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August 2014

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Teach For India is a not-for-profit that works with the vision that one day all children will attain an excellent education. Their mission primarily aims at eliminating education inequality that has for long been prevalent in India.

The Project has been distinctly divided into a two-part theory of change- short term and long term. The Fellowship program is part of the short term theory of change and the Alumni Movement is part of the long term theory of change.  And here’s why Teach For India is the ideal opportunity:

Leadership

The Teach For India Fellowship is a leadership development program. This is a two-year, full time, paid commitment where Fellows are placed in under-resourced schools across six cities. Some of the skills that the Fellows are likely to develop are creating goals, strategy-planning, data analysis, project and people management, building relationships with external stakeholders and effective execution. Professional approach and entrepreneurial skills are developed through the ‘Be The Change Project’ that all Fellows work on in their second year.

Personal Transformation

The Teach For India Fellowship is a personal and professional journey that allows individuals to find their potential, their passions and transform their lives as well as the lives of those around them. It helps its Fellow to basically find and nurture their true potential.

Challenge

The task of eradicating child illiteracy is tremendous and extremely challenging. If you are somebody who is sensitive about the fact 90% of all Indian children do not and cannot complete schooling due to various demographical and social reasons, this is the project to be a part of.

Teach For India believes not only in recognizing the gravity of the problem, but also in finding a timely and effective solution to it.

Impact

If you want to make a remarkable impact in somebody’s life and change it for the better, this is the best platform you can have.

In totality this program aims to impact underprivileged students in three basic areas:

  • Academic achievement.
  • Values and mindsets
  • Access and opportunities

These three areas constitute the Student Vision that Fellows work towards.

The Alumni Movement

While Fellows create meaningful impact in the lives of 30-40 students through the Fellowship, it is through the Alumni movement that they can impact the lives of hundreds and thousands of children. Currently, Teach For India has over 700 Alumni members working all across the world in different sectors. As a member of the Teach For India community, any Fellow has access to all their networks and experiences. We need leaders who will be at the forefront of this movement from various different sectors and create large scale and high-quality impact.

 

Teach For India is not alone in this struggle, there are various other countries all over the world struggling with educational inequality. Teach For India is part of an international network called ‘Teach For All’ that consists of 35 countries. Collectively, this network has 15,000 Fellows and 30,000 Alumni working for over five million children.

Update: The last deadline for the Teach For India Fellowship 2015 is 4th February, 2015. Head to www.teachforindia.org to apply!

 

Surbhi Sharma

[email protected]

 

Image source- www.sprinkolors.com

SRCC Youth Conference (YC) 2014 brought together a line-up of speakers that truly captured the imagination of the students that attended the event. The first day of YC 2014 saw students turn up in huge numbers to be a part of the event. The speakers came from diverse fields but they all had one thing in common- the ability to connect with the audience and to inspire them. From waste management to music, the speakers provided an insight into their lives that kept the packed SRCC auditorium engaged despite the heat. In contrast to other speaker sessions however, YC managed to strike a balance between intellectual discussion and entertainment.

Nirmal Dave for instance talked about the realization that he could use his technological skills to positively impact the lives of people around him.

“Things that change your life can never be taught.” – Nirmal Dave

“You don’t need a degree in waste management, you need a pair of hands and a heart.” –  Jodi Underhill

Further, Jodi Underhill took students through the journey she undertook in her fight as the CEO of Waste Warriors to combat garbage, while Kartik Satyanarayan explained the fight for the conservation of wildlife like dancing bears and elephants.

Ajay Chaturvedi, the founder of HarVa illustrated the immense potential of rural India and the steps he has taken to tap into it. Dhruv Viswanath rather than simply going ahead and entertaining the crowd chose to take the opportunity to go ahead and explain the driving force behind his music. He mentioned the impact his father and family had on pushing him to pursue what he loved. The speakers received a standing ovation by the audience.

The morning session came to a close with a classic Dhruv Viswanath performance where he showcased his unique style of playing the guitar that is akin to greats like Ben Lapps.

“ Dream! Even if you are an engineer, dream! If you are an investment banker… not so much, but dream!”
“ Nobody wants to be an overnight success, you want to be stuff of legend. “
-Dhruv Viswanath

He performed two of his original compositions and concluded with covers of Get Lucky (Daft Punk) and Somebody that I used to know (Gotye/Walk off the Earth). The audience got a chance to hear real stories of real people who went out there and worked towards a goal they believed in.

