GENRE: Voices

It was the first thing on her to-do list as restrictions eased with Lockdown 5. Manjula recharged her phone for Rs 400. “I may have to skip a meal for this” she laments as the expense eats into her non-existent savings. “But my Amma should be able to call now” is her hope as she waits for her employers to call her back to work.  Working as a domestic help has been more than a decade of Manjula’s life.  She turned up at homes everyday like clockwork, to clean them without a day off. She stayed behind to help when they…

According to a 2018 Ease of Mobility Index report from the Ola Institute, Chennai emerged on top when it came to public transport usage, with 75% of the population opting for public transport; buses being the most widely used.  The MTC bus system in Chennai has proven to be most popular due to high daily frequency, capacity, affordability and accessibility. The main patrons have been those who are in lower income groups such as daily wage labourers who often have to travel long distances to their place of work. In the foreseeable future however, the daily commute of Chennai residents…

The warning bell was rung by the Prime Minister when he announced Janta Curfew on March 22nd this year. I had returned to Mumbai on March 13th after a series of Board Meetings in Chennai. We were discussing annual operating plans but knew that we may be hit by a tidal wave soon. We did not expect it to be a Tsunami.  When I spoke with HR heads of companies in mid-May, many said that they knew a lockdown was coming. Many global companies had issued a diktat as early as March 15th to move employees out of offices. The challenge…

The mathematical projections of MGR University indicate that there could be 1.5 lakh COVID-19 patients in Chennai by mid-July and the incidence of infection could peak in October. Going by the fact that the varsity’s projections on Chennai have been proven right so far, it is best to brace ourselves to deal with the crisis as it is quite likely to knock upon every one of our homes.  How does one stay prepared, though? Well, this is my own account, an observation of the crisis from close quarters, which might help in  understanding how the system works as it is…

There's much work done in society on a regular basis that remains unrecognised or even taken for granted, until one undertakes to do it in his own hand. That's something each of us has experienced over the last three months of the lockdown, as we have had to do all household work in the absence of our domestic workers. Having washed utensils at least thrice a day, swept floors every day, washed clothes and cleaned toilets, perhaps we will now be goaded into some serious thinking about what we can do for the people who silently perform these chores, almost…

The Tamil Nadu (is that correct) Government, late in the evening on June 10, released a gazette notification of a decision taken on April 1. It proposes a set of English spelling changes – for 1,018 places in the State no less – based on Tamil phonetics. For the sake of brevity, my commentary focuses on the 96 places within Chennai city, names of which are proposed to be changed. The Government’s release has two columns – one the list of new names as proposed by the District Collectors and the other as suggested by experts who have been consulted.…

It’s no misnomer that Bengaluru is the Silicon Valley of India. Our daily commute around Marathahalli junction can deposit small quantities of raw materials on our body that can build up to ingredients in the manufacturing process of a semiconductor. Maybe, because of this, people working in the IT corridor exhibit some semiconductor-like properties in their work communication - “Stuck in traffic”, “In late today”, “Leaving early”, “Work from home” etc. Does this sound familiar? Marathahalli junction is among the many knotted intersections that connect to the city’s IT hub along ORR (Outer Ring Road). The bridge here was built…

A recent photography project documented the lack of women loitering in Bengaluru. While men access public spaces freely, women venture out of their homes only for specific purposes, the project indicated. Why is women's access to public spaces so limited in Bengaluru, as in other Indian cities? To understand women’s participation in the city, it is necessary to focus on the structural factors that affect their ability to move and access opportunities. Data suggests that women often work out of their homes, tend to walk more and have shorter commutes, revealing a gender commuting gap in Indian cities. Bengaluru needs…

இனி, இந்த பரபரப்பான சென்னை வாழ்விலும் குடும்ப உறுப்பினர்களுடன் பரஸ்பரம் முகம் பார்த்து பேச நேரம் ஒதுக்கப் போகிறார்கள். இனி,  படோபட வெளியுணவை இயன்றவரைத் தவிர்த்து ஆரோக்கியமான உணவையே குடும்பங்களில் சமைத்து உண்ணப் போகிறார்கள்.  இனி, குடும்பம் மற்றும் சமூக விழாக்கள் அளவுக்கதிக ஆடம்பரமின்றி பொருள்வளம் வீணாக்கப்படாமல் நடைபெறப்போகிறது. இனி, தனிநபர் ஒவ்வொருவரும் ஓர் ஒழுங்கு மற்றும் புறசுத்தத்தை தன்னளவிலும் சமூகத்தொடர்பிலும் கடைபிடிப்பார். இனி, கூட்டம் கூடும் இடங்களில் மக்கள் முண்டியடிக்காமல் தன் முறைக்காக பொறுமையாக வரிசையில் காத்திருக்கப் போகிறார்கள். இனி, எல்லோரும் உள்ளுணர்வுடன் வாய் மூடி தான் இருமவோ தும்மவோ போகிறார்கள். இனி, சென்னை வீதிகளில், பேருந்து மற்றும் ரயில் நிலையங்களில் யாரும் எச்சில், சளி உமிழ மாட்டார்கள் இனி, ரூபாய் நோட்டுகளும் பேருந்து பயணச்சீட்டுகளும் எச்சில் தொட்டு தரப்படாது இனி, பொதுக்கழிவறைகளை அசூசையோ அச்சமோ இல்லாது நாம் பயன்படுத்தும் அளவிற்கு சுத்தமாக இருக்கப் போகிறது இனி, ஒவ்வொருவரும் தனது…

Bengaluru, predicted to be the fastest growing city in the world for the next 15 years, is already facing an acute water crisis. Its rapid infrastructural expansion has led to an ever-increasing demand for water, and local government bodies haven’t been able to keep up. The BWSSB (Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board), tasked with water supply, still doesn’t cover the 110 surrounding villages that had been merged into the city in 2007. Over the years, private water tanker operators have bridged this gap in water supply, playing a crucial role in the city’s daily life. However, they operate without…