City: Bengaluru

Revathi Anne Jagan buys only organic—from pulses, rice, oils to fruits, vegetables, dry fruits and nuts to snacks and fruit juice for her children. She used to go to 12 Degrees Organic in Banaswadi, but now she has switched to Organicz4u on Assaye Road that opened just a few months ago. The new store is more conveniently located, and what's more, on the route to her children's school. Not that the Banaswadi store lacks patrons. Revathi's neighbour Smitha K goes there still. Smitha too buys everything organic, including organic milk. Because just like Revathi, she too believes that the additional…

Smoke emanates from the garbage dumping site on an early morning. Pic: BWRCA's FB page Even after a month of the residents of Kadugodi near Whitefield writing a complaint to Karnataka Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) about the indiscriminate large scale burning of garbage in surrounding villages, the issue remains unsolved. Workers continue to burn low value plastic and other garbage in open fields at Khajisonenahalli, Seegehalli and Katamnallur Cross near Kadugodi on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Rampant burning of waste has become a cause of concern to the residents of the area who are forced to breathe polluted air and…

Debris left behind after demolition of Malleswaram Market. Pic: Pavan Kulkarni Heaps of rubble are piled high over the land where the almost half century old Malleswaram market thrived till a few months ago. There were days when this place used to be scented by garlands of fresh vibrant flowers hung outside the numerous shops, patronised by loyal customers for its wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Some shopkeepers have been rehabilitated in temporary shops built along the storm water drain next to the market that used to be spread over 2.08 acre of land. Some shopkeepers who had not been rehabilitated have set…

We stood around quietly, my brother and me, as Amma and Maami negotiated with the guys in the shop. The shop had bales and bales of cotton strewn all over the 10ftx10ft area, and housed three or four guys, in various stages of labour. After much bargaining from our side and patronising from theirs, we took home a pillow. It was grey with golden-yellow lines crisscrossing each other at right angles and turning black where they met. That night, my brother and I fought for rights to use the new pillow. Mysore Bedding and Furnishing. Pic: Vaidya R The place, Mysore…

  Bengaluru this week March 26th 2015     CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!   Before we give you the news updates, a quick pitch... Our fundraiser is on for five more days, until March 31st. We have so far raised 53.17% of our target of Rs 5,00,000. A big thank you to all those of you who have extended your support! We will be sending the receipt for your donation by March 30th. If you find the stories that we publish on Citizen Matters useful, please consider making a contribution. Your support will help…

Our favourite event of the year is around the corner... Yes, we are talking about the Fête de la Musique! As each year, the celebration will take place on the weekend of June 21st. This time however, the event will be bigger with more venues across the city.  As always, it is a free event, a huge gathering that celebrates music of all genres. We thus, rely entirely on the motivation of bands who would like to get together in the spirit of the festival, in celebration of music and all things music, and are willing to play for free on that…

A new government rule on housing allotment criteria envisages reserving some flats in apartments for low-income families. This means, a well-to-do family could well have a really poor family as their immediate neighbours. According to the new regulation introduced by the State government, 15 per cent of the total space in posh apartments and villas is to be reserved for the urban poor. For example, if a builder has built an apartment with 2,000 flats, 300 flats in them should be meant for the poor. At least this is the spirit of the law. In reality, it may not happen.…

I come from a family that can only be described as bonkers. Come April, amma would ask (I wish I could capture the exact tone of the original Tamizh in English; alas, it’s not to be!), “All right. When does your drama start?” Fact was that come May, I would suddenly, without any preamble or warning, fall ill with high temperature – ague, the works. Standard Operating Procedures would kick in with clockwork precision. I would gather up all the blankets and rugs I could find, make a multi-layered protective covering with them, and go to bed, shivering. I would…

Pic source: myprivatetutor.com Katerina Milkova, a working mother in Bangalore, wanted a personal tutor for her son who is in 5th grade. She tried a couple of home tutoring service providers, and her search ended when she found EON Education. They met her at her convenience and explained the process very professionally. They provided a demo class for her and arranged for a passionate teacher to come home. “The tutor writes what has been taught in a logbook, with the date and duration of the class. My son is also given tests by her and his scores are recorded. It…

  Bengaluru this week March 20th 2015     CITIZEN MATTERS Bangalore's own interactive newsmagazine Speak up, it's your city!   We are into the last leg of our March fundraiser. We have so far raised 43.71% of our target of Rs 5,00,000 from 83 donors. A big shout out to all of you who have contributed so far. To the rest of you, if you have found Citizen Matters’ articles to be useful, please donate to Oorvani Foundation and support our journalism. Your aid will ensure that we continue to bring you the stories that matter. Click here to make…