Looking back at 2022 with gratitude

[Usha Rajagopalan]

Dear Friends, 

As we step into the new year, we look back gratefully at the moments that gave us not only so much joy but also the strength to face the challenges that are inevitable when nurturing a public space like an urban lake! 

March lifted our spirits with the Flame of the Forest flowering for the first time. We had planted this tree in July 2010 and had watched it grow, its trunk twisted and full of big leaves. We wondered if it would flower at all when we spotted a flower petal lying on the walking track and looked up to see one bunch of reddish orange flowers! It bore only a few more bunches but we are excited to see how it will fare this coming summer!

Again in March, a mother duck waddled out of the shrubs and into the water followed by eight fluffy ducklings! 

At the same time, a Brahminy kite chick learned to fly high on the tree on the island. We watched it hop tentatively from branch to branch, fluttering its wings and growing more confident and stronger by the day. 

On 5th June, together with Indian Music Experience and Karnataka State Legal Services Authority, we celebrated World Environment Day and PNLIT’s 12th anniversary. Samuel John's documentary ‘Puttenahalli Lake Alive On Land Under Water’ had everyone spellbound. We had to pinch ourselves to remember that the lake had been reclaimed from sewage influx only a year ago. The musical tribute to nature by national award winning singer and composer, Bindhumalini Narayanaswamy was mesmerising and swept us all away into another realm.

Our biggest challenge remains protecting the lake from encroachment about which we had sent you a detailed email earlier this month. Suffice it to say that the direction of the Hon'ble High Court to remove the encroachment issued on 15th July is yet to be carried out by the authorities. We hope they will do so at least in the coming months. 

As always, we look forward to your continued support. 

We wish you and your loved ones a great new year. May you too draw happiness and strength from the small pleasures of life and nature.

Best wishes

PNLIT team  

Video credit: Pranshu and Nupur Jain

Photos: PNLIT shutterbugs

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PNLIT: Breathing Life into a Lake

Puttenahalli Lake from June 2010

PNLIT Newsletter 

[Ravi Neelakantan]

Dear Usha,

A very evocative coverage of the year that passed the lake and its carers.

I am sure time will set things right, as that is the only commodity all of us have but no one escapes its commands.

Wishing you, your family and everyone else and their families, a very happy, healthy year ahead in 2023.

All good wishes,

Ravi

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