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On 21^st September 2019, the two lines confirmed that I was pregnant with my second child. Surprise! Pregnant again!

It was an unplanned one and I wasn’t ready at all. I remember calling my bestie midnight and later my mom, after 4 hours of nonstop crying I called my doctor to schedule an appointment the very next day. When I told my husband Tushar about this news he was over the moon but I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that there was a baby coming. Although I was elated I had no idea how I would handle two little ones, after all the chaotic thoughts conversations and reactions we decided we wanted this baby.

And then comes morning sickness which is kind of raging hangover (eliminating the fun night out) for months, mood swings and weird craving for everything from pickles to pizza.

My joy soon turned into anxiety. Coronavirus was spreading quickly around the world. On the festival of colors my sister from USA gave me a call instructing not to move out of the house or play holi and avoid large gatherings to prevent Covid-19 infection.

Frankly I didn’t take her seriously but after that day things started changing around, people in Indore were scared and in panic mode all thanks to the deadly virus!

Lockdown was declared and stay at home orders were given to avoid the pandemic. In mid of March my face to face consultations with my gynecologist were taken over by virtual consultations and telemedicine’s. Under these circumstances I was depressed anxious and worried for my child. It was quite uneasy adapting new life in lockdown, now imagine with fluctuating hormones, sickness, cravings, silly emotions and having nowhere to go but another room in your house.

With no domestic help the burden of managing daily household chores landed on my mother in laws shoulders, I share a cordial relationship with my mother in law. She and my husband were extremely supportive but this guilt of not being any help to her was frustrating me as I entered eighth month of my pregnancy.The main challenge I faced was in third trimester with no tests or no scans to check abnormalities but only a ray of hope by being optimistic.

The bonding with my family increased, we had more time and space to explore our creative energies in cooking together, crafting with my son, dancing or binge watching together.

My husband and I talked about emergency plan many times. What we would do about transit to hospital with health systems overwhelmed, “I would carry you,” he said. As a matter of fact, the thought of him carrying me through checkpoints to get to our obstetrician an hour away on foot was perhaps most frightening thought of my life. I distracted myself by breathing deeply and focusing on little spark of life growing inside me.

While health care norms were been eased but private clinics were larger part of shutdown and Indore was emerging as one of the worst affected Covid-19 hotspots. We decided to leave for Nanded, my mom’s place for delivery which was under green zone so we applied for a movement pass thrice but each time it was rejected. Even though I was in constant touch with my doctor over the phone but I was panicking and worried in my ninth month by the thought of giving birth in lockdown with limited healthcare facilities. Somehow for the fourth time we managed to get permission to cross the state.

On the other hand my mom’s biggest fear was the mandatory Covid-19 test that I would have to take at the end of ninth month for which I would have to go to government hospital, the prime zone of infection and if positive I would have to deliver my child in a civil hospital, too scary right!

I was worried but I swallowed my anxiety and travelled to Nanded. Tushar drove the car for 14 hours stretch and left back to Indore as the movement pass was valid for 3 days.

I self-isolated myself for 10 days after reaching Nanded and on 11^th day I was scheduled for checkup and the following day I had welcomed my baby Ovin without my husband who was stuck in Indore.

Few days before my delivery I had no idea which hospital would be ready to take me leaving me to scramble for last minute options, but my mom and my brother finally managed to find admission in a hospital with the help of our family doctor. I am glad my family was there besides me; otherwise it would have been tough to raise the new born amidst lockdown.

It’s been almost more than a month my husband has not met Ovin after delivery but I have been communicating through video calls with him.

Pregnancy during pandemic has been tough with emotional rollercoaster and uncertainty around new guidelines and restrictions but I feel like a fighter, who has experienced pregnancy during global pandemic and that I am immensely proud of.

With the world stumbling and struggling to come out of pandemic these experiences gives us hope that with new lives, it’s the beginning of all things- miracle, faith and a dream of possibilities.

If you have a story to tell, don’t be afraid your voice is important and your story is unique! Share your story change a life!

Story shared by – Pooja Laddha

(Edited by Raavya Sarda)

Bivash Chowdhury | The man behind BAD Salsa duo, who left the world speechless at America’s Got Talent Auditions.

The BAD salsa duo Samanth Moroju (20 years old) and Sonali Majumdar (15 years old) are talk of the town for representing India at Americas Got Talent 2020 and set the stage on fire!

The duo gave a jaw dropping performance on Dhatting naach and made the audience and star studded judges Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Heidi klum and Sofia Vargara fall in love with them and praising them all the way.

Their stage name BAD is an acronym for Bivash Academy of Dance that they are associated with.

Meet the mentor, choreographer, instructor and founder of BAD, Bivash Chowdhury; whose dancing school is one of the best salsa dance academies in India.

Kolkata to Mumbai:

“I hail from Kolkata and started my career in 2007, got a chance to choreograph first season of Dance Bangla Dance for a regional channel and then subsequently participated in next two seasons as well. Shortly I was acknowledged and appreciated by many celebrities. After this success students from all over Bengal wanted to get trained from me so I actively started my dance school Bivash Academy of Dance (BAD). I formed a dance troupe with two of my students Akash and Donna and participated in Indias Got Talent in year 2011 and with public support BAD salsa was declared runner up.

