Articles by Arathi Menon

They are not just a danger to life and limb. Bengaluru’s potholed roads are also inspiring artists and activists to get creative about their modes of protest at the poor state of the city’s roads. While artist Badal Nanjundaswamy frequently takes inspiration from a well-formed pothole to unleash his creativity, Aam Aadmi Party activists recently held a Pothole Habba to “celebrate” the city' potholes. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the city’s civic body in charge of ensuring road quality had, in 2018, come up with a grand plan of concretising roads to erase potholes, presumably (and disputably) forever. Called white…

To a mind that’s taught to see vast swathes of land where no large trees but “mere” grass and shrubs grow as inconsequential, Hesaraghatta’s distinction as a unique habitat for flora and fauna may come as a rude shock. Here, the view is just grass, with a few trees to break the monotony, a dying river skirting the landscape, and a man made lake dependent on annual monsoons to validate its worth. So, to truly appreciate the biodiversity hotspot that Hesaraghatta is, you have to either look up at the sky or peer hard into the ground.  Around 235 species…