The Water Pyramid

I was shocked to read the Newspaper Headline "Fill your water buckets today". The Bangalore water supply is shutting all valves to link the new water supply to provide 100 million liters of drinking water to the Bangalore city.

The Big Question is "How far can we survive like this?". It was then I stumbled into Acumen Fund's monthly report & the projects they support.

Aqua Aero Water Systems (AAWS) is project supported by Acumen, that has patented a technology the “Water Pyramid".

Aqua-Aero WaterSystems has developed the WaterPyramid concept for tropical, rural areas. The WaterPyramid combines state of the art technology, capacity building and local entrepreneurship in order to achieve a long lasting (financial) sustainable situation. The WaterPyramid makes use of simple technology to process clean drinking water out of salt, brackish or polluted water. Most of the energy needed to clean the water is obtained from the sun. The application is designed for tropical or subtropical regions around the world, where flat ground space is available together with abundant radiation from the sun.

Benefits:

• Drinking water made easily available
• For remote and local application
• Low operational/maintenance costs
• Can be used for income generation
• Workforce can be locally recruited and trained
• WaterPyramid can be locally produced
• Based on Appropriate Technology

Read the Aqua Areo Watersystem BV website for more information.

As Benjamin Franklin Quotes “When the Well's dry, we know the Worth of Water”

...Anand Varadaraja

Garbage City to Garden City: NGO's on a mission

Huff, finally I have managed to post my first blog after innumerable reminders from Anand and co :) Let me add on to what Anand has already made a point about waste management and the efforts of various NGOs.
It really hurts to realize that Bangalore, what was once termed as the Garden City is now being termed the Garbage City. What hurts even more is the attitude of the so called educated people with absolutely no civic sense. Even when there is a trash can in plain sight (outside fast-food restaurants, for example), no one bothers to use it. Wrappers are strewn on the sidewalk, banana peels fly out of rolled-down widows of cars, straws are dropped nonchalantly on the streets as are plastic drinking cups, empty sites are promptly co-opted to be garbage dumping sites ("flip that garbage over the fence, no one is watching").It's definitely not the case that Bangaloreans are not clean. They all keep their houses clean, the fronts of their houses clean, their backyards clean. But this attitude towards cleanliness just doesn't translate to keeping the streets clean, keeping the community clean, not dumping garbage in the neighbor's empty site, not dropping garbage on the streets wherever one feels like it. And here I'm talking about people with education and with good jobs. The ones that are supposed to know better.
You speak to them, and they hit back “Why should we bother? The Municipal Corporation will take care of it”. Let’s not debate about whether it’s possible to change the mindset of such irresponsible … (Use whatever term for such people.).
Well, I do agree that there’s a sizable population who do care about the surroundings, the environment, and have civic sense. Most of us know the difference between bio-degradable and non-degradable substance and the ill-effects of non-degradable substances like plastic. What lacks among people is the awareness of how to safely dispose the garbage we generate. The simplest solution is to hand over the garbage to the doorstep garbage collectors. As responsible citizens, we should know that the waste we throw adds up to huge piles outside our cities and therefore polluting our surroundings. Most of the waste is just burnt - expelling toxic waste into the air, or just strewn around at certain places, which are far off from the city - but with current pace of development how far is it gonna go is anyone’s guess! Its time we make a difference – starting from home.


There are a lot of NGO’s, individuals who have put in a tremendous amount of effort to make a difference towards waste management. Below mentioned are just a few of them.

SAAHAS
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Anand has already mentioned about this organization in the previous post.

DailyDump
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http://dailydump.org/us.htm

A novel concept of composting your kitchen waste at home. Hats off to Poonam, the Brain Child of this product, for the amount of effort she has put into this. DailyDump offers a variety of compost pots named Gamla, Patta Kamba, Leave-it pot, Kamba etc for various needs of your home.

The compost that results can be directly added to the plants. No other fertilizer can substitute this manure. You can enjoy watching your plants bear fruits like never before.
I picked up one of the kambas last week and I must say each and every one must pick up one of these. These terracotta pots are so well designed; they can be used as a decorative piece!! Priced at Rs 500 for a non-painted and Rs 600 for a painted, it’s definitely worth it.
All you have to do is put the kitchen waste into these pots and leave them to decompose.

