More than a decade ago I had published a blog about my bucket list. Basically it’s a list of things to do, specifically, 1,000 things before I die! Most of the items in the list are aspirational and long shots, some of them have been achieved, some still in-progress and for some, I lost the hope already. But there are few projects, few things, which are aspirations and larger than life.
I can write about those projects here on this page, the larger than life, fulfilling and rewarding projects, which have a social impact, are good for the community, and close to my heart. I guess, the first step is jot down about the projects and let it out in the public. The thoughts have been lingering in my mind since ages, maybe the ideas are crude right now, but you have to start somewhere and fine tune the buildup. Also I can ask your input and suggestions if you’re interested in such projects and like to contribute.
1. Library, a place to study and research:
“It’s 2023, and nobody goes to the library anymore”
But that statement was just as true in 1998 – 25 years ago!
Well, I am proposing a common place for study, including library, with cyber cafe. Providing all educational resources via internet, community meetups, training sessions, mentoring, scholarships etc. The project is still on-paper and I haven’t started ‘team-building’ and ‘fund-raising’ for it. Interested? Let’s connect! This will need funds, but you can help beyond monetary funds too!!
- Place: It’s going to be a physical location (of course), in Dahanu taluka, my native place. The location and property is not decided yet. The place can be taken on lease for ₹1 or more, depending on the budget.
- Area: 500 to 5000 sq. ft. of single or multi-storied structure required. The floor plan is not designed yet, and shall be planned after freezing the space.
- Availability: It should be open and accessible 24×7.
- Membership: It’ll be open for all. The members have to pay a nominal fees. Scholarships shall be offered to limited students. Project’s monetization efforts shall not burden students with heavy fees.
- Events: The place can be used to host events, conferences, seminars, training sessions, practicals, workshops related to the fields of academic, medical, industrial and business education.
- Facilities: The place should have basic facilities that a library has. This can be expanded to more depending on the budget and demand from the local community. Few facilities to begin with can be list down as follows:
- Study tables and benches, writing tables, chairs.
- Computers with internet access for researching.
- Printing, scanning & photocopying facilities.
- Reference books, dictionaries, encyclopedia.
- Prominent newspapers and magazines
- Projector with sound system & PA, mic. etc.
- Washroom for ladies and gents.
2. Science & Geography Park.
This has been my uncle’s dream project. And we are actively working on it. It deserves a separate website and maybe a separate trust 😅 to manage. To summarise the idea: it’s a botanical garden meets jantar mantar. I shall expand on the theme, application and objective behind the project soon with a presentation and maybe a 3D model and masterplan.
- Structures: Amphitheatre, Dome/mini theatre, Geodesic structure, sun dial, puzzle/maze etc.
- Landscape: हरियाली और रास्ता 😃, water harvesting, ponds, bridges, roads, solar powered facilities, ayurvedic वनऔषधि and मसाला (spices) gardens etc.
3. Social Tourism:
How about an informational app to talk about the places where tourists can go and take inspiration to work on social issues and contribute with community service? This project of mine has been in dormant state and got sidelined due to other priorities and my lack of technical skills to develop an app. With latest updates at AI front and availability of ChatGPT, CoPilot and help from other developers on github with sponsorship or open-source credits, I have less and less excuses of not doing or delaying this project.
The Solution for this is to invite contributors who can help me develop app for it, I’ll start and share a code on github so that people can help me in launching this. I can sponsor a developer for his time and talent and/or offer pro subscription to AI/dev tools required to get things done. All you (a mobile app developer with interest to help and contribute to this app) need to do is just star the repo and join me on github, and we shall take this forward.
If you’re interested and an expert in any of the below jargon words please ping me on github 👍🏽 The tech stack for the app & website is as follows:
- Backend on LAMP stack with Compose for app: Drupal (decoupled)
- Frontend: (i)Drupal theme website (ii)Android app (iii) iOS app
- Servers: Pantheon (dev env), AWS (live env), Azure (later when grown)
4. Solid Waste & Plastic Management:
Last but not the least, also it’s the toughest nut to crack. So much so that even the most developed, top nations have not gotten any solution for this yet. As you know, dumping grounds and piling up the mountains of garbage is not the solution, nor is throwing it in the ocean or out in space can solve the issue.
- How I can work on it? Well it can start with evangelism and consulting. (That’s the first step.) But this is quite a monster and consulting and awareness alone wont help make impact. We need to build model, setup local communities, and work with governmental/municipal institutes to get the right results.
- What do we need? Volunteers, thought leadership, promotional content.
It all may sound vague (as I said earlier), but hey, you can jump in and have your inputs too! Please fill up the form below and let’s connect, let’s make it better. 👇🏻