This is one of the many brutally honest stories projected unaltered to the world by Brandon Stanton through his famous photoblog - Humans Of New York, during his travel across the European asylum countries in 2015.
HONY’s ‘Refugee Series’ disturbed me deeply for a myriad reasons. Firstly, amidst the other media uproar, these were the personal experiences of various Syrian refugees, all different from each other in terms of the ordeals, but with the same undertone; a mixture of fear, terror, suffering and uncertainty.
Secondly, the largest humanitarian crisis of our time, which has generated 5.8 million refugees and 6.6 million internally displaced in war-torn Syria, was being live tweeted and documented, and all I was doing was looking.
Thirdly, being a mechanical engineer-turned-educator and social worker proactively connected with causes that uplift and empower children, the fact that more than half the victims were children wrecked my core. Something had to be done!
Waking up with the idea of sending a colourful postcard with a handwritten message to a refugee child seemed crazy.
But knowing how personal connects such as letters act as incentives of hope and love, this was the least I could do. And considering the number of refugee children on the other end, I was sure this had to be a collective effort. Hurdles were numerous.
The first day, I remember googling for contact details and sending out around 540 emails to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNICEF & UNESCO headquarters and offices in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey. While I patiently awaited a reply, I pinged around 30 of my friends from all around the world about this.
Since that day, it wasn't just me, but all these wonderful people from diverse backgrounds who were immediately a part of this humble initiative, which I later coined “Letters of Love.”
The turning point for us was when my husband, Rushil Nori, a member of the Indian delegation of Seeds of Peace camp in 2003, connected me to his then-counsellor Mr.Christopher Littlefield. Chris, was excited by the idea and took it forward to his friends in the UNHCR immediately. I got a positive response from the Turkey office in a day, celebrating the idea behind engaging the children in a global connect through handwritten colourful letters. We were told to carry on with the initiative and that they would take responsibility for the delivery of the letters to the refugee children. A dozen content drafts and posters later, we had our page launched on Facebook.
The idea was simple
However, Google translate wouldn’t help us in the translation from English to Syrian Arabic. It was at that difficult juncture that a mutual friend connected us to Amna Niaz, a Saudi Arabian citizen with roots in Syria.
She volunteered to single-handedly translate all the messages in English to Syrian Arabic. She soon became our saving grace. We had help pour in to write the letters on the postcard prints and collaborations from NGOs and student chapters in universities across India. Our sister objectives were met as we successfully launched the fundraiser on Ketto along with the awareness that was being spread of the Syrian war & the Refugee Crisis and also through the sensitisation modules we developed for educators & teachers to adopt in their classrooms and inspire students to empathise through writing letters after a fun photoshoot in their classrooms for their Syrian contemporaries.
Recalling the most adorable letter I had read, written by a 3rd grader of Eton House International School, Singapore, as I remember:
“Dear friend,
My teacher tells me you’ve no home to stay. You can come stay with me. I hope you don’t mind sharing because I’ve only one bed. I can also give you my toys. Come soon.
Love, Adam.”
By November end, UNHCR connected us to four implementation partners - Mercy Corps, International Medical Corps (IMC), Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers & Migrants (ASAM) and Support To Life (STL). We were to deliver to nine community centres that housed a total of 1,500 Syrian refugee children.
Our cartons of letters were sealed and sent to respective addresses and we waited it out for feedback. Amidst the wave of criticism that we had faced, the one we didn’t have an answer to (yet) was, “What difference will a Letter of Love make to a refugee child?”
12.5GB of feedback flooded our mailbox. Here, take a look:
Letters of Love 2017Letters of Love is a global initiative guided by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) - Gaziantep, Turkey that aims at delivering personalised New Year Postcards & Monetary Aid to Syrian, Iraqi & Yazidi refugee children. Would you like to make a difference :) ?! * Send in your Letter of Love to : https://www.facebook.com/lettersoflove2017 * Donate humbly at : http://ket.to/lettersoflove2017 Footage courtesy : Support To Life (STL) #LettersofLove2017 #RefugeeChildren #NewYearGreetings #Fundraiser
Posted by Letters of Love on Wednesday, November 2, 2016
As a testimony to the popular maxim, ‘happiness is contagious,’ for 2017 New Year, we had a target of 13,000 Syrian, Iraqi & Yazidi refugee children awaiting letters of love across Turkey & Jordan.
With a fresh new logo and a rejuvenated team of 30 across 10 countries, Letters of Love for 2017 was relaunched on our Facebook page.
Senders and collaborations flooded in from all around the world and we held ‘Meet, Greet & Scribble’ events across cities in India. We raised Rs. 1.4 lakh, and by mid December the fondly doodled handwritten letters were sent to our implementation partners in Jordan & Turkey.
Personally, I’ve been an ardent believer of the starfish fable and counting on an individual’s untapped potential to make a difference in the world, one starfish at a time, has been my steadfast inspiration.
