GENRE: Voices

Note: This website will soon be migrated to a new system.  If you face any issues, do mail us. You can also reach us through Twitter or Facebook! Bengaluru This Week Get our free weekly newsletter. Name   Email       Bengaluru This Week archives. Our politicians who are elected to office make many decisions that affect our lives -- they formulate laws and develop projects. They do this without consulting citizens, and later we citizens are forced to fight those that are unacceptable to us, on the streets and in courts. Elected representatives plan our cities without proper roads,…

As per the last census, Bangalore had a growth of over 48%. Across Indian cities, the growth has been rapid. It is the kind of growth that would have tested the best of political and managerial talent in an extremely empowered city - mayor kind of system that we see globally. Given that we do not have proper city governance system, no visionary leaders and lack of urban governance skills, we have a perfect storm developing across our cities. Do we stay with business as usual?Each of us has our own view of the problem in the city. It could…

It's hot - and I don't mean the weather. Election fever is spreading, with parties and politicians busy working out strategies that would help them retain (or get to) power.Politicians in power who drive through signals in official cars with red lights whirling on top and pilot cars ordering all traffic to make way for the VIP, have become suddenly supplicants, appearing with folded hands in roadside hoardings, telling us how keen they are to 'serve' us.Look at the party election manifestoes of last elections, and you will see that they all make near-identical promises in seeking votes - capturing…

Note: This website will soon be migrated to a new system.  If you face any issues, do mail us. You can also reach us through Twitter or Facebook! Bengaluru This Week Get our free weekly newsletter. Name Email Bengaluru This Week archives. As I scrolled through some Facebook updates last week, I saw a note shared by my friend. It talked about a Political Action Internship by Prof Rajeev Gowda, an eminent personality who teaches at IIM Bangalore. I read through the note and it interested me. This turned out to be a great workshop covering some topics and uncovering many…

The recent ‘World Giving Index' published by the Charities Aid Foundation surveyed about 195,000 people living in 153 nations. According to the data, India ranked at 134 with only 14% known to have donated to a charity in the past 12 months, while 12% had offered to volunteer for a cause and 30% had helped strangers. The World Giving Index score of India only counted to 19. This is very poor considering the highest score on the index is 57 and the lowest is 12.How can India overcome this dismal status and move up the ranking? One answer can be…

The space beyond Wipro's corporate office in Sarjapur has been projected as the new Whitefield of Bangalore. There are many real estate development projects on the Sarjapur-Attibele road which is under the Sarjapura Gram Panchayat and Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA). As a resident of the area since August 2012, I have been told that real estate developers or builders, started advertising their plans from the late 1990's or early 2000. These developers vie with each other to portray how big they are and dangle the list of amenities in newly constructed or upcoming buildings, on large hoardings across…

The recent trend of flowering trees blooming simultaneously has experts worried, though not panicked. Yet, this unnatural phenomenon is just one of the many warning signs that should be heeded. With its severe water shortage, rampant building activity, axing of beautiful, healthy trees and pollution of water bodies, Bangalore could be facing a disastrous situation. If this is not reversed, it could have severe repercussions.Whitefield is one example of how irrational and unscientific construction activity has severely affected the area. The sudden spurt in building activity began about 10 years ago despite no improvement or change in the water supply…

Pedestrians are at risk while crossing busy roads where traffic is moving very fast. The BBMP has provided a defective and badly designed pedestrian subway at Chalukya circle and a pedestrian elevated bridge near Sophias' High School on Palace road. The purpose of providing this pedestrian subway is to help students to cross the main road. But children are not using the subway as it is ventilated poorly, filthy, not maintained and risky. The gates of the pedestrian subway are often locked. The elevated bridge near Sophias' High School, also provided by the BBMP, to cross the main road is…

"Ticket!!!" he screams at me, looking scandalised about the fact that the bus had already left from the bus stop and I didn't have a ticket yet. "13 rupees. Ticket!!!" he exclaims, as I pull out a 20 rupee note, due to the lack of loose change. He throws me a look venomous enough to turn Medusa herself into a stone. Ashamed of myself for not carrying change, I quietly allow myself to be pulled, pushed and generally tossed in every direction as the driver ensures that the speed breakers don't fulfil their purpose. Volvo buses usually have some space…

In part-I, I argued that our planners, politicians and administrators put Bengaluru's development on steroids over the last 10 years, the way farmers sometimes do for agriculture, only to find that the soil dies later.I also argued that we have built a Bengaluru in the form of a giant shining saucer that is suspended at 10,000 feet above the real land of this city. There is one single pipe holding up the saucer and through this pipe, water, services, resources and low-income jobs are sucked through to the fast-paced life above. The pipe though is now bursting at the seams,…