Turkey has got it right. Religious shrines should inspire, not degrade the worshipper to the excesses of religiosity

we were thrown into a panorama of domes and minarets from the moment we entered Istanbul. Everywhere we looked, the contours of a mosque pierced the mostly sunny blue skyline. It made me a little nervous, to tell the truth. All the stuff hurled at us on a daily basis about Islam and its practitioners does tend to leave a mark, even on someone like me, who’s been brought up to be liberal and secular to a fault. So, we mostly avoided going inside any of the grand mosques Istanbul spread before us, whichever road we took, although I did catch the son looking longingly at the Blue Mosque as we passed it.

Late in the evening one day, we hit the New Mosque. Don’t be fooled. The mosque in question is new only in terms of relativity to its fellow mosques — it was built a good five hundred years ago! We wanted to see the Valens Aqueduct which lay beyond the mosque. The aqueduct was built by the Romans when Istanbul was in its Constantinople avatar and is a wonder of architecture that connects up to the more citycentral Basilica Cistern, of Dan Brown’s Inferno fame.

But I digress. There we were, feet blistered and swollen from all the walking we’d done and the aqueduct in plain sight, with only the New Mosque in between. Going around the mosque would have added considerably to our path.

“Let’s go through the mosque,” said the son. In your twenties, you don’t realise that many more things are wrought by too much prayer than you can possibly have nightmares about. With the added factor of being a woman stacked up against me, I was hesitant. “Let’s go through it,” said the husband, clinching the matter.

The New Mosque is set in the midst of a huge garden, full of grassy lawns dotted by trees. Most of it wears a well-worn look and you can see pathways worn through the grass in most places. It has a cheerful air of benign neglect. As we looked around, though, we could see it was not actual neglect, but lots and lots of use. Though it was late evening, there were women grabbing a chance to gossip as their children played on the lawns. Old men huddled together on benches, also gossiping, I’m guessing. There were families, groups of young men, all kinds of people.

Our path took us to the entrance of the outer courtyard of the mosque. As if on cue, people poured out of the mosque. The evening prayers had just ended. Seeing us hesitate, not sure whether we could use the courtyard as a transit path, an old man beckoned to us. “Come, come!” he gestured with his hands. “Me too?” I pointed at myself. He beamed at me and gestured some more. And when we went inside, he pointed towards the mosque interior, indicating we should go inside.

Well, you could have thrown me for a six there! This was a new face of Islam and I liked it immensely.

We’d wondered at the little dhabas and tea shops that clustered around the mosques we’d passed. Now we figured that they served to take the social scene begun in the mosques further.

Some years ago, we’d visited Iran — Tehran to be more precise. The son and I went to see the Mausoleum of the Khomeini. The mausoleum was impressive, with its mosque placed conveniently to one side so that no unwary visitor would wander in by mistake. Nice trick that, but no welcome here if you were not a Muslim, it seemed.

Tehran was visibly full of women. None of the compulsory male chaperonage one thought to see, as in the neighbouring Gulf region. Most of the offices we visited were manned by women. Hijab existed, to varying degrees, with government staff on the topmost rung. In the bazaars, more often than not, you saw heads covered in flimsy, colourful scarves worn with tight — and I mean tight! — black coats over blue jeans or leggings. Unused to keeping my own head covered, my dupatta would often slip off only to have a passer-by, usually a man, lift it gently back. So it was no surprise to read earlier this year that Iran had rejected a draft legislation that would give its police the right to monitor hijab.

Tehran’s biggest tourist attraction, I would rate, is its moral police. If you sit around long enough in a public area, especially parks, sooner or later, you will see vans of police come to check on young couples snatching a bit of together time. This was quite evidently strongly resented. A local told us he and his wife had been stopped by the moral police when they were newly married. He had to go home to retrieve his marriage certificate while his wife waited with the cops! Shades of the Hindutva Brigade there.

If Tehran was a surprise, Istanbul was a revelation. Women walked free and alone in the streets, whether on work or just idly, few of them wearing the hijab in any form. We went to a bar and I was once again trepidant. It was bad enough to be seeking alcohol in a 99.8 per cent Muslim country, but for a woman to seek it would be unthinkable, I thought. But I did want to try the local brew, called raki. Imagine my shock, then, when I saw the bar full of women. There were even groups of women, without any man anywhere near them, ordering raki and the customary snacks that accompany it. That it was served to them by male wait staff was the gilding on the lily.

Our visit to Istanbul set me thinking. Hitherto, I had treated religion like a particularly irritating fly, buzzing in my face, which refused to be swatted away. But the Turkish mosques had added a whole new dimension to my conception of religion. For the Turks, religion was not something to take refuge in when you thought your pot of sins was boiling over. With a mosque never more than a short walk away, it was an integral and welcome part of your day, a refuge that eased the transition between your work day and your domestic chores. Young families visited mosques as a pleasurable outing, ensuring that children didn’t associate religion with the drudgery of morality. The mosques themselves were grand and imposing, inspiring — and everywhere. The very sight of them transported you to loftier realms, with no room for petty grudges and intrigue.

We needed more such religious places in India, I thought. Yes, we had grand places of worship, but seldom could we enter those as freely as we pleased. Neither were such visits so pleasurable that they were eagerly anticipated. We went and gabbled our little supplications and prayers and rushed out again. There was no sense of succour or peace to be obtained. Turkey had got it right, I mused. Religious shrines should inspire, not degrade the worshipper to the excesses of religiosity.

A Dalit child bride who fought hard against what life had offered her and went on to become a successful entrepreneur. A Padma Shree recipient, Kalpana Saroj’s story is one that inspires

The music from the loudspeakers in the village still rings in her ears and she can almost feel the kumkum smothered on her entire forehead, tingling her skin. “The music at my wedding was played on two speakers instead of one, so it was considered a big grand wedding that the entire village spoke about.” But unlike a bride who should be looking forward to wedded bliss, this one was nervous and sad at the same time. Wouldn’t any 12-year-old be?

