Tag: Mamta D

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Eat

Street food and the Mumbai diabetic

Are you a diabetic looking for a snack on the street? There aren’t many options, but here’s presenting seven items.
by Mamta D | @silverlightgal on Twitter

Indian food is considered to be among the best in the whole world. While many countries are content to consume meat, fish, and vegetables in bland form, India prides itself on its rich, tasty and spicy cuisines. Owing to the diverse communities inhabiting India, our food has become all the more rich, sometimes even fusing two or more cuisines together. Besides the regular home-cooked varieties and food that is available in hotels and restaurants, India is also famous for its street food.

From the chhole bhatures of Delhi’s streets to the aloo paranthas of Chandigarh, to the dosai of Chennai and the ubiquitous vada pav of Mumbai, you will find sumptuous spreads right on the street, all at throwaway prices.  Moreover, the roadside stalls are open most of the day and people from any walk of life can consume their wares. Thus, you have a daily wage laborer eating steaming hot vada pavs alongside a well-dressed office-goer. Street food stalls don’t discriminate between their customers.

If at all there are any drawbacks to street food, it is that of hygiene and that they are not diabetic-friendly. The matter of hygiene is a controversial one, but once you have taken the plunge, there’s no looking back. People often jokingly claim that eating street food over the years has made them more immune to illnesses.

As for diabetic-friendliness, sadly there’s not much to cheer. Most of the popular street food is loaded with carbohydrates and/or sugar. For instance, a single vada pav serving is packed with 300 calories and includes 55 gms of carbs. The dabeli which is an import from the street sides of Kutch has approximately 197 calories and 26.5 g of carbs.

Besides vada pav, samosas, and dabelis, there are umpteen roadside idli and dosa stalls. Idlis are high in carbs and have a high glycemic index of 77, so they can hike your blood sugar. Likewise for dosas. If you’re a diabetic, stay away from the nimbu pani and gola carts and the sweet lassi counters.

Neither can you indulge in the paani puri. Even if you bravely attempt to consume the paani puri foregoing the sweet chutney, you will not be able to go beyond one attempt. The sweet chutney is meant to serve a purpose and doing away with it does not make sense.

But being a diabetic doesn’t have to mean giving up on your taste buds, especially, if you are prone to hypoglycemia and there’s no homemade food at hand.

So what are the good street food choices for a diabetic? Try these:

dhokla#1) Dhoklas: Dhoklas are made of besan (Bengal gram flour) and so offer a decent alternative to the carb-and glucose-rich foods. Dunk them in the fiery green chutney and voila! You have a tasty healthy snack.

#2) Kanda pohe: Made of flattened or beaten rice and often served warm or hot, this street side food is mostly available during the morning hours as a quickie breakfast. Ensure, however, that there are no potato slices or wedges in the pohe.

#3) Bhel puri: Bhel puri that is mixed without the sweet chutney can be a tasty and yet healthy snack. It has puffed rice, peanuts, finely chopped onions, tomatoes, green chillies, and coriander leaves.

#4) Upma: This rava dish is a perennial favourite across many communities. From South Indians to Maharashtrains, everyone loves upma for its taste value and simplicity. A simple onion upma can be ravishing when you’re super hungry.

#5) Misal/Usal Pav: Dipping thick chunks of bread or pav into the fiery red steaming missal that has an array of boiled sprouts floating in it and consuming it before the missal cools down can either be a blissful or a scary experience, depending on how weak or strong your stomach is.True blue Mumbaikars swear bythe missal pav.

#6) Egg bhurji and other egg items: Many roadside corners boast of an anda pav or bhurji pav stall. The bhurji is made in a jiffy with finely chopped tomatoes, onions, slit bhurjigreen chillies and scrambled with raw eggs. The hot bhurji is then slid on to your plate with a slick movement and a slice of pav is scraped on the tava, finally landing on your plate on top of the bhurji. On a cold winter evening, taking quick bites of this hot and spicy combination can be quite orgasmic. These stalls also serve boiled eggs and omelettes with pav.

#7) Kebabs and other items: Street food is not limited to the vegetarian varieties alone. There are kebabs, shawarmas, tandoori nuggets, and so on. Bade Miyan’s at Colaba, the umpteen stalls at Mohammed Ali street or Abdul Rehman street are the places to go to for these.

