Over the years, The Hindu Downtown has been playing an empowering role, providing residents with a platform to spotlight the everyday niggles in their neck of the woods so that official eyeballs roll towards them.
The supplement is committed to focussing on civic issues that lie hidden in the “bylanes” but continue to be a thorn in the side for the local population. On its 24th anniversary, it renews this commitment as well as a host of other commitments.
The supplement has sought to highlight the unique strands that make a neighbourhood what it is. It has been doing that by heading to alumni meets of local institutions, their annual days and sports tournaments; by sitting just outside the ring of deliberations by residents’ welfare associations (RWA) on what ought to be done to improve conditions in their areas; by trying to understand the unique measures taken by RWAs, including those running gated communities, for the edification of the larger community; by showcasing unique achievers from the neigbourhood — usually, under the “Know Your Neighbour” column — thereby covering the whole gamut of human excellence.
In addition, The Hindu Downtown is alive to the immediacy of the larger challenges, particularly climate change and environment degradation, the planet is faced with. While these concerns are largely viewed in macro contexts, their effects in hyperlocal settings are real. The supplement has been seeking to bring climate change and environment issues to residents’ doorsteps by spelling out how they can address them. The message sent out to the readers is always illustrative: They are told what to do by simply being shown how some residents — who we call “Sustainability Champions” — are living green in their neighbourhoods, streets and homes.
Over the years, RWAs and individuals and other groups that have done commendable work in solid waste management, water conservation and waterbody restoration have been featured in these pages. The supplement would continue to keep its pages open for them.
Another notable feature is the sustained focus on rights of the disabled. The supplement also features persons with disabilities who focussed on their “abilities” and made a difference in their spheres of work.
The Hindu Downtown also seeks to capture the essence of the seasons: Ready cases in point are the extensive coverage of less-known facets of the ongoing December Music Season and the migratory bird season.
As with every other thing, the supplement has “hyperlocalised” conservation by showing residents how they can contribute to data about the fauna and avifauna they find in their neighbourhoods through participation in citizen-science projects. Continue to journey with us as we start walking through a milestone year.
