5 cities, 25 volunteers, 50 schools…

Dear All: Today I am proud to unveil a modestly ambitious (modest by almost any standards but ambitious for me!) project in which I seek your cooperation and support.

I am looking for help from 25 volunteers (in five cities to start with) who are willing and ready to go to 2 schools each, print/photocopy four copies of “Saluting our Heroes: The Param Virs of Bharat” for the school library *and*  read one chapter (of their choice) in the school’s morning assembly or to a class of students. I would love to kick-start this project in mid-April.

I will share an A4-sized pdf copy of the book with the volunteers; they will just have to bear the cost of printing/photocopying four copies (I can help with that too – if it is a problem for someone). Please do your good deed for the day by spreading the word! Better still, why not volunteer to be one of the 25? Pl leave a comment on the blog, on fb, email me or tweet back…Thank you very much and looking forward to hearing from many of you.  Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!

P.S. I also need someone to *manage* this whole “project”. Beware that this will very likely involve endless emails, possibly a lot of to-and-fro and juggling of multiple tasks. All I can promise in return is a BIG (and genuine) thank you – and a very honourable mention on the blog. If you are up for it, please let me know. I expect this “project” to last from 3-6 weeks (max).

In terms of time commitment, I expect Volunteers to commit to about 8-10 hrs in total (incl. time spent at the school). The task of Project Management will require about 10-15 hrs every week during the 3-6 week period.  Thanks.

Related Posts: A labour of love – and the formal launch. Also watch: The Story Behind the Book

P.S. The entire series is now available as a book via flipkart and others..

Flipkart: http://www.flipkart.com/saluting-our-heroes-9382359915/p/9789382359913

Infibeam: http://www.infibeam.com/Books/saluting-our-heroes-param-virs-bharat-shantanu-bhagwat/9789382359913.html?utm_term=978-93-82359-91-3_1_1

IndiaPlaza: http://www.indiaplaza.com/

Dial-A-Book: http://www.dialabook.in/search.php?search=Saluting Our Heroes: The Param Virs of Bharat

Issuu: http://issuu.com/satyamevajayate/docs/saluting_our_heroes_-_the_param_vir

and of course at Pothi.com: http://pothi.com/pothi/book/shantanu-bhagwat-saluting-our-heroes-param-virs-bharat

B Shantanu

Political Activist, Blogger, Advisor to start-ups, Seed investor. One time VC and ex-Diplomat. Failed mushroom farmer; ex Radio Jockey. Currently involved in Reclaiming India - One Step at a Time.

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18 Responses

  1. Dhanraj Dange says:

    Respected sir,
    I am very happy & feeling good after read your idea about saluting our real hero. Now I would like to know more about project.

    Thanks,

    Yours,

    Dhanraj
    Thane

  2. Prem says:

    Shantanu,
    If this can be managed remotely/online, I will be honored to be a part of this initiative. Please let me know.

    -Prem

  3. B Shantanu says:

    Thanks Dhanraj: Pl expect an email soon, following up on this..
    Dear Prem: Thanks for the gracious offer of help…Let me think through if there is anything you can help with online/virtually…
    Thanks to both of you again.

  4. Ramesh says:

    What a great ACT on your part dear Shantanu!

    Sure ultimately it will help create the leaders of the sort India needs!

    Kudos to you intellect, idea and logic!!

    I feel greatly humbled! Feel sorry I can’t actively support your cause for the time being for the stupid (but unavoidable) preoccupations! As soon as I overcome them I will join you cause.

  5. Sagar Laddha says:

    Dear Shantanu,

    Taking another chance to comment on regarding this book or some related activity. I would indeed like to help volunteer/manage this project. Just 2 suggestions:
    1. Mid April would be exam time and most schools might not have assembly that time. Would late June/early July not be a good time?
    2. Can we get some chapters translated in Hindi so that we can appeal much more crowd specially from suburban crowd.

    I am a part of an NGO called FUEL (we had spoken about it on phone about a year ago, introduced by Shridhar Shukla.) I would be happy executing this project through FUEL, as FUEL reaches 1000 students on an average every day during the academic calendar. Nevertheless, I am a volunteer whether or not above comments are entertained.

  6. B Shantanu says:

    Dear Ramesh: Thanks for your kind words and don’t worry about not being able to help on this occasion. I am sure there will be another time!

    **
    Dear Sagar: Of course I remember you!
    Did any of your comments get stuck in the spam queue? Pl let me know if this is the case (I’ll check too).
    Thanks for your kind offer of help…
    I’m seriously thinking of doing this in June/July since many others also mentioned the school vacations etc.
    Trying to see if we can get at least some chapters translated…Stay tuned on this. Thanks

  7. Kshitij says:

    Hello Shantanu,

    Finally it is happening what I expected to do when Saluting Our Heroes was first launched.
    I was more than looking forward to going back to my school and have a session with 11th class students etc on the lines of what you keep on having!

    I am a Ramjas School(New Delhi) pass out and would love to grab this opportunity and would make sure that I, at least carry this activity in my ex school. Please send me an email regarding how you want me to go about it. In the mean time I would get in touch with the school authorities and get over with the formalities if any. I also suggest that all the volunteers who would visit schools to record the video of the session and upload it on Youtube.

    Waiting for your mail.

