GENRE: Voices

“I want to make Chennai the Detroit of Asia.” That is what the late Jayalalithaa told me during an interview in the 1990s during her first term as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Chennai (or Madras as it was then) had already had a history of automobile industry, with the presence of Standard Motors in the suburb of Perungalathur and Hindustan Motors in nearby Thiruvallur. Of course, at the time that she made her assertion, Standard Motors was already dead, but Hindustan Motors, the makers of the old warhorse Ambassador cars, was still alive and kicking. So were Ashok…

TenderSURE roads in Bengaluru have been the topic of debate for a few years now. While the designs shown in presentations are only schematic and not open to public scruitiny, the execution of the project on many roads has drawn criticism from public. Jahnavi Pai, an environment enthusiast, has done a study on the environment-friendly quotient of a TenderSURE design. According to her, The space for roots is not enough to help the tree grow, according to the drawings of TenderSURE design available in public domain. This could be a major drawback as far as trees are concerned. The rainwater…

In the wake of the Indian government’s decision to demonetise currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 from the market, and ensuing restrictions on withdrawing money from banks, the common man has had to grapple with considerable liquidity challenges. More than three weeks since the announcement, those primarily using cash as trading currency are still facing a crunch. ATM queues, paucity of lower denomination notes, confusion over exchange and withdrawal policies linger. For a citizenry used to working with cash, this appears as an insurmountable hurdle. They are just at their wits’ end. The government, however, has been pitching…

Cycle Days are catching up fast in every locality in Bengaluru. The Open Streets concept that the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) has brought in through these Cycle Days has been one of the best things that has happened to the city in recent times. Yes, once upon a time when we were kids, the vehicular population in the city wasn't so dense. We were able to play kunta bille, jootaata and other games on the streets. However, today we are not even able to cross the roads without a traffic signal or police intervention.Vehicles rule the roads, and…

That plastic is at the root of our waste woes and in fact, of most environmental risks besieging the planet today is well-acknowledged. In Bengaluru, even before the official ban on plastic by the state government, alert neighbourhoods and citizen groups had started their own campaigns against the use of plastic. However much of the dialogue that one gets to hear is against the use of plastic 'carry-bags' that most people have grown used to. While these pose a menace indeed, are the ubiquitious plastic bags (polythene) the only form of plastic that ends up in our landfills? If we…

Those of you who visited Puttenahalli Lake within the past few months may have noticed small platforms floating in the water. These are Artificial Floating Islands (AFIs) which we "launched" in June this year. The Vetiver and Canna planted in them are growing beautifully. PNLIT trustee Nupur, her husband Pranshu Jain together with our gardener, Jayanna, are the builders of five AFIs. With volunteers from Deloitte making two last Friday we now have seven AFIs.  Artificial floating islands at Puttenahalli lake A coot's nest in one of the floating islands   Deloitte volunteers with the AFIs they made, 25-Nov-2016   Artificial Floating Island…

Are you frustrated by traffic delays in Bengaluru? Do you know how much time you and others are wasting due to traffic jams! While everyone in Bengaluru complains about the traffic problems of the city, very few invest their personal time and capability to critically analyze problems and identify solutions.Volunteers from Whitefield Rising with the help of MapsHalli have found a way to analyze traffic problems. The idea is to use technology to analyze realtime Google traffic data to help Bengaluru traffic police, commuters, and city planners to take action.The team chose the Outer Ring Road section from Mahadevapura to…

Whitefield Habba is an initiative to bring together people belonging to diverse backgrounds and residing in different parts of BBMP's Mahadevapura Zone. To be held at Whitefield's oldest spot - Inner Circle ground - the fest is 'by the people, of the people and for the people' of the locality. Organized by citizens' group Whitefield Rising on the occasion of Karnataka Rajyotsava, the six-hour event will celebrate the rich culture, craftsand cuisines of the state. As the attached poster mentions, a variety of stalls, skits, songs, dances and games promise to make it a memorable event for the entire family. It is an opportunity to experience traditional entertainment like Dollu Kunita, Mallakhamba and Gardua Gumbe, alongside music by our Anglo-Indian settlers and art by recent migrants to…

It was supposed to be a quick route to get to South Bengaluru from the western part of the city, which it was during the 90s, when the portion of Ring Road linking Bannerghatta Road to Mysore Road opened. I was pursuing my post-graduation at a business school in JP Nagar then and would manage to reach Banashankari and JP Nagar that were next to the same road, in just half an hour from Vijayanagar even in the early 2000s. However, things started going downhill around 2003. My rides got longer. I relocated to Hyderabad in 2004 and was relieved…

Recently, in the midst of the furore over the Government of Karnataka’s ‘Steel Flyover’ announcement and the subsequent ‘BEDA’ protest that hogged headlines as well as social media space, the launch of a new railway station on Bengaluru’s map went quietly unnoticed. The brand new Hoodi Railway Station was inaugurated on September 29, 2016 by P C Mohan, Member of Parliament for Bengaluru Central Loksabha constituency, and MLA of Mahadevpura Arvind Limbavali and Sanjeev Agarwal, Deputy Regional Manager (DRM), South Western Railway. Pic: Khader Syed Hoodi is situated between K R Puram and Whitefield. It is home to Bengaluru’s IT…