Indian Upside

I recently read an article about Muslims helping Hindus build a Temple in Gaya. They not only donated money for it but also helped by supervising the construction of the temple. While it was also said that some time back Hindus in that area had helped Muslims build a Mosque. When we come to know about such incidents it feels very proud.

Life is all about living your principles and let others live their own. These principles once were named as religions and people following them have those set of guidelines to follow while they are living.

When we talk of unity I think these news of one religion helping other becomes useless. World is like a one big family having different children. No two children are alike but they still live together living under same conditions and resources. Religions or for that matter all humanity and others too live together on this earth under same circumstances and on same resources mother Nature has offered us. When we have this feeling in our mind why would we would think all others as just our brothers and sisters. And we all help our brothers and sisters in whatever way we can so that they can lead their own own lives continuing their own principles or religions.

It is not difficult to find Indians in some of the world’s biggest organizations, pioneering in business and technology. Indians have proved their ability in every field. There are numerous examples that can be quoted. One such example we came across is that of Dr. Arun Kumar Sehra who retired as the Director of Aerospace Programs and Projects at NASA’s Glenn Research Centre in Cleveland, USA.

Starting his career as a lecturer at Naval Engineering College in Lonavala, near Mumbai, and worked for the Department of Defence in India under a project at HAL and then moved to the USA to pursue his doctoral degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Dr. Sehra did his B. Tech in Aernautical Engineering from Punjab Enginerering College in Chandigarh and Master’s from Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore specializing in aerospace engineering. He moved to the US in 1975 and earned his Doctor of Science degree in Aero Propulsion from MIT.

It is a well known and appreciated fact that women are slowly making there mark in the science and technology industry which once was purely dominated by men. With advent of tools like computers and softwares engineering is no more a forte only for men. Increasing number of women in the field clearly states they are no behind and have the acumen needed for this job.

Another commendable step by Delhi Government is to make a Technical University exclusively for women. Chief Minister, being women herself, clearly understands the need, role and importance for a safe and growth oriented environment for women.

in conversation with Sarika Baheti.

First forms of life evolved in water. We humans, the so called superior forms of life, must preserve it. This is a strong message being spread by Neeranjali. There are various groups and NGOs working on conservation of water but what makes Neeranjali different from others is their pursuit for the cause.

We have heard people fighting for cleaning of oceans, cleaning of rivers and doing rain water harvesting and what not. We all know about it but it is all not in our hands. We can only stand and force government for these massive projects. But what we can do ourselves is save the water we have at our disposal. Neerajali works in this area by spreading awareness about how we individuals can save water at our homes and work areas.

Mrs Sarika Baheti, an adventurous and nature loving woman, is heading the NGO and making great contributions for the betterment of society. Sarika is also one of the Directors of Vectus Industries Ltd. who are into manufacturing of Plastic materials such as water tanks, pipe lines etc.

Neeranjali has a group on facebook with more than 3300 members till date who contribute with inspirational messages, videos and quotes. The group is regularly updated with the activities of Neeranjali all over India. “It is wonderful to see people coming together and participating with their ideas and activities over water conservation” says Sarika.

Can you please brief us about activities of Neeranjali since I have not been able to find many of them over the internet?

“I think you have not done enough research. Neeranjali has worked with local NGOs who work in those rural areas where there is acute water shortage. For example in Madhya Pradesh with help of a local organization we installed free drinking water units at places where people would not find drinking water so easily. Other areas include agriculture. We have worked with farmers and helped them with borewells etc. Water Conservation is not only talking about saving a bucket of water. It has to go beyond that and agriculture is one way to do it. “

By Zania

Landing at the airport. I remember that. The shift from the impeccably clean, koi-pond filled airport in Singapore, to the messy, over-crowded loudness emanating from the one I just entered. People. I remember people conversing at rapid speeds that made Spanish seem to go at the pace of a snail. I remember the heat wave brush at my cheeks as I stepped outside into the humid air. The musky smell of pollution, people, cars, motorcycles racing by. The darkness settling in on and the lights of the bazaars and street shops illuminating a far-past-repair street. The potholes and cracks adding a tingle of adventure and excitement as we hurriedly grab our luggage and stuff it into the nearest auto-rickshaw. Autos. The thrill of riding through the packed streets at speeds unimaginable for such a tiny vehicle. A New York minute? The hilarity of such a phrase is only apparent once one has experienced what should really constitute the meaning; An Indian Minute.

