TUI Birthday & Treasure hunt

The Ugly Indian turned 1 on Sat, Nov 12th 2011! That's 52 weekends of SpotFixing!
They celebrated on Saturday morning  with a Treaure Hunt in the MG Road/Church Street area. 

So what was The Ugly Indian Treasure Hunt?
Participants had to take 12 pictures of Ugly Spots on 4kms of footpath in Bangalore's city centre (anywhere on MG Road, Church Street, Brigade Road). The Ugliest pictures win.

The minimum requirement to be eligible for a prize was
- 2 photos of paan stains on walls
- 2 photos of garbage dumped on the road/footpath- 1 photo of a missing/broken Footpath slab
- 1 photo of a man urinating on a wall
- 1 photo of a stinking place where people urinate frequently

Participants had 4 hours to 'inspect' 4 kms of footpath to find this treasure.






Click here for more pictures of the Treasure Hunt

Lest we Forget how the 'Treasure Hunt' was one year ago - in 2010

Take a look at the Treasure Hunt competition Entries!

And the Result??

"The Winner of The Ugly Indian Treasure Hunt is the city of Bangalore/Bengaluru!
It successfully passed the 'Inspection Test' of over 50 meticulous treasure hunters - who spent 2 hours inspecting every inch of footpath.


It's true. Brigade Rd, MG Rd & Church St passed this tough test on Saturday.
- There are no open garbage dumps
- There are no missing footpath slabs
- There is no public urination (as there are WonderLOOs)
- There are no paan stains on walls (people still spit paan but it is directed into the 100+ tereBins available. Any stains that hit a wall are immediately cleaned or painted over by vigilant Ugly Indians).

It's something to be proud of.
TUI will work hard at maintaining it this way.
Yes, there are leakages and you will see the odd paan stain - but they will not survive."

~ TUI

I Can Spotfix! - Koramangala playground! - A birthday gift

TUI had neglected to maintain the Big Fix we did in the Koramangala Playground 3 months ago (as their focus had  been CBD), but SOMEONE decided to adopt this Spot.


This story exemplifies the 'power of one' person to make a change. This is inspiring for many of us to go out and 'do something'. Even if it is all by ourselves!

 

READ ON in the links below.

Birthday present for TUI - part 1

Birthday present for TUI - part 2

I Can Spotfix! - Tree fix by Aastha

Location - Bangalore

Aastha Sahai  removes ads/posters from about 15 trees/electricity poles near house in Bangalore! Kudos to her!!

TUI Birthday - The First spotfix - what got them Started

TUI approaches its FIRST BIRTHDAY on Nov 12th!
 In their own words here is how or what got them started!!

 

What really got us started 1 year ago was seeing this Ugly Spot on Church Street.

We could not understand how this was tolerated in the middle of Church Street (right opp Barton Centre, Amoeba, Ruby Tuesday, Saigon, Shrungar Shopping Centre, Indian Coffee House) - and how everyone we asked threw up their hands and said - it has ALWAYS been like this.

We wondered - why isn't someone doing something about it? Doesn't it matter? This is the city's prime restaurant street, for God's sake!




Then we discovered that there were 6 such large open dumps spread across the 1km long Church Street - that had garbage "23x7". And about 5-6 smaller dumps. They were part of the 'system'. The clearing lorry came at 9am everyday (they were prompt), the place remained clean for 1 hour at most, and then dumping began again. This was 'normal'! Everyone played their part - the dumpers and cleaners, and life went on. And nobody was willing to change it.

Church Street is a windy street - so the whole place looks a mess all day.
We felt that if these 6 Dumps were eliminated, the street would become less dirty.

It seemed like commonsense. It would be easy to criticise this 'spot' fixing approach as a 'Band-aid', but we felt that Some aid was better than No aid. How long should we wait for a Miracle Cure - better to start small, apply band-aids and small spotfixes, and improve the overall health of the street
 .

Click here for more Shocking pictures of Ugly Spots on Church Street taken in 2010.

There are 40 Major Ugly Spots, and another 20 minor spots. On a road that is barely 1 kilometre long.

And after the spot fixes this is how one of the spots look today!

Check out the more of TUI spotfix pictures and videos. 

.....more stories will follow with more posts by TUI....

TUI Spotfix - Metro Station dump on MG Road

Location - MG Road

TUI's  little gift to Bangalore to celebrate the launch of the Metro!
Eliminating this Ugly Spot in front of the MG Road station.

