NNEEWW YYEEAARR SSPPEECCIIAALL EEDDIITTIIOONN SINCE 2007 | NOT FOR SALEVOL 2 | ISSUE NO. 8 | JANUARY 18, 2017

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By Lt Cdr Vartika Joshi

IIn August 2013, theIndian Navy waslooking for volun-

teers, including womenofficers for the iconicCape to Rio Yacht Race. Iwas raring to grab holdof an opportunity to sail,after all that’s the reasonI had joined the Navywithout having theslightest idea that it wasyet to induct women offi-cers in ocean sailing plat-forms. My joy knew nobounds when I got greensignal for the expedition

from the Navy. I applied to be part of this expedi-tion without a second thought. Today I considermyself fortunate to have been able to sail my first-ever long ocean passage from Brazil to Cape Townonboard the Navy’s Sailing Vessel Mhadei. Thevessel had two solo circumnavigations (first under-taken by Capt Dilip Donde (Retd) and second non-stop circumnavigation by Cdr Abhilash Tomy).This particular expedition had a huge impact on mesince my entire childhood was spent in the hills.Staying so close to the sea looked like a distantdream to me all this while. Something prompted me to volunteer again tosail. A few months later (Dec 2014) I got to knowthat INSV Mhadei was celebrating the completionof her 1,00,000 nautical miles by sailing the vesselaround the Indian peninsula. I registered my name for it with the Navy andsailed with a team of four skippered and mentoredby Capt Dilip Donde. By this time I was not quiteaware of what the Navy had been planning. Gettingan opportunity to sail again on the Mhadei reas-sured my interest in offshore sailing. Eventuallywhen I was asked if I wanted to be part of the

planned ‘all-women circumnavigation’being referred to as Sagar Parikrama III, Iimmediately stepped in. The Navy, aroundthe same time, also identified five other youngand dynamic women officers who had acommon interest in sailing and alsohad been part of the above expe-

ditions in its var-

i o u slegs. This ishow six of usbelonging to different parts of the countryand various cadres of the Navy wereappointed to form a team to attempt an ‘all-women circumnavigation’ in August 2017. This write-up will remain incompleteunless I introduce members of theteam to readers. � Lt Payal Gupta: An educationofficer, she belongs toDehradun, Uttarakhandand loves to travel, thevery reason behind her

volunteering for the mission. She is nicknamed asPuko on the boat. � Lt Shougrakpam Vijaya Devi: An excellentsinger, Shou is a native of Manipur. She lovesstitching and has time and again displayed herexemplary skills while sailing. She is an educationofficer in the Indian Navy.� Lt Swathi Patarapalli: From the city of destiny,Visakhapatnam, she is an Air Traffic Controller andhas been an avid yachtswoman since her childhood.She likes painting and has an eye for interiordesigning. Nickname: Swatcat

� Lt AishwaryaB o d d a p a t i :Nicknamed as ‘Aish’,she comes fromHyderabad and is aNaval architect. Shehas an innate ability tocheer and lighten the

atmosphere when wouldneed it the most. She is also

an excellent writer.� Lt Cdr Pratibha

Jamwal (Jammy): AnAir TrafficController in theNavy, she is also agraduate inElectronics. Shedoes beautifulglass painting

and amazes us with her creativity.� Lt Cdr Vartika Joshi: She finished her gradua-tion in Aerospace Engineering and thereafter joinedthe Navy as a Naval Architect. A nature lover, shelikes travelling and strumming on the guitar. Shemay form a music band with the rest of the teamsoon and together they can rock on a rocking boat!Nickname: VJWe all had volunteered for this project based onour individual experiences onboard the Mhadeiand a common drive for adventure. But as we start-ed improvising upon our sea legs, we realized thatoffshore sailing was not only limited to sailing fromplace A to place B. To be able to achieve what wehad set out for, each one of us has to inculcate mul-tiple skills ranging from repairing onboard equip-ment, communication, weather prediction, naviga-tion to cleanship, cooking and overall upkeep of theboat and most importantly, the ability to work andlive together for a long duration in a 17-metre boat. Our initial training encompassed learning aboutbasic boat handling and sail theory at Indian NavalWatermanship Training Centre, Mumbai, followed byextensive theoretical study on navigation, seaman-ship, communication, meterology at various schoolsat Naval Base, Kochi. They say 'no education is com-plete without experience’. It was soon time to startapplying all the knowledge gathered from a plethoraof sources. Our first mission was to sail the boat inde-pendently around the Indian peninsula during theInternational Fleet Review held in January 2016.

