Blogs

While walking home from my daughter's, I caught the sunlight, slanting in beams in the dusty morning air: Ironic that it's the pollution in our air which shows up the shafts of sunlight! The scene also illustrates why traffic problems in our city, and country, are rather more complicated than elsewhere. There is such a variety of vehicles, motorized and non-motorized; two-, three- and four-wheelers jostling for the road, and amidst all the chaos, the hapless pedestrians, making their way too. I wish I'd been able to capture the bullock-cart that went past just before I clicked! For all the…

We like to celebrate Kannada Rajyotsava Day with many symbols, including the flag of the state... But when we do, it would be good to remember those for whom such symbols are not merely a matter of emotion, but are a way to make a living. I was happy to see only cloth flags being sold...I couldn't see any plastic ones!

Once in a while our best laid plans go awry at the lake. For instance, from the time the lake was getting rejuvenated in early 2010, we had reserved a prime space for a Red-Silk Cotton tree (Bombax ceiba). It is deciduous but the flowers more than make up for the absence of leaves. The beautiful bright red flowers attract birds in hordes. They visit not just for the nectar but also for the water that collects in the cup like flower. But it seemed impossible to get a sapling. Finally, Mr. Ramachandran, a regular visitor to the lake got…

Nothing will change in India, what is the point in protesting? WRONG. Let me tell you a success story from today. Around August of last year, #CitizensForBengaluru, my favourite (and my own :)) citizens movement started a campaign to establish Ward Committees in all 198 wards of Bengaluru. Sounds like Greek? Every ward in every city of India is meant to have a committee to help administer it, deliver ward works like street lights, good roads, garbage management and the like, and create and manage it's budget. This is mandated by the 74th Amendment of the Constitution. This committee, consisting…

Today, an urban citizen lives in a concrete jungle, with no connection to nature. No one knows where the food they eat comes from. More and more agriculture area is getting converted to residential and there is not enough land left for growing food. This has also led to a percentage of population trying to grow what they can in their surroundings, in the available space. Terrace gardens are such attempts, gaining popularity in cities.   An Organic Terrace Vegetable Garden at your home is easy to create. Fresh home-grown vegetables taste delicious, are good for health and safe from synthesized…

I was invited to inaugurate Pavitha Ashwin's solo show at Chitra Kala Parishath (CKP) on the 11th of October.     The artist was very welcoming, as was her friend Bharati Suraj, who curated her works, to come up with a stunning show that highlighted Pavitha's love for nature and birds in particular. Bharati also brought out the evolution of Pavitha's talent from 2006, when she started painting to her recent work. Pavitha with friends at her show I found that Pavitha's ouvre extended to more than just simple portraits; I was particularly struck by her "Eyes of the Owl" series, and…

We are looking for two Full-time interns for this research project in Bangalore on: Ashwath katte (tree worship) as a sustainable urban space The research will look at the practice of tree worship which continues to be a part of the everyday life of the people in the city. Specifically, it will look at how the Peepul tree shrine and the raised platform around it, locally called the ashwath katte has developed as a sustainable urban space. Using spatial ethnography and oral history methods, we will attempt to understand how the katte can help sustain not only environmental practices but…

Two years ago on this day 8000 Bengalureans formed a human chain saying #SteelFlyoverBeda. The unprecedented public opposition forced the government to scrap the controversial 6.7 km ₹2000 crore steel flyover. CfB was born out of this citizen movement. To mark the second anniversary of citizens coming together, today CfB met the Mayor of Bengaluru and urged her to institute monthly ward committee meetings starting Nov 1st. Attached the letter submitted to the Mayor. Srinivas Alavilli, one of the founders of CfB said “I always look at #SteelFlyoverBeda as a tipping point - that infused fresh energy into citizen activism…

When the roads are choked with traffic, why cannot such senseless vehicles, with just one person driving them, blocking up the road space, be banned? Such ad vehicles get my goat on all fronts: pollution, traffic congestion, and commercialism at the cost of everything else.

While there have been attempts to formally plan the growth of a city, this has not proved to be successful in many parts of the world. Informality does play a significant role in several cities, especially those that are in the emerging economies. For those working in the informal sector, access to capital is limited and resources are not plentiful. The informal worker or the street vendor therefore borrows from the public spaces of the city where no price or a small price can reduce or eliminate the overheads related to rent or ownership of a space. In a study…