Articles by Deepa Mohan

Amongst the many images and impressions at that I saw and experienced at the "Namma Raste, Namma Ooru" walk on Sunday, 9th November 2008, was the picture of this tiny tot; She didn't seem to be angry, or against anything; she made a peaceful statement that surely none of us can disagree with...and was calmly eating something that a tree gave her, too!Surely, if a little one like her can come out to express her opinion, the rest of us can take heed and protect the trees we have left!Update: What a coincidence! I shared this image with Hasiru Usiru...and…

The cessation of the heavy monsoon rains seemed to herald a smooth run for the Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival. Bright sunshine greeted us as we walked to Ranga Shankara on 31st October, the first day of the Festival, as we ordered some of Anju's delicious snacks and took a leisurely turn around the foyer, taking in the beautiful decorations, and the priceless photographs from the Company Theatre era, the period between the 19th century to mid 20th century. The opening play Nati Binodini dealt with one of the stars of that era, and her fearless expose of the exploitation women…

Jayanagar, near the Ashoka Pillar, has an avenue (an avenue, by definition, is a tree-lined street), filled with, among other trees, Sausage Trees .This is the time when the tree bears both flowers and fruits, and incredibly striking they are, too.Here's a flower and a bud:Here are some flowers, hanging down on their stalks:And these are what the fruits look like:The city planners planted such beautiful trees in the past, today's officials are only thinking of cutting them down for "economic growth" and to ensure more vehicles can stuff up the barren, sterile roads without footpaths or trees....Is it any…

With regard to the tree-felling and road-widening that is happening now.....we are against *indiscriminate* use of this facility, that's all. The point is, that cutting down trees is irreversible, so what we are saying is, involve the citizens in this decision-making process, and let us cut down trees ONLY when there is no other solution.The High Court of Karnataka has given a decision that the BBMP authorities must include the citizens' forum, Hasiru Usiru, in its deliberations and only take decisions on tree-felling and road-widening that complies with the Town and Rural Planning Act. Right now, this is not being…

Today is Rajyothsava Day (click on the link for the Wiki information).... Have a happy weekend, everyone! ⊕

Yesterday evening, we watched this sudden termite swarm in Indira Nagar...We saw the termites flying in their hundreds, around the street lamps:I tried to get them against the light, but only got this image: Nabeel Mohamed, another person intrigued by the swarming, was trying to capture the image of the termites coming out of the ground on his mobile phone camera:You can see the hundreds of non-winged grubs as well if you look closely:Karthik had told me about these termites, so I decided to look it up on the net, and here's some info about termite swarms: one two and…

Here's a message I found on an auto recently:It seems to imply that the person patronizing this service is...a female horse....!But it's actually the Kannada-ization of the emphasis on the word customer... (phonetically, "customer-Ey")Messages like these really add spice to the humdrum day....here's another romantic message on another auto.... That says, "the mind is full of you"....wonder which lucky damsel the auto guy was thinking of! ⊕

All of us know how difficult it is to keep in touch with the fine arts while managing a household or a profession; imagine how much tougher it can be to do so if one wanted to travel the world as well. But one extraordinary individual who has managed to all this, and managed to both teach and learn music in other countries, is Anasuya Kulakarni. Anasuya, who is in her fifties now, had a lovely voice as a young girl, and, after her training under Ganakala Ratna R R Keshava Murthy, was often asked to sing everywhere, though her…