Have you ever paid a bribe?

We spoke to a few Bangaloreans and here's what they said:

Vittal Rao had purchased two 30x50 sites during the '80s in R T Nagar. One day, he was surprised to see that the BBMP had laid a road where he lost 600 square feet. And he hadn't even got a notice.

Vittal Rao said, "In the year 1984, I had written a letter to the then Corporation Commissioner seeking compensation. But I never got it for years. I had to run from pillar to post, bribing every time I visited the corporation office. After a few years, I was fed up and washed my hands off this whole issue. But again, after a few years I made up my mind to get back my compensation for the land I lost as I was badly in need of money at that time. I went to the corporation office to find out the status of my file, but I was surprised to know that the file itself was missing. Again, I had to start the process from the beginning. In the meantime I had to sell one out of two sites for a very low price," he added.

"I took up this issue once again seriously during J H Patel government. I finally I got my compensation during Dharam Singh tenure. By the time I got the compensation, I had already spent half of it around Rs 2.5 lakh as bribe.

Chandra Shekar : "I had to get the house transferred to my name and I really didn't want to waste my time on it. I gave the agent Rs 20,000 and he got the work done for me. I would have lost at least five days if I had personally visited the office."

Chaitanya: "I hardly attended college during my II PUC. I had 3 per cent attendance but I wrote the exams by bribing the college. I paid nearly Rs 1 lakh."

Ashwin Kumar: "Since I got a back surgery done at a private hospital and wasn't being reimbursed, someone suggested I get a certificate from a government hospital. I went to Bowring hospital and paid nearly Rs 30,000.

Source: http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/jan/300109-Bribe-taking-Bangaloreans-Vittal-Rao-Chandra-Shekhar-Chaitanya-Bangalore-news.htm

27th murder in 29 days

Bangalore: A group of men killed an auto driver on Wednesday night in Kalasipalya limits.

This makes it the twenty-seventh murder in 29 days in the city.

Ravi Kumar (30), a resident of Sarakki in J P Nagar, drove a luggage auto for his livelihood. He was reportedly chased and killed in Motinagar.

Sources claim that Ravi was killed over a property deal gone sour. Ravi had recently bought a two-acre land through his father-in -law without paying the middleman commission. This had caused an ugly scene and a case was lodged against Ravi at Kanakapura police station.

However, the police have not ruled out other possible motives.

Source: http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/jan/300109-Auto-driver-killed-Kalasipalya-limits-27th-murder-29-days-Bangalore-news.htm

Photowalk your way - Techies shoot as they walk

If see a group of young people walking around with a camera on Sunday mornings don't mistake them for a mob. They are just photo walkers!

As the name suggests, a photo walk is all about people walking and taking pictures of whatever they find interesting along the way. They walk along as a group and click photographs, while sharing information about things being photographed or about anything they find relevant.

The beginning

The photo walk was started by a bunch of techies who loved doing something lively during the weekends.

Karthik was the brainchild behind this innovative way of de-stressing. An avid blogger, Karthik put this idea on his blog. And soon he had people joining him.

Karthik says one of his favorite hobbies had always been taking long lonely walks. A couple of years ago, a friend suggested that he should do photo essays of his walks, but Karthik found it odd to walk around his own city with a camera.

Aadisht Khanna, an ardent blogger and a friend of Karthik, was instrumental in publicising this walk by cross-posting the information on his blog.

Accompanying Karthik and Khanna on the walk were Prabu Krishnamurthy, a photography enthusiast and engineer from Basavanagudi, Tharunya Balan, an architect from Indiranagar and Subrat Mohanty from Koramangala, among others.

"Photo walk requires no entry fee, and is open to even those without cameras," says Karthik.

Their first photo walk was held about three months ago and as of now there are more than 50 members who go on photo walks regularly.

First walk

"On our first walk we visited Bangalore Fort, the interiors of which would not have been seen by most Bangaloreans. All of the enthusiastic walkers were entering the Fort for the first time. The small but manicured lawn, the many gates at the fort and the graffiti on the vandalised fort walls provided ample material for photography. It was also a chance for all of us to recall the city's history and exchange notes about the architecture of that period," says Karthik.

Members say being in group provide an implicit safety as well as legitimacy to the whole exercise.

After their first successful walk the group decided to have photo walks every last Sunday of the month, with Karthik filling in the relevant details on his blog. People interested in joining the group can contact through the blog: http://skthewimp.livejournal.com.

Source: http://www.mid-day.com/news/2008/nov/241108-Techies-Filming-Cameras-Bangalore-News.htm