City: Bengaluru

Take your cameras, go around the city along the few avenues that are yet to be affected by BBMP plans and also visit the few lung spaces of the city and click pictures of the beautiful fully-grown trees to show your children and grandchildren of the future, what Bangalore was. Do this quickly, because soon, Bangalore will be robbed of her greenery totally, thanks to the most insensitive and short-sighted planners, bureaucrats, politicians and officials of the state!It is very sad that protests of the public and eco-activists are just ignored.  Projects are taken up with ulterior motives of helping…

Step into Tuscany and you get a sense of space. Open and airy, this eatery on the periphery of Jayanagar's 9th Block welcomes you with its bright colours and sweeping flow. But more than the physical area, this is a space for the individual. You could just sit quietly by yourself and read a book, or have a leisurely chat with friends, or immerse yourself in the gentle house music, or pick up the microphone and test your singing ability at the karaoke space. If you are there at the right time, you could even participate in a workshop or…

The first BJP-led BBMP council is expected to present their maiden budget within the next fortnight. In this light, about 20 days ago, a group of like-minded citizens from across Bengaluru presented a memorandum to Mayor S K Nataraj, listing their proposals to include in the budget. This was in the presence of BBMP Commissioner H Siddaiah and Chairman of BBMP's Finance Committee, P N Sadashiva. The memorandum states that any BBMP budget should have a force or a thrust and that this year's focus could be on making Bangalore 'garbage-free'. The following are some of the proposals in the…

Meet 44-year-old Jagadish Shri, whose entry into organic terrace gardening more than a year ago was, well...organic! Having set up a rainwater harvesting (RWH) system at his independent house in Banashankari 2nd stage, he was wondering what he could experiment with next. He was also concerned about the high pricing of organic food, when a visitor to his blog pointed him to organic terrace gardening and a company that helps set up such gardens. Banashankari resident Jagadish Shri set up his own terrace garden where he grows organic vegetables like beans and carrots. Pic: Chetan Boray On visiting the company's…

Padmini Rao, 60 makes intricate jewellery out of beads and stones. Born and brought up in Jayanagar, near East End circle, she studied BA, Music. After her marriage to B G Rao, who had a transferable job in Indian Oil Corporation, she spent many years in North Indian cities. There she was active in the local community and pursued her hobbies like craftwork and gardening, winning prizes at the UP state level. Padmini Rao, makes intricate jewellery out of beads and stones. Pic Chetan Boray. The couple came back to Bangalore in 1986 for their children's studies. She ran a…

It was an action-packed and noisy morning as the children were told it should be! Inspirations 2010 - a civic fest and exhibition marking the launch of the eleventh year of CMCA (Children's Movement for Civic Awareness) as well as the launch of the programme for the academic year 2010-11 was held at the St Joseph's Indian High School grounds on Vittal Mallya Road on Friday, August 6th. Cricketer Robin Uthappa, ambassador of CMCA, at Inspirations 2010. Pic courtesy: CMCA The CMCA was started in 2000 as a joint initiative of the Public Affairs Centre and Swabhimana (both Bangalore-based organisations)…

A common sight outside Bangalore homes and a fading folk art in some parts, rangoli creation is many times a tradition passed on from generations. Reviving this tradition was attempted by Shree Vidyraranya Yuvaka Sangha (SVYS) through a Rangoli competition on August 8th. The volunteers who organised the event at APS College grounds in Basavangudi put up an impressive show that saw over 600 participants from various parts of the state and city. The rangoli competition in full swing at the APS College grounds in Basavanagudi. Pic: Deepti Sarma "Reviving the dying tradition of rangoli was the main idea" opines…

At a recent meet to discuss the loss of heritage in Whitefield to road-widening , residents of the locality spoke out against the BBMP's plans. About a hundred people attended the meeting which was organised on August 5th by the Bangalore Chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) in association with residents of Whitefield. About 100 citizens attended the public meeting in Whitefield to frame plans to protect the area's heritage. Pic courtesy: INTACH The meeting began with a short presentation about the history of Whitefield by conservation architect and INTACH member Krupa Rajangam. She…

When you live in an apartment block with over 1000 flats, managing maintenance costs, corresponding with neighbours and making decisions for the entire complex, may prove strenuous, especially if you are on the management committee (MC). This was what drove S Parthasarathy to start Onesolution, an apartment management software tool. Parthasarathy founded OneSolution to ease the process of managing apartment complexes. Pic courtesy: OneSolution. S Parthasarathy, a resident of Brigade Gardenia in JP Nagar 7th phase, discovered the difficulty first-hand in his voluntary stint as the founder-treasurer of his complex. "Six months down the line there were several issues. The…

In the last few years, Bangalore has seen the emergence of apartment management software tools. Sangeeta Banerjee of Apartment Adda attributes it to multiple reasons. "Bangalore has a higher Internet penetration and is a highly cosmopolitan city. It also has a higher population of younger people in apartment association committees. The average age in most associations we have interacted with is between 35-40." Most software developers think that people would prefer a software that provides value in terms of saving time, effort and providing transparency. Parthasarathy of OneSolution thinks softwares such as these work better in larger complexes and Bangalore…