‘Wait for Metro, you will get a divider too’
Owing to the unruly traffic and vehicles zipping past Kanakapura Main Road, a national highway, drivers of some mini buses and autos plying in the area got together to request transport authorities to look into the possibility of putting up a divider. “At Banashankari Bus Stand, a Transport Officer told the seven of us, who gathered there with a letter, that they had nothing to do with dividers and advised us to approach the BBMP,” said Puttegowda, an auto driver who was leading the delegation. But when the team approached the BBMP office, the informal reply from one of the officials was something that the team did not expect to hear. “Namma Metro lines through the Kanakapura Main Road will soon bring in natural dividers. Why are you in a hurry?”
Puttegowda was taken aback. May be, it’s all for the good, he said sarcastically, adding that the dividers and pillars serve not just motorists, but dogs and posters too.
Newspaper tomorrow, details day after
Not everyone knows how a newspaper functions. But if an official or source turns out to be one of them, it is bad “news” for the journalist. The worst enemy for a reporter working on a story to be filed on a given day for the next day’s editions are officials who candidly ask them to call them “the next day”. Most times, an elaborate explanation on how the information being sought will have to be published the next day too turns out to be inadequate.
Recently, a policeman went a step ahead. When this reporter contacted him for details on some Bodo militants being arrested in the city, the cop asked him to meet him four days later, so he can “share more details”.
The reporter was forced to contact another policeman and get the details.
(Reporting by Ranjani Govind & K.C. Deepika)
