City: Bengaluru

Bangalore Club for Kathakali & the Arts, a non-commercial organisation focusing on the preservation and promotion of Kathakali and other classical art forms, brings to you an evening of Kathakali Padam (Kathakali songs) first time in Bangalore by acclaimed singers Pathiyoor Sankarankutty and Kottackal Madhu. Pathiyoor Sankarankutty and Kottackal Madhu. Pic courtesy: BCKA. Pathiyoor Sankarankutty learned music from his father, the renowned Kathakali singer Late Shri. Pathiyoor Krishna Pillai. He passed Ganabhooshanam from RLV Music College, Thripunithara and subsequently joined Kerala Kalamandalam for training in Kathakali music. Pathiyoor’s mellifluous rendering of padams with elaborate bhava has made him a veteran…

At Christ University, the just concluded intra-collegiate fest 'Darpan' was a milieu of interesting activities. The students eagerly await the events designed for them such as the Western Electricals and Indian Non-theme Dance. Aditi Kashyap, 18, a journalism student at Christ University who participated the various art events says "taking part in Darpan is refreshing and a break from the hectic schedule that we have. I go with the intention of participating, and not winning." Since the winners of the events held here get to represent the college in inter-collegiate fests, there is a lot of hype surrounding the events.…

At 12 15 pm every Wednesday, a blue bus halts near Padmanabha Nagar BMTC bus stop. It is not a BMTC bus, however, and is one of the only two vehicles in Bangalore that travels around the city to satisfy the reading needs of bibliophiles. Board announcing the timings and contact details of the mobile library: Pic: Yogaraj S Mudalgi These are the government operated libraries on wheels. Within seconds of the blue bus pulling up near the bus stop, men and women board the bus, return books and browse for new ones to borrow. Returns and issues happen quickly…

On Saturday, 30th July, close to 80 students of St Joseph's College of Arts and Science at Langford Road, decided to have fun with a purpose. They gathered after classes to count the votes of the Jan Lokpal Citizen 'Referendum' that is being conducted by India Against Corruption (IAC). The scene resembled an examination hall as students counted the votes. Pic: Yogaraj S MudalgiIndia Against Corruption (IAC) has undertaken the initiative on a mammoth scale in a bid to give voice to the opinions of citizens of India on the subject of the Jan Lokpal Bill. Eight parliamentary constituencies across…

Born to a social worker, Vasantha in Ragigudda, a low income area in south Bangalore, 28-year-old Aruldass Vijaya and his brothers became school drop outs after their mason father deserted them when they were young. Incidentally, Arul's mother was then an active political leader in their neighbourhood who started Indira Women's Welfare Association which worked for the social advancement of marginalised women in Ragigudda.Vijaya was compelled into child labour and was exploited by his extended family. Fortunately, an NGO employee spotted him and enrolled him in an informal school run by the well known Bangalore based NGO, Association for the Promotion of…

Nrityantar is holding its second Odissi festival Naman 2011 on July 31st, 5.30 pm at Seva Sadan, Malleshwaram. This is the second year of the festival. Nrityantar headed by Madhulita Mohapatra organises Odissi dance classes and lecture demonstration and dance performances. Aruna Mohanty This year's festival is dedicated to the memory of odissi guru Gangadhar Pradhan (1948-2010), who passed away last year. His disciple Aruna Mohanty will enthrall the audience with her recital on the 31st. The event will also have a performance by Rajashri Praharaj along with young artiste Debashish Patnaik from Orissa. Guru Pradhan was an odissi exponent…

In Praveen Sood's latest post on Bangalore Traffic Police's (BTP) page on the popular social networking site, Facebook, the Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), talks about one ways. Posted on 25th July, the post received more close to 15 comments by fans of the BTP page. The note titled, ‘One-way? Two-way? No Way!', talks about several one-ways being introduced in 2001 (Kempegowda, Richmond, Residency Road etc.,). Sood says that the decision to make them one-ways were made after a careful research undertaken by Bangalore Action Task Force (BATF) and not based on the whims of traffic police. He says that…

Bengaluru is food world, everything is about food and everything is about choice. The days when there was one eatery in one area are now gone. Food lovers love the variety. Pic: Sherene David Shanthinagar, once a quiet place, is now a place of booming business for small eateries. Places like Kashivishwanath, and Kolkata chaats are gaining wide popularity among the residents and is fast becoming the favorite hangouts of many students. "I started this shop around 6 months ago," says the owner of ‘Kaashivishwanath samosa shop'. "I used to work with my uncle at the main shop, he taught…

St Joseph's College of Arts and Science, has become the first in the city to be completely powered by solar energy. In order to meet all its energy requirements, the college has a solar power plant, comprising of 432 solar panels, which provide electricity to power all the facilities. These panels produce a 100 kilo watts of power and were installed at an estimated cost of Rs. 1.6 crore. The solar power plant has been operational since May this year. The person who initiated the project in the college is former Principal Fr Ambrose Pinto, who resigned this April. Explaining…

'Second to none' is a group of volunteers who are trying to practice and encourage everyone to practice a life of reuse, recycle, reduce waste and replenish resources. We aim to do this by sharing recycling ideas, discussing ways to reduce consumption of harmful materials and encourage buying used goods instead of new. The activities and discussions could occur through this blog, on our Facebook page and through events like the periodic flea markets that we plan to organise. Sneak peek into the items on sale this weekend. Pic Courtesy: Second to none We're creating this space for people to…