10 incredible indians

1. Man on a mission: “Bhule Bhatke Tiwari” reunites lost Kumbh Mela pilgrims with loved ones

Fondly known as “Bhule Bhatke Tiwari”, Raja Ram Tiwari founded the
Bharat Seva Dal and made it his life’s mission to ensure that families found their way back to each other if they were separated at the infamous
Kumbh Mela.
The “khoya paya shivir” camps set up by Tiwari have helped reunite roughly 1 million adults and 20,000 children with their family members, while simultaneously breaking cliched Bollywood stereotypes.

Read his full story
here.
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Source: National Geographic
2. Maharashtra’s ‘Mother of Orphans’ adopts over a 1000 children. Have you read Sindhutai’s heartwarming story?
To say that Sindhutai Sapkal has had a hard life would be a gross understatement. Born and brought up in abject poverty, married at 10, abandoned by her husband and her family, Sindhutai hoped that no one would ever suffer the same fate as she did.
An inspiring woman from Maharashtra, she is known as ‘The Mother of Orphans’ today. Mai, as her children call her, has adopted, raised and nurtured over a 1000 orphaned children so that they may, one day, fulfill their dreams.

Read Sindhutai’s inspirational story
here.
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Source: Blogspot
3. Meet the man who started India’s sanitary napkin revolution. His dream? Affordable, hygienic napkins for all
A true visionary, Arunachalam Muruganantham began the sanitary pad revolution in India. Venturing dangerously close to a topic most men steer clear off, he was shocked when he discovered that women in rural India cannot afford hygienic sanitary napkins. Instead they are forced to use cloth, sand, leaves and even ash!
Today, Muruganantham has developed a low cost, functional and affordable sanitary napkin. He aims to make India a 100% sanitary napkin country.

Read about his incredible journey
here.
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Source: Youtube
4. Writer, artist and cartoonist Aabid Surti wages war against water wastage; fixes leaking taps in Mumbai. For free
Aabid Surti is a renowned writer, painter and cartoonist. He’s also a part-time water warrior. Every Sunday, this national award winner visits homes in Mumbai’s Mira Road suburb and fixes leaking taps, for free.
Water wastage is one of the most widespread issues facing the country today. And Surti is doing all he can to combat it. He has, thus far, fixed leaking taps in 10,000 homes and saved millions of litres of water. Surti runs the Drop Dead Foundation and is determined to save every last drop.

Find out about Surti’s battle to save water
here.
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Source: WordPress
5. Gang-rape survivor Sunitha Krishnan champions the cause of rehabilitation of trafficked women
Sunitha Krishnan was gang-raped when she was 15. Today, she runs an organisation that works for the care and rehabilitation of trafficked women. ‘Prajwal’ was established by Krishnan in 1996 and, since then, she has rescued at least 8000 women.
Sunitha receives death threats and has been physically assaulted for her work. However, she stands firmly for the cause. Krishnan hopes to, one day, be able to stigmatise rapists and stop victim shaming in the country.

Read about Sunitha and Prajwala
here.
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Source: Aljazeera
6. Shopkeeper turned teacher, Rajesh Kumar Sharma runs his school from under a metro bridge
Rajesh Kumar Sharma was forced to abandon his education due to financial difficulties. Today, he has assumed the role of a teacher for 39 impoverished children, who currently attend his school in Delhi.
A school that Rajesh runs from underneath a DMRC bridge.
So far, Sharma has taught about a 140 students and nearly half of them have been able to move on to government schools.

Learn about Rajesh and his unconventional school
here.
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Source: Wustlsir.org
7. Village sarpanch, Neelam, sheds ghunghat and works for women empowerment in Chappar, Haryana
Chappar village in Jind district, Haryana has a strong-willed and determined woman for a sarpanch. Neelam (31) works towards empowering women and challenging gender biased traditions.
Under Neelam’s rule, the women of the village have shunned the ghunghat and celebrate the birth of a child with sweets and festivities, regardless of whether it’s a boy or a girl.

