WOMEN

I was taking my cycle to the ‘Fitness Through Travel’ to get it lubed properly for the race on Sunday. As I passed the playground near 19th Main (BTM Layout), I noticed a young woman in filthy clothes lying unconscious near the grills of the ground. A lot of young men were playing in the ground, paying no attention to her. Everyone was just glancing at her and moving away with the assumption that she was drunk. I too started moving away, but then I noticed dried blood around her foot. I felt bad, went near her and woke her…

Gone are the days when security and surveilence depended on security guards, thanks to the technical advancement. CCTV camera industry is a booming business today, with every shop, showroom, mall, apartment and office complex and hotel investing in electronic modes of security. A small yet significant part of this growing industry in Bangalore is Sadiya Sarwar. Daughter of an automobile engineer and a mother of two, Sadiya started her business in the year 2007. She credits her father for having taught her the ways of this field. “The year I started my company, C2i solutions, the CCTV camera business was…

A few months back, when Union Minister Jairam Ramesh made an observation that in India we have more temples than toilets, there was a general unqualified uproar among the political class who demanded an apology even regarding a genuine concern, as always.As a resident of a ‘so called' well planned and affluent locality like HSR Layout, my observation is no different than the Union Minister. Construction workers waking up as early as 4 am to answer their calls of nature in an empty site nearby or dark spaces away from the view of early morning walkers is a regular ritual.…

I was a student at Manipal thirty five years ago. The college library used to be open till 1 am. Taking a break from studies, we would step down to the road to eat boiled eggs and rubbery toast, and drink some hot syrupy tea. After the library closed for the day, we would walk back to our hostels. When we worked nights at the hospital, we visited these food carts at all times of the night whenever our youthful stomachs groaned with hunger. When disturbing incidents like the rape and abduction of an unsuspecting young woman in Manipal is…

It was one of those humid and dry Bangalore summer days when I stepped out with my friend and future roommate Manjusha to look out for accommodation in the city. The journey from Kumbalgodu to Marathalli took the two of us almost three whole hours. We weren’t discouraged as we were in one of those victorious moods – we were recruited by a leading news agency.It was a prestigious and laudable moment in our lives; hence the long BMTC journey seemed very petty. Our bus halted at this seemingly bizarre location, which looked like a cross between a highway and…

I stepped into a very caustic conversation some days ago. Four moms I know were having some kind of semi-heated discussion. One of them was a working women and the other three were stay-at-home mums. I believe the conversation started when one of the moms who went to work reprimanded her child for hitting another. One of the moms informed her that this was a regular occurrence. The child came down most days with the maid, who settled him down with his toys and parked herself in a corner with her phone, while the child hit other kids, bullied and…

The dust has settled down after the Karnataka elections. According to the pundits, BJP was booted out for corruption and Congress elected, for lack of any other options. Now the voters wait to see if their mandate pays off. In the midst of this, it is my job to ask - how did the women candidates fare in the election?First, the numbers. There were 2939 candidates contesting for the 223 of 224 seats. Little over six per cent of the candidates were women - 170. Out of them, only 58 were from major political parties. 13 of them contested from…

The Delhi gangrape and many more rapes that were never reported hitherto but are at least getting some attention now have been able to evoke noticeable public response regarding violence against women. Finally, more and more people have started understanding that millions of women all over the globe who hide their tears silently have the right to be treated equally, gently and with respect. The Women's Day celebrated at this point carries more meaning than ever before.'Promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women,' the theme given by the United Nations Organisation for the Women's Day…

Every year, the 8th of March is celebrated as ‘International Women's Day' the world over and apart from a couple of award functions acknowledging successful women, some "feel-good" articles lauding the contribution of women, a few advertisements in the newspapers and wishes from friends and colleagues, there isn't anything special about this day for most women! Pic: wikimedia commons Women today manage to do a balancing act between their professional lives and being a mother, wife, daughter, and daughter-in-law. This definitely fills us with pride that we are able to handle home and work so smoothly-a pat on our well…

We at PNLIT feel blessed and privileged to get an opportunity to see the revival of a lake at such close quarters. We cherish the experience and want to share it with everybody. After all, how many people get such a fantastic opportunity to save a lake?  Yesterday morning the workers began laying the pipes to complete the diversion channel. Using a JCB to dig the trenches and a crane to lift the 45 in dia pipe and keep it in place in the trench was quite a sight!  By late afternoon, the sky darkened. Out of 18 pipes only three…