KK Plastics
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Everybody knows the ill-effects of plastic. But what do we do with it? How do we dispose it? Well, Mr K Ahmed Khan has the perfect solution to end this menace. He has come up with the concept of mixing plastics with bitumen to lay roads.
His company KK Waste Management Pvt Ltd [KKWM] now offers Rs 6 per kg of plastic!! Barring rigid plastics, they accept all manner of film waste without the need for sorting. Considering that Bangalore generates 30 MT of waste per month, the potential of the idea to clean up the city is clear. Also, the money will be going into the pockets of our game rag-pickers and housewives. In fact, needing almost 2 MT per km of road laid, KKWM would be running short of waste!!
More on this.. http://www.goodnewsindia.com/index.php/Supplement/article/plastics-recycling-is-out-in-the-streets/P0/

So what next??

Now that we are aware of some of the organizations that work towards waste management, it’s our turn to do our bit. Segregation at source (home) is one of the most important and wish will be followed at every household. Waste can be segregated as
1) Bio Degradable and
2) Non Bio Degradable.

Bio Degradable waste include organic waste, e.g. kitchen waste, vegetables, fruits, flowers, leaves from the garden, and paper.

Nonbiodegradable waste can be further segregated into:a) Recyclable waste – plastics, paper, glass, metal, etc.b) Toxic waste – old medicines, paints, chemicals, bulbs, spray cans, fertilizer and pesticide containers, batteries, shoe polish.c) Soiled – hospital waste such as cloth soiled with blood and other body fluids.Toxic and soiled waste must be disposed of with utmost care.

Lets just make a rough analysis of the kind of waste generated from a household and how we can handle this:
1) Kitchen waste: (Organic and bio degradable).
Kitchen waste contributes more than 50% of the daily waste. Bangalore produces about 3000 tonnes of waste everyday. The centralized government composting plant is capable of handling only about 500 tonnes per day. The rest reaches dumps that are illegal. If each one of us has a composting pot (dailydump) at home, I’m sure there would not be any need for an alternate solution. If you cannot buy one, atleast separate this waste and hand it over to the door-door garbage collector.

2) Newspaper
Now I’m sure nobody would throw away their daily newspapers!!Every1 would definitely find some space, under the cot, on an attic, cupboards, you name it and there will be space to store your old newspapers. This is cos, we have paid for these newspapers and we can gain back at least part of it by selling it to the kabadiwalas or the man who buys old newspapers.

3) Milk/ curds packets
When you can find place to store your newspapers, it should not be hard to store your milk and curd packets too. These too fetch decent money.

4) E-waste like dry cell batteries, electrical wires, non functional electronic/electrical items.
Saahas has a solution to manage your e-waste. They have placed recepticles at various locations in Bangalore. Find one closest to your place and drop them there. (http://www.saahas.org/ewasteprogramme.pdf Page 9).

5) Plastic covers ( Food packaging covers, Shampoo packets etc)
KK plastics pays Rs 6/Kg. If you cannot give it to them atleast hand it over to the nearest kabadiwala.
6) Bottles
PET bottles, glass bottles do fetch money. Hand it over to the nearest kabadiwala.

Apart from these I cant think of anything else that can add to the waste substantially. I really don’t see any reason why one should face problem in segregating their wastes. Now if you are wondering why you should take all this pain in segregating, when the pourakarmikas, or the people who collect the garbage door-door can segregate and in turn sell what ever is valuable, well the truth is they pick up only those items which are of high value and can fetch some decent money (Like PET bottles etc). Most of the other low value wastes which still can be recycled are not picked and find a place in the landfill.
Its time for each one of us to be responsible citizens and spread the word about these NGOs and ACT NOW.

Nanosolar - The Sun power at your Doorstep

Sun always has been the most energy provider source for Earth & Nanosolar is tapping the right source. Nanosolar is a developer of solar power technology. Based in Palo Alto, CA, Nanosolar is developing and commercializing an extremely low cost printable solar cell manufacturing process. Nanosolar coatings are as thin as a layer of paint and can transfer sunlight into power quite efficiently.

Nanosolar was started in 2001 by Martin Roscheisen and Brian Sager, who met through their friend Reid Gershbein, and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. The company has received financing from a number of technology investors including Benchmark Capital, MDV, and Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google. Nanosolar received the largest amount in a round of Venture Capital technology funding, amongst United States companies during Q2 2006, with 100 million USD of new funding secured.

