City: Bengaluru

For Suthinthran Rao, 39, an entrepreneur, it was a rare chance to play one of his favourite childhood games cricket, after several years. "As children, we played cricket even in mid-May in Chennai. Now, Bangalore city has very less open space left for children to play. I brought my seven year old son to see what he is missing out on." said Rao while he took a break from batting for his team, Himagiri Meadows. Suthinthran Rao and son watching cricket match. Rao was playing at the ApnaComplex Treamis Premier League, a 15-over, tennis ball cricket tournament being played at…

The bright yellow walls of the building, a bountiful vegetable garden and smiling girls bring cheer to your heart as soon as you step into the '' Baale Mane'' premises. A home among the lush green ragi fields, eucalyptus groves and farm lands serve as the ideal retreat for the girls to grow in a nurturing environment. Baale Mane at Gopalapura. Pic: Suja Sukumaran. 'Baale Mane' meaning 'Girl's Home' is situated in the sylvan surroundings of Gopalapura, near Nelamangala, off Tumkur Road. It was founded in 2001 by Paraspara Trust, an NGO providing shelter and a home for girl children.…

A day after the fire mishap in a marriage hall in Sumanahalli, a Reliance Footprint outlet in Koramangala caught fire on September 22nd. The footwear outlet is located along the 80 feet road in VII Block that connects Forum Mall with National Games Village. Firemen at work as smoke billows out. Pic: Navya P K. The first floor of the building caught fire by 1.15 pm on Thursday, but no one was injured. "People evacuated themselves on seeing the fire, so no one was hurt. The extent of damage to property has not been ascertained yet. Electric short circuit is…

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahnagara Palike (BBMP) may have passed some major decisions in the last few years - including increase in taxes, and road widening and infrastructure projects worth hundreds of crores of rupees. But none of these decisions were ever passed by a vote in the city council. And this, in a city of over eight million people with massive problems ranging from inadequate affordable housing to dying lakes and property tax holes to roadwidening resentment. The Karnataka Municipal Corporation Rules (Rule 65 in Conduct of Business Rules), says a vote should be held if councillors press for it.…

Cinema located in the lives of Generation Next. A film about love, letting go, life and the contradiction of living. Pawan Kumar's directorial debut Lifeu Ishtene mixes many flavours, leaving us with youthful cinema that retains its simplicity without being simplistic.After successfully assisting Yogaraj Bhatt in the making of Manasaare and Pancharangi, Pawan gets into the director's seat with Lifeu Ishtene and does not disappoint. His cinema retains its trademark popular appeal, without losing a unique perspective. In the end he leaves us with a single thought - what is life if it is not lived truly and completely? Source:…

My fondest childhood memories of a ‘santhe' have comprised my annual visits to the Dasara exhibition in Mysore during the festival season. Over time, the duration for which the entire fete lasted continued to increase, as did the kind of displays, shops and rides that turned it into a curious blend of a shopping festival with theme park style rides and lots of food. Cut to the present when, as a resident of Bangalore, I was excited about the prospect of visiting the recently held Sunday Soul Santhe at the Palace Grounds on Sunday, September 11th. It seemed like an…

Deepa Peck, long time resident and head of the Whitefield Residents Association. Pic: Jaaga. Deepa Peck has been a resident of Whitefield since 1991 and has been visiting it since 1972. In all those years she has seen many of the areas, charming colonial buildings disappear one after the other. In May last year Deepa and her fellow residents were shaken out of their complacency when a Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) notice was served to the 1882-built Whitefield Memorial Church and all residences/commercial establishments along the Whitefield-Varthur main road. BBMP was planning to widen the road which would have…

"Double Road nalli jaaga yellide", (where is the space on double road?) I quizzed my friend on the phone. As the soon as the words came out, the question's literal meaning immediately dawned; I was grinning as I entered the busy KH road (or double road as we still call it). Luckily my friend knew of ‘Jaaga' and gave directions. The new ‘Jaaga' is bang on KH road, opposite Corporation Bank and lurking from behind a bus stop; a huge space with some iron constructions. Aarti Mohan, one of the organisers & co-founders of the Alternative, a magazine that covers…

Eugene Ionesco, a Romanian/French playwright, was one of the pioneers of the Theatre of the Absurd, along with such playwrights as Samuel Beckett, Jean Genet and Harold Pinter. Since he uses gibberish and parody and, sometimes, non sequitors (Latin for "it does not follow." It is most often used as a noun to describe illogical statements) as the basis of his plays, it was a fairly difficult task for the group to stage the play. In "The Bald Soprano", too, one has to use the words "allegedly" and "apparently" very often. The excellent brochure that  Little Jasmine, the theatre group…

It is always pleasant to go to a play which is for children, and even more so when it is being staged to celebrate something good. In this case, it was the play, "Robi's Garden", which was an original play by Bangalore Little Theatre (BLT), to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Association for the Mentally Challenged (AMC).BLT was founded in 1960, and is the city's oldest theatre society. In 2006, BLT set up a separate Academy of Theatre Arts. BLT has a strong programme for children's theatre, and usually stages a major production every year in the August/September period.…