The lone ranger who tries to save Namma Bengaluru
Aniket Salunkhe
By Bejoy Sebastian
MeetAniket Salunkhe , a concerned citizen who tries protecting Bengaluru one cycle ride at a time
It has been six years sincesoftware engineer Aniket Salunkhe (in pic), a native of Thane in Maharashtra, moved to Bengaluru after getting a job in a private company. He rides to his office at Trinity Circle on his bicycle. What is unique about his bicycle is that it has a slate board behind the seat with messages. One such message reads, “Honking? Not in race”, while another reads “Luxury, Economy or Ecology”.
Aniket says, “While doing my graduation from Mumbai and later from Mangaluru, I rarely got any time to think about the environment or civic issues. I was busy studying and my main goal was to get a job. When I finally got a job in Bengaluru, I realised how artificial things pervade our monotonous lives. People ignore the natural world and are drawn to the artificialities. I began putting this board a while back even when my friends teased me. I will continue doing so as long as I stay in this city.”
He also added, “I planted seeds in Domlur with the help of my friend Naveen. I am an engineer and don’t know much about environmental sciences and conservation. It was after I realised what needs to be done that drove me to do it.” Aniket says that he was inspired by two people to undertake this initiative.
He considers Alok Sagar, IIT professor, who left his job to serve tribals in Madhya Pradesh, and Jadhav Payeng, who led an afforestation drive in Assam and is popularly known as the Forest Man of India, as his inspirations.
Aniket uses his cycle to travel wherever he can, or else he takes the public transport like buses or the Metro. Even after working in Bengaluru for so long, he doesn’t own a bike. He is a lone ranger and not part of anNGO or environmental group .
The soft-spoken and simply dressed man has minimised his social media presence in the past few months.
Meet
It has been six years since
Aniket says, “While doing my graduation from Mumbai and later from Mangaluru, I rarely got any time to think about the environment or civic issues. I was busy studying and my main goal was to get a job. When I finally got a job in Bengaluru, I realised how artificial things pervade our monotonous lives. People ignore the natural world and are drawn to the artificialities. I began putting this board a while back even when my friends teased me. I will continue doing so as long as I stay in this city.”
People ignore the natural world and are drawn to the artificialities. I began putting this board a while back even when my friends teased me.
He also added, “I planted seeds in Domlur with the help of my friend Naveen. I am an engineer and don’t know much about environmental sciences and conservation. It was after I realised what needs to be done that drove me to do it.” Aniket says that he was inspired by two people to undertake this initiative.
He considers Alok Sagar, IIT professor, who left his job to serve tribals in Madhya Pradesh, and Jadhav Payeng, who led an afforestation drive in Assam and is popularly known as the Forest Man of India, as his inspirations.
Aniket uses his cycle to travel wherever he can, or else he takes the public transport like buses or the Metro. Even after working in Bengaluru for so long, he doesn’t own a bike. He is a lone ranger and not part of an
The soft-spoken and simply dressed man has minimised his social media presence in the past few months.