As you can see, unfortunately, the number of street food choices for a diabetic are quite low in number.  ‘Make do with what’s available’ will be the best policy here than to give in to temptations and have your blood glucose levels shooting up sky high!

(Pictures courtesy asiaexpatguides.com, kiransrecipes.blogspot.com, www.mapsofindia.com)

Categories
Hum log

You know what they did this summer?

Discover Operation Pyaas – a small act of kindness that goes way beyond offering a stranger a pack of buttermilk.
by Mamta D | @silverlightgal on Twitter

Summers are normally harsh in Mumbai. This year, however, it seems like it’s going to surpass all past records and go on to be the hottest summer in recent times. The blazing sun, the scorching heat, the sticky sweat that threatens to envelop you as soon as you step out into the outdoors is enough to make you reconsider your decision and head back into the cool interiors of your home.

Many of us reach air-conditioned cubicles well before the sun has started to show its muscle and leave after sundown and thus are spared the torture of facing the sun. Not all though, are so fortunate.  Traffic cops, postmen, gas delivery men, petrol pump attendants and their like have to be on their toes most of the day in the severe unrelenting heat. It is while thinking of these people that Operation Pyaas came to be born.

What it’s about

SNEH Foundation, a Pune-based NGO looking to make a foray in Mumbai, initiated ‘Operation Pyaas’ as a kind and caring gesture for those who have no choice but to suffer the heat all day. The idea was to gather a few volunteers, purchase buttermilk (chaach or chhaas in Hindi/Marathi) in bulk, arrange for ice to keep them chilled and finally distribute them to these people.

The idea sounded great – but its execution took time, effort, and hard work. Eventually, around 50 volunteers assembled at various points in Mumbai on a scorching Saturday morning, on May 24. They formed groups, discussed routes, divided the crates of buttermilk packets and tetrapacks amongst themselves and left on their mission. A mission of kindness. Of caring.

All this was not without glitches, for there were plenty.

Like, at the last moment, one of the key members of the group fell prey to a fever and couldn’t even leave home. The others had to reach him to collect the crates from him. Another glitch was that though they’d been hoping to avoid buttermilk pouches (due to their possibility of leaking) and instead carry tetrapacks, their supplier let them down and could provide only pouches to them. Also, the number of volunteers was far less than the expected volume. Undeterred by these hassles and spurred on by one another’s contagious enthusiasm, this motley crowd went to fulfill their day’s mission.

While some groups were formed to cater to Central Mumbai areas like Thane and travelled up to Mulund, the other groups spread out on the Western suburbs of the city.

The traffic cops, roadside sweepers, and other men and women who were recipients of the pouches and packs were overwhelmed by this simple yet caring gesture. Some of them spoke to the volunteers with moistened eyes and offered them lunch, such was their feeling of gratitude. Because they understood this wasn’t just about one day, it wasn’t just about a packet of chilled buttermilk on a hot day, it was far beyond that. It was the thought that somebody cared about them, that they weren’t invisible workers, and that we don’t take them for granted though it may have appeared so until now. This was a token of appreciation and for that these people felt overwhelmed.

Spreading the joy in two phases

Eventually, the first phase of Operation Pyaas was a grand success despite all the initial setbacks. Buoyed by this, SNEH Foundation began plans for the second phase of Operation Pyaas which was held at various areas of Navi Mumbai on May 31, between 11 am to 2 pm.

All they did at first was to ask a few persons who had participated in Phase 1 of Operation Pyaas whether they would be willing for another such event at Navi Mumbai. The answer was a unanimous ‘Yes’!

Next, they had to arrange for funds and more volunteers and take care of sundry other things like transportation and so on. It is here that they found an angel, in the form of PravinTulpule, who likes to be known as Clown Pinto. He was just one man but with the energy and enthusiasm of a thousand. With his quick thinking and prompt planning, the vehicle and volunteer arrangements were put into place.

Next came the question of sponsorship. Here too, luck was in their favour. June 1 was being commemorated as World Milk Day. And when one of the friends of the President of the Mumbai Chapter of SNEH who had contacts with AMUL India got to know of the event, AMUL India quickly stepped up to sponsor as many as 300 chhaas packets for the noble cause. Thus, it was that for Operation Pyaas Phase 2, Clown Pinto facilitated a sponsorship of 300 chhaas packets and boundless enthusiasm of the volunteers.

