Articles by Deepa Mohan

Many of us have been complaining about the increasing "facelessness" of the new Bangalore. Neighbour does not know neighbour, and we all seem impersonal cogs in the machinery...But I didn't realize that even the Railways felt the same way!The Cantonment station proclaims, "Bangalore Anon"...Anonymous, indeed, are the passengers who pour in and out through this station every day.Or, who knows...like Al-Anon (Alchoholics Anonymous), Bangalore Anon is going to get rid of its problems and set itself right..was that the message? I wonder. ⊕

On the  5th of February, Bangaloreans were privileged to watch how the funds and grants, that India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) disburses to encourage the fine arts, are being utilized.Two puppeteers, Anurupa and Varun, showed the audience, with the help of audio-visuals and demonstrations, how they have developed a new idiom in puppetry.Anurupa and her group have produced a full-length play, "About Ram" and she said that it was amazing to see how different age groups related to the puppetry show on different levels. The children responded to the action sequences, and the adults to the characters and their…

It's usually people who quit regular jobs to follow their passion make news; but here is somebody who moved from a government organisation to the business sector to pursue, quite literally, matters of the heart! Prof. A V Ramani (pic: Deepa Mohan) Professor AV Ramani is unusual by any standards. Educated to be a chemical engineer with a wide knowledge of material sciences, he taught metallurgy at IIT, Madras. Also experienced with electrochemical technology, he put in 11 years, from 1968 to 1979, at National Aeronautical Laboratories (NAL), Bangalore, where he became conversant with non-conventional processes like spark erosion. What…

Often, I find that public spaces like roads and footpaths are used as if they are there for our own convenience.I passed this plot of land being readied for construction a couple of days ago:That was a footpath before this all started!Why has all the debris been thrown on the pavement? There is now no space for anyone to walk, and the debris extends to the road, too.We are not aware, either, how we should protest when such a civic-unfriendly act occurs; so we feel helpless, and keep quiet, and bemoan the lack of civic sense in our city....Does anyone…

Since I was not sure if I would be able to go to the plays tomorrow, I decided to attend the press conference that was organized by India Foundation for the Arts (for which the plays are a fund-raiser).I wanted to hear what the actors who are going to be staging the playlets would have to say about the plays, which they have staged before, in Bangalore, way back in 2002.Both Ratna and Naseeruddin talked about how contemporary they found Ismat's ideas, and how Naseeruddin was inspired to stage her stories. Naseeruddin was very scornful about large production; " I despise…

How many times have you asked for directions in namma Bengaluru and ended up going in circles? Whether it's the roadside vendor or the autorickshaw driver taking you for a ride, we have all been in that spot, lost in a city that we have called home! Coming to your rescue, are location-based services on your mobile phone, the Internet or even maps for that matter. Have they made it easier to commute through this clogging city? Yes and no. With a population of over five million, Bangalore is a fast growing city. And in a city this big, finding…

One  sight that can be seen frequently in the mornings is that of different people reading the morning newspaper. It's a habit deeply ingrained in our culture, and no matter which newspaper it may be...our mornings are not complete without the daily dose of newsprint.We may have the radio, the TV, and the internet...but for most of us, there is no substitute for the peaceful few minutes as we learn about the world around us through the printed page. ⊕

Pankaj Kothari is a well-known Bangalore caterer, and once a year, he brings Kaushik Kothari and his orchestra, the Golden Greats, to Bangalore to stage Rang De Basanti, which stages several evenings of old Hindi film hits, with sumptous dinner being included in the ticket price as well.We went to the show on Monday night and were treated to a medley of rousing songs, patriotic numbers, and mellifluous duets, and several haunting old immortal songs. The dinner that precedes the show is always amazing; there are varieties of pasta, pizza, chaat, and salads as well as the regular food items…

For the past few years, Chitra Kala Parishath (CKP) has been organizing an annual art event, Chitra Santhe (Art Fair) in and around the CKP campus and its environs. It has become a fairly important event in the art scene of the city.This year, the gate of CKP was beautifully decorated as usual:The slogan of the Santhe highlighted the symbiotic relationship between artists and their patrons....CKP also used the opportunity to hightlight some of the other initiatives they are carrying out, such as ICKPAC, the art conservation effort:The range of geographical locations represented at the Santhe was phenomenal, and there…

Since the series "Birds of Bangalore" has been started in Citizen Matters, I thought I too could add to the list... Here's the TICKELL'S BLUE FLYCATCHER, singing away sweetly at the Valley School this morning... Will be posting other birds' photographs, too, watch this space!⊕