[Social Wrap] A walk through history with Vinoba Bhave, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Rani of the Nagas
Last week’s quest for discovering lesser known facets of India’s freedom struggle met the sounds of drums and trumpets which filled the air this week, as we explored the events that led to Ganesh Utsav becoming the festival of masses it is today. Accompanied by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, it was an inspiring journey through the chapters of Maharashtra’s nationalist movement during the late 19th century.
Stories of individual achievers continued to inspire the SocialStory team this week, as we met Arya Pudota, a 16-year-old boy from Bengaluru who is an organic farmer and a YouTube teacher. We also met Abhay Rangan, a 20-year-old entrepreneur who runs a vegan startup silently fighting animal abuse in India. We came across the inspiring story of Rupanti Munda, who hails from a small tribal village in Jharkhand and loves to play football. After fighting against all odds and surviving Naxal attacks, Rupanti plans to take part in the Homeless World Cup in Oslo this year.
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The week was well spent in sharing the journeys of successful social enterprises and non-profits which are driving meaningful change in society. We came across Kodagu based E-base. The NGO started by Charulata Somal, an IAS officer, is engaged in teaching environmental activism to children. We also wrote a story on Kheyti, started by Sathya Raghu, a Chartered Accountant who gave up his job at PwC to solve the financial problems faced by farmers. We profiled Gram Seva Mandal, an NGO started by Vinoba Bhave in 1934. The organisation, operating in Vidarbha, the heartland of farmer suicides, continues to support rural India in its contemporary struggles.
In order to understand what Karnataka is doing different to leverage its social sector, we interviewed Gaurav Gupta, Principal Secretary, Department of IT, BT, Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka. In the interview, he pointed out the need for social entrepreneurship ventures and talked about the steps they need to take to become commercially viable.
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Gurgaon-based Umeed has rescued hundreds of disabled animals
Digital classrooms provide better learning opportunities to underprivileged girls in Delhi
Kochi-based NGO Swaraksha is working tirelessly to ensure children are safe, healthy and happy
We also wrote a story on the simple steps one can take to reduce plastic use in our daily lives. Special focus was laid on education this week, as three different experts from the sector shared their voices on the need for innovation in teaching, a more democratic approach to education, and greater experimentation.
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