While most kids his age are hankering after that one extra hour of play, he’s up all night in his lab experimenting and innovating! His hard work and passion have helped him win over 15 awards for various inventions! Let’s meet the young genius and find out what makes him tick.

“I do not want to live with problems, I want to solve them,” says M.Tenith Adithyaa, a 15 year-old student who already has 17 inventions under his name that have bagged him many awards and two Guinness World Record attempts.

An innovator, a professional coin collector, a software developer, a teacher, a bird tamer and a gamer, Adithyaa has a lot of achievements in his kitty and he makes sure he learns something new every day.

Tenith Adithyaa

When he was in 4th standard, he started to study Computer Applications. By now he has mastered 35 Computer Applications and 6 Languages!

An eleventh grader, Adithyaa spends most of his time in his lab to come up with various solutions and innovations that could help society at large. Unlike a regular kid of his age group, who would be busy finishing up his homework on time so he could get one extra hour of play time, Adithyaa is up till 3 am experimenting in his lab.

“I am an outstanding student of the class as I am always standing out. I sleep so late that I am unable to reach classes on time and as a result I have to stand outside!” he laughs.

This has become a regular story of his life and small setbacks don’t affect his desire to achieve bigger success. Once, while experimenting in his lab, during a chemical experiment, he had inhaled dangerous fumes, after which he had to be hospitalized.

While lying on the hospital bed, he told his parents, ‘Science needs sacrifice’, which frightened his parents so much that they never allowed him to work with chemicals thereafter. But, truly dedicated to his passion for inventions, he continued his research for other ideas and came up with some very interesting inventions.

Adjustable Electricity Extension Board

“When I work on various experiments I need a lot of plug points to power my devices, which would mean a lot of wires and a big mess. I used to get very irritated with this so I thought to solve the issue,” he says.

Adithyaa needed many electricity plug points to run various devices at the same time while experimenting. Using many extension cords/power strips was cumbersome, hence he developed an adjustable electricity extension board,  in which one can put any type of electric plugs wherever space is available. The device is effective up to a distance of 3 meters, and the model is ready for commercialization.

Prototype of electricity adjuster

Banana Leaf Preservation Technology

“We use many plastic plates and create a lot of waste, so I came up with an idea to make cups and plates with banana leaves,” Adithyaa says.

The technology preserves banana leaves for a year without use of any chemicals. It also increases their durability. Preserved leaves can resist extreme temperatures and hold more weight than the original ones.

“Normally banana leaves dry up in three days because the cell wall is soft. The process that I use hardens the cell walls, preventing the leaves from drying for about a year,” he says.

The manufacturing cost of these plates and cups is very low and they can also be used as manure if disposed in the right way. The Ministry of Environment and Forests, GOI has approved this project and Adithyaa has received various awards for the same.

Basking in the glory

For his contributions at such a young age, Adithyaa has received global recognition including 2 world record attempts, 2 National Awards, 7 Titled Awards, 5 State Awards and many District Awards. He is also a winner of the IGNITE Awards conducted by National Innovation Foundation-India.

In addition to this, Adithyaa has been selected for the inaugural “Innovator in Residence” program of the President office launched by the Honorable President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee on his birthday on December 11, 2013. He is currently staying at Rashtrapati Bhavan from July 1 to July 20, 2014 and is being mentored by the office of the President House!

The future

The young achiever wants to become an aerospace engineer and join ISRO.

“I am inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci’s life.  After reading about him I decided that I will not be a scientist only but will become an inventor who makes people’s lives better. I want to become an aeronautical engineer and a space scientist like Dr. Abdul Kalam and like Stephen Hawking,” he says.

Well, we hope he achieves all his dreams – looks like they will be good for India too!

Story Tip: NIF-India. For more information or to get in touch with Adithyaa, please write to info@nifindia.org
To apply for IGNITE Awards, click here for details, or mail to: ignite14@nifindia.org

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Bhavana Nissima visited a sunsetclub home for children of HIV +ve parents in Chennai. She came away touched, informed, pensive, and in some inexplicable way, happy. More importantly, she learnt a few of life’s lessons she could only have learnt in that place. Here she tells us what these were.

I don’t think I will ever recover from what she told me. Earlier that evening I met this lovely girl, with dark skin and tresses darker than the night sky, and asked her if she was tense about her tenth standard board exams. She had looked up at me, full gaze and said: “Akka, we don’t know how long we will live. It is enough if we can study.”

Math Workshop at S.I.P. Home

She is an HIV +ve teen, one amongst the 34 children in a home set up by South India Positive Network (S.I.P) to care for children of HIV-infected parents in Chennai. No, all the children in the home are not HIV infected – about 27 of them are. But all are born to parents with similar conditions and have been abandoned due to their inability to care.

Children are children and so are teens. Each one is naughty, each unique, each with special characteristics, each with their own tantrums. But children here are more ‘touchy and feely’ than kids in other homes. They hug you, hold you, ask to feed you. Pandora Wood Beads Almost as if they are over-compensating for that subtle sense that they are stigmatised in the society, that their touch is not exactly welcome.

Children at S.I.P home

Thilak, one of the coordinators for Sevai Karangal, explains that volunteers from his group deliberately play with the kids so that they realize that they are in most ways similar to other kids. He says kids perceive that and so tend to be closer to the volunteers from his group than when strangers approach.

Sevai Karangal volunteer with the kids

Sevai Karangal is a completely volunteer-run NGO that has been working closely with S.I.P. home for the last three years, during which almost 500 volunteers have visited the home. The NGO raises money for the homes based on a needs assessment. They also serve as a channel for Chennaites who want to celebrate important occasions in a meaningful way. Birthdays, anniversaries, festival days are celebrated at the home by sponsoring a dinner or a full day’s meal or sometimes by donating an amount for various necessities in the home.

Tutions in progress

South India Positive Network was set up by a transgender activist Noori, who is also one of Tamil Nadu’s earliest patients to be diagnosed with HIV. The network works with HIV patients and their family to provide humane care and social support, and helps to remove social stigma associated with the disease.

Children in the home have a normal routine – wake up, breakfast, school, play, homework, dinner and sleep. But they have to take immune-boosting medicines in the morning and evening. Once a month they have to go in to receive anti-retrovirals.

Birthday celebration at S.I.P.–a Home dedicated to children of HIV+ve parents

The life expectancy of the children is variable and unpredictable. It depends on the inherent strength of the child as well as the environment. Death hangs a bit low in these homes. But it is important to note that Noori, the founder of the home, has survived HIV for the last 22 years and is still hale and hearty.

One important point – I noticed that the kids in the home were rationed chocolates. Being a chocoholic, I was surprised since we had several to spare and I had an urge to pamper the kids. I later learnt that HIV-infected people cannot consume chocolate as the chemicals in it negatively impact the effect of the anti-retroviral drugs the kids have to take. I have had a hard time consuming chocolate after that day.

Play time at S.I.P. home

Each one of us suffers. And each one of us deals with it in our own way. In SIP home, there is an island of joy in which children cope and make sense of their disjointed and unpredictable world in their own child-like way. So the lovely dark girl with tresses darker than the night sky asked me, “Akka, will you come for my birthday? Last year no one came. I don’t want a cake. Can you get me some earrings instead?”

Will you?

Dedicated to the memory of Dhivya. Passed April 15, 2014. One of the most cheerful girls at home in spite of her many hospitalizations. May she rest in peace.

All photos courtesy: Volunteers of Sevai Karangal

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Pooja Taparia had a passion for helping people. She started with helping collect funds for small initiatives in her neighbourhood, volunteering time for various causes, and mobilizing people to help the under-privileged. Then one incident gave a new direction to Pooja’s life. Since then, she has been working non-stop in the area of child sexual abuse with her team at Arpan. Read further to know more about her work and how you can help.

When Pooja Taparia went to watch a play in 2004, she never imagined that it would be changing her life forever.

The play depicted the trauma and distress of a victim of Child Sexual Abuse, and how the incident affected her actions all her life. The misery, the trouble and the disturbed mental state of that girl brought out the untold reality of the crime. It impacted young Taparia so deeply, that she decided to dedicate her life to fighting the scourge in our country.

“Such experiences can disturb a person’s every act and decision. You can’t imagine the psychological trauma a child goes through when he/she faces such abuse,” Pooja says.

While many watched the show, appreciated it and were moved a bit, Taparia was influenced at another level. She kept thinking about it and how she could put a stop to this horrifying reality. And, this led to the start of an organization, Arpan – Towards Freedom from Child Sexual Abuse, focused on spreading awareness about the lesser-talked issue and how survivors and their families should deal with such situations.

Personal Safety Education programme by Arpan

Her Journey

Always keen on bringing a change in society, from an early age Taparia engaged with various activities to try and achieve social good. As a student, she would go around her neighbourhood with raffle tickets in her hands trying to get donations for the blind, the disabled, the orphans, the elderly and other less privileged sections of the society.

After school, she became more aware of her passion to help those in need and she started spending a lot of time with mentally challenged children at the SPJ Sadhana school. In 2000, she started working with Sandipani Vidyaniketan, an educational institution that provides free education to children and also engages in various humanitarian projects. Her dedication towards the initiative grew stronger and she dedicated 9,000 hours in the voluntary sector through Sandipani.

As time went by, she started looking for ways to engage in this sector in a more structured and organized way as she believed that that would lead to a bigger impact. The desire to make a huge difference through small steps inspired her to form an organization. She started Arpan- Making Little Differences in 2003, which focused on bridging the gap between the privileged and under-privileged sections of society by mobilising civil society to get more involved in acts of charity.

However, after Pooja’s tryst with the play on CSA, Arpan was converted into an organization that works extensively in the field of CSA. It now caters to the needs of all those who have been through such incidents or want to know more about CSA.

Pooja Taparia started Arpan with an objective to put an end to the horrifying reality of Child Sexual Abuse in India.

She started researching more about the issue and contacted a few NGOs for support. She figured out that CSA is an incident that touches at least 40-50 percent children of India. She got in touch with Ms.Pushpa Venkatraman from FACSE, and both of them teamed up to work for the cause. This is how Arpan officially started operating in 2007.

They initially started off by networking and connecting with various schools and organizations like Rotary Clubs, to get a sense of people’s attitudes towards the issue and their awareness about it. Their first awareness talk had an audience of 26 people.

“In India, talking about sex and sexuality is still a taboo. Child sexual abuse is not even acknowledged as a reality. People were shocked when we started creating awareness about the issue. They would ask us “does this really happen?” They just could not digest the sheer number of children being sexually abused in India,” Taparia says.

The problem

As per a study conducted by Ministry of Women and Child Development on Child Sexual Abuse in 2007, 53.22% children faced one or more forms of sexual abuse. 21.90% faced severe forms of sexual abuse and 50.76% other forms of sexual abuse. 50% abusers were persons who were familiar and known to the child.

Arpan also organizes various events like Marathons to spread awareness about the issue.

The young victim is either not listened to, believed or is mostly expected to keep quiet because the culprit is mostly known to the family. To save the family’s “image” in the society, often the incident is suppressed and so is a kid’s childhood. What follows after the abuse is a lifetime of consequences that include lack of trust, lack of self-confidence and disgust towards the society. The topic has always been treated as a taboo which has given a push to such disgusting acts.

