Mandala
July 2023
MANDALA
Special care for children with special needs
Neena Rao from Hyderabad was depressed when her son was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome—a form of autism with behavioural issues—at the age of thirteen, though she had suspected something was wrong even before the diagnosis. She moved to the US along with her family soon after this. There, they gave him an individualised education plan (IEP) and helped him gain confidence, which resulted in better behaviour. She also joined many support groups. Encouraged by the improvement in her son’s condition and behaviour, she founded Margika in 2017 on her return to India. It is an NGO for special children and their caregivers.
Founding Margika was a natural extension of her lifelong passion for community work and her desire to make a positive impact on the lives of others. “It has been a challenging journey but also an incredibly rewarding one.
T h e r e are many m o m e n t s which are close to N e e n a ’ s heart. One of them was Meraki, their virtual talent
The intrepid Neena Rao as a mother of a child with such needs have given me a strong understanding of the challenges that families face, so they help me empower them,” says Neena.
Neena is grateful to the software company, ValueLabs, and their CEO, Arjun Rao, for their support to Margika since its inception. Many other friends and well-wishers have also provided constant support and encouragement, and she is grateful for their contributions to Margika’s success.
Margika has a strong advisory board that includes Dr Keshavan from Harvard University, Dr Tandon from the University of Michigan, and Manoj
show. It had entries from all over the world. The joy they brought to the families of special needs children on the day of this virtual event is something she will always cherish. Another important moment was the launch of their coffee table book Mindscapes: A Canvas of Emotions in a Special World by the Hon’ble Governor of Telangana and Hon’ble Lt Governor of Puducherry. Some who contributed their work were at the launch and were delighted to be there. “It was a pleasure to see their happiness at the event,” Neena recalls.
Knowing her passion and verve, we are sure many more people would be impacted by her organisation in the coming years.
- By Jamuna Rangachari
Creating Art From Waste
Believing that ecological art, or eco-art, can play a crucial role in raising awareness about environmental issues and promoting eco-friendly practices, Vishwanath Mallabadi from Bangalore is promoting it in the best possible manner. He wants to educate and inspire people to take action to protect the environment. “I wish to do something more than just recycling,” he says.
Vishwanath started creating eco-art in 2004, and he consistently does research in this domain. He founded the upcycle store, a commitment to promoting sustainable art creation practices and protecting the environment. As his practice requires tons of e-waste, he explores dismantling devices and gets thrilled looking at the vivid texture, shapes, and colours of the inner parts of the devices, be it a floppy drive, CD-ROM, or glucometer.
As the 21st century demands trending art installations, Vishwanath believes creating contemporary art with appropriate themes and design concepts will truly bring awareness and a great user experience. He has been transforming e-waste into amazing art for decades. His focus as an artist is to bring attention to the environmental impact of technology. We know there is an increase in demand for new electronic devices and, as a result, more e-waste is generated. As a contemporary artist and environmentalist, he would like to contribute to sustainable living. He is highly skilled for he was born and brought up in an artist family; his father was a renowned sculptor and painter. He was also part of HAM radio, where he developed his technical skills and learnt the fundamentals of technology, electronics, and fabrication. He is certainly putting in his best efforts in the area of art and technology, and wishes to continue doing so.
A major challenge was not getting enough support from anyone, including the government and NGOs. Still, Vishwanath never gave up and did his best. Every Sunday, he visits Kabadi Bazar, where one can find thousands of discarded old mobiles, calculators, and remote controls, which will go into landfills. He found these raw materials very useful for his art. With this, he keeps continuing his mission of sustainable eco art.
“My boost is appreciation and recognition that increases my morale and makes me do more challenging work,” he avers. Knowing his verve and passion, we are sure he will get support from many, and we will hear more about him in the area of sustainable art and e-waste management.
- By Jamuna Rangachari
Farming goes hi-tech
MANDALA
with special needs
Neena Rao from Hyderabad was depressed
when her son was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome—a form of autism with behavioural issues—at the age of thirteen, though she had suspected something was wrong even before the diagnosis. She moved to the US along with her family soon after this. There, they gave him an individualised education plan (IEP) and helped him gain confidence, which resulted in better behaviour. She also joined many support groups. Encouraged by the improvement in her son’s condition and behaviour, she founded Margika in 2017 on her return to India. It is an NGO for special children and their caregivers.
Founding Margika was a natural extension of her lifelong passion for community work and her desire to make a positive impact on the lives of others. “It has been a challenging journey but also an incredibly rewarding one. My own experiences
Kumar, all of whom have p r o v i d e d i n v a l u a b l e guidance and support to its mission of helping children with special needs.
T h e r e are many m o m e n t s which are close to N e e n a ’ s heart. One of them was Meraki, their virtual talent
The intrepid Neena Rao
as a mother of a child with such needs have given me a strong understanding of the challenges that families face, so they help me empower them,” says Neena.