� Report continued on Page 2

MEET THE WOMEN WHOCONQUERED THE SEA

While taking on a challenge,it is perhaps more essential toconfront and endure the biggerchallenges that are bound to

follow, than the challenge itself. Lt Cdr Vartika Joshi

‘

BILLION BEATSSPECIAL REPORT

Indian Navy’s all-women sailing crew.

2 JAN 18, 2017 ‘ bb-pinned | Is there an inspiring story that needs to be told? Get intouch with us and our team will take up the mission soon!

We have a long way toArtifical IntelligenceBy Gulaam Khwaja Moinudeen

AArtificial intelligence (AI)h a sc a p -

tured theimaginationof everyonefor a longtime. In recenttimes, peoplehave startedusing AI insome form or the other.Either route suggestion by mapapp or voice controlled mobilephones, there are elements of AIalready in the market.Recent research puts it as a $5billion market by 2020, and thereare estimates that 6 billion con-nected "things" will require AIsupport by 2018.The global industry is lookingforward to intelligent manufac-turing systems. But we have along way to go in terms of pat-tern recognition and decisionmaking by the computers on itsown. Scientists say that to mimic anaction of a cockroach, acres ofsupercomputers may berequired.So, we are way behind to makean AI based factory floor. In themeantime, as the comfort of AIgrows, we might need to studythe impact, both positive andnegative, it would have on oursociety. billionbeats

� The writer is grand nephew of GuruKalam and a trustee of Dr APJ Abdul

Kalam International Foundation.

TECH TRENDSDOODLE DELIGHT AJ

� Continued from Page 1Soon after the completion of our basic courses inKochi, we were deputed to work on the Mhadeiand sail her on a regular basis under the mentor-ship of Capt Dilip Donde. We would sail with him regularly, learn from hisexperiences and then apply our brains to find solu-tions to a variety of problems that would keep crop-ping as we continued working. One day, as wereturned from a routine sailing sortie in Goa, heasked us “would you guys sail the boat to Karwarand back day after tomorrow? I will not be comingthis time.” Our hearts pounded initially but we knew thisday had to come one day and we shouted in unison“Yes Sir!”. There was no looking back thereafter.We successfully completed our independent sortiefrom Goa to Karwar and back, covering 80 nauticalmiles. A few months later, we set off for Vizag toparticipate in the International Fleet Review andsailed the boat independently from Vizag covering2,000 nautical miles and returned Goa on theInternational Women’s Day (March 8, 2016). The level of difficulty was only going to increasefrom here. We were to learn from the mistakes wemade, improvise, plan, practice and get the boatready for the next open ocean voyage to Mauritius. All this was to be achieved in two months. As Iwrite about recollecting the events that eventuallyled to the successful culmination of this particularexpedition, I feel proud to see the way we havedeveloped as a team in a very short span of time. The expedition was a test of all we had learnt sofar as we sailed the boat during the peak of mon-

soon, confronting strong winds. This has been athrilling historic first for us as a team as well as forthe country. The dedication and the team’s collec-tive effort helped us a great deal in resolving thebiggest of problems at sea. July 2016, we returnedfrom Mauritius to our home port Goa, coveringover 5,000 nautical miles. The immediate next milestone set for us was CapeTown, South Africa, 5,000 miles off Goa. This wasalmost double the distance we had covered tillMauritius and served as an endurance test for us,this being the longest ocean passage the team hasseen till date. Forty-three days that we sailed dur-ing this expedition helped us increase our levels ofpatience, discover more about ourselves and made

