Articles by Vaishnavi Vittal

Almost every other week, outside my office on Sarjapur Road, I see an elderly gentleman stopping by a tree in the morning, to relieve himself.  A Nirmala Shauchalaya stands barely 100 metres away from this recipient tree. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) budget ambitiously speaks about a lot that the city needs - storm water drains, flyovers, underpasses, parks, playgrounds - so on and so forth. A lot of criticism has gone the way of the budget, pooh-poohing the amount of loans that the corporation is planning to take and slamming the massive revenue projections. Plans have been made…

Almost every other week, outside my office on Sarjapur Road, I see an elderly gentleman stopping by a tree in the morning, to relieve himself.  A Nirmala Shauchalaya stands barely 100 metres away from this recipient tree. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) budget ambitiously speaks about a lot that the city needs - storm water drains, flyovers, underpasses, parks, playgrounds - so on and so forth. A lot of criticism has gone the way of the budget, pooh-poohing the amount of loans that the corporation is planning to take and slamming the massive revenue projections. Plans have been made…

Roadwidening. Who thought that such a term would come into being and cause such a brouhaha here in Bengaluru. Anyways - the protests, the government and BBMP going back and forth on suspending roadwidening, TDR (Transfer of Development Rights) notices being slapped, red marks on the wall - all this has been talked about over and over. Now here's something new to swallow. Sources in the BBMP recently told Citizen Matters about 23 roads that are being widened. This is not part of the list of roads that are stuck in a High Court case. These are roads of newly-added…

Roadwidening. Who thought that such a term would come into being and cause such a brouhaha here in Bengaluru. Anyways - the protests, the government and BBMP going back and forth on suspending roadwidening, TDR (Transfer of Development Rights) notices being slapped, red marks on the wall - all this has been talked about over and over. Now here's something new to swallow. Sources in the BBMP recently told Citizen Matters about 23 roads that are being widened. This is not part of the list of roads that are stuck in a High Court case. These are roads of newly-added…

At a time when Bengaluru is facing acute water shortage, call it ironic that over 400 half-litre bottles (costing Rs 8 each) of mineral water were consumed during the two-day special ‘water' session of the BBMP council. Only one corporator, Congress's K Poornima (Basavanapura, Ward 53) pointed out to this, requesting Mayor S K Nataraj to ensure that smaller bottles are provided or to make it compulsory for all corporators to carry the bottles back with them instead of leaving them in the council hall, half-consumed. Poornima's appeal may well have fallen on deaf ears. It is unfortunate that many…

At a time when Bengaluru is facing acute water shortage, call it ironic that over 400 half-litre bottles (costing Rs 8 each) of mineral water were consumed during the two-day special ‘water' session of the BBMP council. Only one corporator, Congress's K Poornima (Basavanapura, Ward 53) pointed out to this, requesting Mayor S K Nataraj to ensure that smaller bottles are provided or to make it compulsory for all corporators to carry the bottles back with them instead of leaving them in the council hall, half-consumed. Poornima's appeal may well have fallen on deaf ears. It is unfortunate that many…

This signboard on Mahatma Gandhi Road, just before the Jewels de Paragon junction, shows Minsk square to be towards the left, whereas one actually needs to take a right turn!  ⊕

This signboard on Mahatma Gandhi Road, just before the Jewels de Paragon junction, shows Minsk square to be towards the left, whereas one actually needs to take a right turn!  ⊕

Recently staged at the JP Nagar-based Ranga Shankara, Naariyal Paani is a production of the group Our Theatre. Directed by Sandeep Shikhar, the play is basically like a monologue where the character narrates his love story to the audience. He is interrupted by two characters - a tabla player and a guitarist. The tabla player, enacted by Santosh Satavailli, represents the protagonist's physical presence. The guitarist, on the other hand, represents the rest of the universe. Vivek Vijayakumaran plays the protagonist. His constant rubbing-hand-against-thigh act was fun to watch. For me, however, it was guitarist Anupam Roy who stole the…

Recently staged at the JP Nagar-based Ranga Shankara, Naariyal Paani is a production of the group Our Theatre. Directed by Sandeep Shikhar, the play is basically like a monologue where the character narrates his love story to the audience. He is interrupted by two characters - a tabla player and a guitarist. The tabla player, enacted by Santosh Satavailli, represents the protagonist's physical presence. The guitarist, on the other hand, represents the rest of the universe. Vivek Vijayakumaran plays the protagonist. His constant rubbing-hand-against-thigh act was fun to watch. For me, however, it was guitarist Anupam Roy who stole the…