bangalore journal

I am no stranger to metro systems. I’ve up hiked the spiral staircases of Paris’ metro, impatiently waited in a dark tunnel when my line broke down while on the London Tube, poured buckets of sweat in the graffiti adorned underground train to Rome’s neighboring beach town, fervently watched street performers in the bowels of Washington D.C.’s network of underground metro tunnels and have spent much of my time riding my own city’s eccentrically named Seattle Link Light rail through canopies of tree cover and rain specked windows. I have traveled some of the biggest cities of the world on…

I am no stranger to metro systems. I’ve up hiked the spiral staircases of Paris’ metro, impatiently waited in a dark tunnel when my line broke down while on the London Tube, poured buckets of sweat in the graffiti adorned underground train to Rome’s neighboring beach town, fervently watched street performers in the bowels of Washington D.C.’s network of underground metro tunnels and have spent much of my time riding my own city’s eccentrically named Seattle Link Light rail through canopies of tree cover and rain specked windows. I have traveled some of the biggest cities of the world on…

Hello. Effective June 2013, Citizen Matters gets a new look and also a new engine and wheels underneath the stuff you see, read, and contribute to! We’ve made a number of changes. If you are wondering about this, read further. Otherwise, just continue using the site, nothing to worry. Most important changes A more spaced-out design. You can now login to CM using you Google, Facebook or LinkedIn social media accounts. We hope this make it easier for you to share articles, pictures, comments, discussions with your fellow citizens of Bangalore. The site will load faster than before and can…

Hello. Effective June 2013, Citizen Matters gets a new look and also a new engine and wheels underneath the stuff you see, read, and contribute to! We’ve made a number of changes. If you are wondering about this, read further. Otherwise, just continue using the site, nothing to worry. Most important changes A more spaced-out design. You can now login to CM using you Google, Facebook or LinkedIn social media accounts. We hope this make it easier for you to share articles, pictures, comments, discussions with your fellow citizens of Bangalore. The site will load faster than before and can…

It's the beginning of a new year in schools across the south of India, and once again, I see a massive, and avoidable, wastage occurring...that of brown paper.Every year, children go to a new class or form, and they have to buy a set of new text books and note books. We do not have any concept of using the text books that the students used the previous year. (That's a massive wastage right there, but since text books sometimes change, parents prefer to buy each year.)Each printer and publisher of a school text book obviously goes to great lengths…

It's the beginning of a new year in schools across the south of India, and once again, I see a massive, and avoidable, wastage occurring...that of brown paper.Every year, children go to a new class or form, and they have to buy a set of new text books and note books. We do not have any concept of using the text books that the students used the previous year. (That's a massive wastage right there, but since text books sometimes change, parents prefer to buy each year.)Each printer and publisher of a school text book obviously goes to great lengths…

Summertime always brings fond childhood memories of summer vacations, lazing around with a good book, ice creams and yummy mangoes. With the temperatures already soaring, looks like we will be having one long and hot summer. Luckily there are some great summer foods and beverages that can help in keeping you cool. Here are some of the foods to include this summer: Pic: Marisa DeMeglio from NYC USA via wikimedia commons Water: Dehydration is a common problem during summers and this may be one of the reasons why you feel tired and drained out for no apparent reason during summers.…

Summertime always brings fond childhood memories of summer vacations, lazing around with a good book, ice creams and yummy mangoes. With the temperatures already soaring, looks like we will be having one long and hot summer. Luckily there are some great summer foods and beverages that can help in keeping you cool. Here are some of the foods to include this summer: Pic: Marisa DeMeglio from NYC USA via wikimedia commons Water: Dehydration is a common problem during summers and this may be one of the reasons why you feel tired and drained out for no apparent reason during summers.…

It's a very unusual development in the annals of democracy in India - for the first time, a deliberate political action group, with a specific agenda to be pursued through its activities, is being formed — the Bangalore Political Action CommitteePACs are nothing new around the world. In the US alone, there are thousands of PACs, each committed to its agenda. In India so far, we've had industry associations, which are in some ways PACs, but apart from this there aren't very many. The usual organising themes for PACs - labour, environment, health, education, etc. - have not year coalesced…

It's a very unusual development in the annals of democracy in India - for the first time, a deliberate political action group, with a specific agenda to be pursued through its activities, is being formed — the Bangalore Political Action CommitteePACs are nothing new around the world. In the US alone, there are thousands of PACs, each committed to its agenda. In India so far, we've had industry associations, which are in some ways PACs, but apart from this there aren't very many. The usual organising themes for PACs - labour, environment, health, education, etc. - have not year coalesced…