RJ Chirashree was recently at an event at the Atta Galatta bookstore and cafe organised by the volunteer-driven Aikyam Community for Sustainable Living. Devika Krishnan, founder of Joy at Work, a women’s enterprise based in Bangalore that upcycles Tetra Pak waste, scrap fabric and cement sacks into trendy lifestyle accessories, was one of the speakers of the event. “Every person should be responsible for saving the earth, for building schools and for bringing electricity to villages.” Joy at Work has provided jobs like stitching to many women aged under 25 years.

These women come from underprivileged backgrounds and often suffer crippling financial crises while running their families. Most of them do not own PAN cards as they often do not have a permanent residential address and, thus, are unable to deposit money at banks. Devika, along with her team, works with cattle grazing nomadic tribes from Kashmir; the members also work with migrants residing in the mountains, where they organise medical camps.

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Written by Chirashree Shil.