Learning by Proxy with Vivek Srinivasan

I had the opportunity to speak with Mr Crispino Lobo about the genesis of his work and the things that are being done at WOTR today. I got a crash course on watershed management in about 20 minutes. If you know nothing about the management of water as a resource in a rural landscape, this would be well worth listening to in and of itself. Further, I chatted about the use of technology and how it i...

Oat Milk has become quite popular today. Have you wondered what happens to the oats after the milk has been extracted? Yousef ate bread with grains left after making beer. This got him started on a quest to upcycle food. This journey has culminated in the launch of B-Sides . The journey has been long, spanning 4 years, and in this time, he has run several experiments to arrive at the Crunch Puffs...

Damian Miller has been building Orb Energy in India for almost 2 decades now. His journey has been a unique example of sheer determination to make a change in this landscape. In this candid conversation, he shares his journey from the early days of Orb Energy to the place that they have reached today. The challenges that they have encountered along the way and the dynamics that they are witnessing...

Recycling is often brought up as a panacea to the global climate challenge. What really goes into the business and how challenging it is to scale a business of this nature is hard for most of us to fathom. I had the privilege of speaking with Mr Prassann Daphal, CEO of RecycleKaro which is one of the biggest recycling companies in India. It was an illuminating conversation about the genesis of the...

I had a delightful conversation with Dr. Harini Nagendra who is the Director for the School of Climate Change and Sustainability at the Azim Premji University. We covered a lot of ground in this conversation, starting from her background in ecology, her work that got her more involved in the area of sustainability and the work that she is currently pursuing at the Azim Premji University. I am also...

I had the privilege of speaking with Anu who has lived many lives. She went from completing her masters in Civil Systems Engineering at Berkley to founding NextDrop which was backed by YC. Along the NextDrop journey, she made a pivot towards working in the area of sustainability. She has worked in the area of urban water for over a decade, and it was great talking to her about this journey and her...

I had the opportunity to speak with Sheeba Sen from Hasten Regeneration about her work in the area of forest regeneration. To describe the conversation as illuminating would be an understatement. Sheeba has been helping communities restore forests for over a decade now and she brings a whole host of sharp insights gleaned over this period. The work she is doing today might be paradigm-defining. I...

Last week I was able to spend some time with Dr. Philip Ellis who is a distinguished practitioner-scholar and a fellow in democratic civic engagement at the University of Pennsylvania's prestigious Netter Center and Graduate School of Education and a visiting scholar at Anant National University. We spoke about how he engaged with entrepreneurs and students helping them craft plans to fight climat...

In this podcast, I speak with Vikas from Boson Whitewater who is working towards making every home and industry reclaim their wastewater and turn it into potable water. His journey began when he returned from the UK to India hoping to make a difference. Such a long and intriguing journey through which he has discovered how to turn cleaning other people’s refuse into a business. Thoroughly enjoyed...

I sat down with one of the founders of Paani. Earth, Madhuri Mandava to talk about the work that they are doing and why it matters. What I learnt blew my mind. In 20 minutes, Madhuri took me through her journey to make data about rivers more accessible and how it plays a crucial role in decision making whether in courts or policy. You can access the data they have painstakingly put together about...

I sat down to speak with Saras Agarwal who is the managing partner at Earth Fund which is building a Real Estate focused sustainability fund. We spoke about the industry and the challenges and opportunities that he sees in the sector and the kinds of ventures that they are seeking to invest in. Source of assets used - Intro Music You can also follow the podcast on Apple Podcast , Spotify , Amazon...

I spoke with Shreya Nath of WELL Labs to understand what took her from being an Architect to leading the Urban Water Program at WELL Labs and what she does there. This conversation ranges from the structure of our cities to how water is accessed and provided to each of the residents to how we dispose of this water and finally what role policy could play in changing behaviour. In the process, I lea...

