The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Reporter's Diary

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 17, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Reporter's Diary

For VVIPS

UNLIKE IN some other cities, VVIP visits do not hold up traffic in our city for too long. Only parking is restricted along the roads a VVIP motorcade has to pass through.

This brings us to the question of how well the roads frequently used by the VVIPs, such as Cubbon Road, Rajbhavan Road and T. Chowdiah Road, are maintained better than most other roads in Bangalore. Is there some way by which a visiting dignitary can be diverted through Ulsoor Road or the further stretches of Dickenson Road, for instance.

Or a ride through Residency Road and Richmond Road may even enthral the visitors, besides making these roads a bit better to drive on. Of course some visitors even travel as far as Hosur Road which keeps getting a facelift, thanks to it being a national highway as well.

Running commentary

JOURNEYS BY the Mysore-Bangalore-Chennai Shatabdi trains are partly enlivened by commentaries over the public address system. The rest of the time one gets rather muted and obscure music and an announcement about the station where the train may next halt.

Now that the India-Pakistan test series are on, can the Indian Railways come to some arrangements with the official broadcasters for a running commentary over the PA system in the coaches? Of course there could be unforeseen fallouts like some unorganised betting on the likely scores and which wicket may fall soon. Anyway, the journey will not be too monotonous.

Drawing attention

IT IS a common scene at public functions where the dignitaries on the dais indulge in chitchatting unmindful of the event. A speaker, who intends to draw the attention of a VIP at that moment, would face a hard time in doing so and only persons with great presence of mind could succeed.

In one such incident, Transport Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge was listing certain demands of the State Transport Undertakings and wanted Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh, who was present, to redress them at a function here. However, Mr. Singh was deeply engrossed in a chat with Primary Education Minister R. Ramalinga Reddy. It would have been improper if Mr. Kharge told Mr. Singh that the latter was not listening to him.

Instead, Mr. Kharge addressed Mr. Reddy and told him that the issue he was mentioning was of importance to the latter also and asked him to listen to him. His words did reach the destination and Mr. Singh began to listen to Mr. Kharge attentively.

Taking no chances

AS ONE passes by J.N. Tata auditorium on Sir C.V. Raman Road, he or she notices a few policemen who sit on chairs at its entrance.

One is certain that the city police have indeed gathered all the clues available on the premises quickly after the incident on December 28. Sure, the efficient Bangalore police are not prepared to go anything amiss on the premises.

Will terrorists come back? One doesn't really know. But the city police are prepared to meet any eventuality. Rest assured. They will show terrorists their place, should hey show up on the premises again.

K. Satyamurty,

Anil Kumar Sastry,

Govind D. Belgaumkar

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