Z-Blogs

Just like Kunti who had Karna on one side and five sons on the other, Mother Kaveri, in the wildlife sanctuary that I visit, flows with Tamil Nadu on one bank, and Karnataka on the other. How does the mother feel, when she sees her children at war with each other? Is it water that flows, or a torrent of tears, for the inability of siblings to get along with each other?

As I walked to and from my daughter's home (J P Nagar 3rd Phase to and fromJayanagar 4th T Block) I noticed the following good citizens of the city and state: Several young men on two-wheelers with yellow-and-red Karnataka flags, yelling, "bEkE bEku! nyAyA bEku!" They stopped near me to re-group. I talked to one of them (indeed, a foolhardy thing to do)...and asked, "nyAyA (justice) for what?" The young man said, "We've been told to go around the area, saying this." Not even the pretence of understanding what the issue is. A group of men sitting under the Karnataka…

I was attending a book launch ("Junkland Journeys", by Ajith Pillai) and from where I sat (apparently it had been the bar of the Mallu restaurant which used to be there earlier!) I looked down and saw this scene below.   Having clicked it, I found that the gentleman and the two children came and joined the book launch event, so I took their permission to use this photogrph in my blog. Love of reading is a great gift given to us, and it's even more heartening when one finds an adult willing to take the time and effort to…

In any riparian dispute, the contending parties each try to 'win', through a decision that is favourable to them. This is understandable - we all want victory on our part of the river (upstream or downstream), and politicians want to show that their side is winning. In Maharashtra, we see this happening within the state itself. But this kind of stance distracts the attention of both sides from the real long-term solutions that they can pursue TOGETHER, in ways that BOTH WILL BENEFIT. That is the key to the solution. In my view there are four things that can be…

Volunteers from Kasa Muktha Bellandur presented a small token of appreciation to the invisible & often neglected workforce of our society by distiributing cloth bags & sweets to the Pourkarmikas by the volunteers at various muster points (Doddakaneli, Panathur Bridge and Sarjapura Total mall) on the occasion of Ganesha Festival. Every morning even before we have our first cuppa tea, all these workers are out there on the ground, sweeping streets, picking up our garbage & keeping our surroundings a little more cleaner (to be dirtied by the citizens once again - day after day!). We understand that a lot needs…

It's disgusting to see the many small ways (adding up to large totals) in which the catering contract staff on Southern Railways cheat the passengers. On the 26th of July, 2016, I travelled by the Bangalore-Chennai Exp (train no. 12609) to Chennai, and on the 27th, I travelled back by the same train.   An elderly gentleman asked the man selling bottles of mineral water, "How much is a bottle?" and the answer was, "Rs.30". Even before I could react, another alert passenger caught the man and said, "It's Rs.15 a bottle, why are you giving twice that price?" The…

Initially, this piece had nothing to do with Donald Trump. It had nothing to with American politics whatsoever. I set out to write about my experience visiting an office and a local university in Bengaluru. I thought, maybe I will discuss outsourcing or the importance of community journalism. But once I started writing, what I needed to say became clear. I needed to write about Donald Trump. Last week I visited an American company whose Indian staff generates lecture and homework content for American universities. I talked with a group of employees. They asked how I was adjusting to life…

Recently, at my monthly quiz meet, I was intrigued by this "green" container for chai, from Chai Point.  The container seemed made of cardboard, an ecologically friendly material. But when I visited the website of Chai Point You can visit it here. I found that it was made of "food grade PET" - PET is polyethylene terephthalate, which is, in their own words, "use and throw".  Only  the outside cover is cardboard! Surely, using thermos flasks that were properly cleaned would have been a better solution, especially when we now have metal flasks which retain heat for a long time and are…

Can Bengaluru work towards getting back to its openwells? This is the story of a community (Adarsh Palm Retreat near Devarabeesanahalli Lake) near a lake that is looking to use an open well as one of its sources of water. Do watch the video Bengaluru (and other growing cities) are increasingly dependent on groundwater. In current time, borewells, are a very important source of water. Bengaluru now needs to manage its grounwater sustainably. While the city suffers from drying and dying borewells there are also pockets where water tables are shallow. We need to understand this and become stewards of…

My Senior Citizen card was stolen, along with other documents, on 23rd June 2016. on a bus (route no. 366) between Richmond Circle and MICO Checkpost bus stoSince I'd got my card from the office of the Jayanagar MLA, Mr Vijaya KumarAddress:35th Cross, 18th Main Road, 4th T BlockJayanagar - 5600419448075433vijayakuma.jnr@gmail.com(if you click on the link, here, you will get a video of how to get there, too) I went there again. I was told that there is no proper process in place for replacing lost cards, so I took a form and applied once again.    I did this…