Blogs

Whenever anyone says Bangalore has changed, I would just brush it aside saying ‘of course, what doesn't change?' But thinking about it made me realise just how much the city has really changed. From the time of my childhood. Malls, coffee shops, high rise buildings - Bangalore has changed. I grew up in the Cantonment side of Bangalore and have always lived here. So family outings were restricted to this side of town, and not areas like Jayanagar and Basavangudi in South Bangalore which have so many well-known eateries.As a child I remember Sunday dinners to be spent at Shyam…

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Anitha Ranjani Sampath, a power systems engineer in Bangalore and a volunteer with Hasiru Usiru’s (HU) Namma Raste Namma Ooru and Namma Metro campaigns since August 2008, filed RTI applications to obtain critical information regarding various public infrastructure projects. In an e-chat, she readily shared her experiences as below.What motivated you to request these details? During various discussions within HU, we realised that essential data that were unclear about the Namma Metro and road widening projects included the following: •  Overall expenditure, construction and execution plan •  Impact on trees – how many will be cut, when, where and why?…

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Having missed the first staging of this German folklore-based play, I was very keen to attend the show when it was staged yesterday (27th October 2009) as part of the Ranga Shankara 5th anniversary celebrations. (Aru addressing the children on stage, just before the play started.)It was indeed heartening to see the enthusiastic lineup of children just before the play, and I was also impressed that Sankar's Cafe at Ranga Shankara also has a Readng Corner for children now. Theatre and allied activities seem to be actively encouraged at Ranga Shankara and this is a great thing to see."Zapperdockel and the…

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Today (October 27, 2009) at the first day of the NASSCOM Product Conclave and Expo 2009, it was good to see the level of interest in startups and the product ecosystem in Namma Bengaluru.  Participants were a mix of start ups, large corporates, evangelists, VCs, academicians and of course The Press. I also met entrepreneurs who had come from outside the city to attend this programme. Guy Kawasaki, MD, Garage Technology Ventures delivered the keynote address. I missed some of it, but  caught the tail bit where he said that "experts" could also go wrong. He gave examples of how the…

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With cameras we shot Things 'cool' and hot And stories we got Of what was but is not... Pasha's chai 'Lock'ed with paan Mosque view Ulsoor Market Timekeepers for generations Smile please... Pandian, Ijaz and friend Glow of steel! How's my future? Clothes ahoy! A centurion Bankers of yore Pure caffeine Welcome home:) Oct-3 to Oct-9: Bazaar Street, Halasuru Market Carts moving and stopping Cycles ringing and pedalling Stalls on wooden boxes Shops under metal roofs   Pasha the tea maker Mary the fruit vendor Pandian the sundal seller Abdul the fishmonger   Temples, churches, mosques Standing for centuries Hawkers…

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Gyan, the business advisor was participating in an informal discussion at the fringe of a two day conference where many entrepreneurs were present. The discussion was focused around the sudden interest in M&A deals in early stage ventures and valuation of these companies. Mukesh referred to two companies which were being acquired and then spoke about one other company where the deal was stalled because of differences in valuation. Gyan, "It is not about valuation alone, I understand that there were other issues, related to regulations and tax matters. Valuation is just one aspect of deals and growth in a…

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We live in times of massive traffic pileups on our roads and the stress that comes from simply watching long lines of vehicles stopped at intersections. With the ever increasing pressure on local authorities to relieve congestion, how did it come to pass that the BBMP-proposed link road connecting the Yeshwanthpur-Yelahanka artery to NH 7 (Bellary Road) resulted in a major litigation in the High Court?Over 4 kms of the proposed link road is to be laid through forestland inside the University of Agricultural Sciences’ GKVK campus in northern Bengaluru. The forestland itself was granted to the university by an…

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After successfully staging the play at Ranga Shankara, the young Bangalore theatre group, Dramanon, is staging the play at Alliance Francaise de Bangalore. Troupe : Dramanon, BangalorePlaywright : Melissa James GibsonDirector : Sharanya RamprakashVenue : Alliance de FrancaiseDate & Time : October 24th (4.30 PM & 7:30 PM)Telebooking No : 9880036611/ 9845017975 Online Booking : www.indianstage.inPlay Synopsis:sic (adv.): thus, so.[sic] takes place primarily in the doorways and shared hallway of three neighbouring apartments. Meet Theo, the desperate & edgy amusement park ride theme music composer, the struggling and ever-broke writer Babette, and Frank, the queer, happy-go-lucky aspiring auctioneer. See them…

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