Sonali-Sumanth with winners trophy of India’s Got Talent

We geared up for the next season and BAD Salsa participated through Sonali and Sumanth with full of energy and enthusiasm and bagged the winner’s trophy at Indias Got Talent. My students continued to win several dance shows so finally in year 2012, I moved to Mumbai as travelling was getting expensive for us.” recalls Mr Chowdhury.

Bivash became a popular name in dance community after this victory and achievement. In almost all dance reality shows on Indian television students of Bivash dance academy are among top three competing Contestants; BAD have choreographed many national and international events and have become a household name with their dynamic performance.

Salsation duo Sonali-Sumanth:

Sonali Majumdar is daughter of a farmer and belongs from a small village near Bangladesh border and Sumanth from Bhuvaneshwar, they used to travel to my place in Kolkata twice a week, sonali and her family had to travel for five hours to get to the institute. I could see the potential in her so after a lot of convincing, her parents agreed to let her stay with me and my wife so that she can train better.

The duo became a dancing pair by accident, when I was preparing Sonali for India’s got talent, her partner fell ill so I made Sumanth her partner and after that they never looked back. Both sonali and sumanth have worked together as a team for many years. It requires a high degree of coordination and trust between partners because if there is no trust between them they won’t be able to perform single step. When sumanth tosses sonali into the air, she needs to have the confidence that he will not let her fall when she comes back down. Their synchronization is fantastic and their hunger for dance is unthinkable, shares Bivash with Storymakers.

BAD World Gurukul:

These young dancers are living in ‘Gurukul’ – a dance school formed by me in Kolkata later shifted to Palghar in year 2012, where they get trained in dance. The Gurukul has got the state-of-art kind of infrastructure for Aerial Act Set-up with advanced technology and facilities; this is First in India in this category. Students practice for 8 to 10 hours in a day which includes two hours of workout, yoga meditation and exercise with intense training. Proper diet, academic studies and sleeping hours are scheduled as well. We have a strict program in Gurukul and everyone follows it seriously. The artist in my academy eat sleep breathe dance. They are trained and encouraged in a proper way to bring the best out of them inspiring to raise the graph of performance.

My students have performed in every prominent platform in India as well as abroad, BAD salsa’s win includes India’s Got Talent, Jhalak dikh laja season 6, Dance Champions by Remo D’souza, Britan’s Got Talent in 2019 and recently we appeared for the auditions of Americas Got Talent. What makes BAD salsa stand out is the speed and signature steps with mixture of acrobats,hip hop, trapeze with salsa.

It was dreamlike watching Sonali and Sumanth perform on the stage of America’s Got Talent, I had been fantasizing this for years, I had to pinch myself to believe it was real; they even progressed to the next round, laughs Bivash.

Check out their performance video.

Woah, he spins her like a fidget spinner!

This video has gained over 7.5 million views with more than 1.8 lakh reactions and close to 51000 shares, isn’t it awesome!

The subsequent rounds of the competition will be held online due to pandemic and if the duo progress to following rounds they will have to travel to the US.

“My aim is to make my students’ outshine in the province of dance which will benefit them in establishing their career in the professional field and I wish to put India on the world map through my students as international dancers.

Indeed BAD salsa is winning the hearts and making India proud with their breathtaking performance.

Americas Got Talent season 15 streams exclusively in India on Voot select from May 29^th and airing soon on Colors Infinity.

So what do you think of BAD salsa? Share in comments below.

Photo Credits: Bivash Chowdhury

(Written by Raavya Sarda)

Grey is beautiful | 61 year old model, Dinesh Mohan is a proof it’s never too late to follow your dreams.

Damn; he is over 60’s and still got it!

The hottest silver fox of India; meet Dinesh Mohan who is making noise lately on internet for his hip style, good looks and whose beard, totally changed the game!

This 61 year old model will remind you that age is just a number; with strong jawline, silver mane,tonned body and impeccable sense of style is a treat to all women out there; he wears the lines on his face proudly and has not attempted to cover his grey hair, which has helped giving him “The Look.”

It didn’t take long before modelling agencies started to notice him; he has posed for many designer brands, commercials also featured on magazine covers including Vogue and have starred in several movies down in south.

He was last seen in film Bharat; starring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif.

Dinesh Mohan is known for his styled signature beard that he flaunts, ripped jeans and silver hair.

You’d have to be a killjoy, not to admire this man!

This handsome model hails from Delhi; and it doesn’t look he is slowing down anytime soon!

But as they say behind every successful man; there are lot of unsuccessful years; unspoken journey of lonely sufferings.

Dinesh Mohan used to work in education sector for Haryana Government, and this job kept him on his chair all day long due to which he ended up gaining lot of weight; he took voluntary retirement in 2004, “I have lived through some terrible things in my life, losing a loved one can trigger intense feelings of grief, I felt depressed almost all the time, blaming myself for my loved ones death.”

