From November 27th and 29th, in conjunction with International Organ Donation Day, a three day awareness programme took place which included media coverage and celebrity events. Soon Shylendra will be meeting with the health secretary and other organizations to move the project to the next level. Read more at The Bangalore Citizen.

‘I love my city a lot’

By Varuu Jain

We should be the change we wish to see in the world, believes this agent of social change.

The tag of an IT head of a British multinational sits lightly on his head. His more keen to be known as someone who contributes towards society. His fondness for Fardidabad compelled 48-year old PP Singh to form an NGO in November 2009, by the name ‘I Love My City’.

The organisation’s objective reads ‘Let us stop complaining, and start contributing.’ The NGO has been established with a vision of empowering people by making them more aware. 

The organization also believes that putting blame on the authorities does not serve any purpose. Repeating Mahatma Gandhi’s words he says, “We should be the change we wish to see in the world.”

The NGO strongly feels that community participation is of utmost importance in the current times. ‘I Love My City’ took the first step on December 6, 2009, when they got a battered patch of road repaired which used to be a very risky stretch due to poor lighting.

“We repaired a patch of broken concrete road at Sector 23. We made sound use of concrete mix and created proper diversions for traffic management. In this regard we also got support of people who lived in the area”, says Singh. Traffic discipline was the next step. With the help of the then Deputy Commissioner of Police of Faridibad, Shashank Anand, they organized a road safety event at Sector 15. It was held on January 24, 2010.

“We stopped cars and two-wheelers and distributed pamphlets to the drivers asking them to drive safely, and explaining to them the benefit of wearing a helmet,” adds Singh. They also organised a cleanliness drive in Sector 15 where the volunteers picked up garbage from nooks and corners using brooms, dustpans and gloves.

The group can be reached at www.ilovemycity.com.

Kuldip Matharu, who took Landmark Education’s Self-Expression and Leadership Program in London, has created a project to aid underprivileged people in Indian through the Pingalwara organization. His project, ‘One Man’s Junk – Another Man’s Treasure’ invites people to contribute basic items that they have an excess of, such as shoes or clothing. Here is Kuldip Matharu’s report on the project.

It is so easy to take ever day things like shelter, food, family and good health for granted. It is only until you learn that for some, these things are luxuries that you realise how fortunate you really are.

An institution called Pingalwara in Amritsar, India, provides a safe haven for those in desperate need of basic human needs like food, shelter and medicine.

This is where we hope you can come in. The aim of our community project is to capitalise on the fact that one man’s junk really is another man’s treasure. We use the term ‘man’ for ease, obviously this applies to women also, if in fact not more so!

By collecting your donations of clothing, we would like to be able to go to India in October 2010 to deliver the donations we have received. We would also like to raise funds to cover the costs of shipping plus other administrative costs involved in delivering the ‘treasure’ We have collected from kind people like yourself.

By donating your ‘treasure’ or even a few Pounds, you will be helping hundreds of unfortunate people in India, for whom basic needs come at a price.

If you are able to help and would like more information, please email us at

kuldip_matharu@hotmail.com

As Rana described it to WBEZ 91.5, “It’s very realistic kind of hard-hitting movies about the perspectives of South Asians, and what are they actually experiencing in terms of their life and opinions and everything.”

The red carpet affair, which attracted a variety of celebrities, actors and film directors, began with the showing of Deepti Naval’s ‘Do Paise Ki Dhoop Chaar Aane Ki Baarish’, which follows the relationship between Juhi, an ageing prostitute, and Debu, a gay lyricist, and their budding love for Juhi’s disabled son Kaku.

The sixteen films shown over the next couple of days included ‘Warrior Boyz’, a documentary that examines South Asian gang-related killings and violence in suburban Vancouver, focusing on the root causes of gang violence, and looking at real solutions and what hope there is for the future.

Mayor Daley commented on the festival, saying “Chicago is home to a respected film community and we are proud to provide resources and support for our film makers. I applaud the Chicago South Asian Film Festival for your important work to promote South Asian films and filmmaking.”

Rana’s full-time profession is software consulting. “But I guess my hobby and new full-time job is film festival planning and organizing, I guess,” he said.

It’s Your City, Keep it Clean

Faridibad residents put up an excellent example of fulfilling their duties towards their city when an NGO, “I Love My City,” Market Welfare Association, and RWA jointly took the initiative to clean one of the most popular but messy markets of Sector 15.

The venture was held on Sunday by almost 50 people where they themselves swept the market clean and shouted slogans like “Mera market kaisa ho, Mere ghar ke jaisa ho.” They talked to shopkeepers and vendors about how they were responsible for the upkeep of the market. They received a positive response from the locals when shopkeepers voluntarily started to clean the garbage near their shops  and promised to do the same.

