They did not want to follow the masses and hence, took the path less travelled. And then, nothing could deter them from making the headlines in 2015. Here are a few Kovaiites who thought out of the box and won the hearts of many in Coimbatore.
Shradha Prasad While students her age were burning the midnight oil to prep for their examinations, Shradha Prasad had a different agenda in the mind. This space enthusiast and mechanical engineering student from Amrita University was short-listed for the Mars-One mission. She is the only one from India residing in the country to be part of the final selection round of the mission that aims to establish a permanent human settlement on the red planet by offering a one-way trip to the chosen ones. “I want to do ample justice to the mission by being a thorough help in the scientific experiment. Once I reach there, I want to give my best to make the conditions favourable for human settlement.”
Aravind P Right from his childhood, Aravind P was sure that he would not settle for a nine-to-five job like many of his friends. And he did stand apart from the rest, by making it to the Guinness Book of World Records for memorizing the longest binary sequence of 270 digits. For this language teacher, it was a chance encounter with a record for memorizing the longest binary digit sequence a couple of years ago that pushed him to take up the challenge and surpass the record. “Every morning I would spend three hours staring at my laptop trying to recall sequences on the screen. I started with 90 numbers and gradually started increasing the sequences.” Aravind has started a memory club in the city to help students reduce learning time.” He is also contemplating working on memory enhancement techniques for adults.
Auto Chandran When M Chandra Kumar (‘Auto’ Chandran as he is fondly known) returned to Coimbatore after walking the red carpet at the 72 Venice Film Festival in September, he received a hero’s welcome. The auto driver from the Hopes auto stand was in Venice for the screening of the film Visaaranai, which was based on his book Lockup. The film won the Amnesty International Italy’s Cinema for Human Rights Award and became the first Tamil film to have won the honour. The book Lock up published in 2006, chronicles Chandran’s first-hand experience in police brutality as a young man when was working in Guntur. “We have to stop glorifying encounters on screen. Police enquiries have to be done in a fair manner and for that, we have to make some changes in the constitution itself.”
Sakthi B When Sakthi B, a civil engineering student from Coimbatore, did backward skips with his hands clasped, many made jaws drop. The 20-year-old made it to the Guinness Book of World Records by doing the maximum number of backward skips- 46 skips in a minute, a record hitherto held by Brittany Boffo, an Australian (40 skips in one minute). The attempt was recorded in front of a large gathering at a mall in the city. “When I first started working toward it, I was a tad doubtful if I would be able to achieve the feat. I used to wonder ‘Will this ever happen’? But after a few days, I decided to work hard and give it my best.” He is now awaiting the results for 25 skips in 30 seconds, which is expected to come in January.
Rathi Punithavathiyar The transgender community seems to be going places in the city. While Padmini Prakash (country’s first transgender newsreader) made headlines in 2014, it was the turn of author Rathi Punithavathiyar to hog the limelight in 2015. Ostracized by her family at the age of 14, Rathi became the first author from the city to have penned a book. But the journey wasn’t a cakewalk & she even resorted to begging for survival at a point of time. Despite the fact that she had studied only till Class 10, Rani was confident that she would author a book. Her book revolves around stories of transgenders and is expected to hit screens in January. “I hope one day the society would treat us as equals.”
Sabari Venkat 12-year-old Sabari Venkat has no vision in his right eye, and has partial vision in his left. But that didn’t deter the Class VIII student from being winning with the ‘Creative Child with Disabilities’ award by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. “I want to eradicate corruption & illiteracy. I want India to become a leading nation by 2016. I enjoy addressing those issues through my speeches,” says Sabari, who aspires to become a journalist when he grows up. Sabari was also featured in a calendar titled I’m special’.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Coimbatore / P. Sangeetha, TNN / December 31st, 2016