‘Never Seen a Fan’: #DonateASolarFan & Help Pune’s Tribal Families Beat the Scorching Heat

Can a fan change a life? Read this story, and you’ll see.    

In 2020, mechanical engineer Tanveer Inamdar (28) headed to Valani village in Pune’s Mulshi to pitch a life-changing project to the tribal communities there. “I want to bring electricity into your village.”  

Ironic, but despite being only 55 km from Pune’s city centre, the hamlet seemed exiled from civilisation. In Valani, the thrum of the outside world faded, as did its amenities. Tanveer, who was there to give the communities hope, was ushered into one of the village homes to elaborate on his project, ‘Mission Urja’, and their ideas for portable solar solutions. 

The month was May; the heat was unforgiving, and it took all of 10 minutes before the group felt beads of sweat trickle down their faces. The home’s fraying roofs proved futile in protecting it from the sun’s glare. As Tanveer observed, the roof had given way in some places. “So, we were staring directly at the sun.” 

As the crowd inside the room intensified — the prospect of electricity excited them — so did the sweating. But, while Tanveer and his team became uneasy, the tribal communities appeared unperturbed. 

As they would soon share, this was their reality. And, when Tanveer would ask them whether a fan would help, they would look at him point blank and ask, ‘What is a fan?’ 

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Cool Pune’s villages with Rs 800 this summer  

Chances are you’re reading this piece while sitting under a fan or an air conditioner. On the off chance that you aren’t, you’re dearly wishing for some breeze. Now, imagine feeling this way every second of every day for years. You’ve just stepped into the shoes of the people of Mulshi. Keep them on as we walk through the village of Valani. Our first stop is Akshay Jadhav’s home. 

Akshay is in his twenties, but the worry on his face makes him look older. Akshay’s mother hasn’t been too well. Her breathing is raspy. The culprit lies in a corner of the home — the chulha (traditional stoves popular in rural India that are made of clay and bricks and fuelled with cow dung). Akshay’s mother spends at least six hours daily in the ‘kitchen’ (a makeshift space in the corner of the one-room home), cooking for the family. 

When she’s at her tenth roti (Indian flatbread), the room fills with smoke. This is not uncommon in homes where the chulha is used. The burning of solid fuels means the smoke is filled with air pollutants and particulate matter that go into the family’s lungs, spiralling into a host of health conditions. 

The absence of a fan exacerbates the smoke. Akshay wishes he could buy his mother a fan someday. As Tanveer probed into the stories of the homes in the tribal hamlet of Mulshi, he learnt that a fan is a luxury well beyond their financial bandwidth. 

“The average income of the breadwinner of the family is Rs 1800 a month,” he shares, adding that it is just enough to eke out a living. “They are already under pressure to split this money into getting their daily bread and butter and surviving. To minimise the costs of food, they eat whatever grows in the forest.” 

To escape the heat that holds Mulshi in its vice-like grip, most people choose to sit outside their homes, where an occasional breeze will ease their plight. But the village shares ground with scorpions, snakes, and insects, which makes this option a dangerous one. As Sunu Jadhav (52) reveals, his neighbour was once bitten by a snake, leaving the entire community worried about their safety. 

This summer, you can help these families preempt catastrophe by donating Rs 800 to get a family a solar fan. 

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‘The world is moving forward, but these tribes are stuck in the past’

As time ticks, the temperature in Pune is at 38 degrees Celsius, threatening to swell as we enter May. The mercurial weather demands respite, which, in Mulshi, is the solar fan they are now looking forward to. Once far removed from the modernities of urban life, Mulshi has progressed in the last five years. 

“These villages did not have access to power supply. Under Mission Urja, we installed solar systems in their homes,” Tanveer explains. Even as electricity is in its nascent stages, Tanveer elaborates on how they worked with government authorities to fix the roofs and scaffolding of the homes in Valani and the other villages. They also introduced televisions into a few homes. 

“Television came to India around the 1950s, but these villages had never seen one. The TVs that we introduced are not LED TVs, but the older versions that were once popular in Indian homes,” Tanveer shares, adding that just like the 90s would witness the neighbourhood’s families coming together to watch a cricket match in one person’s home, the same scene plays out in Mulshi. 

Life is different here, Tanveer observed. The tribal folk are not perplexed when they spot fungus and white patches on their skins. “It is because of the heat. They sweat profusely, and the sweat dries on the skin, attracting fungus,” Tanveer notes. This, along with dehydration, dizziness, and nausea, plagues their lives during the summers. But through solar fans, Tanveer wants to help them recalibrate their lives. 

A fan will help Banu Waghmare’s blood pressure stay in check — her BP levels plummet because of the heat in the kitchen; it will help Dutta More sleep well — he struggles to get even two hours' worth of sleep each night because of the heat; it will help Sharad Pawar’s sons ace their academics this year — his sons have been failing multiple times because the heat impairs their education. 

It is evident that in Mulshi, a solar fan’s role will go beyond being merely perfunctory. Through Mission Urja, Tanveer hopes he can provide the people with redemption from the heat. The solar fans will be distributed to 500 families across the villages of Valani, Male, Kashing, and Shere. 

These villages have been earmarked for the challenging terrains in which they are located. “These are in hilly areas where there is little vegetation. Because of the low number of trees, these places don’t get much breeze. So, summers are particularly challenging.” 

The solar fans that will be given to the families will check the boxes of durability and sustainability. “We don’t use plastic at all in these fans. They are made of metal and have a five-year warranty,” Tanveer shares. 

The people of Mulshi are excited at the prospect of a solar fan. As one of them, Dutta More, says, “I will treat it like God. After all, it will make my life better. Is it any different from God, then?” 

So, the question begs to be asked: Can a fan change a life? 

It can, but only with your help. 

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Edited by Khushi Arora