GENRE: Voices

Citizen Matters co-founder Meera K receiving Manthan award in News Delhi. Pic: Navya P K On the evening of December 4th, Citizen Matters won yet another award. The tally, including reporting awards won by our erstwhile reporters Navya P K, Vaishnavi Vittal and Supriya Khandekar, is now six, in six years. The last five have come in three years. It is an even split now between awards for individual storytelling and for the publication itself. What do these awards mean to me, a journalism entrepreneur and innovator? One way to answer this question is to see what our work has…

  Ammu Joseph, veteran journalist based in Bangalore, highlights one of several contradictions in Bengaluru, on Facebook: "These photos were clicked and shared by a friend, who questioned the manager of the mall about this "public installation" outside, and was told that Marilyn is the fashion icon of New York City! So much for his knowledge of movie stars and fashion icons. But, even if she is/was, what has that got to do with a mall in Bengaluru? Not only the moral police, but the actual police and various other worthies in the city, have been waxing eloquent about "obscenity"…

Pic: Sreerekh VidyadharanPic: Sreerekh VidyadharanPic: Sreerekh Vidyadharan‹ › $(document).ready(function(){ $('.carousel .carousel-inner .item').first().attr('class', 'active item');}); Ramamurthy Nagar witnessed a rare occurence on the morning of November 23rd 2014. Parents along with students of Jaigopal Garodia Rashtrotthana Vidyakendra (JGRVK) in collaboration with the BBMP, Ward Corporator and residents of the area, were out on the streets at 7 am; not to protest, but on a Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, with brooms and other equipment in hand. This initiative was not only meant to make a difference in Ramamurthy Nagar, but also to serve as an inspiration to people in other schools and localities to…

It's too early to say that Swachh Bharat is failing. But it's getting late to say what it will take to make it work, and so far there is no sign of those things. 1. Get rid of the broom, and replace it with a pair of buckets—one for wet waste and the other for dry waste. Segregation at source is key to any garbage management plan. The PM's symbolic efforts with the broom did help signal an important focus that India needs, but getting the imagery right going forward will help even more. 2. Pass the Dumping Saaku law.…

Author: Tanmayee Narendra What does it mean to be “educated”? Does education necessarily mean a more heightened awareness about one’s role in society? These are some questions that I was forced to ask myself after I met with John, the manager of the Dry Waste Collection Center (DWCC) near the Jayadeva Flyover. Let me tell you more about John. John comes from a family of scrap dealers. While thoughts of garbage generally trigger images of filth and refuse for most of us, the same object is a source of income for him. John at his Dry Waste Collection Centre. Pic:…

I was surprised to see news reports that the Women's Right Commission (WRC) chief has written to the DGP and the Home Minister asking the State to discourage the Kiss of Love protest, because she felt it was uncivilised. In some ways, it shows how little she understands what her own job is. The WRC is intended to be a progressive body. If all that is required in a commission like this is that it should merely reflect whatever is going on in society, we would not need it at all. Child rights, women's rights, gender rights, dalit rights, minority…

On October 2nd, Prime Minister Modi announced Swachh Bharat Abhiyan or Mission Clean India. In his speech, he appealed to Indians to devote 100 hours every year towards the cause of cleanliness. He also stated, “It is our social responsibility as citizens of India to help fulfil Gandhiji's vision of Clean India, by his 150th birth anniversary in 2019.” Since then, the media has been reporting of clean-up drives across the country, involving bigwigs from the industry, celebrities, politicians, NGOs and what not, almost on a daily basis. Why, some politicians even arranged for garbage to be littered, so that they had…

  A Rainwater Harvesting system was implemented in Vivek Khanna's residence in Shubh Enclave in early 2009. The system comprised storage of rooftop rainwater in a large 15,000 litre sump as well as two recharge wells of 5ft diameter and 30ft depth.    A chance encounter with Vivek Khanna at Kasavanahalli lake today revealed that his sump fills up with water every time it rains, reducing his dependence on ground water. His recharge wells have not only kept his borewell running but also resulted in water in the newly dug borewells of his downstream neighbours (probably because of the recharge)…

It was a fine Thursday morning - 10 am. I was waiting near Krupanidhi Engineering College Signal on Sarjapur Road on my two-wheeler. Many girls were holding some pamphlets on road safety and traffic rules, and were distributing them to motorists. When a girl approached me with a pamphlet, I saw the content was purely in Kannada and I asked "English?" She probably realised that the pamphlet that was in Kannada can't reach everyone. Then, she rudely shouted: "When you are in Karnataka, you will have to learn Kannada!" The question that came to my mind is, whether we should…

A few years ago, when the Bangalore Metro began its work, several roads were either closed or their width was reduced due to the work. And some of those roads still remain closed or under repair. Somehow, the traffic continues to meander and find its way through other roads. In fact, traffic like water will always find its way; so the question which I ask is, ‘Can we permanently close some of these roads and put these spaces to alternate uses’?' This occurred to me the other day while crossing Chinnaswamy Stadium towards Raj Bhavan when I saw a set…