In picture: Nirman Dave

Credits: Mehr Gill

Kanan Gill, a stand up comedy artist from Bangalore was recently in town for his Pretentious Movie Night show in Gurgaon with Biswa Kalyan Rath. The duo’s YouTube series on Pretentious Movie Reviews have gathered a lot of loyal followers with hilarious videos on movies like Gunda, Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon and the most recent one, Prem Aggan. We managed to catch up with Kanan at Mia Bella, Hauz Khas Village for a pretentious conversation on his videos, his college days and the stand up comedy scene in India.

Read on for a glimpse of the full interview!
Priyanka: So, firstly, most people fantasize about getting into YouTube and stand up comedy, but rarely do they do anything about it. What was the first push for you?
Kanan: It’s weird to fantasize about getting into YouTube, because anybody can start a YouTube channel! Uh, for stand up comedy, it’s a much bigger step. For me, I was lucky. Comedians from Bangalore (Sandeep Rao, Praveen Kumar) started a stand up comedy scene, English Language, which is very difficult, but they started with open mic nights in Bangalore where anybody can go and tell jokes. So I stopped by one of those, and I really liked it so I thought I should do this. And I have a bit of a background in being on stage; I’ve been in bands and music groups before and wrote funny songs. So I knew that the “funny part” was there and I liked being on stage, but stand up comedy was the best form of that.

Mehr: And how did you and Biswa start out and get together?

Kanan: Both of used to do stand up in Bangalore and we met at an Open Mic. Both of us had IT jobs and in the evening we used to come and try and tell jokes. We started writing jokes together, just to try and help each other out. Eventually when this YouTube thing started, I asked him if he wanted to be in the video, mainly because I was scared of doing it alone [laughs]. And he did not want to but I convinced him and that’s how it came about.

Priyanka: People usually review new movies, so where did the concept of reviewing old, trashy Hindi movies come from?

Kanan: That was the whole point! I see no point in reviewing current movies; just watch it or don’t watch it. For me, the funniest thing is doing things that are unhelpful. The very first video I made, was called an ‘Indian Accent Tutorial’ that was not helpful at all. So, I decided, hey, let’s make movie reviews that have no value! They are not for current movies and it should be just that you watch the review to watch the review; you’re never going to watch the movie, so that was the idea.

Mehr: You recently went to St. Stephen’s College in Delhi University. Do you have any stories to tell from your crazy college days?
Kanan: No I was very boring in college! I was not extroverted, didn’t take part in events. I was just quietly there. Crazy stories, well there are a bunch of them. I once got a bomb squad called for my friend’s car, that was pretty crazy.  You’re not supposed to park your car in the college campus but I was like, ‘Leave it na, nothing’s going to happen!’ The next day we came back to his car and the doors were not there! In his car there were was a cricket kit in the back,  and someone thought it was a bomb, so they called the bomb squad and they disassembled his car!
Priyanka: Do you have any ‘words of wisdom’ to share with people who want to get into stand up comedy?
Kanan: Sure man, do it! That’s it; there’s nothing stopping you besides going out and doing it. Here in Delhi, Gurgaon there’s a lot of opportunity. There’s a full Delhi stand up scene, they have Open Mics, get in touch with them. The best thing about the stand up comedy scene in India is that it’s not very big; there’s nothing stopping either of you from organising a show tonight and saying, ‘Hey, stand up is happening, come!’ So why not do it?

Priyanka: What sort of response do you usually get from the Delhi audience? You’ve done a couple of shows here, so what’s it been like?

Kanan: You know, it’s weird; you can summarise the audience of different cities, like Bangalore is little more posh, a slightly difficult audience which is good because it makes you work hard. Bombay’s read to laugh at most things, they just want to have a good time. In Delhi I’ve had very opposite experiences. The first time I came to Gurgaon, I was horrible! But recently it’s been amazing! So what I’ve realised is that the crowd from Noida, from South Delhi and from Gurgaon are all very different and you can’t judge an NCR crowd as one.

Mehr: Were you happy with the kind of reception you got for the first Pretentious Movie Night show?

