A country’s biggest strength is its youth and socially active citizens. We are talking about people like you, who are keen to get involved and who provide constructive inputs and support to their governments.

Here are a few organisations and ways that we, as citizens, can engage with to quite simply — be the change we want to see in society.

ICLU

The Indian Civil Liberties Union (ICLU) is a collective of citizens, lawyers, students and activists from across the country. They primarily assist in providing legal aid and legal awareness to the masses through a collective effort, both in online and physical spaces. The ICLU focuses specifically on the poor, marginalised and migrant labourers for their outreach effort. They came to light during the NRC process in Assam and the anti-CAA (anti-Citizenship Amendment Act) protests in 2019.

ICLU has been at the forefront of providing legal aid to students and protestors who were harassed, detained and arrested during the anti-CAA protests across India. This organisation can be contacted through their social media platforms. Invitations are sent to volunteers to engage with them.

Reap Benefit

Reap Benefit is a citizen-oriented, problem-solving organisation. They focus on “solving everyday issues using local data, local solutions and local campaigns”. Apart from taking direct action, like creating a DIY air quality monitor and dustbins, they use the internet to organise various important forums for discussions on matters of common concern. Reap Benefit runs a platform called Solve Ninja to allow citizens to get in touch with them and contribute to hyper-local projects they are working on. This includes helping physically on a project-by-project basis, online through their web app, and through a network of volunteers aimed at inducting more and more young people in their effort.

YUVA Mumbai

YUVA has interventions in housing, education, health, livelihoods and governance. They work on a community based approach. YUVA helps local communities solve challenges and obstacles in their own local areas, by providing awareness, gathering feedback on local issues (which forms a part of their Government advocacy efforts) and running campaigns that build a spirit of community. From empowering young girls through sports, to ensuring that water is made available to residents in one of Mumbai’s bastis — YUVA has a large ambit of work which they undertake. They can be contacted through their website, as well as their various social media channels.

Civis

India is the world’s largest democracy. The essence of democracy is the ability of a person to participate in the decision-making of one’s country. This ability has now been codified through the pre-legislative consultation policy (PLCP).

Formally introduced in 2014, the pre-legislative consultation policy (PLCP) requires that each Department/Ministry should proactively publish their proposed legislations for public feedback. The rationale behind this policy is that it seeks to involve the citizens and get their feedback on various policies. Participation in this process provides citizens a chance to participate in law-making that has a direct impact on their own well-being.

The importance of the policy came to the forefront when the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) draft, 2020 was released. Participating in this process is one of the most direct ways we can become active citizens. Civis is an organisation that makes participation in PLCP easier. It provides an active platform that simplifies the policies put up by the various Ministries for consultation by providing a short summary. It has a user-friendly interface which collects your feedback on the policies and submits them to the concerned Ministry directly. Participate in open consultations through Civis’ website.

Jhatkaa.Org

The cornerstone of democracy is the ability to approach your leaders to ensure that your demands are heard. It is an important way through which we hold our elected leaders accountable. Jhatkaa’s work embodies this important aspect. The organisation identifies the issues which require active action by the leaders and mobilises citizens to take effective measures. These concerns are then raised with the respective leaders. They achieve this through petitions, public engagement, building volunteer movements, media engagement, mass phone calls and emails to public representatives, member-generated research and reportage of issues. Jhatkaa’s vision is to create a more equitable, inclusive and sustainable India.

In this manner, citizens can engage with the leaders and directly motivate action. Participation in public mobilisation is a powerful way of becoming an active citizen.

IChangeMyCity

Janaagraha is an organisation that actively works towards improving the quality of life in Indian cities and towns. Their work focuses on actively collaborating with citizens. Its philosophy for achieving its goals focuses on engaging students, employees and the broader citizenry by delivering learning modules. It also aims to create various platforms to provide data to engage stakeholders in urban matters. One such platform where you can engage is called IChangeMyCity. The site uses the power of the internet to connect people locally, and helps them discuss and act on their civic issues. On IChangeMyCity you can post complaints on potholes, unattended garbage, bad roads and other civic issues in your neighbourhood and get these complaints resolved.

SATARK NAGARIK SANGATHAN (SNS)

Democracy entails the right for citizens to hold its democratically elected leaders accountable. There are various tools through which we can hold various government departments and political parties accountable and ensure transparency. One of these is the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act, 2005). SNS focuses on citizens’ participation in governance by using the RTI law to obtain information about the various activities of the government. This information is crucial in securing information and holding groups accountable to ensure that rights are not infringed. It also helps achieve financial accountability and transparency to ensure that public funds are used to meet the needs of the public. They have focused their work in the slums of Delhi.

Through the information gathered from the RTI Act, they hold the government accountable for delivery of ration, pensions, health, sanitation and education. Using official information, complaints and petitions are filed and public hearings are organised to demand action against corruption and wrongdoing. The Sangathan has also been using the RTI Act to make elected representatives more responsive and accountable.

BHUMI

Bhumi is a youth volunteer organisation having its presence in many states. It provides young people with a platform to serve society and bridge the gap between the educated and the uneducated. Its work is mainly focused on two areas — education and civic projects. Bhumi’s volunteers educate and mentor children from villages, slums and orphanages and teach them subjects like English, Maths, Science, Arts, etc. Their civic participation program, Catalyst, involves engaging volunteers in causes like animal welfare, community welfare, disability, environment, health, etc.

AVAAZ

Avaaz has a mission to organize citizens of all nations to close the gap between the world we have and the world most people want. It encourages and empowers people to take action on pressing issues of global, national or regional significance like corruption, poverty, climate change, etc. Avaaz is involved in community campaigns like signing petitions, funding media campaigns, contacting governments and organising offline events for the inclusion of views and values of different people in the decision making.
The Avaaz community campaigns in 17 different languages and has a growing online community which provides a rapid collective force to give reasonable input in political decision making.

CHANGE.ORG

Change.org is a large social change platform spread over several countries. It provides people with relevant information on issues of public importance and also provides them the tools to start a campaign and gather support from thousands of other people by signing it. Change.org’s mission is to empower people everywhere by creating the change they want to see. Popular topics of Change.org petitions are economic and criminal justice, human rights, environmental issues, education, etc.

(Written by Ayan Gupta, Kopal Mital, Rajvi Sanghavi and Vaibhav Yadav who are Research Fellows at Civis. Civis is a non-profit organisation that makes it easy for you to find out about the upcoming laws and policies, understand them and share your feedback on these draft laws and policies with the government.)

Every day for the past four years, Mandakini Gogoi and her husband, Rituraj Dewan, have been travelling from their home in Guwahati, Assam, to the forests of the Loharghat range. It is largely a mix of business, pleasure, passion and hard work that encourages their daily grind to certain small villages there. They are very comfortable with the village folk, who come to the centres they have created in the region to spin, weave, dye and churn out miraculous textiles that are created, honed and polished before sending them off to the Indian market and also to many foreign buyers.

The best part? They do it all with the help of their small team—a mix of local artisans and some textile experts—without causing any damage to the forest area where they work. Instead, they help in maintaining the ecological balance of the area. Considering that this area of Assam is one of the most biologically rich and also among the most heavily threatened, for frequent tree felling and poaching incidents, this is no mean feat. There are quite a few NGOs and other companies that work here but not everyone can claim to preserve the biodiversity of the region or even ensure that local artisans get a fair price for their hard and uniquely skilled work.

Slow Fashion Beckons

It had taken Mandakini and Rituraj years of research before launching 7Weaves Social Pvt Ltd, a sustainable textile unit, in June 2017. The name is a tribute to the textiles or weaves from the ‘Seven Sisters’. They looked into the region, its people, possible textiles to be produced, the know-how of the business of sericulture — a common practice in Assam where silkworms are reared to produce cloth, particularly the Eri silk fabric procured from Eri silkworms.

It also meant they needed to study global markets and trends for the demand of this fabric and have it worked upon by the locals of the forest area, who mostly learn to weave and spin as part of their family tradition.

The challenge that faced them was to produce textiles that would make the cut internationally while not harming the environment and ensuring fair wages to the artisans. Both Mandakini and husband Rituraj were formerly employed in the healthcare sector and it was her dream that led to both of them quitting their corporate jobs and returning to their home state to set this up.

“It was a huge task for people like us who had no knowledge of an industry like this, leave alone methods like spinning, weaving and working in close tandem with village people with whom it takes time to build a rapport and earn their trust,” admits Mandakini, who wanted to provide gainful employment to the women.

From stumbling through every step to visiting international fairs and markets, the husband-wife duo’s efforts have now been awarded a Certificate Of Excellence from the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India and the HEPC (Handloom Export Promotion Council).

“I have been a proponent of preserving the ecological balance and protecting biodiversity, since the time I was a school student, actively working towards it and presenting papers in journals. It is a cause that I hold above all, in my life. When we got an opportunity to do that, we followed that road in the blink of an eye,” says Rituraj, who is a former international marketing expert. He adds, “It took some time to figure out how the entire chain worked but now we have a fairly good system in place, thanks to all the studying and research we did that was both practical and theoretical.”

The aim and agenda of 7Weaves is a wholehearted focus on ‘slow fashion’, which means producing something mindful, holistic and slow. These products have a slower production schedule, small-batch collections and zero-waste designs that try to reduce textile waste that clog landfills. Therefore their model is mapping the future for sustainable, ethical textiles.

“Eri silk rearing is a traditional practice of the indigenous communities who live in the Indo Burma biodiversity hotspot. The process is based on traditional ecological knowledge of the community who share the biome. The 7Weaves model works with the community to work on a small surplus without changing the current status quo and incentivise the people for sustainable use of resources and long term conservation which leads to biodiversity conservation,” says Mandakini.

The term ‘Womb To Weave’ is applicable here as the silkworms are reared in their company’s centres, and then the process of waiting begins as the worms start making their cocoons for hibernation. It is only when the worm leaves the cocoons, out of its own accord, that the cocoons are gathered and the village women begin the process of sorting the thread. Then the weaving begins.

While they have international experts on their panel to guide them, they also welcome trained people who are passionate about the environment to help them achieve their objective. Textile designer Sneha Chaudhury, a NIFT graduate, who is from Lucknow and has now shifted her work base to Assam says, “It has been a different and very interesting learning experience for me and though initially, it was difficult communicating with the village folk; now, it’s easier. We work in tandem. They weave their designs and I tell them about what will work in terms of trends that will sell internationally.”

A Sustainable Step Forward

The entrepreneur couple soon realised that to produce textiles from natural sources and protect the environment, one has to work only with indigenous communities. “They belong to the region so we cannot dispute their knowledge and understanding of the region that needs to be preserved and yet it will also provide them with a source of livelihood,” says Rituraj.

The indigenous communities still maintain traditional knowledge regarding weaving with natural fibres and dyeing with natural materials. Local weaver Surabhi Rabha, a soft-spoken 25-year-old who has been with the company since its inception and now trains new weavers and supervises all weaving schedules says, “I used to weave in my home earlier and take a few orders that I would get on and off. After I joined, work has become more regularised and systematic and it is useful for me because this skill that is passed down through the generations will otherwise disappear. I earn about Rs 6,000 monthly. We are also covered under a corporate medical policy of Rs 5,00,000 each and entitled to get 50 per cent of the profits of the company annually.”

Every piece of cloth produced here helps restore the rich biodiversity of the area. The community reduces waste by only using what is necessary and planting and replanting crops and herbs that can be used for their dyes.

As more and more plants are identified for their economic value and sustainable use, conservation becomes integrated as an important part of the livelihood of the locals. “Our onus is on skilled local people getting their fair dues. So, we usually pay them 50 per cent of the profits annually plus a fixed salaried income, irrespective of the work output. We chose the Eri silk particularly because we felt it has a great future,” explains Mandakini.

Eri silk production is also one of the least harmful methods of sericulture as the worms that produce silk are not killed. Their cocoons are harvested right after the silk worms leave them. Hence Eri silk is also called the ‘Ahimsa’ silk.

As for the markets, abroad and in India, they are slowly but surely recognising the potential of this unique venture. Their regular buyer, Carolin Hofer of Jyoti Fairworks, who is based in Germany says, “We have been with 7Weaves since their inception and we were impressed by not only their beautiful fabrics but mostly their holistic vision, the people and the eco-friendly nature of the business. They clearly are one of the most inspiring undertakings that we have met along our journey being a fair fashion label and an important ally in the movement towards a more sustainable textile industry.”

She adds, “Eri silk has appealed to us and many of our customers, as it has a great and very original story to tell with amazing thermal characteristics — keeping you cool in summer and warm in winter. I believe in its potential in the textile market, especially with the currently growing awareness for sustainability. We are currently working with companies from France, UK, Belgium, Germany, Australia, Canada and Japan. There are two kinds of orders that we do: sampling and production. Sampling takes about 4 to 6 weeks and production can take up to 6 months. Our production orders range from 450 to 500 metres per month.”

And what does the future hold for 7Weaves? “Opening more centres and diversifying into other textiles, which we are already doing and continuing to provide gainful employment for the upliftment of local artisans, especially with a focus on women’s empowerment,” Mandakini signs off.

(Written by Tashneem Ali Chaudhury; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

Ambika Khare, born in Panna on 26 December 1932, passed away at the age of 88 on the night of 16 April 2021 of heart failure. A man ahead of his time, a great supporter of Panna Tiger Reserve, winner of Sanctuary Asia’s Green Teacher Award for his seminal role in running Panna Nature Camps, lifelong teacher, educationist, mentor — he was larger than life. The kind of person you felt would live on forever.

In 2009, it was officially accepted by the Forest Department that Panna Tiger Reserve, a prime tiger sanctuary located in the Vindhya mountain range in Madhya Pradesh, had lost all but one of its tigers. Led by the then Park Director, Shri Rangaiah Sreenivasa Murthy (IFS) the Panna revival plan was launched. Two female tigers, followed by a male tiger were introduced from other Tiger Reserves of Madhya Pradesh. On 16 April 2010, the first litter of four tiger cubs was discovered, marking Panna’s remarkable turn around. This date has since been celebrated as Panna’s unique ‘Tiger Birthday’. Even this year, there were elaborate plans of the citizens of Panna to celebrate the 11th birthday, but the worsening COVID-19 situation put all plans on hold.

