easy way out rather than work towards a solution. I linked this to the rural sector of India and thought about the condition, solutions and issues there,” he says.

Unlike most people who have a backup plan before they quit a lucrative job, Anirudh didn’t think twice before quitting and remained unemployed for three months to figure out what he wanted to do.

Anirudh has been spreading awareness about good hygiene in the village.

A Google search for rural fellowships landed him on the SBI Youth For India fellowship page, and it seemed like a perfect opportunity for a person who was looking to bring about change.

“Though I hail from Chennai, I didn’t know much about our culture and traditions as I grew up in Maharashtra. So I decided to work in Tamil Nadu to get closer to the community I belonged to,” he says.

Anirudh started his work in a remote region of Kolli Hills, where he saw people working hard to incentivise the millet production and its associated market.

Health camp organized by Anirudh.

The local farmers and self help groups, as part of Kolli Hills Agro Biodiveristy Conservers’ Federation (KHABCoFED), were involved in various production activities of the millet value chain system that was set up by MS Swaminathan Research Foundation. Fifteen products were sold under the brand name ‘ Kolli Hills Naturals Foods’.

The millet packaging however was not up to the mark; it was costly and did not look attractive in spite of significant investment. Packaging reduced the quality of the final product and the stakeholders were completely cut off from current market realities.

Anirudh, with support from the NGO, set up a meeting with the Federation and worked to improve the brand name, redesign the existing logo and get the packaging costs down. Thanks to his intervention, the cost of packaging has come down by 40%, including the stickers.

“Earlier, the distributor used to pay Rs.18 per sheet of 6 stickers. In order to avoid such high costs, at times, xerox copies of stickers were used. The packaging plastic ordered locally was also below par. In order to optimize the whole process, I convinced MSSRF to bulk order the packaging and stickers. Food grade standing pouches were chosen as a replacement to thin plastic pouches. Due to bulk printing each sheet of 12 stickers now only costs about Rs 9 per sheet. This made the overall process cheaper whilst simultaneously improving the quality and look of the products,” he says.

Owing to Anirudh’s work, the products which are sold in 35 locations in Tamil Nadu now look much more attractive and have been receiving a better response from buyers.

Old packaging of the millets

New packaging of the millets

In addition to this, Anirudh along with Gautam Jayasurya, another SBI Youth for India fellow, has also carried out capacity building of local youth and the Federation members via basic computer traning. He also plans to conduct training sessions on quality control and accounting practices.

“My idea was to empower the villagers such that, if tomorrow the NGO support stops, they can be self-reliant,” says Anirudh.

Anirudh has played a crucial role in spreading awareness about health and hygiene among the villagers. He organised a health camp in one of the villages, to inform them about healthy food habits and lifestyle practices, and to address local health concerns such as malnutrition and anaemia.

Anirudh, along with the kids of the village, installed Tippy Taps (small water containers to wash hands) in the schools and gave ownership of these Tippy Taps to the students.

The kids take ownership of the tippy taps.

“Kids would ask us, ‘why and how are you so clean? We also want to be clean like you.’ So it’s not like they don’t value cleanliness; they just need advice, facilities and guidance to do so,” he says.

Anirudh is also spreading awareness about waste management among the villagers and enabling them to avail the Swachh Bharat Mission benefits.

Anirudh has brought a considerable change in the lives of people of Kolli Hills. But it wasn’t an easy task. Especially when you have family pressure. “My mother was initially quite disappointed with my decision and did not agree with it, but my dad somewhere understood my frustration with a corporate job and gave me the freedom to do what I wanted to do,” he recalls.

Today, when the family sees the amazing work Anirudh has been doing, they have accepted his brave plunge. “I have seen people taking the plunge, following a passion and being very happy with it. I am glad I took this decision,” he says.

Villagers, skeptical at first, now openly welcome him to discuss all issues affecting them and also share their suggestions and ideas with him.

Capacity building training for the villagers

After the fellowship, Anirudh wants to continue his work in the development sector. “I am sure I don’t want to go back to chemical engineering,” he laughs.

“The fellowship has made me more patient. Earlier I would think people are used to the challenges affecting them and don’t actively seek to improve their lifestyle. But today, my perspective has changed. I feel they too want a better life; it is lack of choices and opportunities that stops them,” he says.

To know more about Anirudh’s work, contact him at – anirudhprasadh@gmail.com

Do you want to make real impact too? Then click here to join the SBI Youth For India program.

She was just 12 when she got married. After this, she not only went on to change her life but also led to the development of her entire village. From fighting with Naxalites to planting trees and doing rain water harvesting, Jaya Devi is truly the “Green Lady” of Bihar. 

Jaya Devi was just 12 when she got married and 16 when she delivered a baby girl. Like many others, she could have just remained another child bride of Bihar. But she chose a different path to become the “Green Lady” of Bihar instead.

Jaya Devi has come a long way from being a child bride to a changemaker.

