GENRE: Voices

In the mid-eighties when I used to travel on Bellary Road from Bangalore to Vijayapura, a small town about 50 kms away from Bangalore, many things were different. There used to be a huge Circle called Mekhri Circle and the metro almost ended there. There were a few residential localities like Sultanpalya, Gangenahalli and Dollars Colony along the Bellary Road but these were not congested like today and the highway to Bellary/Hyderabad began at Mekhri Circle. There were very few concrete buildings along the highway like the Kirloskar Factory, AMCO Batteries, Larsen & Turbo and a few petrol pumps. Dinshaw…

After the Carlton towers fire incident in Bangalore, Commissioner of Police Shankar M Bidari issued a notification to all high-rise building owners and occupants to comply with approved plan sanctions and fire safety norms.In this exclusive interview with Citizen Matters, Bidari spoke in detail about the order he has given. Bidari has been the Commissioner of Police since 2008. He has previously served as the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Intelligence) and Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order). With this recent order, Bidari appeals to the citizens of Bangalore to follow fire safety regulations and report any violations. Even…

Crime news is hardly a thing one likes to read in the morning. But the suicide of two young girls isn't something you can miss. The two girls aged 17 and 19 killed themselves some weeks back due to exam fears. Though the two deaths are unrelated, the cause is scarily common; especially at this time of the year.Over the last few years Bangalore has gained a dubious reputation of being the suicide capital of the country! One of the media reports quoting statistics available with the city's crime bureau says that over 7840 cases of suicides were recorded in…

Recently, Smart Vote, a Bangalore-based citizens' group, discovered a number of errors in the electoral lists of several polling booths. While some were complete replicas of a neighbouring polling booth, others showed some names repeated several times in the same list. The issue was brought to the notice of the State Election Commission (SEC) which is overseeing the BBMP council elections. Even as these errors were being rectified, there seemed to be many more such anomalies going unreported. Chief Electoral Officer Dr C S Suranjana, at his office near Cubbon Park. Pic: Vaishnavi VittalIt's against this backdrop that Citizen Matters…

It was a much awaited event for all the climbers in and around Bengaluru. Some participants even travelled from other cities to attend the Rock Climbing fest organised at Turahalli on February 21st, 2010.Turahalli hillock is a place with lot of boulders and wildlife just off Kanakapura road and around 8 kilo-meters from Banashankari Temple in Bangalore South. I had visited Turahalli couple of times before along with my climber friends, but I had not tried much of the climbing at Turahalli. The whole effort was to promote the sport and make more number of people joining the climbing community.…

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…