18 TH MANN KI BAAT 2.0 - 29TH NOVEMBER 2020
India’s
culture and Shaastras, knowledge has always been a centre of attraction for the
entire world. Many people came to India to discover & study them &
stayed back for ever, whereas some of them returned to their respective
countries as carriers of this culture. I got an opportunity to know about the
work of Jonas Masetti, also known as Vishwanath. Jonas teaches Vedanta &
Geeta to people in Brazil. He runs an institution named Vishwavidya, situated
in the hills of Petropolis, an hour’s distance from Rio De Janeiro. Jonas,
after studying Mechanical Engineering worked in his stock market company. Later
he was drawn towards Indian culture, especially Vedanta. From stocks to
spirituality, it has truly been a long journey for him. Jonas studied Vedanta
Philosophy in India, staying at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam in Coimbatore for four
years. Jonas has another specialty- he is using technology to propagate his
message. He regularly conducts online programmes. He also does a daily podcast.
During the last seven years, through his free open courses on Vedanta, Jonas
has taught over a lakh & a half students. Jonas is not only doing great
work – he is doing it through a language understood by a large number of
people.
Shri
Virendra Yadav ji is a farmer entrepreneur, who has influenced the lives of
thousands through his awareness. Sometime ago, Virendra Yadav ji used to live
in Australia. Two years ago, he came to India and now lives in Kaithal,
Haryana. Just like others, the stubble in the fields was a big concern for him too.
Work is
being done on a massive scale to find the solution to this issue, however,
today in Mann Ki Baat, I am especially mentioning Virendra ji because his
efforts are different and show a new way forward.
To find a
solution to stubble, Virendra ji bought a Straw Baler machine to make bundles
of straw. For this, he also received financial assistance from the Agricultural
department. With this machine, he began to make bundles of stubble.
After having
made the bundles, he sold the stubble to agro energy plants and paper mills.
You will be amazed to know that in just two years, Virendra ji has traded in
stubble in excess of Rupees Two and a Half Crores and has earned a profit of
approximately Rupees Fifty Lakhs. The benefit of this also accrues to the
farmers of those fields from where Virendra ji sources his stubble.
We have
often heard of ‘waste to wealth’, however, this initiative is a unique example
of earning money and righteous goodwill while finding a solution to the problem
of stubble. To the youth, especially the lakhs of students who are studying
agriculture, it is my request that they visit villages in their vicinity and
talk to the farmers and make them aware about innovations in farming and the
recent agricultural reforms.
This way,
you will become stakeholders in major reforms underway in the country.
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