Two attendees write about the event
World Environment Day, 2022 started with an educational and inspirational morning for the citizens of JP Nagar. Organised by Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust (PNLIT), Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) and Indian Music Experience (IME), this turned out to be a once in a lifetime experience.
PNLIT celebrated their 12th year as a Trust on this occasion. Ms. Sapana Rawat hosted the event while Ms. Usha Rajagopalan, the chairperson of PNLIT showed us the video of the incredible 12 yr journey of the lake. She mentioned how PNLIT works with the various government departments and how it has come so far with strong support from the neighbourhood residents.
Ms. Kaveri from KSLSA gave an enlightening talk, highlighting waste management and citizens' role in taking care of the environment.
Coming in all the way from North Bangalore was Mr. Samuel John, who provided an exceptional presentation with snaps on various life forms at the lake. His underwater video and the hunting sequence he had captured of one spider fooling and eating another spider were simply wonderful. He enlightened us about the important role played by each and every tiny organism present. How they all help in maintaining a rich ecosystem at the lake.
This remarkable presentation was followed by another showstopper - a vocal recital by National award winning singer Ms. Bindhumalini. Her melodious voice left everyone stunned, especially those, like me, who had shut their eyes in the dim room. I was transported into a peaceful world.
The event concluded with a vote of thanks by Ms. Sahana, who gifted the three special guests a sapling each. What a great start to Environment Day !!
- Nishka Jain, Student, 16 years
Usha Rajagopalan, the Chairperson of PNLIT took the audience through the journey of PNLIT since its inception till date including the ups and downs faced by the team. She shared how the issues have been handled and the lake brought back to life after 2 years of struggling with the sewage inflow. The audience consisted mainly of the donors, well-wishers of PNLIT and the neighborhood residents.
Usha's address was followed by a very thoughtful speech by Smt. Kaveri, Deputy Secretary, KSLSA. The importance of celebrating World Environment Day and this year's theme on One Earth with the tagline of 'living sustainably in harmony with nature' were beautifully articulated by her. She also pointed out our responsibility as citizens towards reducing and managing waste that we generate.
The event ended with a vote of thanks by Ms. Sahana, Head of Curation, IME.
Overall, time well spent on a Sunday morning celebrating World Environment day and PNLIT's 12th anniversary.
This remarkable presentation was followed by another showstopper - a vocal recital by National award winning singer Ms. Bindhumalini. Her melodious voice left everyone stunned, especially those, like me, who had shut their eyes in the dim room. I was transported into a peaceful world.
The event concluded with a vote of thanks by Ms. Sahana, who gifted the three special guests a sapling each. What a great start to Environment Day !!
- Nishka Jain, Student, 16 years
World Environment Day of 2022 and PNLIT's 12th anniversary were celebrated on 5th June 2022 in collaboration with PNLIT, IME and KSLSA. The event started on time with a welcome speech by Sapana, a PNLIT volunteer, followed by a presentation on how the lake has evolved over the last 12 years.
Usha Rajagopalan, the Chairperson of PNLIT took the audience through the journey of PNLIT since its inception till date including the ups and downs faced by the team. She shared how the issues have been handled and the lake brought back to life after 2 years of struggling with the sewage inflow. The audience consisted mainly of the donors, well-wishers of PNLIT and the neighborhood residents.
Usha's address was followed by a very thoughtful speech by Smt. Kaveri, Deputy Secretary, KSLSA. The importance of celebrating World Environment Day and this year's theme on One Earth with the tagline of 'living sustainably in harmony with nature' were beautifully articulated by her. She also pointed out our responsibility as citizens towards reducing and managing waste that we generate.
The next part of the event was a presentation by Samuel John, co-founder of social enterprise called "Spiders and the Sea". The presentation took us all to another world at the lake that we may not have observed both inside and outside the water body. He emphasized on the importance of each living organism of the lake and how they all are interdependent to complete the cycle of life. Right from the tiniest ant to algae to kites and fish, all forms of the ecosystem of our beautiful Puttenahalli lake came to life right in front of us through the pictures and videos captured with great efforts by Samuel John.
The perfect finale of the day's event was the soulful singing by Ms. Bindumalini Narayanaswamy. It was very thoughtful of her to have the lights switched off so the music could help the audience look inwards and spend a few moments to organise the thoughts and allow them to flow seamlessly. The choice of songs from Kabir's song about water to the shlokas from Vishnu purana, all blended beautifully to the theme and were delivered flawlessly through her captivating voice. The audience were mesmerized with her performance.
The event ended with a vote of thanks by Ms. Sahana, Head of Curation, IME.
Overall, time well spent on a Sunday morning celebrating World Environment day and PNLIT's 12th anniversary.
- Nandhini Sriraaman, PNLIT Trustee
Picture credits - Nupur Jain, Aditi Mahesh
