City: Bengaluru

Kong Tailin Lyngdoh, a Khasi lady from Meghalaya, was asked to leave a golf club in Delhi for wearing her traditional dress. She was told that she looked like a Nepali and that her dress made her look like a maid. To highlight this discrimination, the 'My Dress is My Identity' event was organised by the Northeast Solidarity at SCM of India, Bangalore on the 7th of July. The event explored the issue Kong Tailin Lyngdoh faced and discussed solutions on how people from Northeast India can educate fellow Indians about various aspects of their culture, history, and habits including…

Urban Development Department in Karnataka published a draft notification of Common Zoning Regulations a few days ago. Once implemented, it is applicable all over the state in all cities, and overrules the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) master planning rules. Here's a snapshot that explains how residential areas are going to change once this comes into force. Basically the rule reduces the roadwidth in residential areas of Bengaluru from 45 to 30 feet, to accommodate the daily use category of commercial establishments like milk booths, newspaper stalls etc. The notification has not gone well with the citizen groups fighting commercialisation of residential…

The last four stories in the series explained all that has happened and is happening with the Ejipura EWS quarters project. This story, the last in the series, will narrate how uncertain the life has been for a family that is living on pavements following the eviction. Among the two dozen tiny tents pitched on the pavement of Srinivagilu Main Road just next to National Games Village in Ejipura area, is the “home” of Deepa (name changed). Her tent made of bamboos and tarpaulin, though appears vulnerable, has withstood storm and rain in last four and a half years. “My…

Many of us have small gardens or even potted plants at home, to add a touch of greenery and, as we hope, to purify the city air.  Houseplants play several beneficial roles in our home environment. They provide visual interest to the home, purify the air, and may be edible or medicinal. What many of us may not know, however, is that some of these plants can be poisonous! Toxic plants can be a hazard to children and pets, as well as to elderly persons with dementia. Though  it would be better  to keep all plants out of the reach…

Queer Arts Movement India (QAMI) is four years old and the event’s theme this year is ‘One Love’. QAMI aims to provide a space for non-judgemental inclusion and acceptance of all marginalised communities. Having started out as a fundraising event, QAMI Habba today involves people from across the country. It serves as a space for dialogue, liberation of thoughts, and free expression of emotions. “The focus of QAMI is to make the mainstream audience understand about the queer community, through art,” says Romal. He believes that art is a medium that can make people look beyond their preset notions and…

Cynthia dabbles mainly in stoneware pottery and has explored many forms, from accessories, decorative pieces to functional pottery. Over two decades, she has been learning and discovering more about the medium and herself too. In this edition of Active Bangalore, Cynthia talks about her passion for pottery and more. https://soundcloud.com/radioactivecr90-4mhz/active-bangalore-featuring-potter-cynthia-suzan

Last Saturday, I was on my way to a workshop 'In My Name - Open Letters in the Park' organized by the Fearless Collective, when I became a witness to an incident of violence and joined others in resisting it. Unlikely coincidence or a sign of our times? I feel that this incident can best be described through the Open Letter I wrote later at the workshop. Dear Advocates, I don't know you and you don't know me. Our paths crossed coincidentally this morning (15th July 2017) when I entered Cubbon Park at the Hudson Circle gate (near the High…

In the previous story of the series on Ejipura housing project for Economically Weaker Sections, critical issues in the project implementation and how the developer considers all those issues as trivial were covered. This story will tell you how the BBMP has goofed up with the concession agreement of the project and why it might lead to a conflict between the two parties. In 2012, soon after the BBMP and Maverick’s plan to build EWS quarters in Ejipura under public-private partnership (PPP) model gained focus, several individuals and organisations opposed the arrangement of using the land meant for EWS families…

In this episode of Active Bangalore, RJ Beula talks to Sridhar Venkat, CEO of Akshaya Patra Foundation, while RJ Padma Priya interacts with some of the children who enjoy the mid-day meals provided by the Foundation daily. Sridhar talks about what made him give up a cushy corporate job and work full time for the Akshaya Patra foundation. He explains how Akshayapatra was started and how it has came to be recognized as the world's largest food giving programme. It feeds 1.6 million children in 12 states of the country, delivering meals on-time, every time. Sridhar's message to all: Whatever…