The last of the traditional weavers of Kancheepuram cotton saris display their work at Co-optex.— Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam
The last of the traditional weavers of a cooperative society in Vadamanapakkam in Cheyyar taluk of Tiruvannamalai district have returned to creating the famed Kancheepuram cotton saris after a gap of 15 years.
The Tamil Nadu Handloom Weavers’ Cooperative Society, better known as Co-optex, has tried to revive the nearly extinct variety of saris by increasing the weavers’ wages. The weavers had switched to jacquard machines and elaborate designs as it brought more earnings. Now, a group of 30 weaver families attached to the Vadamanapakkam Sakthivel Murugan Handloom Weavers’ Cooperative Society has taken up weaving traditional designs.
“Kancheepuram silk weavers use the korvai method and we adopted it. In those days, weaving was a family effort and children were employed as they were deft. Ever since child labour was banned we had to adopt a different method,” recalls Kadirvel, a weaver. Mr.Kadirvel has never been to school and learnt weaving from his parents. Like him S. Ambiga joined her parents at the age of 10. Since last year, when Co-optex began attaching cards with each handloom sari, introducing the weaver to the buyer, Ms.Ambiga has earned respectability as a weaver. The Vadamanapakkam Society was a one-man show for over 20 years, with M. Lakshmi as president.
“The children would finish the toughest part and we would do the rest. Just one weaver can create the entire sari in three days. We used to provide 50 saris a month to Co-optex. But now they have raised our wages by Rs.100 per sari and we produce 100 saris a month,” she says.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by R. Sujatha / Chennai – July 08th, 2015
85-year-old Anbu Sundaranandi Swamigal from Tirupur was one of the 165 students who passed the three B F Tech course offered by TNAU through distance learning. (TOI photo by J Jackson)
Coimbatore :
Sporting just a sandal-coloured veshti and a green shawl thrown over the shoulder, a man with a long and thick grey beard and upper torso bared could not be missed in the queue of students waiting to collect their bachelors’ degree in farm technology. The minute he walked out of the auditorium of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) on Wednesday morning many professors and students, who addressed him as ‘swami’, walked up to the man to congratulate him.
85-year-old Anbu Sundaranandi Swamigal, from Jaisakthi Viraja Gurukulam in Vinayagar Valagam in Tirupur, was one of the 165 students who passed the three-year BFTech course offered by TNAU through distance learning. His presence made many curious onlookers wondering what a man resembling and sounding like a ‘godman’ was doing among the new graduates.
“Well I am someone who decided to dedicate the later part of my life to service and yes I do yoga and am a siddha and naturopathy medical practitioner,” he said. “But my main focus was on serving the people by saving the profession of farming and bringing about organic farming,” he said. “I believe in worshipping the five elements — earth, air, water, wind and fire. But mother earth has been spoilt by all these chemical fertilisers.”
The octogenarian, who worked as a textile technician for 38 years, began learning more about organic farming by meeting and following Indian organic farming scientist G Nammalvar since 1995. “I slowly began going on tours to many districts like Thiruvannamalai and Dindigul and would advise farmers to opt for organic farming,” he said.
Swamigal says he joined the course to obtain scientific knowledge about organic farming and how better they can use natural resources. “This way when I go on tours across the state and country to meet farmers, I can scientifically explain the procedures, their positives and their negatives,” he said.
Swamigal also started offering free consultancy service every Sunday since last month. “It is open to farmers or people who want to get into organic farming and want advice on how to go about it. I also invite buyers so they can meet farmers and procure goods directly,” he said. “I personally have now put papaya in my 1.5 acre land.”
Like Sundaranandi Swamigal, there were many farmers or people who want to get into farming consultancy who decided to get into a classroom at the university for two days every month for three years. “While 35 per cent to 40 per cent of our class consisted of pure farmers who decided to take the course to scientifically understand and improve what they were doing, 50 per cent came from varied professions such as marketing, tax officials and auditors and the remaining 10 per cent came from allied professions within agriculture like seed marketing,” says G Vivek, 38, a graduate.
