GENRE: Voices

Residents of 4th Block and 5th Block Jayanagar, Bangalore have written to Dr V S Acharya, Minister for Higher Education, and S Suresh Kumar, Minister for BWSSB on their problems with BWSSB's rules on Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) and the deadline of December 31st. They write: Dear Sir,We would like to bring the following facts to your notice, and request that you use your good offices to safeguard the interests of the general public of Bangalore City.As we all know, Bangalore Development Authority has obtained the legislative sanction to allot sites to all residents of Bangalore who have paid the value in…

The word Accident is derived from latin verb ‘accidere' meaning fall upon, befall, happen, chance. Globally as well as in our country, it is construed as happening by chance, and there is not much that can be done about it. Contradictory, though it may sound most of the accidents can be prevented. Especially if one looks at some of the statistics around accidents, one wonders why efforts are not made on war footing. Sample these: Pic: Mukul Saxena Globally 1.2 million people die due to Road traffic accidents (RTA) every year .In India every 1.9 minutes one person dies of…

Asthma is a respiratory allergy characterised by difficulty in breathing, and is associated with wheezing. It is a Greek word meaning breathless, or breathing with mouth open. Genetic factors, urbanisation, pollution, stress, and tobacco smoke are some of the important factors to determine the severity of asthma. Pic: Wikimedia commons A study based on 20,000 patients revealed that percentage of asthma in children grew from 9% in 1979 to 29.9% in 1999 in Bangalore. Seasonal variations, viral upper respiratory tract infection, food items like grapes, guavas, bananas, ice creams, tomatoes, trigger an asthmatic episode. The effect of pollution can be…

Dear Sir or Madam,I am a daily office commuter on Metro Reach one between Baiyappanahalli to MG road. I would like to bring to your attention the following issues:Security The work of the private contract guards when checking bags is inconsistent. The guard assigned to body check does not wave the handheld scanner properly for all passengers. Those assigned to bag check does not use the scanner inside the bags always and sometimes lets off commuters by simply taking a glance half half-heartedly inside the bag. Security guards should follow standard procedures for all passengers. Please implement recommendations of the…

After a long tiring wait at the traffic signal, a turn into Nanda road used to be refreshing. This road is a long road running across the Jayanagar area in Bangalore. Any resident of Jayanagar would always remember that road with fondness. Nanda Road used to be a lush green road with more than 100 trees. Entering that road would mean forgetting the traffic woes and just driving freely on the broad road looking at the canopy of huge green trees overhead. They were so dense that you could see only small specks of sunlight even on hot, sunny days.…

Ashok Dwarakanath has submitted the following complaint to BMTC, through their official website on October 23rd and is yet to get BMTC's response. This is to bring to your kind attention some possible safety violations by drivers operating Volvo buses on route 335E. This may apply in general to other routes also.Slowing down far away before or after the bus stop if passengers are boarding another bus for formality sake but never really stopping the bus at the bus stop. Speeding away from the bus stop sometimes even after 2 or more passengers are waving their hands. This is a…

It's around 4.30 pm. The 'first shift' of my job is done. The second shift will begin once I get home. It might be 6.15 pm when I see home, if am lucky. Most times these days it is 6.45 pm. The second shift will begin at around 7 when I login from home to finish any unfinished work and will go on till 8.30 in the night. When you have a commute like mine, getting work done by hook or crook is the only option. The commute begins in the morning at ITI layout, Mallathahalli, some 3 kms from…

      The Water Station is a critically-acclaimed play written by the Japanese playwright Shogo Ohta. It is the most famous piece of his "Station" trilogy, which includes The Earth Station and The Wind Station. The play was first performed in 1981 with a Japanese cast, and has since been performed all over the world with various actors of diverse origins. Director Sankar Venkateswaran of Theatre Roots and Wings first directed the play for Ninasam in 2010, and this time around he has put together a varied cast auditioned from all over  India. Scene From the rehearsals. Pic courtesy:…

An early morning walk in Kempegowda's pettah would not sound welcoming to most Bengaluru folks. But thanks to Poornima Dasharathi's insight, the Pettah Walk turned out to be a comprehensive introduction to Bengaluru's beginnings. Yelahanka Gate Anjaneya temple. Pic: Poornima Dasharathi We were scheduled to meet up at 7am near the Anjaneya temple, Mysore Bank Circle. I got there 20 minutes late and was touched that Poornima and the team of enthusiasts were waiting for me near Cauvery Bhavan.We started off by briefly introducing ourselves. Poornima traced Kempegowda's family from Yelahanka and beyond and provided historical reasons for Bengaluru's location…

After Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, the Milan Luthria-Ekta Kapoor-Shobha Kapoor trio are back with The Dirty Picture, and it's a collaboration that holds much promise for Hindi cinema. Source: Wikipedia While one misses the edgy unpredictability of Luthria's earlier film Taxi No 9211 or the grit of Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, The Dirty Picture creates its own cinematic place. While based on the story of South Indian female actor Silk Smitha, the film also explores sensuality on celluloid and the meaning of success. But be warned that the film is not a biographical history. Instead, it…