Tag: mumbai

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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
Achieve

Underprivileged children put up photo exhibition in Mumbai

Click Rights, a photojournalism initiative, returns in its 2015 edition with photographs taken by street children of their younger siblings.
by Child Rights and You

The first five years play a significant role in a child’s life. But for thousands of children, a healthy start to life continues to be a distant dream. Long before they turn five, their physical, emotional and cognitive growth is hampered by the lack of adequate nutrition and healthcare. Child Rights and You (CRY) aims to change this by launching its ‘Get Healthy. Give Healthy’ campaign that will give 2,81,045 children a healthy start to their lives.

One of the primary features of the campaign is CRY’s annual photo journalism initiative called ‘Click Rights’  that is in its 4th year.  Click Rights 2015 will highlight through the power of photography the health and nutrition challenges faced by children under the age of 5 years. A large number of the photographs have been contributed by children from our supported project areas in the States of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh, with training from esteemed photographers and CRY volunteers. These children were given cameras to photograph the daily lives of their younger siblings. Many of the elder children had in fact never stepped into a school because they were entrusted to look after their younger siblings.

Their photographs will be showcased at exhibitions across the country, in malls, parks, colleges and as part of projections on prominent buildings.

In Mumbai, the first exhibition will be at Phoenix Mall, Kurla (West) from October 17 to 18.

“The real health of a country can be measured by how we look after our children. Hence it is alarming that in India today, 13 million children are un-immunised, making them susceptible to deadly diseases, and 40 per cent of these children are underweight. With Click Rights, we would like to highlight the health related issues confronting children in India. We hope it will build awareness, start conversations and motivate people to take action for children,” says Kreeanne Rabaddi, Director, Western Region, Child Rights and You (CRY).

PHOTOVOICES

This is what 12-year-old Raj clicked.

Photo by Raj“This is my two-year-old brother Manas. He is quite naughty and plays with mud all day. We are three brothers and one sister. We live on the roadside and spend our whole day playing. We have no school in our area. We don’t have any toilets as well. I want to see my brother happy. I want to build him a home one day.”

This is what six-year-old Anjali clicked

“My little brother Ajay (name changed, in featured image above) stays with me all the time and plays with me. I take care of his needs. He is one year old. My parents are labourers, they leave the house early in the morning and come back only after dark. We live on the street, sometimes it is difficult to manage him, but most of the times I do it with ease. I love my brother very much and think of him as an angel. If he weren’t there in my life, I don’t know what would I do the whole day.”

This is what 12-year-old Umesh has to say of his photo…

“These two girls are my best friends. They are more like my sisters. Many of the kids don’t go to school, so we play all Photo By Umeshday on the road. Some people give us food to eat, on Sundays so many bhaiyas and didis come to visit us and we have fun sessions with them. I wait for Sundays, that’s the only day I feel loved and cared for.”

Categories
Wellness

Maharashtra skateboards for breast cancer awareness

Skateboarders from across the State convened recently at Bandra to spread awareness about rising incidence of breast cancer in India.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

October is known as Breast Cancer Awareness month. In India, however, despite rising numbers of breast cancer victims, many women are still shying away from speaking about the disease. There is also widespread ignorance about the disease and its symptoms, which renders it undetectable for long.

Understanding that breast cancer continues to the leading killer of Indian women, the DS Research Centre came up with the idea of spreading awareness about breast cancer. They decided to do this with a skateboarding rally, which would travel the length and breadth of the country all this month. The rally kicked off in Mumbai at Bandra with over 50 skateboarders from across Maharashtra participating in it.

The next phase of the rally goes to Bengaluru.

Some facts about breast cancer:

– Breast cancer accounts to about 29.7% of all cancers in women.

– Approximately 2,000 to 2,500 new cases of breast cancer are detected every year in Mumbai, and the number is increasing.

– Presently, breast cancer is more common in the younger age group and 52% of all women suffering from breast cancer in Mumbai are below 50 years of age.

– A significant number of patients are below 30 years of age.

– Men can get breast cancer too.

– 1 out of every 2 women detected with breast cancer is in the terminal stages of the disease in India.

Categories
Achieve

Playing God with the inanimate

We catch up with Mumbai’s first 3D designing and printing firm that brings all your fantasies to life – seriously!
by Ritika Bhandari Parekh

It looks like a scene from the future – jewellery being printed from a printer. And no, it isn’t paper jewellery. We are talking about wearable jewellery, from earrings to rings. Intrigued? We were too.

Siddharth Sah

When 28-year old Siddharth Sah finished his MBA from California in 2012, he decided to fuse his love for design with his inherited business genes. The result: a one-of-its-kind 3D Design Studio in Churchgate, called Make Whale.

Be it jewellery or a carved bottle to hold your messages, a Ganpati idol or a wacky creation of your company logo – Make Whale gives you an opportunity to go wild in your thoughts and shape them. Intricately carved or flexible in design, the design studio gives you complete freedom to mould your creations and showcase them.

“Our thumb-imprinted cufflinks are gaining much popularity these days. As each product is designed from scratch, we have no inventory as such. Also depending on the style, designs and colours, we choose the material which will fit best for the product. So while sandstone allows for a multicolour product, it is difficult to have interlocking designs in the same material,” he says. “Steel helps to give various finishes, for instance gold-plated jewellery. But there are design limitations, too.”

