Shalini Saraswathi: The blade runner who lost her limbs, not her spirit

Amazing Feats, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

Shalini’s struggles began after she travelled to Cambodia with her husband on her fourth wedding anniversary in 2012. She came down with a mild fever, which was wrongly diagnosed as dengue at the time.

Shalini Saraswathi
Shalini Saraswathi

Bengaluru :

Shalini Saraswathi cherishes her life too much now. “When you have come too close to losing your life, you realise not to take things for granted,” says the 40-year-old para-athlete.

The blade runner, a quadruple amputee, won the bronze medal at the national-level parathletics held last year, and is now aiming for the 100-metre and 200-metre sprints in 2020. She will also be inaugurating Mercy Drops, a community resource centre that will promote the culture of sharing, on June 7.

“I never considered myself to be an athlete at all,” says Saraswathi, who was diagnosed with acute Rickettsial – a rare bacterial infection – in 2012.

“After two years of bed rest and trying to figure out how to go about my life, I met coach B P Aiyappa, who then trained me. During the first year of getting my life back on track in 2014, I would walk around Kanteerava Stadium to get a grip on my prosthetics. By the second year, I had got my blades and started running for 90 minutes daily,” recalls Shalini, who also participated in TCS 10K marathon.

She now practises every morning, before heading off to work at a BPO.

Shalini’s struggles began after she travelled to Cambodia with her husband on her fourth wedding anniversary in 2012. She came down with a mild fever, which was wrongly diagnosed as dengue at the time.

The Bengaluru resident, who originally belongs to Kollam district in Kerala, finally got the right diagnosis and her treatment began, but she was forced to undergo amputation.

During the course of treatment, Shalini also lost her baby, which affected her physically and mentally. As gangrene attacked her, she suffered multiple organ failures.

“Initially I hated myself for the person I had become. It was a journey to be okay with who I am,” recounts Shalini.

Her husband, family and friends have been her support throughout her journey.

Explaining that the challenge for her earlier was to accept the person she had become, she adds that she still struggles with wearing her prosthetics every day, or coming to terms with the fact she cannot drive a car anymore.

“To overcome it, I sometimes write dark poetry and verbalise what I am going through,” she says. “I often cry. Mourning is the best way to overcome your losses.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Preeja Prasad / Express News Service / June 01st, 2019

Fancy a cup of jaffee?

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Records, All
Shivanna with a packet of ‘jaffee’ beverage developed by him. | Photo Credit: B.S. Satish Kumar
Shivanna with a packet of ‘jaffee’ beverage developed by him. | Photo Credit: B.S. Satish Kumar

How about a steaming cup of ‘jaffee’ to wake you up in the morning? A social entrepreneur has come up with a hot beverage made out of jackfruit seeds. Jaffee powder is made by roasting jackfruit seeds. The drink is prepared just like coffee, by blending it with milk.

Developed by engineer-turned-social entrepreneur Shivanna, jaffee was one of the main attractions at the two-day mango and jackfruit diversity fair being organised by the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) at its Hessarghatta campus from Tuesday.

Many said it tasted ‘“slightly different’ from coffee. Shivanna, 62, says, “It is not an alternative to coffee, but a health drink, as it is rich in fibre, protein and carbohydrates. Also, it is free from gluten and caffeine.”

Mr. Shivanna heads Parivarthan, a social organisation involved in rural development in Sakrayapatna in the coffee-growing district of Chikkamagaluru in Karnataka. He developed this product while trying to experiment with diversification of jackfruit products to increase the use of the underutilised fruit and to get better remuneration for growers.

“Though I developed jaffee around 2014, I have not gone for full-fledged commercialisation. I am selling this only through direct marketing to who approaches me,” he says. He has priced jaffee at ₹90 for 100 grams.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by B.S. Satish Kumar / May 29th, 2019

Class 10 student develops app to gauge malnutrition

Education, Records, All, Science & Technology
Ayush Gharat
Ayush Gharat

The plight of malnourished and underprivileged children has moved this 15-year-old student who has developed an app to tackle the scourge.

The student, Ayush Gharat, has won worldwide appreciation for his app, mNutrition, and has been invited by the state Minister of Health and Family Welfare Shivananda Patil for a discussion to see how the idea could be implemented in the state.

Gharat is a certified Android developer was inspired to build the app when he saw the struggles of the underprivileged children during a school trip.

“I would be more than happy to hear your thoughts about eradicating malnutrition. I congratulate you on the development of this app and would be interested to see if we can collaborate,” Patil said.

mNutrition helps diagnose malnutrition in children below five years.

“The World Health Organisation (WHO) has laid down certain guideline for diagnosing malnutrition by comparing the height, weight and age of an individual,” Gharat told DH.

“It can be calculated minor, moderate and severe malnutrition.”

Since the WHO tables could be very complex for an Anganwadi workers and mNutrition can help cut down manual errors in calculation. “Sometimes there’re errors in entering numbers and sometimes the handwriting of those giving the data can’t be understood. mNutrition can eliminate all these,” he said

While malnutrition is affecting two in five children in urban areas, there is very little awareness about the issue, he said.

