Good rating aside, there are promises to keep on the Rafale front

India’s eight-year bid to buy a medium multi-role combat aircraft for its air force fleet took multiple barrel rolls, tumbled all the way down, and finally crashed into a ball of flames in April this year. That effort was effectively declared dead the moment Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in Paris he has expressed India’s desire to buy 36 fly-away Rafale combat planes from France.

But that’s history now. The latest is that the effort to get even the 36 Rafales off-the-shelf seems to be doing a Vertical Charlie (an extreme combat plane manoeuvre) and has gone out of control, with reports suggesting that the “go-ahead” given by the Manohar Parrikar-led Defence Acquisition Council on September 1 this year was conditional.

The 36-plane negotiations has got into the grey area of deviations from the pre-set defence procurement procedure, primarily on issues relating to the offset clause and the pricing for the readyto- fly combat jets that India wants so urgently. The deviations are so serious that these require the approval of India’s highest decisionmaking body, the Cabinet Committee on Security.

This is a clear sign of trouble brewing in the negotiations that’s been in progress for the past five months, even as there were reports that the talks were facing turbulence over the same issues. The French are as recalcitrant now as they were during the three years of negotiations for the medium multi-role combat aircraft contract that has now been scrapped for good. They just want to sell and not help India in its “Make in India” programme.

This goes against the grain of the Indian bid to create a domestic defence industrial complex that’s self-reliant to meet the needs of the Indian armed forces. Certainly, the idea of Indian self-reliance goes against the entire premise of the global defence manufacturers that India is one big market for the arms that they produce. There is a clear conflict of interest there.

India’s need for a combat plane such as the Rafale has become imperative now considering that the Indian Air Force has no other plane that could match the electronic warfare capabilities of the American F-16C/ D Block-52 that arch-rival Pakistan’s air force possesses now in its fleet.

The Pakistani F-16 can beat the Indian Su-30MKI hands down in a one-on-one dog fight with its sheer electronic warfare capability, if senior IAF officials are to be believed. Beyond Visual Range combat is an altogether different ball game. But if the Pakistani F-16 manage to penetrate the Indian air defence infrastructure, then a dog fight becomes inevitable. In such a scenario, India may have to pit two of its Su-30MKI combat jets against each F-16 that comes close to inflicting damage to Indian ground fighting units on the battlefield or strafing strategically important assets.

It is this threat that the IAF top brass wants to counter through the Rafale, which they consider to be the best bet among contemporary combat planes against the F-16s. But the threat part is only the capability aspect of the importance of India getting a medium multi-role combat aircraft for itself immediately. There is the numbers game part, too.

The IAF combat fleet strength is precariously placed at this point in time. IAF has already begun to phase out the obsolete MiG-21 and MiG-27 combat planes from its fleet, with at least three of the dozen squadrons being number-plated this year itself, with a few more in the following year.

At present, IAF has a combat fleet strength of 33 squadrons that’s short by nine squadrons already, considering that the IAF desires to have 42 squadrons that it feels is required to meet the challenge of a two-front simultaneous war by Pakistan and China, a scenario Indian military thinkers envision as definitely possible in the foreseeable future. This already weakened strength is likely to go down to just 25 squadrons in the next five years, with the MiG-21 and MiG-27 squadrons being number-plated at a faster pace than previously expected. Its worst-case scenario could remain unmitigated if the expected induction of the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft Tejas is pushed beyond the end of this decade. India plans to have at least seven squadrons of the LCA Tejas of which five will be of the Mk-2 advanced variant that could match the likes of the JF-17 that the Pakistan Air Force would have in its fleet. That’s the silver lining.

The IAF is now waiting for the stateowned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to deliver the first four LCA Mk-1 planes so that it could raise a new squadron of the indigenous combat aircraft. But the LCA Mk- 1 is yet to obtain its Final Operational Clearance to be deployed in a combat scenario.

The Indian government has approved the induction of two LCA Mk-1 squadrons and is waiting for the Mk-2 to be ready to place an order for five more of the variant for the IAF. Again, the LCA Mk-2 is still far away. Now that the original tender to have the 126 medium multi-role combat planes is no more, the IAF still seems to require another, at least, 240 combat planes, preferably in the light-weight, single-engine category, as replacements for the MiG-21s and MiG-27s that are being phased out.

The IAF combat fleet of about 650 planes will soon go down to about 400 combat jets in the next five years. It is here that the 240 more planes would add strength by keeping the fleet strength as a respectable level. This, India has to achieve before it gets to induct the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft that is being jointly developed with the Russians.

It is in this background that a quick deal for the 36 Rafales becomes unavoidable. But the kind of time overruns that the Indian decision-making and deal negotiations are known for, it’s anybody’s guess when the 36- Rafale contract could be signed and when the planes would be inducted into the IAF fleet.

Whatever happened to the Modi promise of a “better” deal to be done “within a timeline” that conforms to IAF’s operational requirements?

WHO DECIDES WHAT SHOULD BE ON AN INDIAN’S PLATE? AT THE SAME TIME, SHOULDN’T WE ALSO TAKE A HARD LOOK AT WHAT WE ARE CONSCIOUSLY PILING IT UP WITH?

SONAL // I am against animal killing – at any time, for any reason. And I’m okay with any action taken as long as it is for animal rights. At the same time, the way we are a multi-religious country, I don’t see how we can give respect to a particular religion by banning meat. Until some time ago, it was only the chickens and the goats that were slaughtered. Now we have the foie gras as well, an extremely cruel way to get special meat. It is so cruel that it has been banned in many countries in Europe. But in India, such things happen on a superficial level, and I am disappointed that it is not taken up by chefs, food critics and food writers, either.

