City: Bengaluru

The BDA is in the process of building two flyovers on the Outer Ring road near the Iblur and Agara junctions in south-east Bengaluru as part of their 'signal free' Outer Ring Road project.  This article presents some questions, comments and suggestions regarding both the grade separators, on the basis of the project plans obtained from the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) in response to an RTI request by Citizen Matters. The flyovers have been described in an earlier article in Citizen Matters.  Two dedicated, access controlled, 11.5 feet wide bus lanes on either side of the central median of the…

RaasilasDespite the tag ‘fine dining’, Rasilaas is the kind of place you enter with some trepidation, given its location and general ambience. Your hopes sink further on scanning the menu which runs into many pages and covers the popular Indian trio. How can this non-descript place manage a gamut of Indian, Chinese and Tandoori dishes is the question hovering on your lips. But you’ve thrown in your lot, so to speak, so you order and resign yourself to whatever’s coming. Pic: Theresa Varghese And what comes is a delightful surprise.  Beautifully seasoned, well cooked and nicely presented; every dish here…

Sometime in MayBBMP workers had dredged out the storm water drain near my house, and left a mound of filth, muck, crushed plastic cups and assorted debris on the edge of the pavement on  8-F main road, Jayanagar. Each time it rained, some of the muck got washed right back into the drain. It was an eyesore and an olfactory assault. There are posh shops all along this road, hundreds of citizens walk or drive past, even park next to the pile of rubbish. The famous Jayanagar shopping complex is just across the road.I complained about it to the city…

Traditional board games in India have been a major source of entertainment for many generations now. Even though still popular in some parts of the country, games of this kind are soon losing out to computer games and electronic gadgets among the urban middle class. In an attempt of reviving these traditional games, Kavade, a toy store based in Seshadripuram, organised a traditional board games tournament on the 25th and 26th of July, 2009. A Kavade volunteer helping participants with the rules. Pic: Deepti Sarma Sreeranjini GS, an ardent lover of traditional games, had founded Kavade earlier this year. Kavade…

The reception area of Be Ahead with Sustained Excellence (BASE), a prominent coaching academy in Bangalore, is a hub of activity. Two students are waiting to meet a teacher to clear their doubts; a few parents and students come in to check their results for the entrance exam to enrol in BASE. Some seemed happy, others seemed disappointed in the meantime a couple of parents wait with their child in tow, to speak to counsellors about their coaching options. It is summer – schools and colleges are not in session but some students are getting a head start. BASE is…

Riding on its recent success in Andhra Pradesh, the Lok Satta Party now plans to expand in other states focusing on urban voters in particular. Among the elections the party is looking ahead to is the contest for the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike council, due in a few weeks. In a recent visit to Bengaluru Jayaprakash Narayan founder and President of the party introduced Lok Satta Party to the city. Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan, founder of Lok Satta party. Courtesy: Wikimedia "Lok Satta Party is here to bring a new political culture," said Narayan, widely known as JP, adding that the…

There’s a thrill in leafing through the pages of a book that comes with inscriptions of multiple ex-owners, like my second hand Rule Brittania by Daphne Du Maurier from Blossom Book House, where most of Bangalore’s book loving public goes to hunt for second hand titles both obscure and regular. Incidentally, they also have a great collection of cult graphic titles such as Watchman, Batman, etc. “I buy only second hand books from there,” says content consultant Mansi Narang, who lives in Langford Town. Her reasons? “The books are cheap, in good condition, there’s great variety and best of all,…

Art, Resources, Training Trust (ART) on 12th July, 2009 screened Girish Kasarvalli’s Gulabi Talkies at the Badami House located near NR Circle. Renowned scholars from the field of Film- Studies and Literature took part in the discussion that followed the screening. This was ART’s second event.Although Sunday morning 10 AM did not see many Bengalureans at the screening, the regulars did not miss it: film-makers, artists and students. The event brought together scholars belonging to different institutions as well as Kasaravalli. Mamata Sagara, Kannada poet and faculty at Central University, Hyderabad, began the discussion by suggesting that Kasarvalli was a…

Sapaad brigade is a group of food enthusiasts that gather at Koshy's restaurant on St. Mark's road, every Thursday at 1 PM. After the group has gathered, they go visit one pre-selected restaurant which is well known for its food. Usually the restaurants selected are low cost, and relatively obscure. One person from the Sapaad Brigade group is selected to scout for such places and the final list is discussed within the group. By Thursday, a consensus is arrived at, and they spend the afternoon wining and dining at the selected restaurant. Citizen Matters Audio   Download Audio The group…

Joint pain, body ache, fever. This monsoon season, Bangaloreans have been hit by the viral. City hospitals are packed as patients line up to get themselves checked for dengue fever and chikungunya. Symptoms of Dengue Cause: Aedes aegypti mosquito, a day-biter High fever Severe headache Pain in the back of the eyes Body aches & joint pains Nausea or vomiting Skin rash Symptoms of Chikungunya Cause: Aedes aegypti mosquito, a day-biter High fever Severe pain & swelling in joints Skin rash Dengue fever, also known as break bone fever or bonecrusher disease is characterised by severe headache, muscle and joint…