Outpouring of heartfelt condolences

Mr Rangaiah Sreenivasa Murthy, IFS (retd.) ex-Director Panna Tiger Reserve and the architect of Panna’s revival, posted, “Really sad news. My association with Sir is 12 year long, he was a gem of a person. His contribution towards making the unique ‘Panna Nature Camps’ an effective tool of joining people with the park, will be remembered in the times to come.”

Arun Singh, a senior and feted journalist from Panna, told me over the phone, “Even at this age, close to 90 years, he had a zest for life. He would go out for walks in the forests close to Panna, he would teach for up to 3 hours daily. Being largely isolated at home due to the pandemic may not have gone down well with his zest.”

As part of Panna’s revival, apart from implementing the tiger reintroduction programme and increasing anti-poaching measures, there was a dire need to spread awareness and start a dialogue with the local community. The Park Director, Rangaiah Sreenivasa Murthy, conceptualised the idea of the Panna Nature Camps.

In 2009, a week-long camp for selection and training of resource persons was conducted with the oldest participants there being then 80-year-old Ambika Khare and then 70-year-old Devidutta Chaturvedi. Both were retired school teachers who performed the best and were selected. From 2009 onwards, every year the camps were held every Sunday for the winter months of November to February, with 30 participants for each camp and about 500 participants largely comprising children covered every year. The two had an old connection of teacher and student – Devidutta sir was a student of Ambika sir. Their relationship dated back to the 1950s and they continued to work as a team all their life. They said, “Humko na daam chahiye na naam, hum chahte hain karna keval kaam [Don’t want money nor fame, we just want to work]”.

Ambika sir, as he was fondly called, taught mathematics, science and English, and almost everybody in Panna was his student. An educationist to the core, he set up a school following the philosophy of Aurobindo, which, even today is run within his extended house premises in Panna town.

This work did not go unrecognised. Ambika Khare and Devidutta Chaturvedi received the prestigious Sanctuary Asia 2016 Earth Heroes ‘Green Teacher’ Award. This national recognition was a highly cherished one for both. Being well aware of their advancing years, they trained Manish Rawat and Bhavani Patel, school teachers from Panna, to carry on their noble work.

I met Ambika Khare for the first time around 2014 when I was working on a children’s book about Panna Tiger Reserve with Mr Murthy. We built our narrative through the eyes of Khare Sir and Chaturvedi Sir, and through a teenage girl who has participated in the Panna nature camp. It was just impossible to imagine Panna and its children without the duo.

In the last four to five years, while a back problem kept Chaturvedi Sir restricted largely to his home, Ambika Khare, despite his advancing age, continued to participate in outdoor activities and camps. His enthusiasm was infectious and his love and curiosity for nature unending as he continued to engage with the education of Panna’s children.

This inspiring man and his student nurtured generations of young naturalists. They are the foundation upon which Panna thrives.
I remember there was a programme in Panna during the launch of the Panna Nature Camps in 2019, where earlier attendees were present in large numbers. While they were asked to stand up and share their experiences, a saree-clad shy woman stood up and said that she fondly remembered the first nature camp that she was a part of. Today, she is a school teacher in Panna, and is taking forth what she had learnt in the camp.

I last met Ambika Khare in the last week of December 2019 when I spent a day in Panna meeting up old friends. He was as always dressed in his dapper safari suit, with smart white shoes, a welcoming smile, exuding an openness, curiosity and gentleness. There are innumerable lessons that one can take from a man of this stature. But the one that remains with me is his unique contribution to Panna’s revival for over a decade starting at the young age of 80! Through his students, his family, the institutions he created his life’s work, which will continue to live on and thrive.

Two cubs of the first litter survived to adulthood, and as per the 2018 national tiger survey, Panna had 31 tigers. But the future of Panna is at stake due to the Ken-Betwa River Linking project.

However, while the whole of Panna and Panna lovers across the country were gearing up to celebrate Panna’s unique Tiger Birthday on April 16, it is poignant that Ambika Sir passed away on this very day. Knowing him, I am sure his message would have been to do everything to save Panna and Ken.

(Written by Peeyush Sekhsaria, amateur naturalist, co-author ‘Our Tiger’s Return – The Story of Panna Tiger Reserve’; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

As a child, I fancied having a huge garden to myself and despite several attempts, I faced tough luck in growing mango plants at home. After extracting the juicy pulp, for years we have been discarding the skin and seed of the mango. I felt sad thinking about the number of seeds that are going to waste and wondered if there was any way they could be used. It was only a few years ago that I finally got myself to do something about it.

I began researching the seed to know more about how to germinate it at home and if it is even possible to grow a mango plant from the seed of the fruit without processing it. After all, it was the child in me waiting to taste success to have a mango plant of my own.

It took some failed attempts but when I finally learnt the right way to germinate a mango seed, it began feeling that with every wasted seed, there’s a sapling I am losing which has the potential to turn into a tree. And it wasn’t even nearly possible for me to house saplings at home for all the mangoes we, as a family, consumed. This got me thinking if the seeds of a mango are consumable and what health impacts does it have.

To my surprise, mango seeds have been used for years in Indian cuisine as a post-meal mouth freshener, and more importantly, in powdered form, they are considered a good choice for people battling high blood pressure and cholesterol. After this knowledge, I frantically saved every seed to either germinate or process it to make it consumable.

It has been 3 years now since I grew my first mango sapling at home and the plant is thriving on my terrace garden. However, it was during the previous year when the experience and learning took an interesting turn in the growth chart. While the lockdown and uncertainty around COVID-19 loomed, I experimented with different methods on how to germinate the mango seed from the fruit.

With one particular method, I ended up successfully germinating more than 30 seeds with barely any resources.

All that I needed were mango seeds, a bagful of coconut fiber (coir), water and a container with a lid. After the seeds began germinating—since I did not have many small pots immediately available—I used milk packets to plant them so that it would be easy to give the saplings away to any person who has space to plant it in soil.

Based on several attempts, here is the easiest method with a high success rate:

Step 1: After devouring the pulp of the mango seed, clean its hard shell.

Step 2: Carefully cut open the shell without damaging the inner seed.

Step 3: Peel off the thin brown layer on the smaller seed and wash it clean.

Step 4: In a container with some coconut fiber (coir), place the washed seed and sprinkle water so that the coir absorbs it.

Step 5: Cover the container with a lid and place it in the shade.

Step 6: Sprinkle some water every few days if the coir is dry. Ensure that the water is just enough to keep the coir moist and there is not too much of it.

In just a few days, the seed should begin to sprout and in 10 days, the seed should grow inch-long roots with a stem popping out in the other direction. It can then be planted in a small pot and covered with potting mix, and placed in an area with a lot of sunlight to watch it turn green into a healthy sapling.

The germinated mango seeds do not take too long to give their first few leaves after they’re potted, so there is something new to watch out for every week in the garden. The first 30 days of the seed’s journey are a fascination to watch. So, next time before you drop the seed into the bin, think again.

Regarding the skin of the fruit, ever since I began mixing it with a little mud and keeping it in a closed lid, there has been a free supply of nutrient rich compost at home. Moreover, the brownie points for saving it from contributing to the pile of landfill waste is always an added bonus.

(Written by Naina Sarda, Cloud functional Consultant; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

India is looking to phase out its single-use plastics by 2025. But how will we manage to overcome this Herculean feat when the country consumes over 3.3 million metric tonnes of plastic a year?

On 11 March, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change issued the draft Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules 2021 in which they proposed a blanket ban on a number of plastic items, amongst other things.

This follows India’s announcement at the 2019 United Nations Environment Assembly, where it piloted a resolution calling for a global phase-out of single-use plastics by 2025.

Reducing Plastic Waste

These amendments to the Plastic Waste Management Rules of 2016 seek to improve the collection, segregation, refining, treatment, and disposal of plastic waste in a sustainable manner. This will in turn reduce waste generation and its environmental effects. Although a number of State Governments have already issued their own notifications prohibiting the use of disposable carry bags and single-use plastic, this move by the Central Government is a welcome step towards a unifying effort.

Moving towards sustainable and environmentally conscious management of waste is an important priority and reducing single-use plastic is the first step towards this.

Internationally, both Agenda 2030 and the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also aim towards reduction of plastic, with SDG 12 being “to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”. An integral part of SDG 12 is reduction of plastic waste, and implementing this Notification will hopefully help further this goal.

It is also crucial that we make our voices heard and do our duty as environmentally conscious and responsible citizens.

The People’s Perspectives

A total of 28 respondents contributed to the Amendments to Plastic and Waste Management Rules that formally closed on 11 May 2020. While most individuals supported the ban and felt like it was a progressive step taken by the government, some offered a holistic view of the implications of a policy like this.

Mridula Joshi, founder of Ullisu, a sustainable product business, says, “We need to culturally prepare the public about the plastic ban. They need to empathise with it, rather than fear it. Therefore I feel a law like this needs to be implemented gradually as opposed to a blanket ban.”

Another environmental activist, Aakash Ranison, feels that this ban will come as a respite on the waste-pickers and others directly working in this industry due to the harmful chemicals they deal with on a regular basis. Given that plastic comes from crude oil, he says, “We’re already too late to stop climate change. Hence, there should be no further delay to pass a law like this.”

A lot of respondents were also able to provide positive resolutions and suggestions that might strengthen the result of such a policy. They feel like providing smaller businesses with an incentivised plastic alternative, encouraging alternate sources of livelihood and placing the packaging industries under restrictions might help create a ripple effect for India to stop using plastic and start thinking sustainably.

The Notification Calls For:

• Complete prohibition on the use of plastic bags, sheets or like with thickness less than 50 microns.
• No longer using plastic sachets for storing, packing or selling gutkha, tobacco and pan masala.
  Banning the import, sale, use, and manufacture of single-use plastics across the country due to their high environmental effects and impact on marine habitats
• Expanding the scope of application of the 2016 Rules to include brand-owners and plastic waste processors (recyclers, co-processors, etc).

The 2021 Rules also add new definitions to the law. Non-woven plastic bags are to be defined as plastic bags made up of sheet or web-structured fabric of entangled fibers or filaments bonded together by mechanical, thermal, or chemical means. Non-woven fabric is defined as a flat or tufted porous sheet that is made directly from fibres, molten plastic, or plastic films. And Plastic Waste Processing is defined as any process by which plastic waste is handled for the purpose of reuse, recycling, co-processing or transformation into new products.

The largest provision in this notification is the ban on single-use plastic, through manufacture, distribution, stocking, sale and use of certain products will be prohibited in two phases. The first phase begins on 1 January 2022, when products like earbuds, plastic flags, and candy sticks, among others, will be banned. The second phase, from 1 July 2022, bans single-use plastics, including plates, cups, glasses, and cutlery, invitation cards, cigarette packets, and plastic banners of less than 100 micron.

You can help shape policies like these by giving your comments to the Central Government in the form of a response — whether it’s an addition, an implementation idea, or something else. At Civis, we’ve created a space where you can discuss the issue with other concerned citizens and submit your responses directly without the hassle of worrying about the method. Head on over to civis.vote to do your part, and speak to the government.

(Written by Kopal Mital, Arushi Sethi, Manasa Kashi, Research Fellows at Civis; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

It was a March afternoon when a young couple in a village of Tamil Nadu was busy caressing plants at its farm. The word which comes to mind after seeing their farm is ‘jungle’. When we met the couple, my first question to them was, “Why are you here amidst these plants when the entire country is frightened and indoors because of the pandemic?”

A smiling young gentleman replies, “These plants are our annadata [food provider] and this field is our food basket – 100 per cent pure and natural. We are concerned about the virus but this entire field is our life and our source of eternal peace.”

Harivartha Prajeeth, a postgraduate in Electronic Media from Pondicherry University and a well-paid ex-employee of a multinational company, decided to return to his village for farming. Later, his wife Dr Mangayarkarasay Leela, an MBBS, also known as Dr Manga, joined him. “It was a well thought out and wise decision. Being in tune with nature and making the world aware about natural food, natural farming, and healthy living is most satisfying,” says Dr Manga.

The art of ‘do nothing’ farming

The couple has been following ‘natural farming’ practices since 2017. Their 3-acre farm in the native village of Dr Manga, Ramanathpurama, in the Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu, has been their ‘karmabhumi’ [place of work]. Following Fukuoka’s method of natural farming and permaculture, the couple neither plough nor use any fertilizer or pesticide in their farm. They use the broadcast method for seeding without following any specific patterns and believe that wherever the seeds fall, they carve their way and grow naturally. They find indigenous varieties easier to grow and manage. Seed saving of traditional varieties has been the major objective and activity of their farming.

“When I first took over this piece of land, I planted watermelons. It is said that harvested watermelon seeds are impotent. So, we left a few harvested watermelons in the field for the wild pigs. The wild pigs ate the fruit and left their droppings in the ours and the surrounding fields. Next year, we found watermelon plants germinating in different fields. Farmers of the surrounding area were surprised to notice this,” says Prajeeth.

Instead of deep ploughing they prefer mulching and creating a layer of top-soil by using fallen green and dry leaves and then plant seeds. By doing so soil erosion was avoided and also provided much-needed nutrients for seeds to germinate and plants to grow. Many farmers have been visiting them and learning about their way of farming.

Sivaraman, a young farmer from the same village says, “Many of us have used their techniques and they are not only cheap but very useful also.”

“We call it ‘do-nothing farming’, and it works”, says Dr Manga.

After the farm operations, the couple watch birds hopping from one plant to another. They considered this an effective way of increasing soil fertility and seed multiplication. They have earmarked a small area on the farm which is like a natural habitat for birds and insects.

At first, Prajeeth was hesitant to share how they chanced upon the idea of farming and natural farming but after being mildly cajoled by his wife, he says, “The reason is personal. I was seriously ill and I and the doctors were almost hopeless. However, a miracle happened and I recovered. After I was discharged from the hospital, I decided to do something different which would not only keep me closer to nature but would also give me eternal peace. I left my cushy job in 2015 and started farming.”