SONAL // I am against animal killing – at any time, for any reason. And I’m okay with any action taken as long as it is for animal rights. At the same time, the way we are a multi-religious country, I don’t see how we can give respect to a particular religion by banning meat. Until some time ago, it was only the chickens and the goats that were slaughtered. Now we have the foie gras as well, an extremely cruel way to get special meat. It is so cruel that it has been banned in many countries in Europe. But in India, such things happen on a superficial level, and I am disappointed that it is not taken up by chefs, food critics and food writers, either.

What you can see, sells. It will make a lot of sense to make vegetarian cuisine more popular and have food critics review vegetarian cuisine. The current scenario is most of them can’t look beyond a non-vegetarian spread and half-heartedly dedicate a paragraph in the end of their story merely mentioning vegetarian dishes. It was heartening to see MasterChef India 4 go all-veg.

Our eating habits are a matter of conditioning. We do not eat what we eat because of what we have been taught in books. It comes from culture, conditioning and convenience. We think culture can never be bad. But we forget it was the same culture that observed the practice of sati, which was abolished. So, cultures can have misconstructs. We should be aware of the not-so-right practices. We are also conditioned into eating certain foods. One who has been fed on milk and eggs by his mother can’t say his mother was wrong with her food choices. Then there is convenience, the convenience of maintaining good relations. A vegetarian thinks, “I will never ask a non-vegetarian person to stop eating because he isn’t harming my family.”

We need to create more awareness about opting for vegetarian food, and how giving up meat long-term, or for a while isn’t such a bad thing. There needs to awareness about why such a resolution of banning meat for a few days isn’t bad at all! People need to be told about the implications of some abattoirs being told to shut down for a few days. They need to be told the biological and environmental benefits of such a move. Not killing animals for eating for even a day will give environmental relief to resources such as air and water, which are already under stress from slaughterhouses working overtime.

Instead of giving it religious tones, however, the government should consider giving it a universal appeal and colour. We can remain secular about it, but talk about the environmental and health issues. Meat consumption is definitely a health hazard. So why not brace up and start making the public aware about it, and let out bodies take a rest from it for a few days at least. I also believe someone has to speak for animals that can’t speak for themselves. I feel if you have the capacity in your to heart to listen to the wails and cries of animals and stand the bloodshed that goes on to satisfy your taste buds, go ahead and do that. But please don’t give me the argument about fruits and vegetables feeling the same pain, too. A cabbage does not run out on the road while you are trying to chop it. But a goat will. Alas, the media and politicians are ready to cash in on any dissent about it.

I love going to Mahatma Gandhi when it comes to vegetarianism. He advocated vegetarianism on compassionate grounds. Not eating meat is compassion. Animals are not in power; it is we human beings who are much more powerful than animals. Any community that has been exploited has never been able to fight for its rights without active help from the powerful lobby. Feminism needs men to fight for equal rights, just as blacks were joined by white people when it came to racism. So why do we expect the animal right movement to go the opposite way? Respecting a life is a bigger cause than respecting food choices. You should remember that the origin of eating meat lies in torture and pain and death, which could have been avoided.

NABRINA SEN // Scene 1: Judging people I looked at this woman with a thin moustache, with shock and surprise as every muscle on her face reflect hatred for me, as she uttered these words to the property dealer with an unusually big nose: “Bengalis – these people eat fish. I need “acche” (good) tenants for my house.” It was the first time I came across a person with hate and I understood I am a part of the “these people” category for a woman who neither consumes goat meat with pleasure, nor enjoys the taste of fish. All night I felt, just like a coloured man in the US may feel if he was addressed as nigger or an Indian is addressed as native. It was also the first time I, a Bengali from north Kolkata, came across the first food thug from Patparganj.

Scene 2: The dead eater I have always enjoyed food. Born in North Kolkata, like every Bengali I grew up in a neighbourhood where the men went to the market with an additional plastic tholi (shopping bag). The plastic bag was used for purchasing the fish of the day. Stories about getting your hands on the best catch were exchanged over relishing maacher jhol (fish curry): “And so fresh was the fish that it looked alive” or, “Just the colour of its blood, it was beautiful” and so on.

For us kids, it meant great taste. Soon, I was old enough to go to market and understand the freshness of the fish by the colour of its eyes. And this is how I became a part of “these people” category, and would enjoy eating the dead for the rest of my life.

Scene 3: His grandmother and mine She was an old woman whose ears and eyes missed nothing. Eighty years old, wearing a white sari, she would climb the stairs of our fourthfloor house with ease. She would recite Bhagvad Gita and go to the thakurghar (the room dedicated for offering pooja). She was a vegetarian but could cook the best non-vegetarian for the entire family. I would often wonder how she cooked so perfectly without even tasting the fish or chicken. And I never saw hatred in her eyes, which the landlady from Patparganj showed for my people who love the taste of animal meat or fish.

Scene 4: Sin-free Shanti is a “sacred cow”. She has strong horns and is regarded by many two-legged as mother. Every day, she is visited by her owner, who takes Gopal away from her. Gopal is her calf, only a few days old, but can never get his fill of milk, which is rightfully his. Shanti’s milk is taken by his owner Lal Singh, and after getting mixed with enough water and god knows what else, who delivers the milk to our Patparganj landlady, who has a headache unless she drinks a cup of milk with her breakfast. After breakfast, she goes to buy fresh vegetables for her vegetarian lunch, which she feels is sin-free because she never takes a life by eating and never hurts anyone’s kid.

Scene 6: The great hunger Times are changing. We are now a great big country, an emerging economy, facing hungry mouths, and a successful mission to Mars. Lakhs of people sleep on footpaths on an empty stomach. Innumerable Indians don’t have access to safe drinking water. Farmers are committing suicide. So many kids get to work before they are even 10 years old. What gives anyone the right to decide what they will eat? Especially the “fresh vegetable” eaters? Do you know the fresh raw apple you bite into can feel you are chewing it alive?

