GENRE: Voices

On Thursday, November 9, at 7:30 pm, Aditi (name changed) walked down a major thoroughfare in Mylapore, wading through a seeming ocean of people, towards Sai Baba Temple. They were there to pray to Shirdi Sai Baba (1838-1915), a saint who is considered by devotees today to be the representation of the supreme God. It is often said that Sai Baba grants anything a devotee asks for. A paduka, or wooden footwear, of the saint had been brought to the temple from Shirdi, the saint’s hometown, and they would soon be paraded along the streets around the temple. Aditi saw…

Even in the dusky season of retirement, when one is meant to finally relax having successfully shouldered the responsibilities of a lifetime, the elderly today have creases of concern on their faces, as they find interests rates for their investments falling. “Retirement has not been too exciting for me,” exclaims Anantharaman, who completed service two years ago. “I had planned for it to be special and I had put aside some money in fixed deposits (FDs). However, I had never imagined that the interest rates on our FD assets after retirement would be hit thus.” Well, they have been. And…

Everyday when I wake up, I start my day by estimating the amount of time it would take for me to reach work. Normal routine involves catching a bus from the nearest bus stop. But it is nearly impossible to reach there without wading through mud scooped out from the drains mixed with cow dung, growing weeds and a family of pigs heading for their breakfast into the nearby stormwater drain. Only after a few really overcrowded buses bursting at the seams pass by, I decide to walk it to Bellandur bus stop which takes merely 20 minutes away. I…

It’s clear we grew up reading about the kings of yore, who planted trees, dug wells and laid roads. That is indeed what we expect from our current crop of leaders. Thank you all for an overwhelming response to the contest. We know the Mayor has limited powers, yet we adopted the theme, to impress the importance of a city leader, one who has the authority and complete responsibility for the entire city. That is indeed what the submissions highlighted — the imagination of a mayor who could get things done. A few writers lamented the better days gone by,…

Power can be taken, but not given. The process of the taking is empowerment in itself. - Gloria Steinem. Until T.N. Seshan became the Chief Election Commissioner of India, the public did not know much about the Election Commission and the powers it had. We’ve seen individuals infusing life into public institutions that were seen as ‘weak’ or ‘ceremonial’. I will draw inspiration from such stories to leverage my one year term as Mayor of this great city Bengaluru. My strategy would be to elevate the stature of the Mayor’s office, take up a small but significant set of things…

Clause 60 of The Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act of 1976 (KMCA) lists down the power and functions of the Mayor. The powers include: presiding over BBMP council meetings; conducting inspections and directing BBMP Commissioner to implement any resolution passed by the Corporation or the Standing Committees and produce records. Other sections of the Act also delegate more powers to the Mayor like barring a councillor from voting and casting a vote in case of tie while passing a resolution. However, the interesting aspect to note here is that the Mayor does not enjoy any executive powers and is mostly a…

On a sunny-cool afternoon, joining more than a 100 “orange” rallyists to protest violence on women sounds a bit violent. However, it really can’t get more peaceful when you are standing in silence. At the Gandhi Square. With placards that shout out a word that may strike many men as some breaking news: NO! No to violence, No to tyranny and No to No. Does it spring a surprise to the guys who think it is witty and macho to attack women? Yes. Surprisingly. It does. Saying ‘No’ is a rule that men only recently discovered women can say. Even…

I was following the articles posted about Mayors of other cities outside of India, and how as Mayor of their city they could achieve a lot. Of course, the lingering question is, are we really comparing apples to apples? Does the Mayor in our country have the similar responsibility and authority like a Mayor in a Philadelphia OR New York City? So here are my practical reasons why I would NEVER want to be Mayor of Bengaluru, it is almost as close or worse than being the Chief Minister of Delhi! There’s a saying in kannada, ಆಟಕ್ಕೆ ಉಂಟು ಲೆಕ್ಕಕ್ಕೆ ಇಲ್ಲ…

சமீப காலமாக நாம் அதிகம் எதிர்கொள்ளும் காதல் நிராகரிப்பு கொலைகள் ஆண் சமுதாயத்தின் மீதான நம்பிக்கையையே புரட்டிப் போடுவதாக உள்ளது. இது போன்ற நிகழ்வுகள் அதிக அளவில் நடக்க என்ன காரணம் என்று உங்களின் பலரைப் போலவே எங்களுக்குள்ளும் ஆதங்கம் மேலோங்கியது. இது போன்ற நிலைமை அமைவதை பற்றியும், எதிர்கொள்வது பற்றியும் பிரபல மனநல நிபுணரிடமும், முண்ணணி திரைப்பட இயக்குனரிடமும் அறிந்து கொள்ள முற்பட்டோம். நம் உடலில் ஏற்படும் வலிக்கு எவ்வாறு நம் மூளை செயல்படுகிறதோ அதே போன்று தான் நிராகரிப்பு ஏற்படும் பொழுது செயல்படுகிறது எனக் கூறுகிறார் பிரபல மனநல வல்லுநர் மினி ராவ். ஆனால் உடல் வலியை மறப்பது போல் எளிதில் நிராகரிப்பு ஏற்படுத்தும் வலியை மறக்க இயலாது. அந்த உணர்ச்சி வடுக்கள் நீண்ட நேரம் ஆழப் பதிந்திருக்கும். இதுவே சுய மரியாதை, தன்னம்பிக்கை ஆகியவற்றை கேள்விக்குறியாக்கும். எதிர்கொள்வது எப்படி? சாதுவான பெண் முதல் நம்மிடம் மிகவும் நட்பாக…

Last Friday, my visit to a friend’s place was reminiscent of a typical journey that most of us are so accustomed to in Namma Bengaluru. Meandering through the famed Brigade Road in order to connect to Bannerghatta side of the city, it took a good 15 minutes just to cross the stretch of 200m. As we crossed the signal, we couldn’t see an apparent reason for the delay in moving across the street. There are no feeder streets coming onto this road to cause any conflict in the flow. On further introspection it can be realised that the real culprit…