|| A Night to Remember ||   MIA! An absolute gregarious person, she was a dreamer, an achiever, a free-spirited soul that wandered to places and came with hands full. She just knew how to live life in full circles. Would soar from one high to another. Sometimes with a scratch on the knee. And often a bruise over the head. But rare was a tear in her eye. She knew the true meaning of living life queen size. She was a Queen herself not to a sham kingdom. But a queen of her own soul, queen of her heart. Recently had she grabbed a promotion in her office and her charm was no minor for her boss to throw a party for all to celebrate her success. It was a cozy chilling evening of mid-December. The winds were strong and so were the spirits. The company's farmhouse was lit up with shimmering yellow and orange. The garden was bursting with glee, crackle, and chatter. The soft flowing music was matching the mood of the evening to the fullest. Mia was encircled with one after the other gang of colleagues high

An Ode to My Father. It was bright sunny morning. I was on my usual morning jog to fill my lungs with the fresh morning air. I could hear the soft chirping of the birds and could feel the bright sun. What a lovely morning to start the day with.While I was feeling the nature’s beauty I came across a six or seven year old boy being taught to ride a bicycle. He had blue coloured bicycle and the boy was with silky brown hair and red shorts and white t shirt.His father was middle aged man,neatly shaved in grey tracksuit. The memories of my childhood came gushing by when I was of around same age my father taught me to ride a bicycle. Like any other kid I too suffered many failed attempts. But my father taught me never to give up. He was a picture of patience. He was always besides me with his hand at the back of the bicycle seat again and again, as many times as I needed him to. I clearly remember the day I took off by myself I could feel the wind blowing on my face. So what, if I could not stop properly and

  “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”- Albert Einstein. A homeopathic physician, lifestyle & wellness coach, relationship counsellor, holistic healer and the Director of Prakash Holistic Health Care Centre (PHCC), Dr. Nidhi Agarwal has always been a hero on personal and professional fronts. She encourages a Holistic approach to propagate medicine free lifestyle in a world that depends completely on medicines, steroids and quick reliefs. She has been promoting a way of cure with a holistic approach and with simple lifestyle changes and less dependency on medicines to over 50,000 patients currently. In order to fight against the battle of COVID-19 not only physically but also mentally, Dr. Agarwal has been working effortlessly on several projects such as the “Me to We 2034” where she does weekly sessions for creating mental health awareness, the “Tu Chal Puda Tula Ra satarkar bhiti kashachi” sessions for prevention of lifestyle disorders and boos

  “There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.”John Holmes. A not-for-profit, non-religious, non-sectarian public charitable trust, Annamrita Foundation, formed in April 2004 after the Government of India introduced the “Mid-day Meal Scheme” in order to improve the nutritional status of school-age children nationwide has been one of the strongest pillars of support during the COVID-19 pandemic. ISKCON’s Annamrita Foundation is a ray of hope for the underprivileged children from Below Poverty Line families, who attend Municipal Schools in about 40 cities of Maharashtra. It delivers full nourished meals to government schools where children are unable to get food from home. Immediately, after the lockdown was announced, Annamrita Foundation and Team held a meeting with the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and other concerned authorities to make provisions for food to the underprivileged. Since the Lockdown began, Annamrita Foundation with

  “Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.” Martin Luther King, Jr.   Starting an NGO is a lifelong commitment to contribute incessantly to the betterment of lives of people the NGO works for. Running an NGO efficiently, expanding it by sensitising towards other areas that need help and adding verticals to watch beneficiaries from varied sectors lead a better life, is fulfilling that commitment made to the society. Two women, with rock solid benevolence, and an immaculate sense of how to use resources are the heart and soul of Mukul Madhav Foundation, an NGO driven by sheer passion. Ms. Ritu Chhabria and Ms. Gayatri Chhabria, a mother daughter duo run this foundation like a successful business, where the only profit they believe in, is the number of lives that have reformed forever. Established in 1999 as a Charitable Trust, MUKUL MADHAV FOUNDATION also the CSR par

