Time and again, women have proved through their unassumed success that they are the epitome of resilience, strength and grace. Throughout the globe, there are many stories of women who have made a difference in this world and come out on top. In this fast-moving world, it is easy to be one among the masses but the real jewels are the ones that break the barriers of normality and step out into the light to be a ray of hope for the downtrodden. NK has always given the space for such women to tell their stories out to the world. Let’s look at a few such women who decided to be different and make a difference not only from Karnataka but from across India and abroad.
Love thy Neighbor Proves Cynthia Fernandes, social entrepreneur, Belagavi
It is easy to stay silent but it takes a lot of courage to speak out and do something. When Cynthia came back to India from the Middle East, she saw the challenges faced by the low-income and underprivileged woman in her neighboring villages. This reminded her of her early days in Dubai where she used to struggle. With a strong desire to help these women, Cynthia launched project Dupti in the year 2015.
What’s Project Dupti?
Duptis are made from pieces of leftover cloth after the desired attire is stitched by tailors and garment factories. Under project Dupti, these pieces of clothes are woven to make pillow covers, table runners and so on. The ladies who work on this project are poor people. The project which started with one lady has now become a cottage industry.
Cynthia says, “A lack of education and awareness among ladies and girls in rural areas is quite common. Despite the stigma in rural areas, we go to each Govt school every month and distribute over 1000 sanitary napkins. In the initial stages we had to face lots of resistance but now more awareness has been created.”
Cynthia’s actions prove that to do a good deed, you don’t have to look far. She helped the people around her to be more empowered and thus made a difference. She continues to contribute to the society in many other ways for the poorer section of the society and you can find out more about her life in service in the link given below the third story.
Dr Lavina Noronha, Founder of Ave Maria Palliative Care: Making small difference to the dying
Dr Lavina Noronha believes in the wording by Mother Teresa which goes like “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” She decided to make a small difference and started the Ave Maria Palliative which facilitates a dignified and peaceful death to the patients who are in the end stages of their lives.
Upon coming back to India from US, she realised that such a thing as Hospice care during the fag end of a patient’s life was unheard of her. She thought of this as a beginning and started the center which is run independently under the banner of Center for Development Studies and Education Trust.
“During these 12 years of our journey, we have served 800 patients irrespective of their faiths. We do not extend or cut their life. We only facilitate a dignified and peaceful death,” she said. She added that the center gets more than what they need through the generous contribution of philanthropists. You can find out more about her life in service in the link given below the third story.
Cynthia Goveas, Social worker, whose motto – Service sans expectations
If you have the ability to help someone, then do it without any hesitation. This is what Cynthia Goveas’s actions teach us. While performing her role for her company as a recruiter in UAE, she came across thousands of resumes of people who were frantically looking for a job. She did not second guess and decided to help these people out. In addition to recruiting people for her organisation, she collected their resumes and circulated them in other organisations with the help of her contact and facilitated in their placements. “So far, I have helped around 70 people to get job placements in Gulf, says Cynthia.
Apart from this, as a coordinator for the Konkani community, she has helped to provide services to the people like financial support, medical aid, counselling and so on. “We have a team of 250 woman and we extend the voluntary services at all events. With the help of my consulates, I could help more than 200 Indians to go back to India during the Pandemic,” she adds. You can find out more about her life in the link that follows: https://newskarnataka.com/features/amazing-stories-of-two-amazing-women-from-mangalore
Collaborating to help students with education in covid times : Sucheta Baliga, co-founder of JumptoPC
Covid times have brought about a new fear along with a lot of restrictions to mankind. One major downfall of this was the lack of proper education channels for everyone. Online methods of education were out of reach for many with limited computing resources to partake of it.
With the thought of giving back to the society and helping with this situation, Sucheta Baliga started JumpToPC as a product for the masses. This social enterprise has stepped into the burgeoning space to create affordable computing and browsing resources that adapt to existing and available technologies to make online education accessible to all, even the less privileged sections of the society. This simple yet innovative tool enables users to transform their smartphone into a PC.
JumpToPC is more than just a business venture, it is a social enterprise which aims at the education of girl child at rural areas. I believe that JumpToPC can prove to be an essential tool in helping these girl children receive an education despite various challenges due to , she adds their gender. Read the full story here, https://newskarnataka.com/features/jumptopc-making-online-education-easy-and-affordable-for-all
Where there is will, there is way for Keki R Tallur, Aditi M Kamath and Avni S Shetty
It is often amazing to see how the young minds work together to help the world be a better place. An example of such a work can be seen through the creators of the ‘Sulit initiative’, Keki R Tallur, Aditi M Kamath and Avni S Shetty.
Sulit is an initiative to support the educational needs of students. It seeks and collects old smartphones that are in good conditions and no longer in use by the owners and passes them on to children who are in need of it. The campaign also encourages people to contribute by raising money that will help children in terms of their virtual education.
The three friends started the campaign upon realising that the need for smartphones have increased tremendously and many students are not able to afford them. “As students, we know how bad it can be if we miss out on our classes and syllabus. It is unfair to a lot of kids if they don’t stand on the same ground,” says Keki. The trio has expanded their social work horizon with time. “Now that we have collected quite a few phones, we will finish one school and then help another.” To know more click the link https://newskarnataka.com/features/the-sulit-initiative-help-us-open-the-windows-of-their-minds-without-an-apple
Daphne Norma Crasta : Choosing to be different
It takes a lot of courage to choose a different path in life when the rest of the world is telling you to walk in a particular direction. When the path you choose for yourself is something you are interested, it inspires you to work hard and achieve your goal.
