INTERVIEWS

Chennai-based Dr Ruffles is extremely popular with children. His treatment has helped several non-verbal children with autism to speak up, aided those with attention deficit disorder and other learning disabilities to improve their performance in school, and even resolved complex behavioural issues in many of his little patients. Quite incredibly, though, the good doctor has accomplished all this without so much as uttering a single word or writing out a prescription. Indeed, he has become the hugely successful therapist he is by simply being himself – a non-judgmental, attentive and very affectionate dog! Ruffles is the resident ‘doctor’ at the…

Pic: Nikita Malusare He has been contesting elections for over five terms from Bengaluru South Constituency. Ananth Kumar, started his career as secretary of Akhila Bharat Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). As a minister in the Vajpayee government, he held many key positions such as Minister of Civil Aviation, Tourism, Sports and Youth Affairs, Culture, Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation. (Check out his full profile) He has been actively connecting with people through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. He also has his personal website. Citizen Matters caught up with Ananthkumar on a rainy day during his campaign at an apparel…

Pic: http://cnarayanaswamy.com/ C Narayanaswamy, the Congress candidate from Bangalore North, seems to be a very busy man. Each time we called his number, we were told, ‘Sir is campaigning’ or ‘Sir is in a meeting’. We finally managed to catch up with him in a telephonic interview at 11 pm in the night. The 66-year-old candidate truly sounded tired at the end of a long day, his voice almost hoarse. Nevertheless, he patiently spent about 10 minutes talking to us about why he would make a good candidate and why good leaders are important for the society. Why should people…

Pic courtesy: https://www.facebook.com/ruthmanorama Ruth Manorama, womens' rights activist awarded with Rights Livelihood award, contesting as a JD(S) candidate from Bengaluru South, spoke to Citizen Matters on her unexpected entry into politics and her goals. Excerpts: Why do you want to go to parliament? I have been advocating for women in politics. There is utter criminalization, communalization and corruption of the political system. The capacity and capabilities of women should be used to understand how poverty and inequality impacts development. Women should be involved in politics internally, not just externally. Women are able to talk and engage with the government and…

Pic: Shree D N In a telephonic interview with Citizen Matters, Aam Aadmi Party candidate from Bengaluru North, Babu Mathew, reveals his plans for future. Here are the excerpts from the interview which summarise his policies and plans for his constituency, interaction with voters etc. AAP is known to have deserted Delhi. Why should people vote for AAP in this elections? Won't voting for AAP lead to a hung parliament? AAP is the first step towards the second freedom movement in India. How does your party plan to control corruption? AAP is determined to see the passage of the Jan…

The election madness hasn’t perturbed her one bit. She seems to have seen it all, right from the time she started extensively campaigning for numerous elections post her marriage to politician Dr Jeevraj Alva, when she was no more than 16 years old! Being a danseuse, businesswoman, socialite and homemaker, she did not fear adding more to her juggling act. Today, Nandini Alva, all of 52, sounds very articulate when we speak to her about her entry into politics. She has been chosen to contest as a JD(S) candidate from Bangalore Central for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Nandini Alva…

The youngest candidate of all the Bangalore MP candidates, Rizwan Arshad, 34 years, is geared up for the big battle. After waiting for so long, Citizen Matters was able to catch him in an event scheduled in Press Club of Bangalore to launch his website, on April 4, 2014. The launch of the website It was not a big event. Rizwan who wore casual cotton-white shirt and pant, was accompanied by Infrastructure Minister Roshan Baig, his son and other party members. Rizwan acknowledged the work of two youths, Sujay and Parikshit who designed the website http://rizwanarshad.in/. He said that this…

Prithvi Reddy in his office Pic: Shree D N He is the brain behind Aam Aadmi Party for Karnataka. He is also in the AAP's National Executive Committee. Prithvi Reddy gets candid with Citizen Matter’s Shree D N and Nikita Malusare on the AAP’s plans for this election season and his take on the roller coaster ride that their stint in politics has been this far. Can AAP change the election game? I think so. Whatever was believed as winnability in elections - caste, money, muscle power - has been proved wrong in Delhi elections. Delhi election showed us that…

Nina Nayak talking to people during campaign. Pic: Nikita Malusare Despite being pitted against formidable rivals, AAP's candidate from Bangalore South, child rights activist, Nina P Nayak is the picture of positivity and confidence, as she speaks to Citizen Matters on elections and life before and after her foray into politics. How is the world of politics different from that of activism, considering your background? Politics is quite a different ballgame. I joined at the invitation of AAP and I’m really enjoying it as this movement has percolated at all levels. After a long time, people are actually interested in being…

When it appears that everybody has lost hopes with the Indian National Congress, Bengaluru’s own billionaire Nandan Nilekani decided to partner with the party. With the aim of becoming the champion for Bengaluru, the man behind the multi-crore Aadhaar project, gave an exclusive interview to Citizen Matters at his campaign office in Jayanagar on March 20th 2013. This was just a day before he declared his family assets — Rs 7,700 crore.   Nilekani shared his thoughts on governance, why he chose to join Congress, and what he can do as an MP for Bengaluru, which is run by MLAs…