Asked why not traditional farming and why natural farming?

He says, “Although I was doing organic farming, I wanted to do something different and kept exploring options. I had read a book titled — The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming, by Masanobu Fukuoka and was quite impressed. The idea of natural farming itself was inspiring. I discussed this with a few of my close friends and most of them advised me against it. However, my resolve was firm and finally I started natural farming in 2017. Since then, there has been no looking back.”

According to the farmer couple, organic farming requires a lot of manpower and resources which are usually difficult for small farmers to arrange, and there is still no structured market for organic products in the country that can ensure the right price to the farmers. The couple’s basic premise of their farming was ‘minimum cost and maximum nutrition,’ and Fukuoka’s permaculture method was found the most appropriate.

Encouraging livelihoods

They grow green gram, black gram, groundnut, millets, roselle, jackfruit, banana, coconut, guava, and vegetables. Their guava harvest is very popular among the locals because of its taste. They harvest around 40 kg of guava every alternate day during the season. “In April, in addition to guava, we sold coconut, pumpkin, jackfruits, and bananas for Rs 20,000. Overall, we make Rs 40,000 to Rs 45,000 per month from farming,” informs Prajeeth.

Their ‘do nothing farming’ has opened small but sustainable opportunities for businesses too. They prepare ‘fresh-from-farm’ baskets of homemade groundnut balls, ragi balls, roselle jam, seasonal fruits and vegetables, tea bags, and other herbs.

These baskets are sold at a price ranging from Rs 300 to Rs 500 per basket, depending on the products and the season to the customers through their partner organisations. Their fresh-from-farm baskets have entered homes in Chennai and Pondicherry. “The taste of our products is natural, and the shelf-life is also more than that from chemical-using farms,” Dr Manga says.

Asked about their profits, Dr Manga smiles and replies, “We don’t calculate profits. We don’t use any external inputs and we sell all the products at a reasonable price.”

To scale up production, they have joined hands with Gratitude Farm Private Limited of Auroville which delivers organic vegetables, fruits and other food products in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states. “We have now linked seven more farmers in this area and we have started supplying products to them. We have named our organisation as ‘farmer cloud’ and it is doing quite well, though we have just made a beginning,” Prajeeth says.

Subhalaxmi, a school teacher in one of the senior secondary schools in Chennai explains, “After I visited their farm once, I have become an ardent admirer of their farming style and a happy customer. Their naturally grown fruits have unique tastes and are easily digestible too.”

As more and more people want to learn more about their model they have started training youth in their farming practices. Their field-based sessions are well attended and create a lot of interest. Now, even farmers of surrounding districts have started visiting their farms. Till date, more than 500 youth have undergone their training.

While the model looks interesting and sustainable, the question remains — can it be scaled up for commercial purposes? “As patience and belief in nature and natural products are hard to come by and commercial farming demands more from less, it has not become as popular as we hoped. Though there are very few who have joined us till date, we are sure if farmers and families start practicing on smaller scales, they will find it’s worth it. But yes, for us, ‘do nothing farming’ is an art of living and not a way of farming,” says Dr Manga before signing off.

(Written by Swetapadma Rout, a student of Master of Business Administration (Rural Management) and Niraj Kumar, a professor of Rural Management at XIM University, Bhubaneswar; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

A little over a century ago, in the Himalayan town of Kurseong, an hour’s drive from Darjeeling, West Bengal, lived a woman who was an integral part of Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-cooperation Movement. She led a procession of over 10,000 coal mine workers and helped Subash Chandra Bose escape his internment in Kurseong.

Escaping an arrest following a warrant issued against her, she lived at Anand Bhawan (now Swaraj Bhawan) — the residence of Jawaharlal Nehru in Allahabad where she met multiple local Congress leaders. Despite mass popularity, she chose to lead a simple Gandhian life until she breathed her last on 18 August 1980.

A hero in her own right

HELEN LEPCHA @ Savitri Devi.
From Sikkim. Fought for independence in Darjeeling, UP and Bihar. Influenced by Gandhian mvt, later by SC Bose. Involved in helping the escape of Bose. pic.twitter.com/WF7soeDU3a

— mac (@dr_madras) June 13, 2018

Helen Lepcha belonged to the indigenous Lepcha community, an ethnic group scattered across Sikkim, the Darjeeling Hills, the south-western parts of Bhutan and the Ilam District of Nepal.

Born on 14 January 1902, in Sangmu Village (South Sikkim) to Mr and Mrs Achung Lepcha, Helen was the third of seven children. Her family moved to Kurseong shortly after she was born. Surrounded by lush green tea estates with well-pruned bushes, the towns of Kurseong and Darjeeling started witnessing the arrival of education and infrastructural development from the early 19th century. This created ample job opportunities as compared to the then princely state of Sikkim, leading Helen’s father to move to Kurseong.

A fresh school dropout, Helen, joined the Charkha and Khaddar movements that were being propagated in the hills in 1917. A speech delivered by a Bengali gentleman from Calcutta is said to have struck a chord with her. With a conviction to dedicate her life for the cause of her motherland, she left for Calcutta in 1918. Under the tutelage of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar’s grand-daughter, Helen learned the art of spinning at her charkha training centre. Owing to her skills, she represented Calcutta at the Khadi and Charkha Exhibition in Muzaffarpur, Bihar.

In 1920, Bihar was torn down by floods affecting hundreds and thousands of people. Helen, selflessly helped the flood-ravaged people and toured the famine struck areas with tenacity. While volunteering, she met Mahatma Gandhi who had come to visit the aggrieved families. Moved by her dedication, a thoroughly impressed Gandhiji invited her to Sabarmati Ashram. At the Mahatma’s invitation, she visited the Ashram where he rechristened her Savitri Devi, as the name ‘Helen’ gave an impression of a foreigner. Helen vigorously participated in the activities of the Congress Labour Union as a leader of the party in parts of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Bihar.

In 1921, following a meeting at Muhammad Ali Park in Calcutta, she joined Gandhi ji in the Non-cooperation Movement. Subsequently, holding a tri-colour, Helen led a procession of over 10,000 mine workers of the Jharia coal fields (now in Jharkhand) and protested against the exploitation of tribal labours and their replacement. Her soaring popularity perturbed the British. They issued an arrest warrant against her, escaping which she lived in hiding at Nehru’s residence in Allahabad.

In 1921-22, the Non-cooperation Movement reached its pinnacle but the news of her mother’s illness forced Helen to rush to Kurseong. Concurrently, the movement was penetrating into the tea gardens of the Darjeeling hills despite efforts made by the British to keep the hills free from the nationalist movement, as the Gorkha soldiers were their greatest strength. However, this was a result of the British turning a deaf ear to the socio-economic grievances of the tea plantation workers. This stimulated Helen to foster her nationalistic zeal to the Darjeeling hills.

Helen drew together local volunteers and started a door-to-door campaign against foreign goods. Despite a curfew imposed by the police as a result of her campaign, she continued her crusade. This led to her arrest on 29 January 1922. Together with 12 others, Helen was imprisoned at the Darjeeling Sadar Jail for three months, she was later put under house arrest in Kurseong for three years. There she was popularly called Helen didi (sister). In 1932, she was elected the first woman commissioner of Kurseong Municipality.

In 1939-40, when Netaji Subash Chandra Bose was held captive at his house in Kurseong, Helen was in constant touch with him. She would communicate through letters that would be hidden inside the breads sent to Bose from her husband Ishan Ahmed’s bakery. She is said to have helped him escape the house arrest from Kurseong to Calcutta and then to Germany via Kabul. Legends say, the pathan dress, moustache and the beard Netaji used to hide his identity during his escape was made by Helen in Kurseong.

In 1942, Helen actively participated in the Quit India Movement. Besides, she focused on social activism and served as the chairperson of various associations in Kurseong such as the Sherpa association, Nagar Congress, Anjuman Islamia and the Lepcha association. Later in life, she also served as the Mandal of Kurseong.

On 15 August 1972, Helen’s contributions were honoured with the Tamra Patra along with a pension for freedom fighters. It was presented to her by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who fondly remembered Helen from her childhood days at Anand Bhawan and called her Saili didi, referring to the birth order of a person in a family wherein saili is the third born in cases where there are more than three children. She was also made the chairperson of the Freedom Fighter Award Committee of Darjeeling district along with other members.

Stemming from humble roots, Helen’s contributions have been recognised by her birth state Sikkim, where she has been conferred with the title ‘Daughter of the soil’. Her struggles, however, remain lost from the pages of history.

(Written by Kritika Sarda; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

“Four walls can’t stop women from being astounding and many of them have already made their mark against the grain,” says Pravasini Batakar, a 33-year-old from Odisha’s Kandhamal district.

In a rare display of commitment to improve the tribal population’s access to health services in remote areas, she is helping underprivileged communities in Tumudibandha block get access to basic healthcare facilities.

Tribes in Kandhamal mostly live in hilly terrain and forested areas where they endure poor infrastructure with no roads and telephone connectivity. This often becomes a barrier to accessing healthcare. Pravasini knew that working in these areas would be tough for her. Because transportation services in these areas are squat and tribal communities often follow rigid socio-cultural norms and traditional healing practices. But, she wasn’t concerned about that and extended her services keeping in mind those in need.

Tribal and other marginalised communities cannot thrive without good health and the onset of the pandemic has further pushed them to the fringes.

So, Pravasini’s role is now more significant than ever before.

She says, “Undernutrition is the core of all health problems for them and the inequality of access to health facilities also adds to a higher maternal and child mortality rate.”

“So, ever since I joined, I vowed to help these communities so that they get access to basic healthcare service at their doorstep,” Pravasini adds.

In 2018, Pravasini worked as a ‘Jansathi’—grassroot worker which translates to ‘friend of the people’—with Jeebika Suraksha Mancha, a people’s collective of the non-profit Atmashakti Trust. But after working for three months, she showed her interest to work on the Malnutrition-Free Villages project of the organisation, under which Health-Kit was being formed

Since then, she has been working as a ‘Health Animator’ under the Health-Kit intervention — a community-owned model that aims to provide basic preventive medicine to the community through the trained village-based Swasthya Sathi (health worker) and links them with the state and central government’s existing health schemes. The Sathi does everything from maintaining registers to supporting government health workers in the village.

There are 21 varieties of basic preventive medicines available in the kit.

Unlike many others, Pravasini is not privileged enough to provide this service only out of her good will. She comes from a humble background and needs to support her family. Despite that austerity, she would make 2-3 rounds of the villages every day, to monitor the work of 76 male and 37 female Swasthya Saathis in Tumudibandha block and educate villagers about the importance of healthcare. During the rainy season, she even has to cross streams and waterways to reach these villages.

Pravasini further adds, “Women and adolescent girls in these communities usually hesitate to share their health issues with the family, especially with male members, due to their social settings but they are able to share everything with me, a woman. This helps me know their needs and create a space to guide them.”

Villagers and the people’s representatives are all praise for Pravasini as a do-gooder.
“Earlier, for treating a minor fever or headache, we had to travel 8 to 10 kilometres to reach a Primary Health Centre, established by the government. It was expensive as we spent the entire day and also spent Rs 200 to 500 per visit. Coming down from the hills for treatment is also a difficult task. Sometimes, when we reach the hospital, we come to know that medical professionals are not available. But we don’t have to do that now thanks to Pravasini and her team who came to our village and motivated people to form a Health-Kit. Today, we are able to avail medicine for common ailments [like fever, cold, diarrhea, headache and cough] from the same. Her team is also persistently educating and counselling people about health, which itself is an empowering exercise,” says Sasmita Majhi, Sarpanch of Guma Gram Panchayat.

Majhi adds, “The State Government should also make similar efforts to serve the unmet health needs of these communities in cut-off areas where referral transportation services of the government such as 102 and 108 [the Free Referral Transport Services and Free Emergency Ambulance Service, respectively] are mostly unavailable.”

“Pravasini’s job does not end here. She also educates people about the ill effects of child marriage, menstrual hygiene and motivates people to develop backyard kitchen gardens to meet the balanced nutritional requirement of these families,” says Nityananda Thanapati, programme manager of Malnutrition-Free Villages project that has helped 181 villages of over 21,000 villagers in four blocks in Kandhamal.

“Research reports and our long work experience with these communities give away that tribes often experience poor access to health and wellbeing. That made us propose the Health-kit, a cost-effective and community-owned healthcare model to cater to their essential health needs. So, it is heartening to witness that the model is being accepted well by people across the vicinity where the role of women like Pravasini and Swasthya Sathis are catalytic. We need more such women like her,” says Ruchi Kashyap, Executive Trustee of Atmashakti Trust, the organization which works with Jeebika Suraksha Mancha for the implementation of the project.

(Written by Naba Kishor Pujari, a Bhubaneswar-based freelance journalist and a development professional; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

There’s a lot that can be grown on a terrace, in a backyard or a balcony, if we utilise the space well. As the monsoon is slowly setting in, it’s a great time to start growing some vegetables at home. In my modest experience of terrace gardening so far, I have found a very useful, low-cost, plastic-free method of growing vegetables using wooden fruit boxes.

We get mangoes packed in wooden crates in the summer, which pile up after every season. These boxes are quite big and deep (length x width x height = 49cm x 34cm x 31 cm), which is ideal for growing vegetables as opposed to shallow and smaller pots.

All that needs to be done to convert this box to a planter box is simply lining it with a jute sack. It takes two sacks to cover the entire box properly, and I add some additional jute on the bottom for more reinforcement. I fasten the jute to the box with some jute thread and a big needle.

Then comes the process of filling up the box with your favourite potting mix: soil, dried leaves, compost, cocopeat.

When I didn’t know better, I used to completely fill up the pots with soil. Now, I do layers of soil and dried leaves, which when composted add various nutrients to the soil. On royal days, I have cocopeat, which helps in keeping the soil mix porous and helps in water retention, and home-made compost that boosts the nutrients in the soil.

