Two days ago, on Valentine’s Day, I visited a cousin’s house. There, I met my niece who was visiting home. She’s typically effervescent and exuberant but on that day, she was veiled in an aura of melancholy. The cause? She had just broken up with her boyfriend of over a year. She said they had…
Falling branches & More Shaktimans
February 10, 2024On Tuesday, a man died when a tree branch fell on his head. Even his helmet couldn’t save him. But what could have saved him was probably the timely pruning of the tree. Every year, people die in our city as tree branches fall due to lack of timely pruning. Yet citizens are confused about…
Humped & Barricaded: Time to wake up !
February 3, 2024Six days ago, within 12 hours, between 9 pm and 9 am, 20 people met with accidents. Three young men lost their lives. Two young women become widows. Three children became fatherless. Three families lost their primary breadwinner and three families were destroyed…all because of two unscientific road humps. Shockingly, not a single MLA has…
MCC HELP ! Mysuru is turning into Flex City
January 13, 2024Mysuru has been called a Royal Heritage City, but it feels like we’re living in ‘Flex City.’ Our city is plagued by the menace of flex hoardings and banners everywhere — at Circles, on buildings, on footpaths, on trees and even on Expressway. Last year, this plague had even reached all the way to the…
Mysuru needs more Fire Stations
January 6, 2024Today at 2.45 am, I was woken up by a loud sound that shook me to my core. It was the apartment’s fire alarm! The word ‘alarm’ is too mellow a word to describe the decibel level a fire ‘siren’ makes. It has a quality that triggers a sense of ‘urgency and panic.’ It is…
Promote Spoken Kannada
December 30, 2023Shops in Bengaluru were vandalised over displaying non-Kannada boards on Wednesday by activists of a pro-Kannada outfit. The protesters were demanding the immediate implementation of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) order requiring businesses to feature 60 percent sign-boards in Kannada. The deadline to adhere to the new rule was set for Feb. 28, 2024….
Tragedy of Indian Opposition
December 23, 2023What a month it has been so far — smoke canisters, suspended MPs, mimicry of the Vice-President and amendments to 150-yeKalyan Banerjeear-old laws. But the most disappointing outcome was the failure of the Opposition parties, yet again. The Opposition parties in India do not do their job. Period. From the Jan Sangh to the BJP…
Bring back the Anti-Rowdy Squad
December 9, 2023Recently, a youth assaulted the MCC Revenue Inspector in his office because the Inspector had told him not to smoke on the office premises. A few weeks earlier, there was a report that three youths assaulted a middle-aged man for honking at them as they entered a one-way street. A few weeks ago, I witnessed an…
The Name Game
December 2, 2023As I read the paper on Thursday, I was upset with a particular news. The headline read “Forest personnel raid Snake Shyam’s house”! Why did they have to raid his home? What did he do that was so wrong? Shyam was nursing two Bonnet monkeys and three Indian black turtles back to health at home….
Governor or Tormentor?
November 25, 2023On Monday, the Supreme Court expressed its displeasure at the delay by some State Governors in giving assent to Bills. The Governors have to approve these Bills since they were sent back to Raj Bhavan following re-adoption by the Assembly. Opposition-ruled States, namely, Kerala, West Bengal, Punjab, Telangana, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu, have had problems…
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