Harnish and Smital are both of Indian descent. Both of their families immigrated to the US in the 80s. Harnish is a Healthcare management consultant by day and Smital is a People and Organizational Management consultant.
What is Bombay Trade Co, how did it come about and what are your main values as a business?
Bombay Trade Co is a platform to allow users to buy and sell, new and pre-loved, South Asian fashion. The idea came to be in 2019 during our wedding shopping experience. We had tons of outfits sitting in our closet that had all been worn once or twice and were just collecting dust. Smital had gone to India to purchase her wedding outfits, while Harnish purchased his from LA, Chicago, and NJ. The process of buying was so difficult and the process to upcycle our current wardrobe was non-existent. We value making the process easy for the buyer and seller and ultimately help us on our mission to reduce textile waste from one of the world’s largest populations.
How does the platform work?
A seller who is interested in listing their outfit would fill out a quick form on our website. We’ll reply via email with shipping instructions, and once you send us the item, we handle the rest! Once we receive the item, we get it professionally cleaned, photographed, and measured to list it on the site for resale. Once the item sells, we’ll send a check to the seller for their portion of the price.
What inspired you to act as a catalyst for sustainable practice? Is there a particular story you can share?
At first this started as a good way to sell clothes and purchase more in a simple and streamlined way, but as we dug deeper we learned more about textile waste. We became so engulfed in the issue that the mission of our business changed from just offering a marketplace to buy and sell, to really trying to minimise the effects of textile waste and fast fashion. We added additional services to contribute to this mission such as responsible recycling clothing, donations, and small business solutions that partner with brick and mortar boutiques to expand their reach and sell more of their inventory to a wider audience.
Being South Asian, did you face any backlash for your sustainable business idea from family, friends or society at large? How did you overcome it?
We certainly did and still do. Circular fashion is becoming more and more normalised in the world, but there is still a stigma in the South Asian community.
We constantly reiterate our value proposition as well as the macro impact textile waste has on the environment.
This is definitely an uphill battle as this “trend” is just about becoming normalised in everyday wear, we have a ways to go to normalise it for ethnic or fancy wear – but we’re up for the challenge!
How have you actively changed your daily practice to be more sustainable?
We had always been pretty conscious in our purchasing behavior, but we started to make some changes around the house to be better about wasting unneeded items, recycling, donations, etc.
Do you feel there is a stigma or lack of understanding of the climate crisis amongst South Asian communities? What do you believe the blockers to be and how would you go about solving the issues?
I feel there is a stigma and lack of understanding in all communities around the climate crisis. We think the issue is two-fold: 1. it is not an immediate impact you see within minutes or hours so it’s much harder to believe through experience vs education; 2. The climate crisis is a byproduct of many other crises such as textile waste, air pollution, water pollution, light pollution, and others; because there is so much that feeds into it, it’s hard for the average consumer to connect all of those dots instantly to make an informed decision.
We try to educate our consumers in the more micro sense; for example, close to 80 billion cubic meters of water was used by the textile industry in 2015 vs one of your t-shirts used enough drinking water for 1 person to drink for 2.5 years: the second fact is much more real, more micro, and more actionable and connects back to the same root.
Do you find such a lack of understanding makes having a sustainability-led business like yours more challenging?
Yes, but the good thing about consumer behavior in 2021 is that people are willing to learn and make smart choices and not get tricked by sales lingo.
In your opinion, what’s the future of South Asian fashion?
One of our brand partners said it best, “we come from a place that values its craftsmen and artisanship to the point where items are carefully produced over an extended period of time, then saved and shared for generations.” Fast fashion and this idea of “can’t wear the same thing twice” has completely thrown that value to the side.
South Asian fashion may never become majority secondhand, but what we hope to see is a larger emphasis on sustainable materials and more conscious production practices.
What advice would you give to younger generations in relation to sustainability and the environment?
They are giving US the advice! This younger generation is so smart in their purchasing decisions. They don’t only look for a cheap price tag and a familiar “swoosh” but dig deeper to learn about the company, the founders, the mission, and the impact. They are doing it in numbers and in every corner of their life – we all need to learn from them.
What have been your greatest successes and learnings?
Greatest learnings are definitely centered around how much we didn’t know about textile waste and what goes into production of garments.
Can you share one life story which has deeply impacted you?
Stories are difficult since some of the most impactful ones are very personal, but just as a general rule of thumb, we like to live our lives in the pursuit of doing good for others. It makes others feel good, and it makes us feel good – what more can you ask for!?
We feature Tia, award-winning entrepreneur, moderator, lecturer, author and founder of the first ISO quality controlled sustainable lifestyle consultancy, Replenish Earth.
Replenish Earth (RE) is focused on ecosystem restoration and has a multidisciplinary approach to creating a positive impact on earth including and not limited to education, eco-therapy (physical and virtual), eco-products, eco-futurism. The vision is to work passionately every day on projects which cultivate a deeper connection with our planet, create beautiful and exquisite experiences to ultimately inspire people to save it. An ecosystem where everyone understands their responsibilities and the governing principles of the global commons. Where living in harmony with nature is an everyday routine and where everyone is excited to wake up to a new day because of the exciting world that people create together.
Innovation
Replenish Earth runs on a kind business model whose core lies in replenishing the earth. It believes in taking preventive measures that are in the best interest of our environment. The environmental advisory firm takes pride in the eco-alignment of the services that it extends to its clients. Their innovation stems from the thought process of the Chief Executing Officer, Tia Kansara whose tryst with the environment started long ago in her childhood. Having realised the crucial role that the environment plays as the primary provider for all business needs, it became of utmost importance for her to re-integrate its role into our existing economic models.
In today’s world where sustainability is used as a buzzword and enacted upon for the sake of formality, Replenish Earth is trying to build a foundation for a better future. It is provoking thoughtfulness in corporations and other such organisations, guiding them in the right direction, towards more aware business practices that care about giving back to their environmental sources. What makes this organization more special is that apart from its core business area of environmental consultancy, Replenish Earth aims to innovate the mindsets, lifestyles, and consumption patterns of each one of us in lieu of protecting our dear planet Earth.
Inspiration
“Replenish Earth is the philosophy of living in harmony with nature; it is a cause and a collective action to protect the global commons – the natural resources we all share.” People tend to live in their own realities which they believe are true to them. But people need to go beyond their truth to have empathy for each other. This will help us appreciate the fact that transformation is in the hands of the people and in their daily lives, where the smallest of actions have a big impact and thus help in replenishing the earth.
“I feel Replenish Earth started in my childhood, with the litter busting we did at school, to keep Britain tidy, a campaign the government ran to encourage the clearing-up of our streets and common places that were littered. It started with my mother, born and raised in a village in India, who taught us to recycle before the word became known, using all items beyond their first use and reincarnating them into incredible forms. It started with my father switching the TV from cartoons to David Attenborough’s nature programs. A highpoint for me was when I realised, this has been a cause I’ve championed since I can remember.” These words by Tia Kansara, the CEO, highlight the initial inspiration for the company.
Replenish Earth is based on a movement that is about giving back more than we take from planet earth.
Replenish Earth follows ISO 14001 guidelines and champions B-Corps. The Replenish ecosystem is founded on the principles of the World Replenish Index, a marketplace that believes in including all aspects of waste into GDP to 100% compostable products to have better accountability on their environmental impact. Replenish Earth investigates the impact of waste disposal habits beyond national borders and positively reinforces behaviours and businesses that are aligned with this.
Overall impact
Replenish supports and facilitates environmental, social businesses and invests towards a green, circular economy. Net positive is naturally amongst their themes of Replenishment, as are Green Impact Investment and infrastructure that is in harmony with nature. The projects that are being handled by RE have created a huge positive impact on society, corporate, and the environment. RE has been involved in advising the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Bio Trade initiative for 3 years exploring how the largest and most prestigious fashion houses, like Prada, Burberry, Gucci, Ermenegildo Zegna could lead the transformation of their industry and replenish the earth.
‘Who does the sea belong to?’ -an exhibition that was created by RE in collaboration with NID, Mudita Pasari has had over a million students visiting and learning about ocean protection, and climate action. Thus, they pioneer citizen awareness on their responsibilities towards nature. The impact they are able to create is primarily due to how purpose-driven each employee at Replenish Earth is. As Mr. Bhavyajeet Singh Gehlot, mentions, “During my initial few weeks while talking with Tia, I realised how hollow the world has become towards our planet and how important a cause like Replenish Earth is. This realization fundamentally changed me as a person, and I now realise the importance of creating the Replenish Earth experience for the future.”
