Articles by Pragathi Ravi

Amidst a cacophony of chants of “ond maaru nalvattu" (one measure Rs 40), every morning the city's Krishna Rajendra Market wears a vibrant cloak of reds, orange and yellow. The removal of all COVID restrictions has made the flower market even more colourful and cacophonous, as this year's festival season gets underway. Amidst negotiating a kucchu (bunch) of fully bloomed chrysanthemums from Rs 140 down to Rs 100, Naveen Kumar, a flower seller in KR Market for 17 years, is seeing an uptick in his sales during the weeks leading up to Varamahalaxmi, Dussehra, Ganesh Chaturti and Ugadi. “I earn…

The objective of the digital initiative was laudable. A national portal that would enable the 411 million workers in the informal sector (as per the estimates by the Periodic Labour Force Survey 2017-18) to access national and state schemes, offering such workers health, employment and social security benefits. The country had been a mute witness to the devastating impact of the pandemic and unprecedented lockdown on these workers, especially migrant workers, as they faced sweeping job losses, loss in income and hunger. With the objective of preventing a repeat of this human tragedy, the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment…

Rani N, 48, a fruit vendor who sits opposite RT Nagar post office, is warding off flies from her precious guavas. At night she sits in a barely lit corner, shrouded further by a large red umbrella that protects her from rains. Rani had migrated from Tamil Nadu to Bengaluru over three decades ago as a 16-year-old newly-wed. She and her husband wanted to escape the droughts in Tamil Nadu and pay off their debts.  She has been selling fruits for the past five years. As a relatively new entrant to street vending, Rani has little access to certain areas…

For 15 years Sheela (name changed), a domestic worker, had been in the service of a single household, till the 2020 lockdown, when her employer left town and stopped answering her calls. She currently works at another house, earning less than half of what she used to. Caught up in bad loans, her husband died by suicide in November 2019 leaving her as her family's sole earner. The centrally sponsored Widow Pension scheme is erratic and unreliable, forcing her to search for other income sources. As a mother of two, Sheela has three mouths to feed, bills and fees to…

When the pandemic struck in 2020, it triggered a national lockdown that brought all economic activity across the country to a halt. Radha (name changed), a garment worker in Bengaluru, was at an absolute loss when her factory shut down from March to June. For her, the current lockdown is a chilling reminder of 2020. “Last year, I pledged whatever gold I had, to pay the rent. What will I do this year?” she wonders. Her landlord has not increased the rent, but even the water and electric bills are worrisome. Her husband, also an informal worker, has had no…

What is your last name? Do you eat meat? These are questions often asked while renting a house in Bengaluru. While they seem innocent on the surface, these questions enable owners to ascertain caste which, in turn, controls their decision on whether or not to take them on as tenants. “If you are not from the dominant caste, they will delicately backtrack and state how there was a misunderstanding and they did not intend to rent the house at all” says Bengaluru-based author Vijetha, remembering how her mother would cook fish in their Basavanagudi home and light agarbattis to camouflage…

ಸುಧಾ ವಿ ಉತ್ತರಹಳ್ಳಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹೂವಿನ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರಿಯಾಗಿದ್ದು, ಇತ್ತೀಚೆಗಷ್ಟೆ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಪ್ರವೇಶ ಪಡೆದಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಚಿತ್ರ: ಪ್ರಗತಿ ರವಿ Translated by Madhusudhan Rao ಸುಧಾ ವಿ, ತನ್ನ ಹೂವಿನ ಗಾಡಿಗೆ ತುಂಬಾ ಹತ್ತಿರದಲ್ಲಿ ಓಡಾಡುವ ಹಸುಗಳನ್ನು ಓಡಿಸುತ್ತಾ, ಉತ್ತರಹಳ್ಳಿಯ ಪ್ರಮುಖ ರಸ್ತೆಯೊಂದರಲ್ಲಿ ಬೀದಿವ್ಯಾಪಾರ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಮಕರ ಸಂಕ್ರಾಂತಿಯ ದಿನದಂದು ಗ್ರಾಹಕರ ಹೆಚ್ಚಳ ಇದ್ದರೆ, ಮರುದಿನ ಕಥೆಯೇ ಬೇರೆಯಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಹಿಂದಿನ ದಿನ ತಾಜಾತನ ತುಂಬಿದ್ದ ಕೆಂಪು ಗುಲಾಬಿಗಳನ್ನು ಕೇಳುವವರೇ ಇರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಸಾಲದ್ದಕ್ಕೆ, ಅದೇ ರಸ್ತೆಯ ಬಳಿ ಮಾರಾಟ ಮಾಡುವ ಇತರ ಮೂರು ಹೂಗಾಡಿಗಳ ಜೊತೆ ತೀವ್ರ ಪೈಪೋಟಿ ಎದುರಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಕೋವಿಡ್ ಪಿಡುಗಿನಿಂದ ಉದ್ಯೋಗಗಳು ನಷ್ಟವಾದಾಗ, ಅನೇಕರು ಅನೌಪಚಾರಿಕ ವಲಯಕ್ಕೆ ತೆರಳಿದ್ದು, ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ದುಡಿಮೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚು, ಅದು ಮೂಲ ಸಂಪನ್ಮೂಲಗಳ ಮೇಲೆ ಅವಲಂಬಿತ ಮತ್ತು ಪ್ರವೇಶಿಸುವುದು ಸುಲಭ ಅನ್ನುವ ಕಾರಣಕ್ಕೆ. ರಸ್ತೆ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರ, ವಿಶೇಷವಾಗಿ, ನಗರದಲ್ಲಿ ಗಮನಾರ್ಹವಾಗಿ ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗಿದೆ. ಮನೆ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಸುಧಾ, ಲಾಕ್‌ಡೌನ್ ನಿಂದ ತಾನು ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಅರ್ಧಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಮನೆಗಳ…

On February 2, 2021, residents in and around Kanakapura Road sounded an alarm when they spotted excavators in the vicinity of the Turahalli forest. When Gautham Kamath, one of the members of Changemakers of Kanakapura Road, and other residents confronted the officials operating the excavators, they received vague answers. Initially, they said they were building a 280-ft compound wall. On further questioning, they backtracked and said they were carrying out de-weeding in order to prevent forest fires. Finally, they admitted to clearing a path for walkways. The plan, it turned out, was for a tree park. Citizens’ outcry Last December,…

Sudha V is a flower vendor in Uttarahalli, and a recent entrant to the market. Pic: Pragathi R Sudha V, hawks on one of the arterial roads of Uttarahalli, warding off cows that tend to steer too close to her cart of flowers. While she witnessed a surge in customers on  the day of Makara Sankranti, the next day was a different story. There are few takers for her once-fresh red roses.  What's more, she faces stiff competition from three other flower vendors hawking along the same stretch.  As the pandemic claimed jobs, many moved to the informal sector because…

“The number of women that appear in the public realm, during the day and and especially at night, is an indicator of the health of a society and the safety and livability of a city” -- Smart Cities Dive Bengaluru roads are unsafe, but they are even more so for women cyclists who have the double disadvantage of gender and their chosen mode of transportation. The number of women cyclists in the city are far fewer than men.  Women cyclists I spoke to complained about dug-up roads and inadequate safe parking spaces for cycles. “I’m always paranoid that someone would break…