Padmini Rao, 60 makes intricate jewellery out of beads and stones.

Born and brought up in Jayanagar, near East End circle, she studied BA, Music. After her marriage to B G Rao, who had a transferable job in Indian Oil Corporation, she spent many years in North Indian cities. There she was active in the local community and pursued her hobbies like craftwork and gardening, winning prizes at the UP state level.

Padmini Rao, makes intricate jewellery out of beads and stones. Pic Chetan Boray.

The couple came back to Bangalore in 1986 for their children’s studies. She ran a cable TV operation, called East End TV systems in the early nineties.

With both her children now working abroad, Padmini now finds ample time to indulge in her interest in craftwork. She took to handicraft, sewing and embroidery – she makes decorations for weddings, using thermacol, rice and kumkum, making mantapas, birds, and dolls.

Padmini Rao, makes intricate jewellery out of beads and stones. Pic Chetan Boray.

A couple of years ago, Padmini was introduced to jewellery design, and learnt very quickly. She has conducted many exhibitions. With full support from her family, she is now planning more exhibitions and sale of bead work and kundan work, targeting women of all generations, from college students to senior citizens.

Padmini credits her initiative to her mother saying, "During my childhood, my mother used to teach many things – crochet, bead work… and she would not tolerate her children spending time on useless things, she never let us sit idle".

Chetan Boray, Meera K

Thieves walk away with residents footwear

A case of shoe theft was reported in Raghavendra Residency in JP Nagar 5th phase three weeks back. Shoes worth Rs 40,000 were stolen.

Police are investigating the case, but the department’s response to these crimes has been lukewarm. "Shoe thefts in apartments have become a common crime now. It is the responsibility of people to keep their valuables inside their homes. There are also security guards in all of these apartments. They occur due to the irresponsibility of the residents," says Inspector S K Umesh, JP Nagar Police Station. 

However, apartment residents have lodged complaints with the police and pointed out that night patrolling of police should be made more efficient. Umesh said that there are 8-10 policemen in night patrolling in an area and there is a severe shortage of staff in the police department. But the patrolling is completely dependent on the electronic beat system and hence there was no room for policemen to shun their duties. "The population of JP Nagar is 5-6 lakhs and this area has the highest number of apartments. The police cannot wait and watch every single house. And even though complaints have been lodged, how do we recover shoes? How will we identify them?" he asks.

Navya P K

Mayflower Malhar 2010

Brigade Millennium Mayflower’s annual Malhar activities are being held Aug 9 – 14. A variety of stalls are being put up by residents as well as outside businesses – clothes, mehndi and tattoos, books, bed sheets, kitchen products, toiletries, chocolates, jewellery, cars, healthcare, banking… Not to forget the food stalls that are eagerly awaited by children and their parents. Cooked mostly by residents, every evening a wide range of delicacies from different parts of India are sold – puliogare, sabudhana vada, poha, muffins, chutney sandwiches, vegetable chops, mal poa, bhel puri, vadas, basundi, payasam and many others, reflecting the cosmopolitan nature of the enclave.

Amidst the fun, all efforts have been taken to be eco-friendly – bring your own containers and minimize the use of disposables. The week’s program culminates in a day-long carnival (food, shopping and games) on Aug 14.

Arathi Manay Yajaman

Plan to make Jayanagar, a ‘no plastic’ zone

On Aug 11th, a meeting was held at Jayanagar’s BJP  MLA B N Vijaya Kumar’s office, to minimize the use of plastic and eventually make Jayanagar a plastic-free neighbourhood . It was attended by the MLA and corporators, BBMP officials and members of NGOs like Art of Living, Parham and other volunteers.

Split into four groups, the teams will visit schools, colleges, public institutions and government offices and commercial establishments in Jayanagar and educate citizens on ill-effects of plastics and encourage them to use jute or paper bags as alternatives. There were also suggestions to make Jayanagar Shopping Complex as a plastic-free zone. As a first step, it was decided to make MLA’s office, a plastic free environment. 

N Mukund

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