The first-ever Radio4child awards organised by UNICEF and the Association of Radio Operators of India (AROI) is a unique initiative to create awareness about the importance of immunisation

Sweets, ice creams, anything it took, she giggles, in her trademark style. That’s Madhuri Dixit, the mother, talking of how she got her two sons to get immunised. As UNICEF’s Celebrity Advocate, Madhuri Dixit is serious about getting the message across — straight and simple. “Children need to get their complete injections to grow up as healthy individuals. They are, after all, our future. Thus, it’s extremely important the message is spread across far and wide. Radio is a wonderful medium to do it considering it’s wide reach,” she told Democratic World.

Little surprise that she was more than happy to be present at the first-ever Radio4child awards organised by UNICEF and the Association of Radio Operators of India (AROI), a unique initiative to create awareness about the importance of immunisation.

The first week of September saw this unique award ceremony take place in Mumbai, where UNICEF and AROI announced the winners. The Radio4child awards honoured selected radio jockeys (RJs) who have worked towards sensitising the larger public through creative messages on Routine Immunisation (RI).

Immunisation is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions and currently averts an estimated two to three million deaths every year. In fact, India has one of the largest immunisation programmes in the world in terms of the number of beneficiaries, geographical coverage and quantities of vaccine used, with nearly 27 million new-born babies targeted for immunisation each year. Over nine million immunisation sessions are held every year across the country.

That, of course, is only one side of the picture. For studies show that despite this extensive coverage, only 65 per cent of the children in India received all vaccines during the first year of their life. The data points to the need for sustained interventions, particularly in areas of low RI rate, and addressing the challenges faced in ensuring universal coverage of immunisation.

To tackle the issue, the Government of India launched Mission Indradhanush, a focussed RI campaign, in pre-identified 201 districts across the country, which account for nearly 50 per cent of all unvaccinated or partially-vaccinated children.

It’s easier said than done, however, especially if we consider a land like India. There are far-flung areas, districts where basic facilities are still missing and medical facilities are poor. Combine that with low levels of illiteracy and you have a deadly trap. And that is where Radio has a big role to play. Not only does it have a wide reach, but also has a unique capacity of connecting with people.

“Radio, as a powerful medium, is a crucial point of contact with the remotest and hard-to-reach populations. Today as we celebrate the awesome power of this medium, it shows us how on-air activities can creatively communicate critical health messages,” says Caroline den Dulk, Chief of Communication, UNICEF.

Bearing in mind the critical role of radio as a medium in reaching out to people and in shaping their decision-making process, UNICEF has been actively involved in organising capacity-building workshops with radio jockeys across India.

The awards were the result of these capacity-building workshops, conducted in 2014-15, by UNICEF for over 40 private FM and AIR journalists. UNICEF has engaged with district-level AIR radio professionals and partnered with AROI to create a holistic discussion on RI through the medium of radio. AROI is an industry group that brings over 200 private FM stations together. The initiative has been supported by Speak for Change and Nagrik Foundation.

The RJs participating in the workshops came from nine focus states with the lowest RI rates — Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. During training, the RJs produced creative radio jingles and talk shows to deliver critical messages on child health and RI. More than 50 radio jockey mentions and 21 innovative jingles on the need for complete immunisation were produced. All India Radio and several private radio stations provided free space for airing the voices of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and offered platforms to children for voicing immunisation messages.

Come to think of it, it made all the sense. After all wouldn’t a message in your native language or style appeal much more than a general mechanised message? Then, of course, the bigger challenge like Ms Dixit put it, “is to make something routine such as immunisation interesting.” Something that the radio jockeys learnt the importance of, after their training. Like RJ Shashi who won the Best Jingle Award put it, “Once we were put through the training, one understood the challenge and importance of getting the message of immunisation across.”

Given the wide reach of radio in India, the messages in native languages and styles have been a hit. In a recorded statement to the guests, Dr Rakesh Kumar, Joint Secretary, Health, shared, “Radio’s reach especially that of the public broadcaster, All India Radio, remains unparalleled. The vision of engaging radio is also aligned to India’s ‘Call to Action for Child Survival and Development’ focusing on the need for creating synergetic efforts with all stakeholders, especially media, focusing on innovative ideas and practical solutions to empower every citizen with knowledge and information”. The awards then are simply a way of giving that pat on the back. Twenty one entries were received from leading radio stations across the country. The winners were picked by a select jury that included personalities from academia, media and radio.

The nomination categories included Best Public Service Announcement, Best Jingle, Best Radio Jockey Link, Best Creative Campaign, Best Message Clarity Award and Best Radio Spot for Government of India’s flagship Immunisation Programme, Mission Indradhanush.

The awards ceremony was preceded by the just-concluded global “Call to Action Summit 2015”, which adopted the Delhi Declaration on “ending preventable maternal and child deaths”. The declaration was developed as an outcome of the high-level ministerial conclave, held in New Delhi as part of the summit.

The big-event energy was palpable at the award ceremony. “This is certainly a momentous day when private FM channels from across the country have joined hands for supporting the Government of India’s mission for ending preventable child deaths. I am certain that our partnership with UNICEF will go a long way forward to create awareness on this important health issue,” said Anuraddha Prasad, President, AROI, in her inaugural address. Given the enthusiasm of the RJs at the ceremony, the message surely looked like it was on an effective pathway.

Nayan Raheja, on what it takes to build your own reputation, despite coming from an iconic builders’ family

Born as a son of real estate developer Navin Raheja is not what dares him to make them stand tall, it was what he dreamt of in class eight that helped Nayan Raheja convert his dreams into reality. He believes constructing a building is not merely about bricks and mortar, it is about building a dream house for its customers where they can relax and enjoy their stay.

