patliavadana 1st edition

Patliavadana () Edition 1,2015

A Quarterly E-magazine from Patli Urbanocrats

Editorial... Dear Readers,

In Sanskrit there is a Shloka,

YaTra NarYastU PujyaNte RaMante Tatra Devta

It means, where women is worship the god live at that place.

This 1st issue of our e-magazine Patliavadana is dedicated to

women. If we will see the history of India, the value of women in

India is considered as half of the person. In Hindu Culture, if we

will talk about any Power (Shakti), Education (Saraswati), Mon-

ey (Laxmi) these all are constituted in women. Our ancestors

have given her a value without which a man is totally incom-

plete. Even till the current era the mother is considered as first

teacher of her child. Everywhere women appear as first agent of

development, progress in family, society. Our team salute this

women who work continuously not only for her but for her socie-

ty in total.

- Avinash

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Team

Avinash Kumar (Editor)

Sohum Krishna

Raj Saurabh

Mithilesh Mishra

Rithi Mukherjee

Vikash Kr. Chaudhary (Asst. Editor)

Monali Kakuva (Gujarat Coordinator)

Patliavadana,

A Quarterly E-magazine,

Edition 1,2015

You can send article to:

[email protected]

Patli Urbanocrats (Trust),

Reg. No. 30559/2013

patli.urbanocrats

@PatliUrban

For feedback & advertise mail us on:

[email protected]

Desclaimer:

The organization is not responsible about

any article published in e-magazine. The

articles are personal view of the writer.

Permission to circulate magazine under

Trust Act.


A Quarterly E-magazine from Patli Urbanocrats

S. No. Topic Page No.

1 Administration & Society 1

2 , 2

3 GWRUnique Decentralized Solution (Clean India Initiative) 5

4 O Little Flower 8

5 : 9

6 Short Stories 11

7 The Battle of Looms 13

8 16

9 20

10 22

11 Women Empowerment 25

12 The different shades of Indian Women 26


A Quarterly E-magazine from Patli Urbanocrats 1

Administration & Society

A dministration, though as old as society, has more or less been seen as insensitive to woes of society. Ironically, administration was construed to address ills of society. It ac-

quired a mechanical character in sequence of taking tough decisions for benefits of com-

mon man. This mechanical feature developed so much so that 19th century thinker Max

Weber defined administration as exercise of authority & identified different form of le-

gitimacy viz. traditional, charismatic and legal.

But certainly this exercise of authority

based on any form of legitimacy has yet not

yielded any result. World wars, terrorism, nax-

alite movements bear evidence to this fact.

Ethnic violence & discrimination are existing

even in developed and intellectual societies.

Analyzing these facts, it would not be an exag-

geration if we conclude the administration and

society are very closely interdigitised. A socie-

ty functioning on Me First notion can not have a selflessly serving administration.

Awareness of rights of downtrodden through education has been imparted for so

long. Yet, administrators have on many occasions found themselves incapable of dealing

with poverty and allied problems. A young and energetic fresh graduate enter bureaucra-

cy with a lot of zeal. But we find them becoming indifferent, rule-minded, delaying & ei-

ther irresponsible or too cautious as time nesses off, may be, as said by Merton, this is

trained incapacity. Bureaucracy socializes its incumbents to the incapable and unmind-

ful of the change. It provides a training ground of incapacity.

- Ankita Vats

(She has completed B. Tech from

BIT, Patna Campus

and is an UPSC aspirant)

It would not be an exaggeration

if we conclude the administration

and society are very closely in-

terdigitised. A society function-

ing on Me First notion can not

have a selflessly serving admin-

istration.



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GWR AN UNIQUE DECENTRALIZED SOLUTION

WHICH SOLVE TWO KIND OF SOCIAL PROBLEM AT ONE GO (A REPORT)

Sustainable solution to Waste Problem

World over a drive towards planting more trees is on. India is not left far behind. The pace of urban and

rural plantation is commendable and has started showing its result in visibly increased urban green cover as

well. There is horticulture, forest and other department is managing some of the most beautiful green areas

of India and around metros/urban/semi-urban.