Solar powered buildings and homes might just become standard in the future, thanks to this innovative technology by Nanosolar Inc. Nanosolar has developed proprietary process technology that makes it possible to produce 100x thinner solar cells 100x faster. The underlying technology for these solar cells is nothing new, having been around for decades, but Nanosolar has created the actual technology to manufacture and mass produce the solar sheets. The solar cells are produced by a solar printing press of sorts rolling out these aptly named PowerSheets rapidly and cheaply. The machines apply a layer of solar-absorbing nano-ink onto metal sheets as thin as aluminum foil reducing production costs to a mere tenth of current solar panels and at a rate of several hundred feet per minute. The first commercial cells for consumer use are scheduled to be released this year.

These solar cells successfully blend the needs for efficiency, low cost, and longevity and will be easy to install due to their flexibility and light weight. In order to compete with the energy produced from coal solar has been in need of finding a way to shrink its costs down from $3 per watt to $1 per watt. Nanosolar's cells use absolutely no silicon as is the standard for current solar production and the efficiency of the PowerSheet cells are competitive with the traditional systems as well. The golden kicker, the cost to produce these solar coatings is a mere 30 cents per watt!!

Nanosolar has built what is soon to be the largest solar plant in world in San Jose and once full production begins early next year the facility is capable of producing a whopping 430 megawatts per year, more than the combined total of every other solar manufacturer in the U.S. The biggest problem for Nanosolar is keeping up with the impending solar boom. California recently launched the Million Solar Roofs initiative providing tax breaks and rebates to encourage the installation of $100,000 solar roofs per year for a solid decade. Thanks to the innovative approach Nanosolar is poised to launch the solar revolution and we the consumer stand to benefit greatly as the result.

More Read on Nanosolar:
http://www.nanosolar.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanosolar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4riNlqZHCTQ

As Ralph Nader quotes “The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil industry does not own the sun.”
It's time the Sun shines real bright!!!

...Anand Varadaraja

Saahas - The Waste Management People

As you drive around Bangalore you get to see lot of things – Beautiful Trees, Buildings under construction, heavy traffic & above all lots of garbage.

Talking about garbage we still see rag pickers segregating the waste to pick up the best of the scrap, however in this exercise they spread the garbage more. Some years ago many localities decided to adopt home garbage pickup model – where the garbage is collected from the doorstep instead of the person throwing it in the garbage bin. This works fine for a residential locality but the commercial or the areas where the pickup is not adapted still suffers. Bangalore generates 3,000 tonnes of waste everyday from households and commercial establishments. Around 50% of this waste is organic. The balance is accounted for by inorganic and hazardous waste.

Bangalore City Corporation has come up with a new scheme where they will pay plastic waste Rs.6 per kg directly to whoever gives it at their collection point. The plan is to set up around 120 collection points.

Saahas is a Bangalore based voluntary organisation are committed to finding solutions to problems related to solid waste management in the city. Saahas is ready to adopt one of the 120 collection points with the support of the Bangalore City corporation to make JP nagar 6th phase a plastic free zone. The initiative plan is being drafted & is being presented to the Bangalore City commissioner soon.

Saahas also work with Corporates on waste management. Project Satyam – they are composting their organic material in the same campus. They also work with Lalbagh Botonical garden on the same purpose.

Citizens E-Waste Recycling Initiative
Over the last two years, Saahas has worked closely with the Hazardous Waste Management, Programme Karnataka (HAWA), to study the various issues related to generation of e-waste as also its flow, recycling and final disposal.

Bangalore generates around 4,00,000 dry cell batteries from households and commercial establishments. Earlier there was no possibility of recycling this material safely. However, E-Parisaraa has come forward to ensure safe recycling and disposal by retrieving the metal and plastic components which in turn are recycled into secondary products. The hazardous content is then extracted and stored for disposal in the hazardous waste facility which is currently being set up close to Tumkur, near Bangalore.

Saahas is working in partnership with WeP Peripherals and E-Parisara. They have setup the first ever city wide collection programme for household e-waste like batteries, cds & floppies. One of the centers is in the State Bank of India branch. They have also setup these collections points in more than 20 schools around Bangalore. Hope this effort really pays of in making a bangalore a better place.
For more information check www.saahas.org

As Imelda Marcos Quotes “People say I'm extravagant because I want to be surrounded by beauty. But tell me, who wants to be surrounded by garbage?”

... Anand Varadaraja

The COMPOSTABLE Water Bottle.

At last my first post on this blog :-)

Water: A common chemical substance that is essential to all known forms of life. We all know the importance of it, I need not explain more.

I still remember 10 years ago people used to talk “who will buy water? When we get it for such a cheap price”, but life has changed today. Day in & out we buy water without a second thought. Quality is what we look at. The supposed to be corporation clean tap water is made to run through all kinds of Water purifiers before drinking at homes. But the point I am driving today is not about water it the way it is sold.