Still, one wonders if it is easier for a developers’ son to get into construction and carry the family business forward. The answer comes on its own: “I gave wings to my dreams by graduating from the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi. Also, being an alumnus of Delhi Public School, I learnt that a successful man isn't really successful if he is all height and no girth. And this is where I began my journey from.”

Raheja believes professionally-managed technology, driven with the right ideas, innovation and actions, bring in desired growth. Today, his company is one of the largest in the real estate industry with projects all over India. “When I joined my father’s business, Raheja Developers Limited, as an executive director, I knew our corporate philosophy and guiding principles are that blueprints of buildings should not be made in isolation but in harmony with the needs, dreams and aspirations of those who will inhabit them,” he says, adding how the company not only develops exquisite homes, office and commercial space for its customers, but also endeavours to gain their trust through quality, commitment and dedication.

But what difference has he brought to a company that was already well known? “Seeing my dedication, my father gave me a chance to be at the forefront to lead the company into the new era, contributing significantly to better systems, processes and better product delivery while keeping the needs of the modern consumer in mind,” he says. He also decided to choose a path he personally believed in — transparency of operations, where he wants to give every details to the customer through the company’s website www.raheja.com, be it government approvals, integration with Google Earth/ Maps for locations, as well as directions of all projects, which is uploaded on the website.

Monthly construction updates by YouTube video embedding or by using first-of-its-type live virtual tour of completed project/ sample flat is also available on the website. As he further explains, “I also decided to implement a system where all approvals are taken through it, which helps us monitor our company’s departmental activities.” So he sat with his IT team to design this system where the concerned people in the company can access and manage important activities such “searching”, “reporting”, “mail‐merging” and “communicating” with employees within the organisation.

Under his leadership, the company has seen tremendous changes in a short span of two years. As they say, with a new mind come new ideas, thoughts, challenges, and ways and means to excel. Due to the change of business strategy from mid-level housing to luxury housing, the brand positioning has changed. With active participation in product strategy, design input, execution management, the company’s brand enjoys the highest level of reputation in the market.

Raheja has also been instrumental in convincing the world’s largest construction companies such as Arabtec and ECC, to come to India under a joint venture and as a part of his company’s backward integration. He also didn’t hesitate in appointing Thornton Tomasetti USA, the structural engineers of Kingdom Tower, the world’s tallest building under construction; the Petronas Towers, Malaysia; and Taipei 101, Taiwan.

A multi-talented person, Rajeha wears many hats with ease. He is also a musician, conservationist, poet, director, singer, an avid photographer and the list goes on. Given these, the company recently decided to venture in showbiz. Raheja is also one of the directors in Raheja Productions, a production house making documentaries and films in the field of wildlife and environment. The production house is making a Bollywood film based on the issues of India’s youth. He is personally a keen wildlife photographer and has been contributing significantly to the cause of tiger conservation, with his photos and articles being published across leading journals of India. He keeps travelling extensively to wildlife parks across the world and writes on the current conditions of wildlife and forest management.

As a keen musician with a degree from Delhi school of Music in classical guitar, Raheja has also received Hindustani classical vocal training and has performed at concerts at colleges and fests and at prestigious public platforms such as Siri Fort Auditorium, Delhi.

In the end, however, his biggest passion is his profession, he says. “I have actively been designing most of the buildings developed by Raheja Developers and take pride in having been awarded the Best Architect in India at the Real Estate Lifestyle Award for 2011,” he says. A keen follower of technology, sustainability, and future of construction mechanisms in architecture, Raheja is also a member of the Indian Institute of Architects and the Assocham Youth Leaders community.

And what about his dream project, Talking Homes? “You can talk to the walls of your house,” he says. Building the world’s first artificial homes, where home automation is being integrated with voice recognition system to create a home with a soul, this ambitious project is Raheja Ayana residences. There is also Raheja Revanta, which is poised to break the records in luxury and stand out to be one of the tallest residential towers in North India with 56 floors.

Raheja also feels backward integration and technology transfer from strategic international partners has helped the company to direct control over the engineering, construction intricacies and skilled labour control, which will spell the future of Indian construction. This has also helped the group pioneer some incredible innovations such as slip-form construction, pre-fabricated construction and so on, which has increased product quality and decreased the construction time. “Today, we have already achieved a five-day-per-floor cycle for a 25,000 sq ft floor plate each, which is perhaps the fastest construction on Indian soil,” he says.

A must-read, but only after you’ve laughed yourself into a cardiac arrest with the first two

I WAS horrified when I read the title of Kiran Nagarkar’s third book in his Ravan & Eddie series: Rest in Peace. Rest in Peace? What did Nagarkar mean?

I didn’t want Ravan and Eddie to rest in peace. I didn’t want them out of my life for even a second. If Nagarkar did bump them off, I swore, I would hold a candlelight procession of one outside his house, clutching a placard that read “Kiran Nagarkar Unfair to Ravan & Eddie & Me”.

Or okay, I thought. If they have to die, their ghosts must haunt CWD Chawl No 17, Mumbai. That’s where Ravan and Eddie were born and that’s from where they created their own brand of mayhem, tumbling us through the magic and muck of the city, reminding us, over and over again, of what an unbelievable place Mumbai can be.

Rest in Peace, like the first two Ravan and Eddie books, is pure Mumbai, combining Bollywood, gangsters, nonstop rain, enterprise, love, magic, muck, madness, traffic, firstday first-shows, Marine Drive, music — and even a fire at the iconic Taj Mahal Hotel, in which our two unlikely heroes become unlikely heroes.The story is not a straight narrative. Though it’s chronologically told, the book is more a series of episodes set off either by Ravan or Eddie themselves, or by circumstances (or gangsters) that suck our leading men in, chew them up and spit them out, leaving them battered for a bit, but soon ready to take on the world again.