The event on May 31 went smoothly, covering a wider reach than before, with the chilled chhaas packets being distributed to garbage workers, sewage cleaners and construction site labourers. Some of the spots where these workers worked were difficult to reach, yet there was never a moment’s hesitation on the part of the volunteers. Accompanied by the AMUL personnel, the members of SNEH reached out to offer a cool sip of relief to Mumbai’s hardworking people.

More such events are on the block for the near future. If you are keen to participate or contribute in cash or kind, please contact Abhijeet Prabhu 09833144949 or Swati Nanda 09561181831.

(Pictures courtesy Operation Pyaas)

Categories
Hum log

The not-so-reluctant social media maverick

Kiran Manral is everything at once – literally. We chat up the popular blogger, author, activist and volunteer network founder.
by Mamta D | @silverlightgal on Twitter

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you would surely have heard of Kiran Manral – at least if you’re using the digital medium. Maybe on a blog, maybe on a Twitter feed, maybe you’ve seen her on a panel discussion. But as they say, there can be so much to a person that sometimes one lifetime isn’t enough to know them. Kiran is one such person.

Kiran Manral worked as a journalist before she quit to be a full time mother. Her blogs, www.thirtysixandcounting.wordpress.com and www.karmickids.blogspot.com, are both in Labnol’s list of India’s top blogs. She often blogged at Tehelka Blogs on gender issues. She is also considered a ‘social media star’ on twitter by the TOI and IBN Live named her as among the ‘30 interesting Indian women to follow on Twitter’ and among the ‘Top 10 Indian moms to follow on Twitter for 2013’.

Post 26/11, she founded ‘India Helps’, a volunteer network to help disaster victims and has worked on long term rehabilitation of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack victims and 13/7 Mumbai bomb blast victims, amongst others. IndiaHelps began with helping the 26/11 disaster victims and now works with all disaster victims, depending on reach and access of volunteers to them.

Apart from this, she is part of the core founding team behind CSAAM and Violence Against Women Awareness Month, two very well-received social media awareness initiatives across Twitter and the blogosphere. Her debut novel, The Reluctant Detective, was published by Westland in 2012.

The Metrognome shot some gentle salvos at her to get some more interesting information on what she thinks of her Twitter celebrity status, her thoughts on the CSAA initiative and doing her bit to generate awareness about violence against women, among other things.

Excerpts from the interview:

Kiran ManralFrom joining Twitter/Facebook to becoming one of the top social media influencers, the journey on social media must have been surely exciting. How did you accomplish this?

To be very honest, I don’t really know how or why this happened. I think I was just very opinionated, and it has been a fun ride so far. What is good for me is that the reach helps me tremendously when it comes to issues close to my heart.

Tell us something about the CSAA (Child Sexual Abuse Awareness) initiative that you have been spearheading since 2011, and is now going strong in 2014.

I am part of the core founding team of CSA Awareness Month. It was founded by a group of bloggers concerned about the growing incidents of CSA and our head-in-the-sand approach to it. In the first year, we did receive a lot of resistance for even daring to talk about CSA; people said we were propagating child porn, we were talking about something that didn’t happen in India, that we were corrupting morals. Today, thankfully, people are much more receptive and vocal about CSA.

We think we have been able to get the stigma about CSA erased, and made people realise that they must know, get informed and talk to their children about this very real and present danger. We work across all social media, blogs, Twitter, Facebook and this year, with the help of parenting portal Yowoto and the NGO Arpan and Podar Educational Foundation, we were part of a very successful offline event where parents interacted with speakers and experts on this subject. Hopefully, there will come a time when we won’t need to do CSAAM at all. That would be our true vindication.

Besides being involved with CSAA and also managing the Indiahelps blog, you are often vocal about gender issues and violence against women. How did this come to be?

I’ve always believed that one has to give back a bit to society, that if every single person does their bit, this world could be a better place, in whatever way one can, however small, however insignificant one might think one’s effort or one’s voice is. True effort will always get amplified. So, I try to do my bit, generate awareness through the mediums I know the best-social media, and writing. That is what I can offer.

You also write often on fashion, jewellery, accessories, parenting, and food, on your blog. Cliched though this may sound, how do you manage the time and keep the enthusiasm alive?

Ha ha ha! I am quite a vain puss and terribly fond of clothes and accessories, not so much of food. I could call myself more a glutton than a foodie, to be honest. Parenting, well, I do describe myself as a school gate mom first and over all other definitions.

