This week Leela finds a black belter in community vigilance.Our media is getting more responsive and people are starting to make cracks in the silence around sexual violence. Poonacha Machaiah builds a sustainable platform to encourage people to come together and create a community that is vigilant, secure and committed.
1. You are an entrepreneur, an unabashed idealist, and a dreamer. What sustains these passions when there are so many black forces around us?
We have one life to live and I believe in making a difference personally and professionally. What drives me in short is PHD. Living life with passion, hunger to keep pushing the envelope in any endeavor I pursue, and having the drive and tenacity to overcome the challenges and obstacle along the way. We live in a time when we are are surrounded with negativity, instead we need to look at life with unbounded positivity. I believe that we always have the choice to pick the path of positivity, because it is better than the alternative!
2. What is Citzens4me about? What made you jump to organize this group?
Bangalore is the city I was born in and after after spending 17 years in the US, returned back to settle down with my family in 2008. Since I have been back, I have been witnessing the rise in violence across India towards children and women. Most of the time we used to look at it at something that was happening in Delhi or "up north" and not in Bangalore. Over the last couple of weeks we have seen the rape of 6 year old at Vibgyor by a "skating instructor" and the 22 year old girl who was raped in Frazer Town and the complete apathy in the response of the political and judicial system.
Ironically, the skate instructor was also the instructor of my children while they were at Deens Academy, and was not reported to the police. The 22 year old girl was from my own "Kodava" community and known to my friends and this happened in my neighbor "Frazer Town" were I had the fondest memories growing up.
Therefore, the choice ahead of me were sat that "nothing will ever change and the whole system sucks" and do nothing or "express my angst by joining the protest and rallies that were being held". I wanted to see if we could get back to the basics and create a sustainable movement that starts by getting back to the fundamental human essence of love and start by taking care of each other. There the goal of citizens4me is to create a social movement by instilling "civic responsibility", by taking "tiny steps" every day by "caring" for each other, sharing information and building a safer community one street at a time.
3.Why is citizen and city ownership and pride so crucial to our wellbeing as a country? What is something we can change right now about the way we behave in our community?
Personal well being, leads to societal well being and collectively lead to the wellbeing of a country. If our children, women and weak are not feeling safe, there is no emotional wellbeing and indirectly will lead to impacting the growth of the nation. Therefore it is the job of every "free citizen" to ensure that they stand up and exercise their rights as citizens of a free nation to be "safe" and rest assured that they live in a society/community that takes care of them. We are social beings, right? There is a proverb which says "It takes a village to bring up a child". I believe that it takes a "community" to get us through life. Therefore, the goal of Citizens4Me movement, is start taking "tiny steps" and engage in "tiny habits" of taking care of your personal well being, and wellbeing of the ones around you. This could be just by being more aware of your neighbor, or showing up someone needs help, or standing up for what is right. Eventually, these tiny habits will uplift society wellbeing.
Citizens4me on FB : https://www.facebook.com/groups/citizens4me.bangalore/?ref=br_tf