Articles by Reshmi Chakraborty

If you are a parent who wants her child to do activities that require her to think and use her imagination, you've probably scoured the market for suitable craft kits. Yes, there's a lot of stuff available but after a point, most seem similar, with instructions that are often hard for kids to follow. It was the search for safe activities and crafts for their kids to do, that drove sisters Anu Parthasarathy and Rupa Vijendran to launch craft kits for children that are not only easy to make but also introduce them to traditional techniques like Channapatna woodwork, terracotta…

In the last few years, Bangalore has seen the emergence of apartment management software tools. Sangeeta Banerjee of Apartment Adda attributes it to multiple reasons. "Bangalore has a higher Internet penetration and is a highly cosmopolitan city. It also has a higher population of younger people in apartment association committees. The average age in most associations we have interacted with is between 35-40." Most software developers think that people would prefer a software that provides value in terms of saving time, effort and providing transparency. Parthasarathy of OneSolution thinks softwares such as these work better in larger complexes and Bangalore…

When you live in an apartment block with over 1000 flats, managing maintenance costs, corresponding with neighbours and making decisions for the entire complex, may prove strenuous, especially if you are on the management committee (MC). This was what drove S Parthasarathy to start Onesolution, an apartment management software tool. Parthasarathy founded OneSolution to ease the process of managing apartment complexes. Pic courtesy: OneSolution. S Parthasarathy, a resident of Brigade Gardenia in JP Nagar 7th phase, discovered the difficulty first-hand in his voluntary stint as the founder-treasurer of his complex. "Six months down the line there were several issues. The…

For a mother who is often at loss about where to entertain her child, especially when you have no option but to take them along for some chores or shopping, it’s great to see some interesting play centers opening up in Bangalore. These are stand-alone activity centres with simple props and games that encourage action and provide a safe zone for kids to happily hop, skip and jump - not the noise pollution factories that masquerade as bowling alleys and gaming areas in most malls. There’s Monkey Maze in Indiranagar that has a huge soft play area for kids upstairs…

You’d expect the members of a group that calls itself the Bangalore Classic Scooter Club to be older, gray-haired, bordering on their 50s perhaps. It therefore comes as a surprise that the founder-members of this group, four in all, are in their 20s and 30s. In fact, as Arun P, one of the founder-members and all of 23 tells me, most of their members are below the age of 35. If that’s the first of the clichés shattered (vintage scooters would appeal to those who belong to somewhat vintage years) then the next is yet another widely believed one. You’d…

Brick in chilli powder, chicory in coffee, coal tar dye in tea leaves, soap in milk - the list of adulterated products in as endless as it is shocking. The latest adulterants to hit the market in Bangalore are artificially ripened mangoes.In Russell Market and other areas, mangoes like Malgova and Badami are treated with toxic calcium carbide powder to ripen them fast and supply to increasing market demands. This toxic powder, called ‘masala' in trader lingo is used to give the fruit a bright yellow colour much before time and could result in food poisoning, skin and stomach problems.…

The common adulterants in pulses, tea, soft drinks, sweets, oil, saffron, coffee and chilli powder and so on are as follows.Pulses: Stone is a common occurrence in rice and Tur Dal. Kesari dal is a banned product and is sometimes sold as Tur dal, especially at times when Tur dal prices are high. It contains toxins that can paralyse the individual if consumed for two or three months. "We discovered the dal (Kesari passed off as Tur dal) was being sold in Karnataka border for Rs 25 to Rs 30 per kg and was being passed off for Tur Dal.…

Walking into this boutique garden store in Indiranagar is like visiting the terrace garden anyone might have always dreamt of creating. At Sunshine, there are pebbles strewn on the floor, a light green canopy softening the summer sun and beautiful Bonsais in pots, trays and pieces of wood adding to the abundance of green. Pic credit: Sunshine Boutique. If that's the terrace, the entrance to this Indiranagar bungalow is equally verdant with potted plants, colourful figures, bamboo and metal wind chimes, lamps hanging from branches and fountains. Most things are for sale but some aren't, as Veena Nanda, one of…

About two years ago, when writer Usha Rajagopalan looked out of her balcony, the view that faced her was that of a vanishing lake called Puttenahalli Kere. As a longtime resident of the apartment complex L&T South City, Usha remembers the lake as a large water body that attracted several kinds of birds once. See: Kere in crisisAs apartments in the area grew and consequently, a slum started building up, encroachment, waste disposal and activities like bathing and fishing resulted in the lake's water level and quality diminishing rapidly. The lake lies between Puttenahalli in JP Nagar VI Phase, Lakshmi…

There are some advantages of being a mother in search of a decent summer camp. You keep your eyes and ears open and in the process discover things for yourself. For instance, had I not stared hard at the huge hoarding on Bannerghatta Road advertising horse riding lessons with that magic word ‘Summer Camp’ attached, I wouldn’t have discovered there was a stable right behind my house! Well almost behind, on Puttenahalli Main Road, JP Nagar 7th Phase to be precise. Having always wanted to ride with the wind in my hair and suchlike (yes, old age makes you confess…