CitizenMatters

Morning Walk in the Mini-Forest, J P Nagar

Deepa Mohan — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000

The morning walk is something I look forward, as it is a feast for all my senses. I step out, and the green canopy of the trees in the Mini Forest greets me and envelopes me. I feel the cool morning air; it invigorates me and encourages me to walk faster.

Just outside my gate, I can see a variety of colours...the different vegetables and fruits which the vendors bring in the mornings, to sell to the walkers and joggers.

My feet feel the hard cement of the road....and also the broken edges of the potholes that the road…

Farewell to Murthy....

Deepa Mohan — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000

We've all noticed him there....lying under the first table in the Ranga Shankara cafe, and sometimes ambling around as if he owned the place. Well, he did....!

Murthy had been a fixture at Ranga Shankara ever since I started going there, and I was sad to find that an obituary notice had been put up at Ranga Shankara...

Murthy loved the theatre, and would attend all platform shows.....here's wishing farewell to a staunch fan of the performing arts, who did not need to have the ability to speak a human language to like Ranga Shankara and its environs...

⊕…

Outlet for eco-friendly Ganesha idols

Vinita — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Ganesh Chaturthi marks the start of the Hindu festive season that continues through the rest of the calendar year. Due to its relative lack of rituals, it is also said to be less of a religious and more of a social event.

Building on the social nature of the festival, Chetan K S and his wife Vijayalakshmi, founders of The Living store (Chamarajpet) are attempting to spread awareness on being more ecologically sensitive on Ganesh Chaturthi, this September 11th.

Last year they held a workshop at their premises to make clay Ganeshas and the overwhelming…

How can this be?

Deepa Mohan — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Bangalore is famous for addresses that go, Door no. abc, X Cross, Y Main, Bangalore.

But recently I spotted an address that gives two main roads as co-ordinates...

Logic says that if one of the co-ordinates is a main road, the other one must be a cross road...so how is this possible?

⊕…

How BBMP arrived at steep rise in revenues

Navya P K — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Bangalore's city budget, presented by the BBMP at the city council session on August 30th raises more questions than answers. The steep revenue projections BBMP has cited are themselves a whole topic. Citizen Matters spoke to G Manjunath Raju, corporator of Kadu Malleswaram (Ward 65) and member of BBMP's Taxation and Finance committee that prepared the budget. Discussion on the budget at the council is scheduled for September 2nd.

There is a several fold increase in revenues compared to last year. How are you planning to manage that?

There are total 15 lakh properties in…

NGO to issue senior citizen ID cards

N B Jayaprakash — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Directorate of Welfare of Disabled and Senior Citizens, Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Karnataka has authorised Dignity Foundation, an NGO promoting welfare of the senior citizens, to issue "Government ID Cards" to senior citizens of Bengaluru. Those who are 60+ can apply for ID cards producing simple documents like photocopy of age and address proof along with their two recent passport photographs, with a processing fee of Rs 25 and also furnishing blood group. The ID cards will be issued within a fortnight of submitting application.

Dignity Foundation -…

The other 23 roads BBMP is widening

Vaishnavi Vittal — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

While unrest continues over roadwidening in the city, including a pending court case, the BBMP is widening 23 roads that are former BDA layouts. Work has already begun and is expected to finish in a year.

The BBMP is widening, strengthening and asphalting 23 roads in Bengaluru, under grants given by the Government of Karnataka. Sources in the BBMP say that work on these roads began six months ago and is expected to be completed in the next one year.

These 23 roads are not part of the 100-odd roads that are stuck in the Karnataka High Court, due…

Growing your own vegetables!

Vinita — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

P Manikandan used to garden during his school days. After a break prompted by preoccupation with higher education, he restarted in January 2008, at his fourth floor apartment on Bannerghatta Road. So gardening, he says, has always been a passion. He now grows his own vegetables using organic methods so that they are pesticide-free. He also has ornamentals that include roses, Crotons, Coleus, Dahlia, Zinnia, Rudbeckia, Oleander and Jasmine.

Like most planners and gardeners, Manikandan first decided on a few key aspects like the size of the garden, media to be used…

"Bhagwan Dhoondo" by Yours Truly Theatre

Deepa Mohan — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

I have been following the fortunes of Yours Truly Theatre (YTT)for a while now, in keeping with my interest in the young theatre groups of this city. Yours Truly has been a pioneer, in Bangalore, in staging Interactive Theatre, where the audience takes on an interactive role in the staging of the play, rather than be passive spectators to a preconceived ending. Now they have several other initiatives, too, such as plays for children, students, and for underprivileged people,

I've watched their last play, "Common Man", but had missed the earlier shows of "Bhagwan Dhoondo", and so decided that I'd…

Finally, JP Nagar underpass nears completion

Vaishnavi Vittal — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Nearly two and a half years after work began, there may finally be light at the tunnel, or in this case, an underpass. Construction on the JP Nagar 15th cross Ring Road in south Bengaluru is scheduled to be completed by the third week of September.

Highly placed sources in the BBMP have confirmed this to Citizen Matters but refused to comment on when the underpass itself will be inaugurated thereafter.

The BBMP official says that work left to be completed includes painting, lighting, laying of pavement quality concrete, and work on the service…