I spoke with Melissa Tan who is a Malaysian Actress, Model, Host, Entrepreneur and Climate Activist. She has been working towards reducing the amount of fashion that is unnecessarily consumed. Her initiatives in Kuala Lumpur have seen thousands participate. It was an interesting conversation about how she got into activism and how she sees change coming. Listen in. Source of assets used - Intro Mu...

Normally, my podcasts are about 20 minutes long. This one is about 50 minutes long thanks to Shyam Menon. This is easily the most I have enjoyed recording a podcast. Shyam Menon is the co-founder of Infuse Ventures and the Bharat Innovation Fund. In this podcast, he shares his journey from the US to India; from technology to VC; and from defence to sustainability. A super candid conversation on ho...

I had the opportunity to speak with Aidan Charron from Earth Day about plastics and their environmental effects. Plastics are everywhere around us and have a detrimental effect on our health and bodies. I dive into what plastics are and how they affect us in this podcast. The first Earth Day was organised on 22 April 1970. This year their theme is Planet Vs Plastics. They have published a report o...

I had the opportunity to speak with Rohan Choukkar, Vice President of Investment at Bharat Innovation Fund. During the conversation, we spoke about his involvement in the same, the evolution of climate investments in India, the state of the innovation eco-system in the country and the areas that would be interesting to watch out for in the coming years. It was an incredibly insightful conversation...

Shriti Pandey came back from New York University and watched the stubble burning envelop Delhi with smoke. She decided to do what she could about it and Strwcture was born. The company turns straw into compressed boards that can be used for building. In this conversation, I spoke to her about how she got started and where she sees the business going in the future. You can also read the entire arti...

I spoke with Rashmi Vittal, Chief Customer Officer for Eevie ; a startup working on making it easier for corporations to engage their employees to make them think about climate change and action. What are some of the corporates doing? What kind of change is it resulting in? We delve into some of these questions with Rashmi on this podcast. Source of assets used - Intro Music You can also follow th...

Blume Ventures is an extremely active and respected venture fund. In this podcast speak with Mudit Narain about his choice to study climate change and technology and policy's role in shaping the world. We also spoke about what thoughts guide how Blume Ventures looks at Climate Tech and how this problem of climate change can ultimately be solved. I enjoyed my conversations with Mudit. Please share...

I have been publishing this podcast off and on for the last 3 years. I had taken a year-long hiatus in the middle. Things are going to be changing. Just a short update. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.learningbyproxy.com

The cause and effect that economics predicts does not seem to be playing out in the real world. Something fundamental has changed in the nature of work and the structure of societies. Banks are not the main source of debt for the ultra-rich and the ultra-poor, hence tweaking bank interests makes no difference! Under these circumstances, the old theories of economics do not work. We need to go back...

I used to think dust was mud breaking down but it seems to be originating from sources that are even more human than I had earlier assumed. One of the biggest sources of dust is vehicles, not the exhaust but the tyres that they run on which disintegrate at increasing speed. The health repercussions are incredible! You can also read the entire article here Source of assets used - Intro Music You ca...

Driverless taxis have been in the offing for a very long time and we have stopped taking them seriously. When you least expect something to become a force in the industry, it most likely does become one. Driverless cars seem to be at that tipping point. The problem no longer seems to be technology but people’s behaviour. You can also read the entire article here Source of assets used - Intro Music...

Our body has an insanely powerful immune system. Most of the time when it is fighting against possible invaders, you do not even come to know that it has fought off invaders. Our homes, environment and even our bodies are being sterilised more and more often as we have developed this fear of germs. This leaves our immune system with nothing to do but to turn on the body itself. You can also read t...

Insulin grew into a big business as the number of cases of diabetes ballooned across the globe. Diabetes was the first disease that was termed a lifestyle disease. Obesity is the reverse. It is often a problem amongst the poor who cannot afford high-quality foods and end up eating a lot of ultra-processed foods. A drug is offering hope and billing itself as a solution to the problem. Its popularit...