The Top Videos of the Week, listed by Shailajanand Mishra.
The blossoming of almond trees.
The festival of Holi.
A woman auto driver who offers free rides to those who need it.
And a man who rides a horse to work because petrol has become too expensive.
These are just some of the videos in our weekly round-up, chosen by you, through your likes on iShare.
Auto driver offers free rides to women, elderly
Date: March 12
Location: Chennai
She's inspiring in more ways than one.
Firstly, she's a rare woman auto driver.
Secondly, she does not charge women and the elderly.
Raji Ashok, 50, has been driving an autorickshaw in Chennai for the last 23 years.
A BA graduate, she and her husband -- who is an auto driver as well -- migrated from Kerala to Tamil Nadu's capital many years ago.
""I offer free rides to girl students too," she says. "And to the hospital in case of an emergency."
AAP MLA defeats CM. His mother works as sweeper
Date: March 13
Location: Barnala
By now, everyone knows the Aam Aadmi Party swept the Punjab elections.
And that Charanjit Singh Channi -- who had taken over as the Congress chief minister barely six months before the assembly election -- lost both the seats he contested from.
While he was defeated by his namesake, Dr Charanjit Singh -- Do read Dr Singh's interview here -- in Chamkaur Sahib, AAP's Laab Singh Ugoke showed Channi the door in Bhadaur by 37,558 votes.
The person most thrilled with his victory is Laab Singh's mother Baldev Kaur, who works as a sweeper in a school. And she sees no reason to give up her job just because her son -- who used to run a mobile repair shop -- is now an MLA.
Why this man rides a horse to work
Date: March 15
Location: Aurangabad
In these trying financial times, one has to find a way to manage costs.
Shaikh Yusuf, a lab assistant at the Y B Chavan College of Pharmacy in Aurangabad, found a rather unusual option.
He replaced his old bike with a horse named Jigar.
Before the pandemic too, Yusuf had begun to find it difficult to cope with the constantly rising price of petrol and diesel.
He did need a mode of transport since he stays 15 km from his place of work.
Spending Rs 40,000 to buy a horse was, he says, the most feasible option.
Navy veteran becomes successful agripreneur
Date: March 16
Location: Kathua
He had served the nation as a part of the Indian Navy.
What next, he wondered.
He wanted a career where he could, in some way, continue to help society.
A good way to do that, thought Dheeraj Kumar from Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district -- was to become an agripreneur.
Since then, he has been cultivating strawberries in Haripur, which is located near the Line of Control. In doing so, he has provided employment opportunities in the region and is making a handsome income.
Almond flowers bedeck Kashmir
Date: March 17
Location: Kashmir
The Kashmir Valley is looking stunning.
For its almond trees are in bloom, indicating the arrival of spring.
Srinagar's famed almond garden, Badamwari, is home to thousands of almond trees which are now prettily bedecked in gorgeous flowers.
Kashmir's tourism department has planned a spring festival in honour of the season.
The celebrations will, of course, begin at Badamwari.
The home of the world's largest solar tree
Date: March 17
Location: Ludhiana
Yup, it's Guinness World Records-certified.
The world's largest solar tree, in terms of panel surface, is now at the Centre of Excellence for Farm Machinery in Ludhiana.
"It can produce 160-200-unit power per day," Ashwani Kumar Kushwaha, senior principal scientist, Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, says with pride.
BSF jawans celebrate Holi
Date: March 17
Location: Jammu
The festival of colours.
The festival of joy.
Doesn't thinking of Holi bring a smile to your face?
It's a festival that everyone celebrates.
Joining in the merriment were jawans of the Border Security Force, who celebrated Holi at the international border Jammu's Gajansoo.
And, like the rest of us, they sang, danced and played with colours.
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
