Articles by Deepa Mohan

Another exhibition that I visited at its fag end was one of cartoons, at Midford Gardens (off M G Road): This was the first time I was visiting the Indian Cartoon Gallery, and found it a fair-sized space in the basement of a building. The cartoons were well displayed, with good lighting. Perhaps in the interests of conservation, and of saving on electricity, the lights were off when we went, and a security person switched them on when we entered. One of the disadvantages of visiting a show later is the inability to meet the creator, and I certainly would have…

I have often taken a bus to  the Majestic bus terminus, and rued the fact that I often have to carry my luggage over a longish distance, climbing the stairs and going down the underground passage, to reach the City Railway Station...and face the same problem on the return journey. So I was very happy to read, in today's Deccan Herald, about the free shuttle that the BMTC is operating between the City Railway Station and the Majestic Bus Stand, as also the Yeshwanthpur Railway Station and the Yeshwanthpur Bus Terminus. According to a Deccan Herald news item, To help…

Murder mystery games have been a popular form of entertainment, where a group of people get together and play the roles of various people in a murder mystery, trying to solve the mystery. Once a parlour game, it has now become a popular exercise for corporate Human Resource initiatives, where people participating in the exercise are also involved in the development of the 'murder' situation. A scene from the interactive play. Pic: Deepa Mohan. M D Riti, who established Riti's Murder Games in 2004, has been staging  murder mysteries for corporate clients for six years now. She recently staged one…

This auto had a happy message to convey: I wonder if this would be true when one sees what the fare has run up to! ⊕

With thanks to S. Balakrishna, from whom I got this information.The system for complaining about autos:Note the vehicle number (KA-XX-YY-ZZZZ) and email the details to transcom@kar.nic.in. Based on the prefix XX (for example KA-01), complaint will be sent to one of the ten RTO offices in Bangalore and adjacent taluk areas.Alternatively, one can also call these offices at the number given below based on the vehicle number prefix and directly lodge a complaint.Vehicle Prefix (KA-XX) Bangalore location Phone number * KA-01 Koramangala 080-25533525 * KA-02 Rajajinagar 080-23324104 * KA-03 Indiranagar 080-25254310 * KA-04 Yeshwantpur 080-23376039 * KA-05 Jayanagar 080-26630989 *…

Invitation: 10,000 Women 2010Greetings from NEN!We're writing to inform you of an exciting entrepreneurship education program that might be of interest to you or to someone you know.Launched by Goldman Sachs, the 10,000 Women program is a global initiative to increase the number of under-served women receiving business and management education. The initiative rests on the belief that partnerships between education, development and business experts can help bring about significant change through improved business education for women. The Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, is the academic partner for the 10,000 Women program in India.Through this programme, Goldman Sachs and…

First, of course, was the headline in the newspaper, that said that twelve people in the Beggars' Colony had died, presumably after eating contaminated food. Click here for the news. I did not even know that such a place exists in Bangalore, and the descriptions of the living conditions there were appalling.   The second news item was about the Karnataka Dwarf Welfare Association. Click here to see the report. I didn't  know, either, that such an organization exists, and I was glad to see that these people, who (I think) are normal in every way except for their lack of…

Onam Sadya is a tradition at the Ranga Shankara cafe. Anju Sudarshan, the lady who runs the cafe, puts her heart and soul to whip up a buffet that brings the flavours, tastes and colours Kerala to Ranga Shankara. This year, the Onam Sadya lunch is set for 1 PM t0 3 PM, Sun, Aug 22. Prior reservation necessary -- please call 9900064931.Onam- the harvest festival of Kerala is celebrated during the Malayali month of Chingam (Aug- Sep). This festival lasts for ten days and marks the homecoming of the legendary king Mahabali. These ten days bring out the best…

As I walked down Jayanagar, at the meeting point of the roads where the ICICI Bank is (I don't know the name of the circle, and you'll see why!), I saw this BBMP signboard, which was bad.Why do people want to stick posters over road and junction signs? Do they think everyone knows the place, and needs no directions or information?However, to offset the bad, was the good..the fact that the banyan tree has been allowed to grow, spread its roots, and give its generous shade to the area (and support bird, insect, and animal life, too!)What a majestic sight…

On the 1st of August 2010, 12 of us participated in a photowalk to the Bangalore heritage temple sites, Kaadu Malleswara and Nandeeswara, in Malleswaram. I organized this photowalk to help a friend, Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan, who used to conduct photowalks in Chennai before he went to Bristol, UK to pursue higher studies. His course, Masters of Arts in Archaeology for Screen Media (MAASM), looks at archaeology/heritage and media practices and explores ways in which archaeology can be presented to an audience. He had requested some photowalks to be organised to help him with his thesis. This photowalk was called Ancient…