this is sooo wonderful ! First time I have heard such innovative partnership, like Employee stock options !!

You are right, mynk!! The comment was about the documentary you had mentioned!! Sorry Ameet, for the confusion! :) @Mynk: usually, softwares like Dr. Divx can convert most videos! What format do you have the documentary in? Also, do you work with Windows or Linux? I shall try searching for some good conversion softwares for the format you have...thanks!

I am trying to do that with the documentary. It is from a NGO called Manitham and I would need to check with them about the Copyright issues. It is probably going to be banned since nobody in India was wanting to film it. Finally a team from Korea came down to shoot it. I wish to see(probably start) some channel on TV devoted to showing such stuff. I am collecting many such documentaries. For now I can share a copy. Any ideas in this regard wud be welcome. Ameet I believe that comment might have been for me. Should have been a reply to mine I guess. If I m mistaken kindly let know.

Hi Aneesh. why re? youtube is part of google. If you want to download it, there are plugins like videodownloader. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2390

Could you please convert the documentary somehow to an avi or wmv and upload it on google videos? Is it copyright protected? It would be great to watch the documentary to see the groud truth about the place...although, to know the actual truth, it is best to visit there and live for a while to understand the problems of the area..

They seem to need volunteers! It would be great if we can spread the word locally about this and try and get them some help!!

Reminds me of a scene from Salam Bombay where the child loses his savings - reflecting much of what happens in real life. Truly wonderful initiative! :) Seeing the kids u help, help others gives a great kick and this project is doing just that! :) Sivakasi - the problem is very simple father earns 70 bucks and blows away 50 on alcohol and the children end up taking care of their parents. I have 1.7GB of a documentary on the same. Wanting to share that somehow. Those kids need a devoted effort to be rescued out or they have to flee from their homes like most of these kids in Delhi.

There is no upper age limit eventhough we fixed it as 35, inorder to restrict it to youth, you may be knowing that too much heterogenity in terms of age will be difficul to handle, anyway thank you for the open commend and the link is given below www.mitraniketan.org

Your concern is very very genuine, but I feel sorry to inform you that this college cannot include those people who are working for the sustenance of their families,as the college gives prime importance to community living. There should be initiatives for benefitng those people also, may be one day you yourself can become a great change maker following this idea, best of luck

wow, powerful video! making information available through RTI is one thing, but it is equally important to engage people to use that privilege. I really love the way Parivartan has taken RTI to the masses.

There is a similar organization called www.vigyanaashram.com, which works on similar principle. So a great initiative, does this college have a website. But I do also find the age restriction very odd.

Hi, This is really cool idea yaar, but I think people have been using this idea in India, we had some kind of similar mechanism in our homes, but we used to put stuff in between two pots :D.

A really heartening article. I am hoping such solutions make power generation more eco friendly since in India majority of the power generated is in thermal power stations. As of today the eco friendly electric cars are close to a farce. Look forward to seeing the street lamps replaced with solar powered lamps. Recently in Pondicherry I saw a wind powered turbine along the beach - I had an additional reason to smile with the pleasant breeze! :)

Thanks for the article, Sabith. If you have any contact information for this organization, please share.

Very true...It is amazing to see the society as a whole working to make the language survive with time...Though it might be to a slight disadvantage to them if they compete with the rest of the world!

I think the time is soon approaching ...with the sky high prices for gas...!

Is this a comment on NGOs in general or any venture in particular? These are very pertinent questions and very apt for any organization to think about... My thoughts : Every movement has its birth, purpose for its existence and eventual death. What it achieves during its existence is what matters most. It will have to die out eventually, for all movements through out history has been the same....

Thanks, Ameet, for the link and correcting my misconception!! I read some more on this issue, and as you say, the industry is growing rapidly! http://www.inwea.org/indiaslowsdown.htm Though India slowed down last year, compared to China and US, it still is the world's 4th largest wind "harvester" :) I always used to think that the renewable energy market was being constrained for funds because of the oil market...but I guess, things are changing for the better now!

This sounds like a fantastic initiative for adults. What makes me wonder is the age restriction. Also, if the students stay in college then how do they sustain themselves and their families.

I think wind turbines are quite efficient :) but have large installation costs. Due to heavy investment in technology and competition, costs are coming down. Government subsidies also help. Overall it is profitable to install windturbines in India, thats why it is growing so rapidly at 25% annually. Keep a note of Suzlon, http://www.suzlon.com Indian company, which is world's 5th largest windturbine manufacturer in the world.

I think most of the land installations of windmills these days is inefficient and can't produce enough power to cover their installation costs. It has worked well off the coast of France and also in the high seas off Norway and Sweden. But, my guess, is that it will take more time for the technology to mature and to make profit over its installation expense....

IMO, the problem in Sivakasi is different. Most of the kids working there would be residents of the area, with families, forced to work only to supplement their family's income. not runaway kids from other cities. Kids without families are more vulnerable and have less access to banking/financial services. This phenomenon would be more typical of big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore where growing economies offer plenty of odd-jobs.

That was very informative and touching, Ameet! Thanks for the post. I wonder how far has this initiative spread in India...esp. in Sivakasi which is supposed to be the hell for child labour with children working in fireworks factories...

This was really great initiative. Even the videos are great. I wonder why some channels would not telecast them.

I am just wondering if Wind energy as technology has taken off. I see lot of windmills near chitradurga in Karnataka but I am not sure how good and efficient they are.