Next, add dried leaves between each of the other items — soil, compost, cocopeat, and keep the top layer to be a mix of cocopeat and soil.

And we are done!

Well, almost done. If you don’t plan to immediately sow something or even if you sow seeds/seedlings immediately, it’s a great idea to mulch the top soil with some dried leaves. This helps in retaining moisture and maintaining the microclimate beneath, than when the top soil is bare.

For most vegetables, the harvest cycle is about 3-4 months, which is also the amount of time by which the jute bag would have decomposed in the soil and would need to be swapped.

I also have other types of containers in the garden including clay pots, vegetable crates that we got from vegetable vendors, old paint buckets— most of which we got many years ago. Now, as we know better, we are trying to not add new plastic to our terrace for reasons of health and the environment, and fruit box gardening checks all the boxes.

Monsoon is a good time to plant all climbing variety vegetables such as bottle gourd, bitter gourd, ridge gourd, also pumpkin, tomatoes, chilies, okra, brinjal, turmeric and ginger. It’s always a good time to plant sweet potatoes — they are some of the most robust plants and give bumper harvest in four months.

A video of the process that we recorded, can be viewed here.

So save the last few mango boxes at home and get some soil, dried leaves and seeds to get started with growing veggies organically.

(Written by Nirzaree Vadgama; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

India’s agriculture sector accounts for about 15.9 per cent of the country’s $ 2.7 trillion economy and 49 per cent of employment (2018-19). Given the heavy statistics, the government aims to simplify, unify and collate a system to achieve their 2022 goal of doubling a farmer’s income.

The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmer Welfare drafted a consultation paper on India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture (IDEA) to create agriculture-specific technology that can be deployed from the smallest unit at the farmer to the large corporations who are the end purchasers.

These technologies include unique farmer IDs and a dedicated UPI for farmers to make the transfer of payment to them easier.

The paper was recently put forward by Civis, a citizen engagement platform that serves as a bridge between citizens and the government of India.

Under this consultation paper, the government proposed various open digital technologies throughout the farming process to usher in a Green Revolution 2.0, taking inspiration from similar frameworks in countries like South Korea. The paper saw 12 strong responses from the public and was simplified in a short video by Civis volunteer, Shachi Srivastava.

Watch the video below to gain a better understanding of what impact digitising agriculture will have on the farmers, middle men and large industries.

The Result

While general public opinion lauds the effort to simplify the market and empower farmers, the concerns around illiteracy, weak internet connectivity and greater dependency on middlemen remain intact.

One such response by Rashi, stated,“The main concern on digitisation of the agricultural sector is digital literacy of the farmers. If I talk in context of Northeast India, leave alone the access to a smartphone, most of the farmers don’t even have access to electricity since a major section of the farmers belong to small landholders and marginalised communities.”

To find out more about policies like these and to get the details about this draft, click here.

(Written by Nikita Noronha, Communications & Partnerships, Civis; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

What does it take to construct a building? Designing dynamic spaces like these requires individuals who work with their hearts, heads and hands while listening with love to the earth, the climate and the thoughts and needs of the diverse people and other living beings co-existing on our planet. A building after all demands landscape alteration, resource extraction, waste disposal, besides, continual resource exploitation during its lifespan to meet energy demands and other requirements of individuals who inhabit the space.

For instance, air conditioners — one of the most energy-intensive, momentary comfort providing and injustice perpetrating innovations by humankind, dominate most structures inhabited by monetarily privileged families in India. Did you know that a typical split-unit AC in India consumes the energy required to run 24 ceiling fans? Imagine the energy consumed by entire buildings of air-conditioned houses during their lifespans, besides other requirements.

India is yet to build 70% of the buildings that will exist in 2030. If we continue with our current building design practices, the demand for ACs will increase exponentially.

Given the climate emergency we are living in, socio-ecologically sensitive building designs that incorporate passive cooling strategies—building design strategies that improve indoor thermal comfort with low or no energy consumption—among other sustainable aspects are non-negotiable a need of the hour. However, one wonders if the present architecture education system is equipped to handle the task at hand.

State of architecture education in India

Based on our research, less than 25% of India’s top 55 architecture colleges that cater to 2,888 architecture students each year offer courses that include energy efficiency or sustainable design knowledge in the syllabus.

Furthermore, what they include is only three to four courses, out of the 72 courses over the bachelor’s degree course, that require students to think of the environmental impact of their designs. Overall, less than 5% of the curricula of India’s architecture colleges are related to the environmental impact of the buildings they will design. Scaling this number to the full magnitude of the number of students graduating from India’s 423 registered architecture colleges leads to a startling conclusion.

About 17,000 students graduate from India’s architecture colleges with deficient skills to design environmentally responsible buildings.
Thus, even if the exceptionally visionary Indian Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) becomes mandatory today for all new buildings, which will curb the AC demand significantly, presently there isn’t enough workforce that will be able to adequately handle its implementation. The work is filling this formidable gap between policy, knowledge and on-ground action/uptake.

Given the current scenario, even training architecture student’s directly is insufficient. The magnitude of this problem is so vast that capacity building of professors within India’s architecture colleges (those that also teach air conditioning design) themselves are required to share sustainable design related knowledge and to cultivate socio-ecological sensitivity among students. This effort must be institutionalised through curricula change. Here’s some food for thought on why we need to rethink architecture pedagogy.

How will my students learn v/s how will I teach

Our experience with architecture colleges over the years indicates that architecture education in its present form does not cultivate empathy for the climate crisis and its social injustice based roots. This leads to a largely inorganic, abstracted, mechanistic approach to building design. Further, predominant ‘teaching-centric (as opposed to learning-centric) pedagogy techniques do not foster an intuitive understanding of sustainable design principles thereby continuing to perpetuate amongst students the dominant view that conventional air conditioning is imperative for the thermal comfort of occupants.

Students are not exposed to skills related to sustainable Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems in building services.

David Kolb in 1984 introduced the Experiential Learning Cycle (ELC), emphasising the benefits of ‘learning by doing’. According to Kolb’s learning cycle, an individuals’ learning experience can be enhanced through four processes — namely, Concrete experience, Reflective observation, Abstract conceptualisation, Active experimentation.

To explain this cycle in simple terms — an individual who is part of a new experience can reflect on this experience, formulate abstract ideas based on their reflections and learnings and experiment with these in real-world situations. The cycle of learning continues as the individual is again exposed to new experiences as they apply their ideas, reflect on their outcomes, conceptualise new ways to deal with learnings that emerge through this process and continue experimenting again. Learning outcomes are gradually enhanced as this cycle continues.

In the context of architecture, therefore, students should be exposed to such learning cycles to support their journey towards contributing to a just world.

Empathy can ignite the fire to design with care. Care that is visible through buildings that minimise energy consumption in their lifetime, cater to the comfort of those living in these spaces and are also mindful of the health of living beings outside these spaces.

The ‘Academic Curricula Integration Project’ (ACIP)

Recognising the need to curb the socio-ecological atrocities perpetrated by the current architecture education system in India, we at cBalance curated the ‘Academic Curricula Integration Project’ (ACIP) within our FairConditioning program in 2015. This project focuses on working with architecture colleges to support cultivating heads, hearts and hands that contribute to socio-ecologically sensitive building practices. Unlike current government and market-transformation programs (including green buildings certification), which use end-of-pipe thinking, the ACIP is a beginning-of-pipe program that deconstructs the issue where the hegemonic idea of air conditioning-as-default is born.

We have embarked on a pedagogic intervention journey in pursuit of ecologically responsible and socially equitable reconceptualisations of thermal comfort for all rights-holders in society and not merely those with privileged access to ACs. Motivation building, critical thinking, and skill-building related pedagogy for students that make sustainably cooled buildings inseparable from responsible architecture are how this program solves the heat problem.

One of the few principles guiding the ACIP is the principle of invisible and ‘integrative’ curricula change as opposed to ‘additive’ curricula change (i.e. not adding a new course on environmentally responsible architecture, etc).

This supports ensuring that sustainable concepts are not viewed in isolation but are rather considered an inextricable element of building design. Horizontal integration of sustainable cooling-related knowledge is facilitated so that knowledge gained from ‘taught’ subjects manifest in design studios too.

Through our workshops designed to enhance sustainable design pedagogy skills amongst architecture professors to encourage activity-based learning processes amongst students, professors are supported in seamlessly integrating sustainability aspects in their lesson plans. Our program’s contents are co-created with teachers and not ‘for teachers’ in solidarity with them and their predicament.

Developing a learning-centric pedagogy where the generative theme is ‘how can my students learn this’ vs. ‘how will I teach this’, necessitated co-creating of knowledge products with professors and other experienced members in the field of sustainable building design is essential.
A Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) encompassing building physics and Sustainable Cooling Technologies or the Sustainable Cooling Pedagogy Handbook for Architecture and Engineering are some of the products we have worked on so far.

Few of these resources are available on our website and contact details for others can be explored, too.

With this, we’d like to encourage you to reflect on your pedagogy techniques and reach out to us, if you need support in your sensitive architect mentoring endeavours.

As Kolb once stated, “Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience.” Let’s create spaces for budding architects to experience, reflect, conceptualise and experiment with ideas for positive change. Let’s work together towards creating spaces of comfort and hope and battle climate change through architecture that is sensitive to a socio-ecological point of view.

(Feature image source: link; Written by Vivek Gilani and Vinita Rodrigues; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

Have we heard anyone say — “I received chemotherapy” — when all they have done is swallow a 500 mg Paracetamol? Similarly, I have observed frivolous connotations of ‘music therapy’ in plenty of instances. Many of the healthcare infrastructures of the lower and middle income countries (LMIC), including India, are not privy to music therapy as it’s not yet an established healthcare profession in many countries.

The official definition of music therapy set by American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) is the “clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualised goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program”.

Music Therapy is supportive care, and it does not replace the standard treatment course.

There is burgeoning evidence that report, as an adjunct, music-based interventions (MBIs) have certainly had measurable positive outcomes in various illnesses.

Although India has a rich and diverse repertoire of music, we have underutilised music’s potential in healthcare. There are no national medical commission (NMC/MCI) accredited music therapy training courses in India. Hence, there are no board certified/licensed music therapists in India.

I am often asked, “Don’t you think this is tedious and time-consuming? It is only music;” or “can’t we just give music to patients without these meticulous scientific trials?” It would certainly take time. Medical science doesn’t work with anecdotal evidence as they might be heavily biased. We need evidence from scientific methods that are reproducible and peer reviewed. Every medical intervention that we use today has gone through months or years of rigorous scientific studies and scrutiny.

Where should we start now?

My Journey; Finding the Intersection

One of my oldest and warmest memories is witnessing music’s salubrious effect in alleviating my maternal grandma’s stress and anxiety while she was incapacitated with the back pain associated with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. There would always be concerts of Semmangudi swami or Chitti babu wafting out from the radio. She passed away in 1998.

I was soon enrolled in Carnatic music vocal lessons and then, two years later, into ‘Saraswati Veena’ classes. The enigmatic and entrancing timbre of Veena became an intimate part of my life in no time. Reflecting on those years, meandering through the elements of emotions evoked by the ragas fostered in me was to communicate my thoughts and sentiments precisely and effectively.

During my medical school training, I secured a bachelors (BA) and masters (MFA) degree in ‘Veena’, which was mostly restricted to the academic classical music. It was in the same time span that my interest in cancer care had piqued owing to the clinical and academic exposure in hematology/oncology, and I rotated through these programs at Harvard, Stanford and Cornell for nine months.

I marveled at how brilliantly they had ingrained music’s therapeutic potential into the US healthcare infrastructure. Soothing live instrumental music was played on the cello, piano and harp in the patient waiting areas and chemotherapy rooms. There was recorded music in receptions. This is an intervention that sets a calm ambience, which is helpful for patients and healthcare staff.

It is important to reflect, despite having a large and ancient musical heritage, why in India we have not incorporated music into our healthcare infrastructure. In addition to the two ancient, classical music traditions, (Hindustani/north Indian and Carnatic/south Indian), there are folk music, playback tracks, hip-hop, devotional and independent record label albums.

Recently the USA completed over 70 years of introducing music therapy into their academic curriculum and it’s important to contemplate where we stand currently.

Need of The Hour

According to the AMTA definition of music therapy; India has two major deficiencies that need to be addressed — clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions and approved music therapy program and credentialed professional/music therapist.

For instance, various Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs)—which are considered to be a gold-standard research design—conducted spanning over a decade among pediatric epilepsy patients across continents show Mozart’s sonata K.448 has been reported to reduce seizure recurrence.

There is also a dearth of blinded peer reviewed scientific studies using musical interventions that are tailored to Indian population. The existing studies are colossally heterogenous, in terms of the specificity of the musical interventions, study populations, duration of the interventions and study designs.

NMC is the Indian regulatory body that regulates medical education and medical professionals. If India has an NMC accredited music therapy programme, their expertise can be utilised in multiple specialties of medicine — from palliative oncology to pediatric neurology, from geriatrics to psychiatry, and from cardiology to surgery.

The need of the hour is to form an expert panel of physicians, musicians and physician-musicians to work on setting an NMC-accredited music therapy training/degree course. This way, after a few years India would have music therapists in every hospital as part of the healthcare infrastructure.

Advocacy Programs: Lecture-Concerts

In March 2019, I launched a lecture-concert advocacy program, ‘Oncology and Strings,’ addressing primarily medical students, oncologists and palliative care physicians. Here I speak about the current hurdles and how we could bridge the existing deficiencies.

The reason why start with medical students is because they have opportunities to conduct clinical trials using musical interventions under the guidance of oncologist mentors. Creating more clinical evidence that illustrates the measurable salubrious effects of musical interventions is the first step in this journey. I had the honor to be invited to various medical colleges, cancer centers and international conferences to give lecture-concerts which includes Manipal University, Tata Memorial Hospital-Mumbai, Asian Medical Students Association-India chapter-annual conference 2020, 27th International Conference of Indian Association of Palliative Care. As part of Oncology and strings, I am also lending free-non-copyrighted mp3 Veena clips to palliative centers which have outreached and impacted over 10,000 patients.

