Basavanagudi

We have several group for senior citizens in our city, but today (16 Jan,2019) I attended a meet of senior citizens...the common factor between them being that their children are living in Portland, Oregon, in the western seaboard of the USA! The group, all of whom are on WhatsApp, is called "PDX BLR Friends", and is an offshoot of "PDX Seniors" in the city of Portland. The venue chosen for the morning meet was another "senior" of Basavanagudi, Vidyarthi Bhavan, which has existed since 1943. I spoke to Sri Venkatesh Rao, who had used the Metro to arrive at the…

If you are one among the lakhs of voters of Basavanagudi, this is what you need to know! Background information Understand the role of the MLA Learn all you can about the candidates: see below Locate your voting booth: TBD How to cast your vote: TBD Incumbent MLA: Ravi Subramanya L A How did Ravi Subramanya L A spend his Local Area Development (LAD) funds? Tracking Ravisubramnya L A in the news Interview: TDB Related info: http://opencity.in/information/karnataka-election-candidate-profile-ravi-subramanya-l-a List of candidates, 2018: Sankleshpur Gundappa Sitaram Aam Aadmi Party Family: Wife & 2 Dependents Educational Qualification: MBA Profession: Service in Private Oil…

Bangalore became the land of opportunity for many people since the IT boom in the late 90s. But what was Bengaluru like earlier? A glimpse into the past, through this photo essay that captures three houses from the 40s, 60s and 70s. These three houses which are roughly 40, 50 and 70 years old, all located in south Bengaluru - two in Jayanagar and one in Basavanagudi. Both are planned neighbourhoods - Basavanagudi is one of the oldest planned areas of the city. It was proposed in 1898 as one of the extensions to the City or Pettah in order…

Waste management is a hot topic in Bengaluru these days. With so many ways to compost, reuse and recycle, the possibilities are endless. But where do you start? You have a bucket of kitchen waste and an area perfect for a small garden just waiting to be utilised. How do you get from discarded eggshells and browning banana peels to nutrient-packed soil and eventually a thriving vegetable garden? Basavanagudi in Bengaluru hosted a Composting Santhe (fair) on June 25, Sunday, to answer questions on composting and promote home gardening. The five-hour event saw a crowd of all ages interested in…

On Sunday morning, we did a walk in the Basavanagudi neighbourhood. It was not an “early morning walk” but a walk that started only at 9am after breakfast was done. Just to make it a little easier for everyone. It was a walk conducted for my students in a course I'm teaching this semester on the Everyday City at the Azim Premji University. The open courses at APU are elective courses offered once a week over the semester for students in the Masters Programs in Development / Education / Public Policy & Governance. The focus of the Everyday City course…

The idea of the 'Everyday city' is based on the concept of Everyday Urbanism that was proposed in 1999 by Margaret Crawford & others, wherein the city is seen above all as a social product and which focuses on informal urban spaces. They point out that it is not what the planning initiates for the city but what the people seem to generate as an outcome of their everyday needs. How relevant is this in the context of the Indian city? And, how does it work for Bangalore & other cities? What is the Everyday city here? Is it ...…

154 - Basavanagudi   A few lakhs have been spent in this ward for "Purchase of Land and Construction of Houses, Hostels, Ambedkar Bhavan (Incl Prev yr Bal. Bills)" - a pattern that is repeated in many wards including Koramangala. Basavanagudi happens to be the ward of Katte Satyanarayana, the ex-mayor of BBMP. The population in the ward seems to have bulged over four years, with population of 2011 census showing only 32,640 people in the ward, while voter list for 2015 BBMP elections says there are 39,184 voters in 1.2 sq kms! This means the population is still higher.…

Come February, Bengaluru’s trees burst into spectacular blooms, and the play of colours continues through the year. The second edition of Neralu, a citizen-led Urban Tree Festival will be organised on February 7, 8 and 14 February at multiple venues. Neralu, which translates to ‘shade’ in Kannada, has been planned to coincide with the blooming season in the city. It will bring citizens together to celebrate the garden city’s glorious natural heritage. Bound by a common love for trees, naturalists, ecologists, artists, technologists, storytellers, homemakers, photographers, students and citizens from all walks of life have come together to put together…

In the past few months, I've been looking at how people continue to worship trees in Bangalore and how this can generate community space for a neighbourhood. I have been specifically looking at the Peepul tree and its ability to create places of memory and cultural value. The Peepul tree, also known as the Ashvattha in Sanskrit literature is a type of Fig tree (Ficus Religiosa) and the platform around it is locally called ashwath katte. While my research focus has been on how the practice of tree worship contributes to the territorial production of urban space, I have also been…

Placemaking is an approach to the design and management of public spaces that draws upon the strengths and aspirations of the local community. Whereas ‘space’ is a physical entity, a ‘place’ is imbued with memories and evolves as people interact with each other socially and culturally in the public realm. It is a term that Architects and Urban Planners in the western countries began to use in the 1970s to describe the process of creating parks, plazas and streets that could attract people. In India, the street was already a vibrant place with a family celebrating a wedding; the temple deities…