Japanese style of ink paintings is an art, rarely found in and around Delhi. The art which has very few takers is being practised by four young people in the heart of Noida city.

Spanning over three generations, this art form is being put to practice by 47-year-old Yuriko Ando Lochan, a Japanese, who has been practicing the art since she was 7-years-old and has her own studio in Noida’s sector-50, where she paints bamboos, orchids, mountains, waters, mists on rice paper and ink which is known as Sumi-e Ink Brush paintings.

The thought struck her while attending calligraphy classes in her hometown Osaka, Japan while rending the ink stick on her ink stone which is also known as Suzuri.

Married to an Indian artist and NGMA director Rajeev Lochan, Yuriko who has been residing in India for the past 19 years, completed her undergraduate studies and obtained a Masters Degree in painting at the Faculty of Fine Art, Kyoto City University of Arts.

She formed an informal group which included herself, her husband Rajeev, Aruna Vasudev (a film critic) and her cousin Shobha Juneja. “Initially it was me and my husband who used to practice this form of art but then gradually as my friends got to know more about it, they also showed keen interest and that’s how we landed up forming the group” said Yuriko.

Having learnt the art form years ago by masters in Philippines, the four member group is familiar with the medium and are thorough professionals.

“By practicing in a group we all are trying to trace the path we all had tread years ago” said Yuriko, while showing her collection at her Noida studio.

Work for what you believe in and go for it – is the philosophy that entrepreneur Manik Thapar goes by.

An MBA from Canada, Manik decided to do something about the garbage scene in India and scrub it clean after he was asked how he could live in a dirty country. In no time he set up ‘Eco Wise’, a waste management company in Noida which provides comprehensive waste management solutions to Residential, Commercial, Institutional and Industrial entities.

Manik explains, “Most Indians believe that kaabadi wallahs recycle household waste and like getting paid for the scraps as well. This has given rise to an illegal sector of scrap dealers who belong to the unorganized sector.”

Eco Wise includes the process of collection, segregation, transportation and treatment of 40 tons of waste on a daily basis which would otherwise be found lying on the roadside or make its way to the landfill site. However, it was not easy convincing Noida residents in the beginning, recalls Manik.

Manik set up 60 compost beds and hired 90 contract labourers that he refers to as ‘Health Inspectors’ to get his business running. He then offered free garbage collection, colored recycle bins to RWA’s and a program to teach Noida residents about waste management.

The step was an instant success as Eco Wise now handles the waste of 23,000 houses in Noida and also has clients that include Patni Computers, Haldirams, Phillip Morris, Oberthur card systems. In all, the company caters to over 1.2 lakh residential units.

Manik hopes to include waste-to-energy conversion with biogas plants and reduce landfills by 100%. He also wants to set up an anaerobic digestion plant that takes wet garbage and converts it into CNG and electricity for domestic and commercial consumption.

The young entrepreneur wishes that more and more people build awareness of eco-friendly habits and take up the task of waste management seriously.

The son of a labourer, Deepak Bhatti never imagined in his wildest dreams that he would carve a niche for himself in the taekwondo circuit.

Deepak, who is a resident of Greater Noida, started coaching 6 years ago when he was a student at Ryan International School. After a month of training, Deepak won his first gold medal in an inter-school competition.

The boy continued to shine in various tournaments in Agra, Indore, Roorkee, Lucknow, Nepal and other places. “I want to mark my position as an international player and make my parents proud. I know there is a lot of hard work involved but I am ready for it” said Deepak.

A resident of Block-D, Delta -1 in Greater Noida, Deepak passed his class 12^th with 70% marks. “We have always supported him and will continue doing so” said an elated Radheshyam, a construction worker and father of Deepak.

The wonder boy has won many tournaments since the year 2005 and has also been honored with the title of ‘Upcoming Talent’ in taekwondo.

With passion and zeal for the art form combined with hard work, this boy will surely go places.

By: Sneha Manasa Vedula

Hailing from a small village Sarfabad in Noida, 16-year-old Subodh Yadav made all proud by winning gold in the ongoing National Sub-Junior Wrestling Championship in Nainital.