Business benefit
Replenish Earth has advised more than 120 businesses and 90 governments on their strategies to transition away from fossil fuels, designing business models and products with a net positive impact on the environment. The company also organises Courses, Speaker Series, Art Installations & Exhibitions, Urban Development Projects, Research Retreats, and its own Replenish Festival about Event Management and Design in VR.
Tia, the CEO says, “Our business model is an end-to-end replenishing the earth, as a forethought, not an afterthought”. This differentiates the brand and helps create a competitive advantage which opens up an entirely new market of organisations who are looking to adopt preventative sustainability. This ensures the longevity of Replenish Earth.
Replenish Earth has worked with high-profile clients like Coca-Cola, Bloomberg, and the European Commission. CEO Tia recalls an experience at the Replenish Earth Smart Cities at CEPT University, where they were recognised for their contribution by the Prime Minister of Bhutan and invited to sit with Parliament. Replenish Earth has repeatedly been featured among lists of successful eco-businesses.
Social and Environmental benefit
Replenish Earth has looked into strategies to transition away from fossil fuels, designing business models and products with a positive impact on the environment for many companies. The overall impact has been very large. The company believes that “a solution that is touted without a consistent product and a reliable maintenance plan is one that will always be short-lived”. This is not just a country-specific issue. They believe that this is a global matter.
It is important that companies think about switching to renewables so that they make changes in the infrastructure to make it viable for all users. An issue such as climate action requires a lot of conversation. A lot of people aren’t aware of the peril we are in and even if they do, do not see its urgency. Therefore, one of the biggest achievements of Replenish comes from the conversations they’ve initiated. They’ve spread awareness around these issues in very unique ways, online and offline. Talks such as “a day in the life of a piece of crap” have initiated conversations on exploring the psychology of waste and what it tells us about ourselves, and where we think it’s ok to hide our waste.
A few other initiatives such as Space-Waste which is focused on urban cities, policies, and physical spaces. They came up with initiatives like Plastic Resource and Designer Products wherein people tried to change the output from waste resources through simple and practical methods individually or in communities.
Replenish Earth is working and will continue to work passionately until each individual and each business is encouraged to emerge beyond shortsightedness and be fully responsible for their actions on the planet, and not hide behind increasingly tall landfills and other externalities that we are taught will look good as GDP.
We spoke to Geena who saves South Asian fabric cutoffs from going to landfill, transforming scraps into culturally rich and environmentally friendly handcrafted products.
What is your ethnic, academic and professional background?
My ethnic background is Punjabi and my academic background is in materials science and also mechanical engineering.
What is Garmi? How did it come about and what are your main values as a business?
Garmi creates quality handcrafted products made from 100% recycled South Asian fabrics. The fabric is saved from landfill and something beautiful is made at the same time.
My idea for this business came about after realising just how much fabric waste is generated when sewing traditional South Asian clothing. This waste comes in the form of fabric offcuts which are often too small to turn into other garments and as such are usually thrown away.
In the first national lockdown I started experimenting with these beautiful fabric offcuts to see what I could make and garmi was born.
The core values behind my business are sustainability and culture. I am committed to only using waste or recycled fabrics to make products and I endeavour to have a completely zero waste business.
In terms of culture, I wanted to create a brand that incorporated South Asian culture, through its vibrant fabrics into Western fashion. In this way, these fabrics and South Asian culture are easily integrated into everyday life. Additionally, these fabrics are able to reach and be appreciated by a much wider audience.
What inspired you to act as a catalyst for sustainable practice? Is there a particular story you can share?
Since I was a teenager I have been interested in the environment, climate change and sustainability. Over the years this has manifested in changing aspects of the way I live and the products I buy. However, I always knew that I wanted to create a business one day that would actively solve an environmental or sustainability issue.
Being South Asian, did you face any backlash for your sustainable business idea from family, friends or society at large? How did you overcome it?
I didn’t face any backlash for creating this sustainable business but I am used to family and friends not thinking much of this idea and dismissing it as a hobby. I have overcome this rhetoric by continuing to follow my passion and build my business. Hopefully one day all the naysayers will see that this idea has tackled a real problem – but I’m also content if they don’t!
How have you actively changed your daily practice to be more sustainable?
I have consistently made small changes in the way I live over the years to be more sustainable. For example, using soaps and shampoo bars instead of packaged toiletries, and reusable cotton pads to remove makeup instead of single use wipes. I became a vegetarian 10 years ago, partly for environmental reasons. I also avoid single use plastic unless absolutely necessary and try to be conscious of the amount of water I use every day.
Do you feel there is a stigma or lack of understanding of the climate crisis amongst South Asian communities? What do you believe the blockers to be and how would you go about solving the issues?
I think generally there is some resistance from older generations to adopt sustainable practices and take climate change seriously. I think this stems from a belief that one person’s actions won’t make that much of a difference in comparison to large corporations. I also think that there is more resistance to sustainability if it involves practices that are more costly or time consuming than the norm.
I think these issues can be tackled by firstly educating the younger generation and empowering them. This will act as a catalyst for older people to change their routines and adopt new and more sustainable practices.
Additionally, as sustainable products and practices become cheaper and more commonplace, it won’t seem like such a drastic and unfamiliar change for those who have been reluctant to change their habits.
Do you find such lack of understanding makes having a sustainability-led business like yours more challenging?
I think a lack of understanding has impacted my business slightly, for example, I’ve often been told to go and buy fabric that I need, even though that goes against what this business and I stand for.
Thankfully, I think more and more people are starting to appreciate and actively seek out sustainable businesses to buy from.
What advice would you give to younger generations in relation to sustainability and the environment?
I would tell younger generations to incorporate sustainability into their life wherever they can. Large companies only change their habits and the products they sell when there is consumer demand. The more we all spend our money consciously in places that are sustainable, environmentally friendly and don’t use cheap labour the more we will see positive changes in the world.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
This year I hope to launch my website and expand my business so that I can receive fabric donations from all over the country and make a tangible impact on this fabric waste issue! If you would like to follow the journey and support please follow garmi on Instagram.
I am Punjabi and before starting university I spent a year working as an Agriculture Relationship Management Apprentice at Barclays. I am now in my second year of a BSc (Hons) Environmental Science at the University of Birmingham and am co-founder of Sustainable Water Use Birmingham – an environmental action campaign that began on an environmental leadership programme with an organisation called Uprising.
What inspired you to act as a catalyst for sustainable practice? Is there a particular story you can share?
I grew up watching documentaries by David Attenborough which made me interested in the natural world and climate change.
Growing up around my grandparents meant they would share their experience of farming in the Punjab. It seemed like another world from the city life I was used to. This also drew my attention to environmental issues within Punjab such as water security.
These experiences guided me to studying environmental science which explores environmental pollution, climate change and effective environmental management.
Can you tell me about any specific interests you have within your degree?
I have a specific interest in UK water security issues. Not many people know that by 2050 the UK won’t have enough water to meet its demands. It’s such an important issue that will affect the population, yet it’s often forgotten about.
I am also interested in ways of measuring sustainability. Carbon footprints are commonly used as a measure of sustainability which provides companies with a single number to work with. This is a risk as it may mean other important issues regarding sustainability aren’t considered such as ecosystem services. Hopefully, over the next few years measuring and modelling these services will become more advanced.
Can you tell us a bit more about water pollution and the campaign you’ve launched?
Our campaign aims to spread awareness of how important water sustainability is and share simple tips to help people use water more carefully. We’ve got Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts as well as a website where we post blogs, share resources and highlight ways people and businesses can reduce their water consumption. On our website there is an e-toolkit focused on ways businesses can incorporate water saving features into their offices.
Recently, we held a webinar event with the UNESCO chair of water science, David Hannah, about the UK water crisis, patterns of drought within the UK and how we can reduce demand on water supplies through some simple measures. We hope to collaborate with more universities, by collaborating with their respective student union and professors within hydrology to spread awareness of the water crisis.
What have been your biggest successes and learnings to date?
Starting the environmental action campaign called Sustainable Water Use Birmingham. Particularly, having to start and run the campaign over lockdown. This campaign has brought my team and I closer to those working within the water industry and it is inspiring to see the work that is already being done within the sector to address the issue.
The campaign has also taught me the power of social media. We have had interest in the campaign from professors and those working within the water industry through the power of social media. It’s made working with people across the country feasible and we hope to engage with an even wider audience over the coming year.
