Kaagaz Foundation - CEB CSR Initiative

Bapu's quotes are an inspiration and is relevant for generations, his quote, "Be the change you wish to see in the world" puts the onus on each of us to contribute towards a better society. 

Kaagaz Foundation Initiatives, Campaigns and Programs are inspired by Bapu's idea of being the change, and have collaborated across the spectrum to create a positive message and inspire participation. 

As part of the CSR #GartnerGives of CEB Systems worked with Kaagaz Foundation on two key initiatives Environment & Education. "We are grateful for the Corporates who take up their CSR activities to implement at the ground level, participation along with funding is a something which we have been advocating for all the CSR activities" says Kavitha Reddy Trustee Kaagaz Foundation.  

As part of Environment Hosapalya Nursery was selected - Clean-up, Maintenance of the Trees planted last year, Fixing the broken Fence, Planting new Saplings, Temporary Fencing were the activities taken up and completed by the CEB Systems under the guidance of Kaagaz Foundation Team. The participants tolled in the Sun and brought in not just visible change but also an impactful change, leaving behind a better lung-space for the locality.  

Education is a key focus area for the CSR activities, Thomson Public School which caterers to the aspiration of children from low and very low income group was identified. Painting of the Library, setting up of the Library with book shelves, Donating of 200+Books, Donating a water purifier unit, Beautification of the Schools with Plants, Message Boards, Photos, Fixing a Basketball board, Donating Badminton set, Skipping ropes etc was taken up during the half day event.

Over 100 Employees of CEB Systems participated in both the events with great enthusiasm and called it a day after making positive impact and being part of the change. 

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Karnataka - New AICC Team

Met Shri KC Venugopal AICC General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka, with the Mahila Congress Team lead by KPMCC President Smt Lakshmi Hebbalkar. We shared our views on the Karnataka politics, party position and discussed many points. He gave a patience hearing and all our points, I was glad to open the discussion and put across my views.   

Water Conservation - Jal Mithra

Launch of www.KavithaReddy.in

On 24th April Women Political Empowerment Day was meaningfully celebrated by B.PAC by bringing together all the Women Leaders & Activists who Graduated from B.CLIP a Leadership incubation program to discuss about Women in Politics. 

Worshipful Mayor Smt Padmavathi, Women Board Chairperson Smt Bharati Shankar, Wife of KPCC Working President Smt Tabu Rao, Nominated Corporator Smt Radha V, AAP Kar Leader Smt Shantala D were invited to share their experiences, their political journey, struggles and wins. 

On the occasion Kavitha Reddy's website www.KavithaReddy.in was launched by the Worshipful Mayor, there by truly empowering a budding Women Political Leader. 

Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Awards

Been given the Prestigious Nadaprabhu Kempagowda Award for Social Service by BBMP & Govt of Karnataka. 

My Place Of Pride - HSR Layout

MyPlaceOfPride is an unique contest initiated by Rotary Palmville in association with BPAC, to rank and rate gated communities such as Apartments & Villas in terms of the effort taken by its residents to keep them Clean, Safe, Self-sustained, Eco-friendly, Compliant etc. This is a first of its kind Award to Celebrate and Encourage the good work done by the communities across the city of Bengaluru.

Mahaveer Seasons, Purva Vantage & Akruthi Silverline community members took time to participate in the contest by filling an elaborate online application then going through the stringent audit and inspection process.  

Mahaveer Seasons was awarded for best Waste management in the mid-size Apartment Category, Purva Vantage picked two awards in the same category for best Hygiene & Cleanliness & Power managment, Akruthi Silverline reached the finals of the contest, with a positive note to make it to the podium next time.

These three communities from HSR Layout have really lead by example, making our community proud and contributing towards a better Bengaluru. Congratulations to all the communities across Bengaluru who participated with great enthusiasm and showcased their good work to rest of Bengaluru. 

Let's hope we will have more communities from HSR Layout for this event next year, till then lets work in making our communities/localities a better place.

