are we MAD?

Bank on them!

nihit — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:34:56 +0000

Once, on my way back home, I struck up a conversation with an auto driver about his job.

He did not own the auto he was driving. He had taken it on rent for INR 150.00 for half a day, from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm. For the other half, it was rented out to another driver. I wondered if it would not make sense to give that money as installment, and buy an auto.

“The bank will not give me loan”, he said.

*****

Bangladesh witnessed a severe famine in 1974. At that time, Muhammad Yunus was working as Professor and Head of Department, Economics, in Chittagong University. The acute poverty he saw all around made him question the applicability of what he taught in the classroom to the real world.

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More good news!

nihit — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:33:50 +0000

It is nice to stumble upon another site doing the same thing that we are trying to do - spread the good news. Read about this innovative way of fighting crime on this interesting site promoting positive news…

Cycling on a Rickshaw

faiqg — Sun, 18 May 2008 06:27:18 +0000

The first picture that comes to my mind when I hear “cycling” is of Tour-de-France where hundreds of cyclists pedal hard with heads down but only to be beaten by Lance Armstrong. His surname always made me wonder why it is not Legstrong. Now that he has hung his boots and bike, we could see two different people on the podium each year.

What also comes to my head when I hear “cycling” is the face of an Oriya man who took me to school every single day for two years of my life in Raipur. How he huffed and puffed in the heat, while it rained and in the chilling winter. His dhoti and shirt kept him warm and cool according to weather.

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Let them see…

nihit — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:31:40 +0000

Courtesy byronetics

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27th April, 2008

nihit — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:57:39 +0000

“Get a life. Get more oxygen. Get your car off the road”. To find out more about the Car Free Day, click here.

Bamboo microscopes

devadutta — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 04:44:38 +0000

Science is best learnt by conducting experiments. Children in “developed” countries have a much better science learning experience, thanks to the expensive lab equipment they get to use. Unfortunately, in “developing” countries, children hardly get to see science in action. There are many organizations trying to close this learning gap, and this article from Nature describes one such effort. It talks about Delhi-based nonprofit Jodo Gyan which makes microscopes out of bamboo and distributes it to underprivileged kids.

Nice read, check it out!

Jugaad!

nihit — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:31:37 +0000

Have you heard of Jugaad? Read about this interesting innovation here.

Back from the pit stop…

nihit — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:17:20 +0000

Dear Reader,

We apologize for the long delay.

In the past, we have been stumbling upon a lot of MAD stuff, such as a newspaper article, a website or an event which we would like to share with you. We would also like you to contribute to this section.

Now, you can also share whatever MAD stuff you stumble upon with everyone else visiting the site. Just send us a mail to know how… Being the lazy people that we are, we hope you will update the site as frequently as us

Bridging the divide…

nihit — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 20:32:03 +0000

Twelve noon on a Sunday - a time at which I normally get out of bed. This Sunday was a little different though… I was sitting in the courtyard of a small school in Halenijgal, excited about having rolled a six on both dice in a game of Chausar.

Halenijgal is a small village on Tumkur Road, a little over 50 km from Bangalore. Most of the 700 people in the village are involved in farming. We were in this village as a part of a day trip organized by Ruralzing.

The day started relatively early. Within an hour of starting, it was time for us to get off the comfort of the tempo traveler; the tractor was waiting on the side of the highway to take us on a bumpy ride, away from the broad tarred road…

Breakfast was followed by a walk in the village. Passing by men, women and cattle, we reached a small village school. After consistently spinning the top on the wrong side, and missing the marble I was trying to hit, I decided to try my hand at the game that probably caused the Mahabharata.

After a while, we wrapped up the game. We walked around the village, discovering the culture. We visited the Lakshmi Narasimha temple and spent some quiet time there. We walked through the fields, tasting farm produce and drinking tender coconut on the way. We also helped ourselves to some tamarind, and saw the place where the Panchayat used to be held.

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Take A Stand…

nihit — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:16:10 +0000

“Five days ago two young girls that were students of Splendour High School were run over by a truck and died on the spot. The incident happened after school hours, and very close to where the school is located. However the tragedy did not end there, a handful of the most notorious anti social elements who have nothing to do with either the school or the deceased girls broke into the school with sharp tools and weapons and started breaking and smashing every thing that they could possibly lay their hands on and they tried hitting and harming my parents as well. My mom had to literally fall on their feet and beg them not to harm my dad. The school that took them 20 years of sheer hard work and dedication to build and nurture came to ruins within a couple of hours within their very own eyes. They had not spared anything including the school buses, the staff vehicles the window panes, the doors, the computers, the library and every other asset that the school had was shattered and broken to bits. The walls are only remaining.”

The above is an extract from a newsletter that was released after the incident. The reason why I am taking the onus of letting people know of an event 2000 km away is because I am a student of that school. I spent amongst the most enlightening years of my life in that school.

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