Events To Attend This Week (31/10/2014 – 06/11/2014)

1. Dharamshala International Film Festival

Dharamshala International Film Festival is a non-profit venture presented by White Crane Arts & Media, a trust set up by long-term Dharamshala residents and internationally renowned filmmakers, Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam, to promote contemporary art, cinema and independent media practices in the Himalayan region.

The festival is showcasing the best of recent Indian and international cinema and creating an intimate forum where filmmakers and film-lovers can interact in an informal and meaningful way. For more details, check out their website and facebook page. You can also get in touch with Black Swan Journeys for customized tours.

When: 30 October – 2 November, 2014
Where: DIFF House, Across Norbulingka Institute, Dharmshala (Dharamshala), HP – 176057

2. Connecting Change makers and Thought leaders – Secundrabad

A positive movement that provides a platform to changemakers to showcase their work and also connects them to like-minded people, SoCh is changing one city at a time. From bringing people together to helping them expand their reach, SoCh covers many grounds. Read more about their work here.

The team is back with the fourth edition of SoCh and, as usual, they are really excited about the speakers and performances that will be part of it. Sneak previews will be leaked regularly on this event page.

When: Nov 1 – 5pm to 8pm
Where: 9-1-84/1/A/1 Sardar Patel Road, Ring Road, next to Orchids Florist, Secunderabad

3. Indian folk painting exhibition – Mumbai

Jehangir Art Gallery has on display paintings by artist CD Mistry. The Ahmedabad-based artist is known for folk motifs in his works. He has served as a lecturer and principal of Sheth CN College of Fine Arts, Ahmedabad and has been a member of the jury of Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi. Know more about this event here.

When: Oct 27 – Nov 1
Where: Jehangir Art Gallery, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Colaba, Mumbai – 400001

4. Puppet Show: BhaamaKalaapam – Exalting Satyabhaama – Bangalore

PutthaliBimba live puppet theatre troupe presents “BhaamaKalaapam – Exalting Satyabhaama”, an adaptation of the evergreen classic Kuchipudi interlude to the ancient Vijayanagara Temples and Mysore court.
• Wood-and-Rod puppets with live Nattuvangam and live Classical Music ensemble .
• Original “puppet dance” choreography with classic dance Jatis by puppets!
• Handcarved puppets creation and story-narrative by Deepika Dorai with music support by proven performing classical musicians.

When: 01 Nov 2014, 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
Where: Bimba-The Art Ashram #42, Ratnavilas Road, Basavanagudi

Call Deepak 08041489354/26622639 for more details.

5. Kadak Badshahi- Ahmedabad

Directed By: Mallika Sarabhai, Yadavan Chandran and Nisarg Trivedi
Cast: Mallika Sarabhai, Raju Bharot, Amit Ambalal and Nisarg Trivedi

Kadak Badshahi is a play about the evolution of Ahmedabad city and outlines the major stories of the making of this city. Right from Sir Barrow Herbert Ellis Bridge, also called the Lakadiya pul, role of martyr Saduba to the famous Kankaria lake; the play tells the story of their importance in making the city called Amdavad for the rest of the world.

When: From Friday, Oct 31 till Sunday, Nov 09, 2014
Where: Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, Usmanpura, Ahmedabad – 380013

6. INK Live – Mumbai

INK Live is a unique and stimulating experience to witness a real-time telecast of the INK conference live and uncut.
The experience is designed for students and young professionals, and is very affordable. The event hosts interactive workshops, speaker interactions, inspiring and engaging discussions, and other fun-filled learning activities with peers. For speaker interactions, selected speakers are brought to the INK Live venue for face-to-face interaction with the attendees. Know more about the event 

Homes Become Schools As Employers Turn Teachers

Kani was forced to drop out of school when she was young. Today, she works as a domestic helper but is seeing a new ray of hope as her employer Gita is enabling her to read and write. Many women like Kani in Chennai are on their way to literacy, all thanks to their wonderful employers. Read about Kani and Gita’s life-changing journey.