How is she solving the problem?

Pooja is focusing on creating a holistic pool of information, awareness and action on the sensitive issue of CSA.

To restore self-confidence and self-awareness of the victims and their families, various psychotherapy sessions are organized for institutions, as well as children and adult survivors. Taparia and her team understand the trauma a family goes through in such cases and they provide counselling sessions to them as well.

Apart from counselling, they also organize awareness sessions with police cadets to sensitize them towards the issue. So far they have empowered 3,800 police cadets with information regarding CSA.

The interactive classes help the students to open up and share their thoughts.

Their Personal Safety Education (PSE) project works with children from various private, semi-private and government schools and targets parents, teachers and school authorities. They organize workshops where parents and children are trained to deal with incidents of CSA.

Arpan does Public Advocacy through Civil Society Events, by participating in various forums, events and exhibitions wherein one can reach out to the masses like the Mumbai Marathon, the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival Street Plays, Exhibitions, Conferences, etc.

The team constantly works to bring changes at local, state and national level. The objective is to create legally and politically supportive environment for CSA cases. They want to become a resource centre for those who want to get more knowledge on this issue.

The impact

In a span of 8 years, Arpan has been able to reach out to over 70,000 individuals directly and 212,000 individuals indirectly including over 27,000 children, and stakeholders like parents, teachers, NGO’s, institutions across different socio-economic backgrounds with an annual average growth of 91%.

Started with 2, Arpan now is a team of 60 well-qualified and experienced professionals who are giving shape to Pooja’s mission to solve the shameful issue of CSA.

“We’ve been successful because of the passionate and motivated team members that Arpan has. We have all worked hard and my team is truly the strength of Arpan,” Pooja says.

Arpan has seen the silver lining through the response their campaigns receive. Though people are still not ready to talk about the issue openly, they have started accepting the reality rather than living in denial.

Arpan organizes regular awareness sessions at various places.

The challenges

The biggest challenge initially was to arrange for the funds. “It was a chicken and egg situation. Funders want you to show the impact of your work before giving grants. But how do you work if you do not have the money,” says Pooja.

But, as her intentions became clearer the path became easier. Pooja and her organization received several awards for their amazing contribution in this field, and since then attracting donors also became easier.

“It was challenging to come up with a module which will empower children without making them anxious of safe and healthy touches and relations as well,” Taparia says.

Her two cents

“CSA is a social problem; no individual or NGO can solve it alone. The society at large has to come together and address the issue,” Taparia says.

For Pooja, this has been a journey of “learning, enlightenment, emancipation and of pain and pleasure intertwined”. Her biggest strength is her passion and dedication towards the work she does.

“What keep us going are our beneficiaries. Their appreciation of our work, the changes we see in them with the help of our interventions, their outright support to us reinstates our faith that we are on the right track,” Taparia says.

How can YOU help?

Pooja is currently running a fundraiser on Milaap to help Arpan with its various activities. You could contribute here:

When most students of her age are busy talking on the phone, she has come up with an idea to improve the device. Nidhi Gupta invented a dead landline phone indicator that notifies you the moment your phone goes “dead”. This 16-year old loves physics and plans to make many such innovations in the future. Read more about her.

When Nidhi Gupta missed out on a very important communication due to a dead landline phone, she decided to solve the issue and invent a device that could notify whenever the phone goes ‘dead’.

When most students of her age are not even aware of how the telephone exactly works, she came up with an instrument that could enhance the use of the machine.

Often when a landline phone becomes ‘dead’, we don’t realize this and it is only after a couple of hours that we get to know about it. The device invented by Gupta will indicate with a beep or a flash of light whenever the phone goes  ‘dead’.

“There were many instances when the landline went out of order and we got to know about it after a long time. As there was construction going on near our house, the problem occured very frequently and I thought to come up with a solution so that we could file a complaint as soon as the phone became ‘dead’,” Gupta says.

As she was thinking to design a device that could solve the issue, she figured out that she didn’t have enough resources to convert her idea into a working model. She needed expert advice and to her delight, National Innovation Foundation visited her school during that time.

A student of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Ahmedabad, Gupta grabbed the opportunity with both hands and submitted the idea of ‘Dead Landline Phone Indicator’ for NIF-India’s IGNITE competition.

Her idea was selected and she got a push to convert the idea into something tangible that could be useful to many people. “But I did not have enough experience and resources to prepare a full working model. It required some expensive and high-class circuitry which I didn’t have access to,” she says.

Nidhi Gupta was one of the 26 young innovators selected by NIF for IGNITE awards.

Hence, she forwarded her idea to NIF officials who prepared the dead phone indicator prototype for her. The process took three months and now the working prototype is ready and fully functional.

“I would like to enhance the model and work a little more on it before actually launching it in the market. It is a long process,” she says.

A self-proclaimed challenge lover, Gupta loves to experiment and study science. A physics enthusiast, she wants to join IIT and become a computer science engineer. “The computer is something that fascinates me. I can spend hours on it learning new things,” she says. Apart from her inclination towards science, she enjoys reading, painting, dancing and swimming. She is also fond of many adventure and computer games and spends most of her free time playing them.

“Understanding concepts is the best way to learn a subject, especially science, and that is why I keep learning and experimenting,” she says.

She has been awarded by APJ Abdul Kalam for her creative idea and has also been featured by a broadcast channel for her innovation.

When kids as young as Gupta are coming up with such interesting and impressive innovations, the country sure seems to have a bright future.

Story Tip: NIF-India. For more information or to get in touch with Nidhi Gupta, please write to info@nifindia.org
To apply for IGNITE Awards, click here for details, or mail to: ignite14@nifindia.org

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This unique programme started as an experiment with the introduction of an unknown therapy and a method that promised no definite results. Today, after almost two decades, AURED stands out for the kind of aid and self-sufficiency they have been providing to scores of young lives. 

A student who has benefited by the AURED program, with his mother.

Sunny was born with a hearing impairment and came to AURED at the age of 16 months, where he received a never-heard-before treatment called the Auditory Verbal Therapy, which enabled him to listen and speak. But, his speech was not clear due to profound hearing loss.

He was given cochlear implants at the age of seven and continued formal therapy until age 10. Today he is a self-assured, confident 18-year-old young man who has enrolled in an engineering college in America. Hearing impaired children are said to have a problem learning new languages, but Sunny chose French as his second language in school and speaks it with panache. He plays the tabla and is also learning to play the saxophone.

Sunny is just one of the many hearing impaired children who came to Aural Education for Children with Hearing Impairment (AURED) supported by Concern India Foundation, with little hope and have gone back renewed and transformed, eager to start their lives afresh.

A teacher with the student and his father engages them in therapy sessions.

Started in 1986 with six profoundly deaf children, AURED was a ‘mission with a struggle’. Their experiment with a revolutionary new concept called the Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT) was not very well known then and had not been practiced ever in India before. The method, introduced by Australian therapist Alan Kelly, enabled deaf children to develop their auditory pathway that resulted in children listening and speaking.

Among many skeptics, the parents of these six children put trust in this innovative treatment and decided to give this fresh idea a try.

“When we first switched to AVT, we knew so little about the final result. We knew it in theory but not in practice. We started with six children and I explained to the parents that it was an experiment, a very serious one, but it could not guarantee the outcome. We told them that technically, at the end of 3-4 years, their children should be able to ‘listen and talk’ but we could not predict the extent of success,” says Aziza Tyabji, co-founder and director of the organisation.

And fortunately for her, they agreed! In the last two decades, AURED has provided support to more than a thousand children with hearing impairment. The centre that started in a modified kitchen currently has 700 beneficiaries enrolled at their present premises. More than 350 of these children are between the ages of 3 months – 3 years.

Aziza Tyabji makes sure that the students do not use any sign language during sessions.

AURED works on the philosophy that 95 per cent of the hearing impaired have some residual hearing, and if identified young, with the help of a pair of good hearing aids or a cochlear implant, a child can develop sufficient auditory skills to enable him or her to ‘hear’ and communicate through spoken language.

Recent research indicates that the critical period of ‘learning’ starts from the sixth month of pregnancy up to 2 years and therefore early diagnosis and intervention is essential.

Children with significant hearing loss who receive hearing aids before the age of 6 months, and a cochlear implant between the ages of 7 months  to 1 year can develop language skills similar to those children with normal hearing.

Those who receive implants between 18 to 24 months of age, acquire only two thirds of language skills in comparison. However, once the child is diagnosed with hearing loss, immediate audiological management and fitting of appropriate amplification devices i.e. hearing aids or a cochlear implant, along with skilled and effective aural habilitation is required. This is where AURED comes in to fill the gap.

The earlier you detect the impairment in the kid, the better chances there are to get it fixed.

Here children take part in one-on-one teaching sessions. Therapy is conducted in four major languages – English, Hindi, Marathi, and Gujarati. Parents are the primary caregivers, and are required to participate in teaching sessions to enable them to learn how to use the Auditory Approach in their homes.

No sign language or lip reading is ever used here. This approach enables a child to ‘LISTEN AND SPEAK’ by making use of every bit of residual hearing. The organisation aims to integrate children with hearing impairment to become independent and contributing citizens in mainstream society.

The amazing team of teachers at AURED.

The seemingly straightforward task requires explicit patience and perseverance. Aziza tells us a story of a child who was two-and-a-half years old when she joined AURED and after almost 2 years, could imitate whatever one said, but could not talk spontaneously.

“Around this time, a friend of mine visited and I was talking to her while this child kept interrupting our conversation. A little irritated I just told her to shut up, and to my surprise I heard a little voice saying ‘You shut up’. My friend was aghast saying how rude the children were, but I was ecstatic as this was a big breakthrough for me. It meant that she was processing conversation and was reacting accordingly. This was really the beginning of us believing in the method,” she says animatedly.

Clearly this process requires a huge input for long durations before there can be any visible response. Once children have sufficient receptive language, they start expressing themselves, like ‘normal’ children who absorb everything around them before they start talking.

A few months of sessions and the kid manages to respond in spoken language. Isn’t it amazing?

A very important and omnipresent component of the entire process is the parents who Aziza terms as the “primary caregivers.”  They need a lot of counseling from the time of diagnosis, which they are often reluctant to accept, through the years the child spends in therapy.

At AURED, counseling every parent is a crucial procedure. They need to understand that even with cochlear implants, deafness cannot be cured. Once the implant is taken off at night the children are deaf again. Their struggle is undoubtedly the hardest.

Deepali, mother of five-year-old Om who has been coming to this centre every month for the last two years, says, “I take an overnight train to Mumbai every month just for a day. My son who currently attends the balwadi (pre-school) in our village was suffering from profound hearing loss and has shown a lot of improvement after coming here.”

Parents are also trained to practice regular therapy sessions with the kids.

For now, AURED continues to work at its unsaid policy of trying to help all who come to them with or without the adequate finances. With awareness about their new methods amongst those who matter, their task may have become a little easier, but for the indomitable Aziza Tyabji, this is but just the start!

For further information on AURED, contact- info@aured.org

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If you want to experience nature and dive into the world of wildlife, then Arefa Tehsin and Raza H Tehsin offer you an engaging compilation of various short stories in their magical book “The Land Of The Setting Sun & Other Nature Tales”.