Vivek, who holds a diploma in electrical and electronic engineering, a master’s degree in social work, and more than 10 years work experience in marketing, decided to take this course for his love of farming and dream of making farming as lucrative as medicine or engineering. “I was always interested in farming. I dreamt of creating collective or integrated farming, so when any crop was produced in large-scale, selling, marketing and even labour sharing would be easier,” he said.
“I, however, knew that I had to study more about it, make more contacts among experts and researchers in the field. I also wanted this degree to have scientific knowledge and backing of the suggestions I give farmers so that they trust me,” he says. “It also helps when we approach banks for loans and government officials for schemes and subsidies,” he adds.
A few students had simply taken the course for the love of knowledge like retired income tax department official Dr K Singharavelu who has obtained eight degrees and a doctorate so far.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore / by Pratiksha RamKumar, TNN / July 04th, 2015
The crew members of a fishing boat from Kanyakumari and an oil tanker ship carrying the Singapore flag have been selected for Indian Coast Guard SAR awards.
The crew members of the boat – Auster – and the oil tanker — Maersk Privilege — will get the award for rendering timely help to 11 fishermen in distress at the Arabian Sea.
The awards — Indian Coast Guard SAR Award for Fishermen and Indian Coast Guard SAR Award Merchant Ship — will be conferred during a meeting of the National Maritime Search and Rescue Board at Gandhinagar in Gujarat on July 17, according to a statement from Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre of Coast Guard.
On May 9, a deep sea fishing vessel, MFB Arputha Matha, belonging to S Justin of Eraviputhanthurai, ran aground on a coral reef near Lakshadweep. The crew members started calling for help with a limited frequency wireless set.
On May 9, a deep sea fishing vessel, MFB Arputha Matha, belonging to S Justin of Eraviputhanthurai, developed a technical snag and crew members were unable to fix it. They started calling for help with a limited frequency wireless set.
The oil tanker picked up the signal and responded by reaching the spot to extend help. With their advanced communication system they communicated to the Coast Guard in Mumbai as well as other boats in the vicinity.
As the Coast Guard was coordinating the rescue operations, fishing boat Auster rushed to help the fishermen in distress. All the 11 crew members were rescued.
“The Coast Guard is awarding the fishing boat as well as the oil tanker for their timely help in rescuing fishermen in distress,” stated Vincent Jain of the Association of Deep Sea Going Artisanal Fishermen.
Auster’s owner Lourdaiyyan said, “We felt it was our duty to help our fishermen in distress, and this award is a real encouragement for us.”
The awards — Indian Coast Guard SAR Award for Fishermen and Indian Coast Guard SAR Award Merchant Ship — will be conferred during a meeting of the National Maritime Search and Rescue Board at Gandhinagar in Gujarat on July 17
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / by J. Arockiaraj, TNN / July 06th, 2015
Free:A. Anthony Raj has been distributing tree saplings to residents’ welfare organisations.— Photo: K. Pichumani
For A. Anthonyraj, happiness is keeping the city green.
Greening the city by planting trees is being taken up by several residents’ associations and activists, but securing saplings for the purpose comes at a cost.
Mr. Anthonyraj, a horticulturist and landscaper by profession, has been distributing tree saplings to residents’ welfare organisations and environmental activists for more than a year. He has given away more than 1,000 saplings free of cost to those volunteering to keep their localities or multi-storeyed apartments green.
He owns a horticulture farm at Thiruporur and said the inspiration was staring at him in the face: a concrete jungle.
“I decided to provide free saplings looking at the city losing its greenery gradually. I have also apportioned a small part of my profits for this venture.”
Mr. Anthonyraj has done landscaping projects in Qatar and Singapore and holds in high regard the rigorous procedure involved in cutting avenue trees even for development purposes in those nations.
He is concerned about the lack of adequate protection for avenue trees in India.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by R.Srikanth / Chennai – July 04th, 2015
K. Kamaraj, the then president of the Congress, takes a look at a model of the Ambattur Industrial Estate that was inaugurated on July 3, 1965.
Ambattur Industrial Estate that turns 50 today has great milestones to cherish and new goals to reach for.
From a sleepy village of paddy fields with mud paths for roads, the Ambattur Industrial Estate has come a long way. The estate, which turns 50 on July 3, is now a thriving hub of small- and medium-scale industries.