us more confident than before. The nuances of thesea left us in awe, the waters being such an unpre-dictable medium. Perhaps why it attracts us too! Itteaches us to value every moment and lead ourlives one step at a time. The team, post-completion of the voyage fromGoa to Cape Town, recently returned Goa and isnow involved in the final stages of construction ofINSV Mhadei’s sister vessel, Tarini, which is beingbuilt by Aquarius Fiberglass Pvt Ltd at the Dewarisland in Goa. The vessel is scheduled to be delivered to theIndian Navy in Feb 2017 and would then be utilizedby the all-women crew for the planned circumnav-igation commencing Aug 2017. The circumnaviga-tion is planned to be undertaken in five legs andincludes four stopovers at Fremantle (WesternAustralia), Lyttelton (New Zealand), Port Stanley(Falkland Islands) and Cape Town (South Africa)This is required for replenishment of our provisionsfor the onward leg. The voyage is expected to lastfor nine months. On a concluding note, I’m reminded of a nicequote that keeps cropping up in social media oncein a while, many of us click the ‘like’ button, shareit but fail to apply it when it comes to taking a stepforward to achieve one’s dream. It says ‘life begins at the edge of your comfortzone’. While taking on a challenge, it is perhapsmore essential to confront and endure the biggerchallenges that are bound to follow, than the chal-lenge itself. billionbeats

‘We developed as a great team in a short time’

� The writer is the Skipper ofIndian Navy Sailing Vessel Mhadei.

� The writer is a 5th standard studentwith Air Force School ASTE, Bangalore.

By Harismitha N M

AAflag is a must for all nations. Millionshave died for it. Every free nation hasits own flag. It is a symbol of a free

country. Gandhiji first proposeda flag for the IndianNational Congress in1921. The flag wasdesigned by PVenkayya. In the centrewas a traditional spin-ning wheel, symboliz-ing Gandhiji's goal ofmaking Indians self-reliant by weaving their

own clothes.The National Flag of India was adopted in itspresent form during the meeting of theConstituent Assembly held on 22 July 1947, afew days before India's independence fromthe British on 15 August, 1947. It served asthe national flag between 15 August 1947 and26 January 1950 and that of the Republic of

India thereafter. In India, the term "tricolour"refers to the Indian national flag.The national flag of India is a horizontal tri-colour of deep saffron (kesari) at the top,white in the middle and dark green at the bot-tom in equal proportion. The ratio of the widthof the flag to its length is two to three. In the

centre of the white band is a navy blue wheelwhich represents the Ashoka Chakra. ThisChakra depicted the "wheel of the law" in theSarnath Lion Capital made by MauryanEmperor Ashoka.The Chakra intends to show that there is lifein movement and death in stagnation. Truth orsatya, dharma or virtue ought to be the con-trolling principle of those who work under thisflag. In the National Flag of India the top band is ofSaffron colour, indicating the strength andcourage of the country. The white middleband indicates peace and truth with DharmaChakra. The last band is green in colour whichshows the fertility, growth and auspiciousnessof the land.We are taught in school to respect our flag. Inother countries, people use the flag as clothesor other accessories. In India, we are extreme-ly proud of our flag and do not let it be usedon clothes or other places. billionbeats

INDIA OF MY DREAMS

I am proud of my National Flag

3 JAN 18, 2017 ‘ bb-pinned | We are happy to feature innovative projects from collegestudents in these columns. Email details to: billionbeats@gmail.com

By Boby Michael

IIn the beginning,the inspirationwas for a

reunion; a return ofthe 1991 batch ofVayattuparamba St.Joseph’s HighS c h o o l ,Vayattuparamba,

Kannur District, Kerala after 25 years.The alumni formed a WhatsApp groupand started inviting members fromacross the globe. They chatted, recol-lected teenage memories, celebratedhappy moments, slowly realising thattheir life has become just sweeter. Itwas sweet like ‘Narangamittayi’, avariety of lemon flavoured toffee, com-mon in their school days and so theynamed their association after it. Theyaccepted ‘Reunion For Rebuilding’ astheir slogan, indicating that the inspira-tion, over a period of time, has grownbeyond the idea of just a reunion offriends.