One of the four siblings, Kalpana Saroj was the daughter of a constable in Vidarbha village in Maharashtra. When family pressure made Saroj’s father give in to the demand of getting his daughter married according to tradition, she couldn’t believe her bad luck. “You see, I was a very good student. Most teachers were proud of me and would tell other students to be like me,” she says. As a little girl, Saroj wanted to grow up and join the police force like her father or may be even the armed forces. “Or do anything to serve the country. I also wanted to study a lot. I still remember I was writing my exams when I was suddenly pulled out of school and married off. I was so sad,” she recalls.

Today, 41 years after that wedding and many disasters that followed, that girl, now a woman, sitting in a room in a five-star hotel in Delhi, just back from a business trip to Geneva, Saroj can barely believe it’s her own story she is narrating. But don’t they say fortune favours the brave?

Today, Kalpana Saroj is a successful entrepreneur with eight profitable companies under the Kalpana Saroj Group of companies. She won a Padma Shree, is a director in Bharatiya Mahila Bank, has travelled to many countries and still works 16 hours a day.

Of course, the journey was not easy, but Saroj decided to take the challenges in her stride. After getting married, she decided to stick to the values she was given at home. “I went through hell. I was starved and beaten for every little thing. It was a living hell for me”, she shares. That her husband was 10-12 years older than her didn’t help the situation. Within six months, the sufferings were writ large on her face and body. When her father came to see her, he couldn’t believe what he saw. “My father decided to take me back home.” she says.

That, of course, was not the end of her sufferings. There was a community backlash. She heard snide remarks about her all the time, of how she had bought disgrace to the family and how she should kill herself rather than put her family through hell. One day, the young girl decided to do just that.

She bought three bottles of Tik- 20 (an insecticide to kill bedbugs) from a medical store, and went to her aunt, who stayed two km away. Once Saroj found herself alone there, she gulped all three bottles. When she woke up, she was in the hospital. She had survived. But the jibes only grew. “I heard things such as ‘What horrible things she must have done to try and kill herself?’ ‘Look at the misery she is putting her parents through’. That is the day I realised no matter what I did, people would talk. That is the day I decided I would change my life”, she says calmly.

She couldn’t bear to live in her village anymore so she told her parents she wanted to go and stay with one of her uncles in Mumbai and work. The parents in turn were happy their daughter was finally fighting back. In a few months, she was working in a hosiery factory in Sunmill Compound in Parel. Initially a helper, she was soon given a chance to sew vests. “I would be given Rs 2 for every vest. I was happy but somehow my hands couldn’t move on the sewing machine. Hopelessness crept but I decided to quash it,” she smiles. So when other workers were out for a break she would get back to practice sewing. Soon, she became one of the good workers. “I remember I made Rs 225 in the first month. That was the first time I saw a 100 rupees note and it felt like a dream.”

Her father, meanwhile, had lost his job and the eldest daughter of the family that she was, Saroj decided to take the responsibility of the family head on. “I rented a room for Rs 40 a month in Kalyan. It was a tiny place but at least all of us were together. I was happy,” she says. But life wasn’t easy. With one earning member and six mouths to feed, the family faced tough times. It was then that another life-changing experience happened. Saroj’s younger sister fell sick and there wasn’t enough money to take her to a hospital. “I saw my young sister die in front of my eyes. That day I realised the importance of money. I wasn’t prepared to see another family member lost to poverty. I decided to earn all the money I could.”

This was in the early 1970s and one day while listening to the radio, she heard about a loan scheme for women. “I thought I would take a loan and start a boutique since I was already good at stitching”, she shares. But she opted for a more profitable venture — a furniture store. “We lived in a middle-class locality in Ulhas Nagar, where people couldn’t buy expensive furniture. So I decided to manufacture cheaper versions of the nice ones in the market. With a loan of 50,000 that I managed to get, I took the plunge,” she shares.

School dropout she may be, but Saroj’s determination to make it big, combined with her hard work soon made her business profitable. She decided to take another risk and bought a litigation-locked land for a pittance. This was a tough job but she feels a daredevil had taken over her spirit. “After I had seen death so closely, I was scared of nothing. I decided to throw caution to the winds and make it big no matter what it took.”

The local goons who wanted to encroach the land opposed. In fact, they decided to hire a contract killer. “Meri panch lakh ki supari nikali thi (They had hired a contract killer for Rs 5 lakh to kill me). It was 1995, I still remember”, she laughs. Thankfully for her, one of them felt for the hardworking woman and revealed the plot. Saroj immediately went to the police commissioner who investigated the case and got the men arrested.

The very next day, Saroj, who was now in her early 20s, went to the police commissioner and told him she needed a licensed gun. In 24 hours, she had a licensed gun — one that she still carries. “I requested the commissioner to call these men out. When they stood in front of me, I put the revolver on the table and told them, ‘I have six bullets in the revolver. After the sixth gets over, someone can kill me’.”

Saroj spent the next two years getting the land cleared and her hard work paid off. She got a partner to build a building on that land.

With every challenge, she saw her strength grow. She decided to contribute to the society, something that was always close to the heart. So she began an NGO, Sushikshit Berozgar Yuvak Sangathan. The idea of the NGO was to inform the poor about various schemes they could avail of and to also help them with training and sometimes even employment. “I had seen poverty from close quarters and wanted to help as many poor as I could,” says Saroj.

Soon she had earned a lot of respect among the locals. It was during this time that Kamani Tubes, one of the three companies started by visionary Ramjibhai Kamani, was going through a rough patch, thanks to a family dispute after the entrepreneur died. Kamani Tubes, Kamani Engineering and Kamani Metal were all in trouble.

One of the companies had been bought over, another liquidated — what remained was Kamani tubes.

With two strong labour unions, this became the first company in India that the Supreme Court decided to give to workers. The workers managed to run it somehow from 1987 to 1997, but it had started showing sure sign of distress.