It seems as if all the housework has been completed. The home looks spic and span with an almost gleaming finish to its ambience. As I walk in, I see that the clothes have been hung out, and the utensils are neatly stacked and left to dry under the mid-morning sun.

This looks like the average Indian household, I tell myself, not quite prepared for the surprise that was about to hit me a few minutes later. Somewhere from inside the house, I hear voices repeating basic spellings in English, interspersed by a few lines in Tamil by way of explanations for the meanings of some of the words.

Education has always been Kani’s dream. After Kani finishes with her work, Gita, her employer, sits down with her and they study together. (Credit: Kirthi Jayakumar\WFS)

As I make my way in, a heart warming scene unfolds before my eyes. The household helper, whose name I later learn is Kani, is poring over a notebook, pen in hand, while her employer, Gita, is teaching her. “Every day, after Kani finishes all the work, we sit down and study together. Education has always been her dream,” explains Gita.

Meanwhile, Kani is busy learning the vowels, pronouncing the many sounds they make and trying out new words for size. “I come from a village, and my family always believed that only boys should be educated. My sister and I were forced to drop out of school when we were barely in Class Six, while my brother is now on his way to becoming an engineer,” Kani reveals.

By teaching her basic English and Maths, with plans to include other subjects like Science, History and Geography later, Gita hopes to give Kani a shot at achieving her dreams.

“Of course, without a regular curriculum, one cannot quite expect to put her through the regular courses, although it is definitely achievable. I just hope to be able to bring her one step closer to being literate,” says Gita. She adds that if Kani is up to it, she would love to train her in using the computer and becoming tech-savvy, “This way, she could undertake some vocational training in time.”

The move sounds certainly inspiring and I am left with a feeling that there is definitely room to hope for change. Kani’s own story, though, reflects a rather painful undercurrent.

“Education in my village was almost a joke. We would go to a school where there were hardly any teachers. The few that were there wouldn’t show up – and when they did, we hardly learnt anything. I remember that if any of us in the class would so much as slightly annoy the teacher, she would drive us out and make us kneel down at the centre of the field outside under the noonday sun. The heat would singe our knees, and we’d often end up with wounds from the hard and uneven ground we were kneeling on,” she recalls.

Kani’s story reveals why many girls of her age end up with very low literacy skills despite having done some years of schooling. In the few instances where trained staff is shown on the payroll, they were not in actual attendance, with schools themselves sometimes remaining closed.

School education in India, especially for girls, has had its share of challenges. Through much of the country’s post-independence history, schooling was seen as a developmental goal rather than as a right. Things have changed over the last few years.

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (education for all children at the elementary level) and programmes under the Right to Education Act have helped to achieve almost universal coverage of school education, but most of the enrolment seems to have taken place in private schools. This indicates a significant shift in attitudes – parents are now beginning to perceive a dividend in investing in their children’s education. But such a realisation has come too late for women like Kani.

To come back to her story, Kani was married when she was still quite young. She doesn’t know her actual age but she looks to be her early twenties. Marriage put an end to any hopes she may have had to continue her schooling.

“When I got married and moved to Chennai, people told me that there were opportunities to study in the city, sometimes for free. But that never happened. Between running the home and earning enough to keep home fires burning, I had no time to even find out if such opportunities existed,” says she.

Today, she feels the possibility of being able to read and write has been kindled anew. “Now, with a few minutes spent learning each day, it is becoming progressively easier to access education,” she smiles. Earlier, Kani would take her homework back home so that she was prepared for the next day’s studies.

But her husband got wind of what she was up to and expressed his displeasure. In fact, as Gita elaborates, Kani’s husband paid her a visit one afternoon to state that he was unhappy about his wife’s studies. “It first started with him asking me why I was sending her back home a little later than usual.When I told her that she was learning how to read and write, he challenged me in an instant and asked me why she would have to learn to do either,” Gita reveals.

