Sanitation heroes to adventurers: our TEDxGateway Mumbai picks

Ahead of Mumbai’s TEDxGateway talk this past weekend, Firstpost caught up with Lt. Cdr. Abhilash Tomy, Popatrao Pawar and Krithi Karanth - three of speakers scheduled to share their inspiring and thoughtful ideas and experiences. [caption id=“attachment_41452” align=“alignleft” width=“300”]  Archive Image. Ruth Fremson/The New York Times[/caption] Firstpost was one of the partners of the TEDxGateway talks in Mumbai. Lt. Cdr. Abhilash Tomy ‘Adventurer’ is the first word that comes to mind when you see Lt. Cdr. Abhilash Tomy. The decorated reconnaissance pilot with the Indian Navy is the first Indian to sail solo around the world without any stops. In his interview with Firstpost, he shared how his love for the sea came from images of an Indian Army expedition sailing around the world in a yacht named Trishna. After joining the Navy, he took up sailing as a hobby, took up racing and eventually volunteered to assist Cdr. Dilip Donde in his global voyage with stops in South Africa and Brazil. That voyage inspired the Navy to go to the next level and ask Tomy if he’d like to undertake a solo circumnavigation. It was a no-brainer for him. He lived on the boat for almost a year, learning the ins and outs of the vessel and building up the physical strength required for the 150 day journey. “The main training came when I captained the boat (on Cdr. Donde’s voyage) from Rio to Cape Town with one crew and then solo from Cape Town to Goa,” he said. While being alone wasn’t a problem for Tomy he did have to learn how to cook to feed himself. The aim of his voyage and the Navy’s hope was to take images of the voyage to those parts of India that aren’t aware of what a massive resource the ocean is, giving them a taste of what the seas look and smell like. In the 6 months since Tomy’s return the journey has made over 400 million impressions. When asked where his sense of adventure comes, Tomy said it’s in everyone. “The problem is when a person is given an opportunity that could change his life…he decides to go to office, sit in a chair and come back home.”

____________________________________________________________ Popatrao Pawar Popatrao Pawar has a saying in Hivre Bazaar,‘Ek machchar dikhao, sau rupaiye lelo’, a testament to the high sanitation levels of his village. Ever since he gave up a career in cricket and was elected sarpanch of Hivre Bazaar almost 25 years ago, things have only gone up hill for the once drought-prone, socially crumbling, black-listed village in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. Pitiful amounts of rain and lack of employment led to a mass migration to the cities. Those that did remain behind turned to alcohol. “Teachers aur villagers school mein baithke sharaab pite the.” The circumstances pained Pawar, who wanted his village to resemble the village of his youth. He gave up his steady job in the city and moved back home, running for sarpanch. Healthy support from women and the youth helped him secure a victory which allowed him to start implementing his visions for Hivre Bazaar. First on the list to be fixed were the schools, followed by soil water conservation and cropping pattern programs. Pawar used every government service the village qualified for and before long results could be seen. The school system flourished, newly introduced cash crops increased household incomes, the sanitation system was fixed and the town was eventually recognized by the Maharastra government as a ‘model village.’ Pawar says the village has had visitors from over 112 countries, apart from university students, local NGOs and CSR groups, stopping by to learn how Pawar weaved his magic to bring his village back from the brink. He’s glad his ideas are being appreciated and adopted. His next undertaking is to work on a village brand marketing scheme so that he can fulfill Mahatma Gandhi’s “gram swaraj gaon.”

____________________________________________________________ Krithi Karanth Growing up, Krithi Karanth was surrounded by nature and wildlife; she spotted her first wild tiger by the time she was 2 years old. When deciding what career to pursue she avoided following her father’s footsteps and get into biology, but chose to stick close to home and delve into environmenal science. Her research work has focused on a range of issues from species distribution patterns to various dimensions of human-wildlife conflict. One of her most impactful findings was referred to by the Supreme Court last year when it decided to place restrictions on wildlife tourism. Her studies revealed the development of the tourism industry into an elitist affair. Catering to people who are intent only on checking a tiger sighting off their to-do list, Karanth said the lodge owners usually don’t use their profits to help preservation efforts. “I personally think tourism is very important,” she said, since it allows people to engage with a place and species. She feels the system has to be harnessed correctly and this can be done through strict rules and enforcement. She suggests introducing limits to the number of visitors and jeep safaris per day and making the entry to the parks revolve around a first-come-first serve system. Karanth is also piloting a program to help farmers claim compensations for losses suffered due to destruction of crops. Karanth and her network of colleagues want to set up a helpline that can provide farmers with the necessary information and support to help them file such petitions with the goverment.

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