IDBI, which was the operating agency, found that the company would soon become a defaulter. The power and water supplies had been cut and it was only a matter of time that the factory would be locked out.

The workers were obviously under tremendous stress.

That is when 566 of them went to Saroj and asked her to help and overtake the company. “I didn’t know how to react. I mean I had been managing small businesses but how would I run a company of that scale? I had never done anything this big. Besides, how would I handle the financial mess? But the look of hope on the faces of the workers told me I needed to do something. I decided to take another risk,” she says.

In 2000, when Kamani Tubes finally came to Saroj, it had a Rs 116-crore liability, 104 litigation cases and two sheds in the name of a factory, with many parts of the machines missing.

Saroj also knew that the lives of many families depended on this factory; she couldn’t imagine another sister dying in any family because of poverty. “I formed a 19-member team and got into action mode. I became obsessed with work. When night fell, I felt horrible since it meant I had to sleep for a few hours,” says the workaholic.

From 2000 to 2006, courts were her second home. But the hard work paid off. In 2006, she was appointed chairman of the company and the court transferred ownership of Kamani Tubes to Saroj. In 2009, she bought a seven-acre land in Wada where the company now stands.

Today Kamani Tubes is just one of the eight companies that keep the entrepreneur busy. In between all this, she got married in 1978, and had two children. Her son is a pilot and flies a Boeing, she shares proudly. Her daughter has just returned from London after an MBA degree. “I want to open a five-star hotel for her, let’s see.”

Of course, Saroj would like to see her daughter married, but she will not forget to tell her that it is just one of the things in a woman’s life. “A woman is capable of achieving so much. She is Shakti herself. She can do all that she wants. All she has to do is reach for the power which lies deep within her. The only limitations that exist are the ones that are in our minds.”

On March 7, a day before International Women’s Day, German Parliament passed a legislation that requires the country’s biggest companies to give 30 per cent of seats on non executive boards to women. The quotas will come into force in 2016, affecting no less than 100 top German companies. The question is, will this work towards gender quality, specifically in the corporate world? Is it a step in the right direction, or will it make the meritorious women candidates look like they got a promotion not because they deserve it, but because there’s a law for it?

SHIKHA UBEROI // I think it is a fantastic initiative from Germany, which falls way behind countries such as Norway and Spain when it comes to better representation by women at the board level. Let me also add that the above-mentioned countries also have women quotas; so what Germany has done is not a novel concept. This is a step in the right direction when it comes to decreasing and, ultimately, ending inequality at workplace and create more symmetry among men and women workers at all levels.

We see women across the world climbing the corporate ladder, but we also see how they are overstepped and considered lesser. This 30 per cent quota will go a long way in addressing that issue. I also feel I’d rather err on the side of action when steps need to be taken than not doing anything at all.

Having said that, however, I also understand there will be cases when the system will be abused. However, I also believe in the goodness of people; I think that it will be the merit and credentials of women that will take them forward. I feel they can continue to climb the ladder with the support of this law that allows meritorious women to take up such posts.

And it’s all right if people point fingers at this and say that these women who are now appointed at the board-level positions got there because they had to be appointed.

I also agree how this will become a bone of contention when it comes to group dynamics at the workplace. People may question a woman’s appointment at such a position or a promotion to the board level. But like I said earlier, I’d rather err on the side of action. And women have to hear that anyway. People are anyway going to say women get promotions or better opportunities because they are a minority, are women, play tennis – anything. We women deal with this anyway.

Quota isn’t enough, however. Women have a busy life outside of office as well. There’s family, children and so much more to look forward to. So when you pass a wall like this, it is dangerous to not have a holistic vision. Any such move should be backed by supporting the holistic aspect of a woman’s life. The government and the corporate world should look at how to support women through day-care centres for their children, maternity leave and so on.

I also feel it is essential for men to be more understanding and standing up for more representation by women at workplace. I know it is a touchy issue, but more men talking in support of this is as important as women saying it. I also strongly support the idea of male to female mentorship. Again, I know it is tricky and can be viewed inappropriately. It’s important, nevertheless. That is because it will help the male mentor better understand the needs and expectations of women at his mentee’s level. The mentee is empowered in the sense that she gets a clearer idea of what her next step is and where she could be. These worlds should not be separated by glass walls, which should be shattered.

I support the move in the Indian context as well. Even if it is a 3 per cent quota, I’d say it is equal to 300 per cent here. We are so far behind! Yes, women need to be prepared for a backlash about this, but then ambitious women get talked about by both men and women as if they are doing something wrong. It will be great if women toughen up and don’t let it get into their skin. But yes, we are facing a problem if someone says this is charity.

MEERA KAUL // For years women have been battling the gender bias war. For years any sliver of hope that gender bias gets is applauded and received with ineffability. With the growing efficacy of social media forums, the news of one extra woman joining a board or a law being made to evolve parity; becomes a social phenomenon. The reaction makes me think that perhaps there still exists a doubt in minds of people that all people are created equal might be a myth after all. A growing need to be diverse and publish diversity reports is now becoming a fashion in corporate hiring policies. Diversity figures are published to ensure public relationship status. But are these numbers really a reflection of women participation or is the need to be diverse overclouding the need for quality?

When Satya Nadella said women should believe in good karma, he did mean well. Karma is a concept in Hinduism that pertains to a person’s work or deeds, their intent and in the concept of causality. Which, in essence, means we sow what we reap. If a woman at work is doing a good job, no company or system of human resources can keep her down or should keep her down. And it effectively applies to men as well as women. What is wrong with creating an appraisal system that works well for its employees irrespective of their gender?

For years, we have been battling to get women into the workplace and into competitive careers and vocations. We have built businesses around women empowerment, attended and cheered at conferences celebrating women, written books and created thesis. The only thing we have bothered about is the numbers. This is counterproductive. And dangerous. We can never win when we are only a statistic. Women need to compete on the basis of talent and competitiveness, rather than just statistics in the diversity chain.