According to Kani, her husband would mockingly ask her if she had any grand plans of “becoming an officer”. Given this reaction, Kani resolved to complete her homework in her employer’s home, and try and be as discreet as possible about her attempts to educate herself.

A look into Kani’s notebook. (Credit: Kirthi Jayakumar\WFS)

As time has gone by, however, there has been a change of attitude. Kani is now quite fluent in reading and writing, and can manage small sums of addition and subtraction. Her husband has realised the advantages this has for the family.

“When my husband saw how it made things easier for him since I could now deal with household finances and even read to him, he became less hostile about my studies. As for me, it felt so nice to be able to read and write – what were just shapes and symbols for me earlier, now actually made sense,” Kani explains.

Gita, it appears, is not the only one who has taken to such teaching; and there are many more Kanis too in the city of Chennai. Says Kani: “Once I was reciting my day’s lessons to myself while waiting for the water tanker to come to our neighbourhood, and one of my friends asked me what I was doing. When I revealed my experiences to her, I discovered that she too was taking lessons from her employer. Slowly we discovered that there were many more like us who were making full use of the opportunities to learn that came their way.”

These are young women who are discovering new pathways to the future for themselves, with some help from sympathetic employers willing to invest some time in their lives with, of course, some application of mind on their own part.

The “each one teach one” approach has indeed the potential to change many lives. Kani believes her future looks a lot brighter now and Gita is determined to help her reach the next rung in the ladder of change.

TBI Travel: Art, Architecture And Culture In The Kangra Valley

Here is a first hand experience of a journey to the amazing Himachal Pradesh and its beautiful valleys. Join Gayatri Mendanha as she visits intense music concerts, tries her hand at art and pottery, samples exotic dishes like the Kangri dham, finds peace in the serene monasteries, experiences the thrill of paragliding, and much much more in just a few exciting days!

I keep my suitcase light. I carry words. For this journey, I chose Pico Iyer’s, ‘If travel is like love, it is, in the end, mostly because it’s a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, undimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed.’

On a mountain road with a skilled driver who knowingly imparts the strange thrill and chill of a roller coaster, I suspended disbelief and allowed myself to be taken for a ride. In the midst of the turns and gasps, as we wove our path to the skies, they burst forth in awe-inspiring beauty, snow capped and majestic – the mountains!! I had arrived, living an oft-awaited dream, in McLeod Ganj, the lively, colourful meeting point of people from all over the world and home to Tibetans in exile.

Exiled: Art on a street wall in McLeod Ganj

A glorious view of the changing shades of sunlight on the landscape kept me spell bound, in mid-step on a narrow lane. I walked through the lively streets to the Dalai Lama Temple – home to the 14th Dalai Lama. I found myself standing in the presence of the sacred and the aesthetic that met in the statues of Shakamuni Buddha, Padmasambhava and Avalokitesvara (which has relics handed down from Tibet) which embody deep meaning for Tibetans in exile.

Turning golden prayer wheels, circumambulating the temple, I pondered awhile gazing into the scenic distance, and then, as dusk passed into night, set out for a fusion music concert!

At this concert, Tibetan artists, musicians and painters, took me beyond facts and figures to feelings; unveiling themselves, their individual, personal agonies and hopes in their struggle towards a free Tibet. A poet in exile who outpours his pain and anger on the page, mesmerized the audience with elegant, powerful poetry.

Sacred aesthetics: I bow down in reverence ​

A Tibetan folk and freedom singer and songwriter enchanted us with the music of a traditional lute or Dramnyen. A Thangka painter integrated all these sounds, words and struggles onto a blank canvas, transforming it skilfully with life and colour.

It was symbolic of the inner transformations in us, witnesses called to enter into life-stories and naked truths. Living in exile, these artists recalled a traditional Tibet in their work keeping its fire and song alive. 30 years away from home, the stark deaths of a million Tibetans, an identity in transit, freedom still a dream – these were no humble, compassionate Buddhist monks, but exiles driven to sheer helplessness and left with no recourse but to stuff their hand in their mouth and bite that hand – orphans, who could not forgive and forget.