“ I was living in a black hole, empty, lifeless and apathetic; I sank into depression, stopped taking care of myself and kept piling on weight, all I did was sit on a couch and snack unhealthy food, the more weight I gained; the more uncomfortable I felt.”

“ I was so down on myself due to which my relationship with my sister and her husband suffered even more, as I was staying with them; so in this phase, I was bedridden and weighed around 130 kgs with health issues.” he shares with Storymakers.

One day my brother in law rushed into my room in anger; challenged me and said that I need to come out of this despair, which was poisoning me.

It was my sister and her husband who cheered me towards fitness.

In 2014, I started healthy diet and joined gym; I weighed myself weekly and after months of rigorous effort, I lost around 50 kgs and brought down my weight to 80 kgs, I was mentally exhausted; but I didn’t give up, “I felt exhilarated.”

Losing weight gave me courage to tackle my physical health too, explains the model.

A journalist next door, who intrigued the transformation; wrote an article about his dedication then an advertisement agency approached him for an audition, after looking at his pictures in a magazine.

“ My modelling career took off on January 2016, on my birthday, with my first shoot, and I never looked back again;” few years back, I feared, I would never pull myself back to normality, now I love my life and I am looking what’s through the next door for me.”

The model also shares, I receive lot of negative comments from strangers; who feel, at this age I should be at home; taking god’s name and not on the ramp.

Age has been made an almost a dirty word In this country, ageing is something positive, and everyone gets to do it, stop telling us that ageing is something really bad; I have embraced my experience and I love the way I am with each passing year, I am unique the way I am, and I prefer to stay that way; as long as I live I want to inspire people and motivate them.

“If only you are lucky, you will grow old and if you are exceptionally lucky; you will grow old like Dinesh Mohan”– he laughs

He stays active physically and mentally with the world around him at 61, Dinesh Mohan is competing with plenty of younger models in fashion industry, but he says; he feels no pressure to keep up.

“I get flattered when strangers stop me; take selfies and appreciate my fashion sense;” I think getting older is not such a bad thing, he giggles.

His rugged selfies and modelling photos have earned him more than 83,000 fans on Instagram.

His desire to represent, a new definition of ageing surpasses his humbleness; certainly Dinesh Mohan’s story from being nobody to being somebody is motivational and inspirational; ther’s no age to start anything from scratch, you just have to believe in yourself.

You don’t need to be young to make it!!

So what do you think of this handsome hunk? Share your thoughts with us in comment section below.

(Written by Raavya Sarda)

#Sharingstories

My elder sister Alpa Shah has been interested in art and craft since childhood, however I was not skilled at it, my sister would enjoy making it and she found the experience quite rewarding.

Every time I needed help designing a project or any craft activity in school, my sister was in house artist.

Imagine I won the first prize in painting competition, organized by my school; though my teacher was very well aware of who made it!

I am Gayatri Parekh and my sister Alpa Shah; we grew up in a gujju family, yes, around thepla, khakra, fafda – jalebi.

The business risk taking ability is in our blood, my father being a self-made man; I learnt a lot from my dad, business tactics, saving money, so naturally one would be glued to business channels, I am lucky my mother is practical too.

The journey of life took di to marriage and kids, and same followed with me too, however this journey is not at all easy, its full of ups and downs, it’s almost like a roller coaster.

After 16 years of di’s marriage and 9 years of mine, we decided to work, followed by brainstorming many ideas which would feed our passion.

One fine day there was a marriage ceremony next door, and our neighbor asked for help, we sisters helped them out with complete marriage décor and we were clear with the business idea, Di being upright with her designing and crafting skills and me being jugaadu and decent in marketing;

We wanted to start with something unique, as it’s good to pick up a unique niche.

With less than a month to go!! Mumbaikar’s favorite festival, Ganesh Chaturthi was going to be celebrated and we thought why not to commence with upcoming festival.

We started planning and exploring for resources, hunting best markets for raw materials, floral markets and fabrics for traditional décor.

Our search ended with lalit bhai; who understood our concept and tailored the material.

We wanted a gujju name for our company; we settled with “K-JO Kreations” K-jo in gujrati means “if u need something tell me and we would do it.”

And we were ready to start our journey in 2016; but as fate would have it; I got pregnant with my second child before starting my work.

“Launching a new work is never easy, now imagine doing it when you happen to be growing a human life inside you; not only u are dead tired but potentially nauseous.”

I felt down and out, but my sister Alpa provided me moral strength and support.

We started working in full swing and got more clients by word of mouth; sometimes I would feel sick, while at work, I used to throw up everything eaten; but I kept working until my last trimester before my daughter Emrald was born.

Alpa di was with me, by my side and in fact it was my husband Mayank who pushed me to start something on my own.

“I was terrified of starting new work, because of maternity issues but it ended up being the best thing for me.”

Who doesn’t love themes after all; so we décor a place in your house, where you want Bappa to sit and spread his blessings and positive vibes all around.

We meet clients, understand their requirements, draw an estimated budget, and give the clients breakdown of how much it will cost from start to finish.

You must have a proper idea of space and budget for the decoration; it transforms the environment of your home.