While it’s just March, we’re eagerly awaiting for the new year to gift these children bright smiles, once again.
Quoting Saint Teresa as I see fit, “Not all of us can do great things; but we can do small things with great love!”
(Written by Pooja Pradeep)
Picture for representation only. Source: 
Picture for representation only. Source: 
Gungte’s family is closely related to mine, and after the tragic incident I had spoken to both his mother and sister. From their long conversation, one thing that troubled me was the question his mom asked me: “What wrong has my son done to him (landlord)?” This is a clear case of Racism - a hate crime and an FIR has been lodged against the landlord at the Hulimavu police station in Bengaluru but he is out on bail now.
Allow me to share with you few important details from the FIR in Gungte’s words.
Dated- March 13, 2017
To,
The SHO,
Hulimavu Police Station,
Bangalore 560076
Sir,
I, Higio Gungtey, would like to submit that I am a person belonging to the Nyishi Tribe, a schedule tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. A copy of the certificate is produced for your kind perusal. Hemant Kumar has attacked me for no reason but because I come from North East. I and two of my friends are tenants in his rent house since March 2016, with the rent amount 12000 per month and the rent agreement was made in the name of my friends Mridupawan Bharali and Rajeev Ranjan Singh (hailing from Assam and Jharkhand respectively). He told us that my name need not appear in the rent agreement. It was on Monday March 6, 2017 our landlord Mr. B. Hemanth Kumar came to our house and he started attacking my friend while I was talking to my parents over the phone in the balcony. When I saw him dragging my friend by his neck, I immediately rushed into the room and tried to stop him but instead he started beating me. He beat me mercilessly in all part of my body. While beating me he said, “you dirty tribal from North East”.
He kicked me in my stomach several times and I was choking and fell down on the floor because of the severe pain. In no time, again he kicked me on my chin and it started bleeding. My tongue got cut and it was too painful. Then I went to the bathroom to spit the blood out, he dragged me out of it and hit my right cheek, it was too painful. My mouth was full of blood. He punched me in my face. I was already very tired from the beating and dragging. He tried to kick my genitals as well but somehow, moved and escaped.
Mr. Hemanth told my two friends to slap me otherwise he will beat me more. As a result my two friends out of fear of him started slapping me.
While he was beating me, he abused verbally saying, “I will fuck your mother and sister”.
He forced me to lick his boots
While he was kicking me with his boots, one of the boots came out. He ordered me to put it back to his feet and tie the lace, and lick his boots. While licking his shoe he said, "You only deserve it because you are a dirty tribal from North East and don’t show your face again in this city".
Please No More!
I felt my heart skipped a beat when I read his FIR. I was disappointed and disturbed by both the actions of Gungte’s two friends and Mr. Hemanth, but much more by Mr. Hemanth. He is an educated man, a lawyer by profession. Gungte, in his wildest dreams must have never imagined that he would be ever treated like that. Only if one could read MR. Hemanth’s thoughts.
You see, no man is disturbed by things, but by his opinion about things. And I fail to understand, why does he hate the ‘tribals from the north east?’ I also struggle to reason out why Gungte’s friends (roommates) gave in to Mr. Hemant’s threats. If only they could have gathered some courage, things would have been relatively calmer for Gungte and his family.
Gungte’s noiselessness is very familiar to mine and many of us who are told every day we don’t belong here. His voice is the offspring of many nations within a nation. And together our voices carry the many unheard stories of racial discrimination and its intolerance.
I believe, more than ever that the search for justice is the supreme foundation for activism in our time here and abroad, although the melody of misery and anguish has been consecrated in this country. I draw strength from the traditions of all brothers and sisters who without fear and inhibitions have dealt with racial discrimination and its biases; with every reason, have stood firm in their fight, and most remarkably to those who have lost their lives in the pursuit to finding one’s identity like Nido Tania, Richard Loitam and many more.
But, when we condemn attacks in Kansas (shooting of two Indians’ thinking they were Iranians) and Canada (Quebec mosque shooting) why do we fail to dismiss this one? They say when the horrors and pain of the people are louder than babies crying and when the cry of your neighbours make you more uncomfortable than murder itself, something is awfully wrong. And It’s time, that India, where differences were once accepted and celebrated, should introspect on this before it is too late and before our attitudes harden.
The idea of home is so complicated to me; home isn’t here
people look at me like I am from somewhere else.
Where is home?
Writing became an expression of my discomfort
a language
an arrangement of unbroken rage
writing poetry to question
why?
Poetry to reclaim my identity and to be
home
again.
My body is yellow, white, brown and black
Is it my skin that betrays or is it my face?
I am still looking for an answer!
You tell me
How do I respond without making you angry and uncomfortable?
How do I wear a mask that doesn’t even fit me!
Do you feel my pain?
Why can’t you, my fellow Indians respond for me?
