In the name of Goddess.

She takes birth in the Brahmagiri ranges of Kodagu district. And this river, River Cauvery, is one of the seven holy rivers of India. It is also the lifeline of South Karnataka.

It’s also one reason for riots in a city that is about a hundred kilometres away from it. Right through mid 70s, 80s, 90s and even this decade, disputes over water from Cauvery have led to killings.

Beats logic. Totally. You could be assuming that this is talk about peace, harmony and understanding. No. It’s not one bit about these.

I mean, if a legal judgement by the highest court in the country goes against one, thus impacting his life and livelihood, then by all means, he has the right to fight against it. With whatever is at his disposal. Brawn or brain.

Therefore, to my mind, the farmers who are going to be affected by this judgement, if they deem fit, should take a bus to Bangalore, or drive down (for some of them are pretty affluent) and then stage a protest. If they want, for good measure, they can burn the very bus they took from their hometown. Or spare that one, and burn some other bus instead. Fair enough. Violent. Protest. For a cause they think is very important. That later, they would get arrested, and the law takes it own course, or whatever, is another issue. It would be completely understandable that they do this.

But, what beats the reasoning mind is the 17 year olds or 40-something paunchy loser-unable-to-become-big-gangster from the heart of Bangalore City suddenly assuming the role of keepers of those poor farmers' irrigational interests. And that too for a few days till the cops remind them that they aren't. And also that they are nothing but sheer nuisance.


How, in the name of God, or Goddess, do they think they are going to be affected by this judgement? Will their daily quota of water be affected? Or will their beer start tasting different just because of this judgement? Or will they die of thirst? Hmmmm?

And how do these blokes benefit from damaging public property, and disturbing order through their acts of vandalism? How do they stand to benefit by resorting to the kind of abuses their seniors did a few years ago when the city was burned and was held to ransom in the name of Cauvery? Beats you? Same here.

Ironically, these people are from where came one India's first knighted citizen- Sir M. Vishweshwariah. It is this visionary who is credited with building the dam across river Cauvery at Kannambadi near Mysore- KRS (Krishnarajasagar).

KRS changed lives thanks to the irrigation it enabled way, way back in 1924. What followed later is history. Known. Unknown. Publicised. Not publicised. Confusing, at best. Disgusting at worst. Whatever.

Coming back to the present, I seriously hope these chaps stop this fight over water. Let them fight for air. Yeah. Air. Let them fight for cleaner air. Cleaner water, yeah. Cleaner roads. Perhaps they would find many takers. Let's hope some sense prevails this time around.

Before I sign-off, here's a message for all those chauvinists. Remember that blistering 41 ball 70 in Chennai by Robin Uthappa? My dear-fighting-for-water-on-the-streets-of-Bangalore-chauvinist, we are all proud of that lad from Kodagu/Coorg. But today, on the 5th of February 2007, I hope you don’t turn something that is a matter of pride and is also from Coorg into an embarrassment. And God forbid a bloody one at that.

How Many You Have?

To begin with, the title needs some explanation. It's a line from an advertising campaign for a watch, I guess. This adorned one ugly hoarding that was a rather bad thing to see when driving back home. Why am I talking about this? I don't know, except perhaps for the reason that everyday, I just can't help feeling that Bangalore is becoming a victim to visual pollution.

In addition to ugly hoardings (and the meaningless advertising which is not the point though), I am noticing many an ugly thing. For example, the ugly sight of an Autorickshaw driver stretching his hand out for that extra ten rupees only because he thinks wherever you want to go is not within city limits. Or for that matter, the sight of those infants being paraded around by women with powerful visually convincing skills for that extra rupee. The only other person who I thought did a better job than these beggars do was Irfan Pathan appealing when he went wicketless in South Africa.

Speaking about cricket, that reminds me of Anil Kumble Circle and that huge monstrous clock or whatever contraption that is. How can we let someone put up such a thing right there? I mean, all of us have watches, excepting those talented women posing as beggars, and seriously, how many of us really give a damn about the temperature? Have you ever come across anyone, anyone in Bangalore beginning a conversation with, "Nice Weather! Eh?' See! I told you! We don't really need most of the visual pollution we see around us in this city. There are many more elements of visual pollution. And one that irks me the most is the sight of people who take Vasudevakudumbakam a little too seriously. True, the world is one big family. But that doesn't mean the entire city is your toilet.

There are so many examples of visual pollution I can talk about. Like, autorickshaws with Chee Tunti, Yenivaaga et al written on them. Or those ugly golden coloured Maruti Omnis with the cricket ball graphic. Or those people wearing F1 jackets and riding motor operated pedalling devices.

Well, let them be the way they are. The reason I have brought this up is because I think we all have to get together and do something about it. And do that, we need like-minded people to join us.

The only way I see we can get this place to grow (btw, there is also a community on orkut called We Are Bangalore) is by spreading the word about this blog and the community around. Don't really stretch yourself too much. You just need to send this link to your friends. No matter how many you have.

The Beginning

Namaskaara, shankaratiya shubhashayagallanu heluttaa nimagella swaagatha.

Idu kannadigarigarigemaatravalla situ (this is not a site only for Kannadigas). Aadare ee situ, kannadigara identiyge honduvantha janarige (this site is for those who identify with the true identity of Kannadigas) maatra situ. Aduve aatitya (that is, hospitatility).

Now that we have established who this site is for, let's get on with what we plan to do. So, who are we? We are a bunch of Bangaloreans. People who have grown up in this city that the world calls the Silicon Valley of India amongst many others. Also we are people who know, understand and want the city and its people to be seen in the right light.

How do we plan to do it? Keep reading! We'll be right back!