Subodh will be representing India in the Junior Asian Wrestling Championship to be held in Bangkok from 28 July. The teenager won the gold by defeating a wrestler from Punjab in the 96 Kg category.

Earlier in the semi-final he faced wrestlers from the Delhi and Haryana region. Subodh will be given a grand welcome on his return on 29 July, by the Sarfabad Wrestling Association.

“I am very happy with my son’s achievement. Even I used to do wrestling but such opportunities never came my way. I’m glad atleast my son could do so and make the whole village proud” said an emotional Subhe Yadav, father of Subodh.

Subodh’s mentor and manager of the Sarfabad Wrestling Association says, “He is a technically competent wrestler. It is due to his hardwork and sheer determination that he could achieve such recognition. I hope he makes the country proud in the upcoming tournament in Bangkok scheduled next month.”

With more and more encouragement being given to other sports like cricket, footlball etc, we hope that this rising star continues to shine and make the country proud by raking more such titles and popularizing the game.

What happens when two people by the names of Siddhant and Siddharth join hands? … They come up with ‘Toosid’ – a brand name for their unique hand painted t-shirts.

Residents of Sector 50, Siddhanth Gandhi and Siddharth Gandotra met at a community radio where Gandhi joined as an intern at Gandotra’s department. By the time the internship ended, the two had already formed Toosid.

In the period of just six months Toosid has already created a niche for themselves in the market. They held their first show of 25 t-shirts at Mandi house where they were hugely appreciated by artists and received a lot of orders.

Another specialty of the brand is that they never repeat any designs keeping every single piece a one of a kind. However they don’t take bulk orders. They brainstorm on a design mostly in the evenings as Siddhant goes to the institute in the morning.

The two are open about how they create their magic! First they buy the fabric from Gandhi Nagar (Delhi) Market and get it stitched into t-shirts. Then they stamp their imagination onto the t-shirts using acrylic fabric colors. Once the painting is done, the t-shirt is dipped in saline water for a day. Within 3 days, the finished product is ready for sale!

Available in all sizes, the rates vary from Rs. 700 to Rs. 1,400.

‘Toosid’ also plan on promoting artists like themselves and give them a platform to showcase their creativity.

Robin Singh, a resident of Noida, is the new face of football to look out for. Brought up in a close knit family, Robin’s life changed when his father introduced him to football at the age of 13 and has never looked back since then.

However, it was not a cake walk for the 20-year-old sportsman who too has had his share of hard luck when his team was defeated in the Subroto Cup finals in 2005 when he missed a penalty shoot which was the deciding kick in the match.

Like a true sportsman he dismisses the awful memory and says “It’s all right because if you can remember the good times why not remember the bad times as well.”

Robin was expelled from the Chandigarh Football Academy later, of which he has no regrets. He is in fact grateful to persons responsible for his expulsion as after CFA, Tata Football Academy came along and offered him a chance of a lifetime.

To prove himself as a serious footballer in India, Robin turned down the chance of training in England.

He went for his trials to TFA and was immediately selected.

Moving to TFA was the biggest step of his football career.  “TFA was the turning point of my life. What and where I am today is all because of TFA. I would like to thank them for everything. My stay at TFA has been most enjoyable and a rich experience.”

The wonder boy has signed a two-year contract with East Bengal Football Club, Kolkata where he will be paid a whopping amount of Rs 50 lakhs.

He has now set his sight on the 2018 football world cup where he hopes to play and make his country proud.

On Saturday morning, 16 year old Arjun Vajpai created history by becoming the youngest Indian to successfully climb the world’s highest peak Mount Everest. The young achiever from Noida scaled the 8,848-metre-high peak via the traditional South Col route in Nepal.

Members of the team coordinating the climb called Arjun’s ecstatic parents at 6.30 a.m with the news of his achievement. Expecting Arjun back at home by the end of the month, his mother Priya said, “I’m so proud of him and am relieved to know he’s safe and coming back home soon.”