The tribute to the schoolFor the silver jubilee get-together,the organisers wanted the day to be amemorable one with a variety of pro-grammes and, more than that, ameaningful one, by way of giftingsomething great to their alma mater.Several concepts were considered butthe idea of a special purpose libraryand activity park was finally acceptedunanimously.They wanted the library to bethemed after inspiration, and classify

it as a theme-based school library,may be the first-of-its-kind. Themotive behind it was to promote guid-ed reading with research outlook, notthe usual way of random reading,among high school students, with thehelp of teachers who are experts invarious subjects. That way,Narangamittayi expected their follow-ers in the school to become informedand inspired so as to move on tocareers best matching their aptitudes.The library wanted an icon to carrythe real message of inspiration, andthe search successfully ended withDr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the formerPresident, whose life, words anddeeds are now globally accepted,especially among students andyouths who are sincere in their heartbut lacking in resources. So the library

was named APJ Knowledge Park andit was decided to install a statue of DrKalam in the landscaped activity parkin front of the library, and well knownsculptor, Prem Kumar Thadikkadav,created a massive 10- foot fibre glassstatue of the icon.

The Knowledge ParkThe inauguration of APJKnowledge Park took place on 28thDecember 2016. Nearly 190 of all the230 students of the 1991 batch camefor the event. Almost all the teachersof that time also came to witness thehistoric event.The books and the digital contentselected for the library are aimed atintroducing the real roads of growth invarious fields of knowledge, travelledby the noted gainers in those fields. It

also has various specially designedprogrammes associated to seriousreading, rather than the usual libraryactivity, making it a knowledge park.The activity area adjacent to the red-stone library has two parts. A quiz ordebate zone with a gallery for partici-pants and a platform for the quizmas-ter/moderator. The other one is a dis-cussion/gaming/experiment zonewhere participants gather for consen-sus or solution. These two activities --one of asking questions and receivinganswers, and the other of arriving tocommon answers with the help of pro-cessing the knowledge gained -- arethe two necessary activities making thebest follow-up for reading of any book.Sheik Dawood, grand nephew ofGuru Kalam, who represented the DrA P J International Foundation duringthe inauguration talked about need tostrengthen basic education in India.He said the A P J Knowledge Park canhelp students understand what theyhave to learn in a scientific manner.Several activities have been plannedand executed by the staff and stu-dents, and three major programmesare planned to be conducted in thePark on an annual basis. billionbeats

By Parimala Hariprasad

IIn today’s worldwhere technology ischanging rapidly, a

passionate team atRVCE has successfullydesigned Soleblaze, asolar car with globalstandards. The carwas designed to pro-mote the use of themost important natural

resource, the Sun! Christened as The RVCESolar Car Team, these students grabbed theattention of many eco-friendly vehicle manu-facturers. HHooww iitt aallll ssttaarrtteedd:: The single-seater solar caris capable of running at an average speed of90 km per hour when there's sun light. It canrun for 200 km at a speed of 60 km per hourduring night hours with the help of storedsolar energy. The RVCE Solar Car Team hassuccessfully collaborated with 30 of theworld’s leading companies in their respectivedomains to bring out the prototype . TheUnited States’ leading solar cell manufacturerSunPower has offered efficient solar cellsmaking the RVCE team one of the few to haveaccess to this technology. The projectreceived support from Indian industrialists aswell as from several foreign corporate firms inand outside the solar industry. Infosys mentorN R Narayana Murthy, Wipro chairman AzimPremji and Chetan Maini, former CEO andfounder of Mahindra REVA, are among thosewho have supported the project with fundsand other guidance.Former chief mentor of RVCE Solar Car teamand college principal B S Satyanarayana saidthe students had an opportunity to study con-ventional automobile technology, controls,power train , besides focusing on sustainabletechnologies. Principal Dr K N Subramanyawas in the forefront, supporting the initiative.The project, from concept to design, develop-ment, fabrication, testing, participation andtransportation, was being done under a tight

