Articles by Shamala Kittane Subramanyan

"The High Court order questions our credibility and our commitment to resolve issues in the city” -- so said Padmanabha Reddy, corporator of Ward 29 (Kacharakanahalli) at the special session of the BBMP Council on January 15th.  The agenda of the special session was to discuss the court directive ordering the government to form ward committees, and present the nominations to the ward committee to the Mayor. Though Reddy started his speech by offering full support to the formation of the ward committees, he ended up questioning, “10 members per ward will make it 1980 ward committee members -- how…

I meet Lavanya Keshavamurthy on a lazy afternoon at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). I am here to know more about a unique bicycle sharing programme called "Namma Cycle" which has been active in IISc the last four months. It was started by a group of cycling enthusiasts, including Lavanya (operations in charge at Namma Cycle) and Murali H R (founder-director of Namma Cycle). Cyclists in the campus. Pic:nammacycle.in A former technology professional, Lavanya Keshavamurthy left her MBA in Canada mid-way to come back to Bangalore and work on this unique and experimental initiative. "Its been an adventure," Lavanya…

It was 10am in the morning. A torrent of unbearably loud music got me up on my feet out on the road. I saw many loudspeakers that had been installed overnight, from Nagasandra circle to Thyagarajanagar, all along the main road. Sound should not be audible beyond 200 feet, says the law. Pic: Shamala Kittane. Evidently, a nearby temple had decided to celebrate ‘Annamma Devi Festival' - a borrowed tradition from a village but now out of context and place. A local JD (S) politician, Adisheshaiah, however decided to keep the tradition going. The festive season in Bangalore begins in…

Nearly 500-600 trucks with trash, operating in the dark of the night, dump their contents in Mandur every day. “After 10 pm, the trucks start pouring in and it goes on till early hours of the morning,” says Munianjaneyappa, 72, a resident of Mandur. Munianjaneyappa walked the entire 25 km of the padayatra from Mandur to Domlur, Bangalore, on Saturday, December 22nd, as part of the Lok Satta-organised 'Dumping SAAKU' campaign. Around 50 people, including residents of Mandur, Lok Satta party supporters - many of them young professionals - and political and social activists took part in the walk. Former…