Category: Hum log

Categories
Hum log

Meet Mumbai’s water warrior

Aabid Surti cannot pass by a leaking tap without fixing it. Till date, he’s saved 3 million litres of water.
by Ravi Shet

With the rise in global population, there has not been a corresponding increase in precious resources such as water. It is rightly said that the next wars in the world will be fought over water, but how seriously does the average person take the threat of water scarcity?

Aabid Surti with his creation ‘Bahadur’

Countries around the world are implementing various methods to save water, but the actual vision for this initiative to succeed must come from the common man. That’s where Mumbai’s amazing Water Warrior comes in. Meet Aabid Surti (80) – writer, painter, cartoonist and creator of the cult comic figure, ‘Bahadur’ – who has been running a one-man NGO ‘Drop Dead Foundation’ for the past eight years. He has been instrumental in saving tonnes of water by fixing leaking taps free of cost in Mira Road.

Aabid’s childhood was spent on a pavement in Dongri and he was exposed to the daily struggle for water with his mother joining the ranks of women lining up at the common tap each morning for their bucket of water. “But my movement to save water started I went to a friend’s house and saw one of the taps leaking. This hurt me a lot. When I asked him why he did not get the tap fixed, he said that getting a plumber for such a minuscule task was difficult. So the next weekend, I took a plumber to his house and not only fixed the leaking tap there but also several more in the locality,” he smiles.

Aabid’s war against leaking taps got a boost when he received an unexpected cash prize of Rs 1 lakh from the Hindi Sahitya Sansthan, Uttar Pradesh, towards his contribution to Hindi literature. He says, “Each time I ran out of funds and thought of stopping, I got donations through my close friends and people who understood my work. They would help in the form of money or awards. God has been my fundraiser from the inception of Drop Dead Foundation and somehow He manages the funds for my mission, which is a miracle in itself.”

Every Monday, Aabid identifies buildings or slums and even chawls. Next, a volunteer from his Foundation visits the secretary of the concerned housing society and if the secretary agrees, then they put up posters on the notice board announcing their arrival. On the following Saturday, they distribute pamphlets describing the Foundation’s work and why they are coming on Sunday to their area. On Sunday, Aabid, a volunteer and a plumber go to the concerned home and locality to fix the leaky taps.

“We put up a sticker that reads ‘Save Every Drop or Drop Dead’ next to the tap repaired by us. From the inception of the Foundation till 2014, we have saved 3 million liters of water,” he claims. “My basic idea is to motivate individuals, especially senior citizens, and they should believe that if I can, they can. I invest a couple of hours a week to do this and it does not require a large office or staff, it just needs a plumber to fix the leaky taps.”

Apart from his mission, Aabid is busy with his writing and painting and travels around the country addressing students, NGOs and other institutions advocating the need to conserve water. He wants to help individuals who want to start this mission anywhere in the world by providing online help for designs of pamphlets, posters, stickers and other relevant documents. Aabid says, “I tell individuals to replace my address and contact details (on these design materials) with theirs before printing it out. I hope people start this project in their own locality so that we can stop massive wastage of water.”

To volunteer at Drop Dead Foundation or to start this mission in your locality, contact Aabid Surti at C -16/003, Anuroop, Shantinagar, Sector 11, Mira Road (East), Mumbai. Call him on +91-9820184964.

Categories
Hum log

Empowering women through paper

Shalini Datta quit a high-flying corporate job to train impoverished women in Malad the power of self-sustenance through paper products.
by Ravi Shet

It takes a lot of courage to give up a full time salaried job to start an organisation that helps underprivileged women through the sale of handmade paper products. But that is precisely what Shalini Datta did. After working for almost nine years in top IT organisations in India, Shalini started AfterTaste in September 2012, a self-sustaining organisation in Malad, Mumbai. AfterTaste not only trains underprivileged women from Ambujwadi slum in Malad to become artisans, but also boosts their confidence to earn money and support their children’s education.

