GENRE: Voices

Slide show The market waking up to a busy day. Pic: Chitra Aiyer. A little boy making idlis for selling at his family's shack in the market. Pic: Chitra Aiyer. Fresh vegetables arrive in little tempos. Pic: Chitra Aiyer. Vendors often engage you in conversation if you have the time. Pic: Chitra Aiyer Market transactions. Pic: Chitra Aiyer. Waiting for his customers. Pic: Chitra Aiyer. A charming girl I ran into. Pic: Chitra Aiyer Kanji for breakfast - from a cart that sells breakfast nearby. Pic: Chitra Aiyer. A happy little kid minding his dad's produce. Pic: Chitra Aiyer A…

I got an oral summons from the Frazer Town traffic Police station on November 22nd 2009. While I kept racking my brain to remember if there were any unpaid parking tickets, I was shocked to find out that my car number was cited in a hit-and-run case on Nov 8. It made even less sense because on that day, I was not even in town. I was traveling to Mumbai the entire week on business!I took relevant hotel/ flight reservation details to the police station. The complainant did not show up. The police felt convinced that I was not involved.…

The city's infrastructure needs are growing by the day. Development plans are created and implemented almost daily. Are a woman's needs addressed in these plans? Or do they have to make do with generic plans that help no one in particular? Like the city's subways?Recently, I was waiting at the Bommanahalli signal and saw a young college girl scurry across the road, risking vehicles whizzing past at full speed. She did not use the new subway that has been open for trials for the last few months. As I waited for the signal to turn green I watched more women,…

Watching the Shiv Sena's latest threats to non-Maharashtrians in Bombay, I'm sure a lot of people in various other metropolitan cities are thinking - could it happen here? Could the xenophobia that has characterised the politics of some groups in some parts of the country take hold everywhere? And how about Bangalore itself?This question is interesting for two reasons. One is the usual politics of 'us' and 'them' around which endless commentary has been written.On the other side of this fence too, the noises are understandable. Rahul Gandhi has been ticking off the Shiv Sena quite publicly on its stance,…

Cops were wiring me up with two tiny hidden video-cameras, two audio recorders, stuffing thousands of rupees in my pockets and briefing me like a military commander does his cadets prior to an offensive. One pocket had 1,000-rupee notes sullied with detective powder that would turn pink as evidence if dipped in treated water. A cameraman was recording this process. Had it not been for missing flood-lights and makeup artists, it could have been mistaken for a 007-style film shooting.This was on Wednesday, February 3rd. Inside the Lokayukta building, with instructions from Additional Director General of Police Rupak K Dutta…

Well, 'Bus day' was a day full of excitement, anxiety and fun. Thanks to BMTC and all those folks involved in the brilliant initiative of ‘Bus Day' in Bengaluru. Ever since I took the bus to my office in the morning, I had rented out my ears, eyes and mind to the happenings around me.Most of the social networking sites: Facebook, Twitter, Orkut carried a lot of updates on ‘Bus Day'. I could see many of my fellow buddies tweeting about them. They would read as "BMTC here I come... #busday" or "Took the bus to work today on #busday…

My daily journey from my home at Kaggadasapura, C V Raman Nagar to my office at Seshadripuram starts at 8.30 AM in the morning. The distance is about 15 kilometres. I generally take 40 minutes on my two wheeler to reach office. Traffic condition deters me to take out my four wheeler and I find my motorbike more convenient.I had never considered public transport as an alternative. The 'Bus Day' initiative intrigued me and I wanted to give it a try.My travel to office can be summed up as follows: I started off at around 8.20 AM. Fifteen minutes of…

It was around 2.10 AM, wee hours of February 4th. Bus Day. I had spoken to my friends over the weekend about this and totally forgot about it. Around the same time I SMSed (Short Messaging Service) as many people as I could reminding them of the day. I got two responses and also saw two Facebook (an online social networking site) status messages posted about the day.I woke up early thinking that I might take longer to reach work by bus. However, I eventually ended up setting out for work around the same time that I generally do every…

Bangalore Bus day! For all those who are crying hoarse about Bangalore's transport system this must come as a shock. What is there to celebrate you say? Let me take you on a trip down memory lane and you tell me.My schooling started with bus commutes, morning and evening. That means 16 years of friendship with the six wheeled wonder. Back in the '80s there weren't so many buses. I used to take the route number 137 from Yeshwanthpur to Ulsoor which would be available only once in two hours. Almost always, the buses were jam packed and foot board…

As most of you know, the Bangalore Elevated Tollway from Electronic City (E-City) upto Bommanahalli was inaugurated by the Union minister, Kamal Nath, last week. The government hailed it as a successful project completed in record time. I have been using it since last week, and this is what I observed. The elevated highway in use. Pic: Thejesh G N. Even though my travel time from E-City to Silk Board junction has reduced by 20 minutes, I clearly see the bottleneck shifting to St Johns, north of Silk Board and to E-City Phase I main entrance in the south. The…