Simple language, charming stories and fascinating facts make the book a must read for all young readers. Far from preachy lessons on the environment, the stories effortlessly take you to a different world and teach you a lot about many creatures which share the planet with us.

This compilation of eight stories of roughly 20 pages each, talks about various creatures and living beings like hyena, dung beetle, cheetah, wild owl, and more. Each story shares some interesting, scientific facts about these creatures through emotions like love, jealousy, compassion, etc., expressed through the human and animal characters.

The book is not just stories of wildlife but a journey of emotions. In the first story, when the dung beetle Scarab loses his mother we can feel the pain in his heart and his misery when he was boycotted by other creatures of the jungle. The story shows how every creature is important, no matter how small it is. ‘Six Riddles’ is an amazing combination of story and puzzles. Ayaan is on a mission to solve six riddles and find his late father’s treasure and he does that with the help of many interesting riddles and quizzes.

Often we see people complaining of bad luck when a black cat crosses their way or referring to an an owl as a bad omen. The story titled ‘The Owl-Man Coin’ talks about this issue and gives us an insight on superstitions involving animals. Along with an interesting storyline, many facts about owls are revealed, which are quite informative and useful for young minds and old.

Gloaty goat has an interesting story to tell in ‘The Best Kept Secret’. You have to read the book to know what the secret is!

Foreword of the book is written by well known children’s book author Anushka Ravishankar and environmentalist Dr. R.K. Pachauri. Arefa Tehsin, a writer, traveler, columnist, and the Wildlife Warden of Udaipur, and her father Dr. Raza H. Tehsin, the well known conservationist, have managed to string together an amazing turn of events and simple stories in an extra ordinary way.

The book which is about environment and wildlife is of course expected to teach children, but The Land Of The Setting Sun & Other Nature Tales entertains as it teaches. The only grouse we might have is that we would have loved to see more illustrations and graphics to hold children’s attention.

Suitable for readers above age six, this book will surely bring kids one step closer to nature. We recommend this book for all, not just to know interesting facts about various creatures but also to have a fun read over the weekend.

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

These remarkable people are giving a new meaning to the term ‘sports’. From providing livelihood to bridging the education gap, sports is emerging as the key to a holistic social development. Learn how organizations like NAZ Foundation, The Football Link, Magic Bus and many more are using sports as a tool to bring a change in the lives of the marginalized.

Saying that sport has potential to change lives is not an exaggeration. However, the potential of sports to help attain various developmental objectives largely remains untapped in India. There are only a handful of initiatives (including both government and non-government) that are using sports as a tool to assist in enhancing and/or accelerating the effectiveness of developmental efforts. Some of these deserve a mention here.

Yuwa India made it to the headlines of national media and gained wide acknowledgement after its team of 18 girls won the bronze medal in the under-14 all-women Gasteiz Cup tournament held in Spain in the month of July 2013.

18 tribal girls from Ormanjhi village in Jharkhand cheered in traditional attire after being placed third in the Gasteiz Cup in Spain (Photo Courtesy: The Hindu)

In Jharkhand, where the organization roots its activities, it has nothing less than revolutionised the lives of underprivileged tribal youth, especially girls between the age of 5 and 17. The organization seeks to create a platform to promote health, education and improved livelihoods of young girls of Jharkhand, one of the poorest states of India, through football.

Through ‘positive peer pressure’ and ‘collective effort’ amongst the girls, Yuwa is preparing these girls to address the issue of gender inequalities prevalent in their society. Making the girls, their parents and the villagers aware of girl’s rights and values also underscores the activities of Yuwa.

Jharkhand is among the states with highest number of child marriages. National Family Health Survey’s 2005-06 report (the latest survey is scheduled to be implemented in 2014-15) says that at least 47.4% of women aged 20-24 were married by the age of 18.

The girls who had never played outside of their village, at a practice session on Thursday in Hutup village in Ormanjhi (Photo Courtesy: Anumeha Yadav)

This data is only marginally better than the previous two surveys. During the 1992-93 it was 54.2% and during 1998-99 it stood at 50.0%. A more recent UN report, released on the occasion of International Day of the Girl Child in October 2012, puts the number at 47% for the years 2000-2011. The report further says that among these women, some 76% had no education. Not a single girl on the Yuwa team has married below the age of 18. This has been made possible through the weekly adolescent health classes these girls receive along with playing football.

Another initiative using football to make a difference is the Delhi-based organization The Football Link. Under the project Child and Youth Development Programme (CYDP) – run in association with the Delhi Police’s Yuva Foundation – the initiative uses sport as a sustainable medium for social development.

They do this by weaning away young adults and under-privileged children from taking to crime for want of educational facilities or employment opportunities. They also use sport to rehabilitate juvenile offenders. The programme, first implemented in areas falling under select police stations, has seen huge success, resulting in an increase in the number of police stations that now wish to initiate such sport-centric CYDPs.

The Football Link imparts social and ethical values among children through football.

The National Crime Records Bureau report for the year 2012 suggests that there are 1,144 juveniles who committed cognizable offense under Indian Penal Code in Delhi alone. The national total stands at a mammoth 27,936 (NCRB 2013). The number of juveniles indicated under non-cognizable offenses is even higher. There exist studies documenting the success of exploiting sports as a viable tool to rehabilitate juveniles and as a diversion from anti-social and criminal activities (Nichols 2007). In coming years, The Football Link aims at imparting moral, ethical and social values to and creating a safe and progressive environment for some 8000 children and youth across Delhi.

Naz Foundation, another Delhi based NGO, has actively used another team sport, netball, as a vehicle of social inclusion. The initiative known as Goal involves imparting life skills training to disadvantaged adolescent girls living in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. Promotion of self-confidence, communication skills, health and hygiene, economic empowerment and financial literacy among girls aged between 12 and 19 years underscores the aim of this initiative. In a period of six years since its inception in 2006, the initiative had reached out to a total of 4,087 girls (figures available for until March 2012).

Peoples suffering from one or more kinds of disability and the poorest of a society are most vulnerable to exclusion. Countering exclusion needs long-term, sustained efforts. Any sport, among other things, teaches respect and appreciation for the qualities of teammates as well as opponents. Playing together could foster a minimum level of tolerance and strengthen an atmosphere of mutual coexistence. Social capital generation is a popular strategy to counter exclusion, as it results in enhanced social ties (Hylton 2011). Sport has shown to possess the potential to be this social capital and can alter the dynamics of social relations.

NAZ Foundation use Netball as a tool to engage young girls and make them self dependent, confident,

Magic Bus, believing in the power of sport to bring about change, focuses on young children and, through its curriculum, seeks to address objectives relating to right to play, formal education, gender, health and hygiene, sexual and reproductive health, and socio-emotional learning. The organization’s idea is to engage with children through various sports and provide them the opportunity to learn about having more control and choice in their lives. Children are also taught life skills and are given exposure to better opportunities, which in turn helps them in getting out of the vicious circle of poverty. Over 250,000 across India have been sensitised, and thus have developed a better understanding of education, gender, health, and other issues affecting them.

The Olympic medalist MC Mary Kom recently opened a women-only boxing and self-defense camp to help women learn techniques to defend themselves. Through boxing, Kom endeavors to boost mental and physical well-being of young women, which she believes would improve their self-confidence along with empowering them to fight against violence and fear. In a country where violence against women (VAW) is rampant (NCRB 2013), and where women are mostly considered inferior to men, such endeavors become torch-bearers of the struggle to establish gender equality as the norm.

Public spaces are primarily dominated by men. Sports-fields, too, are not an exception. Young as well as adult boys have an almost hegemonic presence on the playfield, to such an extent that merely participating in outdoor games/sports puts a question mark on ‘femininity’ of the girls. It therefore becomes even more important to get more girls to play. Instead of letting the sport-field reinforce gender disparities among the youths, these kinds of initiatives are transforming the fields into grounds where such stereotypes are challenged.

Magic Bus aims to take sport for development to communities across India.

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is responding to the humanitarian crisis in Chattisgarh’s Sukma district by means of sports and physical education. These activities have helped children deal with the trauma of violence, separation and displacement and have made schools attractive to them apart from improving their morale. Children have enthusiastically responded to small but significant lifestyle and habit changes such as personal cleanliness and sanitation when imparted by the Khel Mitras – mentors and trainers who deliver varied developmental programmes integrated with sports and physical education. One such example is that of washing hands. It has been observed that the simple practice of asking children to wash their hands well after each play session could get them into the habit of washing hands as a routine.

The overwhelming success of Sukma Sports For Development (SFD) initiative has encouraged the state government to expand the scope of the SFD initiatives to all 93 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas across the state. Additionally, UNICEF developed and implemented a unique Physical Education Cards (PEC) methodology to teach children about inclusiveness and the need for teamwork, and to bridge the gap in overall education of children. The Government of India’s (GoI) initiative, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, is exploring the possibility of implementing the PEC methodology across all primary school in the state.

Of a total sum of INR 14,30,825 crores (revised estimate of expenditures of GoI for year 2012-13), the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) has been allocated INR 1,005.60 crores. This is a minuscule 0.07% (approx) of the total Union budget, the lion-share of which is spent on construction, management and maintenance of sports facilities as well as paying hefty remunerations to foreign coaches. Lack of funding and motivation to use sports as a viable tool for overall development agenda remains a great concern.

Secondly, sports and physical activities largely remain at the bottom of the priority list of any school’s curricula. At places where it does get some attention, it is mainly diverted towards grooming individual athletes/sportsperson – this may be good for winning medals at international events, but for a holistic development of large numbers, especially in unlettered, poverty and conflict ridden nations like India, creative usage of sports at community level could go far in making a difference.

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Over 2 million children under the age of 5 die and around 1 million face disability for life every year in India. Read how Indian Academy of Pediatrics, along with Vodafone, has launched the world’s largest vaccination reminder service to tackle this problem, aiming to prevent 500,000 child deaths and disabilities by 2018 through mobile SMS alerts.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” said the famous writer Arthur C. Clarke. Technology, if used appropriately, could solve and simplify many of the largest problems that the world faces today.

The Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP), in collaboration with Vodafone, has decided to put technology to a better use. It has launched the world’s largest mobile service that sends notifications through text messages on mobile phones to remind parents about the immunization schedule of their children.

The initiative aims to prevent 500,000 child deaths and disabilities by the end of 2018. (Picture Courtesy: smsread.com)

As per Global Immunization Vision and Strategy (GIVS) 2006-2015, World Health Organization, over 2 million children under the age of 5 die and around 1 million face disability for life every year in India.

According to UNICEF, a majority of child deaths result from acute respiratory infections, diarrhea, measles, malaria and malnutrition. And, these deaths can be prevented to a large extent if timely, regular and appropriate vaccination is given to the child. Due to limited medical facilities, lack of awareness and busy lives, many families tend to forget the important vaccinations which need to be administered at the crucial age of the child, leaving the child vulnerable to life-threatening diseases later in life.