Each Tibetan had his/her own story of journeys made and a life pieced together from the fragments that remained and a dialogue with religion itself. A lifetime of waiting, pain and hope.

Fusion Concert: Tibetan artists, musicians and painters taking us beyond facts and figures

This mood of sombre truths and harsh reality was interspersed with happier stories, laughter and the singing of Bollywood numbers. We were warmly welcomed into a Tibetan home and savoured a traditional Tibetan meal of thukpa and tingmo.

We traveled next to the Kangra valley where I excitedly settled down for a workshop in Kangra art – a precise art that amalgamates colours, emotions and nature. Experts from the Kangra Arts Promotion Society crystallized for me the history and heritage of this miniature style of painting with the stories they narrated.

With the aid of a magnifying glass I admired the perfection in the artist’s attention to detail in these paintings. The morning was spent with noses, eyebrows and eyes; learning the strokes of the trade. After all that persistent, attentive engagement with proportions, expressions and delicate perfection, I accepted an invitation to a culinary treat – the Kangri Dham.

As new spices delighted my taste buds I indulged with the excitement of a curious child in a variety of preparations with names like chana madrah and sepu vadi. A sweetened delicacy called mithdee rounded off the feast. Intercultural recipes exchanged hands that day!

At the workshop on Kangra miniature paintings

Next on my Dharamshala map was Norbilinka Institute. When one steps into this grand repository of Tibetan art and culture, one steps into a world of enchantment and beauty. Here, in the marriage of the traditional with the modern, one samples greatness.

I silently sat in the presence of thangka painters who, after years of training, had mastered this patient, meditative art. A guide carefully explained the process by which the canvases were prepared, designs drawn and colours made from natural sources to its completion with gold embellishments and silk brocade. Truly majestic! I then followed my guide into another room, where a group of Tibetans was busily working towards the completion of a fabric thangka.

Hand cut pieces of brocade, silk and the use of Mongolian horses’ hair for outlining these sacred images, carries this centuries-old tradition into a modern work of dedication. In the workshop of the Tibetan carpenter, we see one dimensional drawings and designs delicately transform into polished artistic religious thrones. My guide then led me to the Deden Tsuglagkhang temple and in this space of reverence, colour and art, I discovered layers of deep symbolism. The Loseling Doll Museum houses dolls which take us on a journey through traditional styles of dressing reminiscent of Tibet’s cultural roots.

I was now ready to travel back in time to a sleepy little heritage village nestled in the Kangra valley, Garli – a place suspended in time! A guided tour transforms into a journey of exploration through narrow lanes, heritage buildings, temples & shrines.

With elegant havelis, mansions and Italianate buildings, interspersed with lovely mud-plastered and slate-roofed houses, Garli is a hamlet that lends itself to the photographic lens. With an amazing diversity of architecture (some decaying & some crumbling), scenery and biodiversity, Garli remains relatively unspoiled, giving her a medieval ambiance that enthralls with each new discovery, revealing yet another facet of herself.

Staying in a serai, an inn, and spending the evening with local folk singers and pahadi dancers got me dancing to their tunes and swaying along in the open courtyard beneath sparkling fairy lights.

A Thangka artist at work

Having spent time on terra, I travelled to Bir, one of the world’s best paragliding sites. Soaring in the skies, taking in the Dhauladhar range in its breathtaking splendour is a tick off a bucket list that leaves one at a loss for words. Back to terra, I indulged in a day devoted to pottery at Andretta, an artists’ colony near Palampur . The hours slipped by gently through my fingers in the moulding of form, texture and the learning of a new art. I eagerly submitted my pot and mud figurines for firing and glazing.