Packaged water in India is sold in Plastic bottles in all kinds of sizes starting from ½ liter, 1 liter & 2 liters.

Municipal solid waste in India contains 1-4 per cent by weight of plastic waste. India’s rate of recycling of plastic waste is the highest (60%) in the world as compared to other countries (China 10%, Europe 7%, Japan 12%, South Africa 16% and USA 10%) but is a much unorganized sector.

Today I want to talk about this wonderful organization called "Belu Water". This is a UK company providing mineral water in the UK. They are first company to provide UK's first COMPOSTABLE bottle made of corn and their profits go to clean Water projects in UK, Mali & India right now. They plan to take up projects similar to this around the world. They are also a Penguin Approved - They are anti-Global Warming.

To talk about their Bio-bottles - they are made from corn but could equally well be made from potatoes, rice, beetroot, bio-mass or pretty much any carbohydrate or sugar. The corn goes through a fermentation and distillation process similar to making corn whiskey and is reduced to a monomer called lactic acid (which you can also find in ice cream and pickles). This lactic acid is then spun, linked into polymer chains and molded into bottles.

Even though their bottle is compostable their cap is not. They request to reuse the same.

Read more about them on http://www.belu.org/

I wait for their launch in India & hope it makes a difference.

As Ed Rendell quotes “Bottled water was, at best, a temporary solution for this community,” but we have made it now a permanent solution.

...Anand Varadaraja

OmAshram: Hope in twilight of life

I visited OmAshram, an old age home in Bangalore run by a charitable trust, this Sunday along with Janani. To the surprise of both of us the Ashram was just in front of Janani’s home in Bilekahalli, OmAshram has rented two houses in a radius of a km, just behind IIM Bangalore.

As we enter one of the houses, a poster of Mother Teresa greets us; the place is scrupulously clean and two old ladies are sitting on the sofas in the hall. One among them was a freedom fighter, Mr. Mohan, the manager of the old age home tells us; she used to stick nationalistic posters from a horse back for the freedom struggle, she refuses to take the freedom fighter’s pension even to this day, arguing that she fought for her country not for money. She is eager to speak to us and asks us some questions, but her hearing aid has gone for repair and she can hardly make out our answers, she complains to Mohan about it twice or thrice, disappointment evident in her voice.


OmAshram

The house is a 3 BHK with eight occupants, a nurse and the cooking staff, we are showed around the place but most of the inmates are sleeping. We walk towards the second house, as we enter the house we hear people cheering, the India Aus. match is going on and Australia have just had a run out. This house is a 2 BHK with around 10 occupants; some of them are well over 90.

We sit in the hall which has four beds arranged in a line, three old ladies are sleeping on the beds, there is a poster on the wall with a picture of a mother holding her baby tightly to her bosom, ‘Mother’s Love’ the poster declares, what an irony, I think, to have this poster in an old age home. We start talking to Lawyer Uncle,who has been living in the Ashram for past one year now, he is the youngest of the lot he tells us and we burst out laughing.

His heart is very weak he says, having suffered heart attacks thrice, hospitals had given up on him, but then he came to the Ashram and the Doctor couple that frequents the Ashram treated him. He has been on alternate medicine called Kellison since then, the medical facilities in the Ashram are excellent he tells us, “If you need a minor operation the Doctors will come and operate you right here.”, he says pointing to a bed. The idea of an operation taking place in this very room scares me.


Lawyer Uncle, ever cheerful.(though he looks a bit serious in the pic.)

Lawyer Uncle had his one leg amputated due to the uncontrollable growth of gangrene, but that hasn’t dampened his spirit a wee bit. He laughs as he tells us about his operation; his experience wasn’t all that good but there is no bitterness in his voice. Another lady who had been sleeping all along gets up; she was completely paralyzed we are told, not even able to speak, in the words of Lawyer uncle “Like a piece of vegetable.” But now she even manages to take bath on her own, the doctors had specified a massage routine for her and some exercises.

She was a TV serial addict it seems, but they don’t allow her to watch serials any more, watch anything they tell her, Discovery, News even WWF anything but the serials, they’ve experienced everything in their life, serials offer them nothing new. As the talk moves to serials, Lawyer Uncle says that a serial could very well be based on the Ashram, there are so many stories here, so many experiences that will leave you shocked, a whole world resides in the Ashram he says. He tells us about another inmate who is 97 year old, but still she is so spirited that she wants to bring her daughter, who is 75 years old, to the Ashram and look after her, me and Janani are humbled.


