City: Bengaluru

The far side of Bangalore is a nature's bounty in full swing. Just 60 kilometers away from the hustle-bustle of Silicon City is a powerfully quiet countryside with breathtaking views, century old temples and rocky hills. The destination is, Devarayanadurga in Tumkur district. Devarayanadurga once known as Anebiddasari is a well known pilgrim spot amid green hills and is guaranteed to revive your spirits with its beautiful rocky terrain. Devarayanadurga. Pic: Usha Hariprasad Here is a quick look about the place and its history.A coup d'oeil of Devarayanadurga history:The place is also known as Karigiri which means elephant hill in…

Once, when the older brat was two years old, I was visiting relatives in Delhi and came across a bubbly young lady who was thrilled at having won a very special gift hamper. It turned out that her son, also two, had just been judged ‘Best smile'' baby in a Healthy Baby Competition he (or rather she) had participated in. My eyes had almost popped out of their sockets. Did such competitions still exist? Weren't they rather regressive, pitting one baby over another purely on the basis of their looks and if I may add, chubbiness? Pic: Wikimediacommons I may…

TAAQADEMY in Koramangala is the result of the band, Thermal and A Quarter's 16 year old tryst with music. This 3-month-old academy teaches music-making and song-writing as well as playing instruments and is also conceived as a space for musicians and bands to practice or hang out: ‘Make Space for Music' is TAAQADEMY's sweet demand of us.The Bangalore Rock Pic: Sushumna Kannan The story behind this academy started four years ago, on Queen's Road. It is intricately linked to the journey its members themselves made since starting as a band in Christ College in 1996. 23 thousand people ‘like' it…

An entire day dedicated to celebrating womanhood. She's egged on to claim her rights, her individuality, to embrace her womanhood, buy jewellery, go to spas and celebrate. What does the ‘other half' of the population think of this celebration? Do they embrace it or do they question it? Deepak R. Pic: Anisha Nair Deepak R, 24, consultant, Electronic City"In today's age men and women are considered equal. They both support each other in every spectrum of life. They walk shoulder to shoulder in every field and so this day is important to let them know that they are great achievers."Col.…

BDA can no longer work on the five grade separator projects planned in Koramangala. On February 27th, High Court ordered a stay based on a PIL filed by Koramangala residents. Pic: Deepthi M S Residents had been in discussions with BDA for over six months to re-consider flyover and underpass projects at Koramangala water tank, Krupanidhi college, 80-feet road - Sarjapur road intersection and Jakkasandra junctions. These works alone cost Rs 120 cr. This is part of the larger signal-free corridor project from Agara to Sirsi Circle, planned by BBMP in 2009. The project is implemented by BDA.Residents had filed…

Benglauru hosted the 33rd National Masters Athletic Championship from the 23rd - 26th February 2012 at the Kanteerava stadium. Pic: Anju K P For the uninitiated, the Masters meet is for people aged 35 or above. At this meet, there were 10 age categories (for 5 years each) ranging from the 35-39 group to the 80 and above group. There could be more categories in the future with increasing life expectancy in line with global trends. The meet is organised by the Masters Athletics Federation of India (MAFI), which is the nodal body for the organization of events for athletes…

Her journey is one every aspiring technology manager will want in a city that virtually sees a startup a week. She is known in tech circles as co-founder of the start-up Aarohi Communications, which was acquired by Emulex Corporation, a California-based firm. In Bengaluru, a startup's successful acquisition usually means a lot, from a sense of enormous accomplishment at the end of a journey and the beginning of many things new, in addition to just plain becoming wealthier. Shanti Subbaraman did all this as a woman, and while working in urban India. Not easy, most will say. She started her…

Since 2002, we - owners of L&T South City apartment - have been waging a long battle against our apartment's builder L&T and land owner Dinesh Ranka. (Citizen Matters had reported on this here.) We have been running from pillar to post - going to police stations, holding protest marches, filing cases in City Civil Courts, High Court and Consumer Courts. Now, a complaint filed by our association SUGRUHA (South City Group Housing Apartment Owners' Association) at the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in August has made an impact. CCI is a central government body to ensure fair play by businesses…

Rajee Shanker, a resident of Kalyan Nagar is troubled by falling leaves on all roads and empty sites, “For the past 5 months,  nobody has been entrusted with cleaning of roads and removal of leaves".This is a common issue in all residential areas in the city especially the winter/post winter season. BBMP workers often burn the leaves, so their job becomes easier, inspite of the Commissioner’s order otherwise.BBMP’S RESPONSEResponding to complaints of leaf burning in the Organic Terrace Gardening Forum, Bangalore's composting evangelist Vani Murthy (who has documented her leaf composting process here) shared the contact details of the BBMP…

Maverick Holdings and BBMP signed a concessionaire agreement on 2 January, 2012, clearing the deck for the construction of 1,640 Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quarters at Ejipura. This is coming after a protracted legal battle that lasted nine years. The agreement was signed between Uday Garudachar of Maverick and BBMP Engineer in Chief BT Ramesh. Pic: Vijayalakshmi P But the residents still do not know where they will be relocated when the construction starts. Neither the BBMP nor Maverick has informed them about the relocation plans. And on January 14, Shantinagar MLA NA Harris had a shocking request to make…