Being South Asian, did you face any backlash for stepping into this relatively unfamiliar academic path from family, friends or society at large?
None of my family work in the industry so there was some confusion regarding what my degree involved and the career prospects following it. To this date my grandmothers don’t know what I do which makes talking about what I do difficult! However, with the increasing public and political interest in environmental issues, it’s an area more people are able to understand and career prospects are increasing so it’s easier to justify to family.
Before starting the degree I had been working at Barclays and when I decided to leave to pursue my passion there wasn’t anything people could say to stop me!
Do you feel there is a stigma or lack of understanding of the climate crisis amongst South Asian communities? What do you believe the blockers to be and how would you go about solving the issues?
I think there is a language barrier to explain the concepts surrounding climate change and sustainability especially amongst the older generation. However, from my experience the older generation already live quite sustainably opting for public transport and generally being vegetarians.
You touched on finding a barrier with your grandma when it came to her understanding your degree. What’s the best way to change this?
I have shown her some of the work I have done whilst on my course.
The images of environmental degradation transcend the language barrier and are such a clear way of representing the issues I am studying and working to address.
I think this approach is a good way of raising awareness of environmental issues as it can clearly show the impact of human activities.
How have you actively changed your daily practice to be more sustainable?
My course mates are vegetarian, and they have inspired me to change my diet. I became a vegetarian 3 months ago and believe it’s something I will continue.
Running the water campaign has meant I am more conscious of the water I use in the household, so I ordered water saving fittings from my water supplier South Staffs water. This includes a low flow shower head, shower timers and cistern displacement devices. Everyone can order their own by going to their water supplier’s website and signing up for a free box of fittings.
Being carbon conscious in a practical day-to-day sense can be quite costly – how can people easily and cost effectively make a difference?
One way of reducing your carbon and water footprint is by using water saving fittings. These can be ordered for free and only take a few minutes to fix.
Becoming vegetarian is another way of reducing your carbon and water footprint. The carbon footprint of a vegetarian diet is about half that of a meat-eaters.
Both these methods are inexpensive and are accessible to all who wish to lead more sustainable lives.
What advice would you give to younger generations in relation to sustainability and the environment?
The environment is a growing industry with different areas to suit peoples varying interests. Looking forward, we will need inventive ways of measuring and tracking the sustainability of companies, transport, diets and fashion which makes it an exciting time to get involved.
What’s it like studying and looking for job opportunities in the environmental industry?
There is so much happening within the industry it can be difficult to keep up with it all. I like to attend webinars and read journal articles that the professional bodies I have signed up to produce. This is important, especially when it comes to job applications as you need to have a strong understanding of sustainability, climate resilience and UK net zero for all jobs within the industry.
In terms of job opportunities, I find that there is a lot of volunteering within the industry but not as many paid internships. Recently I have been applying for summer internships and I have found a few in environmental consultancy roles which is great to see. The industry is competitive, but I am hoping that more companies start to offer sustainability roles over the next few years.
I am a British Indian born in Malawi, educated in Zimbabwe and obtained my medical degree from the University of Leeds. Now I am a Consultant Paediatrician and Professor of Paediatrics, still working for the NHS after 50 years, to continue what I enjoy – looking after sick children and at the same time having a base from which not only can I draw a salary to support my projects, but also continue to strengthen my network to support these projects.
What inspired you to act as a catalyst for sustainable practice? Is there a particular story you can share?
I have been doing humanitarian work in over 20 countries over 25 years: www.miatwalsall.org.uk. In 2017 I broke my leg in a rural village in Malawi but unwisely carried on to finish my work.
When I returned to the UK, I had to have an operation and was off for five months with some of the time spent in the hospital, as I had developed sepsis. Whilst I was there, I watched the Blue Planet documentary series by David Attenborough, which was hugely eye opening. Then I noticed that the food that arrived from the catering department at the hospital was full of plastic containers, plates and cutlery. This is when I knew that something should be done by someone – and that was me!
What is WASUP? How did it come about?
Initially not many people were interested but slowly after 6 months I had a few people who I thought that I could work with – one of them was Balbir Seimar who is still with me on this campaign.
I soon created a working group of teachers, faith community leaders and a representative from the local council. It was at this meeting we came up with ‘WASUP’ – Walsall Against Single Use Plastic. My friendship with Aziz Tayub helped and his company brought the vision for the logo to life, with the posters and leaflets that followed. That was a huge start.
One year on, I had been to many schools, places of worship and businesses resulting in an official launch of WASUP, by the Lord Lieutenant to Her Majesty. By this time, we had set up a website, social media accounts and had regular canal clean ups.
At the launch, as more people and organisations from beyond Walsall were getting involved, I changed the name to World Against Single Use Plastic. The 4 principles of WASUP include:
Raising awareness in all sectors of the community (schools, businesses, places of worship etc) through talks, events and social media.
Educate children in schools about the dangers of plastic and teach them about recycling.
Litter picking both in streets and the waterways by all sectors of the community.
Putting pressure on manufacturers to use less plastic in their packaging or in some cases none.
How are you engaging the NHS and wider South Asian communities with the WASUP campaign?
As a result of WASUP, the CEO at the Manor Hospital appointed a Sustainability Manager who was astounded to find that all the plastic, litter and food was dumped into landfills. I had many meetings with various departments and now the procurement and the catering department are recycling more items and not much food is going to landfills, as discussions have taken place to redirect the waste to companies who use it to make energy.
In the catering department the first thing that happened was that plastic straws disappeared. Little Aston Hospital in Sutton Coldfield engaged even better and got rid of all single use plastic from the kitchen and the dining room. In both hospitals WASUP posters were put in strategic places and I gave talks to various departments on the 4 principles. Litter picks were planned by various departments once a week but then COVID-19 happened.
Through my huge network that I have built over 30 years in the community I was able to go to many Mosques, Gurdwaras and Mandirs, talking about the scourge of plastic, its dangers and how the communities could Refuse, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
One important example of Reuse is collecting pairs of glasses from various opticians and sending them to poor countries through my Charity – Midland International Aid Trust. I have now sent thousands.
I have been on various radio shows and Asian TV programmes talking to the audiences about WASUP and raising awareness about the single use plastic problem.
How have you actively changed your daily practice to be more sustainable?
Production of plastic involves burning fossil fuels, so not only is there microplastic entering our seas and thus food chain, but also the problem of carbon emissions from fossil fuels.
Simple things like cleaning and washing what is recyclable and putting it in appropriate bins, changing to drink more coffee than tea (some tea bags have plastic), using bars of soap instead of plastic soap containers are a few of the many changes I have made. Using less water and decreasing the amount of meat is a small step in decreasing my personal carbon footprint too.
Do you feel there is a stigma or lack of understanding of the climate crisis amongst South Asian communities?
Lack of understanding is one thing but apathy is another.
I’ve found it’s most difficult to engage with my own community of South Asians on this topic and unfortunately there is a common mindset that someone else will sort the problem. For example, talking to store keepers to decrease or stop the use of plastic bags has resulted in me being told they would lose customers.
What has made WASUP successful?
Leading it from the front and making personal visits to various institutions, including over 100 schools in the West Midlands gave WASUP huge credibility.
My friendship with a fellow DL who is Chairman of the Canal and River Trust led to regular canal cleans by various sectors of the community – where often the Asian communities weren’t present, but things are beginning to change slowly as greater awareness is occurring. There’s still a long way to go but as an organisation, we have conducted over 40 canal cleans and launched WASUP in Coventry, Worcester and soon Leicester.
Being a Deputy Lieutenant to Her Majesty Lord Lieutenant opened many doors in the West Midlands and beyond.
On one of my official visits I met the director of the Miss England pageant and our friendship took root and grew in strength. Now 15 Miss England finalists are working up and down the UK, promoting the 4 principles of WASUP and encouraging positive change.
It was through the Lord Lieutenant who is also the Chairman of the Commonwealth Games that WASUP was invited to be branded with the Commonwealth Games and therefore has a potential for reaching other 53 countries in the Commonwealth.
My continuing to spearhead it and not letting anyone interfere in the progress has been most important in the success of WASUP so far. I spend my own money that I donate to MIAT which then provides WASUP with financial support.
Having professional contacts, medical publications, global lectures and visiting various countries to volunteer, has all aided ‘WASUP’ – World Against Single Use Plastic to branch out; kickstarting the campaign in India, Pakistan, Kashmir, Indonesia, Malawi, Malaysia and South Africa, beyond just the UK.
