City: Bengaluru

When one looks at the history of cinema, Hollywood has excelled above others in its creation of the period film. So there was much expectation from director Francis Lawrence's Water for Elephants, with a cast that included Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson and Christopher Waltz. Source: Wikipedia Set against the Great Depression, the film is based on a historical novel written by Sarah Gruen. It tells the story of Jacob Jankowski, a young veterinary student at Cornell, whose life changes dramatically in the face of personal tragedy. He joins the travelling circus troupe of the The Benzini Brothers, where his life…

The Richards Town Residents Association (RTRA) invited all the residents of Richards Town to join hands in cleaning up Richards Park, one of the most prominent landmarks of the area. Young and old (the oldest being 86 years old) gathered on a Sunday morning armed with gloves, brooms and garbage bags to clean the park and lead by example. Richards Park was set up in the late 1800's to decongest the South Parade Area. Named after Richard, a British Civil Services Officer, the park is the highest point of Richards Town. This beautiful park with a bandstand where the British…

Citizen Action Forum, a federation of RWAs met S Suresh Kumar, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs and BWSSB and P S Ramamurthy, Chairman, BWSSB along with team of chief engineers.The meeting held in BWSSB central office Cauvery Bhavan, and we discussed rain water harvesting (RWH) and water supply problems.CAF President N S Mukunda explained practical solutions to water problems. RWH in houses can yield only 2% of water requirement of Bangalore. So RWH should be done in all public (government buildings and 1400 parks in Bangalore. He requested the government not to make RWH mandatory for all, because some…

There is a road widening madness by BBMP these days. It is a clear indication of failure on the part of town planners. In fact planning is being given a go-bye these days! There is a need to constitute a commitee of all concerned to study/research/analyse how to overcome problems of traffic in this fast growing city. 1. Metro operations are to be hastened. 2. Public road transport studied systematically for a smooth flow in dense area of traffic. BMTC should encourage daily passes by introducing more shuttle trips rather than long distance buses. 3. There is need to inter-connect…

I am a resident of BEML Layout, Rajarajeshwari nagar, 7th cross, 9th main, 3rd stage . BWSSB laid the new drainage pipes two months ago. But no on has bothered to bring the road back to normalcy. The drain pipes are just closed with loose soil and even extra soil present on the road is not removed. Vehicles plying on the road get stuck in the loose mud often. Elderly and children find it difficult to walk and have often had falls. When it rains, the road is all slushy. Pic: Anand R 9th main looks like a dirt track.…

Healthcare has always been in a state of dynamic flux. The good old family physician has been replaced by specialists and super-specialists. The chances of finding a family physician in Bangalore are just as hard as finding a home sparrow. Nursing homes have been swamped by corporate and private hospitals. Government hospitals are patronised mostly by those who cannot afford private treatment. On the other hand medical insurance is plagued by issues related to Third Party Administrators (TPAs) and inflated bills. New concepts in healthcare have emerged: Preventive Healthcare, Corporate Healthcare, and Home Healthcare. Suddenly, there has been a shift…

Bangalore footballers are going to be a happy lot soon. The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has honoured the Karnataka State Football Association (KSFA) with an Astroturf. City's football stadium in Ashok Nagar, is only one of three cities in India with astroturf surfaces, the other two being Kolkata and Mumbai. Those surfaces were also funded by FIFA. "FIFA has recognised KSFA's contribution towards football," says Amjad Khan, Deputy General Secretary of the KSFA and a former coach at the international level. "We have to make good use of the Astroturf and maintain it well, now that we have…

There's something about living in this city for a long time that makes it impossible to not be a loud and brash bigot. There is a wordless demand that you don't simply love this city but be a little proud, a little overbearing, and become an insufferable little mobile advertisement for your part of town. It is with the same sentiment that we took part in Hunt For The Past - INTACHís Heritage Hunt held in the Basavanagudi area last week. The event was an sms-powered treasure hunt that took one to different parts of the old South Bangalore area,…

Bangalore has many residential projects coming up for occupancy this year, and the most popular location seems to be South Bangalore. Citizen Matters got details of around 45 new projects from a property bazaar organised by realtor Magicbricks.com last month in the city. In addition to popular builders, lesser-known companies are also introducing many projects. Most projects are located in the outer limits of the city. Many new residential projects are coming up this year in South Bangalore. Pic: Navya P K Of all projects, 11 are located along Hosur Road. While many of them are coming up near Hosur…

The Indian Christian Cemetery on Hosur Road has been the stage for some of my more memorable wildlife moments in Bangalore; readers will be familiar with my encounter with a Praying Mantis going about its daily life. While I was waiting for the drama with the mantis to unfold I also noticed a lot of bird activity in the tree under which I had taken shelter. And during the long pauses that I encountered with the mantis, I kept myself busy observing the birds. Among the birds that I saw was a personal favorite - The Great Tit.  Pic: Vikram…