I want all of you to speak for us.
What are words if they aren’t realized?
And realization is a distant dream
A dream to be an Indian
and here I am living despite it all
with a language that comforts me
in a language that sounds familiar.
I write to all the younger version of me, you are
already
home.
Even the colour of my dreams scream
Indian
my blood is Indian
my bones are solid Indian
so, I am writing!
I am protesting as I write
I am protesting about being an outsider in my own land.
But, why am I still looking
for something that will define me?
I can’t find my belonging here.
You will often catch me and many of us
searching for it
In the books and in passports
striding
with resilience.
(Written by Ngurang Reena)
Shibani Datta with her favourite dog[/caption]
We had four pets dogs -- Prince, Top, Tommy and Billo. They were our friends and protectors. Once, when my younger brother Gopal was only four years old, he fell into the pond. No one else was around, but our dogs jumped in and brought him to safety. Another time, one of my other brothers who was even younger was dangerously close to a snake. It was again our dogs who saved him.
Next on our list of favourites were our many, many cats. We had dozens of cats at home and many kittens too. Imagine trying to get all of them to have their meals! It’s often said that dogs and cats don’t get along. But we have watched our pets play with each other all day, and it was a source of unlimited delight.
Did you think that was all? We also had five cows - Kali, Lalli, Chitra Godhuli and Manghli. We had two goats who we named Locket and Lama, and their kid would play around our yard all day. I think he fancied himself a deer, but our laughter knew no bounds when we watched him sprint.
Shibani's brothers with a fish from their pond[/caption]
As we honed our fishing skills, ducks and swans would gently wade on the water offering us their peaceful company. Incidentally, we had a small poultry farm too -- our favourite was a multi-hued rooster with the biggest crest I have seen. It might be hard to believe, but he would actually puff up and start dancing on request.
Over the years, we developed a relationship with animals that did not need words to express our love for them. I remember when our cow Mangli was stolen. Incredibly enough, she found her way back. The thieves followed her too, and insisted she was their cow. As a test, my mother challenged them to call her and feed her. They failed miserably, but as soon as my mother called out, Mangli rushed to her side.
The Datta Family in Imphal[/caption]
We reared bees in our beehive, and every month we would collect honey from it. It was terribly upsetting when we found some of our bees dead one month. After all, each of our animals, birds and insects, and even the plants and trees in our garden, all served to show us how man and nature can co-exist in harmony.
Our house was built on the eastern side of Imphal river and not very far from the royal palace and the Shri Shri Govindaji and Hanuman Temples. The early morning bells of the mangal arti would wake us early in the morning and during winters, all the children would gather by the river and head to the temple. There were around 3,000 monkeys around the Hanuman Mandir, and while they struck fear in the heart of other visitors we simply thought of them as our ancestors.
Among my friends, one of them had a pair of deer at home, and we would often play with them and feed them grass and gooseberries. We grew up surrounded by the beauty of nature, and life was free of any pressure.
I wonder if it is my time with pets that attracts me to animals even today, after decades have passed and we have left our home behind. Kittens follow me around our neighbourhood in Kolkata where I now live, dogs settle themselves outside our doorstep.
Trees, flowers, animals and birds - they are sensitive, and really not very different from us. Living close to nature made us realise how important it was to maintain the fine balance of nature. It taught us the need to protect and preserve nature, and it can do the same for everyone.
The ice-cream man who becomes the bhutta-man during monsoon[/caption]
Street vendors are perhaps the most adaptive to the ever-changing market. The couple who ran a chai-stall (also serving snacks in the evening) next to the office where I worked suddenly saw opportunity to bring home-cooked food to offices in the neighbourhood. After running a pilot project for about 2 weeks and confirming that there was a fairly good response, they invested in a larger stall and utensils, and started selling meals at lunchtime. Of course, they continued to sell chai and bondas.
In spite of the supermarkets, many of us still prefer to buy fresh produce off the road[/caption]
When I enrolled for a business course at a university, my accounts professor started with, "Imagine that you're a chaiwala..." and everything we learnt from that point on was from a chaiwala's perspective.
Observe any street vendor for a few days and you grasp a whole range of concepts – multitasking, dealing with competition, the importance of location and presentation, keeping up with market trends. Here it's all about developing trust, loyalty and building one-to-one relationships with customers (how many of us have running credit accounts?) and being able to offer individual customizations. It's much like how e-commerce websites record your personal preferences, but in the more traditional form, at the human level.
Vendors are also aware of the potential of online marketing channels. "Write me a Facebook review," says a dosa vendor, as I thank him for a hearty breakfast. With roadside eateries making their way into the online world, they're trying to keep track of that as well, even without necessarily being connected to the internet! Many of them adapted quickly to digital payments during the cash crisis.
In spite of supermarkets, we all have that weekly 'sante' we visit and we know the lady who sells the freshest greens.