She was forced to discontinue her studies due to Naxalites’ threats and faced many other struggles while growing up. But Jaya was not a regular girl. She was determined to change the situation of her life and the village she lived in.

One day, during a regular medical checkup, she shared her desire to bring a change with the nurse. The lady advised her to form a group as fighting alone in Bihar was not an easy task. She then set up a Self Help Group in 1997 in Saradhi village of Bihar to help marginalised communities, especially women, avoid money lenders and become financially independent.

“Being a tribal woman, I have seen Naxal attacks and all the struggles. Everyone had to live at their mercy. I was determined to change the situation. I wanted my villagers to become financially stable,” she says.

She started with bringing women together and helping them save money. A large part of her work revolved around freeing her villagers from the grip of moneylenders. She enabled women to educate themselves, send their children to school and take advantage of already existing schemes of the government.

From getting their ration card and ID card made to fighting for the rights of the tribals and raising her voice against sexual violence, Jaya Devi was everywhere and helped the villagers in many amazing ways.

Jaya Devi has been a constant support to the villagers

“The major problem with the village was that there was no source of income. The entire harvest was dependent on rain which was very uneven. So we started rain water harvesting,” she says.

She met a social worker from a nearby village, Kishore Jaiswal, who introduced her to the various methods of rain water conservation. Jaya brought the villagers together and constructed a tank to catch the rain water. She also managed to get people to give “shramdaan” (voluntary labour) and construct the tank all by themselves.

Her efforts started to gradually show results. The well irrigated fields gave bumper crops in the next season, which raised the confidence of the farmers and encouraged them to submit a proposal to NABARD.

Inspired by their efforts, NABARD came forward to support them and helped in the construction of six more tanks in the village. “For every Rs.100 worth of work, the villagers contributed Rs.16 as ‘shramdaan’ and the rest of the cost was borne by NABARD,” she says.

Not only this, to take their efforts to a new level, the villagers laid an 800-feet pipeline to bring water from the Kareli hills to the ground. This project was a huge success and gave a good boost to agricultural growth in that low rainfall area.

Her love for nature enabled her to spread awareness about tree plantation, and she, along with the help of the villagers, planted over 1 lakh trees in her village and nearby areas.

She got villagers on board to give ‘shramdaan’ and start rain water harvesting.

“It was really hard to reach this far. In a community where child marriage still prevailed, people were not literate and had no awareness about new methods of agriculture. Getting them on board to try new things and take charge was a challenge. But thanks to everyone’s support, we managed to do it,” she says.

With the success of their initiatives, the face of the village changed. People, especially women, became self-dependent, confident and empowered. The farmers got together to fight for their rights and got liberated from the money lenders. Children started going to school and women too learnt to write their names. With their constant efforts, the soil became more fertile and gave a better harvest too.

“The change was gradual but evident. Women’s health was improving because they paid more attention to it now. Rain water was utilised properly which helped in getting better crops. We also trained the women to start some small-part time businesses like making home-made chyavanprash,” she says.

In the future, Jaya Devi wants to work towards the betterment of her village and her people. She wants to stop the migration to cities and enable people to earn a better income.

Jaya Devi has received many awards and recognition for her enormous contribution

“I want to educate all the children, especially girls, stop child marriage, and more than anything, I want to provide safety to the villagers. We have been living in threat our entire lives due to the Naxalites. We need the support of people and the government to fight this,” she says.

Jaya Devi is a remarkable example of how strong a woman can be. And no matter what comes her way, she will always achieve her goals. We congratulate Jaya Devi for her tremendous efforts and hope to see many more amazing change makers like her.

Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter (@thebetterindia).

“I was stunned when I heard this. I was not the kind of person who’d generally fall sick. I was a smoker and this type of cancer usually strikes people who smoke, but I still never expected this to happen to me. When I first heard that, I just became quiet. I only asked the doctors, what’s the next step?”  she speaks of the monumental visit.

“And I thought I’d fall in that 85 percent. I didn’t think it was a big deal, I was chilled out. I thought one operation, six weeks of immunotherapy, and I will be perfectly fine again. I thought it’s a simple cancer, like the doctors told me, and I believed it would be easy to cure,” she says.

“I went on a journey to find myself. I dived in the sea, spent time with nature and attended some amazing yoga courses. Actually, cancer has given me a new life,”

- Yassmen Kichlu

She had crossed two years after the operation sans any hurdles, which is considered to be a crucial period. The doctors also assured her of stability, because the difficult part seemed to be over. But fate had other plans in store for her.

“I wasn’t expecting that at all. I thought I was just fine and the cancer was gone. I felt really bad losing my body parts like this. This time it came as a bigger shock. The first time, I handled everything myself. But this time I was emotionally and physically weak,” she says about her second unexpected battle with cancer.

One surgery turned into many, but the cancer kept persisting in her body. Doctors, finally, advised her to go for chemotherapy.

