CITIZEN JOURNALISM

It is six months since I relocated to India from the US. I work in the IT sector for a reputed multinational firm (name withheld) in Bangalore. From outside, there is little difference between workplaces in US and India. After all, what does it take to have an IT set up - a floor divided into cubes, each cube having a four-legged desk with one or two big monitors, a keyboard, mouse and a nice ergonomic chair. Walls decorated with bright colours with inspiring quotes, conference rooms with big wooden tables and VOIP facility, a pantry area with coffee, soda…

"I took to street driving (just) a year ago, it was a moment of pride holding the trophy with my team" says an elated Rathiga B, winner of the ECO car category in the 6th Car Rally for the Blind 2012 held in June, in Bangalore. The rally is organised to foster friendship between visually challenged people and other citizens. Navigator Keshava Murthy all set with his Braille route to start off the Rally. Pic courtesy: S Srikarunya The organisers, 90 degree (an event management firm) and the National Association for the Blind, Karnataka teamed Rathiga with Keshava Murthy, an…

Some of us residents from Bellandur Ward, representing about 19 apartment complexes, in and around Sarjapur Road, Outer Ring Road and Haralur Road have decided to work together to find common solutions to the Solid Waste Management problem. We will also work together to identify vendors and if possible, standardize process. As I read what is written in newspapers and various discussion threads, I find a huge disconnect on one count. I believe people want to segregate provided we don’t make it sound like rocket science, which the newspapers do. Our apartment on Sarjapur Road had initiated segregation 18 months…

What do you mean by waste segregation? Waste segregation basically means keeping wet and dry wastes separately, so that dry can be recycled and wet waste can be composted. Why should I do it? So that it reduces waste that reaches landfills and reduces pollution to air and water So that different processes- composting, recycling, incineration can be applied to different kinds of waste How do I practice waste management at home? Keep separate containers for dry and wet waste in the kitchen Keep two bags for dry waste collection- paper and plastic , for the rest of the household…

Merrily Tobin visited Jalvayu Vihar (JVV - where I have lived since retiring from the Indian Navy) for the first time in 1993. JVV was then just three years old. She recalls, "There were hardly any birds out here. The trees were just about picking up and the campus had a dry, barren look about it JVV site, circa 1987. Courtesy: Wg.Cdr.KJ Batt Jalvayu Vihar: Under Construction – 1989 – Barren Main Road & water tower. Pic: Wg.Cdr.KJ Batt In the next few years, JVV grew greener; the birds began to take notice and slowly moved in and so did…

We had met Somesh, BDA Engineer in charge of lakes in South Bangalore, requesting him to take action against construction debris being dumped in Haralukunte Kere. He promised action. But nothing has happened so far. Dumping continues unabated, more of the lake is missing now, than when we complained back in July. Pic: Balasubramaniam Thirunavakkarasu At the same meeting, we were promised that two security guards or Home Guards, will keep watch at the lake, none have arrived so far. BDA did however send a letter to the HSR Layout Police Inspector on 5th September, asking them to cease the…

The September edition of SportsMeet witnessed talks by Arjuna awardee Reeth Abraham,  entrepreneur Gautam Mukherjee and student and hockey fan Manoj Mahala.SportsMeet is an informal monthly meet up for the sports professionals and enthusiasts.Winner of several medals in both national and international level, athlete Reeth Abraham, talked about - Giving back to sports. She said sports persons or people with sports background should occupy important positions in sports organisations; however this doesn’t happen much in India; Many Indian sportsmen came from poor or rural backgrounds as they saw sports as an opportunity to get a government job. Now due to…

The book "Selected Poems" - poems of Subramania Bharati translated from Tamil into English by Usha Rajagopalan was released in Bangalore on September 14th. Usha Rajagopalan and Geetha Srikrishnan. Pic: Arathi Manay Yajaman Usha's relationship with writing began in her childhood. "I was always into reading and writing, and assumed that it was a part of every child's life. My grandfather would insist I write a review on every book I read, and would later go through the reviews, marking out phrases or words that he thought were well used in the context, as well as those that could be…

Meet H Veeranna (30), who has now been working at “Park View”, a Darshini at J P Nagar III Phase (Mini Forest) for eight years out of the thirteen that this eatery has been in existence. He is certainly one of the reasons why this bustling eatery is thriving; he, and his colleagues, always deliver service with a smile, no matter how rushed it is. H Veeranna, who works in Park View Darshini, J P Nagar III Phase. Pic: Deepa Mohan Veeranna belongs to Kundapur, and came to Bangalore to make a living. “I am lucky and happy to be…

In 2011, I moved back to Bangalore from Seattle. I was conscious that I was not moving back to the city that I knew.For starters, I was moving to a part of the city that I needed getting used to. I had spent all my earlier Bangalore life around Chamarajpet and Srinagar, bang in the middle of the city. But now I had to negotiate Mallathahalli (which gets increasingly confused with the more famous Marathahalli), near Nagarabhavi. And it lay on the wrong side of Mysore Road and far off from anything and everything that mattered.Around 2005-2007 there was a…