Articles by Srijaya N Char

A young mother was sitting on a bench, in a park at the heart of Bengaluru. Her two kids had some eatables on their hands in cardboard plates. In spite of them sitting very close to a ‘Use Me’ dust bin, the children scattered their plates and tissues all over the place. ‘The bin is just here child, why can’t you put them in there?’ – I said casually. She looked at me askance and looked at her mother. The mother looked at me as though I did something wrong and with an expression of annoyance said “ಯಾಕ್ ಮೇಡಮ್, ಈ…

I thank God for small mercies. I still hear tiny birds chirping, crows cawing and squirrels screeching early in the morning when I wake up. I look through the window and see a squirrel gnawing at an unripe pomegranate in the garden. I smile to myself and feel happy that we are still left with a few pleasant things in the mornings. I enter the kitchen, pick up the bin with the "wet garbage" and leave it outside the gate.I pick up the morning newspaper and glance at the headlines. No, I shall not go deep into the text. It…

I often wonder whether we are doing justice to our youngsters -- all open spaces are being ornamentally ‘gardened', ‘fountained', 'ticketed' and enclosed with barbed wires that are inaccessable to children. To give one or two concrete examples, there was a nice open space behind the HOPCOMS in Sadashivanagar that is surrounded by houses. There is also a nursery school in that area. I have been a resident in this neighbourhood the past 30 years and it pains me to see all the open spaces being taken away for either allotment to VIPs or converted into ornamental parks with tickets.…

"Bad Pati." - said my twelve year old granddaughter.This was her reaction to my dumping milk bags into the kitchen waste bin that contained only ‘wet waste'."Sorry dear, I won't do it again." - I said feeling proud of my eco-friendly grandchild. Yes. I felt ashamed. It is true that grown-ups should show more concern about such things in the presence of the younger generation. If we ‘pooh-pooh' their remarks and continue to be callous it would be shameful.I was walking in the park in our neighborhood and was rather upset when two youngsters threw the paper plates in which…

One day, during my morning walk, I came across a very cute little girl of about seven or eight standing in front of a half constructed building. She had another little boy with her, who was ‘perhaps her brother' I guessed. He was about five or six. My heart went out to them when I saw them picking up twigs from the footpaths nearby. I went close to the girl and asked her whether she was going to school. She said ‘No, I need to look after my younger siblings'' I asked her if she had ever attended school as…

"Footpath mel hogi ma." - (Go on the footpath, Madam). This was a policeman.Though I felt like retorting back, I kept quiet as I always try to avoid these uniformed men.Frankly, where are the footpaths? The first hurdle is to get on to the footpath which is at least one foot high in many parts. Once you get on them there are any number of hurdles. Thirty per cent of them are occupied by construction materials. Iron rods that almost tear your sari. Maunds and maunds of brick and mortar pieces which can make you trip and fall; sands and…

I love my morning walks. I enjoy the birds chirping, the greenery, the flowers and the crows cawing and flying. It is unfortunate that some times we are forced to come across some annoying and disgusting sights as well. For example, people talking loudly on their mobiles and men peeing on the road-side. I am always wary of any cyclist who goes past a little too close to me. Though I do not wear too many pieces of jewellery, I do hide the chain I wear within my dress and close it with a duppatta as well. The other day,…

Early in the morning a Paurakarmika stands near my gate and calls. I peep out. "Amma, coffeeg enadru kodtheera?" (Will you give something for coffee?). She asks. I bend over the gate and show her the foot path and the drain. "Idanella yaar clean madowru? Regularag clean madidre enadru kodbahudu." (Who is supposed to clean all this? If you do this work then I could give you something). I say. "Mori clean madowru berevru barthaare." She says. I feel a bit annoyed. She pushes all the muck that is on the foot path into the drain and walks away sulking.…