Skip to main content

Some Inspiring People of Indore: Going beyond their call of duty for better tomorrow

A handful of kindness by Keran Bahadur
Recommended by Manoj Bajpai, former chairperson Indore Sahodaya Complex of CBSE Schools
Just a handful is enough if given with kindness and intention to start a chain of goodness. Inspiring such a chain of goodness, educationist Keran Bahadur started a unique drive ‘A handful of Kindness’ in her school Colonel’s Academy, Mhow about a decade back.
In the last decade, she has not only transformed the lives of abandoned seniors, but inspired a long chain of goodness by involving students. “I began this drive by sensitising students about how much a handful can mean, when we went to nearby villages to identify people who needed help,” Keran said.
Keran with her students found 15 senior families, who were abandoned by children and left with no means to survival. “Next, we urged students to bring a handful of any grain they wished on every Thursday,” she said. Initially, it was difficult to put the idea across.
“On Friday, we packed the grains forming packages and the next day, i.e. Saturday, one class was taken to meet our adopted families with the grain packets,” Keran said. Doing such an exercise, students and parents learned the reason for handful of grain by experience.
“Till date, we continue this drive every week and on special days, like today, i.e. New Year’s eve, I invited all our adopted senior families to my home,” Keran said. Her children and grandchildren, who are visiting from USA also participated in preparing special meals for the adopted family.
“Eventually, as students have become sensitive, they automatically drive many activities like providing woollens for seniors during winters, decorating their homes during Diwali and parents are happy because kids learnt the value of handful of grain and never waste food,” Keran said.
Duty to children welfare: Anulata Singh
Recommended by Manish Verma, Joint director (Indore), school education department
Forming one of the most ideal schools that unite all, headmistress Anulata Singh understands her duty as an educator well. She often goes beyond her call of duty to ensure wellness, understanding, emotional stability and happiness of children in her school.
“I feel I am just doing my job, because I chose to become an educationist for a reason, which was to help children,” Anulata said. While many government schools have to be clubbed due to less number of students, her school has 450 students, who regularly attend the school.
“If I cannot build an environment, where students are willing to come to, then I would feel like a failure as a human being and definitely as an educator,” Anulata said. She also struggled to bring such an environment to school initially.
“I reach before my students arrive and prepare for the day and whenever possible a plan a surprise for my students,” Anulata said. She often spends extra time with a child, who struggles in a subject or is facing a personal issue.
On a mission for environment & health: Govind Maheshwari
Recommended by Padma Shri Janak McGilligan Palta
Holding a master’s degree and excelling in education, it was not difficult for Govind Maheshwari to get a job and live a comfortable life. But change does not come by being comfortable and thinking beyond self, he initiated a change.
About 2.5 years back, Govind learned about organic farming and started it on his 12 acre land. “I could see the harm pesticides cause to our body and environment,” he said.
He noticed how everyone, even villagers faced ailments frequently. “I started by setting an example with an organic farm, then reached out to discuss with other farmers,” Govind said.
Since many farmers were not willing to invest in organic manure, he prepared and provided them organic manure free to show them the difference. “I hold a farmer’s meet every month at my farm, where I even invite people from other States to learn and promote organic farming,” Govind said.
Recently, he noticed that there were no bees in the farm and all around. “Bees are the most essential part of our ecosystem but due to pesticides, we lost all of them in the area,” Govind said.
He started Bee keeping, which has not only pumped up his farm’s produce but even nearby farm’s produce.
Counselling for better tomorrow: Kanchan Tare
Recommended by Reena Khurana, chairperson of Indore Sahodaya Complex of CBSE Schools
A troubled childhood can turn not just one but many other following lives around due to bad influence. With her mission to guide students from their nascent age, an educationist Kanchan Tare reaches out to various underprivileged and special children in city from time to time.
Though she does not have a fixed routine, she feels always on her duty for children. “I cannot stop myself from reaching out to every child I come across, whether it is the teenage boy serving me tea at a small tea shop at Kanadiya road or the visually impaired children lacking motivation,” Kanchan said.
Working on personal counselling, her attempt is to counsel students in every corner of the city. “I am association with visually impaired children, where I try to counsel them and whenever possible provide materials for them,” Kanchan said.
She believes that children lack quality time from their families today. “Due to this lack of time, many children lose the track of their life,” Kanchan said.
Fighting for Trees since more than a decade: CA Dinesh Kothari
Recommended by Kishore Kodwani, social activist
When we see the bigger picture, life urges us to rethink our actions. Such was the case for chartered accountant Dinesh Kothari.
“About 15 years back, when the urbanisation of Indore was at full scale, I could see those protective trees being chopped off to be replaced by concrete,” Kothari said. Unwilling to accept such a cost for roads, he kept himself, his career and life aside for the trees.
“I fought several cases for every road that was built in the city urging the court to ensure that trees are not cut, rather roads are innovated to accommodate trees,” Kothari said. His major contribution is on race course road.
“Most of us don’t even notice these trees standing by the roadside on a usual day, but on a hot summer, these are the trees saving us, they are holding back waters in monsoons for us, they are providing oxygen for our lives to continue every day,” Kothari said.
Further, he worked on conserving wildlife in Khargone to get the requisite orders from court. “We worked on conservation of animals and development of Omkareshwar national park, which is still in process,” Kothari said.
Train and Unite: Alok Khare
Recommended by Padma Shri Bhalu Mondhe
Education is the only way to drive change. With such a belief, retired banker Alok Khare has been working on training programmes for underprivileged children for the last 23 years.
“Without education, one cannot even dream of a better life, so we wanted to start with that,” Khare said. With a group of his friends, he started helping out students and conducting training programmes for them.
“We try to award them certificates and small gifts to motivate them to study,” Khare said.
Under other initiatives, Khare leads bank unions and fights for the right of bankers. “Alone, we do not have much power, so I head these unions, which help a banker in getting their rights,” Khare said.
In several cases, where bankers were not getting their increments and salaries, he has facilitated action.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Jharneshwar Mahadev in Madhya Pradesh: a nature escape from urban jungle

