Articles by Lalana Zaveri

In early January, an NGO that focuses on reuse and recycling of clothes sent out an urgent appeal to people on their mailing list to contribute woollens and blankets for homeless people who were suffering the harshness of a prolonged winter. Quilt-making in progress. Pic: Lalana Zaveri What would most of us do, on receiving such an email? Possibly spare a thought for these poor people and then mark the mail unread with the intention of doing something about it at the earliest opportunity, or perhaps gather our spare blankets and woollens and set off in search of a collection…

Sometime around February 9, my maid came up to me with a Kannada newspaper and tentatively enquired whether I was free. She wanted to know whether I could help her fill in an application online for her sister Azira who was seeking a job in a Government Primary School as assistant teacher. Thinking that this should merely be a matter of downloading a form and handing over the printout for her to fill, I readily agreed. She showed me the URL in the newspaper: http://www.schooleducation.kar.nic.in. I typed it out in my browser and the page that opened up looked nice,…

On the 22nd of January, I met a friend for coffee in Indiranagar. Namrata is a new friend; we are still getting to know each other over our once-a-month cups of coffee. We spoke of current affairs (a largely demoralising conversation) and then, after coffee, she said that she would like to show me a public art project that she has been involved in and quite proud of. Something in her voice and eyes made me curious. Children painting the wall. Pic:Dhiraj Kacker We walked from the Gloria Jean's Coffee shop into Indiranagar's Defence Colony. A short walk into the…

The phrase “environment-friendly printing” could be defined as an oxymoron, just like “genuine fake” or “happily married”. If you want to protect the environment, you should not be printing – plain and simple! Everything about printing is harmful to the environment – the toner or inks, the media or printing substrates and more than both of these put together, the waste generated through printing. Print waste (Pic courtesy: Lalana Zaveri) But print communication is a necessity in today’s market-based economy. By one estimate, the size of the digital print market in Bangalore itself is between Rs.80-100 crores per year. So…