DIARY

Day 1: September 27, 2013 It was a very pleasant day. Crowne Plaza in electronic City was teeming with life. The first day of the Bangalore Literature Festival had kick-started. Unsurprisingly, Friday saw the smallest attendance due to it being a work day. The line-up for Friday’s panels featured a variety of famous faces ranging from Sri Sri Ravishankar and TV Mohandas Pai to Farhan Akhtar. Being the first day of the Literature Festival, I had made the decision to meander between talks. At first it had seemed like a smart idea. I thought it would allow me to get…

Two friends and I were returning from Nandi Hills when the sight of this Chameleon brought us to a screeching halt. What a beauty! Luckily, it had not been flattened by traffic on the other side of the road, and was already on our side. It goose-stepped, or should I say, chameleon-stepped, into the grass verge. Watch this video, the progress of the reptile is funny, to say the least! Here it is, closer to the grass verge: It then climbed on to a rock: And disappeared into the shelter of the leaves and greenery: From there, we could see…

I was taking my cycle to the ‘Fitness Through Travel’ to get it lubed properly for the race on Sunday. As I passed the playground near 19th Main (BTM Layout), I noticed a young woman in filthy clothes lying unconscious near the grills of the ground. A lot of young men were playing in the ground, paying no attention to her. Everyone was just glancing at her and moving away with the assumption that she was drunk. I too started moving away, but then I noticed dried blood around her foot. I felt bad, went near her and woke her…

The increase in fares 15 days back was as usual a hole burner in starting stages - fare of Rs.8 has become rs.9 and fare of Rs.9 is now Rs.12/- but does BMTC really think they make money this way? Consider my own example here. Travelling from Marathahalli to J P Nagar 6th phase, I get direct bus in mornings - but in return I need to change over at the Marenhalli signal for last 2 kms for which the fare works out to be Rs.9/-. On an average of 3 working days, I generally walk down home for the…

It was one of those humid and dry Bangalore summer days when I stepped out with my friend and future roommate Manjusha to look out for accommodation in the city. The journey from Kumbalgodu to Marathalli took the two of us almost three whole hours. We weren’t discouraged as we were in one of those victorious moods – we were recruited by a leading news agency.It was a prestigious and laudable moment in our lives; hence the long BMTC journey seemed very petty. Our bus halted at this seemingly bizarre location, which looked like a cross between a highway and…

17:39:38 Water water everywhere! Pic: Shree D N It was while hurrying back from Vijayanagar to Malleshwaram that we happened to meet this ‘all-time high,’ ‘10-cm’ record rain for Bangalore. Such a rain is not new to me personally - it was a regular during my childhood days, in my village in Kerala. And trust me, there were no unwanted incidents or accidents there, due to rain, except for occasional breaking of Areca trees. Both my husband and I, though stuck in a traffic jam, were enjoying the rain, sitting in the car. After 20 minutes, I got the first…

When I dropped by the office to see if I could help Citizen Matters with election coverage, I had no idea what to expect. Half an hour into our conversation, I’m asked if I want to interview Uday Garudachar, standing for elections in Chickpet on a BJP ticket. "Does your phone record calls?" Here was a man whose company’s chequered history I'd been following for the last three months while volunteering at Ejipura. And here was the one chance I had to speak to him on record; but my phone had no internal memory for a voice recorder app. I…

Note: This website will soon be migrated to a new system.  If you face any issues, do mail us. You can also reach us through Twitter or Facebook! Bengaluru This Week Get our free weekly newsletter. Name Email Bengaluru This Week archives. As I scrolled through some Facebook updates last week, I saw a note shared by my friend. It talked about a Political Action Internship by Prof Rajeev Gowda, an eminent personality who teaches at IIM Bangalore. I read through the note and it interested me. This turned out to be a great workshop covering some topics and uncovering many…

"Ticket!!!" he screams at me, looking scandalised about the fact that the bus had already left from the bus stop and I didn't have a ticket yet. "13 rupees. Ticket!!!" he exclaims, as I pull out a 20 rupee note, due to the lack of loose change. He throws me a look venomous enough to turn Medusa herself into a stone. Ashamed of myself for not carrying change, I quietly allow myself to be pulled, pushed and generally tossed in every direction as the driver ensures that the speed breakers don't fulfil their purpose. Volvo buses usually have some space…

Earlier this month, I sent the following letter to the The Chief Justice of Karnataka regarding storm water drains, an issue that I have tried to take up with the concerned government authorities without much success. Remarks that the High Court (HC) of Karnataka made on storm water drains prompted me to write this.The Chief JusticeHigh Court of KarnatakaBangalore 560001 March 13, 2013KIND ATTN: The Honourable Judges of Karnataka High CourtSubject: STORM WATER DRAINS (SWD's) IN BANGALORE CITYI understand from the newspapers that the Honourable Court is seized with a matter concerning storm water drains in the city and has…