The WASUP song, the very powerful website and now my book the Story of Three Bottles should go global. It is only £5.99 to buy and one can contact info@wasupme.com or profgatrad@wasupme.com for more information.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to younger generations in relation to sustainability and the environment?
They are the custodians of the planet that we have messed up, in more ways than one. They need to learn and tell others about the danger of plastic to the environment by Refusing, Reducing, Reusing and Recycling plastic.
Can you share one life story which has deeply impacted you?
An image that deeply touched me was a swan pulling out plastic from a canal to ensure its babies did not ingest any of it. I could almost hear the swan say to me ‘if you lot can’t do it – I will show you the way.’
I was born to a North-Indian family residing in South India so one could say that I was brought up in a very cosmopolitan-kind of environment. Essentially, I am a self-taught entrepreneur with minimal formal education and a handful of practical experience.
I started working when I was 16 and I have diverse experiences in industries like publishing, realty, IT and a digital agency upholding senior executive positions. I love to dig into customer problems and solve them with modern tech and out-of-box solutions. I create, scale and optimise portfolios that matter.
What is Charge Inc and how did it come about?
When I founded ChargeInc back in 2018, the company was headed towards setting up smart charging infrastructure across India and the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. In the process of developing the charger (EVSE), we realised that over 5000 companies with a similar product were going to deploy different solutions by 2026 making it difficult for the end user to charge the electric vehicle (EV) with different hardware/service providers. A user, at one time would not subscribe to more than 2 service providers, dividing the charging infrastructure and making adoption of EVs more difficult.
To curb this menace, we decided to focus on building a software platform that could manage and power hardware from any manufacturer or service provider. In simple terms, We would do what ‘Windows’ did for the computer industry and what ‘Android’ did for the cell phone industry.
What are your main values and aims as an organisation?
We have one clear focus. A unified charging infrastructure irrespective of the type of vehicle, the service provider, the manufacturer of hardware or the geographical location of the charging station. The sooner we are able to achieve this, the faster we can see people choosing EVs over internal combustion engines. And, in this process, we as an organization, are imbibing the values of globality, collaborations, integrity and utmost commitment towards customers
What inspired you to act as a catalyst for sustainable practice? Is there a particular story you can share?
The movie ‘2012’ caught my attention in 2010. Though the movie was overly dramatized, it depicted the imminent disaster that is in looming unless we reacted in time. This was just, as I realize now, paving my path forward.
Being an automotive enthusiast, I started to notice advancements in the industry. The kind of buzz Tesla and Lucid Motors were making at the time made me more interested in the EV industry. I transitioned to the IT sector in 2016 where as part of my job, I was fortunate to meet with prominent government figures from across the world and pitch for projects defining the future of the public transport system.
Their valued opinions and feedback on national problems they face owing to transportation were intriguing for me. I was also witnessing how a few lines of code were able to reduce the efforts and drudgery of millions of people. This was the tipping point. It was here that I knew something bigger could be done.
I started researching what the EV industry was missing and every person I spoke to pointed towards 2 things. First being the range anxiety and second being the lack of charging infrastructure.
The vehicle manufacturers were working on developing better battery technologies to fix the problem of range and a lot more charger manufacturers were working on setting up the infrastructure. But with such a diverse approach to the charging infrastructure a much bigger problem was awaiting to be addressed. Unlike refuelling a gasoline powered vehicle, an EV would require the user to reserve a charging point, before they get to a charging station or any business premises supporting it; but the user would be limited by the subscription from a service provider they opt in for. We were now clear on what we wanted to pursue, using our expertise to make a difference.
I believe I am in the right place at the right time with the right kind of people.
Being South Asian, did you face any backlash about this career decision from family, friends or society at large? How did you overcome it?
I would consider myself blessed to be surrounded by people who have always supported me in my endeavours. It surprises me sometimes yet gives a feeling of gratitude to have such an arrangement around. Almost everyone I reach out to for help, guidance or connections, they do the best they can.
I make conscious efforts to ensure I pass on what I receive in a similar fashion.
How have you actively changed your daily practice to be more sustainable?
With the kind of work I do, I land up travelling a lot. I currently drive to most destinations because of the pandemic which adds to the carbon footprint. Within the organisation, we often talk about ways to offset the carbon footprint we incur. We are tirelessly working towards deploying our solution at the earliest as it would enable faster adoption of EVs which in turn will offset quite a bit of carbon coming from vehicles on the road.
While this is a part of our primary objective of the organisation, as a personal commitment towards sustainability, I turned vegan back in 2019 and started to ride to most destinations within the city on a bicycle. We also try to limit Air/Long Road travel, use less paper, re-use most resources and reduce electronic waste by donating what is not in use or use electronics for a longer duration than intended. Soon we’ll work on policies where we will incentivise colleagues who eat locally (as that reduces the need to import products from distant locations), share rides to work and replace their ICE vehicles with EVs. While most of these are plans for the future, we intend to take them up gradually to ensure there is less resistance and we are able to sustain proposed changes in our lifestyle.
Do you feel there is a stigma or lack of understanding of the climate crisis among South Asian communities? What do you believe the blockers to be and how would you go about solving the issues?
It is a harsh reality but most people today wish to switch to an EV for the financial incentives and not the environmental benefits. Environmental reasons and climate change often get side-lined.
I often hear a conversation about “Climate change being real” when people realise that summers are getting hotter or winters are colder or when we experience natural calamities. We need to ask ourselves, what are we doing to prevent this?
Something as basic as waste segregation is not widely adopted in most places in India. It’s surprising to see that most developed nations in the MENA region also do not enforce segregation of waste in households. It’s of prime importance that we understand this and self-regulate our lifestyle or the Government will have to step in, incentivise or enforce people to change to be more sustainable in their lifestyle.
Just running ads or campaigns for awareness are not going to be enough. Stricter regulations have to be put in place and environmentalists have to be taken more seriously before it’s too late.
What have been your greatest successes and learnings?
I personally don’t think I have experienced success as yet. My contributions have been minimal and I would consider them negligible. The vision is to make an impact which reflects in the life of millions for a long period of time. Whilst I am not someone who runs a company which is valued at over a Billion USD, it is difficult to convince people and make them align with the vision.
There is also a subtle difference between being persistent and being clingy. As an entrepreneur, it’s necessary to know the difference and to know who to have around you for the journey. Unless the person travelling with you matches your vision, they will only end up being a hindrance.
There are 3 main things I have learnt on this journey and remind myself of these.
You are going to hear a lot of “NO”. You will meet a lot of people who will disregard your idea, do not let them de-motivate you. Self-motivation is one of the most expensive resources and it’s scarce. Use it wisely so you don’t run out of it.
Assuming you do find a person, they may not always be able to align to your vision, learn to let go of people and focus on those who do. If you do not have a person who aligns with your vision, don’t stop searching for them. If you are on the lookout for such a person for a long time, it’s probably the vision that needs to be adjusted.
It is important to be persistent, but one must know where to stop. Sticking to something that may never work is putting yourself at massive risk. It is okay to fail at something and apply the learnings from that onto the next one. Knowing where and when to pull the plug is an art not many can master.
What are the biggest challenges being faced in the EV industry? Has any one country got it ‘right’ so far?
The EV industry is MASSIVE. The challenges that lie ahead are bigger than one person, one company or one country. The problems will continue to remain as long as there is range anxiety, lack of charging infrastructure and long periods of time taken to charge the EV batteries.
Norway and China are leading the EV adoption race and other countries need to learn from the, but even in these countries, the charging infrastructure is defined by the companies that manufacture the vehicle.
Imagine if brands like Mercedes or Volkswagen had to step in to sell fuel because no one else will do so. The vehicle manufacturers are currently charging service providers because they are forced to do so. They have invested massive amounts of money in developing these vehicles and it is in everyone’s best interest to get them on the road as soon as possible.
If experts from the charging domain step in to fill in the gap, vehicle manufacturers can focus on the battery technology and develop better vehicles rather than focusing on providing charging services.
It needs to be a joint effort between domain experts from the charging infrastructure and vehicle manufacturers to enable faster adoption of EVs.
What career advice would you give to younger generations in relation to sustainability and the environment? Why is it important for them and their future?
My advice to the younger generation would be to look around and analyse the situation for themselves. Refer to historical data and look at how things have changed over the years and try finding the reasons for those changes.