PP Singh, the founder of the NGO, said “I ardently love Faridibad and it is every resident’s responsibility to take care of this city.”

Manohar Puniani, MWA president, said “It is actually our responsibility to keep the market neat and clean and today we have taken the first step.”

The NGO has been associated with many more welfare projects in the past where they undertook the construction of a road in Sector 23 and repaired potholes in Sector 28.

[Find out more by looking up I Love My City on Facebook.]

Rao teamed with six other colleagues in the tech industry to work with him in pooling their time and money to restore dilapidated ancient monuments. His project, first titled “Unseen Karnataka”, began when he wrote about these monuments and the benefits it would bring society for them to be restored. But when he talked with his friends, they all decided that more than writing was called for. Rao relates that they decided that taking direct action was a once in a lifetime opportunity to contribute to their homeland.

They worked with the Archaeological Survey of Indian, identifying different sites and spending their weekends investigating them. They visited twenty-five locations and began work at three of them. In doing so, they both educated local communities and tourists online about the different sites. In the months that followed, they worked with local citizens and college students to unearth a number of ancient temples.

The costs of excavation are of course very high. Go to the Unseen Karnataka website to get involved.

Tessa Mills created a fundraising event to raise £1,000 for new classrooms at a Himalayan school. The event, which was her project in the self expression and leadership programme, actually raised £1,500 and the attention of the London Informer.

Chelsea Party for Indian Kids

by Ellie Dyer

A Chelsea resident has been inspired to throw a party to help build a new classroom at an Indian school, nestled in the foothills of the world’s largest mountains.

Tessa Mills, 56, is hosting an event at World’s End Studios, in Lots Road, tomorrow night to help children in the famous tea-growing district of Darjeeling.

She hopes to raise £1,000 for the 55 pupil English-speaking school, so it can extend its educational reach and improve the lives of youngsters, after a visit to the institute.

“It was truly amazing place, on the foothills of the Himalayas. But there was a huge contrast between the beauty and the simplicity of the classrooms”, said Tessa.

“Raising the money will means the school can continue.”

Tickets for the party cost £15 and it starts at 6pm. The ticket includes an Indian beer and entertainment.

It will be held at the World’s End Studio, 134 Lots Road, Chelsea.

Bala Venkat of the metropolis of Bangalore, India, has come up with a novel idea to reduce the noise pollution of the city. His project in the Landmark Education SELP programme is to create a campaign against this by raising awareness, educating drivers about indiscriminate honking, and working with police and other officials. He has organized many volunteers and a co-director for his programme. The Times of India covered the Landmark Education project in their November 11 edition.

By BK Ganesh

BANGALORE: How often have you been stuck in a traffic jam and seen motorists making things worse by incessant honking? This, despite the knowledge that the jam is going to take long to ease, and the honking helps in no way whatsoever. The horns blare even in hospital or school zones.

In a battle against this unnecessary noise, two groups of youths will soon kick off a no-horn campaign that aims at creating awareness about noise pollution.

Techie Bala Venkat and his team have got together aound 500 volunteers for their campaign – called No Honk Please – that will be launched on November 25 by tagging stickers on vehicles and holding a road show. It will be flagged off from the Nokia office, where Bala works. He will first educate his colleagues about indiscriminate honking and its effects.

The increasing number of vehicles has made Bangalore one of the noisiest cities in the world. Various studies show that the decibel level of traffic is increasing by the day, and has crossed the maximum permissible limit (it’s 80 decibels on any road); sometimes it’s even louder than a jet taking off.

Employees of Astra Zeneca are also involved in a campaign against noise pollution. They conduct seminars and workshops and organized a road show on M G Road recently. A similar show will be held on November 15.

“Schoolchildren, BMTC and autorickshaw drivers will be educated on the use of horns. ENT experts will speak about the side effects of noise pollution. RTO and police officials will impart information on various rules to be followed,” said Naina Hegde, co-coordinator of the programme. Auto drivers will also be encouraged to use silencers. The team has 15 volunteers.

Besides warnings by the World Health Organization, the Supreme Court has also passed an order directing all state governments to initiate action against noise pollution. The Union ministry of environment had asked the states to forward an action taken report, compiling details on the measures initiated to curb the menace. “But the government had done nothing in this direction. Youths coming out voluntarily to create awareness is laudable,” says ENT specialist Sree Kumar.

On August 16, he held a health camp for seniors at the Chisthu Seva Samaja ashram/old age home. There were more children in the Ashram, and they got health checkups too–More than 40 seniors and 80 children took part. Not only did the participants receive free checkups and medicine, but they also were served free fruits and dinner.

For Chetan KS, the highlight of the event was when all the seniors blessed and prayed for him, his friends and his family prior to their dinner together. The project was such a success that it received the attention of two local newspapers on August 18 – The Sanjevani and The Thina Sudar.