GENRE: Voices

This is an idea of how Chalukya Circle (CC) Junction and surrounding areas can be made signal-free with existing infrastructure. The idea if implemented will make the following four bottle necks signal free and cross-traffic free. Chalukya Circle AG's Office signal on Palace Road Palace Road-Sankey Road Junction Miller Tank Bund Road-Sankey Road.  The following roads lead into and away from the circle.  Raj Bhavan Road - one way from Raj Bhavan to Chalukya Circle Race Course Road - two way Palace Road from Maharani's college side - two way Palace Road towards Cunningham Road - one way towards Cunningham…

There are two separate issues in the Bangalore Club case, which the government is now trying to tackle through a law. And of the two, only one is legitimate. The first issue is whether Indian dress code should be disallowed from any premises, even a private one. I don't think so. It's not nice, and some would say it seems undignified. Possibly. But if a private group wants to set up rules for its own members, and they're all ok with it, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. By the same token, if the government wants to wage war…

Bangalore has a lot of problems. Here is a  guide to solve Bangalore's problem in 20 short steps. Cut some trees. Form a committee with a catchy name - B-SOMETHING. Involve famous citizens - KMS, NM, NN etc. Don't analyse the problem. Analysis is for losers. Cut some more trees. Come up with an absurd suggestion which will cost several thousand crores. Cut some more trees. Lament the loss of green cover in Bangalore. Assure everyone that for every tree you cut, you will plant 10 more. Hand out lucrative contracts to your friends for planting `saplings'. Start your absurd…

A couple of months ago I wrote a couple of articles on my struggle to get a lamppost repaired on the street where I live. The issue was not that the light was faulty—but 15th Cross Malleshwaram is supposed to be a 'model road' where the utilities are buried under the footpath. However, a BBMP repairman who had come to repair a streetlight next to it had just connected a wire from the lamppost to the streetlight about 10 feet above the ground. I requested him to do a proper job but he did not heed to my request. Apart…

Pic courtesy: Quickr.com Every year as the raindrops start falling on other parts of the nation, freshly graduated software engineers start dropping on Bengaluru and hence starts their battle of finding an inhabitable place. They say you appreciate your life after you overcome some struggle. The good people of Namma Bengaluru took it by heart then, I guess. The “To Let”, “PG for gents” or “PG for ladies” boards in this city are as ubiquitous as the baristas. And the thing is, they are all equally bad in value for money. When immigrants move to Bengaluru, one of the first…

The Right to Education Act has to be amended, to have any chance of succeeding. In fact, almost certainly, without amendments it will do more harm than good, and there is enough evidence of this happening already. Four common-sense steps will help. (a) The regulation of the education sector has to be separated from the Education departments of states. The regulator should be able to oversee the functioning of both public schools and private schools. (b) Unaided schools should be exempt from this law, and instead be brought under a new voluntary-mandatory mix like has been done for CSR in…

Nandini curd and milk packets bought on the same day. Both show different dates, with no clarity on whether it is use-by date or date of manufacture. Pic: Shree DN Milk has benign associations – of innocence, goodness and wholesomeness, unlike other (invigorating) drinks. But Nandini milk, marketed by the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF which boasts of being one of the largest in south India) is calling those images of wholesomeness into question with tactics that flout statutory guidelines. KMF issues clarification, agrees to put 'Use By' on stamping Additional Director, Quality Control Division, KMF, has issued the following clarification…

A typical Indian Babu knows no obligations lower than his/her own rank. Rank though s/he may be, s/he will enforce the Golden Rule of Babutopia (GRB): “Kick downwards, lick upwards.” This is also called the Brown Sahib Syndrome; BSS is GRB with a melanin-twist: criticise, trample, kick anything native (read brown), and honour, extol, lick anything foreign (read white). My language is harsh, but it is the reality I see even after all these years of post-colonial, independent India, when we are rather kicking some international butt, even if in a limited sense. Take this episode for instance. A few…

With Ganesha Habba right around the corner, preparations to celebrate the festival are in full swing. Traditionally, the idol would be sculpted out of earth from river banks. After worshipping divinity in this earth icon, it was returned back to the earth by immersing it in a nearby water body. This represented the cycle of nature, from creation to dissolution. However, with the advent of Plaster of Paris (POP), things changed. Idols are now made of materials that are detrimental to the environment. POP idols should never be immersed in water; it is insoluble in water and releases a host…

  I recently discovered this site and it was a pleasure to find a forum to engage with fellow residents of Bengaluru city. While I am not a Kannadiga, or indeed a localite, I have been in Bengaluru (on and off) for a total of about 11 years now. I woke up this morning to several news items, across India, about the horrendous behavior of men. Eve-teasing... what not...? It got me thinking... Isn't Bengaluru too a victim of this? I have never understood why (predominantly) Indian men, do not seem to understand the difference between staring, letching, ogling and…