But basically, the book begins in a surprising way. Ravan and Eddie are hits. Yes, really. The music they had inadvertently composed for a film has the whole of India and all of Bollywood in an uproar. Producers, music directors and superstar actors are all bumping into each other on the malodorous, paan-stained staircases of CWD Chawl No 17, falling over themselves to sign the duo for their films. (For readers ill-fated enough not to be Mumbaikars, a chawl is a tenement, just one social step higher than a slum.)

Among the many (unread but signed) contracts not worth the paper they had been typed on, is an offer from a producer who does not promise the duo the universe, but hopes that with their music and their friend Asmaan’s lyrics, his final movie will be a hit. Perhaps. The women in R&E’s lives push them to take on this producer’s movie, and soon R&E are so successful they can actually afford three-bedroom flats in Pali Hill. The world belongs to them: these goodfor- nothings who turned out to be good at a lot of stuff.

Naturally it isn’t all smooth. We are talking about Ravan and Eddie, after all. And Bollywood and gangsters are involved, all in Mumbai and suddenly in Chambal too. Rest in Peace is completely mad, and utterly fall-off-your-chair-laughing hilarious as only Kiran Nagarkar can make it.

But truthfully, you wouldn’t understand this book unless you had read and adored the first two books in the series: Ravan & Eddie and The Extras. That’s because Nagarkar makes only feeble efforts to bring the duo’s history into the narrative. He’d rather take you on an energetic gallop through the minds and worlds of his heroes as they are at present, which means if you don’t already know how the two of them were born, grew up and became best friends and partners, Rest in Peace will be a mystery to you. So buy this book. But don’t read it till you’ve laughed yourself into a cardiac arrest with the first two.

Parenting is not a technique but a reflection of the united philosophy of both father and mother. There is no “bad child”, but simply “bad routines”. In today’s technologically-driven environment, young parents cannot deny this truth.

Most children today are buffered from all sorts of discomfort and are kept happy all the times, which affects their growth and makes them ill-equipped to handle adverse situations and challenges later in life. To connect deeply with the children, one needs to be “mindful”. Mindfulness is about extricating ourselves from the chatter and reactivity that surrounds us. Mindfulness creates the inner space to reach out to our own wisdom and respond with clear thinking, understanding and acceptance of “what is”.

Child and adolescent psychologist and family therapist Dr Shelja Sen highlights this through her five anchors of parenting — connect (create the foundation of parenting); coach (build the necessary skills in children through an understanding of their unique wiring and temperament); care (nurture ourselves for a more wholesome life); community (build caring ecosystems for children to thrive in) and commit (sustain the courage and compassion).

The book suggests emotional and practical ways to nurture a healthy and happy family, and not just children. The 5C formula of the author is not just about the holistic approach to parenting, but also gives suggestions on how to strengthen individuals, families and community with spiritualism. The author believes that parenting is not about fixing the child but growing up and empowering ourselves for this journey.

“Connect and Coach for Teenagers” is a particularly significant chapter in the book. An eye-opener for parents, it is interspersed with true stories and anecdotes from children she has been involved therapeutically with. Listening, respecting and not being judgemental are the critical points discussed here.

This book could be a ready reckoner for parents, teachers and all those involved with raising the future through children.

It has everything to make your dreams come true – from night safaris and luxury beaches, to museums, scrumptious cuisines, and extreme sports, too

One of the biggest advantages of making your passion your profession is that you are almost always guaranteed a lifetime of happiness :-). And so I embarked on my second trip to Singapore in a little over a year – with family in tow — thrilled with the knowledge that come what may, I was at the very least finally going to realise a lifelong dream of watching my favourite football team (Arsenal) play live.

While I spent the first four days of my 10-day “work-cation” mixing with professional footballers, attending press conferences, conducting interviews and watching matches, I had the nights virtually to myself to explore what is truly a fascinating city. Singapore doesn’t quite have the nightlife of a New York or a Paris, but there is enough on offer to make life fun. Two items that you must add to your nocturnal visits are Clarke Quay and the Singapore Zoo. While the former offers some fantastic options in terms of food (and drink!) and entertainment, the latter has an incredible night safari, a not to be missed experience.

A visit to Clarke Quay should ideally start with a walk along the riverside before adventuring onto the GX-5 Xtreme Swing. Not for the faint of heart, a group of four comfortably fits into a swing which then torpedoes skywards at 120 kmph. After reaching a height of about 50 metres, you’re then released in a manner in which you swing like a pendulum for a few minutes. The time passes by rather quickly and all you can really remember is screaming your lungs out while you oscillate around Clarke Quay.

Right next to the Xtreme Swing is another adventure attraction for adrenaline junkies -- the GMAX Reverse Bungy — it is like doing bungee jumping but in reverse. Once again done as a group activity, you sit in a pod and then are yanked up to a height of 60 metres at a speed close to 200 kph, before being instantly released downwards again. Neither activity should be attempted after having a bite as many first-time adventure seekers in my vicinity learned, and personally I’d recommend choosing one a day, rather than attempting them in quick succession, unless you are a regular at extreme sports.

With the adrenaline still rushing in your system, venture over to a noisy pub for some quick lubrication and then maybe move to a quieter restaurant on the riverside, where multi-cultural cuisines are on offer. The “work” leg of my vacation ended with taking my family over to see Arsenal vs Everton, and while they were chuffed to bits with the entertainment on offer at the Singapore Sports Hub, it was time to move on to more kid-centric activities to make the trip to Singapore all the more memorable.