The chai stall that opens before the sun is up and shuts long after the sun is down[/caption]
Whether we're retailers or social media content creators, we plan in advance for festivals, events and seasons. We put months into our Christmas campaigns, our Diwali sales, end-of-season clearances.
Vendors seem to spring into action like magic, according to the occasion. Our phool-wala is probably the person most in demand during festivals. He hires an extra person so that he can split up the work – one person to man the stall while another goes and decorate houses. Of course, he has flowers tailored specifically to certain poojas – one month there are lotuses, another month there's jasmine. Need a gigantic mala of roses by tomorrow? No problem. Need banana trees for a wedding? Can be arranged. Nothing is impossible. You begin to buy in to this alluring 'ho jayega' attitude (though it doesn't always result in desirable consequences!).
On a busy road in Hyderabad's Himayatnagar, there's a shop that transforms itself into just about anything, depending on the month of the year. During Diwali it's stocked with fireworks, during Sankranthi it's covered with kites. During Rakshabandhan, rakhis ranging from terracotta to crystal hang from its shelves. I go there just to poke around and always end up buying something I don't need (aha, the tricks they play on you!).
Of late, Hyderabadi vendors have been serving 'vegetarian haleem', bringing another audience into their fold. To cater to those who work late nights, several stalls have sprung up over the city, sometimes with multiple people in the family managing shifts.
------
After having moved abroad, I've realized that there's so much strength in this rich, vibrant community that makes up such a huge part of India. The entrepreneurial spirit seems indomitable – it's almost like a living entity, breathing in all its streets.
A few years ago, I met a guide in Delhi who was taking visitors around Agrasen ki Baoli, jabbering away in impressive German. When I asked him about it, he said,
A household in Uttar Pradesh using Simpa Solar Home System to light their home.[/caption]
Photo Credit: Simpa Networks
To address the immediate issues of energy scarcity and environmental degradation by creating a strong foothold for solar energy, the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) was launched in 2010. The policy measures and subsidy schemes that followed have led to a favourable environment for the solar sector, fuelled by investment through companies looking at renewable energy as a solution to bridge the demand-supply gap.
In 2015, the government ramped up the solar capacity target originally set at 20GW by 2022 under the JNNSM to 100GW (60GW through Large and Medium Scale Grid Connected Solar Power Projects and 40GW through Rooftop Solar Panels) by 2022. A fivefold increase to be met within the same deadline. Is it realistic, ambitious or imperative?
Conversations with some practitioners and entities within the solar space helped lend perspective on how the solar story is panning out.
Lakshey Sehgal is the young founder of Spektron Solar Private Limited, a company formed for the purpose of providing quality engineering and training services to the rooftop solar industry. He has completed his Masters in Renewable Energy from Pondicherry University, and his team comprises members with considerable experience in the fields of electrical systems, fire protection and solar photovoltaics. They work extensively with small-scale solar entrepreneurs in various regions across the country.
Photo Credit: Spektron Solar
Lakshey voices the concerns of many in this space, “We need a single point of contact to speed things up. Also, an increase in the training and awareness of state-level and Discom officials on solar technology and its operational model is imperative to streamline the process in future. “
One is compelled to ask – when will urban cities adopt to solar energy alternatives? The answer lies in the question to a certain extent. Not until it is an alternative.
Lakshey explains why. “There is no subsidy linked to off-grid solar products that use batteries to store the generated electricity. Incurring a substantial upfront cost and storing a huge battery bank in their homes is not an attractive proposition for city dwellers that do not face power cuts.”
Photo Credit: Simpa Networks
Private participants such as Simpa Networks, Husk Power Systems, OMC Power and Mera Gao Power have taken on the role of Rural Energy Service Providers and are providing solutions to rural and semi-urban areas that are not suitably electrified.
The solution in this instance is one that addresses the concern of energy source and its affordability. A case in point is the pay-as-you-go model for a flexible-use solar system being offered by Simpa Networks.
A Simpa customer recharges her pay-as-you-go system by feeding in the unique code received on her mobile phone.[/caption]
Photo Credit: Simpa Networks
The pay-as-you-go facility allows for smaller payments made over a period of 1-3 years towards the purchase price of the device following which customers become its rightful owners and the energy service too is free for life.
Mitali Sahni from Simpa Networks explains how the company’s pay-as-you-go model is making it possible for solar solutions to become accessible and affordable for those with limited means.
Source: Barefoot College.
While these instances outline the situation mainly faced by those in grid-connected areas looking towards solar as an option, there is a global population of more than a billion people being forced to live off-grid for whom solar is the only answer.
So how do people who rely on kerosene and candles for their lighting needs come to consider solar as a solution? Two factors – energy from the Sun is a free resource, and the Barefoot College is making serious efforts to train people in ‘All of the least developed countries’ on how to harness it.