  The thought that one person can’t do anything to change a situation that involves others, is a myth and has been proven wrong umpteen number of times. It takes, one moment, one thought and one person to start a movement in the positive direction. Anything done, with good intentions, can tread a path for many other to follow and that’s how situations change and improve and the society progresses. Here is another instance, of a brave, courageous woman, who actually put her money where her mouth is. Professor Nikita Gosavi. On a normal Quarantine day, she stepped out with her husband to visit her uncle because he had met with an accident. She had to go to the heart of the City in Pune where her uncle resides. On her way, she noticed some homeless people sitting on the roadside near Appa Balwant Chowk (ABC, Pune). Due to the lockdown and closed roads, Nikita and her husband had to change their route and while doing so, they overheard conversations of those people. What she heard, broke her h

  “Volunteers do not necessarily have the TIME; they just have the HEART.” Elizabeth Andrew The pandemic of COVID-19 and the lockdown has hit a pause button on the world. And maybe not in the form of a pandemic, but maybe the world needed to slow down. Maybe the world needed to think, reflect, feel, empathise and act. And maybe that’s the reason we get to see endless examples of exemplary heroism around us each day. While we can think of people, animals and strays who have suffered during the lockdown, there are humanitarians who have gone beyond that. Here is a group of courageous people who have dedicated their lives to saving the lives of those we only read about in papers or fables. The GRASSLANDS TRUST is an organization which tracks wildlife that is surviving around cities. These are typically wolves, hyenas , leopards etc. Despite tremendous pressure from administrations, this trust tracks these big carnivores and their encounters with humans. This organization also comes acr

  “Giving is not just about making a donation. It is about making a difference.” -Kathy Kalvin COVID-19 has given us tremendous food for thought. One one had we have stories of sufferings, isolation, people being stranded, people being deprived of essentials etc. And on the other hand, we have endless stories of heroism. How every kind of problem, across sectors, borders, genres was identified by humanitarians from different stratas and then bravely defeated by them. These humanitarians are Heroes fighting the pandemic and the collateral damage caused by the pandemic with courage, sympathy and generosity. To name another hero of quarantine, we have, Force Motors Limited, under the unapologetically efficient leadership of Dr. Abhay Firodia who have explored every possible way to offer help during the lockdown. They have played a crucial role in UPGRADING THE HEALTHCARE INFRASTRUCTURE during the lockdown. To begin with, they have donated 45 HIGH END VENTILATORS, more than 17,000 MASKS as we

“You want to be the pebble in the pond that creates the ripple for change.” -Tim Cook A global pandemic like COVID 19, creating a national crisis like Lockdown 2020, undoubtedly put several people’s lives in very difficult situations. As important as it was to follow the lockdown, it also brought with it, endless problems for those who were either dependent on several factors to lead a normal life or for those fighting tirelessly as frontline warriors through the crisis. Then of course there are those who have been fortunate enough to not have been as badly affected by the lockdown but conscious and empathetic enough to utilise their resources and help the affected sectors. We call them Heroes of Quarantine. One is them is Mr. Vishal Gokhale and his team at Gokhale Constructions. They are a very well reputed and established entity in the redevelopment sector of Pune and have been known for building enduring relationships with their investors having maintained a steady goodwill in the marke

  “The political maturity of a country is measured by what citizens willingly do for themselves and one another.” Frank Prochaska Citizens of Maharashtra have known the D.Y.Patil family for many decades now, especially for their tradition of helping the needy. But when the Global Pandemic of COVID 19 broke out, it caught everyone off guard. However, Ruturaj Patil, one of the youngest politicians, grandson of Padmashree DY Patil, took this opportunity to go all out with offering every kind of help using his own time, personal resources and continuing the tradition of helping. Along with the Cabinet Minister of State, Satej Patil, the DY Patil Group has helped thousands of people during the lockdown. To solve a problem, you must first understand it. In order to understand COVID-19 better, Ruturaj Patil took up an online certification course by the WHO (World Health Organization) and educated himself so as to be able to help in the right manner. He further shared his knowledge with the cit

The Global Pandemic of COVID 19 has changed the dynamics of everything. If you can think of 10 problems related to the pandemic to solve, there may actually be 12 problems that need solving. COVID 19 has also changed the definition of a hero. Today’s Heroes wear lab coats and stethoscopes. We feel safe because we have these heroes taking care of us. But who takes care of them? Have we thought about the challenges that these doctors and nurses have to face every day while testing hundreds of patients coming in with the symptoms of COVID 19? The risk of being exposed to the virus? It’s humongous. And yet they show up to work each day! In all this chaos, the Ravetkar Group came up with something for these #CoronaWarriors as they call them. To help minimize the exposure for the doctors and maximize their safety, the Ravetkar Group started a life-saving initiative of installing SAFE COVID-19 TESTING KIOSKS in Pune’s top HOSPITALS and TESTING CENTRES. With the help of socially committed organiza