Founded as ImmunizeIndia by Dr. Ranjan Pejaver and Ms. Janani Barath, the service launched by IAP and telecommunication giant Vodafone will aim to ensure that children get proper vaccination. Believed to be the largest vaccination reminder service in the world, it aims to prevent 500,000 child deaths and disabilities by the end of year 2018.

How It Works

The service is provided free of cost to the registered mobile numbers. Parents across the country can register themselves for this service by sending a message to a short code 566778 from any mobile network in the country. The format of the message should be: Immunize <Space> <Baby’s pet name> <space> <Baby’s date of birth>. Example: Immunize Pinky 15-06-2011

Parents will then receive an immediate confirmation followed by reminders about their child’s immunization schedule for a period of 12 years. The service is currently available for residents of India only. After a successful registration three reminders are sent, at two day intervals, for each vaccination that is due as per the IAPCOI prescribed immunization schedule. An example of a reminder is – “Pinky is due for a vaccination this week, please do not forget to visit your doctor.”

Impact And Reach

“Vaccination reminder services in several countries have been effective in increasing compliance by 20%. With over 800 million mobile connections, almost every household in India now has a phone that supports SMS. A text message reminder service is therefore the most cost effective method of reminding parents that a vaccination is due,” says Dr. Vijay N Yewale, President, IAP, further elaborating on the importance of the reminder service.

Just two months after the launch of this service, 20,000 children were already enrolled, exceeding the set target. For a better outreach, IAP is also engaging with community workers like doctors, nurses, schoolteachers, aanganwadi workers, priests, etc. There will be various multilingual communications campaigns as well as posters at clinics, hospitals, schools and other public places to make this program more effective.

“It will be a sad story if India is not able to stop vaccine preventable diseases,” says C.K. Mishra, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Isn’t it amazing how the most complex problems can be solved by just a wise use of technology?

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Chitresh Tatha from Chennai has proved that age is just a number and it is never too early to find your passion. He started sailing in 2009 and today he is the youngest sailor from India at the Asian Games 2014. Inspired by his sister, Tatha has been extensively practicing to grab a medal at the Games. Let’s learn more about the little champ!

We dream of becoming a doctor, a lawyer, a pilot, an actor and so many different things when we are growing up and in our adolescent years. With the passage of time and changing priorities, our dreams change too.

But Chitresh Tatha has a different story to tell. He is just 12 and has already figured it all out. This young lad from Tamil Nadu is the youngest sailor from India to participate in the recently commenced Asian Games at Incheon, South Korea.

Tatha is a national champion in the ‘Optimist’ category, which is a small, single-handed sailing dinghy used by children up to the age of 15. Being one of the most popular categories, there are over 1,50,000 boats registered in this class.

A passion for sailing has taken this grade 7 student from Chennai’s Bhavan’s Rajaji Vidyashram school to countries like the UK, Malaysia, Turkey, Ireland, France, Bahrain, the Netherlands and Malta.

12-year-old Chitresh Tatha is the youngest sailor at the Asian Games 2014.

Picture Source

He started sailing when he was just eight years old and has been training extensively under the Yachting Association of India’s chief national coach Pete Conway and assistant coach Umesh Naiksatam.

“I began sailing in 2009 and it came naturally to me. I love being on the water. It gives me great joy,” he told the New Indian Express.

He first developed an interest in the sport when he saw his sister Meghna sailing in the Laser Radial category and thought of giving the sport a try himself. Since then, he has never looked back and even won the gold medal in the India International Regatta (Under-12) in 2013.

The young genius makes sure that he practices six hours every day and hasn’t even been to school for six months now.

“I’m making up for the missed hours at school by studying at home. Thankfully my teachers have been very supportive and that’s helped me focus on sailing completely”, Chitresh told The Times of India.

An ambitious boy, Chitresh aims to grab a medal for the country in the ongoing games. He revealed his plans to The New Indian Express, “India has never won a [sailing] medal in the Asiad, but I’d like to change that. A podium finish would be perfect.” Selected after winning 8 out of 15 races and grabbing one of the top five positions in the remaining races, Tatha wants to make the most of this opportunity at the Asian Games.

Tatha proves that age is just a number and you are never too young to find your passion. We wish good luck to this young sailor and hope to see him succeed at the Asian Games and beyond.

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An interesting initiative to convert tea stalls and provision stores into reading joints has taken a new step in inculcating reading habits among lesser privileged children. Don’t be surprised if you see a kid flipping the pages of an interesting book rather than just buying toffee at your nearest provision store. 

“Is it for free? That is amazing. I have only seen course books all my life; my family could not afford to spend on books other than text books,” says a kid at a provision store as he quickly turns to the next page, at a slum near Byapanahalli, Bangalore.

Curious kids flipping through pages of a colourful book, reading out stories and sharing their favourite parts – this is not a scene from a school but from Satyam Nagar, a slum in East Bangalore.

Books offered cover several interesting topics and level of difficulties.

“Textbooks are the only books I had seen till now,” says one of the girls who were engrossed in the books. She picked another book from the pouches which were hanging out of the chai cum Kirana shop.

Having first caught the attention of three to four kids, these small libraries at provision stores soon saw around a hundred students milling about within 30 minutes. Thanks to Akshara Foundation, this initiative was a fresh change for these kids. Called Cutting Tea Tales, the initiative was launched on September 8 on the occasion of International Literacy Day.

“As per a recent report by UNESCO’s Education for All (EFA), India has the largest illiterate population. We want to bring a change in the situation by making books available to the children so that the future looks a bit different,” says Kanchan Banerjee, Managing Trustee, Akshara Foundation.

India has 287 million illiterate, which is 37 percent of the total illiterate population of the world. Being the youngest country in the world, do we really want this tag? Shouldn’t the young energy be channelized better?

Cutting Tea Tales is one small step towards bringing this change. Three small stalls were selected and a mini library was set up. Eight plastic pouches were hung with six books in each pouch. The idea of hanging the pouches was to optimize space along with making it eye-catching.

“We feel that these places often serve as meeting grounds where people drive conversations. We also think that these places are the starting points where shared aspirations for a community are recognized as are also the challenges they will face in moving towards those aspirations. The community setting approach not only helps connect but also provides a reading environment that is not intimidating,” says the Akshara Foundation team.

Various story telling sessions organized by the Akshara Foundation boost the confidence of kids as well as engages adults.

The books are divided in three categories – Green, Red and Yellow, where green indicates the easy reading level and yellow stands for the toughest.

“The excitement among the children was amazing. We did not expect such a great response from everyone,” says Banerjee.

A girl, who was a little better than other kids at reading, sat with three to four kids and helped them out with the pronunciation and understanding the story.

The aim to get the underprivileged children closer to books is further expanded through a story telling session. Kids are asked to pick a small piece of paper from a bowl which contains the name of a book, which they are asked to narrate.

“It enhances their confidence and reading skills. Also, they are excited to be the center of attention while they are reading it out loud. These kids are getting interested in the culture of reading,” says Banerjee.

The initiative will soon expand to other areas of the city and country after its successful pilot.

As family plays an important role in imparting reading habits to children, a session for adults is also organized where they are asked to narrate their favourite childhood stories and incidents. The Cutting Tea Tales sessions are open to everyone who want to attend it on Sundays.

“The slum children often do not have access to books other than their course books, and it is very rare to develop an interest in reading just through the text books prescribed by the school. The colourful illustrations and interesting stories keep the kids engaged,” says Banerjee. The books which are available in different languages including Hindi, English, Kannada and Tamil have something to offer to one and all.

Having successfully launched their first mini library, Cutting Tea Tales are now planning to move to two more places in Bangalore. Subsequently, they also want to expand to rural areas.

“But we want to see the impact first. It has been just three weeks and we don’t want to take away the books from these students as they have just started enjoying them,” says Banerjee.

The books will be changed periodically and various topics will be covered. The shopkeepers act as the keepers of the books and they make sure that kids get to know about the various books in the pouches.

The initiative received a great response and engagement from Kids.

“Soon the kids going to the shops to buy kites and toffees will be pulled into the world of books. It was just a trial project but we are amazed to see the response from the kids which, has given us the confidence to expand it,” says Banerjee.

“We would be happy if there are book thieves and the books are stained, marked or falling apart with use since there is no better death for a book than by having been read too much and by too many,” says the team.

If initiatives like this work, soon India will get rid of the unpleasant tag of having the most illiterate in the world. It is amazing to see how just a small push can lead to a bigger impact. We hope to see many such shops with hundreds of kids flipping through the interesting pages of the books hanging from pouches.

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Mansi and Abhishek started Happy Feet Home, the first hospice for children in India, a place which fills happiness in the lives of kids with terminal illnesses. “If a child has just a week left to live, we make sure that it is the happiest week of his or her life,” says the Happy Feet team. Know more about their heartwarming work.

Akash (name changed), a 16-year old boy is HIV positive with barely any chances of survival. The disease has made him weak and dull. Last time he attended school was when he was in sixth grade.

He lost both his parents some time back and started staying with his relatives. His weak health did not permit him to attend a school regularly. Waking up late in the afternoon, going out and spending time aimlessly only to return at night to sleep was what his regular day looked like. He had gone into a shell and did not interact much with anyone.

This lifestyle took a complete turn when he first went to Happy Feet Home, India’s first children’s hospice. “He now comes here at sharp 10 in the morning, talks to other children and has even invited us to his house. He has started taking responsibilities and wants to learn new things. He is more active and happier now. The huge positive change in his attitude has been a delight to watch,” says Mansi Shah, co-founder, Happy Feet Home.

There are thousands of children like Akash who suffer from terminal diseases like cancer, HIV, etc. They have little or no hope of getting cured and living a normal life. When the child and his or her entire family are grief-struck, there is a place that is filling a little happiness in their lives. This is Happy Feet Home, a place which is a fun-filled shelter to many such children who have little or no time left to live.

Started by Abhishek Tatiya and Mansi Shah, Happy Feet Home aims to provide a healthy and happy environment to children suffering from terminal diseases. As per a report by International Association for Hospice & Palliative Care, over 400,000 children in India need palliative care. Shah and Tatiya are making the bitter reality of fast approaching death a tad less sad and scary for these children by providing a space where they can come and play with other kids, have tons of  activities to keep them occupied, participate in therapy and counseling sessions to help them cope with their maladies – all this in a safe and vibrant environment, free of cost!

“Happy Feet Home is not a place for dying people. It is a place to celebrate life and fill happiness in the lives of these young ones,” says Tatiya.

The start

Shah had around nine years of experience in the social sector as she worked with various NGOs. When she was working with St. Jude India ChildCare Centre for children fighting cancer, she realized that there are hardly any places or centres for children suffering from terminal diseases in India. She then met Tatiya who had quit his job after working in the corporate sector for five years.

“We were both talking about the situation and we came up with the idea of setting up a place like this. There are many places that cater to the needs of terminally ill patients. But they accommodate both children as well as adults,” Shah says. “Children’s needs are different from adults and there was no place specifically catering to the needs of such children in India. That is when we decided that this is something we have to do,” she adds.

The uniqueness of the idea necessitated a lot of research. Both the co-founders visited many hospitals and other hospices to see how they worked and what all resources were needed. Finally, India’s first hospice for children was set up in Sion in Mumbai six months ago and started with an intake of 35 children on August 14, 2014.