Auntie can even eat on her own now

We keep talking thus, laughing and chatting and we don’t realize that we’ve already been talking for more than an hour. It's lunchtime and they invite us to have lunch with them, but both Janani and me have had a late breakfast, and so we politely refuse. The nurses give them food, Lawyer Uncle says that they are very strict about food, he points to the nurse and says, “She hits me sometimes if I don’t eat food, which is absolutely necessary.” I realize now that they’ve found loving and caring people here in the Ashram; the Ashram is like a big joint family with facilities similar to a hospital. As we make to go, thanking everyone for talking to us, Lawyer Uncle asks us to visit again, bring your friends along, he says, they’ll enjoy it here, we’ll play cards and chess. Strange though it is, a visit to an old age home might not always be depressing, as we know now after having thoroughly enjoyed our visit to OmAshram.

P.S.- Do get in touch with OmAshram if you want to help in any way or just want to visit the place, their number is +91-80-26581682.

Notebook Distribution in Kanakapura- a photoblog

Sagar in the first post addressed me as ‘the feather-weight photographer’, that’s the first time someone else has called me a photographer, I was a self-proclaimed one before that, and to tell you, I would like to be addressed so more often, though the truth is that right now I have no credentials for being called one except for a camera.

I would kick start my blogging journey on Virtual Nikethan through a photo blog of the trip to Kanakapura me, Anand, Gireesh, Shubha and Pratima made last weekend.

We were there to distribute the notebooks collected from the notebook collection drive in Anand’s office. As we reached the school I was taken aback to see the almost the whole school assembled in the courtyard. Anand being a seasoned volunteer, made his way to the make shift stage where he was joined by Shubha and Pratima, whereas I suddenly pretended to be busy clicking pictures and Gireesh preferred to look on from behind.


Siddaraju introducing us to the kids.

Siddaraju, the field worker from VN in Kanakapura introduced all of us to the kids, and told them why we were there. Anand started interacting with the kids and advised them to make proper use of the notebooks and study well. On being asked that what they wanted to do when they grew up, one of the kids answered that he’ll do social service, it was heartening to know that the seed for doing good to the society was already planted in such a young heart.


Anand lighting up the ceremonial lamp along with two kids.


There were looks of absolute glee on the kids’ faces as they received the notebooks and shook hands with Anand. Some parents, with pride on their faces, looked on the proceedings as the other kids enthusiastically clapped for their friends.


A girl claps on enthusiastically

As Pratima, Shubha and Gireesh went on to distribute the notebooks mingling with the kids as they did so, I sat among the kids clicking pictures and showing them their pictures. Kids become excited so easily, amazed to see themselves in the lcd display, having a camera certainly is a compensation if you don’t know the local language, you can at least interact through the pictures.


You see with your eyes, I dream. A shy kid, after receiving the notebooks.


He was talking to his friends laughing and smiling, after realizing that I was clicking him, he gave me this charming smile.

After distributing the notebooks to students from all standards and even some to college students, as we made to go, a horde of students wanted to shake hands with us, overwhelmed and feeling like celebrities we obliged As we headed for Chunchi falls after a yummy cuppa coffee at Siddaraju’s place, we were already feeling satisfied at having spent the day well.

P.S.-My liaison with photography started a few months back when I bought the Canon S3 IS, I enjoyed clicking away to glory and the camera became a constant companion to my trips and excursions. I recently attended a photography workshop, which has stimulated me to take photography seriously, I need to buy a DSLR soon, but till then I’ll try make the best use of what I have. The idea, as Anand the ‘excel’lent volunteer suggested, is to start profiling NGOs in and around Bangalore pictorially.

Will we ever learn ?

Much has been talked about the nuclear agreement signed by the Indian government with the United States administration. Nevertheless, the talks concentrate on the political aspects of the deal, much less on the technical side. I have to admit that the more I read about the deal, the more I get confused.

As I try to understand more on the need of the deal, bigger questions pops up in my mind. Not being a political expert, I couldn’t fathom the ‘political mileage’ and ‘strategic advantages’ the country could gain from the deal, but the mere argument that the deal would revolutionize India’s energy sector makes me suspicious.

It wont take much brain to understand the need for some radical steps to address India’s growing power needs. To beat up China or to prop up the 10 percent growth much need to be done in the energy sector. But is nuclear the way to go ? I feel the propaganda is far from true.

