When I first took up journalism, everyone i knew advised me against it, especially my family. "But the pay is not that great!," they tried to reason with me. They were partially correct. True, it can never match what the IT sector pays but how many sectors can? The pay is not as bad as some people imagine it to be.

However, it was when I did my first internship in a reputed newspaper that I realised journalism could be a lucrative career depending on how flexible you are willing to be with your principles. While covering an art and handicrafts exhibtion, a painter pulled me aside and said, "Sir, see if you can do some publicity for us. I can take care of you." He did not seem to make this offer out of greed.  He was poor and just trying to make a living so i…

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On an overcast Sunday afternoon, I headed to Freedom Park to cover the anti corruption fast and protest over midnight raid by the UPA Government at Ramlila Grounds in Delhi.  As I parked my bike, the first thing in noticed was not the sea of people who had turned up for the protest but the several peanuts, ice cream and bhel puri vendors that had gathered that had set shop there to make a quick buck. If it weren’t for slogans of  “Jai Bharath Mata Ki” emanating from inside the shamiyana, I would think I was at the wrong place.

While gorging on orange ice candies and spicy bhel puri, people listened to seers talking about why Baba Ramdev’s fast was important. I wonder what the people on stage, who had been fasting since the day before or some since that morning would have felt on seeing…

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Almost every other week, outside my office on Sarjapur Road, I see an elderly gentleman stopping by a tree in the morning, to relieve himself.  A Nirmala Shauchalaya stands barely 100 metres away from this recipient tree.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) budget ambitiously speaks about a lot that the city needs - storm water drains, flyovers, underpasses, parks, playgrounds - so on and so forth. A lot of criticism has gone the way of the budget, pooh-poohing the amount of loans that the corporation is planning to take and slamming the massive revenue projections.

Plans have been made for magnanimous projects, but the city corporation seems to have completely ignored some very important and absolutely basic aspects of public health, sanitation and hygiene.

How many times have you winced, cringed and cursed when you see someone spit on the road, urinate on the roadside and litter the…

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Roadwidening. Who thought that such a term would come into being and cause such a brouhaha here in Bengaluru. Anyways - the protests, the government and BBMP going back and forth on suspending roadwidening, TDR (Transfer of Development Rights) notices being slapped, red marks on the wall - all this has been talked about over and over.

Now here's something new to swallow.

Sources in the BBMP recently told Citizen Matters about 23 roads that are being widened. This is not part of the list of roads that are stuck in a High Court case. These are roads of newly-added areas and are being funded by the state government.

When I initially received the list from the BBMP source, it was sans the current and proposed road width. This is how the list looked when I first got hold of it. It had the name of the road,…

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At a time when Bengaluru is facing acute water shortage, call it ironic that over 400 half-litre bottles (costing Rs 8 each) of mineral water were consumed during the two-day special ‘water' session of the BBMP council.

Only one corporator, Congress's K Poornima (Basavanapura, Ward 53) pointed out to this, requesting Mayor S K Nataraj to ensure that smaller bottles are provided or to make it compulsory for all corporators to carry the bottles back with them instead of leaving them in the council hall, half-consumed.

Poornima's appeal may well have fallen on deaf ears.

It is unfortunate that many such genuine pleas may have just gone unheard in the midst of the melee that the politicians chose to resort to during the session.

It all started on Day One when Deputy Mayor N Dayanand walked in wearing the Mayoral robe, to conduct the proceedings in place…

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Recently staged at the JP Nagar-based Ranga Shankara, Naariyal Paani is a production of the group Our Theatre. Directed by Sandeep Shikhar, the play is basically like a monologue where the character narrates his love story to the audience. He is interrupted by two characters - a tabla player and a guitarist. The tabla player, enacted by Santosh Satavailli, represents the protagonist's physical presence. The guitarist, on the other hand, represents the rest of the universe. Vivek Vijayakumaran plays the protagonist. His constant rubbing-hand-against-thigh act was fun to watch. For me, however, it was guitarist Anupam Roy who stole the show. His voice, voice modulation, stage presence - full marks to him! The music was an absolute treat.

Here are some take-aways from the show.

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I expected muddy water, unclean tanks and an unkempt environment. But a recent visit to the Government Aquarium on Kasturba Road, proved me wrong. Even though the Aquarium could do with a few more features, possibly to attract marine enthusiasts, I was pleasantly surprised. Especially after my last visit, many many years ago.

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Unaware of the legal battle surrounding her home in this Low Income Neighbourhood (LIN) in Krishnarajapuram in North Bangalore, this little girl enjoys a measly snack.

You can read the complete article about this LIN here They have possession certificates, yet live in fear of eviction

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Whenever anyone says Bangalore has changed, I would just brush it aside saying ‘of course, what doesn't change?' But thinking about it made me realise just how much the city has really changed. From the time of my childhood. Malls, coffee shops, high rise buildings - Bangalore has changed.

I grew up in the Cantonment side of Bangalore and have always lived here. So family outings were restricted to this side of town, and not areas like Jayanagar and Basavangudi in South Bangalore which have so many well-known eateries.

As a child I remember Sunday dinners to be spent at Shyam Prakash hotel on Infantry Road. Idli sambar, masala dosa, it was a delight for a kid. The garden setting, the tables with umbrellas, the play area for the kids, the horse that you rode after dropping a rupee into the slit on its back, every Sunday was looked forward to.…

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The Bengalee Association held Durga puja celebrations at the RBANMS grounds in Ulsoor. It was my first Dussehra, Bengali style!