Celebrating life

“The idea is to make the last days of these children as happy as possible. Even if one has just a week to live, we want to make sure that it is the happiest week of his or her life,” says Shah.

The team of five that consists of Shah and Tatiya also includes a nurse, therapists, a housekeeper and interns along with several volunteers who work with them on and off. Happy Feet Home basically focuses on five things:

Activities: Several recreational and interesting activities are planned by the team of professionals to engage the kids. Various props, toys and games are a crucial part of the activities which also help the child to mingle with other children and spend some quality time.

Therapies: Various art, dance and music therapies are an important part of this day-care hospice. These therapies impart a sense of enthusiasm among the children and make them forget their pain as they spend several hours here.

Counselling: It is one of the most crucial services provided by the Happy Feet Home team. Counselling is not restricted to kids alone but is also extended to the family and caregivers to help them cope with the situation and be strong in dealing with grief.

Respite Care – This allows a parent to take some time off and relax, knowing that their child is in safe hands and is well taken care of.

Bereavement Support – This is extended to the grieving families after the child leaves the world. It helps them to cope with the loss and move on in life

“When such news breaks, the entire family goes into a state of grief and sadness. Everyone gives up hope including doctors, the patient and the family. These children have a right to spend their last days with maximum happiness, no matter how long they are going to live,” says Tatiya.

Happy Feet Home has tied up with various experts and hospitals to provide quality psycho-social help to these children.

The duo met Dr. Mamta Manglani, Head of Paediatrics at Sion Hospital, who helped them form a partnership with the hospital. Doctors from Sion Hospital have been providing constant support to the team a space in which to operate. Another person they wish to acknowledge is Dr. Muckaden, HoD of Palliative Care Department at Tata Memorial Hospital, who has been providing excellent guidance as the Happy Feet Home team keeps going back to her with all their queries.

Happy Feet Home has managed to spread happiness in the lives of around 85 children so far and they aim to reach out to many more in the future.

“We have children as young as 2 to 4 years old. While they cry and feel restless in hospitals, there are smiles and laughter on their faces as soon as they enter Happy Feet Home. This validation of the change in attitude of these kids is something which keeps us going,” says the duo.

Like any startup, Happy Feet Home too saw its share of challenges. With lack of funds to the uniqueness of the idea that posed several hurdles, the team had to struggle to build everything from scratch.

“We were working with children who were not motivated at all. They had no reason to smile. So, it was important for us to get staff who can manage to remain charged and enthusiastic at all times,” says Tatiya.

Happy Feet is a young organization and soon will be registered as a trust with seven trustees including various experts and professionals. Here’s a video that talks about their concept as they went about raising funds:

How you can help?

“Being a startup any kind of help is appreciated – be it funds, PR, recruitment or media. We are open to all kind of help, even just a word of mouth,” says Tatiya.

You can also donate to the cause. All donations will be getting a tax rebate.

Happy Feet Home is much more than just a hospice. It is a centre of hope and happiness. And as rightly said by the team, “It is not a place for dying; it is a place for celebrating life.”

Organizations like this restore our faith in humanity and gives us an assurance that nothing, not even death, can take away the happiness every child deserves.

For more information, please visit their website, email them on Mansi@happyfeethome.org and Abhishek@happyfeethome.org, or contact Mansi on +91 98 70 220888.

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Moved by the difficulties her grandfather faced, Shalini Kumari invented a walker that ultimately landed her in NIF-India’s league of winners. A walker to help the physically weak climb stairs was designed by her when she was only in class 9! Read further to know about her invention’s journey from an idea to a product in the market.

Shalini Kumari’s grandfather, who loved spending time on his terrace garden, became dependent on a walking aid when he met with an accident. Unable to walk without a support, he was restricted to the ground floor and could not go for a daily walk in his beautiful garden.

“The walker he used could not be used on stairs and he had to stay on the ground floor only. I felt really bad when I saw this and I wondered if I could adjust the walker in a way that it could be used on the stairs as well,” says Kumari.

The incident in 2011 gave this 12-year-old girl an interesting idea to make an adjustable walker that could be used everywhere.

Shalini Kumari innovated an adjustable walker that can be easily used on uneven platforms.

She came up with a design of a walker with a spring and self-locking front legs. The user has to push the front legs of the walker on the upper stair and the rear legs rest on the lower stair which makes the walker stable and strong enough to hold the weight on it, enabling the user to climb the stairs.

This adjustable walker also has a foldable seat, a horn and a light attached to it. The walker can take up to 100 kg weight and can be adjusted to different environments.

This amazing idea was ready to be implemented but the biggest challenge came while giving shape to the innovation. Kumari didn’t have enough resources and experience to make a device like this all by herself. “I was just a class 9 student then. I didn’t know how to materialize it,” she says.

Then she heard about National Innovation Foundation’s (NIF-India) IGNITE awards for young innovators. This was exactly what Kumari needed at that time.

A graphical representation of the innovation

“I already knew about NIF-India through my brother’s friend who had received an award from them earlier. And I thought this could be my best opportunity,” she says.

She then inked her idea on paper, made various designs and illustrations to explain it and submitted them to IGNITE.

To her surprise, the idea was shortlisted and the NIF-India team developed the final product for her. They experimented with different materials and designs, tested the prototypes and went through several iterations of redesigning and reproductions. After five prototypes, they were ready with the final model.

“It was a great feeling as only few students were shortlisted from over 4,000 applications and I was one of them,” she says.

The final mode,l which is ready to market, has been transferred to Nagpur-based firm Kaviraa Solutions. The company plans to produce 10,000 such walkers. A patent has been filed in Kumari’s name for the product and she will be getting royalty for each product sold.

A rehabilitation centre has expressed an interest in obtaining this product and NIF-India is currently in talks with them to formalize the process. She is also expected to receive a prize money worth Rs. 2,00,000 which she will be handing over to her parents to use for her further education.

“Meeting and receiving the national innovation award from the former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was the biggest moment for me and I could not ask for more,” she says.

The adjustable walker is ready for sale in the market.

Currently a 12^th grade Biology student, Kumari wants to pursue a career in Medicine and loves to dance and paint in her free time. She was also featured in Tennovation, a program on Zee Q based on child innovators identified with NIF-India’s help.

With students as young as Kumari coming up with such interesting innovations, our country’s future seems to be in bright hands.

To know more about her innovation and for any business queries, contact – bd@nifindia.org

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He shows a magic trick and kids become filled with wonder. He then makes a funny face and kids roll on the floor laughing. Pravin Tulpule, an ex-officer of the Indian Navy, aka Pintoo – the clown magician, is giving children in several pediatric wards and orphanages a healthy dose of laughter. Read more to know what he really is – a magician or a clown?

At the pediatric ward of a large hospital, which is full of children battling cancer, a clown walks in. He makes the children laugh, but also leaves them awestruck with a few magic tricks. A happy day for them made possible by Pintoo – the clown magician!

Pintoo – the only “clown magician” around, loves to make everyone happy even if he fools them with some quick magic tricks. The deft hands can shuffle a pack of cards and perform some breathtaking tricks. But these very hands also get extended to make a vulnerable child happy. The child in Pintoo makes the children love him more!

Pintoo the clown-magician is Pravin Tulpule, an ex-naval officer. He served in the Indian Navy for 17 long years and retired as Lt. Commander Communications Specialist. Today codes, ciphers, tactics, strategy and planning are the hallmarks of his new avatar – Pintoo the clown magician.

Magic was his first passion – while clowning got added later. In 1973-74, Pravin was gifted with a set of three card tricks. He practiced and developed props at home. He also picked up magic related books from the pavement sellers. The first show was in front of his family. Then, with the help of his little cousin, Pravin staged his first paid show at home. Donning his father’s dressing gown, Pravin charged 25 paise per child to come and see his show. The show was quite a success. And magic tricks never stopped intriguing Pravin. Later at college and then during his Naval days, Pravin was always called upon to entertain, rather fool, folks with his magic.

In 1995, Pravin joined the Society of Indian Magicians in Mumbai. He got to know different kinds of people who were practicing and showcasing their talent for magic. His learning curve curved steeply during the various interactions that he had with the magicians. Card, animal and bird tricks or ventriloquism – Pravin learnt the art and sharpened his craft.

In India, more than half a dozen conventions were organised around magic and from each convention Pravin graduated further. But rather than donning the top hat and tailcoat attire, Pravin added different get-ups that helped him clown around while he showcased his magic tricks. That meant he could make his audience laugh as well as leave them in wonder.

70 percent of Pravin’s interactions are with children – his first love. He conducts his clown-magic spectacle for children who are vulnerable – whether they are living in shelters, orphanages, pediatric wards of hospitals or at events organised by NGOs. These shows are absolutely free. Though commercial assignments do keep the kitchen fire burning!

Once, while performing at a small run-down shelter for children near Panvel, Pravin met Shweta Chari of Toybank. Their thoughts and passions clicked, and today Pravin is the mascot for Toybank initiatives. Be it toy distribution events or publicising the need to donate used toys to Toybank through marathons, Pravin is at the forefront. Many a times, his daughters Shruti and Malhar (both well versed in magic) accompany Pravin to lend their support.

Pravin has also conducted numerous hygiene-related campaigns in schools, especially focusing on the importance of washing hands, that are conveyed through magic tricks. At other times, he can be seen clowning and encouraging people to donate blood – Pravin himself being a regular donor. Or he motivates people to pledge their organs, which Pravin has already done.

Pravin says his best shows are at the pediatric wards of different hospitals where there are children battling various diseases including cancer. He helps them laugh, cuts cake, distributes toys or makes hilarious shapes from balloons – simply to make the children happy. Once, a child was watching him perform from the ICU window pane. Pravin went in, met the child and made the child laugh.

Pravin believes that he is “happy fooling” – that is, making people happy while they are getting fooled with his deft magic tricks. His philosophy – life is too short to brood or be rude. Be happy.

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From counselling them to reuniting the families, Global Network for Equality is helping the children of prisoners live a better life. Taking a scientific approach, GNE has made significant improvements in the lives of these innocent kids and is giving them opportunities that are sorely missing in their present circumstances. Read all about their work here.

Let us assume you know a 6-year-old child whose parents fight occasionally, especially when the man is drunk. One day, life changes. The father comes home drunk and angry. He suspects his wife of adultery. He kills her. The next day or a few days later, the police find him. He is arrested. The court rules that he is guilty of the murder of his wife and gives him life imprisonment.

I want you to remember the child forgotten in this story. What happened to that child? Mother killed, father in prison. Is he an orphan? Who will take care of him now? What about his education? His healthcare? And the trauma of losing both the parents in such a tragic manner?

Was it the child’s fault that his parents fought? Was it the child’s fault that the father killed the mother? Was it the child’s fault that he/she was born to this particular family?

These are the innocent children of prisoners—lost in the system, for no fault of their own.

The children are left without any support.

A Tirunelveli-based NGO Global Network for Equality (GNE) has taken up their cause. Working outwards from Palayamkottai Central Jail in Tamil Nadu, they have methodically outreached 205 children of prisoners spread over three districts. GNE is headed by K.R. Raja, a psychiatric social worker. He is supported closely by his friend and board member Aravindan Sundar. There are many others who support the team in various capacities.

