Blogs

In the past, the making of urban form in an Indian city like Bangalore was an outcome of the spontaneous growth of a settlement. The city had winding streets that were primarily for people and not for the automobile. There has been a tremendous change in the economic life of the city and in the present times the experience of the city lies in its high-rise buildings, its flyovers and its high speed traffic. Every piece of architecture in the city strives for its own individuality and its own identity. Today, a street is defined by high compound walls that…

A few days back BMTC Volvo crew went on a flash strike, inconveniencing thousands of commuters, against a new rule scrapping overtime when they fail to meet a target for the number of trips per day. They cited bad traffic and road conditions for not being able to meet those targets consistently. When we look at it from a more sympathetic perspective, BMTC crew and Traffic police personnel do bear most of the brunt from fast-crumbling roads and the rains which have added an all new dimension to an already overcrowded, grid-locked city. Given these conditions and the need to…

When I started the Menstrual Hygiene Awareness initiative three years ago, in government schools, I assumed the answer to menstrual hygiene was distributing sanitary napkins. So we got donors and napkins and gave them for free in rural government schools. And then, we ran out of donors. And then, a small voice in my head asked me why I never bothered to ask the girls if they did need sanitary napkins and what they would do if I (or others like me) stopped supplying these. And about the same time, a not-so-small voice asked me what about the environmental damage…

Ideal Insurance is conducting a Blood Donation Camp on Saturday, September 14, at Hotel Woodlands, 5, Raja Ram Mohan Roy Road, near Richmond Circle, from 10 am to 8pm.   For more details, contact Bhaskar Malani 98866 69494 or Sunil 92434 50000   Please go through    <a href="http://bengaluru.citizenmatters.in/articles/blood-donation-faq-guide"> guidelines for donating blood </a>   and check if you are a suitable donor.  

What would be possible if nothing came in our way of doing what we wanted? What if we dedicated our complete self, awake, asleep and in dreams, to work? What if we went all out and dived headlong into solving issues, with a bullheadedness and madness affordable only by those who are completely free? What then, would be possible? This is what got Bhaskar and I to start our initiative, Community Matters. Chunchaghatta neighbourhood. Pic: Sinu Joseph We started six weeks ago with little idea of what we should do, but being very clear of what we should NOT do.…

One of my early disappointments with gardening in containers was my first lot of carrots. The leaves looked lush and amazing, but when the time for harvest came the carrots had not grown at all underneath! Unfortunately at the time I didn’t yet know that carrot leaves, like those of other root veggies like beetroot and radish, could also be used for cooking, so it all went into my compost! After a few years of gardening and quite a few such experiences along the way, I have realised the following really important tips for growing root vegetables: Sow directly: Root…

It was a magical morning at Puttenahalli Lake on 7th September. The occasion was a nation wide story telling event promoted by Pratham Books to celebrate International Literacy Day. PNLIT signed up to engage children in the locality with Surabhi Herur, a young and versatile theatre person who lives in Elita Promenade, Priya Ramakrishnan, carnatic music teacher and her daughter Sukanya a budding story teller from Brigade Millennium.         The children and their parents began assembling a good half hour before the programme began and whiled the time by walking around and seeing the Coots and Cormorants in the…

The flavor of last month was “Desi.” This month it will be “Norsk” (Norwegian). I am in Norway for a month, meeting with and learning from a leading expert in all things “dog” – Turid Rugaas. I have been here for more than 10 days now. Each day has been an intense learning experience, with several lessons learned. Some lessons have given me confidence to deal with issues. Some have humbled me by exposing the vast canine world that I still need to understand. Some have reduced me to tears, showing me the sheer arrogance or ignorance with which we…

I was recently having a very interesting conversation on the differece between Native dogs and Aboriginal dogs. I felt this would be a nice post for the Desi-themed month. So, here it is. I was given to understand that Aboriginal dogs are different from Native dogs in that they are bred with no human interference. So our little Naaty that we have been discussing the last two blogs is an Aboriginal breed. This little Naaty of ours is gaining popularity by the day, not just in India but across the globe. But we have other native breeds as well, that…

It’s a given that you should be drinking lots of water a day. Especially given air-conditioned offices, it becomes even more important to remember to drink – and have a bottle handy that’s easy to refill and keep sipping from. And from what we’ve seen, everyone uses plastic bottles! We don’t like those at all. Why? Read this. Or take a look at this. Clearly, even recycling is NOT a solution. It has to be stopped at the source of the demand – consumption! So we decided to do something about it. You’ve already seen we’ve been using these at our properties. They’re pretty popular…