Established in 1965 with the efforts of the then Industries and Power Minister, Madras State R. Venkataraman, the estate was inaugurated by the then Congress president K. Kamaraj and was home to 400 units, manufacturing locomotive and automobile accessories. Now, spread over 1,200 acres, the estate has grown to accommodate over 2,000 industrial units in the manufacturing and service sectors, including consumer durables and garments.
Senior industrial unit holders and members of the Ambattur Industrial Estate recall those days when the estate was dotted with units manufacturing engineering components. It was reported to be Madras State’s largest industrial estate that accommodated small-, medium-, and large-scale industries by The Hindu . Mr. Venkataraman had also contributed to the four-page inauguration supplement brought out by The Hindu .
A former president of the Ambattur Industrial Estate Manufaturers’ Association (AIEMA) recalled Mr. Venkataraman’s foresight and how he pitched for an elevated corridor to divert heavy vehicular traffic from the estate right then. Chennai Bypass now takes the traffic from Tambaram to Red Hills without any hindrance to the estate.
In the late 1960s, many engineering graduates launched units at Ambattur. “I shifted from Pune to Chennai to open my unit here. It was convenient for many like me to stay in Anna Nagar and run the unit at Ambattur that also has a railway station,” said a past president of AIEMA.
With rapid development in the past decade, several software companies have also set their eyes on the estate. Infrastructural issues such as poor roads and waterlogging have been eliminated.
“We have many welfare measures for employees, including a hospital. Our crèche, which accommodates 100 children, is one of the few such facilities available in industrial estates. We are focussing on making it a green estate with effluent and sewage treatment facilities,” AIEMA president K. Sai Sathya Kumar said.
Having exhausted space for expansion, the units are now scouting for land to set up an ancillary estate.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by K. Lakshmi / Chennai – July 03rd, 2015
Selfless work done by a group Dalits six decades ago has not only brought them laurels now but also made them proud land owners.
From now on, they need not depend on landlords for their survival.
Ten Dalit field workers, including three women who are 85 years and above, have become landowners, thanks to support offered to these workers who stood along with T.S. Soundaram, founder, Gandhigram Trust, when she floated the trust at Gandhigram village to extend health care to the poor and the downtrodden.
Breaking all barriers and hurdles, Gandhigram Trust had fulfilled the dream of the founder and offered 65 cents of agriculture land each to 10 Dalits living at Thoppampatti village since the 1950s as per the direction of the founder.
“Our founder had promised to offer land for the uplift of Dalits. Now, we have fulfilled her wish by offering land owned by the trust to them,” said K. Shiva Kumar, secretary of the trust.
Ms. Soundaram had identified people from villages around Chinnalapatti to develop an area for their activities. The selected beneficiaries were settled in Thoppampatti with a promise of land for their survival.
“We joined work for wages of 50 paise a day for women and 75 paise for men to cut firewood and level the field,” said beneficiary Y. Chinnappan (85), who was picked from Panjampatti in the 1950s.
“My husband Raju joined the work force. He died and my only son too died in an accident. Now, my grandson is taking care of me,” said another beneficiary R. Azhagammal (89).
Octogenarian P. Mariappan said he was picked from Kalikkampatti. “We are honoured now,” he said.
The land was registered in the name of the beneficiaries and also their legal heirs to enable even the next generation to enjoy it.
No sale
“Even though it is patta land, the beneficiaries cannot sell it,” said Mr. Shiva Kumar. Managing Trustee M.R. Rajagopal handed over the pattas to the beneficiaries.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Tamil Nadu / by Staff Reporter / Dindigul – July 01st, 2015
Collector (in-charge) Madhusoodhan Reddy congratulating the ‘Super 30’ group students who have been allotted seats in medical colleges, in Perambalur on Saturday.
Standing on the threshold of realising his childhood dream of becoming a doctor, B.Prasanth, an Arunthathiyar student from a poor family of agricultural labourers from Irur in Perambalur district, is not sure whether his mother would be able to raise the fee for the course.
He is one of the three Dalit students who have secured MBBS admission from a group of 57 students who were handpicked from government schools of the district for special coaching in Plus-Two under the ‘Super 30’ initiative of the district administration. A Dalit girl has bagged a BDS seat, bringing acclaim to the district and the special initiative.