I remember arriving at my dad’s place. That tiny one-story bungalow that appears like a beacon of warmth after driving through the long dirt pathway lined with every imaginable fruit tree. Especially the jack-fruit trees. Chakka, that’s what we call them. I remember my cousins running down the steps of the porch to greet me in excited voices. Remember my aunt smiling and asking if I was still as mischievious as the last visit. Fried rice, the best fried rice I have ever eaten thus far, something only my aunt was ever capable of creating (although mother borrowed and attempted to recreate the recipe here in America numerous times). The chickens. I remember feeding them in the morning and then chasing them as they scattered aimlessly through the jungle-esque trees and ran around the acres of property that my dad’s family possessed.

Dear cherished readers (and the beautiful people who have just stumbled upon this place by chance), greetings from Indian Upside. The day has finally come. On this special day for every Indian, the children’s day or the day when the first Prime Minister of India was born, Indian Upside feels special to launch a newer version of the site. A new look, some absorbing articles from some of the gifted writers around, some thoughts, some processes, 5 new sections and many more is on the offering. We will make sure you have a good time while you are with us, without compromising on our root belief, the belief on which the foundation of Indian Upside has been laid. Let us brief you on what and how we want the things in this place.

We are Indians. Criticism comes naturally to us. We grow up seeing our mothers cribbing about the housemaid, our fathers complaining about the reckless security guard in the neighbour building, we ourselves complain of things we are least affected by or can affect. The economy of the country that is spiralling down the man hole, the corrupt leaders who eat thousands of taxpayers’ money and what not! But in this dark cloud of negativity, we forget the fantastic country we live in. We forget the things that make India one of the best countries in the world.Indian Upside is a place for those who feel this way. We expect you to share your experiences, your thoughts on the positives of India. Be it the latest cool gadget you’ve discovered, or a fantastic place you’ve visited. We want the place to breathe out fresh air of pious positivity. Seriously, don’t you think, the best way to preserve something good is to appreciate it? If you do, share. This place belongs to writers as much as it does to the readers. This is a place where we can share, anything that catches our attention and leaves us with a smile, making us feel lucky to have being born in this country.

First things first we are an organization now. Indian Upside has moved its name from indianupside.com to indianupside.org. There are a few new sections being launched, where you may find your specific needs satisfied.

Have you ever wished to jump off a multi-storied? Not to fall due to gravity, but to fly away defying it.

Caught in the quagmire of our daily lives we tend to forget some of the very basic necessities of our lives. It often happens that they come back at us and remind us of their importance, pointing the finger of disgust, so that we look through their eyes to see what a mess we have made of our lives. At that very moment don’t you wish that your life had a refresh button which on pressing will start everything afresh? I am sure you do, but you do nothing else than to return to your seat and surrender to the demand the world has put on you. You feel conscious of the eyes watching over you, and do what they like, and not what you’d have done.

Well, first assurance, if it makes you feel any better, you are not the only one. Every one of us feels the same way. Some of us care to change the things around and make them suitable for themselves, but most of us change ourselves, our needs to suit the world around. And I am not here to suggest a remedy for those daily-dribble-worries in your life but to share my own experience.

Coming back, have you ever wished to jump off a multi-storied? Not to fall due to gravity, but to fly away defying it. Have you ever wished to become a bird? If yes, have you ever wondered what makes you different? Well, physics tell us that the bird is light enough to fly but look through the reason and you might find a dose of happiness in this very simple phenomenon. We humans, attach a lot of weight onto us. The weight of our work, our children, our old ones, our responsibilities, our lovers, our wealth and each one of them is so intricately related to the other that you just can’t stop weighing more and more with every single passing day. Learn to let go.

We have been disappointing our readers for like two weeks now but I tell you the wait is worth it. Because we are upgrading! With strong support from our readers and constantly increasing readership we wish to give you the best of Indian Upside.

We wanted to get the newer version rolling by Diwali but sad we couldn't reach the point where we wanted it to and thus a bit more delay. We are working hard to get it up and we are sure you will like it.

There is not just the technology upgrade happening but the content you see here is also being thought over and is totally being revamped. You are going to see a lot of new good stuff up here. 

I am not going to disclose what all you are going to see but I am sure it is all going to be super exciting just like it has been working on all of that stuff. 

So keeping fingers crossed I wish that you all can wait a little more longer and we will get back to you up and running as always but in much more exciting way.

