bangalore journal

'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…

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…

It was good to see flights take-off once again at the old HAL airport last Sunday. Only, the planes that had a smooth takeoff and landing were made of paper. And the pilots were college students dressed casually in jeans and T-shirts. Redbull Paperwings contest underway (pic:PD) Red Bull, the energy drink maker, had organized a paper plane flying contest for college students in India for the first time, as part of a worldwide contest, held first in 2006. The qualifying rounds that were conducted in five major cities - New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai, over January-February, attracted…

As one of the most well planned residential areas of Bengaluru, Jayanagar has been touted as a haven for the business class and the retired crowd. Home to prominent names like Infosys co-founder, N R Narayana Murthy, actor Vishnuvardhan and writer Shashi Deshpande, this hub in the southern part of the city has wide roads, tree lined avenues and excellent public transport. But problems like garbage, parking and sewerage have not only got residents fighting for a better Jayanagar, it has also united the various residents' associations. Jayanagar 4th Block Complex Twelve Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) came together in July…

Ulsoor, Indiranagar, Vasanthnagar and Rest House Road! Six incidents of attacks on women in Bengaluru reported in the media in the last 20 days. The attackers in all the cases were either a pair of men on bikes or in groups of four in cars. In most cases, the women were in jeans or western clothing but in one of the cases, a woman attired in Salwar Kameez was also subject to attack. In the cases where the women retaliated by slapping the attackers, the latter became further infuriated and became more violent. In fact, in the incident at Indiranagar,…

In Bangalore, Yours Truly Theatre (YTT) has been working on a form of theatre that has been tried in a few places around the globe; it's called Interactive Theatre, where the members of the audience are active participants in the production. In several plays, so far, Yours Truly Theatre has stopped the storyline at some point, asked the audience for inputs and the cast then act out the denouement of the play according to the directions that the audience members give. Scene of a play at YTT (pic: Deepa Mohan) Taking this initiative further, on 22nd February 2009, at the…

In 1996, noted writer and publisher, S V Sreenivasa Rao, was given the Aryabhatta award, in recognition of his contribution to Kannada literature. Thereafter he was awarded the ‘Kannada Sri' from the Kannada Sahitya Parishat (2000) and ‘Karnataka Sri' from Karnataka Rajya Prashasti (2005). Rao has also won Attimabbe and Ranne Sahitya Prashasti for Mahitikosha, his encyclopedia on Kannada writers. Sreenivasa and Anusuya Rao (pic: Sudha Narasimhachar) Winning awards is a habit for 76-year-old Rao. His drawing room has no more space, given the awards that he's won; starting from school days, through college life, until today. Strangely enough, this…

Arts and Culture 'Throw stones at bad Kannada films' says actor Rajesh Senior Kannada actor Rajesh expressed anger about distasteful Kannada films and said "People should discard and throw stones at the films that spoil our culture and taste". He was unhappy with the kind of films made today, and said, "what message do songs like 'hale patre, hale kabbina, hale paper thara hoyi...' give to the society? It is really shameful. it is very unfortunate that such films are coming out during the occasion of the platinum jubilee of the Kannada film industry. If Rajkumar and Kalyan Kumar were…