Kanan: Oh yes, so happy! Mainly because we haven’t slept in so many days, not because we were working (well, partially because we were working) but because we were so stressed!

Priyanka: All the viewers have their favourite Pretentious Movie Review. Which one is your favourite?

Kanan: I think for different reasons, different ones are my favourite. Weirdly, the ones we spend less time on become better. For example, Prem Aggan, when we finished shooting it, it was 5:30 in the morning and we were like, ‘This sucks! No one’s going to like this.’ Later, I did a rough edit, just to see and by the time I was done, I decided ki isko daal dete hai. And the response for that was insane! In contrast, Hum Saath Saath Hai, both of us really liked and we spent so much time on that! We shot for 5 hours to do that video, but people were like, ‘Yeh kya hai?’ and we said were giving advice and all that, but people didn’t want that! We don’t have a formula for what works. Even the Movie Reviews were just supposed to be a thing that was in between the other videos but now it’s the most popular segment!

Priyanka: Can you spill any secrets as to which movies you’ll be reviewing next?

Kanan: [laughs] Absolutely not! Nope, nope.

Take a look at Kanan Gill’s channel on YouTube here.

The world lost yet another beautiful soul to the demon that is depression. For anyone familiar with Robbin Williams’ work, it was almost unbelievable to hear that the beloved comedian took his own life after battling with depression for long.

Though there’s much more to depression than sadness, staying upbeat is one way to ensure that you or a loved one don’t get consumed into this abyss. Without sounding too much like a self- help article, here’s a (generally) happy person’s guide to happiness!

Make peace with who you are:

There will always be someone with better grades than yours, someone with better hair, or someone with a better social life, but that doesn’t take away from who you are. Appreciating someone ? Depreciating yourself! The first step towards a cheerful disposition is being comfortable with your mind and body. Once you’re grateful for who you are, what you have, the world will definitely seem more inviting.

 

Exercise and sleep:

With the pace that our lives are at, it is easy to fall into a rut. Break away from melancholy! An active lifestyle is a scientifically proven key to a happier life, as is a well- rested mind. Exercise keeps you motivated, gives you a certain sense of accomplishment and also helps you sleep better.

If you’re one of those people who get grumpy after having to climb a single flight of stairs, you need to include some form of simple physical activity in your life now!

 

Listen to upbeat music:

At times when you’re feeling low, make a conscious choice of listening to peppy tunes. Your definition of ‘peppy’ may range from Pharrel William’s Happy to AC/DC’s Highway to Hell, build an instant stress- busting playlist and play it on loop. I’ve never seen someone tapping their foot and being morose at the same time!

 

Realistic goals:

One thing that gets a lot of us down is feeling demotivated, and even useless. This usually happens when we miss out on achieving a target or worse still, when the target we’d set looms ahead, bigger and more intimidating than it had originally seemed. Set short term realistic goals for yourself, achieving these will give you the motivation to take on the next challenge. The lesson here is not to underestimate your skills, but to make sure that you don’t overburden yourself.

 

Illustration Credits: Mehr Gill

The SRCC Youth Conference 2014 commenced with the felicitation of Shri Arun Jaitley. The Union Minister of Finance, Defense and Corporate Affairs launched the conference with the release of balloons and expressed his gratitude to be invited. The speaker session took place in the sports complex that was packed beyond capacity with SRCC faculty, alumni and students. The ceremony started with a welcome address by Shri Ajay S. Shriram, Chairman Governing Body SRCC and President Confederation of Indian Industry. He introduced Mr. Jaitley and expressed his gratitude for the constant support to the governing body. This was followed by the felicitation of Mr. Jaitley by The Principal Mr. P.C. Jain and Mr. Shriram.

Mr. Jaitley’s speech started off with a standing ovation by the entire audience. He kept the audience engaged with an insight into the challenges that India faces today. He was of the belief that there has been a rise in the standard of excellence and that the notion of mediocrity is now rejected by India as a nation. While there has been an increase in marks, he highlighted the lack of structural reforms in the education sector. Moving beyond the realm of education he shed light on the unleashing of India’s energies by virtue of the reforms in 1991. His only regret however was the fact that the process didn’t get initiated a decade earlier. Further he analyzed the role of state intervention on various sectors and how there are trade-offs that need to be carefully understood. To explain this he gave the example of the IT sector that prospered because of the absence of strict licensing and acts. Finally he spoke about the universities abroad serving as the nuclei for policy making in their respective nations. He spoke about the existence of an environment conducive to conflicting ideas that eventually leads to ideation.

