Articles by Deepa Mohan

Several people ease the difficulties of our daily lives, and provide fairly inexpensive services. Mr K Subramaniam is one such person, plying his trade of cobbler, at a stall on Bannerghatta Road, near the BTM Checkpost bus-stop, for nearly 15 years now."Both this stall, and another one I sometimes go to, in Koramangala, belong to Mr Madheswara," says he. "All the income from the bag and footwear repair comes to me, and from the sale of the footwear go to him," he explains, pointing to the footwear that he makes, behind him, at the "Samatha Sainik Dal" stall. "I belong to…

The J P Nagar branch of Corporation Bank recently shifted to the 3rd Phase, in the Mini-forest area, and I was happy to photograph their gesture in having a ramp for wheelchairs.However, yeaterday, I found that they had put up illegal notices on the public road in front of their branch, "reserving" parking for their customers.  How can a bank reserve parking on a public road? And not just one, but quite a lot of space, witness this photograph:I sincerely hope they take away their signs soon. If the Bank wanted reserved parking for its customers, it should have rented…

Having got the info from Amit Chaudhary about the affordable food at BIAL (Bangalore International Airport Ltd.), I decided to find it and check it out, too. Where is it?When you come out of the Arrivals area, you have a long corridor stretching perpendicularly in front of you. First cross the car lanes, and on the right, you will find the BMTC buses. Go further and on the right, you will find the Sulabh Pay and Use toilets. Go to the left of, and behind, this building, and behind the area where all the taxis are parked, is the Parking Cafe:…

For 41 years now, Bangalore Kidney Foundation has been working for the cause of people with kidney problems, those whose kidneys are failing them and those who need dialysis, and sometimes kidney transplants. Having been a regular visitor to their annual fundraising event, 'Dhwani', and having contributed to the funds, I found myself curious about the origins and reach of the Bangalore Kidney Foundation (BKF), and decided to meet P Srinivas, one of the founder-trustees of the Foundation, at his home in Jayanagar. This septuagenarian's family owns Rapsri Engineering Industries Ltd. P Srinivas, Founder-Trustee of Bangalore Kidney Foundation. Pic: Deepa…

I was walking past the new Corporation Bank building in JP Nagar, and found that wheelchair access was provided:This got me thinking, and I started looking at other public buildings...and private ones too...and was saddened to find that in very, very few of them was wheelchair access provided. Why can't we, at the construction stage, take a little extra effort and provide wheelchair access? This would be so helpful to those whose mobility is restricted. One of the best examples I have seen, of a wheelchair ramp beautifully integrated into the steps, is at Alliance Francaise de Bangalore. One can…

Writing about something is better when one tries it out too. I wrote about the Free Shuttle offered by BMTC between the City Railway Station and the BMTC (Majestic) Bus Station, here so, when I returned from Hospet last Monday morning (13th September 2010), I decided to try it out.For a start, the Free Shuttle stand is right in front of the entry/exit point of the Station, and clearly marked. As you come out of the exit and face the Prepaid Auto stand, it is to the left of the stand. I had to wait about 15 min for the shuttle, and…

I went to Lalbagh this morinng, and near the Siddapura gate, Colville's Glory is in bloom now:And all over, not just in Lalbagh, the African Tulip (Spathodea) is in full bloom:All of us know about the serial flowering of the avenue trees of Bangalore, that was introduced by Gustav Krumbiegel ...and many of us can't help wishing that we had him now, when the BBMP doesn't want to plant trees but chop them for development!For more on the common flowering trees here, see Karthik's journal ⊕

Snake! The very word seems to evoke a feeling of terror in the mind of the average person; but if one has better knowledge of these creatures, one can see that much of the dread is misplaced. Here are some FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) about snakes, answered by P Gowirshankar, a herpetologist who has been actively associated with the Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARRS), which has had the only telemetry project for tracking the King Cobra in that region. Gowrishankar is at present located in Bangalore, pursuing his doctoral studies. The Spectacled Cobra has a distinctly visible black mark in…

Since I have a BSNL broadband connection and since this is India, the connection does cause problems once in a while, and I lost all connectivity for a couple of days.In such situation, I have two alternatives: register a complaint on the phone, and wait for action...or just take my modem and laptop, and go to the (luckily, nearby) J P Nagar 3rd Phase Telephone Exchange, where I have always found the staff very helpful and friendly. Here are the two Junior Telecom Engineers, Ms Padmaja and Ms Nagarathna: There is also Pushpa, who is on a contract basis; all these ladies…

Toto Funds the Arts an organization that recognizes, awards and encourages young artists in their endeavours, had organized their September reading atCrossword Bookstore Here's the blurb from TFA: Sharanya Manivannan's first book of poems, Witchcraft, was described in The Straits Times as "sensuous and spiritual, delicate and dangerous and as full as the moon reflected in a knife". Her poetry and fiction have also been published in Drunken Boat, Ghoti, Softblow, Pratilipi and elsewhere, and a personal column, "The Venus Flytrap", appears in The New Indian Express. Sharanya lives in Chennai.www.sharanyamanivannan.comSruthi Krishnan is a Chennai-based journalist. Previously, she reported on technology…