Select Work from The New Indian Express
Below are some of my articles that appeared when I worked for the City Express supplement
What Started as Asylum for soldiers and Paupers
The hospital, which is now the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, NIMHANS, was the result of the effort put in by Dr Charles Irving Smith. He was born in Bangalore to a family that worked in the East India Company in 1831. Dr Smith studied in the UK before being appointed as Surgeon to the Mysore Commission in 1836. “I had personally treated 20 to 30 patients of all castes and ages. The form of mania most common and the least amenable to treatment, appeared to be result of a...
How to Drive a BMTC Bus Home
The residents had been suffering because of the poor public transport, ever since they moved into the complexes in Nagegowdanapalya and Talaghattapura in 2009. While the well-off residents could manage with private vehicles, their domestic staff were forced to walk 1.5 km to the nearest bus stop on Kanakapura road. Buses go through Nagegowdanapalya village, but its congested, narrow roads would hold up the commute by half an hour.Kavitha, the maid who works with Sobha Hill View, is happy that sh...
It Takes Petitions and Arguments to Win Drinking Water
BENGALURU: Balaji Layout, located off Kanakpura Road, comes under Yeshwanthpur Assembly constituency and is one of the few layouts in the city to have its own drinking water plant. Though Cauvery water reaches the entire city after passing through this area, these 31 layouts face water scarcity. None of the houses in any of the layouts have Bangalore Water Supply and Sewarage Board connection. An overhand tank, into which Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Pallike’s trucks pump in 20,000 litres a day,...
Fewer Buses, Harsh Auto Drivers, Deserted Roads Threaten Techies
BENGALURU: Commuting is a challenge for women who work in tech companies on the city’s outskirts. The distance, infrequency of buses and lack of designated bus stops affect the safety of techies from across Bengaluru.Arundhati Pal (23), a systems engineer at Infosys, has to switch between two buses to get from Banaswadi to Electronics City. She travels in share autos as regular autorickshaws around her office charge a minimum of `150 even for short distances.“I am not sure when the safe time to...
Pink Divas Dance to Feminism
The second last dance was by the six-member Pink Divas, who danced in skimpy and tight-fitting clothes, to a cheering audience of 1,500 in Alliance Francaise auditorium.With their pelvic thrusts and daring dance moves, they grinded to Ghani Bhawri and Banno from Tanu Weds Manu, Kannada song Darling among other item numbers, breaking gender barriers and channelising the theme of sexual exploration showcased by all the movies at the festival.Sunny Leone’s Aao Raja brought out the best in Rasgula R...
Bengalurean App Scores on Word Game Scene
Signtist, developed by Arpita Khadria’s Bezzerk, uses permutation combinations and line patterns to hint at the right word. A line passes through the 3x3 nine-box grid. Each box has three or more letters of the alphabet, and resembles the T9 mobile keypad it was inspired by.A dot appears in the right order in each box with a letter in the word, and the user has to figure out the right combination.The app, with free versions available on Android and iOS platforms, has three sections: category, vo...
Bengaluru has a Good Poker Face
BENGALURU: Since the High Court legalised poker in the state in 2014, Bengaluru’s poker scene has become one of the most sought-after in the country, next to Goa. Kings and Queens Poker Club in Koramangala is a haven for over 2,000 poker players in the city. City Express speaks to owner Suresh Ganapathy about what drew him to the game.Suresh’s tryst with poker began when he first visited a casino in San Jose, California, while studying in Kellogg School of Marketing in 1998. Having learnt the g...
14-year-old Pens Book on Miniature Planes
He became fixated on toy planes as a five-year-old, when his parents bought him one. “When I was 11, I moved on to learning from the RC kit, a tool set used to construct electronic planes,” Kiran says.“It took me five to six years to be able to build a miniature model plane. I had at least 10 failed attempts before I figured out how to construct the plane,” he says. “In the first attempt, I identified a flaw in the design structure. Later, I figured out the configuration was wrong, especially wi...
Stick to the Byelaws, or It can Get Sticky
BENGALURU: Many builders in the city routinely violate BBMP’s byelaws. Usually, neighbours gossip and crib about it, and get on with their lives. Not so, with the Residential Welfare Association of Bangalore East (REWABE). They have been fighting it for the past three years in court and, they went a step further, and took to educating potential investors/buyers against flats in the ‘rogue’ buildings. Two buildings on Hutchin’s Road and another on McPherson Road have exceeded the two-floor limit...
Where Players Battle With Words
“Scrabble is a fun and competitive game between two players. You pit your wits against the other’s. The downside is that it causes disputes between friends who turn professional players,” says the city’s number one player, marketing consultant and coffee roaster Sanjoy Gupta.Earlier, the members followed a dictionary put together by World English Scrabble Player Association (WESPA), the governing body of scrabble clubs the world over. In 2015, after a gap of many years, this dictionary was updat...
Can Hold a Rake, Will Clean Turahalli Forest
It all started when Padmini Palpatti and her friends went on a trek in the forest last October. A huge mound of garbage stood in their way, while glass bottles, paper plates and cups were scattered everywhere. The garbage was even visible from Oakwood Complex, one of the four buildings in the apartment compound.Their first step was to conduct a paper drive to collect funds. As the apartment complex was new, only 30-40 families occupied the houses in the first week of November. “We were able to c...
