GENRE: Voices

Pic: Prashant Kamat. Keeping the roads free of potholes is quite simple. Everywhere in the world, cities do this all the time. How? By doing three or four key things. First, they build roads of high quality. We build roads of low quality thinking that they are cheaper. But that's actually not true. They keep crumbling in the rains, and we keep rebuilding them, and as a result the expenditure on the roads is actually higher in the long run. It is better to build roads once, at higher cost and quality. Look at Vittal Mallya Road - it has…

Being a mommy blogger and more importantly a mother for sometime now, I have realised how many parents find it tougher to raise a child than ever before. On one hand, one is supposed to monitor the child's activities so that he or she is guided in the appropriate path in life. On the other, parents are supposed to allow the child to grow independently and let the growing one celebrate freedom. However, to prevent abuse and to ensure that the child is not misled by people, social media and various other distractions, a parent has to be constantly vigilant…

The price charged by the retailers in KSRTC bus stations are different from what is printed as MRP. Pic: Shree D N The retailers in almost all the bus stops operated by Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) charge upto 25% more than the Maximum Retail Price for the consumers. The shop keepers demand the excess charges and deny the customers goods on MRP, quoting additional charges for cooling, electricity and bribes.  Even a Rs 10 chocolate or a biscuit packet is charged above MRP. Most customers have resigned to the fact that the cooling charges on soft drinks are…

A WP engine. Train no 7724, Nilagiri Express. Pic: IRFCA - www.irfca.org It was a sunny Sunday morning in 1966. My uncle, Gurunath, had been fascinated by trains for long before that, I guess. Sunday mornings were our outing times. This Sunday, he took me to the Bangalore City railway station. Platform 1 of those days was what is now Platform 7. The current ‘backside gate’, as auto drivers refer to it, was the main entrance. Construction of the current Platform 1 was in its early stages. Back to the old Platform 1 (PF1). We sat on a bench on…

Garbage dumped on a streetside, due to the lack of secondary storage. Pic: Kathyayini Chamraj I think Bengaluru was better off when it had garbage bins at the corner of roads. At least people would throw garbage in the bins. But now, all of Bengaluru is littered with garbage. In every area, there are two or three spots where garbage is thrown by people, on the road or in front of someone else's home. So why has the Swachh Bengaluru campaign failed?  Because BBMP collection guys demand money to collect garbage from house to house. No proper timings intimated to…

Hello, dear reader, with whom I’ve shared so much. If you’re reading this, it means the time has come for me to leave. Perhaps, as you’re rubbing your weary eyes and preparing for bed, I’m up in the air, waving goodbye to you from the polluted sky above Bengaluru. Yes, after 11 weeks in the Garden City, I’m going back home. Back to a place, where, like they say on Cheers, “Everyone knows my name.” Then again, did anyone even watch Cheers in India? Another question I’ll never know the answer to. Add it to a growing list of questions I…

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…