GENRE: Voices

18 corporators of BBMP became members of the first Metropolitan Planning Committee of the Bangalore region. This is an important and hard-won step forward in getting a proper planning body for the city. There are many drawbacks in the way the MPC has been constituted, but at least we have an institution that is supposed to do the planning now. Making it work effectively is another ballgame altogether, and we must work with the State government to properly devolve powers to this body and give it some real teeth to fix the city. Around the country, only a few MPCs…

The road between C V Raman House and MES College is near-empty and traffic-free. This makes it an ideal location for a food street. Pic: Ramesh Sreekantan Which Malleshwaram resident is not familiar with the Chinese food stalls set up every evening on 15th Cross, between 8th Main and 10th Main? They occupy the footpath in front of Panchavati, the house of the well-known Nobel Prize winning Physicist, C V Raman. The food stalls, which started with an auto rickshaw selling `Hot hot Chinese food' in the evening, have now increased. Now there is a stall serving meals at lunchtime,…

The road between C V Raman House and MES College is near-empty and traffic-free. This makes it an ideal location for a food street. Pic: Ramesh Sreekantan Which Malleshwaram resident is not familiar with the Chinese food stalls set up every evening on 15th Cross, between 8th Main and 10th Main? They occupy the footpath in front of Panchavati, the house of the well-known Nobel Prize winning Physicist, C V Raman. The food stalls, which started with an auto rickshaw selling `Hot hot Chinese food' in the evening, have now increased. Now there is a stall serving meals at lunchtime,…

Today, I’m writing about the vitally important topic of whether Indian cinemas should have intermissions just for the sake of tradition. (Spoiler alert: I don’t think they should.) I watched my first movie, How to Train Your Dragon 2, in Bengaluru at Forum Mall about two months ago. As an American, everything has been new in India, but this cinematic experience felt familiar as I sat in a comfortable chair absorbed by the on-screen action. Then the lights turned on abruptly. The screen image flickered and froze before turning green. I thought the projector had broken. But it was only…

Today, I’m writing about the vitally important topic of whether Indian cinemas should have intermissions just for the sake of tradition. (Spoiler alert: I don’t think they should.) I watched my first movie, How to Train Your Dragon 2, in Bengaluru at Forum Mall about two months ago. As an American, everything has been new in India, but this cinematic experience felt familiar as I sat in a comfortable chair absorbed by the on-screen action. Then the lights turned on abruptly. The screen image flickered and froze before turning green. I thought the projector had broken. But it was only…

I was at T John College on Saturday, speaking to students of media and journalism from different institutions, who were attending a seminar at the college. A lot of the young men and women in these colleges are quite hopeful of making an impact through their work, and helping to build a better society and country through their roles as watchdogs and reporters. But they are also running into a delusion. By their own admission, media is not a well-liked profession. The public has a dim view of what the media does, and thinks that a lot of it is…

I was at T John College on Saturday, speaking to students of media and journalism from different institutions, who were attending a seminar at the college. A lot of the young men and women in these colleges are quite hopeful of making an impact through their work, and helping to build a better society and country through their roles as watchdogs and reporters. But they are also running into a delusion. By their own admission, media is not a well-liked profession. The public has a dim view of what the media does, and thinks that a lot of it is…

Since the beginning of May, my life has taken a turn. Late evenings which would have been typically spent as a sloth, are now reserved for exercising at Namma Crossfit. To call it addictive is an understatement. It also helps that I go with a bunch of my closest friends, each of us in varying degrees of fitness; it really is super-fun. The days that I don’t go, I feel miserable. There have been times where I have worked out at home and have had to mop the floor soon after, to ensure I don’t slip on my sweat. For…

Since the beginning of May, my life has taken a turn. Late evenings which would have been typically spent as a sloth, are now reserved for exercising at Namma Crossfit. To call it addictive is an understatement. It also helps that I go with a bunch of my closest friends, each of us in varying degrees of fitness; it really is super-fun. The days that I don’t go, I feel miserable. There have been times where I have worked out at home and have had to mop the floor soon after, to ensure I don’t slip on my sweat. For…

If you ask people about their local RWA or apartment association, they'll tell you a lot of uncharitable things. Words like 'bickering,' 'clueless,' 'no communication' etc. will dominate the response. And if you stop to think about it, you'll realise that there are a lot of parallels between this and how they think about politics and governance of the country itself. What's going on? First, solving public problems isn't the responsibility of a few people. For legal and practical reasons we have formed these things - RWAs, industry associations, religious trusts, ward committees, city councils, state legislatures, parliament - but…