Antyodaya Diwas....Bharat ke kaushalzaade....

Antyodaya Diwas....Bharat ke kaushalzaade....

"Antyodaya", upholds the ideal of upliftment of the last person and is the ultimate goal of Mission Antyodaya envisioned by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. The Mission Antyodaya programme launched last year for ensuring overall development of villages has been extended throughout the country with the clarion call of "Sabki Yojana, Sabka Vikas" and will culminate on 31st December with the finalisation of the Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP).
The 'Antyodaya Diwas" was celebrated yesterday on the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, a noted philosopher, historian and political activist.
The National Rural Livelihoods Mission focusses on sustainable livelihoods in rural areas through capacity building and extensive support for enhancing productivity, opening avenues for alternate enterprises and Skilling of youth.
Skilling of rural youth is the ultimate challenge for a country where conventional education has more respect. It is only off late  that efforts are being made to mainstream vocational education and conceptualise different ways to skill youth.

The Deendayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushal Yojana under the MoRD has a target of skilling youth in various trades and also placing them in jobs through private partnerships with recognized institutions, that is the PIAs, Project Implementation Agencies.
However providing jobs for all is a tall order and therefore training for self-employment which can facilitate more jobs is done through RSETIs, Rural Self-employment Training Institutes managed by the Nationalised Banks of the country.
Till date 29000 youth have been skilled through DDUGKY and about 12900 have been placed in Maharashtra. More than one lakh beneficiaries have been trained for self-employment through RSETIs. A lot of effort has been put in by various stakeholders to make these programmes a success.
The Antyodaya Diwas celebrations provided us with the opportunity for felictaitng the Project Directors, DRDA of the best performing districts, the PIAs of DDUGKY, the officials of the banks, the employers of youth skilled under DDUGKY and Skill Icons of both the schemes.
The Best districts, Nanded, Yawatmal, Gondiya, Nagpur and Nashik for DDUGKY were chosen on the best performance of achievement of targets in training and placement.
The best PIA’s, Dhatri Foundation, Focus Educare and Shri Technologies. under DDUGKY were shortlisted on the basis of target allotted, trained and placed, overall infrastructure, training quality and placement retention.
Training candidates is the first task but getting suitable employers and ensuring that they get retained there is another important aspect therefore awards were given to the Best Employers on the basis of maximum salary given by the employer to the trained candidates and those where numbers of candidates working from last 9 months was the highest. These included, Kochar private limited, Aegis Global and Tirumala facility Management (D-Mart).
Attrition is one of the main challenges after skilling and therefore the day was also to be celebrated for recognising the Skill Icons , Bharat Ke Kaushalzaade. Thirteen candidates trained under DDUGKY and who had continued to work for at least one year in establishment like Bharat Forge, DMart, Kochar private limited, Aaji Homecare, Cafe Coffee Day, Jupiter Hospital etc were chosen as Skill Icons.
Bankers who had excelled in training at RSETIs and provided credit linkage for establishing enterprises and also had the best settlement rates were also felicitated. These included Kolhapur, Gadhchiroli, Latur, Thane, Jalna, Solapur, Sangli with prominent banks like the Bank of Maharashtra, Bank of India and State Bank of India. PD, DRDA , Osmanabaf, Nandurbar and Parbhani were felicitated for best mobilisation of BPL candidates for RSETI.
Five RSETI Skill Icons were chosen which included Mr. Arun Ahire who is a differently abled and has established a business of Autorickshaw.
The icing on the cake was the heartfelt speech by RSETI Skill Icon, Girish Patil from RSETI Nandurbar. Confessing that he already knew photography but had joined RSETI only in need of a certificate and his ultimate realisation that he had not only to learn a lot in the field but also learn good behaviour was heart touching. He gave full credit to RSETI Nadurbar for his growth from a small time photographer to a recognised professional photographer in the district. Beginning with one camera and computer, he now has three computers and  over 100 customers a day. He also doubles up as a trainer at the RSETI and has employed five students trained at RSETI to work with him. His confidence was so endearing, a life-like representation of the ultimate goal of self-employment.
May he continue to prosper and may his enthusiasm be infectious enough to inspire many more and lead us all to achieve this ultimate goal of Antyodaya.....

Ten days with the Ganesha, Ganapati, the God of benevolence.....

Ten days with the Ganesha, Ganapati, the God of benevolence.....

