bangalore journal

It is 10.28 on Thursday 14 August morning when Praveen Sood, Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic and Security arrives at his office in a white Ambassador. The office is located in the most airy place of Shivajinagar, the second floor of the BMTC building in the bus stand. As citizens, we have numerous queries when it comes to traffic in the city. Most of us simply blame the traffic police for the mess. Our questions – the ones we discuss every evening before leaving our offices or when we come late the next day – are the same, but the…

Being involved in a community project in colleges through which we try to empower students to make an informed decision of whether to start their own company after they pass out of college, a thought struck my mind a couple of months ago. Students can do this only if they know the ground realities of being an entrepreneur - which is best achieved by talking to one. Part 1 of "Startup Savvy" People say a picture is worth thousand words, I thought, so why not make a documentary film on the life of entrepreneurs? A movie that will not only…

Jayanagar 5th Block is one of the oldest and planned locality in Jayanagar. The birth place of Infosys was at 5th Block. Many eminent personalities who lived/living include- Sri Narayana Murthy, Sri Sri Ravishankarji, noted poets Pu thi Narasimachar, Gopalakrishna Adiga, Shashi Deshpande, noted film personality Vishnuvardhan and noted physicist Padmasri Dr Ramanath Cowsik.The Resident Welfare Association is a 27 year old registered association and has been carrying out many developmental activites.As a part of the citizen charter (see Candidates converse with voters, the association had organised an interaction meeting with Jayanagar MLA, B N Vijay Kumar and officials of…

The traffic situation at the KR Puram Flyover Bridge makes for a miserable and highly frustrating experience. Nowadays, most Bangaloreans have to travel miles to reach their office or work place. In the midst of the journey, ordinary traffic state or jams are bearable but the situation of waiting at the same point for close to an hour is frustrating. The different issues I have noticed and faced at this junction are: • Cross roads access to and from the junction.• Roads narrows down terribly at the Railway bridge junction ... leading to huge congestion. The roads' width is just…

Called Kalpavriksha (‘the wish-fulfilling tree’) in Sanskrit (and also Ashwattha Vriksha), the Banyan tree is given a holy status in our culture, with Lord Krishna himself declaring “Among trees, I am the Ashwattha” in the Bhagavad Gita. In India, it is revered as a holy tree that enhances fertility. The Banyan symbolises eternal life due to its ability to support the extending canopy by its prop roots. Big Banyan Tree (Pic: Poornima Dasharathi)The word ‘Banyan’ is said to be derived from the word ‘Bania’, referring to the Indian traders who used to conduct their everyday business under the shade of…

The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL)’s plan for shopping space inside the to-be-built metro stations is likely to leave many displaced traders stranded. Except two stations, one on M G Road and the other at Byapanahalli, and possibly a third -- the Trinity Circle station, all other stations will not have shops inside, according to K Nagendra, Public Relations Officer at BMRCL. Nagendra says that Metro stations which will have provisions for parking lots and integrated transport facilities will be the ones earmarked for inclusion of shops. The other stations are going to be basic. The crane moves at…

I was in a miserable state of mind on Independence Day. The traffic nightmare that I was subjected to on the previous evening was the reason.On 14th August 2008 evening, there was a heavy downpour in Bangalore. My domestic help was to board the Rajdhani to Delhi scheduled to depart at 8.20 PM. We reside at Old Madras Road close to C.V.Raman Nagar. We started at 6.30 PM, a good 2 hours ahead. I cannot explain the nightmare that we went through....Horror Situations1. To engage an auto to take us to the station2. Negotiating a fare which was jacked up…

I get up in the morning and slip my feet into my house slippers, and the first twinge starts. If this is real rubber, is it OK? If it is synthetic rubber, is the manufacture of these slippers causing some harm to the environment?I switch on the geyser. Oh, am I consuming scarce electricity? Should I heat up water on the gas stove? But that will use up scarce LPG....Should I heat up the milk for my coffee on the gas stove or the microwave? And should I have the whole kitchen lighted up for this or just switch on…

Last week, IIM held a conference on the twin themes of Urban Government and Public Private Partnerships. A lot of different papers from around the world were submitted, and many speakers provided insights on how other countries are trying to innovate in these areas. I'll put up a link to the the presentations once they're all compiled, but in the meanwhile I want to draw attention to something that's been bothering me for a while.PPPs have typically been taken up to overcome shortages of capacities and funds in government. That is, we begin by saying that something good must be…

If the December 2005 terrorist attack on the Indian Institute of Science campus in Bangalore was the ‘wake up' call that Karnataka is no longer a State where internal security can be taken for granted, the July 25 serial bombs in the city have shaken Bangaloreans really hard. Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa admitted in the legislature that Bangalore has become ‘a safe haven for terrorists'. Terror in a wrapper. Pic: Vasu M N. Investigations into the serial blasts are being conducted by a special investigation team led by Joint Commissioner of Police Gopal B Hosur. No arrests have been…