About Anusha Subramanian

Anusha Subramanian, a British Chevening Scholar and a two-time award-winning journalist is a health, fitness and adventure enthusiast. She has combined her skills sets of writing and adventure training to be able to work for the larger good of the society by getting more people introduced to the outdoors and adventure.

March 12, 2019 By Anusha Subramanian 2 Comments

Catalysing Social Change through Karma

How often do we all do Charity?

Whether it is monetary or just about helping somebody out. How often have we helped someone with their studies? When was the last time we spent time playing with underprivileged kids? We seldom do it. Unless some friend actually points to a particular cause that he or she is related to. Let’s accept the fact that Philanthropy does not come to us easily. While globalization is increasingly making us aware of all the problems faced by humanity today, we aren’t doing much to bring about social change.

Everywhere around us, there is hunger, unemployment, lack of medical facilities and education. Not much has been done to eradicate poverty from every corner of this country, extend health care, provide basic education to one and all and protect our environment. Anyone who’s studied emerging markets talks about the opportunities the BoP offers. Especially in South Asia and more importantly in India. It’s a well-known fact how 70% of the population lives in rural areas and 75.6% live on less than $2 a day.

People below the poverty line all around the world are not asking for the moon or any aspiration goods and services. They are asking for basics such as infrastructure, water, energy, education, and employment to be able to live a decent and sustainable life.

Be The Change!

There may not be one resolution to all the problems. Non-profits for decades have been working for the betterment of the lives of the people at the bottom of the pyramid. But, there is only so much they can do. There is a new breed of young social entrepreneurs (Socents) who have sprung up in the last decade or so and are doing their best to bring about a social change. For instance, GreenSole, a social venture by Shreyans Bhandari and Ramesh Dhami, collects discarded shoes, refurbishes them and makes comfortable footwear for the underprivileged. You can know more about them by visiting their website: www.greensole.in.

Step Towards a Brighter Future

Apart from NGOs and the Social entrepreneurs, the opportunity to do Karma or good to others awaits all of us. There is an opportunity for us, as individuals, to be bold and use our unique role as philanthropists to spark, and drive large-scale social change. Whether as a social entrepreneur or by supporting a social cause, each one us has the opportunity to participate and do ‘Karma’(Doing good to others). GOQii, provides the opportunity to do Karma and this can be done by being healthy, fit and earning Karma Points.

At GOQii, our philosophy has been to achieve harmony between mind, body & soul. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s journey of 390 KM, which he started today, for every 390 steps tracked through your activity tracker, you earn 1 Karma Point. These points then get converted into monetary donations by our donor partners.

With the India Steps Challenge, you’re not only walking and earning big rewards but you’re also collecting Karma Points which you can donate to a charity/cause of your choice in the GOQii app! Currently, there are two causes in the GOQii app:

1. Upcycling to Slippers for Children in Need

This cause enables the collection of old shoes and Rs. 199/pair to upcycle them to slippers and donate to children in need. Greensole’s vision is to contribute to social good, by creating a self-sustaining infrastructure that facilitates the provision of the basic necessity of footwear to everyone. Environmental good by refurbishing discarded shoes with zero carbon footprint and economic good by giving employment to refurbish shoes.

2. Trees for Rural Communities, Chintamani, Karnataka

Grow-Trees.com wants to allow users to satisfy a private purpose of greeting someone through an eTreeCertificate, while doing social good by planting trees. With Grow-Trees you can plant trees with just a few clicks and gift them to celebrate festivals, birthdays, anniversaries or other special occasions using their personalized e-certificate. The cost of each tree is INR 85.

Believe me, I can say this from my own experience, doing Karma will only help bring a positive change in your life – a change for the better.

Who knows? One day, you may look back and say, “I was there at the beginning and I made a difference!”

February 4, 2019 By Anusha Subramanian Leave a Comment

‘I Am And I Will’: World Cancer Day

Make a personal commitment to a healthier lifestyle

‘Cancer’ is considered a stigma word. One forgets that Cancer is not contagious however, the human mindset for eons has believed that cancer spreads and hence, one with cancer is looked at differently or is ostracized. Believe me, Cancer is not the end of the road. There is hope for people with cancer, provided both, the patient as well as the people around the patient are willing to help each other.

