You Inspire Me

I was reading an article on EarthDay.org and got to know that at least 14 million tons of plastic end up in our oceans every year. It is estimated that about 1 million marine life is lost every year due to plastic pollution. Going by the statistics again, it is estimated that 50% of the plastic that is produced is for single use. 380M tons of plastic is produced per year. If I just look around me, I see that we have miles to go in terms of sustainable living. I was looking for alternative solutions for my home care needs and that’s when I came across Refillable, an Indian startup that is focused on Refill revolution and like they say “to untrash the planet”.

In this episode, I talk to one of the co-founders of Refillable, Rahul Batra and we discuss about how their journey started, how the team is making a difference, what keeps them going and how we can take tiny little steps in safeguarding our planet. 

Whenever I think of people in my close circle who are breaking barriers, Rashmi Muddaiah surely comes to my mind. A very dear friend & a gem of a person, Rashmi is an inclusion and diversity community program manager with Cisco.

Rashmi is legally blind with a condition known as Retinitis Pigmentosa, a rare disorder that leads to breakdown and loss of cells in the retina. Despite all this, Rashmi is as independent & as effervescent as one can get. She has never let this come between her goals & even completed her master’s in social work.

At Cisco, she manages inclusive communities and leads programs that support the upliftment of diverse groups within the organization. She has led conversations to influence policies for inclusion of under-represented communities, setup EROs (Employee Resource Organizations) across APJC, has managed NGO partnerships and led disability hiring programs. I have personally witnessed her encouraging brave conversations that help in building inclusive communities.

In this episode we chat about her journey, how she manages her day-to-day activities, her career in a tech company, what keeps her going and also discuss about few resources that can help someone with visual impairments. 

Here are a couple of organizations that help people with visual impairments.

https://www.enableindia.org/

https://www.mitrajyothi.org/

https://www.samarthanam.org/

https://giftabled.org/

https://donation.sightsaversindia.in/

https://www.giveindia.org/

My incredible guest in this episode is a notable name in the journalism industry. Samar Halarnkar is the founder of Article-14, a platform created to bring out the threats to and failures of justice and deficiencies in the legal system as well as identify opportunities where we could build upon successes. He has previously worked with leading publications like The Times of India, Indian Express, Hindustan Times and was the editor of the digital platform IndiaSpend. He has also written columns for the New York Times, the Globe and Mail (Canada). He was also a visiting lecturer at the University of California-Berkeley and a fellow at the Nieman Foundation, Harvard University. He is currently the editor at Article-14 and a contributing writer for Mint. He along with Priya Ramani and Niloufer Venkatraman, both journalists created a platform known as “India Love Project” which celebrates love and marriage outside the shackles of faith, caste, ethnicity and gender. He is also the author of 2 books - Nirvana Under the Rain Tree, an early chronicle of India's Internet revolution: and The Married Man's Guide To Creative Cooking And Other Dubious Adventures.

We chat about Samar's journey, what the experience was like when he was a crime reporter in the 90s, anecdotes on anti-Veerappan operation, how India Love Project & Article-14 came into being and the goals of both these powerful platforms, his love for cooking & so much more!

We have all witnessed how animals live on the streets and have also seen so many who need immediate help – be it in terms of food, medical help or even rescue. In this episode, I speak to Rajani Shetty, an animal rescuer. She is so kind, generous, always puts the needs of the voiceless before hers so much so that she has even put her life at risk to save the animals. Imagine feeding 800 dogs a day! That’s the kind of dedication my truly inspiring guest has. She has been rescuing dogs, cats, birds and so many more animals for decades now. She has been awarded for this noble cause on various platforms and her work has been published in numerous media channels such as Brut India, The Better India, News18, New Indian Express, Udayavani and so many more. She was recently felicitated by the Delhi Commission for Women too for going above and beyond.

We chat about her journey, the kind of challenges she faces, how she rescues the animals, anecdotes, her dream for the voiceless and so much more!

In case anyone wants to contribute to the cause & help Rajani Shetty, she accepts Google Pay on +91-8904563332. 

