roads

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…

Every now and then, a glimpse into lives very different from our own, brings us up sharply against alternate realities. I am used to the notion of auto drivers as rough, rude people who will generally not co-operate with passengers. This preconception got a jolt when I noticed this man driving his autorickshaw in the traffic.   It cannot be an easy life when your own mobility depends on a pair of crutches. I realized that this man, and many others like him, battle many disadvantages to earn their living. I have learnt to try and remove my prejudices, and…

Every now and then, a glimpse into lives very different from our own, brings us up sharply against alternate realities. I am used to the notion of auto drivers as rough, rude people who will generally not co-operate with passengers. This preconception got a jolt when I noticed this man driving his autorickshaw in the traffic.   It cannot be an easy life when your own mobility depends on a pair of crutches. I realized that this man, and many others like him, battle many disadvantages to earn their living. I have learnt to try and remove my prejudices, and…

At least this dug up part of Bannerghatta Road mentions that natural gas pipelines are being laid.   But in most places, roads are dug up without warning and with no information about why the surface is being broken up. Nor does the road get any re-surfacing once the digging has been covered up, resulting in bumpy, muddy paths rather than the roads that we are paying taxes for. When is the BBMP going to be accountable for the damage they cause, without reparation?

At least this dug up part of Bannerghatta Road mentions that natural gas pipelines are being laid.   But in most places, roads are dug up without warning and with no information about why the surface is being broken up. Nor does the road get any re-surfacing once the digging has been covered up, resulting in bumpy, muddy paths rather than the roads that we are paying taxes for. When is the BBMP going to be accountable for the damage they cause, without reparation?

Intrigued by the subject title? I am writing about the fact that the new plastic number plates on cars are, very frequently broken off during even small impacts with obstacles, leading to number plates that are incomplete and cannot be used for identification of the vehicle in case of an accident or any other situation.  What was wrong with the old metal number plates, and why did we have to introduce more plastic, which, in this case, is less sturdy and has far less of a lifespan? One cannot blame the owners of the cars, as the number plates are…

Intrigued by the subject title? I am writing about the fact that the new plastic number plates on cars are, very frequently broken off during even small impacts with obstacles, leading to number plates that are incomplete and cannot be used for identification of the vehicle in case of an accident or any other situation.  What was wrong with the old metal number plates, and why did we have to introduce more plastic, which, in this case, is less sturdy and has far less of a lifespan? One cannot blame the owners of the cars, as the number plates are…

Yesterday (Sun, 1st Jan 2017) , at about 7.30pm, we drove on to the NICE Road (now it's the NECE Road) at the Mysore Road junction,  and there were long queues of cars waiting to pay the tolls. We found two men standing in front of the toll gates, collecting tolls. Thinking that they had devised a good way to speed up the process, we decided to pay the toll to them. Our toll from Mysore Road to Bannerghatta Road was Rs.58. To our surprise, they asked us to pay Rs.60. When we  challenged them as we knew the exact…

Yesterday (Sun, 1st Jan 2017) , at about 7.30pm, we drove on to the NICE Road (now it's the NECE Road) at the Mysore Road junction,  and there were long queues of cars waiting to pay the tolls. We found two men standing in front of the toll gates, collecting tolls. Thinking that they had devised a good way to speed up the process, we decided to pay the toll to them. Our toll from Mysore Road to Bannerghatta Road was Rs.58. To our surprise, they asked us to pay Rs.60. When we  challenged them as we knew the exact…