rules

In many places in the city, I find signs like this, claiming public space for private, reserved parking. I had brought it to the notice of Corporation Bank on 1st Main, J P Nagar 3rd Phase, and they removed the signs. People who run establishments must be made aware that such reservation is illegal.    

Day before yesterday (22nd June, 2016) my driving licence (along with many other cards and quite a lot of cash, but that's another story) was stolen. The website told me, I needed to get a notarised statement to the effect that I'd lost the licence, along with three photographs, and go to the Regional Transport Office (RTO) where it had been issued, and submit my application. Part 1.I started off with a visit to the photo shop (not Photoshop!) to get my passport photos. It took about half an hour and some extra charges, but I got 16 photos (Rs.120)…

Here is a news story about how a visitor's car wheel was clamped and she was fined Rs 500.   It's all very well for the Residents' Association to say that the rules warn that the car wheels may be clamped, but is such clamping, and levying a fine of Rs 500, legal?  Surely residents' associations cannot take the law into their own hands in this way?  

I do not want to apply for an Aadhar card, and the website and the Supreme Court ruling clearly state that it is not mandatory. However, to claim my discount on cooking gas (I am eligible for it) the Government has made Aadhar card mandatory. I am not sure if this is legal or not. The last time, to register for the connection, the Government had made Aadhar mandatory,but had later backed down and repealed the requirement. However,I am not able to find any location in my area where I can even hand in the documents, all of which are…

Recently, the Bangalore Traffic Police made it mandatory for pillion riders to wear helmets. It's been a law, for some years now, for two-wheeler drivers to wear them. Here's a family I snapped...   This was not on any side road, it was on the main highway leading to the airport from the city.  I've had a neurosurgeon neighbour, and two of my surgeon brothers in law, tell me what horrific head injuries can happen when a two-wheeler is involved in an accident. The pillion rider can, in fact, be thrown even further than the driver, and head injuries are…

At South End Circle, on Sunday, the 17th of January, 2016, it was heartening to see several volunteers holding placards asking road users not to use their mobiles while driving.  The trouble with our country seems to be that no one thinks an accident could happen to him or her...until it actually happens. And rules, we feel, are for others to follow and for us to flout. The volunteers looked tired, standing in the middle of the road junction in the polluted air. But if even one two-wheeler or four-wheeler driver put down the mobile phone and resolved not to…

The adage says, "there's safety in numbers". But our Bangalore citizens seem to apply this out of context. Here's a photo I snapped on Sunday.  I wonder how many more people can ride on that two-wheeler, all without helmets....

A blind adherence to regulations today made a bank manager give a suggestion that was, at the very least, inappropriate.Let me recount how this came about.My maid, before she came to work for me, opened a savings account. Not being aware of the options, and being barely literate, she slowly wrote her name on the specimen-signature card. She then realized that she would have to sign exactly the same way whenever she wanted to withdraw money; so she started worrying about not being able to.She therefore requested me to come with her to the bank, and ask them to change…

Ajit Lakshmiratan writes:"Long long ago...precisely in 1977..when 27, I had parked my bike (Jawa MYM 2877) in front of Prince Hotel in Brigade Rd extn.Bangalore for a short time (No Parking zone).When I returned, a constable asked me to come to the nearby Police Station (Shoolay PS, now renamed as Ashoknagar PS). Shoolay PS was at that time known for the strict rule book, no nonsense Inspector. My father was there with me and I was sure that he would bail me out at the Station like all fathers do when sons are in trouble. But at the station, my…