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Contacts play the most important role when you are doing a story. And it takes a while to build a rapport with these contacts. Once you establish this rapport, it's all for the best. This works all the more well with government officials.

But what happens when these officials get transferred? Especially when you are the middle of a story? Let me tell you, it is disappointing. Very disappointing.

And what if you feel you have something to do with these transfers? Not directly, but probably...hmmm...in a karmic way shall I say?

Well, it all started off with the much-approachable Gaurav Gupta, Commissioner of the Bangalore Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA). I met him in January this year. Very nice person, one of the nicest government officials I have met. There are quite many, let me tell you. I did one story regarding the BMLTA during his…

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...so said a friend, partly in anguish, partly in jest, referring to the Principal Secretary of the Government of Karnataka, Department of Health and Family Welfare, IR Perumal! I happened to witness this gentleman speaking at a press conference recently. He was talking about swine flu. He was there to dispel the myths about swine flu and reduce the panic among the public. The one thing about him that would strike you (or anyone) is the capacity of his vocal chords. He's loud! And animated! Well, that's not a bad thing at all.

At this particular press conference he was addressing the general public asking them not to panic about swine flu. No doubt, his point was effective. As in, no one could have not heard him. And he insisted on grabbing the mic at every given opportunity from the other doctors who were talking that day. And…

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Recently I happened to go to Gandhi Bhavan to cover an event. It was only a couple of months ago that I heard that Bangalore has something called the Gandhi Bhavan but had no idea where it was located. Neither did my father when I asked him how to get there (we all expect dads to know everything, don’t we?).

It’s unfortunate that on Kumarakrupa Road, Chitra Kala Parishad (CKP), Sindhi High School or even the Janata Dal office are the only names that come up but never Gandhi Bhavan which is right next to CKP and opposite Sindhi High School. The building has now been extended to house the Khadi and Village Industries institution.

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Last week I was working on a health-related story that required me to visit several hospitals in the city. They were, as expected, overflowing with sick patients, all thanks to the mosquito menace that Bangalore has been crying about.  

I happened to visit both public and private hospitals. The rich-poor divide is so blatantly clear at these hospitals. At the private hospitals it wasn't so bad. Waiting rooms were packed, they were clean, and it all looked ok. 

It's the government hospitals that are a sight. People lying on the floor, spitting in corners, broken chairs, wailing babies. It's not the best scene.  

And then you enter the Medical Superintendent's office and it's another world. Air conditioned room, huge sofa set, freshly made coffee, everything's perfect. All this, while people outside are waiting long hours to see a doctor.  

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Are you a victim of wrong footing on dog poop, while walking on a footpath? Well, you are not alone; this is the nightmare of every Bangalorean, who like me prefers to walk on the pavement, which is made for pedestrians and not for dogs to answer their morning call. One pleasant morning I decide to walk to work and my first encounter is footpaths dotted with dog poop and I like many other pedestrians, am forced to play snakes and ladders while walking.

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I cast my vote today, for the very first time. For nobody.

I decided to use 49-O.

If I thought getting an EPIC was an adventure of sorts, the actual voting turned out to be even better.

About  two days ago I got to know details about 49-O wherein you can choose to actually cast your vote for noone.

You can get some details at http://lawmin.nic.in/ld/subord/cer1.htm and http://www.jaagore.com/issue/readComment.php?id=1538

My polling both was Evershine School in Sarvagnanagar. This comes under the Bangalore Central constituency.

I had made up my mind to not vote for anyone. When I told the officers there that I chose to not vote for anyone and wished to sign in a register with regard to the same, they stared at me in disbelief. They immediately said, in unison, that it isn't possible. I told them that I was pretty sure that there is…

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My colleague and I were all pumped up when we thought of doing an 'election special' coverage. And yes interviewing/ grilling the politicians was amongst the most exciting part of it. We wrapped up most of our other stories and were all geared up to get interview appointments with our MP candidates. Soon we realised it was not as exciting and thrilling as we had imagined as it was hard to get any at the first place.

To start with we somehow managed to get a phone number of a close aide of one of the candidates, and after a few phone calls from me and my editor things looked brighter. We had an early morning interview appointment in hand(this after constant phone calls for 4 days, we were proud of our quick results!). My happiness was though not long lived. A day before the interview I called up…

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As I was returning home this evening, disappointed that an interview with a politician was cancelled in the last-minute, I was stopped by a traffic policeman on Nandidurga Road. I thanked my stars as I knew I had all my documents in place in my two-wheeler. He very politely asked me to show my insurance papers and emission test, which I did. He saw my insurance papers and said they were going to expire by the end of this month. "Get it done", he said like a reminder. I told him I had already renewed it and the papers were ready, at home. He then asked to see my driving license, which I again obliged to. As I put everything back in place and got ready to leave, the cop said, "Last year I saw my insurance papers and it had been about a month since it had expired.…

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I went all prepared. Ear phones for my phone radio, comfortable clothes and footwear, a light bag, though I did forget the bottle of glucose. No, I didn't go to an adventure camp. I was getting set to go to the Voter Facilitation Centre.

As election fever is running at an all-time high in the city, I wasn't left far behind. The bug caught on to me too. And here I am, joining the bandwagon of those who have been ranting about their journey to get the 'impossible' - the Voter ID card.

I am proud to say that I did it! After 2.5 hours of standing in line.(I know better records have been set)

Even as I knew I had a long weekend (thanks to Ugadi), I decided that my Sunday would be spent with my friends at the Cooke Town Voter Facilitation Centre. I had set aside…

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