Karnataka - Bangalore

Reporter's Diary

Indifferent Bangalore

WHEN ONE sees the TV news about the floods in Mumbai, one feels thankful for being on a hilly plateau. Whatever floods we have after a heavy downpour are short-lived and confined to a few roads; and for just a few hours.

We don't know if we have the resilient and generous spirit of Mumbaikars when such natural calamities strike. In fact, we are quite indifferent to the plight of our own homeless when the weather turns nasty.

When it rains hard at night, the homeless have few options left for shelter. Except for under flyovers (if there is no service road there), under shop awnings or bus shelters. Even from such meagre shelter they are constantly being chased away. In the West, during cold winters, night shelters are provided for the homeless. We claim to be a hi-tech city and a global hub but have not even thought of such acts of kindness.

Cooperate, please

WITH THE undulating terrain Bangalore has, there really can be no floods, even for a short while. We the citizens are partly to blame and the civic administration, partly.

The large storm water drains, which for long served the purpose, have become practically defunct. We have turned them into garbage dumps and the water bodies where they diverted excess rainwater, have either disappeared or shrunk over the years.

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike and the Lakes Development Authority, to their credit, have woken up to the need. The citizens on their part need to cooperate and keep the drains and channels clear for serving their primary purpose. After all, the door-to-door waste collection facility is working well in almost all places in the city.

Thoughtful launch

VIPS WHO had come for the launch of the website, www.stopfraud.in, sponsored by Karnataka State Souharda Federal Cooperative Ltd. (KSSFCL) on Monday were in for a surprise.

As soon as the KSSFCL Managing Director, Anoop Deshpande, announced that the VIPs would launch the website, a volunteer placed before the dais a stand to which three balloons were tied.

Even as the three VIPs, who were visibly surprised, were looking at the balloons, the organisers gave them needles and requested them to burst the balloons to launch the website.

"The balloons of fraud are being burst with the needle of truth," announced the KSSFCL Chairman, Manohar Maski, as the the Minister for Cooperation, R.V. Deshpande, the Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs, H.K. Patil, and the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, B.S. Yediyurappa, burst the balloons.

Could have been better

NO DOUBT the recent colouring competition organised by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) drew a large number of children. It was a sight to see children clad in uniforms representing schools coming in large numbers and enthusiastically taking part in colouring a "flying Anjaneya".

But one wished ISKCON considered the plight of the parents accompanying the children. Many parents who had not stood in queues for years were forced to wait in never-ending queues. If the queue for registration lasted for half an hour to one hour, they had to wait for over one hour to collect the certificates of their children. Then came the ultimate: a kilometre-long queue to collect the children. Luckily it was moving fast. And it just took about 60 minutes. Naturally, many parents found their children crying tired of waiting for the reunion.

ISKCON with its vast resources can make the event a little more pleasant for everyone, the parents felt.

A unique way

A BOY, who took part in the recent Child Labourers' Conference, was asked what he would do if he were prime minister. He quickly replied, "Main duniya badal doonga" (I will change the world).

But how would he do it? "I will first dismiss all the teachers. Then I will appoint new teachers who will not beat children but teach them. I will also consider whether they love children. I will do this and then go to school," he said.

The boy was replying to a question posed by the former member of the Planning Commission, L.C. Jain, who had inaugurated the conference. Recalling this incident at a summit on "Population and Development" here on Monday, Mr. Jain chided the Vice-Chancellor, M.S. Thimmappa, who was present with him on the dais: "The boy has the courage to take such a step for improving education, which the Vice-Chancellor cannot." All that Dr. Thimmappa said was, "Mr. Jain has a unique way of presenting issues."

K.V. Subramanya

Govind D. Belgaumkar

and Raghava M.

K. Satyamurty K.V. Subramanya Govind D. Belgaumkar and Raghava M.

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