“I work in the Solar Energy Department at the Barefoot College and provide solar training.” His confidence shot through in the conversation and rightly so. Satyanarayan Sharma has been at it for the past 17 years and is able to trace the journey of this pioneering college from 1984 when it first began work in the solar space.
Source: Barefoot College.
These women are selected by their respective communities. The training, involving everything from soldering, detailing, connecting insulated wires, installing a home light system, troubleshooting techniques, among other things, starts with the basics.
The trainees begin by familiarizing themselves with tools and components, understanding what goes where followed by the actual process of installation. “Language is not an issue” clarifies Satyanarayan and describes how the training is a good mix of the practical approach aided by print and digital media.
Magan Kanwar, a Barefoot Solar Master Trainer explaining the testing procedure.[/caption]
Source: Barefoot College.
Magan Kanwar is a mother of two who has also taken on the responsibility that comes with being a Barefoot engineer and a Solar Master Trainer with the International Training team. She started her journey in this space when she began her training at the Barefoot College.
At a certain point in life, I have encountered this word very closely. I just don’t want them to be perfect in studies and to be perfect in sports, perfect with communication, perfect in art and perfect in dance and so on. I know expectations have no boundaries and ultimately this word will swallow you one day!
Years back, this perfect word was my top priority. Perfection to look good, spick and span house, perfection to cook, perfection in office work, perfection in almost all possible areas where I wanted to land single-handedly. I was the degree holder of the so-called tag of superwoman and completing every task in a jiffy. In time, I added one more degree, that of a perfect multi-tasker. For instance, if you want to gorge on a perfect meal and at the same time want your house to look amazingly amazing, then multitasking is inevitable.
Later, with this habit, I reached a point where I was completely stressed and I had no clue when it happened. By the time I realized the situation, I was already trapped. The first question that came from a doctor was: “Are you a perfectionist type?” Till that time I never knew that this word had so many powers that could even lead a person towards downfall.
I know everybody wants perfection with their work and probably it’s the need of the hour. But ultimately this is killing us. Let the perfection come in its own pace and it’s not necessary that everyone should be perfect everywhere. I learned through experience and accepted the fact that sometimes it’s better to accept things as they are.
Being a mother of two, I know how much pressure children have in their daily lives, perfect handwriting, perfect projects, perfect artwork and the list is endless.
But for me, it’s a little different. So whenever they do their artwork, projects and school homework my only advice is, yes, do it properly not to get stars but for your knowledge. And if there is something that they cannot attempt then do as much as you can. I don’t make their projects and don’t write for them and it’s very clear from my end!
Even for many other tasks, why do I need to make them perfect just to show them off. I know that my 8-year-old and 5-year-old cannot do the same things I can. Let them write in their own writing whether it’s good or bad. Let them fix things in their own manner even if it looks filthy or weird.
I feel every child and every person is different, but running in the rat race just to get fame. But ultimately it will not have any face value. Why compare and create unnecessary havoc?
But on the contrary, that doesn’t mean that children should not go to extra-curricular classes and not participate in competitions. They should, with the knowledge that winning is not an ultimate end to everything. Life is much more than that and let them enjoy their childhood as carefree as they can with no stress to achieve any goal.
As a mother, I don’t want my children to align themselves in the line of perfection. I want to let them learn with time and if they really want perfection for specific things, it would be completely their choice.
In the end, what matters to me is their nature and how they nurture themselves as good human beings, as the creative child or as a fun-loving kid rather than people with perfect dining manners, who never miss projects, always get 100% marks and those who carry unlimited certificates of appreciation.
I am completely happy with their messy book racks and uneven drawing sheets and not snipping their wings to fly high with the word “Perfect.”
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Sargaalaya is a unique tourist destination, a soothing experience for every visitor. 
Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India, Dept. of Tourism, Govt. of Kerala and NABARD, SZCC, Thanjavur are supporting Sargaalaya for the Sargaalaya International Arts and Crafts Festival.
It is at Sargaalaya that Arun honed his skills. He participated in the Puthukotta-style terracotta workshop, which was organized at Sargaalaya during May 2015. Arun had the opportunity to experience the making and moulding of the unique terracotta sculptures.
Through such workshops and other training programmes, Arun got the necessary exposure to different techniques of Fired Clay Sculptures, detailed training on techniques involved in making Terracotta Crafts and he got opportunities to interact with senior artists and sculptors. His sculptures of birds, animals etc., are drawn from nature and are extremely realistic. Thanks to the dedicated team of Sargaalaya, raw material for all the 60+ artisans, including Arun is arranged by Sargaalaya and marketing is also taken care of by the organization.
Arun has been provided a separate stall with all facilities and given full freedom to pursue his craft. He is now earning around Rs.20,000 per month, and is also provided housing at Sargaalaya. The artisan is grateful to Sargaalaya for the opportunity.
