Blogs

 S'pot' the difference! Pic: Divya Sreedharan One of the boys in the photograph above, is a Transformers lover, he makes paper planes, he goes to school, he attends birthday parties and playdates. And he loves going to the park to play in the sand. That boy is my son. Let's call him MS (my son). The other boy is a little bit older, but not much bigger in build. He too goes to school. In fact, he is in class 5. But he is not a 'child' any more. He also works on the weekends, to help out his parents.…

Anand Sankar, who transported his two cats from Bangalore to Delhi by air, writes:  Just thought I should share my experience of transporting my cats by air (domestic, within India), could be useful for anyone! From a cursory reading online and through forums, I found that budget airlines don't have much interest in transporting pet animals. And I wouldn't trust a budget airline with my pets. The choice boiled down to Air India or Jet Airways. -- Air India has a strange policy of not allowing pets in cargo holds. They have to be carried in the cabin, but only…

  Sincere thanks to our neighbourhood clean-up crew at Puttenahalli Lake, 15th Feb 2015 (Pic: Vishnupriya)  A glimpse of Snehadhara Foundation's work in progress - getting ready for its role at Puttenahalli Kere Habba.  A few enthusiasts did the bird count at our lake during the Bangalore Bird Count last weekend. Despite the several constraints, natural and man made, we are happy to report that as many as 28 species were spotted at our lake. If you would like to spot these birds and/learn basics of photography, please join the exclusive session for beginners at the Puttenahalli Kere Habba 3:30…

Ameen Ahmed writes from his  home near Hebbal : I get a frantic call during a critically important meeting with a client in south Bengaluru, by my wife taking care of our child suffering from another bout of asthma for the past two days, alone at home about 2 hours away in North Bengaluru. Apparently a bunch of armed policemen, all but one in civilian clothing, behaving more like gangsters of a B-grade Bollywood flick were forcing their way into our home around 4:20PM today (Fri., 19 Feb. '15). Trying to piece the information collected from the building's security guards,…

Lalbagh has 240 acres of land, almost at the center of the city. This was started in the year 1760 by Hyder Ali as a private garden of 40 acres which eventually expanded to accommodate approximately 1,854 species of flora including various ornamental plants. Glass house, aquarium, sidewalks, nursery and many other attractions lure the visitors. The park requires approximately 2.1-2.2 million liters of water daily, hence when there is no rain, artificial watering is a must. This could be problematic too, as the water supply in the city is dwindling. A 20-acre tank, nine bore wells (sparing three non-functional old…

Bengaluru's Big Banyan Tree, or Dodda Alada Mara. Pic: Vivek M After the construction of the new airport, Bangalore is fiercely expanding towards the north consuming more and more rural areas like these. This big banyan, located in Avalahalli just off the Doddaballapur Road, is now in the company of many apartment complexes and even an international school. It remains to be seen what happens to it in the next couple of years. Related Articles During the festival... A bull that never stopped growing Old house and the bull at the Pete

In recent years there has been a lot of talk about how Bangalore will run out of water soon. I find that strange, in a city where we get as much rain as piped water supply, and in a region with an abundance of water bodies. We could easily create one more Cauvery - and that would be enough to sustain the next 10 million people added to the metropolitan area, not just in Bangalore, but in surrounding towns and cities too - if we simply did all the right things. 1. Watershed improvement and local supply from the region’s…

Recently, we went to see close assorted family living in the Nilgiris. We took the route that goes via Bandipur, Masinagudi, Kalhatty, Ooty, Wellington. The journey was a revelation, in many ways. At the entrance to Bandipur, there were groups of young people cautioning motorists against speeding, or honking and littering the National Park. "It's a Tiger Reserve", they reminded us, "so, please don't stop anywhere, drive with respect," they added, waving us on with a smile. My husband and I were surprised of course, but also gladdened, to see such committed conservationists giving up their holidays to do something…

PNLIT takes great pleasure in hosting "Lake Alive: Puttenahalli Kere Habba 2015" on Saturday 21st February. The festivities will start from 3 p.m. and go on till 7 p.m.Location: Puttenahalli Lake, JP Nagar 7th Phase (next to MLR Convention Centre, Brigade Millennium) "Kere Habba" is an initiative of the Namma Bengaluru Foundation to promote conservation of lakes. Partnering PNLIT in this event is Arghyam's India Water Portal.  The first Kere Habba that was held at Kaikondrahalli Lake in January was attended by over 3000 citizens.  Entry is free and open to all. There will be food and other items available on sale. Donations to PNLIT, exempt u/s 80G, are welcome.  Visitors can…

Bellandur Buzz Issue # 29 Date: 12 February 2015. This fortnightly newsletter is published by the citizen group bellandur.forum@googlegroups.com  Neralu tree walk Several days back, a nature walk was organized in HSR layout as part of the Neralu – Bengaluru Tree festival. http://neralu.in/ The walk was led by Ajit Ampalakkad. The participants met in front of MK Retail, 17th Cross at 7.30 am. The walk was about learning to love the subtle way nature lives around us - silent but still buzzing with activity. As the walk progressed, the participants began to view the nuances of nature differently: they realized…