Articles by Padmalatha Ravi

Journey across Bengaluru city on a whim is a thing of the past. Jammed roads have necessitated planning. What used to take 15 minutes can stretch to an hour on a bad day. A fallout of crowded streets that’s seldom discussed is the issue of nature’s call while you are on road for long periods. This especially gets trickier if you are a woman.Loo-breaks too need to be planned. City’s walls and trees are of little use if you are a woman. Yes, there are a little over hundred Nirmala pay and use toilets across the city. But most are…

A recent news report talked about troubles cyclists in Bangalore face on a daily basis. As a new mother I can relate to that. Yes, there is a connection. Have you tried pushing a pram around the city? Just around the block to a park? It is the scariest thing after having to cross road with an elderly at hand! It is no breaking news that the city’s infrastructure largely caters to able and citizens who own vehicles. Pedestrians and cyclists make up 8 and 2 per cent of the total road users in the city. But having an infant…

Hongasandra area of the Bommanhalli constituency’s woes doesn’t seem to end. Year after year the rains wreak havoc in the lives of close to 2 lakh people. On 24th October rain has flooded the homes of the people living in around Hongasandra. The breach in the Begur lake was cited as the reason. The real reason is not just overflowing of the lake, but the encroachment of Rajakaluve, the main storm water drain. More than 2.5 km stretch of this drain has shrunk over the past years, say the locals. People walking through floods. Pic: Padmalatha Ravi.On 25th morning when…

26-year old Sarika R, an IT professional from Bangalore, is anxious about her 10-month old son Ganesh while she prepares to go back to work after a year's extended maternity leave. As her parents live in a different city, she doesn't have any one to take care of her toddler while at office. "I have been looking around for options of day care for him," she says, "but there are so many things that need to be taken care of for a child - it's a difficult choice." Fun time at Kara. Pic: author. This feeling is familiar among working…

Bhanu, a class 7 student, at the Matadahalli government school in north Bangalore is very excited to speak in English. "It was difficult to say one full sentence in English before but after the spoken English classes, I am able to talk very easily. I am thinking of becoming a teacher now," she says. Bhanu is one of the 30 students benefitting from the after school programme conducted by Dream School Foundation, an NGO, as part of the School adoption programme. This school is one of the 900 schools adopted in the state of Karnataka. Students at the after-school programme…