Currently, many medical students are involved in clinical research using musical interventions. I am assured sooner or later, there will be a day in India, where a patient will listen to musicians playing live in the hospital corridors as they wait for their physicians while also awaiting a music therapist’s service as an adjunct along with their standard treatment.

(Written by Dr Tara Rajendran; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

It is difficult to comprehend that the same lively man once brimming with energy—who could walk 5-10 km every day, take a bath in cold water, even in the harshest weather and had almost never taken any medicine—has today become almost like a 9-year-old child, who has to take a chunk of medicines with each meal of the day.

It is difficult to visualise this contrasting image but this is the reality of my sweet, loving father.

It started around six years ago, when his health started deteriorating, we consulted different doctors and got all the possible tests done. Each doctor prescribed their own set of medicines that would work for some days and improve his symptoms but no one has been able to identify the cause till today. Eventually, after some time, the diagnosis became clearer that my father is suffering from a degenerative health condition termed as advanced Parkinson’s disease. Since then, our life has been no less than a roller coaster ride.

Each one of us in my family has figured out different ways to deal with this situation. I also learnt some of the most amazing lessons of life that have rescued me in these testing times but before I take you through them, here’s just a glimpse of what my father was like.

‘Papa ji’

We stayed in a small locality in Jammu where neighbours were like families. They would even safeguard your home when you were not around. My father was fondly called papa ji by one and all. As a kid sometimes I would feel jealous thinking — ‘he is my father, he can’t be papa ji for the world’. Slowly I realised that this man has so much selfless love and affection for everyone that confining him to just being my father would reduce his larger-than-life stature.

There would be long power cuts in our area and papa ji would become the radioman of the locality playing classics like Vividh Bahrti and Hawa Mehal. Sometimes, our neighbours would wait for the power cuts for this radio jockey to showcase his talents. Not to forget our home was like a picnic spot for all my cousins, for papa ji never scolded anyone, was happy giving pocket money, and would get the best delicacies prepared for all the kids every Sunday.

Born to working parents, I was fortunate enough to have seen my father interchanging roles in the kitchen, nursing my grandmother while my mom would manage all the market duties. Though their marriage does not look to me like the rosy, “made-in heaven” picture, they truly symbolise that marriages are all about teamwork.

While it was initially difficult for me to cope with what I saw my father going through, most of these lessons I learned were inspired by my mom, who is my father’s primary caretaker.

Articles on the internet on what one should do while living with a chronically ill patient were very prescriptive. They said ‘stay happy’, ‘stay positive’ but never explained ‘how’. Finally, I figured out the method that worked out best for me and here I am sharing a few of those practices with all of you:

1. Understand and accept the exact medical condition of the patient:

Take counselling from the doctor to understand the condition of the patient — what is the scope of improvement, what all signs should they be alert for, and the importance of each medicine. Random internet searches will not help much in these cases. It is equally important to monitor periodically if all that we are doing is enough — is there anything new required that we are missing out on? We are fortunate that we have healthcare professionals in our family that have made this monitoring easy.

2. Delegate work in the family and avoid micromanaging:

If there is scope, try to delegate work. One person, like my mom, doing everything can be draining for her, and at the same time, it can be boring and irritating for my father. So, we have delegated responsibilities like one of us takes care of feeding him, another takes him for physiotherapy or walks, and so on. It is also important to accept that some days are good and some days are bad depending on how the patient responds to medicines and overall treatment. We should realise that for medicines to work effectively, willpower is needed. Try to build the willpower of the patient with each dose of medicine. Avoid being so hard on yourself. Let bad days be just that and hope for a better tomorrow.

3. Take every day as the first day and the last day:

When caring for a chronically ill patient one does not know what will happen the next moment. Surviving each day is a battle won. Now, it has become part of my conduct for life in general that I deal with people as if this it’s the last time I may be talking/meeting them. I spend as much time as I can with my father. I give him a little bit of sweets that he is fond of every day, even though he is diabetic. This little amount of sugar keeps him happy.

4. Don’t overthink what caused this condition:

There is no point in overthinking about the cause that no one knows, even if you get to know what caused the disease, it is not going to change the situation. So, better to have the spirit of acceptance than trying to figure out how you got here.

5. Treat them like a child:

When it comes to advanced Parkinson’s disease, the patients subconsciously feel helpless but are not able to express themselves. At times, they resort to childish mood swings. It is important to identify what triggers their mood — it can be repeating certain dishes every other day, a person they dislike, or physical discomfort. Try to pamper them especially on such days.

6. Initiate conversations – childhood and first home conversations are always a kickstart:

My father hardly speaks these days but I have figured out if I randomly start a conversation about Kashmir, their childhood times, any old memory, he responds. That is how every evening I keep the conversation going which is a kind of mood lifter for him.

7. Zero in on interests; Group activity can be explored:

I experimented with various options like playing music on the radio, OTT films but finally identified that an old movie that too on a Tablet (not on the big TV) is what interests him. Initially, he was interested in playing cards but the continuous shivering of hands made it impossible to play. So, we let him watch his favourite movies while being in the comfort of his own space. A group activity in his presence can also do wonders in some cases. Even though the patient may not be participative initially, it is good to do something as a group. In my home, we generally do evening aarti/ some bhajan as a group activity in his room. He listens and participates passively at times humming and singing a few words.

8. Notice and get inspired from things around:

Staying positive is indeed a choice — situations are always overpowering, so try to take inspiration from your environment. In my case, it is my mom. No matter what happens, she never loses her smile, you call her at any point of the day, she will always be positive — wishing you happiness. Whenever I feel low, I just imagine my mom and think if she can do it, why not me?

9. Writing can be blissful:

Writing for me is therapeutic. There are days when I am overwhelmed and feel helpless for not being able to do anything to improve the condition of my father. It is on such days; I resort to writing this helplessness on a piece of paper and doing what I can to make things better. This exercise does wonders for me. I feel light in my heart.

10. Find humor in little things:

We can’t control the situation but we can change our reaction to it. Initially, when we used to notice any further deterioration in papa’s habit/ health, we would be lost and shattered. This had a negative impact on his health. Slowly, we are trying to find some humor in those things, too. This keeps the atmosphere at home light-hearted.

11. Work on your mental health and find time for yourself:

I take one hour off each day when I am not doing anything related to my father. I walk, exercise, or do whatever I want. This is how I recharge. Though I started this last year, it has indeed been very effective in ensuring my mental health.

12. Don’t justify to others:

The health condition of somebody like this in the family can cause a gap in your work/career — late submissions or not being able to attend a family function. All this may pose a number of questions but once you stop explaining yourself at every single point, you feel empowered. Stop caring too much about the silly judgments of people.

13. Find strength in your core group:

Your core group can be your one or two close friends or anyone. Just find strength in that group. Don’t isolate yourself. Try to be in touch with people who make you feel strong and who can also let you be vulnerable and weak when you are feeling like.

14. Be innovative in your approach:

The one important thing that I have learnt in the last few years is that every day I see a new version of myself, which is stronger and more innovative. I have developed new ways of making the same food look interesting for him, and new ways in which he will be more participative for exercise. With my limited experience in cooking, I have prepared sweet dish delicacies for him. Start feeling proud of these small achievements and you shall sail through tough times.

15. Don’t exert yourself:

Though we have never been able to understand what could have gone wrong with a man who had such a healthy routine, one of the causes that I feel is that one should not over-exert too much at the beginning or prime stage of life. It burns you out completely. When I was a child, I saw my father helping people tirelessly, spending the day and night typing letters and doing everything possible to just help people at the cost of his health and personal time. It was very energy draining though he never realised it at that time.

These are just a few things that I practice in my life to help me not get bogged down by the helplessness of the situation but be strong enough to spend the best of time possible with papa ji and create memories that we can cherish forever.

(Written by Deepali; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

Petrol and diesel prices have increased the number of digits and could soon hurt pockets. As this article is being written, it is pretty evident that there is much talk about how every stock market trader should consider investing in stocks relevant to the electric vehicle (EV) sector.

For those uninitiated with the EV industry, here is some background. EVs seemed too far into the future a decade ago, but the Internal Combustion Vehicles (ICEVs) face a market share blow from the electrified competition. The common diesel and petrol vehicles come under the category of an ICEV.

But it is time for everyone to know the real numbers that affect your pocket.

Since EVs are currently feasible only in the metros or cities, we consider only these areas as a bottom line for comparison purposes. In most cities, petrol prices have hit the century mark whereas diesel is only less than Rs 10 short of the mark.

Assuming that EVs are mainly charged at homes, let’s consider the facts. The higher end of price per unit of electricity for residential consumers can range between Rs 7 and Rs 9. Depending on the state and previous consumption billing, the price could lower even further.

Could the price of electricity go up in the same manner as oil? It is improbable that electricity prices will shoot up like petrol or diesel, as the energy portfolio for India is shifting towards less import-dependent renewable energy sources. Moreover, with solar and wind increasing their market share yearly and low tariffs driving the market, electricity prices may not witness such an upsurge. Hence, an individual weighing in the statistics can easily take a calculated bet on electric fuel prices remaining low.

The Numbers: EVs vs ICEVs

To compare the mileage, it is essential to fix the scenario and look at the numbers on even grounds. We choose the Tata Nexon for this article because the same model is available in petrol, diesel and electric configurations, which makes this theoretical comparison easier.

In the capital, the price for diesel as of 11 August 2021 stood at Rs 89.87, whereas petrol stood at Rs 101.84. Taking the worst-case scenario for electric power tariffs, the charge for non-domestic purposes above 3kVA contract load stood at Rs 8.50 per unit.

Since the comparison is between the types of vehicles and not the features, the comparison will focus on the basic variants of the vehicle available in both electric and ICE versions. Having considered the RTO, insurance, warranty, AMC charges along with the ex-showroom price, the base model of the ICEV (The Tata Nexon) in diesel is approximately Rs 11,30,000. In contrast, the same is Rs 8,60,000 with a petrol engine. The Nexon EV version starts at approximately Rs 14,70,000.

The Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) certified mileage for the vehicle claims to give nearly 21 kilometres to the litre for the diesel version and 17 for the petrol. If we take this claim at face value (as real-life performance will rarely be higher than this), with the current fuel prices, the calculations add up to Rs 4.2 per kilometre for the diesel version and Rs 5.7 for the petrol.

The EV variant has a battery capacity of 30 kWh, or in other words, the charging capacity is 30 units of electricity. A full charge is expected to provide an ideal driving range of 312 kilometres. At this rate, the fuel cost is approximately Rs 0.8 per kilometre.

This is ‘ideal’ and will rarely match up to the real world. But even if we cut the range in half, considering ageing batteries and imperfect maintenance, it is significantly lower in costs per kilometre.

The fuel costs for the ICEVs are at least three times (if not five times) greater than the EV. However, assuming that the petrol and diesel rates remain steady, the nearly Rs 4-5 Lakh difference between the on-road price of the vehicles is expected to be made up within 1,25,000 kilometres (approximately 10 years, considering an average of 10,000 km driven per year).

This means after 1,25,000 kilometres your EV would essentially cost five times less than an ICEV to operate, including maintenance.

Insurance is a major factor and stumbling block here. While purchasing the insurance for the diesel variant, it is observed that the charges are 1.2 times the same for the petrol vehicle, and it further increases to 1.9 times when it comes to the EV.

Although current insurance policy structures may present higher costs for EVs, it is highly likely that to ensure greater EV feasibility and government interventions may show a downtrend in this area.

As seen from the graph, owing to low electricity prices, the overall operational life costs of an EV remains fairly lower than a petrol or diesel engine vehicle. Around the 1,00,000 kilometres mark, an EV should operate at a much more viable cost than ICEVs.

Fueling and Charging Infrastructure

The common concern among prospective car buyers is the charging infrastructure. The charging infrastructure required for enabling mass EV adoption is still in the process of construction. For ICEVs, going on a road trip to a remote destination or driving around the city would require no forethought on the fuel tank. However, driving the EV out of the garage requires more thought on the schedule, distance to be travelled, charging station availability, and battery charge status.

The willingness of the common public to buy an EV over an ICEV may significantly run not only on the lines of costs but also on the availability of charging infrastructure.

The 2030 Electric Mobility targets set up by the Government of India depends on public and private involvement in ramping up the number of charging stations. By the end of 2019, India had over 78,000 fueling stations, of which 32 per cent were in rural areas and the remaining across urban areas and highways.

The Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles, an EV industry body, reported that as of March 2021, India had only 1,800 charging stations for some 16,000 electric cars. The Grant Thornton Bharat-FICCI report further added that for India to reach a market target of 2 million EVs by 2026, the number of charging stations would need to range above 4,00,000.

The Centre is also pushing the EV adoption rate by earmarking Rs 1,000 crore under the Rs 10,000 crore FAME II Scheme for building the charging infrastructure. Under FAME II, 1633 fast chargers and 1003 slow chargers have already been sanctioned. The EESL, which is at the forefront of scaling up the charging infrastructure, has confidence that demand aggregation can bring down the per-unit cost of the charging equipment by 15-20 per cent.

Overall, the scenario looks to be in favour of EVs going forward. Even if the charging infrastructure is currently only available in a few selected areas, the future is poised to tilt in favour of EVs with the Government pushing through FAME I and FAME II.

Batteries

Analogous to a fuel tank, batteries play a vital role in the adoption of EVs. Technology has come a long way but has still more to go. Batteries used in today’s EVs have been made more compact and can hold more energy density than their predecessors. EV batteries were initially made of lithium-ion, which is highly explosive in nature. This has now moved on to lithium polymer-based compounds. They are less explosive and hold fast charging capabilities.

But the other anchor holding down the EV segment is the cost of batteries. They remain to be one of the most expensive components to be built into an EV.