Shalini DattaShalini’s journey is an interesting one. After completing her chemical engineering from Pune, she got job with a top IT company and in a few years, she switched to another one in Kolkata. “I took part in the company’s CSR activities, which included teaching children every Saturday. These children lived near heaps of garbage and were extremely poor,” she remembers. “Soon, I developed a strong desire to bring about a social change, but I didn’t have time from my Monday to Friday job. So I quit my job to do what I really wanted to do,” she smiles.

The Teach for India fellowship followed soon and brought her closer to the impoverished section of society – it gave her the chance to experience their pain and struggle firsthand. “I was given Class 2 to teach from around 80 students in a municipal school in Malad. I would keep them engaged through various art and craft activities. The fellowship was a turning point in my life, where I would teach the children and also interact with their mothers. These women struggled for basic needs, but they wanted to give their children a shot at education,” Shalini says.

“I found two enterprising women and started AfterTaste,” she adds. “My interest in art and craft helped me and I trained these two women in developing paper bags from newspapers. My engineering background helped me experiment with product design and my teaching experience helped me communicate to these women in a simple way,” she says.

AfterTaste started operations from a small space in a chawl occupied by one of the women who worked with Shalini, AfterTaste_Women working on productbut in May 2015 they moved to a new space with 15 women currently working on 20 different handmade paper products such as folders, mobile stands, lamps, and photo frames. AfterTaste had its first exhibition in Godrej, Vikhroli in October 2012 and from there they have come a long way and it’s still a self-sustainable organisation. Along the way, it has inspired unskilled women to become more confident about running their homes and sending their children to school.

Shalini says, “Each of our products has a personal touch. Everything here is made using paper and is customised by women through decoration in their own distinctive way.”

Kamrunnisa, a mother of three daughters and a son, was confined within the community; however AfterTaste completely changed her life. She says that Shalini’s encouragement helped her step out of her home for work. “I am thankful to Shalini didi for her support and training. I can now support my family, pay school fees and also ensure that my daughters get the same education as my son,” she grins. “I never thought that I would go outside Mumbai and teach underprivileged women in Gujarat how to make handmade paper products. The respect I got from them was memorable for me.”

The women working with AfterTaste are taught teamwork and bonding so that there is no sense of rivalry against each other. Fatima Shaikh, who has been associated with AfterTaste since its inception says, “I now contribute to my family’s financial needs, which makes me feel good and also gives me a sense of confidence to face people. I now want to learn English and also want my children to have access to good education.”

Shalini adds, “Right from purchasing raw material to pitching ideas to clients and creating more sales avenues is a difficult job. But seeing the positive change in the lives of these women and their passion keeps me motivated to push my limits.” She says that she plans to reach 100 women by year 2019 through AfterTaste and empower them so that she can break their vicious cycle of poverty.

To volunteer at AfterTaste or to buy their products, Shalini Datta can be contacted at C/6, Malwani Panchsheel Cooperative Housing Society, Plot No. 62, Near Ambujwadi Rickshaw Stand, Malwani, Malad West. Call +91-9673992618.

Categories
Hum log

An angel in white clothing for cancer patients in Mumbai

Harakhchand Sawla has been feeding poor cancer patients and their relatives near Tata Hospital for 32 years – for free.
by Ravi Shet

For most of us, our lives are a constant struggle to earn money and ‘get ahead’. Then there are others like Harakhchand Sawla (56), who find their own ways to make the world a better place. The Mulund resident left behind a flourishing business 32 years ago to start caring for cancer patients and their relatives with free food and medicines.

The sprightly man is always dressed in a white kurta and pajama, completing his look with white chappals or shoes. He can be seen in a lane behind Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Hospital either distributing food on a daily basis to the cancer patients and their relatives, or simply talking to them to soothe their nerves. The activity happens from his trust office situated here.

“I started by serving food to 15 people. Today, we serve food to around 700 people every day,” he says. “My parents taught me that we should look after disadvantaged human beings unselfishly, so this is my way of doing so.” His endeavour began 30 years ago when he noticed cancer patients and their relatives coming from different parts of India and staying on the roads with their luggage and pockets almost empty due to travel and treatment costs.