We share both fancy and simple ideas with the clients, suited for every budget, a simple age old way of beautifying the house is with flowers, flowers create a positive vibe in the house, weather they are fake or real they enhance the beauty of space.

We also give personal touch to the décor place by designing or modifying lights.

From making colored drapes, attractive backdrops, entry décor, torans, floral hangings; these decorations are made in a way to be reused multiple times and are economical as compared to other similar decorations.

Co-coordinating with the clients, vendors, and suppliers who are coming together for the event can be pretty daunting, you have to make sure everyone is on the same page and have a clear understanding of the schedule.

Not to forget Pappu bhai, our decorator, who have been with us since the beginning. We have one of the finest teams together at work, we value people with work life

My mom is biggest pillar of strength; when we both sisters are at work during festivals or events, she looks after our kids and family; Picturize four notorious kids with their 70 year old nani ma!

As siblings and business partners we freely provide feedback and quickly move on from arguments; we are each other’s biggest cheerleaders, for better or worse, since the beginning of our lives.

People started liking our ideas and different concepts for festival décor, what makes us stand out is probably the fact that we overlook details at every phase of planning and ensure there is mark of reliability in all of it.

Both my daughters Pearl and Emrald, look up to me as a role model, that gives me more strength to go for it.

Till date we have decorated more than 85 homes in 4 years,for Ganesh Chaturthi and by Bappas grace and blessings, the number increases every year; we have grown from festival decors to various other events like marriages, baby showers, Diwali etc

August- September is busy month of the year so we couldn’t be sure, if you wish to get your home adorned and embellished for events and festivals, you can contact Gayatri Parekh (9820950055) and Alpa Shah (8879315817), follow K-jo Kreation on facebook @ K jo Kreation.

(Written by Raavya Sarda)

One Girl | 9 Accents | Janhavi Panwar- WonderGirl Of India

16 year old Janhavi Panwar is a child prodigy and hails from Malpur village in Haryana, with an unusual intelligence this girl manages to speak 9 different accents in British, American, RP, Polish, Australian, Scottish, Canadian, Norfuk, Cockney, In addition to French, Japanese, English, Hindi and Haryanvi languages.

The poise and ease with which she speaks on various topics reflects her command over the language.

Certainly Janhavi Panwar is the “Wondergirl” of our country – a title given to her at the age of 9; her British accent will leave many of us amazed, watch her video below at Ted Talks.

Her father Brijmohan Panwar is a government primary school teacher and mother a house wife.

Mr. Panwar says “when my wife was pregnant, like most families in rural areas, the baby is expected to be a son, but janhavi’s birth was an extraordinary gift of life.

Janhavi’s exceptional gift of linguistic talent was evident at a very young age, by the time she was a year old her vocabulary was equipped with 500-550 English words.

She wasn’t admitted to nursery but directly to senior kg as she had picked up most things at home; as years passed we spoke to school management, they realized janhavi’s potential by looking at her scores and she was given permission to clear two classes in same year.”

Janhavi has already given her exams for final year of bachelor’s degree in Arts from Delhi University, when most teens of her age are in secondary school.

This teen is no short of wonder, she picked up accents when she started speaking to tourists at the Red fort; her father started downloading English video clips for her to listen “She would listen to it once and she could speak in same accent,” then I started downloading BBC news videos, within no time, Janhavi started picking up accent and exact match to the speed of anchors, shares Mr Panwar.

Janhavi says, By age 12 I had already learnt many languages like French and Japanese and could speak in several accents like American, British by listening carefully to audios of various other people; listening to videos would not be sufficient so my father found a linguist named Rekha Raj, who helped me immensely in learning English and improving my accent.

He also used to take me to embassies in Delhi to polish my foreign languages but they don’t admit children until they turn 16 years old.

Janhavi’s exceptional skill does not end here;

Anand Kumar founder of Super 30 Institute, which trains underprivileged students to join UPSC, IIT’s and other top institutions, discovered her potential at Haryana Institute of public Administration (HIPA) Gurgaon; Astound by her talent, he took her into the institution with no entrance exam, which is compulsory for other students.

Janhavi Panwar with Anand Kumar mentor of super 30 Institute

Janhavi also received an award for her astonishing talent from chief minister of Haryana Mr. Manohar lal Khattar in year 2012.

Janhavi Panwar with Haryana Cheif Minister Mr Manohar lal Khattar

Miss Accent has also anchored for BBC and CNN

She is a motivational speaker and is invited by various educational institutions and B.Tech colleges to deliver speeches for more than 10 states in India; she has delivered speech to IAS officers as well.

Janhavi Panwar as motivational speaker in JK Business school

She also runs a successful YouTube channel, “Wondergirl Janhavi.” https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCITRdg1QRLSgyKQCgqBYVig

Woah motivation at its best right!!

I had to face lot of criticism for my accent, people constantly criticized me for it, they also started making fun of me by saying I am merely mimicking these accents, but I never stopped learning; shares Janhavi to Storymakers.

