Inspiring Conversation with The Indian Plogman G Nagraj @plograjtheindianplogmanind349 | 26

Back in 2015–16, people didn’t know what plogging meant. It all started when Erik Ahlström started plogging in the Swedish capital city of Stockholm in 2016 encouraging volunteers to be part of this activity. That’s how G Nagraj, also known as Benguluru’s Plogman got inspired by Erik’s activities. From then on, Nagaraj organised various plogging activities across Bengaluru and collaborated with several bloggers across the country. He says, “Since a lot of people did not know the meaning of the word plogging, we used to call it a ‘clean up’ activity surrounding lakes, parks and streets. That’s how I and a few like-minded people came together to form a group The Indian Ploggers Army in 2018. Gradually, the group came across women and teenagers who wanted sanitary kits. “In the initial days, when the Government of India announced the lockdown, a lot of individuals and organisations were providing food to the poor. However, the poor lacked sanitary pads and other essentials required to maintain hygiene. So, they announced that people can also donate new sanitary pads made from cloth and were able to collect more than 300 such cloth pads and distribute them among women. Nagaraj who believes in breaking the taboo surrounding menstruation. Similarly, the group also called for used laptops and mobile phones that could help poor children or teachers access online classes. The Indian Ploggers Army plans to continue these activities so that they can reduce the burden on our landfills and help the needy by working remotely.

Do watch this inspiring conversation with G Nagraj, Founder of The Indian Ploggers Army where he shares his story with Inspired By Dreams.