During my schooling, I read in Social studies that basic requirements are Food, clothing and shelter. So, is electricity a luxury? 70% of India's population live in villages. If all the comfort is focused and drawn towards urban areas then how about the rural regions? I make a happy statement that we (Govt., NGOs, Public institutes) are putting in good effort to address rural problems. No, don't sigh with relief because we've got to throw some light in unexplored regions of our country where electricity is a luxury, a comfort but not a basic requirement.

Liter of Light (LOL), an NGO has initiated "The India Lighting Project." The team felt that when someone says "India Electrified," it is actually not. With excitement suited up, the team booted up their project to see smiles of rural residents, under light. Pradeep Chanti, founder of LOL, with his team, travelled across many villages with a vision to identify non-electrified regions surrounding that area.  

They distributed day lamps (Liter of light model). They used plastic water bottles filled with water to light their houses. The bottles are place on roof top such that one-third of it is outside and two-thirds of the bottle is inside the house so the sunlight retracts. This practice of lighting houses is efficient because bottles don't generate heat like the bulbs we usually use. The plastic bottles can be sent to recycling and the recycled ones can be reused, thus an eco-friendly project.  

Day light installations have been done in various regions across the country. 50 lights each in Vikarabad, Balnagar, Mudfort and Mumbai. 25 lights each in Gujarat, Guwahati and Vellore. 20 each in Kolkata and Delhi while 30 installations have been done in Bhopal.

Like day lights, Team LOL has also installed night lights and street lights at various places.

They installed 30 night lights in Mudfort, 50 lights in Bhopal and 25 each in Gujarat and Assam.

They installed 10 street lights in NTR Bhavan, 15 in Chenchuvani Village, 20 in Guwahati and 2 in Bhopal.

They have also installed day lights in Kumurtuli of Kolkata where world renowned idols are made.

Let us appreciate their effort in lighting several homes which were blanketed by darkness for decades. Imagine those bright smiles that decorated the faces of Rural residents and village kids when they felt light, may be for the first time. Happiness is not about enjoying luxuries, it is in lending your hands to those in need.

Main members of the Liter of Light (LOL):

-Pradeep Chanti, founder LOL, Anna University

-Dacha Preetam, Co-founder LOL, JBIT Hyderabad

-Ranjeet Ghakare, Supporting Head, IIT Mumbai

-Srinivas Chaitanya, Supporting Head, Hyderabad

The results are fruitful only when we work as a team but not as an individual. LOL sets an example for it.

Congratulations Team LOL !