Before I explain the process of outreach, let us look at why GNE focuses on this issue. According to a research study they conducted, more children are separated from their parents due to crime than divorce. Children of prisoners are likely to suffer three times more mental health problems than average and seven times more likely to commit crimes than average.

Often jeered and taunted by peers and relatives for being children of a murderer, with neither parent to turn to, the children internalize pain, confusion and anger and become social isolates. GNE strives to break this cycle of violence and crime by providing support for basic necessities, education and counselling.

With no proper education and attention, these kids are lost in the world for no fault of theirs.

Since a parent is living, these children are not legally orphans and hence cannot find space in orphanages. Sometimes a relative, often a grandparent, may take them in. But these families are extremely poor.

In an interview, Aravindan spoke about how the concept of GNE emerged. Raja and Aravindan, after reading a newspaper report, traveled to Pondicherry to visit the family of a prisoner. They were aghast to find that the children lived with a very old grandmother who ironed clothes to support them. Her abdomen was marked and bruised by the ironing table and her hands could hardly hold the iron firmly. With very little money, the children were suffering from severe malnutrition.

The duo asked themselves—what did these innocent children do to suffer this? In response, they formed Global Network for Equality to provide equal access to education, resources and a good future to these children.

Not all children are victims of domestic violence. Some parents are imprisoned for caste-related violence. In such cases, the children live with their mother who is often unable to support them independently. Many families roll beedis all day for a pittance to make a living. The mother does odd jobs to try and feed the kids. Added to the livelihood woes, the labelling of the family as that of a criminal affects their social networks and mental health.

Children with relatives.

In cases of domestic violence, the children lose their mother to murder but they also lose their father to prison. GNE encourages fathers to re-establish relations with their children and take responsibility to provide for them, in whatever way they can, from within the prison.

This return of relationship also helps prisoners to take cognizance of their offence and leads to deep-seated reform and transformation. The hope is that at the end of the prison term, the families are healed enough to reunite and relive as reformed and productive citizens. GNE has documented successful case studies where the fathers have returned home as completely reformed individuals, willing to provide and care for their families.

Earlier this year (2014), GNE team travelled 2,833 kms through the most interior parts of three districts in Tamil Nadu to assess the living conditions of families of the prisoners lodged in Palayamkottai Central Jail. They located in total 205 children who needed educational scholarship, amongst other things. The breakdown is as follows:

In Tirunelveli District, 44 families – 40 boys & 49 girls = 89 children required scholarship.
In Tuticorin District, 41 families – 43 boys & 40 girls = 83 children required scholarship
In Kanyakumari District, 18 families – 17 boys & 16 girls = 33 children required scholarship.

In August this year, the enterprising GNE team raised the money required for this academic year. Now, they are moving in to support other needs for the children and to supervise the academic process.

Child with his grandmother.

It is perhaps this methodical and well-documented process that sets this NGO apart. Many NGOs do not approach an issue scientifically—choose target groups, clinically assess living conditions, raise funds as per needs, disburse funds and monitor effectiveness, evaluate program plan effectiveness and refine as needed, document every step and provide reports to interested parties and funders. GNE is extraordinarily methodical and transparent. I have known of their work for more than a year now. I must confess to a certain admiration for this NGO.

GNE team hopes to replicate the Tirunelveli model in other Jails in India like: Hotwar Central Prison (Ranchi- Jharkhand), Chanchalguda Central Prison (Hyderabad- Andhra Pradesh), and Imphal Central Prison (Manipur).

A crime-free society is not the sole responsibility of the Government or the Law and Order system alone. It is the responsibility of each one of us. Education, health and social belonging alone will ensure that. If you want to know more or support their work, here is their contact info:

Email: gnequality@gmail.com
On Facebook: www.fb.com/gnequality
Twitter: @gnequality
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/GNEQUALITY

Please Note: All the photographs are blurred to protect the identity of these kids.

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From providing quality schooling to enabling students to access world class facilities, PYDS is leaving no stone unturned in bridging the education gap. Providing grants, scholarships and extending help during the complex college admission process, PYDS is there at every step to help the rural community. 

Neeraj Dangwal’s life took a 360-degree-turn 14 years ago when he joined a small project that focused on empowering rural youth through mentoring and education to get prepared for a professional career. He was one of the first four students who believed in the idea of change. Coming from a Hindi medium school, Dangwal didn’t have high hopes from his career and he thought he would see the same fate as many people of his age who spend their life without realising their potential.

PYDS provides quality education to those who can’t afford it.

The initiative gave him a scholarship, got him admitted in a better school, improved his English and gave him the confidence he never had. Today, Dangwal holds an important position in the small initiative which has now grown into a bigger organization called Purkal Youth Development Society that reaches out to 35 villages with a population of more than 15,000.

You can sense the confidence in him as he talks fluently in English about the amazing work Purkal Society is doing. “I would have been doing any odd job like most of my peers. I now realise how that small project has changed my life,” he says.

Dangwal’s story of change is just one example out of hundreds of lives that have been changed by Purkal Youth Development Society (PYDS). Located in a small village along the foothills of the Himalayas, this registered society focuses on children with great academic potential from economically poor communities and provides them every kind of help needed to achieve their dreams.

The Start

When G.K. Swamy, an economist, retired from his job at the age of 60, he wanted to spend the rest of his life in a peaceful environment, which brought him to Dehradun from Mumbai.

“We began our new life in a very interesting manner. We decided we’d not have a phone, a car or anything beyond the essentials. We would also not employ any servants and would do with as little as possible. But now we do have a lot more than we ever envisaged and have been supported in our vision beyond words,” says Swamy.

His desire to improve the education quality in the region and provide better opportunities to the economically weaker section of the society made him start a small initiative with four students. He started by teaching these students with his wife’s help.

PYDS’s focus is on improving education quality for young minds, specially girls.

Gradually, a few students became many and soon his house did not have enough space to fit in so many students. In 2008, Swamy’s small initiative was finally registered as an organization and became a formal school for primary education. Today, after 14 years, the school is affiliated to the CBSE for classes up to 12.

What do they do?

PYDS aims at assisting the lesser advantaged to improve the circumstances of their lives. By empowering youth and women, they want reach out to the poorest of poor and enable them to get jobs that are as good as those available to mainstream privileged society, and not just odd jobs that somehow provide them a meagre livelihood.

“Our focus is on helping students, especially girls from socially and economically poor backgrounds, so that they get equal opportunity to get a good education and live a better life,” says Dangwal. Their Yuva Shakti Programme, identifies the deserving and bright students and assists them.

The school not only provides a good education but also makes sure that the students engage in extra-curricular activities. Students are divided into 10 groups as per their interests. Interesting courses like bakery, pottery, theatre, etc. are also offered which makes the school unique. From uniforms to books, medical services and four meals a day – everything is offered for free!

A regular session on current affairs keeps the students up to date with latest happenings.

For those who can’t attend the school due to lack of transport facilities, PYDS has provided two buses and one mini van that picks up and drops students from the remotest areas. To top this, students are also taken for adventure trips for better exposure.

Apart from this, sports and health hold an important position in this school. Regular Yoga classes are organized for students along with various outdoor games like basketball, trekking, mountaineering, etc.

“Our students won a Gold certificate from Tony Blair Foundation’s Faith to Face programme which conducts e-interactions through skype amongst children across various countries on topics of social and current relevance. This is the level of exposure that we wish our children to experience and have access to,” Dangwal says.

After completion of schooling, PYDS also assists these students to opt for higher education and university courses. The team provides help through grants, filling the forms, scholarships, etc. to help them pursue a course that would enable them to apply for a higher paying job and secure a better future.

“A girl from a very poor family who could not even read and write properly is today pursuing her higher education in U.S. This is the level of training and push we give to our students,” says Dangwal.

The challenges

“The biggest challenge was sustainability of our programmes. Lack of funds, unawareness among villagers and all such small reasons became an obstacle,” says Dangwal. Today, the programme completely runs on donations and sponsorship for the children.

Apart from education, PYDS also focuses on sports and extra curricular activities.

Another challenge came while bringing the students to the school. They lived in various locations and it was difficult to convince them to attend the school on a regular basis. “Also, child marriage in some cases was a problem. Though the situation is improving, it was an issue in the earlier stages,” says Dangwal.

The impact

PYDS has a campus that covers 10 kms of area. The team of 55 has engaged over 15,000 students so far. Gradually the situation is improving in these villages. “The biggest impact can be seen in the attitude of parents. They have started taking education seriously. They have also agreed to the holistic education model and extra-curricular activities for their children,” says Dangwal.

A large number of students have started going to better schools and applying for higher education due to PYDS’ intervention. The village now sees a larger number of people opting for professional careers. Also, PYDS has played an important role in sensitizing the people.

The students are also more concerned about the environment now, as PYDS has engaged the students and their families in various cleanliness, health and hygiene campaigns. Some students have formed a group called “waste warriors” which collects waste every Wednesday, segregates it and then sends it to the municipality.

Thanks to PYDS, many students have gone to a decent college for higher studies.

The Future

PYDS now wants to replicate this model to other communities and cities and engage more students in their initiatives. Opening a hostel facility is also in their plan.

“I was a student of PYDS’s first batch. And, I have seen the change in me. They assisted me in going to a better school, gave me scholarships and other assistance. It is because of PYDS’ support only that I manged to finish my graduation and now I hold an important position here,” says Dangwal.

Education, being the most important thing that builds a strong base for a child, should not be ignored. And PYDS, through its various amazing programmes, is helping the poorest of poor to follow their dreams and giving them a chance to come to par with the mainstream children. To know more about this initiative, contact PYDS at – Purkalsociety@hotmail.com

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Education is every child’s right. But sadly, many street children do not have access to that. Mukti Gupta started an NGO ‘Help Us Help Them’ which reaches out to street children through a school on wheels. The children are given vocational training, and not only this, the students are also provided nutritious food to keep them healthy! Learn more about this unique effort.

The wheels of this bus don’t just go round and round but also go up and up. Confused? Yes, this is the specialty of Mukti Gupta’s innovative social venture – a mobile school initiative in the city of joy, Kolkata. The school, launched in January 2013, is literally reaching out to street children to ensure that they are able to stand on their own feet in the future and rise both socially and economically.

Mukti’s mission is to make these lesser privileged children as accomplished as the mainstream ones.

The driving force behind this school on wheels, Mukti, hails from an affluent family business with business interests in aviation, real estate, telecommunication and software development. Mukti’s company itself is a grandiose one owning the Hotel Park Plaza of international repute and the extremely popular and swanky entertainment hub, Muktiworld.

So what led her from dealing with the creamy layer of the society to reaching out to the underprivileged and neglected zones, where even the common man would not take a second look? The miserable conditions of the poor came knocking on the car window of this corporate honcho, with a street urchin asking for alms. It was then that she decided to do something that would help them.

Signing off cheques to NGOs working for underprivileged children could have been an easier option, but that was not the solution for Mukti. And this time, she was more keen to go for a lasting solution rather than a temporary option. She says, “It has always been my wish to help the underprivileged children in the field of education; I believe that education is the only way to give them a better future.” She gathered some like-minded and enthusiastic friends to form an NGO Help Us Help Them, and launched a school in Mullickpur.

