Raksha Vasudevan, Freelance Journalist Profile

Articles

Against "community"

Dec 1, 2024 | strangerties.substack.com | Raksha Vasudevan

Dear friends,For those in the US, I hope your holiday weekend was nourishing. It snowed again in Denver the morning before Thanksgiving - just a light sprinkling that had already melted by dusk. But as I wrote in my last post, any snow appears like a small miracle these days. I’m grateful. It’s that time of year when many people are contemplating - whether by choice or compulsion - the meaning and value of family, be it biological or chosen.
The last snow

Nov 19, 2024 | strangerties.substack.com | Raksha Vasudevan

Hello friends,I’m writing to you from Denver, where we finally got our first big snowfall a couple of weeks ago. Like many immigrants from the non-Western world, I have a strange relationship to snow. As a child, first in India and then Oman, I spent years yearning for snow and everything American TV shows had taught me to associate with it: carrot-nosed snowmen, hot chocolate before a fire, Xmas trees with shiny presents underneath.
Denver’s last slaughterhouse is on the ballot

Oct 23, 2024 | hcn.org | Raksha Vasudevan

This story was originally published by Civil Eats and is republished here by permission. With her silver rings and turquoise bracelets, Mercedes Ortiz Gutierrez cuts a stylish figure. Her black cane with golden finishes could be mistaken for another accessory if she didn’t lean so heavily on it. Gingerly, she shuffles to the gray couch in her one-bedroom apartment in Thornton, Colorado, just outside Denver and five miles from the slaughterhouse where her life irrevocably changed.
The Fate of Denver’s Last Slaughterhouse Is on the Ballot

Oct 22, 2024 | civileats.com | Raksha Vasudevan

With her silver rings and turquoise bracelets, Mercedes Ortiz Gutierrez cuts a stylish figure. Her black cane with golden finishes could be mistaken for another accessory if she didn’t lean so heavily on it. Gingerly, she shuffles to the gray couch in her one-bedroom apartment in Thornton, Colorado, just outside Denver and five miles from the slaughterhouse where her life irrevocably changed.
Report Casts Doubt on Safety of New Roundup Products

Oct 22, 2024 | civileats.bluelena.io | Raksha Vasudevan |Lisa Elaine Held |Jaya Saxena

With her silver rings and turquoise bracelets, Mercedes Ortiz Gutierrez cuts a stylish figure. Her black cane with golden finishes could be mistaken for another accessory if she didn’t lean so heavily on it. Gingerly, she shuffles to the gray couch in her one-bedroom apartment in Thornton, Colorado, just outside Denver and five miles from the slaughterhouse where her life irrevocably changed.
Wildfire Archives - High Country News

Oct 8, 2024 | hcn.org | Kylie Mohr |Kiley Price |Cora Cervantes |Raksha Vasudevan

Skip to content Posted inArticles A new book from Obi Kaufmann illustrates the reciprocal connection between California ecosystems and fire.
The mother-daughter duo fighting fossil fuels in Colorado

Oct 7, 2024 | hcn.org | Raksha Vasudevan

Madhvi Chittoor has had a hectic summer. For months, the 13-year-old has attended hearings, reviewed environmental assessments and emailed government officials. She wants to stop Civitas, a Denver-based company, from drilling up to 166 oil and gas wells in nearby Aurora, Colorado. “My rights as a child for clean air, clean water, clean soil, clean food and great health are at jeopardy,” she said. Madhvi became interested in environmental issues at an early age.
Will changes at San Gabriel Mountains National Monument serve LA’s communities of color?

May 5, 2024 | hcn.org | Cora Cervantes |Raksha Vasudevan

Brenda Kyle, 53, has lived in the foothills of California’s San Gabriel Mountains all her life. She is a program manager at Nature for All, a community-based organization focused on protecting public lands and natural resources, and a volunteer at Eaton Canyon who conducts nature walks by moonlight in both English and Spanish.
Functionally White: What I Didn't Say About Being South Asian in Uganda — Off Assignment

Mar 5, 2024 | offassignment.com | Raksha Vasudevan

1. Believe me, I never wanted to go to Masala Chaat House. I passed it every day, a cramped one-room restaurant sandwiched between two printing shops on Kampala's bustling Nasser Road. Through its rain- and dust-streaked windows, I could barely make out the aging wicker chairs and ketchup-colored tablecloths inside. Behind them, DVDs of pirated Mani Ratnam films filled several bookcases. The hot, grease-soaked smell of vadai and samoosa wafted from the entrance.
Can affordable housing for Indigenous communities work?

Feb 27, 2024 | hcn.org | Raksha Vasudevan

Most residents of Denver’s Safe Outdoor Space live in ice-fishing tents. But Grant Davis has his own tiny home, complete with built-in heating and cooling and a door that locks. Inside, there’s a narrow bed, a pillow plastered with NFL logos, and a portable speakerthat lights up in rainbow colors. Also: a bag of bath salts. Where would he use those, I asked? Davis chuckled. He didn’t know, either.