Parindey

Carrying a dream for India’s children

Innovator: Hasmukh Bhai Occupation: Educationist Location: Mandangad, Maharashtra When I met my latest ‘parinda’ and understood his work, I became nostalgic about my childhood and youth. It was the phase I was the happiest in life. It was the time when we wanted to go out with our parents to a park and not a mall. It was the time I would spend hours outside, playing with my friends. We would climb the hills outside the city, take a stroll in the nearby forests and take a dip in the rivers and ponds. However, our life could not always be like this. Soon, the wind in the air changed and…

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Beekeeping for a healthy ecosystem

Innovator: Amit Godse Occupation: Beekeeper Location: Pune, Maharashtra Many a times, we are faced with such incidents that give rise to the feeling of uncertainty in our lives. Well, human life is anyway full of uncertainties. Such incidents or situations often change the course of our life but they also leave behind a lot of learning and experience for us. It is, therefore, important to take careful notes of these incidents or situations and then reflect upon oneself. But this can only happen if one leads his/her life in such a way that they truly experience every moment, going beyond the conventional “right” and “wrong”. Who knows what experience may…

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Returning to where we belong

Innovator: Deepika Chordiya Occupation: Alternate living facilitator Location: Welhe Today, India is struggling with its problem of population density. On one hand, rural population is migrating to urban cities at a scary pace; on the other, slums in cities are getting worse with the increasing population. Apart from children and senior citizens, you’ll hardly see anybody else in villages. The slums and their filth have become an almost integral part of all cities today, so much so that it’s hard to imagine the life of these cities depend on the slum localities in more than one ways. However, has anyone paused for a minute and thought about the people who…

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Rivers, veins of the nation

Innovator: Rajesh Pandit Occupation: Environmentalist Location: Nashik India is lucky that it is home to seven major rivers and their thousands of tributaries that perform their role in the same manners as the numerous veins in a human body that assist in blood circulation. Spread across India’s geographical area of 329 million hectares, the rivers in India are an integral part of the country’s natural richness. Carrying the weight of India’s cultural, economic, geographic, religious and spiritual development, these rivers have been flowing uninterrupted on earth for thousands of years. These rivers are not just the source of water but are an important part of our ecosystem that protects the…

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Turning all eyes on our farmers

Innovator:Madhukar Dhas Occupation:Water conservationist Location:Yavatmal, Maharashtra If Yavatmal district in Maharashtra is known for anything in India, it is for farmer suicides. This region has a forest cover of 2,24,000 hectares with sufficient amount of rainfall, then what is the reason that so many farmers kill themselves every day here? Our next ‘parinda’ tells me about some of the reasons that have forced farmers to take such a drastic step. He says, a lot of farmers are trapped in the clutches of moneylenders. The interest on such loans is extremely high. Despite the rainfall, there isn’t enough water for irrigation because there is no water left underground as a result…

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Conserving and sharing traditional knowledge

Innovator: Sunil Deshpande Occupation: Educator Location: Amravati district, Maharashtra All forest dwellers around the world have learnt to live with nature, with all its heterogenous and complex situations. They live in those areas which are rich in biodiversity. In India alone, 68 lakh families are associated with at least 227 tribes. Most of them live in or around their local forests, and have been involved for centuries in the protection and conservation of these forests. Thus, naturally, tribals have extensive knowledge about the biodiversity around them. Tribals have a close bond with natural resources. This relationship is spiritual, cultural, practical and supportive. Till the time the villages were under the…

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Art for farmers’ rights

Innovator: Shweta Bhattad Occupation: Artiste Location: Nagpur Art is a medium through which we can share our experiences with the world in a creative manner. It is a medium through which an artiste can show the world something that they would have otherwise not been able to see. Art is a medium through which a suppressed thought is given a shape. Art is a form of magic, a dream — for change, for a new world. Our history of thousands of years stands as witness to how art and artistes have played an integral role in bringing about a change at every stage in the world. An artiste is a…

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Towards a more organic lifestle

Innovator: Amit Arora Occupation: Promoter of Solid Waste Management Location: Vadodara, Gujarat Our relationship with trash in today’s time, can be perfectly summed up in the phrase, ‘Out of sight, out of mind’. No sooner do we clean our houses and the municipality clears out trash from our locality, we forget about its existence and believe that we have completed our responsibility. Does any of us ever think about what happens to the trash that we throw out? Where does it go after leaving our homes? Can that waste be used in any other way? About 25-30 years ago, when our houses were swept, there would be just dust and…

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Learning conservation from tribals

Innovator: Pankaj Joshi Occupation: Forest conservationist Location: Kutch Forests around Bhuj, Gujarat < If there is passion, nothing is impossible. But if there is no passion, then even success and achievements cannot give happiness. The world is full of examples of people who have earned great achievements in life but it didn’t give them the same happiness as a small success in pursuing their passion gave them. And so it won’t be wrong to say that to achieve something in life, passion is as important as breathing is for life. But what is this passion? What gives rise to it? It stems from a dream. When you have a dream,…

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Strengthening tribal communities

Innovator: Mustu Bhai Occupation: Tribal welfare activist Location: Palanpur, Gujarat As a child, Mustafa Khan aka Mustu Bhai had once cheated a shopkeeper. Mustu was nine years old when he had gone to buy something from the shop. However, the shop was so crowded that the shopkeeper forgot to take money from Mustu Bhai and instead gave him some money, which Mustu Bhai gladly took and returned home. At home, he was laughing while narrating the incident to his mother. Later, when his father found out, Mustu Bhai was heavily scolded and taken back to the shop, receiving a few thrashes from his father on the way. Mustu’s father did…

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