Community & Civic Action
My engagement with public space also begins close to home, in Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai. Through neighbourhood organising and photography, I explore how we can pay closer attention to the places we share and take responsibility for them together.
This includes initiating the Thiruvanmiyur Changemakers Club and documenting local litter through my Instagram project, Why So Trashy. Both start with everyday observations and questions about how we live in our neighbourhood.
Thiruvanmiyur Changemakers Club
Neighbourhood participation and collective action
I initiated the Thiruvanmiyur Changemakers Club in 2026 to bring residents—including children, teenagers and young adults—together around local civic concerns.
The club creates a space to notice what needs attention, discuss ideas and develop small, practical actions together. A particular interest is making room for young people to participate in decisions about the neighbourhood they live in.
My role: Initiator and neighbourhood organiser, bringing people together and helping shape shared activities.
21 June 2026 - Changemakers meet Sanitation workers over breakfast
Meeting neighbourhood waste workers · June 2026
The club brought residents and neighbourhood waste workers together for a conversation about their work, everyday challenges and how residents can support them, including through waste segregation.
The gathering created an opportunity to meet the people whose labour keeps our shared spaces functioning, listen to their experiences and recognise their contribution to the neighbourhood.
Why So Trashy
A photographic record of litter in Thiruvanmiyur
Through my Instagram project @whysotrashy41, I document litter around my neighbourhood in Chennai. The “41” refers to the last two digits of our postcode, 600041.
The project turns my camera towards what we discard and the places where it accumulates. It connects photography with questions about everyday habits, shared spaces and responsibility for the neighbourhood we live in.
My role: Project creator and photographer.
Follow Why So Trashy on Instagram →
Have an idea for a neighbourhood activity, a local concern you’d like to work on together, or an interest in joining the Thiruvanmiyur Changemakers Club?