The argument in favour of statistics is that a huge bias against women exists and this bias will make it impossible for women to compete in the same environment that works counterproductive to their interests. However, there are instances of women who have had stellar careers in the same environment successfully and still do. Is this not a testament of the fact that credible work will find its reward?

By becoming the first country to pass a law that requires companies to give 30 per cent of its supervisory seats to women, the German government is conformed to creating statistics. This is not the solution to gender parity. Parity needs to be credible and based on merit.

There is a huge need to create institutions that work on creating quality. There is a dire need to reform our educational system to one that incorporates more current skills based education. Our education system and skill institutions need to change the way we create educational programmes to include more skills based on employability in conjunction with the recruitment needs of companies in their ecosystem. The funnel needs to improve. Unless we create employable women, we will still be publishing statistics that make no impact on the lives of women and on the gender divide.

The game aside, as Australian skipper Michael Clarke has announced his retirement from the One-day cricket after the WC, the debate over Dhoni's future is certain to be picked over in next few days

INDIA’S DREAM run in the World Cup came to an inglorious end when they succumbed to the formidable Australians, who decimated the defending champions by 95 runs to romp into the finals, breaking a billion Indian hearts.

As I write this just after Australia’s clear win against New Zealand at the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground in the World Cup final, I have to admit the best team in the tournament has emerged as winners.

India’s quest for a second successive World Cup title was thwarted by the clinical Australians, who outplayed Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men in every department. As the four-time champions rode on Steve Smith’s classy 105 to post an imposing 328 for seven, for the Indians neither bowling nor batting clicked when it mattered the most.

Skipper Dhoni stood tall amid a disappointing batting show as he waged a lone battle to take India past the 200-run mark and make a match of it despite the steep asking rate.

But the Indians had themselves to blame for the loss. The bowling unit, which had performed admirably till now, failed to deliver when it mattered the most; the batting too crumbled under pressure.

The defending champions’ tame surrender came as an anti-climax to the team’s almost outstanding performance, which had seen them win seven consecutive matches in the tournament.

“There is pressure when you’re chasing 320 runs and we have seen in cricket that pressure makes you do things you don’t really want to do,” the skipper admitted later.

“At the start of the tournament, a lot of people didn’t really think we’ll come so far but at the same time when you come to the knockouts you have to lift your game,” he said.

Indeed, India’s sudden transformation from inept tourists to being the favourites to lift the Cricket World Cup had seemed surreal. No one gave India a chance to defend their title after an apathetic performance in the Tri-series lending credence to the belief that India can’t handle the bounce and pace of Australian and New Zealand wickets.

Watching hapless Indian bowlers bowl on those wickets and seeing their batsmen being bundled out, it was likely they were going to return home early from the World Cup.

Simply put, there wasn’t much optimism on this team’s prospects. After yet another disastrous tour overseas, at best people expected a quarterfinal berth. And that is because the format is such that it is really difficult to eliminate top teams (unless you are England).

After the WC 2007 debacle, the ICC ensured India are not knocked out of tournaments early and moved to just a twogroup format where one could somehow manage the next stage.

But cricket has always offered fairy tales, whether it is plucky Kapil Dev’s men in the 1983 World Cup or astute Imran Khan’s team in the 1992 edition.

Suddenly, our listless bowling became biting and batting transformed as if we were batting on subcontinent wickets. The fielding was sharp too and the Indian team actually looked one of the best in its weak zone of fielding. Indian cricket too moved from a sour spot to a sweet zone with all parts working well.

India won seven out of seven matches and their campaign never looked as good in any of the World Cups. A team which looked so shoddy before the WC, had suddenly acquired a fearsome stature, becoming the team to beat and top favourites to become the champion again.

The bowling attack — which was plundered in the Tests and Tri-series — was tight and consistent. The advent of line and length without sacrificing on the pace by Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami gave India’s bowling that missing zing, desperately needed on juicier wickets in Australia.

India bowled out their opponents in all seven matches, a rare sight for the Indian fans. The clinically demolished UAE and the West Indies in Perth and were exceptional against South Africa at the MCG. The highlight of the Indian bowling: They bounced out the Proteas batsmen with their sheer pace as Hashim Amla, a batsman with a Test average of 53 and who honed his skills on bouncy Durban pitches, fell victim to the sharp bowling. The pace trio complemented each other with Yadav hitting the length hard, Shami bowling full and Mohit Sharma tight.

Pace apart, India re-established their impeccable credentials in Spin — the one aspect which has been their forte in the bowling department.

Spin has been the crux of this bowling line-up as they provided the breakthrough on crucial junctures just when the batsmen looked set. Ravichandran Ashwin in the match against Pakistan broke the crucial stand between Ahmed Shehzad and Haris Sohail, while it was Ravindra Jadeja who put the brakes on South Africa.

India’s batting has always been their strength but they seemingly rely too heavily on Virat Kohli. During the Test series, India often struggled once Kohli was dismissed. Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma have made runs recently and look in great form. Though India’s batting looked stacked, it failed to carry the day when it was most crucial.

India’s fielding has been sizzling all through the tournament. The two game changing run outs of AB de Villiers and David Miller in the match against South Africa and the sensational dismissal of Imrul Kyles by Jadeja defined the presence of mind and agility of the Indian fielders.

India seemed to have all their combinations correct, well-placed to challenge for the World Cup. Despite predictions flying that it would be a twoteam race between Australia and South Africa, India emerged as a genuine threat. Going by the form of the defending champions, the Kangaroos needed something special to stop the Indian juggernaut.

As Australian skipper Michael Clarke has announced his retirement from the One-day cricket after the WC, the debate over Dhoni’s future is certain to be picked over in next few days. With the change in BCCI regime, Dhoni also understands that his saviour and influential former BCCI president N Srinivasan may not be able to use his influence to save his position. But then he still has few years of cricket left in him. Even if selectors decide to appoint a new skipper for Men in Blues, Dhoni’s presence in the team, unless he decide otherwise, look certain for the time being.