“I felt bad for their condition. Cancer treatment is very costly and most people cannot afford it. That’s when I decided that I would help these people,” he remembers. To do so, he decided to give up his business – which astonished his relatives. “They thought I was crazy. But my wife was my inspiration and support during this time. I started distributing free food for these people and paid for it out of my own pocked for 12 years. After that, people started helping with money, old clothes, toys, or sponsoring lunch or sweets,” he explains.

Meals being served near Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital, Mumbai.

Harakhchand starts his day with yoga and a walk, after which he reaches his trust office in Parel at noon, working till 8 pm. The lunches he distributes comprise chapatis, rice, dal, sabzi, fruit and milk, with sweets being served occasionally. Lunch starts at 12.30 pm and dinner at 6.30 pm. He says, “Donors serve sweets or sometimes we do, when it is my birthday or some festival. We also serve turmeric-infused milk to those suffering from throat cancer or who have undergone chemotherapy and find it difficult to digest food.” He adds, “I am pained to see small children suffering from cancer. We arrange a lot of activities for them, so that they are occupied and can distance themselves from their pain for at least a short while.”

Apart from providing free food, medicines, walkers and wheel chairs, Harakhchand has performed the last rites of the deceased that have been abandoned by their families, or those who had no money to perform the funeral. He now says he wants to build a hospital for end stage cancer patients who are not able to afford the treatment costs or who are abandoned by their families. “I also want to build an old age home where proper care is given at zero cost to those people with physical disability or paralysis,” he signs off.

Harakhchand Sawla can be contacted at Jeevan Jyot Cancer Relief and Care Trust, 3/9 Kondaji Chawl, Jerbai Wadia Road, Parel, Mumbai – 400 012. Call 022-2415 3453.

(Pictures courtesy Ravi Shet)

Categories
Hum log

This man is God for many Borivali senior citizens

Mark D’Souza has been delivering free lunches to senior citizens in IC colony since 2012; numbers of lunches are steadily increasing.
by Ravi Shet

At the core of our struggle to make money and acquire status in life is the basic human need for daily food. Most of us are lucky to receive two square meals a day, but while we have enough to eat, we take our meals for granted. Not so the countless senior citizens who are either too poor or too ill to feed themselves. What happens to these people, who do not receive daily meals?

In the lives of some of these senior citizens comes an angel in the form of Mark D’Souza (57), a real estate agent based in IC colony, Borivali. With his silver moustache and warm smile, Mark gives off a welcoming aura at first sight. But when you realise that this affable gentleman has been providing free lunches to senior citizens in the IC colony-Kandarpada belt from the year 2012, your respect for him increases manifold!

“I started delivering free lunches to senior citizens from November 14, 2012. I have always been a good planner and I have a lot of energy, so I have never missed delivering a single lunch for even one day since I started,” he beams.

There are free lunches in the world

Mark was born in Mulki, Karnataka and lost his mother at an early age. Staying with relatives and then moving to Mumbai for further studies all came with their own challenges. “I worked in Libya for six years, then I shifted back to Mumbai and set up an estate agent firm,” he explains.

It was in 2012 that Mark pondered over the question of senior citizens who are incapable of cooking their own food. “That’s when I decided that I would start a free lunch service for elderly people in the area. I took Rs 5,000 from my wife Yvonne (a social activist) and she also helped me find suitable elderly people in the area,” he says.

Everything fell into place at the right time, and from an initial five lunches, Mark delivers free lunches to 30 people in the area. Hearing of his work, many friends and well wishers also came forward to donate money, or even steel lunch boxes to encourage his efforts.

What’s cooking?

Mark’s four-compartment dabba comprises five to six chapatis, rice, sabzi and dal. On Wednesdays, there’s egg curry, while he includes chicken or fish curry on Sundays. “We cook the food in less oil, less salt and less spices. But we pack in loads of love and the food is prepared in a hygienic environment,” he explains.

The vegetables are bought daily by the husband and wife, and his cook handles the meal preparation. “I tell my cook, ‘God is watching our actions and we should not compromise on the quality of our work. When it is noon, I start my delivery schedule that goes on till 2.30 pm. It has become a part of my daily routine.” He adds that several security guards of the buildings he delivers in now know him personally and they take the dabbas off his hands and deliver them. “What do I get out of this? The smiles and blessings of the people who eat our food. And the blessings from my friends. These are priceless for me,” he smiles.

