City: Bengaluru

So have you started him on finger foods yet? The lady at the park asks the question pointing towards my nine month old. Since I'm debating the best zigzag (and breeziest) route to take the stroller around so that he goes off to sleep, I take some time to answer. Yes, I have started to give him finger foods. At the moment, it's Parle G. Someday I will graduate to ‘well cooked carrot sticks' as mentioned in those parenting tomes. Until then he can nibble on biscuits in between meals if required. Oh yes, and I forgot his finger, which…

Jayanagar police nabbed a chain snatcher on 13th February. Inspector S K Umesh shot the thief who was trying to flee after snatching the chain of a resident. The victim, a 45-year-old woman, was going for a walk in front of her house when her gold chain worth Rs 2 lakh was snatched. Police chased the accused Vijay Kumar and shot him in the thigh. Kumar is a resident of Ramanagara aged around 30 years.The incident occured at around 9.45 pm near Lakshman Rao Park, 38th Cross, Jayanagar 5th Block. Police later admitted Kumar to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital. (Umesh says…

Perhaps not everyone is aware that less than 150 km from Bangalore is a beautiful place where the critically endangered animal, the Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) can be sighted.This is the Maidanahalli Blackbuck Reserve. "Maidana Halli" in Kannada, means, "Village of the open meadows". The open grassland of the Deccan Plateau have steadily shrunk due to human habitation, and it was the efforts of Wildlife Aware Nature Club (WANC) along with other NGOs and individuals from the 1990's. This resulted in the creation of the Jayamangali Blackbuck Reserve in 2007. Pics: Deepa MohanPics: Deepa MohanPics: Deepa MohanPics: Deepa MohanPics: Deepa MohanPics:…

It's a tale of a boy who started a dance school at the age of just 17. Anil Iyer now a 21-year-old is the proud owner of a classical Tanjore style, Bharathanatyam dance institute in Jayanagar 9th Block, ‘Shivoham School of Performing Arts. Shiva's aananda tandava Iyer says he does not want to add more than 40 students, as he believes in quality and flawless teaching. "I teach to propagate this art form, I love teaching. I wish to give some artists back to the divine field of art, " he explains.Iyer's dance journey started when he was just 10,…

It's been my long cherished motherhood dream. A good sized drawer to hold all those fancy stuff that can turn you into the queen of craft in minutes, making short work of last minute projects that involve felt, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, glitter and anything slightly more complicated and hard to find than colourful markers. At this point the dream or rather the drawer, expands into a cupboard which also holds gifts for various genders and ages between two to ten, bought at half price during off -season sales. This is precisely the moment that I give myself a jolt…

"Koramangala was a no man's land then," says, Professor N S Ramaswamy, 86, the man behind the Indian Heritage Academy (IHA.) Prof Ramaswamy, Chairman, Director, IHA, believes that a place can be made liveable only through its culture and its ethics. Pic: Deepthi M S Built in the early 80's, the academy's sole purpose was to foster the growth of Indian culture. Situated amidst the a busy area, it has a retained its old charm. The academy, a non-profit making organisation, spread over 30,000sq feet, it has around 500 varieties of plants. With temples, open yards and trees, it takes…

He is 29, trained as an engineer, a Kannada-film maker of rising repute. However that is not why he is the focus of this article. Pawan Kumar is also a piracy warrior in Sandalwood. For his debut film, Lifeu Ishtene, he ended up irking the Censor Board by re-releasing the movie with a changed ending. Now he's gone back to a familiar approach engineers take to fix problems: technology. Home talkies aims to protect Kannada cinema piracy. Pawan has founded Home Talkies a movie viewing website to release Kannada films on the web. As the description the website goes ‘through…

Ranka Colony road, off Bannerghatta road, is a good example of the city's horrendous infrastructure. There are at least ten apartments, with around 2000 flats, along the road. This road has been in poor condition since the last 10 years. Rainwater would enter apartments, rising up to seven feet high, damaging parked vehicles and entrapping residents. Over the years BBMP has dug the road many times, but never fixed it. BBMP again dug up the road last year, which has only caused more trouble. A 1600-m storm water pipeline is being laid along the service lane from Bannerghatta main road…

There was a major fire in Kleen Pack, a plastic factory off Bannerghatta Road, early morning on January 30th. I was leaving for my morning walk along with my wife at 5 am on the day, when I noticed black smoke rising up in the sky. Abandoning our walk, we rushed to the direction of smoke to check what was happening. A lot of plastic/synthetic raw materials were stored in the factory's premises and these were on fire.The factory manufactures plastic bags and is located along Arekere Bannerghatta road that leads to L&T South City.By the time we reached, the…

Book lovers in Koramangala are in for some treat as some of the book stores are offering discounts. Kannada, Malayalam and English books of different genres are up for grabs. Here are some book stores that have offers. DC Books store. Pic: Deepthi M S Landmark is having a 'Buy 2 get 1 free' offer on selected books. Books ranging from fiction, non- fiction, Best sellers, Children's books, Harry Potter series, Twilight series are available under this offer. The offer also extends to books by author Robin Sharma. Landmark Ltd., The Forum, 21 Hosur Road, Koramangala, Bangalore - 560 029…