A little over 700 square kilometers, Singapore is a really tiny place to visit, and any destination inside the city is less than an hour away. A Guided City Tour ensured that all the top tourist destinations were officially visited at least once, giving us time to plan where we would spend the bulk of our time going forward. The Botanical Gardens was one of our top targets, and for nature lovers it is a dream come true. It is a little warm to traverse on foot all day long, but the Orchid Garden specifically is well worth the trip alone. Wrap up your day with a meal at the Blue Bali restaurant, and that’s one day of your vacation really well spent.

A trip to Sentosa was next on our agenda, and while the small island is outside the official city limits, moving to and from central Singapore is quite easy. There is so much to do on Sentosa alone that one could easily spend three-four days there, but we had to make do on this particular trip with a visit to just Universal Studios. Universal Studios is a truly fantastic experience, but one needs to be prepared to get into long lines and wait for a while, especially for some of the more popular rides. Whatever you do, don’t go to Universal Studios on a public holiday, you could end up waiting for hours.

Sentosa has a lot to offer including an Underwater Aquarium, and a Dolphin Lagoon, which we were forced to skip on this trip, but it on our agenda for next time. It also has a Madame Tussauds and some really amazing beaches, making me consider the prospect of perhaps staying at a hotel on Sentosa itself next time. Back to Singapore though, and there was still plenty we wanted to do before boarding our flight home. A trip to Jurong Bird Park was next, and while nowhere near as enjoyable for adults, the kids certainly loved it. Seeing live penguins as soon as we entered was certainly unexpected, as was the Birds of Prey show, which had real vultures and hawks flying over our heads!

In the afternoon we made our way to the country’s famous Raffles Hotel to finally try out Singapore’s most famous concoction, the Singapore Sling. The drink itself was a little too sweet for my liking, but the atmosphere in the bar was amazing. The peanut baskets at each table, where visitors shell their own peanuts, and then toss them on the floor was a unique experience. Fortunately for me I had three kids in a tow who were happy to do the shelling before a predictable food fight broke out in our corner. Trying to squeeze in as much as possible into our holiday, we finally made our way to the top floor of Marina Bay Sands Hotel, which has an amazing ocean liner design at the top of three buildings, and is believed to offer the best view of the city. Sadly though, the weather gods intervened for only the second time on our trip, denying us our dream view.

Armed with our umbrellas and still full of enthusiasm, we ventured over to the Gardens by the Bay and spent the late evening watching the amazing light and sound show. Unfortunately, we couldn’t really enjoy the attraction in all its splendour, and I would strongly recommend a daytime visit for anyone who plans on heading here in the future to make the most of it. Our past two stops in Singapore were also easily the most enjoyable. Singapore has something called an Alive Museum, a 3-D interactive photo exhibition, where patrons are encouraged to actually touch the art and be a part of the experience. For the kids it was a totally memorable experience as they posed for pictures galore with everyone from Superman to Marilyn Monroe!

Before heading home, we decided to spend our last day in Singapore on the beach, hoping to inhale as much fresh air as we could muster into our lungs and also enjoy an off-day lazing around after an actionpacked holiday. East Coast Park has a nice relaxed setting without too many people and a small beach where the children can build sand castles to their hearts content. It also has some enjoyable little restaurants where one can grab a drink and a bite without burning a massive hole into your wallet, which honestly the rest of Singapore manages ridiculously well.

Having had our share of fun to last us a year, we returned to where it all began — Changi Airport, which is unsurprisingly rated one of the best in world. Having not had much time to explore it when we arrived, we enjoyed the couple of hours we had before our departure at this airport which gives the impression of being more like a mall-meets-hotel. Blessed with a swimming pool, a spa, its own theatre, not to mention a butterfly garden, one almost wished our flight home was going to be delayed!

Vegetarian eating is a growing trend in India, with a number of people opting out of meat-eating for a few days, or forever

What’s the one dish that is driving food sales at McDonalds? Would you be surprised if I said AlooTikki Burger? In spite of their innovations on chicken and egg burgers, the AlooTikki Burger has been their best seller for the Indian market. The company, when it entered the Indian market in the 1990s, had to change its standardised worldwide menu more than 70 per cent to suit the Indian palate. Over the years, McDonalds has been constantly innovating to introduce twists and wraps, other than burgers, to suit Indian tastes.

It’s not just McDonalds, Domino’s too has seen an increase in its sales of vegetarian pizzas. In fact, the chain has opened as many as 11 all-vegetarian pizzerias, especially in temple towns such as Katra, Amritsar, Shirdi and Haridwar, a move that has notched up its sales in these cities. According to their sales figures, about 65 per cent of all pizzas orders are vegetarian. And even in its latest gourmet pizza selection, made by no less than a celebrity chef, it has a selection of vegetarian gourmet pizzas.Prompted by all this popularity in vegetarian food, KFC, which is known for its fried chicken, introduced a new tagline to its ads to promote vegetarian food last season, “So Veg, so good”, a move away from its famous tagline “Finger licking’ good”. KFC has a popular Paneer Zinger Burger and the paneer-based Veg Twister. And even though its fried chicken sells a lot, the vegetarian dishes are equally popular.

Not surprising, since India has the largest number of vegetarians, with 40 per cent of the population opting only for vegetarian meals. According to a recent “State of the Nation” survey by a TV news channel, even out of the meat eating population, only 30 per cent eat meat on a regular basis. And restaurants are now innovating their menus to include more vegetarian recipes that are not just paneer. Not just standalone restaurants, premier properties and five-star hotels are looking at ways to woo the vegetarian clientele by introducing more and more vegetarian dishes. Several of them also have special menus around religious festivals when people abstain from meat-eating.

