Letter to Student Series : Volume 3 Issue 5

My Dear Student Friends,

Greetings!

This is Dr. Ravi Saripalle, Founder, Inspire to Innovate (i2i) Storytelling Movement. Welcome to “Letter to Student Series- Volume 3 and Issue 5”. Hope you enjoyed reading my previous letter (they are available at http://i2itm.blogspot.in/). The goal of these letters is to inspire, educate, engage, entertain and empower students across the country and make them Future Ready. Welcome to Year 2018!!!

Nirbhay Thacker, 15-Year-Old, completes 4-Year Engineering Degree in One Year: When I was 15 years old, I was studying 10^th class. That time, my only requirement was somehow complete 10^th, eat different foods and play during holidays and summer!! Beyond this, there was no consideration! Recently I was reading an article @ thebetterindia/Ahmedabad Mirror about Nirbhay Thacker who could manage to complete 4 year engineering degree in 1 year with 8.23 CGPA! Wow! It was a great accomplishment right? A student of GTU (Gujarat Technological University), Nirbhay has become youngest in GTU to complete and earn engineering degree in electrical engineering! He used to study for 6 hours, complete 4000 pages of various subjects in 50 days! What an Hercules task? He also completed 5 classes (8^th, 9 ^th, 10 ^th, 11 ^th and 12 ^th ) in 1 year itself! Currently he is working with IIT Gandhinagar to study on superconducting synchronous machine, which will be used in fighter plane or submarine. The core skills of Nirbhay were listening, visualizing, and applying the of concepts. Nirbhay is amazing child prodigy. Thank you Ahmedabad Mirror and The Better India for publishing such an inspiring article. If you want to read more about this article, please visit (http://ahmedabadmirror.indiatimes.com/ahmedabad/education/teen-wonder-completes-engg-degree-in-one-year/articleshow/62435041.cms or https://www.thebetterindia.com/127420/child-prodigy-gujarat-students-completes-engineering-degree-in-one-year/amp/)

Ministry of Loneliness, Govt. of UK, an innovative solution to the Global Problem: Government of UK recently established (Jan 2018) a new ministry called Ministry of Loneliness, which deals with social issues related to loneliness. It tries to implement the recommendations of the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness. Helen Joanne Cox was a British Labour Party politician, Member of Parliament (MP), UK. Cox became a campaigner on issues relating civil wars. She was shot dead on 16 June 2016. Jo Cox studied in London school of Economics. She studied hard on various social issues related to loneliness and how these issues lead to extreme steps. Now Government has recognized her efforts and started this new Ministry. This Ministry is trying to help children, adults and old age people who are suffering with loneliness across the Nation.

Across the world, Loneliness has become acute social concern. Despite technological advancements and socially connected apps, incredible communication systems, still most people around the world are suffering with loneliness. It is not just social problem but it is also health and mental issue. More and more families are fragmenting and getting isolated. This is the major cause. An article by Kerby Anderson stated that, death, divorce and deferred marriage are playing major role in  creating loneliness. Few other reasons causing loneliness are frequent movements, apartment complexes, 24/7 shifts and fragmented families. Most important aspect of loneliness is anchoring for privacy and declining personal interaction. Few techniques like spirituality, yoga, smiling, greetings, firm handshake / Namaste and taking time to listen to others will help in reducing loneliness. Thank you Larry J. Mcelroy for your wonderful article.  

Dear Student Friends, Life is short. There are multiple things we need to do in this short period. Time given to us is short. We need to accomplish all defined goals in that stipulated time. Where is scope for loneliness? Please introspect. Love your circumstances and Be Happy. This is best solution for any conditions. Do you agree? Will you take oath for never be lonely? (psychologically! I am not expecting physically!). Yes you are committing. Thank you very much for your commitment. https://rcg.org/realtruth/articles/091207-002-society.html;                       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Minister_for_Loneliness; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Cox

22% Indians Suffer From Constipation!! Reasons and Solution? It looks odd to discuss this topic openly. People are embarrassed to talk about this but it is not a good sign! Constipation is most occurring problem after common cold and cough. Constipation is a digestive issue. It results in to infrequent bowel movement or people face terrific difficulty in passing stool. As per healthcare firm Abbott Gut Health Survey, 22% of the adult Indian population is facing this issue, within this, 13% are complaining of severe constipation! The main root cause for this problem is "sedentary lifestyle". Now a days, the amount of physical activity is getting low. On top of this, diet and lifestyle habits are causing constipation.  The solution for this problem is taking enough water, fibre and have good physical exercise! What a simple solution right? Are you taking enough water and fiber in your food? Try to avoid junk food and do 30 minutes of physical activity every day. You will be happy and healthy! Will You? I am sure you will. Thank you for listening to me. If you want to read more about this article, please visit https://www.ndtv.com/food/22-indians-suffer-from-constipation-4-foods-that-can-help-ease-bowel-movement-1803971.

A tool to detect bacteria in food and water : University of Massachusetts Team has developed a tool to detect bacteria in fresh food and water! Congratulations Team. Great Job. It is going to be wonderful innovation once it is commercially available in the market. Team is trying to make it affordable so that common men can buy it, use it before they consume fresh or raw food. The tool has reliable and sensitive bacteria-detecting chip. It uses light microscope for optical detection: 3-mercaptophenylboronic acid (3-MBPA) that attracts bacteria. We just need  samples of water, juice, mashed vegetable leaf  and place it on the chip for detection. Great work right. If you want to read more, please do visit this article at https://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/health-and-wellbeing/240118/scientists-develop-affordable-tool-to-detect-bacteria-in-food-water.html.