With the green comes the challenge of managing Green Waste. A huge amount of green waste is generated

in India every day. Leaves, grass, cuttings and other green waste generated out of increasing green cover in

urban areas, needs to be managed in such a way that creates minimum pollution. But the arrangements in

this direction have been non-satisfactory till date. There are strict rules against burning of green waste, but

the practice is evident at so many places including agriculture waste being burnt rampantly. National Green

Tribunal has also started taking cognizance of the fact and has stressed more on the proper disposal of the

green waste.

CPWD recently identified one indigenous solution for managing its green waste GWR. This machine is

being experimented by CPWD Horticulture department for last 6 months in various waste conditions at

first, and now, In Delhi, CPWD and NDMC are using this solution in their gardens to manage their green

waste at source. The unit is really a great innovation in managing the green waste just at source in decen-

tralized manner.

The problem with green waste is the high volume and low density. This makes the waste transportation a

very costly affair. Traditional approach of transporting the waste to landfill fails in case of low density high

volume waste as not being economically in favour of the transporters. Hiring private transport system for

the same makes the cost for department higher. On site solutions are the best viable options. But such solu-

tion needs to ensure

Takes very less space

Are non-polluting

Dont use any chemical process or burning

Should be easily maintainable

Should be cost economic with higher/better ROI

GWR took our notice on all such parameters. Decentralization is the key here with very small size of the

unit at 9 x 9 x 9 (LWH) with less than 2 ton of weight. The unit is capable of reprocessing up to 2 MTd

of green waste on site. The end product is a solid biomass with various usages, primarily in energy and or-

ganic manure. This unit is a one stop solution for Total Elimination of the entire organic reject at the

place of its generation without any environmental side effects.

It is a unique solution of its kind in the world and Nokooda and ORM Green for which patent application

has been filled. Now the entire range of solution is available with his new company at Clean India Ven-

tures (P) Ltd. New Delhi.



One of the trial units of GWR was installed at Sai Mandir, Lodhi Road, which was inaugurated by the

CM of Delhi, Smt Shiela Dikshit on 8th May, 2013. Two operators and two helpers were operated the

machine. That machine was consuming up to 500 Kgs of flowers. So the flowers that adorned the lord on

a day are no more thrown into the dust bin or in Yamuna River. The by-product from the machine was

Havan Samigri and Liquid Micro-nutrients (Compost). In a month from the date of inauguration of

the Temple unit, the team was able to prevent above 15 MT of flowers from being immersed in Yamuna

and are now reaching other Temples as well to install such solutions.

CPWD and NMC using a higher version GWR for the garden waste, that consumes not only dry leaves

but also all sorts of shrubs, branches of trees as thick as about 2.5 diameter. The machines are working

presently at Budha Jayanti Park of CPWD, and Lodhi Garen, Talkatora Garden, Nehru Park, and India

Gate purana quila nursery of NDMC areas. The by-product of this machine is named UrjaStick (Fuel

stick) that can be used for green energy products. One such use is in the smokeless stoves. The cost for

cooking will be almost half compared to LPG. This can be a boon for the BPL families and will surely

ease the dependence on fossil fuel sources. This Model of GWR unit can be used in any park where a lot

of green waste is generated.

Unique thing that should be discussed here is the sustainability factor. Once the capex is met for the in-

stallation of unit, the entire operation is self-sustainable. The unit is capable of recovering the major part

of opex, such as cost of manpower, operation and maintenance all by itself from the sale of by-products.

Practically within 4 year and half the capex spend by the buying agency is met in comparison to the tra-

ditional ways of waste management. The GWR units costs from INR 8 lakhs to INR 48 lakhs for differ-

ent models.

