City: Bengaluru

It's very difficult being a non judgemental mom. Turns out, being judgemental comes wired into your system, the moment you become a mom. Not about yourself of course. We are judgemental about other mothers, the one who bottle-feeds her infant; the one who sends her kid to Karate ALL ALONE despite the fact that he has to cross a busy road; the one who thinks nothing of serving her kid Pepsi. In other words, the mother, who in our eyes is "wrong" while we ourselves are obviously doing it right or at least hoping that we are. Pic: Wikimedia commons…

Residents of Golden Blossom apartment in Kadugodi, Bengaluru, have gone to court against the builder for not providing promised facilities on time. In their petition to the state Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, residents say that Golden Gate Properties Ltd (GGPL) had promised them about 35 facilities such as club houses, sports complexes, super market etc., but has not delivered most of these. They also claim that quality of construction of existing facilities is poor. Golden Blossom apartment houses around 500 families. Pic: Ajiyos Yohannan Golden Blossom Apartment Owners Association (GBAOA) filed the complaint in December. Hearings are on at Consumer…

She spotted a dying lake, took up the initiative and brought it back to life. Given the opportunity, she would escape to a far away place on a fellowship, to do something she has always loved, writing stories. She seems to have mastered the art of getting books published after she authored 'Get Published!.' From writing short stories, she moved to writing novels and has even translated some of Tamil poet Subramanya Bharathi's works. We are talking about Usha Rajagopalan, 55, Chairperson, Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust (PNLIT.) Usha at the lake premises. Pic: Deepthi M S What made you…

The traffic near the erstwhile High ground Police Station refused to move. It was already eleven in the morning and I had set up an appointment to meet Archana Prasad, Jaaga's founder, at 11.30. As the clock ticked away, I couldn't help but smile at the tailormade situation for the topic I was to discuss with her. Art by Indo-German artists. Pic: Poornima Dasharathi The Directorate of Urban Land Transport(DULT) had partnered with Jaaga to explore alternate non-motorized transport solutions for Malleswaram. The project named "Malleswaram Accessibility Project" had an objective surveying the existing modes of transport and the commuting…

One may not expect a topic like borewell recharging or types of sewage treatment plant hold a 70+ strong audience engaged and animated over 7 hours of a Saturday. But last Saturday saw a bunch of residents mostly apartment owners, many of them representing over 50 apartments' management committees at a workshop on water. Ashwin Mahesh advocated creating water. Pic: Deepthi M S The session was organised by ApartmentAdda which provides apartment management solutions. Co-founder and director Venkat Kandaswamy, talked about bringing the relevant stakeholders and experts together on a single platform so residents can be empowered to tackle water…

"Yeaah!! St Louis, here we come," chorused the NXTremers - a team of 6th and 7th graders - thumping their fists, huge grins on their beaming faces, as they struggled to keep their feet on the ground. They had just been declared the national level champions in the First Lego League (FLL) 2011 competition. Their next step will be the FLL World Festival in St Louis, Missouri, USA on April 25-28, where they will represent India.The young champions are a group of six friends studying in National Public School, Indiranagar - Aditya S M, Anuj Tambwekar, Arnav Mhaske, Chaitanya Sindagi,…

Reeth Abraham is one of India's most well known athletes participating in the hurdles, long jump and heptathlon events, with a career that began in 1976. She has won various medals at several international competitions including at the Asian level. Her achievement stands out particularly since she won a medal at the Asian level less than a year after she became a mother. Reeth, at one of her practice sessions at Kanteerava Stadium. Pic: Deepthi M S Although she retired from competitive athletics in 1992, this 49-year-old has continued training over the years and is now active as a Masters…

Friday, 17 February, was witness to an eclectic blend of musicians, all converged on one stage to show their talents and win lots of hearts. Akashavani Habba, a week long festival by AIR was held to portray, showcase and promote talented musicians across all art forms and music streams. The AIR Rock Marathon was one such event that was held to bring out the talents in the city to perform in front of a 3-member judge panel. Pic: Satvik Kaushik 11 Bands registered for the event. Nine of them showed up and three won their respective prize money and a…

On 24 February, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) called for a hearing on the basis of the complaints given by the residents of the Brigade Palm Springs, JP Nagar 7th phase, against the noise caused by granite cutting and polishing units functioning in their neighbourhood. Residents of Brigade Palm Springs at KSPCB office. Pic: Deepthi M S. The residents had given a written complaint to Environment officer, South one on 6 February. JP Nagar, where these factories are situated comes under the jurisdiction of South One department.The complaint was against Ashwini Granites, Alankar Granites and Vijaya Granites, which…

He is leading a retired life but spends most of his time and energy in bringing necessary improvement to the community. He is affable, determined, disgruntled with the official apathy yet hopeful. He is the 'military man' of HSR Layout, meet Brigadier R S Murthy, 68, Vice President, Federation of Residents Welfare Associations in HSR layout. Brig Murthy with his wife Lalitha. Pic: Deepthi M S He lives with his wife Lalitha Murthy, 61, who is a teacher. Learning to use the Internet seems to be their latest pursuit. With Brigadier's transfers to various parts of the country, Lalitha says…