While batteries weigh in high input costs for the manufacturer, it also decides the range and charging speed of the vehicle. Some batteries allow fast-charging up to around 80 per cent of the battery capacity and then follow slow charging upto full capacity. The technology is still evolving and venturing into organic compounds. The utilisation of organic sources can help reduce the end waste generated during the disposal of lithium batteries.

Lithium batteries need to be carefully recycled to ensure they do not pose any toxic threat to the environment. With the global EV adoption rate rapidly increasing, many researchers have put in their time to bring new developments. This is a major ethical concern for new buyers that needs addressing.

Most EV brands give warranties on batteries, and these components have a lifespan ranging above 10 years. Depending on the usage and charging characteristics, the life can be extended further. Considerably, the sector may evolve so rapidly that battery swapping technologies may step in, which would require a global charging protocol to be put in place.

Environmental Impact

The real environmental impact can only be assessed on the data available. For example, upto 2018, the Carbon Emissions factor for the Indian Power sector stood at 0.82 kg/kWh, which implies that 0.82 kilograms of Carbon Dioxide were emitted for every unit of electricity produced.

With specifics mentioned earlier, a 30kWh battery capacity and a range of 312 kilometres should result in 0.07 kg/km or 0.07 kilograms of carbon dioxide is emitted per kilometre.

While comparing the same with the GHG emissions for road transport report published by the Shakti Foundation, a petrol engine of less than 1400 cc has an emission factor between 0.130 and 0.140 kg/km. In contrast, a diesel engine of the same size has a factor in the range of 0.117 kg/km.

As observed in the graph, the carbon emissions over the operational life are vast. The EV emissions are nearly half of the ICEVs. And the carbon emission factor is yet to be updated following the integration of huge renewable capacities added in the last few years. The current carbon emissions factor for the Indian Power sector should be much lower than the one reported in 2018, and the environmental impact of an EV should be significantly better.

Ride Experience

Have you heard the noise made by an EV? It is practically silent. There are rumours that many EV manufacturers incorporate sound in the engines to let pedestrians know that a vehicle is approaching. But more than that, sitting inside an electric car gives a different ambience. Do you have that friend who jerks the car every time they change gears? Or takes much time to get the car moving on a slope? Electric cars have no such troubles.

Or are you the sporty one who fancies the time taken to go from 0 to 100 kmph? Electric cars can give you the experience of high torque on accelerating from standing still. It is evidently a thrilling experience to receive high torque when you put the pedal to the mettle. Other than that, you have the chance to listen to music without having to listen to the engine roar.

Electric cars generally come with more IoT features compared to their counterparts. Some even allow the user to enable a dog mode and others allow you to stream Netflix while charging. Ever had to wait while your significant other goes shopping and takes forever? Time to get an electric car and chill in the parking lot, catching up on some movies and shows you have been waiting to watch.

Your Contribution

Should you opt for an electric vehicle on your next purchase, you are significantly contributing to many aspects — one, the growth of the national market and two, to the environment. Being an EV consumer, you ensure that the Indian Vehicle market is moving towards being a global competitor. At the moment, China holds the largest market share when it comes to EV manufacturing. Owing to many recent developments, many global firms are looking to move their base to India. This will create employment opportunities and shift labour skills from a conventional sector to a new and future-ready sector.

On the other hand, the contribution towards the betterment of the environment is significant.

Although there is much effort to decarbonise the Indian Power sector, the ambitious renewable energy targets have shown that there is a roadmap to ensure that electricity production in India will be carbon neutral soon. Running your vehicle on a cleaner form of energy can bring much relief to an environment that is fast showing signs of disasters. With a huge population that relies heavily on road transport, being a part of the change can mean doing much for the environment and future generations.

(Written by Siddharth Shetty; Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

On 21 July 1916, the Marwari community of Barabazar was surprised to see a small group of police conducting raids at the house of the Birla family. It was unthinkable because the Marwaris were loyal to the British. The police were looking for Ghanshyam Das Birla alias GD Birla, who was 22 years old back then. Luckily, he was not present at home but within hours, Hanuman Prasad Poddar along with his friends Fulchand Chowdhury, Jawala Prasad Kanoria and Onkarmal Saraf were arrested. These people were rumoured to be involved in looting the Dalhousie Square area two years ago.

Hanuman, who later became one of the founders of the famous Gita Press, helped the Bengali revolutionaries to smuggle these weapons to different revolutionary organisations under the guise of an organisation called ‘Marwari Sahayak Samiti’. A box of bullets was also kept in GD Birla’s house for some time. The Marwari community of Kolkata strongly condemned this incident and sort of expelled the culprits from the Marwari society.

But what exactly was the case of looting of weapons? How did the Marwaris get involved with the Bengalis in this matter?

In the pages of the history of the armed revolution of Bengal, this incident is recorded as the Rodda Arms Heist, which took place on 26 August 1914. The looted weapons were actively used in the Ghadar Mutiny in 1915. The use of these guns is also directly connected with other encounters like Bagha Jatin’s final encounter in the banks of Buribalam River with the British Army, the shootout at Dhaka’s Kalta Bazar where revolutionary Nalini Bagchi and Tarini Majumdar laid their lives after killing a Head constable and seriously injuring one sub-inspector.

The Sedition report of 1918 (Page 44) says “the pistols so distributed were used in 54 cases of dacoity or murder or attempts at dacoity and murder subsequent to August 1914”. Some books mention that at least one of these looted weapons was passed on to the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA), who conducted the Kakori train robbery in 1925, and at least one was used in the Chittagong Arms heist in 1930.

Most of the newspapers of the time printed this incident with importance. The Statesman called the robbery ‘The Greatest Daylight Robbery’.

Background of Rodda Arms Robbery

After the partition of Bengal in 1905, the armed movement in the state gathered pace. There were as many as three political murders by the revolutionaries between 1908 and 1910. Finally, a bomb was hurled at Lord Hardinge in Open Street of New Delhi in broad daylight in the year 1911.

Rashbehari Bose wanted a massive armed revolution pan India, which required a large stockpile of weapons. Jatindranath Mukherjee (aka Bagha Jatin) with the help of Narendranath Bhattacharya made a plan to bring three shiploads of weapons from Germany to this country. Meanwhile, in Kolkata, a daring plan of an armed heist was in the making.

Two revolutionary groups behind the robbery

Rodda Arms Heist was the result of the collusion of two revolutionary groups. One of these groups was the Attonnoty Samiti of Kolkata and the other was the Dhaka Mukti Sangha, later renamed as ‘Bengal Volunteers’.

The backbone of Attomnnati Samiti was Bipin Bihari Ganguly. He was closely associated with Jatindra Nath Mukhopadhyay, who also had asked him to arrange for arms. The main base of Attonnoty Samiti was at Anukul Mukherjee’s house at 39 Malanga Lane near the present Hind Cinema. Girindra Nath Banerjee was one of the main think tanks of the Samiti. He stayed with his brother Narendra at Malanga Lane as well.

The Dhaka Mukti Sangha was founded in 1902 on the initiative of Hem Chandra Ghosh and Ullaskar Dutt. One of the members of this group was Shrish Chandra Pal. In the year 1906, he moved to Calcutta under the direction of Hem Chandra Ghosh. The aim was to be involved in various revolutionary activities with the Attonnoty Samiti. The first joint action between the two groups was the assassination of inspector Nandalal Banerjee by Srish Chandra Pal accompanied by Ranen Ganguly of the Samiti on 9 November 1906.

Bipin had a close friend named Kalidas Mukherjee who was employed at a prominent British-owned gun store. The office was at Red Cross place and the godown was situated in Vansittart Row in Calcutta.

With the help of Anukul, Bipin sent a youth named Shrish Mitra (alias Habu) to Kalidas Mukherjee to get employed at Rodda & Co. A member of the Samiti named Kalidas Basu gave Shrish Mitra basic education, who gave a favourable impression to F B Prike of Rodda & Co. Habu was immediately hired. He gained their trust and was promoted to the post of “Jetty Clearing Clerk”.

Rodda Arms Heist

Somewhere around the beginning of June 1914, the British Government decided to place an order of 50 Mauser C96 semi-automatic pistols and 50,000 7.63×25mm Mauser cartridges with Rodda & Co. Mauser C96 was a long barrel gun with the box magazine located in front of the trigger with a round wooden handle along with a wooden shoulder stock. The shoulder stock provided the pistol with the stability of a short-barreled rifle.

Shrish Mitra promptly informed Anukul of this order after meeting him at Girindra Banerjee’s house. Afterwards, a secret meeting was held at Chatawala Gali near Lalbazar involving members of Attommnnati Samiti, Dhaka Mukti Sangha, Jugantar Party and Barisal Party.

Here, Shrish Chandra Paul informed that he plans to loot the entire consignment of arms from the British Police in broad daylight. The consignment of guns was already unloaded from the ship named ‘Tactician’ and was awaiting permission for release from the customs house.

Soon after its release, these guns with other arms would be transported using six bullock carts to the godown of Rodda & Company at Vansittart Row located just about 500 metres from the customs house. Shrish Chandra Paul had proposed that if a team intercepts the total consignment on the way to its delivery to the godown, this huge lot of arms could be used for revolutionary activities.

Members from Jugantar Party and Barisal Party, including Narendranath Bhattacharya, opposed this idea and left the meeting. However, members of Attommnnati Samiti and Dhaka Mukti Sangha supported the idea and Shrish Chandra Paul laid out his plan.

On 26 August 1914, the heist was carried out as planned. Anukul Mukherjee had pre-arranged a cart driven by a stout upcountry bullock. The seventh bullock cart reached a bit late as if it was part of the original carriages. One of the revolutionaries named Haridas Datta from Rangpur, a member of Dhaka Mukti Sangha, dressed as a Garwan or cart Driver led the cart to the customs house.

The customs house was located at Dalhousie Square at the very place where the building of the Reserve Bank of India stands now. Shrish Mitra uploaded the entire consignment of Mauser pistols, shoulder stock and cartridges on this seventh bullock cart in his official capacity. Haridas Datta drove the cart confidently like a Garwan from the customs house. Shrish Mitra walked in front of all the bullock carts. As the bullock cart tagged along with the other six carts, Shrish Chandra Paul came out from the shadows along with another revolutionary Khagen Das and started walking on both sides of the cart, pretending to be employees of Rodda and Company.

At the entrance to the Vansittart row, Shrish Chandra Paul and the six bullock carts took a right turn and proceeded towards the godown of Rodda & Co. However, instead of turning right, Haridas Datta drove the cart straight on the main road bypassing Vansittart row. The plan was to transport the weapons to the house of Bhujanga Bhusan Dhur, a student pursuing a Master’s degree from Presidency University (Then College). Meanwhile, Shrish Mitra also joined them after leaving office on the pretext of locating the seventh bullock cart.

To cover their tracks they first unloaded the boxes of guns and ammunition in front of an iron yard, which belonged to Kanti Ganguly whose son Lalbihari was a friend of Anukul, on Nirmal Chandra Street. Many members of the revolutionaries had already reached there. A car of Kalidas Basu was supposed to arrive there to carry the boxes to their destination. However, the car failed to arrive and in the end, the revolutionaries had to hire two hackney carriages to transport the weapons to the house of Bhujanga Bhusan Dhur at Jelia Para Lane.

After that, Haridas Datta took a different name ‘Kunja’ and went into hiding. Shrish Mitra alias Habu left Kolkata for Rangpur.
Several Steel trunks were being filled up with cartridges and Mauser pistols, which were to be handed over to different groups of revolutionaries. The empty wooden boxes and packing papers were burned overnight.

Hanuman Poddar helped to offload some boxes in the Burrabazar area, which included the gaddi (business establishment) of Banarsi Prasad Jhunjhunwala on Chitpur Road, two boxes to Omkarmal Saraf’s house at Sutapatti. Prabhudayal Himmatsingka helped transfer two boxes to Poddar’s business establishment from Saraf’s house. A cache of arms was then kept at the house of GD Birla.

Aftermath of the Heist

Shrish Mitra had gained so much trust among his employers of Rodda & Co that nobody suspected anything when he went in search of the seventh bullock cart and did not return. It was not till three days later that Mr Prike discovered the theft. On receiving the report of the robbery, the head of the Detective Department, Sir Charles Augustus Tegar was immediately given the charge to solve the case.

If the car of Kalidas Basu had reached on time, it would have been very difficult to trace the weapons. But unfortunately for the revolutionaries, they had employed hackney carriages to transport the packing boxes and the police tracked the route.

There were several arrests made including Anukul, Datta, Kalidas and Bhujnaga Bhusan Dhur. Except for Anukul, the rest were sentenced to jail for not more than two years.

The significance of the heist can be understood from a statement made in the report of 1918 by the President of the Sedition Committee S.A.T. Rowlatt. On Page 56 of the report, he mentions “It may indeed be safely said that few if any revolutionary outrage has taken place in Bengal since August 1914 in which Mauser Pistols stolen from Rodda & Co. have not been used.”

As per Folio No 757/17 and 1847/17 in the I B Records of the Government of India, details of 27 successful cases of murder and robbery using these Mauser Pistols post-1914 August till June 1918 is recorded.

Missing hero of the Heist

The Rodda Arms Heist was one of the most successful arms heists of colonial India, considering the facts that the guns and the bullets were successfully stolen and a majority of them were used for revolutionary activities. Not a single bullet was fired to take over the arms and none of the revolutionaries received the death penalty or life imprisonment.

The British police could not build up a proper case because Shrish Mitra remained untraceable till the end. Initially, Shrish Mitra stayed at Dr Bardhan’s house at Rangpur. He was shifted to the Rava Tribal area in the Goyalapara district of Assam from where he simply vanished.

As a reminder of the Rodda Arms Heist, Gopal Mukherjee, who was Anukul’s nephew, erected a memorial on Ganesh Chandra Avenue on behalf of a local committee ‘Jatio Artotran Samiti’. Here, four busts of Bipin Bihari Ganguly, Anukul Mukherjee, Girindra Nath Banerjee and Haridas Datta stand to date.

Even today on 26 August, only members of the local committee pay their respect to these brave sons of India, while the majority of city folk have forgotten about this chapter of the Indian Freedom Movement.

