difficulties

The new IRCTC website should make booking easy, right? Wrong! I booked for a train, and then decided to advance the date of travel. I knew this was possible, but could not find out any way to do it on the site. So I googled, and finally called 139 to ask how to do it. The reply: advancement ("preponement") or postponement cannot be done on e-tickets, they can only be done on tickets booked at the railway counters! You think that's funny? Wait. I tried to book two tickets. One is confirmed, and the other one is RAC1. The site…

Today (Tuesday, 20th Feb '18), I took the children of Pramiti School, aged between 8 and 12 years, to the Government Museum on Kasturba Road. It took us nearly an hour in the traffic to get to the Museum from J P Nagar. So when we reached the Museum, we had to take the children to the toilets before the visit. I was told that the Museum building does not have toilets and was asked to go to the Venkatappa Art Gallery next door, so we took the children there. The staff kept on giving us instructions to "put a…

Today (Tuesday, 20th Feb '18), I took the children of Pramiti School, aged between 8 and 12 years, to the Government Museum on Kasturba Road. It took us nearly an hour in the traffic to get to the Museum from J P Nagar. So when we reached the Museum, we had to take the children to the toilets before the visit. I was told that the Museum building does not have toilets and was asked to go to the Venkatappa Art Gallery next door, so we took the children there. The staff kept on giving us instructions to "put a…

There are two strong points of view about stray dogs in our city. One is that they are living beings, and deserve to live like many other creatures who share our living space. The other is that they are pests that must be removed. This view is especially held by those, and those whose children, have been bitten, sometimes fatally, by some of these animals. The method of removal most advocated is to sterlize the dogs, and BBMP, is not doing much about it. The numbers of the stray dogs on our roads is inversely proportional to the political will…

There are two strong points of view about stray dogs in our city. One is that they are living beings, and deserve to live like many other creatures who share our living space. The other is that they are pests that must be removed. This view is especially held by those, and those whose children, have been bitten, sometimes fatally, by some of these animals. The method of removal most advocated is to sterlize the dogs, and BBMP, is not doing much about it. The numbers of the stray dogs on our roads is inversely proportional to the political will…

We are, according to the traditional calendar,only in Vasant Ritu. But in Bangalore, this is the hot season. The temperature is rising steadily, and so, too, is the demand for water. Sitting on a plateau, having depleted our water-table alarmingly, we are facing tremendous difficulties for water, and the fact was brought home to me by the sight of these women (it's still a sad fact of life that you will hardly find men queueing up with pots) sharing a water source, on this occasion, for washing.   How are we going to fare during Grishma Ritu, I wonder?

We are, according to the traditional calendar,only in Vasant Ritu. But in Bangalore, this is the hot season. The temperature is rising steadily, and so, too, is the demand for water. Sitting on a plateau, having depleted our water-table alarmingly, we are facing tremendous difficulties for water, and the fact was brought home to me by the sight of these women (it's still a sad fact of life that you will hardly find men queueing up with pots) sharing a water source, on this occasion, for washing.   How are we going to fare during Grishma Ritu, I wonder?

After many visits and several polite requests and "Please"s and "Thank You"s, I finally got some money. Here is my first sighting of the 2K note.     Now comes the problem of trying to get change for Rs.2000 from a vegetable vendor or a chaatwalla!  

After many visits and several polite requests and "Please"s and "Thank You"s, I finally got some money. Here is my first sighting of the 2K note.     Now comes the problem of trying to get change for Rs.2000 from a vegetable vendor or a chaatwalla!  

A friend writes: No body questions the intent behind the recent move to demonetize Rs.500 and Rs.1000 notes.   It is the ham handed  implementation by the Babus, living in their 7th Pay commision cocooned largesse,  who did not consider the following points,  and who were blind to the intended consequences,because they have never lived lives of the common man.   1) Absence of card swiping machines in most villages.   2)The honesty of the vast majority, for whom the only avenue was exchange in banks,apart from topping up their vehicles with equivalent  value of demonetised notes,and foregoing the balance.The acceptance…