Mandala

Mandala

May 2023

Giving Tribals DUE RECOGNITION

We often ignore tribals who are very  much a part of our society. However,  some of us view them differently.  Being with them in the urban forest of Aarey,  Cassandra Nazareth from Mumbai wanted to  make their lives better. She formed the Nazareth  Foundation, and her friends,  Blasia Pinto, Mahesh Bariya,  and Rita Newnes, joined her.  

They have worked in creating livelihood for the women by  providing them with basic amenities in over 12 villages  in Aarey, 11 villages in Sanjay  Gandhi National Park, and six  villages at Madh Island. 

Through the foundation’s  flagship programme, Tribal  Tadka, the foundation has been able to transform the lives of  communities in the villages.  

Today, the women host TribalTadka lunch or breakfast  nity has been able to provide a much-needed  impetus to the #SaveAarey campaign, which  attempts to save the land and the villages of  Aarey. ther projects include facilitating the tribals to  get their own Aadhar and  PAN cards. Project Roots,  

which helps them in getting caste certificates, is one of  two ongoing projects, the other one being a protein nourishment project for  

women and children.   The Tribal Tadka project  enabled the provision of 2700 smokeless stoves in the  kitchens, 45 bio-toilets, food  

grains, sanitary pads, books,  saree donations, sewing machines, flour mills in 11 villages, and the refurbishing  

of borewells and mega water  programmes along with a flea  market and are capable of providing a village  experience to everyone who visits them. The  lunch comes with a charge, and each tribal  woman earns from it. 

 The programmme also includes a Warli art-and craft workshop and a Village Walk. As part of  the entrepreneurship program, the women make  items like quilts, bags, hand-painted coasters, etc.  and also prepare delicious items like til laddoos  and modaks, which the foundation helps them  sell through the monthly sale that they organise. 

The foundation along with the Warli commuty has made a conscious effort in ensuring that  their work is people- and environment-friendly. 

During the COVID epidemic, they crowd-fund ed over 25 lakh rupees worth of cooked food,  which was distributed daily, as well as 35 lakh  rupees worth of sponsored grain, and this im pacted over 16,000 families positively. 

“We treat them as people and have tried our  best to help them in all areas,” says Cassandra.  We are sure she will continue making the life of  these marginal people much easier. 

- By Jamuna Rangachari 

Empowering the  Differently Abled SRamakrishna from Ayikudy  

Village in Tirunelveli District, South Tamil Nadu,  while in his fourth year of studying  engineering, injured his spine while attending the last round of  the Naval officers’ selection test  and became a quadriplegic in 1981.  

Since he realised that the differently  abled did not have places to go  to, he began ASSA (Amar Seva  

Sangam) for them in 1981.  

S Sankara Raman, a chartered  accountant and a wheelchair user, affected by  muscular dystrophy, joined ASSA in 1992 as the  secretary.  

Together, Ramakrishna and Raman built a ‘Val ley for the Differently Abled’ in a thirty-acre  area in Ayikudy. This is a centre helping the  physically challenged with models for self-help  initiatives. “I feel disability should not hamper  anyone’s aspirations in life,” says Sankara Ra man. “When I was younger, I read an interview  with the famous tennis player Arthur Ashe of  the US, on his health issues. He had said in that  interview, ‘When I was winning Wimbledon  and other championships, I never asked God  why I was given all these credits and achieve ments. Now when I am having health issues, I  have no right to ask God why you have given  this to me.’ He felt from that moment that he  should never blame anybody for his condition  but take this as a challenge in his life and thank  God for giving him an opportunity to continue with his life and pursue his aspirations despite  whatever challenges he had.” 

Giving an example from his own life, Sankara  Raman says, “When I was young and doing  various assignments for my CA Articleship or  during my practice, people used to ask me, ‘What  problem are you suffering from?’ I would always  say I am fine. Puzzled by my answer, they would  stare at me disbelievingly. I would tell them that  they were looking at my wheelchair and not at  me, and that is their problem, not mine.” He asks  everyone to focus on their strengths instead of  their weaknesses, if any. 

The organisation has spearheaded the  empowerment of many people with disabilities  and has a big partnership with the Government  of Tamil Nadu through which they are catering  to more than 3000 children with disabilities in  the state. 

- By Jamuna Rangachari

Upholding the upanashic spirit

Upholding the  Upanishadic spirit

In current times, inspiring hope and  enthusiasm itself are parmarth (the  highest good). A society which  doesn’t preserve spiritual prosperity  can’t sustain its material prosperity  for long. In the absence of such  spiritual and wisdom dialogues,  society breeds all kinds of individual  inferiorities and social evils like  drug addiction, physical violence,  and mental cruelty, to name a few.  

In a nutshell, Upanishad is the most  appropriate ideas- and thought The world we live in today is progressing  in terms of material wealth. But most of  mankind is unable to find health, peace,  happiness, and fulfilment in their work. Thus  it becomes imperative to promote insightful  conversations in the public sphere, which will  provide clarity to people and thereby enable themto see life from a spiritual perspective.  ‘Upanishad’ is a conversation series between the  Darpan Foundation founder Shri Nandkishore  Tiwariji and outstanding professionals made  up of people from all walks of life. The goal of  this series of discussions is to preserve the spirit  of genuine inquiry, which is characteristic of  Upanishadic knowledge. India has always been  a land of seekers. Traditionally, we have always  encouraged asking questions.  

This forum is helping to continue the spirit  of seeking and knowing. In fact, it is glorified  and divinised so that the younger generation  gets inspired by it. According to Guruji, this,  in turn, will fill everyone with confidence. In  

sharing movement that helps to keep the whole  of humanity together through open-hearted  dialogues. The Upanishadic spirit is applauded  in occidental and oriental ways of thought 

sharing. This spirit attracted the Mughal prince  Dara Shikoh, so much so that he translated a few  Upanishads into the Persian language. 

Every month since 2017, the Upanishad  dialogue is organised, in which one or the  other prominent personality engages Guruji by  hosting the talk. Varied topics have been covered  so far, some of which are Directing Destiny,  Seekers and Seeking—Myriad Hues!, Youth  and Spirituality, Celebrating the Girl Child,  Role of Unknown, Ecology and Spirituality, Art  and Spirituality, and Exploring Swadharma.  Eminent personalities like Dr David Frawley,  filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, M P Tejaswi  Surya, author Amish Tripathi, artist Thomas  Easley, conservation architect Prof Satyaprakash  Varanashi, IPS officer Dr Ajay Kumar Singh,  and Indic researcher and author Nilesh Oakji  have participated in the dialogues so far. 

By Rishi Rathore