Uncommon Ground – Tilling The Urban Soil
Urban farming enthusiasts believe it is the best way to green the city, while providing a little food security too. It is remarkable how much you can grow in a small space with very little fuss. My colleague Vishwanath, who himself has demonstrated the viability of growing paddy on his small rooftop garden, taught me […]
Uncommon Ground – Greening The Toilet
The past century of sanitation has been an environmental and financial nightmare for the world. It is supposedly the 100th anniversary of the modern lavatory, though there is some dispute about when the modern flush toilet as we now know it was invented and by whom. Nevertheless, for the billions around the world who take […]
Uncommon Ground – Mind The Gender Gap
Not only does violence against women continue in the old brutality, it is taking new bewildering forms. Twenty-five years ago, I used to volunteer with Vimochana, a women’s group that focuses on violence against women. At that time in Bangalore, dowry deaths were particularly disturbing, and much work was being done to raise awareness about […]
Uncommon Ground – A Conflict Of Paradigms
The demand for limited fresh water has brought the issue to the centre of the debate on development. At summertime, thoughts turn naturally to water. For millions of citizens, especially women, it is a time of extreme shortage, and for ever more creative coping mechanisms. Many states have improved access to lifeline water, but there […]
Uncommon Ground – Rising From The Ashes
There is a growing consensus that this crisis is unlike any other, that it’s a discontinuity with potential for great change. The airy cafe at London’s British Museum, just across a hallway exhibiting newly discovered mummies of sacred animals from ancient Egypt, was the perfect place to chat with John Elkington about the Phoenix Economy. […]
Uncommon Ground – Next Wave of Voluntarism?
For India’s sake as much as its own, Bihar needs to be strong, less vulnerable to forces that deny democracy. In parts of Bihar, such as the district of Gaya, ironically famous for its Buddhist tourism, Maoists have threatened to chop off the hands of anyone who dares to vote. This is slightly more of […]
Uncommon Ground – Bringing The State Back In
There are just too many millions below the scope of ‘efficient’ markets and beyond the reach of most NGOs. Whenever the family travelled together, while most of us would admire the greenery, my father-in-law would sigh ecstatically over the beauty of the giant pylons striding across the fields. To him, they represented the engineering talent […]
Uncommon Ground – Good Growth, Bad Growth
A question: is this economic slowdown improving the value of the environmental economy? As a family, we are not much into buying things recklessly. Although we live very well, we only buy things that we know will be used. My motherin-law and my son take this to a sort of extreme. They will only have […]
FORBES ASIA SPOTLIGHTS PHILANTHROPISTS MAKING AN IMPACT ACROSS ASIA-PACIFIC AMIDST THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS
DOING GOOD IN BAD TIMES – Singapore, 5 March 2009 – Forbes Asia has announced its second annual Heroes of Philanthropy list which shines the spotlight on those with altruistic passions. Forty eight leading givers, four each from 12 markets across the Asia-Pacific region, were honored this year. View PDF
In Favour of Basic Education – Betting on the bottom-up – Rohini Nilekani
Just recently, I happened to be standing outside a rather new-looking government school, high up on a scraggy hillock in Kolar district in South India. Two young boys, aged about 12, were our curious onlookers and we picked up conversations. One I knew to be a student, because he wore a school uniform, often the […]