The event ended with a soulful rendition of the national anthem. The two days of Youth Conference that follow promise to bring a line up of leaders that will both entertain and inspire the participants. So make sure you don’t miss out on any of the action.

“Mediocrity today is akin to crowding at the bottom. But there is always scope for excellence at the bottom and space at the top.”

“The world today offers an entirely different set of opportunities to us all.”

“Areas where the state has withdrawn and allowed people to determine their own destiny, have seen people show great entrepreneurship and vision.”

Image credits- Khushal

 

We have dedicated a whole lot of time and energy welcoming all the new students to college. However, let’s not forget the seniors who are usually the victims of all the ‘fresher enthusiasm’. Here’s a list of five annoying types of freshers.

The impeccably overdressed

While the seniors will be seen dragging themselves to classes in their pajamas with mismatched slippers and hair in an untidy knot, these fresh faces will walk in so perfectly dressed that they end up being annoying. I mean, how do you even get the time to match your clothes AND your nail paint colour?

overdressed.gif

 

The Facebook stalker

Yes, I met you. Yes, we share greetings. Yes, I accepted your friend request but that DOES NOT mean we are the new college BFFs! So you do not need to like my updates that you have absolutely no idea about, or ask me to like your updates that I have no idea about and you definitely don’t need to add me to groups like “You are not part of my heart, you are a heart of my part”.
What does that even mean?police

 

The ‘can you please give me your notes’ type
DU seniors are all about helping the fucchas…well, mostly, and we will help you out wherever we can but can you please stop reminding of the notes I forgot to get for you every time you see me? First, other things are going on in my life. Getting to college is a pain in itself let alone getting a bunch load of notes. Second, getting my notes will not help you pass; chances are you won’t even understand half of it.

please

The cool cats
These ones are cool. So cool the first question they will ask you would be the location of a nearby theka.
I know times have changed and we have grown old but, honey, this is not how college works. Live the sober fun first.

cool

The lingerer

So this one comes to your group as an acquaintance, greets everyone, has a short conversation and then does not leave! Not that they contribute to the next conversation or anything, they just stand there…just there. Usually the loners who haven’t been able to connect with their fellow freshers; their existence lingers around the seniors.

friends

 

Not all the freshers need to be in this list. Some of you are actually pretty fun and your seniors love you. If you are on this list, however, then…umm, awkward.

A program which started out in 2009, Happy Hands Foundation is a venture that focuses on preserving and reviving the traditional arts enabling artisans to develop their own enterprise.  The vision behind this program is to foster culturally rich people by creating meaningful interaction with the arts, generating appreciation for cultural heritage and restoring dignity in crafts practice.

Youth Act Fellowship is a program initiated by Happy Hands Foundation last year, in order to engage the youth in their agenda of engaging the young people in the cultural heritage of the country. The fellowship is aimed at young people of age group of 17 to 21 who will be further introduced to the craft industry.

In 2013, the Youth Act Fellowship members went to Orissa regarding the famous coir craft in which the products are made from coconut fibers like doormats and mattresses. Take a look at their journey in the video below!

This year, the Fellows will be travelling to Sitarganj in Uttarakhand from 4th to 14th October. There, the fellows will learn the grass weaving craft and will exhibit their work on coming back in one of the galleries in Delhi.

The last date to apply for Youth Act Fellowship is 29th  August. The interested people can fill up the form here.
The candidates who will be shortlisted for the interview will be called by 1st September.

The prime focus of the organization is to work for artisans, providing them with design education through cluster development programs where enterprise training is also given, while engaging the youth.

“This fellowship is about experiencing craft in a more hands-on manner and focuses on building lasting relationships between the fellows, their peers and the rural crafts world”, said Medhavi Gandhi, Founder of Happy Hands Foundation, “It is also about welcoming new perspectives and fresh ideas which may or may not be perfectly aesthetic into the dynamic crafts’ space.”

