GENRE: Features

To read part I of the series, click here: How C V Raman came to Bangalore The house of Tatas had always hoped to have an Indian director for the institute one day, which was not very feasible in the colonised country. But the opportunity to economise on the weight carried by Raman’s international reputation, by his knighthood and the Nobel Prize, was quickly seized by the Tatas, and for the first time ever since its inception in 1909, an Indian was appointed as the director of IISc in 1933. Many nationalists at that time harboured a feeling that the…

Another evening, another Ganesha procession passing by to get to the Mallathahalli tank. It has been more than a month since the Ganesha festival, but the sounds of passing processions—typically a tractor with a massive Ganesha, surrounded by hooting teenage boys, drums in front and more boys (younger and teens) dancing around it—is still not unusual. One of the perks of living close to a lake, I guess. If there are still idols being dumped in the lake, wonder what the situation would have been over the month. The area for dumping is a small pond cut out from the…

C V Raman in his classroom. Pic courtesy: Oldindianphotos.in November 2015 marks the 127th birthday, and the 45th year of demise, of Chandrasekhar Venkata Raman, one of the greatest minds produced in the twentieth century. Bengaluru was home to this great mind, nobel laureate who is popular as Sir C V Raman. The city bears many landmarks and institutions in his memory,  such as Raman Research Institute,  Panchavati - C V Raman’s home in Malleshwaram where he lived, and C V Raman Nagar. Born in Thiruvanaikaval near Trichinopoly to Chandrashekar Iyer and Parvathi Ammal on November 7, 1888, Raman was…

A food cart serving sundal at Halasuru Market. Pic: Pushpa Achanta One of my favourite times in school was when the last bell rang... That’s when he used to walk in, pushing his cycle and finally parking it under the shade of a tree. No, I’m not referring to some hot hunk of a senior. I’m talking about the dhoti-wale uncle with his faded grey tin can of treats for the taste buds, who sold the best kachoris. He would listen patiently to every child screaming out his preference and pull out a puri, fill it with onions, sweet, spicy…

In late September, a young woman from Bengaluru woke up in the wee hours of the night with a rumbling stomach. As she munched away to fill her stomach, she thought of the many people in the city who probably went to sleep on an empty stomach. Thus began Feed Your Neighbour (FYN), a campaign started by Mahita Fernandez, a young entrepreneur, to eradicate Bengaluru’s hunger. For those who are still in the dark about the initiative, here’s a quick introduction. FYN calls for Bengalureans to cook five additional meals at their home between October 12th and 22nd, and drop…

Jörn Rhode, German Consul General, Anne-Katrin Fenk, MOD Institute, Rachel Lee, MOD Institute, Habitat Unit @ TU Berlin and Madhavi Desai, CEPT University, Ahmedabad at the launch of OK India. Pic: MOD Institute In early September 2015, MOD Institute, an urban action and research institute based in Berlin and Bengaluru, and the German Consulate General Bengaluru, released the book, Otto Koenigsberger: Architecture and Urban Visions in INDIA. The books traces German architect Otto Koenigsberger’s time in India, and how his planning and design concepts continue to be relevant for urban development in India even today. Koenigsberger in India Story has…

Bengaluru. Snarling morning office traffic. A population of 10 million jostling for space. Boring office, same old chores. Two million working executives struggling for breath. Snail-paced late evening traffic back home. No small wonder that three-fourths of the respondents in a recent survey commented that they are deeply demotivated; They are not stimulated enough, either in their personal or professional lives. We could relate to these boring data points without too much difficulty – because we are part of Bangalore too, and we are going through the same rigmarole. Based on the idea that was thrown up by Benedict Paramanand,…

Thank god it didn't rain! We never thought we would say this but it was important that the early evening of Sat. 12th Sept remained nice and dry. "Keshavraju Thippaswamy" wanted a drum above everything else. Would he get it was the question in the minds of the 30 odd children who had gathered in the Gazebo at the Puttenahalli Lake in South Bengaluru. The occasion was a celebration, though a little delayed, of International Literacy Day with a story telling by Geetu and team from the Snehadhara Foundation in an event organized by PNLIT. As part of its One Day…

The nightmare of our lakes is fast approaching. Yes, this is the time of year that every lake that has water in it would actually be wishing it was dry enough to turn away devotees of Lord Ganesha. Every year during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, thousands of idols that do not dissolve/ with hazardous paint and paraphenalia (not environmentally friendly) find their way to lakes and immersion tanks, creating tons of garbage after the festival.   This year, in order to encourage people to use clay Ganesha idols, MAPSAS will be doing two events at Kaikondarahalli Lake on Sunday, 13th…

PNLIT invites you to celebrate International Literacy Day with "The Boy and the Drum" an engaging folk tale chosen especially for this year's event by Pratham Books. The book, adapted from a folktale by Umesh PN and beautifully illustrated by Rajiv Eipe is different because it is written in a way that can be performed as a play or read as a story. Meet Umesh the writer here. Geetu and her Snehadhara team are gearing up to tell the tale at Puttenahalli Lake. Will it be a play? Will it be a story? Find out for yourselves at the story telling session.   Date: Saturday, 12th September 2015  Time: 4:30…