With such an interest at heart, Daphne Norma Crasta had taken up Biology as her field. Her hard work and motivation led her to be one among the 26 Indian students chosen for Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellowship (2020-21). Daphne is a PhD candidate at the Department of Clinical Embryology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal.
Speaking about various fields that are available today for the young generation to explore, she said “every area has a scope and if you are interested in it then you should definitely go for it.” To read more about her click https://newskarnataka.com/features/young-achiever-of-the-research-world
Abhijita Gupta furthers her family legacy
Padma Bhushan recipient Rashtrakavi Maithalisharan Gupt and Santkavi Siyaramsharan Gupt’s great granddaughter Abhijita Gupta, who is all of seven years and a child prodigy, has penned her first collection of stories and poems.
The book titled ‘Happiness All Around’, was launched by Oxford Bookstores’ children’s wing, Oxford Junior in collaboration with Invincible Publishers. Seven-year-old Abhijita, taking after her family’s literary legacy, had started writing at a very tender age of five years. The collection is an attempt to give children something to read, written by someone of their own age.
“Abhijita is a student of class 2 and is a third-generation writer of the Gupt family. She is avid reader and very expressive with her pen. She wrote her first story when she was a little over five years. We hope that she extends the legacy of Sahitya Sadan Gharana,” said her parents Ashish Gupt and Anupriya Gupta. To know more click https://newskarnataka.com/features/at-7-child-prodigy-honours-literary-legacy-with-first-book
Aadi Swaroopa makes rare feat seem simple
Aadi has created a world record for writing the greatest number of words with both hands simultaneously in one minute. The ambidextrous Aadi set the record by writing a whopping 45 words in unidirectional style, using both hands in just one minute. The earlier record stood at 25 words in a minute. Her feat was declared as an exclusive world record by the LATA Foundation organization of Rai Bareli of Uttar Pradesh.
Ambidexterity is not common. While 10 per cent of the population is left-handed, only about 1 per cent are truly able to alternate between both hands. They are in a league of their own. Our own daughter of the soil, 16-year-old Aadi Swaroopa, studying at Swaroopa Adhyayana Kendra (a study centre), Mangaluru has joined this league – she writes equally well with both her hands simultaneously.
During the lockdown she did a lot of research and found 10 different styles of writing with both hands simultaneously. These include Uni Direction, Left-hand speed, Right-hand speed, Reverse running, Mirror image, Hetero Topic, Hetero Linguistic, Exchange, Dancing, and Blind Folding. These techniques unfold both the left and right brains simultaneously. To know more click on https://newskarnataka.com/features/ambidextrous-world-record-holder-aadi-swaroopa-now-aims-for-guinness-record
Shwetha Mallya marries art with eco sustainability
Shwetha, who set up shop with her craft. From doormats made from sack bags and art made from glass bottles, Shwetha Mallya is creating, innovating, and earning respect, admiration of course her livelihood all at once. Hailing from Mulki, Mangalore she has started her business that converts waste into art..
“It started out with me posting my creations as my whatsapp status! Now I sell 5-10 mats per day,” Shwetha has also custom designed mats for her customers. She uses the borders of waste cloth and bed sheets to form a beautiful collage. As of now, she has sold 30 doormats.
Shwetha is a 25-year-old home maker who has always been interested in art and craft. Indeed, she has won several prizes for her art creations. “I have always been keen to engage myself in cultural activities. As it is the rainy season, several people complain about how the thread wears out of the sack bag mat, and that’s when the idea flashed. I cut out the cloth where it’s torn, take another material or design, ad give it a different border.” Shwetha adds, “It is important also from the point of view of ecological sustainability – if we can use recyclable material to meet our daily needs.” To know more click https://newskarnataka.com/features/old-sack-bags-become-designer-doormats-in-the-hands-of-a-local-entrepreneur
Capt. Aarohi Pandit: True inspiration to all young girls
Capt. Aarohi Pandit is a 23-year-old pilot from Mumbai who created history by becoming the first woman in the world to cross the Atlantic Ocean solo in a Light Sports Aircraft (LSA). In a strong message of women empowerment, the Indian pilot performed the feat on the midnight of May 13, 2019.
She achieved the record by landing her aircraft at the Iqaluit Airport in Canada. She flew the 3,000-km long flight under some extreme weather conditions after taking off from Wick, Scotland (UK) with a couple of stopovers in Greenland and Iceland.
Capt. Aarohi also set a world record for flying across the second largest ice sheet (Greenland icecap) on the planet. Aarohi and her achievements are symbols of hope that we are moving towards a world free of gender discrimination. The Captain is a true inspiration for all Indian women and women across the world to believe in themselves and chase their dreams. To know more about her achievements, click on https://newskarnataka.com/features/capt-aarohi-pandit-first-woman-pilot-to-cross-the-atlantic-solo-to-speak-sjce-tedx
These women through their achievements which are either innovative, creative, service-oriented and gritty among others are sure to leave the current women and aspiring strong women to set out to reach them. Of course, we hope that men, who have been supportive of women off late take a cue on what changes come about when every woman is given her legible place in the society.
Image courtesy Jillwellington by Pixabay