Neena is grateful to the software company, ValueLabs, and their CEO, Arjun Rao, for their support to Margika since its inception. Many other friends and well-wishers have also provided constant support and encouragement, and she is grateful for their contributions to Margika’s success.
Margika has a strong advisory board that includes Dr Keshavan from Harvard University, Dr Tandon from the University of Michigan, and Manoj
show. It had entries from all over the world. The joy they brought to the families of special needs children on the day of this virtual event is something she will always cherish. Another important moment was the launch of their coffee table book Mindscapes: A Canvas of Emotions in a Special World by the Hon’ble Governor of Telangana and Hon’ble Lt Governor of Puducherry. Some who contributed their work were at the launch and were delighted to be there. “It was a pleasure to see their happiness at the event,” Neena recalls.
Knowing her passion and verve, we are sure many more people would be impacted by her organisation in the coming years.
- By Jamuna Rangachari
10 LifePositive | JULY 2023
Creating Art From
Believing that ecological art, or eco-art, can
play a crucial role in raising awareness about environmental issues and promoting eco-friendly practices, Vishwanath Mallabadi from Bangalore is promoting it in the best possible manner. He wants to educate and inspire people to take action to protect the environment. “I wish to do something more than just recycling,” he says.
Vishwanath started creating eco-art in 2004, and he consistently does research in this domain. He founded the upcycle store, a commitment to promoting sustainable art creation practices and protecting the environment. As his practice requires tons of e-waste, he explores dismantling devices and gets thrilled looking at the vivid texture, shapes, and colours of the inner parts of the devices, be it a floppy drive, CD-ROM, or glucometer.
As the 21st century demands trending art installations, Vishwanath believes creating contemporary art with appropriate themes and design concepts will truly bring awareness and a great user experience. He has been transforming e-waste into amazing art for decades. His focus as an artist is to bring attention to the environmental impact of technology. We know there is an increase in demand for new electronic devices and, as a result, more e-waste is generated. As a contemporary artist and environmentalist, he would like to contribute to sustainable living. He is highly skilled for he was born and brought up in an artist family; his father was a renowned sculptor and painter. He was also part of HAM radio, where he developed his technical skills and learnt the fundamentals of technology, electronics, and fabrication. He is certainly putting in his best efforts in the area of art and technology, and wishes to continue doing so.
A major challenge was not getting enough support from anyone, including the government and NGOs. Still, Vishwanath never gave up and did his best. Every Sunday, he visits Kabadi Bazar, where one can find thousands of discarded old mobiles, calculators, and remote controls, which will go into landfills. He found these raw materials very useful for his art. With this, he keeps continuing his mission of sustainable eco art.
“My boost is appreciation and recognition that increases my morale and makes me do more challenging work,” he avers. Knowing his verve and passion, we are sure he will get support from many, and we will hear more about him in the area of sustainable art and e-waste management.
- By Jamuna Rangachari
Farming goes hi-tech
Devika and Devan Chandrashekharan’s mother Ambika Bai, a dedicated farmer from Alappuzha district, Kerala, faced tremendous problems after the 2017–18 flood. It affected the nutrient status of the soil, which resulted in yield loss in food and cash crops. During their interactions with other farmers, they learnt that these people too were facing problems of crop damage. Devika and Devan realised that the solution required a scientific approach.
As both of them are engineers, Devika and Devan Chandrasekharan decided to use their technical skills in this area. They started Fuselage Innovations in 2020, an agritech start-up company, based on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) used for agriculture purposes. The aim was to bring digital agronomy solutions for large farming businesses, enabled by remote
sensing and artificial intelligence. The duo developed agricultural drones and surveillance drones to help farmers increase their yield. An agricultural drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle used in agriculture operations, mostly in yield optimisation and monitoring crop growth and crop production. Agricultural drones provide information on crop growth stages, crop health, and soil variations.
Agnii Invest India (a programme started by the office of Principal Scientific Advisor to the government of India) listed their project under the innovation category. The Zero Hunger project of The UNDP (United Nations Development Program) listed their project in sustainable development goals (SDG), and they received a grant for its prototype development. Digital Impact Square, an initiative of the TCS Foundation, recognised their project as an innovation in the agricultural sector. Startup India and Sharda University started a Sharda launchpad innovation challenge, and Devika and Devan were the winners in the agriculture section. They were acclaimed as the best-performing startup in the smart city hackathon ‘SCOUT 2021’ organised by STPI Bhuvaneswar. There is no end to their victories, awards, and recognitions in their domain.
They surely seem to be succeeding in the right way, and we are sure that we shall keep hearing about their innovations and achievements.
By Jamuna Rangachari