This is precisely what 2019’s World Cancer Day theme ‘I Am And I Will’ addresses. The campaign that will run for the next 3 years is an empowering call-to-action that urges personal commitment and represents the power of individual action taken now to impact the future. The campaign is built to resonate, inspire change and mobilize action long after the day has passed.

There are various ways to reduce the risk of cancer. Those with cancer need not worry as there is always hope at the end of the tunnel. Experts say that one of the best ways to reduce the risk of Cancer is by adopting a healthy lifestyle. It is said that you can reduce the risk of many common cancers such as bowel, breast, uterine, ovarian, oesophagus, kidney and liver by maintaining healthy weight, eating right and making physical activity a part of your daily routine.

‘I Am And I Will’ theme indicates that as an individual or as an organization, get involved in any way you can. Because together, we can create change.

The various things you can do:

Get Personal: Create your own custom social media post with your own personal message of the commitment and share it with the world.

Light up the World: As an organisation or even at an Individual level, you can make a statement by lighting up a significant landmark, monument or building to be illuminated on World Cancer Day in the colours of orange and blue in your city.

Spread the word: By writing a blog or an article in a newspaper or a video message.

Join the action: Join by showing up at an event near you and volunteer.

Create your own Event: Inspire others by hosting your own World Cancer Day event.
From flash mobs, free screenings, record breaking attempts, conferences, fundraisers to fun runs.

One and all can get Involved: Whoever you are- a cancer survivor, co-worker, a carer, a friend, a leader, a health worker, a teacher or a student- you have the power to take action for a cancer free world.
(Source cancer.org)

We all can do our bit. I remember there is an organization in Mumbai called Ugam, a voluntary support group formed by Childhood Cancer survivors. UGAM means “To Rise” underscoring their determination to rise above all obstacles in life & be VICTORS. UGAM, based in Mumbai is the youngest unit of the oldest & most prominent NGO, The Indian Cancer Society (ICS) under its survivorship programme.

Ugam’s vision is to ensure that every childhood cancer survivor finds his/ her way to celebrate life after winning the battle with cancer. Ugam helps in self-empowerment of the survivors. It helps in fulfilling their dreams that were put on hold while they were battling this tormenting disease and the hardships of the treatment. Helping in overcoming social fears and hindrances, overcoming their physical and mental disabilities and moving ahead despite them, as well as providing educational and career related assistance and guidance.

Ugam provides a platform for them to talk about their experience and problems and help in building their confidence and self-esteem. Ugam tries and gives them a reason to lead a social and personal life in the future.
We at GOQii are advocates of healthy lifestyle and doing Karma. So let’s make a beginning!

January 31, 2019 By Anusha Subramanian Leave a Comment

How polluted is India? -GOQii India Fit Report 2019

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Pollution is an issue that has been eating away at the heart of India for a long time. According to the GOQii India Fit Report 2019, 9 out of 10 people on Earth breathe highly polluted air and 80% of the people living in the city are often exposed to outdoor pollution that exceeds the health standards of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Among countries that have high levels of air pollution, India leads the way for its consistency in producing hazardous air. The GOQii India Fit Report 2019 conducted a survey among 8 cities to find the most polluted and liveable cities in India. Here is what we found out after carefully analysing the Pollution Index based on three factors i.e Air, Water and Food Pollution.

Pune

Pune was voted as the most liveable city in the country, while Delhi was rated as the worst because of the city’s terrible air quality. Chennai was voted as the city with the worst water quality at (3.3), the only city to have water quality which is worse than air. Chennai is recording poor water quality for the second time in the past two years. Pune, as mentioned before, has the best ratings in terms of food (4.0), water (3.8) and air (3.5) when compared to the other major cities of India. Mumbai has a rating of (3.8) for both food and water, while air quality was rated at (3.0).

Bangalore and Kolkata have the same ranking for air, water and food at 3.8, 3.3 and 2.9 respectively. These two cities were rated with the lowest air quality, only behind Delhi which was rated (1.17).