Sumit

Jagjit singh was among those few people who with their unprecedented will and zeal to follow their passion create marvels. The way he reincarnated Ghazals from being a dying art and made him the undisputed king.

His contribution to the music industry is truly outstanding. He transformed ghazals in to simple form of music and brought it close to heart of masses. He changed the use of only traditional musical instruments in Ghazals and included western instruments and created melodies which were truly welcomed by the industry and touched the heart of all the generations.

Jagjit Singh married Chitra, also a renowned singer, in 1969 and made the first successful Husband and wife singing duo. Jagjit Singh and Chitra's album Beyond Time (1987) was India's first digitally recorded album which made Jagjit Singh the first Indian composer to use digital multi-track recording. 

Starting his career in Mumbai with singing at Jingles, ceremonies and as the popularity grew he started performing at concerts and soon became the king of all hearts. At time when Ghazal singing was only credited to Noor Jehan, Malika Pukhraj, Begum Akhtar, Talat Mahmood and Mehdi Hassan he was able to make a mark and make his place in the industry by his fresh voice, new music and western touch and instruments.

Jagjit Singh left us on 10th Oct, 2011 at the age of 70. He had undergone a critical surgery earlier this year as he had suffer brain hemorrhage. 

His life will always be a source of inspiration for all the young aspiring singers. Jagjit Singh will always be remembered as the Undisputed Ghazal king who by his melodies rules over hearts and the music industry for more than 5 decades. Let us pay the miraculous singer a well deserved tribute.

It is always great to receive questions and suggestions from the readers . It felt really nice to know the point of view of one of the readers about the theme of Indian Upside which is to highlight the positive and good things around.

Is it just praise our self or to make the improvements

Hi Dear

Happy to see this profound initiative for awareness about our self. However along with this we should see also our darker side or might say where we have the scope of improvements.

I just want to share, this site should not only to praise our self?? In addition we should also think to start something which can be materialized for improvements.

We are all young giants facing day to day big challenges in & around life, professional etc. providing solutions for same as like this we can also give the solution here. We should start the discussion forum where we can discuss the darker sides like National security, Education & its quality, Terrorism and many more.....Cant we find the solution for these! yes we can and after that only implementation need to be done. Just an example a solution can be so simple like to arrange the awareness campaign about ‘’ Education prospects ’’  for students of a village or a government school,& I don’t think so this will require much of many. But at least doing this way we can guide the students for their career.

Only a bit of initiative is required…. Rest we all will do it! 

Vipin

Dear Vipin,

Thanks for the question and your suggestions. You are right when you say that one must not only try to praise one own self but also should keep an eye on the dark side and try to make things better. But there is one question which we would like to ask you and to every citizen of India which we also asked ourselves and which became a reason for this initiative.

Today, India has most number of news channels. The number is even more than the total news channels in the world. Out of all these which one do you think shows you what is good happening around you? With all the scams, the insecurities, political cruelty and poverty prevailing all over the news and around do you think one feels proud about India today? 

A nation can only be better when people feel there is some life left. And Indian Upside is trying to show you that ray of hope. India is a beautiful place and not only a place of scams, frauds and selfish people. There are a lot of good things happening around and we must know about them. It is this feel that our nation is good which will make us stop a person who is trying to make it dirty. It is this feeling of pride which will make us do good for our nation. 

Today, we are trying to get this feeling into ourselves and the world around that we are a part of a wonderful Nation to which we call the home of God himself. Once every citizen feels pride in being called an Indian will be ready to stand up to protect it from inside and outside. 

Also, there are a lot of good things happening which go unnoticed. A small school in village started by a person with his own salary. A student whose hard work made his village come out of the troubles they were facing. All this small small things matter a lot in building a Nation and they all are going unnoticed because everyone is busy cribbing about how bad we are and how corrupt we are. Through this website we want to make all that little effort counted and made felt by rest of the world.

The theme of this website has only to make ourselves proud of it and in no matter that means we do not want to hide the darker side. But we would not like what is called cribbing. If you find a problem you can submit it on the website but you also have to post a solution to it. That is how it should work. That is how we improve our country.

We loved your suggestion of opening a forum where we can discuss the problems prevailing and find a solution for them. And to tell you we are already working on such a forum and are trying to formulate it in the best way can. We will shortly notify our readers about it. 

Finally, the point we want to  make through this website is that India must be proud of itself and then it can grow. If they are not proud of what we are we will not try to improve it either. 

Thanks for posting this question. We really appreciate it.

Sumit