One of the evident side-effects of the Metro construction in Bangalore has been the incessant cutting of trees across all major areas of the city.

If you now take a look at Seshadri Road, Nanda Road and roads around Malleswaram, you will see how a once-lush-green canopy has given way to a bare concrete view. Is there really a need to take away a portion of Cubbon Park? Was there a necessity to chop trees in Lalbagh (which even today stands as one of Bangalore’s integral identity)? The planning and development of the Metro has taken quite a few people by surprise. There has not been enough information shared in the public domain by the concerned authorities. The benefits of the Metro were never really listed out in comparison to other cheaper modes of transport (bus services being one of them).

What has happened so far is that the Metro juggernaut has rolled on, sucking in millions of rupees on its way and destroying the very fabric of Bangalore that had made it a preferred destination for many in the recent past. Democracy, in its definition, somewhere does include the phrase public participation. And voting is just one part of this public participation. The other and more significant part is to ensure that our public servants are questioned on their policies and to have a say in everything that affects us.

Today there was yet another protest against the haphazard construction and destruction taking place in Bangalore in the garb of urban transport management. We gathered at the BMRCL office (on K H Road) and protested with placards and slogans. Leaflets in Kannada and English were distributed to passers by, highlighting the glaring lapses in the Metro execution.

The group Hasiru Usiru has filed various RTIs (Right to Information) and the information obtained is quite far away from what the initial plans of the Metro were. For instance, the Phase 1 initial cost was Rs. 5800 crores and the present Phase 1 cost estimate is Rs. 11500 crores! Add to that the fact that the Phase 1 project is only 25% done and you get a scale of things to come. While the initial plan stated that around 400 trees would be cut, the actual number of trees are more than 1200 – a number that is only going to increase.

While I do not possess the acumen to judge whether the Metro will be beneficial in the long run or not, what I do know is that a lot of this destruction could be saved or at least handled in a better manner. If you are interested in meeting the group and taking part in the protest, please attend the next meeting at Tagore Circle on 4th November at 5:00 pm.

You can find resources and information regarding the Metro at the Hasiru Usiru website.

On Saturday, Mrs. DhiOnlyOne and I set out to a place called Kadavanthi which is located within the Chikmaglur district. The place is around 300 kms from Bangalore, going via Hassan, Belur and Chikmaglur.

The road is surprisingly very good for long stretches and the weather played the perfect host all the way long. Stopping for some excellent idlis midway, we reached Kadavanthi at around 2:00 pm.

The place where we stayed is located atop a hill and set amidst a huge coffee plantation. Needless to say, coffee bean smells abound here. The cottages were located on a slightly flattened out land which overlooks the expanse of mountains, valleys and low-drifting clouds.
This is a picture of our cottages which have benches on the opposite side, facing the valley.

One of the apprehensions I always have about such forest-y areas is the kind of creepy crawlers that I might have to encounter. Of course, Mrs. DhiOnlyOne too has such apprehensions but at least she has a daring and strong husband to rely on. Me? What can I rely on? Except try and pray fervently for nothing to crawl on my bed in the night or to fall on my back while I am not noticing. That fear of course does not deter me from photographing some never-before-seen bugs and insects.

The evening brought with it a bonfire, barbecue and some beer on the hills. (That last phrase does not refer to the quantity of beer, but more on the location of its consumption). After some decent homely food (which was so homely that it also had brinjal on the menu – and I dislike brinjal, if you didn’t get it), it was time to allow the crickets outside to take over your peace of mind.

Thankfully, we didn’t encounter any insects until the morning dawned which made us realize that we are amidst nature, and goddammit, we should have a stronger sense of acceptance – insects, spiders and what not. So, early morning armed with my camera I managed to ignore some of the butterflies twittering around and took in this view of the mountains. After this, it was a short trek to the top of a mountain (through some really dense forest area) and clicking of some more photographs to make the huffing and puffing seem worthwhile. We also had a dog following us and we were told her name was Ruby. I managed to crack a joke that if this dog fell on the railing, it would be “Ruby on Rails“. No one quite got it and that is one of the dangers of being geeky to the point of being funny. Mrs. DhiOnlyOne was still recovering from the shock that the husband she relied on was himself running away from all the scary sketches made by the forest trees. Probably humour wasn’t on her mind, not quite yet. Anyway, I managed to get back from the trek in one piece and was the first to the breakfast table.

Post breakfast, we had to bid adieu to this lovely place (yep, I slowly started falling in love with the concept called nature and forests) and we set off to see the historical temples of Belur and Halebid. Civilization is always nice. This is the entry to the temple at Belur, along with the majestic flag set up by the people who built this place (who else eh?).

The Halebid temple, located just 15 Kms from Belur, has a lot of carvings eroded or destroyed.

The huge statue of Nandi has been spoilt by many visitors who have scratched and left marks on this work of art. In fact, take a look at this picture where some one appears to have practiced his/her geometry on the nearest canvas available.

Most of the sculptures on the walls of these temples are, simply put, beautiful.

Nature showed us her best while we stayed at the coffee estate. Belur and Halebid’s temples seemed like our entry to the superior creative judge, if present, and showed that creation is not just Nature’s forte. We are now back in good old Bangalore, a lot more refreshed than what we had hoped for! Enjoy, ladies and gentlemen.

While reading an article that explored the role of languages in heritage preservation, a number of questions flooded my mind. While I cannot post the link here (it was an independent article) let me try to put forth these questions to you. Perhaps you have some interesting thoughts to share on these.

The first question that came to my mind is how many Indians in this day and age still speak in their “mother tongue” (a term that must be totally Indian in any case)? How many can read or write or even largely understand it?

It is a fact that in the modern age of globalization, it doesn’t really pay to learn your language. It does not help you in making a living and it certainly does not help you in gaining popularity with friends, peers and colleagues. So what is the use of wasting your time on such an activity, one may ask!

Well that one needs to be answered thus. What do you think you are losing when you lose touch with your native language? The ability to converse and interact with a few people who can only speak in that language? Those people are a minority for sure, but they are people who can teach you important things about life. The elders in any community are a treasure trove of knowledge and experience, which needs to be passed on from generation to generation for any civilization to progress.

Let us also spend some thought on the cultural aspects of losing a language. Each language is a complex collection of millions of words, phrases, metaphors and the likes. Think of all the stories that are woven with such beautiful tools at hand. Each language reflects the thoughts, beliefs and value system of the regions and peoples who use it and have done so for centuries. Imagine all the nuances of that culture that have got ingrained into that language to define its unique character. You are losing all this and much more.

When I was a kid, I would eagerly wait for my father to tell me bedtime stories in our language. Those are stories I still cherish as I never found them in any of the Grimm’s Fairy Tales or other literature that we were regularly exposed to at school. Besides adding to my story repertoire, they gave me a different perspective from the fairy tales where the prince and princess lived happily ever after.

The literature that is written in any language gets obsolete with its declining usage. Just to get an outlook, I imagine what would happen to all the books that is written in English when, probably centuries later, it’ll no longer be the coolest language around!

The question I really want to probe is what direction the culture takes with the shift of a language. I wonder if people’s way of thinking also changes once they adopt a foreign language. I know a lot of people in my generation (including me) who even think in English, and I wonder if this is the reason why the youth are often not able to connect with their parents or elders, and not able to express their views and understand theirs’. Is this what causes generations to drift apart so rapidly now?

In the end, I just wonder what is the right amount of exposure to one’s native language that is needed in the coming generations to adapt to the changing world around them without losing their grounding in their roots. And how we can play a role in nurturing this balance.