They will soon come to realise that it’s us who are responsible for these changes and unless we do something right away to fix these issues, shortly there would be no room left for us to be able to step in and fix them.
These shortcomings are not too far ahead in the future. Today when you read about the technical advancements, you would often read about companies trying to colonise Mars or space travel and alternative places on Earth for the existence of the human race.
Looking at billions of $ being poured into making it happen must ring loud alarm bells within us so we wake up to reality and realise that we are already late. We either start to fix the problem right away or fixate over it for the reason of not doing so for the rest of our lives. This choice needs to be made by our youth.
Can you share one life story which has deeply impacted you?
I have had far too many ups and downs in my life. I have experienced a steep raise and fallen too quickly. These ups and downs made me value quite a few things that I took for granted.
A few instances during the initial phase of my career made me realise how important it was to be financially secure. I started to pursue projects in the realty sector as they paid well. Every project I would take up would be of decent value and if something came across that did not pay well, I would not take it up.
Shortly after I was left with no work and with depleting finances it would become increasingly difficult to live below means after experiencing a lavish lifestyle. The reality of life hits you hard when you are down and the first thing that goes out the window is faith.
I consider myself extremely blessed to be surrounded by people who truly care for me and stand by me in every situation. Some helped me reinstate my faith while others helped me find work and some helped in stabilising the situation so I could focus on work.
It’s often said that only a few get a second chance. I can, with gratitude say that I have received quite a few ‘second chances’ and this keeps me grounded.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
I may sound like a hypocrite when I say this as my previous answer reveals how I reacted, but I now believe faith is the driving force behind everything. Be it faith in The Almighty or the faith in yourself to do something.
Be rest assured neither the good nor the bad is going to last for too long. Life will be a roller coaster, it will flip you upside down over and over again. I can scream but it’s my choice whether this is because I am scared or because it excites me.
What is your ethnic, academic and professional background?
I am British South Asian born and brought up in London to Punjabi parents. I’m a performing artist, choreographer and movement facilitator and hold a BA Degree in Humanities and Innovation.
Trained at The Royal Ballet School, my dance career has taken me to work and perform with dance companies across Europe and U.K – Zürcher Ballet, Victor Ullate Ballet, Ballet black, Scottish Ballet and Compañia Nacional de Danza, touring internationally in a range of classical and contemporary repertoire.
I choreographed ‘Capture’ for the Zürcher Junior Ballet, ‘Synergy’ for Ballet Black and ‘Anjaane Ajnabee’ as part Young Choreographers of Compañia Nacional de Danza. I was commissioned to choreograph and perform for Television for Environment (TVE) Global Sustainability film awards and I co-created and performed with Flux in the collaborative work “In Other words” at Kings Place, London.
I embarked on my freelance journey in 2017 to focus on creating my own work and to explore more collaborative work. I have since collaborated with Beta Publica in Madrid, Sujata Banerjee Dance Company, performed with Adrian Look Tanztheater and with The Royal Opera house for their family events. I choreographed the solo works ‘Sundown’ and ‘Rainsoaked…’, the duets ‘Lightweight’ and ‘Umbra’ and most recently choreographed my latest collaborative dance film ‘Returns to Nature’. I assist artists in movement direction and dramaturgy and I have been teaching and facilitating a range of dance classes and movement workshops for over 10 years, across age groups and in various environments.
You recently created a piece of work on nature and connectedness. How did it come about?
Over the last few years I have felt increasingly inspired by nature in both my creative and teaching practices and simultaneously began to develop a curiosity and awareness towards its connection and relationship to our human race, our human nature and our health.
In 2020 I was commissioned to create a new work for ‘The Naked Truth’, an online fundraiser for World AIDS day to encourage awareness around HIV. Motivated by the year we were having, despite the pandemic restricting access to studios to create work and the use of stages off limits, my most natural instinct was to embrace the great outdoors as my creative playground and performance space in this new work. I was excited to explore different natural terrains under my feet and the different spaces I could move in and interact with. In deciding to manifest the piece outdoors with nature for company, I was presented with a fresh experience of scenery, backdrop and offering of props!
The frequent walks I embarked on during lockdown had such a positive effect on my wellbeing, which led the way for me to take my art outside to create ‘Returns to Nature.’ During the creative and performance journey of the work, I recognised how significantly charged I became in improvising and dancing outdoors. I began to listen to the Earth, get closer and more intimate with its textures and movements. I enjoyed working in different dance gear than I’m used to; in outdoor boots as oppose to ballet shoes or socks and I welcomed a chance to dance bare feet on the grass. I am a big believer in the energy transmitted to our bodies from being in direct contact with the Earth!
I was humbled by being up close to the bark of a tree, in all its greatness, supported by the soil and refreshed and nourished by the fresh air I was breathing in.
‘Returns to Nature’ explores a renewed curiosity and relationship with nature, engaging with all its qualities. Journeying through moments of exploration, nourishment, courage and hope, we are reminded of the infinite possibilities we have in returning to the natural world, to embrace our human nature and reconnect to ourselves.
Amidst a global pandemic and the challenges humankind has been facing over the last year, the work aims to inspire a reconciliation with nature and recognition of how it can beneficially impact and influence our physical and emotional wellbeing and our peace of mind. Time spent alone and with others in nature to observe, connect and absorb natural nourishment is healing and an invaluable source of strength. We are all spending our time in different ways according to our personal situations in this crisis.
By sharing this work, I wanted to remind us of the gift of nature, inspiring us to cherish our surroundings, wherever we may be and to stimulate awareness around the environment’s need for a sustainable future. Especially right now, in the moments we find ourselves in. I believe we have been offered a great opportunity to shift and gain new perspectives.
The process of researching and creating this work offered me an opportunity to deeply contemplate and experience how nature can influence and impact my own states of being. I found reflections in the dynamics and movements of nature, which allowed me to relate to what exists within our own human nature. Also how what we think and feel on the inside might be reflected in our actions towards the space and environment which we inhabit. The process became an inward journey of awakening, empowerment and an acceptance of the states within my own self, through observing and tuning into nature’s states, in all their variety, shades, textures and colours.
This awareness has become a guide and a source of inspiration to evolve my own states and realise more within myself. We can find a sense of harmony and presence between our inner landscape and the outer landscape, reflective and supportive of each other in so many ways. I am gaining a deeper appreciation and respect for nature and its benefit towards our perceptions, emotions and actions – how we choose to live and behave. All it took was stepping outside to be with nature, to initiate and spark this new evolution within me!
Nature is literally right before our eyes, every single day, in some shape or form, expressing multitudes on a real life canvas. If we recognise that returning to nature and interacting with it is beneficial to us, we can express our gratitude through our actions by taking care of it, granting us the possibility to the return to the endless wonder and inspiration it continually offer us, day after day. If we can surrender to the power of nature and learn to appreciate and welcome it, in all its diversity, we can reach an acceptance that same power and diversity lies within ourselves and all of humankind.
We are nature, and nature is us, we are not separate but a part of this whole ecosystem and it is our responsibility to take care of what we are a part of and enjoy playing our part. We will only lose out on living well within our own inner ecosystem, if we separate or isolate ourselves from nature’s ecosystem.
By embracing nature I come closer to accepting and valuing my own natural states and cycles. It is an exchange that is vital for our wellbeing and nature’s potential to heal and thrive, supporting the longevity and health of our environment for now, and for generations to come.
Becoming more conscious and relating to nature in new ways last year nurtured and supported my life greatly. I feel I am just on the surface of discovering how much more nature can and will impact my work moving forward and it motivates me to find solutions in how I can work in harmony, in a fruitful exchange with nature in my life.
What has inspired you to focus on the environment in your art form? Is there a particular story you can share?
Since becoming a freelance artist, a collaborator and an independent creator, I am experiencing a growing awareness around costs, creative labour and production processes in the Arts. Especially during the pandemic, we have seen artists go on to create innovatively with a lot less. Hopefully this allows us to reassess how we use our resources – personally, collectively and environmentally moving forward.
Right before the first lockdown, I was beginning to wonder how we could create our work in the dance sector in a more sustainable fashion and felt motivated to re-consider how much material and energy is needed and used to create a theatre production. I also realised how responsible we are in our practices within the industry towards waste and recycling.
When contemplating on more sustainable practice, I think about how we care for the humans – artists and collaborators we work with, how we market and publicise our work, the lighting and materials involved in designing and running a production and how we recycle materials post production.