                                                                          

Before



After



Click here to Read the complete pictorial Story in fixing The Metro Station dump on MG Road and  give your Feedback

"Why do we do what we do?  What's in it for us?'
See this short video of the MG Road Metro SpotFix for the answer." - TUI

"Moral of the Story:


Just because a 'problem' hasn't been solved for 15 years, doesn't mean it cannot be solved.


It needs one person with the right attitude who is determined to see it through till the end. Sometimes it happens in one day, sometimes longer. But no force on earth can stop one person - who is willing to make the solution his/her problem. And approaches it with commonsense.


All other stakeholders rally around such a person.
Everyone is waiting for someone else to step forward and take charge of common problems.


The only rules are:
1. Do not step on anyone's toes.
2. Be sincere and genuine.
3. Make problem-solving the focus - not any ideology.
4. Kaam Chalu Mooh Bandh


Hope you enjoyed the story.

If you feel you can do the same with a spot near your home/office, hope you get some pointers here. "


 - TUI

TUI Spotfix - Despair in Defence Colony

Location - Defence Colony, Indiranagar

Rahul Dravid once played cricket in this very play ground.
TUI says this is one of the most challenging spotfixes they have done, a very complex and tough one, please take a few minutes to watch this 7 part series.

Part 1 in the series



"These are not easy problems to solve. They are in the public space where the 'public' has no formal authority to act. Planning, preparation and trust building with those who could oppose you - is essential." - TUI

Watch part 2 to part 6 on youtube - Despair in Defence Colony

After 15 days of work..here is part 7 in the series

"The Ugly Indian does not talk to the media - so we appreciate articles like these that are based on actual field research and being on the ground during a spotfix." - TUI

TUI Corporate Spotfix - Nightmare on Museum Road! by CDC Software

Location - Museum Road

TUI pays tribute to Sir M Vishweshwaraih on Engineer's Day. Watch these videos and see how!!.

I Can Spotfix! - Embassy Tranquil, Koramangala

"'The Ugly Indian' is not a formal Team or organisation. Those of us who think we are Ugly Indians get together and fix spots that trouble us. You can do the same - whichever city you are in."" - TUI

Some Koramangala residents decided to SpotFix outside their apartment complex. They say they were inspired by some of the videos posted by the TUI, and wanted to try it out themselves.



 Do you think you can also do what these Koramangala residents did in your own city, locality?

TUI Spot fix - TUI drops in to Spotfix a Playground in Koramangala!

Location - A Playground in Koramangala

A typical public park-cum-playground. Overgrown untended garden, dirty benches, grimy wall and fallen branches creating 'unseen spaces' beyond. Why do we allow these public assets to degenarate like this?

After the TUI spotfix, see the change. All 4 benches are visible and clean, the garden is neat and the pathway seems inviting. All 4 benches are being used and there is a sense of order. Also, note that there is no garbage - the tereBin is being used. And there is now an incentive for the street sweeper to clean this place - it seems worth the effort.

Click here to see more pictures


Watch how a group of 50 Ugly Indians clean up this playground in 4hrs on a Saturday Morning!



This wall has been fixed now, what would you do with it next?

Watch Part 2 of this Spotfix

Do you like these BooBoos? :) Click here to see more pictures and pick your favorite one!

Spotfix 19 - Before and After (Spot Quiz 19) - By Asha & team

Location - Brigade Road

A neglected stretch of road - with expected results. Garbage, debris, urination. The problem is that this is on prime land in the Central Business District (CBD). Why do we tolerate this? It is impossible to walk on this footpath, the stench is unbearable. Pedestrians are forced to walk on the narrow road, where there is heavy traffic.

Ridicule him or pity him?
He is a BMTC bus driver who does the route from Electronic City to city centre. This is the only chance he gets in a 2-hour cycle to relieve himself. And the BMTC or the city does not provide him a decent bathroom.
Over 100 buses stop nearby, and the drivers & conductors have just 5 mins to take a bio-break.
So, should we ridicule him or pity him? Or find a way to provide him dignity with a decent bathroom?

Click here to see more Before Pictures of this Spotfix

Click here to see in Pictures how Asha & team with the help of TUI fixed this spot!

Spotfix on Video - Part 1




Spotfix on Video - Part 2



"People do not pee on walls that look nice and appear to belong to someone. This is ALL about psychology. Physical barriers and signage do not work. If the wall appears neglected, it attracts peeing & garbage. If the wall looks well-painted and there is a sense of order and neatness (and hence lack of privacy), people do not mess it up." - TUI

By cleaning the footpath and painting the wall, the area has attracted regular activity. People walk on the footpath, stand and talk on the phone, come for a smoke - all deterrents to peeing