What should we be doing to conserve or biological diversity? Is there any point in doing it? Are we too late? Why should we bring kids into it? On International Day for Biological Diversity, I sat down with Dr Krithi K Karanth, Chief Conservation Scientist at Bengaluru-based Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS), to understand all this.

She has been chosen as the first Indian and Asian woman for the 2021 'WILD Innovator Award'. This award given by the 'WILD ELEMENTS Foundation' brings together a coalition of innovators, advocates and partners to "disrupt the status quo and identify solutions to global sustainability and conservation," a CWS statement said on Tuesday.

We can leave this world a better place for our children. I do hope you listen to this and enjoy it!

Find Dr. Krithi Karanth on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krithi.karanth/

Find me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/offairwithkay/

"We were a group of eight friends celebrating one of our friend’s birthday and.."

That's how it all started. Varsha Talreja Kansara recalls what it was like on the fateful day of the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. She was very close to the the Taj while it happened and was sweet enough to share her story with me on account of National Anti-Terrorism Day. Her voice was breaking at points and she was extremely nervous as she recalled the entire thing. I truly admire her for sharing her story so openly with me.

When we think of terrorist attacks in India, we think of 26/11. We shall never forget. I hope you can listen and empathize with Varsha's story. Here's hoping that we never go through something like that ever again.

Thanks for being on the show, Varsha!

Shreyas M Reddy is an amazing human from Bangalore you have to hear about! He's 26 years old and is out everyday on the streets of Bangalore feeding the homeless as India buckles under the pressures of the second wave of Covid-19. Why does he do it? Where did it all begin? How can you be a part of it! Well, listen to find out!

Make his story known to more people! Share it! "Project Seva" is what Shreyas calls it and with the help of more people, he feels we can strongly achieve #BeyondZeroHunger.

Contact Shreyas on Instagram: @shreyasmreddy ; Email: [email protected]

Chatted up with Vivek Bajaj, Co-founder of StockEdge and Elearnmarket. Is the future of finance here? How should you grow your money in the pandemic? SO many questions about finance and once place to answer them all!

2020 was a unique year in itself ― a lot of technology-based start-ups saw a surge in business ― while those that did not take the leverage of technology saw a fall too. A major reason behind it was the pandemic that made people sit at home, eventually forcing them to go digital. This resulted in a spike in the fintech and edtech sector as a lot of people started trading and learning new skills/ tools.

Entrepreneurs who knew what the pandemic was bringing to the table didn’t fail to take advantage of both the industries ― fintech and edtech ― eventually tapping on to a whole new set of opportunities.

One such trio from the city of joy, Kolkata, did exactly the same. When the whole world was locked down, their ventures StockEdge and Elearnmarkets, were exploring the new ‘normal’!

'Tech For Change' is where I speak to people in the technology space using tech for some form of social good!

Brother sister duo from the SaPa Academy, Bindu & Ambi Subramaniam joined me on the show and I hope you love the conversation!

In 2017, SaPa started the 10,000 deeds campaign with UNICEF partner organisations. The idea was to take small steps to achieve the bigger Sustainable Development Goals (for instance, if the SDG is eliminating poverty, some smaller steps you can take are donating clothes in good condition regularly). 

In 2020, the team from MUN Impact scaled this project to the 100,000 deeds challenge open to kids across the world. This summer, they are working with schoolkids in India, and encouraging them to do at least one deed a day (for 30 days) and sprint towards the 100,000 deeds goal. 

They kicked this off with a virtual open house on April 15th, 2021. It had opening remarks by Bindu and Ambi, representatives from the MUN team in New York, and student representatives from MUN India. At the end of the 30-day summer challenge, there's another online live event with a musical performance, and a recap of the deeds done. 

More information about the upcoming virtual open house on April 15th is here: https://sapaindia.com/100k-deeds

By the way, Kay's Spotlight is all about ordinary people doing extraordinary things!

This World Environment Day, I caught up with Sandeep Roy Choudhury, a professional with a keen ambition to leave the world a better place. Sandeep has been at the forefront of working with climate change and livelihoods for the last 14 years or so, with over 17 years of Industrial experience, his work impacting 6 million rural households across 1-2 million hectares of land. His endeavour over the years has been to work with communities most affected by climate change while also ensuring that new growth in emerging countries is achieved through sustainable means. Sandeep is a co-founder at VNV Advisory Services, responsible for the initiation and development of the climate change expertise. He is also a director at “Carbon Initiative forum “, a non-profit working on climate change awareness and knowledge building.

This episode explores various thematic areas around climate change and the crucial need to emphasize its impact on us all, in all landscapes and across populations. Being on the board and acting as an advisory to 100 odd organizations and nonprofits, Sandeep shares industry insights on the evolution of dialogue around climate resilience, the involvement of the young and upcoming generations and what's kept him spearheading the movement through his experience and efforts.