Small Ideas Big Changes and a little bit of Just Dial

One of the things that gets us easily excited and blissful here at The Better India is to come across stories of inspiration in mainstream Indian media. Therefore, we were delighted to observe that Hindustan Times has been running a series of stories titled "Small Ideas Big Changes". The introductory paragraph of this series is:

Mumbai is the city of opportunities. It is as full of possibilities as of traffic. Here, we always think, anything, really, is possible. Small Ideas Big Change presents the stories of 12 daring, dogged and ambitious people who didn't merely dream but who went ahead and did what they dreamt of. These entrepreneurs, little known when they started, grasped the opportunities that Mumbai presented them with. They altered their own lives with their successful ventures.

On July 16, HT reporter Pratik Ghosh, writes about VSS Mani and his overwhelmingly successful business idea - Just Dial. For the uninitiated few, Just Dial is a telephone search service in India. Users can call a specific number and obtain contact and address details of almost any commercial establishment of their respective cities.

The article talks about the genesis of this idea:

The idea of launching a telephonic service struck Mani in 1988 when he was working in Delhi for a yellow pages company. He was chatting up a client about the prospect of trading information, when it flashed across his mind. His logic was simple: "Unlike in the West, Indians are always banking on friends, relatives and neighbours for information in their everyday life. Why not launch a service to cater to this need?" asked the Jamshedpur-born Tamilian.

With an annual turnover of 85 crore and, check this - a valuation at Rs. 500 crore, Just Dial sure is more than just an idea coming true.

Read the complete article here.

Students and greener pastures

Our education system, so far, hasn't quite given the focus on environment and its sustainability. There are passing references, yes, but nothing that stirs a responsibility towards a better and cleaner earth.

However, the Center for Science and Environment (CSE) is hoping to change that perception. Anupam Bhagria writes in this article at the Indian Express about a new 'Green School Project':

Students of government schools will now be reviewing their school environment and biodiversity under the ‘Green School Project’. They will be maintaining a proper record and compile a report under the guidance of a school nodal officer, who will forward it to the Centre of Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi.

On December 18, the top twenty schools securing more than 70 per cent marks will be awarded a “Green Certificate”, schools with 55 to 60 per cent will get a “Yellow Certificate”, schools 50 to 60 per cent will get an “Orange Certificate” and those with 35 to 50 per cent will get a “Red Certificate”.

And what do the teachers have to say to this?

Kusum Lata, Science teacher at the Government Model Senior Secondary School, Punjab Agricultural University, and school nodal officer for this project said, “The aim behind this workshop is to raise awareness among students about the environment and biodiversity. We will involve senior students of class IX and XI as well. Classes X and XII students will be kept out for their Board examinations. Students will be trained to keep a record of the various data and evaluate them accordingly. They can seek the help of teachers if needed.”

Another interesting factor is that the students will also be keeping a tab on how much energy their school consumes. This includes recording of water consumption and LPG consumption in the cafeterias. A great way to instill a sense of giving back to mother nature. And in this case, the students are bound to work for a greener grass on their side.

Read the complete article here.

SOS is now SMS

There are over 220 million mobile phone users in India. India needs 8 million liters of blood a year. Any way to bring these two numbers to work together to help people?

Carmela Ferraro writes in this edition (pdf file) of the Guardian Weekly on 'How Text Messages are saving lives in India'.

Carmela talks about an organization called The Indian Blood Donors:

Indian Blood Donors, which operates throughout the country free of charge, links patients who need blood with those willing to donate it locally. So far 45,000 donors have registered.

It was the brainchild of a civil servant, Khushroo Poacha, 40, from Nagpur, Maharashtra, who works for Indian Railways. He explained: “In India, because there are shortages, especially for rare blood types, patients are often asked to find their own blood. This isn’t easy for anyone. But it’s especially hard for those people who come from villages, far away from main centres, and don’t know how to get around.

And how does the process work?

Using the bloodline is simple. When someone needs blood, they send a text message to 5676775 in a specific format . Within seconds, they will get a donor’s name, blood group and contact details. The process then triggers an SMS to the donor with the contact details of the patient, and the donor and the recipient organise the blood donation between themselves. If the donor for whatever reason is unable to help, the patient or their family continue sending SMS messages to other donors on the list.

You can download and read the complete article here (pdf file).

Credit: Link provided by Sunandini Basu.

Tribal Art and Computer Animation

Finally, we are beginning to see some convergence of two ends of the spectrum. The technology behind computer animation is now being introduced to help bring out the native artistic skills of tribals from various regions of the country.

Shruti Chakraborty writes in this article in the Mint, titled "Technology helping bring tribal art to life".

Excerpt:

Gond tribal artist Gariba Tekam had never even seen a computer till two weeks back. Now, he’s working with technology to bring his images to life.

As he paints a blue fox on a piece of paper, part of the storyboard for an animation film on a squirrel’s dream, Tekam says he is excited to help one of the many folk stories from his Patangarh village in Madhya Pradesh reach a wider audience.

The artist’s quantum leap into computer technology comes after two days of not-so-intensive training, part of the two-week animation workshop conducted by the Adivasi Arts Trust, or AAT, at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, or IGNCA.

As of now, the program has on board tribals from three regions of India - the Gonds from Madhya Pradesh, Santhals from Jharkhand and West Bengal, and Meiteis and Thadou Kukis from Manipur.

To know more about how the project is being implemented and the genesis of this wonderful idea, please read the complete article here.