bangalore journal

Trees, plants and shrubs are all important parts of the urban ecosystem. Without them there would be very little urban wildlife. It is impossible to separate the animal from its habitat and Bangalore has the privilege of having many varieties of flowering and non-flowering trees. These trees comprise of both native and non-native species that were introduced into the city. Some of these non-native trees have been in India for long that we take them to be native, some have adapted and flourished so well that we now call them ‘naturalised'. The Temple Tree. Pic: Vikram Nanjappa. The Frangipani ,…

Two months after their first auto boycott on August 12, Meter Jam - an initiative against menacing auto drivers - is organizing another boycott on October 12. In addition to Bangalore, the boycott will be held in Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi as well. Jammers in the city are hoping that the initiative will be successful, unlike the last boycott, during which autos were plying smoothly and many drivers did not even come to know about the initiative. "Last time the focus was on Mumbai, and Meter Jam was only starting to get popular in Bangalore. This time, around 40,000 online…

Also read Citizen Matters' article Call these helplines to report domestic violence cases Nirmala (name changed), a resident of Bengaluru, was subjected to repeated sexual torture by her alcoholic husband. Despite belonging to the Lingayat community, wherein people abstain from eating meat, Nirmala's husband not only ate meat but also forced her to cook it for him. She was a victim of both his sexual and verbal abuse. He regularly beat her up and locked her up in a room, while he spent all his income on liquor. In October 2007, Nirmala filed a case against her husband under the…

If you are a victim of domestic violence, there are a number of helplines available in Bengaluru, to report your case. One of them is being run by the Bangalore City Police (BCP), called Vanitha Sahaya Vani. Their helpline number was set up in 1999 to help "women in distress", across class, creed and communities. The BCP website says the helpline is operational between 8 am and 8 pm. An abused woman Who is or has been living in a shared household An abuser could be Husband Male - Live-in partner, Relatives of husband Any adult male with whom she…

Even as the BJP government totters this weekend, yet another scam in the government's favourite playground - Bengaluru city - stands exposed. For over three years now the spectre of the Akrama Sakrama Bill has been hanging over the city. The bill is meant to 'regularise' illegal buildings in return for owners paying penalties. The premise of such a bill is that the BBMP will otherwise put all measures in place to bring the percentage of violations down to the single digits (some percentage in every society will flout the law) with stiff penalties. Regularising illegal buildings is therefore imagined…

The much-awaited Endhiran, the most expensive film ever made in Asia, hit cinema halls in Bangalore last weekend. The film that has superstar Rajinikanth in a dual role tells the story of Professor Dr Vasigaran's (Rajinikanth) creation of  a super-intelligent android robot Chitti (also played by Rajinikanth). Complications ensue when Chitti discovers his human side. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan takes on the role of Sana, the professor's lady love and Danny Denzongpa is the evil mind all set to steal his idea. Like all Rajini films, this one relies on dialogues and punch lines delivered in the way that he tells…

p>In a series on environment-friendly initiatives, Citizen Matters introduces you to individuals and communities who are working hard to encourage sensible disposal of garbage. The first of the series takes you through the gates of an apartment complex in the southern part of the city, in JP Nagar. One block, Mayflower, in Brigade Millenium, hit upon the idea way back in 2008, to do something about the waste that was being generated. The drive, however, didn't convince all the residents. Only 30 out of 220 households are currently segregating their waste, while remaining still depend entirely on the BBMP garbage…

Most of us Bangaloreans consume eggs, whether as fried eggs or in cakes. But did you know where the egg on your plate comes from? From a factory or a farm? India is among the top five poultry producers in the world today; we did about 45 billion eggs in 2009, from 200 million caged hens. Life for the hen in an industrial poultry farm is inhuman, to put it mildly. Treated as mere egg-producing machines, these hens get less than an A4 sheet of space to live their entire lives; are fed with steroids in order to make them…

Around the time that the BBMP was deciding to include the menace of stray dogs in its agenda, on August 31st, 10-year-old Sameer was waiting for an injection in the series he has had to take, after being bitten badly by a dog outside his home in Jayanagar 4th T block. In the days since hearing about his injury, I have been counting dogs on our city streets, and am horrified that in a metropolis boasting about reaching for "world class status" we have  1.4 lakh strays (at last count - 2009) and  21,900 dog bite cases  (officially registered) in…

Golden Goddess. Pic: Ravi Kaushik. The various festivals that we celebrate in Bangalore ensure that we have an ever changing landscape dotted with electric goddesses like the above one.⊕