Articles by Arathi Manay Yajaman

During the day, they look like black plastic garbage bags blown onto trees by a strong gust of wind. As darkness falls, their arms unfold and they take off, flying between the multi-storied buildings in our Lokhandwala Township in Kandivali East. As you might have gathered, I've spent quite a few hours over the last few years watching bats, amazed at how similar they are to vampires in movies. Or maybe it's the other way round, vampires in movies are inspired by the wide black wings of bats. Hundreds of bats hanging like plastic bags. Photo: Arathi Manay Since the…

Unlike other cities in the country, Mumbai has a complex structure of electricity distribution. To begin with, there are multiple electricity distributors. There is the state owned Bruhanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) and a Public Sector Undertaking, Mahavitaran (MSEDCL). The two major private players are Tata Power and Adani Electricity. In the Western suburbs of the city, customers can choose between the private distributors. So if you are living in an apartment complex, it’s quite possible that you and your next door neighbour receive power from different companies. When customers received their bills in June, they were in for…

“I have cleared my house of all the plastic bags. I cannot afford to pay Rs 5,000 as fine.” “Madam, they are saying that they will come to check our houses to see if we have plastic. Do you think they will come?” “Everyone on the road is carrying cloth bags today. Who wants to pay fine? ” “Vegetable vendors are telling us to go home and bring a bag. None of them have plastic bags.” “Will it be alright to carry this water bottle? I won’t be caught and fined, right?” The Maharashtra Plastic and Thermocol Products (Manufacture, Usage,…

“I have cleared my house of all the plastic bags. I cannot afford to pay Rs 5,000 as fine.” “Madam, they are saying that they will come to check our houses to see if we have plastic. Do you think they will come?” “Everyone on the road is carrying cloth bags today. Who wants to pay fine? ” “Vegetable vendors are telling us to go home and bring a bag. None of them have plastic bags.” “Will it be alright to carry this water bottle? I won’t be caught and fined, right?” The Maharashtra Plastic and Thermocol Products (Manufacture, Usage,…

This Earth Day, on April 22 2018 (and the previous day), residents from the Lokhandwala Township of the western suburb of Mumbai, Kandivali East, got together to participate in the “Colour My Township” initiative, organised by We All Connect (wAc) with the support of Kansai Nerolac Paints Limited. wAc is a community group that was formed to promote bonding and oneness among residents of the township. A few months ago, the group painted a small wall together and members found that painting compound walls together with neighbours was a good way to get to know them. According to Mr Santosh Shetty, founder of…

It is 4:15 a.m. and this is the scene at the gates of the Samta Nagar Post Office in Kandivali East, Mumbai. Men (mostly) just hanging around on the street, doing pretty much nothing. Chances are, they’ve done this before, but not early enough… the reason for this repeat visit. As I approach the group, Hukam Singh greets me. We were among the unlucky ones, not in the “first 20” of the previous morning. “Madam ka naam lick do bhai… athara” (write madam’s name brother… eighteen), said one. Yeah! I was in the first 20. This is probably the scene at…

More than six years ago, when I was living at Brigade Millennium, there were rumours that the neighbourhood Chunchaghatta/ Chunchughatta Lake was going to be drained and would become a bus stand. This lake is one of the three erstwhile connected lakes in Puttenahalli, and being involved with the small Puttenahalli Lake, it was of particular interest. I went to the lake area to check out what was happening, and subsequently, Citizen Matters did a story that woke up the authorities. Recklessness choking pretty Chunchaghatta Lake can be read here.  The past year has seen renewed activity at Chunchaghatta Lake.…

Namma Bengaluru Foundation in association with Arakere Neighbourhood Improvement Trust (ANIT), invites one and all to Arakere Habba 2017. 19th February 2017 (Sunday), 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Government Higher Primary School Ground, Arakere Lake (JP Nagar area, South Bangalore) Get to know about the lake and how it can change our future. Enjoy some bird watching, a street play and cultural activities. Children can participate in painting and poster making. Rejuvenation of the lake is in process, but incomplete. The habba aims to create more awareness about the lake's situation and push for completing the pending work from various authorities. 

PNLIT Fundraiser concert 'Padma Bhushan Sudha Ragunathan sings for Puttenahalli Lake' is here! 'Without music, life would be a mistake,' said Neitzsche. 'Without water, there would be no life,' they say. Sudha Ragunathan, Sangita Kalanidhi, and one of India's leading Carnatic vocalists will be performing LIVE, exclusively for Puttenahalli Lake. She will be accompanied by R. Raman, Neyveli Skanda Subramanian and B.V. Raghavendra Rao Through this concert, PNLIT wants to promote environment awareness and the need for individuals/groups to save water and water bodies. Join PNLIT in this campaign for water for all, forever. Buy a ticket, become one with the melody, help PNLIT maintain…

On 4th February 2017, an evening nature walk was held at Puttenahalli Lake, JP Nagar 7th Phase, coordinated by PNLIT volunteer Sapana Rawat. Sapana had the following to report about the event. "The actual flower of the Bougainvillea plant is the small white one and not the colorful pink, red, orange color leaves that surround it. The colorful leaves will slowly turn into green once they mature," said avid naturalist Deepa Mohan much to the delight and surprise of a group of adults and children.   This mixed group of more than 20 adults, children and 2 infants in strollers(!)…