City: Bengaluru

Let me introduce you to a livewire 5th grade kid I tutor in Bengaluru - Let's just call him Mo (obviously not his real name). All Mo wants to do with his life is to go to the National Defense Academy and join the Indian Army. Mo meets a Mig Yes, he is slow with reading English, and very hesitant while speaking it, thanks to his less-than-lousy Kannada medium education so far at the free local Government School. But he understands what you say in English completely.   Mo & Co. learn to pose He and I work on his…

Waterbody near the entrance of Vishranthi. Pic courtesy: Silver Talkies Greenery and a sense of tranquillity invited us in, as we entered the grounds of Vishranthi, a home for seniors located on the outskirts of Bengaluru. The fresh smell of ripened mangoes merged with the cacophony of students and children learning in the background, as part of Vishranthi’s orphanage and vocational training centre. The ‘Pizza Grannies,’ as the founders of Vishranthi —  Padma Srinivasan and Jayalakshmi Srinivasan — are popularly known, are warm and welcoming. As we sipped on mango juice (from their own garden), they began to tell us the story…

X orders more coffee. He has made his point. But who is in charge – surely there must be someone in charge? I ask. Before plunging in to fix this corner themselves, X and V have done some basic asking around. The question they had was simple – So who’s really in charge of the street in Bangalore? They found that there was no single person or authority. And that is why the streets are such a mess. There is a maze of authorities in charge of different aspects of Bangalore’s civic infrastructure, each of which is a law unto…

Consider this. Bengaluru is the first city in India to drink treated water. Bangalore has the highest density of borewells. It is home to 4 lakh borewells; India has about 30 million across the country. Bangalore has the largest number of Sewage Treatment Plants; this includes those that are functional and nonfunctional. And this. Bangalore was once home to over 900 lakes and tanks. Today the number stands at a meagre 200. Bangalore is likely to be the first city in India that will hit critical ceilings on water availability. There is a possibility that Bangalore will have to be…

Bengaluru has much to offer. That much is clear even to someone who is new to the city. Normally, if you plan to visit all of the major sightseeing locales available, it would take several trips. The Bangalore Rounds bus service makes it easy to condense a planned excursion into a single day-trip for those without much time. It’s the equivalent of marathoning a favorite TV show on Netflix, but instead you can experience sunshine, learn more about the history of the city, and revel in the amazing architectural designs. Although it’s unlikely you’ll be able to visit every landmark…

Heaps of garbage piled in Mandur. Pic: Shree D N If you see the above scene in Mandur that is the ugly backyard of namma Bengaluru, what strikes you as the most important waste category? Most of what you see is plastic. This is the reality that you see even in the garbage dump near your home. Well, what’s wrong with that? Plastic bags make carrying everything simple, with their light weight and ease of use. After use, just throw them, and they’re out of sight and mind. Easy, isn’t it? But then, here are some issues for you to…

High Court of Karnataka (HC) suggested that BBMP make payments for tree-planting contracts only after monitoring the survival rate of the seedlings for an year after planting, to ensure that the seedlings planted are protected and maintained. In a suo motu PIL (WP No. 7288/2011) filed by former justice D V Justice Shylendra Kumar for  mass tree felling in Jayamahal Palace road in 2011 for widening the road, BBMP Advocate Subramanya R informed the court that the afforestation tenders for this year have already been awarded. Amicus curiae Vaishali Hegde pointed that the agreements that are already signed for this…

We were having one of those Saturday nights, where we had a big group of people (from the Quora meetup) who decided to get out for a drink with last minute plans. As expected, we didn't really get a table in most bars and since we were a big group, we were desperate for a bar that seated us. Walking down Church Street in Bengaluru, a friend spotted Alibi, the restobar and it seemed like they had a few tables that would accommodate a large group. My friends and I had a decent time for about the first two hours…

Ever-increasing traffic adds to pollution and emission. File pic. It is difficult to choose between a hot dry summer day and the day after a nice shower in Bengaluru, when it comes to the concentration of pollutants in the air. On a hot day, the air currents disperse the pollutants high up into the atmosphere, while on a day after the showers, because of the increase in humidity levels the fumes from vehicle exhaust pipes remain closer to ground level. In Bangalore, several environmental issues have attained the status of omnipresent and instead of figuring out a solution to mitigate…

In a symphony of horns and beeps, cars, buses and motorcycles bullet past the populated Springfields apartment complex, the enormous Wipro campus, and the multitude of schools that dot the famous Sarjapur Road. It turns from a mellow street at night into a hub of pandemonium we witness during the day. Narrow and long, it stretches on for kilometers, providing access to thousands of residential complexes and immense corporate offices. Smaller streets branch out of the main spine of Sarjapur Road like tributaries, spreading to Electronic City and Marathahalli. As it trails away from Bangalore city, it dissolves into the…