GENRE: Voices

Amrendra Kumar, a twenty nine year old Ph.D student of Public Policy at IIM Bangalore stunned the audience at a conference on "Integrated Solid Waste Management- Waste Generated v/s Managed" at Municipalika 2011 by claiming that within a year he could make India as clean as Switzerland.  A native of Patna, Bihar, Amrendra completed an integrated degree in Physics from IIT-Kanpur and is been pursuing his Ph.D at IIM-B. Branding himself a "missionary", he wants to clean up India through his organisation Clean Credit, which believes that "Cash is Trash". Amrendra lays out his plans for a clean India in…

At a time when Bangalore's restaurants are more interested in hanging 30 ft high billboards that says "Buffet at 199", "Combo meal for 99" than serving an authentic meal, I happened to visit Fiorano, a classy Italian restaurant which believes in marketing their restaurant purely by the ‘word-of-palette'. In fact, this restaurant is so understated from the outside that we spent a good ten minutes to locate it despite knowing exactly where to look. This upscale restaurant’s interiors, though simple, are quite elegant. Pic: S K Shivashankar Located on the busy 100 ft road in Koramangala, Fiorano is one of…

I have heard of plugged in electrical  gadgets and equipment, but it is now "plugged in humans" - wherever on goes, one sees men and women, girls and boys, all with wires dangling from their ears  and fiddling with buttons on a mobile, and oblivious to the world around them. Listening to music presumably, while riding on a bus, which is okay I guess.  Or while driving a two or four wheeler - not okay at all - studies have shown that being on the cell phone or listening to music through an ear phone causes distraction from the road…

18-year old Aaron D'Souza, based in Bangalore, is Karnataka's fastest swimmer. He is currently in an intensive training programme in preparation for the London Olympics next year. D'Souza won 2 gold medals at the South Asian games in 2009 (Dhaka) and was a finalist in the 4x100 medley relay at the 2010 Asian Games (Guangzhou, China). Rani Rampal is India's unheralded hockey wondergirl. At 15, Rani has proved to be one of the best hockey players in India. She was the top goal scorer of the Women's Hockey World Cup in 2010. Few know that Rani was so impressive that…

He is dynamic, well-built and tall. Like many who enter public life after a successful industry career, he has many facets. He is an entrepreneur who founded BPL Mobile in the 90s, a firm that some would call a benchmark for India's telecom revolution. Since 2005, he is a venture-capitalist, and runs Jupiter Capital, with its offices behind Kids Kemp, off M G Road, Bengaluru. And he was a former president of India's largest and oldest chamber of commerce, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).  We have become a single agenda city of traffic, traffic, traffic. Pic:…

This year, expect syncronised signals and more cameras for traffic monitoring, says Praveen Sood, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic). A 1986 batch IPS officer, Sood took charge of Bangalore traffic police in 2008. Prior to that, he had served in various postings across the state and was awarded the President's award for meritorious service in 2002. He has constantly emphasised on improving traffic behaviour of road users to better the city's traffic situation. In this exclusive interview with Citizen Matters, Sood talks about new plans, limitations and ideas for better traffic management. What are the critical projects you are implementing…

The young and dynamic P Manivannan is currently Managing Director of BESCOM, Bengaluru's power supply provider. He took over in October 2010. Manivannan, 38, is a 1998-batch IAS officer and has served as Commissioner of Hubli-Dharwar Municipal Corporation and Deputy Commissioner of Mysore City Corporation. Media reporting of Manivannan's work has given him a reputation as a tough and upright officer in his previous postings; he has also been called ‘demolition man’ for his stand against illegal constructions. Citizen Matters caught up with Manivannan to discuss BESCOM's 2011 plans for Bengaluru. This interview was conducted via email. Is the rate…

As we go into Citizen Matters’ special list of developments for the year that was for Bengaluru, how about the year that was not?But before that, some context: Bengaluru is touted as global powerhouse in the West for its IT-prowess! US President Obama often raises the spectre of Bangaloreans stealing American jobs. A top American columnist even warned US children to pay attention to their studies or else Bangalore’s students would take their jobs of the future. Such is the fear Bangalore evokes in the West.Still, look at the inside picture. Some important events never happened in 2010, that should…

End of the year, and all that, plus the festive season, and perhaps for a change we can look at something positive, instead of the quotidian litany of cribbing-complaining-and-reading-about-corruption - Which reminds me, there were rallies earlier this week, to mark an initiative to say "enough" to the growing menace  of corruption. Attendance and participation was modest, in a city of 60 lakhs, in a state that was described by the Congress chief  a few days ago, as one of the most corrupt. The Lokayukta has been addressing a series of public meetings on the subject, and at one that…

Kathakali is an art form from Kerala that tells a story with  two or more  performers. It is a form of sanskrit dance theatre that was traditionally practiced and professed by male actors.[1] Prabol Gupta in stree vesham. Pic: Prabol Gupta. For many centuries men have been responsible for upholding and passing on the classical art forms from one generation to another especially during times when women were forbidden from entering the world of performing arts. Hence it is not surprising that men have taken on women's toles in these traditional art forms. Guru Lalitha Ubhaykar, renowned Hindustani artiste and Guru Usha…