CHILDREN

The bright yellow walls of the building, a bountiful vegetable garden and smiling girls bring cheer to your heart as soon as you step into the '' Baale Mane'' premises. A home among the lush green ragi fields, eucalyptus groves and farm lands serve as the ideal retreat for the girls to grow in a nurturing environment. Baale Mane at Gopalapura. Pic: Suja Sukumaran. 'Baale Mane' meaning 'Girl's Home' is situated in the sylvan surroundings of Gopalapura, near Nelamangala, off Tumkur Road. It was founded in 2001 by Paraspara Trust, an NGO providing shelter and a home for girl children.…

Do you know how much of the pollution in the world is caused by cars? Some studies put that at 40%. As a result, some across the globe have chosen to observe 22nd September as World Car Free Day. ESAF, a Bangalore based not-for-profit organization that is campaigning to make the city a child friendly one, decided to do its bit to create awareness on the advantage of not using cars. On the 21st, the NGO has planned to distribute handbills along with 2 English and 1 Kannada newspapers to persuade car users to consider taking public transport. "Some friends…

Stonehill International School in Jalahobli, Bangalore North, has been ranked the best international school in Bangalore with a score of 4.30 out of 5, in a survey conducted by ThinkVidya.com, an online community of parents, students and schools. The International School Bangalore (4.09), Sarjapur Road was ranked second, Trio World School (4.07), Sahakarnagar and Jain International Residential School, off Kanakapura Road, were jointly ranked third. Twenty-six International schools were shortlisted for ‘International Schools in Bangalore’, the first time such an independent survey was being conducted in the city. Nearly 200 individuals filed responses to the survey.  The report noted that…

Making Human Rights a Household Concept is its mission. Standing by victims of discrimination, repression and violence is the very raison d'etre of the South India Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring (SICHREM) headquartered in Lingarajapuram in Bangalore. Envisioning a fearless society which uniformly respects the rights of everyone and particularly the marginalized, some concerned citizens started SICHREM in 1995. The NGO has been responding to the growing insensitivity to the law by the state and others through direct intervention, helpline, campaigns and tracking and reporting on unacceptable actions such as torture of prisoners, ill treatment of kids in…

Among the many times that I wonder about how the extremely marginalized cope with an empty stomach is when I hear the words "Mummy, I am hungry" on television. It is the ad jingle for a snack popular with children and youth since it entered India over twenty five years back. And it reminds me of the umpteen choices of 'fast' foods (usually unhealthy), available in urban areas. But, unlike the mum in the commercial, mothers of many children in this unenviable position cannot conjure up anything filling or tasty in two minutes! Take the case of Vimala and her…

R Ashok, Transport and Home Minister, and minister-in-charge of Bangalore, recently announced that BBMP would try to create new playgrounds. While this is a welcome statement, it is unfortunate that BBMP is threatening to take away a portion of a century-old playground. Protests at Malleswaram grounds. Pic: Vani Murthy BBMP's ill-advised Road-Widening plan will not only impact trees, homes and pedestrians but the century old Malleswaram 18th cross playground as well. Around 7 m – 12 m of the ground and the trees on one side of the ground will need to be given up if the road is widened.…

The Joy of Giving Week (JGW) is India's largest "festival of giving"! Launched in 2009, the festival is celebrated every year, in the week including Gandhi Jayanti, i.e., October 2, and brings together Indians from all walks of life, to celebrate "giving" The first event from JGW - Bangalore will be ‘The Road' event. (www.theroad.fr) A Royal Enfield Ride has been organised where three French bikers and one Indian biker will ride on their bullets from Bangalore to Paris. Purpose of the ride - JGW Awareness and fund raising for NGO - Baale Mane. The ride will be flagged off…

  rafikipresents"THE FABULOUS ADVENTURES OF ADITI AND FRIENDS"A Theatrical Experience for Children Directed by Anish Victor | Written by SunithaThe performance is based on the series written by Suniti Namjoshi, published by Tulika.Cast : Anil Ramachandra, Ashiqa Salvan, Charumathi Suprajha, Jayanthi Satchidanda, Ravindra Vijay and Shree Lakshmi Rao.  School shows on Weekdays (Mon - Fri) : 11th - 28th July 2011 at 10.30am and 1pm.Public shows on Sundays : 17th and 24th July 2011 at 3.30pm LIMITED SEATING.Venue : KK Foundation and Public Charitable Trust, Off Cunningham Road, Bengalooru (Behind KFC on Cunningham Road). Call : 98864 74674 for bookings. Follow us on http://www.facebook.com/aditiandfriends --…

  Painting Day at Ranga Shankara A "Painting Day" is organized at Ranga Shankara on Sat, 9 Jul between 2 PM and 6 PM. Thisevent is open to all children above 5. Children should come with brushes and crayons; RangaShankara will provide paper and paint.The art pieces that will emerge from the Painting Day will be exhibited at Ranga Shankara forover a month.The Painting Day will open the AHA! International Theatre for Children Fest '11.Date: 09 Jul ‘11 Venue: Ranga Shankara Time: 2 pm to 6 pm Age Group: 5 to 12 years You bring: Pencils, erasers, brushes, palette (to mix…

A sister and brother at pottery town. The sister saw my camera, flashed an absolutely charming smile, caught her brother and forced him to pose. Pic by Ravi Kaushik ⊕