The worldwide trend off veganism and gluten-free food is also catching on India. “I was a non-vegetarian and turned vegan about three years ago. It has really helped curb my cholesterol,” says Preeta Pradhan, a senior executive in a background research firm. In fact, she talks of cases in her friends’ circle, where turning to veganism has helped going off insulin to control diabetes and statins to control cholesterol. “It is rare for me to visit a restaurant and not find a dish that suits my veganism. In most menus, I am able to find a dish to suit my palate,” she says.

The need to emphasise on vegetarian food in restaurants has also increased over the years, with youngsters also observing “no meat” days during the week and even going vegetarian during Navratras. In fact, during these fasting days (twice a year), many restaurants in north India go completely vegetarian. Many young people have switched to vegetarian food, thanks to aggressive campaigns such as those by PETA, which uses Bollywood celebrities to promote vegetarianism.

Innovating vegetarian food for chefs has become easier, with more and more exotic vegetable such as asparagus, brussel sprouts, iceberg lettuce, celery, Portobello and oyster mushrooms and kale now available in supermarkets across India. In fact, last season, the popular cooking show Masterchef India, decided to go fully vegetarian. A former judge, who is also a popular chef, says the decision was made as many of the contestants did not like handling meats, as they were vegetarians. “We found that participants resisted from competing since handling meat was an issue for them” he pointed out. One of the most popular chefs in the world, Jamie Oliver, has recently written a book with only vegetarian recipes. He even announced that he would go meatless for three days a week, as it would save “a bunch of money”.

No doubts then that vegetarian food is growing poplar: some thoughts for you to chew on.

Children, they say, are like soft clay.

And come to think of it, the idiom could not be more correct. I am sure we all have special memories from our childhood. That particular “ma’am” in your primary school who wore a comforting perfume and saw you address her ma or mumma, accidentally. Or how your Maths teacher told you before the boards that hard work makes everything possible. And when you went for your higher studies, the lecturer noticed that spark in you and encouraged you.

Today when you look back at your life, aren’t teachers the most important leading light, other than parents and friends?

Isn’t it then almost ironic that teachers in our country are never given the due they deserve? Their salaries are abysmal, their working conditions, horrid (I am talking particularly about government schools in far-flung areas, not just the city schools) and given the changing society, their value, sidelined. To make matters worse, the conditions of most government schools is deplorable, making it almost impossible for children to want or be able to come to school.

According to a recent survey by The Times of India (TOI) a maximum number of primary schools have the teacher-student ratio of 50:1. The NDTV has, in a survey, disclosed that most government schools in India lack basic amenities of toilets and drinking water. On the implementation of Right to Education (RTE), they surveyed 780 government schools in 13 states of India. The results were shameful. Sixty-three percent of them had no playgrounds. More than a third of the schools either had unserviceable toilets or they were in extremely poor condition. In case a student wants to use the toilet, he goes back home.

I also think the recent statement by Allahabad High Court should soon become a rule. “All government servants, elected representatives, members of judiciary and any other persons who get any benefit or salary from the state exchequer or public fund should send their children to primary schools run by the state education board”, said the Allahabad High Court.

This, combined with good teacher salaries and strict monitoring, can go a long way in changing the level of education in our country. We have seen what a teacher, who later became one of our most popular presidents, did for our country. Dr APJ Abdul Kalam has left an impressionable mark on many young minds he interacted with. Our second President Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, was a teacher, too, and it is his birthday on September 5 that is dedicated as Teacher’s Day.

I know every teacher is not Dr Radhakrishnan or Dr Kalam, but I do know that there is greatness in everyone; it just needs to be identified, nurtured and encouraged. Let us make the environment for education more conducive. Let us tell our children to bring alive the guru-shishya tradition.

Let each of us have an internal churning on the true value of education. And that is when we will see India stronger than it ever was.

With Goonj, Anshu Gupta has shifted the focus from donor's pride to the receiver’s dignity. That he has also built a modest, frugal and articipative culture of working, is invaluable to the cause of social change

On the outskirts of Bhaktapur, the once-known historical city in Kathmandu which is now partly in ruins, is a small village Pikhel comprising of 52 dalit families. Since the day the first big earthquake struck on April 25, 2015, the entire village has been reduced to rubble. Each family has an average of five to six people. After a fortnight of the earthquake, the village had just two sacks of rice and some lentils to provide for the entire village. The villagers somehow managed to get a few tarpaulins and built seven community shelters and three kitchen shelters, where food for the entire community could be made. Running from pillar to post, requesting and begging authorities for help with relief, this community had almost given up. Just then, Goonj, an Indian non-profit social enterprise came in with relief for these distressed families of Pikhel. Goonj had worked on information imparted by a volunteer.

conducted relief operations across all six majorly affected districts of Nepal (See box on Nepal). The organisation did this by partnering with at least 15 local NGOs in Nepal. The aim was to reach out to the most inaccessible areas. “Local people are well aware of the area, its people, terrain, and the nuances. While working in a new place, this system makes it easier for us to set up our operations to conduct relief work seamlessly,” explains Anshu Gupta, the founder of Goonj. Where local people’s strength in terms of local knowledge is enhanced, Goonj fills in the gap by bringing in its meticulous, yet simple and straightforward system of working.

The Nepal earthquake was Goonj’s first foray into international relief. Gupta was in Nepal on April 28, and started work with a two-member team. It was also one of the only Indian organisations that carried out relief work on such a large scale in an international country. It’s the years of learning and experience that Goonj brought to Nepal. It has relentlessly reached out to the country’s far-flung villages since April 28, 2015, and continued the work for almost one-and-a-half months, with a lean team of just two or three staffers, other being local volunteers. The organisation is focussed to work on ignored basic needs such clothing, sanitary pads for village and slums in India, while changing the dynamics of giving and receiving with dignity.