One thing is guaranteed that this solution is lower in cost than any existing methods of disposal and also

avoids the cumbersome process of transportation of organic waste to the landfills on the outskirts of the

city and avoids a lot many health problems apart from reducing the carbon footprints. It also reduces the

congestion on the roads from the waste trucks. Every unit installed by the municipalities or government

civic bodies, creates new jobs in green sector and are self-sustainable.

The series of solution are for Vegetable Mandi waste, Hotel waste and cow dung waste as well. The

demonstrated capabilities of the machine are certainly encouraging and we should see a new model of

decentralized waste management for organic sources taking shape in India very soon.

Sustainable Clean Cooking Solution

Furthermore, this solution is at one side helps to manage the waste at source, and convert into by-

products as fuel stick form, therefore at another side, it helps in clean cooking which is again solution for

the better health benefit of our rural and BPL woman, who still cooking with traditional means. United

Nation Foundation has awarded the company for providing clean cooking solution in 2014.

One of the world's biggest but less known problems is daily exposure to toxic smoke from open fires. In

the beginning of 1990s, there was more focus on Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) and its effects on health due

to traditional cooking. Growing scientific evidence over last 15 years has shown that IAP contributes not

only to respiratory illness but also include cataracts, child pneumonia, heart disease, cancer and low child

birth weights to pregnant mothers. Furthermore, thousands more fall sick with illnesses which could be

avoided by adoption of clean burning fuels in efficient cook-stoves.



Toxic smoke exposure is high for women and young children who spend most of their time near open fires

or school-children may try to study by weak light of cooking flame. Open fires and typical wood-fired cook

-stoves emit Carbon Monoxide (CO) and other noxious fumes which are up to 100 times higher than WHO

recommended limits [WHO, 2011]. About half of all pneumonia deaths under the age of five in developing

countries happen due to smoke exposure. Research has shown that even without improving combustion

efficiency of the cook-stoves, addition of chimney to stoves can

help direct smoke exposure reduction but it provides no environ-

mental benefits and limited health impacts.

Open fires from cook-stoves has another risk of burns faced by

poor households depending on kerosene, clay cook-stoves or

unstable metal usage which contributes an estimate of 300,000

burn deaths/year.

Young enviroprenurs are encouraged to contact their ULB, Mu-

nicipal authority, or government civic bodies to install the prob-

lem of waste, and they can utilize the potential of by-products in

sustainability mode. Woman self-help group are encouraged to

spread this solution around their locality with assured profit gain, as well as this solution will be helpful to

provide employment to unemployed youths from EWS and SWS around Urban, semi urban and rural areas.

- Manoj Pathak www.cleanindiatech.com

(Sri. Manoj Pathak is an innovator and

founder of NoKooda, ORM & Clean India Tech.)

To connect please contact on

[email protected]

According to WHO estimate,

smoke exposure from traditional

cooking practices is fifth worst

risk factor in developing coun-

tries for diseases, causing

around two million deaths every

year which exceeds deaths from

tuberculosis or malaria.



O Little Flower

O Little Flower, Your Life Is not Short...

You have to Bloom, You have to grow,

You have to spread your scent all over around.

O little Flower.. Your life in not too short...

Be Happy, Be Strong... Dont allow yourself to get plucked...

Your beauty has to grow more... Your sweetness has to increase too...

You have to share happiness...

O Little Flower, Your life is endless...

In memories, in heart of people... You can never die...

