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R HEART U O Y S E H C T H AT T O U Y L I A D G IN AN INSPIR Vol. 1 No. 45 Pages 16 PUNE, FRIDAY JUNE 8, 2012 Rs.4 WEATHER
Sunrise .....................05:57 Sunset ......................19:10 Moonrise .................22:01 Moonset ..................09:44 Temperature Min ...........................23 0c Max ...........................33 0c Rain ....Thunderstorm with rain
BEAUTY OF RECYCLING
A MUSICAL COLLAGE
TEMPTING THALI
A workshop that lets you make the best out of waste >> P2
DJ Pratik Chettiar speaks about his forays in dub-step >> P7
Sample Rajdhani’s delicious fare >>P15
PATH-BREAKING CRUSADER
Puneite on Atlanta’s pulse O SUCHISMITA PAI
The print and digital newspaper NRI Pulse, dedicated to community news in Atlanta, USA, is the brainchild of Veena Rao, a Pune journalist who entered the Limca Book of Records for being the first Indian woman to be an editor in the USA
nce, during the early days, when I was at a mall delivering the paper, a person told me that he would like to talk to the editor. When I told him he was looking at her, his jaw dropped because he could not believe that the editor would be the delivery girl as well. But at the start I played all the roles myself–from being the editor, to writer to designer to delivery and marketing!” says Veena Rao, who is in the Limca book of records as the only Indian woman outside India to write and publish a newspaper. NRI Pulse, a newspaper started by Rao (www.NRIPulse.com) is a free monthly newspaper and portal that serves the Indian-American communities of Georgia and other southeastern states of the US.
How it all started The community publication that Rao had been working with had just folded up and she was between jobs at the point, “I almost woke up one fine day with the idea that I could start the paper,” she says. “I saw the need for a newspaper, felt like I had the expertise and reach within the community to step up and fill this need, having worked on the news desk of the Indian Express in India, and a couple of community publications in Atlanta as an editor.” A Masters Diploma in Journalism and Communication from the Pune-based Symbiosis International University and a Masters in Economics from Fergusson College also helped. “I could write and edit. I had designing and
A checkered journey
The newspaper has risen through the ranks to become a mouthpiece for Geogia’s expat community
NRI Pulse—A unique source of news z Today, the newspaper has become a lifeline for many. Says Rao, “People approach me and appreciate us for doing an excellent job of bringing news to our readers. Our readers depend on NRI Pulse to find out what is happening within the community. I’ve heard several instances of people looking for a copy of NRI Pulse to take to their visiting parents, because it gives them a sense of ‘home’. Our USP is that we focus on local community news that cannot be found online.” Photoshop skills. I had access to community organisations and local businesses. We have a large, thriving Indian community here in Atlanta and in the southeast US as a whole, almost 100,000 strong here in Georgia alone. All the existing publications were feature magazines. The community had no news source,” she explains. Once the idea took hold, she dived
into the project and after some research, launched the online version in 2004.
An impulsive development The monthly print edition was also born almost on an impulse, she says. “After being online for two years, I realised I had what it takes to launch a print edition. A couple of months after that
light-bulb moment, the paper was launched at the Atlanta national convention of AAPI (Association of American Physicians of Indian Origin). Our mission was to offer our readers, what nobody else was offering, in a way that nobody else was offering — a free publication, with plenty of local, national and India-centric news!”
A comprehensive offering With a primary focus on the local community news and news from around the US, NRI Pulse has a segment devoted to the latest news from India. It has a business news page, tech news, health news, regular opinion columns, book and movie reviews, a fashion column, recipes and free event listings and Bollywood news.
From being just a dream to being in the Limca book of Records has been no cakewalk for Rao. “When I first launched the paper, a lot of doomsayers in the community, mostly men, said I could not do it, that I was being naïve; the paper would not last. I have proved the naysayers wrong,” she says. “There have been times in the initial years when we’ve had to start a cycle with no ads, but miraculously, we’ve always had some advertisements come in at the last minute, which at least helped cover our operational costs,” she adds. Today the boot’s on the other foot; she often has to reject offers for partnership. “If the right one comes along, I may even accept it. But for now, I want to nurture my baby myself,” she says. Always her own boss, Rao has now a team of professionals that helps her with her publication and the large email database that receives the bi-weekly email news updates. Swami Vivekananda had said, “Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life–think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.” It is this very philosophy and dedication that seem to define Rao, and has helped her carve a place for herself under the sun.
EXTRAA For more details, visit www.mangalorean.com, www.NRIPulse.com, or email nripulse@gmail.com
Meet a real-life Munnabhai for a change! For the last 14 DHEERAJ BENGRUT years, Arunchandra or most of us, visits to hospitals are nightmarish, Kondejkar has where one gets amost been tirelessly and nauseated by the smell of selflessly extending injections and spirit. The 61-yearold Arunchandra Kondejkar, a helping hand to however, begs to differ. For him, the humming machines patients admitted are the beats of a human heart. in various hospitals For Kondejkar, a hospital is just where he should be. across the city
F
Behind the scene What drives this man of obstinate spirit to serve patients from dusk to dawn
What is your
LIFE 365 daily all about?
Nitin Lawate
even when he is not a doctor? It was a tragedy which inspired this ex-MSEB employee to dedicate his life in serving the ailing. Kondejkar’s better half Sunanda succumbed to a heart ailment in 1998 after bravely fighting against the disease for almost 11 years. The couple was even advised to remain childless because of Sunanda’s illness.
His daily routine z 5 to 7 am-Morning Walk and Yoga z 7 to 8 am-Getting an update on newly-admitted patients in Sanjeevan Hospital z 8 to 9 am-Getting ready z 9 am to 7 pm-Dedicating his time for the cause z 7 to 8 pm-Dinner and rest z 8 to 11 pm-Night round in the hospitals z 11 pm to 2 am-Reading newspapers, research for improvement of facilities, writing for health magazines
The inspiration “While my wife was hospitalised, I got a chance to interact with many patients. >> Continued on Page 5
Life 365 is more than just a daily that packages `life’ in its 16 pages. It is a platform to understand your city better in terms of the good work silently being done by hundreds of good samaritans. Their stories of
Arunchandra Kondejkar with one of the patients
how they lend an extending hand could propel you to contribute your bit to the society. In this progressive city of Pune, the desire to the serve the society is very strong, as we learnt from interaction with citizens.
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