OPINION

Birthdays are always occasions for celebration - and so, as the print edition of Citizen Matters completes two years this week, I am looking back on the stories we have had and shared, and find that a few stand out as particularly worthy of mention. "Two J.P.Nagar-ites help city apartments save lakhs of rupees" The report in the issue dated Jan 15-23 this year, was an important piece of reporting, which no mainstream publication bothered to cover, much less splash as a scoop - despite the fact that newspapers are meant to "inform" the readers about issues relevant to their…

12 bus days later, why not sit down to share around some notes on the concept. When some folks first talked about it (back in October 2009), it was meant to be a day to promote public transport. PT day, CyBaNa (cycle, bus, nadi as in walk) day were some variants floating around. The reality for Bengaluru is that, today and for next 5-6 years for sure, PT would mostly mean Bus. The modes Cy and Na are mostly going to hinge around the Bus. Read this Citizen Matters article on the initiation of bus day concept. The Bus Day…

At a time when Bangalore's restaurants are more interested in hanging 30 ft high billboards that says "Buffet at 199", "Combo meal for 99" than serving an authentic meal, I happened to visit Fiorano, a classy Italian restaurant which believes in marketing their restaurant purely by the ‘word-of-palette'. In fact, this restaurant is so understated from the outside that we spent a good ten minutes to locate it despite knowing exactly where to look. This upscale restaurant’s interiors, though simple, are quite elegant. Pic: S K Shivashankar Located on the busy 100 ft road in Koramangala, Fiorano is one of…

I have heard of plugged in electrical  gadgets and equipment, but it is now "plugged in humans" - wherever on goes, one sees men and women, girls and boys, all with wires dangling from their ears  and fiddling with buttons on a mobile, and oblivious to the world around them. Listening to music presumably, while riding on a bus, which is okay I guess.  Or while driving a two or four wheeler - not okay at all - studies have shown that being on the cell phone or listening to music through an ear phone causes distraction from the road…

As we go into Citizen Matters’ special list of developments for the year that was for Bengaluru, how about the year that was not?But before that, some context: Bengaluru is touted as global powerhouse in the West for its IT-prowess! US President Obama often raises the spectre of Bangaloreans stealing American jobs. A top American columnist even warned US children to pay attention to their studies or else Bangalore’s students would take their jobs of the future. Such is the fear Bangalore evokes in the West.Still, look at the inside picture. Some important events never happened in 2010, that should…

End of the year, and all that, plus the festive season, and perhaps for a change we can look at something positive, instead of the quotidian litany of cribbing-complaining-and-reading-about-corruption - Which reminds me, there were rallies earlier this week, to mark an initiative to say "enough" to the growing menace  of corruption. Attendance and participation was modest, in a city of 60 lakhs, in a state that was described by the Congress chief  a few days ago, as one of the most corrupt. The Lokayukta has been addressing a series of public meetings on the subject, and at one that…

Kathakali is an art form from Kerala that tells a story with  two or more  performers. It is a form of sanskrit dance theatre that was traditionally practiced and professed by male actors.[1] Prabol Gupta in stree vesham. Pic: Prabol Gupta. For many centuries men have been responsible for upholding and passing on the classical art forms from one generation to another especially during times when women were forbidden from entering the world of performing arts. Hence it is not surprising that men have taken on women's toles in these traditional art forms. Guru Lalitha Ubhaykar, renowned Hindustani artiste and Guru Usha…

A state government-appointed TDR panel headed by Dr A Ravindra released its recommendations last month asking the government to re-look at the Transfer of Developmental Rights (TDR) policy and proposed solutions. There is no formal response from the government yet.For the past few years, roadwidening of adhoc offerings of TDR has caused anguish to many a Bangalorean. It also resulted in the formation of Bengaluru's Ring Road Property Owners Association (RRPOA). The association has opposed roadwidening of the outer ring road in south Bangalore and BBMP subsequently put the project on hold. In the meantime, this and many other projects…

Citizen Matters and Just Femme organised a panel discussion on 'Making Bengaluru women-friendly' at the pEtE Maatu film festival last weekend. At the discussion, panelists engaged the audience with passion and assertion. Cutting across view points, almost all panelists laced their words with their own experiences and that made the entire interaction real and on the ground, as opposed an academic dialogue. However one issue that did emerge and did not get enough attention was the gap between the author panelist C K Meena and fellow panelists Deepika Nagabushan and Siri Srinivas. Deepika and Siri are youngsters in their twenties.…

Many years ago, I made my first Christmas pudding from a recipe in a foreign magazine. The result was everything the blurb promised – dark, moist, rich and very more-ish. I was delighted. Having grown up on Agatha Christie, I had finally made the steamed concoction that Christie occasionally referred to in her books. The pudding captivated me so much that the neuries, achappams and laddoos that I’d also grown up on, paled in comparison. Glace cherries, raisins, almonds and candied fruit being prepared for fruit cake. The rind and juice of orange and lime are also added. Pic: Theresa…