budget. "Kudos to the team. For students of alocal engineering college to apply what theylearned in a classroom to design somethinglike this and go through the rigmarole of get-ting parts from different parts of the world isextraordinary. I'm proud of them," said MrNarayana Murthy, one of India's mostrespected philanthropists who gave RVCEstudents Rs 30 lakh for the car. Sharan M, a third-year mechanical engineer-ing student, said: "We would like to showcaseIndia’s potential on the global stage by takingpart in this competition. The genesis of theidea to develop a solar car happened in thefirst semester. The project was approved lastyear." It was a little before the team participat-ed in the World Solar Car Challenge held inAustralia in October 2015.Unfortunately, they couldn't take part in thechallenge. The shipping company had prom-ised the RVCE team that the car and batterywould arrive at the venue on October 9. "Thecar reached us on October 14. The batterycame two days later and it was damagedduring transit," said Vikram R Nath, amechanical engineering student who led theteam. The exact cause of delay was notknown at the time."We couldn't control our emotions. We were

disappointed," RVCE associate professor SMahendra Kumar said from Adelaide.However, this didn’t stop them from pursuingtheir passion. A brand new team has takenupon itself to take the Soleblaze project aheadand give it wings in 2017.22001177 –– AA yyeeaarr ooff nneeww hhooppeess:: The first cyclewas sponsored by many generous hearts atSunedison, Wipro, NI and TE. Sunpower andWipro have agreed to support the secondcycle as well. Team members are grateful forthis support and have made a giant effort bycollaborating with leading corporates such asIBM, MRC Ltd and TAML to name a few fortechnical and financial assistance. In short, the project is a huge success, be itwith respect to being the only solar car teamfrom India with so many sponsors on board,to building the most advanced solar car inIndia, from scratch. The second prototypestarted off by reaching out to various compa-nies and individuals who have shown interestin the project. BBrraaiinnss bbeehhiinndd tthhee iinnnnoovvaattiioonn:: Team managers-- Varun K R, Lalit Kumar, Ashray AcharyMechanical team- Cherian Thomas, AbinashPanda, Viketh S, Ritvij Raj, Deepak Udupa,Raman Raj, Varshith, Vaibhav R, Fabrication team -- Megha R,Chandraprakash, Akhil Mukundan

Electronics team -- Kunaal M, ChannabaswaN, Shravan M S, Limbaji, Abinash B, SumitKumar, G S KarthikSponsorship and media team -- AkhilMukundan, Pallavi SuranaThe complete list of team members can befound at http://www.solarcar-rvce.in/team.htmlWWhhaatt''ss iinn tthhee ppiippeelliinnee:: The team plans toincorporate the next prototype with:A stiffer and a stronger base for solar panelsStrength of the material used for variousmechanical components like the knuckle andthe jointsA complete monocoque carbon fiber bodywhich reduces the weight increases thestrength.Safer battery box design to ensure ruggedusage.Usage of Indian-made components, to reducethe cost, without compromising on quality.Three cheers to the youth of today for notonly thinking of the impossible, but breakingthe barriers and re-writing history in the auto-mobile world. billionbeats

APJ KNOWLEDGE PARK: A schoollibrary themed after inspiration

Sheik Dawood, grand nephew of Guru Kalam, at the launch of the KnowledgePark recently. (Right) A glimpse of the park.

� The writer is one of the co-ordina-tors of project along with ShinoySebastian, working in Australia.

Boby is a journalist-turned educator,having founded a concept schoolnamed Eastern Deccan School inKohir, a village in the Sangareddy

district of Telangana.

Campus Beat: Soul-blazers who created Soleblaze

� The writer is an IT professional,and Volunteer-cum-Programme

Coordinator, Inspired Indian Foundation.

