Blogs

Very often, complicated social problems are left to activists and NGOs to battle governments for resolution. But our politics being where it is, these issues never get settled with the clarity and force that they merit, and in turn they come back to bite us at the local level.This week’s lead story on the Hijra problem at JP Nagar is a clear case of such a felt-and-seen local ‘irritant’. Shopkeepers are tired of shelling out money to groups of Bengaluru’s Hijras day after day. Commuters at intersections have their own encounters to report. However, the Hijras are themselves ostracised in…

Different language, faith(religion), caste. Similar socio-economic background, residential neighbourhood, age and school. Do they divide or unite? Fortunately the latter in most cases I have encountered over several years of teaching and counselling children from low income families. Although the children are very conscious of the differences. And highlight them without hesitating to be direct when they deem necessary! But, gender identification and stereotyping builds in early in the kids and increases as they enter teenage. I discovered this with Srikant, a class V government school student who refused to sit beside any of the girls despite insufficient chairs among…

Background: Negotiations are a part of life, whether it is in business or in the political arena, whether it is in selling a company or buying a stake in a business or raising venture capital for your company. In the last week of sessions of the MPWE 2009 at IIMB (Management Programme for Women Entrepreneurs) we had a negotiations role play for purchase/sale of a business. The participants were divided into 8 teams, 4 representing the buy side and 4 the sell side. We therefore had 4 sets of negotiations. The learnings of this were so good that I wanted…

Manjushree Abhinav, one of our writers has written a book, A Grasshopper's Pilgrimage. The book is being released in Bangalore by well known actor Tom Alter at the Crosswords bookstore tomorrow on 16th of May, 6.30 PM. The event is open to all. Tom Alter and first-time author, Manjushree will both read from the book, which is a story of a young woman who happens to be tugged by the spiritual call and jumps about, trying to avoid it. It is classified as spiritual fiction. One review describes the book thus: "A Grasshopper's Pilgrimage spirals in directions unpredictable as it…

Ever come across a worker from the unorganized sector striving hard to ensure that her/his daughter(s) and son(s) study? Probe a little and most probably the girl(s) will be in a government school and the boy(s) in a private or a government funded English medium school. The latter have a better student-teacher ratio and the teachers are motivated or at least compelled to teach properly and regularly. Further, the parents and teachers are held accountable for the children's presence and performance. Unlike the vernacular medium government schools!   Talking to Joseph, a fruit vendor in Benson Town whose regular customer…

Are you a victim of wrong footing on dog poop, while walking on a footpath? Well, you are not alone; this is the nightmare of every Bangalorean, who like me prefers to walk on the pavement, which is made for pedestrians and not for dogs to answer their morning call. One pleasant morning I decide to walk to work and my first encounter is footpaths dotted with dog excrement and I like many other pedestrians is forced to play snakes and ladders while walking. I am not blaming dogs for relieving themselves; neither do I want to punish them for…

As stewards of this local publication, we are often at the intersection of a variety of public voices, energies and attitudes. This fortnight, we’ll present to you three different sides to one larger emerging story.One, is the usual scenario of frustration. The unending delays and ubiquitous inefficiency in any public works projects appears to draw only a feeble response.The pushy few complain that their fellow citizens are full of apathy. The only pressure citizens appear to able to put on local authorities is repeated phone calls, and a closeddoor meeting or two. There are isolated successes, and life moves on.…

Here's a message written by my fellow-volunteer at Hasiru Usiru, Kanishka Lahiri: The protests opposing the current plans of the Bangalore Metro in the southern reach have been well publicized in the mainstream media. As a result, they have elicited statements from politicians across party lines supporting the suggestion that the design and alignment of the metro be re-examined before further work is taken up. Interestingly, yesterday, the Chief Minister has made an adamant statement saying there cannot be any change to the current plan of the Metro. Why then, did his Transport Minister state otherwise in a pre-election statement?…

It was the first time I was actually testing out the walking track here and believe me, this was refreshing. The walking surface is a wee bit rough but who cares, with the kind of visual panorama that unfolds as you take that long curve half-way around the lake. Your starting point is near the Foto Flash outlet and you can go right up to the Gurudwara, where you turn around for the return journey. I couldn't time my stretch, because I was stopping every five minutes to take a picture. The evenings at the lake front can also get…

All children I have voluntarily tutored (often, first generation literates from low income families)  over the last several years yearn to become fluent in English irrespective of the languages they speak or study in. And their parents' common refrain "Yenga pasangalum ungala maari dasu busu nu English lo pesanum" (our children must also converse fluently in English like you) has compelled the children and me to make frequent attempts to use English.   But, considering that they mainly converse in their mother tongue and/or the principal language of their neighbourhood, it is a challenge for them to find an environment…