Save the Bellandur Lake

Renting a property overlooking the Bellandur Lake was a temptation I just couldnt resist. An early morning cuppa tea in the balcony about 100 ft away from the lake, visits from parrots, kingfishers, kites, unhindered beautiful sunset view.. who gets lung space like that in Bangalore! And as I counted myself amongst the lucky few.. slowly the perils of staying close to an unkempt lake started to rear its head!

Bellandur Tank is one of the largest water bodies in Bangalore. Several builders sold premium flats exposing buyers to a lifetime of susceptibility to skin diseases, breathing problems, lung and eye infections. The lovely Bellandur lake is changing its color to a darkish grey, water hyacinths, weeds abound the lake, a foul odor eminates occasionally. At the exit end of the lake, one can see heavy froth which indicates the lake is severely polluted through all the industrial effluents, sewerage being unceremoniously dumped into it. One can almost guess the huge impact this pollution must be having on the ecosystem dependent on the lake. Years ago, people from near by area would fish, even drink water from this lake. A news report from TOI dated early 2006, mentions growing number of health problems faced by nearby villages. Probably a few more years down the line, a similar report will mention residents in building complexes like ours, complaining of health issues due to prolonged exposure to polluted air/water from the lake(our complex survives on borewells for non drinking usage).

The Lake Development Authority of Bangalore, LDA, in perennial fight with the BWSSB over management and maintenance of Bangalore lakes, seems to have rehabilitated Ulsoor, Sankey tank recently. It had also put up proposals to privatize rehabilitation of lakes and invited tenders.. succesfully too as several prominent corporates responded most eagerly. Some like The Oberois were keen on making a eco-hotspot of the Hebbal Lake(a floating restaurant being there idea of eco :-) ). Some apartment complexes near Hebbal Lake are five star/premium areas including the monumental Bearys twin towers. The high and the mighty residing there will soon realize the health risks posed by the area enclosing their resort like haven and will be up in arms pushing for the Oberois, Leelas to reclaim land and build a nice posh hotel there and maintain the lake as a side project. Several of these attempts have been met with criticism and opposition by environmental groups that dont believe the privatization will work in favor of the environment since most earlier attempts have tragically ended up in reclaiming the land for rapid unmonitored growth.

There seem to be relatively few options agreeable to everybody. Bangalore does need its land.. hell, living on a possibly reclaimed land, working in an industry that contributed to the rapid downfall of everything beautiful in this city, I cannot be a hypocrite. But can development work hand in hand with nature and return as much as it takes back?

1. Allow reclaiming land on a promise of contribution to the maintenance of lake shore area near to their property. I have no idea how this needs to be enforced.
2. Why hate privatization? I agree Oberois's attempt to rehabilitate Hebbal lake wasnt exactly unselfish in nature.. but I can take a floating eco-themed restaurant to the foul smelling mosquito haven that the Hebbal Lake is now. There are concerns regarding access to the general public after privatization. Will Oberoi allow public access to the lake once its restaurant is seen floating on it. It might charge fees or worse barricade it off. And that is where the LDA might come into the picture.. forcing regulations on the corporate adoptive parent of the lake.
3. Whose responsibility is it to maintain these lakes? Why is LDA not a part of BBMP or a Govt appointed regulatory body? Where can I get latest information on the pollution levels in these lakes?

There seems to be little that is on a big public stage right now, unlike the 2008 attempt by "Hasiru Usiru" to protest against lake-privatization. I just joined a Praja group online and am asking questions on how you and me can help save our lakes.

You gotta have a heart.

People, stop it already! I know theres an overdose of Slumdog everywhere before and after the Oscars, but you got to stop being so mean about this whole thing. Its just a movie.. and no I havent watched the other contenders for the best film but maybe Slumdog was the best film of the year. Nobody is saying its the best movie ever. And comeon, so what if Freida Pinto is stealing fashion headlines. Her indian looks are being celebrated elsewhere.. what harm does it do to us average joes. And I just cant seem to get the whole Mumbai being stereo-typed controversy. Its a adaptation of a book and not a Mumbai documentary. Slums are a big slice of life in Mumbai and just because it projects India's poverty, its existence cannot be denied.

Anil Kapoor perhaps rightly pointed out that the controversy in India about Slumdog is a testament to the fact that we debate freely here. True, if you have a opinion about the film, it ought to have touched you somewhere, right or the wrong way.

And now for perhaps the truer questions after the film's aura dies down: Will the Slum kids grow up to a good future? Will they study despite tasting heady success before knowing abject poverty? Will some good regional cinema finally get country wide recognition before we start to talk about Bollywood getting its due globally? Will we mention Resul, Gulzar equally enthusiastically as we celebrate Rehman? The film was fair in its portrayal.. a triumph of good, honest people.. will we be fair in the assessment and judgement of this heart-in-the-right-place saga?

Sanjay Stupid Dutt and his views - keep them off my newspaper!