Read about how change really does begin with one person
here.
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Source: Youth Connect Mag
8. Unsung man of the millenium, Kalyanasundaram donated his entire life’s savings towards education and upliftment in India
Kalyanasundaram is a librarian with a Masters in Literature and History and an unlikely hero. This man has donated all of his life’s earnings to orphanages and the cause of education in India.
He parted with his salary every month and, also, with an unbelievable Rs 30 crore prize without so much as a second thought, in his endeavour to serve humanity.

Read his story
here.
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Source: Wikimedia
9. Steely mountaineer Mamta Rawat carried on with Uttarakhand floods rescue mission, even after losing everything herself
Mamta Rawat is a mountaineer trained by the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarakashi. When she was called on for a search and rescue mission, as the Uttarakhand floods ushered in a wave of destruction, she did not hesitate for a second.
Despite the fact that her own home had been washed away.

Read Mamta’s story of incredible bravery
here.
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Source: Youtube
10. Dr. Prakash Amte: Aide for tribals, messiah for the needy
This doctor gave up a lucrative career to turn his attention to the problems plaguing our society. Dr. Amte was saddened by the extreme poverty, illiteracy and malnutrition rampant in rural India and decided to do his bit.
He works for tribal development, offering a wide variety of services to tribal communities in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. His project, Lok Biradari Prakalp, has grown into a residential school, a hospital and an orphanage for injured wild animals.

Dr. Prakash Amte’s story can be read
here.
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Source: Wikimedia
It was about time we learnt of the good people of India too, right?
Do you know of any inspiring Indians who make India a better place to live? Write in and let us know.

http://www.scoopwhoop.com/news/inspiring-indians/?ref=social&type=fb&b=0

Invitation to speak at the Indus Club

Invitation to speak at the Indus Club

Dear Aabid,

It was a pleasure meeting you on 20th July at the Mumbai Heroes awards.

I wanted to invite you to come and speak about `Drop Dead Foundation’,

your journey so far and your future plans for this impactful social business

at the Indus Club. I will send you more details on the Club and the talk itself.

However, wanted to check if 16th September at 11 a.m. would work for you.

Once you confirm this date, I will come back to you with more information.

Feel free to call if you have any clarifications.

 

Warm regards,

Zahabiya Khorakiwala
Managing Director
Wockhardt Hospitals Ltd.
Wockhardt Towers,
BKC, Bandra (East),
Mumbai 400051

31st July 13

The DDF initiative has become viral

The DDF initiative has become viral

Now its not just Indian, its global.

Italiano · India: risparmiare acqua riparando rubinetti difettosi

Français · Réparer gratuitement les robinets pour économiser l’eau en Inde

Español · Reparando grifos para ahorrar agua en India

Malagasy · Fanamboarana Ireo Paompy Mitete Ho Fikajiana Ny Rano Any Inde

русский · Чиним краны для сохранения воды в Индии

Ελληνικά · Δωρεάν επισκευή βρυσών για εξοικονόμηση νερού

English · Fixing Water Taps to Save Water In India

Appointment for Rajya Sabha

Appointment for Rajya Sabha TV’s programme ‘Guftagoo’

Dear Aabid Surtiji, 

We want to have a heart to heart interview with you for Rajya Sabha TV’s programme Guftagoo.

Guftagoo is an explorative-inquisitive and intimate conversation with celebrities and important people from various fields. Its a half an hour show.

It is an attempt to put together the guest’s concerns, ideas, passions towards his/her fields and reflections on existing time and society. Program will be having  relevant visuals/songs/video clips and inputs from person’s work. We are already running such shows under this series, Sufi-Pop singer RabbiShergill, noted singer Shubha Mudgal, Mallika Sarabhai, Commentator Jasdev Singh, Ebrahim Alkazi, Muzaffar Ali, Pradip Krishen, Bollywood lyricist Irshad Kamil, Pt Chhannulal Mishra, Syed Haidar Raza, Amol Palekar and Raghu Rai to name a few.

Please fix a date (whenever you are in Delhi next time) for the same.

Thanks

Syed Mohd Irfan

Rajya Sabha Television

12A, Gurudwara Rakabganj Road

New Delhi-110 001

011-23094293 – 294, 295, 296

5th April 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUaqR2nweyU