Articles by Deepa Mohan

We often tend to think of flowers as a thing of beauty, only to be admired. They look very pretty, whether cultivated carefully in the garden, or flowering in the wilderness...and often, they cast a beautiful scent around them, too. Right now, we have the Akasha Mallige trees in full bloom, a heady fragrance wafts through the air when we pass by them.But there are flowers which are good to eat, too! One such flower is the bloom of the banana (plantain) tree. Banana Flower. Pic: Deepa Mohan The banana plant produces a single inflorescence, also known as the banana…

Here's a photography exhibition that the nature/wildlife/photography enthusiasts would not want to miss - 'Where The Wild Things Are' is a photography exhibition of recent works by Aditya Singh, Ganesh Shankar, Jayanth Sharma and Kalyan Varma. This exhibition brings together four individuals whose passion for wildlife photography comes through in the visions they create with their cameras. Some of the photographs (all are limited edition) are intimate portraits, and others include breath-taking vistas. The exhibition is on till the 26th of this month at the Five Forty Five, the art gallery in Indiranagar. 545, 6th Main, 4th Cross, Indira Nagar…

Arakere Lake, located on Banerghatta road is one of the several dying lakes in Bangalore. To restore this lake to its previous glory, a team of environment conscious citizens comprising of Arbind Gupta ( president), Amitabha Saha Roy, Meeta, Vandana Veena, Aradhana , Amit came together and formed a trust - Arakere Neighbourhood improvement Trust ( ANIT )  hey are planning awareness campaigns to engage more citizens. In order to raise funds for the campaign, they decided that Amitabha, a photography enthusiast and a keen naturalist, would hold a photography workshop at Classic Orchards, Bannerghatta Road. There were 18 people who…

Take a little time to read throught this. The MD of BESCOM (Bangalore Electric Supply Company), Mr Manivannan, maintains a Facebook page, and a friend of mine, Mr. Ajit Lakshmiratan, approached him with a problem.(This was on 6 th Oct 2012, when there was a Bandh in Bangalore.)He wrote:MD Sir, 1800 425 2627 the toll free number of BESCOM is "switched off", if you please....08022873333 get's no response....no power here ( near Kundalhalli gate) since two & 1/2 hours..IsBescom "bandhed" too? Or is it a genuine outage, Sir?A little while later, he posted on FB:Ajit Lakshmiratan Power restored in just…

Artist-in-Residence Fresh Deadline - Call for ApplicationsArtist-in-Residence at Jaaga, 1 Shanthi Road &Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology You can still apply for Artist-in-Residence in collaboration with the Bangalore art communities Jaaga, 1 Shanthi Road and Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology.Deadline for applications: October 11, 2012.For more details: Artist-in-Residence ************ Call for EntriesSynapse - The International Curators' NetworkApril 23 - 27, 2013, House of World Cultures, Berlin Round two of the international curators' network SYNAPSE. Up-and-coming curators who work at the interface of art and academia can network and exchange views and information at a five-day workshop…

I've often been asking why bus shelters cannot have information about bus routes displayed, instead of only revenue-generating advertisements. However, I was very happy to see that the Shoppers' Stop bus stop on Bannerghatta Road has finally implemented this, on the Shoppers' Stop side, at least:  If only all other bus shelters/stops could follow suit, it would be excellent progress, indeed! Thank you for this one, BMTC. ⊕

 It is a narrow gap in the Mini Forest, and any cars parked in that area causes a blockage for the passage of other vehicles. So, at this spot, having a "No Parking" sign is logical. But some people seem not to read the "No" in that sign.... What's the use of complaining about indiscipline when we are all equally guilty? ⊕

Ranga Shankara & JustBooks CLC Shakespeare Play ReadingsAs a precursor to its annual Theatre Festival, Ranga Shankara will present play reading sessions. Three well-known Bangaloreans, Padmavati Rao (among Bangalore's best-known story-tellers), RJ Shraddha Chaudhary (the sweet voice over the radio all of us love to hear),the multi-faceted Vasanthi Hariprakash (ex-RJ, Radio City, NDTV's special correspondent, and writer) and Aarti Aney (from the Ranga Shankara team) will read Shakespeare's most-loved plays to children at JustBooks outlets across the city.Children above eight and adults are invited to these sessions at 11 AM on 30 Sep, 14 Oct and 21 Oct '12. Admission…

My friend Sugandhi Gadhadhar writes:"1. The driver in an Innova that had "Police" marked on it was honking away. He argued that he *had* to do that, because he was on his way to duty, and others had to make way for him. And we were on our way to what, a party, at 8:30 am ?2. We ask the car behind him to block the way, so that he doesn't turn right from the leftmost lane that he was on. The driver in this 2nd car says, 'I'm going right, why should I go left' ?3. Lump on forehead…

Greetings from the Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan!Magic Lantern Movies and DOK-LeipzigPresentDoc Wok*A year-long documentary training and mentoring programmeSupported by the Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan and the British CouncilCommemorating: "Germany and India 2011-2012: Infinite Opportunities"This pioneering initiative brings together two institutions that work fordocumentary promotion: DOK-Leipzig (the oldest and one of the leadingdocumentary festivals in the world) and Magic Lantern Movies (an imprintof Magic Lantern Foundation - that works to create public access todocumentaries via archive and curation), to support and mentor documentarypractice in India.Doc Wok aims to address the missing link, that of mentoring, in thedocumentary practice in India, by creating a…