The class 10 student designed the app, while his parents did the proof-reading. Gharat is also among the participants from across the globe who took part in a competition organised by Google.

How mNutrition works

Anganwadi or Asha workers, who will find the app easy to use, can enter the data such as the child’s height, weight and age to get the level of malnutrition. Gharat hopes to improve the app further to offer solutions for a particular range of malnourishment.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> City / by Reshma Ravishanker / DH News Service, Bengaluru / May 27th, 2019

Riders on the storm

Records, All, Sports
Parvati Byramji horse trainer, during morning training session for Race Horses | Photo Credit: K_MURALI_KUMAR
Parvati Byramji horse trainer, during morning training session for Race Horses | Photo Credit: K_MURALI_KUMAR

Shiny coats, frisky tails and thundering hooves are part of South India’s first woman horse trainer, Parvati Byramji’s daily routine

Every morning, between 5am and 9am, Bangalore Turf Club (BTC) gets ready for the day ahead. We notice a jockey thundering up as we await permission to enter the Club. Parvati Byramji, one of South India’s women horse trainers and daughter-in-law of the legendary trainer Rashid Byramji, shows us around. During the 10 minute walk to the lunging area, horses with shiny coats are being taken for training through the Turf Club.

Parvati instructs her team while they exercise their two-year old horses. “Easy, easy,” she says loudly, yet calmly, as she pays close attention to each horse. Dark brown, grey and black horses are being led to lunge around the field. As we observe them we understand each horse has a distinct personality. While some are calm, others are stubborn. However, all of them are handled with utmost care by Parvati and her team.

Parvati’s eyes light up when she sees a grey horse waiting for her turn to train the horses.“I always take advice when picking a horse. My father-in-law says the first rule of thumb is you have to like what you see, and I liked her a lot.”

After five minutes, each horse is patted gently all over the body as a form of shabaashi (congratulations). Parvati says every trainer has a string, which means the number of horses they train. “I train 19 to 25 horses everyday.” She ensures the horses are fit and obedient. “My day typically starts at 5.15 am, and goes on till about 9 am. In between I go to the yard to write down the next day’s work, including the treatments and the feed. That is on a normal day. There is more work on race days. “If you are lucky, you win, if you are unlucky, you come second, because there is nothing worse than coming second,” she adds with a laugh.

As we speak, a stunning, light brown colt is led into the the lunge pit. He gracefully trots around the pit while Parvati keeps her composure and commands respect. After a few minutes in the pit, she steps out saying, “I used the Monty Roberts technique to establish communication and trust without equipment.”

As we make our way to the stables, which are spotlessly clean, Parvati says, “I always loved horses. When I was 11, I lived with my family in Mumbai. My father found an ad for amateur riding classes. Once I took that class, I discovered I loved riding. I became a member there. Then at 16, I got the love of my life — a horse named Sir Dickson. There was a senior trainer called Pesi Shroff, a famous jockey, who was kind enough to give me this horse. My story began with Sir Dickson, because he taught me more about horses than any book or person.”

Parvati earlier made her foray into polo. “At one point, I was the only woman polo rider in India. I played the sport for the Amateur Riders Club versus the National Defence Academy and we won it. Then I got a polo scholarship to go abroad.” However, a twist of fate would change everything. “I had to bring Sir Dickson from Mumbai to Coorg. We didn’t want him to be alone, so I approached Darius Byramji (Rashid Byramji’s son and a leading trainer) for help. He asked me to ride with them. I never left. I married Darius.”

She recalls a memorable incident that played a part in her getting into horse training. “A senior trainer, Puttanna was sitting on the stands, while I was busy on the field. When he said he admires me, I said but I know nothing. He said in Kerala, they pay a person who belongs to the family to go around the estate, doing nothing but overseeing. So you think you are doing nothing, but you are doing a lot. It was then I thought I could do this. Darius said let us make it official to become a horse trainer.”

Parvati appeared for the ‘Assistant to Trainers Exam’ around 2013 to 2014. “I aced it! I then appeared for the ‘Assistant Trainer Exam’ in October 2016, and this time the exam was more difficult. I aced it again! I then appeared for the Trainer’s Exam in 2017, and received my license the same year,” says the 39-year-old Parvati. She, however, states that being a woman makes no difference. “It is not about whether you are a woman or a man, it comes down to the job that you do.” However, at every instance she gives credit to her team of workers.

There are several hurdles to being a horse trainer, believes Parvati. “The upkeep of horses is expensive, and the sport is heavily taxed. There is the challenge of infrastructure too.”Parvati debunks the misconceptions around poor treatment of horses: “We treat our horses extremely well. There are random checks of our stables, and we are closely monitored by the BTC, in house, and the Animal Welfare Board from the Government.”

(A column where we experience the lives and people of the city)

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Sravasti Datta / May 23rd, 2019