Life is too short, unpredictable and an adventure if lived to the fullest. Learning the essential value of life and deciding to seek adventures in life, several groups are now connecting to nature and seeking spiritual growth. Leading a group of adventure seekers to less-known wonders of Indore, Gyandeep Srivastava, administrator of Rides of Riders group unravelled a new getaway. The group went on a long ride exploring the rural areas of the city. In their bid to seek adventure, the group came across an ancient temple ‘Jharneshwar Mahadev’ which dazzles visitors with nature, beauty and wonder. The temple is situated in Shajapur, about 230 kilometres from Indore. The waterfall of Bhadooh (Jharneshwar Mahadev), a famous tourist place falling under the Quartak Panchayat, about 30 km from Manasa in Neemuch district. After monsoons, the waterfall attracts tourists from all over state to witness the 100 feet high waterfall. There were 25 riders in the adventure trip including female rider I...

Before Pentecost, Christian community helps underprivileged families with ration

Prior to Pentecost, Christian community is following the lessons taught by Jesus Christ and helping those in need. In their drive to help underprivileged families, Christian volunteers forming a group are providing ration packets to them. Christian holiday of Pentecost, which is celebrated the 49th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday, will be celebrated on May 31 this year. The holiday commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ. Under the drive, ration packets are given to 200 to 250 people on a regular basis. “Christ was the ultimate social worker. Not only could he find housing for people, or give them free food,” Ashutosh Joseph, a volunteer said. He cited that in the Bible, God's call to His followers to care for other human beings is clear (Philippians 2:4; 1 John 3:17-18; Proverbs 19:17 New International Version). “In fact, Jesus states that one of the most important commandments is ‘love your neighbour...

What are the precautions for prevention of corona virus? Special instructions for School Students

School Education Department issued an advisory to all the school heads and officers regarding precautions to be taken against the deadly novel coronavirus to prevent the spread of infection among school children. The advisory was sent out at the direction of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India with a photocopy of the letter attached. The department in its advisory stated that the world is fighting against the rapid spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). In India, too, the number of cases identified has increased in the last few days. As the school going children are also susceptible to infection and this is a crucial time for children given the end of the academic year and examination, it calls for immediate measures minimizing the effects of the epidemic. In the advisory, the department advised the schools to avoid any large gatherings of students during the course of the day in school. Any student or staff with travel history to any COVID-19 affected countr...