#BeBoldForChange - Women's Day Run

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Kaagaz Foundation had organized the 1^st edition of Women’s Day Run, sponsored by Nine Star Suzuki and Basecamp Adventures, objective of the run is to celebrate womanhood and encourage women to take up to running and develop a healthy habit of running.

Also other important aspects are to create awareness on Women Safety, Save Water, Waste Segregation & Composting, and it’s an environmental friendly run.

The 5kms run was flagged-off at 6.30 am on Sunday 12^th March 2017 by Rao Ganesh Inspector HSR Layout Traffic Police; the event was well attended by 300 runners mostly women and awards ceremony was held at 7.30am.

Bengaluru Mayor graced the occasion and spoke about Women’s Day and the importance and women empowerment; she also spoke about waste segregation and citizen involvement for a better Bengaluru. Mayor also gave away prizes for the runners, the awards were sponsored by BPAC.

Jigna Modh the Organizer of the event and Director of Basecamp Adventures said, 'we are happy to see a large participation of women, and we hope to have more events exclusively for women'.  

Honorable Mayor also signed the pledge board on the occasion of Women’s Day #BeBoldForChange pledge.

Women Pourakarmikas and HSR Traffic Police were also honored at the event and appreciating their commitment for a cleaner locality. 

Trustee of Kaagaz Foundation Kavitha Reddy said 'we have been doing several events to encourage participation of citizens to raise awareness about fitness, environment, environment and citizen involvement to make our community and city better'. 

Empowering Women - Safety Workshop

Durga a social movement empowering women to deter sexual harassment actively, in a non-aggressive way, and Civic Hub a BPAC initiative is organizing a free Self Awareness & Prevention of crime against Women to mitigate sexual harassment, to empower women be part of a movement that changes the course of how women respond to sexual harassment!

On 4th Feb 2017, a Workshop on Women Safety was organised at Shakuntala Devi College, over 40 Girl students attended the Workshop. The students were introduced to a non-aggressive way of dealing with eve teasers in public spaces. They were also gained knowledge on the five principles to mitigate sexual harassment. 

1. Safety First

2. Awareness (surroundings) 

3. Gut Feeling 

4. Engage/Escalate if required

5. Do not try to teach anyone a Lesson

Students also took Oath to spread Awareness and to help fellow women in Distress. 

Women Safety Awarness Workshop

Durga a social movement empowering women to deter sexual harassment actively, in a non-aggressive way, and Civic Hub a BPAC initiative is organizing a free Self Awareness & Prevention of crime against Women to mitigate sexual harassment, to empower women be part of a movement that changes the course of how women respond to sexual harassment!

Going Nuts!

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Bengaluru is a city that will drive you nuts; if you are not from Bengaluru it’s difficult what you will associate with. But for a Bengalurean it’s all about everything, and one of those many things is the famous Kadalekai Parishe (Groundnut Fair) on Bull Temple Road.

Call it the demonetization effect the business looked dull and the heaps of groundnuts were less, but there was still a lot of glee and the touch of tradition attached to it. Puffed rice to beaten rice the vendors complained about less rains and note ban impacting their business and still hoped they will make their buck in 2-3 days of the fair.

Groundnut varieties from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh made way to the Kadalekai Parishe, roasted option was selling much faster as it was munching ready. Fruit Bowls, Pani Puri, Masala Papad, Sugar Cane, Boiled Corn, Sliced raw Mangoes, Cucumber and many more were lined up, but the Bombe Mittai and Cotton Candy seemed like hot pick as it brought back childhood memories for many, the parents were eagerly explaining the much amused children their favorites during their childhood.

What was the glaring and not palatable was the usage of plastic bags, as vendors packed groundnuts in the plastic bags the buyers seemed less concerned. An event like this brings in thousands of people from all over the city, a little effort from BBMP and local elected representatives to create awareness about plastic ban and to make Kadalekai Parishe eco-friendly would have gone a long way making it truly a great event.

Nevertheless, as evening passed the streets were filled with people, the main street and the cross roads turned colorful, with lights, noise and music. With people, food, toys, paintings, balloons, handicrafts and lots of groundnuts I lost track of time too.

