bangalore journal

Manjulatha, 25, died a few months ago while giving birth to her third child. She has left behind a five year old daughter and a two year old son. Manjulatha used to help her husband in his ragi fields and take care of the house also. Her daughter, Anitha is now forced to drop out of school to take care of her younger brother and look after the house while her father works in the field. Manjulatha's is not the only case of Gollahalli. There are several similar cases in this small village 35 kms from the Silicon city of…

Have you ever felt like bashing that driver who is incessantly honking behind you even though there is practically no space for your vehicle to move an inch? Have you ever wanted to have a remote that could mute the honkers of all the vehicles around you when stuck in traffic? Do you leave home during peak traffic hours and arrive at office irritated and mad because of all that infernal noise on the way? Do you feel like smashing those loudspeakers which have been blaring incessantly into the night? If yes, read on.Among pollution concerns of air, water, land,…

I live in one of the bylanes of Indiranagar. You know the one, the reality behind the facade of the pretty houses and trees. The place where most of the domestic help that works in the pretty houses lives. I quite enjoy it, everything is really 5 minutes away. Your local butcher, local greengrocer, local general store, local stationery walah, local phone recharge, local fishmonger. Also every political wannabe, political sycophant, political aspirant. These people who wouldn't dare to raise their little sheds with their blaring loudspeakers on the main road will do it in the bylanes. They have no…

Business & Economy 11 floor apartment to come up in just two months Well known property developers Golden Gates Properties is planning to construct an 11-floor apartment in just two months. An architectural firm called Hock has prepared the design for the building, to come up near Yeshawanthapur. An earthquake-resistant aluminum system used by the developers can enable the fast construction. (Kannada Prabha, Thursday, Sept 25) Floating hotel on Halasuru lake The Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) is planning to set up a floating hotel on Halasur lake (better known as Ulsoor lake) to attract tourists. Similar hotels have…

There are any number of destinations in and around Bangalore which need to be on your quick list of getaways for sightseeing, heritage visits, walks, trekking and more. Here is a lowdown on some of these popular places with descriptions, directions and much else. Heritage BuildingsBangalore Palace, Vidhana Soudha, Attara Kacheri/Karnataka High Court, Bangalore Fort & Tipu Sultan's Palace. ParksLalbagh Botanical Garden, Cubbon Park, Jawahar Bal Bhavan, Cariappa Memorial Park, Bannerghata Zoological Reserve. MuseumsGovernment Museum and Venkatappa Art Gallery, Sheshadri Iyer Memorial Hall, Visveswaraya Museum, Nehru Planetarium. LakesHebbal, Ulsoor, Sankey, Nagavara, Agara. City Tours and WalksCubbon Park (Sri Chamarajendra Park),…

rafiki is a theatre group from Bangalore. Established in 1998, it comprises a group of youngsters working in the fields of theatre, with particular focus on socio-economically backward street and working children in the age group of 7 to 14 years. Woyzeck is a German play written by Georg Buechner set in Prussia in the 1830s. I had watched one version of Woyzeck staged by Koothu-p-Pattarai of Chennai, at Ranga Shankara, sometime ago. When I realised that rafiki was staging it at Ranga Shankara, I was compelled to watch the new performance too. I was very glad I went. The…

There was a time, not so long ago, when I enjoyed driving in Bangalore (as it was then). The run from J.P. Nagar to Century Club in Cubbon Park was a breeze.No more. Things have changed – as they will. The human population has exploded; the vehicle population has increased even faster. Fuel prices have gone through the roof. Roads are proving inadequate and increasingly unusable. There is mounting recognition that the citizen should use public transport more and more. The Administration is undoubtedly doing its bit – except that it is falling woefully short of needs. The ancient ubiquitous…

Forms carefully filled, procedures checked and driving skills sharpened, does one stand a good chance of getting a driving license? Considering the general experience at RTOs, there can never be an answer in the affirmative every time. That absolutely nobody believes that licenses can be procured without paying bribes is the least of the RTO’s troubles. The department is fogged by confusions regarding procedures and mired in beaurocracy. Touts and agents at every RTO offering free, quick license in exchange for a few hundred rupees are commonplace. When it is not allegations of corruption, it is the irregularities in rules…

Come rains and most roads of the city are flooded. Some roads see potholes and muddy water all over, some lose their asphalt cover and some others are deformed. You may be surprised to know that the BBMP appoints private consultants to repair flood damage on roads with its own engineers. But the roads remain in bad shape even after that.In 2006, the BBMP formed a Flood Damage Control cell to carry out such road works. A total of 26 roads in the city were shortlisted for repairs with a budget of Rs.19 crores. All these road works were awarded…

From time to time newspapers report that an effort is to be made to improve footpaths (sidewalks, pavements) to benefit pedestrian movement. In 2005 and 2006 such statements came from the office of the Commissioner, BMP. In 2007 the Deccan Herald reported that the Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic & Security) had announced work on, ‘a policy dedicated to construction and maintenance of footpaths’. There is hardly any evidence on the ground of results from either initiative.Footpath access blocked by Police (Pic: S.G.Narayanamurthy)16th Cross kerb 2007 (Pic: S.G.Narayanamurthy)Bank van customers block Footpath (Pic: S.G.Narayanamurthy)Car equipping work on Footpath (Pic: S.G.Narayanamurthy)Cars…