Z-Blogs

How hard it is to make a manhole cover that is LEVEL with the road? Not very hard, but no matter how many times this is pointed out, BWSSB never does this. I spent some time trying to figure this out, and learned three things. A. BWSSB assumes that BBMP will keep raising the level of the road each time tar is added, so, the drain cover will be eventually level for a brief period However, any further raise in the road makes cover sink, and that too is visible in many places. BBMP could easily mill each road's old…

BB King, one of the legendary musicians of the Blues passed away yesterday. Why was he so popular? When his voice carressed and moaned on the microphone, you alternatively rejoiced and cried - the highs and the lows made you feel like you were swinging on a pendulum. The lyrics of the song were not just mere words but much more than that. BB King took you on a journey where you lost track of time and who you were. You felt bogged down by the problems of the world and felt the loss of a loved one. Here's a…

One talks about Yashodha and her famous son Krishna in the same breadth. The stories that describe the relationship and interplay between this mother and son are well-known. There are several songs in different languages by famous composers centered around this theme that I had a hard time picking out a few.  In the Kannada song Jagadhodharana, a composition of Purandaradasa in raga Hindustani Kapi, Yashodha only sees Krishna as her son - the same son who is a saviour of the world, a slayer of demons, a gem among children and much more. But to his mother, Krishna is…

With Mother's Day coming up this week, I thought of several songs that featured the mother as a central theme.  In his composition Mathe Malayathwaja in the Carnatic raga Khamas, Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar describes the daughter of the Pandya king - Meenakshi of Madurai. This "dharu varnam" is a unique piece as every chittaswara following the charanam (latter half of the varnam) has a sahitya and a sollakattu. It is heard in classical concerts as well as Bharatanatyam programs. Here is a rendition of this varnam by M.S.Subbalakshmi, In his song Amma Ravamma in raga Kalyani, Tyagaraja praises the Tulasi…

Bellandur Buzz... Issue # 35 Date - 8th May 2015 This fortnightly newsletter is brought to you by the citizen group bellandur-forum@googlegroups.com Bellandur wetlands project case update In a judgement delivered in a case filed by a number of citizen welfare groups in Koramangala, HSR Layout and Bellandur, the Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal has found prima facie evidence of serious irregularities and imposed fines amounting to Rs. 139.4 Crores on the two developers involved for environmental violations in the project opposite Agara lake (wetlands of Bellandur). This case was being fought by a series of RWAs and…

Purnimaa Ranganath writes: "Thanks to BESCOM and its erratic power shut downs already this month my fridge's compressor packed up and had to get it replaced ....and yesterday the power supply went on and off every 5mins...nearly 6 times in an hour...God I hope something else doesn't blow too.." The sad thing is that there is no accountability. Direct switch-offs would not be as bad as the "brownouts" of low voltage, or surge of high voltage, which are deadly to expensive electrical and electronic gadgets, often bought with savings over months. How do we make BESCOM accountable?

Bellandur Buzz... Issue #34 Date: 24rd April 2015 This newsletter is published fortnightly by the citizen group bellandur-forum@googlegroups.com.    Anti-Plastic awareness campaign in SJR Verity Anti-plastic campaign lauched by kids of SJR Verity Over the last few years, Bangalore has transformed from the ‘Garden City’ to the ‘Garbage City’. The garbage problem of Bangalore, primarily due to plastic bags, has literally become a burning issue. Even though single-use thin plastic is banned by the government, it is still consumed by shopkeepers and the public. Volunteer kids of the apartmen SJR Verity along with few adult volunteers decided to do their bit…

Krishna Murthy, whose email id is flutekick@gmail.com writes: This incident happened today at Hebbal lake. We went birding today to Hebbal lake in the morning at 7 30 am. I had parked my car just outside on the road (service road) near the lake entrance, (as the parking lot opens only by 9 30 am). I had taken my camera with me and I had left the bag in the car back seat. We returned by 9 30 am and found that the car glass was broken and the bag taken. The bag had lot of camera accessories.   Fellow birders and…

Bengali plays are not very common at Ranga Shankara, so I was quite keen to watch this Badal Sircar play, produced by Centre for Film and Drama (CFD), and directed by Nilanjan  P Choudhry.   For this play, a neat brochure had been prepared by CFD  and the write up described it as a "fast-paced comedy".   Bogota(sic) Charit Manas depicts the journey of a young orphan, whose naivety and lack of self-esteem leads him to be bullied at every turn. Driven to the brink of suicide at the prospect  of having to become a "ghar jamai" at his maternal…

I recently read that Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) may soon be taking over the bus stops from Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).   When bus stops and shelters seem to have so much of space to spare for advertisements, why is it not mandatory for every bus shelter to have the route numbers of the buses that stop there?  Why is this essential information missing?   Also, there are so many places (eg in Gandhi Bazar in Basavanagudi) where it is not even clear where the bus stop is. Hunting for one on my way back from the Basavanagudi…