GENRE: Voices

Co-authored by Dattatraya T Devare and Saurabh Ketkar If the train transformed the way we think about a nation and distance, then it is the car that has transformed the way we think about public spaces and community. Prior to the invention of the private motor car, the street was an integral part of the community; children played on them, people gathered to share news, exchange views and traded goods and services. After the car invaded this integral communal space, the way we look at the world around us has changed forever.  In India today, our citizens aspire to be…

If you want to be a professional sportsperson, what training options do you have in Bengaluru? Where do you go if you can't afford private coaching or training facilities? In this edition of Citizens Live, Olympian Pramila Aiyappa and para-athlete Shalini Saraswathi share their thoughts. Currently, there are only two major sports training facilities in Bengaluru - state government's Kanteerava Stadium, and central government's SAI (Sports Authority of India) centre in Kengeri. Pramila, a heptathlete who had trained at SAI, says that all facilities are not available under one roof. Currently a coach, Pramila had represented India in the 2000…

Madras week has not only been a celebration of heritage but also of the people who made the city. Over the years, many who called the city home have achieved remarkable feats in various fields to put Madras on the global map. One among  them is the mathematical genius, Srinivasa Ramanujan – The Man Who Knew Infinity. A walk through the Ramanujan Museum was organised this Madras Week by Rajith Nair a travel curator who regularly organizes heritage and cultural trips in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondicherry. The walk was a celebration of the life and times of Ramanujan, who…

Is ‘culture’ and its representation through art galleries ‘public’? This question came to my mind when I recently dropped by the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) Bengaluru after a gap of 6-7 months. When I attempted to walk in, a security guard stopped me at the gate, and asked me to buy a ticket. Surprised, I enquired if the gallery had started charging a parking fee, and pointed out that I was on foot. He said, “No, no, it’s entry fee. Everyone entering the compound has to pay.” Though he replied promptly, he seemed a bit annoyed. Perhaps other…

" City - A city is a large human settlement. Cities generally have extensive systems for housing, transportation, sanitation, utilities, land use, and communication. Their density facilitates interaction between people, government organizations and businesses, sometimes benefiting different parties in the process." (vocabulary.com) Bengaluru has many things to cherish - its beautiful climate, cosmopolitan atmosphere, major IT companies, gardens, lakes and more.  But this article is about another side of Bengaluru, or rather, the real side of Bengaluru. The Bengaluru that has poor traffic management, unplanned layouts, and roads where two cars cannot go at a time. Panathur road exemplifies this side of…

Co-authored by Dattatraya T Devare and Saurabh Ketkar There’s a saying by Gustavo Petra, Former Mayor of Bogota, Columbia that is often seen on social media posters and discussions on mobility. Petra says, and rightly so, “A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars, It’s where the rich use public transportation.” Perhaps the most critical element of any major city is its public transportation network. It is akin to the veins and arteries in our bodies, taking people from their homes to their destinations, to help the city build and grow. Without this crucial link, an…

It all started when a Facebook user Sandhya was browsing multiple online gifting sites for Rakshabandhan this year, and came across a website that sold ‘combo’ gift items for siblings. All that was fine, of course, except that there were some products designed and marketed in a way that specifically addressed one of the siblings as an adopted child, and in a manner that many found to be derogatory.  At a time when the concept of adoption is still not very well accepted in our society, the last thing we need is people making fun of an issue that has…

It will perhaps be a long time before Chennai can witness any spell of heavy rain without getting jitters over the nightmarish memory of December 2015. The 2015 floods that devastated the city exposed the state of urban planning in the city. The lack of resilience to natural disasters remains one of the greatest concerns of the people of one of India’s largest cities.  What should be noted is that certain parts of Chennai experienced greater flooding than others and this impacted rescue and relief efforts. Poor urban planning, coupled with an expanding population that requires more space, leads to…

It was in April 2018  that a bunch of enthusiasts banded together to make an increasingly chaotic Adyar, a more livable place. This led to a programme called 'Azhagiya Adyar' conducted last year at the KNRA Hall in collaboration with the Namma Ooru Foundation (NOF). The event was a big success and it encouraged the bunch to take the movement to higher levels.  It was around the same time that the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) announced plans to implement source segregation of waste, door-to-door collection and proper disposal by GCC of such segregated waste through composting, bio-methanation, recycling etc. We sensed…

Recent incidents of chain snatching as well as petty theft in our Vasanth Nagar neighbourhood made us realise we needed to do something. There were many dark spots due to the lack of uniform streetlighting -  random gaps between adjacent streetlights, and tree branches covering the light. So, Citizens for Citizens (C4C), a self-help citizens’ forum, decided to carry out a ‘streetlight survey’ in Vasanth Nagar. How are street lights maintained? BBMP has ward-wise contractors to maintain streetlights. If the contractors come to know of a defective streetlight, they may do repairs, but this system is unreliable. BBMP can also…