GENRE: Voices

I answered the doorbell a few weeks ago to a blue inland letter. Selvaraj thatha, the resident guardian of my building smiled gummily at my furrowed brow as he handed it over. Late night online impulse purchases ensure a steady stream of parcels that thatha receives on my behalf, but an inland letter was a novelty and he was curious to know what had occasioned it. I gingerly eased open the letter and found that it was from my library. Among other things, the letter said that the good folks at Eloor library, Bangalore were looking forward to seeing me…

Now an annual fest at namma Turahalli forest, Turahalli Day was celebrated on December 6th 2015. The day began by around 6.30 am with people gathering under the banyan tree. Ganeshram and Anurag, who were there to go on a plant walk, were already in a ‘taxonomic’ discussion with Ravee. A few others joined them and off they went on a green path. Here's the highlight of the plant walk, in Ganeshram's words: "One of the topics that was underlying the whole walk was the importance of forests and native flora and how it affects us. The other was how knowledge…

I am not one for waxing nostalgic along the lines of “then and all, life was very simpall … now-man-days, it is all rotten sar, rotten means rotten only!” For me, history, personal history, is more often than not something to look upon with a certain amusement. Often, it is nice to revisit the past and draw whatever energy it can offer. I remember that childhood alliances and friendships were made and broken and re-made on momentous grounds. Take for example: matches. Not cricket matches, or the actual arsonist implements ex of Sivakasi. I refer to the labels that were…

Martin Luther King once said: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter".  Yesterday, Whitefield residents decided to break the silence by protesting against bad roads and infrastructure. A regular mundane Monday morning turned into a historical protest day, when over 8,000 people, mostly fed-up residents of the area, gathered in large crowds. Protesters dressed in black, holding placards. Pic: Deepa Ravi People got up early to attend the protest, leaving their daily chores, all united for a cause, a cause called #SaveWhitefield. People from different walks of life, across age-groups came together, and Bengaluru…

A reader wrote to us: "This article clearly violates the principle of Oorvani foundation (of non-partisan reporting)... this article from Mount Carmel event is clearly to support Rahul Gandhi as a politician." No. First, the article was not a staff report. It was the 'voice' of a student who reacted to media reports, basing her judgement on what she observed. It's the voice of a Bengalurean, and we believe every one of us has a right to express that, as long as it is articulated and reasoned. Read: Did the Mount Carmel students really stump Rahul Gandhi? Citizen Matters does not…

Pic courtesy: Facebook page of Akkai Padmashali Akkai Padmashali is a male-to-female trans-woman and gender activist. Her journey is one of courage and determination. In November 2015, Akkai became the first transgender to be awarded the Rajyotsava Award, the second highest civilian honor presented by the Karnataka State government for her work. Here are the edited excerpts of her interview with Radio Active CR 90.4 MHz. So, Akkai, can you tell us something about yourself? Akkai is just a normal simple human being. I was born a boy, but at the age of seven or eight, I felt a transformation…

The Ramagondanahalli-Borewell Road in Whitefield stretches more than two kilometres connecting Varthur Road to Borewell Road. This area falls under Ward  84, Hagduru under Mahadevapura constituency. This has about a thousand residential dwellings mostly in the form of flats and villas. With quite a few of them being relatively new apartments, there are at least about 600 families who are staying here at present and this number is expected cross 1,000 in the next few months. This road also is home to a beautiful lake named Sheelavanthana kere. Giant potholes and non-functional street lights on the Ramagondanahalli-Borewell Road in Whitefield.…

Edited excerpts of a student in Mount Carmel, Elixir Nahar's open letter, republished here with permission: A screengrab from Rahul Gandhi's talk at Mount Carmel As we students made our way past the lurking media and into our college campus, the fact of the matter was - this is about us, not them. It was going to be a friendly interaction between him and us, discussing matters that concern the youth and the country. We were definitely eager to see how he had tailored his interactive speech to suit our audience of young women. He opened with why he chose…

Dear Industry Captains in Bengaluru, Greetings from a Whitefield citizen. Without beating around the bush, I’ll straight away get into the topic. I’m going down the memory lane. In May 2008, when the news of the new BIAL airport opening and shutting down of HAL had surfaced, there was a lot of noise from industries. The highlight was that all of you, the Bengaluru-based IT-BT industry captains, had come out in full force and protested the closure of HAL airport according to this report. The distance to the new airport and the time taken to commute to the airport was…

Legislators from the ruling Congress have submitted a petition in the Assembly to remove Upalokayukta Justice Adi, on charges of overstepping jurisdiction. Meanwhile a group of citizens have written to the Chief Minister opposing the move. The Assembly also admitted a motion to impeach Lokayukta Bhaskar Rao. Upalokayukta Justice Adi addressing the press at Kaikondrahalli lake that he visited in 2013. Respected Chief Minister Shri Siddharamaiah, We, the citizens of Bangalore request your kind attention and intervention in the case related to the motion initiated in the State Assembly to remove Upa Lokayukta Justice Subhash B Adi. The Lokayukta is…