How do I manage the time? I don’t work full time. My son goes to school from 7.30 am to 2 pm, and I have a good chunk of time available to me to do my writing and other things that matter to me. I’m terribly slovenly about socialising and rarely go out to party or lunches, dinners and such like. I would rather spend my time reading, writing or being with my son. I’m pretty boring in that sense. I am also very disciplined about my work time – I make lists of tasks to be done for the day and get my bread and butter work done before I get down to fiction writing or blog writing. I make sure I’m at my desk every single day unless I’m seriously ill.

Your second book, Once Upon A Crush, is just out. What was the first book about and what is the new one about?

My first book, The Reluctant Detective, was about a suburban housewife who stumbles upon two murders and reluctantly gets involved in the investigation. This one is pure office romance, a romantic comedy, firmly tongue-in-cheek chick lit.

What is next on your agenda? Another book? More projects like CSAA? Or taking some time off?

Honestly I don’t know. I am writing books. I don’t work on one book at a time, so I have three different manuscripts at different stages in progress. CSAAM has gathered steam and will do very well with or without me now, I think. As for taking time off, if one is a mom, one never has time off. I tend to take things as they come to me. So hopefully, more writing projects, more time I can give to offline social efforts and yes, enjoying the last couple of years before my son hits the terrible teens.

Anything else you’d like to share with The Metrognome’s readers?

There is so much one is tempted to say if one is given a soapbox and no word limit, but all I would like to say is follow your heart and the rest will fall into place.

****

A brief synopsis about Kiran’s newest book, Once Upon A Crush:

‘Rayna De, stuck in a dead end job with a boss from hell, zero love life and the big 3-O looming large on the immediate horizon, has started to panic a bit. No, make that panic a lot. Enter new object of lust in the office, Deven Ahuja, and Rayna is overpowered by inappropriate visions of Cupid aiming his arrows straight into her heart, with turtle doves doing their billing and cooing act in the backdrop.

Alas, Deven is completely out of Rayna’s league despite the contradictory messages he seems to be sending out, and is, as decreed by page three supplements of the city newspapers, the man in the life of the gorgeous, light eyed model-turned-actress Sharbari Raina.

As Rayna battles with her unseemly, going nowhere crush, shaky employment status and dithers about signing up for domesticity with the vetted by her parents, Sid Bose, of the multi zero pay package, the two and a half bedroom house in a suburban gated complex and the very cultured, respectable family, she discovers that life has its own plans…’

(Pictures courtesy Kiran Manral, www.aswethinkis.com)

Categories
Achieve

A ride for a cause

There are bicycle riders and then there is Rahul Kumawat, who is riding all over the country for a cause.
by Mamta D

Rahul Kumawat (25) is a young design engineer at RNTBCI, who is undertaking a rather unusual, self-funded project: from November 20 to mid-December 2013, Rahul will go on a solo cycle expedition from Chennai to New Delhi, covering as many as 25 locations.

Rahul Kumawat Why? Not to prove anything to himself or the world, or even to test his own endurance. Rather, the goal of the expedition is to promote awareness of several social causes that he feels deserve attention. From blood donation appeals to promoting palliative care for cancer patients and spreading awareness about a little boy, Arian’s battle against Hunter Syndrome, Rahul Kumawat (or @Pedal_India as he is popularly known on Twitter), hopes to do them all.

It’s not easy for a working professional with no additional funds and no sponsor to embark on such a mission. “But I have made up my mind and regardless of the fact that till the last minute no sponsor has backed me, I will fulfill my goal. My project is a self-funded one and all I have with me are the blessings of my well-wishers and friends,” Rahul says.

Rahul will also be passing through Maharashtra. If all goes as planned, he will reach Mumbai on November 30 or December 1. Mumbaikars can meet him on his Mumbai leg as he cycles from the Gateway of India to Bhayander – they can meet, motivate, and if possible join him on his expedition.

Says Rahul, “I have been an active member of the Tamil Nadu cycling club and Chennai trekking club and Madras Randonneurs. Cycling Rahul Kumawat's trusty steedis one of my biggest passions and over the years, it has kept me healthy. Today I wish to channelise my passion for cycling into doing something good for society.” Earlier, in 2012, he completed a ride of 800 kilometres in four days to raise funds for cancer treatment. Later, he completed BRM 200 km organised by Audax France. A BRM (Brevet des Randonneurs Mondiaux) is a long-distance, free-paced cycling event.

