Today, the first Sunday of the month (3rd April 2016),  The Arundhati Foundation took up the activity of filling potholes on CAMBRIDGE ROAD. We planned to fill two of them – a big one right opposite St Meera’s School, and a small one near the Voltas shop.  We decided to start with the bigger one.

It  has been a a nightmarish experience for commuters to get past this one as the road leading to it is a narrow road, with a T -junction right in front of School. To add to it, there is a blind turn on the right side with the pot hole sitting pretty right there!

A resident who came up to us to say thanks told us that he has complained to BBMP but nothing has been done about it. It was nice to see people stopping and thanking us for taking this up.

We used 100 Kgs of Shelmac ( ready made cold  mix from Shell)  to fill this pot hole !  This should give a rough idea about the size of this one! It cost the foundation three thousand  rupees ( 3,000/-) to fill this pothole . But we feel satisfied that it might save precious lives of someone like our daughter.

We chose to focus on just the one pothole, and used up all the Shelmac that we had procured. We will tackle the second pothole another day, after we procure more material.

We were joined by our friends and volunteers of the foundation, Mr Ajit Bedekar, Ms Arati Bedeker and Mr Muthukumar. It’s always nice to have friends to give a helping hand and they are a source of emotional support to us  during such activities.  Thank you Arati, Ajit and Kumar!

         

27 Feb 2016 : The Drive Safely session on Road Safety was conducted at Indo-US MIM Tec Pvt Ltd at their Hoskote facility.

It was an engaging and interactive discussion with 50 engineers including safety officers. I guess the message did make impact. I am especially happy that Indo-US MIM plans to follow up with a separate session for their Dodaballapur plant, and also plans to put up posters on road safety in and around their premises.

Thanks to Mr Manoj Kabre (VP, Marketing) and Mr Bala Subramanian (CFO) for their support. And Mr Vijaydas (Safety Officer) for organizing the event.

A special thanks to Mr Manoj Kabre who has also spread the word amongst several friends and colleagues from other organizations. We hope to carry our message to their teams.

An anecdote from the event to share with you : The driver who picked us up from our residence that morning was Mr Prabhakar from Swift Travels. When we began our journey we told him to keep off his cellphone and avoid jumping any signals. His Hindi was very good, and so I asked him where he came from. He said “Varanasi”. He has come to Bangalore to become a better driver and learn English. Later he will go back to Varanasi, and hopes to have his own cab for tourists. We asked him to join our session. After the presentation, he expressed his sorrow for Aru’s accident, and promised he would always drive safely. He then asked me questions about “Blind Spots” and how to deal with them. Then, on the way home, he got a phone call. He pulled over and parked the car, and then took the phone. It was from his boss. He finished the call and we re-started. We thanked him for following our “defensive driving” lesson, and urged him to do so every time – not just because we were in the car! He promised to drive safely. Thank you Prabhakar, and spread the message amongst your friends.

We were very happy that Prabhakar internalised our message. Even if it makes a difference to one person, the session is worth the effort!

Here are a few pics from the event

The work of The Arundhati Foundation is being noticed. We were fortunate to have some coverage in the recent past

11 Jan 2016 : In the Economic Times

14 Jan 2016 : In I Change My City

9 Feb 2016 : In The Better India

Thank you for spreading word about The Arundhati Foundation. And Many Thanks to The Friends of The Foundation whose support and well-wishes have helped us.

Together, we will succeed in bringing about the change.

6 Feb 2016

This session was organised at Shishumandir, Hella Nagar ( near Garden City College ). It was in 2 parts :

• For the younger children, we had the Disney Safety Smart Video emphasising the 4 cardinal rules of safety “Slow Down”, “Pay Attention”, “Use Protective Equipment”, and “Do Not Distract”. Thanks to the Underwriters Laboratory for making this video available to us.
• For the elder children who use 2 wheelers, we had a Drive Safely session covering our material on Defensive Driving

Many Thanks to Mr. Manoj Kabre and the Rotary Club who helped us organise this.  Thanks to Caroline who coordinated all the logistics.

some pics from the event :

4 Feb 2016

Thanks to Manjunatha K G – an old family friend, and an ex-colleague – now the Founder and CEO of Kenscio Digital Marketing Pvt Ltd.  He organised this session very effectively at his company premises.

The entire focus was on inculcating defensive driving habits. Thanks to the participants for making it a very interactive session, and also to those who have reached out to us to volunteer their support to The Arundhati Foundation.

Here are a few pics, and the pledge signed by the Kenscio employees.

29 Jan 2016 : A shudder ran through my body when I read the newspaper today morning. The news about the life of a young, bright, talented girl riding pillion being snuffed out was difficult to read. My heart goes out to her parents and their grief.  The young rider will forever bear the cross of this accident.

This has once again brought to the fore the need to reiterate and reinforce defensive driving practices.

Some points noted from the newspaper articles ( The Hindu, and The Times of India ) :

• Both the girls wore helmets. However, the news says that the girl who rode pillion did not have the helmet firmly strapped.
• This was the usual route for the rider and the pillion. They were familiar with the route. Yet, the rider chose to turn from the left hand side of the road, onto the right. This was at a traffic signal.  The 2-wheeler was hit by a milk-van. I will not go into any further details.

The Arundhati Foundation strongly advocates Defensive Driving Practices :

• Protect Yourself First : Wear your helmet. Ensure that it is the right fit, and strap it firmly.
• Be Aware of Blind Spots. 2-wheeler riders often believe that they are ‘visible’ to the other drivers, and the traffic will adapt to their movement on the roads.  Be familiar with not just your own blind spots, but also be aware of the blind spots of drivers of other vehicles.
• Slow Down. Hurried decisions can be devastating on the road.  Do not jump signals.  Slow down and stop when light changes from green to yellow.
• Pay Attention, Avoid Distraction.  In particular, avoid cellphones. Keep Eyes on the Road, Hands on the Wheel and Mind on the Traffic. The passenger should not distract the driver either.
• Mind the Gap, not Find the Gap. Trying to squeeze through gaps on a 2-wheeler can be dangerous. Avoid turning in front of moving vehicles.

At least 2 to 3 of the above principles stand out in the context of today’s news. I am sharing a couple of pics that we use in our sessions to spread the message on road safety and defensive driving. Let’s develop a safety mindset and aim to prevent accidents.

Drive Safely : It’s not what you drive that matters, but that you continue to drive. Make it a habit to drive defensively.

Aru’s Grandfather – Mr A. S. Tambwekar – created a nice acronym for Road Safety.
In this, he summarizes all the key messages that we include in our sessions.

Jan 15

During the Road Safety week, very aptly, Sasken invited us to conduct this session on Road Safety Awareness.
Thanks to Hari Iyer, Swami Krishnan, and Vidhya C who made this happen!

Hope to spread the message further!

Some more pics here