City: Bengaluru

As art becomes big business, it is not surprising to find art galleries springing up everywhere in Bangalore; but when one finds a gallery that is somewhat different, it is rather intriguing! I met young Veena Narsasetty, an artist and sculptor, who was exhibiting for a show at a gallery called ‘Swasti’. The unusual thing about the gallery is that it is funded and run by Health Care Global, an organisation that runs an oncology hospital in Bangalore. Health Care Global (HCG) is about five years old, and has seven hospitals all over India. Dr. Bhagya Ajaikumar, wife of the…

Power cuts are again the talk of the town since Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) declared a minimum two hour cut in all the residential areas in the city. “Is it really only two hours?” is what my colleague Gayathri S asks me. She gets a power cut of six to eight hours every day since the declaration of power cut was done by BESCOM. My colleague lives in Venkatapura, Koramangala. She complains of untimely power cut of more than six hours a day disturbing routines. When we checked, we found that she is not the only one suffering from…

In a Lok Adalat hearing on 19th November 2008, at the High Court of Karnataka, Justice K L Manjunath pointedly asked Yellapa Reddy, chairman of the committee overseeing Bengaluru’s road widening project to listen to the petitioners' complaints on widespread tree cutting. The Adalat took exception to Reddy’s standpoint which appeared to one of merely representing local government officials’ views instead of striking a balance between citizens and officials. As reported earlier in Citizen Matters, a writ petition was filed by NGOs Environment Support Group and CIVIC a few months ago against the tree cutting undertaken by the Bruhat Bangalore…

Jean-Luc Godard’s 1967 movie, Weekend, was screened by LACEfilms on 26th October at Suchitra Film Society. On a nice Sunday morning which usually is reserved for films by great auteurs, a bunch of 30 or so gathered to watch this French film. What I expected to see in the film was general drama on how the bourgeois or the privileged class is enjoying his weekend – but I then immediately realigned my cognisance about Godard and what he stands for. To be able to comment on Godard or his films requires serious credentials than being a mere journalist who has…

There could be any number of senior citizens aged eighty plus in our family and friends circle. But how many of us have met one with a totally positive outlook? Most of us feel that old age is a bane and dread getting older. But just meet B Kamala, the erstwhile General Manager of Canara Bank and you will change your view. She is an embodiment of positive energy.As I entered her house on a considerably quiet street in Koramangala, expecting to meet a frail old woman, I was stunned to see Kamala looking the same as she did 20…

The city life sure is a busy life. Work pressure, traffic jams, chores at home and hassled running about call for a weekend off from time to time, for there is nothing like fresh air and scenic valley views to cheer the run down spirit. Especially when it comes with a refreshing streak of adventure – energetic trekking and some liberate flying. Flying, in Bangalore!? Well, not exactly, but Bangaloreans now have a flying club a few hours' drive away from city limits, near Krishnagiri. Traditionally, India boasted of two flying sites – at Panchgani (near Pune) and Bir (in…

Amidst all the chaos in last decade surrounding Bengaluru's infrastructural problems and political instability,certain aspects of the city widen their influence as always. One amongst these is the ever growing "art of carnatic music".Though Chennai with its innumerable sabhas and cultural heartlands is considered to be the melting pot of carnatic music, Bengaluru is slowly but surely made its presence felt this sphere as well. Music fever seems to be soaring in this burgeoning metropolis like never before. True to its sobriquet of cosmopolitan city which embraces anything that comes its way, carnatic music too has found its place in…

In the earlier parts of this series we have seen as to how in a layout context, the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) is the body that is aware of the issues that the residents face, can engage with the residents to identify appropriate solutions, can build consensus on issues/resolutions and enable the implementation of measures to ensure issue resolution. We have also discussed the relevance of Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) in the layout context, and dealt with FAQ’s on the same. In this article we will see how the RWA can play the role of a 'Resource Manager' for water, assuming…

Nearly 400 under-privileged children in Bengaluru had a special day on 14th November 2008, Children's Day. The children belonged to Sishu Mandir, Sri Satya Shanti Seva, Bethel Home, Leela School, Gerizim Rehab hostel, Lovedale foundation and a few others. A soccer session in progress. Pic: Jamshed Billimoria.The day’s event included a special showing of the movie Roadside Romeo at Cauvery Theatre at 8.30 AM. The film distributor, Ajay Chandani and the owner of the theatre, Prakash, donated the movie tickets for free (500 seats). This was followed by fun and games at the XLR8 indoor sports arena on Hennur-Bagalur Main…

This Children's Day, Pupil Tree, from Future Tree Learning Services Pvt. Ltd, helped start 'Booky Bob', a unique interactive reading hub designed to nurture children's love for learning. The unique library aims at promoting healthy reading, leading to analytical thinking, making use of the rich literature that is available here. 'Booky Bob', the first interactive learning hub of its kind, was inaugurated by B Jayashree, the well known theatre and literary personality in Bangalore. Jayashree is also a great promoter of book reading among children and has book reading shows on local channels especially aimed at increasing their reading habits.…