GENRE: Voices

All of us are looking forward to Diwali this year aren't we? The bursting of crackers and sentimental pooja truly makes this occasion special. But there are many others out there who don't get this chance. So I decided to do something about this. As Diwali celebrations are coming up, my mum had been asking me to dispose of my huge collections of comics and story books, my old school books, clean up my room and get rid of what she calls all the junk. I thought, why not put some of this stuff to some good use. I reached…

Last year he called it Holiween. I didn't make any attempts to correct him and he didn't remember it beyond that point either. Why bother when it isn't a festival that belongs to us? Pic: wikimedia commons This year, he is close to seven and the Halloween monster has struck us hard. We now know the correct pronunciation and the fact that it's an American festival that has "something to do with ghosts". We also know somewhat hazily about pumpkins and trick or treat. The problem is we live in an apartment complex that isn't as Halloween friendly as the…

With rapidly growing vehicular numbers, traffic congestion in Bangalore seems unmanageable. Pedestrians, particularly senior citizens and physically challenged persons, are facing grave problems. Walking on the footpaths has become hazardous and an almost impossible task, due to narrow, uneven footpaths, footpaths littered with debris, garbage, vendors and in several cases non-existent! The only alternative is to walk on the roads, risking one's life. And, crossing the roads, especially with heavy traffic, is an adventure, few would dare attempt. To address the problem of increasing vehicular traffic, BDA, BBMP etc., understandably, focuses on widening roads, constructing flyovers and underpasses etc. This…

The Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, advertised on 30th October with a headline  "Electoral rolls are being revised. Ensure that your name is in the Electoral Roll." After deleting about one million names from the rolls of Bangalore districts alone, does he cover up some gross errors of his organisation putting the onus on citizens to ensure that their names are in the roll? When his organisation has not accepted the errors, why would they shown any concern to correct the errors.Now they have delivered another set of incomplete and incorrect voter lists.The advertisement has some interesting phrases."... your tryst with…

For the last few months, ever since the muck literally hit the ceiling, and yes, I am referring to Bengaluru's garbage crisis, a new English word has sunk into the city. It's 'segregation', referring to segregation of waste. 'Segregate' is all over the media now, on radio, newspapers, magazine, TV, blogs, and the social media. It is also in all of the city government's (BBMP) recent communications on getting the city out of the mess. Mind you, in a totally different social context, 'segregate' is a bad word for a progressing, modern society. And yet for waste management, it is…

If you have voted in previous elections, have a voter ID card, and have not shifted your residence, still your name may have been deleted from the electoral rolls. Please verify and restore your name if deleted. In the last post we discussed that time, effort, and financial cost involved in voting should be lowered to increase voter turnout. Electoral organisation in Karnataka has created such costs by flouting rules and defying common sense. The burden of correcting the errors is on hapless voters who are not even aware of the mischief. On 18 April 2012, CEO’s website www.ceokarnataka.nic.in published…

Some disciplines, like health and education, call for special attributes over and above technical skills and expertise -- compassion and upholding the sanctity of life, in medical professionals, for example, and a strong commitment to value systems and ethics, in educationists.In a city known globally as a hub for information technology, with several prestigious institutions like the IIM and National Law School, Bangalore University's (BU) reputation is now taking a severe beating with reports of unsavoury goings-on in recent weeks. Bangalore claims perhaps the largest number of qualified Indian professionals working in the US, and also a large population of…

It is six months since I relocated to India from the US. I work in the IT sector for a reputed multinational firm (name withheld) in Bangalore. From outside, there is little difference between workplaces in US and India. After all, what does it take to have an IT set up - a floor divided into cubes, each cube having a four-legged desk with one or two big monitors, a keyboard, mouse and a nice ergonomic chair. Walls decorated with bright colours with inspiring quotes, conference rooms with big wooden tables and VOIP facility, a pantry area with coffee, soda…

A cardinal principle in administration and policy making is that one should never introduce a rule or law that cannot be enforced. The dangers are manifold -- those who flout the rule get away with impunity, and the rest of the citizenry gets the message that laws mean nothing, they need not be obeyed. Take the BBMP's latest decisions for ‘cleaning up' the mess that the city has become.Residents whose dogs mess up the pavements and public places, are now warned that they will be fined and penalised. Walk with me a short distance -- less than 300 metres --…

On October 13th, a National Law School of India University (NLSIU) student was gang raped in the adjoining Bangalore University campus near Nagarbhavi.By now we all know enough details about the student to construct an image of who she might be. Her age, her boyfriend's name, age, his job profile, that he owned a car, where they both are from, insinuations towards their intimacy levels, whether she got into trouble with hostel authorities earlier for ‘this' kind of behaviour. All this information was culled out in the name of journalism and served as news reports.By now it is almost rhetorical…