Sah tell us how 3-D printing as a technology has been around for 30 years, but its advancement began only in the lastGanapatifive years. “I remember taking a joint class in design as a business student, to understand the world from their angle. The first-time I witnessed 3D printing at the prestigious Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, I was hooked.”

Studying the market and understanding if all the hype around 3D printing – does it have or not have substance – led him to opening the business venture. “After a lot of research and development, we started in August 2015. I have a team of product designers who help with the gift designs and an experienced automotive engineer,” he explains.

A graduate of Jai Hind College, this SoBo man believes that besides bobble heads, the market for 3D printed gifts is still in its nascent stage in India. With the focus on designing, Make Whale wishes to plunge deep into the elite society weddings and corporate gifting arena. “Whether customising candle stands or napkin rings with the initials of the bride and groom, the possibilities are endless. Our focus is on the consumer and once we are a bit more settled, we wish to bring out ceramic plates and mugs which adhere to the food safety standards,” he says.

Spicy1Their office has an in-house 3D printer to give the consumer an idea of how his creation will look as a prototype. And that is where the magic happens. A loop of material attached from the rear is heated till the design from the SD card finally takes shape in its current avatar. The designing process takes from a week to 10 days’ time, while the 3D model prototype arrives within a couple of days. Once approved, the final product takes three weeks to be created and delivered.

In a small way, 3D printing gives mortals like us a chance to play God. Inanimate gifts are created, designed, re-designed and produced. The limitation is only your imagination and the materials, to some extent. Sah signs off hoping to see you the next time brandishing your creative juices, keeping your gifts anchored in fantastical reality and designing it with Make Whale.

To know more about Make Whale and their products, log on to http://www.makewhale.com. Look up more images on our Facebook page.

Categories
Become

Budget stays with a smile

Mumbai-based start-up Vista Rooms has you covered if you’re looking for a brief and low-cost stay in India’s smaller towns.
by Ritika Bhandari Parekh

Picture this: You have a business meeting at Valsad in Gujarat. And for a one-day visit, you do not wish to spend on a luxury hotel. You wisely choose the option of a local budget stay, but the dilemma arises in picking the right hotel.

Enter Vista Rooms, a budget-friendly option for travellers who wish to experience low-cost branded accommodation. With rooms starting from Rs 800 to Rs 1,500, Vista Rooms is hoping to revolutionise the way a local Indian businessman travels.

An idea germinates

Vista Rooms founders (left to right) Amit, Ankita and Pranav

This Mumbai-based start-up was founded by three enterprising individuals – Amit Damani, Ankita Sheth and Pranav Maheshwari. Bidding goodbye to their jobs in the corporate sector, the trio plunged in the competitive budget hotels arena.

28-year old Pranav, who heads the Finance and Technological department says, “The genesis of the idea came from Amit, who travelled the small cities and rural areas of China in his previous job. Over there, he noticed how efficiently one could stay in low-cost hotels and became familiar with their standardisation process. Starting January 2015, he researched the Indian budget hotels domain and chanced upon OYO Rooms which had a similar concept.”

With a belief that the budget hotel market is huge and there is space for competitors to co-exist, they started Vista Rooms. Their third partner, Ankita was heading the acquisitions team for OYO Rooms before she quit and joined them.

With a focus on the Tier II and Tier III cities, she manages the offline sales and partnership domain at Vista. While 27-year old Amit is very active in the social domain and handles the marketing relationship with online travel agents.

No more ‘Buyers Beware’

Normally, a person making online bookings is solely responsible for selecting their hotel rooms based on the customer reviews and photos uploaded. But the team at Vista Rooms is looking forward to making this dubious ‘caveat emptor’ style obsolete. “We want our customers to be exceptionally confident that the room they book via our website will adhere to all the parameters set. So from a clean and comfortable room to a hygienic bathroom, free Wi-Fi, complimentary breakfast to a concierge service – Vista Rooms will make sure that your stay in the small towns and sleepy cities of India is perfect,” says Pranav.

He continues, “The key to this experience is standardisation. Once a hotel property has the stamp of Vista Rooms, they become a part of our brand and their visibility increases. We do not take over the hotel operations, but help them in the sales, marketing and branding of the services.” With the occupancy percentage increasing, it is a win-win situation for the partnering hotels.

The growth story

For Pranav, the most exciting part is the growth story of Vista Rooms. “We started with four properties in April 2015 and over the next four months added 450+ properties across 55 cities in India. This initial success is what helps us stay motivated.”

With a vision to be the number one player in the budget hotel scene, they wish to make online bookings and feedback as seamless as flight bookings. With an asset-light and operational-lean model, the start-up has 40 employees under its wings.

Pranav signs off saying, “We are forever scouting for new talent and would welcome a second round of funding.” So the next time, you are in Salem or Somnath – fret not. Just head to Vista Rooms and look for your smile-worthy accommodation.

For more information and booking details, please visit their website www.vistarooms.com

(Featured image courtesy www.asiatravel.com)

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)

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