Last year, I was invited to support difficult dialogues as a Youth ambassador with a focus on the environment in collaboration with TVE (Television for the Environment) for the 2020 Global Sustainability Film Awards. My body and spirit felt ignited and invigorated after coming together with the young activists I met via this platform, from all over the world, tirelessly contributing and finding ways to support the environment and encourage their nations to take action towards a sustainable future.
2020 was a year I felt encouraged to challenge myself to create with less and realise what is truly essential and necessary to express and create a piece of work. I am motivated and excited to continue this journey in sustainable creation and production processes in my own work, amidst the pandemic and moving forwards.
My dance journey started with learning Ballet at the age of four, moving on to creative movement and contemporary styles as I grew older. Swimming was a big part of my childhood where I found the weightlessness of being in water very comforting and liberating, and a welcome balance to the time spent on my feet dancing. When my full time dance training and my performing career began at the age of 11, I encountered challenges such as injuries, stifled creativity and expression and struggles to conserve my energy over long periods of time.
In managing myself as a professional, there came a time when I felt I needed to address and nurture the state of my mental health. I found supportive practices to keep my mind healthy, positive and determined and started to understand how to maintain my energy levels more efficiently.
When I slowly started giving up eating meat around five years ago, I noticed eliminating it from my diet impacted the longevity of my energy levels, overall mood and thinking patterns, finding increased vitality and vibrancy and less stagnation of energy flow within my body. I had always previously believed that I needed meat to supply my muscles with its protein for dance, having a pretty fast metabolism and not keeping weight on easily. I was always trying to eat to put more weight on! In this process I learnt how much protein we can receive from alternative, non-animal foods.
I feel blessed and grateful to have met some incredibly transformational coaches and mentors during the challenging times along my way, who all steered me to return towards natural approaches of moving, thinking and being.
A particularly severe injury forced me to take time off from dancing to heal, rehabilitate and retrain. At this time one of my closest and dearest dance friends introduced to Boglarka Hatala – Embodiment Coach and Physiotherapist in Dresden, Germany, who reeducated and reawakened my body’s potential and capability. She encouraged me to recognise the power my body had to heal itself and strengthen through her blend of biomechanical and psychomotor approaches.
The process with Boglarka opened up space and opportunity for me to find efficient and empowering pathways to heal, communicate and express through movement. Boglarka’s guidance enlightened me in how I could work more functionally and with a more inclusive approach to my body in motion; taking into account and incorporating my personality, inherent nature, my culture and ancestry to understand my body on a personal level, holistically and within my working context or environment.
She suggested I retrain my ballet technique with Renato Paroni in London who teaches a sustainable approach to the form, (inspired by the late Tina Bernal) where taking care of the health, alignment of our bones and use of the joints and muscles in our body is the priority over the general aesthetic.
Ballet technique, as all dance forms, is extremely demanding on the body, inducing wear and tear on the joints over time if not training intelligently and well. I learnt from both Boglarka and Renato how to take care of my body and train in a sustainable way. This was a turning point in my career, becoming aware and understanding the best ways for me to dance within my body specifically, in both practice and performance.
I am enlivened and renewed by a holistic way of being and doing, in reverence to my spirit, energy and emotions and my body’s longevity, as I evolve, change and grow. I want to be responsible for my health to dance and live as long as I can, rather than the possibility being brought to an end by injury or not taking care of myself, which I have faced on occasions.
My pathway in understanding sustainability is through my body and its movement. In the fast paced society we live in today we want to push the body to the limits and see how far we can go to produce as much as we can, we risk over use, wear and tear and burnout. Just as we need to balance and manage our movement and rest periods for the longevity of our bodies, we can find this parallel in our environment and how we respond to it and to nature, which works around the clock for our benefit – in just the same way, it needs our care, love and attention.
I am often inclined to dig a little deeper and research what I think I know and challenge what I am being told or asked to do living in a western working world. I have missed out on eastern and South Asian approaches to the body, mind and soul in my early training in ballet; initially being away from my family and home at boarding school from the age of 11 and then moving to Europe at the age of 19 for work, all the while in predominantly white institutions and surrounded by cultures other than my own. Later in my career I felt drawn to acknowledge and engage with my own South Asian roots and approaches to movement.
Initiating this responsibility within myself and taking my dance journey into my own hands and feet also meant that as my body changed, my inner world yearned to express itself in different ways. I welcomed the diversity and freedom of contemporary movement approaches in dance, as well as different practices and approaches such as Meditation, Yoga, Feldenkreis, Alexander technique, BMC, Tai chi and somatic processing. These all continue to nourish and support my journey, allowing me to access greater awareness, grace and possibility to discover and explore the diversity of movement within myself.
Yoga and Tai chi – the ancient practices of the body and mind from the east, invite us to connect with nature and move in harmony with it rather than against it. The foundations of Yoga and Tai chi, each in their own ways, take their inspiration directly from nature, human nature and the animal kingdom at their core, allowing us to embody the nature within us and connect to what is around us, becoming a part of it and joining with it through our movements.
These practices help us realise how the effectiveness and quality of our mind and body can be measured by our awareness, not by the length of time or quantity. This gracefully allowed my movement experience and practice to become more sustainable and heightened. To practice these techniques, few materials needed, if any at all, working only with the bare essentials of your body and its relationship to the Earth and the space in and around you. I find movement practices that come to life through nature’s laws and our connection to them to be deeply authentic and organic.
Taking care of my inner landscape has in turn, turned my head and perception to look in different directions and find parallels in how we can take better care of our planet earth and the environment more genuinely.
Learning to understand and train my body as an individual, respecting and honouring both its limits and boundaries whilst developing its capacities, permits me to start to understand this concept of the sustainability of our environment in all its elements and resources.
We can choose what we feed our minds, bodies and souls with from our external environment, we can be shaped and informed, guiding us to eliminate toxic elements from our consumption. In turn, we may become aware of any toxicity we may be contributing to our environment which impacts the quality of the food we eat and the air we breath and water we drink etc.
How are we taking care of what we have? How do we use resources and consume? How are we renewing and replenishing our environment to last, without getting utterly depleted and burned down? I have come to realise that the times when I have been faced with burnout and extreme exhaustion and pain, occurred when I wasn’t feeling entirely connected to what I was doing or the environment I was in.
Transformational life coach Yashwant Patel gently guided me towards observing nature around me and has been a mentor to me in this infinite journey of discovery of listening to my body and soul. Yashwant introduced me to Bhavin Solanki, wellbeing physiotherapist, who brought my attention to Gary Ward’s Anatomy in Motion, at a time in my career when new assessments of how I was moving were greatly needed.
I am so grateful to have met the right people along the way in just the right moments to inspire, support and guide me on this path, as I pick myself up after challenges and keep on walking and dancing forward! It gives me great comfort and assurance that dance, health, life and our environment are intrinsically connected and we can find ways for them to be mutually supportive to live our best lives, in harmony.
At low points in my dancing career, where I felt unsure of what direction to take and yet empty enough to receive, I had the opportunity to meet two incredible pioneering women in dance and movement, whose approaches and practices were holistic and broadly encompassing what it is to be human. Susanne Linke – whose approach to training includes movements of the body inspired by animals, the drive of our emotions and the energy of our spirit and Minako Seki – whose methodology combines the practice of developing a conscious mind, our attention towards nature and a healthy diet.
Movement can be exhausting and draining mentally, emotionally and physically and I learned that in understanding our true inner nature and how we navigate and manage that across the spectrum of being human, we can create and move from a source of joy, abundance and unlimited creativity and expression.
This brings me more sensitivity towards how we exhaust our Earth of its resources and I started to learn more about the nature of our environment and what can contribute to its health. Becoming more individual in my practice and learning about the possibilities in my nature and of the body, made me more aware of the diversity in nature and humanity, along with our commonalities and the power of coming together in our communities to work together and support each element.
We observe and learn about patterns in nature and how each individual part feeds into the whole, to support the collective. This generates an understanding of a similar dynamic, in how each individual’s actions feed into the wholeness of our environment and contribute to climate change and other environmental issues.
The elements, movements and dynamics of nature continue to inspire me in how to take care of my body. Connecting with the elements of air, water, fire, earth and ether influence my practice greatly, inspiring and guiding the quality of movement for a deeper understanding and experience as we learn to embrace and feel our own way through them. The elements give life and quality to our movements, allowing them to blossom and evolve.
