Blog
Birth of Airveda
Asthma runs in my family. My dad, myself and my daughter are all asthmatic. After being in the US for 13 years, we moved to India in Dec 2013. In 2014 Delhi was declared the most polluted city in the world. In September 2014 my asthma got much worse, after double courses of oral steroids I realised that air pollution was aggravating my situation significantly. The more I learned about air pollution the more I panicked. More than myself I was afraid for my little children who were most at risk. I bought purifiers and plants. Did they help? Were my children safer now? I felt helpless. I had a choice. Move back to the U.S. or do something about it. I decided to do something about it.
I got myself an air quality monitor. And my life changed. I realised that measurement was key. Once I knew the number, I knew when to send the kids out to play, when to keep them indoors. I knew what the air quality was in my living room, and in my daughter's bedroom when she slept at night. I knew which purifier worked and which didn't, how many I needed in my large living room, and when filters were ready for a change. I could control air quality levels and 24 hour exposure for myself and my children. Bye bye steroids. I was in control of what I breathe.
We realised that having a monitoring solution can help people feel more in control of their health and the ill-effects of air pollution. And Airveda aims to give this power to you.
About the author
Namita Gupta is the founder of Airveda, which is helping people control the air they breathe and create a citizen's movement against air pollution. An IIT Delhi alumnus, she has worked many years in the US at Microsoft, and Facebook, and was CPO at Zomato after she returned to India. She is also a proud mom to two little girls.
