DIARY

Cops were wiring me up with two tiny hidden video-cameras, two audio recorders, stuffing thousands of rupees in my pockets and briefing me like a military commander does his cadets prior to an offensive. One pocket had 1,000-rupee notes sullied with detective powder that would turn pink as evidence if dipped in treated water. A cameraman was recording this process. Had it not been for missing flood-lights and makeup artists, it could have been mistaken for a 007-style film shooting.This was on Wednesday, February 3rd. Inside the Lokayukta building, with instructions from Additional Director General of Police Rupak K Dutta…

Well, 'Bus day' was a day full of excitement, anxiety and fun. Thanks to BMTC and all those folks involved in the brilliant initiative of ‘Bus Day' in Bengaluru. Ever since I took the bus to my office in the morning, I had rented out my ears, eyes and mind to the happenings around me.Most of the social networking sites: Facebook, Twitter, Orkut carried a lot of updates on ‘Bus Day'. I could see many of my fellow buddies tweeting about them. They would read as "BMTC here I come... #busday" or "Took the bus to work today on #busday…

My daily journey from my home at Kaggadasapura, C V Raman Nagar to my office at Seshadripuram starts at 8.30 AM in the morning. The distance is about 15 kilometres. I generally take 40 minutes on my two wheeler to reach office. Traffic condition deters me to take out my four wheeler and I find my motorbike more convenient.I had never considered public transport as an alternative. The 'Bus Day' initiative intrigued me and I wanted to give it a try.My travel to office can be summed up as follows: I started off at around 8.20 AM. Fifteen minutes of…

It was around 2.10 AM, wee hours of February 4th. Bus Day. I had spoken to my friends over the weekend about this and totally forgot about it. Around the same time I SMSed (Short Messaging Service) as many people as I could reminding them of the day. I got two responses and also saw two Facebook (an online social networking site) status messages posted about the day.I woke up early thinking that I might take longer to reach work by bus. However, I eventually ended up setting out for work around the same time that I generally do every…

Bangalore Bus day! For all those who are crying hoarse about Bangalore's transport system this must come as a shock. What is there to celebrate you say? Let me take you on a trip down memory lane and you tell me.My schooling started with bus commutes, morning and evening. That means 16 years of friendship with the six wheeled wonder. Back in the '80s there weren't so many buses. I used to take the route number 137 from Yeshwanthpur to Ulsoor which would be available only once in two hours. Almost always, the buses were jam packed and foot board…

The annular solar eclipse on January 15th provided a good opportunity for a live physics lesson. Several children and adults gathered on the terrace of Mayflower block of Brigade Millennium to view the eclipse through solar goggles and simple pin-hole cameras.  Balakrishnan explaining the working of the pin-hole camera. Pic: Arathi Manay Yajaman. Children trying out the pin-hole camera themselves. Pic: Arathi Manay Yajaman. The image of the eclipse captured by the pin-hole camera. Pic: Arathi Manay Yajaman. ⊕

The first dayOn Saturday the 12th of December, I left my house ready to reconnect with my childhood, at the Children’s film festival, part of the Bangalore Habba 2009. As I went up the escalator towards the movie theatre, the numerous posters and signs, left me in no doubt that I was in the right place. It was 9.50 AM when I reached the ticket counter.I excitedly asked for passes which were supposed to be available at the venue. The man behind the counter looked at me, somewhat amused and told me he couldn’t issue me a pass because I…

Dry waste, wet waste, metal waste, e-waste, bio-waste, plastic waste. How many dustbins should I keep at home to segregate these many waste matters? Read this article by Sandhya who was part of the team that set up the waste management system at Brigade Regency Apartments. This is what struck me when I read a circular from the Brigade Regency Owners’ Association, making waste segregation compulsory and for a moment I thought I would crumple it up and dump it in the dustbin. Brigade Regency Apartments is where I live. Being a resident here, I felt “these guys are stretching…

Some weeks ago I was driving my red Omni car through the Richmond Town area, heading towards Domlur. I needed to turn right at Johnson Market-Hosur Road towards Austin Town. It was close to noon and traffic is often sparse at that time of day. The light was green and I followed the other moving vehicles. Suddenly, the traffic from the other side started moving. It was then apparent that the light had turned red for us and I had failed to stop. I managed to avoid the oncoming vehicles and complete the turn into the right lane, only to…

If there was one city in  the newly independent India that was a real moviegoer’s delight, it had to be Bangalore.  In the early ‘50s, cinema theatres in Bangalore used to  show films in many languages - Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. Few years later, Malayalam and Bengali movies could also be seen in morning shows. In that sense Bangalore was probably the most cosmopolitan town in the country. Such a varied taste in films was a reflection of tolerant  and eclectic mindset  of the natives. May be this was also the way the foundation  for a pan-Indian city…