RW News Network

The residents of Teachers Colony have decided to impart conversational Kannada classes for non-Kannadigas at a nominal rate of Rs 100 while senior citizens don’t have to pay anything.

Though this is meant for residents staying in and around Teacher’s Colony, they have been kind enough to extend this facility to all the residents of HSR Layout and HSR Layout extension.

The classes will be conducted every Sunday, beginning October 14, 2018. They will be held over two months. The Kannada sessions will be held at Carmel Garden Public School from 11am to 1230pm. “The necessary books will be provided by us,” says Divya Yogeesh. “A teacher from BTM Layout will be the regular faculty in addition to the Kannada-speaking residents who volunteer from time to time.”

In addition to weekly contact classes, the education will happen through a WhatsApp group specifically set up only for students. “Every day, we will teach them how to draft one sentence,” says Divya. “In addition, all the doubts will be clarified by the tutors in the WhatsApp group.”

The interested candidates can register their names by paying Rs 100 as the registration fee with either Geetha (90087-97000) or Divya (94803-50295). And those who want to volunteer as a Kannada teacher are also welcome to be part of this noble initiative.

Every Monday, since June 2018, a group of residents accompanied by the staff of Agara Lake and morning walkers/joggers, pick up trash at the premises of the water body.

Call it ‘plogging’ or a cleanliness drive, but this is something they began three months ago and doing it continuously and with a fervour seen only among civic activists. Plogging is a fitness trend that is all about people walking and running even while picking up plastic strewn along the roads, footpaths and park/lake premises.

Why Monday? Because the trash is maximum after the 12000-14000 people that visit the lake on weekends (6-8000/day). This morning, the amount of garbage collected by five residents, three staff workers and two citizens filled up four large bags weighing about 60-70 kilos.

“Even after the bins are made available, people still litter all over the place,” says resident Kavitha Reddy of the Agara Lake Protection & Management Society. “Plastic bottles, ice-cream cups, plastic spoons, cone Ice-cream papers, paper cups from corn, chocolate, toffees, guthka wrappers, bhel puri paper, plastic covers…”

 

Ward 173 that includes a part of HSR Layout Sector 5 and Sector 6 residents, is off to a great start. Two percolation/recovery pits have been dug today in Teacher’s Colony that will not only prevent flooding of roads but also recharge the groundwater. By the end of the month, the entire ward will get about 68 such pits.

The recovery pits can also be called ‘underground wells’ and this work began in Ward 173 last week with Venkatapura. However, some residents objected to it fearing that their building will collapse if the pits come up close to their houses. The work was stopped but has resumed now with pits being dug in parks and stormwater drains, an idea that is inspired from resident Ashwini who has made stormwater drain wells, a successful way to recharge groundwater in Sahakar Nagar about six months ago.
The brainchild of Sudhakar Reddy, Ward 173 corporator Saraswathamma’s son, this is an idea worth emulating in Ward 174 that includes six sectors of HSR Layout.

Says Mohan Govindiah, secretary, Namma Teacher’s Colony Residents Welfare Association: “The BBMP workers dug a 10 feet hole into the ground, put a ring around it, placed gravel, charcoal and sand at the bottom for about 3-4 feet, and covered the well with a grill, so people don’t fall into it. Whenever it rains, all the impurities will settle down because of the sand and gravel, and the rest of the good water will recharge the groundwater levels.”

 

 

Dancer Salman Yusuff Khan aka Mohammad Ghause who won the dance reality show Dance India Dance has opened the Smally’s restocafe on 27th Main Road in Sector 1 of HSR Layout. It is close to Corner House outlet. According to him, Smally’s is “India’s smallest restaurant chain, 6 outlets & Winner of “The World on a plate 2016”.

He opened the outlet on October 2 with a bumper offer by Uber Eats. Anybody could order a burger for just Rs 6. The offer was valid only for a day. In his Instagram statement, the celebrity dancer, choreographer and actor says, “Another successful opening of @smallysrestocafe at #HSR LAYOUT … #shukranAllah … thank you mom and dad, sadia and Nahiyan for gracing the opening and cutting the ribbon for me.. you are my biggest earning in life, my most precious possession… thank u @nikhilhegde247 for being my best buddy all the way through thick and thin.. and last but not the least @aamiryusufkhan… can’t believe u’ve grown so fast, so mature and responsible… thank you for flourishing the business so well … and my @smallysrestocafe cast and crew, my biggest stars who have made dine in and delivery so much fun and tasteful … special thanks to our chefs … #ramesh and #vijay …. last but not the least, my big bhaiya @saudkhan83 for always being my strength and muscle… #iloveyou#mysmallysfamily Ps: thank u Allah for faiza and hamdan, my biggest source of barakah. Thank u to all the happy customers who have made @smallysrestocafe what it is today.”

In 2015, Smallys resto-cafe bagged the Limca Book of Records for being the smallest restaurant in the country. The six-outlet chain in Bangalore is also popular for it’s not-so-small portions. As Salman says: “Space can never be a constraint to success”.

If you want to know about the complete menu that Smally’s offers, you can visit here.

 

The problem of illegally parking trucks along 5th Main in Sector 7 continues unabated despite complaints from residents for the last several months. The menace is particularly critical near 24th Cross, according to residents.

“The trucks are parked near three vacant sites, adjacent to Imperial Solitaire apartments,” says resident Ratnakar B. “Huge garbage dumping is happening on the footpath in the cover of trucks at night and in the early morning.” The residents complain that pedestrians are forced to walk in the centre of the heavy traffic, fraught with danger. “Many accidents have happened in the past,” says Ratnakar. “The dumped garbage emits foul smell and is unbearable for residents. Although the BBMP contractor is clearing the garbage regularly, the stench is not coming down.”
The residents have complained to not only the BBMP, but also the traffic police and MLA Satish Reddy about this, but no concrete action has been taken so far. What is making the matters worse is that the trucks are owned by operators having offices close by.