(References :-
A. “Malanga r Habu O Rodda Company r Astralunthan” ( Habu of Malanga and the Rodda Arms Heist) by Satyendra Nath Gangopadhyay 1978
B. “Two Great Revolutionaries” by Uma Mukherjee, (Page 65 to Page 75),
C. “Bharate Sashastra Biplab” ( Armed rebellion in India) by Bhupendra Kishore Rakshit Ray , Page 131 -144) , 1960
D. Sedition Committee 1918, Report, Calcutta, From the Hon’ble Mr. Justice S. A. T. ROWLATT, President, Sedition Committee, Superintendent Government Printing, India (1918)
E. The judgment of the case Kali Das Basu And Ors. vs Emperor on 30 August 1915 (https://indiankanoon.org/doc/568638/)
F. Subhash did not return to his abode (Subash Ghore fere Nai) by Shyamal Basu, Reflect Publication, 1973
G. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Handguns by A.B. Zhuk, Greenhill Books, 1995
H. Mauser Rifles and Pistols by W. H. B. Smith, The Military Service Publishing Company, 1946
I. The Mauser C96 Explained by Gurad Henrotin, G. Henrotin & H & L Publishing (Belgium), 2002
J. I B Records of the Government of India
K. Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India by Akshaya Mukul, Harper Collins -2015 – Page 40 -44)

(Written by Amitabha Gupta; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

As the second wave of the pandemic receded, casual get-togethers over the weekend became a norm at the Verma household. Drinks would flow, everyone was well dressed, the conversations were eclectic, and the kids would watch an animated movie. Then, after the guests would leave, Mr and Mrs Verma would sit down with cups of coffee to revisit the evening.

This scene would repeat almost every weekend as they would discuss work, the past week, the coming week, the social commitments, the expenses, and so many other things that seasoned couples do.

What they don’t discuss anymore are their hopes, their vulnerabilities, their fears, where they see themselves in 10…15…20 years. Make no mistake — Mr and Mrs Verma are happy. They have a great future ahead of them. Aside from a catastrophe, they are well on their way towards financial independence. They have had pretty successful careers of almost 15 years. They have been married for nearly 10, with a 4-year-old kid, and don’t plan to have another. Their life is set. Or is it too predictable?

We found ourselves as members of this growing band of hole-in-the-heart happy couples. One random and fortunate conversation led us to a radical solution — a mid-career break. One year off from work, security, e-commerce, food ordering and everything we call familiar.

We have 20-25 years of productive work-life left ahead of us. So rather than thinking about how much of a career risk one year of unemployment was, we thought about how educational and therapeutic one year of relaxation, togetherness and shared experiences could be for our family, careers and lives.

My husband, Varun, quit his job. I had left work when our 4-year-old son, Atharv, was born. We sold all the old furniture and gave away our belongings that we did not need but were valuable for others. Then, we packed everything that we planned to use again and set off on an adventure. It took a few months planning and, of course, reassuring our parents — sab acha hoga (everything will be okay).

There were so many questions to be answered, things to figure out and insecurities to overcome. Many fights, soul-searching sessions, reflections and a hundred A4-sized papers later, we were ready. This was also the time when we broke the news to our son. His reaction was somewhat surprising; he ran to get his favourite paw patrol t-shirt from his cupboard and said, “Don’t forget to pack my beach clothes. I mean, just imagine, a break to have fun and learn.”

We are not pioneers of this idea, so we assumed that there would be resources we could leverage. But one thing we realised during this journey was how little support and advice is available online for couples like us who are navigating this path in life.

So, this is an attempt at compiling a few broad directions for couples. We hope to create a more detailed set of resources for such couples in the future.

The Psychological Struggles

As you go from discussion to decision to execution, self-doubt will grip you on every occasion. Are we doing the right thing? What will happen to our careers we have spent our lives building? Will we get bored in a month and come back? What will our friends and family say? (Please feel free to add your version of doubts and insecurities to the list.)

To make matters worse, our individual insecurities surfaced time and again. We felt like giving up and going back to the way things were at least a few times a day.

But what worked for us were our “why are we doing this” sessions. Every night, we would sit together and remind ourselves of all the reasons we had listed down when we set out on this path. We reminded ourselves that we knew it would be tough. We reminded ourselves that this is the best thing for our family right now.

In the end, there are no silver bullets. Any change brings some level of stress to the family. It is helpful to be aware that you will have differences, and the only way to deal with them is to discuss them openly.

Destinations and Journeys

Once you’ve decide to take the plunge, one of the first questions to ask yourself is – “Where should we spend this year?” Each family may have different ideas regarding this depending on their circumstances, resources and interests. Some may be fortunate enough to have a family home or farmhouse where they may want to set up a base. Some of us may have enough resources to spend a few months abroad. Some of us may be so bitten by wanderlust that we may not want to spend more than two weeks in a place. There are no right or wrong answers.

After much debate, we decided to divide the year equally into four destinations. That would give us enough time to know the place well, do some volunteer work, and give our son a semblance of stability.

We are spending the first quarter on a farm stay in the Nilgiris. I volunteer at a local NGO while also dabbling with making homemade soaps, shampoos, and cleaning liquids. My husband spends his time writing and taking long walks. Before moving to North India, we plan to head towards coastal Maharashtra/Goa to spend six months in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh or Uttarakhand. We considered the North East, Gujarat, Odisha, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh but had to park them for shorter visits or our next sabbatical.

Engaging the Children

A lot depends on the age of the children, their interests and the parental goals of the couple. Irrespective of whether or not you want to engage the children in formal education, you will spend a lot of time alone with the children. Have a plan for how you want to use this time. It is best to prepare before you start because it will be challenging to find the right tools and toys once you are on the road. Also, do not get too fixated on your learning plan for the child. They will often find ways to learn and enjoy, which you may not have anticipated earlier.

Our 4-year-old loves painting, Lego and monster trucks. We loaded up on colouring kits, Lego sets and many more toys, but once we reached Coonoor, Tamil Nadu, we saw him spending most of his time digging and building mud castles.

In short, have a plan, but go with the flow. The success of your sabbatical is directly proportional to how much fun the children are having.
We have been homeschooling our son until now, so it was natural not to admit him to any online classes or a local school. However, some parents, who are planning to spend extended time in a place, may think about a local school; otherwise, continuing with their existing online classes is always an option. Children, in general, enjoy a set routine and pattern, and their ongoing classes may be an excellent way to stay connected with a stable life once you start travelling.

Logistics

There are a few logistical points to take care of as you plan your move.

1. Existing furniture and household items – We took a hard look at all that was outdated or unnecessary and sold all of those things. The rest were packed and stored with a storage services company. In cities like Bengaluru, these are relatively economical, and you should be able to store all the things in a typical 2 BHK house for under Rs 5,000 per month.

2. Travelling – If your car is your primary mode of travel, you should get a full servicing and battery change before starting. Getting a roof carrier fixed on our car also helped us a lot for carrying the extra load. Having a car on the trip is very useful, though it is easy (and maybe more enjoyable for some folks) to do without a car altogether.

3. Electronics – Have a good look at the current electronic assets you have like phones, portable speakers, cameras, internet dongles, headphones, e-reader, etc. You will most likely use these things a lot during your trip. Based on your hobbies and requirements, make sure you plan to have good quality electronics with you when you start. It is usually expensive to buy/repair stuff when you are on the road.

Finance and Budgeting

The financial aspect of sabbaticals can be tricky. The immediate loss of income, combined with a potential slowdown in future income, needs to be dealt with diligently. It is difficult to advise people on this because everyone’s circumstances are different, and there’s no one-size-fits-all solution that is likely to be helpful. However, here are a few tips:

1. Create a realistic estimate of your monthly expenditure while on the sabbatical. Add a 50 per cent buffer to it. Make sure you have enough liquid assets to survive at least 18 months. If you are not there yet, start saving and investing smartly.

2. Do not have any outstanding loans. If that is not possible, take the cost of EMIs into your monthly expenditure.

3. Invest in health and life insurance. Most of us are covered by our employers, but it is critical to insure yourself adequately while not employed (and even when you are).

4. Create an emergency fund. Again, there is no science behind how much would be enough.

5. Do not plan on part-time work during the sabbatical. If you earn some additional income, it is a plus, but do not count on it. The idea is to not burden yourself during your break with similar concerns that you are looking to escape.

We currently don’t follow a set schedule and plan our activities daily, based on the weather and our mood. Our only goal is to read, write, pursue our hobbies, and do silly and random dances whenever possible. Often, we just let it be and enjoy the view of the valley as the clouds roll in while our son plays games that he invented himself. On the weekends, we interact with other guests. We have had a chance to meet people as varied as nuclear scientists, environmental researchers, an athletics team on their high-altitude training, Army Officers etc. We are very excited about our next destination – a road trip through South India. Wish us luck!

If you would like to know more, please write to familialnomads@gmail.com or follow their journey here.

(Written by Ashuti Mathur; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

Travelling and meeting people from different cultural spaces, developing relationships and remaining close to the five elements is our tool for unlearning and keeping Navyaa, our 6-year-old daughter, unschooled and a natural learner. When our near and dear ones ask, “So, how long is the trip?” I reply with a smile saying, “Let’s see how it goes”. This liberates me a bit more and brings a smile to Navyaa’s face.

It also somewhere instils our faith in the bigger cosmic plan and keeps the thrill alive in every moment.

I have been passionate about experimental and unplanned travelling for the last 15 years. I find it completely analogous to life, which is an experiment for all practical purposes. Unplanned travel opens the window to a completely unknown world and gives a first-hand understanding of dealing with situations, experiencing people and rethinking our fears and strengths.

Manish, my husband, supports me when I leave on such trips with our beloved daughter.

As always, the purpose of this trip was also to live life in unknown settings amidst nature with new people and trust the universe for receiving love and warmth wherever we went.

This trip had a lot in store which would shape our larger understanding of life.

The Long & Winding Road

Our first journey of about 1200 km began by road from Ahmedabad to Dehradun on 27 August and was going to last till 8 Oct, which was not decided when we left Ahmedabad. By road, the journey began with our two friends Prashant and Divyesh and Manish, who dropped us to the Prakriti Sangam campus near Rishikesh while they all returned to Ahmedabad. We then travelled to Dehradun, Mussoorie, Chamba and Tehri.

We were to spend more than two months in a community living program designed by a friend named Sultan, who was living the philosophy of ‘unconditional love and oneness’. The place was amidst nature, beside the river, a spring, forests and many birds and insects. The day consisted of cooking, cleaning, listening to songs, playing in the river or stream, sunbathing, bird watching, refreshing morning teas, being with sunsetting moments, morning or evening circles, sharing life stories, knowledge sharing, drawing, photography, welcoming new people and resting.

Navyaa would go for long morning walks with him passing through the village, greeting people, dogs, cows and goats, and sharing their stories. Sultan also taught her to swim. Though he was 48, she would call him ‘Sultan bhaiya (brother)’, as that’s how she related to him.

But in a sudden incident, Sultan became one with the river and left for his heavenly abode. This came as a big shock and loss for all of us present there to participate in the program.

It was the first time that Navyaa witnessed death so closely. I was worried about the meaning she is making out of this incident, so I was trying to observe her more. I realised that as children are away from the concept of ‘time’ and ‘space’, they see death as any other normal event in life, unlike adults.

That evening we all prayed for him and lit a lamp in his memory. The next day his relatives took him to his native place for last rites. We all collected a handful of soil from the river to be placed in his grave and sent it along with his relatives, but I was touched by a question Navyaa asked me. She said, ‘Will Sultan bhaiya recognise the soil that I have put in this?’ I assured her that he would.

En Route to Shivpuri

While most of the participants returned home the next day, we had our tickets booked for 8 October.

Though Sultan’s death seemingly brought our plans to a screeching halt, I decided on doing a bit more travelling.

Sultan had recently shared a contact of one Ron, who has a beautiful traditional homestay in Shivpuri, near Rishikesh.

When I talked to Ron about visiting, he was happy to welcome all four of us — my friend Dimple, her 3.5-year-old daughter, Divyanshi (Duggu), Navyaa and me.

Ron gave all of us a very warm welcome and planned interesting activities for all of us that included wall painting, music, village visit to a house of natives amidst hills, water play, making sandcastles on the banks of river Ganga, riding in hills, visiting his campsite in Shivpuri, and slow nature walks where children would collect different leaves, flowers and stones.

Ron has a very witty way of talking with and engaging children. Navyaa and Duggu had a beautiful time venturing out with Ron and his son Mehul.

After staying there for a few days, we were invited by Vandana to the Pauri area of Uttarakhand. I knew Vandana as her family had shifted to Pauri and began their initiative ‘Kashvi Agro’ for natural farming and reviving traditional food practices. So, we left Ron with a promise to visit again.

Heading to The Hills

On the way, at Devprayag, we saw two rivers ‘Alaknanda’ and ‘Bhagirathi’ merging to become the holy river Ganga. The sight was mesmerising for children, as two rivers with different colours of waters were merging at one point.

It took us almost 5 hours to reach Pauri by road.

Vandana and Tribhulochan had planned farm visits, deep forest visits and old temple visits for us. We spent five days staying with them roaming around in hills and deep forests, understanding the flora and fauna of the Himalayas and cherishing the sight of snow-clad Himalayan ranges.

There were so many unplanned events like our children trying to make colours using flowers and leaves, a monkey dropping in for playtime. We also experienced a herb named kandali that creates a current-like sensation to your tummy. Dimple shared her delicious Sindhi recipes while we plucked fresh fruits and vegetables and experienced our own ‘Garhwali’ culture. We met them as strangers and left with a strong beautiful connection.

We stayed in Rishikesh for the next two days without any plan.

We then returned to Dehradun and spent a few days there. We visited Sahstradhara, where we all enjoyed bathing in streams and rope-way to the upper hill where there was a garden, cafe and rides.

We visited Science City, where we all watched a 3D documentary on planet earth and some models that children enjoyed.