Needless to say Janhavi Panwar has displayed unbelievable talent in learning languages and accent; she loves anchoring shows and aspires to become BBC news anchor,clear IIT-JEE, appear for civil service examination and become a bureaucrat to serve the nation for which she has already started preparing. Her confidence is infectious and her ambitions keep on inspiring her to do better and better in life.

It’s rare to see such young talent with courage and determination to overcome all obstacles to be “Wondergirl”of India.

“It’s your decision, not your condition that determines your destiny”.

-Janhavi Panwar

Indeed Janhavi Panwar is a role model and an inspiration for many young girls who wish to study but are forced to discontinue, her terrific attitude towards all her haters have made her stronger.

(Written by Raavya Sarda)

Do you know more people like Janhavi; who are teenspirations!! Share us their story in comments below.

Share this story with your friends; it will be an inspiration to others.

Korona | Debjyoti Saha Displays: The Great Indian Unequal Pandemic Story

Debjyoti Saha is a comic illustrator and animator from Kolkata currently based in Mumbai.

Saha is currently in news for his latest animated video which displays difference in lifestyle and struggles of people in pandemic.

When lockdown was announced since 25^th march 2020, countless workers in our cities found themselves without employment overnight as work sites and factories were suddenly shut down.

Lockdown provoked mass migrant laborers and daily wage workers to move from cities back to rural villages they belong, as food is cheaper and they won’t have to pay rent.

Many migrants walked hundreds of kilometers, suddenly left with no food and no work braving police lathi’s.

It is more evident that migrant workers in cities are most vulnerable and worst hit.

Debjyoti addresses the real state of migrants versus India’s privileged lifestyle which proves lockdown is not same for everyone and there’s way too much difference in lives of people, the concept of ‘home’ is different to different people.

View this post on Instagram

Korona. Sound on🔊 We sure have got used to this in the past four months. Being stuck at home, working without fixed hours, we are all getting used to this 'new normal'. some even claim to have been losing their sanity with power cuts and terrible internet connections. On the flip side I'm sure many have found their inner calling of being a chef, an expert at yoga, catch up on their sleep and the importance of staying home with family. However, the concept of 'home' is different to different people. For some, it is a place, a thousand miles away where they desperately want to reach, at any cost, without a penny in the pocket, a vehicle to get on or even a pair of slippers for their bleeding soles, with the hope of being at peace. While we hoard more 'essentials' for our family and sip on our Dalgona, they share a roti among three. While we miss the social gatherings with friends a video call away, they cry on the streets unable to reach their loved ones. While we crib about running out of things to do in the comfort of our homes, they walk barefoot for miles and days to reach theirs. The list is neverending. History is witnessing one of the worst migrant crises in the country and smirking at our hypocrisy. Storms always hit the lowest of the low. Understand and acknowledge the privilege you reek of. Do what you can to ease their load. Not a funny episode, right? Nope. Background score -Dunkirk ( @hanszimmer ) #animation #2danimation #indiananimation #coronavirus #corona #korona #korona2 #migrantworkers #migrantcrisis #animatedseries #animationfilm #india2020 #rotikapdaaurmakaan #home #system #lockdown #lockdown4 #dalgonacoffee #tiktok #homechef #privilege #hypocrisy #meal #nowifi #socialdistancing #stayhome #letthemreachhome #art #artistoninstagram #animatorsoninstagram

A post shared by Debjyoti Saha (@debjyoti.saha) on May 20, 2020 at 11:34pm PDT

Saha created this video as part of his ongoing series Korona. “The word ‘Korona’ in Bengali means ‘Don’t’. Portraying deeply rooted problems during this coronavirus pandemic.”

The video has gone viral with over 23 lakh views on Instagram alone, the video divides life during lockdown, the new normal lifestyle, people losing their sanity with power cuts and terrible internet connections, latest fads like whipping up Dalogona coffee or lockdown chefs while on the other side migrants walking bare foot for miles and days with hope to get on a vehicle or even pair of slippers for their bleeding soles to reach their homes.

End part of video totally recalls death of 16 migrant workers run over by goods train near Aurangabad in Maharashtra with a man sleeping comfortably in his bed.

The artist request to Understand and acknowledge the privilege you reek of. Do what you can to ease their load.

A big Shout out to Debjyoti saha’s creativity!!

(Written by Raavya Sarda)

Music Is Multilingual: Meet Suchetha Satish The Girl Who Sings In 125 Languages

Ever heard a person singing in more than ten languages? Pretty freaking cool right!! Meet Suchetha Satish an Indian origin Dubai based 14 year old girl who can sing in 125 languages.

Double World Record Holder

Sucheta started singing foreign languages in the year 2016; She is a double world record holder for singing in most number of languages in a single concert and longest live singing concert by a child, which she had set as a 12 year old in year 2018 in Dubai at Indian consulate auditorium where she sang in 102 languages for over 6.15 hours.

Suchetha Satish sets double world record

Sucheta who is also known as Indian high schools nightingale, won The Global Child Prodigy Awards 2020 in singing category, her mother Sumitha Ayilliath told Story Makers

This teen singer is spreading awareness on Covid-19 in 24 languages by singing and composing songs.

