Tasty journo titbits

A story that provides opportunities for food tasting is always welcome.

Especially if it involves eating Bangalore's famous K.C. Das rossogollas.

I came back in a good mood, and with a matka full of rossogollas. They were polished off, the matka washed and dried, long before the story made it to print. See? Empty.



The story as it appeared in The Hindu, November 25, 2010.

(It's a pity colourful print layouts are lost in the automatic transfer of articles online.)

Living cemeteries

I won't lie, I wasn't too pleased at having to visit the cemetery all by myself.

It was for a story for The Hindu, August 12.

I wasn't afraid - Zombies, I was sure, would definitely liven up one's life.

Rather, it was the quiet, and the feeling that I was intruding, that bothered me. And I don't know what Miss. Manners suggested about walking around final resting places.

In retrospect, I needn't have worried so much. A dog fight in the vast grounds of the Indian Christian Cemetery livened things up more than I bargained for; the polished stones turned into lunch tables for some staff members and visitors; a girl with a bright pink umbrella didn't seem to feel out of place in the supposedly sombre mood of the place.

There were a considerable number of people carrying on with their business. Nobody, at least at first glance, seemed to be unduly upset at their surroundings.

Respect for life, more than anything, perhaps.

Daily Dump article: 'She has designs on your garbage'

"One part business, two parts design, a handful of ideas and a lot of garbage."

Update: After weeks of struggling to find a way to put this online, I come across a link to access the article on The Hindu website. 

A few weeks ago, I met Poonam Bir Kasturi, the woman behind Daily Dump, for an article. This is what came out of it.

Jul-22-pdf

She was an extremely passionate person, and I liked what she said. Presumably because we seemed to share a proclivity for free flow of ideas and information.

Composting techniques and designs under Creative Commons licensing - what's not to approve of, I ask!

It was also refreshing to talk to someone who was doing something incredibly innovative, without money as a motive, but far from the NGO altruism.

But, Poonam has me thinking about this again: is a makeover the best way to promote a product or even an idea? Is 'pretty' and 'upmarket'- and every other aspirational word we could use - becoming the only way to sell anything?

(I'm just thinking aloud, I really don't know yet.)

Update 2: Am also mighty chuffed with what Daily Dump has to say about being interviewed by me :D 

I Voted!

I voted because:

• I want to feel part of the governance of a nation, part of the System you could even say.
• I don't want to have to refer to "the System" pretentiously, contemptuously, or apathetically. I don't want it to be a dirty word.
• I'm saying I'm willing to take responsibility for my nation. 

These were the local body - Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) - elections. 

Which is why when I cast my (secret) ballot, my choice was for the candidate best placed to ensure ward-level development. 

I think that's fair, but that's a view that is open to change. 

Does larger ideology and party principles take or should take precedence over ward-level issues? 

Me and my violently indigo pointer are going to give that some thought for when the next election cycle starts. 

Learning on the journo job

Another civic story done and dusted. And this one has my voice on it.

This piece is about the Namma Metro construction along MKK Road in my side of Bangalore.

(Why, thank you, I know I sound lovely!)

Apart from giving me a chance to fiddle with sound and to stare for hours at audio squiggles (oh joy!), there's some learning that the experience brought -

• There're so many civic issues in everyone's backyard. 
• In a case where people will lose their homes and their livelihoods for the sake of snazzy new constructions and urban infrastructure projects, I cannot bring myself to pick a side, but I would know where my sympathies lie. 
• That everyone, every time, will learn to live with it. Despite all protests, life goes on. 

Many years ago, I read about how the concepts of karma and fate ("hane bareha" as Granmum says) are integral to the Indian societal make-up, and responsible for holding back economic and scientific progress. Then, I was inclined to dismiss it as a eurocentric statement, full of scientific and ethnic bias.

I would still contest that this 'passivity', as it may appear to some, is unjustly held responsible for holding the nation back, just because it doesn't conform to the ideas of competition, standards of achievement, and all's-fair attitudes that characterises the globally favoured paradigm of development.

However, I have now come to acknowledge the existence of the notion. It is hard to ignore the 'What can we do, that's written in the stars' explanation and acceptance of one's lot in life.

I'm still not sure that's a defeatist attitude though. It could also alternatively be seen as simply the lack of choice. Or just pragmatism and maturity.

Reporting in Bangalore - Tannery Road widening project

I've had the chance to get involved in civic issues and do a bit of reporting recently. The hunt for my first story in Bangalore took me to Tannery Road, where I spoke to residents and property owners protesting road widening along the stretch.

Here's the story on Citizen Matters - Tannery Road businesses strike out at TDR 

Coming up...the real story behind the story.  From Our Own Correspondent style.