After his father’s demise, one-year-old Palam Kalyanasundaram’s mother struggled to bring him up. Since there was no school, bus, electricity, or even a proper road in his small village of Mela Karivelam Kulam in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, the little boy had to walk ten kilometres every day to school and back. No other child in his village attended school, since they could not afford the monthly fee of five rupees. So through her hard labour, his mother paid for other children’s fees, books and clothes, so that they too could go to school with him. Thus, from childhood, Kalyanasundaram learned to share with others.

Kalyanasundaram desired to study his rich Tamil culture and history by taking up Tamil literature for his Master’s degree. Seeing his interest, the founder of MTT Hindu College not only introduced the subject in the college, but also sponsored his education. So again Kalyanasundaram saw others’ generosity in his education.

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The unexpected and sudden demise of Fr Varghese Alengaden, the founder of the Universal Solidarity Movement, in Indore on 26 March 2023, has created a huge vacuum in the world of peace-lovers. Fr Alengaden always believed in the power of youth in building a country of peace, acceptance and love. His personal goal was acceptance, appreciation and promotion of all persons and their cultures.

In 1993, as the country was facing the ugly demons of religious intolerance and communal violence, he felt the urgent need to begin a crusade with all
like-minded people which he named as the Universal Solidarity Movement. He truly dreamt of a world where people of all creeds, colours and countries live in love and peace. Over the last 30 years, he has motivated lakhs of students, teachers, religious leaders and social activists with his vision and his mission.

His prophetic life was based on a broad and lasting vision. A prophet can never die, his far-reaching vision, his exhilarating words, writings and soul-stirring songs will continue to inspire many more in the days to come. The fire he lit will continue to burn in the hearts of millions in India and abroad and take ahead his lasting legacy.

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The 12-year-old bride came to stay with her husband, Perumal, in Pullucheri, Madurai district in Tamil Nadu. Chinna Pillai used to go along with women from the village to work in the fields of the high caste landowners. Exploiting the vulnerability of these landless dalits, the wealthy landowners paid them below normal wage. Their pleading for an increase in their daily wages went unheard.

To make ends meet, these hapless labourers were forced to borrow at a high interest of 300 per cent from moneylenders. Chinna Pillai, now a mother of two sons and three daughters, also became a victim of this oppression.

Local MP Vasimalai had an idea to save these poor rural folk from the slavery of the powerful moneylenders. The former student of the Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad) had given up an attractive job to work at the grassroots level. Later, he headed the Dhan Foundation. Vasimalai asked the women to form groups of 20; everyone had to deposit Rs 20 monthly. The cumulative amount was then lent to one of the group members at an interest of 60 per cent. Though this interest too sounds big, compared to the 300 per cent interest of the moneylenders, it was much less.

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World Rose Day has become increasingly significant in present times with the ever-higher prevalence of cancer. Celebrated on 22 September each year, World Rose Day aims to bring joy to the lives of cancer patients across the globe and to promote awareness about early identification and prevention. Did you know that this day was marked in remembrance of Melinda Rose Hathaway, a cancer patient from Canada?

On 14 February 1994, when Melinda was 12-years old, she was diagnosed with Askin’s Tumor, a rare form of blood cancer. In spite of the fact that the doctors had given her only six weeks of survival time, she fought the disease against all odds and lived for six more months. The courage and sheer determination with which Melinda withstood the deadly disease was amazing. During those six months, she spent her days living life to the fullest. She insisted on going to school almost every day and even went to camp for a week and had a great time.

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The 14-year-old newly-married bride left her house in Sitapur to stay with her 18-year-old husband in a Kanpur slum in Uttar Pradesh. Kalavati Devi was disgusted to find that everyone in Raja ka Purwa slum relieved themselves on the streets. “If someone were to draw a picture of hell, that slum would perfectly fit,” she said.

She came up with the idea of building latrines in her area. Her husband, Jairaj Singh, agreed to cooperate with her. When they approached the Kanpur Municipal Corporation, the Commissioner was ready to offer them two lakh rupees to build a community latrine, provided that the community contributed another one third of that amount.

But the 700 families living in the slum, consisting of poor rickshawalahs, domestic servants and daily wagers, were unwilling to contribute any money or even free labour and not even the space. Not recognizing the necessity for latrines, they wanted to continue their age-old practice. They were also suspicious of the motives behind the initiative.

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Most people can look back on their school days and remember one teacher who really inspired them. Peter Tabichi is the most-loved teacher from Kenya who is committed to making a difference in the lives of his students. To some students, he is the parent they don’t have; to others, he is the friend that sticks closer than a brother. His remarkable contributions to the pupils of a school in Kenya’s remote Rift Valley region won him the prestigious Global Teacher Award in 2019, beating 10,000 other nominees from 179 countries globally.

Peter Tabichi was born in 1982 in Nyamira County, Kenya. He lost his mother when he was just 11 years old, leaving his father, a primary school teacher, to raise him and his siblings alone. Coming from a family of teachers, Peter wanted to become a teacher. He joined the Franciscan religious order, a unit of the Catholic religious order founded by St Francis of Assisi, and became a Franciscan friar.

Peter is a qualified science teacher who worked at four schools in Kenya and Uganda before ending up at Keriko Mixed Day Secondary School where he has taught since 2015.

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An 11-year-old girl overheard her parents discussing about giving her in marriage along with her 13-year-old sister Babli.

“No, I do not want to get married now. I want to study,” protested sixth grader Payal Jangid. “If you forcefully marry me, I will run away from the village.”

Payal’s frightened parents were obliged to give up the marriage proposal.

Child marriage was prevalent in Payal’s Hinsla village, about 100 km away from Jaipur in Rajasthan. Deeming that girls belong to other families, many poor, illiterate parents did not want to spend money on their daughters’ education, but wanted to get rid of their minor daughters through marriage.

Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi and his wife Sumedha visited Hinsla in 2012 and spoke to the community about a child’s right to education, healthcare and protection from exploitation. Inspired by their Bachpan Bachao Andolan, Payal too joined them.

Gradually Payal was elected as the sarpanch (leader) of her village’s Bal Panchayat (Children’s Parliament). She campaigned against child marriage and canvassed boys and girls to protest against it.

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