Articles by Usha Rajagopalan

Padma Bhushan Sudha Ragunathan's concert on 25th February at MLR Convention Centre kept us enthralled from the first varnam. About a couple of hours into the concert, she gave a short speech appreciating our effort in restoring the lake and promising whatever help she could render to us and to the environment. This of course made the audience applaud but her next statement won us over completely. The day before the concert, she'd contacted a friend, Gayathri Gurumurthy who writes under the pen name of "Saraswathi" and got her to write a song celebrating lakes! Being a composer as well, Smt…

Much like the nurturing of our Puttenahalli Lake, the PNLIT concert featuring Padma Bhushan Sudha Ragunathan on 25th Feb. at MLR Convention Hall was a community event with several volunteers from the locality chipping in. Our heartfelt thanks to them, our donors, Jenesys Technologies, concert sponsor, and to Brigade Hospitality for the venue and accommodation for the artists.     Here's how the day unfolded ...   The lake and its premises had never looked as clean as it was when Smt. Sudha Ragunathan paid a visit on the morning of 25th Feb. After the visit of renowned ornithologist Zafar…

Much like the nurturing of our Puttenahalli Lake, the PNLIT concert featuring Padma Bhushan Sudha Ragunathan on 25th Feb. at MLR Convention Hall was a community event with several volunteers from the locality chipping in. Our heartfelt thanks to them, our donors, Jenesys Technologies, concert sponsor, and to Brigade Hospitality for the venue and accommodation for the artists.     Here's how the day unfolded ...   The lake and its premises had never looked as clean as it was when Smt. Sudha Ragunathan paid a visit on the morning of 25th Feb. After the visit of renowned ornithologist Zafar…

The Sudha Ragunathan Concert at MLR Convention Centre on 25th February 2017. had music and the lake at its core. Here's a review by A.K. Venkat, a resident of the lake neighbourhood and Carnatic vocalist.    Sudha Raghunathan sings for Puttenahalli Lake   Accompanied by on the Violin: Sri B V Raghavendra Rao on the Mridangam: Sri Neyveli Skanda Subramanian on the Morsing: Sri R Raman Venue: MLR Convention Centre, Brigade Millennium Date: Saturday 25th February 2017         Smt Sudha Raghunathan began the concert with the Varnam Ninnukori in the raga Vasantha, appropriately chosen with the season in mind. Rendering…

The Sudha Ragunathan Concert at MLR Convention Centre on 25th February 2017. had music and the lake at its core. Here's a review by A.K. Venkat, a resident of the lake neighbourhood and Carnatic vocalist.    Sudha Raghunathan sings for Puttenahalli Lake   Accompanied by on the Violin: Sri B V Raghavendra Rao on the Mridangam: Sri Neyveli Skanda Subramanian on the Morsing: Sri R Raman Venue: MLR Convention Centre, Brigade Millennium Date: Saturday 25th February 2017         Smt Sudha Raghunathan began the concert with the Varnam Ninnukori in the raga Vasantha, appropriately chosen with the season in mind. Rendering…

Those of you who visited Puttenahalli Lake within the past few months may have noticed small platforms floating in the water. These are Artificial Floating Islands (AFIs) which we "launched" in June this year. The Vetiver and Canna planted in them are growing beautifully. PNLIT trustee Nupur, her husband Pranshu Jain together with our gardener, Jayanna, are the builders of five AFIs. With volunteers from Deloitte making two last Friday we now have seven AFIs.  Artificial floating islands at Puttenahalli lake A coot's nest in one of the floating islands   Deloitte volunteers with the AFIs they made, 25-Nov-2016   Artificial Floating Island…

Those of you who visited Puttenahalli Lake within the past few months may have noticed small platforms floating in the water. These are Artificial Floating Islands (AFIs) which we "launched" in June this year. The Vetiver and Canna planted in them are growing beautifully. PNLIT trustee Nupur, her husband Pranshu Jain together with our gardener, Jayanna, are the builders of five AFIs. With volunteers from Deloitte making two last Friday we now have seven AFIs.  Artificial floating islands at Puttenahalli lake A coot's nest in one of the floating islands   Deloitte volunteers with the AFIs they made, 25-Nov-2016   Artificial Floating Island…

Our lake cleaners Puttaswamy and Ramakrishna had been removing the weeds from the water and piling them on the slope. However, they were not so keen to remove the drying weed from the slope since it was so much more difficult. Where they lay, the alligator weed and salvinia molesta would no doubt enrich the soil but the alligator weed would begin to sprout.   We were therefore keen on removing it while also making space for more weeds. When our CSR partner Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions Private Limited (RBEI) asked if their volunteers could work at the lake, we…

Our lake cleaners Puttaswamy and Ramakrishna had been removing the weeds from the water and piling them on the slope. However, they were not so keen to remove the drying weed from the slope since it was so much more difficult. Where they lay, the alligator weed and salvinia molesta would no doubt enrich the soil but the alligator weed would begin to sprout.   We were therefore keen on removing it while also making space for more weeds. When our CSR partner Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions Private Limited (RBEI) asked if their volunteers could work at the lake, we…

A dry for years lake finally looks like a proper water body. Ever since we took up the cause of Puttenahalli Lake over seven years ago, this had been one of our goals - to see the entire lake bed submerged. 20th May 2014 6th June 2015 For over a year, excess treated waste water from the STP at South City Apartment Complex is being discharged into the lake. This has percolated and saturated thoroughly the earth below before showing up on the surface. The rain water added to this increasing the level to an unprecedented height. While we were…