Pensha

Prachi Shevgaonkar, is the 26-year-old founder and CEO, Cool the Globe, an app for climate action. A media student-turned climate activist, Prachi is now an entrepreneur, an advisor to the Tata Power Company, a UNICEF climate advocate and a TedEx speaker. She tells how her attempts to reduce her personal carbon footprint became a movement Finding her calling “When we consider energy saving or reducing carbon footprint, the first step we probably think of is ‘switching off the light bulb’. But I wanted to take stock of the different ways -- from the time I wake up to the time I sleep – in which I could reduce carbon emissions,” says Prachi. “It could be as simple as taking a cold water shower, or installing solar panels to heat water. I realised that I reduced 14 kg emission after a month of cold water baths. In college, I requested to increase the AC temperature by one or two degree Celsius. That reduced 12 kg emission in a month. Segregating waste at home saved about 4kg emissio

The mostly teenaged members of Tale of Melodies tick all the right boxes – aptitude for learning something new, being open to ideas and suggestions and importantly a fine taste in music. No wonder then that the band members presented hauntingly beautiful numbers of legendary musicians like Salil Chaudhuri, Hemant Kumar and R D Burman, to Elvis Presley, Queen and The Beatles in their concerts held in Pune so far. How it all began Shubhankar Kulkarni, who is the lead vocalist of Tale of Melodies, has made a name for himself by singing popular Marathi songs like Aagobai Dhaggobai and Ekti Ekti Ghabarlis Na . In his last two years of school, he took up Western classical music class that piqued his interest in English songs. “I was tuned into Indian classical music from childhood, because my parents, Salil Kulkarni and Anjali Marathe, are accomplished artists. In school, our Sir taught us some three songs in Western classical. I was fascinated by guitars, drums and then I started listeni

Each house has a story to tell History is best not remembered only through dates; it retells itself through documents, paintings, people and last not but the least, the houses, structures w here history was first scripted. If Mumbai has its iconic chawls, fishing villages, Parsi colonies that testify to the megapolis’ thriving diversity, Pune and other parts of the state, have the wadas, that saw the rise and fall of regimes. Here’s the story of wadas and how they came into being. What is a wada? Simply put, a wada is a traditional residence usually with a courtyard. Dr Vaishali Latkar, a conservation architect, opines, “Our vernacular houses typically had aangan (garden in front) and paras (open space at the back of the house for daily ablutions).” The facade of Raste wada. Pics: Ambika Shaligram “Wadas prominently developed in 18 th century. One possible reason for this development is the relative peace and economic stability that Peshwa regime ushered in as compared to earlier times

Authors Varuna Shunglu and Ken Spillman tapped into ancient wisdom and made it relevant for teenagers in a new book 'More Than I Am: Yoga Wisdom for 21st Century Teens. Here’s more about the book…   Not long ago, terms like ‘stress’, ‘anxiety’, ‘grief’ were associated with grown-ups. But look around and you will find that the teenagers and children are no stranger to anxiety and feel pressured. The teens are stressed about trying to fit in, scoring top grades and have a strained relation with food. What about exercise and running around with friends? Really, who has time for that? It’s a tough situation with a simple solution. “Yoga, mindfulness, breath,” says Varuna Shunglu. Shunglu with Ken Spillman has co-authored More Than I Am – Yoga Wisdom for 21 st Century Teens. An international yoga teacher, Shunglu says “ More Than I Am was born from a deep need to speak directly to kids, giving them tools to build resilience and a sense of self.” The tone of the book is not

  A Prabhat Road bylane where road widening has been proposed. Pic: Ambika Shaligram “One of our neighbours suddenly saw notices, announcing the Pune Municipal Corporation’s proposal to widen six-metre roads to nine metres and inviting objections within a stipulated time frame, pasted randomly in the lanes of the Anand Park locality,” says Dr Dhananjay Rau, president of Anand Park Residents Association (APRA), a housing society in Aundh. “It took us completely by surprise. Thankfully, we still had time, so we submitted our objections to the PMC.” The six internal lanes of Anand Park are dead-ends and do not connect to the main road. So why widen the roads, the residents ask. Uncertain utility apart, there will also be an environmental fallout, they argue. “There are about 25-30 trees in each lane and these will have to be axed if the roads are widened,” adds Dr Rau. “We have to consider this environmental impact. Plus widening the main road will lead to more traffic and accidents. So w

  The residents and staff of Suhruday Geri Care. Pic courtesy: Dr Vaidehi Nagarkar Raging through 2020 and continuing in the new year as well, the COVID-19 pandemic brought into sharp focus the state of health infrastructure in the country. The scramble for hospital beds across cities, oxygen scarcity and medicine shortage, the helplessness of patients suffering from other chronic or terminal illnesses highlighted the wide gaps in our public healthcare system. But apart from that, another issue that came into sharp public focus, after years of neglect, is the plight of senior citizens in our urban settlements. Unable to step out of the house as they came under the vulnerable category, and often with their children living away, they faced serious problems accessing medical care, medicines and sometimes, even essentials.  The inadequacy of the system led many to take some tough decisions. Take the case of 86-year-old Nalini Karandikar, a Thane resident, who decided to move to Suhruday Ge