City: Bengaluru

Just as I rued missing a January evening of South and West Asian folk music, thanks to my inertia, I was delighted to hear of the Kabir Festival, from 23rd February to 1st March, at various venues across Bengaluru. It promised to be a week of films, music and enjoyment. And so it was... A photo of Shabnam Virmani and her friends during a spontaneous singing session at the festival (Pic: T.B. Dinesh) An exciting and enchanting journey that began with the thought provoking and soulful 'Kabir ke dohe' (Kabir’s couplets), the festival offered an opportunity to interact with Shabnam…

On 8th March, the Fearless Karnataka group, in collaboration with the Blank Noise Project, responded to the attacks on women in Bengaluru between 6th and 28th February. They marked Women’s Day by conducting street plays and opinion polls, conversed with men and women on the streets, and distributed posters at Rest House Road, Vasanthnagar, CMH Road, Ulsoor and Cunningham Road. These were the very localities where attacks on the women were reported. The group wanted to spread awareness about the violence, and more importantly, to sensitise bystanders to respond proactively to such situations. Pranesh Prakash, a volunteer for the activities…

Sadrushya - the exhibition at Chitrakala Parishat, held from 28th February to 5th March, was an unusual one. It was a collection of paintings by Ashok V Bhandare, Ramesh Babu, Ramaiah, Raju D P and Venugopala A, all of whom once worked as artists for film banners. With the advent of digital printing and computer aided advertising having effectively wiped out the art of manual painting, these talented artists had to move onto other platforms to keep their art alive. Clockwise from top-left: Ganesha by Ashok V Bhandare, Shapes by Ramaiah, Mural by Ramesh Babu and Abstract by Raju D…

Moodbidri, Feb 19, 2009. Moral police attack a 15 year old girl, Ashwini Moole. Her crime: Talking to a Muslim male friend. The girl commits suicide.  Bangalore, Feb 24, 2009, time: 9.30pm, Lakshmi who was walking on the road is roughed up by four men who later try to pull her out of an auto as she attempts to escape.  Bangalore Feb 28, 3009. Journalist Sanjana, whose bike broke down, was hailing an auto at 10:30 p.m. when two men on a bike punch her. What does our Bangalore Police Commissioner have to say about these incidents? ‘Bangaloreans are cultured.…

A Carnatic music aficionado new to Bengaluru may wonder how to go about attending Carnatic music concerts. In this city, Carnatic music festivals are oriented towards some commonly celebrated Hindu festivals. The concept of a season-specific festival, such as the ‘Margazhi festival', in Chennai, which always happens from mid-December to January, is not there in Bangalore. Sri Rama Lalitha Kala MandiraDifferent organizations and groups across Bangalore have been organizing music concerts and festivals for a long time now. These past few years have witnessed the likes of well known artistes like Dr. Balamuralikrishna, Sudha Raghunathan, Sanjay Subramaniam, Vishaka Hari, Kadri…

'Anti Terror Awareness to Students, Bangalore' witnessed a huge rally by the ruling government for the above subject and the life of the common man was put to inconvenience to a certain extent. Is it the correct way of spreading the subject matter? At whose cost is this being done? Are we paying the taxes for the government to spend lavishly on such unwanted issues? Will this put a barricade to the terrorists? Will this create a fear amongst the terrorists? Will the terrorists omit Bangalore OR Karnataka from their attack lists? Don't you all agree, that the correct way…

Runners For Life, a community of people who run to get fit announced their new event ‘Feet on the Street', a 5km run to be held in the city. The organisers will share a portion of the proceeds from the event with Dream A Dream, a local NGO working with some of Bangalore's most vulnerable children including orphans, street kids and other children in slum communities. The format of Feet on the Street is unique. These are monthly runs. It is not a track and field event, but will be held in a central location, Cubbon Park. In addition to…

Bangalore does not have the most conducive environment for persons with respiratory complaints. How serious this was struck me only when my little one started having bouts of wheezing, at just 9 months of age. In my anxiety I visited a pulmonologist and even started administering an inhaler. It was only a few weeks later that I checked myself and wondered if an alternate remedy was possible. Colius Aromaticus (pic: Meera K) And then as I started searching for more natural and homemade remedies for common ailments, I realised what a treasure trove (rather, a medicine chest?!) I had right…

A few months ago, two incidents made me uneasy. One involved white smudges on my fingertips from the newly painted railing of my apartment building stairs; the other was finding paint patches on my children's hands from the attractively painted blue-green-yellow-red playground equipment. These occurrences were troubling since I was aware of, yet not completely sure, about the facts regarding lead (paint) poisoning. Childrens play equipment may be coated with lead based paints (pic: Meera K) Internet research revealed surprising and worrisome information. Surprising because, while lead poisoning is an issue across India, indeed the world, Bangalore seems to be…

I had been told about the Fireflies festival, an all-night event filled with music and gaiety. I had heard about the singers who come here and perform for 20-25 minutes but remain in the minds of the audience for the rest of the year. I had always wanted to go to Fireflies but could not do so due to various reasons. This time, on 22nd Feb, determination set the course and I made myself free for the event. My friends and I packed our bags well as we were told that we'd need mattresses, cushions, blankets and whatever it took…