GENRE: Voices

Having been a resident of Madras for 20 years, I finally got an opportunity to visit the Buckingham Canal, through a walk organised for celebrating Madras week. Cochrane Canal, Clive Canal, East Coast Canal, North Canal (in Basin Bridge side), South Canal (in Adyar side) and finally Buckingham Canal. A bit of research revealed that these are the various names by which the Canal was known over the years. Interesting, isn’t it? I wanted to know more about the men after whom the canal was named at different points in history. Nineteen of us, all from different backgrounds, began our…

It has been a year since Dr D Karthikeyan took charge as the Commissioner of Greater Chennai Corporation. Within a few months of him taking charge as the commissioner, he was accorded the additional responsibility of holding the Special Officer’s post in the absence of a council which ended its term last October. GCC is not new to Karthikeyan. It is for the third time that he is serving as the Commissioner of the Greater Chennai Corporation. In a quick chat with Citizen Matters, the Corporation Commissioner speaks about some of the significant issues bothering the city. Excerpts from the…

In an essay, ‘A Tale of Three cities and the search for Dharma’, sociologist and author Arshia Sattar examines the three cities depicted in the epic Ramayana. Ayodhya, the human city, Kishkindha, the monkey city and finally Lanka, the rakshasa city, each governed by codes of behaviour depending on who resides in them. As she puts it, in the cities, “ways of being and doing are determined and unalterable”. The ‘codes’ in each city are remarkably different, each allowing for a different kind of morality and way to live. The only similarity between them is that each upholds a certain…

A girl lies bleeding for 30 minutes, in a park, after a ladder attached to a slide falls on her head. When she finally gets medical help, it’s too late. Who killed Priya? Each one of us! Those who are responsible for keeping the park safe and accessible for the kids... Passersby busy taking pictures and sharing it in Whatsapp instead of helping find medical attention... we residents who did not raising the issue of dangerous play equipment when we notice it… All of us are responsible. As long as it is not happening in our own backyard and oury…

In a day's time, India will celebrate yet another Independence Day. The usual chest thumping will happen, followed by posts of jawans' sacrifices, Rehman's Vande Maataram, snippets of the "Tryst with Destiny" speech, and salutes to the tricolour. While I personally don't like this overt display, it is a fact that India will justifiably, proudly and loudly, reaffirm its democratic ideals, and its increasingly prominent place in the comity of nations. It is also a good time to introspect, and instil this same sense of pride that we have of our country, in our states, our cities and villages, and…

Where did that banana peel go? Where does it go when it leaves my home? Where does it go when it leaves my street? Where does it go when it leaves my city? We throw away so much. But where does it all go? Bengaluru city generates approximately 4,000 tonnes of waste everyday but where does this all go? Nobody cares where it goes, we only want it to leave our houses, our streets, our neighborhoods and our city. While there are policies like the ‘2 Bin 1 Bag’, which has been directed by the  Karnataka High Court to Bengalureans…

I am no stranger to metro systems. I’ve up hiked the spiral staircases of Paris’ metro, impatiently waited in a dark tunnel when my line broke down while on the London Tube, poured buckets of sweat in the graffiti adorned underground train to Rome’s neighboring beach town, fervently watched street performers in the bowels of Washington D.C.’s network of underground metro tunnels and have spent much of my time riding my own city’s eccentrically named Seattle Link Light rail through canopies of tree cover and rain specked windows. I have traveled some of the biggest cities of the world on…

India’s urban population has grown by 32% from 2001 to 2011 as compared to an 18% growth in total population of the country. As per Census 2011, 31% of the country’s population (377 million people) live in cities, and contribute to 63% of the country’s GDP. The urban population is projected to grow up to 600 million by 2031. With increasing urban population, the need for providing better infrastructure and services in cities is increasing. The government has introduced several schemes to address different urban issues.  These include the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Smart Cities Mission, Heritage City Development…

Invariably these days visitors to our Puttenahalli Lake in J.P. Nagar 7th Phase ask one question - what are those floating platforms in the water? Those of you who follow our updates on the lake would know that these are the Artificial Floating Islands we had first introduced in June last year. That was also when we signed an MoU with the BMS College of Engineering to test the lake water every month. Three prototype islands were joined by more. The plant species in the platforms increased and the water sampling points went up from four to seven. The BMS reports…

'Quest for equity – reclaiming social justice, revisiting Ambedker’ was a three day international conference organised by the Government of Karnataka to mark the 126th birth anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru between 21st - 23rd  23rd July. IAS officer P Manivannan was part of the team organising the conference; he shares his experience. Many renowned speakers mentioned that they never attended any such a huge conference on Dr Ambedkar, in their life time. Indeed, just to dismantle the temporary structures, it took 10 days! Now that the last part of the work on the…