My last stop was the Monastery of Dzongsar Khyentse where you see monks debating animatedly with each other on the teachings they learnt that day. The gestures, hand movements and postures all signify the style of argumentation. I entered the Monastery, and was at once drawn into its awe-inspiring universe of sacred images, statues and aesthetics. It induced in me a deep, all-pervading reverence and I found myself in cross-legged meditation.

Transformed I was!

A heritage building in Garli

About Himachal Pradesh:

Himachal Pradesh is a beautiful melting pot, with a belly full of touristy bustle. A traveller and artist, range of experience notwithstanding, will agree that the true test of a place is the variety of company and loneliness it offers. Himachal can be your solitary escape as well as your boisterous get-away. It can give the fledgling or advanced taste of spirituality and it can offer you decadence. If the choices confuse you, it can offer you fresh air, green meadows and occasional drizzles to calm your mind and show you the way.

Quick Facts: Kangra valley, Himachal Pradesh

Kangra which was known anciently as ‘Trigarta’ is one of the most picturesque valleys in Himachal Pradesh. It is sheltered by the massive Dhauladhar range of mountains, rich in culture and history. It is a popular tourist destination, with the peak season around March and April. Dharamshala, the headquarters of Kangra district, lies on the southern spur of Dhauladhar in the valley.
Nearest Airport: Gaggal Airport (14 kms from Dharamshala)
Nearest Railhead: Pathankot Cantt (14 kms from Dharamshala)

At the pottery workshop in Andretta

Upcoming Attraction:

Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF) 2014 – 30th Oct – 2nd Nov.
Savour the best of contemporary independent cinema, meet filmmakers from India and abroad and participate in interesting workshops. While you journey into worldviews, perspectives and stories on screen, you can create adventures and stories of your own through the people and places you encounter.

how to upload videos in youtube

In Photos: How Love, Laughter And Care Can Make A Life Turn Around

Started by Madhu Tugnait, Icha Foundation has been taking care of every need of abandoned children, especially those with disabilities. From healthcare to education and clean clothes, Icha fulfills all their needs. With volunteers, doctors and caretakers treating them like their own kids, these lesser privileged kids now have a reason to smile (or should we say, grin!). Take a peek at the amazing photos that capture the essence of the wonderful cause. 

This is Icha Foundation. A young charitable trust Madhu Tugnait started less than four years ago with a lifetime commitment to raising abandoned children, particularly ones with disabilities from abjectly poor backgrounds. At the core of her calling lies the belief that every human born on this earth has the right to live in dignity besides being given an equal opportunity to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. A life can turn around with something as little as love, care and genuine affection.

It’s a tough project that runs mainly on her passion and compassion for the destitute. Tough because there is nothing normal or predictable with the kind of challenges these children present on a day-to-day basis. There are no benchmarks to refer to. Doctors are at least 50 km away and so are the supplies they need for sustenance.

Over four years, Tugnait has founded a beautiful ashram (orphanage) facing one of the largest fresh water lakes in Andhra Pradesh, mostly from her own life savings. 7 abandoned/rescued children with various disabilities such as mental retardation receive care, education and therapy at no cost to either them or the government. If she had the resources, she says she would handle more. “As many as there are to be found” she says emphatically. “But it’s hard to do it by oneself, without donors and volunteers,” she adds.

She has been blessed with supportive friends and family who have been instrumental in making this project possible right from the time she decided to build on what was dismissed by most as marsh land. Her circle of contacts have also helped her garner support from overseas in the form of donations that just about pay for the running expenses such as salaries for caretakers, therapists and food supplies for the 7 kids. As an extension, the foundation also takes care of 3 normal kids, those of the caretakers.

Take a peek at the photos below, and see for yourself what a little love, laughter and affection can do!

Ramakrishna is the resident physiotherapist at Icha Foundation. He is much-loved by the children even though he makes them do some tough exercises. The peaceful surroundings and the love he receives from them are a big bonus. The practice is helping him prepare for higher studies he says.

A caretaker’s main job involves feeding and maintaining the children like they were their mothers. Fussy eaters with disabilities makes this seemingly mundane task an everyday challenge.

