Bliss-Girls

Let me begin this post by telling you a story. This is the story of a mother who offers everything she has unconditionally to her children. Her children are many. Many of them are dead, many are yet to be born and many are living. Of the living, everyone is dependent on her. Many are ignorant enough to not realize and acknowledge the dependency. The living know she has lot to offer, some take lovingly, some snatch brutally. She is hurt but rarely shows anger. She is our mother Earth. We do not care to leave her in her glorious self to the future race. Its not too late however. With few simple adaptions to our lifestyle, we can contribute to reversing the ill effects on her health, which we originally introduced in the name of progress. Wondering how? here is a woman who will help us. Not only she educated people but also leads by example. Read on to find more.

I would like to introduce you all to Chaithanya Subrahmanya. She spent a major part of her childhood in a town called Gonikoppa, nestled in beautiful district of Kodagu. Her maternal grandparents lived in a village called mai mudi about 10 kms from Gonikoppa. She used to spend most of her time with her cousins at her family’s house in Mayamudi village, few kilometers from Gonikoppa. Chaithanya grew up experiencing nature and got a deep understanding of eco-system. She recollects that life in village was simple, close knit and intertwined with nature. Everyday activities were designed in such a way that one lives along with nature instead of exploiting it.

Chaithanya’s family relocated to Hesarghatta, Bangalore when she was in high school. This was a complete different environment and Chaithanya’s family took time to adjust to the new setting. She remembers that soon as the struggles of settling in new places were overcome, she and her family received abundant unconditional love from the villagers. And while they were enjoying this phase, her family relocated again to Mathikere, Bengaluru. Chaithanya went on to do BSc in Maharani Lakshmi Ammanni College and then MSc in Microbiology from Maharani’s college in Bengaluru. Meanwhile, she got married to Subrahmanya. They lived outside India for few years before moving back to Bengaluru. Then she had two kids. She is a homemaker by choice.

Starting the volunteering journey

In 2014, when Modi’s government started the Swachh Bharath program, Chaithanya wanted to do her part. On October 2^nd she and her family started the clean-up drive at nearby Turahalli Forest and later continued cleaning her neighbourhood every Sunday from 6am to 8am and completed 100 hrs. She and few other volunteers were called to launch and run a waste management program in their apartment. She and her team of volunteers would visit homes, demonstrate segregation of waste (Wet, Dry and Reject waste), educate about the importance of segregation, monitor and help the housekeeping staff. They covered 576 homes in total and this program was a grand success.

Chaithanya is working with numerous government organisations, NGOs and Resident welfare associations on matters that impact environment including soil, water and green cover . She is involved in various initiatives on ground for the last 9 years.

She has since been conducting educational and awareness drives about waste management. She conducts session on effective waste management, segregation, reducing our waste, home composting, sustainable menstrual practices, homemade toiletries. She is a strong proponent of zero waste events. Her efforts are to reduce the waste going to the landfills and water sources which in turn pollute the environment. She has been invited as a guest speaker to educate youth at various institutions.

She is the Ward Coordinator -Citizens Participation Program, BBMP Hemmigepura She along with other volunteers in association with BBMP Solid Waste Management team have been conducting continuous clean up drives every Saturday in Hemmigepura ward. They have conducted 66 such intensive clean up drives so far. Cleaning black spots, removing illegal flex and banners, installing leaf composters, removing nails from trees, plantation along with nurturing and protecting grown up plants, cleaning bus stops, painting walls and spot beautification have been hall marks of such clean-up drives. Such drives also included conducting awareness sessions at schools, public and slums about segregation and reduction of waste. Rain or shine, Chaithanya and her team participates in this drive every week. This is her commitment – to keep her neighbourhood clean.

Working with Forests

Forests are lungs of land. One very basic reason we need trees is for Oxygen. It is said that 1 person uses about oxygen produced by 7 trees in their lifetime. It is sad that in Bangalore, which was once known as garden city, has 1 tree per 7 people. This was as per the survey done by IISC. To more about his study, I recommend reading this paper.

Chaithanya has been working to save the green space in her surroundings. With this intent, she is involved in various initiatives to plant saplings especially the ones where forest lands are freed form encroachments. When it comes to green initiatives she collaborates with Forest Department officials, NGOs, nature lovers and environmentalists. One such drive involved co-ordinating with 300 school kids and planting seeds soaked in jeevamrutha in open areas of Turahalli Forest. 1 Lakh seeds were sown as part of this drive and today 3 years later the forest has reclaimed its space. It is now lush green and is home to a lot of birds and animals.

Another such instance was to save Turahalli Forest from plans of the government to build a tree park  and open it for public with recreational facilities and walkway paths. Knowing well that forest is an eco system which once destroyed can never be reclaimed easily, Environmentalists, Nature lovers like Chaithanya and many other NGO’s protested this and got the government to drop their plan.

In the next post we will cover more about Chaitanya’s work and get to know more about how we can do our bit to save planet. Dear Reader, thank you for your time and I hope you too will do your bit to keep our planet clean and green.