You can contact Mark D’Souza at Crrystal Care Service, K 3, Vershi Villa, Opposite IC Bakery, Near IC Post Office, IC Colony, Borivali West. His mobile number is +91 98338 53523.

(Picture courtesy Ravi Shet)

Categories
Hum log

The man who wants to make volunteering sexy

Shalabh Sahai, co-founder and director of iVolunteer, talks about starting the country’s first volunteer service enterprise and taking it places.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

For a country long grappling with a range of issues – from dire poverty to lack of water  and public toilets – it is astonishing to note that we have not yet given a serious thought to a basic idea: Helping with time and skill.

Today, NGOs work for the betterment of society in various parts of the country, and several Indians wish to help out many development projects. How to help is the key question, and many of us take the middle ground by donating money towards social causes. But what about actual, on-ground help?

This question led to the creation of iVolunteer, a platform that engages and connects skilled and passionate volunteers with the right social causes in India and abroad. Co-founded by Shalabh Sahai (39), iVolunteer today partners over 300 NGOs and several corporates, and is best known for its innovative models like Whiteboard, GYAN and Impact Projects suited to the skill-based volunteering context in India.

We spoke to Shalabh about starting iVolunteer and what people are actually signing up for when they take up volunteering for social causes. Excerpts from the interview:

Tell us about starting iVolunteer. Why did you feel the need for it?

iVolunteerI completed my MBA studies in Rural Management from IRMA, Gujarat, and constantly noticed that what was taught in management schools was very different from what actually happened on-ground. It was like we existed in two Indias, with nothing to reconcile the two. This was in 2000, when NGOs were working in silo, and when we founded iVolunteer at this time, we felt the need to break this pattern. Every social cause needs dedicated volunteers, change cannot happen with just NGO work on the ground.

Many people donate money to social causes, but this is an impersonal contribution. Volunteering involves donating one’s time and skill and is more personal. iVolunteer was started with the idea of matching passionate people’s skills and time with a suitable cause.

What were the initial days of starting iVolunteer like?

In a year of starting, we realised that there were many takers for the idea but not many on-ground conversions. The newer generation does not have a history of working with non-profits, so there was a big disconnect. We realised that we would have to handhold both the volunteers and the NGOs initially.

This was a time when the Internet was being accessed mostly from office, so we had a lot of working professionals making inquiries. There was a lot of skill and passion coming to the table, but these were people who didn’t have too much time to spare. We devised a training module to orient new volunteers.

Which causes are people most interested in?

Education and children. In Mumbai, there were many inquiries for children’s education. People expressed a desire to teach for 2 or 3 hours on a Saturday. But we ask each potential volunteer: are you actually willing to volunteer your time every Saturday? What about social commitments? Many people rethink their initial plan after a while. But there are many others who volunteer their skills. When working with an NGO that works with children, for example, we had a volunteer with an IT background develop an app that helps track counsellor attendance. Or another could help with administrative work. There are many areas in volunteering, you just have to pick the one that matches your skill and passion.

Why would anyone go through iVolunteer when looking for volunteers?

Because we match volunteer interests to community needs and we help strategise the volunteering effort. We are able to align volunteers across geographies, skills and time availability. This saves time and cost for corporates and NGOs looking for dedicated volunteers.

Where is iVolunteer currently?

After 14 years, we have now devised different models of volunteering – short term, long term and overseas. iVolunteer sends about 40 to 50 Indian volunteers volunteer overseasevery year to such areas as Nigeria, Mongolia, East Timor, South Africa…they work in the areas of health, HIV/AIDS, NGO management, education, etc. for a little over 1 year. Over 300 Indians have already been a part of this activity.

Then we have India Fellow, a youth social leadership programme. People under 28 years of age work for 13 months in development projects in a rural or urban setting that takes them away from home. This helps them learn about society in a different context.

We also started JobsForGood, which is a platform to get full time talent in the development world.

Why did you start iVolunteer Awards?

