GENRE: Voices

It’s the end of a long week. My wife and I decide to relax by eating out, and visit a famed joint in South Bengaluru. We are in for a major disappointment as soon as we land at the joint. There is a long serpentine queue and the waiters are ushering in hungry customers into the waiting room after making them wait for a period of one hour. The crowd at the joint is swelling by the minute and the support staff is really irascible now. This is the scene at most of the old joints in Bengaluru that are…

On a recent trip driving past North Delhi towards Haryana, I noticed what looked like a mountain range in the distance. This was a pleasant surprise as I was not aware that there were any hills in the region. As I came closer, I realised it was not a range but a single peak. I came still closer and to my horror, realised that this was no natural mountain range. This was a mountain yes, but a mountain of trash! From the side that I was approaching, it looked like one long thin strip of a natural mountain. And then…

As the city gears up for celebrations of Madras Day (or Week), like every year I go back in my own time machine to reminisce about the city and in particular my locality. Fortunately, I have been living in the same locality - intersection of Anna Nagar West and Villivakkam - since my school days and have seen the rapid development and transformation of both areas. Long before 100 Feet Road became the link to all parts of the city, I remember casually hopping across this road to reach my school. The other prominent road was the New Avadi Road,…

Dear Chief Minister of Karnataka, With great urgency, in your very first budget, you have announced an undebated ‘Elevated Corridor’ project that has not had public consultation, and followed no due process. Another project is an untested technology called ‘Pod Taxi’, again not following any due process or transparency! These are listed neither in the master plan for Bengaluru, nor in any integrated mobility plan for the city. These will impact the 1.2 crore residents of the city in many ways. The Elevated Corridors project will cost the exchequer Rs. 34,000 crores, 151 acres of land, and almost 4000 trees.…

Election Commission of India (ECI) approved a proposal of a programme for Special Summary Revision of Electoral Rolls, by the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka (CEO-KA). Of the nine listed activities in the letter, we the citizens should note the following: 1. House to house visit by BLOs 16 Jul to 10 Aug 2018 2. Rationalisation of Polling Stations 27 Aug to 15 Sep 2018 3. Publication of integrated electoral rolls 10 Oct 2018 4. Period for claims and objections 10 Oct to 20 Nov 2018 5. Disposal of claims and objections by 20 Dec 2018 6. Final publication of electoral…

We fondly remember Bangalore as the garden city - tree-lined streets, an incomparable quality of life, and the glorious weather. Many of us, who had the opportunity to leave the city and our neighbourhood, came rushing back. That was how deep our love for the city has been for generations now. But today, when Kaggadasapura residents step out of our four walls of homes and offices, our hearts bleed. Why? Because Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) deems it fit to use the centre of Kaggadasapura - a central and populous residential area and home to diverse demographics and age groups…

Dear Sir, Sub: Multiplied pedestrian problems after you chose to make your personal residence in J P Nagar 3rd Phase your official residence. I am an 82-year-old resident of J P Nagar in Bengaluru. I shifted my residence from Yelahanka to JP nagar 3rd Phase, closer to the current Chief Minister's house. Due to security protocols around the Chief Minister’s home, the police are forced to clamp restrictions on vehicle movement and parking in the surroundings. This is causing  severe problems to pedestrians, particularly senior citizens, persons with disabilities, school children and mothers accompanying school children. Footpaths are clogged with…

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the month with a "visual" move. He read out and defiantly tore a report sent by Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal on the installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance camera systems in the capital. The LG's document referred to a monitoring panel, police licensing and public suggestions for installation of CCTV cameras. It said that every owner and data controller of camera systems culling information from the public needs to disclose the "purpose, number, location, manner of usage, handling and storage of data or information" as well as other related details. However, the CM is of…

"He will be missed, his extraordinary literary prowess, his political acumen, his satirical humour, his eloquent web of lyrical Tamil will all be missed.", says Aruna Subramaniam, a management consultant and active Chennai citizen, who remembers seeing Muthuvel Karunanidhi, or Kalaignar as he was called, with her uncle and his friends, on Marina beach in the days of 'less crowds, glittering sand, friendly sundal vendors, and the delicious Rita ice cream carts.' The sentiment is echoed by most Chennaiites of an older vintage today. The last of the titans is gone, and there is a deep sense of loss -…

It was 5.40 pm on a Monday evening. I had just swiped out of my office and walked briskly towards the Vydehi hospital junction in Whitefield, Bengaluru. The traffic was heavier than normal and the entire route towards Graphite India junction had come to a grinding halt. The wait at the BMTC bus stop would invariably be five to ten minutes to catch the buses going towards Big Bazaar and Metro. I remembered reading on Facebook about the new train feeder to Metro, that leaves Whitefield at 6.15 pm halting at Hoodi at 6.25 pm and then reaching Baiyappanahalli at…