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Classrooms with a Cause : Teacher Leader Award

From Sept 2016 to Feb 2017 we had the privilege of working  on the Safer Roads Safer India campaign, to create awareness and make a difference on road safety.  Today, there was a wrap-up ceremony marking the close of the program for this academic year.  Shubhangi’s work and contribution was recognised and appreciated, as you can see in the photograph.

Thanks to UL, YSA and TRAX for the support and opportunity.

And many thanks to our young student volunteers. It was your effort, and willingness to make the difference, that really drove us.

Here is a clip that summarises our journey in this campaign.

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Follow Savita’s Lead : take responsibility for the roads in your area

A lot of people tell me that they would like to help me with the foundation or with handling the unfortunate loss of my daughter, but they simply don’t know how..
Well, I have some friends who do both..help me with emotional support and support the cause of The Arundhati foundation. 
They support the foundation by trying to improve traffic safety taking some simple but effective steps and persevering .

One of my support in Mumbai is Savita Thakur, my friend since my school days. 
Savita regularly monitors the roads near her place of work and involves the corporator in helping repair them. The picture above shows the map of the area around Gulmohar Road which was her focus.

Her actions make a difference.
The potholes were filled within two weeks. 
I share her letter to the corporator Shri Dilip Patel and the before and after photographs of the problem areas on the roads..
Shri. Dilip Patelji,

I am a resident of Juhu Scheme.
Yesterday, I saw a young mother riding a two wheeler suddenly lose control of her vehicle and narrowly miss falling on the road. Startled, she stopped and turned back to see what it was. It was a pothole on 11th Cross Gulmohar Rd. Had she fallen, she would have been run over by the car behind her.
Until two years back, I felt the roads and their condition was not my responsibility.
In Sept 2014, my friend’s daughter, Arundhati Tambwekar, 24 years of age was riding pillion to her medical school in Vellore. Both the driver and she had worn helmets. Their two-wheeler lost control over a pothole on the road. Arundhati was run over by a truck.
My friend lost her precious daughter and the country an amazing doctor . She had just been awarded a gold medal by the most prestigious medical school in the country.
We read reports of accidents caused by bad roads in Mumbai ever so often. How can such avoidable tragedies be called accidents? These avoidable tragedies are NOT ACCIDENTS.
Dilipji, in the past, you have always promptly acted upon issues brought to your notice. I am therefore confident that you will ensure that those who are entrusted with maintaining our roads do their job and no more lives are lost due to bad roads.
For your reference, have attached herewith photographs of a fraction of the innumerable potholes encountered across a span of just a kilometer in Juhu Scheme.
Sincerely,

Savita Thakur

for  The Arundhati Foundation

 

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Classroom with a Cause: Reclaim our Footpaths

Jan 15, 2017

The Arundhati Foundation took up the task of cleaning the footpath on Cambridge Road. It was strewn with debris, stones , bricks and sand after sewage pipes were laid on the road. As a result, a lot of people including children from a neighbouring school were forced to walk on a busy road.

The kids of St Meera’s School and PU College willingly joined us to lend a helping hand to senior volunteers.

I share this post by Ms Pratibha who happened to pass by. She stopped to inquire and was generous enough to get juice and biscuits for the youngsters.

“Aunty thank you for allowing us to help” the kids said to me. “It was a very satisfying experience to something good. And when people stopped by to appreciate us, it made us feel even better”
They further told me that they would like to volunteer for the foundation to spread the message on Road Safety !
I am so touched! These kids made my day.
The Arundhati Foundation thanks these kids and Ms Prathiba for their gesture.

 

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Classroom with a Cause: At the HBP Indian School

Jan 7,2017

A Road Safety Awareness program was conducted at Hindu Balika Patasala ( HBP Indian School) Shivajinagar. This is one of the oldest schools in our city. Founded in 1854, even before the first War for Independence (1857) and even before the birth of Mahatma Gandhi in 1869! 
The children studying in this coeducational school come from the weaker sections of the society and from all religions. 
We found the children extremely receptive and eager to learn. They are pretty smart too! We conducted a pre and post test session to see how much the children benefitted from our session and measured over 82 percent improvement in performance.

Volunteers , Arun, Prakash, Nithish, Nganscho helped conduct the session.

