Z-Blogs

We have thousands of runners but no place to just walk from A to B. I can no longer walk the less-than-a-kilometre stretch from my home to that of a friend on Bannerghatta Road. The road has been dug up for widening ( though it quickly ends in a bottleneck at an immoveable temple opposite a newly- minted mall), and leave alone the demise of several young trees, there is no footpath any more, nor is there likely to be, for the foreseeable future. Critically endangered species: the Common Pedestrian. Update: My friend Shiv Sastry tells me that there is…

At any Darshini restaurant in Bangalore, the south Indian "filter kaapi" (coffee that has been percolated through a filter, and always made with milk) is first poured into the glasses, where the colour gleams invitingly in the sunlight. Then, boiling, frothing milk (with or without sugar , as per the customer's requirement) is added. One is one, the other one waits... This was taken at Vidyarthi Grand, on Kanakapura Road, one of my favourite post-birding-outing favourites.

“To safeguard democracy, the people must have a keen sense of independence, self-respect, and their oneness” - Mahatma Gandhi.How often do you complain about the state of affairs in urban governance? How many times have you thought that the people who are in charge of the governments could do a much better job? How many times have you thought we need to elect better representatives who understand the nuances of the policy frameworks? We as citizens often forget our power, provided through the Constitution, by the founders of our Republic, to be able to get good, efficient and learned people…

As I was walking into the office on Thursday 21st December to bid farewell to colleagues I was feeling a huge mixture of emotions. I was hugely proud and happy to be heading to a new Zimbabwe but sad that my six months in Bengaluru had come to an end. Bengaluru has been one hell of a journey, one that I am so pleased I had the confidence to do (I can feel tears in my eyes as I write this). There is no exaggeration when I say the past six months have been life-changing. Since arriving in Bengaluru I…

The Beku Beda Santhe held in Freedom Park on October 15th, organised by the Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) and numerous RWAs and groups representing  civic, social, children’s and underprivileged interests.  More than 1500 citizens participated and cast their votes, for what they wanted and what they did not want of the city administration.  The objective was to set the agenda for our city through a bottom up and inclusive, open public forum. Subsequent to the Santhe, CfB volunteers worked on categorizing and consolidating the thousands of demands into a short list ‘Beku Beda Santhe Citizens Manifesto for Bengaluru’. This is not a…

Today, the 2nd of Dec, 2017, saw the residents of several apartment buildings which are part of the Bangalore Apartment Federation (BAF) taking to a silent protest in the streets. The protest was against the continuous and endless barrage of harassment they are being subjected to by the government and civic agencies of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) As R Balasubramanian, President of BAF, says, "Older apartments constructed in the '70s, '80s & '90s, which are not in any way polluting, have been mandated to install STPs retrospectively, which is impossible. And for apartments built since 2007 with properly…

On 25 Nov '17, at about 4.30pm, on Kengal Hanumanthiah (Double) Road, I found this van, based in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, with a number plate where the "TN" (denoting the state) was painted over. This was done both at the rear and on the side (which I clicked) of the van. How are such illegal number plates allowed to ply on our roads?

I couldn’t sleep. I followed most news channels and am part of several WhatsApp groups, none of which has anything to do with politics; yet all were a flurry of news — real or fake. Family members on the ground were less sure of what was happening, while those in the diaspora were supplying the information. It was surreal. President Robert Mugabe, who had been in power for 37 years, was under house arrest. The military said they had taken over the country but it was not a coup. While the uncertainty was unsettling, there was reason to hope. I…

We've had and will continue to have, diverse events at the lake to bring the neighbourhood together. The Nrityotsav on 5th November, held in collaboration with Nritya Darpan and IPAAC, was unique for more than one reason. This was not only our first formal dance programme but also that it took place on a stage specially set up, with the water in the background and birds flying overhead. Also the first time in terms of the number of artists (90?) from little ones aged 7 (I guess) to shall I dare say, 45 years? The dancers were accompanied by their relatives and friends so…

How often have we seen empty sites in a residential layout, not just going waste, but also being a source of worry for the residents? The worry arises from two main factors: dumping of waste, and the unwanted pests that the waste attracts. For some reason, all our vaunted civic sense does not seem to operate when there are handy empty sites. Whether it is the residents themselves, or their domestic help… an empty site seems to become a great place to throw one’s waste into...especially if it means avoiding segregation of waste. The waste could be building material, or…