As your life is very long

- Avinash Kumar Secretary, Patli Urbanocrats

(He is an Engineering Graduate from Nagpur University and completed his post graduation in Management from Pune University. From his college life he has been active in social work and has worked with many social enterprise in Bihar either via providing online support or as full timer. Currently

he is working on project of soft skill development through his new venture in keeping mind the lack of skills in employees and student of Bihar what he has found during his work dura -tion with other firms. He is keen to develop a network of So -cial Enterprises, so that one can compliment other in field where they lack to make social work more sustainable. In Bihar, he see lack of interest among student class to volun -teer for social work, he wanted to develop a pool of volun -teers who are interested in social work but dont find any

platform for the same. )



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Short Stories 1. Who is Happy

A crow lived in the forest and was absolutely satisfied in life. But one day he saw a swan. "This swan is so white," he thought, "and I am so black. This swan must

be the happiest bird in the world." He expressed his thoughts to the swan. "Actually," the swan replied, "I was feeling that I was the

happiest bird around until I saw a parrot, which has two colors. I now think the parrot is the happiest

bird in creation." The crow then approached the parrot. The parrot explained, "I lived a very happy lifeuntil I saw a peacock. I have only two colors, but the peacock has multiple colors." The crow then visited a peacock in the zoo and saw that hundreds of people had gathered to see him. After the people had left, the crow approached the peacock. "Dear peacock," the crow said, "you are

so beautiful. Every day thousands of people come to see you. When people see me, they immediately

shoo me away. I think you are the happiest bird on the planet." The peacock replied, "I always thought that I was the most beautiful and happy bird on the planet.

But because of my beauty, I am entrapped in this zoo. I have examined the zoo very carefully, and I

have realized that the crow is the only bird not kept in a cage. So for past few days I have been

thinking that if I were a crow, I could happily roam everywhere."

That's our problem too. We make unnecessary comparisons with others and become sad.

We don't value what the Divine has given us. This all leads to the vicious cycle of unhappi-

ness.

2. THE TRIPLE FILTER TEST

In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day, an acquaintance met

the great philosopher and said, Do you know what I just heard about your friend?

Hold on a minute, Socrates replied. Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to

take a moment and filter what you are going to say. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure

that what you are about to tell me is true?

Well, no, the man said, Actually, I just heard about it and

All right, said Socrates, So you dont really know if its true or not. Now let us try the second filter, the

filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?

Umm, no, on the contrary

So, Socrates continued, You want to tell me something bad about my friend, but you are not certain its

true. You may still pass the third test though, because there is third filter left-the filter of Usefulness. Is

what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?

No, not really.

Well, concluded Socrates, If what you want to tell me is neither true, nor good, nor even useful, why tell

it to me at all?

CHARACTER IS WHAT YOU DO WHEN NOBODY IS WATCHING.

- Sachin Kumar

(Sachin Kumar, is currently working with Ambuja Cement as Marketing Personnel after

completing his management degree from Pune.)



THE BATTLE OF LOOMS

Recently, there has been much noise over the governments plan to repeal the Handloom (Reservation of

Articles for Production) Act, 1985 which affords so called protection to traditional handloom weaves

from being copied by power loom competitors.

Well..!!! let me correct my earlier statement. In fact, there was not any noise regarding the same. There was

not even a whisper of such an action plan in the public. Everything was being done discretely behind the

doors evading any public attention. The discussion, debates, meetings and consultation were being carried

in nexus with the powerloom lobby with no representation from the handloom sector. The outcome of such

discussions would have been obvious. Had it not been the intervention from the veteran Bollywood actor

and present BJP MP Kirron Kher in parliament, the Handloom Act would have been repealed in oblivion.

The intervention was followed by a social petition on change.org which garnered support from 15000 peo-

ple in a week. Although, 15000 was not a big number considering the Indian population and the work force

engaged in handloom sector, however, it did pressurize the government. The government was forced to is-

sue a clarification in this regards in the myth-reality format (http://pib.nic.in/newsite/mberel.aspx?

relid=121281). While traditional handloom was just saved from disaster but it gathered little attention. The

mainstream media was bustling with Salman Khans bail as it drew more TRP for them. They trailed him

from his house to court reporting every seconds details, repeating them incessantly throughout the day as

if it was a national emergency. I guess the marginalized weavers were not capable to draw the same TRPs

for them.