With a Plus-Two score of 1,108 marks and a cut-off of 193.25, Prasanth has been allotted a seat in the Chenglepet Government Medical College. Prasanth is supported by his mother, a farm hand. His father, also a farm worker, spends most of his earnings on liquor.
“I have to pay a fee of Rs.11,000 now. My mother is trying to raise the money and officials have promised to arrange for a loan. But I am not sure whether these will materialise. I am looking for sponsors,” he said speaking to The Hindu over phone.
P.Prakash of Ladapuram, with 1,140 marks in Plus-Two, and T.Aravindaraj of Kolathur, with a score of 1,119, have been allotted seats in the Stanley Government Medical College and Tuticorin Medical College, respectively. M.Manjula of Nattarmangalam, with a cut-off of 191.75, has been allotted a BDS seat in the Chennai Government Dental College and stands a chance of getting a MBBS seat as she is on the wait list. Inspired by District Collector Darez Ahamed, Prakash wants to enter the Civil Services after MBBS.
All the four students belong to poor families of agricultural labourers, says N.Jayaraman, district coordinator, ‘Super 30’. There are about 15-20 other students from the group with good engineering cut-off marks and are hopeful of getting BE seats, he said. A brainchild of Mr.Darez Ahamed, the ‘Super 30’ idea is being implemented over the past couple of years in the district.
All are from poor agricultural families and need assistance to pursue studies
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Tamil Nadu / by S. Ganesan / Perambalur – June 28th, 2015
During the Emergency, Express Estates, that’s now a mall, was a refuge for opposition leaders / The Hindu
June 25 was the 40th anniversary of the infamous Emergency — the then Indira Gandhi Government’s audacious attempt to stifle democracy. Very few from the South opposed it, and yet, much of the momentum for the resistance came from a feisty press baron of Madras — Ramnath Goenka, the owner of the Indian Express Group of newspapers.
Having come to Madras in the 1920s, with reportedly nothing more than “a lota and a nine-cubit dhoti,” to quote his biographer BG Verghese, Goenka was an all-India figure by the 1940s. Though his papers would later be published from many cities, Madras was always his headquarters, his residence being Hicks Bungalow on Patullos Road. His businesses operated from neighbouring Express Estates, a 23-acre property that he bought from the Madras Club for Rs. 14.85 lakhs in 1946. The quiet thoroughfare connecting the property to Mount Road is still Club House Road.
It is said that when Emergency was declared, Goenka was in the ICU of a Calcutta hospital, recovering from a heart attack. Raring to get into the thick of battle, he disconnected the tubes and “stole out to board a taxi but was detected in time and brought back”. The Indian Express came out on June 25, 1975, with a blank first editorial while the Financial Express published Tagore’s poem, Where the Mind is Without Fear.
A man who loved the good fight, Goenka challenged the Emergency in many ways. He helped in publishing Prajaniti, and its English counterpart, Everyman, vehicles that propagated the thoughts of Jayaprakash Narayan, the doughty opponent to Mrs Gandhi’s regime. The vast Express Estates was also where several leaders of the Opposition, most of them on the run from the police, could find safe haven. One among these was the firebrand George Fernandes. He had come first to the Spur Tank Road residence of tuberculosis specialist and Swatantra Party leader Dr Mathuram Santosham. On coming to know that the police were closing in, he was transferred to Express Estates.
The powers-that-be did their best to stifle Goenka and his publications. There were moves to acquire the business by media houses in sympathy with the ruling party, and when this was resisted, there were, to quote BG Verghese, “raids, court cases, a long series of pre-censorship orders, stoppages of bank advances and advertisements”— in short, all the standard operating procedures of a draconian Government. Goenka, however, stood his ground, despite being in poor health throughout. The stress that he and his family withstood then later resulted in the early demise of his son Bhagwan Das.
The battle against the Emergency gained ground and culminated in the General Elections in March 1977. That saw the landslide victory of the Janata Party and the first national debacle for the Congress. Goenka went on to fight other battles. The Express Estates is now a mall. But we do need a marker to commemorate the Marwari Media Man from Madras who fought the Emergency from there.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Sriram V. / June 26th, 2015
Ophthalmologist Dr.G. Natchiar and educationist Premalatha Panneerselvam are less known for their green house revolution.
