WIT

  I recently discovered this site and it was a pleasure to find a forum to engage with fellow residents of Bengaluru city. While I am not a Kannadiga, or indeed a localite, I have been in Bengaluru (on and off) for a total of about 11 years now. I woke up this morning to several news items, across India, about the horrendous behavior of men. Eve-teasing... what not...? It got me thinking... Isn't Bengaluru too a victim of this? I have never understood why (predominantly) Indian men, do not seem to understand the difference between staring, letching, ogling and…

Traffic at the Marathahalli-Sarjapur Outer Ring Road. File pic.  It has been two years since I wrote this on the sorry state of commuters and residents along the Outer-Ring-Road. Fast forward to the present, nothing much has changed. It might in fact have gotten worse as more and more bottlenecks have sprung up. In these two years, more people have added their own cars to the roads, more buildings have come up and more companies have moved in to the stretch between Sarjapura Road and Doddanakundi. Ecospace, a word that now mainly conjures up images of traffic jams when heard…

The ever-busy Silk Board junction. Pic: Abhishek Chandel The clock chimed seven on a balmy Wednesday evening, as I peered out of the dusty window of my motionless office bus. A cacophony of voices, the humdrum of engines, snatches of conversation and a curse word or two greeted my eardrums. The scene in front of my eyes appeared as dull and despondent as my day had turned out. A middle-aged lady driving back home from office killed her car's engine, and got busy yelling instructions to the domestic help about that evening's repast over her phone. A bored taxi driver…

Touts stopping non-KA registered vehicles opposite Kadugodi police station on June 8th 2015. Pic: Karthikeyan Dear Sir, I am torn. All through my life, I was the lone person in my circle of friends who had faith in the government. I was the only one who staunchly defended the government. I was the only one who said that governments don’t lie. I was ridiculed. I was chided. I was considered odd. Yet, I soldiered on. Then something happened. Some of my friends pointed out to me that the RTO, Karnataka was clamping down upon out-of-state cars. They said that the…

A gentleman inside a ladies toilet! Pic: Anisha Nair When was the last time you thought you had died and then managed to resuscitate your being? I experienced this painful process very recently. Here we were going from one place to another, and typically, the way it normally happens—without warning—my bladder started to constrict. This meant that I had to go and I had to go now! This also meant that I couldn't go anywhere and everywhere I pleased, the reason being that I'm not an Indian dog, neither am I an Indian man. I can't simply pull over to…

Kannada pride in Nagashettihalli. Pic courtesy: M S Gopal My daily commute takes me from Mallathahalli (which gets confused with Marathahalli a lot) to a place in Kadubeesanahalli, which lies next to Devarabeesanahalli. My colleagues commute from places like Konanakunte, Gottigere, Bilekahalli, Parappana Agrahara, Kaikondarahalli, Doddakanelli, Kaggadasapura etc.I sometimes wonder how a non-Kannadiga who’s just landed in Bangalore Bengaluru, or living here for a few years, would take to these names. He/she would also have the problem of having to live in places like Garebhavipalya, Bommanahalli, Tippasandra or even Kormanagala, or Madiwala that make you pull out the South Indian…

The Karnataka government is trying to increase tourism in the city of Bengaluru. Recent news reports say that they are planning to extend the 11.30pm closing time for bars and restaurants in the city to 1am. A few days ago the paper had a report of the city introducing a tourist 'Big Bus' with a hop-on, hop-off service which goes to the tourist attractions of the city — Lalbaug, Cubbon Park, Vidhan Soudha, Bangalore Palace, Tipu's Palace, Bull temple etc. However, these tourist attractions are all quite old. Most predate independence and the formation of Karnataka and are at least…

Following are the excerpts from a manual, which BBMP could be preparing for pedestrians: 1) For crossing streets, never assume that you can use the zebra crossings. The primary purpose of those crossings is for vehicles to come to a stop. The pedestrian is only an afterthought. Vehicles have full right to occupy the zebra crossings. Any pedestrian violating these rights of vehicles may be arrested. 2) BBMP has been magnanimous in providing separate signals   for pedestrians in some intersections. Again, please understand that the traffic signals are primarily meant for vehicles. Do not complain that these signals are on…

Came across an article about the worsening traffic situation in India. Badly planned roads, overstretched traffic police, violators get away easy, explosion in vehicle population, and a flood of untrained drivers all contribute to the problem. Wait! There is one more reason; there are a set of unwritten rules that are passed on from driver to driver in the great oral tradition of India! Since this tradition is oral, there is ample scope for misinterpretation and consequent goof-ups on the road. The other unique aspect about these rules is that they don't have to be consistently followed, just understood and…

Scared, witless by dire warnings from medical friends about the horrifying ailments that await those who turn fifty, one decides to embark on a fitness drive. Thus, clad with one ‘Reeback' tracksuit from a roadside boutique (Made as USA - assures the label), one pair of cloned Nikes, one Chinese iPod and walking tips from the internet, one sets off on a morning walk.  In Puttenahalli. The walker's website advises ‘Start with a deep breath'. So, one goes ‘Aaaahh, Inhaaaale!' Bad mistake. There's an overflowing garbage bin at the corner. Gasp, choke, gag.   ‘Avoid main roads', the website further…