Get packing! Now, there's a zero-waste hostel in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: Neighbours of Rajat Kukreja were very curious about the new boy next door and the happenings in his house. Every day, they saw the guy in his late twenties and about half-a-dozen other young people in paint-stained clothes walk in and out of the house, refurbishing the old individual house in Koramangala.

They would be at it all day, and some nights too, sawing wood, painting walls, fixing something. Someone would bring in a raggedy old chair or a broken closet and they would work for hours, giving it new life, chattering and laughing. Once in a while, they would take a break to play some music.

This was done a few days ago. The house now looks vibrant in bright shades of yellow and white. The neighbours were invited to have a look into the newly built traveller’s hostel, called Cuckoo. Kukreja, a consultant for educational institutions, decided to build the space inspired by his fruitful experience with hosting in the past few years.

“I wanted the space to introduce people to new ideas, learning experiences, the sharing economy and sustainable values,” he says. After looking into over a 100 properties, he zeroed-in on this house.


(Image: BCCL)

“When people think of young people and places where they live, they associate it with irresponsibility,” says Kukreja, and asks, “How can we change that perception?” The answer was a project in sustainability. Cuckoo has great natural lighting and a bright coloured-theme reducing the need for lights before dusk. Electrical appliances used are energy efficient. They want to be a zero-waste hostel.

The entire restoration was done by friends and volunteers – beds built out of industrial packaging material by hand; kitchen slab converted to sink; old and broken articles fixed and reused.

The soon-to-be-opened hostel is also probably the most affordable in the city: `399 - `699 for a day’s stay as Kukreja believes that travel is an amazing experience that should be accessible to everyone.

His friend Sana Ahmed was initially skeptical of the venture. “But when I saw the place and people’s enthusiasm, I thought it was fantastic, and joined in,” she says. Cuckoo would be a place where people came together to learn and create. The ideals were put to practice while building the place. “We wanted a story behind everything inside the house. It had to have a personal touch,” says Mumbai-based designing student Rhea Soman, “which is why we were our own labour and spent hours on a single shoe rack.” Cuckoo was the first transformation project that she had undertaken.

Word of mouth and social media brought more people in. A few days ago, Meeta Kamwani, student of Srishti School of Design here decided to contribute by making a wall mural at the hostel during her semester break.