GENRE: Voices

God's own country, from where I hail from had glorified the three wheeler and the men at its helm in a blockbuster movie by the title "Aye Auto". Not that the auto-wallahs out there went out of the way to hail the glorified status adorned to them. But they were far more endearing than the auto-drivers who rule the Bangalore roads.My angst against the steerers of the three wheel wonder was lying like a dormant volcano ready to errupt at the slightest disturbance. The volcano had a verbal breakout last weekend during my weekend trip to the Total Mall adjoining…

An exhibition of artist Dr M S Murthy's work was held at ISRO layout on 11th and 12th June. The venue interestingly was not a gallery but a home, belonging to Satya Prakash Varanashi , a very well known architect. The two-day exhibition was part of INTACH Art Reach, first hosted in 2005. Art Reach aims to take art to the people even if they don't go to galleries. The exhibition was inaugurated by art connoisseur D K Chowta, Dr C S Vishwanatha (Chairperson, Task Force for Quality Control, Govt of Karnataka) and the artist M S Murthy himself. The…

It was World Environment Day last week and India had the honour of hosting the International World Environment Day 2011 for the very first time. Jairam Ramesh, our erudite and enthusiastic environment minister called trees ‘water pumps’ and paradoxically the event was devoted to ‘Forests: Nature at your service’. As a media fellow of UNEP, I was proud to sit in the audience and listen to the minister tell the world that India was among the developing nations working towards addressing the pressures of ecological change. He told us about India’s Rural Employment Act and the country’s encouragement of renewable…

The term emergency is derived from Latin emergere (e-, "from," and mergere, "to dip, plunge") and mean "unforeseen occurrence." However , it is in our interest to foresee emergencies , be prepared. This consists of : awareness of emergencies likely to occur, in special situations, or in special segments like children and elderly. The dos and don'ts are particularly relevant. Emergencies may not give sufficient time to reach Doctor/Hospital, and the response of person at scene can make all difference between life and death. You too can save a life. Emergencies at home can be classified as those arising out…

It was a regular working day and I was on my way home on my scooter from college after a session of corrections of end of term answer scripts. The traffic lights were red at the Lifestyle junction and I waited till they turned green before I rode onto Richmond Road. As I took the turn I noticed a large pile up of traffic before me stretching backwards to the Sapphire Toy Shop. So riding up fairly slowly I came to a halt behind a large black car. Barely had I put my feet down and left my grip on…

How many beggars are there is namma Bangalore ? No, not a few thousands, but the entire population of the city -- some six-odd million, at last count. Including you and me. Wondering if you read that right ? Yep. After following the latest media reports on the infamous beggars home and the responses from our city administrators, we all seem to have been reduced to the status of beggars -- begging for attention to our problems, begging to have our voices heard, begging for some accountability in public servants, and begging for some shred of ethical - moral considerations…

This is one question that arises in the mind of commuters travelling from BTM Layout via Maruti Nagar to Koramangala. For the last six months, BWSSB had made a mess of Thaverekere 1st Main Road. Now the vehicles coming from Forum to BTM Udupi garden are diverted via Maruti nagar. Due to this, traffic have increased during peak hours. Now commuters have to choose an alternate road to save time and avoid traffic in Maruti Nagar road.Recently Maruti Nagar Road had a traffic jam; adding more trouble to commuters were some private property owners who have left construction materials such…

Once upon a time there was a city called Bengaluru which was known as the Garden City with many magnificent trees dotting every road in the city. Then came along the ogre called Metro Rail (BMRCL) and took away all the splendour of the beautiful Garden City reducing it to a pathetic sight of dug roads, cranes that topple every other day and traffic jams. Namma Bengaluru, the city I remember as I moved in here 12 years ago, was a peaceful city with beautiful boulevards all around and huge raintrees spreading their canopies over the roads providing shade to…

There are close to 841 BBMP parks in Bangalore (a 2009 statistic) but I had not been to one until last weekend. Although, I did not get to see much of the park I did see this board announcing that the park is shut between 10 am and 4 pm. Even if I used the park during open hours then I could not play, sit or walk on the lawn! This is the case with most public spaces; they are not open for the public! I spent a day laughing it off before I found out about an event being…

I don't know if it were the Gods of Serendipity who conspired to do this but one day, the 26th of April, 2009, my phone started ringing at 6 am in the morning. Now, wondering who would be calling at this ungodly hour, I got up from bed to answer the phone. It was my friend Vinny who was going out for his daily run around the Jayamahal park and wanted to know if I'd want to tag along. I don't know what had gotten into me or if I was just dreaming, half-asleep, but I said, Yes, got up…