ACC Limited’s commitment to its CSR initiatives – be it solar power, health, education, environment consciousness or women’s empowerment – has led to happier communities, a proud workforce and a stronger company

Established in 1936, ACC (formerly known as The Associated Cement Companies Limited), is acknowledged as a pioneer and trendsetter in cement and concrete technology. (ACC Limited is part of the worldwide Holcim Group). Since its inception, the company has been undertaking social development initiatives for communities in and around their manufacturing plants.

Among the first companies in India to include environment protection as a corporate commitment, ACC regularly wins accolades for best practices in environment management at its manufacturing plants and mines, as well as for demonstrating good corporate citizenship. The company operates through 18 plants across India, each of which has established its own CSR team responsible for the development of the neighboring community.

GROWTH OF CSR WITHIN ACC

Rather than adopting a generalised approach to CSR, ACC recognises the distinct deficits and requirements of each community and geographical location where the company is present. To ascertain and identify the areas that require assistance, ACC refers to the human development index (HDI) as a decisive tool.

The company actively engages with the communities at the grassroot levels and draws a relevant CSR programme to make each community and village self-sustainable. “The company first assesses the needs of the community around its areas of operations and designs the community development initiatives under the blanket theme of education, health, livelihood, women empowerment and infrastructure,” says Pratyush Panda, Corporate CSR Head, ACC Limited.

For instance, an Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) Centre for HIV/ AIDS treatment in Wadi in Karnataka was set up by ACC when the company observed how the virus is highly prevalent in the villages around its Wadi Cement Works. This was a result of the fact that the area reported a high number of sex workers.

ACC also actively encourages its employees, their families and other close associates to join hands in implementing the company’s CSR activities.

In 2013, the company revisited its CSR policy in view of the emerging regulatory framework. ACC’s Board constituted a CSR committee to focus particularly on the guiding and monitoring of CSR initiatives of the company. A wide range of social development initiatives were undertaken in partnership with local communities, government and non-government organisations.

POWER TO THE LIVES

A recent community development initiative where ACC received success was the Community Managed Solar Power Grid Project in Belkhor Village in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh.

Although the government records show an increased percentage of electrification of houses, during its Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) in October 2013, ACC found many of the villages receive no electricity between 5 pm -11 pm or are have no power at all. This lapse was also hindering several of the community literacy projects led by ACC.

On an average, these households were getting only six-eight hours of unreliable supply of electricity daily. As a solution, a solar micro-grid was installed by ACC’s CSR team at Tikaria Cement Works at Belkhor in Amethi. This grid supplies power to nearly 50 households who pay for it using a prepaid system via their cellphones. The village now has access to round-the-clock electricity and an intelligent theft-free power distribution network. The surplus power aids village micro enterprises.

Besides meeting the basic lighting and mobile recharging needs, the grid also allows users to plug in televisions, fans, computers and music systems (up to 100 watt load). Not only did the project create job opportunities for the villagers, it also helped in tackling issues related to overwithdrawal of electricity, one of the major challenges in the electrification of remote villages. “The recharge agent ensures that a fixed sum of money is deposited into the service provider’s account in advance and gets a limit for usage of solar power. Customers come to him and make payments for recharging their power supply, explains Panda.

The monitoring of the system is done by the Urja committee of the Panchayat, which meets every month, and includes an official from ACC Limited. The company has plans to extend this project to neighboring villages in UP and replicate it in Katni, Madhya Pradesh.

ACC AHEAD

The ACC AHEAD (Association for Health, Education and Development) umbrella is a network formed by the women spouses of its employees across the company’s 18 manufacturing plant locations in India. It focuses on issues of hygiene; women’s empowerment through capacity-building and livelihood generation; and education and training through a learn-and-earn model, which includes small-scale businesses and enterprises such as glove making, tailoring and embroidery classes, and computer-skills training.

In Lakheri (Rajasthan), AHEAD is encouraging women entrepreneurship through various small-scale businesses. Here, the company has organised 30 selfhelp groups, which enable women to start their own micro-financing model to run small businesses such as cattle breeding, bulb-making and so on.

GOOD HEALTH FOR ALL

Understanding the importance of health for its employees and community, ACC undertakes several awareness campaigns and organises health camps on a regular basis to make them aware of the various diseases and the benefits of healthy way of life.

Considering that many of these plants are at remote locations with little access to adequate healthcare and medical services, ACC supports the local administration in promoting national health campaigns on important health issues, disease prevention and immunisation.

ACC also organises special initiatives for women and children in the area of healthcare and nutrition, with special programmes organised for antenatal care, postnatal care and birth spacing methods. Also, subsidised ambulance facility and hospitalisation is provided to villagers in case of emergency.

EDUCATION: INVESTING IN FUTURE

Providing education in the neighbourhood communities is a major focus of ACC’s CSR activities. The children of employees and those from surrounding communities study in the schools established at all its locations. Most of these plants are situated in remote regions, and often ACC schools are considered to be the most accessible and better, as compared to rest of the schools. Additionally, the meritorious students from weaker sections of the community are provided scholarships to encourage them to study further.

ACC supports about seven government-run Industrial Training Institutes (ITI), in a joint initiative with the Government of India. It also runs two technical training institutes of its own, the Sumant Moolgaokar Technical Institute (SMTI) and ACC Cement Technology Institute (ACTI).

GREENER, CLEANER

Considering the environmentally-intrusive space the company is in, building and maintaining a clean and green environment has been a priority for ACC. The company’s Madukkarai Cement Works bagged the prestigious “Blue Dart Global CSR Award 2013” for its solid waste management initiative under the “Best Environment Initiatives” category. The project was initiated to create complete awareness in the community and implement effective garbage disposable mechanism. Not only did it promote effective garbage management system, but also ensured the community has increased in its greenery development. The project aims to effectively segregate waste, recycle and re-use it efficiently. It is being replicated in Himachal Pradesh now.