We can
Connect to the lightness of air to create and breathe space within us,
Invite the flow of water soft and yet so powerful to gently cleansing away stagnant energy within us,
Develop a sense of groundedness within us through the support and fertileness of the earth below our feet,
Ignite the fire within us propelling us into action
and we can Grow an awareness of ourselves in the space we inhabit and how we interact with it.
Connecting with the elements has helped me find new pathways and uncover intuitive and natural movement within myself. Observing nature I learn about growth, resilience, renewal and rebirth and connect to those qualities and energies within myself. Nature is an endless source of inspiration for us, and one of our greatest teachers. The movement and shift towards sustainable living is an action we can involve ourselves in daily, in how we go about our day and asking ourselves if our choices are healthy for our body and for our Earth. More times than not we find they are one of the same.
Learning about sustainability through my being, on physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels is like looking at the ecosystem, holistically. Renewing the energy sources of our body, mind and spirit allows us to understand how we treat the resources in our environment. We learn to understand that how we create stress on Earth is not too dissimilar from how we create stress on the joints of the inner Earth of our body, both through a pressure and desire for more.
Just as we become conscious about how we reach exhaustion within ourselves, we understand better how we might be exhausting and taking advantage of our environment. I feel that the practice and experience of dance and movement is about how you manage and use your energy, emotions and ideas and how you express them and go on to keep being able to express them.
Looking and feeling through the lens of the body and how we sustain ourselves, not only to survive but to thrive, we understand how our actions contribute to the quality of resources and how much it actually takes from the earth to be healthy and function at its best. Respecting the elements of nature around us is in turn, good for our health; maintaining healthy soil for crops, clean water to drink, unpolluted air to breathe. It is apparent that caring for our environment serves it well to keep on taking care of us.
Learning to treasure our bodies and human experience within the ecosystem and the part we play in it, creates a deeper, on-going relationship with the Earth.
I do believe that it can work both ways – in starting to become actively conscious about the environment’s health and how we contribute and care for it can in turn motivate one to take better care of themselves and others.
Our environment is here to support, feed and nourish us to live and thrive upon it and to enjoy these benefits, we must value and honour this exchange and find the ways in which we can give back and support its replenishment – if we are to continue to receive nature’s gifts and co-exist in harmony with it. Becoming aware of how we live, how we consume and being more mindful and efficient in our practices, helps us to understand what really is necessary and enough.
In my experience, what is humanly sustainable for me opens up a portal to appreciating what is sustainable in nature. The delicacy of a flower, that can literally break in your hand and yet its stem may have such strong roots that it can breathe new life and flower again- in resilient splendour. Likewise as humans, we can recognise how delicate we are, yet can recover and experience a sense of rebirth within one lifetime and renew ourselves and our own energy resources, before our time is up. Understanding how delicate, vulnerable and yet resilient our Earth is for things to grow, flourish and rebirth too, we must take care of it before natural resources run out.
Just as the current state of many issues have come to light during the pandemic, giving us time to wonder, contemplate and begin to figure out how we can begin to heal the necessary, we have been offered an opportunity to realise just how much we are destroying on Earth and reassess our impact on the planet through our choices and decisions. Has the Covid-19 virus come perhaps as a spiritual signal directly from nature about how we are interacting with it and what we need to improve?
Living with and through nature at our core, humbly with a sense of wonder and appreciation, might just bring us more into sync with Earth for collective benefit and the good health of all species and our environments.
How have you actively changed your daily practice to be more sustainable?
We have all had a little more time to really sit and think about the environmental emergency this last year. A year of different possibilities and a clearer 20:20 vision of so many issues which have come to light, which have existed for a long time and yet still increase and are on the rise. I have been less distracted by a busier lifestyle during lockdown to take more time to digest and feel my responses towards things such as sustainability and what actions I can implement right now.
I progressed a little further during lockdown in eliminating fish from my diet and most animal products. I have found this much easier being at home and preparing every meal I eat, due to time saved in not commuting for work journeys and grabbing food on the go. I hope to keep this up. I would like to be more responsible in how I consume plastic packaging which cannot be recycled too.
Moving back to London in 2018 and reconnecting with the South Asian community, I have been brought closer to its traditions and practices in health. Connecting with Dr Indira Anand, I began eating with more awareness through the Ayurvedic approach to diet and nutrition. The principles of Ayurveda are governed by the elements in nature and connected to our emotional tendencies, mental abilities and physical traits.
Ayurveda analyses our physical, emotional and mental attributes to guide our eating habits and routine with the foods that suit and compliment our nature best. Dr Anand introduced me to the practice of Yoga Nidra – deep rest in the conscious state before between being awake and asleep.
I am encouraged and motivated to take more time to assess and research the products I consume moving forwards, across food, fashion and beauty, learning if products have been ethically sourced and if their production process damages our environment or the animal kingdom.
In beauty, I am becoming more aware of the products I choose to use on my hair to take care of its inherent curly nature, choosing products with less to no chemical ingredients, that are sustainably sourced and produced and therefore better for the health of my hair. In embracing my natural curls I have realised the value of accepting your natural self, and discovering and staying true to your own nature. These are some of my life’s biggest personal challenges, which have helped generate and guide that awareness in me towards nature and the environment. This journey feels so NATURAL and organic!
I have switched over to drinking loose-leaf tea or biodegradable tea bags, shocked by research proving that some brand’s tea bags still contain plastic. It has been encouraging to notice over this last year that packaging from some retailers now come in paper bags instead of plastic. I have yet to research deeply in fashion production processes, but I hope to address how I consume in that area with more awareness moving forwards, towards more sustainable options such as vegan clothing lines, which I see are on the rise and some brands having started consciously made lines of clothing.
Do you feel there is a stigma or lack of understanding of the climate crisis amongst South Asian communities? What do you believe the blockers to be and how would you go about solving the issues?
In South Asian communities as in any community, I feel we can readily explore and journey deeper into our roots, culture and ancestors to help us understand and solve current issues. We can ask more questions – what wisdom can we still access and bring forward, which ancient practices and philosophies are there for us to keep alive and breathe new life into, to support us in today’s world? We can look back at how indigenous tribes survived and managed, when humanity was not over producing things at such a rapid rate and in such large quantities.
This is our challenge to manage in today’s world of consumerism, we can ask ourselves what we can do with less, what we truly need and what is merely a distraction?
We can come together as a community in facilitating and having more discussions, dialogues and talks by professionals and activists in these fields, to educate, bring more awareness and inspire our South Asian communities to move forward. We can engage and take part in activities and projects together, use storytelling to communicate messages in a multitude of forms, share our discoveries with each other, and encourage support and togetherness in our actions.
We can trace traditions and practices which have been recorded or passed on from our ancestors and learn how they managed with what they had. The youth of today can actively converse with senior members across the community to find out what they can share with us from the past to inform their practices and efforts to tackle current environmental emergencies.
I believe it starts with us, as individuals, making conscious changes and improvements and simultaneously coming together to share what we have come up against and the solutions we have found to generate change in our environment with our community.
Our South Asian heritage and culture is ripe in its practices to support our wellbeing in accordance with nature and environment – from Yoga, Meditation and Ayurveda – connecting to our bodies and minds in an essential way, wisely and safely in our own habitat. We can encourage a ‘waste not, want not’ perspective and way of living. I am beginning to acknowledge and value what we can learn from our heritage and ancestors and India’s ancient past. We can choose to actively seek out guidance to understand more about our South Asian roots in education and practices.
I’m not 100% aware of how active India is as a country in being sustainably responsible and how they are contributing to climate change in this present moment with increasing demands and economic challenges, but I feel that all generations of South Asian people globally, can exchange and share ideas of what we have learnt from our experiences and from other cultures to support tackling issues. We can pave a bright path ahead collectively through and across generational learning. We can embrace exchanging practices and knowledge between the east and the west to create innovative solutions.
Meanwhile, currently in India, with the farmer’s protests and the future of farming and agriculture being challenged, one cannot help but recognise the value of this essential connection between humans and the earth and appreciating those who are literally working and caring for the soil and whom have dedicated their life to that mission.
We can understand how essential it is for humans to manage agriculture well, to honour and value their work, and recognise how much is being asked of them and nature to over produce. This is another avenue in which we can improve how this relationship between our selves as humans and our planet can be addressed, in how we care for it and contribute to its wellbeing. I support and can only hope that industrial methods will not win over traditional and indigenous methods of farming in agriculture and how we sustain a decent and good level of human rights and nature’s rights.
Do you find such lack of understanding makes communicating the message through your art form more challenging or difficult?
