City: Bengaluru

In Stanford University commencement address in the year 2005, Steve Jobs said that one can only connect the dots looking backwards. He was referring to the decisions one makes following their gut the value of which is clear only after some years. Alan Vincent D'Souza. Pic courtesy: Alan Vincent D'Souza It seems that a local boy, originally from Mangalore, is following the path that Steve Jobs paved. 24-year-old Alan Vincent Dsouza quit his engineering in his third year, because he did not find any value in the course and risked his career to formally start his own company, Vavia Technologies.…

Commercial Street, the fashion street of Bangalore turned even more colourful on Sunday the September 2nd. Around 100 participants shortlisted from an earlier preliminary competition gathered to display their talents in the art of Rangoli.Jyothi Kanagal, a participant. Pic: C R Sridhar‹ › $(document).ready(function(){ $('.carousel .carousel-inner .item').first().attr('class', 'active item');});The event was the grand finale of ‘Ranga Rang,’ the Rangoli Utsav organised as a part of the 50th Bengaluru Ganesha Utsava celebrations by Shri Vidyaranya Yuvaka Sangha, Basavanagudi. The main objective of this initiative was to nurture the artistic talents.The winner will walk away with 100 grams of gold.Participants, largely women,…

The deadline for clearing the garbage set by the newly appointed BBMP commissioner Rajneesh Goel ended on September 3rd, 2012.  But where is the garbage going, considering only Mandoor landfill is operational right now? Garbage being piled up in Madiwala market. Pic: Sankar C G Mayor D Venkatesha Murthy said, “We spoke with Mandoor villagers and they have agreed to dump the waste in Mandor landfill.”  He expects Mavallipura villagers to agree for dumping the waste in the landfill there. BBMP plans to hold a meeting shortly.Though BBMP has given a green signal to dump garbage at Mandoor landfill, the…

Craving for some peace and solitude? Then Shivagange, is the place for you. It is just 60 kilometers from Bangalore. This hill which is 1368 meters high offers complete rejuvenation of mind and body with its ancient cave temples and steady trek right to the hill top with man made steps and railings for support. At the top you are guaranteed breathtaking panoramic views of the entire surroundings. Panoramic view. Pic: Usha Hariprasad Colorful legends, mythological gods, cave temples and innumerable spring water fountains are what greet you when you start your climb on this rocky hill. Some of the…

Girisha Hosanagara Nagarajegowda, brought home India's first silver medal in Paralympic Games in the men's High Jump F42 held in London. 24-year-old Girisha managed to jump over a height of 1.74 metres despite an impairment in his left leg. He took part in a three week long pre-games training camp at Basildon Sporting Village, which was sponsored by the Government of India. The rest of the time, he practised on his own. Girisha H N - Paralympics silver medal winner. Pic: Samarthanam A small town boy hailing from Hassan district in rural Karnataka, he trained with the Sports Authority of…

Two photo contests are open for all enthusiastic shutterbugs. One is focussed on city-nature interaction and other is for photographs of Kaikondrahalli lake.The contests are open to all and there is no entry fee. Selected photographs from both contests will also be exhibited in Hyderabad during the second week of October, at the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 11) to the United Nation's Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The pictures get a chance to be seen and discussed by the hundreds of government officials, policy makers and other delegates from around the world who will attend…

Vijayan Menon, 57, has been a resident of Koramangala for 20 years now, and is an active member of the Koramangala Initiative (KI) group. He is a marketing consultant by profession but likes spending most of his time for city’s development issues. His interests vary from golfing, gardening, playing guitar and travelling. He talks about the KI group, citizens’ rights and responsibilities, and city governance. Vijayan Menon - member of Koramangala Initiative. Pic: Anisha Nair Excerpts from his interview.Do you think the ‘Save koramangala’ group has saved Koramangala? What were you also saving Koramangala from?It is an ongoing process. Some…

Suresh Heblikar was the man who made path breaking Kannada cinema from the late 70s onwards. But in late 90s, he switched paths and turned environmentalist, determined to make a difference. The man has excelled in both his roles. Though he continues to act occasionally, it is environment that he has chosen to dedicate his time to. Suresh Heblikar. Pic: Sankar C G Born on Feb 22nd 1948 in Dharwad, he moved to Bangalore in 1991 and became a resident of Jayanagar 3rd Block. He is the winner of the State Award for his movie Aaghaatha, National and State Awards…

“I feel like relocating to a different place. I will probably sell my house,” said a depressed, rather scared 70-year-old H N Pattabhiraman, a resident of  BTM I Stage, 9th Main, since 1992. Like Pattabhiraman, the other residents too live in fear. They feel helpless in the face of deteriorating law and order situation, they do not have much confidence in the police either.   The reason for this fear is the constant trouble created by miscreants and police inaction. The residents have to bear the brunt of motor-bikers drag racing with modified silencers at night, theft cases and rampant…

In 2008, New York based writer Lenore Skenazy let her 9-year-old son take the subway home. For weeks her son had been begging her to be allowed to travel alone and she finally relented by leaving him with a MetroCard, a subway map, some money and loose change in case he had to call her.When Skenazy wrote about the experience in her regular column, there was a flurry of reactions that ranged from calling her a child abuser to appreciating the way she allowed her son his first taste of independence. Overprotective mother. Pic: Wikimedia commons I remember reading Skenazy’s…