Articles by Deepa Mohan

It's unusual to have a festival only for instruments, and so it was interesting to attend the "Bangalore Harmonica and Reed Instruments Festival" at Ravindra Kalakshetra on the 22nd of November, 2015.   The predominant theme of the music seemed to be old Hindi movie songs, though a few Kannada movie songs were also played.     The festival went on from 10 am to 7pm and seemed to have a good attendance throughout the day.   Some of the children also enjoyed interacting with the audience to the beat of the music!   Here's one of the artistes, Ashok…

Environment Support Group (ESG) made this report about the meeting called by BBMP officials regarding tree-felling in Reach 2 of the Bangalore Metro Project. That link gives the entire details of what trasnpired in the meeting, and the background to it. The Public Meeting was called by the Tree Officer in compliance with the direction of the Hon'ble High Court of Karnataka in WP No. 7288/2011, wherein public involvement in such decisions has been made mandatory. Meeting in Malleswaram. Pic: Deepa Mohan Bangalore Metro could not demonstrate how it has complied with the directions in WP 7288/2011, wherein it is specifically required…

It’s not easy to review a play when the theme is intense-- political unrest, and the social chaos that results.. This was the thread underlying  “Mein hoon Yusuf, aur yeh hai mera bhai”, which I watched at Ranga Shankara on 8th November 2015. Two theatre groups collaborated in this production. The action of the play is set against the background of the conflict in Palestine. It’s January 1948, and the British Mandate is ending. There is a lot of conflict over how the Palestine pie will be cut up. In a small village, Ali’s love for Nada faces difficulties because…

Prem Sagar says, "The kids had a lot of fun with crackers. Now, ensuring that their fun doesn't turn into someone else's job. It started with the kids cleaning up. Soon, others (elders) joined in. At 9.15 pm, we're done with crackers and the street is all clean now." Couldn't we all follow his example? Here is the photo of the children cleaning up.

Very often, after the rains, one sees dragons in the air. Not fire-breathing ones, of course; those belong in the realms of fantasy. But the often-ignored dragons I am talking about, are marvellous creatures, too! Here’s a closeup of a dragonfly that I took, recently. Dragonflies are called 'odonates'; that is, scientific-name wise, they belong to the order Odonata. Dragonflies are agile fliers; you can find them hovering, quite motionless, in the air, and then, suddenly, zipping off at great speed. Contrary to their gossamer, delicate appearance, they are voracious predators, both in their aquatic larval stage, when they are…

Name : Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation Centre Website : http://www.wrrcbangalore.org/ Phone : +91 80 2294 7307 | 91 80 2294 7317 email : wrrc-rescue@googlegroups.com | wrrc.projects@gmail.com | wrrcbrc@gmail.com   Name : People For Animals Website : http://www.peopleforanimalsbangalore.org/ Phone : 91 99000 25370 | 91 99803 39880 Landline : 080-28611986 | 080-28612767 | 080-22733350 email : info@peopleforanimalsbangalore.org | rescueservice@peopleforanimalsbangalore.org   Name Karuna Animal Welfare Association of Karnataka Website : http://karunaanimalwelfare.org/ Phone : 080 22860205 | 080 -23411181 | 080-23511329 email : contact@karunaanimalwelfare.org   Update: On 29 Dec 2016, I got the number of the Bangalore Cat Squad from Vidhya Sunder, it's 9845553850…

It’s not often that I attend a play without prior planning, but this happened to me when my friend Prathap invited me, after rather a long day outdoors, to “Still and Still Moving” at Ranga Shankara on 31st October 2015, staged by Tadpole Repertory Theatre. It was worth the effort of changing tracks, from nature to theatre. You can find Tadpole Rep’s blog here,   and they are on FaceBook,   here. A Delhi-based group, their professionalism in all departments of stagecraft was outstanding. I will be listing the cast and crew at the end, so I may not mention…

ರಾಜ್ಯೋತ್ಸವ ದಿನದ ಶುಭಾಶೆಗಳು.    

The resilience of birds never ceases to amaze me. All around us, in the face of "development", I see so many birds which manage to adapt to urban life, and live amongst us. The crow, the kite, the myna, the pigeon... these are the common examples, as are cattle egrets and pond herons. But yesterday, at the busiest of places... the Silk Board junction, I saw these beautiful Red-rumped Swallows flying and perching on the wires! Long may our urban birds last!

One of the trees that flowers profusely right now is "akasha mallige" or the Indian Cork Tree. I collect a few flowers each morning while on my morning walk, and put them in a small bowl or glass of water... the sweet, heady scent fills the home and keeps me in touch with the outdoors even when I am not outside! Here is the Wiki entry about the Indian Cork Tree.