Articles by Sahitya Poonacha

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship There are some things in every house, which were used in the past, but not so useful anymore, but stay on the shelf collecting dust, because people think it might be useful in future. What if those products are rented for a fixed period? What if you could donate all that material to a store that makes products out of waste? Changing consumer habits have led to generation of more waste. Today recycling has evolved from being a trend to a necessity. This is also a business opportunity. There are…

Martha Graham once said, “Theatre is a verb before it is a noun, an act before it is a place.” Bengaluru has always been a boiling pot of the performance arts with big theatres that have gained national and international prominence that have been showcasing plays and performances for over a decade. As the appreciation for theatre increased, Whitefield found its own cultural space that would go on to showcase some incredible performances. Since its inception in 2011, the Jagriti theatre has played host to many renowned plays and performances, gaining appreciation for its unique take on theatre. Making a…

“We come and check. If it’s good and we like it, we take it, otherwise we know it’ll be useful to someone else. Everything kept here is put to good use,” says a woman smiling, as she picks up an item kept at the Brookefield Community Fridge. In a city where one has Zomato, Swiggy, high-end restaurants, big breweries, ice cream parlours, Indira canteens and numerous other options, food should be the last worry on a Bengalurean’s mind. Yet, there are hundreds of families who go to bed on an empty stomach in Bengaluru every day. While mid-day meals in schools,…

Varthur lake, the second-largest lake in Bengaluru has been an unfortunate victim of unplanned urbanisation and industrialisation. With the growing population and the inflow of commuters to Whitefield and Sarjapur on a daily basis, the infrastructure of the roads circumventing the lake, specifically the Varthur bridge and the Varthur-Gunjur stretch, are unable to handle the congestion. This has pushed local residents to demand the widening of the road. While the BBMP had sanctioned the work on repairing the bridge, work has come to a halt due to protests by surrounding landowners who are afraid of losing their land. The road-widening…

One of the most pressing challenges faced by the Indian education system is to bridge the gap between the infrastructure and quality of education in a private school and that of a government school. While the government rethinks its model for public schools across the country, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and citizen groups have taken it upon themselves to bring about change. The Avasar Foundation, a Bengaluru-based NGO recently inaugurated a pre-primary school at the Seegehalli Government Higher Primary School located in Kadugodi, near Whitefield in Bengaluru. This pre-primary school has been built on the kindergarten model that is seen in…