Padma Nandakumar- True example for women empowerment

Women have many roles to play, a mother, a sister, a wife and many more roles in their life time. She has many dimensions for her personality. She has to step into many shoes at many points of her life. As there is a saying, if a girl in the family is educated, she knows how to keep her entire family educated. Women with her thoughts and actions can truly empower herself, her family and the society. There are many such women’s who have had and who will continue to change lives of many people through their endless empowerment.

My inspiration for today’s article comes not from any celebrity. She is someone as normal like us, who continues to inspire people around her. I have known her very closely and she is Padma Nandakumar. Hailing from a simple middle class background, Padma had always inclination towards art from childhood.  She continued to hone her skills day by day, in creating various unique crafts like carving dry coconut, making clay models, creating lot many art works which could decorate many houses and which are extensively used in traditional Indian weeding.

After her marriage, Padma initially didn't get much chance to explore her skills. She was busy with her family life. There comes a day, where she decides to pursue her hobby to satisy her passion. In early 90’s there was no market available for her crafts to be salable at high prices. She struggled to make money, however her passion to achieve success kept her going. She started in a small scale. She started to build her network so she could supply her art work. She had her own share of struggle and one day she was able to hit the nail

Today she has more than 30 plus women working under her round the clock, 7 days a week. She supplies her art work to most part of Bangalore and Karnataka. She has created many customized versions of art which are truly impeccable. Her art work is unconventional and still she tries to work hard and finds a market for them, at the age of 64 she never rests. She thrives harder day by day to make significant contribution to her family and people around her. She has given bread and butter to many families. People talk about women empowerment, she have achieved it through her efforts. She has created jobs for many girls/women, who could support their families, many wives to run their home with a drunkard husband, many mothers to support their kids’ education. She has reached out to many downtrodden and poor people who hardly have any education. She has employed and provided life for many uneducated women. She provided hope for many women to stand on their own legs, even though they were not educated. They could still lead a decent life by learning skills thought by Padma.

People like Padma, continues to mark a difference in the society. We must really appreciate her commendable strength, where she could dream a hope for herself empowering many women around her. She proved that no skills in life can go in vain; it’s all in your hands to polish it and utilize it in a right way. 

Thimakka- A environmentalist with great contribution

Today technology is so advanced; we are able to create anything. Technology has created many wonders.  However, we have damaged Mother Nature in many ways. Our vehicle/factory pollution have increased beyond imagination, every day human beings are significantly contributing to the damage of the Mother Nature in many ways, people across the world are talking about global warming and pollution. Every human being need to take an oath to contribute to stop this damage in his/her own ways. There are people around the world, even being uneducated and unaware of many scenarios are still contributing for the benefit of many people

Thimakka planted around 254 peepul/banyan trees between Kudur and Hulikal in Karnataka, India. This is an avenue of tall trees. These trees provided shelter for many travelers for shade and avoided soil erosion providing oxygen for humans.  The road didn’t even had a single tree for fifty years; the climate was hot, dry and dusty. Thimakka with her husband chikkaiah transformed the entire region by planting this trees which now provide shade and warmth to many people around.

Chikkaiah and Thimmakka were landless laborers and they were childless. Also, Chikkaiah was a stammer, they were kind of loners. They decided to plant trees. They choose a road between Kudur and Hulikal, which was hot and dry, but often used by the villagers. They started raising peepul trees in nursery and they started planting them in either sides of road. Planting tree was easy, but maintaining and nurturing them was difficult. 

Thimmakka and Chikkaiah watered the plants every day until they were established, then three days a week for a year, and subsequently every week until they were ten years old. Every day they would set out with two pots each, filling and refilling them on the way. It took 40-50 pots a day to water the plants.  Each year they planted 15-20 plants until they covered the stretch of road between Kudur and Hulikal, Karnataka, India. Chikkaiah stopped working in order to look after the trees, and he did this until his death in 1990.
After Chikkaiah’s death Thimmakaa kept the urge to continue her goal to plant more and more trees and water them. She continued her struggle and journey alone planting more and more trees and watering them. Her determination and motivation to provide shelter for more and more people and also to keep the environment cool in terms of weather kept her going. She never stopped though it was physically stressful. She became a champion of afforestation. She started educating people about the benefits of plantation through stories and songs. Thimakka, was given a title called a lady who planted trees in row, she has received international acclaim. American environmental company based out of Oakland has started an organization under her name. 

A lady with her persistent motivation and passion kept a stretch of 4 kilometers cool and pleasant. She set up an example, being uneducated and poor; nothing could stop from contributing to the benefit of others and the Mother Nature. At the age of 75, still she contributes effectively in her own way to protect people around her and for their benefit.

Lata Mangeshkar- Nightingale of India

A beautiful song with good lyrics and sung by great singer can inspire your soul. Music has such a tremendous effect in everyone’s life. World has been inspired with many such great musicians who have rendered their melody making us grove for their tune. Lata Mangeshkar, the Nightingale of India is the greatest playback singer world has ever seen. She is the encyclopedia of music. She has been honored with the highest honors in India like Bharat Ratna (2001), Dada Saheb Phalke Award, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan.

Lata Mangeshkar was born in Madhya Pradesh. Her father, Deenanath Mangeshkar was a classical singer and theater artist. Her music career started as early as the age of five, when she started assisting her father, in his musical plays. Her father passed away when she was 13 and then her struggle in the real world began.

Being eldest in the family, she has to step up to the role of bread winner for her siblings and her mother. She started singing in temples to earn money to feed her family. 

Lata started exploring opportunities to song in movies. In 1940, Indian music industry was influenced by Nasal voices; Lata was rejected from many projects because it was believed that her voice was too high-pitched and thin. She acted in as many as eight films in Hindi and Marathi to take care of economic hardships of her family. She made her debut as a playback singer in the Marathi film but, ironically, the song was edited out. She had to go through her hardships. She got a break in 1948 and she never looked back in her career spanning 70 years till date.

Mangeshkar was featured in the Guinness Book of World Records from 1974 to 1991 for having made the most recordings in the world. She has recorded no less than 25,000 solo, duet, and chorus-backed songs in 20 Indian languages between 1948 to 1974. In this entire journey of music, she saw many ups and downs of life with many music directors. She fought for royalty rights for singers. She was the first singer in India to fight and win the royalty rights for every song a singer sings.

She has sung with almost all major music directors in India. She has made a tremendous contribution to music inspiring millions of people through her music. She has song many songs of various varieties entertaining people across the globe. She is a true inspiration to the world.