Three friends have revitalized a neglected 4,000 square foot library near Bandra Gymkhana in Mumbai. Vibha Kamat, Sonal Bimal and Vaishali Shende cleaned up the space, added new shelves and decorations, and filled it with 2,500 books aimed at children. They want the library to be an exclusive space for kids to develop a reading habit. The friends receive regular book donations but need funds to sustain the project long-term, as they have space for thousands more books and plan to expand programming. Local children have also donated books and are enthusiastic users of the new library.

1. EXPRESS
REAL PAGE 5 MUMBAI I SEPTEMBER 25, 2011
Managing
metal stand and covered fordable price. And now, peo- “But our focus is on edu- Waste is a matter which is had produced themselves, it
with a lid which is clasped ple all across the city are us- cating school children and mostly approached with changed their views,” said
from both sides. It can ac- ing them in areas including the college going youth who slight hesitation and even Pereira. “This is a way in
commodate waste from five- Charni Road, Byculla, Kalina, in turn will convince their aversion, says Rego but the which each individual can
six families, which is about 5 Andheri, Goregaon, Malad families and carry this tradi- attitude of people has been contribute to reducing the
Waste
to 10 kg per day. “Since it has and even in Vasai and Karjat. tion forward and save the en- shifting gradually. “We did waste and feel free of the
a tight lid, there is no smell at Infact, my friends in Delhi vironment,” said Rego, face some resistance earlier crime of adding to environ-
all. You can put any kind of and Pune have started it too,” adding, many schools have but once people saw the first ment degradation,”
kitchen waste, including said Pereira. now started the practice. batch of compost that they added Rego.
meat and bones, tree waste
such as dry wood and
Fed up with the mounting heaps of garbage in his branches as well as industrial
waste like saw dust, paper
area, Christopher Pereira, conceived the idea of a and wood shavings in it, and
all of it will turn into rich ma-
compost tumbler, which turns biodegradable garbage nure,” said Denzil Rego,
Pereira’s partner in the initia-
into high-grade compost without any smell tive. One batch of waste can
give you a tub full of com-
AAKRITI VASUDEVA post, which is sold in the
market for as much as Rs 120
FED UP with the mounting a packet. However, non-
heaps of garbage in his area, biodegradable waste such as
Christopher Pereira, decided glass, metal and plastic can-
to take matters into his own not be used.
hands. “The main purpose of The form of composting is
an ALM is effective waste aerobic, with holes at the up-
management through segre- per end for ventilation and at
gation and composting. But the lower end to drain out
we realised that despite our water. “It is a simple and easy
ALM setup, we weren’t doing process which requires very
enough because composting less space. All you need to do
was seen as a filthy and is deposit your waste in the
stinky process, “ said Pereira. tumbler and turn it twice a
He decided to change that day and you’ll get compost in
10 to 30 days,” Rego said.
Swish
They visit each site once a
week to provide support and
Set
maintenance. For larger hous-
ing societies, Pereira has de-
signed a compost bin, which
has a capacity of 440 litres
and thus the compost tum- and can cater to the waste of
bler was born. about 40 families a day.
Pereira is the architect of From just an idea on pa-
the compost tumbler, a prod- per a little more than a year
uct which turns any kind of ago, the compost tumbler
biodegradable garbage into and bins have come a long
high grade compost without way to now being quite
any smell. “Most societies sought after.
make composting pits, which Denzil Rego, above, and the architect of compost tumbler “Earlier, it was just a solu-
smell and are sometimes in- Christopher Pereira DILIP KAGDA tion to our ALM’s problems in
fested with rodents and Bandra. But after seeing the
pests. We studied various more practical way of com- about,” said Pereira. results, people started ap-
models, including those posting. That is how the idea The tumbler is a plastic proaching us and we made it
abroad, to find an easier and of a compost tumbler came drum that is pivoted on a available to them at an af-
BOOK SPACE
Meet Vibha Kamat, Sonal Bimal and Vaishali Shende who have
given a new lease of life to a library near the Bandra Gymkhana.
SUKANYA SHETTY The three are concerned
about the funds. “We have
THE sprawling 4,000-sq ft li- space for a few thousand
brary has been there for more books. Help and sup-
nearly a decade but could port have been pouring in,
have been easily missed until but we need funds to sustain
just a few weeks ago. The the project,” says Vibha, a
space, provided by the civic French teacher.
body to non-profit trust Ma- Maharashtra Mitra Man-
harashtra Mitra Mandal near dal had entered into a con-
the Bandra Gymkhana, has DILIP KAGDA tract with the BMC in 2003
got a new lease of life — with rising by the day. We just re- to run a library for 30 years,
new shelves, Warli paintings ceived another bunch of 50 but it had not really made a
on walls, colourful seating books,” adds Sonal, an ap- breakthrough. “I had been
space, Tin Tin and Nancy parel consultant. The library, scouring for some space to
Drew. they say, is not just the cre- set up a library for a long
Three friends — Vibha Ka- ation of three people coming time. When I visited this
mat, Sonal Bimal and Vaishali together and pulling in a few space, I knew this was it,”
Shende — had brought about more adults. “Kids have Vibha beams. The trio also
the much-needed shown equal par- plans to have a space for
change to infuse movers & ticipation in our movie screening. “Would not
the reading habit
in children. The li-
shakers venture. It’s heart-
ening to see a child
it be fun for kids to know
how Charlie’s chocolate fac-
brary, located on the ground come up and donate his/her tory actually looks like? We
floor of Princess building, will books to us. Many children plan to have an informative
now be an exclusive space for have given us their prized and intellect-stimulating film
children. possessions,” Sonal says. library too,” Sonal says.
The trio, belonging to
different backgrounds, has
one thing in common — a
craze for books. “As a kid, I
never cared what the book
looked like; if it was newly
bound or in a tattered con-
dition. I would just pick
them up and start reading
them feverishly,” says
Vaishali, who freelances
with a NGO on disaster
management.
Just two months into
the project, the library is al-
ready home to as many as
2,500 books. “The count is