Some films inspire us to go the distance. The Malayalam movie How Old Are Youand it’s Tamil remake 36 Vayadhinile were liked by people not only because they were comeback films of Manju Warrier and Jyothika but also because it helped people to change the way they look at things. In the film, the protagonist finds her niche and respect in her family and society after she successfully meets a challenging order of supplying organic vegetables to a marriage party. When celebrities on or off screen boost an idea, they inspire people and often set off a transformation.
DAUGHTER OF THE SOIL: Dr.G. Natchiar, Director Emeritus, Aravind Eye Hospital at Aurofarm. / Photo: S. James / The Hindu
But for Dr.G.Natchiar, Director Emeritus at Aravind Eye Care Systems and Mrs.Premalatha Panneerselvam, the founder of Mahatma group of schools in Madurai, taking up farming was a dream long nurtured and they would certainly love more people to know and see their lush biodynamic farms – a result of sheer passion and labour of years. They are Madurai’s stars for whom life has come full circle because both belong to agricultural families.
“I am back to my roots, you will find me less in the hospital now,” laughs Dr.Natchiar, who after many debates with the family earmarked two acres for organic gardening within the Aurolab campus, a state-of-the-art products manufacturing facility of AECS at Veerapanchan. The year was 2005.
“I had no scientific training but followed my instincts and interest and started planting a variety of trees,” she says. Today, her family, staff, friends and visitors to Aurolab marvel at her “blossoming property” spread over 70 acres now and buzzing with butterflies and birds.
As we walk around the coconut, banana and mango orchards, the aroma garden with every type of jasmine, the organic garden of champa in 30 different colours and endless fields of vegetables, fruits and grains, Dr.Natchiar shares how creating, running and maintaining a farm is a lifestyle.
Unless she is travelling, Dr.Natchiar, is at the Aurofarm everyday at 8.30 a.m. to oversee the requirements of her plants – fondly she calls them babies – and the dozen permanent farmers whom she has hired and the other daily wagers who come depending on the load of work. “After taking a round, I assign them the day’s task,” she says with pride reflecting her intense love for what she enjoys doing the most — gardening and farming.
She zips around on her battery-operated two-wheeler and inspects every field personally. “Everything produced here is 100 per cent organic and the yield caters to about 40 per cent requirement of our hospital and staff canteens,” she informs, and asserts, “I am into this not for selling the produce and making money. I want more people to learn about growing strategies and eat organic.”
It was only after attending series of workshops, interacting with local farmers and researching on eco-friendly farming techniques that Dr.Natchiar could initiate a system that is regenerative to the soil, flora and fauna that are part of the farm ecosystem and the benefactors of the food grown here. “I have learnt from mistakes and now I understand every plant’s requirements and how and why business models should not be compared to farming models,” she says of organic farming still not becoming a financially viable option.
For Dr.Natchiar it is purely a heart warming relationship between her and nature. Farming makes my heart sing and I am focussing all my energy on it now, she says. “All you need is planning and hard work,” she says.
DAUGHTER OF THE SOIL: Premalatha Panneerselvam, Secreatary and Correspondent, Mahatma Group of Schools./ Photo: R. Ashok / The Hindu
Likewise, no matter howsoever much tired she is after the day’s or week’s work, Premalatha Panneerselvam finds farming cool and spends all her evenings and Sundays in her organic farm adjoining her school’s residential campus at Alagar Koil. “I find my inner peace here, she says, taking me to her favourite spot under a banyan tree, one of the seven trees that stood tall among the shrubs and bushes on the 50-odd acres she bought a quarter Century ago in Ayathampatti village.
We had to accommodate our growing number of students and planned a residential school for them here at the foothills. The land was strewn with rocks, stones and pebbles tand we had to clear the area to raise our buildings. About 15 acres was set aside for farming and for the past eight years Premalatha has been growing a variety of plants using only organic practices. The monthly yield of fruits and vegetables from the farm not only meets the demand of all the school canteens but also saves her an expense of nearly Rs.One lakh every month. Some produce is also in excess which we sell at a discount to our teachers and other staff or in the market at a nominal rate,” she says.