Going nuclear way can only help us to generate more electricity, but that won't address all our energy requirements. Presently, only a small percentage of electricity generated in India comes from nuclear resources. A little more than 4000 Mwe produced makes the figure to just 3.4 percent of the total electricity generated. With the deal, we are just trying to increase that percentage. Atomic Commission admits that “Hydro potential and renewables must be exploited to the maximum possible extent and in as short a time-frame as possible” and it concludes by saying nuclear resources need to be exploited to address the long term requirements.

Understanding the truth that the worldwide nuclear energy generation is a minuscule 2% will give us some hint on how feasible these plans are. United States who pushes aggressively for the deal generates only 4 percent of its electricity requirement through nuclear resources. Apart from France, who invested much on the nuclear technology in the 70s and generates about 78 percent of its electricity which accounts to 16 per cent of its total energy consumption, none of the nuclear majors are interested in investing in this field. America, on the other hand, is betting big on bio fuel. Europe goes the wind and solar way and Russia thinks about coal and gas. Even China is reluctant in investing much on nuclear energy. The commercial potential of nuclear energy is identified way back in 50s, but still none of the biggies are interested in the energy. Are there any fundamental reasons behind their aversion to nuke power ?

Left front rightly pointed out the cost of nuclear power. Even with the best available technology, energy generated through nuclear means can be 8 times costlier than that generated through conventional means. It can cost more than thrice that of renewable energy. Do India still believe that we can maintain the competitive advantage given we give in that big on our energy needs ?

Several countries in the west, particularly Germany and Spain, are on their way to close down plans because nuclear energy is not considered as ‘clean’. One side, there are risks of accidents – the infamous Chernobyl - and on the other, there are waste disposal issues. In 1999, Germany bought law to shut down all plans and ban new ones from starting.

The bigger issues are with the decommissioning of the plants. In January this year, seven nuclear reactors have been decommissioned in Europe, four in UK, two in Bulgaria and one in Slovakia. To decommission its four plants, it will cost British taxpayers 103 billion Euros. If France - with its 58 reactors - decides to decommission the reactors, the bill will be at least five times higher. India may not face this problem immediately, but this definitely is worth a consideration.

A safe and easy way to waste disposal is not yet found out. France tries to bury its nuclear waste in a site near Beure, but the fact that the soil and aquifers will be contaminated for next ten thousand years makes France plans questionable.

Europe is heading in the right direction. The European Council takes nuclear energy out from the list of renewable sources and directed its members to produce 20 percent of its energy through renewable means.

Despite all the protests, the deal might go through. But still, we cannot call this the ‘energy of the future’. An increase in renewable energy and reduction of consumption through energy-efficient industry, habitat or life style might be a head straight solution for the future, but does anyone here care much about it ?

Swalpa blog maadi...

"You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings".
- Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein.

A seasoned and 'excel'-lent volunteer. A feather-weight photographer. A tarzan-ish nature-lover. An alternate energy-driven 'classical' singer. A thoughtful online tutor. A 'buy'-cycle rider. A 'Harry'-ed newcomer. An 'edgy' blogger. And a couple of Houdinis. What happens when such a motley crowd gets together? Nope. Not a recipe for disaster. But an enthusiastic and fun-loving group of volunteers.

We are a bunch of young and not-so-young volunteers in Bangalore, who work for an NGO called Vidyanikethan. Under the 'excel'-lent guidance of Vidyanikethan's oldest volunteer, Anand, we have so far volunteered for teaching and 'sponsor-a-child' programs at Vidyanikethan. But, we think it is time to take this volunteering to the next level. We brainstormed last week, under the influence of cheesy pizza, aerated drinks and Prarthana's snacks, at iVolunteer's Bangalore office in Koramangala and came up with a set of ideas that we now want to implement.

The first idea that has been implemented is this blog. Our 'light' wonder, Sur, came up with this idea of hosting a group blog and here we are, a week later, already posting. Good going, I should say. Well, you aint seen nothin! Fasten your seat belts people; we are about to take off on an exciting journey, taking up new projects on the way. We believe that together, we can make a difference in the society.

A few basic terms to familiarize yourselves with the Vidyanikethan life:

'The Song' - Gireesh's soulful rendition of a classic Hindi song on the way to Bandipur.
'The Sighting' - The spectaculr sighting of a jungle fowl in Bandipur, courtesy our new age tarzan, Nisarg.
'The bike' - Adarsh's bicycle. Need I say more?

Virtually yours....The VN Volunteers.