CSR AS A WIN-WIN SITUATION

ACC’s reputation of investing in community health and education has made it a welcome partner throughout various parts of India over the years, enabling its expansion to new locations. Investment in education as has also paid off as the company is now employing the second and third generations of families of the employees who have been associated with ACC and whose children benefited from the initiatives.

Investing in the community’s good can be a financially sound decision and socially beneficial too. By investing in health and education infrastructure, ACC has created a generation of healthier, better educated and content employees. All these initiatives created a win-win situation for both the company and the communities, and both have benefitted mutually.

Here are details of a life that have made our childhood more magical and have guided our adult lives to stop and smell the flowers on the way

Ruskin Bond: The Mussoorie Years is author Ganesh Saili’s pictorial offering and a tribute to his friend for over fifty years, the gentle muse of the mountains, Ruskin Bond. In close to 160 pages, the author has captured memorable moments in the life of Ruskin Bond, both in pictures and words, from his infancy to the pleasant portly man he has become. Author Ruskin Bond, now in his eighty-first year, looks back with nostalgia over half a century of dedication to the gentle art of writing from his home in the hills. The author’s romance with the Queen of Hills began in 1963. Putting pen to paper, the literary giant has contributed to making four generations of children into book readers and book lovers.

The book begins with an informal talk between Saili and Bond starting with Ruskin’s first visit to the Mussoorie.

“The Mussoorie connection, if one may call it that, goes back to April 1963. Invited to lunch by the Principal of one of our schools, he met Miss Bean, a lonesome old lady who lived nearby.

“I’d like to give up my present assignment,’ he said, adding: ‘would like to write full-time.”

“Why don’t you rent the upstairs of Maplewood Cottage?’ said Miss Bean. ‘I just use the one room on the ground floor.”

Next day, Ruskin had paid Marjorie Gordon, the landlady; a year’s rent of Rs 400. “It was that simple!” he shrugs, remembering: “I liked unhurried pace and I was not too far from the familiar Dehra of my youth.”

“I wound up things in Delhi and moved into the little cottage a month later,” he tells me.

Though at the end of the year, Mrs Hathi Singh talked him into leaving the place and move to Oaklands, a little further up the hill. From Rajouri Garden came Kamal and Anil, whom he’d taken under his wing. Today, Dr Anil Chopra’s eyes mist up as memories of another day bubble to the surface: “I’d just come thirtysixth in a class of thirty-six!” he tells me. “I was all of seven years old when my father deserted my mother to settle in England.” Ruskin had just come back from England (after the publication of his first novel The Room on the Roof) and was living in Rajouri Garden with his mother.

“I’m headed to the hills, to Mussoorie,” he told Anil’s mother. “Let the boy come with me and I’ll put him into a good school up there.”

“Thirty-sixth in a class of thirty-six!” my mother moaned, wondering which school would admit the boy.

“Soon after, nonetheless, I found myself grasping his finger as I walked through the gates of a school”‘ he reminisces on a return journey forty years later, adding, almost as an after-thought: “Ah! He’d read David Copperfield to me in the evenings. It planted in me a love for reading. In the first test, I came third in class. Ever since that day, I’ve always stayed among the top three!”

Ruskin was to see Anil through school, medical college and then on to America where he practices medicine.”

Presented in this hard-cover, interspersed with photographs and writing are inspirational quotes by Bond himself, this unique offering gives the reader a glimpse into the life and times of Mussoorie’s own resident Wordsworth in prose, Ruskin Bond.

All in all, an interesting, pictorial book to add to your book-shelf.

for moST, Dehradun, north of Delhi and the capital of Uttarakhand, is known world-over for its basmati rice, lip-smacking mangoes and litchi. But all that might change soon as Lokesh Ohri’s book Been There, Doon That? points out.

Ohri has taken time off to delve in years of research and hard work to put together this book. The result is a 168-page book that is informative, full of lively anecdotes, a colourful mosaic of historical snippets as well as a walkabout guide for those who love the outdoors.

Put together in an easy flowing format, the book has been divided into 10 chapters, which represent a walk down the long winding roads of Dehradun in one narrative. It begins with an introduction about the heritage of the town that grew after the 1760s, when the spiritual leader Guru Ram Rai first set up camp in the Valley after being divested of his rights to succeed as the spiritual leader of the Sikhs.

The British took such an instant liking to the town that Lord and Lady Dufferin, then at the helm of affairs in the colonial administration, hired a bungalow in the town and spent an entire summer at Nashville Road. Sadly, today the place is a congested, polluted sprawl.

Who would believe that in the 1920s, Dehradun almost became the capital of India and competed with Delhi for the title when Sir Edwin S Montague, the secretary of State for India, was so impressed with its environs and the proximity to Mussoorie that he actively considered shifting the capital to the Valley? These and other forgotten snippets from the past book are an eye-opener.

The writer also states fascinating accounts of urban congested colonies of present-day Khurbura, once a battlefield where the Gurkha and Garhwal forces clashed in a bloody battle, which led to the death of the Garhwal king. Equally incredible is how Hathibarkala in the Cantonment got its name from the majestic intertwining prop roots of the Banyan trees in the ravines that even elephants could pass through.

The book also goes on to emphasise the pleasures of walking the streets and nature trails that the Doon Valley offers in abundance. It gives the more adventurous a brief layout of 10 heritage walks through the length and breadth of Dehradun.

Although the book is a fascinating read, sometime it appears to be an account put together in a hurry. Maps for the 10 heritage walks described through the town could, perhaps, have made the book more interesting as a walk-about guide.

Venice is a study in superlatives. The Queen of the Adriatic is so captivating, nothing compares to it. Warning: You won’t want to go back home

Magical, mystical, awesome. A placid paradise. Venice, I thought, is one of the most unique cities of our planet. Laden with hefty luggage and suitcases, I walked out of Marco Polo Airport on my first Italian escapade, as Venice invited me to be her guest last summer. An overcast sky and a light drizzle could only make things more watery in Venezia. It looked as if the smooth levelled roads were replaced with waterways, bridges and uneven cobblestone walks. I had to brave the waters to Rialto Bridge in the comfort of The Ali Laguna Boat. As the boat skimmed the surface of the water, the fact of leaving dry land gradually sunk in.

