GENRE: Voices

Bangalore Central candidates at the BPAC debate. Pic: Shree D N Here are the Bangalore Central MP candidates' responses to common questions about the Lok Sabha General Elections 2014. This has been compiled by Bellandur ward resident, Nagesh. Candidates from all major political parties were asked some direct questions at the BPAC meet. A citizens' team from Bellandur emailed them a questionnaire. This document lists the verbatim responses of the candidates for both series of questions. Before you go through these responses, a few cautionary notes: The statements are reproduced “as is” basis. A fact-check may reveal that some of the…

(First of all, apologies for posting this so late. Last week, my husband, little boy and I fell ill and we are all still in recovery mode) A couple of months ago, a former national level cricketer's father went missing in Mysore's Devaraja Market. The local police sprang into action and the gentleman was found in a couple of hours. In that time, though he had wandered some 5 km from the spot he was last seen (the market). News reports quoted the police as saying the elderly gentleman suffered from “age-related forgetfulness”. Now, I don't know if the cricketer's…

(First of all, apologies for posting this so late. Last week, my husband, little boy and I fell ill and we are all still in recovery mode) A couple of months ago, a former national level cricketer's father went missing in Mysore's Devaraja Market. The local police sprang into action and the gentleman was found in a couple of hours. In that time, though he had wandered some 5 km from the spot he was last seen (the market). News reports quoted the police as saying the elderly gentleman suffered from “age-related forgetfulness”. Now, I don't know if the cricketer's…

That was a typo. We are not here to save you! We are only saving ourselves. As you see, the hot air balloons have lifted off ;). Seriously, more balloons are rising, just hop on. As we celebrate one year since the day 50 of us first gathered, we have no time to reminisce. We are infact shocked to get a call from Namma Bengaluru Awards that we are a finalist. They had 71,000 entries. (Yeah all those zeroes are there). We are not even sure we should be compared with or win against others that are all doing good…

That was a typo. We are not here to save you! We are only saving ourselves. As you see, the hot air balloons have lifted off ;). Seriously, more balloons are rising, just hop on. As we celebrate one year since the day 50 of us first gathered, we have no time to reminisce. We are infact shocked to get a call from Namma Bengaluru Awards that we are a finalist. They had 71,000 entries. (Yeah all those zeroes are there). We are not even sure we should be compared with or win against others that are all doing good…

When you generally have the same routine and wait patiently, and hopelessly for the same bus every day, you tend to know all the buses that pass through at that time. You tend to form patterns that, if nothing else, give you hope. There are also enough versions of BMTC red Volvos for you to look out for specific ones. My usual routine is to wait one stop before the Sarjapura Road junction for the 500K at around 4 pm. Around this time, you are greeted by a steady procession of 500Ds and 500NAs headed towards Silk Board and 500Cs…

When you generally have the same routine and wait patiently, and hopelessly for the same bus every day, you tend to know all the buses that pass through at that time. You tend to form patterns that, if nothing else, give you hope. There are also enough versions of BMTC red Volvos for you to look out for specific ones. My usual routine is to wait one stop before the Sarjapura Road junction for the 500K at around 4 pm. Around this time, you are greeted by a steady procession of 500Ds and 500NAs headed towards Silk Board and 500Cs…

Dad-at-work: Murugan with daughter Sanjana There's a fruitseller who sets up his cart on the road in front of my apartment building. Murugan, for that is his name, is always busy. If he is not working, he is a hands-on dad to his two children--Santosh and Sanjana. Murugan, you see, does with ease, something that most of us struggle to do--manage work and his children. And he performs his childcare duties, alongside work. When his wife Lakshmi goes for her 10 am to 2 pm shift as a domestic help at a nearby house, she leaves their little girl with…

Dad-at-work: Murugan with daughter Sanjana There's a fruitseller who sets up his cart on the road in front of my apartment building. Murugan, for that is his name, is always busy. If he is not working, he is a hands-on dad to his two children--Santosh and Sanjana. Murugan, you see, does with ease, something that most of us struggle to do--manage work and his children. And he performs his childcare duties, alongside work. When his wife Lakshmi goes for her 10 am to 2 pm shift as a domestic help at a nearby house, she leaves their little girl with…

Akrama Sakrama is a complete fraud. There are many things wrong with this scheme. Sadly, Congress, BJP and JDS appear to be united in their attempts to destroy the city. Regularisation may be unavoidable, given the scale of what has happened so far, but if it's not done right even now, that will be an open invitation to let things carry on as they are in the future too.(a) The proposal does not include any penalty for the officials who connived in the illegalities. In fact, they have not even been identified.(b) There is virtually no transparency. Which are the…