Articles by Manasi Paresh Kumar

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It was a lazy Sunday afternoon that saw the launch of  a new political party in Bengaluru. Now, in an already overcrowded political spectrum, this should not be news. Yet the launch of Bengaluru Navanirmana Party (BNP) has some unique facets to it, that should get us to sit up and take notice. For one, it is possibly the first of its kind 'city' party. Launched with the specific idea of starting its political journey with the 2020 BBMP elections, BNP has no ambitions beyond Bengaluru, and none of its founders are politicians. They are just regular citizens, many of…

As the eighth woman to become Bengaluru's Mayor, Gangambike Mallikarjun has had an eventful tenure since she took charge in September 2018. She prioritised ward committee meetings much to the pleasure of those who had been fighting for it for years, weathered the political turmoil at Vidhana Soudha, and even sheepishly coughed up fines (twice) for using plastic bags. With less than a week left for her to step down from office, she sat down for a chat with Citizens' Live, to talk about all she could accomplish in her tenure and couldn't accomplish. Her major achievement that made headlines,…

If you want to be a professional sportsperson, what training options do you have in Bengaluru? Where do you go if you can't afford private coaching or training facilities? In this edition of Citizens Live, Olympian Pramila Aiyappa and para-athlete Shalini Saraswathi share their thoughts. Currently, there are only two major sports training facilities in Bengaluru - state government's Kanteerava Stadium, and central government's SAI (Sports Authority of India) centre in Kengeri. Pramila, a heptathlete who had trained at SAI, says that all facilities are not available under one roof. Currently a coach, Pramila had represented India in the 2000…

If you are a parent, you’d know how challenging it is to keep a young child still for more than a few minutes. From constant requests for loo breaks and a gazillion questions about everything, to (god forbid) fights if there is another child, it is not for nothing parents learn referring skills early on. A child’s development is a fluid, dynamic process. Nature, nurture and culture/arts are among the factors that help a child grow to be a well-rounded individual. The first two accommodate, and even encourage, a child’s need to explore and be restless. But how do you…

Vishwanath Srikantaiah, popularly known as the 'Rainman', has been in the news recently for his ambitious project to build one million recharge wells in Bengaluru. Given the dire situation we find ourselves in vis-à-vis water, the initiative could not have come at a better time. While Vishwanath has been the face of this project, a tiny community has been helping with the groundwork - the Bovi community who are the traditional well-diggers of Bengaluru. Our guest on Citizens Live this week is Ramakrishna Bovi, who has been working with Vishwanath to recharge Bengaluru's groundwater. So why is this important? While…