Sucheta Dalal on Dignity Foundation’s stellar work among senior citizens

Sometime in the early 1990s, when I was at the Times of India, Mumbai, I used to hear an animated discussion in the next cubicle about plans for the first ever magazine for senior citizens between my colleague Vithal Nadkarni and a lady who was the moving force behind the plan. I was briefly introduced to Dr. Sheilu...

US-based Raj Gilda profiles Vigyan Ashram and how its vocational training is giving direction to several lives

India is on the path of economic liberalisation and growth, but this process of change will simply bypass over 24 million unemployed youngsters who live in our villages. This may eventually begin to tear the fabric of civil society. “Vigyan Ashram” (“student’s home for learning...

Udit Chaudhuri reports on a unique civic movement that started in Chennai

The monsoon approaches. Traffic hold-ups. Flash floods. Putrid garbage. Civic authorities and citizens bickering… One young man sought to change all that. MB Nirmal, was inspired by the cleanliness and order in Hong Kong. In 1989 he founded Exnor ("EXcellent, NOvel, RAdical ideas to transform society") and motivated the...