Goonj (Echo, as the word means) was founded by Ashu Gupta, a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay award, nearly 16 years ago. The journey started with his chance encounter with a body collector, who in his thin cotton shirt in the peak of Delhi winters, would pick up dead bodies of people who died due to cold on the streets and were left abandoned. Worse still, his daughter would hug dead bodies and slept since they would keep her warm without bothering her. That incident was the premise to start Goonj. Gupta started out with only 67 pieces of clothing that his wife and he had collected but. However, they did not want to give it away in charity, but as a reward for work and the concept of cloth-for-work (CFW) came into being.

service – digging a well, making a road, cleaning a lake and so on – we’ll give the villagers whatever they need, without compromising their dignity,” explains Gupta. With this, Gupta wants to shift the focus from donor's pride to the receivers' dignity. The model of turning old material as a resource for rural development was welcomed by villagers and grassroot partner organisations. Under the CFW programme, communities have built bamboo bridges, dug up wells, done bunding of acres of land, developed small irrigation canals, built drainage systems, built village schools and have taken up massive exercises of repairing roads, developing water harvesting systems to cleaning up water bodies. All these projects are done not by paying wages to people, but by making them understand their own community power, using old material as a reward.

Some of the examples are villagers in Khandwa (Madhya Pradesh) have built a water tank; de-silted a well in Chapra (Bihar); built a school in Sitamani, Bihar -- performing a total of over 1,500 community acts so far. Over 3,00,000 kg of throwaway waste cloth has been converted into traditional mattresses/ quilts as large-scale income generation activity in villages. The model is working extremely well in Kashmir, too, where initiative was started after the floods of 2014. Today, a large number of women in Kashmir are employed in making these quilts and earn a living. Talking about CFW, Meenakshi Gupta, co-founder of Goonj, explains about the Vapsi initiative, too. She says, “This was an initiative we took up after the floods in Kosi River in Bihar, where a lot of people were left without any source of employment and income generation”. The organisation identified around 35 different occupations in which many people were skilled and were willing to take them up. “These were all low-cost occupations such as running a tea shop, doing manual labour, becoming a vegetable seller and so on,” she says, adding how they gave people Vapsi kits for these occupations and asked them to do some one-time work free of charge for their community. For instance, a carpenter made benches for a school; a barber cut the hair of school children free of cost and so on.

Bechan Mukhia, a marginal farmer from Govindpur village in Purnea district of Bihar was part of the Vapsi Initiative and today owns a small grocery store while also taking up tailoring work. He says, “This initiative by Goonj was good. It helped a lot of us earn regular income.” “The Vapsi Initiative is not on in Bihar at present, but people who got the kits have seen many positive changes in their lives,” adds Meenakshi Gupta. For anyone who knows Anshu Gupta well, or has worked with him, would know he is always brimming with ideas. Extremely soft-spoken and a man of few words, Gupta looks more like your average man on the street, rather than a game-changing innovator. Several names have been coined for Gupta. Some call him a bridge-maker between rural and urban communities, while others credit him with the development of a parallel cashless economy, easily replicable across the world. What stood out about this man for me is his simplicity, his ability to listen to you patiently, and that he gives you a chance if he feels you have the right intentions.

“Goonj encourages anyone who is interested in humanitarian work. The organisation looks for dedication, hard work and commitment. It’s a very open place and is focused on delivery on ground,” says Ruchika Gandhi, one of the oldest employees of Goonj, who was with Gupta in Nepal. Chatting with Gupta is always a pleasure. According to him, Goonj is not just an organisation. "It's an idea, a movement, a tool to talk, change, express and do," he says. A hands-on boss who believes in letting his employees take charge of responsibilities, Gupta also has a subtle way of overseeing matters. He believes in being on the field rather than give instructions sitting in his office cabin. The employees at Goonj also seem to be like him. They are all silent workers and believe in working rather than talking about it. They, like their boss, do not resort to ostentatious behaviour of any sort. Goonj’s strength as an organisation clearly lies in working silently without any banners or uniform flaunting it name but by valuing the wisdom and knowledge of the local people and walking hand-in-hand with them to make deep inroads into the area.

Endorsing this culture, Prof Anil K Gupta of IIM Ahmedabad says, “Goonj is one of the most authentic organisations I have come across in India. It is a true example of a very modest, very frugal and participative culture of working,” adding how it’s also an excellent business model with low cost. “Everybody is equal. From the people who give the clothes, to those who sort and pack them, to the people who receive them — the entire chain is full of respectful links. Not many supply chains are so authentic,” he says. Remembering an anecdote, Prof Gupta tells how Goonj never buys furniture for its office. The thinking is that if someone comes and feels there is a need for furniture, they are free to get it and place it there. “This is a fine way to generate empathy and this is what I call authentic work,” Prof Gupta adds.

Prof Gupta adds. The same authenticity and principles were followed in Nepal as well. Unlike many organisations whose workers roamed around in fancy cars with banners, with volunteers wearing T-shirts flaunting their organisation’s name, Goonj workers travelled by regular taxis or buses along with local partners to gather information. A simple man of values and ethics, Gupta’s first real exposure to the scale of problems of India’s rural masses was in 1991, when he travelled from his hometown Dehradun to Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand to help with relief efforts after a devastating earthquake in the region. He explained how one of the most glaring oversights in the field of development is the lack of attention to clothing. Beyond disaster relief efforts, you hear little about the need for clothes.

It’s not like there weren’t challenges, however. India is not a philanthropic country and getting people to give to the needy is a challenge. “India doesn’t have a culture of giving. Motivating the rich to part with things lying unused in their homes — and to get the poor to work to fulfill their needs instead of getting them as free handouts — has been tough,” he says. Yet today, Goonj is operational in 21 states across the country, transferring over 1,000 tonnes of used clothes, household goods, and other essential items from cities to villages annually. As this story goes to press, Gupta is figuring out how Goonj can further help in Nepal.