Blogs

Hariprakash Agarwal, President, Suncity Apartment Owners Association (SAOA) and Director, Community Services at Rotary Club Bangalore Lakeside, shares this news for residents of Sarjapur Road, Outer Ring Road area.The Rotary Club Bangalore Lakeside, Suncity apartments, Sobha Group of apartments with the help of BBMP have taken up a tree plantation project. We had been planning to plant trees from long time adjacent to Belandur lake and we came to know that 5 June is World Environment Day hence we thought of celebrating it with planting about 500 to 1000 saplings. Most of the planting will happen near Suncity, Euphoria and…

Schools have reopened this week, just yet another excuse for jams. This jam on Harlur Road was nearly impossible to clear for a while, because vehicles in one direction clogged the road. An autorikshaw trying to turn back pushed a bike into the ditch. There was no space for the vehicles in the opposite direction coming in from Sarjapur Road to move on. A gridlock. Similar situation on Sarjapur Road... An all too common occurrence. Small roads, small jams; Bigroads, bigger jams. ⊕

On the cycling community I belong to, we have been having a discussion about insuring one's cycle against theft, and this article was cited:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Now-get-your-bicycle-and-your-life-insured-/articleshow/5515102.cmsThis article does not address the other part of insurance: what you will have to face when trying to get the insurance company to pay in the event of your cycle being lost.I have said it earlier, and I'll say it again...do not just purchase the insurance (not just for your cycle, but of any kind) but look carefully at the small print, and ask the person who is selling you the insurance, really pointed questions. A…

Lakhs of students, millions of books, thousands of trees! It’s that time of the year again. All parents are busy collecting books from schools and covering them in brown paper sheets. They are busy shopping for school supplies. New uniforms, new bags, new tiffin sets. Why? If last year’s set is in good shape, why buy again? The schools expect every student to buy books from them, often at a marked-up price. They also make it compulsory to buy brown paper sheets, often plastic coated and notebook labels. What’s the use of covering notebooks? If the idea is to reduce…

Past few weeks have seen a few incidents of mugging near Outer Ring Road/Sarjapur Road area.In mid-May, a resident of Sun City apartments and employee at a tech firm located on ORR was stopped by two men, accusing him of causing an accident. The person threatened tried to reason with them, and later using some pretext, drove into his office nearby. He left his car there, and enlisted the help of his company HR department, who helped him get home.  Earlier, there was a more serious and similar incident: a resident was forced to stop his car by two men…

   The skies over Indiranagar turn an orange hue after some unexpected quick rains. Pic by Ravi Kaushik ⊕

Kaikondrahalli Lake is in the news in our neighbourhood. Some of our active residents are working with BBMP Lake Project which is rejuvenating the lake. Dredging work is almost done and bunds on the side are getting constructed. Meanwhile, a young Springfields apartment resident, Rajul Ramchandani, a student of Delhi Public School, has made a short video. He has submitted the video to India Water Portal's Lost Lakes of Bangalore. The Lost Lakes of Bangalore is a project to document Bengaluru’s many tanks and lakes which have vanished with urbanization and growth. See the video here: The parallel activity that…

Why is it that many of us lack manners and consideration. Is it the way we were brought up or we display our pushiness in minor things when most other things are beyond our control. Is the nature of Bangaloreans changing?  Usha Vaidyanathan writes about a fusion performance by Dr L Subramaniam, Ambi Subramaniam, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Ernie Watts and Corky Siegel at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, earlier this year, disturbed by some obnoxious members of the audience. Should not the organizers escort such people out? Who will bell the cat?The doors were closed at 7:05 and the invocation began. Just as…

At a time when Bengaluru is facing acute water shortage, call it ironic that over 400 half-litre bottles (costing Rs 8 each) of mineral water were consumed during the two-day special ‘water' session of the BBMP council. Only one corporator, Congress's K Poornima (Basavanapura, Ward 53) pointed out to this, requesting Mayor S K Nataraj to ensure that smaller bottles are provided or to make it compulsory for all corporators to carry the bottles back with them instead of leaving them in the council hall, half-consumed. Poornima's appeal may well have fallen on deaf ears. It is unfortunate that many…

Film actress Ramya has come out in favour of extending deadlines of restaurants and pubs to 2 am (DNA, May 20). Minister Renukacharya raised the issue this year. Extending pub deadlines is one regular topic that comes up every year.But does rest of Bangalore have to shut shop so early?Nothing is open post dinner here! Outsiders term this a sleepy city, where nothing opens before 10 am and everybody closes by 8 pm. Retailers may say there is no crowd after 9 pm. But there are more and more working-couple families who will find it convenient to shop late. They…