The foundation will also sponsor tenth standard textbooks to the student who stands second in the final exam of ninth grade. The person who stands first gets a scholarship and hence we decided to encourage the student who stands second. 
The books will be distributed through the Aditi program. 
It gives us immense satisfaction to touch the lives of children and hopefully contribute a little to try and mould them into responsible young citizens.

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Classroom with a Cause: Road Safety Audit

Jan 3, 2017

The volunteers from St Meera’s conducted a road audit in the vicinity of the school premises. The CoRPS road safety audit form was used as a guide. The audit was conducted at two different times – when the school begins and when the classes end. The audit covered various aspects related to traffic density, traffic calming, road conditions, footpath conditions, signage, locality. The Ulsoor police station constables, and Mr Prathap of PotholeRaja joined in the afternoon session.

The students came up with several recommendations :

  • Signage and patrolling to prevent people violating one-way rules
  • calm the traffic near the school using rumble strips, signage
  • designating drop zones for children to be dropped
  • Define a zebra crossing to facilitate the children to cross the road
  • Improve signage near the school

A detailed report with the observations and recommendations was  jointly signed by the Mr. Irfan a Khan, Principal of St Meera’s PU College; Ms Selva Kumari, Pricipal of St Meera’s School and Sanjay Tambwekar of The Arundhati Foundation. This report has been submitted to the Bangalore Traffic Police ( DCP East, and Ulsoor )

what you see in the picture above is a schematic used in the recommendations.

 

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Classroom with a Cause : Road Safety Quiz

Dec 10,2016 :

This evening, the volunteers from ST Meera’s PU college conducted a road safety quiz at the School Fest they organised. The quiz was organised as a part of Safer Roads Safer Campaign by YSA UL and Trax. 
There were over 500 students from various schools in the audience. Tamil Selvan did a fine job as compere.

The first Prize went to the team of Poornaprajna School , the second prize by students of Bright English High School and the third prize by Sacred Heart Girls High School. 
The participants received gold. Silver and Bronze Medals for their performance .

The Best Overall Performance in the fest was also sponsored by Arundhati Foundation under its Aditi program. The prize went to Ms Agnes from Sacred High Girls High School. The prize was a gift voucher for thousand rupees from Sapna Book Store.

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Classroom with a Cause : A visit to the TMC

Dec 10,2016

The morning saw Shriya, Gauri, Raghav, Bhumi, Arya and Abhinav learning what Traffic management in Bengaluru is all about.

The Arundhati foundation together with Positive Strokes conducted an awareness program for these youngsters. Nikhil Kumar, a volunteer with Positive Strokes, and Anusha Jaishankar of Positive Strokes led the children in understanding good behaviour on the roads.

The children were quick to follow and help Positive Strokes in choosing drivers following Traffic safety rules. 
These drivers will now get certificates appreciating their behaviour on our roads.

A wonderful program devised by Positive Strokes organisation.

 

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Classrooms with a Cause : Commemorating World Day of Remembrance 2016

The third Sunday of November is marked worldwide as the Day of Remembrance for accident victims – those who lost their lives, or injured, or have been affected by road traffic accidents.

This year. the WDR was today, 20 November.
Tomorrow is Aru’s 26th birthday.
We decided to mark these days by holding a junction event near the Ulsoor Police Station on the busy Old Madras Road in Bangalore, to spread the message “Safer Roads, Safer India”.

Thirteen volunteers participated in this event. In the run up to the event, the volunteers made slogans, discussed the nuances of those slogans ( What does it mean to say “You are the key to your safety”, or “Safety Never Takes a Break” or “Safety First” ). Posters were designed around these slogans to get the safety messages across in an impactful manner. Do take a look at the posters below. They speak a lot for the work done by these young volunteers.

As advocates of safety, the children were cautioned not to do anything unsafe. The posters were to be displayed ONLY to the people who were halted at the junction, and not to distract any drivers in motion.

Bhumi and Ananya also made a card thanking the Traffic Police for their contribution to this cause. The activity was started off by presenting the card to the police of Ulsoor Traffic police.

The children displayed the slogans and educated the public on road safety. The people who followed traffic rules were rewarded with chocolates. The volunteers got a sense of the impact they were making when people stopped at the lights, or when people removed the helmet from their arm and strapped it on. They urged those not wearing helmets. They gently told people who were stopping on zebra crossing.

Our success story is that these young volunteers were able to make people promise to do their bit, and did so with confidence, humility, and poise.