Her family, though initially skeptical, gave a thumbs up to her dream project that was all set to realize the dreams of the children. She says: “My family has always been supportive about my decisions and my ideas. They have been the pillar of strength for me, and it is because of them that I have come so far.”

However, the dream that had been sketched out only in her mind and on paper, had to be realized, after negating several adversities. And that she did with her positive determination and sharp business acumen, probably inherited for an active cause.

The school set up by Mukti now gets over 200 admissions and students are taught using innovative techniques

Her journey of launching her school on wheels project could have made for a motivational Hindi film script where the hero fights off all the impossible-seeming obstacles in the most ingenious and smooth manner. The film might have had a happy conclusion. But the situation was comparatively more tense, as when the engines started sounding, there was an anti-climactic turnout of only 2 children at her school in Mullickpur.

So was this highly ambitious Help Us Help Them project about to prove the detractors correct? Gupta worked tenaciously on promoting the school, and with time and sweat, successfully recorded more than 200 admissions. To make her school stand out, she had her teachers trained in Advanced Mental Arithmetic gratis from the Malaysia-based UCMAS.

She set up a six-machine computer lab in association with NIIT. Understanding the importance of extra-curricular activities and sports, she even started a swimming facility in the nearby pond with swimming classes conducted under the supervision of a national swimming coach, Bishwajit Choudhury. In fact, talented children identified in the sport could either qualify for district level championship or make it to good schools with sports quota.

After setting up such unique institutions of education, Mukti went forth with her mobile School on Wheels project, wherein the educational institution actually rode down to cater to the poverty-stricken children.

The fuel of patience and persistence was added to keep the gears of the project moving. She wrote to several corporate organizations for the take off of her mobile educational school bus.

“To start with, I wrote a letter to the person managing the Tata Motors CSR practice in Mumbai and then from one person to the other till they termed my idea as “crazy”. The result was the cheque which I received from them as their 50 percent contribution. Oriental Bank of Commerce also contributed towards 40 percent of the costs. The remaining was contributed by family and friends. So this is how we started off,” Mukti recalls.

Today, the bus that has been contributed by Tata Motors and converted completely into a school on the inside, stands proudly at its resting point at Sealdah station, outside Park Circus Maidan. Throughout the day, it is busy visiting various colonies and collecting street children for their ‘school time’.

Students are taught swimming by national level coach, Bishwajit Choudhary at a nearby pond.

Mukti cites, “Our objective is to bridge the gap between, the mainstream education and street children. Our target segment is basically the slum / street children from various age groups.”

The features of this mobile school bus that make it so striking, are many. To make way for a spacious classroom environment inside the bus, the seats have been removed. You would thus be greeted by a 175 sq ft classroom, looking bright with chowkis for the children to work and study and informative posters all around. An impressive plasma TV hangs on the wall to enable audio-visual learning.

“We have given the bus a classroom look with no seats and with proper carpet flooring. We have installed an LCD set to utilize A/V teaching tools. To make the classroom more  child-friendly and attractive, there are a lot of soft toys and games & puzzles. The bus exterior is very creatively and colorfully done. We follow the West Bengal board’s syllabus and also teach them with the help of audio-visuals to make learning a fun experience for them,” Mukti explains.

Apart from academics, vocational training is imparted, partly as an incentive for the children to join, and partly to make them ready to stand on their own feet financially sooner and to be able to live a life of dignity. The children are also provided nutritious food to keep them going physically and make them more regular in attending school.

Mukti elaborates, “We provide them with health drinks and food which they are otherwise deprived of. This makes them regular to the school. We make our classroom interesting by showing them cartoons, kid’s movies, rhymes & stories. We also take them for excursions .”  Ayahs (helpers) have been appointed to ensure to scrub clean the children daily and put on their school uniforms before starting with their classes.

There are approximately 30-35 students per batch and around 100 students are taught in a day. Students have been divided into various batches and every batch has 1 teacher to assist them. There are 3 teachers, 2 nannies (ayahs) and 1 driver per location. Students are taught according to their age and their class education standard. The nannies help students maintain hygiene and cleanliness.

The seats of the bus have been removed to create a 175 sq ft classroom

The parents of the street children attending this unique school, were initially skeptical about sending their children here, but have now become active supporters and motivators of this cause. Says Mukti about convincing parents, “We visit the parents regularly to curb dropouts and to explain the improvement in the children’s education.” While talking about the main target audience of this mega project, i.e the street children, Mukti says,

“For them it is like a dream because their usual life is very different from what they experience inside the bus and their school. They wait for their school to come to them…  Further, we also provide them with vocational training like clay painting, music, drawing etc which can help them earn a living.”

The unusual education drive is already en-route to success as two students have been admitted in a boarding school and a few students have been selected for government schools. Another good news is that the Oriental Bank of Commerce has already announced a year-long support for the mobile school. Mukti hopes to expand the reach and facilities with the monetary support. “We are planning to launch 2 more buses so that we can reach out to larger numbers and more locations, and educate more children,” says Mukti.

The school operates from Monday to Saturday  at 3 locations – Raja Bazaar from 9 am- 11.30 am , Park Circus from 12.30pm – 3.30 pm  and Southern Avenue from 4 pm – 6.30pm. Today, the bus brakes only to either pick up the children from the designated school stops or to take a breather at the end of a busy day at Sealdah station. Clearly, Mukti’s mobile school bus is going full steam ahead!

You too can support Mukti in this brilliant initiative by getting in touch with her at muktigup@gmail.com.

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What happens when the most notorious kids get together and play football? They become more serious, positive and regular in school. Thanks to Just for Kicks, the kids in low income government schools are seeing a positive and significant growth. Here is how!

Sayaji, a seven-year old, second-grade kid, turned up on a winter morning at 6 AM for a game scheduled to begin two hours later. Vikas Plakkot, founder of Just for Kicks, an organization which is using football as a medium to develop life skills for marginalized students, was surprised to see him in full attire ready to play so early in the day. Sayaji was unusually silent but went about his warm-up without a word. Plakkot did not interrupt, until an hour later when he came to know that Sayaji’s father had passed away early in the morning. Unfazed, Sayaji had come to the ground and wanted to play the game.

“His words still ring in my head, he said ‘Bhaiya, this is what makes me happy, please let me play’. He went on to play and score the winning goal for the team that day,” remembers Plakkot.

This is a true example of what sports means and the impact it can create.

Students from different background come together as a team.

When even quality education is a far cry in public schools meant for low-income households in India, implementing sports as an “extra” activity seems like an impossible task, especially when almost half the schools don’t even have a playground!

But Vikas Plakkot, an engineer  who was not satisfied with just the degree and wanted to understand change, is changing the situation through his amazing initiative Just for Kicks.

The motto of JFK is simple – everyone plays!

JFK has enabled hundreds of kids like Sayaji to not only come out of their shell but also become more confident team players. Started in 2011 with just a dozen kids, JFK now engages 1,300 students in cities through football.

The idea clicked when Plakkot was a Teach for India fellow and, while discussing the state of education in India with other fellows, they agreed on the point that there was a lack of team work in the students.

The regular practice has made them better team players.

These students came from very different backgrounds and circumstances. They had never been part of a team before. Plakkot and other fellows, being great sports fans, thought of using sports as a tool to impart team spirit in the kids.

“I took the bunch of 12 most difficult kids from a school and engaged them in football. Within in a month, there was a tremendous positive growth. They became more interested in studying; their attendance and participation in the school increased too,” Plakkot remembers.

The success of his first sports class made Plakkot sure that football was capable of bringing a positive change.

“We chose football, because this sport imparts team spirit. Cricket is more of an individual’s game but football requires everyone to work together, and this is what we needed,” he says.

Through a unique model which involves many stakeholders including parents, teachers, headmasters and students, JFK has managed to keep the students’ interest alive.

Football also gives students an opportunity to express themselves.

“Teachers work very closely with the students as managers. This gives them an opportunity to observe the student closely and also understand him or her outside the serious environment of a classroom,” he says.

The process starts with identifying the right schools which are mostly low income government schools or budget private schools. After meeting with the teachers and the school authority, a sports curriculum of four years is drafted.

The cost of training and working with each kid is around Rs.3,000 per year, but JFK charges only Rs.150 for the entire year.

“We want to charge a minimal amount because we want parents and students to get a feeling of involvement. If it is for free then most of the time they don’t take it seriously,” he says.

The coaches are hired from other colleges and existing football teams who might be willing to train the school kids. A pre- and post-match session is done to make the students think about their performances and what they have learnt.

JFK organizes several leagues and tournaments to keep students as engaged as possible in a formal manner. There is a pre-match ceremony and a post-match function, followed by team pictures.

“We pay huge attention to minute details like shaking hands before and after the match, etc. These small things play a very crucial role in building character,” he says.

Sometimes it becomes hard to deal with the students and explain to them how the game works.

As they have never played a game like this, it is a challenge to explain to them why only one particular person can score a goal and why another has to just defend it and pass the ball.

The kids become more confident and active.

“Some students might feel that their role is not as important as others. It becomes a challenge to explain to them that every one has a designated role and it is important too,” Plakkot says.

In just three years of operation, JFK has seen a great positive change in the attitude of the students.

Apart from overall personality development, there has been a huge rise in attendance rate. Every month, the schools where JFK is involved have an attendance rate of 95 to 100 percent.

As per their report, the kids who were part of JFK’s football programme saw over 28 percent positive growth in their overall academics and personality.

The team of 12 which currently works in Hyderabad, Pune and Maharshtra wants to expand to other cities and reach out to more students in the near future.  They want to organize more large scale tournaments and leagues. JFK is also partnering with Liverpool academy, Pune to enhance their work.

“Right now we only focus on English medium schools, but we also want to reach out to other regional language schools,” he says. They have also come up with an interesting model like IPL or ISL where people can buy these teams for just $200.

JFK has started a campaign where you can buy a team and help the students play. Click here for more details.

To know more about JFK and their work, contact Vikas Plakkot at – vikas.plakkot@gmail.com or check out their Facebook page.

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Meet the 24 bravehearts who showed immense courage and saved many lives by their presence of mind and bravery. From jumping into deep waters to jumping into deadly fires, from throwing mangoes at a leopard to offering themselves as hostage, their stories will give you goosebumps and inspire you to the core.

“Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death,” said Omar N. Bradley, the great soldier. And we could not agree more as we hear the amazing acts of bravery when people, even children, have risked their own lives to help others.

Every year, 24 children are acknowledged for their extra ordinary courage and presented the National Bravery Award on Republic Day. This year too, Prime Minister Modi awarded 24 amazing bravehearts who showed incredible courage in the face of adversity or danger, some of whom even losing their own lives while helping others.

PM Narendra Modi awarded 24 brave kids for their extra ordinary courage.

Photo: narendramodi.in

Their stories will give you goosebumps and you cannot help but get inspired from these young souls. Here is the list of 24 bravery award winners of 2014 who were awarded on January 24th and were also part of the Republic Day Parade on 26th January, 2015

1. Zeal Jitendra Marathe

This 13-year old girl from Vadodara, Gujarat showed exemplary courage and presence of mind when her school bus lost control and kids started falling out. She managed to come out of the bus safely through a window, saved a few kids and also called the ambulance and the police using her teacher’s phone. With her prompt actions, she managed to keep many kids conscious and even called their parents.

