BENGALURU BUZZ

The Volleyball Federation of India has launched the Indian Volley League at Bengaluru this year, on the lines of cricket's IPL. VFI says it has been thinking of doing since for many years but the finance and other resources were available only recently. "This is just the beginning. In the coming years, this small initiative will become big and a great success", says K Murugan, Secretary General of VFI. India is the third country in Asia after Japan and Thailand to host a volleyball event at this level. Games begin on 29th May at Bengaluru's Kanteerava stadium. The first match…

Bangalore Traffic Police (BTP) has answered a long pending question in citizen's minds on its newly launched Facebook page.  BTP has started engaging the English-educated citizenry of Bengaluru on Facebook. BTP's maiden Facebook post today raised and answered this question: Why don't police shift bus stations away from junctions? Bangalore Traffic Police on Friday, April 29, 2011 at 9:26amA: Firstly, installation or removal bus shelters does not come under the perview of traffic police.  Unfortunately, each of the bus shelter is a revenue spinner through advertisements for the agency which installs these.But we have taken initiatives to shift this bus…

To take this survey Click here to start. For more details, write to survey@3pundits.com or visit www.3pundits.com and leave a message. 3pundits.com, an education startup focused on school admissions has just launched Bangalore's first-ever independent survey of international schools. The goal of the survey is to produce a report that will help parents select the right international school for their children.  3pundits aims to take away the pain of parents going through a lot of hassle towards research required to selecting a good international school. Citizen Matters is media partner for this survey. 25 international schools will be covered in…

Chimeras was an adaptation of three short stories by Shashi Deshpande, "And what has been decided?", "The Last Enemy" and "Hear me, Sanjaya", which reflect the characters of Draupadi, Duryodhana and Kunti respectively. Chimeras, blended together theatre and dance forms like Bharathanatyam, Kalari, Chau and Indian contemporary to bring to stage an interpretation of these characters from the great epic, Mahabharatha. It was staged at Alliance Francaise on 8th and 9th April. A scene from Chimeras. Pic Courtesy: VODO According to the Greek mythology, Chimera is a fire-breathing female monster with a lion's head and a goat's body and a…

Can a 15-year-old friendship jeopardise over a 5 X 4 painting? Can the egos of three friends play its villainous part in separating them in one single evening? Even with all such philosophies playing onstage, is it possible that comedy is created and people watching the scene laugh their hearts out? The three friends argue over a painting. Pic Courtesy: Evam Evam's production "Art" exactly did all that in a 1 hour 30 mins performance. And they did that brilliantly. The play was staged at Rangashankara on 5th, 6th and 7th April.  'Art ' is a play originally written in…

Moliere's "The Miser" was staged as "Kuberanigenirabeku" on 17th March at Rangashankara. Aneka, a Bengaluru based amateur theatre group, presented the play. Suresh Anagalli, a well-known name in the Bengaluru's theatre circle, directed the play, translated by Bhagavati M. Kuberappa venting his displeasure on his domestic help. Pic Courtesy: Aneka The original play is a satire and it had created a revolution during Moliere's time for questioning many French practices and traditions. Being a comedy actor and director himself, Moliere had written this play perhaps to ridicule the French society and its ways, back in 17th century. One of the…

We Move Theatre, a drama group based in Bangalore staged their play ‘Namma Metro' at the Seva Sadan auditorium in Malleswaram at 7 pm on 12th March. The play was said to be about life in Bangalore, a city that has changed rapidly due to globalisation but still has a little bit of the old world left in it. Over a hundred people comprising a mix of all age groups had gathered in the stuffy auditorium despite the ongoing cricket world cup. From left to right - Rahim, Suresh, Communist Muduka and Rohini engaging in a discussion. Pic: Yougraj S…

Gudiya Sambhrama held at Hanumanth nagar , Anjaneya temple on the 13th of March 2011 was organised by Heritage Centre, a non-profitable organization. This performance was part of a series of performances spread over a period of four months at various temples of Bangalore.  Rukmini Vijay Kumar performing Bharathnatyam. Pic: Veena Basavarajaiah It was a delight to see all the children sitting in the front row with their attention glued to a puppet show instead of a television set on a sunday evening. The show presented by Dhaatu puppet theatre on the story of Bhakta Prahalada with colorful properties and puppets had the…

Kalari Gurukulam presented KalariMargam; a dawn to dusk programme on renowned martial art form Kalripayattu on the 26th of February, 2011. The informal performance/lecture demonstration was staged at Band Stand in Cubbon park. Citizens of Bangalore who went for an evening walk in the park experienced a flavor of this art form. Demystifying Kalari Pic Courtesy: www.kalarigurukulam.com Though Kalaripayattu is well-known amidst the artist community of Bangalore this was a first of its kind programme initiated by the Gurukulam to promote as well as create an awareness for the layman in the city. The programme took them on a journey…

With 7 Khoon Maaf, director Vishal Bhardwaj returns for the second time to another Ruskin Bond short story Susanna's Seven Husbands. His first was Blue Umbrella. The film is at one level a woman's search for love. Bhardwaj makes this journey through the mind of Susanna Anna-Marie Johannes (Priyanka Chopra) - a woman who lives the world not in black and white, but in all its accompanying shades of grey. She veers at the precipice between sanity and insanity, almost willing herself back from the edge just as she threatens to veer over. This should have made for a promising…