bangalore

"The only difference is that there is a gate", declared my friend who resides in one such place. "We decided to come here only because of the security; now we know that it's just an eyewash", she added. That set me thinking. How different is the houses in gated communities to the others? Do the residents NRIs or foreigners want a home away from home? Expats in Bangalore take pride in stating that they don't live in Whitefield whereas we Indians still do. I have tried to highlight the similarities or differences under certain common headers. Note: These are just…

In my search to find a method to recycle grey water from the washing machine, I chanced upon an exciting alternative to detergents: Soap Nut (Sapindus Mukorossi, locally called  Ritha or soap kai). Of course, it is not something new – our grandparents and parents have used it frequently to wash silks and expensive garments. However, in today's scenario, I think this little nut has a vital role to play.  Most significantly, washing with soap nut does not pollute the water like the detergents. It also conserves water while using the washing machine since there's no soapy residue to rinse…

It's been a month now and I still can't stop myself from rushing to the terrace in the morning, after a night of heavy rain. After several months of seeking ways (unsuccessfully!) to harvest rainwater for our apartment, we had arrived at an elementary solution. Most local experts whose advice and opinion we sought were unable to help. Even the internet tips were of little use since they dealt with individual houses and/or entire apartment buildings. Though our terrace is fairly large, we realised that the catchment area (the area which directly receives the rainfall and provides water to the…

This is the first of an article series that will strive to cover anything and everything to do with sports in Bangalore.To begin with, football in Bangalore is an art form, and the players, artists. I've heard people say, "It takes a football match in Bangalore to know Classical Indian Football", and it was on Saturday the 8th of November, that I fully understood the statement.I was returning from the Karnataka State Football Association building after a failed bid to meet the Secretary, and was walking back towards Airport Road. The detour freak that I am, I took another road…

It's a whole different experience to watch India's most popular game at the stadium. The crowd, the buzz, watching players warm up, huge shouts as Tendulkar walks in, boos when there is a war of words between the teams, there are no Ad breaks here or replays - the atmosphere is enticing and you become a part of it. My friends and I entered the KSCA stadium, we passed the security check (five security guards and two metal detectors) and raced up the stairs to get a good view of the players(there are no seat numbers in our gate). It…

What is the authoritative answer on what documents are needed if your vehicle is stopped for checking? An RTI application was filed with Bangalore's police department to find this out. You might say why need RTI application for this. We all produce our driving licence and vehicle papers if a traffic constable stops us. Many of us 'negotiate' the fine amount and pay, or we show our papers and move on.But do we know if the constable is even asking for correct documents or, more importantly, if he is entitled to check the vehicles and collect a fine? More than…

"The problem", remarked a friend wistfully as we stood up amidst stifled murmurs and blasé one-liners, "is that they think we're really stupid and we think just the same about them." I looked at her and nodded as we began to repeat after the voice blaring from the speakers. After we were finished taking oath, she clarified concernedly, "neither is entirely true you know!" So college started a few weeks ago, and we third-years had been practicing cocky swaggers, meaning to intimidate the fresh troop of students that will enter college next week. The new entrants are, with fashionable indifference,…

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…

It was a quiet Saturday afternoon on the first of March this year that Citizen Matters, Bangalore's first online community news publication went live for the city public. The two of us at Oorvani Media, and Gokul Janga at Tecdost, our technology friends, had had a frantic week. March 1st was our final deadline, and we were not going to miss this. Working furiously at our keyboards, it was around 5.30 p.m, that we had addressed the last of the publishing wrinkles that were fighting for our attention, and gave the finishing touches for the launch version of www.citizenmatters.in. We…