“Moments make memories, and memories make men”, said somebody, and clearly after a lot of thought. All of us are quite fond of capturing happy moments spent with friends, family and colleagues. Some of us click pictures and make videos to capture a memory as it is, while others pen down their thoughts in a diary. However, not everyone can pen down those memories and feelings as well.

With the view of recording such precious moments on paper and preserving them for eternity, Namit Maheshwari, a second year Economic Honors student of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce has come up with a unique business start-up named ‘Kaagaz ke Phool’. The start-up works to provide to its clients their story in print, a biography of their own.

kkp

“The idea took concrete shape in January 2014 when I put together a team of young writers and decided to give life to ‘Kaagaz Ke Phool’ or KKP. The venture quickly gained popularity as people liked the idea of a gift of memories that were more precious and longer-lasting than diamonds and yet cost much less. KKP gives one a complete story of one’s life; the bigger picture at which you can gaze each day and be proud of.” says Namit, the brain behind KKP.

The team working at KKP consists of students working as interviewers, editors and writers. As a client approaches the team for a book about his orher life’s story or a particular event, the interviewers assume charge and interview the client, record the story, thereby capturing the essence of the subject’s thoughts and emotions.

Once the interview is done, the recordings are forwarded to the writer, who listens to them, delves deep into the story and puts it into words in order to extract a meaningful narrative structure out of it. In order to prevent the story from being adulterated by prejudice, emotions or imagination, there is absolutely no contact between the writer and the client. The team thus, does not exaggerate or romanticize; for memories should be remembered as they are.

The story is published in the form of a tailor-made book preserved in rosewood casing (baksa), put together with a bottle of red wine. The craze for such a unique thing is growing amongst all people, young and old alike. The book so published could be gifted to someone on a special day, kept for leisure reading or could be used to preserve and cherish your story for generations to come.

For a young venture, KKP has received a very tremendous response. Since February 2014, they have done 6 publications one of which is an order of 100 copies which they will be bringing out next month. The previously published books have titles like ‘My Daddy, My Hero’, ‘De Mon Coure’, ‘Not Without My Sister’ to name a few.

“We are a team of six members all of whom are students in different colleges: Geetika Ahuja who is an undergraduate student of Sociology at LSR, Gauria Bhatia who studies Economics (H) at IP College for Women and Renu Singh who is an undergraduate student at DRC. The editing is handled by Baldeep Grewal who is a final year English Honors student at IP College for Women and Vrinda Rathi who manages foreign clients.” says Sanchit Garg from DCAC, who himself handles job of interviewing.

In a world where documented emotions and memories are slowly losing their importance (except on the online world), ‘Kagaz Ke Phool’ has brought in a new way of immortalizing the things that make life memorable, and not just letting them be mere ‘things’.

You can follow their work and know more about KKP through their Facebook page Kagaz ke Phool . You can also contact Namit Maheshwari via e-mail, at [email protected].

 

 

In sports like cricket and football you have a stadium full of 80,000 fans cheering for you. In mountaineering, it is the opposite. In the solitude of white mountains and blue skies you have to motivate yourself to win against the vagaries of nature while at the same time live your dream of reaching the top.

Such is the story of Saachi Soni, 20, a BA (Hons.) Mass Media and Mass Communication student from Indraprastha College for Women, who has gone on to achieve laurels for herself and her country as India’s youngest woman to have been selected for an expedition to Mount Everest by the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. She was also the first from the country to reach Mount Elbrus, Europe’s highest peak.

Unlike other students of her age who used to spend their vacations watching movies, visiting grandparents or joining summer school, Saachi, then 7, used to go snow skiing in the valleys of Gulmarg and Manali. That’s where she fell in love with the Himalayas. Seeing her admiration for the mountains and realizing her potential in adventure sports, her father got her enrolled for basic and advanced courses in mountaineering, snow skiing, water and rescue search operations.

The young girl’s passion for mountaineering defeated every hardship that came her way. Throughout her teenage years she trained and scaled summits in Gharwal and Sikkim Himalayas like Mt Bandarpunch (21,600 ft), Mt Renok (18,000 ft), Mt DKD (17,800 ft) and Mt VC Roy (20,000 ft), before getting selected by the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling for the first ever student expedition to Mt Everest (8.850 ft).

