SOCIETY

So the protests have stopped and the political games have begun. The 23-year-old girl continues to battle for her life. What now?The immediate reaction from Delhi Police after the incident was to pull up all the drivers and see to it that they have valid public service permits. People started tweeting about buses with dark windows or curtained and saying, be wary of them. Yes it is a good thing to have these in place because it helps us catch the culprits when a crime occurs. But this is not a preventive measure is it?Closer home Home Minister R Ashoka,…

The camaraderie is more than apparent as members of Non Resident Indians Parents Association (NRIPA) in Bangalore meet at fellow member BA Ramesh's home in Jayanagar. Notes are exchanged, jokes are cracked and an endless variety of snacks keep doing the rounds. There's a level of comfort obvious here that comes only from long association and sharing a common ground. As you talk to them, you realize that NRIPA members are almost like an extended family to each other.Started by Ambuja Narayan 13 years ago to find something in common with other parents whose children too have moved overseas, the…

You live in the third largest city in India by population. The city's GDP exceeds 10 billion dollars (Rs 54,000 crores). The largest chunk of Karnataka's GDP and tax collections come from Bengaluru alone. The city has the third largest number of crorepathis in India and by some accounts, the highest median income level in the country. It isn't just that. An emerging civic and green movement led by old and young alike is fighting back to take back lost public spaces - lakes and trees for instance - with a resolute willingness to checkmate corrupt administrators in the High…

It isn't often that you hear voices on the radio talking about Bengaluru's public matters, concerns for the city and the interesting changemaking work going in the city. Even on occasions where you hear a little, it is not at the level of depth you will read in a newsmagazine. Vasanthi Hariprakash.Pic courtesy: NBF. On December 2nd, Sunday, between 9am-10am, M A Saleem, the city's traffic police commissioner and P Manivannan, the head of BESCOM were on the air. They were speaking and responding to questions from noted radio and television journalist Vasanthi Hariprakash. Vasanthi has been hosting this series…

The woman got on to the bus, gave the conductor a two rupee coin and prepared to get off two stops later. I caught her eye and said, sternly, "Pay proper charges and get a ticket, or you'll be fined Rs 150." "All right amma, sorry" she said, alighting at the new flyover, "I work here, sweeping the rubble, and earn Rs 2,000 a month, I have to live on that."The budget for the flyover is several crores. Workers like her who build it, earn for a whole month's work, what an entry level software employee in our IT city,…

If you are a regular user of BMTC, you would know that the commute during peak time is no picnic. One of my recent trips on a Sarjapura Road route at 5:30pm was no different. The bus driver and the conductor, were on an auto mode - shouting at the women - go inside, don't crowd around the pillars, while driving / issuing tickets. This kamba bittu hogri (leave the pillar/support and go inside) is a refrain I've been hearing since I was a school student.   So why do women crowd around the three kambas in the ‘ladies' section?…

All of us are looking forward to Diwali this year aren't we? The bursting of crackers and sentimental pooja truly makes this occasion special. But there are many others out there who don't get this chance. So I decided to do something about this. As Diwali celebrations are coming up, my mum had been asking me to dispose of my huge collections of comics and story books, my old school books, clean up my room and get rid of what she calls all the junk. I thought, why not put some of this stuff to some good use. I reached…

Last year he called it Holiween. I didn't make any attempts to correct him and he didn't remember it beyond that point either. Why bother when it isn't a festival that belongs to us? Pic: wikimedia commons This year, he is close to seven and the Halloween monster has struck us hard. We now know the correct pronunciation and the fact that it's an American festival that has "something to do with ghosts". We also know somewhat hazily about pumpkins and trick or treat. The problem is we live in an apartment complex that isn't as Halloween friendly as the…

The 4th Edition of Namma Bengaluru Awards (NBA) was announced today. An initiative of the Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF),   the Namma Bengaluru Awards are meant to celebrate exceptional individuals and organizations – nominated by citizens for making Bengaluru a more sophisticated, humane and dignified city, truly one of the top world cities!As the 4th Namma Bengaluru Awards are announced today, a panelist who helps identify and pick the winners each year spoke of why the awards matter. A retired IAS officer, K Jairaj, said “Being on this panel is exciting because we discover those in the shadows; ordinary people who do extraordinary things. They toil…

She has traveled a long way since being found as a little black and white bundle in the middle of 100 Foot Road in Indiranagar. She could have easily been run over as the traffic was typical. She was alone - with no sign of a mum or other pups - just her - very afraid, and a dirty mess. I jumped out of my car and put her into a paper bag. She was little - less than 1kg.I called Amit to tell him that I was "bringing someone home for lunch" and he knew immediately that I was…