Poverty peeks at Prosperity

A poignant picture of a small street girl shivering in the cool monsoon evening watches the more privileged in the city chatting over a coffee at Cafe coffee day.

These are a sign of the times. Poverty and Prosperity are ofter staring at each other in the face...

Hijra trouble at traffic signals becoming common

Hijras have started surfacing in Bangalore city like never before. They have invaded certain city traffic light junctions. What they do is very simple. The come from vehicle to vehicle and harass commuters. They try to touch some people, pretend to bless some, they get aggressive sometimes, sometimes they plead. They have a singleton goal of extracting some money from you.

One find it utterly disgusting when they breach a person's basic rights when they start touching people. Some commuters get hassled, some scared, some simply angry.

Obviously one respects their person right to be what they want to be. It is a personal preference. But they have no business to start bothering public in this manner. They should enact a law to bring to book these Hijras if they are a menace in this fashion.

This burely is beggary in its most sophisticated form. Mumbai is well known for this problem along with many other cities. Growth brings the city best of talent and the imported "trouble" as well.

Cops are busier than ever before

It looks like the policemen are having a casual afternoon walk in city surroundings... Thats what I thought too at first glance... These were photos shot near Yeshwantpur station. Look closer in the next picture...



You will notice the policemen are escorting a criminal they just nabbed. Notice the handcuffs on the man.

If you thought only the IT folks in Bangalore worked crazy hours, change your mind. Bangalore city police have been busier than ever before. Rising due to the economic divide between the haves and the have-nots.

Crime in the city has been on the rise and at staggering levels.

When ancient traditions get reduced to beggary

In the heydays, artists playing the Nadaswaram accompanied with a caparisoned bull was a tradition that was patronized by many. The artist would play carnatic classical pieces on festive days and this was considered an auspicious act. It surely kept tradition and culture alive and gave these artists a living.

Over the years with so called "modernity" these guys have a hapless future and their art form is now reduced to beggary. Their music's quality has also been reduced dramatically due to lack of patrons.

Passengers scramble to get on buses to commute

This is one of the bigger vestibular buses of the BMTC (Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation) photographed near the KR puram flyover.


Passengers "mob" the bus in a bid to get in. Using public transport is a big challenge. The supply is less than the demand. This challenge of travel forces many middle class citizens to find alternate modes like two wheelers (Did you know? - Bangalore has the world's largest concentration of two wheelers) and four wheelers - compounding the problem on the roads.

BMTC stats:

• 4586 buses and 4258 schedules
  
• Carry 35.00 Lakhs Passengers in a day
  
• 60,860 trips
  
• Perform 9.11 Lakhs Service Kilometers
  

Bus frequencies are a challenge. Bus stops are few and far between in some routes. Bangalore has no concept of queues in Bus stops unlike cities like Mumbai. The BMTC buses have signs in kannada only and this is another challenge in a city that has attracted so many migrants due to the job opportunities.

If you commute via BMTC try this useful site from Mapunity that maps the Bangalore bus routes on Google maps.

It is a different matter that BMTC has taken many new initiatives to add new volvo buses in the city to target the middle class.

BMTC has do a lot more and faster.

World environment day

Today is World Environment Day. A day we stop and introspect about the environment that sustains human life. A time to introspect on how we can treat it more responsibly for our own good. The choice is really ours....

We could have a city green and environment friendly like the photo below signifies....

(the photo above was taken at the small park in downtown Bangalore - park in front of Mayo Hall and Bangalore Central mall. Its green as green can be amidst all the air pollution of the vehicular emissions).

Or we could be irresponsible and pollute the city with effluent waste that is untreated and causes health hazards by affecting the water table around.


(photo of the great Bangalore Nala. This picture was shot less than 30 meters from the Gopal Admirality apartment complex. The stench from the Nala is unacceptable.)

Or we could cave into selfish commercial interest and pollute the city while seriously endangering the climate and weather in our city. Temperatures have gone up by 5-7 degrees in last 5-6 years. Is this what we all deserve?


(the above photo was shot on Outer ring road between Hennur road and Hebbal. This lorry is poorly maintained but used for commercial gain. The owners of this lorry have an armada of vehicles around 15-20 of them. If this isn't irresponsible behavior what is?)

The choice is really ours to make. You and me.

Don't neglect the environment! Let us make a difference in our own small way today. Or it could become too late to save it.

Growth comes with caveats!

Yes, we are growing at break neck speed. So fast that it scares many! There is so much migration to the city in the quest of job opportunities from all over the country and even overseas. This is all great since the city becomes more cosmopolitan.

