bangalore journal

Zooni*, a 20-year-old resident of Yeshwantpur and a sex worker "by chance and not by choice," as she puts it, is a typical example of a woman who was driven into the sex trade as a result of being caught in a bad marriage. Public pledge to end AIDS, displayed at Bhoruka Charitable Trust's testing centre. BCT is an NGO funded by KSAPS. Pic: Deepa Ranganathan. Married at the age of 17, Zooni was impregnated by her husband, whom she describes as "a drunkard," months after their marriage. He abandoned her last year, but has continued to demand sex and…

Raadha 2010, an annual dance and collaborative arts festival was organsed by Raadha Kalpa between the 29th of October and 15th November across various venues in the city. Raadha Kalpa, founded by Rukmini Vijayakumar, a Bangalore based classical and modern dancer and choreographer, is an organization dedicated to the promotion of art and culture through performance, teaching and artistic collaboration. The Indian traditional ideals are communicated in Bharatanatyam, maintaining the purity of the classical form, and utilizing innovation within the classical context. Rukmini, one of the most talented artistes of the city holds a degree in Modern dance and Classical…

As part of the  "How to make Bangalore clean" drive BBMP and Solid Waste Management Round Table (SWMRT) were at Russel Market to educate the vendors at Russell Market, Shivajinagar on waste segregation at source. The drive was launched on November 14th. Built in 1927 Russell Market is still one of the most crowded and famous markets in the city, known for its variety of meat and seafood. Some of the rarest, exotic vegetables, fruits and flowers can also be found in Russell Market. One of the predominant reasons Russell market has lost its charm is the fact is the…

Castle Street in the heart the city has turned into a nightmare for residents of the road. Almost four months ago, KPTCL dug up the road to lay their lines which took over a month to be completed. Contractors were hired and water and sewage lines of most of the homes on the road were damaged during the digging. Requests for the lines to be repaired fell on deaf ears and finally private plumbers were hired by most residents to repair their lines. Immediately, BBMP issued notices to the residents and in some cases threatened to take them to the…

Why don't shark attack lawyers? Professional Courtesy!However lawyers with failing practice are sharks minus the teeth.  Lacking the ferocity, the honourable practitioners of law turn to fictional tales of courtroom victories to rope in unsuspecting clients - RangaTantra"Bandavaalavillada badayi " loosely translates to "Bluffing with no bounds", The  central character of this play is Ahoblu Rao, a practicing lawyer who is, practice challenged.  While his limited courtroom success partly explains his living condition, his is a story affected by a no-nonsense wife, getting nowhere son, assistants who expect to be paid for their services and clients who don't expect to…

After repeated extortion attempts by Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) members from their stores, Bengaluru-headquartered printing solutions company Printo filed a complaint against the organisation on Tuesday. The complaint was filed at the Commercial Street police station after eight KRV activists allegedly threatened to ransack the company's Infantry Road outlet. However, an FIR itself was not filed. Printo has 14 centres in Bengaluru. KRV is a pro-kannada organisation with branches all over Karnataka. Customers waiting for printing services Pic: Navya P K The activists allegedly asked Andrew Abishek, Store Manager at the outlet on Wednesday night, to print 200 photos of…

"In my site the sewage treatment plant (STP) is going to be transferred from the builder to the association soon and we need to know more about STP engineering and maintenance", says Ragupati S, 37, a first-time estate manager at Concorde Sylvan View, a gated community in Electronic City. Estate managers oversee maintenance operations for residential complexes, increasingly being called 'gated communities'. They are usually employees of the owners' associations. Dr Ananth Kodavasal giving participants a tour on the workings of an sewage treatment plant. Pic: Apartment Adda. Ragupati was one among over 40 estate managers who attended a recent…

It's curtains up for the first sequel of David Yates' two-part epic film Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows. As in the book, this film has Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) setting out to find the deathly hallows, even as a final battle with Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) looms large in the horizon. This film will always have a huge attraction for Harry Potter fans, as it's their last link with an obsession that kept them occupied for a good part of the last decade. Yet while Philosopher's Stone remains my favourite Harry Potter film,…

After 26 years of service in the state and central government, former IAS officer T R Raghunandan now heads ipaidabribe.com (IPAB), an initiative by the NGO Janaagraha, to tackle corruption. Three months after its launch, the site now has 2350 reports from all over the country from the public on paying/not paying bribes. Around 1050 of these reports are from Bengaluru. Bengaluru-based Raghunandan, 51, has served as Secretary of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj for Karnataka and as Joint Secretary in the Union Ministry of Panchayat Raj, before retiring voluntarily in 2009. He is a consultant on fiscal decentralisation and…

Sunrise at Bilekal Rangaswamy Betta. Pic: Deepa Mohan. When four friends from varying backgrounds share a love for the outdoors, and decide to do something about it, a good initiative is born. The four friends are Anand Sankar, Lionel Prem Lobo, Srinidhi Raghavendra and Sandeep Komarla, and together, they've created Basic Halli, a tented eco-resort a little beyond Kanakapura, about 70 km. from Bangalore. Anand had organized a bird survey in the area, so I had gone with a group of  fellow naturalists,  to  document the bird (and butterfly) species in the vicinity. "Our location is a great plus," smiles…