Articles by Ganga Madappa

In the run up to the TCS World 10K which happened on May 15th, Citizen Matters was looking for runners who we could collaborate with to raise funds for our journalism. And now that the run is over, we couldn't have asked for a better set of people to collaborate with. With their help, we managed to raise Rs 2.21 lakh in a span of a month for the journalism on Citizen Matters. Thank you, all of you for being a part of our fundraising.    The TCS World 10K is over, as are the runners' campaigns, but Citizen Matters…

With a continued influx of people setting down with Bengaluru, a majority of the population is now living in apartments. On Saturday March 19th, ApartmentADDA, an organisation that hosts private, secure portals for apartment complexes, is conducting a workshop aimed at citizens living in these apartments. Citizen Matters is the media partner for the workshop. The workshop, Neighborhoods of Tomorrow, will bring together various members of the society—apartment management committees, subject matters experts, representatives from the city administrations—to arrive at solutions to the problems that every neighbourhood faces. The workshop, touted to be India’s largest convention of management committee members,…

Even as he holds a big fish in his left hand, a young boy tries to reel in another fish. Pic: Ganga Madappa Picture this. A young lad sits on the edge of Ulsoor lake, with a stick in hand. He immerses one end of the stick into the water and moves it through the water. In a matter of seconds, a large fish floats to the edge and the boy picks it up. As he picks up the fish, someone shouts from the crowd, “Ai Appu! What are you doing? Drop it… it’s poisonous! Go wash your hands!” The…

If you are a women, the chances are that you have been at the receiving end of sexual harassment in some form or the other; being groped on a moving bus or being catcalled at, or even being made to listen to sexist jokes. Unfortunately, what happens in most cases is that women accept it as a sad reality of living in India. And unless the assualt is severe, very few women actually come forward to report it to the police. According to Amnesty International, only 1 in every 100 women reports sexual violence. Pic: readytoreport.in/WhenIFileAnFIR To empower women to…

If the dogs of Whitefield could talk, they would have quite a story to tell. Every night, over a hundred dogs in the area lie in wait to be served dinner. Rice, chicken bones, mutton fat and turmeric, sometimes vegetables - all cooked together to make a delectable meal. Perhaps with the addition of a few spices, dinner could actually pass off as biryani, ready to be served to humans too. And it doesn't stop at food alone. An injured dog can expect to be nursed back to health. Unspayed ones are neutered and set back on the streets. What’s…

The situation in Vibgyor got out of hand only because there were so many people around because of which the leopard panicked. The recent incident at Vibgyor school, Marathahalli in Bengaluru, involving the rescue of a leopard which had strayed into the school premises, has once again brought up the topic of man-animal conflict in urban areas. The rescue mission which lasted ten hours, was traumatic for both the animal in question, as well as the several men who were injured during the course of the rescue. While the animal was captured and moved to a rescue centre, there are…

Bangalore, now Bengaluru, has become a melting pot of cultures. A plate of vaangi bath here, and Char Sui Bao there; an Iyer mami here, a sister Susie there; a house with monkey-tops here, a glass-panelled 17-storey building there. Every one of these is reminiscent of the changing culturescape of the city. Here are five videos that pay homage to our very own Bean Town, in their own special way. Humble beginnings To start off, here is a video that traces how the founder of Bengaluru, Hiriya Kempegowda developed Bengaluru. This video was screened when Bengaluru International Airport was renamed…

BG Sreedhhar is a rather well-known personality in the Whitefield Rising Facebook community. For starters, he draws. Most people can draw, one would say. Sreedhhar’s art is a little different. His one-page cartoons are a satire on the many situations that Whitefielders find themselves in. No harm in looking for humour in adversity, right? On your commute to office? Here’s an apt one. Illustration: BG Sreedhhar Considering purchasing a property in Whitefield? Here’s another. Illustration: BG Sreedhhar Missed ISRO’s announcement about a new Space Park in Bengaluru? He’s got that covered too. Illustration: BG Sreedhhar Sreedhhar, a landscape designer by…

Arundathi Rao is a 50-year-old woman who works with the social impact team in a technology firm. Last year, she made a deal with her colleague Ashwin, who was participating in a running event. For every kilometre he ran, she would contribute Rs 200 to the non-profit that the run was supporting. Over the course of 13 days in December 2014, Ashwin ran 175 km. True to her word, Arundathi ensured that she shelled out the amount. This year, Arundathi is taking it up a notch by participating in the second edition of the very same event. The event named…

When I was a kid, every so often, something in the house would go kaput, many a time, because my brother or I felt the need to meddle with it. Living in a remote area in the Nilgiris meant that we would have to wait to get it fixed till we travelled to town. My father would try disassembling and assembling to fix that VCR or whatever small item that was acting up. The times have changed though. But in a changing environment, where people don't have the time to go to a service centre or more often, find nobody…