Articles by Deepa Mohan

Over the past couple of months, there have been some bird counts, in a laudable attempt to document the species of birds found in the outskirts of Bangalore, and elsewhere in Karnataka, and their numbers as well. The first initiative, at Bannerghatta National Park, was started in February 2018, to take place on the second Saturday of each month, and will continue over the entire period of a year, through all the seasons. The data will be collated at the end and presented in a report to give a picture of the bird species and numbers throughout the year. The…

Once in a while, it's a refreshing change to look forward to a children's play, and on the 31st of March, '18, I took my grandchildren to watch "Fish Tree Moon", a play by Ranga Shankara as part of its "Aha!" initiative for children. The beautiful moon from the play. The performances (3 in all) had been well timed for the start of the school summer vacations, and the play drew an almost full house, with many children eager to watch, and their families eager to immerse them in theatre. The play deals with a varied set of characters.... an…

We recently had a ban on shooting of movies/videos for commercial purposes, whether for weddings or TV serials, take effect in Lalbagh. Now, I am finding such shoots happening in all the reserve forests that skirt our city. Today I clicked this shooting of a scene in Doresanipalya Forest Research Station: I am unable to figure out whether such shoots should be proscribed or allowed. I see such outdoor shoots happening in public parks everywhere in the world. So what are the reasons for the ban, and if the reasons are valid at Lalbagh, surely they should not be allowed…

I think it's a human trait to introduce an aesthetic appeal into the most mundane tasks imaginable. Surely, one would not think twice about the peanuts one purchases from the pushcart vendors, whose paper cones are getting so slender that they may accommodate only a few groundnuts. But the very selection of those recycled papers for the cones, and their arrangement, is so attractive visually...a fine example of art in commerce!

We are always worried that our children are completely dependent on powered devices for their pastimes, but the photo below proves that many children know how to enjoy themselves where there is no electricity! The three boys are playing with their tops..an untiring source of entertainment for boys, and some girls, too! Here's a video of a smiling young man, playing with his top, that I took five years ago: https://youtu.be/NzTBke6JZvY As the summer vacations begin for schools across our cities, we can, if we look, find children playing board games and ball games as well as games on gadgets.…

I felt quite thrilled as I found these leaves of Four-leaf Clover, and clicked them on February 5, 2018. Why the thrill? Here is the entry about Four-leaf Clover. Amongst other things, it says: The four-leaf clover is a rare variation of the common three-leaf clover. According to tradition, such clovers bring good luck,though it is not clear when or how that tradition got started. The first reference to luck might be from an 11-year-old girl, who wrote in an 1877 letter to St. Nicholas Magazine, “Did the fairies ever whisper in your ear, that a four-leaf clover brought good luck…

I've been going to R V (Rashtriya Vidyalaya) College of Physiotherapy for, well, physiotherapy, and as I came out, this was what the avenue leading to the Jain temple and the Jayanagar bus terminus looked like: What a lovely sight for someone who walks along roads increasingly bereft of greenery, shade or walking space! This seemed to take me to the past when most Bangalore roads were avenues. True that these trees (rain trees) originally came from South America...but when they've been around for 300 years, and have caused no environmental upheaval, they are surely good citizens of our city!

As my bus was passing through Jayanagar, in south Bangalore, this sign caught my eye and I clicked it out of the window. It says that the Jayadeva General Hospital was inspected by "Lanchamukta Karnataka Nirmana" and found to have many staff who were demanding bribes to do their work, and gives a number to call in case someone finds a bribe being asked for. It was a very heartening poster to see, with at least the ability to make a complaint and the possiblity of redressal. I wish the organization success in its efforts. I do hope prospective patients…

I went to visit Lalbagh on 3rd March, and was pleasantly surprised, at the area where the majestic Ficus benjamina trees are (leading from Kempe Gowda's tower to the Glass Hoouse) being used to set up some beautiful wood carvings, done on solid tree trunks. This seems to me to be a beautiful way of making a dead tree come alive again. Here are some of the carvings. The work is only one month old The installation is still under way. Less appealing was the fact that the title of at least one work and the name of the artist…

Today (Tuesday, 20th Feb '18), I took the children of Pramiti School, aged between 8 and 12 years, to the Government Museum on Kasturba Road. It took us nearly an hour in the traffic to get to the Museum from J P Nagar. So when we reached the Museum, we had to take the children to the toilets before the visit. I was told that the Museum building does not have toilets and was asked to go to the Venkatappa Art Gallery next door, so we took the children there. The staff kept on giving us instructions to "put a…