“Losing my hair was the biggest challenge that time. But I gathered the courage and shaved my head before the surgery and posted that photo on Facebook. It somehow went viral and received huge appreciation. That gave me confidence,” she recalls.

“You see, it was such a huge breakdown of ego. I worked for such big companies and never faced any issues like this ever in my life and suddenly, we were out of money and I had to ask friends and family to support me. It is extremely difficult to be in that position,” she claims in utter honesty.

“When you go so down in life, there are only chances of you going up after that. The disease gave me such strength and detachment from all the unnecessary things in life. I never used a wig or scarf to hide my bald head. I was free. I was free of my insecurities and emerged as a pure person,” she says.

“I thought I should just stop worrying about it now. Everyone has to die some day and I should use whatever time I have in a better way. So I removed by chemo port too. I just don’t care now. I just want to live my life each day as it comes. I am free from fear”

- Yassmen Kichlu

She is doing a lot of freelance work, is a yoga and pranic healer, a public speaker and much more. Her family, which has been her greatest support, is her strongest pillar and she spends an abundant amount of time with them.

“I would just advice everyone to respect your disease. The first time, I did not, and it kicked me bad. Now, I think I am living my life freely without any burden. I am not special because I have cancer. I am just living my life to the fullest,” she concludes.

Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter (@thebetterindia).

That is when he came across Milaap. And he didn’t think twice before joining the team which has been changing thousands of lives through its crowd-funding and micro-financing initiatives.

“It happens so many times that we want to help people but we don’t know how to. Milaap bridges that gap. I was enchanted by the idea of using Microfinance as a tool for poverty alleviation and inclusion. After reading many, many stories of farmers in distress and rural problems, I finally found a platform/means to do something about those problems,” he says.

The more he wrote about these people, the more he got involved in their lives. And gradually, he became convinced that he wanted to create a much bigger impact than just writing down the stories.

After collecting all this valuable information, Howard has developed such crucial insights into the lives of the borrowers which we would never be able to. Because Howard is not just an outsider who has come to “help” them. Rather, he is a confidant who acts as a guiding light in the lives of the villagers.

"I have seen change happen in front of my eyes. I have seen how a small loan can create a larger impact and how lives get transformed completely. It is much more than just a small loan as it helps them in the long run," he says.

“I have also seen that we are used to blaming the government for everything. But some government schemes are actually working. People are getting a lot of benefits, and those success stories really need to be told,” he says.

The fellowship has not just helped the borrowers on the ground, but it has changed Howard as a person too.

“If you believe that hardworking people everywhere deserve access to credit markets and if you want to study the issues or have a micro-view of the challenges and changes in rural India, this program is for you. The fellowship changes your perspective towards various things you witness in the country,” he says.

Do you want to bring change in rural India too? Then click here to join the Milaap Fellowship.

Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter (@thebetterindia).

1. Bhairavi Desai was born in Gujarat, and came to the US with her parents and her two brothers, at the age of 6. Her father was a lawyer and her mother a homemaker.

Photo: (PHOTO CREDIT MARTHA CAMARILLO -GAARTISTS) www.newyorker.com

2. She grew up in New Jersey and went on to obtain a degree in Women's Studies from Rutgers University in 1994.

Photo: http://i.ytimg.com/

3. Growing up, Desai wasn’t allowed to date or go to dances, but she didn’t care. “I was too busy dreaming of strikes and demonstrations,” she told Lizzie Widdicombe of the New Yorker.

4. In February1998, Desai who was just 23 was working in a beeper store, and, in her free time, trying to open a union office with the help of friends, including two Pakistani drivers, Javaid Tariq and Saeed Ahmed, and Biju Mathew, a Marxist associate professor at Rider University.

 Photo: www.theepochtimes.com

5. Bhairavi, is not a taxi driver herself nor does she have a driver’s license.

6. In May 1998, she organized the largest one-day taxi strike in the history of New York history, to protest against new rules by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, the strike kept most of the city’s 12,000 yellow cabs off the street for a day.

Photo: janosnyc

7. She is founder and Executive Director of the New York Taxi Workers Association which today has a membership of over 18,000 that manages over 50,000 New York Taxi drivers.

8. In 2003, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund presented her with a ''Justice in Action'' award.

Photo: http://www.nyu-apastudies.org/

9. In 2004 she was named the ''Top 5 Under 35'' South Asians in the metropolitan area of New York.

10. Ford Foundation made her one of 17 people recognized in its 2005 Leadership for a Changing World awards, where she was among those cited for bringing ''not only concrete gains to their communities but a determination to stand for justice.''

Photo: nyoobserver

11. She has been invited to the White House twice. President Obama once greeted her in the receiving line at a state dinner by exclaiming, “I was an organizer, too!” as reported in the New Yorker.

Photo: http://www.icla.com

12. She currently resides in Bronx, New York with her husband Victor Salazar, also a union activist.

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