This boy is not only paralysed in his legs, he also has pain if he closes his jaw. Simple tasks like drinking water become a trial for those who feed. Half the water goes trickling down the sides of the mouth.

These children may evoke your sympathy in a photograph, but in reality their zest for life evokes a very special kind of happiness. This child with all her problems manages to crawl as fast as a battery operated toy car. Full of energy and an infectious love for life, like any normal kid.

With medication and physiotherapy the staff is hoping this child’s epilepsy will be controlled and she may walk someday. At the moment she cannot stand and rolls on the floor to go from place to place.

Nursery rhymes help a mentally handicapped child to behave. One does not expect them to remember or respond to instruction in a linear way. There is no reward other than the pandemonium a child with limited mental functions brings to a class.

In severe cases of mental retardation as I was told by the teacher (handing this child), many cannot learn any subjects but may be capable of learning basic self-care habits. This child’s mental condition includes severe ADHD.

This boy cannot speak but manages to express himself with an eagerness to overcome his disability. He loves Johnny, Johnny, yes papa.

Though she’s 12 years old, this child behaves like she was five. She lives in a state of extreme excitement and disappointment speaking her own language to herself which is gibberish. She likes being in class but not the teacher.

A mentally retarded person is slow to learn and may have physical handicaps such as speech impairment, visual impairment, hearing defects, or epilepsy. In this case the child sleeps most of the time and is incapable of moving her body much. She responds positively to whispers in her ear and eats very little. Care taking requires patience and hope more than anything else.

The girl in the middle is very clever except that she has multiple deformities. From a cleft lip and palate to a single arm and deformity in her legs; in the company of normal kids she has learnt how to use her disabilities to her advantage and thus enjoys the status of being everybody’s pet.

Not all the causes of mental retardation are known; however, more than 200 have been identified, and many others are suspected. It has been a challenge for the founder of Icha to get access to medical health for the 7 children in her shelter. The boy in the middle is mentally alert, he is not dumb, he just has a speech impairment.

The cook who provides nourishment for these children maybe an illiterate but she shares the same compassion as the founder and does her job with zeal, keeping track of what each of the children likes or dislikes. Most of the food is organic and the kids are getting used to this acquired taste as is the staff which is used to eating spicy Indian curries.

The man who wears many hats, left his well-paying job in city as gardener to live amidst nature and clean up every kind of mess the kids leave behind. He ensures the garden is nourished with all the organic waste from the kitchen and that the children have fresh, clean clothes to wear.

Volunteers will have a crucial role to play in the forthcoming years of Icha Foundation. From teaching, painting, cooking, building, gardening, cleaning, healthcare, marketing and fundraising besides care taking, a volunteer can make his/her own itinerary of help based on his/her skill and interest area. As for the kids, they love visitors.

This child is one of the caretakers kids who helps her friends to learn from her. She enjoys learning nursery rhymes and hopes to be well versed in English while living with the disabled at Icha.

Caretakers are mostly salaried staff (some with kids) who have chosen to do this job and not migrate to the city to work as domestic help. Though the foundation does not have a school for want of funds, the caretakers children are learning in the classes being run in a room in the premises for the children with disabilities.

With support and visits from well wishers all over the planet, perhaps the vision to see a proper school will come to fruition. That way not only will the kids from Icha benefit as would the villagers from the nearby Kondakarla as well.

A view of the fresh water lake from the patio where volunteers and senior staff of Icha foundation stay. The rescued dogs are also permanent residents here who keep a watch on the property and the kids besides entertaining them.

A donation of as little as Rs.500 ($8.25) a month pays for doctor’s visits or vitamins required for a child with disabilities. If you wish to help please do get in touch with Madhu herself.

You can find her contact details here or you can email her at – madhutug@yahoo.com

The recent natural disaster in the region, cyclone Hudhud, has wreaked havoc on the home, making it difficult to get supplies and maintain the regularity of life. It has also brought in its wake several repairs and extra work that are squeezing the already paper thin resources of the foundation. If you wish to contribute, do check out the details here.

