GENRE: Voices

The city administration maybe all set to widen roads, but citizens of south Bangalore are not all ready to give up their property. Residents along the 100 feet-wide Outer Ring Road (ORR), from Central Silk Board junction on Hosur Road to Nayandahalli junction on Mysore Road, have come together to form the Ring Road Property Owners' Association (RRPOA), to carry out their protest against the city corporation's plans to widen this 14.5 km stretch. The association recently conducted a public meeting, calling all residents of the city who have been served TDR (Transfer of Development Rights) notices and whose houses…

Just about 10 years ago “open kitchen” was a fad. My architect wanted to put atleast a “half wall” between the kitchen and the living room and I had to put my foot down to have my kitchen my way. Now that we have moved on and live in an independent house with quite a big open kitchen, it sees like this architecture has become more of a norm.At the time I had just returned from the US, I felt an open kitchen made a statement. An open kitchen meant that a lady of the house is not tucked away…

Today, we hear a lot of buzz words: environment, eco-friendly, go-green and so on. Eco-consciousness needs to be inculcated into our next generation and the best way to instill values into our children is through right schooling.Let me narrate the sterling example that my school set in the early 1960's. This was St Thomas School, at Mandir Marg, in Delhi. Our principal was an enlightened lady, who, through many practices followed by the school, inspired all of us to be aware of our environment, not be wasteful and to respect the dignity of labour. We all wore uniforms made of…

"In Mexico an air conditioner is called a politician because it makes a lot of noise but doesn't work very well." - Len Deighton (English writer, b. 1929) Lack of participation and involvement, personality clashes, petty politics taking precedence over real issues and an inability to come together to address pressing problems effectively. Sounds like the Indian Parliament or State Legislative Assembly? Guess again. This could be a lot closer to you than you think. Apartment Owners Associations are statutory bodies comprising all the owners of apartments in a particular building / complex, and tasked with running the day to…

During my summer holidays, I visited Mysore, a lovely place with exceptionally amazing monuments, enormous palaces.  Mysore is a major tourist attraction in Karnataka and when my cousin visited from Delhi, we decided to go see this historic city.  I love going on such trips; so with my heart pounding with great excitement and anticipation, we began our trip and it turned out to be one of the most glorious and action-packed ones that I have had so far.The first place we visited in Mysore was the beautiful Mysore Palace, belonging to the Wodeyar Dynasty. We were astounded by its…

A gust of wind blew over my sleeping body, and promptly and quickly, I jerked up from my lying position and stared at the whirling fan in my room. That was what surprised me as I normally wake up at 7.45 am during summer vacations and don’t budge from my bed till that time, but now it was only 6.00 am and I was awake. And then, it struck me that it wasn’t vacation anymore; school had started and my waking-up-in-the-morning senses were just beginning to develop again. Glad, excited and a little mournful, I headed back to school.The school…

Take today’s news (June 3, 2010). Two reports are highlighted, one about Bangalore’s horrendous road fatalities (second highest in the country after Delhi, with over 860 deaths annually, and over 6,100 injured) and the other about a wall collapse that killed a 17-year-old girl. The compound wall had been built by the BBMP just three months ago. The girl had taken shelter next to it as it was raining, and the wall collapsed, crushing her underneath. Bad enough. But what is outrageous is the lack of accountability – the BBMP had parcelled out the work of erecting a short stretch…

We residents of JP Nagar have seen articles pertaining to requests for BMTC services in the newspapers. During the "Know your Candidates" BBMP election debate organised by Citizen Matters, some participants also raised the same concern.I invite all like-minded residents of JP Nagar to come together and form a forum to jointly voice our concerns to BMTC. A large group will have strength and voice. Contact me at 9916781877.   ⊕

UNITES Professionals is perhaps the first and only registered union for employees in the IT (Information Technology) and ITES (Information Technology Enabled Services or Business Process Outsourcing) industry in India. The organization is working on better work environment and setting standards in the industry Karthik Shekhar (L). Courtesy: Karthik Shekhar. With its headquarters in Bangalore, UNITES Professionals has offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Kolkata. Pushpa Achanta interviewed Karthik Shekhar, the General Secretary of UNITES Professionals over email. Tell us more about UNITES? UNITES Professionals strives to create a distinct and cogent link between employers and employees…

Apart from the traffic snarls in Chikkallasandra, the residents of this area are exposed to another hazard. Garbage collected from nearby localities are sorted out daily on a bridge built over an open drain right on the 18th Main Road, about 100 yards from the Chikkallasandra junction. This route is extremely busy as it is the shortest way from junction to Devegowda petrol bunk junction.Pic: S Srinivasan After collecting garbage from the nearby localities using hand carts and three-wheeler vehicles, the paurakarmikas dump it on the side of the bridge. They sort out the garbage before loading it into the…