We stopped over on the way home so that Navyaa could spend time with her elder cousin sister and be pampered by her grandmother.

From there, we returned to Ahmedabad on the 42nd day.

Experimental travel is a learning tool for a child not attending school. Not only does the child gain knowledge about different landscapes, cultures, environments, languages but also learns to deal with real-life situations, learns to adapt, be responsible, and stand up for themselves.

(Written by Archana Dutta; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

Set in the lap of nature, Thianal village in Odisha’s Deogarh district offers a picturesque view with hills and a perennial river ‘Hinjuli’ flowing on one side. Located approximately 60 km from the district headquarters, the village is home to 70-odd families, whose main occupation includes farming and livestock rearing. Besides the scenic beauty, Thianal seems like any other regular village, until the eyes settle on a poster hanging on the wall of the primary school situated at the entrance of the village. Written in bold font, as if exuding pride, the poster declares the village as the ‘First Child Marriage Free Village’ of the district.

It is Odisha’s second child marriage free village after Rugudipalli in the Subarnapur district.

Almost half a decade ago, child marriages were common in the district. According to National Family Health Survey (NFHS) — 4 released in 2015-16, Deogarh district had reported a child marriage rate of 23.4 per cent, higher than the state average of 21.3 per cent. However, in five years, 370 villages (almost half in the district), have gained the ‘Child Marriage Free’ tag.

Proper documentation has played a prominent role in the villages’ quest to become ‘Child Marriage Free’. In most villages including Thianal, marriage is not fixed, let alone solemnised without proper verification.

“Most people in our villages didn’t know that there was a legal age in marriage. Almost all marriages in our parent’s generation happened when both the bride and groom were minors. Though the cases dropped after some years, early marriage was still common as there was no means of verification. So, now we have made Aadhar card verification mandatory before finalising any marriage. We figured this would be the best way to ascertain the age of the bride and the groom,” says Ajit Pradhan (32), a resident of the village, who was among the first ones to take this initiative.

In case, a family is not able to furnish Aadhar cards, the village accepts other documents for age proof. But none of the marriages can take place without document verification.

Push Towards Institutional Set-Up

In Thianal, after two youths from the village attended a District Level Sensitisation programme on the subject, they returned and organised a focussed discussion to lay the blueprint to track child marriages in the village. In February 2020, a Village Level Task Force was formed comprising mostly senior members of the village, which prepared a database of all adolescents.

The Committee then approached the district administration demanding a ‘Child Marriage Free’ tag. After physical verification by the District Child Protection Officer, the village was declared ‘Child Marriage Free’ in October 2020.

Interestingly, the stakeholders involved in the initiative have pushed the community itself to take the lead. UNICEF provided the technical support, while other stakeholders like the district administration, NGOs and civil societies did the strategic planning. The interventions at the district level included advocacy and awareness campaigns, IEC materials and declaration of all religious institutions as ‘child marriage prohibited zone’.

“This model has worked for us. When people take onus, the accountability is much higher. So, the administration remains in the background. Of course, we keep track and interfere whenever necessary,” says Romeo Mohapatra, District Child Protection Officer, Deogarh.

Any marriage which is fixed first goes through a comprehensive age verification by the committee. Initially, the families were asked to share the Aadhar card of both the groom and the bride for age verification. But now, the villages in the district have a readymade directory prepared by the Odisha Government that has contact numbers of local leaders/village committee members of all villages.

“For example, if a boy of our village is getting married to a girl in Kantapalli panchayat in our district, we directly dial the Sarpanch or Anganwadi or Asha worker and ask them to ascertain the girl’s age through document verification,” says Ajit.

The age verification has helped stop at least two instances of child marriage in the last year in Thianal. In one such instance, Naresh Bhoi (21) was about to get married to a minor, who had a few months left to turn 18 years. When the villagers came to know about it, they convinced the family to postpone the wedding till the girl attained legal age.

“I had no idea about the legal age of marriage. I liked a girl and had decided to marry with the consent of my mother. But then the villagers came to my house and informed me about the disadvantages of early marriage. So, we respected the view and decided to postpone the wedding,” says Naresh, who is now married to the same girl.

The village also has a ‘Counselling room,’ where the ASHA and Anganwadi workers hold regular meetings on issues related to adolescents.

To press seriousness on the issue, the members of the Village Task Force have also pasted a nameplate outside the house with their name and designation and an oath to discourage child marriage.

Parameters to Declare Child Marriage Free

There are no robust parameters as such to declare any village as child marriage free. However, the officials are taking into account a few basic pointers before certifying the villages.

For any village to be declared as Child Marriage Free, it should have a functioning task force within the community, a database with information of all adolescents updated regularly, at least no instance of child marriages for the last one year, a duly maintained register of the task force, submission of the villagers to declare the village ‘child marriage free’ and a declaration by the village temple as Child Marriage Free Zone.

Although the awareness and sensitisation of the legal age of marriage in remote areas of the state is a welcoming sign, development workers related to this field say the battle is far from over.

Most villages have started adhering to the legal marriage age, but dropout from education is a big worry. A few cases of elopement among adolescents have also emerged, officials say.

“Even if the marriage is delayed, there is a high chance that most girls might have to quit studies once they turn 18 and are married. So, our next responsibility is to ensure that they continue their education, skilled training or some income generation activities. Once an example of an empowered girl is set, she will become an inspiration for others. Child marriage free villages are the first step, but there is still a lot to achieve,” says Ghasiram Panda, a development worker based in Odisha, who has worked intensively in preventing child marriages.

(Written by Tazeen Qureshy; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

This article has been sponsored by Wingify Earth

Chanchal “Chan” Kunwar Singh has ridden 20, 397 km across India on a bicycle for a powerful cause — to generate public awareness on climate change and its consequences for the coming generation. 

His journey started on 28 August 2022 and ended on 23 February this year — taking a total of 5 months and 26 days to complete. He also travelled across the country in a single pair of cycling apparel and casual clothes to practice minimalism, he says. 

Chan’s journey began when he went to the Lady Leg base camp enroute the summit of Friendship Peak (5,290m) in Solang Valley near Manali. It was the first of four mountains he hoped to climb on that expedition, alongside his partner Shivam Pandey. However, by nightfall, they were faced with incessant rains. 

A terrifying experience 

The 39-year-old recalls, “The downpour lasted for the next two days and the team had to eventually call off the expedition. Since we’d hired equipment from a third party, the tents were soaked after two days, and we had no choice but to come down.” 

“It was a terrifying experience for me — I was born in Kausani in Uttarakhand and had never witnessed rain like that before. The experience of understanding the shifting weather patterns first-hand propelled me to create awareness about climate change.”

Chan decided to cycle across India to spread the urgent message. Though he had previously participated in ultra marathons such as the La Ultra – The High (111km) and Run the Rann (101km), distance cycling wasn’t something he had considered. 

“I am not that passionate about cycling, but I wanted to explore the limits of my endurance, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. Moreover, I want to practise what I preach, which is to cycle more and use pollution-causing vehicles less.”

For the journey, Chan used a cycle made by assembling used parts discarded by other cyclists. “I have been traveling to the Himalayas since 2019. On 28 August last year, I started my solo all-India cycling journey from Rishikesh, with the purpose of spreading awareness towards climate change and global warming.  The plan was to cover 20,000 km in six months and visit all states and union territories. I went up Northwest towards Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, and Jammu & Kashmir, and came down to Kanyakumari. Then I went to West Bengal, from where I cycled across all the states of Northeast and then to Uttar Pradesh. I have only not visited Andaman and Nicobar.”

He also notes that he has not paid for a single drop of water since he started his journey. 

“I drank water from natural resources or from loose water available anywhere. I believe that we should get drinking water in our taps just like in Western countries. I haven’t fallen sick during this entire journey, and neither did I take any kind of medicine.” 

The three goals 

Speaking about how he goes around spreading his urgent message, he says, “I try to connect with students in schools, colleges and media. My major aim is to interact with the youth during my tour and talk about the impact that climate change will have on their lives in the next 40 years.” 

“If we do not act now, future generations will suffer due to increased global warming. We all are talking about clean energy, it’s time that we start talking about clean air.”

Through his journey, Chan wants to spread three messages that he believes will help in bringing balance on this planet. The first is to plant more trees and create jungles using the Miyazaki technique, which is known as the most effective way to build dense forests. He says he is also appealing to the government to bring a law wherein we plant and save a tree after every child born in this country. 

“I always try to have a positive dialogue with government officials of the states I visit to include these techniques and adopt more environment-friendly practices. A few have been quite responsive as well,” he added.

His second message is that he wants people to adopt a minimalist lifestyle and understand the difference between needs and wants, as well as practice the ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ model. 

And thirdly, he wants to appeal to everyone to adopt cycling culture. 

“I have travelled across all states on a cycle. So if someone can travel everyday for around six months this way — and that too on the most dangerous roads of the country — [my hope is that]  it motivates someone to pick a cycle over other means of commute.” 

‘Climate change is real’ 

Reiterating his belief that the coming generations are faced with grievous consequences of climate change, he says, “It’s why I have always interacted with school and college students to make them aware of how climate change will impact the environment, health, food, economy, and other sectors in the coming time. I tell them about what actions they can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, transition to clean energy sources, and how sustainable practices can help mitigate some of these impacts and create a better future for generations to come.”

“Traveling across states, I have experienced that while people are aware of the severe effects of climate change, they often don’t want to participate in bringing that change.” 

But he has also observed many who are already doing their bit. “One Ajit Singh Shekhawat from Sikkar, Rajasthan, has planted more than 46,000 trees and created three oxygen parks. The Sadhbhavana Trust in Gujarat has planted more than 11 lakh trees all over the state. Like them, many individuals are doing what they can at their end. But in front of the extent of the population, we are a small number. It’s time everyone starts acting on their end. Climate change is real.”

Written by Taruka Srivastav; Edited by Divya Sethu

This article has been sponsored by Wingify Earth.

As India falls in the ranks of the world’s fastest-growing economies, its dependency on non-renewable energy sources like coal, oil, gas, etc, is increasing — leading to larger emissions of greenhouse gases. But Gujarat-based Yash Tarwadi, a chemical engineer, is fighting the devastating impact on non-renewable energy through his venture Solnce Energy Private Limited. 

Solnce, which was launched in 2020, aims to help people transition to sustainable energy solutions in a way that is smart, accessible, and easy to understand.

In 2018, it introduced its desalination plant Sol-Evo, a pilot project in Olpad, a coastal village around 30 km away from Surat.

Yash says, “Our pilot project in Olpad taluka is making a huge difference in the lives of the surrounding communities by providing them with clean drinking water. We have eliminated the contamination in the local water well causing waterborne diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, and polio.”

He also claims that through his pilot project, Solnce was able to provide safe and clean drinking water to the people. “We have prevented 2.064 tons equivalent CO2 from entering the atmosphere and saved 5.14 million litres of water,” he says. 

“We are able to provide this essential resource to over 300 people, who can now drink and cook with confidence, knowing that their health is protected. Our work is centered around making a positive impact in the lives of those we serve, and we are committed to expanding our reach to help more communities in need.”

One of the individuals who has benefitted is Munjal Bhai Jariwala from Asnabad. He says, “We used to drink water directly from the well, thinking that the source of water was safe. However, we had to walk a long distance every day to get this water, and the color and taste of the water were visibly different. We didn’t have any other cheap options to work with, and as a result, our children often suffered from various diseases due to the contaminated water.”

“Because of this new technology, the colour and taste of the water now seem normal. The most evident result is that our children are now healthier and their water tastes better. We no longer have to worry about the health of our family due to contaminated water.”

A significant shift

As to what are the challenges that they have to face when it comes to implementing the same idea elsewhere, he says, “As we move towards a more sustainable future, one of the biggest challenges we face is raising awareness about the urgent need to adopt sustainable practices and educate people on how to live a renewable life. This requires a significant shift in mindset, habits, and behavior, and it can be a daunting task.”

Yash says that awareness building and education could be useful tools in ensuring people have accurate and cost-effective information on solar energy and other renewable sources. “To tackle this issue, we have launched various initiatives such as informative blogs, seminars, and lectures in universities to engage and motivate the people towards renewable energy. Our goal is to provide people with the knowledge and resources they need to make informed decisions and take action towards sustainability.”

Solnce has further implemented solar bidding platforms and solar thermal technology in various areas to help locals and businesses transition towards renewable energy.

“Our solar bidding platform is helping industrial and commercial owners switch to solar energy and save significantly on their electricity bills. Moreover, our platform also provides easy loan access, making the initial investment in solar energy more accessible and affordable,” Yash added.

“Before Solnce, people would have to find multiple solar EPC companies, meet them individually, ask for quotations…no quality and work was guaranteed. But with Solnce, all they need to do is select the service and solar panel brand they desire (we carry all well-known solar panel brands), and then they can sit back and unwind.”

“We take this information and present it to the solar EPC company  of their chosen brand, who will then bid for the project in a live bidding process. Usually around three EPC Solar Companies of that particular brand participate in the bidding process. Users can view the quotations and choose the solar installer  of their choice in this live bidding procedure. The Solar EPC company that submits the lowest quote typically receives the order.”

“We also have our own selection procedure for onboarding solar EPC companies. Our app is used by both the client and the solar EPC company so that the user and we can both monitor progress. When it comes to job quality, project completion dates, and after-sales services, we accept full responsibility.”

Solnce Energy also offers a range of personalised services, including Solar rooftops, Industrial solar, Solar Cleaning System, Solar Ground-Mounted systems, Solar loans, Solar Insurance, and AI cleaning alert. The company provides premium quality products at an affordable price, with government subsidy benefits, free consultancy, and 24/7 assistance.

Yash further adds, “We have developed the ground-breaking Solar Thermal Desalination technology, certified by NABL and WHO, that purifies seawater and converts it into completely safe, healthy, and consumable mineral water.  With a patented certificate and ongoing R&D to increase capacity, Solnce Energy is committed to providing clean drinking water to all, regardless of their circumstances.”

Written by Taruka Srivastav; Edited by Divya Sethu