20082024-LSTL-01.qxd 8/19/2024 8:55 PM Page 1 c m y b KAREENA RELEASES POSTER On Raksha Bandhan, Kareena Kapoor Khan treated fans with a new poster of The Buckingham Murders, along with a teaser release date. She wrote, "See you tomorrow." The teaser will be out today. TRIBUNE Lone warrior On Monday, Vicky Kaushal shared the poster of his upcoming film Chhava on Instagram, where he can be seen as a lone warrior fighting enemies with swords in both hands. LUDHIANA | TUESDAY | 20 AUGUST 2024 At a recent conclave held in Delhi, actress-activist Dia Mirza highlighted the need to check plastic pollution and adopt sustainable measures to secure the Earth’s future Climate CRUSADER Sheetal N OT many can live by what they preach! But that’s not true for Bollywood’s climate activist, UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador and United Nations Secretary-General Advocate for Sustainable Development — Dia Mirza! At the recently held youth conclave in New Delhi by Yuvaa, a youth community engagement organisation driven by Gen Z, Mirza was part of a panel discussion, ‘Greenwash, Gaslight and Gatekeep’, along with four other climate activists. Dressed in a vibrant pink bandhni by Injiri, Mirza’s sustainable fashion choices never fail to impress! The 600-seat auditorium at Bharat Mandpam, New Delhi, went gaga when she gave well-informed answers to all. As Mirza discarded the popular belief that ‘climate change won’t affect us’, she vouched for the elimination of single-use plastic. She said, “Climate change, biodiversity loss and plastic pollution are the three major threats. These are endangering life, health and peace. Plastic has reached even the purest of places like the placenta in a When life threw a curveball at Srikanth Bolla, the visually impaired entrepreneur and real-life inspiration behind the movie Srikanth, he smashed it out of the park Neha Saini Until Rajkumar Rao-starrer biopic Srikanth hit the OTT platform earlier this year, little was known about the resilient and rebellious Srikanth Bolla. The visually impaired Bolla is an entrepreneurindustrialist, who founded Bollant Industries, which manufactures sustainable packaging products from waste. He was also the first visually impaired international student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, where he pursued a management course. While the brilliant Rajkummar Rao impressed many with his refreshingly honest portrayal of Srikanth Bolla in the film, the real subject of the film is more spirited and defiant. “Nothing is impossible until it is done. I was a born hero, not made into one. I believed in myself and my abilities, and that has worked out quite well for me,” said Bolla, who was in Amritsar to address young entrepreneurs at the Young Entrepreneur of the Year challenge hosted by Invictus WE HAVE OVERSHOT EARTH’S RESOURCES… Dia Mirza, as UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador and United Nations Secretary-General Advocate for Sustainable Development, also attended the Youth Sabha 2047: Shaping India’s Future event to mark International Youth Day recently. She said, “Everything we use in our daily lives comes from the Earth and has to go back to the Earth in a form that is healthy for all. A few days ago, we highlighted to the world that we had overshot the resources the Earth provides annually for all of us — it’s called Earth Overshoot Day. This happened in August... we have four more months in this year left and we have already surpassed our consumption of what the Earth provides! That means we are stealing from our own children and grandchildren what they will require to live, to be healthy, to be happy.” — ANI mother’s womb or microfibres in deep ocean waters. If you believe that climate change will be partial in affecting human species, you are mistaken. My mother has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and my child is asthmatic. So, the notion that those in privileged positions aren’t affected is wrong.” Mirza’s campaign to combat plastic pollution started in her own backyard. She has been carrying a stainless steel bottle ever since she swore to never use single-use plastic in any form. If she has stopped 10,000 plastic bottles from being dumped in the ecosystem, she sure has made a difference! She urged that even if half of the eight billion people in the world right now make a conscious decision of living responsibly, a chain reaction towards a greener and healthier Earth can begin. “Change occurs when we make individual choices. So, refuse single-use plastics. We need to go back to the basics, to our roots, because our ancestors knew how to respect the planet. We belong to the land where food was served in leaf plates and water in clay pots.” Highlighting how big brands used terminologies like sustainable designs and green events to ‘green-wash’ their capitalist desires, Dia explained, “In light of recent findings, carbon credits have become the latest scam. For instance, the dilution of Forest Act of India is not right. You cannot fix or create what nature has already lost. When a 200-year old tree is chopped and you plant 40 trees to substitute it, you are a fool to believe that the damage has been repaired.” Mirza also drew attention towards the amount of waste generated at big celebrations like wedding, sports events and mass trips to the hills. The actress commended the Himachal High Court’s decision that all tourists entering the state must carry a large garbage bag. She added, “For decades, the lobbies driven by consumerist approach have painted environmental action as obstructionism. It doesn’t suit agendas of those who are destroying Mother Nature. There has to be responsibility and accountability because many are paying the price of deforestation in the name of development, and tunnelling of Himalayas. It’s a wake-up call if we need fans in hilly areas of Himalayas and air-conditioners in cities like London.” Taking a dig at the organisers of the recent Paris Olympics, Mirza said, “The Olympics committee claimed that they would make it a zero-plastic event, but the ground reality was completely different. Many people saw the bright red reusable plastic cups being used in the name of sustainability, but if you used plastic bottles to pour into those cups the whole purpose gets defeated.” Of setbacks and comebacks International School. After the film’s release, he feels happy when people recognise him often. “It feels good to be acknowledged and when people tell me that they feel inspired by my story. I believe that loneliness is real poverty and my fight is against this loneliness that people with disabilities are subjected to. That is true inclusivity.” A life nothing short of setbacks and comebacks, Srikanth degree of self-awareness and knack of presenting harsh truths with a dose of humour is intriguing, as also inspiring. His nonchalance in talking about each aspect of his life is equally impressive. “I had a dream to become a doctor, but I couldn’t due to my visual impairment. So, then I manifested that I could marry one. And that I did,” he shared, as he talked about how he courted his wife Veera Swathi, a doctor, for years before marrying. “I had thought that it was a robot or AI that was trying to connect with me online. It took me two years to realise that it indeed was a girl,” he said. Embracing one’s vulnerabilities is never easy, but Bolla does that with a confidence that defines him. “I became quite self-aware at a young age, realising that I may be visually impaired but I had a vision. When someone told me that you cannot do this thing, my immediate response to it was — I will do it. In a way, hardship has become an addiction for me, it’s in my DNA now. So, I feel that all it takes in life to succeed is a ‘no’,” said Bolla. Born in a farming family in Andhra Pradesh’s Seetharamapuram village, Bolla has sight impairment but never really let it come in his way. Whether it was a long walk to school every day or taking the state government to court over the access to study science for children with disabilities, he has remained resilient and stubborn, to break the mould and create his own path. Setting up Bollant Industries, Bolla is working towards empowering the marginalised through financial independence and turning waste into wealth. A strong believer in karma, he is all game for disruption. “Innovators are disruptors and they should be given a chance to find their purpose and a life of dignity,” he believes. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR c m y b SRIKANTH BOLLA STILLS FROM THE RAJKUMAR RAO-STARRER, SRIKANTH