City: Mumbai

Dr Syeda Ruksheda is the co-Chair of women’s mental health speciality section of Indian Psychiatric Society. An eminent psychiatrist and psychotherapist, she has specialised in young adults, women and families, in a career spanning 20 years. She also has two TEDx talks to her credit. In this video she talks to Malathi Rai, who wrote the concept, story, screen-play and lyrics of Smile Simi, a film on depression released on World Mental Health Day this year. Syeda and Malathi discuss the mental health pressures on women from marginalised sections of the society and how tough it is for such women…

A short trip to a small island off Tarkarli in Sindhudurg District along coastal Maharashtra a few years ago introduced me to the sport of Kayaking. This first experience led me to explore how I could continue with the sport in Mumbai itself. The Walduni canal, not far from my home in Ulhasnagar would have been very convenient, but it is too polluted to be safe for kayaking. So my eyes were set on the Ulhas river, further down. A fisherman at work on the Ulhas river (Photo: Deepak Malani) (Photo: Deepak Malani) Two years ago I got an inflatable…

Sanvidhan Pracharak, a Mumbai-based group has 20+ volunteers across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) who conduct workshops, camps, and one-on-one sessions to propagate Constitutional values among residents in their neighbourhoods. “A sovereign socialist secular democratic republic?” Asmita Sharma, a volunteer with Sanvidhan Pracharak, asks. “Do most of us know what this means?” It’s the second line in the Preamble to the Constitution of India, but Sharma says that the words are lost on many.  The Indian Constitution lays down the framework of the country’s political procedures, powers and structures. It also sets out the directive principles, citizens’ duties as well…

It was January 2016. We had recently returned to India from Kenya, and were all excited to move into our new home at Hyde Park, Kharghar Sector 35. We had spent the previous couple of months visiting the apartment on and off from Mumbai where we were temporarily living. Away from the hustle and bustle, and surrounded by nature, this place was pleasantly different. Every time we approached the gates, we would see the tall green hills in the distance. A big pond lay behind the central jail and right in front of the apartments we would see this small…

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is a large, complex organisation whose functioning largely remains enveloped in secrecy. Its website is a maze; decisions taken by its pivotal body—the standing committee—out of the public radar; and calls for independent audits routinely blocked. Decoding BMC’s numerous services and mammoth budget is a daunting task, best performed by seasoned journalists and accounting experts.  ASICS 2017, an independent benchmarking of cities report, finds that BMC needs to “adopt open data standards, usher in radical transparency in finances and operations; systematically provide actionable data at a neighborhood level”.  Reports like these repeatedly highlight at a…

Currently, over 60 animals housed in various parts of the 103 sq kms of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park are available for adoption. These include about a couple of Rusty Spotted Cats, two leopards and about 56 herbivorous animals like Blue Bull or Neelgai, spotted deer and four-horned antelopes.  Modelled on the lines of Bengaluru’s Bannerghatta Biological Park, the sponsorship fee of the animals have stayed unchanged since the inception of this animal adoption scheme in December 2013.  According to the forest department, the purpose of sponsorship is primarily to build goodwill among citizens for the park and its animals.…

Several large municipal councils in the country have budgets which could be the envy of a small state government. A case in point is Brinhanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the corporation that runs Mumbai (20-21 Budget: 33,000 Crores). With such large budgets and huge manpower to execute the works, why is almost every civic facility in Mumbai in a sorry state? Roads, water supply and drainage, sanitation and healthcare facilities, municipal schools etc. scarcely bear any comparison with similar such facilities in more civilised countries. The answer is not far to seek. To prove the point, a recent news item in the…

Distances are measured in time in Mumbai. Mulund is 30 minutes away from South Mumbai in a fast local train and Vasai an hour. But how far is the Giri’s Geckoella from Kanjurmarg, or where are you most likely to spot Vigors’ Sunbird? A biodiversity map, commissioned by a non-profit, Purpose Climate Lab (PCL), puts the city’s landmarks and its plant and animal life in perspective. This new map for an old world shows that along certain edges and nodes of Mumbai, the real landmark might be the city's biodiversity.  Map by Rohan Chakravarty/ Credit: Purpose Climate Lab We spoke…

“When my 12-year-old daughter queued up to collect food, I decided enough is enough,” says Khatoon Shabana. From March 2010 to 24 March 2020, Shabana cooked and served meals to Dharavi's cottage industry and mini-factory workers. But when the workers left for their villages during the lockdown, Shabana's bhishi or home mess service also shut down. On the day when Shabana’s daughter waited in line to receive food packets, Shabana resolved to find another way to earn money. “Someone suggested that I sell bananas,” Shabana recalls. The idea was appealing but her family was skeptical. “My husband said no one…

This Child Rights Week, Citizen Matters brings to you voices from three young community leaders. This is the third story of the series. I am Bibi Rehmat, living in Behram Nagar in Bandra. I study in class ten. When I was 6 years old I came to Mumbai. I was born in Gonda District in Basti, Uttar Pradesh. I liked the open spaces and fresh air in my village, there’s too much pollution in the city. But here in the city, there are a lot of opportunities, more freedom compared to the village, and one can learn English more easily.…