GENRE: Voices

While COVID-19 is causing fatalities across the world, it also brought to focus our frailties when it comes to collective action problems. There were forced lockdowns across India, starting late March, that highlighted clean air gains from the lack of vehicle emissions. Social distancing measures and closure of gyms kept people indoors, which meant lack of activity would take a mental and physical toll after a while. Across the world this was a perfect opportunity to promote a clean, healthy and socially-distanced personal transport vehicle called the bicycle. The window of opportunity presented itself and some of us in Bengaluru…

​​Recently, my Gandhi Nagar area WhatsApp group was abuzz with messages. The topic of discussion was the recently-announced Mega Streets Project.  The Mega Streets Project is an effort to transform arterial and sub-arterial streets to “ensure greater mobility, livability and utility.” These aims are set to be achieved through widening of footpaths, cycle-sharing systems, improving last-mile connectivity. Six streets have been chosen for the project, based on factors such as high intensity of visitors, potential for transformation and streets along transport corridors. Mixed reactions The news that our street had been one of the chosen ones was not universally well-received.…

In August, two workers died when a suspended scaffolding they were standing on fell. They were at an under construction building in Vikhroli. Accidental falls from high rise buildings can happen not just during construction, but also during renovation and maintenance. When people work along the walls of buildings (like Spiderman) at heights of some 200 feet above the ground (for cleaning, painting, water proofing, netting or any other reason), it is expected that there would be something tied to them (such as a rope) and/ or something put below them (such as a net) that will save them if…

Bengaluru has more than 50 lakh two-wheelers on its roads. Let that number sink in. These two-wheelers make up ~70% of all motorised vehicles in the city.  This staggering number of two-wheelers is often attributed to Bengaluru's inadequate and inaccessible public transportation system, whose modal share stands at a meagre 48% in comparison to 80% for Mumbai.  In a 2019 survey conducted by Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC), 24% of respondents who don’t use public transport cited lack of first-mile and last-mile (FM-LM) connectivity as the major hindrance. Given the need for better connectivity to public transportation and the ubiquity…

When most of us think of “critical infrastructure” or “essential services”, public spaces don’t really feature in that list. Post-COVID this notion has been challenged globally, prompting multiple sectors and disciplines to collaborate and leapfrog urban policies and technology. When the Government of India announced its first 21-day lockdown in March, cities and corporations were forced to think outside the box to accommodate essential functions and social distancing norms.  It took a pandemic to roll-out the ambitious bicycle and pedestrian friendly streets programme, and the recent nationwide Streets for People challenge, initiated as part of the Smart Cities Mission in…

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.” - Albert Einstein. Whenever I read this this quote, I always joke that our Indian education system, being evaluation based, makes sure that we forget most of what we learn! But the same quote takes on a new meaning in the present context when children have almost forgotten what they used to take for granted – to learn in a physical classroom with a teacher supervising and teaching them, in person. Schooling in times of COVID-19 It will soon be six months since schools shut and…

October 2. Gandhi Jayanti. Swachh Bharat Day. It was three years ago on this day that  the Greater Chennai Corporation mandated that all residents must segregate their waste at source, and only segregated waste would be collected by the workers of either GCC or Ramky, depending on which zone one lived in (I live in Zone 13- Adyar, one of the largest zones in the city.) The ensuing three years have been a journey of mixed experiences.. In many areas, citizen groups and resident welfare associations (RWAs), took upon themselves the task of ensuring source segregation of waste in their…

If you look at the last six months, Chennai has adopted a strategy that in some ways is similar to other large cities in the country: go into intense lockdown, lift some restrictions and back into selective lockdown again. Chennai has spent more days under intense lockdown than any other large metropolitan city in the country. While it’s technically still under lockdown, there have been significant relaxations that could see further easing over the next few weeks, but the incidence of cases in the city hasn’t caused any big spikes in the recent weeks. Source: https://www.covid19india.org/state/TN An overview of figures…

The current coronavirus pandemic in India has brought the issue of mental health to the fore. According to a 2020 paper, Covid-19 has fuelled ‘infodemia’ and has created ‘coronaphobia’, which results in anxiety, fear, depression, increased substance-dependence, and PTSD. Yet another research paper points out that there are a rising number of patients with COVID-19 who have been reported with mild (anosmia and ageusia) to severe (encephalopathy) neurological manifestations too. Some of the most vulnerable categories include older people, health care providers, caregivers, and psychiatric patients who need special attention. According to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences…

In my lifetime, I’ve transitioned from an Indian-type squat-pour-flush toilet to a more spacious western-style commode toilet with the luxuries of a mirror and wash-basin.  This transition is one of the more eloquent symbols of my upward mobility.  It was in the privacy of the toilet that I have felt the most free and uninhibited.  It is the place where my deepest angsts have found their release in helpless tears and the place where I’ve imagined my wild aspirations coming true. It is where I’ve thought of the comeback line to the school bully and where I’ve pretended to be…