Blogs

The 2nd ORRCA Marathon is to be held on March 19th.The event will be flagged off by Minister R Ashoka, ACP (Traffic) Praveen Sood and BMTC MD Zameer Pasha at 8.15 am at RMZ Ecospace visitor parking area on Outer Ring Road.BMTC has arranged for special bus-services for participants attending this event from across the city on a first come first serve basis. ORRCA company employees and neighbouring community residents are invited to register for the run. There are prizes to be won too.Runners are requested to assemble by 8.10 am on March 19th at the Visitor parking area for…

The Bangalore East Railway Station is very close to my house and very often I find myself walking along the railway tracks looking for butterflies and other urban wildlife. The bushes and shrubs along the line are a haven for urban wildlife. One day among the bushes and shrubs, I happened to chance upon a familiar plant, almost like an old friend. It was the Milkweed. The Giant Milkweed. Pic: Vikram Nanjappa. Milkweed is also known as French cotton, crown flower or bonba in Spanish is a soft wooded, evergreen shrub. Its long limbs hold six to eight-inch opposite leaves…

I've written about the Tabebuia argentea and the Jacaranda blooms welcoming summer into the city....but another sight, that is full of colour, but that is far less welcome, is one that's started staring me in the eye: Water and power shortages are here, with no apologies on the part of the Government.⊕

A very old, traditional eatery in the heart of Basavanagudi, in the middle of Gandhi Bazar, is Vidyarthi Bhavan We went there this Sunday, and the most popular dish seems to be their masala dosa. This is an incredibly heavy dish to eat, being practically deep-fried, with oil and ghee and "kempu chutney"being smeared inside the dosa, and with a filling of potato palya. These dosas are served by the waiters on plates that are stacked, eight or nine deep, on their arms! Here are some of us, waiting patiently for a table..even at 10 am on a Sunday, the…

Feel like performing? rafiki is seeking women actors for a programme titled What do you Say to a Dragon. The programme for children will roll out in July and run till September.Prior acting experience is not a criteria. Workshop-audition Ashirvad Off St. Mark’s road Saturday 12th March, 2011 10am to 1pm Call Ravindra on 9986371543 for further details.⊕

The Hindu carried an interesting editorial late last year on developing heritage cities in India. Most people don’t associate Bengaluru with heritage. While it is true that Bangalore has only a few monumental historic buildings like – two forts, two palaces and a scattering of temples. What we do have is: a large network of tanks, plenty of trees and parks, and a number of historic zones. Places like Basavanagudi, Whitefield and Chickpet have a unique historic character defined by their architecture, layout and/or mix of communities and professions. Charming precincts like these are what drew people to Bangalore and…

It was a preventable fire that took nine lives and injured scores of others. On February 23rd, the Beyond Carlton trust, co-founded by a parent of one of nine who died in the Carlton Towers fire, conducted its memorial service at Manipal Hospital Auditorium. Shankar Bidari should have attended this memorial service. Not just in honour of the people who lost their lives, but in honour of the high-minded notification he issued in March 2010, just a week after the tragedy. Bidari in an exercise of police power unseen in Bangalore till then, had asked owners and leasers of all…

"I chose Bangalore for my worldwide launch as it is a diverse and vibrant global city", said Yazmany Arboleda, an artist from New York city. His floating installation attracted the curiosity of the young, elderly, employed, students and all others who were in or around Shivaji Nagar bus stand in the forenoon of 24th January 2011.The objective of the activity was to encourage people to start their Monday (work week) on a positive note. With teenagers Divya and Gautam Ravindran from Shanti Bhavan assisting him enthusiastically, Arboleda invited around ten thousand passengers and passers by to be a part of…

Most buses have only the pictures of fetching starlets on them...so once in a while, it's good to see someone that we can all look up to! What a pleasant surprise it was, to see this!⊕

One of the conveniences of living in an Indian city is that one can get excellent value for money. Let's take the example of coffee...if one wants a quick shot of the drink, there's always the ubiquitious neighbourhood Darshini to provide a "baitu" thimbleful. But if one wants some freshly roasted and ground coffee powder to take home, there are plenty of shops to cater to that, too. Here's the signboard of one shop in the Jayanagar 9th Block market area: I go in, and the shop owner asks me which kind of coffee powder I want, and whether I…