His solo expedition, which started two days ago, is aptly titled ‘Ride Inside Bhartiya States’ as he will be covering major Indian states during his epic journey. Though the full ride is primarily a solo one, Rahul wants to make the experience a participatory exercise by inviting people to sign up for a part of the ride. A boy has signed up with RIBS to ride from Bangalore to Tumkur. In the last one week, several others have signed up to ride along with Rahul.

While Rahul will be doing the actual physical task of cycling, supporting him behind the scenes is Team RIBS comprising Kuheli and a few others. Team RIBS will monitor and update his progress on various social media networks including Twitter and Facebook.

Rahul KumawatRoute map:

– Beginning from SRM University, Chennai, Rahul first set out to Guduvancherry, then Vellore.

– From there, he will make his way to Karnataka, followed by Maharashtra and then Gujarat.

– From Gujarat, Rahul heads to Rajasthan and finally culminates his journey in the North of India.

If you are keen to participate in this mission, or know more about the cause Rahul’s promoting or just want to ride along for fun, visit https://www.facebook.com/ribsbharat or get in touch with Team RIBS at ribsbharat@gmail.com.

(Pictures courtesy J Vijaykumar)

Categories
Guest writer

Why there can be no other Madhubala

A fan speaks about her fondness for yesteryear actor Madhubala, reminiscing about the late beauty on the latter’s birthday yesterday.
by Mamta D

February 14 is a day that has become popular in recent times as Valentine’s day. Few people know that this day also marks the birth of one of the most beautiful Indian actresses ever to have graced the silver screen. Madhubala, or if you prefer her real name, Mumtaz Jahan Dehlavi, was born on February 14, 1933.

I was but a child when the movie Mahal was being played for the umpteenth time at a local open air theater. It had first released in the ’50s, but was very popular even in the ’70s and ’80s. I still remember the awe with which I, as a child, first saw her stunning beauty. The pure innocence of the song ‘Aayega aayega aanewala’ overrode the surrounding suspense (the movie was a suspense thriller). The child that I was, I couldn’t comprehend the suspenseful story but was captivated by the gorgeous beauty who lit up the screen.

In the ensuing years, I came across many other movies starring this beautiful actress and I learnt to look beyond her obvious beauty at the talent she possessed. Those were the days long before the advent of the Internet, and all we had were film glossies if we wanted to know more about stars and their human personas (aside from their celluloid personas, that is). Some of these glossies carried write-ups on yesteryear actresses. It was in one such glossy that I chanced upon an article about my favorite actress. I read about early successes (she was a child artiste before she went to do lead roles), her relationship with Dilip Kumar, her marriage to Kishore Kumar, and finally her tragic death at a young age. Reading about her personal struggles only served to increase my respect and love for this iconic actress who, if she had lived longer, would have continued to rule the silver screen.

Even back then or until much later, I had no clue about her illness or about how she suffered for years.  I just knew that she had died young. Born with a heart defect, a “hole in the heart” condition as it is commonly called, she kept her ailment hidden from the film industry and cinema audiences, which though full of adulation for a beautiful and successful star, could also be cruel and insensitive.  Stoically, she continued to make films despite the illness getting worse with time. In her personal life too, she faced many hardships and unhappiness. A fallout with the man she truly loved, a short-lived marriage to Kishore Kumar, and a terribly demanding shooting schedule all took a toll on her.

Unaware of all these details, back then, all I (and countless others like me) could see was the beauty we beheld before us, and the talent that shone through. Bedazzled and smitten, we yearned for more. When she giggled and pranced, our hearts sang with delight. When she became melancholic, we grew somber and gloomy. Such was the power she held over us. The mellifluous songs picturised on her are hummed even today. And yet she had been long gone by the time I was born. Unlike the stars of today, whom you can spot in person, interact with on Facebook or tweet with on Twitter, in those days, there was no means to contact the star. Madhubala, in particular, was quite reclusive, in that she even declined to make public appearances or give interviews.

Despite some of her films not being huge box office successes, she was still one of the most sought-after actresses. Many actresses in recent years have been said to be new-age Madhubalas. But to hardcore Madhubala fans like me, no one can even hold a candle to her.

Mamta D works in the IT industry. Beyond her job, she writes, travels, paints and experiments with various side projects, among other things. 