The ideal combination of Sargaalaya and the artisans is a win-win situation for both. Sargaalaya provides the infrastructure, raw material, stay arrangements, training inputs, marketing platform and the artisans blissfully create their craft in a serene atmosphere. For the visitor, it is an amazing experience to witness first-hand the skill of such renowned artisans. Let us hope such initiatives are replicated elsewhere.
(Written by K.L Vinaya)
Julia Margaret Cameron. Photograph by Henry Herschel Hay Cameron.[/caption]
Born in a well-to-do family to Scottish father James Pattel, a British East India Company official, and French aristocrat mother Adeline de l’Etang, she was fluent in French, English and Hindi and often spoke in Hindi with her sisters. On her tour to South Africa with her family, she met two of the most important people of her life, her future husband Mr. Charles Hay Cameron, a jurist who had collaborated with Lord Macaualy on drafting Indian Penal Code as well worked on other law and education reforms in India, and her mentor Sir John Herschal.
"I began with no knowledge of the art," wrote Julia. Photography was then in its infancy, it was an arduous task for Cameron to deal with a bulky camera with a tripod, exposure that lasted for 3 to 8 minutes and handling hazardous chemicals like cyanide. But the Victorian photographer’s indomitable spirit made her surmount all odds of the beginner and transformed her into an artist with a unique style.
Camera lens which reputedly belonged to Julia Margaret Cameron[/caption]
She turned her coal house into a dark room and a glazed fowl house into a glass room. Within a few weeks, she rejoiced in the revelry of her first successful portrait, she was so happy that she searched the entire house for the choicest gift for the little model Annie Philpot. She practiced the wet collodion process and made egg-based contact prints from the glass negative. The erstwhile fowl house became her den where she arrested poet, prophets, painters and other luminaries, including her friends, family and neighbors, in front of her camera.
The pioneering photographer was also a prolific letter writer. Apart from others, she regularly corresponded with Sir John Herschel, who coined the term photography. He kept her abreast with the latest development in photography. She wrote in reverence to him “you were my first teacher and to you I owe the first experience and insights.” She partly named her youngest son Herschel after him, who also became a photographer.
Photographs taken by Julia. (L to R) Annie, Charles Darwin, Alfred Tennyson, John Frederick William Herschel[/caption]
Some of the distinguished people she photographed were the scientists Charles Darwin and Sir John Herschel; the poets Robert Browning, Henry Taylor, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and Henry Longfellow; the painter G. F. Watts, Marianne North and Marie Spartali; and the historian and philosopher Thomas Carlyle. Famous Shakespearian actress Ellen Terry, noted writer Annie Thackery and Alice Liddel, the muse of Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland were also photographed by her. The famous American photographer, Imogen Cunningham, had commented "I'd like to see portrait photography go right back to Julia Margaret Cameron. I don't think there's anyone better."
A pre-Raphaelite aesthete with a quintessential Victorian soul, her images was seeped in biblical stories, literature, paintings and poetry. From St. Agnes to Sappho, Madonna to Merlin, Beatrice Cenci to Browning’s Sordello, Iago to Idylls of the King and others found a place in her oeuvre. She illustrated the Arthurian poem Idylls of the King when requested by her neighbor, Alfred Tennyson.
Photographs by Julia. (L to R) Henry Taylor, Robert Browning, Julia Jackson, Paul and Virginia[/caption]
Her romance with photography also resulted in marriage between a gentleman and one of her maid-cum-muses. According to Cameron’s account Mr. Cotton fell in love with her maid Mary Ryan after looking at one of her photographs. The premier Cotton College of Guwhati is named after him. She raised Mary Ryan, whom she found in an impoverished condition, along with five children of her own and five children of her relatives. A benevolent woman and generous hostess, while in India she served as a society hostess to the governor general Lord Hardinge, and many eminent friends were guests at her home, especially at Freshwater.
The famous author Virginia Woolf wrote her only play based on her great aunt Julia Margaret Cameron and her Freshwater circle titled ‘Freshwater.’ The house they lived in at Freshwater, named Dimbola Lodge after their coffee plantation estate in Ceylon, is now a museum permanently dedicated to life and works of Cameron.
The Victoria and Albert Museum celebrated her bicentenary and the 150 years of the only exhibition in her lifetime, to whose founding owner, Mr. Cole, she had sold her photographs. Apart from the photographs, The Royal Photography Society of London, still treasures a Jamin lens she used. Dr. M.Pritchard, Director General, RPS, rightly remarked, “She created a new aesthetic and was a female photographer who was successful role model for other women photographers and she inspired and influenced other women”.
Photographs by Julia. (L to R) Kate Keown and Elizabeth Keown, Mary Hillier, Whisper of the Muse, Ellen Terry[/caption]
In the ebb of her life, she, along with her husband, moved to Ceylon owing to financial and health issues. She photographed the natives but her overall engagement with photography declined. Probably as an artist she knew had accomplished a body of work that would stand the test of time. A fragment of her unfinished autobiography “Annals of the Glass House" mentions, “I longed to arrest all the beauty that came before me and at length the longing has been satisfied." It was published posthumously. The seeker of beauty was snuffed to eternal silence on January 26, 1879, but the last word she whispered was “beautiful”. A word that often describes her work as a photographer.