Anyways thats not the issue of this post. The handloom sector is feeling complacent about the battle being

won. No doubt there has been great effort from handloom protagonist to safeguard the weavers interest.

But I feel the government step was only an act to postpone the issue for some time. The powerloom lobby

will again rise and it might even succeed next time. The depleting handloom community may not be able to

hold grounds against the rising powerloom lobby next time. As per the report, there has been almost 50%

downfall in handloom units since 1988 and around 35-40% fall on labors depending on handloom.

With such statistics, the handloom sector is in greater danger than ever. The sword is still dangling over the

handloom sector and the powerloom is just waiting to strike again at right moment. There has been numer-

ous attempts in last 3-4 years to dilute the provision of Handloom Act. But with or without the Act, the

violations are still taking place. In fact, many of us including myself was not even aware of existence of

such as Act prior to this debacle.



This could also be the reason for the meager support to petition for protection of handloom on change.org.

So what step could be taken to protect our handloom sector-

AWARENESS

In spite of being culturally rich country, the present generation is devoid of knowledge of the same. I never

knew about the handlooms, different styles of weaving, the processes involved until I developed interest in

it. It is ironical that we are forced to learn calculus, algebra, integration etc. in our school curriculums

which does not have any use in our daily life. But things such as knowledge about handloom which can

change lives are not given attention. Even if the children do not choose it as their profession, they will at

least be aware of it and promote it by using it in daily use. Thats enough for saving the handloom sector

from perishing. The craftsmen/artisans desire appreciation, integrity and livelihood for their work and noth-

ing more.

IMPLEMENTATION

The biggest problem of our nation faces is proper implementation of legislations. Here the law is only for

weaker while the powerful exploits it. The power loom lobby is incessantly violating the Handloom Act

throughout the country but there has been no action. I have never come across or heard any case registered

for violation of the Handloom Act. So what are we fighting for -- an Act which has never been implement-

ed. Its similar to a weapon without ammo.

Further, the Act is find its roots back in colonial era. There is a need to review and reenergize the Act in

terms of present situations. The Handloom sector has been almost forgotten from government priorities

with minimum schemes and policies being formulated for its promotion. In fact, there has been instances

where government itself had acted against the handloom sector. Earlier, the bed-sheets used in railways

were required to be from Khadi/Handloom, however, later it shifted to mill made products. Still there are

laws and directives for government department to use handloom products only but they are seldom imple-

mented either for lack of awareness or intent. The not so culturally rich countries (in comparison to In-

dia) like Thailand and Laos are promoting handloom products by using them in school, offices, cultural

events etc. The question that troubles me is why cant we do it? Our rich cultural heritage has merely re-

duced to as trophy to be showcased during Republic Day and Independence Day.

MAKE IN INDIA CAMPAIGN

Recently, the nations stalwart PM, Narendra Modi, introduced Make in India campaign. But I dont be-

lieve it had any relevance to the handloom sector. Considering the legacy which the PM carries, it was an

invitation for giant industrial conglomerates to start manufacturing in India.



The Make in India campaign did not had anything for handloom sector which lives by this slogan every

day since ages. There has been a constant neglect by the government to this sector. Its high time the gov-

ernment realize the same and take some serious steps to restructure the whole handloom sector and im-

prove the conditions of weavers.

WHY POWERLOOM VS. HANDLOOM ?

Im still figuring out the question why there is a struggle between the Powerloom and the Handloom. What

prevents there coexistence? The handloom sector is in no position to challenge the reign of powerloom as

far as market shares are concerned. The powerloom lobby never so aggressively took steps to dilute Hand-

loom Act earlier. So whats causing this friction between them? I believe that its an unending greed. The

recent escalation in social media which has portrayed handloom products especially sarees as a luxury

product has created this drift. There has been exorbitant rise in demand for handloom and handicraft prod-

ucts in foreign market in last 5 years due to the digital revolution. The fight of the powerloom is for that

market share only.

