CITIZEN JOURNALISM

The fruit and vegetable market at Nagarthpet. Pic: Aruna L I had a sneak peek into old Bangalore through a heritage walk organised by www.unhurried.in and I am so glad that someone is taking the initiative to let us all know about the heritage of the city we live in. I had heard of such walks in the temple town of Madurai, which is basically for foodies, but I could not be part of it when I went to Madurai. It is great that something like it has started in our own sweet little Bangalore. There is so much to Bangalore that we are…

Google search gives about 8,17,000 results for a ghar wapsi (home coming or re-conversion of religion). Member of Parliament Sakshi Maharaj says, ” [it] is no conversion but just a process to guide these people to the faith where they actually belong.” Budhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islam and Christianity and many other religions all grew by converting believers of other religions. Conversions from these religions would then be ghar wapsi. However, adding fuel to fire, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and Hyderabad MP, Asaduddin Owaisi, told in a public speech that every person is born a Muslim and later converted to other faiths. Thus…

Respected Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, I was delighted to read yesterday’s newspaper report in The Times of India (Only 97 city high-rises have occupancy certificates) that said that your government would “take suitable action against builders who flout the building bye-laws”. As you have rightly said, those who have violated the laws need to be punished, but while this is being done, steps need to be taken to prevent this violation from happening in the first place. It is distressing to note that "only 97 high-rise buildings in the city have obtained OCs between 2009 and 2014". This means that there are…

Most of us are familiar with the Reverse Osmosis (RO) water purifier technology that has been around for a few years now, even if not using it. While it seems to be widely accepted that RO-based purifiers are suitable for water supplies having high TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) content, debates have been on about the effects on our health due to the demineralized water that we consume after the RO-purification. Demineralisation aside, I would like to turn to one glaring feature of this technology in its current form: water runoff–that is, the non-potable water that an RO-purifier generates during the…

Pic: Bharath Rajshekhar I have been told time and again that the cow is holy, and I have believed it until I was witness to this... a shocker, the most disturbing incident. I had been to Chickpet to buy some electrical appliances and was sitting in the shop waiting for my things to be packed. Suddenly, a big cow appeared in front of the shop. The emptiness in its eyes gave me the impression that its stomach might be empty too. I proposed to the shopkeeper that we offer her something to eat, maybe some bananas. I was taken aback when he…

High Street Park in Cooke Town is a hub of activity like any other park. Children of all ages come here to play and meet friends. Though the park is earmarked for children below the age of ten, the terrain is rocky, making it hard for the children to utilise the entire park. Also while the park did recently get some new play equipment, the old broken ones were not replaced. Recently BBMP handed over the park to the local resident’s association, Resident Welfare Association, Bangalore East (REWABE). The Association has been trying to find avenues to raise funds for…

WR Open House. Come see what this is all about! A year and a half of existence. Over 40 projects initiated. 4500 Facebook members. Over 100 active doers. Increasing visibility for Whitefield. Good engagement with Government. Brookefield, Hoodi and ECC Rising are emerging. Postive changes happening, slowly but surely. Come join and instantly be a part of the change. There are no fees, no mandates, no organization structure. Its not an NGO, a trust or a club. Its just like minded residents that have had enough of the status quo and want to make a difference. Come, engage and empower…

On November 26 and in the days before, police in Bangalore, India, rounded up more than 150 hijras and put them in a concentration camp. (Hijra is a traditional term, across much of South Asia, for people born males who who identify either as women or as a third gender.)  At Orinam, an online resource for LGBT issues in India, human rights lawyer Gowthaman Ranganathan tells the story: Approximately 167 members of the transgender community have been taken away by the police and kept at the Beggars’ colony. These detentions have been entirely arbitrary … Most detainees were not on the streets begging or doing any act that is prohibited…

The Prime Minister’s recent call for a clean India notwithstanding, the authorities are content dumping truckloads of rubble right in the middle of the city as a “solution” of sorts. In fact, this has been going on for almost at least two years and it is startling that this has gone on for such a long time. At Hosur road, coming from Bommanahalli, as you walk below the Silk Board flyover, you can notice mountains of rubble under the flyover – this, a solution to discourage the vehicles to go on the other side of Hosur road. There’s a No-Entry…

Pic: Sreerekh VidyadharanPic: Sreerekh VidyadharanPic: Sreerekh Vidyadharan‹ › $(document).ready(function(){ $('.carousel .carousel-inner .item').first().attr('class', 'active item');}); Ramamurthy Nagar witnessed a rare occurence on the morning of November 23rd 2014. Parents along with students of Jaigopal Garodia Rashtrotthana Vidyakendra (JGRVK) in collaboration with the BBMP, Ward Corporator and residents of the area, were out on the streets at 7 am; not to protest, but on a Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, with brooms and other equipment in hand. This initiative was not only meant to make a difference in Ramamurthy Nagar, but also to serve as an inspiration to people in other schools and localities to…