There is an indescribable happiness in seeing your plants grow and flower. To feel the texture of the fruits and vegetables is a different kind of joy, says Premalatha as we walk through her multiple gardens looking at the bounty. Rows of leafy plants growing in orderly abundance reveal the wealth that can only be measured by physical labour of clearing, planting and harvesting and the physical growth of the fauna. Her zero-budget farming with home-grown vermicomposting and bio-pesticides is seductive.
Premalatha has been regularly reading about and practicing G.Nammazhvar’s agro-techniques. “With professionals like us having the wisdom and knowledge base, passion is good enough to turn around such zero-budget farming,” she says. She also understands farming, leave alone organic, many not be an easy choice for many. But hopes and advocates that more people get motivated and start doing it within their home compounds, in their small balconies or terraces, kitchen gardens or backyards, sufficient for their family’s needs.
Both Dr.Natchiar and Premalatha share a vision for a sustainable food system. That is, the food we eat should be fresh, nutritious and taste delicious and should be grown in harmony with nature. It is this thinking that makes them the true ‘FarmHers’ belonging to a period when organic farming was hardly considered an option and even less talked about.
Farm facts:
“I proved myself as an ophthalmologist but never felt proud as one. But now at my Aurofarm I feel very proud each time my plants produce something. I can show off as a farmer now.” Dr.G.Natchiar
At Aurofarm you will find over 10,000 trees including 450 mango trees, 300 coconut trees, tamarind, coriander, curry leaves, timber and almond trees; Vegetables such as lady’s finger, brinjal, cluster beans, bitter, bottle and snake gourd, pumpkin, spinach; Fruits such as black and goose berries, sapota, banana; Flowers including jasmine, manoranjitam, mullai, parijatam, bougainvillea, oleander; Paddy fields that yield 200 bags of rice every year. The farm is fenced by mehndi trees about 20 acres are fed by the Dewatts system that is 51,000 litres of waste water from the kitchen, staff quarters and washrooms are treated for use in the fields, water from the Aurolab is also recycled besides the usage of ground water. Another highlight at the Aurofarm is the 20 feet deep rain water fed quarry used for fish breeding.
“If I had not started a school, I would have surely done farming. I want to turn green ideas into meaningful action for the larger benefit of all”. Premalatha Panneerselvam.
The Mahatma-Azhagar campus farm is fenced with teak wood trees all around and has over 200 mango trees, 400 coconut trees besides several other flowering and locally grown trees, banana, papaya, gooseberry, jackfruit, sapota, custard apple, lemon and neem trees. Spinach, tomatoes, brinjal, carrot, drumstick, cluster beans, lady’s finger, groundnut, guava, custard apple are grown in abundance. Seed dispersal, multiple-cropping, drip irrigation practiced at the farm that also boasts of a small poultry and six milching cows. Apart from the two-dozen farmers working here, ten labourers are exclusively deployed to clear the land of stones regularly. Given the location of the site at the foothills, every spell of rain leads to soil erosion.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Soma Basu / Madurai – June 24th, 2015
Padmanabhan serves excess food from weddings and parties to poor students in Coimbatore. Photo: M. Periasamy
Padmanaban Gopalan is on a crusade to stop the colossal amounts of food people throw away every day
A determined young face stares back at me from the Pollination Project website and that is how I first learnt of Padmanaban Gopalan.
Earlier, a whatsapp forward had caught my attention with the words “no food waste” and a link. Young Padmanaban, I learnt, has been nominated as a visionary for 2015 by “Pollination Project”, California. The project gives seed grants to those who make a difference in their community.
On the 29th July 2015, Padmanaban Gopalan will be awarded the 1000th grant in appreciation for his work in providing food to those in need of it.
His name was proposed by Poornima Bhavesh, who has herself won the grant, when she was witness to his social service.
Padmanaban Gopalan’s motto is “Be the change that I want to see in the world”. In his 2nd year at college, he co-founded the green club at GCT.