One hundred and eighteen salt-marsh islands in the Northern Adriatic Sea make the city of Venice, which is divided into six districts, called “Sistieri” in Italian. They are Cannaregio, San Polo, Dorsoduro, Santa Croce, San Marco and Castello. The first impression of this beautiful city warrants exploration.The enviable weather in Venice around this time of the year gives you the feel of La Dolce Vita!

Reaching Rialto, I quickly checked into my hotel and grabbed my camera to be on the streets as early as possible. A walk around the city was what I was dying for. Winding my way through the labyrinth of narrow sidewalks and foot bridges, I wandered around from the Rialto to San Marco and stopped in for caffe’ at the bar next door. I took all my time while window shopping and gawking at the decorated gondolas and bizarre characters strolling down the streets.

I didn’t have enough time to read up on Venice before arriving here but I knew I would be spoilt for choice in terms of shops and restaurants. The back streets and corner cafes are the places where one can escape the tourist groups and sit with a latte and gelato, gaze at the pigeons and the age-old Gothic architecture around. It was so enchanting to be in this city in the water amidst huge mass of people that I just walked aimlessly through the crowd with a smile. Life in Venice looks enjoyable and relaxed, no matter what time of day it is.

The Grand Canal, Venice’s main thoroughfare, snaking for about two miles into the city from the mouth to its tail, is lined with Gothic and Byzantine architecture, with a curious fusion of Islamic forms. Venice is laced with a vast network of canals and labyrinthine alleys connected by more than 400 ornate bridges. Rialto Bridge is one of the three bridges that cross the Grand Canal — the other two are the Accademia Bridge and the Scalzi Bridge. While the Venice of yesteryear is gone, the legacy remains. A walk through the meandering roads of the city is really a walk around the world. Don’t worry about losing your way because getting lost is a rite of passage to this city and the best way to experience it!

I stayed at the adorable Palace Bonvecchiati in Calle dei Fabbri in the central area. The stunning Saint Mark’s Square with the Basilica, Museo Corner, Ducal Palace and the historical Caffe’ Florian are just around the corner. The most prestigious boutiques of the master glassmakers of Murano and Italian and international designers (Gucci, Cartier, Versace etc.) brands shops are a little further on.

Consecrated in 1650, Venice’s iconic Saint Mark’s Basilica is the most famous of all the cities churches. Until 1805, it was known as the Doge’s Chapel. After taking in the iconic view I went inside St Mark’s Basilica that resembled the Hagia Sophia more than any of the cathedrals I have ever visited. The dazzling mosaics on the ceiling bathes the interior of this famous structure in magnificent golden hues, owing their lustre to the gold leaf painting on the back side of each of the tiles. The Church is made from glittering gold and it is decorated throughout with jeweled art and precious relics, so much so that it is nicknamed the Church of Gold.

I headed back outside and spent a few hours wandering around the Rialto Market known for the shops selling every type of fish and sea creatures one can imagine. I was excited about getting my hands on some fresh figs, and also spent time staring at a pile of inky octopuses. Though I was here for hunting down authentic local restaurants, it was late afternoon and I was yet to have any gelato, so I set out to find some. I walked past the Santa Maria della Salute, which was built as an offering during a plague that assaulted Venice in 1630, and then further along the Zattere, a waterfront promenade that offers a different view of the city. Finally I came across Gelati Nico and chose to have lemon and strawberry-flavoured gelato, the best of the trip. After another round of walk across the shadowy canals that gave a sense of moody mystery when the light hits the water of the Grand Canal just right, and the turquoise water and candycoloured buildings dazzle up, I settled at one of the bars at the base of the Rialto Bridge that provided a gorgeous view of the Grand Canal. Down by a couple of Veneto wines I boarded a gondola waiting just steps away. The gondolas in Venice are pricey though (about 110 Euros for a 30-minute ride), but I felt the ride was worth the splurge. It was incredibly romantic to experience Venice from the water and see the sun set in the Adriatic Sea.

Speaking of nighttime in Venice, a visit to the Piazza San Marco is a fascinating experience. At night, each of the cafes at the Piazza San Marco put on live musical performances. I decided to sit on the steps of the piazza and get soaked in the performance of a masked DJ spinning dance music with different coloured club lights thrown around the entire square. The iconic St Mark’s Cathedral clock tower changed from neon pink, blue, indigo, green and yellow, as few people danced to the rhythm of the beats. The atmosphere was truly electrifying. That was an evening to remember.

But it wasn’t all hunky-dory. Although the city is reclaimed by the waters that made it famous, it now looks as if it is actually taking a plunge into the sea, as if this glorious capital of the earlier Maritime Venetian Republic is weary of being hounded by tourists from across the world — as if it wants to die in the Adriatic. Venice is sinking slowly. It’s a city to be experienced with your loved one and if reports are to be believed it should be seen before it disappears completely into the surrounding waters. Over the past 1,000 years, it has sunk by around 7 centimeters for every century. Reasons are many and unexplained — from global warming to melting polar ice caps to the city sinking in its own foundation. And there’s nothing anybody can do to stop it.

Venice has been so special to me. In the moments when you find yourself posing for photographs on one of its many picturesque bridges or while gorging on delicacies at Piazza San Marco, or, perhaps, taking a lazy ride in a Gondola, one can’t help but exclaim Viva Italia! A place I am totally smitten with reminded me of the Italian romantic composer Giuseppe Verdi and how rightly he said “You may have the universe if I may have Italy”.

To call Central London's Borough Market as a wholesale and retail food market is limiting it. It's more like a foodie's paradise, a food-theme street, a treat ot the senses...

There is a saying in Bengal —A true Bengali plans her next meal while still eating the current one.

