GENRE: Voices

The recent series of popular films starring heroes who are more than fifty years old, desperately trying to appear half their age and paired with heroines old enough to be their granddaughters, has surprised discerning film buffs for its mass acceptance. Robot (Rajani), Manmadhan Ambu (Kamal), Shankar Dada Zindabad (Chiranjeevi), Aptharakshaka (Vishnuvardhan) are some examples. If young Akshay Kumar's antics in Raveena Tandon starring 'Cheez badi hai' song was bad enough, his 43-year old smitten self, prancing around a younger Katrina Kaif in Sheela ki jawani (made 16 years later) is even worse. Such films with old heroes have been…

I submitted my property tax returns at the JP Nagar BBMP Citizen Service Center, on 2nd April making the payment with a cheque. They asked me to wait as the server was slow to generate the receipt. They then asked to come on the next working day and the receipt was ready. I collected it on 5th April after showing the acknowledgement.I went to Gottigere BBMP office on 6th April to remit the tax for my daughter's property situated in JP Nagar 9th phase.The server was down and there was no debit/credit card m/c to collect the payment. The person…

I had never heard of Anna Hazare before; Or the Lok Janpal Bill; I was in awe. I asked around and was explained what an icon that man is. Built not of skin and bones, this man is made of Principles and Values. There had to be something that I can do to support his movement. I got an sms the following day from my friend, Dr. Mateen that there is a meeting for the campaign 'India Against Corruption' at Freedom Park. Freedom Park? Where's that. No one has heard of Freedom Park. Well, pretty soon, the World got to…

The recent sensational news of thousands of people being inspired by Anna Hazare should make the people of India wake up and gear up for the second revolution. It required the Mahatma to unite the people of India for a common cause. Now it is Anna Hazare who has achieved this feat. Instead of being passive spectators and constant grumblers, we can do our bit to address some civic problems. Some of our common problems and a possible solution has been given below: 1.  Do you want your locality to be clean? Do not throw garbage on the street. Educate…

In the last week of March, while World Water Day was being marked globally with a focus on "Urban Water Management". But our own urban administrators were busy - giving out contradictory statements about metropolitan water management and plans for tackling water scarcity as summer sets in; leaving citizens with emotions ranging from confusion to anger that can be as enervating as thirst. The Karnataka Groundwater (Regulation and Control of Development and Management)  bill passed recently forbids drilling of  borewells in groundwater-depleted areas (and most areas are depleted, with the water table sinking to incontrovertibly alarming levels)  but four days…

The second Sunday bird watch at Lalbagh with BNG birders was a new experience. Of course every visit has something new. New topics, information, friends, lot more...It was very interesting to see little children so actively involved, interested in knowing and understanding about birds. How do we observe birds, animals behaviors, their calls, types of nests and which trees, flower they visit etc. How often do the birds visit here or how many reside permanently. There is no end if we go deep in observation. We saw them and keep on clicking our camera. And the Lalbagh small lake never…

At our apartment complex, 'Mana Sarovar' in Doddanekkundi, we have installed water meters for all individual 32 flats and provided monthly maintenance as per individual water usage.  All the meters have been installed on the terrace. ManaSarovar__Apartment_Water_Meters Earlier we used to buy 3-4 tankers per day with limited supply of water. Water was available for 1.5 hours in the morning, one hour in the afternoon and 1.5 hours at night for almost a year.  But now we have 24 hour water supply but buy only 2 tankers per day. I did some analysis of water usage in my apartment complex. One can see…

Bengalureans have come to expect that at every corner they turn, they will be met with a wide heap of garbage.  They have also come to accept that Pourakarmikas themselves will dump their melange of garbage on the ground. What Bengalureans are not aware of is that this manner of collecting unsegregated garbage and transferring it manually, with the garbage exposed to the environment, is in total violation of the Ministry of Environment & Forests' Municipal Solid Waste Handling Rules of 2000.  What Bengalureans also do not know is that behind this ‘gawd-awful' system of collecting garbage lurks one more…

When Thomas Raja, better known as Auto Raja narrates the story of his life, it seems straight out a movie. After becoming an alcoholic and a petty criminal at the young age of 16, he resorted to stealing things from his own home to fulfill his craving for alcohol. He even pawned his mother's silk sarees and her mangalasutra and acknowledges that he single-handedly brought disrepute to his family and almost ruined them financially due to his behaviour. Raja in action during one of his rescue operations. Pic courtesy: Auto Raja. His father, a telephone lineman threw him out of…

The Ministry of Environment and Forests has notified the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011. In Bengaluru, the ban will be in effect from today.Banning thin plastic bags and charging consumers is only the first step. BBMP has announced plans to setup waste segregation and plastic collection centres in ward. Some points covered by the centre's notification.• Plastic carry bags shall either be white or only with those pigments and colourants which are in conformity with the bar prescribed by  the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). • Plastic carry bags shall not be less than 40 microns in thickness.…