City: Bengaluru

We alone are responsible for the path that we choose to tread. In this rat-race, take time to pause. Are you on the right path? These thoughts were best reflected when I came across this path at Lalbagh Gardens on a beautiful day, when the flowers were all in bloom. ⊕

On 27th and 28th September 2009, Bangalore Cares, a non profit group organised "Sneha Sante", an event that combines a charity bazaar and a programme of cultural events, at H N Kalakshetra, National College, Jayanagar. Citizen Matters was present at the event with a spot drawing contest for children on the theme, "My street". Here are the drawings of the two groups, children aged eight years or below and those nine years and above. Scroll below to vote for your favourite.  Here are the drawings in group A, comprising of children aged eight years or below. A1 A2 A3 A4 A5…

Recently, I was surprised by the efforts that the government takes in checking TB cases by distributing free medicines through the nearest centres. The system is made so fool-proof that the medicines are taken by the patients regularly in the presence of a medical officer.  In fact a doctor or at least a nurse visits the house of the patient and guides the family members about the importance of taking the medicines regularly, the various precautions that the family should take and ensures that the medicines are distributed from the most convenient location.  The hospitals are monitored strictly.  The doctors…

As the BBMP elections are slated to be held by the end of the year, this new website, set up by Zoomin Softech Pvt Ltd, an IT solutions company, for State Election Commission (SEC), will help you search for your name on the voters list.But this is only if you voted for the parliamentary elections earlier this year. Citizens who have registered during the past few months after the Lok Sabha polls will not find their names on this site, since these updates have not yet been published online.The homepage of the site has both English and Kannada, with the…

Every year the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) invites journalists from developing countries of Asia and the Pacific to submit published articles, as a part of the annual Developing Asia Journalism Awards (DAJA) competition. This year, Citizen Matters is proud to announce one of its staff journalists Supriya Khandekar as a finalist for the DAJA. Supriya’s article Women of a lesser society  about a precarious future for young mothers and girls of Golahalli, a remote village on the outskirts of Bangalore was published in Citizen Matters on September 29th, 2008. Supriya is among 22 journalists who will be traveling to…

Recently, an incident of pillar-bending at a Bengaluru Metro construction site and its consequential casualties shook everyone. The days following saw press conferences, public meetings, officials giving clarifications and a number of people looking at Metro construction with scepticism. In August 2009, an over-six-metres-tall pillar stooped and caused two causalities and four people were injured. It happened on CMH road, Indiranagar, where  ‘Reach 1’ of the Metro is being constructed by Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL). There were immediate allegations of unsafe working conditions for the workers and faulty design being followed. But the question about who should be…

AlibabaStepping into Alibaba is like stepping into a different world. Not due to the décor – inspired by the Arabian Nights story – but because of the food. This place has Arabian and Persian food, alien to many of us; there is also Navayathi food, which is completely Indian, and yet, unfamiliar to most of us.Heard of a community known as Navayath? Chances are you haven’t. But a mention of Bhatkal should ring a bell. Situated in northern Karnataka, in the old days, Bhatkal was a port of call for Arab traders from Yemen, Iran and Iraq, who left their…

We often have things we do not require and look for someone to give it away. Some of us donate clothes to  domestic help or charity groups.But when it comes to things like books, an exercycle, a tabla or tailoring machine,  one cannot throw it on to a garbage truck or sell it to the raddiwala. Gayathri works part time as an auto driver to take care of her family and at the same time continue her education. She was able to get books for her course through the Bangalore Reuse group. Pic: Poornima Dasharathi This is where a networking…

Dasara or Navarathri is celebrated by different communities in different ways. In Bangalore, many families celebrate Gombe Habba (festival of dolls) by arranging dolls, new and old. This is also called bombe koorisodu, bombe kolus, bommala kolu, and the dolls are usually made of clay or wood, and nowadays with Plaster of Paris (PoP). The tradition has passed on from generation to generation, and is accompanied by a variety of customs, pujas, story-telling and food. Tableaux depicting a scene from Ramayana, created by Soumya Srikanth. Pic: Deepti Sarma. Patronised by the Mysore maharajas, and with a large number of doll…

Goonj, a voluntary organisation, is initiating Vastra Samman (dignifying clothing), a pan-India campaign, to collect about one crore units of material in the 'Joy of Giving Week' being celebrated across India from 27th September to 3rd October.Goonj will use the collected material as resource under 'Cloth for Work' for development activities in the villages, school material and toys to support rural or slum schools and anganwadis; and useless cloth to make mats, school bags and the entire cotton waste material to be converted into sanitary napkins. Collection CentresSmitha Anand, BTM 2nd Stage,  Ph: 9986213181, 9 AM to 10 PM Jennifer…