In this episode, I talk to my amazing trekker guest, Namratha Nandish who is the first woman to scale 50 high altitude lakes in Kashmir. These are lakes that are located 10,000 feet above sea level. What makes it challenging you ask? She did all this despite suffering from Arthritis & in a record time of 4 months! The trekking community now calls her the “Alpine Girl”! Namratha also works as an HR manager at an IT company. We chat about what kind of preparation is needed for such treks, the challenges faced, her journey, what she does to keep herself calm, anecdotes and many more. 

In this episode, I chat with a wonderful guest who is a journalist, editor, entrepreneur, and a podcaster. DVL Padma Priya is an independent journalist who has written for leading media houses such as The Hindu, The Wire, IndiaSpend and FirstPost. She has also worked as an advocacy and communication specialist for the Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization Doctors Without Borders also known as Medicins Sans Frontieres. She is the Co-Founder and Editorial lead at Suno India, India’s first podcast only media startup. She has hosted multiple podcasts on under-reported stories such as "Dear Pari" on adoption, "The Suno India Show" on current affairs and "Pinjra Tod Kar" on women empowerment to name a few. Her work has been featured on various media platforms & publication houses. Her efforts towards spreading awareness about Long Covid is amazing to say the least. She recently bagged SheThePeople Digital Women Awards, 2021 presented by Google and empowered by Colors TV. She was also honoured with the Express Awards for Women Entrepreneurs by The Financial Express and FICCI FLO.

We discuss about multiple facets of journalism, her experiences at media houses versus Medicins Sans Frontieres, her Suno India journey & many more. We also discuss about Long Covid and how it impacts health. 

To learn more about Long Covid & to join the support group, visit @LongcovidIndia twitter handle.

DVL Padma Priya has also started a support group on Telegram. You can join the group via this link https://t.me/+3SHOL_cmzpkyYzdl

In this episode we discuss about a topic which is so close to my heart – animal welfare & particularly at that, adoption. My incredible guest, Sanjana Madappa heads the adoption wing at CUPA (Compassion Unlimited Plus Action) Second Chance Adoption Center, Bengaluru. She is someone who has been tirelessly helping in getting so many dogs a second chance at life. These are dogs that have been abandoned, abused, breeder’s discard or the ones given up for various reasons. She has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to animal welfare and is fiercely protective about her shelter dogs. Sanjana is huge advocate of adopt don’t shop and she also takes care of 9 dogs at home with special needs. Sanjana and I chat about what causes so many dogs to end up in animal shelters, state of dog breeding & what happens to the dogs in most cases, what should one look out for when planning for animal adoption, her biggest influences in life amongst many other things. 

In this episode, I chat with the incredible artist Dr.Sudharani Govardhan. She is a powerhouse of a performer! She has acted in the Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam Film Industry. Her contributions to the Kannada Film Industry have been nothing short of spectacular. She has been credited with 140 or more movies. She has ruled the Kannada Silver Screen for 3 decades now & she continues to dazzle us with her spectacular performances. She has been honored with 2 Karnataka State Film Awards, a Doctorate, Winner of multiple Filmfare awards, & so many more accolades. Tune in to this episode to hear many interesting stories - we chat about her journey, her performances, her interactions & takeaways from the stalwarts of Kannada Film Industry such as the legendary Dr.Rajkumar and Chi. Udayashankar, how she became an advocate for cruelty free products, and many more. 

In this episode, Sumanth Bindumadhav and I chat about the amazing work being carried out by Vanamitra, an organization he founded that deals with Human-wildlife conflict management, wildlife rescue operations and spreading awareness at the grassroots level. We also discuss about various interesting projects that is being carried out at Humane Society International, India where Sumanth is a Senior Manager of wildlife disaster response. Not just that, Sumanth also shares insights on how radio telemetry is used in tracking snakes, the challenges, how we can contribute towards conservation in our own tiny ways, his experience of working alongside the amazing herpetologist Padmashri Romulus Whitaker & Gerry Martin who was India’s first Natgeo Adventurer.

What better way to start this podcast series than pick a topic which needs to be further normalized – LGBTQIA+. In this episode, my amazing guest, Harsha Ravikumar and I chat about his personal journey, how Harsha has been an ally, how all of us can contribute towards creating a better environment, his challenges & how he overcomes them. Listen to Harsha talk about how this topic need not be stigmatized and how we can build a world that fuels growth. 

Welcome to Travelrope’s You Inspire Me podcast. Find out more about what You Inspire Me is all about in this trailer.