After graduation, in 2014, he along with a few friends set up S.P.I.C.E (Society Promoting Innovation Creativity & Entrepreneurship).
Their objective was to encourage children to think out-of-the-box for a greener world. Padmanaban interacted with many schools in and around Coimbatore and it was then that he saw how much food children wasted. Tiffins were emptied into dustbins, food was flung at each other playfully or just left around carelessly.
He found out that each day 12 to 18 kgs of food were thrown into the garbage truck along with other school waste which made it almost impossible to segregate. He figured that one school with 1200 children had an average waste of 3875 kgs of ‘edible’ food in one year.
On World Food Day, Padmanaban decided to put his food management plan into action and registered the domain nofoodwaste.in.
His first awareness campaign was conducted at Carmel Garden School. The message was to try and make the school a ‘zero food waste campus’. He did a survey and conducted an audit.
Many other schools invited him to conduct similar audits.
Padmanaban soon noticed results. He knew for sure now that student-involved movement was definitely the way forward. Next, Padmanaban began to look at leftovers at hotels. He packed the uneaten food and gave it to the homeless. Then he turned his attention to the colossal waste at weddings.
In November 2014, he conducted an Awareness Marathon. He shared his mobile number and people were encouraged to call him in the event of excess leftovers. His first call to pick up food was at a reception at a private home. He carried three shopping bags full of food and distributed them to slum dwellers near the Government Hospital. As calls became more frequent, he and his friends Dinesh and Sudhakaran packed up food from kalayana mandapams.
When the numbers increased from 50 packets to 400, they had to figure out a different way of doing things. Volunteers were dwindling, packing leftovers was tiresome and they were unable to find enough homeless people to give 400 packets of food. They approached orphanages and ashrams, and finally, Fr. Xavier, at St. Joseph’s ITI Ashram, happily accepted the food procured by such hard work and dedication.
The team decided to borrow utensils from people in that area for easy distribution of food. This is the practice they follow today.
Padmanaban neighbours and many others generously lend him their vessels. They now supply frequently to 15 ashrams or orphanages. They carry out all this work on a two wheeler.
In order to streamline the work they are doing, Padmanaban has all the statistics on his computer and makes daily logs. Mid afternoon is usually when he gets calls about the availability of food. Anandhi bakery at SIDCO provides him with food regularly. Caterers from Perur, Mr. Hariharan and Mr. Suresh also help and put him in touch with many functions and happenings in the city. “Helping hands” at Kovaipudur also encourage his work. Padmanaban was invited to attend a leadership summit where he put down his vision on paper.
He thanks people such as Shobhana Kumar and Shankar Vanavarayar for encouraging him to read motivational pieces that helped him see his chosen path with clarity. Opportunities began to present themselves.
He met people who were eager to help with filming a documentary and formulating a web design. These were just what he needed to cement his vision.
Padmanaban Gopalan’s vision for 2015 is an India with zero food wastage. He wants to set up ‘Last minute shops’, where people who have excess food in their homes can sell it.
Padmanaban’s advice to reduce food waste could not be more simple:
There is only so much one can eat, so buy just what you require.
Look around your locality and share excess food with those who need it.
If you think you cannot use up food that is approaching its expiry date in time, give it to someone who will.
If you are eating out and there are leftovers, pack it up and give it to someone who is hungry.
Get children involved
Select five no-food waste ambassadors in each school
Get them to check the dustbin and send him a daily report
Suggest ways to bring down wastage. (Bring just what you can eat. If you have more share it with others. Keep dry food and wet food separately. Take leftovers back home.)
Get the kids to pledge: “In our school we have wasted 3500 kgs of food this year. I alone am responsible for 15 kgs. I promise to reduce, reuse and recycle.”
* PSG primary and nursery school set up three daily dumps to throw daily food waste. This was turned into compost by adding dry leaves and letting it decompose naturally.
* ABC Matric School at Avarampalayam uses grow bags into which they discard their food waste. They sprinkle it with compost accelerator to let it become manure.
“No food waste” needs volunteers. You can volunteer at 9629334185
No Food waste helpline is 90877 90877
Follow Padmanaban on http://www.facebook.com/agpadmanaban
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Shanthini Rajkumar / June 21st, 2015