In the dance industry, being an artist in some instances can mean forming part of a mute culture where not every artist’s opinions and thoughts are always considered or integrated into a creation of a work. It is a challenge for all artists to recognise when this is happening and take a decision if they really want to participate in this and get used to or stuck in it. As a creator in the dance world, you are required to share, verbalise and express your opinion and thoughts via your marketing and publicity, as well as the work itself with your collaborators.
The action of Dance itself being a ‘silent’ non-verbal art form, has immense power to communicate ideas, meaning and messages through movement, yet at the same time, I feel dance artists and creators can always compliment, supplement and support their messages and work via verbal communication in speaking out.
Audiences don’t always get a chance to communicate verbally with the dance artists in response to their work, yet we can create and facilitate this channel to welcome written responses, feedback and dialogue. Voicing and writing about what we do supports the message we are trying to get across and I think dancers and creators in the sector should provide opportunities to verbally express, talk and write about their work and creative processes, research and development and put it out there. You never know whom it could reach and or provide more available access to, to learn about your journey from an inspirational idea to a finished performance.
So I feel, finding our physical voice, as well as learning to express it effectively through movement is important to support and create greater access, inclusion and belonging of our work and the comprehension of our message, in the bigger picture.
I have seen waves of insights and sharing increase over the last year through the lockdowns and art being shared so generously and innovatively, creating space for more interaction and discussions with artistic creators. I look forward to this movement continuing and evolving in the future!
What advice would you give to younger generations in relation to sustainability and the environment?
My encouragement for the youth of today, is to start with yourself!
How is your inner environment serving you and what does your outer environment and habitat look and feel like, how can you serve it better and treat it with the same respect that you could treat yourself?
How are you taking care of your inner landscape and nourishing it – your inner earth, your inner fire, the breath that passes through you? Are you contaminating those elements within and around you with toxic habits? Do you feel you are only just surviving and existing? Do you feel you could thrive more? Ask yourself about it all.
Taking this responsibility towards ourselves in turn lends itself to teach us to become more aware of our actions towards our earth. Check in with how clean you feel the air and water to be around where you live and where you travel to and what actions of yours might be contributing to its quality.
Get in touch with yourself, check in with you how you are feeling in any given moment, how you are nourishing yourself and your nature and replenishing your reserves. Spend more time out in nature and observe and feel what resonates with you, and see if and how that experience might plant a seed and inspire you to have a new perspective, take a new action or direction or simply bring you into an improved state of being.
Evolve your practices as you get older and in conscious ways that feel natural to you. Take care of the renewable energy of the Earth as well as you can of your own. Tune in to the phases of life, its cycles and those of the Earth, like the harvest season, the planting of crops, the energies of the day and the night, of the moon and the sun.
The Earth has to survive and thrive well to support the next generation of humans. If we abuse it here and now, selfishly in our own personal timelines on Earth, we are not supportive of others receiving all the possible resources and experiences in the future, that we may have enjoyed till now. Find joy in being responsible. If you might believe in reincarnation, then think about what your soul will come back to, do you wish for a healthy Earth for yourself or at least for the next generations.
In starting a journey and enquiry for yourself, you may find yourself endlessly motivated. Throughout our lives we may face spells or periods of boredom, and this journey of discovering ourselves, as a part of nature and as an active force within the environment, is vast and I feel it doesn’t lets us down.
The learning process can be fruitful and infinite, through the states of nature we can welcome experience and understand the changing seasons of our life, along with the seasons of our environment. There is so much possibility of evolution that a human can go through in a lifetime, culture goes through over years, society goes through across eras and nations go through over decades and centuries.
Its important for the youth of today to initiate journeys for themselves that can be continual in their education and development, opening up new pathways, avenues, diversions and branches that may lead to new enquiries as they move through life.
Dance has been this evolving and infinite journey of discovery within myself and how I relate to the world around me and more recently merging it with my interest in the sustainability of our environment and its health now only adds to my big adventure!
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
I am soon to launch my website (www.nanditashankardass.com) offering my wellbeing service Welcome Movement which is available to all organisations and individuals. The service provides a range of movement and dance classes or tailored sessions from Organic movement, Yoga, Meditation, Ballet to Creative movement, drawing inspiration and guidance from nature, our human nature to encourage a better experience of ourselves and possibility for our growth and evolution.
I look forward to learning not only how I can create sustainable practices and productions in the future of my work but also communicate messages of the environmental issues we face and spread awareness of the power of nature through my work.
I am passionate about how creative and production processes in the arts can generate a sustainable future, for the environment which surrounds us, and the inner environment of our body, mind and soul.
I am a marketing and communication professional from India and I have spent close to 5+ years in this profession working for various ad agencies and brands like Ogilvy, Bajaj Finserv to name a few in India and Canada.
Can you tell me a bit about your startup? How did it come about?
We at Scrapless are a food discovery and redistribution platform which connects people with businesses that have surplus food. We help food businesses reduce their food waste and promote their products on our platform. Foodies on a budget get food they love at a reduced price.
Which groups of people have shown most interest in your startup so far?
We have an equal mix of client and businesses who have shown interest in our start up from large grocers to individual restaurants, influencers who promote food and sustainable living.
What inspired you to act as a catalyst for sustainable practice? Is there a particular story you can share?
I have always been inspired by Ms. Sudha Murthy, a well-known Indian philanthropist who has dedicated her life to help people who are less fortunate. She always abided by the principle that just because one has something in excess does not mean they should waste it, but always think about ways to help others who are not so lucky. This learning is what cultivated the thought of sustainable living in me. It made me realize that if we make small but important changes in our lifestyle by doing simple things, we can help create an eco-friendly planet for us and our future generations.
Being South Asian, did you face any backlash about your sustainable business career choice from family, friends or society at large? (Please feel free to share any relevant experiences)
I have received extensive support from my friends & family and they in fact now understand the importance of living a sustainable lifestyle and are too trying to do their bit for the environment.
How have you actively changed your daily practice to be more sustainable?
I have adopted simple practices like using more eco-friendly products, and have reduced the usage of electronic appliances that require a lot of electricity or water. For example, air drying my hair instead of using a hair dryer. Trying to reduce the use of a dishwasher, replacing plastic with sustainable materials like using bamboo-based toothbrushes etc.
Do you feel there is a stigma or lack of understanding of the climate crisis amongst South Asian communities? What do you believe the blockers to be and how would you go about solving the issues?
Yes, there seems to be a lack of understanding when it comes to climate crises among the South Asian community and the major reason behind this is probably a lack of awareness and interest towards environmental stewardship – no one wants to go walking even if the store is nearby as we have cars at our disposal. One way to bring awareness in the minds of the people would be to have government initiatives to reduce causes that contribute to climate change and incentivize the same and also have sound education about climate change.
Being carbon conscious in a practical day-to-day sense can be quite costly – how can people easily and cost effectively make a difference? Do you think being sustainable is accessible to everyone?
Well, it can start with a step as simple as car-pooling or reduction of usage of things that are not eco-friendly. A plastic toothbrush can be replaced with a bamboo one, newspapers can be recycled into bags or bags for dry garbage, sorting garbage into dry and wet waste, buying products that can be easily reused or recycled – e.g. glass bottles for milk can be reused over and over instead of a milk carton or milk in a plastic bag.
While sustainable lifestyle is being adopted by a lot of people, I feel it is not something everyone has access to and that is the gap that needs to be filled, by helping people who need help. It can be done simply by donating goods that we don’t need to someone else who can make good use of it. Donating things to thrift stores as they stop items going to landfills by providing a space for old items to find new homes.
What advice would you give to younger generations in relation to sustainability and the environment?
The time is now, take small steps now to help save the planet because we only have one. Emphasize on the importance of environmental science at school and practice sustainable living in whatever way you can, even if it means using your older sibling’s study materials instead of buying new ones.
Can you share one life story which has deeply impacted you?
Being from Bombay India, I always loved being at the beach. I have seen beaches go from clean to being filled with some sort of waste at every step while at the beach. The beach clean up undertaken by Afroz Shah, a lawyer and an environmentalist of the Versova beach started around 2015 which had almost 5.3 million kilograms of trash before the clean up. The drive and the passion that was shown by Afroz and the team to do something for the environment was something that impacted me the most. It took him around 3 years to get the beach trash free and he did not stop until it was.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about your work at Scrapless?
We are always looking for new businesses to try our platform, new connections and leaders in food to support our mission.
South Asians for Sustainability 