Residents step out to get broken items fixed

BENGALURU: A trend which orginated in The Netherlands is catching on in Namma Bengaluru too. The culture of throwing away torn clothes, broken slippers and damaged utensils may be slowly dying.
The Ants Store in Whitefield saw residents queue up to get defunct household items fixed on Saturday. The initiative, Repair Cafe Bengaluru, was organized by citizen group Whitefield Rising to promote the idea of preserving and reusing goods.It's loosely modelled on the Repair Cafe in Amsterdam.
Armed with shoes, belts, clothes, bags, electrical appliances and gadgets, residents thronged the store. "We had to turn many of them away as we couldn't take so many orders on one day. Our aim is to encourage the habit of reducing, reusing and recycling. Many told us to host the event in smaller communities so that people wait for Repair Cafe to come to their neighbourhood to get their items fixed," said Devyani Trivedi, entrepreneur and volunteer, Whitefield Rising.
S even such events have now been held in the city. It started in November 2015. "We have a handful of professionals and enthusiasts who like to fix things. On Saturday, we hired a cobbler from Whitefield. I chipped in as a tailor," said Antara Mukherji, co-founder, Repair Cafe Bengaluru. The next event will be held in Kalyan Nagar on October 22 .