The onset of Bhadrapad in Hindu calendar that is August or September, brings Bappa to our homes and surroundings. Whether installed individually at homes or in pandals his benevolence brings lots of joy and enthusiasm. The duration of installing the Lord may vary with some installing Ganeshji for just a day and a half, some have his blessings for three, five, seven or ten whole days. However the joie de vivre associated with this festival is so infectious that every person in Mumbai participates in it with childlike enthusiasm. For once differences of all kinds are forgotten and the chants of Ganapati Bappa Moraya fill the air with divine magic.
Of course the festival is rooted in history with even Shivaji Maharaj celebrating it. However it was Lokmanya Balgangadhar Tilak transformed it into a grand public event. Ever since then it's popularity has never waned. So year after year every one waits for the arrival of Ganapati Bappa and for the delicious modak, rice dumplings with sweet jaggery filling. But one also needs to think of restricting the size of the idol and ensure it is made from bio-degradable material to avoid damage to the water, aquatic life and the environment.
Today, is the 10th day of this year's Ganesh Utsav and one can hear the sounds of music, crackers and drums as the procession heads for immersion.
Our society too had set up an idol for one and a half days. The pooja and evening programmes organised by the children deepens our bond and keeps us together. As the pundit,  priest who has been coming to our building for over 10 years now rightly says, it is a blessing to get an opportunity  to pray together. Though the Lord is with us for just one and a half days it binds us together as we do the installation, pooja,  aarti, evening programme and a Havan  before the visarjan.
The act of visarjan symbolises the fact that everything in life is temporary and nothing is permanent. It also emphasises that ultimately one has to let go of everything we love passionately even though we may have nurtured it for long. By nature, an individual's intellect is caged in his ego. In contrast Ganesh Utsav displays the unshakeable faith among human beings. The visarjan specially teaches us to recognise the fact that the universe is  perpetually in a state of change. Ganesha in His avatar of an idol, melts into nothingness after the 10 day festival along with the chants of the people asking Him to return quickly next year.
What remains is the energy and the faith to look forward with hope towards the future. A reminder that Ganesha is not only the God of beginnings , He is also Vignaharta, the remover of obstacles and a symbol of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune.
No wonder none of us hesitate to say " Ganapati Bappa Moraya, Mangalmoorti
Moraya, pudhchya varshi lavkar yaa....

Empire State Building by night.....

Empire State Building by night.....

It was 11 pm in New York. I had dozed off after coming back from our meetings at the  New York University and the Columbia University. Even in India, sleep eludes me. After the long journey to New York with the difference in local time I was jet-lagged.
Maybe that's why I was groggy and slept off in the evening and found myself wide awake at 11 p.m. I knew that it would be difficult to sleep again and I felt pretty home-sick. I had been told that the Empire State building which was a stone's throw away from our hotel was open till 2 a.m for tourists. I decided to go there.
Just to ensure it was safe, I called the concierge in the hotel and they confirmed that it was totally safe for me to go all by myself even at this hour of the night to any place in New York and this was so near.
And so at 11.30 at night, I left all by myself to make a visit to the iconic Empire State building.
The streets were well-lit and bright and many people were walking on them even at that hour at night. Cars were buzzing around with their usual speed. The tall buildings bright with lights or neon signs glowing gave it a festive look. A mild breeze was blowing add joy to my gait. This was perhaps one of those few times when I felt good in solitude, doing something so adventurous by myself.
Yes it was adventurous because one can never think of getting out of home at night 11.30 pm in Mumbai even though it is said to be equally safe.
I was pretty gung-ho as I walked upto the Empire State building. It took me about 10 minutes. There were a few people like me wanting to see it by night. Even at night the staff were so alert, business-like and smart. As my ticket was swiped, one of them guided me up to the lift.
The Empire State building is an art deco skyscraper built in 1931. It was apparently competing to be the tallest building then and in fact was the tallest building in the world for nearly 40 years, till the World Trade Center was builtin 1970s. It was the first building in the world to have 102 floors.
It was only after I went there I realised it has 2 observation decks. One on the 86th floor and the other on the 102nd floor. Both are open every day, 8 a.m–2 a.m.
On the 80th floor is the Dare to Dream exhibition which captures the history of the building, it's engineering and construction. It has original documents including photographs, architectural sketches, construction notes, and daily bookkeeping documents and mementos from the more than 3,400 workers who helped create history. So even before reaching the 86th floor observation deck one is in awe of the place.
The lift took me to the 86th-floor observatory which has indoor and outdoor decks and gives us 360-degree views of the city.
As I went around the place I was overwhelmed by the sites. The beauty of the sky, the wind blowing wildly at times, the fireflies twinkling along with the stars. Each side gave a panoramic view of the city. I could see the Hudson river winding its way through the city as also the East River. The Brooklyn Bridge looked beautiful in the night. The statue of liberty at a distance like a small speck and the Times Square bright and live. It was sheer bliss.
It was only after I took a full round i realised that 16 floors above was the 102nd floor and is known as the top deck and provides a better view.
I needed to buy another ticket to enter there. A kiosk with credit card payment facility was available but I had left back my credit cards for fear of being alone at night. However tickets were available on payment of cash on the ground floor so i was guided back and returned beaming with the ticket.
The lift to the 102nd floor is manually operated. Apart from me, only two other persons were there on the 102nd floor. Having the space to myself without anyone jostling was itself a pleasure and then of course the most spectacular views of the city, the grids of the streets, the bright lights were enough to make one dizzy with child like joy. It was difficult to contain myself as I smiled, laughed and let myself go. The tower lights displaying a riot of colours was equally fascinating. At a distance one could see the One World Observatory,  also having 102 floors standing tall next to WTC memorial. 
I continued to stay till 2 a.m and was the last person to leave after purchasing knick- knacks with the help of the eager staff even at that time of the night.
Commitment to their jobs is one thing which I learnt from every single individual there, whether a student, teacher, worker, official, taxi-driver or security guard.
As i stepped out of the Empire State building, I felt full of life talking to my father and dear ones as it was afternoon in India,  telling them about this phenomenal experience.
It was 2.30 pm by the time I sauntered to my room. We had an meeting early next morning. Getting back to sleep in this dreamy-eyed state was even more difficult. As I forced myself to sleep, I could not help smiling to myself about the wonders of the night and my midnight sojourn. I wish it had lasted forever.....

