GENRE: Voices

“Sekaaaaaaarrr ... Go to the market and get me kottamalli for four annas,” amma called. Kottamalli is coriander, you know. Living near the Yediyur lake, the Lake Titicaca (so called because of all the caca that used to flow into it whenever it rained—I kid you not, that was a limnologist's, if that's the word I want, dream lake!) of Jayanagar, Bangalore, had many advantages. It's all geography, hon. We were right by the main road on which the various vegetable vendors from the south of Bangalore carried their fresh produce from the previous afternoon to the Krishna Rajendra Market—a.k.a.…

Respected Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, I was delighted to read yesterday’s newspaper report in The Times of India (Only 97 city high-rises have occupancy certificates) that said that your government would “take suitable action against builders who flout the building bye-laws”. As you have rightly said, those who have violated the laws need to be punished, but while this is being done, steps need to be taken to prevent this violation from happening in the first place. It is distressing to note that "only 97 high-rise buildings in the city have obtained OCs between 2009 and 2014". This means that there are…

Soumya Geetha, a consultant by profession, is extremely passionate about photographing culture and the streets, besides being a rabid traveller. She captured the above bull at the heart of the city - in the Pete. She writes: "During my street photography exploits in the city, I have often encountered traces of other cities in Bengaluru. This particular scene, deep in the by-lanes of the Pete, reminded me of the narrow streets of Varanasi where cows had the right of way. It was also strange because I assumed that given the location of the neighbourhood and its obvious lack of space,…

Most of us are familiar with the Reverse Osmosis (RO) water purifier technology that has been around for a few years now, even if not using it. While it seems to be widely accepted that RO-based purifiers are suitable for water supplies having high TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) content, debates have been on about the effects on our health due to the demineralized water that we consume after the RO-purification. Demineralisation aside, I would like to turn to one glaring feature of this technology in its current form: water runoff–that is, the non-potable water that an RO-purifier generates during the…

Pic: Bharath Rajshekhar I have been told time and again that the cow is holy, and I have believed it until I was witness to this... a shocker, the most disturbing incident. I had been to Chickpet to buy some electrical appliances and was sitting in the shop waiting for my things to be packed. Suddenly, a big cow appeared in front of the shop. The emptiness in its eyes gave me the impression that its stomach might be empty too. I proposed to the shopkeeper that we offer her something to eat, maybe some bananas. I was taken aback when he…

A 16-year-old tribal girl, an aging illiterate social worker in Rajasthan, a 23-year-old physiotherapist  in Delhi, a young journalist in Mumbai, a 50-year-old tourist from Europe, a six-year-old school girl in Bengaluru–what do these females, from different parts of the country, with diverse backgrounds, have in common ? They were all  victims of gruesome rapes that made “news”. One of the first lead stories that I wrote, over three decades ago (1979), was about the infamous Mathura rape case, in which the court released the accused policemen (who had raped Mathura at the police station) on grounds that the 16-year-old…

There was a commotion at the front gate. A woman crying and speaking at the same time. I, then a 1970s high school student, rushed to the living room to look out to see who it was and what was going on.  Just at the same moment as amma rushed out of the kitchen. The woman at the gate was Kamala. Amma rushed to the front door to ask what had happened. In between sobs and convulsive crying, Kamala said, “My anna (older brother) has died and they have brought the body to the village. Is my mother here?” “The…

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…