(Written by Rajiv Runthala)
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Before lodging a grievance, I would suggest that you may, at first, use your regular approach to get it resolved. If you have exhausted all your options and your grievance against Central government departments is still not resolved, try pgportal.gov.in. I am sure your grievances, if genuine, would be resolved.
Find the website 
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Sunil, who was a senior electrical engineer with Mecon for many years, took a break to pursue energy activism, fought a few bitter battles, founded IAEMP, set up an energy consulting firm and finally rejoined Mecon after 15 years. Retiring from there, he is back in Bangalore where he resides with his wife.
He has set up a 'Green Shoppe', where he sells, among other items, one of the most efficient fans under the brand name Gorilla. The fans that run on a special DC motor need a mere 5 watts of energy at lowest speeds and go up to 28 watts at maximum speeds. This is a third of what regular fans use. They allow for 65% savings as against the normal fans. Priced slightly high at Rs 2,900, what they offer is long-term savings. Buyers have claimed as much as Rs. 200 drop in bill per fan.
At his shop, you can find solar lanterns, herbal concoctions, copper bottles, bioenzymes, gardening items, washing products without any chemical components, etc.
One of his pet products, besides the Gorilla fans, is the gardening can fitted with a spray and mini pump. "Using this, you can clean your car with one litre of water," he will demonstrate to the last detail if you wish. In fact, he has begun to use the spray for his bath too, to save water. The spray can is also useful for mopping floors and cooling rooms, he says.
His activities may have mushroomed to encompass a vast segment of public life. But energy conservation remains his top passion. Negawatts, he holds, is any day better than adding megawatts -- he is referring to units of energy that can be saved by adopting some practices and using efficient devices. One unit saved is equivalent to two units generated, he will tell you.
"Let them give me half of the money spent on new power plants I can save more energy than what the new power plant can generate," he says during a discussion on nuclear power. He is not against nuclear per se, but against supply-side management.
Sunil is widely known in energy circles across the country for his campaign to implement the spirit of the Energy Conservation Act 2001 in more than gesture tokens. He has been at the helm of the fight against the Bureau of Energy Efficiency under the power ministry to widen the scope and bring more big energy consumers under the ambit of the act.
He has since helped establish the LCG Energy Consultants of which he is director. Besides energy audits, they also provide other related services.
For some time he was involved with volunteers in cleaning up Lalbagh and educating people on the need to use plastics wisely. Then, he realised there were too many players and quietly withdrew. With his savings, he then opened a small shop in Jayanagar where he sells green items. Networking with a host of others involved in niche green consumables, Sunil now has a large following.
Sunil thinks about fuel, or saving fuel to be specific, all the time. He has been trying to approach the traffic inspector near his home and sell a pet idea he had suggested two decades ago. By stopping vehicles 30 metres from the pedestrian crossing, he calculates that it could enable vehicles to pick up speed of 30-40 km per hour and clear the junction faster than now. He estimates the fuel saved could add up to Rs 40 crore - 50 crore. It would also mean lesser waiting at signals and save thousands of man hours as there'll also be fewer traffic jams! Anyone listening?
When a friend bought Gorilla fans from him and left behind the old fans, Sunil was quick in handing the same to a couple that irons clothes for the locality using coal press. "They didn't have a fan and were thinking of buying a local make which would have cost them Rs. 700 and also would have consumed more electricity than the fans in hand. So it was a net positive energy activity."
The way Sunil sees it, he calls it an 'ABC Approach'. Whether it is water, energy, resource or waste management, it involves A- Accounting, B - Budgeting/Best Practices sharing and C- Controlling.
Sunil can be critical of some 'green' attempts. For instance, the vertical gardens adorning the pillars of Bangalore's flyovers by SayTrees does not quite convince him. Quoting a UN report, he notes that if cities occupy only 2% of the planets' surface to house 70% of the population, should urban forestry/greening be the priority or decongestion and putting limits on further growth of cities?
Chances are you may find him rigid in his views, but you won't find him lacking in sincerity and enthusiasm. On Water Day, while everyone was busy sending forwards on WhatsApp groups, he had listed out an elaborate set of dos and don'ts for people keen to save water. Details included a suggestion to collect bathwater and use it to cool the roof or splash on dusty roads to bring down pollution!
If you can assemble residents in your area, Sunil is ever ready to come give a talk on how you can cut down on your energy consumption and bills. He can give you a clear idea on how much power is lost when the television or laptop mat is left in idle mode. Power used in sleep mode accounts for almost 10% of total power consumed by a household.
