City: Bengaluru

"First they said that our apartment was illegal. When we showed our property documents, BBMP engineers said that it wouldn't matter because we had to give up our land for road widening anyway," says a resident of Rashi Pride apartments on Nyanappanahalli main road, BTM 6th stage. This relatively quiet road located in BTM 6th stage has been in the news lately because the residents raised their voice against BBMP's coercive tactics for land acquisition. Apartment marked for road widening on Nyanappanahalli main road in BTM 6th stage. Pic: Sreenandan A V The resident, who does not wish to be…

A state government-appointed TDR panel headed by Dr A Ravindra released its recommendations last month asking the government to re-look at the Transfer of Developmental Rights (TDR) policy and proposed solutions. There is no formal response from the government yet.For the past few years, roadwidening of adhoc offerings of TDR has caused anguish to many a Bangalorean. It also resulted in the formation of Bengaluru's Ring Road Property Owners Association (RRPOA). The association has opposed roadwidening of the outer ring road in south Bangalore and BBMP subsequently put the project on hold. In the meantime, this and many other projects…

If cave temples, glimpses of mythological history and trekking is in your weekend itinerary then visiting Kaivara just 2 hours drive from Bengaluru, is a good option. Located near Chikballapur in the Chintamani district the place is replete with historical and mythological tales of Mahabharata and Ramayana.  The zigzag plains of Kaivara perhaps leave one confused when visiting the place for the first time. That is why the need of a ‘Kaivara' or a compass to traverse the place. Hence the name Kaivara. Kaivara: View from Ambaji Durga. Pic: Usha Hariprasad.Kaivara: AmarNarayana temple. Pic: Usha Haripasad.Kaivara: Ambaji Durga Cave temple.…

Citizen Matters and Just Femme organised a panel discussion on 'Making Bengaluru women-friendly' at the pEtE Maatu film festival last weekend. At the discussion, panelists engaged the audience with passion and assertion. Cutting across view points, almost all panelists laced their words with their own experiences and that made the entire interaction real and on the ground, as opposed an academic dialogue. However one issue that did emerge and did not get enough attention was the gap between the author panelist C K Meena and fellow panelists Deepika Nagabushan and Siri Srinivas. Deepika and Siri are youngsters in their twenties.…

"People like you and I can walk into restaurant when we need to use a toilet but not everyone can confidently do that," said Aiden Grew, one of the participants in pEtE maatu festival last weekend at NGMA. Aiden is from Canada but has lived in Bangalore for nearly decade. His statement was in response to Just Femme's question "Where are the public toilets in Bangalore?" Participants at the pEtE maatu festival marking their favourite spot in Bangalore. Pic: Padmalatha Ravi. As part of the festival, Just Femme had put up a map of Bangalore city and asked people questions…

A panel discussion on "Making Bengaluru Women-friendly" was held on Saturday as part of ‘pEtE maatu', a three-day festival. The panel discussion was organised by Citizen Matters and Just Femme, an online women's magazine at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Palace Road, Bengaluru.  From L: Prakash Belawadi, C K Meena, Mithila Jha, Deepika Nagabhushan, Vasanthi Hariprakash, Siri Srinivas, S T Ramesh and Honnamma. Pic: Meera K. It evoked mixed responses from the panelists as well as the audience. Opinions flew thick and fast. Conversation covered safety of public transport, sexual harassment, attitude of police and apathy of fellow…

Many years ago, I made my first Christmas pudding from a recipe in a foreign magazine. The result was everything the blurb promised – dark, moist, rich and very more-ish. I was delighted. Having grown up on Agatha Christie, I had finally made the steamed concoction that Christie occasionally referred to in her books. The pudding captivated me so much that the neuries, achappams and laddoos that I’d also grown up on, paled in comparison. Glace cherries, raisins, almonds and candied fruit being prepared for fruit cake. The rind and juice of orange and lime are also added. Pic: Theresa…

Twenty-eight-year-old Bangalorean Pawan Kumar's inspiring journey began, when he quit his engineering degree from PESIT college, around 2000 to follow his passion for theatre and cinema. By 2003, he had set up his own theatre company ACTor Productions. In 2009, director Yograj Bhat released Manasaare to commercial success and critical acclaim within the Kannada film fraternity. But even as the film-makers, including Yograj and screenplay writer Pawan Kumar, travelled through urban and rural Karnataka observing the response to their film, they noticed a curious dichotomy. This in fact formed the basis of their next film. Pawan's transformation from actor to…

Carmel Convent High School located on east end road in Bengaluru, celebrated its silver jubilee on the 10th and 11th of December by hosting an inter-school volleyball and basketball tournament. More than 20 schools from the city participated. The school also celebrated the bronze-medal that the girls' volleyball team, won at the national level, representing the Karnataka at the Panchayat Yuva Krida Aur Khel Abhiyan (PYKKA) volleyball tournament held in Bhopal on 3rd and 4th December.   Winners of the bronze medal at PYKKA tournament with their medals. Pic: Yograj S Mudalgi The school has over 800 students with an…

Most schools in Bengaluru have completed their admissions for the coming academic year. Despite that, the state government seems to be pushing to implement the RTE (Right to Education) Act for 2011-12. The SSA (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) will soon submit a revised draft of the Act to the government. "We have revised the draft after taking suggestions from the public. The new draft will be submitted by end of this month," says Sandhya Venugopal Sharma, State Project Director, SSA. Ramakrishna School - 80% of the children are from low income groups. Pic: Navya P K While many private schools are…