Few hours and lots to capture through the lens, a fair like this needs more attention, it’s our heritage, our tradition, uniqueness of our city that needs to be celebrated, sadly very little has been done to showcase this event to the rest of the world. We boast of being ‘One State many Worlds’, but we do very little justice to that ‘many’.

Its time Cultural and Tourism department promotes Kadalekai Parishe as an event of the city that can give an opportunity to visitors to experience a different side of Bengaluru.  

Me & Jigna Modh enjoying our pick - Bombe Mittai

Media Coverage of Nov 2016

Math Workbooks for Govt School Children

Learning made fun and easy, Math workbook were distributed to 335 students from 1st to 6th standard of Govt School Agara and 191 students from 2nd to 7th standard of Govt School Parangipalya. The workbooks sponsored by Syngene (a Biocon) as part of their CSR via BPAC & Civic Hub Ward 174, the objective of this initiative is to reach out to as many Govt Schools as possible across Bengaluru through Civic Hub Leaders who are working in various Wards on Civic initiatives. 

Each of the Govt School were audited few months ago and the interventions were planned in advance, some of these schools are also identified for Green & Safe School program.  

Civic Hub Leader Kavitha Reddy interacted with various schools to identify the synergies and gaps that can be bridged via initiatives of BPAC and CSR participation. 

Kavitha Reddy said, 'there is a lot more to do to improve the quality of education, along with the Govt even Citizen and Corporate participation can better the quality and also supply the required tools to make learning more effective'. 

Finally a Big Leap

I have been appointed Karnataka Pradesh Mahila Congress Committee Secretary, many thanks to ever inspiring KPMCC President Laxmi HebbalkarJi , many thanks to Shri Dinesh Gundu Rao & Shri Rizwan Arshad who always had kind words for me.

Can You 'Hear' Me?

Seldom do we realize that early intervention is the first step towards addressing most of the medical conditions or any disabilities, and if the medical condition or disability is not life threatening, our willingness to seek medical interventions becomes rarer. 

Infections (Mumps, Rubella, Meningitis, Measles, ear infection), Birth defects, Malnutrition, Lack of effective & accessible medical care for pregnant women in countries like India result in a very high rate of hearing loss among children. A staggering 60% of the hearing loss is preventable and 31% of the hearing loss in children is due to infections. 

Every child in this world deserves to live normally, and that can happen by creating awareness about the causes of hearing loss and the medical and technological option to address the disability in the most effective manner. Early diagnosis, specifically for the new born can help the child to lead a normal life, OAE (Otoacoustic Emission Test) or BERA (Brainstem Evoked Response Audiometry) is very important for every new born.

The Cochlear™ range of hearing implants has helped over 250,000 people globally, and making a child live a normal life is definitely a Team Work that has involved Cochlear™, Surgeons, Parents and the extended family. 

Breaking Myths & Key Highlights: 

• Cochlear™ implant does not affect the brain, it is a simple procedure

• Cochlear™ implants do not need any replacement (unless in case of infection which is a very rare situation)

• The child can undergo Cochlear™ implantation as early as 2 years and the earlier the better to ensure sounds mean something for a child

• People with Cochlear™  implant will not suffer from side effects or electromagnetic waves due to implantation

• Hearing tests at different stages of life is as important as an eye test or any other medical test

• If the Cochlear™ implant is made at an older age words are just mere sound, hence early implant is a must

• Most of the time awareness and not the cost of the implant is the issue, after all no cost is high if it ensures a normal life for a child

• Even with hearing aids the children with hearing disability will get all Government benefits he/she is entitled to 

Shobith leads normal life, after Cochlear implant Photo by Vijay 

Cochlear™’s Global Hearing Ambassador Brett Lee expresses that temporary hearing loss of his son indeed triggered his calling to lend his voice and name for the cause, and to work to create awareness globally so that more and more children get early medical interventions.

In a country that loves Cricket, no child should be deprived of enjoying the #SoundsOfCricket to the fullest.  

With Cochlear™, Hear Now. And Always.

- Kavitha Reddy

#KillBills Campaign of HaSiRu Mithra