The English title of her song “Say No to Panic” was released on 16^th March 2020 followed by diverse Indian languages.

Covid-19 awareness song was written by her mother Sumitha Ayilliath in Malayalam, Arabic and 21 Indian languages.

The Kerala government as part of its “Break the Chain Campaign,” released her song in Malayalam, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and Assamese.

It will be used in Kerala’s public awareness programme as there are large number of migrant workers from these places.

What led to this Idea of Spreading awareness by singing?

When Covid-19 pandemic started, Sucheta was writing her 9^th standard exam.

Exams were cancelled and grade 10 classes started online, her father is a doctor and so he always mentions about the pandemic and how to prevent it, that’s when this idea of creating an awareness song originated.

She teamed up with her friend Siddharth Suresh who happens to make melodious tunes, The lyrics for first song “Say No To Panic” was written by her and composed by Siddharth Suresh, second song “Dhoori Tum Dharna” was written by Sumitha Ayilliath her mother who translated the song in other languages with the support from friends and relatives.

Her mother helped her with the lyrics and editing part and father encouraged with his inputs, the song was made in her home studio, Music was given by Prashanti chopra and Orchestration by Denzil Tom, shares her mother Sumitha.

Suchetha released her first song in English on Covid-19 titled “Say No To Panic” and then released her second song in Malyalam her mother tongue.

After getting good response on social media platform and with encouragement from family and friends, Suchetha decided to go ahead and record the song in many other Indian languages like Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Gujrati, Nepali, Bhojpuri, Manipuri, Telugu, Kashmiri, Kannada, Konkani, Rajasthani, Sindhi, Himachali, Urdu, Sanskrit.

Now she is recording other foreign languages like Turkish, Bulgarian, Russian and French.

The lyrics of the song urge people to “keep the distance, keep cleanliness and make it a habbit to wash hands.”

All these different languages that Suchetha is been singing, she learns on her own we call “Google Mama” her guru; so she is been learning from YouTube and whenever she has a doubt, she will ask somebody who can speak that language, says her mother Sumitha.

Music is one of the most important forms of self-expression and individuality but, above all, it is a means of communication.

As they say Music has no limits, borders or ages.

All her songs are available on social media, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook accounts of Suchetha Satish.

In the video below Suchetha performs Covid-19 awareness song in Hindi.

Do listen to her song and spread awareness.

(Interviewed and Written by Raavya Sarda)

Prashant Gade| Creator of Inali Prosthetic Arm for Amputees| His Invention was designed and perfected in his imagination

Meet Prashant Gade, a college dropout from Khandwa Madhya Pradesh; invents an affordable hand for India’s large disabled population.

Giving one’s life a meaning

It was found that every year in India over 40,000 people lose their upper arms and 85% of them continue to live without any solution as most of them hail from underprivileged section- factory labourer’s who lose their arms in factory mishaps or road accidents so Prashant decided to quit his job and graduation to create an affordable electronic prosthetic arm.

Prashant lost his grandfather at an early age, one of his favorite people in the world; he grew up listening to historical and mythological stories from him.

After his grandfather’s last rites; Prashant asked his mother, why were grandfather’s clothes been removed and why didn’t he carry anything along?

His mother replied; “When we die we leave everything on earth, we don’t take anything along with us; even the richest people cannot take their money with them.” This made an impact on him Prashant not just wanted to live life; he wanted to do something for the society.

Prashant quit his college

He had always dreamed of becoming an engineer and creating innovative devices that could have a social impact, so when he enrolled for electronics engineering course it was dream come true; but in final year he faced reality “it was tremendous let down for me, I would see my professors and fellow students concerned only about grades and rote learning; I could not align myself with that attitude depriving myself of creative thinking and practical experience, so I dropped out;” shares Prashant.

Efforts for Good

One morning in pune Prashant met a seven year old girl who was born without arms, this touched him so he decided to give two prosthetic arms to her, the company he contacted for this quoted a price of 24 lakhs for both arms; he was shocked; a child will grow, so every two years she will have to opt for new pair of arms; it is impossible for any person to afford it.

He enrolled for a six month FAB training course in pune, where he decided to make a robotic arm his project- inspired by Nicolas Huchet a Bionic hand maker; who made a bionic arm for himself after losing his own arm in an accident.

His Invention was designed and perfected in his imagination.

Foundation of Inali Arms

At age 23, Prashant began creating a prototype, a low cost semi bionic arm which over few years led to Inali Arm.

Not for profit, but solely to help people in distress.

He has named his invention Inali after his girlfriend, who he admires for standing by him through every thick and thin.

There were many challenges including on personal front, as his family stopped talking to him as they were unhappy with his decision to quit job and devote his full time towards Inali Arm.

The other challenge was affordability, the cost factor but he was not going to let go: it took nearly two years to come up with an affordable solution as he had to design circuits, to keep cost low.

His idea impressed the technical secretary of Jaipur Foot, who soon gave him a seed grant to design seven such hands.

Prashant took a photograph of cheque and sent it to his father, to which his father said he respected his decision and then he was on his own travelling to Jaipur for real experience.