4 JAN 18, 2017 ‘ bb-pinned | Shreyas Devanoor, Journalism student from University ofMysore, set to compose a suitable jingle for Billion Beats.

billion beats is an e-paper published by Dr A P J Abdul Kalam International Foundation headquartered in Rameswaram. It is edited, designed and uplinked by a team from Inspired Indian Foundation (www.inspiredindianfoundation.org), Bengaluru. billion beats will hit the web every month and you are free to use thecontent by giving due credit to the publication. THE TEAM | Mentor: A P J M Maraikayar | Editorial Advisors from House of Kalam: Dr Naseema Maraikayar, A P J M Jainullabudeen, G K Moinudeen, A P J M J Sheik Saleem, A P J M J Sheik Dawood, A P J M S Nagoor Roja | Editor: Dr Anantha Krishnan M |National Volunteer Coordinator (IIF): Parimala Hariprasad | National Student Coordinator (Billion Beats): Anupama Jaiswal | Desk: Anil R. Nair, Vyasa, Ramya Pradeep | Design: Anup | Email: billionbeats@gmail.com | Twitter: @HouseOfKalam | FB: https://www.facebook.com/BillionBeatsOfficial/

GURU KALAM LIVES ON

An elderly woman with special needsadmires a pencil sketch of Guru Kalamdone by Indian Army soldier Renjith atChitra Santhe held in Bangalore recently.

Billion Beats set totake new strides

HHello India! Look what wehave packed this time toinspire you - a four-page

Billion Beats with many inspiringstories from different parts ofIndia! The icing on the cake is thelead piece by Lt Cdr VarthikaJoshi, the skipper of Indian NavySailing Vessel Mhadei. As we enter another year, wehave decided to take Billion Beats tothe next level. As a first step, a ded-icated website is being plannedshortly for this e-initiative. We aretargeting more schools and col-leges to set up the Billion BeatsInnovation Labs (BBILs). We aretaking Guru Kalam’s teachingsand ideas to more studentsthrough the talk series An IdeaCalled India.

The Billion Beatseditorial team hasalso expandednow with morejournalists lend-ing their handsto make the edi-

tions better. We arealso now open to the idea of hav-ing advertisements in Billion Beats,to meet the production and travelexpenses. We are also roping inmore writers from different partsof India to tap stories of ordinaryIndians and unsung heroes.Please note that most of the teammembers behind Billion Beats areplaying a voluntary role to keepthe ideals of Guru Kalam alive. So,as Billion Beats makes new stridescapturing inspiring stories, wethank each one of you for beingpart of this journey.You inspire us! Enjoy this specialedition.

Happy New Year!Editor, billionbeats

DREAM ON

By Anupama Jaiswal

AAgood cook should have a greatheart! And, I found a man witha golden heart in Toten Sen, the

Executive Chef working with RoyalOrchid Metropole in Mysuru. It was achance meeting, a conversation out ofcuriosity. But finally it turned out to beToten Sen being a man on a mission and

a soul with a difference. You would soon agree why!Born in Kolkata, he is the only son of his parents SanjaySingh and Swapna Singh. At 38 now, Toten has a total 14years of experience in cooking. Among his celebrity guestsare the likes of cricketers Yuvaraj Singh and HarbhajanSingh and IT scion N R Narayana Murthy.So what makes Toten Sen different? Simple! Histhoughts. “Waste of food is a big issue and I am concerned. I ambeing told that over 20 crore Indians sleep hungry everynight. At times, I am to see the waste of food after bigparties. Why are people so blind towards this burningproblem we are facing?,” asks Toten.He has a solution as well. “I want all those who arehosting parties and mega feasts to enter into an arrange-ment with an NGO so that they can immediately makepackets of food soon after the event is over. This willhelp the needy and it will be a ‘party with a purpose',which I feel will touch many a heart,” says Toten. He strongly advocates the idea of making wast-ing food a punishable offence. “Fine the peoplewho waste food; then people will be a littlemore observant while wasting food. Theidea is to create. It is a crime wastingfood,” says Toten. “This world is full ofsuffering and by small deeds of help,we can bring in a change,” he adds.When asked about his interest incooking, Toten says he had beeninspired towards being a kitchenwarrior right from his child-hood. And in his school of cook-ing his first guru was his grand-mother Snehlata Singh.“She taught me the magic of