The India Fit Report 2019 asked people to rate the quality of Air, Water and Food in their cities, out of which Air was voted the worst at (3.0) which shows a dip from last year. Water and Food which was rated higher than Air showed a dip in their trends when compared to last year. This is a very serious situation which should be looked into and necessary actions need to be taken to control this downward trend of Air, Water and Food quality.

Out of all the surveys conducted by the Report, it is safe to conclude that Pune is the most liveable city in India because it recorded the highest ratings in terms of Air, Water and Food quality. Pune is also the second in terms of cities with good air quality, only behind Ahmedabad with a better Pollution Index.

January 30, 2019 By Anusha Subramanian Leave a Comment

Lifestyle diseases: An epidemic among young Indians

riseinlifestylediseases

You must have heard the term “Lifestyle Disease” before, but have you ever wondered what it is? As the name suggests, they’re diseases which are linked to your way of life. For example, if someone is leading a sedentary lifestyle, with minimal or no physical activity, that person is more susceptible to diseases like Diabetes, Cholesterol, High Blood Pressure etc. On the other hand, a physically active individual has lower chances of contracting these diseases. Unhealthy eating and lack of physical activity are the main reasons behind lifestyle diseases. Let’s take a look at the trend of Lifestyle Diseases in India as per the GOQii India Fit Report 2019.

Image: “Since last year, there has been a rise in the number of lifestyle diseases among people overall.” – India Fit Report 2019

According to the report, there has been a rise in Lifestyle Diseases since last year among individuals who are below the age of 45. This is an alarming trend as it clearly shows the rise of an unhealthy lifestyle among the younger generation. Let’s take a look at the major lifestyle diseases affecting India, namely High Blood pressure, Diabetes, Cholesterol and Thyroid.

Cholesterol
Since last year, the percentage of cholesterol among Indians has increased from 10.1% to 14.1% as per the Report. It also says that 68.9% of the affected individuals take no medication to tackle the condition but aim to overcome cholesterol by making changes to their lifestyle. Since cholesterol is a condition that can be cured by lifestyle changes, it is something the rest should aim to achieve. Currently, Kolkata (18.2%), Delhi (17.3%) and Bengaluru (15.3%) are the major cities with the highest number of people suffering from Cholesterol.

High Blood Pressure (HBP)
High Blood Pressure is another serious condition which is often overlooked by Indians. 34% of the population has HBP running in their families. This data alone shows how serious this condition is in India. HBP has increased from 9% to 12% over the last year and about 44% of the affected individuals look to tackle the condition without the help of medication. Kolkata (21.9%), Mumbai (13.7%) and Delhi (13.6%) are the cities that have high concerns of HBP as per the Report.

Diabetes
We are all familiar with Diabetes as it is one of the most common lifestyle diseases out there. Chances are that at least one individual in your family is suffering from Diabetes. As surprising as it sounds, the rise of Diabetes in India has decreased from 7.9% to 7.1% since the last year. The increased awareness is one of the reasons behind this dip. Research indicates that 33.7% of the people affected by Diabetes are looking to tackle this condition without the help of medication. Like HBP, Diabetes is also a condition that usually runs in the family.

“31.8% of the users claim a family history of Diabetes. Thus, it is a key illness to watch out for in the future” – India Fit Report 2019

Thyroid
Thyroid issues, unlike other diseases, has remained the same at 6.8% of the total population. Mainly women face this issue and they also deal with fluctuating weight caused by it. About 9.6% of the population reported a history of thyroid issues in the family.

The only thing good about these conditions is that they can be tackled by living a healthier and active lifestyle. Exercise, quality sleep and proper nutrition are extremely necessary in order to overcome these diseases. It is no secret that as you get older, you tend to succumb to more diseases.

According to the GOQii India Fit Report 2019, 30% of 20-30-year-olds reported some kind of medical issue, 48% of 31-45-year-olds and 74.6% of the users above the age of 60 reported some issues medically. It is very important to follow a good lifestyle from a very young age so that you can avoid these diseases in the future. As the old adage says, “Prevention is better than cure!”