Meerut Youths' Innovation Feeds Hundreds Of Poor By Preventing Milk Wastage On Shivratri

Whenever Karan Goel¡¯s family asked him to accompany them to a Shiva temple on Shivratri, the 24-year-old protested and said he did not like wasting milk on the shivling, which otherwise could feed the poor.

The youth discussed the matter with four of his former classmates and friends, and together they devised a system that prevents the milk from being wasted, without hurting anybody¡¯s religious feelings.

After making a contraption, the group convinced the priest at Bileshwar Nath temple in Meerut to set up the system in the premises on Shivratri and published pamphlets and distributed them to devotees. On Wednesday, they saved over 100 litres of milk and distributed it to underprivileged and orphaned children.

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¡°Nishant Singhal, Anmol Sharma, Ankit Chaudhary, Charchit Kansal and I passed out from Meerut Public School in 2012. Later, some of us moved to different cities for graduation. We had discussed the idea on several occasions and finally decided to execute it on this Shivratri,¡± Karan said.

¡°Devotees pour milk on the kalash which is placed right above the shivling. We made two holes in the kalash ¡ª one on its base and the other one at a certain height. The kalash had a capacity of seven litres. So we devised a system which ensured that after one litre of milk trickled down on the shivling, the remaining six litres flowed into a container through the pipe attached to the second hole,¡± he said

The apparatus was set up on a steel tripod stand attached to the shivling.

¡°We spent only Rs 2,500 to develop this system. We will be uploading videos on our Facebook page ¡®India Against Hunger¡¯ so that it can be replicated by people in other cities,¡± said Nishant Singhal, who is pursuing BCA from IIMT College, Meerut.

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After the initial testing, the group contacted Parag Milk Foods to be doubly sure about the quality of the milk. ¡°We were told that the only way to ensure the milk doesn¡¯t get contaminated is by storing it in steel containers and by appealing to the devotees to pour only plain milk on the kalash.

Often, people add flower petals and other things to the milk. Through pamphlets, we request such people to pour milk directly on the shivling and not on the kalsh,¡± said Anmol Sharma, who is pursuing graduation from Bharat Institute of Technology in Meerut.

The apparatus was first tested at Saket Shiva temple on Monday and Tuesday. ¡°We had expected to save 50 litres of milk on Shivratri. However, to our surprise, we ended up saving over 100 litres by afternoon. The saved milk was sent to Satyakaam Manav Seva Samiti which provides shelter to orphaned children and HIV positive kids,¡± said Charchit Kansal, who is pursuing BSc from Delhi University.

¡°We have handed over the apparatus to the temple authorities. Every Monday, a portion of milk offered by the will be sent to underprivileged children,¡± said Ankit Chaudhary, an engineering student.