GENRE: Voices

The water situation has never been so grim in Whitefield. In the past eight years of my stay here, I have seen water supply dwindle down from twice a week to once in ten days. From February this year, there has been no water supply at all. There are deviations in the original water pipelines leading to communities and apartments. Residents get this done by bribing the linemen. I spoke to K Nagaraj Hoodi, Assistant Engineer, BWSSB (East) about the inequitable water supply and the corruption which is enabling water supply to certain communities alone. Hoodi gave an excuse that…

Gandhinagar locality is one of the oldest localities of Bangalore and is the centre of trade, commerce, entertainment and tourism. All the old business streets like Chickpet, Balepet, New Tharagupet, Avenue Road, Cottonpet, Raja Market and so many other hubs are in this locality. It separates Bangalore North and West from Bangalore South and East and hence acts as the main link between these zones. Despite so many important factors, this locality became popular mainly due to a record number of cinema houses that were located on the main road, as well as the surrounding roads. In fact Gandhinagar was…

It has been 11 years since doctors predicted that Saroja Puthran would survive for just three months. She was declared HIV positive. Her husband had died within two years of being infected by HIV. As a homemaker, completely dependent on her family, nothing could have prevented her from collapsing completely. But she fought the disease successfully and works for people infected with the same disease. “I will work for them till my death.” she said with a voice that is not discouraged with bad experience. Saroja Puthran at work. Pic: Sankar C G What do you think about the attitude…

Sriram Iyer has been working in the corporate financial sector for over two and a half decades now. A global Bengalurean i.e. Bengalurean who has lived in different parts of the world gives a tongue in cheek, humorous peek into the corporate world with this book. ‘Musings of a Corporate Voyeur’ is a collection of eleven short stories. The surveys that are supposed to boost employee morale, the ‘bosses’ who are leaders and office gossip - all feature in these stories. Anyone who has been in a corporate environment is sure to relate to the book. Sriram Iyer. Pic courtesy:…

S Laxminarayan, 36, a software engineer by profession, is also a part-time urban farmer. He aims to get people started on kitchen gardening. He is a co-founder of Garden City Farmer’s Trust that aims to spread awareness on organic farming. He lives in ISRO layout with his wife Sowmya M, a physiotherapist. S Laxminarayan. Pic: Abhishek Angad Excerpts from his interview.You use a bicycle for commuting while your motorbike and car are covered in dust. Are you a green enthusiast?Well, I am just getting ready for the future. Natural resources are depleting due to use and abuse of it. So…

An engineer by profession, 35-year-old Raghavendra Raju, calls himself an absolute Bangalorean who has lived across the city and knows it well. He now lives in JP Nagar. He is currently heading the marketing team at Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), Bangalore.Raju brought paintball gaming to India with his venture Yuyutsa. Later, he sold the business, and joined another startup as part of their marketing team.  Raghavendra Raju. Pic: Sathish S Excerpts from the interview. Bangalore has become the paintball capital of India. Do you think there are enough arenas and coaches for the game?Not yet! There is enough…

A real estate lawyer by profession, Vatsala Dhananjay, moved to Bangalore in 1990 from Coimbatore. After completing her law degree in 1993 from SJRC Law College, she got married and moved to Koramangala. She has been a lawyer for nearly two decades now. Vatsala Dhananjay. Pic: Abhishek Angad You been in Koramangala since 1993, how have seen it growing?When we came here it was very quiet and had many vacant plots. It was not even in BBMP limits. Suddenly it was a buzz that koramangala is a good place and lot of commercial activities took place.Did you always know you…

The Citizen Action Forum (CAF), a federation of RWAs will be sharing their inputs on Bangalore’s Master Plan 2035 with BDA. On May 7th, BDA had quietly begun a process of revision for Bengaluru's city master plan, and invited suggestions from public. This plan will be for the years 2016 to 2035. CAF along with Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF) and various individual RWAs will respond at a federation as well as individual level. Inputs to this process can be at two distinctive levels, at a micro and macro level. At a micro level, i.e. the rules and regulations governing various…

“Having a headache?” Take Anacin. “Having loose motions?” Take Norflox or Flagyll. I am sure all of us have witnessed this conversation sometime or other. People self prescribe antibiotics, and even steroids. TV and media advertising support this trend. Remember that old TV ad? “Headache?” “yes” “Nose blocked ?” “Oh yes” “Cough?” “Yes man yes” “Kutch Lete Kyun nahin? (Why don’t you take something?)” And a jingle follows recommending a common medicine. How many of us know that self medication can be dangerous, or perhaps how many of us really care? Do we know that Aspirin (in Anacin) can lead…

Respected Chief Minister, I write to you with considerable sadness, that a liked and respected politician today stands accused of unlawfully obtaining a G category site from the government. It is extremely unfortunate that we have reached this moment. I have known the Minister to be a good person, and I hope this allegation is not true. I hope there is a fair and tenable explanation to rebut what is said. At the same time, I urge you to take some steps to remedy the situation that has brought us here, so that we may not come to it repeatedly…