Over 14 years of building connections in the country made us realise that nobody recognises the value of volunteering. Even when people like you and I volunteer, we do it secretly because we feel shy talking about it. This mindset needs to change – we must bring volunteering out in the open and celebrate its spirit. The iVolunteer Awards are a way of recognising excellence and best practices in volunteering today, so that a roadmap can be created and others will be inspired as well.

My aim is to make volunteering sexy, because it won’t sell till then. We need to wake up and realise how important volunteering one’s skills and time is to our development story.

 

Categories
Hum log

One book and the taste of India

Soon after the Delhi launch of his travelogue ‘India on a Platter’,  chef Saransh Goila talks about travel and Indian food.
by Ritika Bhandari Parekh

He trends on Instagram as the #SadakChef and has a special place in his heart for Butter Chicken. Meet Saransh Goila, the youngest celebrity chef to come out with a unique travel book interspersed with recipes. Titled India on a Platter, the book amalgamates the assorted experiences from his signature show Roti, Rasta aur India.

Prologue to the book

India on a PlatterThe 100-day travelogue saw him travelling 20,000 kilometres across 25 States in India to taste the delicacies of every nook and corner. “The show changed my life. It was not at all easy, but we completed it. Hard work is one thing, but there was also the pressure of being answerable to a channel making it,” he remembers.

It was aired in 2012-2013, after which Goila started grooming himself as a food personality. He says, “After winning the FoodFood Maha Challenge, I was lucky enough to get the show. And I took this opportunity to develop content for print, visual and digital media and made it my forte.

“The book is a by-product of Roti, Rasta aur India. When we were travelling, we would shoot 50 minutes of content every day. But what I experienced was much more. So after it was aired, I realised that the smaller details missed out in the television format. I wished to bring out the unexplored treasure that is India,” he says. In 2013, the Delhi boy struck a deal with publisher Om Books.

Memorable feasts

“In India, everyone is very emotional about food. One such brilliant and remarkable experience was on the eighth day of my trip. It was a meal in Kullu, where we trekked 4 kilometres uphill. There we were invited for a meal in a traditional Kullu house built on a stone.

“Their kitchen was a frugal one made of clay and mud. The women of the family were kind enough to make food for all 20 members of my crew. They made a meal that I shall never forget. It was a simple dish of red rice, a pickle out of a local fern, ghee which was organically made. Then there was kodra ki roti, which was made from local flour. Half a roti provides energy to sustain an entire day. They also had bhallas, but those were very different. They were like steamed momos, but were stuffed with dal inside,” he says.

“This experience made me aware that I have a great opportunity to touch the lives of so many people and enrich myself,” he adds.

His beginnings

Having started cooking at the young age of 12, Saransh particularly recalls how aloo paratha was the first dish he ever cooked. “It started with a mehndi night, Saransh on travelwhere my chacha and I volunteered to cook some parathas. Everyone laughed, but after eating my parathas – they loved them and I became popular. So then my family and friends would set aside dough and boiled aloos and always encourage me to add masalas and make parathas. The image of my grandfather trying his hand in the kitchen fascinated me,” he says. “Sanjeev Kapoor’s Khana Khazana show was my inspiration to become a TV chef.”

A theatre student, Saransh always hoped to be an actor. While his mother hoped he would do Biotech Engineering, he ended up getting a Bachelor’s degree in the Culinary Arts. In Mumbai, he had a stint with famed adman and foodie Prahlad Kakkar, and took acting lessons at Barry John’s Acting Studio – as he believed that his destiny was on the screen.

And screen it was, but with the twist of food. He says, “The best part about my job is that I get to live both my passions of acting and cooking. I am a creative person who enjoys whipping up new recipes. I can write, present myself and talk well, so being on screen gives me a sense of satisfaction.”

A taste of the future

His latest venture is making ‘his’ style of Butter Chicken readily available to the consumers. He signs off with, “I wish everybody revisits India via road. I want them to travel and soak in the atmosphere and not just skim through the touristy places. The view changes every 200 kilometres. Be it culture, language, weather, dressing styles, accents…it is a highly diverse range.”

(Pictures courtesy en.wikipedia.org, twitter.com, www.indiantelevision.com. Images are file pictures)

Exit mobile version