Nasa categorized cyclone Hudhud an equivalent of category 4 hurricane on the US Saffir-Simpson scale. That is one grade lower than catastrophic. Seen here is one of their heroes, their dhobi ‘Chitti Babu’ who mopped up every last shard of glass and splinter ensuring that the kids stayed safe, besides wading through the water to bring home drinking water, vegetables and the floating solar panels.

The Grocer’s Son Who Is Working With A Harvard Team On Detecting HIV With A Finger Prick Of Blood

Sultan Khetani could not afford to pay his school fees. Today, he is part of a Harvard team which has developed a technology to detect the HIV virus at diagnose stage. A grocer’s son, Khetani believes in taking chances and following his passion. Read his journey from Ameli to Harvard and how the revolutionary technology works. 

They say that if you actually want something and are passionate about it, you will get it no matter what, and we couldn’t agree more. Sultan Khetani is one such person who has proved that nothing comes in the way of true passion.

Khetani was born in an economically poor family where his father worked as a grocer to earn the family’s bread and butter. Born in a small village in Gujarat’s Ameli District, Khetani left home at a young age of four and spent all his childhood and teenage years living in various hostels.

Sultan Khetani is part of an eight member team which has developed a device that can detect HIV virus at diagnose stage.

“We belonged to a poor family and could not afford to pay for my schooling. Hence, I would travel from one hostel to another in Panchgani and Mumbai where trusts like the Fidai Trust and Life Trust would pay my fees. I never paid anything for my education yet somehow, through support from various people, I could continue my studies. I don’t even know where my fees came from and who paid for it,” says Khetani.

Ever since he was a child, he wanted to do something “different”. “I did not know what exactly, but I knew that I wanted to do something which involved machines and the human body,” says Khetani.

He planned to apply to IIT but somehow missed the deadline and got admission in a private college instead. “I would skip my college classes and spend time in a library reading books on Biomedical engineering. I guess that was the best place for me, and it helped me to realize my passion,” says Khetani. After graduation, he decided to follow his passion and do his masters in Biomedical Engineering.

Khetani (left) with the research head Hadi Shafiee.

While pursuing his masters from the department of Biomedical Engineering at SRM University, he applied for a Master’s thesis project in Harvard and got selected there. “I had gained some experience in this field as I kept working on and off ever since I was in first year of my engineering, and this helped me tremendously,” says Khetani.

“I do not believe in deadlines. I think if you want to do something very badly, just go for it and apply even if you have missed the time slot. If you are really worthy, you will get it no matter what. I just sent emails trying my luck, and look, I actually got it!” he further adds.

Khetani is now part of an eight member team where he is working to develop a low-cost hand-held microchip device for rapid HIV detection and treatment monitoring through viral load measurement on paper. In simple terms, this technology will enable the user to identify and detect the HIV virus in the body at the point of diagnosis.

The low cost hand held device can detect HIV with a finger prick of blood.

How does the technology work?

The unique technology will enable users to do viral load testing on their own without having to spend a huge amount in hospitals. Using a finger prick of blood placed on a disposable paper with flexible electrodes, one can find out the viral load in the body. Large quantities of such microchips can be made through printing technology at minimal cost. The test results can also be transmitted to the user’s mobile phone enabling him to send the results to a laboratory or a physician.

“The technology is unique because of its low-cost model. Unlike conventional technologies which cost around $200-$400, this technology costs only a few pennies. Also, the traditional tests take around 4-5 days to generate test results while this technology can give you the result in just 30 minutes,” says Khetani.

The technology can also be used to detect other diseases like hepatitis, influenza, and herpes.

“We have developed a weapon that can potentially revolutionize HIV management globally as it will facilitate rapid, simple, and inexpensive early diagnosis of HIV infection and treatment failure for millions of people in urgent need,” Khetani says.