I am known to plan my Sunday dinner between mouthfuls of lunch, running to get a box of Salmon fillets out of the fridge for my next meal, while my warm dal-chawal patiently awaits my attention.

I am a foodie.

Specifically home-made spaghetti and meatballs with fresh basil (Nigella style) and Peking Duck from Oberoi Charcuterie in Delhi.

When we moved to London, it was an extension of our love affair with food. From China Tang at The Dorchester, frequented by Simon Cowell to River Cafe (Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley- Whittingstall trained there!), to the Notting Hill street market, there is little we haven’t sampled food-wise.

But Borough Market occupies a special place in our hearts.

Next to London Bridge station, and the almost alien-like Shard (a glass monolith and the tallest building in Western Europe), Borough Market sits placidly under the railway viaducts throbbing with activity from early morning until early evenings.

Since 1755, the market has been a hive of activity for purveyors of fresh vegetables, fruit, meats and fish. And not just locally grown stuff, you will find a fair share of exotics and the breath-taking.

Name of the game here is to pace yourself.

Don’t fall headlong into the first paella (Spanish rice dish) that you see as soon as you enter the market — share it with someone. The range of food is so overwhelming, chances are you will kick yourself for stuffing yourself full within the first fifteen minutes of arriving at a market that has been thriving since the 13th century.

We found kangaroo meat burgers as well as fresh quail eggs. There were steaming hot pans of paella with spicy chorizo sausages, fresh peas, mussels and prawns, next to Vietnamese curries and slow-cooked vegetables.

We bought small packets of Orange Pekoe (second flush Darjeeling Tea) from a stall owner and the tea was still in the wooden boxes with the shipping stamps, all while sipping on green leaf tea.

There was a lady selling homemade chutneys — the elderflower one was exceptional — jams and preserves, urging all passing by to stop and have a taste. She knew you would feel compelled to part with the pounds for those little mouthfuls of taste explosions.

Ginger Pig is a well-known butcher’s and the Yorkshire-based farm has a shop in the market that you wouldn’t need directions to. Just follow the snaking queues of hungry shoppers, regulars and tourists taking their pick from a range of sausage rolls, terrines, pies and scotch eggs. And if you are after a certain cut of meat, they will oblige — so much so that you can even buy a gift voucher for the discerning steak lover!

Sadly, I am not a steak lover but I do love a mean roast pork sandwich. This is no ordinary sandwich, mind! Free-range pigs that are slow roasted on the spit, you have to eat it to believe how beautifully flavoured the melt-in-the-mouth meat is.

Not just savouries, you get to nibble on more-ish desserts too, before you buy. A bit of baklava, a crumb of the triple chocolate brownie, or the gluten-free cupcakes? Testing, or should we say tasting, of wares was never so pleasurable.

I bought a full tart and each slab of cheesecake was at least as big as my palm, enough to sate even the most die-hard foodie amongst us.

And what would a food market be without a decent tipple? During winters, there are kegs of hot mulled wine with bits of cinnamon, oranges, nutmeg and all spice, while in spring and summer, you can get massive glasses of Pimms garnished with mint, strawberries, cucumbers and gallons of ice.

There is micro-brewery under the railway arches and the craft beers can do serious damage to your schedule for the day while cups of locally-made cider and cordials will make you reach for your wallet for more.

Back to the range of food then — every region of the world is incredibly well served and it is never more obvious than while perusing the food stalls. I gave in at the stall selling mushrooms — there was one for everyone, including ones that looked like tiny trees, ones that needed a quick bit of flash frying as well as ones that needed to be steeped for 12 hours before cooking.

I came away with brown paper bags bursting with fresh artichokes, mushrooms, organic cooking chocolate and desserts, as well as packets of loose leaf teas and artisan breads, slightly giddy from the glasses of cider and a belly bursting from a taste journey that I will remember for a very long time.

CHANGE IS IN the air. For one, spring has set in. In a few days, many of us will be celebrating the festival of Holi, the many colours representing the myriad shades of life. Colourful blossoms would soon jostle for space with newly-sprouted leaves.

To me, it is only more symbolic since March is also the month when International Women’s Day is celebrated. Women make an indelible impression on a family grows into. A sister in the family will ensure a more rounded-off, sensitive personality for a brother; a woman at work will make the workspace more dynamic and empathetic; and a woman moving about in a public space is a benchmark of how respectful, safe and responsible the society as a whole is.

It only made sense to have the dynamic Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Vice Chairperson of Kinetic Engineering Ltd, on the cover for this issue. Not only has she ridden the male-dominated two-wheeler market at an enviable pace, the Kinetic group has grown manifold under her able leadership. And she is ready for more.

It fills me with immense pride when I see women lead from the front. Something that my sister and I have tried to do in our own way. It comes from the way we were brought up; our father and mother never made us feel we were any less or different from a son.

It’s not the end of a woman’s struggle to ask for equal rights, however. After all, with most societies being patriarchal today, it is hardly a surprise that women are treated as second-class citizens. Most men, in general, not only feel more superior, asking for equal rights have ironically become a feminist issue, where it should only be a matter of human rights.

This needs to change. Let us not tell our women how to dress and behave. Instead, it is time to teach the men to treat women as their equal. For women to realise their full potential in a world that has always found ways to pull her down, there needs to be a shift in sensibilities and understanding of human rights.

At the same time, we need more women to come out and help each other. Like Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook, has famously said in her book Lean In, “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” A women-centric company, cosmetics major L’Oréal, is showing the way on how it’s done. It not only helps girls from disadvantaged sections of the society find livelihood, it also encourages them to explore the world of science by way of scholarships for graduate courses in the subject.

But what happens when you don’t get any help? Then you look up to our hero Arunima Sinha for inspiration, who has been featured in the Looking Back section. A national-level volleyball player who lost her leg when she was pushed off a train, summited Mount Everest with a prosthetic leg, in 2013.

We all are heroes. Let’s celebrate our power!