You can follow him on 
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Mostly happens with cats not so often with dogs. Be aware that an electrocuted animal is in SEVERE pain and unimaginable distress, and rescuing such an animal could be challenging if the animal is not known to you.
Wrap in plain cotton cloth/bedsheet and rush to the nearest vet. You may offer water or wet food while in travel.
Among the many successful policies and development projects, one of the most ambitious ventures by the state government is Naya Raipur, Chhattisgarh’s new capital city, which was recognized as world’s first ever integrated township in January 2017.
Environmental issues are considered to be a global concern today, and much remains to be done for effective conservation. In Naya Raipur, 27% of the land is solely devoted to greenery and the region’s environmental policies make it the first Greenfield Smart City in India.
Smooth and safe cycling lanes are constructed throughout the city, promoting the use of non-motorized transport systems. Apart from minimizing air pollution, steps have been taken to conserve water, and every building in Raipur will have effective and compulsory rainwater harvesting systems. The NRDA is maintaining 55 reservoirs in the region, including three lakes.
Access to quality education and the presence of premier institutes has a wider impact on overall culture of study and learning on its surroundings. Hidayatullah National Law University, ranking sixth among the National Law Universities in India, shifted its campus in 2009 from Raipur to Naya Raipur. Its students and staff are considered among the founder residents of the city.
IIT Naya Raipur (IIITNR), a joint venture of state government and NTPC, commenced with its first batch in 2016. Apart from this, KIT, ITM University and State Administrative Academy are also running in Naya Raipur while IIM Raipur and Ayush University are under construction. A number of schools are attracting students from all parts of the state.
A state-of-the-art sports village is being built in Sector 3, ensuring world class facilities for indoor and outdoor sports. An area has been marked for a golf club in sector 38 while the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium has hosted three seasons of IPL and is recognized as India’s second in terms of capacity. David Warner, vice captain of the Australian Cricket Team once said that the Naya Raipur Stadium reminded him of Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Mobile applications and online portals will provide municipal services like billing, tax payment and issuing birth certificates, marriage registration and information about the city. People will have access to these basic services on their fingertips.
Naya Raipur also boasts an all-encompassing surveillance system to cover all the nine entry and exit points, bus stops, public buses, public offices and other important spots of the city. Utility services such as water supply, power supply gas pipeline, LAN cables would be tracked by computerized SCADA system so that any fault can be seized precisely and timely. A tender of ₹100 crore is currently under process for these projects.
Sector 22 is a hub for Special Industry Development specifically designed for IT, ITeS and services industries. 194 hectares of land in Sector 5 is reserved for industries such as banks, automobiles, cold storage and handloom. An electronic manufacturing cluster was also inaugurated last year and the city will also have a Special Economic Zone for gems and jewellery. It is worth noting that only non-polluting industries are allowed in Naya Raipur.
Strategically planned and affordable transportation ensures comfort for residents. This is why NRDA is focusing on the concept of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) to promote transit and non-motorized transport. Naya Raipur has a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), the latest among India’s few BRTS systems, that delivers fast, comfortable, and cost-effective urban mobility. Presently, 40 AC BRTS buses run across Naya Raipur to Raipur railway station.
A new railway line is being constructed to bring the broad gauge to Naya Raipur and four railway stations will be built by NRDA. The Swami Vivekananda International Airport which is around 10 km from Naya Raipur was decorated with a National Tourism Award and recognized as the best non-metro airport in India in 2016.
With a variety of excellent amenities in every important sector Naya Raipur is regarded as the first integrated township of the world. Among its early achievement was a 15-day visit from an Afghan delegation to train under NRDA on constructing a smart city in Afghanistan.
Naya Raipur has a lot to offer to everyone. From green belts and cycling tracks in the middle of open fields to colossal structure, this is a place full of pleasant surprises. As locals say, Chhattisgarhiya sable badiya, meaning Chattisgarh is the best.
(Written by Suyash Pande and Manya Dua)
Home chef turned food blogger Usha Dalmia. Source: 
A summer thandai from Tingle Your Taste Buds. Source: 
Usha and Anupama, the mother-daughter duo who make cooking look easy
The strength of our brand lies is in the simplicity of the recipes without compromising on the taste. Our mission is to ease the process of cooking, because we believe there is a chef in everyone. What started as a small Facebook page is today a website with lakhs of visitors and a dedicated subscriber base. We also contribute to food websites and magazines, and were recently finalists in the "Best Food Blogger of the Year" category at the Orange Flower Awards.
Today, my mother has learnt a lot about technology and is dedicated to her work. Recently, when she sent her recipe to a website, they requested for an image with different resolution. By then, the dish was finished but my mother immediately made it again, in 15 minutes instead of buying more time, because she never misses a deadline. She is passionate about spreading joy through food and loves to personally read all the feedback.
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Prof Rohini Godbole at Women in Physics and Mathematics. Source: 
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