9/11....the other side of New York....

9/11....the other side of New York.....

Humungous, gigantic, glamorous, full of life, never sleeping and a city of dreams, New York.... It's very sight brings you face to face with another world, tall buiildings, busy roads, bustling crowds, cool people.
In many ways it reminds one of Mumbai. The same spirit, sense of life and being busy.
There is something else which binds both of them together....resilience....of having faced a trauma and coming out of it. 9/11, 11th September and 26/11, 26th November ( as in India we mention the date before tge month while in USA the month is written before the date) will always remain as the two darkest days for these cities when in New york, the twin towers were attacked by hijacked planes and in Mumbai, when the CST, Taj, Trident and Chaabad House were attacked by terrorists.
However there was a difference too....the grit and determination of creating a new edifice in memory of the World Trade Centre, the One World Observatory and the 9/11 Memorial.
My mind was a myriad of thoughts when I went up to the 102 floor in the capsule lift. We were up there in seconds to watch the wonder that is New York. A different view on all sides. However that one side where the memorial stood gnawed my heart.
I could not help remember the helpless people who must have undergone great hardships since they had become victims to bitter minds.
The destruction of 9/11 was symbolic of the destruction of the unparalleled status of the United States Of America. The carnal desire to mow down the supremacy of a country reigned forte in the minds of the devastaters. That the victims were innocent and had no connection with their cause hardly mattered. Revenge at any cost was supreme and so all sublime thoughts of humanity, compassion were blown to smithereens.
Ironically one part of the memorial inscribing names of those who lost their lives is a pool of flowing waters symbolising that nothing is permanent. Life is like flowing waters and will remain like that.
The aesthetically created memorial makes one experience the trauma and helplessness not only of simple individuals but also of a supposedly perfect system which was unable to do much in those trying times.
Yet they tried their best and did all that was possible to lessen the loss and pain..
The 9/11 Memorial Museum is unique because it is located within and surrounded by remnants of the original World Trade Center site. 
The Foundation Hall is the largest of the spaces within the Museum where one can still see the slurry wall―a retaining wall originally built to hold back the Hudson River―and the remnants of cutoff box columns that once formed the exterior structure of the Twin Towers. It makes one think of all the efforts and technology used for creating the towers which were destroyed in minutes. Creation takes years and destruction just a few minutes.
The Memorial Museum also examines the implications of the events of 9/11 and documents the impact of those events succinctly.
One is amazed by the multimedia displays, archival material, narratives and a collection of monumental and authentic artefacts. The life of every victim is commemorated and visitors can learn about the lives of the men, women and children who died. We can feel their loss and grief through archival videos, interviews with victims who survived, government officials, historians, journalists, members of the armed forces, family members of victims, emergency responders and other museum visitors. 
The memorial has three distinct parts comprising of the day of the attack when the hijacked airplanes hit the Twin Towers, and the Pentagon, as well as the courageous actions of first responders and civilians assisting one another, and the experiences of people near and far from the attack sites. 
It also gives a perspective of the reasons behind this attack.
The third part presents the global response, recovery and rebuilding, the issues which need to be addressed for the victims and their families who suffered and are still suffering.
It was impossible for me to rush through these experiences and when I came out of the memorial  after more than 5 hours my thoughts were countless.
What stood out was the fact that love is stronger than hate. This was evident in the fact that whether in India or USA people were united by hope despite such tragedies and stood by each other.
It also emphasised that in darkness we shine the brightest.
New York has arisen like the phoenix standing tall and full of life  as ever.
As I stepped out of the memorial and saw the flowing waters of the pool with the names of the victims, I realised that time is like water. Once it has flowed one cannot touch the same waters again. Also one cannot hold back either in one's hand. They both are the best teachers to learn from and grow above hatred. A beautiful world can be created only with love and nurtured with compassion and not by hatred and vengeance.