cooking and how to touch people’s heart. Even now, I useher home remedies while cooking. She was an inspirationfor me and through her blessings I am excelling in thiscareer,” he says.He has strong views about India as well. He says theyouth will have to be guided in the right direction.“Educating the youth and achieving 100 per cent literacywill brighten the future of our country. If our countryneeds to march ahead, we need to have politicians who areeducated. They should have a vision. Even our legal sys-tem needs to be made easy and affordable for the poor.And each one of us should have shelter, food and employ-ment,” says Toten with eyes wide open.He says he was always inspired by the work of GuruKalam and his dedication to the country. “I wanted to serve him once, but unfortunately I could-n’t. I also hope to serve our Prime Minister Narendra Modionce. I can prepare excellent Gujarati dishes like fafda, jilebiand dhokla,” says Toten.

Toten says most of the times people fail to offertheir gratitude after eating the food. “I feel a prayerbefore eating food is a must. To serve with a smileis a great thing, but to get gratitude in return makesour day. It helps us to work better,” he adds.Suman Naniah, Area General Manager at RoyalOrchid, says Toten is a jewel for them. “Toten is ajewel for us. He is an excellent team player and hiscreativity in cooking never ceases to amaze theguests. We are lucky to have him with us,” saysSuman.

As we were ready to wind up our chit-chat, Toten came out with another wish.“I have a dream of opening a smallorphanage for 10-12 children. I want toprovide them with all means so thatthey excel in life and become greatleaders of our country,” he added,with hope jettisoning out of hiseyes. billionbeats

By Aditi Patwardhan

AAn anony-m o u sa u t h o r

once said: “A suc-cessful woman isone who can builda firm foundationwith the bricksthrown at her.”

The definition of success is relative.For many, it may mean a hugeachievement academically, or profes-sionally, while for others, it maymean little joys of life for themselvesand the people around them.I have been seeing Shalu since mychildhood. She is our cook since manyyears. A cheerful lady in her late-for-ties, who loves singing, dancing andcooking (yes, in that order), it wassurprising for me to know that her lifehas been full of disappointments. Her father was a labourer and hermother did odd jobs to earn a living.She was forced to leave her educationwhile in 4th grade and follow hermother to help her family. Married at18, her husband treated her badly,and even threatened to kill her. Butthat didn’t deter Shalu, who was thena mother of three girls.

One day, she was found sittingbehind a bush in my granny’s garden.My granny called her inside and fedher, took care of her and assured pro-tection to Shalu and her daughters.This was the turning point in Shalu’slife. Slowly, she started cooking as ameans of earning and did well. She isquite bubbly, even dancing with us

when we play music, singing oldHindi songs while rolling chapatis andcracking jokes.Today, Shalu has her own house inNagpur, a bicycle which she so happi-ly rides to work, and her daughtersare educated and well settled. Now,she need not even work for a living.When I asked her why she still cooksat people’s homes, pat came the reply– “I love seeing the smiles on people’sfaces after they have their food. Itmakes my day and there’s no biggerjoy and satisfaction than seeing othershappy, and being the reason behindtheir happiness.”Shalu is like family to us; her prob-lems are our problems, and her joysare ours. She has been a part of all ourcelebrations. She has stood by us inthe most trying times, and has beenlike a mother to me. She believes thatGod has given us this life to serve oth-ers. What we get in return is a bless-ing from God.I salute people like Shalu whoselives are an inspiration to keep smil-ing and spread happiness. billionbeats

SERVING WITH A SMILE

Shalu’s plate of joy brims over manyUNSUNG HEROES

� The writer is a Second YearComputer Technology Engineering

student at Yeshwantrao ChavanCollege of Engineering, Nagpur.

Wasting food is a crime. This world is full of suffering and bysmall deeds of help, we can bring in a change. -- Toten Sen‘

� The writer is an ITprofessional andNational StudentCoordinator forBillion Beats.