      “Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” Desmond Tutu As we know, COVID-19 and the lockdown it brought along have changed the dynamics of everything in the world. It has affected everyone in some form or the other. Amidst all this chaos, there is that strata of the society who has been fighting not against the virus, but against the situations for basics and essentials. And fortunately for humanity, there is also that sector of the society, which has come forward to help those who need it the most. Jana Madhyam Foundation founded by Shirish Gajanan Apte is one of them. This team in Pune has been working relentlessly since the beginning of the outbreak of this pandemic. They started off instantly by providing essentials like food and water to those who had no access to it. The next set of beneficiaries have been the daily wage earners. Another essential in today’s times are MASKS. Understanding

  “Think of giving not only as a duty but as a privilege”. -John Rockefeller While most of us conveniently think that this lockdown has tied our hands and we can’t do anything to help anyone, there individuals and organizations who are out on the streets, finding places where the problems are, and solving them, one person at a time. Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana under the guidance of Shri Shantilal Mutha is one such group who is out and about helping people who are affected by COVID-19. Established in the year 1985, Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana (BJS) has been in the forefront of addressing national concerns in the areas of Disaster Response, Social Development and Educational Initiatives. Having its head office in Pune, BJS is a non-political, non-profit, professionally managed Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) with a nationwide footprint working towards the benefit of all. Due to COVID-19 lockdown, people have been confined to their homes, and doctors are unable to open their clinics

  “Having a lot and giving a little is CHARITY.Having a little and giving a lot is GENEROSITY”- Kalamwali  This story deserves more than a salute. It deserves an applause, a lot of respect, and immense amount of help. Dedicating your entire life for those whose lives are a big question mark, is the most selfless kind of dedication. There’s always a choice. To look or look away. To think or not even think about what you see. To want to do something about it and to actually getting down to doing it. This is a story of someone who has done first and then maybe thought about it. This is a story of Vinayak Deokar- Founder and President of Mahatma Gandhi School- Pune  An orphan by birth, he was adopted and brought up by an old couple who were stone breakers. Having gone through the struggle of surviving without basics like a good Education, he always had to settle with taking up petty jobs. And so that noone around him suffers like him, he founded the Mahatma Gandhi School under

  “In a gentle way, you can shake the world”- Mahatma Gandhi COVID 19, is one of the worst known Pandemics to the world. Not only because of the way it spread across borders, irrespective of geographies, but also because of the global meltdown it has brought along. While the entire world, was racing against time to win every battle, big or small, and to remain undefeated, nobody stopped to think that a virus could put everyone’s dreams and plans on hold and bring the entire planet to a standstill. A tiny jostle, causing a crack of the magnitude that could rumble the entire system within weeks. This may have broken backbones of the most elaborate global agendas, but it has also diluted boundaries and brought together the entire humanity in a fight against the pandemic. One such global entity, standing tall, going strong and making their resources of great help to the frontline warriors of the Pandemic is Jaguar Land Rover. Associated with trust and dependability, JLR has been a part

  "What you do with what you have, is what you will be remembered for"- Kalamwali. A global pandemic of the magnitude of COVID 19, will change many things in the world forever. It will be a part of history where the happenings of the world will be remembered as before COVID 19 and after COVID 19. It will also erase the line between ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ given its impact on every strata of the society. But amidst all this chaos and scare, there are those who have risen to the occasion and come forward with all their might to help fight this situation. The Janseva Sangathna under the able leadership of Dr. Dhavalsinh Pratapsinh Mohitepatil has been working tirelessly to provide basic amenities to the needy through the lockdown. The "Janseva Sangathna" was established by Loknete Shri. Pratapsinh Mohitepatil in Malshiras, Solapur in the year 1973. Today it is headed by Dr. Dhavalsinh Pratapsinh Mohitepatil. This is a social service organisation which operates with the mott