Why am I getting so pissed off about a random celebrity with no positive track record, save a adorable on screen character called Munnabhai, guzzling off one view after another on women marrying and not changing names!? Its because I have decided to take it personally! I had decided, way back... when I was probably 13-14 years old, that Megha Meshram is what I will remain, even if I marry a guy with a famous last name.

1) Last names are not something you earn.. they are handed down.. from your parents. After marriage, why does the female have to abandon her family tree altogether? I am pretty sure the family tree can easily be a graph, with a child node having two parent nodes (edge case for a married woman).

2) No... woman who dont change their last names arent trying to prove any point. Just as woman who do, arent. It isnt a feminist thing.. Its a choice of convenience. Its a choice of being the same person. I am trying to disassociate emotion from this whole issue. Because for most of us.. its a pain to get a "change of name" certificate from court and attach it to every identity card you once owned - passport, bank accounts, license etc etc. Email ids change, people you once studied with, worked with.. have a trouble tracing you down. What association do you have with your old name unless you add a "nee" and make it extraaa long! But am cool with women who chose to do that too.. coz again, its a matter of choice!

3) Times have changed for women who are financially independent. They manage their finances, have separate bank accounts, tax records and mostly joint ownership of assets like house or even lease agreements. Why pray would you need a husbands surname to get past financial dealings? And which bank does its business by associating surnames with relationships? Please tell me one benefit of changing my name. And pray tell me what the cons of not changing are too... Am I going to be looked down upon by traditionalists? Then before you harp on my name not changed status.. let me warn you by stating I have been a atheist for as long as I can remember :)

This isnt a open letter of rebellion. I dont consider changing my name to be a conservative move meant to disregard my independence. Most of my intelligent friends have changed their names and dont think it mattered much to them to change it. Just as it doesnt matter much to me to not change it.

So Mr Sanjay Dutt.. if it offends you.. please keep your sorry ideas to yourself. Your sorry incapable self, with a humiliating drug addiction, AK47 past, and despite that entering active politics, offends me no end!

Ring in the new year!

Friends, readers, bloggers, spammers, trolls and all ye general junta dropping in and reading this and not necessarily knowing me or knowing me only virtually,

Heres wishing you a dazzling, fun filled, spectacular new year! Exercise, sleep right, travel, work hard and stay away from trouble!

2008 was funny for me and my earnest hopes for 2008 have not, as usual, completely fallen through.. yet :) I am excited abt 2009! I am.. I think more sure of what I want to do and what is it that will make me happy. Hope you guys feel the same. Once again, Happy New Year! Keep passing by...

Expecto Patronum!

Spells in the wizarding world can save you from dark evil forces and call for your protector, saviour through a heart filled with love and your favorite memories. As my country falls into gloom, still reeling from Mumbai attacks, its time everyone invoked their Petronus!

While shows of solidarity, spiteful sms'es, anger ridden youth calling for war against Pak, rule much of India's times today, I cant help but wonder, where is this intense patriotism when beefed up security at malls peeves you, when a traffic rule is violated and theres no hestitation taking a 100 rupee note to get out of the mess, when a packet of chips is devoured and callously thrown out of your zooming car, when you age to the year of 25 and yet dont own a voter registration card, when your friday night-out ends in drunken stupor and you cant find the way to the nearest "Sulabh Shauchalaya"?? My dear angry young friends... its time you realize your duty as a citizen of this country too! If your raging hormones are focused solely on whats wrong with the country today rather than whats wrong with YOU in the first place, I am afraid the future will be dark and gloomy. Every generation fights its own wars..our parents fought the British, we fight terror and our children will fight global warming. But the difference is our parents did give us a better future.. what world are we leaving behind for our children?

Mumbai and everything wrong in the past 3 days

It just felt wrong to do anything, talk about anything and worry about anything other than Mumbai for the past 3-4 days. I have studied in Mumbai for some part of my student life and being around the majestic Taj constitutes the fondest of memories. The overwhelming feeling of anger directed towards our administration is palpable, esp so in the blogosphere. The current age mantri and the new age indian, educated and free thinking, dont go hand in hand. This current set of old style governance just doesnt do for any right thinking indian today. I will exercise my right to vote in Feb 2009, so that I get my right to point fingers when the Government screws up, but who should I vote???

I have simply missed the Twitter bus so far....

Twitter is serious. It just reached its billionth tweet a few days back and so far I have not taken this bus to micro-blogging.

Neeraj and me just argued last night about the recently released Magpie business model and looks like every Tech guru is wondering if Twitter can make serious money without irritating customers with ad tweets or ads on the Twitter home.

When it released it felt like a fun way, if you had a close knit group texting each other all the time, to be in virtual touch. But businesses have caught onto it... real time news, market updates, shopping deals, corporate accounts with 1000s of followers.. it doesnt cost anything to tweet right now. And it has made way into peoples desktops and mobile phones too.. I am catching the bus this time. Let me know where you tweet.. I do it here.