2. Anjith P

Kerala-based Anjith’s excellent swimming skills came in handy when he heard a cry for help from the nearby river. The 12-year old saw two older boys drowning in the 20 feet deep river and without any hesitation, he jumped into the deep water and pulled both the boys to safety.

3. Late Gaurav Kumar Bharti

Photo: ICCW

15-year old Gaurav from Uttar Pradesh showed great courage when he saved his friend’s life who was drowning in the Ganges. While Gaurav managed to save his friend, he could not save his own life and succumbed to the whirlpool.

4. Sahanesh R

When Karnataka’s 13-year old Sahanesh’s school bus fell into the paddy field, he showed great presence of mind and did not panic like the others around him. He broke the front glass of the bus and pulled the stuck students and driver out, saving many lives.

5. Ashwini Bandu Ughade

Ashwini, a 13-year old girl from Maharashtra, literally freed her sister from a death trap when a leopard attacked them while returning from a neighbouring farm after collecting mangoes. The leopard had Rohini’s (Ashwini’s younger sister) head in its jaws. When Ashwini saw this, she started throwing mangoes at the leopard. This act drove the leopard away and she managed to pull her sister out from the horrific incident.

6. L Brainson Singh

This 10-year old boy from Manipur saved the life of his younger brother when he got electrocuted in the house. There was no one in the house when the incident happened and Brainson showed great bravery, even suffering pain and injury, to save his 6-year old brother’s life.

7. G Tooldev Sharma

This 9-year old boy from Manipur, who did not know swimming, jumped into a six feet deep pond without thinking twice to save the life of a 3-year old kid. When he reached the drowning kid, he held his collar with one hand and took support of a bamboo stick with another, while calling for help.

8. Ripa Das

When a fire broke out in her neighbourhood, 7-year old Ripa from Tripura showed great courage and saved the life of her one year old brother. While her mother and grandmother panicked and left the house, she did not lose her cool and with immense presence of mind, managed to save her life along with her brother’s. She is also the youngest recipient of the award this year.

9. Balram Dansena

Yet another braveheart is 11-year old Balram from Chhattisgarh, who quickly jumped into a 15 feet deep pond and saved the life of an eight year old boy who was drowning in the deep water.

10. Rajdeep Das

This 16-year old boy from Jharkhand saved not just one but three lives! During Laxmi Visarjan in his village, he got the news that some girls were drowning in a nearby pond. He jumped into the eight feet deep pond and searched rigorously for the girls. Even though he started getting tired, he did not give up for a long time. He managed to pull them out of the water and also gave them first aid.

11. Hiral Jitubhai Halpati

A four-month old infant fell into the river from a 30 feet high bridge. When 17-year old Hiral from Gujarat saw this while returning from school, he jumped into the river without giving a second thought and saved the baby’s life.

12. Aqil Mohammad NK

9-year old Aqil heard a mother’s cry for help. When he reached the spot, he saw 3.5 year old Ashmil drowning in the deep Chaliyar river in Kerala. The boy’s mother did not know how to swim so she was left with no choice but to wait for someone to lend a helping hand. Aqil came at the right moment. He immediately jumped into the wild water and managed to save the kid’s life.

13. Midhun P.P.

When this 14-year old Kerala boy heard a few children crying, he reached the spot and saw an 8 year old boy drowning in an eight meter deep well. He wasted no time in jumping into the well and saving the kid’s life.

14. Stevenson Lawriniang

This 14-year old boy from Meghalaya is yet another amazing example of true bravery and courage. He jumped into the six to eight feet deep pond to save life of a drowning boy.

15. Late Mesak K Remnalalnghaka

photo: ICCW

Mesak, a 14 year old boy from Mizoram, wasn’t lucky enough and sacrificed his life in an effort to save a drowning young boy. Mesak did not know swimming, but he still jumped into the flowing river to save a life. However, the current was too strong for him, he did not succeed in his efforts and both the lives could not be saved.

16. Mhonbeni Ezung

When Ezung’s grandmother fell unconscious while fishing and started drowning, 8 year old Ezung from Nagaland tried hard to pull the old lady out of the river, in spite of her heavy weight. Ezung gave her some food and ran for several kilometres to get some help from villagers, who then rushed her grandmother to the hospital.

17. Labhanshu

The 15-year old boy from Uttarakhand saved not one but two lives from drowning in the Ganges at Rishikesh. When his friend saw someone drowning, he jumped in to save him. But his efforts weren’t enough. Seeing this, Labhanshu also followed him in and saved both the boys.

18. Devesh Kumar

This 16 year old youth from Uttar Pradesh showed extra ordinary courage while confronting two chain snatchers who took away a school principal’s chain. Kumar, who wants to join the army or police force and fight criminals, also had to take a bullet on his waist while dealing with the snatchers.

19. Late Riya Chaudhary

Photo: ICCW

Riya, a 15-year old girl from Lucknow, sacrificed her life to save her father last year. When some miscreants forcefully entered her house and started assaulting her family, one of the gunmen shot a bullet aimed at her father. She came in the way, taking the bullet on herself. She managed to save her father’s life but died on the spot.

20. Rumoh Meto

Rumoh risked his own life while saving a 32-year old man who was stuck to a 33 KV high voltage line. Rumoh sustained serious injuries and burns in his first attempt to free the man from the live wire, but he did not give up and pushed him again with greater strength to get rid of the wire. The brave act saved a life.

21. Vishal Becharbhai Katosna

Just 10 years old, Vishal from Gujarat carried two 7 year old boys on his shoulders when he saw them drowning and pulled them out on to the banks, saving the precious lives. Such extra ordinary courage indeed.

22. Late Monika

Photo: ICCW

Monika sets an example of true bravery. The 16 year old girl from Uttarakhand was washing clothes at the bank of the Alaknanda river in Chamoli district when she saw her 10 year old neighbour falling into the water. She jumped in after him and pulled him out by his hair. But she could not save herself from the strength of the current and sadly drowned.

23. Resham Fatma

17-year old Resham Fatma’s 38-year old uncle poured acid on her head when she refused to marry him. He further wanted to kill her, but Fatma showed great courage and pushed him off the car. She then managed to escape and went directly to the police station. The culprit was arrested within a week and committed suicide in jail.

24. Gunjan Sharma

Gunjan is an epitome of courage and selflessness. This young girl offered herself to be taken as hostage to save her friends. She, along with her classmates, were abducted in a school van in Assam. The miscreants took her to the jungle and even put a pistol in her mouth to prevent her from shouting when security personnel came looking for her. She was eventually freed by the gunmen and we salute her for immense courage and for standing up for her friends.

We salute each and every recipient of this award. They are the true heroes.

All pics otherwise mentioned: Narendra Modi Twitter Account

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Do you know that more than 15% of children in Delhi live in slums? And lack of electricity is one of the biggest hurdles they face in their path towards education?

Unable to study after sunset, these children under perform in their class and drop out of school.

To address this issue, Anusheela Saha came up with an interesting idea – using the school bag to also become a study lamp! Watch this video to see how:

Here’s our brief interview with Anusheela Saha:

What was your thought process behind coming up with this design?

Most of Delhi’s slums have no access to electricity and the frequent power cuts ensure that the children do their homework or studies either under candle light or kerosene lamps. The flickering light not only make it difficult for them to study but eventually lead to them losing interest in studies and even dropping out of schools.

I felt very strongly about this problem and believed there was a simple and sustainable way to tackle it. I conceptualized the idea in a school bag – with solar panels and LED lights. These bags could act as school bags during the day and become a study lamp at night, with a simple turn of a flap – providing the children with their very own source of light. The bags could get charged when the children walked to and from school and even at school – as most of them go to open schools. I approached Salaam Balak Trust with the idea. They are an NGO that has been working with the slum children in Delhi for the past 25 years. They loved the idea and agreed to partner with the cause.

Why not giving them solar LED lights, for instance, which can remain at home?

A solar LED light or lantern is meant for common use for an entire family. The intention with the Light Bag was to give the children their vey own study unit – meant only for them to use. They can take them out on summer night when they study on a ‘charpayi’ outside the house. Or even use it like a bed light if they want to read to bed. Something, that gives them a lot of pride to own and also induce interest in reading and studying.

How many students are currently using this bag?

Currently 30-40 children are using the bag. These had been funded by Cheil India. We have received contributions for hundreds more. We plan to reach out to all slum children in Delhi and even get into rural India.

How can our readers contribute to this cause?

Please get in touch with me at anusheela.saha[at]gmail.com if you desire to contribute towards these bags.

Akshay Kaushik made a robot from scratch and now his fully functional robot is all set to compete at an international level. Here is all you need to know about this young genius.

What were you doing when you were in the 11th grade? Probably trying to scrape through examinations or working hard to get into the best degree college around? At an age when we were all clueless about which subject to choose as our area of specialization or busy preparing for some competitive exams, this 11th grader is already making world-class robots and going places.

And not just any regular robot, but one which can pick things, compete against other robots and even walk on its own! Impressed? Well, so are we!

Meet Akshay Kaushik, an 11th grader from DAV school, Dayanand Vihar, Delhi, who not only made this amazing robot from scratch but is also hoping to represent India at the World Championship due to be held at Louisville, USA in April.

Akshay with his robot

“I am so excited that me and my team made it this far. It all started with a small robotics competition where our team won the first prize in Delhi-NCR,” recalls Kaushik.

The team’s efforts paid off when they got a chance to represent their model at a similar competition in Mumbai and Chennai after which they were declared the national champions.

The initial competition required Kaushik and his team to make a fully functional robot from a kit which included various parts and materials. After assembling the parts, the team was required to programme it and make it perform several tasks including picking up coins and walking on its own.

“I was the programmer and also second driver of the robot. It was so great that our robot performed the best, it picked up all the coins on time and walked flawlessly,” he says with a lot of excitement.

After being selected as a national champion, the next step is to give a splendid performance at the US competition which witnessed over 15,000 entries from 27 countries in its last edition. The scale of the competition is expected to be even bigger now.

“I am so excited to get the opportunity to represent India, it is like a dream come true,” he says. But as the D-day comes closer, Kaushik is worried that he might lose his golden chance to get there and showcase his amazing work at such a large platform.

Belonging to a lower-middle class family, Kaushik’s parents cannot financially support his trip to the US. The total expenditure of Kaushik’s visit will be somewhere around Rs.1,00,000. While his parents have managed to collect enough to fund his accommodation and registration, they are unable to sponsor the airfare.

“I am trying my best to arrange funds for my trip, but nothing substantial has happened so far. I don’t want to lose my chance to go there and meet so many people who are interested in the same thing that I am and who can provide me a good exposure in this field,” he says.

Akshay has started a campaign on milaap.org to raise Rs.60,000 which will cover his cost of return tickets to the US.

In case you want to support this young genius and help him participate in this lifetime opportunity, you can contribute to his campaign here.

To know more about Kaushik’s work and his experiences, contact him at – akshay.kaushik2@gmail.com

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