World Economic Forum- 1 Million Workers Targeted globally in Tech-Reskilling Drive by Jan 2021: Amazing right? Did you check http://www.theskillset.org/? SkillSET:
Sustainable Education and Training for the Digital Economy! It is a project envisioned by World Economic Forum IT industry community in cooperation with the Forum’s Education, Gender and Work System Initiative. As per the estimate,  9% to 50% current jobs are at risk of automation. The skills covered are general business skills to basic digital literacy to entrepreneurship to more advanced skills like cyber-security, big data and IoT etc. TCS, Infosys, Accenture, CA Technologies, Cisco, Cognizant, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Pegasystems, PwC, Salesforce and SAP have joined hands to develop the training content and platform. Thank you for your great initiative. This helps in reducing employability issues. Klaus Schwab, founder of world economic forum says educational system should be redefined which brings lifelong learning and can prepare employee for future. Forth Industrial Revolution is arriving in big way. These are few initiatives helping working communities. Did you take assessment and find out where you stand? Do you require up skilling? Get prepared. If you want to read more about this article, please do visit https://www.ndtv.com/business/at-davos-infosys-tcs-join-global-reskilling-drive-for-1-million-workers-1803988

The world’s first vertical forest for low-income housing, Netherlands: Stefano Boeri, famous architect has designed and built vertical forests across the world. Boeri is starting a new project to counter the challenges of climate change and housing shortages in urban setting! What a idea right? It is the need of hour! His new project is going to have 19 storeys with 125 trees and 5,200 plants of various species.! In India, we require similar solutions. It is part of urban forestry movement. It is not just for environment safety but it greatly improves urban living conditions. Amazing job Stefano Boeri. Thank you positive news. If you want to read more, please visit https://www.positive.news/2018/society/30981/the-worlds-first-vertical-forest-for-low-income-housing-is-coming-to-the-netherlands/

Dear Students, Hope you completed Future readiness assessment. This is to help you to plan your life better and make you relevant in the context of 4th Industrial revolution. Please take this assessment every month without fail. It is not one time activity but it is a regular assessment process. It acts like reminder to 5 important activities- Inspire yourself through positive stories, get mentored from your role model, develop your natural intelligence, manage academics and do physical activity. If you can manage these 5, no one can stop your progress. Are you game? 

Request you to answer the following five questions and calculate your Future Readiness.

1.         I read / hear stories of amazing people           

 (A) weekly once (10 marks)           (B) monthly once (5 marks)                                                                                (C) Irregular reading (2 marks)    (D)Not Interested (0 marks)

2.         I write letter / mail to my mentor (other than parents) for guidance (professional / personal)

(A) every 6 months (10 marks)      (B) yearly once (5 marks)                                                                             (C) Irregular writing (2 marks)    (D)Not Interested (0 marks)

3.         I practice my passion or natural intelligence (to know your intelligence https://goo.gl/vgyD54) 

(A) weekly 4 hours (10 marks)       (B) weekly 2 hours (5 marks)                                                                      (C) Irregular practice (2 marks)    (D)Not Interested (0 marks)

4.         I manage my academics with consistent percentage or grade 

(A) A Grade and above  (10 marks)            (B) B Grade and above  (5 marks)                                            (C) C Grade or below (2 marks)                  (D)Consistent Failure (0 marks)

5.         I do physical activity and maintain good health  

(A) weekly 4 hours (10 marks)       (B) weekly 2 hours (5 marks)                                                                      (C) Irregular practice (2 marks)    (D)Not Interested (0 marks)

Check Your Score and Title

I wish you should be either Performer (your score should be between 40-50) or Challenger (your score should be between 25-40). You should not give any scope to be  Lounger (relaxed) with 10-25 score or Laggard (slower than desired) with score less than 10.

My Dear Friends, Appreciate your valuable time. Life is short. Life without purpose is no worth. Purpose without substance is no hope. Hope without you is not real progress. Hence you are the key and critical for our nation's growth. Hope you concur with me. You are carrying a message, a hope, a purpose. Hope you understand my anguish. See you in my next letter. Thank you for giving me this wonderful opportunity. You can also reach to me at sdindia2020@gmail.com. I am happy to respond to your letter.

With Best Wishes,

Dr. Ravi Saripalle

About Author:    Dr. Ravi Saripalle is Founder of Inspire to Innovate (i2i) Storytelling Movement and Director, Center for Innovation, GVP College of Engineering (A), Vizag, AP, India. As part of Inspire to Innovate (i2i) Storytelling Movement, Dr.Ravi is trying to instill inspiration through spreading positive stories of amazing people in the form of short stories, embedding them in the form of letters (epistolary form) and sending them to thousands of schools, colleges, universities districts administration across India. Also conducting Storytelling Workshops in select institutions. Providing customized mentoring to inspired students. Dr. Ravi is having 18 years of experience in Industry, Consultancy, Training, Mentoring and Research. Prior to this current mission, Ravi worked with Wipro Technologies for more than a decade.  Ravi can be reached at sdindia2020@gmail,com or http://i2itm.blogspot.in/ or https://www.facebook.com/RaviSaripalle

Previous letters are available at http://i2itm.blogspot.in/

Disclaimer: The goal of this i2iSM letter series campaign is to inspire students / youth through storytelling and develop innovative leaders to build strong nation. In this process, I have taken several data points from various websites, NEWS articles, books, videos etc. I sincerely thank all the editors for providing such an insightful stories and information. To the best of my knowledge, I tried to acknowledge all the sources. I sincerely apologize for any omissions, grammatical mistakes and hurting any reader’s sentiments. I request all the readers to understand the spirit behind this effort. This effort doesn’t involve any commercials. Letter series is for free distribution.