GENRE: Features

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…

There is not even a name for it, not Sangama, not anything, but just Kudlu... the meeting point. Here the Vrushbhavathy, which rises from the Bull Temple in Basavangudi, Bengaluru meets the Arkavathy, which rises from the Nandi Hills range. Urban rivers have become 'nullahs' carrying sewage, the rural rivers—if you can even call it such—are dammed for urban water needs, for irrigation and for electricity. The Arkavathy is born here. At the birth place of the river, the well water is full and clean... The gentleman has been crossing the Arkavathy daily for the last 50 years... he wades across…

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference.” The Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting begins with the Serenity Prayer, recited mostly by the booming voices of men. Manjunath (name changed on request), a secretary for one of the Alcoholics Anonymous groups in Bengaluru, sits at the head of the borrowed schoolroom. As 11 am edges nearer, the crowd before him grows from 25 to 30 to nearly 40 people. They trickle in one by one, occasionally in pairs. Manjunath is a recovering alcoholic…

When a candidate contesting from a ward X in Bengaluru visited one of the houses during his door-to door campaign on Thursday, he had to face the wrath of residents. A house owner yelled at him and his supporters: “Why have you come now? Post election you won’t be seen anywhere. Election ada mele neevu pudaarigalu moote kattikondu hogthiri (You politicians will pack your bags soon after election).” Unmindful of her reaction, the candidate continued to ask for votes with a smile and humble look intact on his face. In a neighbouring ward Y with many posh houses, another party…

Websites? I mean, the homes of those that make homes of silk… that is, spiders. We’ve all seen spider webs around us: in the house, in the garden...and indeed, so synonymous is clearing spiders’ homes with our idea of keeping house well, that even when we talk about clearing our minds, we say, “let’s clear the cobwebs”. However, a closer look at these “websites” show they are marvels of engineering, strength and resilience. Spiders spin webs out of the silk that they produce, which passes out of their spinnerets. But the actual “architecture” of spider webs can vary very widely.…

Chintu TV is perhaps the only television channel that has been broadcasting dubbed content in Kannada. Pic courtesy: Chintu TV. When the fair-trade regulator Competition Commision of India (CCI) imposed penalties on three cinema and television organisations for preventing dubbing in Karnataka recently, the pro-dubbing fraction heaved a sigh of relief. The CCI order has been debated following the very long dubbing battle between anti-dubbing and pro-dubbing lobbies and organisations.   Kannada Grahakara Koota, a consumer forum which has been fighting in favour of dubbing, viewed the judgment as remarkable. They tend to believe that Kannadigas can now be able…

The new building of Government Higher Primary School, Nallurahalli which has remained unoccupied from last five years. Pic: Murugaraj Swaminathan Even after years of construction, the building of the Government Higher Primary School, Nallurahalli in Whitefield remained unoccupied. Inaugurated with much fanfare five years ago, the school building which is supposed to shelter students, turned out to be a dumpyard for builders. Eight classrooms in two blocks of the school were used by local contractors to dump the cement sacks, concrete blocks and other waste materials. However, the situation is going to change soon. You will hear the chitter-chatter of…

Sunday, 2nd August 2015 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Yelahanka Lake   This Cycle Day event is dedicated to the memory of Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. A poster exhibition is being organized at the venue. Cyclists will wear black armbands and observe two minutes silence in memory of the late President of India at the start of the cycle rally.   The cycle rally will be held around the 350-acre Yelahanka lake (around 6.5 km), followed by cultural events and traditional games on the street. Free cycle rentals with surrender of id card is being arranged. Light breakfast will be available…