ARTS and CULTURE

When things don’t work well its always tempting to say “Let’s privatise”, though the experience of privatisation hasn’t been all that great – particularly when dealing with public facilities like health, public transport, water supply or waste disposal. The same logic seems be at work with the recently announced policy of the Government of India to allow privatisation of urban heritage, a move that has evoked extreme reaction from both ends of the spectrum. Some believe privatisation will be a good way to increase efficiency and generate income while others see it as a step signifying abdication of responsibility by…

Since its launch in November 2017, the Kuppai Thiruvizha has been in the news for all the right reasons, evincing phenomenal support from the denizens of different parts of the city, both online and on the ground. While the first thiruvizha was very successful for a flagship effort, we had to rethink the outreach strategy before the next one, to make the initiative more participatory and inclusive and amplify its reach to a wider range of actors. Core members of the alliance, including representatives from CAG, Urban Design Collective, Arappor Iyakkam, Vettiver Collective, etc., convened one fine morning and dissected the different aspects of…

This Earth Day, on April 22 2018 (and the previous day), residents from the Lokhandwala Township of the western suburb of Mumbai, Kandivali East, got together to participate in the “Colour My Township” initiative, organised by We All Connect (wAc) with the support of Kansai Nerolac Paints Limited. wAc is a community group that was formed to promote bonding and oneness among residents of the township. A few months ago, the group painted a small wall together and members found that painting compound walls together with neighbours was a good way to get to know them. According to Mr Santosh Shetty, founder of…

It was love at first sight. It’s hard to explain how one can fall head over heels for Majestic and its mean streets, the way I did. But it happened to me. Majestic and I have been dating for longer than I’ve known my life – oh sorry, I mean my wife. And you know what the best thing is? She isn’t even jealous that I have another love. Because it would be silly to be resentful of a few tumbledown city blocks and a fistful of squalid streets. Am I telling the truth or a tall story? Well, let…

Dr Sowmya Sanak Kumar Athreya, co-founder of Svarakshema Foundation shared her experiences on how music can be a powerful healer. As a singer and music therapist, Sowmya has been researching how music therapy can heal physical and psychological diseases and uplift the lives of people. Sharing one of her experiences, Sowmya said, “A 7-year-old kid with a kidney ailment and cerebral palsy was placed under music therapy to control his anger. He would often get admitted to the hospital due to allergies and would throw away all the tubes connected in anger and frustration. After being treated for a year,…

A play that is an interpretation of another play faces several challenges. What if the audience is not familiar with the original play?  How can the production pick up on very contemporary issues from a play originally written in 1972...46 years ago? The Big Fat Company addressed these issues, and more, successfully, in their production, "Head 2 Head", where the cast and crew "play" with Hayavadana. A scene from the play, in a photo  displayed in the foyer: As I entered the theatre space, I found the first attempt in this direction by the Big Fat Company.  An excellent brochure, printed…

According to recent media reports, the Public Works Department has trained its sights on a heritage building. The 83-year-old Janata Bazaar, which has been listed as a heritage building under the Revised Master Plan 2031, stand on premium property in Gandhi Nagar. The PWD, however, has branded it as "very dangerous" for human occupation and has proposed to bring it down. This has the heritage conservationists up in arms as the building who insist that the building can be restored to its former glory and is only suffering from neglect.  The building which was inaugurated by the Yuvaraja of Mysore…

Would you believe it if you hear that Chennai has around 160 public libraries? While the Connemara and the Anna Centenary libraries are icons in their own right, the city has a total of 162 part and full time libraries open to the public. From military quarters to hospitals and the regional passport office, part-time and branch libraries have been functioning modestly from a range of spaces across across different wards. The Tamil Nadu Public Libraries Act, notified in 1948 provided for the establishment of public libraries for both rural and urban areas across the state. As per the Act,…

The Annual Panguni Thiruvizha is here again! The festival will begin with Dhwajarohanam (flag hoisting) on March 22 and conclude with Thirukalyanam - the celestial wedding of Kapaleeshwarar and Karpagambal, on March 30, 2018 The annual festival takes place in the month of March at the Mylapore Kapaleeshwarar temple. The highlights of this very prestigious temple festival are the Thiru Ther (temple chariot) and the Arubathu Moovar day, when the divinity of the aura around Mylapore multiplies with the 63 Nayanars being carried around in a procession in colourful palanquins. Thousands of people come from all over and outside Chennai to behold the Arubathu…

At the inaugural session of Mandram, Dr Balaji Sampath spoke about the need to help our children understand science through experiments using simple objects of daily use. He said everyone is born a scientist, everyone has  natural curiosity about how things work, but sadly this curiosity and scientific temperament is stifled and subsequently lost in the current education system. Watch the full video of his talk below. அன்றாட வாழ்வில் அறிவியல் பற்றி மிக சுவாரஸ்யமாக விளக்கினார் பாலாஜி சம்பத். இவர் ஆஹாகுரு என்ற தளத்தின் மூலமாக நடுநிலை மற்றும் முதுநிலை பள்ளி மாணவர்களுக்கு எளிய முறையில் அறிவியல் மற்றும் கணித பாடங்களுக்கு பயிற்சி அளிக்கிறார். குழந்தைகளுக்கு அறிவியலை எப்படி அறிமுகப்படுத்த வேண்டும் என்று அன்றாடம் உபயோகப்படுத்தும் பொருட்களை கொண்டு…