bangalore journal

The one thing that you would definitely find every two streets of Bangalore is a small green cozy park. Bangalore boasts of more than 500 parks in the city. Most of us would have memories attached with one of those parks and the play area there where we spent childhood playing on swings, slides, seesaws, etc. But if you happen to pass by Coles Park in Frazer Town now, you will see a different kind of play area, something like the picture below.If you thought these are made to make things more fun for children or is the creation of…

Arundhati Nag - someone whom I have associated with theatre in Bangalore, and theatre in Kannada, for a long time. And whom I have associated with other things worth emulating: grit, the never-say-die spirit, the persistence and the determination to achieve a stated goal, and more. So a meeting with her was something that I was looking forward to, even if I had to wait from 4 PM to 5.20 PM- I got my chance to talk to this icon of theatre. "Let's go from the basics," I tell her as I sit opposite her at the lovely cafe at…

Is there a tannery on Tannery Road? Or where’s the church on Church Street? There’s usually more to a name. And in Bangalore, it’s usually something that fails to meet the eye. Or has turned into a blind spot. The Big Bull at Basavangudi. The temple was Built to appease an angry bull that used to damage the groundnut crops grown in this region. A quiet corner in the temple on BULL TEMPLE ROAD, Basavanagudi. This is the starting point of The Bangalore Karaga procession - Entrance to the temple on DHARMARAJA TEMPLE STREET. Not far from the mad traffic.…

Everyday, a number of roads get asphalted under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike's (BBMP) road works and a lot more wait to get constructed. It is often observed that soon after these roads are asphalted they degenerate, potholes appear and degradation results. Not many times do we ponder that there ought to be a procedure and specifications for laying roads. Well there is such procedures, and it is available with the BBMP and they are supposed to follow it. M V K Anil Kumar, an RTI activist, filed an application to find out just this. The thought came to his…

A pair of white canvas shoes that belonged to a boy in the D block of our apartment, a white shirt borrowed from my little cousin who stayed a few miles away, and I was still without the white skirt the night before the Independence day. A call to neighbours’ arranged a pair of white shorts from a boy in the A block. You see, the women folk (or women leaders) in my apartment decided on an agenda for Independence day that included a drill for the kids, and my 5 year old daughter was participating. We were told not…

"…24/7 water supply, generator back up, general physician round the clock, two-bed hospital. Book now to avail of early bird offer", my husband read off the newspaper."What is it about, a new apartment block?" I asked."No-it's an old age home", he said, "time we started investing in one, when we can still afford it".I looked at myself in the mirror, and plucked out a strand of grey hair which refused to be dyed. "Why, don't you think we'll be living with our son's family when the time comes?" I asked, unsure of it even as I did. For these were…

The Tata Crucible Corporate Quiz was conducted in its fifth edition on the 31st of August 2008, at the NIMHANS Convention Centre.The quiz has proved popular enough for the organisers to have moved the venue from the St John's auditorium to the larger NIMHANS Convention Centre on Hosur Road. The quizmaster, Giri ‘Pickbrain’ Balasubramaniam has been a popular quizmaster in several quizzing circles; and he says that the Crucible Quiz seeks to challenge young minds with ‘thetoughest business quiz in India’. The Tata group is ‘focusing its communication at youth as a key audience cluster', and as part of this…

It's a challenge to "work on an adaptation of an English translation of a Russian play", as the brochure given by Centre for Film and Drama (CFD) said, and the Bangalore angle intrigued me sufficiently to walk down to Ranga Shankara to see the production at its first showing on the 4th of this month. I was not disappointed. City of Gardens - Play (Pic: Deepa Mohan)‘City of Gardens' is an adaptation of Anton Chekov's ‘The Cherry Orchard’, and has been converted into an allegory for Bangalore by Abhishek Majumdar and Jisha Menon, with inputs from Arshia Sattar, Gautam Raja,…

Business Shooting houses' on the rise in city If you do not see ‘To-let’ or ‘For Lease’ board in front of a vacant house, don't assume that it may be meant for own use. It could be a 'shooting house'. An increasing number of Kannada serials, almost all of them family based, have created a huge demand for such houses in Bangalore. Such houses have all amenities that are required for a family, and located mainly in the city outskirts. They are rented out for Rs.2000 to Rs.5000 per day. (Prajavani, Tuesday, Sept 2) Education Multi-storey buildings for government schools…

There is something interesting for our readers and I am sure they will like to get involved in this venture.An NGO, called SGBS Trust, has been working on uplifting the lot of the poor by conducting FREE vocational guidance. The name of the project is Unnati, their address is: UnnatiTemple Road, NGEF Layout, Sadanandanagar, BANGALORE 560-038.Phone: 2534-8642In this new premises, opened in March 2008, Unnati has been conducting free coaching for the poor and ensuring their placement after completion of the coaching. Already over 400 poor youngsters have been well placed, thus transforming the lifestyle of the families.Friends who have…