Her selection for the expedition was based on a rigorous training program, in which she had to scale two technical peaks wearing shoes weighing 2kgs each and carrying 25kgs loaded bag packs. Saachi says these were the 14 crucial hours when she felt she was carrying her entire life over a distance of 40kms.

And as she describes the obstacles she faced, her travails take on a new meaning.The young mountaineer experienced low oxygen levels, bleeding through the mouth, an empty stomach, fierce wind, steep crevasses, and avalanches. The most devastating was seeing the dead bodies of her fellow climbers lying on the way and being faced with the dilemma of whether to help them or move forward and save oneself.

Towards her ambition to climb the highest peaks of all the seven continents, she recently scaled the summit of Europe’s highest peak, Mt Elbrus in Russia. “We were 12 climbers from different parts of the world. I was also named the “mountain machine” of the team because I was the first person to summit the peak. The climate was extremely harsh and there were moments when I wondered if I’ll be able to return back to my family and friends. When I looked down from the crevasses, I could see no end,” she recalls.

“My expedition was flagged off by the Home Minister of India. Despite winds blowing on my face at the speed of 200kmph and standing with my feet bleeding due to shoe bites, I was emotional when I unfurled the tricolour and sang the national anthem. It was a proud moment, I kissed and bowed at the peak and thanked the mountain for allowing me to step on it.”

Saachi’s daily 6 hour rigorous training schedule on an average includes running for 10-15kms, weight training, push-ups, swimming, yoga and playing football in the college grounds with the children of the staff quarters and nearby slums.

S-quicktime

Often, her ability to manage college studies with training comes into question. But she is strongly supported by Dr Babli Moitra Saraf, Principal, IP College who says the college believes in walking the extra mile to enable those who show special abilities. Saachi Soni has been bestowed several awards like The Best Student Award, Principal Honor Roll Call and Young Achievers Award by the college. She is also grateful to the Vice Chancellor of DU for providing her waivers for examinations and helping her achieve her dreams. Funding for expeditions can sometimes be a task as arduous as climbing a mountain peak itself and Saachi relies heavily on government and private firms for sponsorships.

The young ‘mountain machine’ is determined to bring a change in the perspective towards mountaineering as an adventure sport and career option. Currently she works with WWF India as a motivational speaker to promote mountaineering by the producing videos and photo journals on the topic.

Her future plans include improving infrastructure facilities for mountaineers in India and introducing mountaineering and climbing as sports at the school level. She feels this would be the best way to hone leadership qualities in students and prepare them for hurdles in life.

We wish Saachi Soni all the very best for all her ventures!

Whenever I am in the metro and have no company, I tend to plug my earphones into my ears and jam to my playlist. While my playlist consists of a blend of various genres, sometimes listening to the same songs repeatedly can be irritating and wish that my playlist could update itself with new releases. Here are some new albums to look forward to in the months to come:

1)      Maroon 5’s“V (FIVE)” – A month ago, Maroon 5 released their latest single ‘Maps’ which is scheduled to feature in their fifth album, namely “V (FIVE)”. Barely a few weeks ago, they released their second single namely, ‘It was always you’. Both the songs are catchy, prospective hits and have been getting radio airplay in many nations. The album is to be released on 29th August by Interscope Records.

 

2)      The Script’s“No Sound Without Silence” – A week ago, The Script released their latest single ‘Superheroes’ which is scheduled to feature in their fourth studio album “No Sound Without Silence”.  The latest single incorporates The Script’s consistent style of musical compositions although the content is about ‘empowering people’. While recording the latest album, Danny O’ Donogue mentioned how everything felt larger than life on stage and they wanted to portray the same impact while recording their latest album. The single has been getting significant airplays on the radio in many countries. The album is to be released on 12th September by Columbia Records.

 

3)      Alt J’s“This is all Yours” – Four weeks ago, Progressive Electronic and Experimental Rock band, Alt J released their latest single named ‘Hunger of the Pine’ which is scheduled to feature in their latest album “This is all yours”. The latest single incorporates Alt J’s tremendous experimental tone works on the guitar and the vocals. In an interview, the members had mentioned that the vocals were utilised as an extra instrument and was integral to their music. If you follow experimental music, then this is the album for you. The album is to be released on 22nd September by Infectious Records.

Image credits: Wikipedia.org