(Picture courtesy indya101.com)

Categories
Hum log

Sunny days

He nursed his girlfriend for four years before she died. Sunny Pawar is now rebuilding his life through social service.
by Mamta D

Seven years ago, Sunny Pawar was like any other man in his 20s – he was deeply in love, he had a good job, and his future promised to be an exciting one. But as it generally happens when life is going swimmingly well, fate turned around and threw everything out of order.

In 2006, Sunny’s girlfriend Aarti and a few friends were riding near Gorai beach when their car had a nasty accident and turned turtle. The others got away with minor injuries, but Aarti was the worst hit. With serious head injuries, she slipped into a coma and was subsequently in an NICU (Neurological Intensive Care Unit) for the next four months. During these four months and in the next four years, Sunny did what few people would probably do – he never left Aarti’s side once during the entire time she was in the ICU, and even when she was subsequently moved to a ward.

His constant presence at her bedside made headlines in major newspapers and his story was covered by a few news channels, too. Sunny and Aarti became symbols for the ultimate love story in a cynical city that often has no time for love. Readers’ aid poured in, which helped Aarti’s family bear a part of her enormous medical expenses.

Things appeared to look up for the couple: in 2007, Aarti made a miraculous recovery from the coma and was sent home, though she couldn’t recognise anyone; not Sunny, not even her mother. Undeterred by her condition, Sunny fed her and continued to take care of her basic nursing needs along with her mother, Bharti Makwana. Aarti was still bed-ridden, with the right half of her body paralysed, but she showed a lot of improvement.

During this tumultuous time, Sunny had quit his Chartered Financial Analyst course halfway to tend to Aarti, but he gradually resumed his education in 2009. However, instead of the CFA course, he chose to enroll for a Masters in Social Work from Nirmala Niketan, College of Social work. “Instead of being frustrated with my situation, I decided to focus on doing social work,” he says.

“Each day, I hoped for her recovery and that she would be completely normal some day,” he adds.

But fate was still not finished with Sunny. In 2010, Aarti breathed her last after a sudden attack of pneumonia.

At this point, Sunny could easily have succumbed to depression or resorted to unnatural ways to vent his grief. “I had many negative thoughts during those tough times,” he says. “Like any other person affected by trauma, I struggled for more than five years and felt a huge void after Aarti’s death. Then I stumbled on the philosophy of helping strangers without expecting anything in return. I call this A.R.T after Aarti, an Act of Random Kindness,” he explains.

These days, Sunny is busy with his NGO work – he is Project Manager at the Shree Ramanugrah Trust, and often initiates many new welfare and empowerment projects on their behalf. Besides this, he has spoken at several motivational seminars, and enrolled in a part time MBA in Social Entrepreneurship at NMIMS. Most recently, he has taken upon a personal initiative, wherein he will distribute donated new or used footwear to female ragpickers he has met during the course of his field work.

Sunny recalls how his story encouraged another young man to follow his heart. “A couple of months ago, my story so far was published in a Kannada publication named Kannadaprabha. The next day, I received a call from a person named Sunil, who told me that he was in love with a girl from his own locality for four years, but due to his parents’ opposition, he had not been able to marry her till date. His parents had been opposing the marriage because the girl suffered from epilepsy.

But Sunil promised me that after reading about me and Aarti, he had made up his mind to marry the girl very soon, regardless of whether his parents gave their consent or not. The moment the call was over, I thanked God and Aarti.”

Ask him about his will to go on, and he says, “Whatever I am today is because of Aarti, my family, her mother and all those people who helped me during this acid test of my life. My parents, though shocked at first, eventually accepted and came to terms with what I was doing. They let me be, without becoming judgmental or stopping me from what I set out to do. They are my pillars of strength and support, without whom I would have totally collapsed. Aarti provided me an opportunity to get in touch with my inner self. Today I have found my calling because of her; she is physically no longer with me, but she is still with me through our shared memories and precious experiences together. Had she been alive today, this is what she would have done; she is alive through me and my work.”

He adds, “Opportunities to serve others sometimes come in the form of our own tragedies. Unpacking something with an ugly packaging requires a lot of audacity and struggle, but what seems unbearable is definitely not impossible.”

If you wish to donate new or old footwear for women ragpickers, you can contact Sunny Pawar on +91 9892856554. He is also available for group motivational talks and will answer donation queries, too.  

Mamta D works in the IT industry. Beyond her job, she writes, travels, paints and experiments with various side projects, among other things. She is also keen on making a difference to society in whatever way possible.

(Featured image courtesy timesofindia.com)

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