A student of Ryan International School in Sector 39, Noida, Arjun took to mountaineering three years ago and never looked back. His instructors at the Nehru Mountaineering Institute convinced his parents to let him go as he had the physical and mental ability to summit Mt. Everest.

Arjun’s elder sister Gauri is waiting her brother’s return and says “We expect him to throw us a nice big party when he reaches home.”

Hours after Arjun’s climb, 13-year-old Jordan Romero from America became the youngest person in the world to climb the peak.

By: Sneha Manasa Vedula

The famous saying “Nothing is Impossible” is rightly proved by sixteen-year-old Arjun Vajpayee who has set his sights on the world’s highest peak Mount Everest.

Arjun is just 12000 feet away from reaching the Everest and creating a new record if he is successful. He will become the youngest Indian to achieve the feat, breaking the record set last year by Maharashtra’s Krushnaa Patil, who summited at age 18.

Arjun who is accompanied by a 12-member team, nine of whom are from US, Denmark, Switzerland, Australia and the rest from India will start his last expedition tonight. His team is led by Apa Sherpa who has scaled the summit a record 19 times.

The son of a former Indian Army commando and humainities student of Ryan International School, Noida, the 12^th grader started his quest from Kathmandu on March 26. Since then he has been involved in various expeditions and finally is near to hid dream.

An avid trekker, Arjun has done a basic and advanced course from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) in Uttarkashi where he got an A grade. “Initially I was apprehensive of exposing my son to such dangers but seeing his interest and the response from NIM principal I let him pursue his dream” said an elated Sanjiv Vajpayee, father of Arjun.

A resident of sector-51 Noida, Arjun says “I’m not thinking about any records. My only aim is to reach the top and make everybody proud. It’s an adventure and with each passing day I am gaining more and more confidence”.

Everybody is praying for Arjun’s success especially Noida residents but they have to wait till mid-May for the results. But one thing is for sure; this young kid is a hero in his own way and a great source of inspiration for not only youngsters but every single person out there.

By: Sneha Manasa Vedula

Her ambition is to become a pilot. She has achieved something what many just dream of achieving at this age. Archi Bhattacharya has made her parents proud by winning gold at the National Karate Championship held in Ghaziabad.

A class four student in Amar Public School, Archi also won gold in International Karate Championship which was held last year. “I’ve been learning Karate from the past four years. My dream is to become a pilot but I want to stay connected with this art form as I enjoy jumping in the air and fighting” says the little girl.

The National Championship held in Ghaziabad had 65 participants from all over the country but her determination and hardwork led to her win. Principal of her school Mrs. Ranjushree Mukherjee is very proud of her students achievements.

Archi has received training from her master Ravi Kumar who instilled in her the confidence and the knowledge. “Inspite of the fact that she is small, the kind of focus and commitment she has towards the art form is indeed commendable. She will surely break few records in the future” says her coach. Archi has been consistently winning gold medal in the National Karate Championship held during the period 2006-2010.

By: Sneha Manasa Vedula

Even after facing repeated failure in the UPSC examination, he never lost hope. He continued to work hard and finally in his third attempt, cleared the UPSC examination.

We are talking about Ashutosh Niranjan who cleared the UPSC examination and secured the 11^th rank. He said that failure makes a person stronger if taken in the right way and nothing is impossible if you sincerely work towards achieving it.

Ashutosh’s father,a PCS Official, is the driving force behind his success. He said    “My father appeared for the civil service examination thrice but couldn’t succeed hence; I took the charge of fulfilling his dream and making him proud”.

Since childhood Ashutosh wanted to become an IAS Officer and received immense support for the same from his parents. “My son was always good in studies and I was sure he’d make me proud one day. He was always inspired by District Magistrate Deepak Aggarwal and former District Magistrate A.V. Rajmouli.” said his delighted father.

Mr. Santosh Niranjan also said that due to his repeated transfers Ashutosh’s studies were affected but still he managed to score well in his academics. Ashutosh first appeared for the examination in 2007 and then again in 2008, but couldn’t get through the interview rounds.

Ashutosh aims to remove corruption and make the system transparent in order to help the common man.