bangalore journal

I had heard a lot about the Manchinbelle dam (across the river Arkavathy) from fellow photographer friends and it appeared at the top of my interest list for the weekend. Trip To: Manchinbelle DamFree Add-On: Big Banyan tree, Naga TempleDistance: 40 Kms.Trip directions: From Bangalore city, drive down Mysore Road and turn right at Rajeshwari Dental College. The road will take you directly to the Big Banyan tree and then continue to Manchinbelle Dam. The road is a great all through but the last few kms to the road promise to be bumpy.. EXPERIENCEAs the drive from the Rajeshwari dental…

The nicest thing about Bangalore's roads is that they are (were?) tree-lined. Every out-of-station visitor to our home has said this to us. My daughter’s seasonal observation when she was 3 years old (and when she could only see the treetops from our car window) was testimony to the fact. Come the violet flowers of the Jacaranda tree and she knew that we had reached the main road from our locality in ST Bed Layout, Koramangala; the Gulmohar tree with its beautiful red flowers signaled that we were right across the Barista on the 80 feet Road and the yellow…

About 30 years ago, one of my colleagues was transferred to Calcutta. A year later he came to his hometown on a holiday and it was shocking to hear his experience about the notorious traffic jams of Calcutta. Sitting in the peaceful and slow city of Bangalore we could not envisage those serious traffic jams. But then, we had no clue that we would be experiencing such jams right here very soon! Pictures of a beautiful bungalow from different angle Pic: Sudha Narasimhachar.When I used to go to work on MG Road then, I used to leave home (Yelahanka Satellite…

Standing in front of the High Court, facing the street with the din of the traffic passing through, it is hard to imagine the life here in late 19th Century. No smoke-spewing vehicles, no harried traffic police and not even the huge imposing Vidhana Soudha. The Cubbon Park was a sprawling green area with the barracks on one side and the imposing Residency (present Raj Bhavan) on the other. Officers of the Secretariat would ride through the lush green park environs on horse carriages and enter the Mysore public offices (present High Court) for their everyday work. The entire area…

Behind the chaos that people associate the place with, Kalasipalaya is actually a well laid out grid of streets between SJP Road, Kalasipalaya Bus Stand, VV Puram and Double Roads. The location is perfect to cater to the large 'Market' area with perishable goods like vegetables and industrial supplies. That's the reason; you will find the offices and warehouses of every major trucking company in India in Kalasipalaya. But if you are a trucker, Kalasipalaya provides the perfect pit stop. After a long drive, you have places for the truckers to wash and change. Taste Punjabi food at its dhabbas…

The first two parts of this series dealt with arriving at a broad layout-level strategy for rainwater harvesting (RWH) and how to engage the residents and decision-making bodies of the layout to move the strategy forward. When engaging with residents, one will inevitably face many questions about why people should consider rainwater harvesting (RWH), how the systems are constructed and how they work. The following discussion concentrates on how to address these FAQs, first focusing on general RWH questions and then on more technical questions related to RWH for direct storage and groundwater recharge. Rainwater Clubrainwaterclub [at] gmail [dot] com1022,…

Business Iron ore transportation trucks hit by slump The steep fall in demand for iron ore has affected the resale value of trucks used for their transportation. Earlier these trucks had a resale value of Rs.13-15 lakhs. Now they are available for Rs.8-10 lakhs. Trucks owners are now feeling the heat as income from ore transportation has fallen drastically. More than 12,000 trucks were involved in this business during 2004-2008 when iron ore was in huge demand. (Prajavani, Monday, Nov 3) Onion prices to increase further Onion growers have reason to smile and buyers have to reason to cry. The…

The cessation of the heavy monsoon rains seemed to herald a smooth run for the Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival. Bright sunshine greeted us as we walked to Ranga Shankara on 31st October, the first day of the Festival, as we ordered some of Anju's delicious snacks and took a leisurely turn around the foyer, taking in the beautiful decorations, and the priceless photographs from the Company Theatre era, the period between the 19th century to mid 20th century. The opening play Nati Binodini dealt with one of the stars of that era, and her fearless expose of the exploitation women…

If Rs.11.2 lakhs is the value of one tree, imagine how much the football-fields worth of trees that are razed to the ground everyday are worth - the mangroves, the forests, and all those that cannot be accounted for.... Oct 18th: A tree-lover seems impervious to the pain inflicted on this notice-bearing tree on Dickenson Road. Pic: Shivani Shah. "People keep talking about opening more wilderness for development. We seem to understand the value of oil, timber, minerals and housing, but not the value of unspoiled beauty, wildlife, solitude, and spiritual renewal. We need to start putting prices on the…

Dr Aswath Narayan, MLA, Malleswaram, inaugurated the Bike Rally undertaken by Baduku project as part of its one-month campaign Spoorthi Jagruthi against stigma and discrimination against sex workers and HIV positive people here on Wednesday, 5th November.Addressing about 150 members from the sex workers’ collectives and staff of Baduku Project, he gave a call to treat the HIV affected with affection and human touch. Baduku is a community-based organisation formed by women in sex work who are also HIV positive. The three collectives of sex workers, who took part in the programme are Swathi Mahila Sangha, Jyothi Mahila Sangha and…