Society | Citizen Matters, Mumbai

Here’s why you think you were charged more for electricity, Mumbaikar

July 20, 2020 Arathi Manay Yajaman

Customers were in for a massive shock when they received their electricity bills in June 2020. Why were the bills so high and what can people do to resolve the issue?

How visual artists in Mumbai are reinventing themselves for a post-COVID world

July 16, 2020 Hepzi Anthony

Artists in Mumbai face the same challenges as their counterparts around the world. Even so, many are quietly absorbing, visualising and recreating the imagery sparked by the pandemic.

No income, no food, no government relief: Kamathipura’s sex workers pushed to the brink

July 13, 2020 Santoshee Gulabkali Mishra

With no income and no food for the past three months, the sex workers of Kamathipura are desperate to go back to work, even if it gets them just a cup of tea and bread!

Toys, some joy and a little hope in times of COVID-19

May 20, 2020 Kedar Nagarajan

In M East ward in Mumbai, children in poor and informal settlements are being engaged in creative learning activities to distract them from the stress of COVID-19.

How residents of a low-income Mumbai settlement ensured food for their migrant neighbours

May 19, 2020 Malay Kotal

A single man’s drive and an empathetic community led to this community kitchen in Mumbai’s Pisavali, which has provided hundreds of food packets to migrant families.

How youth from a Mumbai slum ensured food for all in the community during the COVID crisis

April 17, 2020 Kaustubh Jagtap

It was not a mean feat — battling poverty, the lockdown and even antagonism from some higher powers. But in an amazing display of method, generosity and resilience, youth from Bhagat Singh Nagar slum gathered under the banner of ‘Bhakar Foundation’ to ensure noone in the slum went hungry.

From ‘right to play’ to ‘right to vote’: How Mumbai youth are helping fellow citizens claim their rights

March 13, 2020 Doel Jaikishen

Many youngsters across Greater Mumbai have formed collectives to help co-create a more inclusive city. Their initiatives have received a big boost from the youth event ‘Making Mumbai’, part of the annual urban festival ComplexCity, organised by not-for-profit YUVA.

Co-creating Mumbai afresh via ComplexCity

March 12, 2020 Doel Jaikishen

ComplexCity, an annual festival in Mumbai organised by the non-profit YUVA, enables city residents to openly engage, express and exchange views, and collaborate to explore solutions to the city’s pressing problems. A round-up of the 2020 event.

How graffiti art is paving the way for women empowerment and social change

February 21, 2020 Jahanvi J

Missing the safety of studios, graffiti involves scaling tall buildings, working long nights, and often secretly, with the risk of getting caught by cops. Nevertheless, using graffiti as a tool of protest, female artists in our cities are breaking stereotypes.

Tête-à-tête with Mumbai’s own Bappa

September 15, 2018 Tejaswini Patwardhan

As Mumbai celebrates the 10-day festival worshipping Lord Ganesha, a citizen pens her imagined conversation with the god himself, revealing subtle changes in urban society and how it relates to and celebrates Ganpati Bappa today.