Blogs

Two months before I left for Chennai, I stopped by the Man Who Sold the World, an antique store in my neighbourhood in Seattle. I go to this shop sometimes to look through the old-fashioned stereoscope. You peer through the device at two side-by-side photos, soften your gaze, and these two slightly different perspectives become one three dimensional scene. On that particular day, I set my sights on India. One scene is of a cow in a crowded Delhi alley. Another is of a larger-than-life stone carving of a Hindu god. It felt as if I was surrounded by those…

These tips are all super basic, and you are probably already doing them if you're at all environmentally-minded. But if you're not, then these are simple to practice but large in impact, so we encourage you to start them today. #1 BYOC/BYOB What's BYOC and BYOB? Bring Your Own Container or Bottle wherever you go. Recently, a Beautiful Bengaluru member calculated that his family of four saved forty plastic bottles by carrying their own steel/copper bottles on a five-day vacation. Think of how many you can save! Most people believe that using disposables is okay as long as they use…

After three months of freedom to grow, my hair needed to be contained. It now formed a curtain over my eyes and glasses. When the government allowed the opening of beauty parlours, I booked myself for a first day, first trim. This was a calculated move. I would be in a place cleaned thoroughly after months of lockdown.  The shop wasn’t quite ready, so I made it “second day, first cut.” The Aadhaar card was mandatory, I heard. Parlours had to check the ID of people they had “beautified” routinely for years? But it made sense. I did look unrecognisable. …

Being locked up at home during the long COVID-19 lockdown, I got to reminiscing about my childhood. For instance, as kids, we used to look forward to the monsoon rains. Splashing, making boats and wading through the water excited us and made us feel happy. We had to go to school in knee-deep water wearing raincoats. But this never interrupted our routine. Now, when a virus has engulfed the world, we are told to lock ourselves up in isolation. I pity the kids. They are the ones bouncing with energy. How this is going to impact them, I wonder. Today,…

Public transport systems are essential services to provide mobility in cities. However, in the current COVID-19 situation public transport will pose a certain risk due to a large number of people in a confined space with limited ventilation, no access control to identify potentially sick persons and many common surfaces to touched such as ticket machines, handrails, doorknobs to name a few. Life in times of COVID-19 has changed drastically. The pandemic has brought many changes in the way we live our lives and the habits we form, and soon it will also change the way we travel. Crowded buses,…

In an article in LiveMint, ‘Of plagues, people and the everlasting impact of short events’, Anurag Behar, the CEO of Azim Premji Foundation writes, “We have not dealt with anything like this before, individually or collectively as a modern global society.” The article begins with a reference to William McNeill’s book on epidemiological history, Plagues and People that discusses the influence of diseases on the course of humanity. Behar writes about his chance encounter with this book at a Washington DC book store just a month ago and the turn of events thereafter.  As I read this article, I think…

As most of us have been staying indoors and trying to adapt to the changes around us, the young ones across the country have found creative and innovative ways of utilising their time. From creating artwork to building models for school projects, there are plenty of examples out there. To take this creativity and talent of the young ones forward, Konrai Foundation, a public charitable trust based out of Bengaluru, has organised an online contest for those below 20 years of age. Guidelines for participating in the "Reflections 2020" contest Age Category Participants should be 20 years or below as…

The Bangalore International Centre is celebrating women, freedom and equality with day-long events that highlight the strengths and vulnerabilities of women and busts myths and stereotypes of gender. Art, music, photography, theatre, books, discussions, films, workshops and food, there is something for everyone. The events start in the morning at 10:30 and run through out the day. Here are some events: Self Reimagined- A photo exhibition by Clare Arni The photographs in the exhibition are from a workshop Clare Arni and Varuni Mohan conducted with the class 9 girls of RBANMS High School, Bengaluru. They discussed themes of women’s empowerment…

Varthur lake is the second-largest water body in Bengaluru. The 440-acre lake is located on the eastern periphery of the city, surrounded by villages and all the big IT companies. Over the last 20 years, a lot has changed and the lake has become infamous as one of the most polluted lakes in the city. From a pristine water body where people used to fish and bathe, it has now turned into a cesspool that froths and foams. It even catches fire! Concerned by the encroachment and degradation of the lake, residents came around to start a rejuvenation campaign. The…

The large population of girls in India without the knowledge of what menstruation is or how to practice safe hygiene is detrimental to the future well-being of these women. Educating girls on menstrual hygiene not only prevents girls from developing compromising health conditions in the future, but it also lays the groundwork for women to feel empowered. Until and unless a woman is comfortable and proud of her own skin, a girls ability to flourish will be impaired. Aarogya Seva is hosting the first international conference on menstrual health in Bengaluru, India, called The Period Junction. While large strides have…