He had to face many challenges while working there rent, food, travel and other expenses; sometimes he had to prioritize shelter over meals or eating just once a day.

He continued to pursue funds through various online campaigns and videos on YouTube, soon his hard work found recognition in USA, where a retired professor reached out to support him in 2016; happy with his work they supported him by gifting 10 machines to expedite his work.

How it works

The prosthetic arm designed by Prashant has sensors that read signals coming from brain resulting in the movement of the limb, with similar technology as imported prosthetic arms, parts of it are substituted by cost effective material.

At present his invention Inali Arms is India’s most affordable bionic arm for INR 50,000

Inali Arms is available in market, but Prashant wants to reach out to upper limb amputees in rural areas.

Prashant and his team travels to rural parts of India and organize free electronic arms distribution camps for people in need.

Inali arms are durable for more than 3 years and can pick 10 kg of weight at a time.

In last two years over 700 arms have been designed and given for free, while nearly 300 have been sold across the country.

One major milestone in his journey, when his invention was eventually tried and appreciated by his inspiration Nicholas Huchet.

Prashant Gade with his inspiration Nicolas Hutchet

Prosthetic arm designed by him can be used by soldiers of armed forces, who have lost their limbs in conflicts and wars

“I am visiting the government to understand needs and requirements and the standards they have set,” explains Prashant

His future plans are to design myoelectric upper limb prosthetic arm, such that sharp finger movements can be performed just like normal arm.

Help Prashant to make difference to life of people living without arms.

Website: http://www.inalifoundation.com

Contact: Prashant Gade at 7875078907

Details for bank transfer:

Bank: SBI Civil Lines Khandwa

Account no: 38479014495

ACC: INALI FOUNDATION

Branch code 004092

IFSC SBIN0004092

PAN : AAECI8723P

(Interviewed and written by Raavya Sarda)

Sharing Stories:

I am Ramyata a housewife also a choreographer, fitness trainer and successfully completed certified phonics course.

I have done my graduation from Shree Chinai College of Commerce and Economics and Diploma in Finance from Wellingkar’s college Mumbai.

Worked for multinational companies like India Infoline and ICICI web trade.

“RAMYATA ” this name is very unique unlike my personality, A simple Guajarati Girl with big dreams; confusion in her mind …is it ok to follow my dreams as I am a girl with short height.

Like others I wanted to be successful and Independent, belonging from a conservative family background it was my mother who always supported me indirectly.

Everyone in school used to laugh at me, make fun of me and make me feel low by calling “tingu”

I was a short kid at school, through most of it I was the shortest girl in my year (give or take).

So I know how you feel.

And I know it’s never good to be teased about something you’re insecure about.

But…and this may sound controversial…the best way to cope with that is to not take yourself too seriously.

At the end of the day you may grow another inch, you may not…but in life’s plan you’re going to be a shorter girl.

Sure you can do some stretches and whatnot…but I don’t think they’ll do much else.

Maybe you can wear boots that give you an extra few inches…

So – accept it, and yourself, If some people make fun of you for being short, joke along with them – play it down. Be confident, own your height.

There’s no magic formula to suddenly make you six foot. But think of how many other good things you have in life, and how many talents you have or things that you’re good at.

Work out, play sports – be comfortable in your body, and confident in your height. It’s a part of you, you need to embrace it – let people have the odd joke, and always remember the things in life that you’re good at.

In my school life I was famous among teachers and got different opportunities to represent my school for Interschool dance competitions and bagged many trophies.

Gradually my friends were more curious to know why I was not giving any reaction.

But as they say “Be patient and tough, someday this pain will be useful to you.” I finished school education and I had many good friends who stood by me and supported me.

I joined theater and won many Intercollege competitions, and this was the way I was introduced to “Dance”. The way music affects, the way I think and the way I move is uncommon.

I met Nishant in second year of commerce; and we both fell in love, but all love stories come with twist, Nishant was not Guju. So I had to go through lot of struggle to convince my parents for our relationship.

My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my parents for my love marriage and yay, we finally got married!!

As wife my role had been started, at first it was a struggle with new family member’s different style of living different traditions and difference in spoken language. But I fought against all these obstacles and managed to be an Ideal Bahu!!

I am a mother of two beautiful girls, and I keep pushing myself towards my passion. I had already quit my job; I was in difficult phase of life and went from anxiety to deep depression.

Women always have a choice. We can throw in the towel or we can use it to wipe the sweat off our face. We, women almost always choose the latter

And then my first love came to rescue me i.e… “Dance”

I gave auditions for Dance India Dance supermom in year 2013 and year 2015; “What’s strange is that I didn’t go in expecting much, “as I was 34, a mother and homemaker on Dance India Dance Super Moms set “I just loved reality shows and wanted to be one of those people living the fairytale dream.

Though I didn’t make it in top 20 but I gained lot of confidence and since then there was no looking back.

Dance was my only cure. All ailments vanish when I am on the dance floor. Quitting a cushy corporate job wasn’t an easy choice, but equipped with a passion and a strong will, I decided to embark on journey of professional dance training.