The youngest participant, Atharv Faldessai, all of five years, designed and painted his own poster and stood along with the volunteers for an hour doing his bit. Another success story today is that five-year old Atharv knows the five cardinal road safety rules, and proudly told us that his father always stops the car to the side of the road when he uses the phone.

The foundation wishes to thank
* Ipsita Basu for participating and encouraging us.
* Anusha Chowdary from UL for joining our event.
* Mr Abhishek Goel, DCP (East) for prompt permission and encouragement.
* Tushar Kapila, fellow grantee joined our cause, and came to encourage us.
* Shriya, Gauri, Bhumi, Anoushka, Ananya, Abhishek, Raghav, Arya, Selvan, Ngancho,Prakash,Nitish and Vivek for their creativity, enthusiasm and effort to imbibe the values, and spread the message.

Thank you so very much! You have been our strength.
Also many thanks to all our friends and well wishers who have stood by us and the Foundation.

Sharing a few photographs of the event.

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Thank You, Dr. Kelini Saolapurkar

Earlier this year, Kelini Saolapurkar graduated with flying colours from the MVJ Medical College. She won a gold medal in Forensic Medicine accompanied by a prize of Rs 10,000.

In a magnanimous gesture, Dr. Kelini has donated her prize money to The Arundhati Foundation.

Here is a little note that she wrote to share her sentiments

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Aru and I are family friends.  From childhood, although we never got much time to spend with each other, we still managed to make some sweet memories..

Although she was only 2 years older to me, there was a different calmness she used to exude. Her ways, and the things she used to talk about always made her seem way more elder, for me.

Back in our childhood, when we were barely teenagers, both our families went for a short trip, and the care and affection she showed to her little brother caught my eye. So much compassion for a girl barely 13 years back then …

When we both started MBBS, we got in touch and got opportunities to make more memories .. I happened to join my course a month later due to counselling schedules and it was she who guided me in my first few days in this profession, where I had no idea how to go about covering the backlog of the days I had lost.

She seemed so perfectly calm about the way she guided and dealt with things, I used to wonder how she managed so much without getting into a panic !!

She not only helped me, she also helped my friend Sanjana through MBBS while they studied in the same college.
Although we got busy in our own lives, these few instances had sowed seeds of deep respect in my heart for her..

I still have the books she gave me and I remember her every now and then.

For being the one who helped me thru my first few days in medicine, she was like my launch pad launching me into MBBS and inspiring me to work hard persistently and still stay humble as ever !

She was one of the first few people who called me “Kelu”, and I called her “Aru”.
We were Aru and Kelu for each other and so we shall always remain.

-Kelini

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2016 : Dr. Arundhati Tambwekar Award for Excellence in Pathology

The third Dr. Arundhati Tambwekar award in excellence in Pathology was awarded at the annual convocation ceremony of CMC Vellore on 7th November 2016. 

This year’s recipient Dr Kiruthiga Gnanasekaran is not only a hardworking young pathologist, but also a fantastic artist. Those of you who follow the Foundation activity, will remember that Kiruthiga created a wonderful sketch of Aru two years back. The sketch is available on the website. 

This is what Dr Kiruthiga  had to say about what winning the award meant to her. She mailed this letter to me and I share it with her permission. 

‘Dear Aaiee, 

I am not able to put all that I feel into words, but here is the essence of it…

Dr. Arundhati Tambwekar Award for Excellence in Pathology..

This day marks a special place in my life, not just because of this medal that has been awarded to me, but for the reason behind it.

Dr. Arundhati was the blend of virtue and value, known not just for her academic achievements, but also for her notable attributes .. kindness, responsibility and  diligence.. She was a versatile little girl with interests in poetry, art and dance as well..

At this moment, I feel honoured to receive the award which is being given in the memory of her beautiful soul.. 

I do not know if this medal will make me remember all the effort I put in studying, but it will constantly remind me to be a dutiful doctor and a good human being. I value not the gold that is present in this medal, but the amalgamation of Arundhati’s virtues present in it..

I’m fortunate to receive this medal as I will have a part of Arundhati with me always…And I will treasure it forever.

-Kiru.’

Dear Dr Kiruthiga,

Thank you for your words.  Here is wishing you a happy, healthy life, and a successful, fulfilling career ahead.

May this award be a constant source of inspiration to excel in everything aspect of your life. 

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