The power loom lobby must understand that if a customer loves handloom products that does not mean

they hate power loom. The customer cannot in any circumstances be entirely dependent on handloom. The

power loom will still dominate the customer preference for its wide variety for much lower price. The

handloom shall never become a threat for it. The government has a greater role to play in this aspect.

INVOLVEMENT/ ENTREPRENEURIAL SUPPORT

The most vital steps to protect handloom is to garner support from masses and promote entrepreneurial

ecosystem for its growth and sustenance. The young designers, artists, creators and entrepreneurs have to

come forward to rescue this dying sector. We cannot and should not rely only on handful NGO who are

striving towards this goal.

Further, this sector needs creativity in terms of designs, products, marketing etc. in order to meet contem-

porary styles and preferences of the customers.

- Kaushal

(The writer is working with KANKS Legal

Services in Indirapuram, Ghaziabaad, UP)



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For any related information please contact Patli Urbanocrats on [email protected]




Woman Empowerment

Woman empowerment is all about to have the rights of equal share of control over resources in

home, society, community and nation to gain power.

As a Woman, she has to face many things from born to death. As like if a child born as a girl from

that time, many protocols are applied for her in many places as per different religion. Empowerment of

Woman is very essential and give the chance of power to think and act freely, exercises choice and fulfil

their potential as full and equal members of society.

Fortunately, I got the very relevant atmosphere and family whom can respect and value for what

Im, what I think and what I want to do. But as I see around me its something happen not really justify

good for woman. In society there are many cases we can observe that woman has to survive for living as

they are not provided education for live a better life, a married woman has to bare violence from her in-

laws for money, or somewhere I observe woman is used to earn money instead of man for better life. Is it a

respectable matter for society which is the part of these all shameful things? Woman is the great creation

of god, god gives her many responsibility as a daughter to help the family and get proud to her parents, as a

wife to take care and handle all the matter of home and members, as a mother she has to develop the ability

in child and give them a great life. But woman is not valued as man.

But despite these all thing, I believe that education must be provided to all women. By getting edu-

cation woman can understand better than uneducated person and the way of thinking will be also changed

if we have knowledge about the things nearby us. So also for society welfare woman must be educated. For

that, we must help those girls who are not able to study. We should provide them the facility of scholarship,

books, stationary and etc.

In India, there are many places where girls are not allowed to get education. For that type of area,

we should spread awareness of education for her better future. If we can start from only one person, then it

will also be good for woman empowerment.

It will be grateful if we can do a little thing for empowerment of woman.

- Monali Kakuva

(Monali is from Gujrat, she is an

engineer in Computer Science and

completed her degree from Gujrat

Technical University.)



The Different Shades of Indian Women

The Mother - Karuna Aunty. Thats how we often addressed her. The adoring Karuna Aunty with her shy

son. Her son, Amit, is appearing for his 12th std boards. They avail from Muzzafarpur but

Karuna Aunty moved with her son to Patna leaving behind the comforts of home to grant

good education to her only child. Life has not been so easy for her. Her husband suffers from

paralysis and needs help to do his day to day business. But another doting mother comes for

rescue. Karuna Anutys mother-in-law stays with her differently-abled son while Karuna

Aunty takes Amit to a better place to fulfil his dream to be an IITian. But thats only the be-

ginning of her challenges. She shares the problems she faces in a new city from apartment

hunting to paying her infinite bills of Amits tuition fee, grocery etc. Back at home she had

support of her in-laws for all her needs but now at the age of 35 shes learning to be inde-

pendent. She smiles and says Sab ho jayega agar upar wale ki kripa hai toh. Beta padh likh

kar bada aadmi ban jaye bas aur kya chahiye. Baki toh bhagwan ka diya sab kuch hai. Well

we really hope Amit cracks IIT. Good Luck to him!

