Team

Satarupa Bhattacharya

Satarupa is Managing Editor at Citizen Matters. She has over 20 years of editorial and content experience across a variety of genres and formats. Apart from overall editorial oversight and participation in key editorial policy-making at Citizen Matters, she ideates, edits and occasionally writes stories for the publication.

Satarupa holds a Masters degree in Economics from Calcutta University and keenly follows social and development initiatives across cities in India. 

Outside of work, Satarupa loves good old classical fiction and dabbling in culinary experiments.

Sandhya Bhat

Sandhya is a Community Anchor at Citizen Matters with a keen interest in public policy with a degree in Arts and graduate certificates in Interior Design and Public Policy.

She is a former Joint Secretary and Governing Council Member of the Bangalore Apartment Federation and a current member of the Koramangala Warriors Group. Mostly known as Éclair’s mum. Occasionally tweets at @SandhyaTBhat 

Bhanu Sridharan

Bhanu is a Senior Reporter at Citizen Matters, Bengaluru. She has an undergraduate degree in communication studies and a Masters in Wildlife Biology. She previously worked as an independent environmental journalist.

Her work has been published in Mongabay India, the Wire, Caravan and Citizen Matters and republished in several other outlets. She is interested in issues of justice, equity, access to nature and how Bengaluru’s growth impacts nature and people.She lives in Bengaluru with her bird-crazy partner and a very hungry dog and cat.

Shobana Radhakrishnan

Shobana Radhakrishnan is a Senior Reporter at Citizen Matters. She worked with The New Indian Express as a Reporter in Madurai before this. Shobana holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and a Masters in Mass Communication and Journalism from Pondicherry Central University. 

She is drawn to writing about people and tries to bring a multidisciplinary approach towards understanding their roots and culture. She can be found away from the digital world when she’s relaxing.

Harshitha Padmavinod

Harshitha Padmavinod is a Reporter at Citizen Matters, Bengaluru. Having been in the Humanities field for seven years, she has grown to draw her niche in writing extensively on geo-political issues, women’s rights, civic issues and environmental crises. She is also passionate about photography and is experimenting with different genres. 

She completed her Masters in Media and Communication Studies majoring in Multimedia Journalism from Christ (Deemed to be) University, Bengaluru. In her media experience, she has previously interned at The Hindu, The Logical Indian and Deccan Herald during her academic years. Literature, cooking and Rafi songs are where she finds her solace.

Vedika Thimmaiah

Vedika Thimmaiah is a communications and design consultant with a background in environmental science and development. She holds a Master’s in Development from Azim Premji University and a Bachelor’s in Chemistry, Zoology, and Environmental Science from St. Joseph’s University. Her passion for design was sparked during her stint at Daily Dump, where she worked on design, content creation, and marketing.

Over the past three years, Vedika has collaborated with various organisations, simplifying complex research into engaging content. She is dedicated to making research accessible through creative visual communication.

Sahana Charan

Sahana Charan is Consulting Editor, Citizen Matters Chennai. She has over 20 years of experience as a correspondent and independent writer with publications and digital platforms like The Hindu, Bangalore Mirror (TOI group), ParentCircle and Happiest Health. She has also worked with healthcare organisations and communication agencies as a content developer. As a journalist covering health and development issues, Sahana has done a series of investigative stories on female foeticide and PCPNDT Act, medical malpractices, healthcare access to the marginalised, disability and child rights, and the environment. She has also taught a course on Environmental Journalism at Mount Carmel College, Bengaluru.

She has a Master’s degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from Mangalore University. Her interest lies in public health and policy issues, social justice and girl-child empowerment. An avid baker, Sahana loves to read and travel.

Ashok Krishnan

Ashok has over 9 years of experience in operations management, client relationship management, and community engagement. With a strong background in retail fundraising for NGOs and project management, he has a proven track record of optimising operational processes, building and nurturing client relationships, and organising successful events to foster community engagement.

At Oorvani, Ashok supports donor relations and operations.

Shruti Gokarn

Shruti is an educator turned journalist. She writes about civic issues, education, textiles and handicrafts. She has written for Harper’s Bazaar,  India Times and Citizen Matters.

She has completed her Master’s degrees in English Literature and Botany. She has also done her PG diploma in mass media from SCM Sophia, Mumbai. In her spare time, she likes to crochet, get cheap thrills by reading Bollywood gossip, and going on solo trips.

Gangadharan BV

Gangadharan covers stories across beats like environment, civic issues, gender, and queer rights, with a strong interest in intersectional narratives. Working on the field in unfamiliar places, with new people and unknown languages, is what fuels his passion for journalism. He is especially interested in multimedia storytelling for its potential to make narratives more engaging and accessible. 

His work has appeared in Scroll.in, Deutsche Welle, and Queerbeat. Gangadharan holds a postgraduate degree in Mass Communication from Pondicherry University, where he was active in theatre, organising community meet-ups, and building queer-inclusive spaces on campus.

Prajna Dutt

Prajna is a Programme Coordinator at Oorvani Foundation.

In her past life, she was a Business Analyst in Clinical Research, a role she has since left behind to keenly observe the civic issues our cities face. She invariably has a ton of questions. An immersive reader and listener, she dabbles in writing, enjoys music, and can almost always be found cleaning her house.

MEERA K

Meera is the Managing Trustee of Oorvani Foundation. She is passionate about cities, community media, urban issues, local governance, and civic tech. Meera is an Ashoka Fellow and was earlier a Knight Fellow at the International Centre for Journalists. In an earlier life, she was yet another manager at an IT firm, holding varied responsibilities in the product development space. She is active in community improvement initiatives and volunteers with projects related to transport, lake rejuvenation, organic kitchen gardening and solid waste management.

MEENAKSHI RAMESH

Meenakshi Ramesh is Co-founder and Trustee at Oorvani Foundation since 2016. She is a long-time civic and community volunteer. She is an alumnus of IIM(A) and has led finance teams at Crisil and Pratham, the education non-profit. A former Executive Director of United Way’s Chennai chapter, she has volunteered for Chennai City Connect and is especially passionate about solid waste management and other civic issues. In addition, Meenakshi is an inveterate quizzer and was a semi-finalist on BBC Mastermind.

ASHWIN MAHESH

Ashwin is an urbanist, journalist, politician and social technologist based in Bengaluru. After his education in atmospheric science (PhD) and astronomy (MS), he worked as a climate scientist at NASA before switching to a career in governance reforms and urban development. He was a prominent member of the Loksatta movement working for administrative, electoral and governance reforms. In July 2016, when the party decided to quit electoral politics, he resigned his position and began to work closely with the Aam Aadmi Party. He is a co-founder of the national public affairs magazine, India Together. He founded the social technology firm, Mapunity, and was a co-founder of the electric vehicles-based transportation company, Lithium. He is also a Visiting Faculty at the Kautilya School of Public Policy. He is now the Founder and CEO at LVBL Accelerator, a neighbourhood improvement company.