Once, Bishop Cotton Ran on Rs 500 a Month
The building was rented and there we no steady endowments. When Rev Pope assumed the role of the warden, the campus of today was acquired by taking a loan of Rs 47,500. When the trustees were unable to repay the amount, the property was mortgaged to the lender. Later, it was mortgaged once again to the Government of Mysore for Rs 37,000.One of the reasons for the fund crunch was the lack of donors due to its prestigious image. The school gave the impression of being supported by the Church of En...
Ripe Jackfruits and Hot Chillis at New Food Fest
BENGALURU: Kappa Chakka Kandhari is a food festival from God’s own country. Chef Regi Mathew who was previously with Taj, organised it at St John’s Auditorium, along with Augustine Kurian and John Paul. Regi, Augustine and John are from Chennai, but they came to Bengaluru first with their festival, because they thought it was a better market. “There is a vibrant food culture here,” says John, who otherwise runs a timber business. The festival is itself a little quirky, gathering cooks and food...
Older than Bengaluru, Stands a Grizzled Guard
BENGALURU: The Devannahalli fort, which stands 35 km away from Bengaluru, is older than the city itself by 36 years.The fort has been occupied by different dynasties over time. It was built in 1501 by Kempegowda’s ancestor, Malla Baire Gowda. But in 1747, in a battle led by Nanjarajaiah, the dalwai of Mysore, the clan lost it to the Wadiyar dynasty. Marathas later claimed it and lost it back to the Mysore state, in a siege led by Hyder Ali in 1746.Arun Prasad, from Discover Bangalore Project, sa...
Architecture to Rebuild Lives
Dissatisfied and wanting to make a difference in the world, she quit her job and joined the Centre for Social Initiative and Management, where she researched on rural housing in different parts of India. “I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and interacted with people from different communities to understand their needs. I learnt that construction must be married to the socio-economic needs of the people,” she says.The initiative was supported by NGO YogaKshema which appointed a community wor...
The Chef and a Restaurant with a Twist
Through his unconventional approach, Harpal Singh Sokhi has introduced some “twists” or innovations to the common kebab. “Usually the kebab is made of meat, but I have tried to mix betroot and amla for a healthy something,” says Harpal Singh.This is inspired by a childhood memory. “My maternal uncle used to take my family out to dabbas, where the dal was added to the mutton curry,” he says. “I was astonished by the combination. It was exciting for me as a child, and so I have tried to incorporat...
'Rajyotsava Award of Little Value When 'Eunuch' Stays'
BENGALURU: Transgender activist Akkai Padmashali, conferred with the Rajyotsava award last year, feels the honour does not hold value as the government has failed to protect the rights of sexual minorities. Karnataka State Sexual Minorities Forum has been fighting to revoke Section 36A of the Karnataka State Police Act, which says police have to keep tabs on the “objectionable activities of eunuchs”. It empowers police officers to keep a register of “eunuchs” living in their jurisdiction, who co...
Living by Walden on Bannerghatta Road
BENGALURU: A high-income gated community of over 500 plots and 250 houses on Bannerghatta Road, Classic Orchards, takes the concept of self-reliance to a whole new level. Its residends don’t depend on the city’s civic agencies for most basic amenities. For water, sewage treatment, road repair and security, they have hired contractors. “We did it out of necessity, but the community is a model to the rest of the city, on how to be self-sufficient,” says its Resident Welfare Association President S...
College Students Adapt Fly Ash to Purify Lake Water
BENGALURU: Three students — Shashank Javgal, Vijeth, Avinash and Nithin Kumar — have come up with an innovative method to clean up Bellandur lake, whose noxious fumes have sparked flames in recent months.They say their method separates pollutants from water, oxidizes them, and lets them out in a place far away from human habitation.It all started with the curiosity of Nithin Kumar. While discussing carbon nanotubes in class, he asked Pullela how the polluted lake could be cleared.industrial and...
Shadows Rescue Sita From Ravana's Sundara Kanda
BENGALURU: Anjineyulu, the director of a puppetry act from Andhra Pradesh, which was part of the Dhaatu International Puppet Festival, was given the President’s award two weeks ago for his contribution to the art. The six-member troupe performed the age-old Ramayana epic, Sundara Kanda, at the JSS auditorium on the concluding day of the festival.Hanumanth tapped his foot on the ground to the music drummed out and sung by both his father and uncle Maruthi Rao. “The foot movements draw inspiration...
How to Win back Lakes, Influence Water Table
BENGALURU: Once the ‘city of lakes’, Bengaluru may soon be faced with severe water scarcity. In less than two decades, the city may have to be evacuated because of this, according to a recent study. Seven years ago, in this locality that falls between Kengeri and Uttarahalli, the tube-wells started drying up and there was an acute water scarcity. This is a well-populated area with 30,000 sites.The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board pipelines were constantly being uprooted and replaced wit...
I Worked in a Mill in This City: Hariharan
The event also saw the launch of a website for Art For Humanity, an initiative by city-based organisation Ranjini Kalakendra to build a network of artists and patrons, and raise funds for those in need.I have some memories from here. When I was starting out, I used to work in a paper mill in Bengaluru, where I was in charge of a shift. I also did a few gigs in the city back when I was a struggling musician.Establishing my own signature style has been a struggle. Being known for what I do took me...
Lone Rangers in City's Outback
The residents in this layout, far from the city centre, are left to fend for themselves. No one comes to collect their garbage, therefore the weekly trips, and there is no proper water connection. There are no street lights, though they have raised the matter with the Bangalore Development Authority, and the nights are unsafe with drunken groups coming to their open spaces. The road from the city to the layout is through a forested area, Kodipalya, and deserted.Venkatesh moved to the this locali...
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