Along with this growth, comes a bunch of problem that we are not managing well... Inflation, Social divide (the haves and the have nots), Crime and many more issues.... The poster campaign calling for a meeting reflects that very challenge....

We got to do something serious about balanced growth soon. Else we will be caught napping ...

Precariously carrying LPG gas cylinders

This van was carrying LPG cylinders precariously. Notice how the cylinders are fasted to the van. I saw the cylinders jostling and moving as the van moved through the steet. Gave me the creeps. Consider the lethal content they carry. Surely there is a better way to transport these around town....

City of contradictions - Super Villas and Slums galore

The contradictions in the city don't get scarier than this.

If only pedestrians had a voice.... this wouldnt happen...

Traffic as far as the eye can see...

There are only two ways you can react to this. Get really mad and frustrated. Alternatively take it in your stride and .... make a call to catch up with a friend or listen to some music on the FM.

Mobile invasion!

Mobiles have invaded our life styles in a manner that was simply unthinkable a few years back. We are so compelled to respond to a call no matter where we are... on the road... in a meeting or even in the loo! The madness has to stop somewhere.

Killers on the road... Slow but Steady...

I was so cross when I saw this lorry polluting the road at a traffic signal. I could so enraged at what this lorry was doing. I was on a bike and I really could experience the dense smoke from the lorry (cough! cough!) that it appeared like someone had just tear gassed us for a moment. The smoke from the lorry was so dense that it affected visibility for a few feet. I literally tracked this driver down to his parking yard.

Another irresponsible business that ignores the environment out of disregard and simply greed!

We need to bring these guys to book! And wake up the Karnataka Pollution Control Board and the government.

Road repairs - the truly unique way!

I was heading to work and I saw this man scurrying back and forth from the side walk to the center of the road with a buck of dirt in his hand. This really caught my attention and I was compelled to stop and shoot him in action. He would empty the bucket of dirt in the pot hole and run back between traffic signals to avoid the traffic. His colleague was busy digging near the sidewalk to help re-fill the bucket with dirt.

I know these pot holes out here really need attention. But I was not sure whether to appreciate their quick fix or get angry about the shoddy approach. I ended of smiling and in splits. I was laughing out loud uncontrollably at the state of things.

No equipment. No gear. No boots. No hats for protection. No traffic alert signs. It is high time we got some structure around these things. Granted this is not the norm, but still...

Religion or Beggary?

Always wondered if this was religion or emotional exploitation through religion. But surely a sophisticated form of beggary.

Two wheelers jostle for space on the roads

The two-wheelers on the road are increasing with every year in Bangalore city and everyone seems to want independence from public transport - the BMTC buses. The first thing one does after arriving in the city is to get oneself a two wheeler or a 4 wheeler depending on one's afford-ability. This has got to stop, we need to build more public confidence in the public transport. London is a great example for efficient public transport.

The upside of the two wheeler boom is a growth by 8.55% during the year 2005-06 (source). Sales crossing 7 million two wheelers at 7,600,801 during the year 2005-06. Two Wheelers exports in 2004-05 crossed 300,000 mark at 366,724 and recorded a growth rate of plus 38% over the previous year (source). The Bajajs and the Munjals must be smiling! These numbers pale in comparison to China's numbers - they produce around 12 million 2 wheelers a year! (source).

The down side of all this is the cluttered streets with over 2,009,081 two wheelers on Bangalore streets (source), chaotic traffic, hours of waiting on the roads, accidents (majority affected / casualties are two wheeler drivers) and high pollution. If we have 2,400,000 passengers handled daily by BMTC buses and and and almost equal number of two wheelers (2,009,081) we know where the problem is!!! Remember the New Delhi experience and two-wheeler riders dying from lung cancer? We sure need to strike a balance somewhere.

Labourers "build" other people's dreams and "cement" their futures

Labourers at work forming the human chain on a scaffolding to transport bricks up the upcoming structure. It is a shame there is no minimum wages law guaranteeing their rights. These labourers live a nomadic live, live near the strutures they build, cook and raise their children on the streets... they "build" other people's dreams and "cement" their lives. No proper equipment for these folks. They rough it out eke out their survival.

A dog's life is better than this man's...

Man asleep amidst filthy garbage in city garbage van. What are we doing at Bangalore? The divide between the rich and the poor is scary! The wealth creation due to IT is not reaching the masses. It is not making the life of the common man better. We look away when we see scenes like this. It is heart wrenching to see a man in this state? Can we provide better tools and protection? Even a dog has a better life.