    Best,
    Kshitij

  8. Kshitij says:

    Regarding not doing this in April, I am a bit skeptical.
    If I can remember correctly my school had the most easy time during April as students were excited about entering a new class and they had their summer vacations to look forward to! Moreover April is not the time for exams as boards finish in the month of March and April marks the beginning of new session.

    I think it would be a perfect time to plan this activity in April and if it is successful we can have a follow up in July as May/June is the vacation period if I am not mistaken.

    Thanks,
    Kshitij

  9. Kshitij says:

    Also Shantanu,

    The copy of Saluting Our Heroes that I have, have a little issue with the formatting etc. For Example, as it is a collated version of your blog posts, some of the pages have hyperlink references or click here etc in the text. Was it corrected later?

    Thanks and waiting for your mail.

    Kshitij

  10. v.c.krishnan says:

    Dear Shantanu,
    I am part of an organisation which conducts a program known as the krishna jayanthi celebrations every year. We try to involve students in learning about the great culture of our country by conducting programs relating to culture like Music, Dance, Drama, skits, Gummi( a kind of rural dance of tamilnadu) etc. Last year we had 25000 students participating. I can distribute the books or even introduce a debate on our param vir chakras as I draft the program for the events.
    Let me know how I can be of use to you.
    regards,
    vck

  11. Awesome,
    send me the PDF. I am here in Boston, but will try and post one of the stories on my site if that is ok with you?
    And will also share the pdf with our school in Karnataka. I can get the teachers to share the stories in all their class-rooms.

    You can read more of our school at shikshan.org

    Keep up the good work.
    Arun

  12. B Shantanu says:

    @Kshitij: Will follow up via email separately…

    @vck: Thanks for the excellent idea…The book is somewhat expensive because it is printed-on-demand. I have the copyright though so if you know ap ublisher who can print a few thousand copies cheaply, pl let me know. In any case a debate/discussion on the Param Virs would be a good idea and I can still share with you a pdf copy – a few copies of which can be printed on A4 for the schools. Pl expect an email from Mukul who is helping me coordinate the project.

    @Arun: Thanks a lot…Pl feel free to share the posts on your blog (they are all under the “Category” of @National Heroes”. Mukul will send you the pdf to share with students at your schools in Karnataka..
    Thanks so much, all of you.

  13. Kshitij says:

    Hi Shantanu,

    Couldn’t find the pictures of the discrepancies that I had taken. I propose that you send me the PDF and then I can point them out and if you want can also correct them. The pleasure will all be mine 🙂

    Thanks,
    Kshitij

  14. Kishan says:

    Shantanu, I think Sagar’s suggestion about a Hindi translation is very valid. I can help in translation and also in reading out stories of our real heroes in our neighbor-hood Municipal schools (I live in Delhi)and can talk to some boys in my village to do so there & in some neighboring village schools. But I’ll need financial help for making prints.

  15. Suresh Mandan says:

    Dear Shantanu
    A very good project. I may not be able to volunteer due to distance involved, but I am ready to contribute something in USD.Pl let me know how to send.

  16. B Shantanu says:

    Dear Kishan: Thank you for your kind offer..I will email you separately regarding this.
    Dear Suresh: Thanks a lot for your support and encouragement..All assistance is welcome and gratefully received. You can support my work by following this link: https://satyameva-jayate.org/support-us/
    or making a contribution via the “Donate” button in the right-hand side bar.

  17. K.C.Sujata says:

    Dear Shantanu,

    This a noble and a laudable endeavour.

    sujata.

  18. B Shantanu says:

    Reproducing below an email from Lt Col Yatindra Kumar that left me inspired and humbled this morning:
    The email /letter ought to be read by all who are ready to find an excuse at the drop of a hat for not doing anything..
    ***
    From:
    Lt. Col. Retd. Yatindra Kumar, Pune.
    To:
    The Director/Principal, XYZ School, Pune

    Dear Director/Principal,
    These days very little about or National Heroes particularly from the Defence Services, who laid down their lives for the Country, and are also recipients of Gallantry Awards, is known to our young scholars, our future citizens in the making.
    A very senior friend and an International Professional B. Shantanu, has written a book on that; it can be reviewed on the URL:
    http://pothi.com/pothi/book/shantanu-bhagwat-saluting-our-heroes-param-virs-bharat

    I propose that you give me an opportunity to come on certain days and time of your convenience, when I could come and recite those stories to your students. These will motivate them.
    No costs or any personal interests are attached to it at all, please. I shall come in my own car, deliver the story, and return.

    Of course, a glass of water shall be welcome.
    I shall also see, if I could somehow make an illustrate PPS presentation of it, to enhance the interest, in case you have a projector in the school.

    Incidentally, I was commissioned in the army in 1961 in the Corps of Engineers and went through the 1962-65 and 71 Wars. In 1988 I took early retirement and worked for certain Corporates, taught B-schools and also provided Management Consultancy; and am proud of keeping in good health at the age of 71 yrs,despite the fact that I am successfully fighting a worst form of cancer in my right lung since sometime now.

    I have chosen your school because it is near my residence in Viman Nagar, and wont take much to travel; the main reason being that I do very limited driving now, in fact my family forbids me to do so.
    Once you indicate, I should like to come and meet you to chalk out arrangements; shall appreciate a response of interest from your good offices.

    Sincerely
    ***