The Young Bride - Rajkumari was 12 when she got married. Today at 22 with her two children she seems

happy with life. She misses her childhood home but feels life is better at her in-laws place.

She was the eldest child of her parents and had 4 younger sisters and 1 little brother. Her fa-

ther was a milkman. They lived with other milkmen illegally on a government owned plot.

The entire family of 8 lived in one single room. Rajkumari claims proudly that unlike the old-

er days she and her husband have their own separate room in her in-laws house. She smiles

gloatingly and says Ab sab kuch badal gaya hai DiDi jee. In ka khud ka motorcycle hai, ap-

na makan hai aur mera dono bachcha sab English medium school me padhta hai. She feels

proud of her accomplishment of having her own house and vehicle and her chidren studying

in English medium schools. As a child Rajkumari too went to a government school but due to

her marriage she had to stop her schooling mid-way. She talks further about her wedding.

She was really happy that night with all the new clothes she got and gifts from neighbours

and relatives. Her husband had come in a maruti car with a dozen of people, all singing and

dancing before the decorated grooms car. She has no regrets of her early marriage. Well

maybe we need to learn from Rajkumari how to find happiness in small things of life and not

to regret on the losses we have suffered in the process.

The Breadwinner of the Family - She was old. Probably 50+. We called her Siriyain Aunty because her

husbands name is Shri (called as Siri). Nobody knows her real name not even she. Siriyain

Aunty gives massages to the ladies of the colony. When I was a child I remember she

charged only 10rs for a full one hour massage. I have always remembered her as an old lady.

Her face has always been covered with wrinkles. Now she wears thick glasses. She is becom-

ing blind with cataracts. Her husband is older than she is. He used to work sometime in his

youth but all my life I have seen him drunk and lost on the streets. He would scare me when I

was a child. We would scream Piyakkar (drunkman) is here, piyakkar is here and run away

scared that he might catch us someday and god knows what he would do.



But we did feel bad for the poor and tired Siriyain Aunty. She had no children and her husband

would be drunk all the time. She would give massages to earn money for their livelihood and his

booze. All the women in the colony advised her to leave Shri and go to some women welfare socie-

ty or maybe to just live independently on her own without his daily dose of abuse and beatings in

the night. But she refused. She doesnt remember when she got married. She feels she has been

married all her life. She has got accustomed to this life. Now Shri is too old and weak to beat her.

But he still drinks and abuses. She cant work much now days as her eyes wont support her. But

she never sleeps hungry. She has worked for many years for many women. Every night some or the

other woman gives her food. Shri drinks less too because they dont have money. But she has

earned bread for her family for many years and she deserves some rest now. Maybe if she had chil-

dren her condition would have been better.

The Devotee - Chanda Aunty is a follower of Baba ji. But being a hard core follower is not an easy task

along with taking care of the family. She would wake up at 4 in the morning before sunrise and by

5 o clock she would start her daily rituals of prayers and meditation. It would take about two hours

to finish it. And then she would cook lunch for her kids and her husband. They followed a rule of

offering food to Baba ji before every meal. It was not a compulsion but a devotion for him. Chanda

Aunty turned vegetarian as the different levels of Shivir required her to give up eating flesh. She

never regretted giving up non-veg as after being a disciple of Baba ji she felt disgusted by cooking

or eating carcass. But her children still liked non veg and she would not want them to give up unless

they want to. Every Sunday she would organise satsang at her home and women from the entire col-

ony would gather to pray and sing in front of Babajis photo. She would cook prasad to be distribut-

ed among the women after satsang was over. Every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday she would fast

and eat only falhaar at the end of the day. She gave up on her favourite beverage tea after Babaji

talked about its ill effects. And it was not only tea that she left but also fast food, mithai and all oth-

er outside cooked foods. Result being she lost a good 4-5 kgs. Well it seems Baba ji did have a

good effect on her health and soul.

- Shivangi Singh

(She is working in IT sector in Bengaluru and has keen interest in working for society.)

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