I had joined Shamaik’s dance academy, I was first woman with kids in my batch; where I learnt different styles of dancing Hip-hop, contemporary jazz and various other forms of dancing.

It was not easy for me to leave my daughter’s and family behind and attend dance sessions but where there is a will ther’s always a way, my husband Nishanth and my mother in law supported my love and passion for dance.

I started my career as a dance instructor and a folk fitness trainer; I have students of all age group right from 3 years to 65 years of age and I teach different dance forms Bollywood, salsa, jive and many more

Till date I have choreographed around 250 dance performances.

I took up dancing as a hobby and today it’s everything for me; I have become more responsible as a teacher.

Three aspects — Managing work, family and personal time. Together they make you who you are. The formula to success is incomplete if one is missing or one overpowers the other.

“I am proud to be a dancer.”

Coming back to life after lock down!! Here’s a glimpse of how life could be after lock down

Globally the pandemic is still spreading like wildfire, and the number of people affected by Covid-19 has exceeded one million.

Covid-19 has changed over daily routines and lifestyles, all of us want our pre-covid days back and looking ahead for normal life once lockdown is lifted, as vaccine is still months away, things are not expected to be same anytime sooner.

With preventive measures like masks and social distancing here’s how life could be like after lock down ends-

Restaurants & Bars:

In order to keep customers and their employees safe restaurants are brainstorming solutions like reducing number of seats, drones for sanitizing or serving food with mask;

Maybe menus will be disposable or laminated and disinfected after each use.
Waiters would be wearing gloves and masks with extra sanitization or capacity measures.
Limited number of seated orders with tables and chairs sanitized between dinners.

But the challenge dinners will be facing would be inability to wear face mask while eating, it could be riskier as coronavirus can transmit through droplets when u speak and breathe in addition to spreading via coughs and sneezes.

Airports:

Dedicated staff with thermometers at all entry points and gates.
Passengers to wear face mask and gloves post security and during your long flight.
Social distancing at check-in counters with markings.
Air lounges are likely to remain closed to help slow the spread of Covid-19.
Limited meals and only bottled water to drink.

Some benefits like no middle seats, quite airports.

Metro:

Hand sanitization/washing facility at entry points.
Passengers to wear face masks and gloves.
Thermal screening at entry points.
Passengers to keep distance of 2 meters in the queue at the ticket counter.
Use of Arogya setu app with in-built epass features for identification of Covid positive persons.
Electronic and manual surveillance to be increased.

Cinemas:

Cinema halls may not be in the best position even after reopening, imagine how many people would go to cinemas after lockdown ends? Very few to none as people may take months to overcome their fears and enter crowded places; but on the other hand television entertainment will be back on track after lockdown as producers can start shooting and viewers have not gone anywhere.

Intense sanitization of all cinema halls.
Digital transactions for tickets, food and beverages.
Social distancing within the cinema hall that means fewer tickets per screen.

Shopping malls:

Essential business such as grocery stores, pharmacies are open but shopping malls aren’t; Not every shop within the mall may open at once for instance individual retailers may keep their doors shut to help limit the spread of Covid-19.

Shoppers will be encouraged to wear face mask and employees definitely will be.
Store hours will be limited so cleaners can rigorously disinfect common areas and bathrooms.
Say goodbye to trial rooms.
Social distancing to be followed, minimum 6 foot distance between customers.

Schools & Universities:

How and when will the schools reopen? Big question is what type of setting will work with the kids mingling, playing and sharing lunches.

School closures are intensely stressful for many parents who are fearful their children may fall behind; high school seniors are worried about their grades and university admission.

Online learning is mantra of the day – parents, teachers and students are mentally preparing themselves, school administrators, teachers and government officials are brainstorming to create policies that keep students from potentially transforming the virus when school reopens’

With different range of policies around the world, some schools are shut for academic year while others are moving to reopen.

Denmark has reopened lower level schools with set of rules as distancing children’s desks, disinfecting toys, prohibiting sharing of food, and compulsory use of mask for both teachers and students.

According to UNESCO, 91 percent students- more than 1.5 billion children are impacted by school closures; the longer the closures the deeper the impact.

Offices:

Clearly, things are only going to get back to normal slowly; from employees getting back to work in crowded elevators to taking off food from communal canteen is not going to be acceptable for some time.

Massive cultural shift can be observed in future due to phone and video calls; say goodbye to the groomed work identity as you no longer need the same business wardrobe especially you don’t need business wardrobe below the waist with “social” use of zoom playing striking role with employees worldwide.

Mandatory guidelines for workplaces:

Compulsory face mask.
Social distanced desk.
Provision for thermal scanner, hand wash, sanitizers preferably with touch free mechanism at all entry and exit points.
Deep sanitization of entire workplace and common facilities.
Employees above 65 years of age, pregnant women shall stay at home.
Compulsory use of Arogya setu app.
Large physical meetings will be avoided.

Some companies might call 50% of its employees to work in offices; some might call only essential employees while others might stick to work from home.

Anything we do when we exit lockdown is not without risk which is why proper strategy is required to make sure we are safe.

(Written by Raavya Sarda)