GENRE: Features

ook release of "The Song of the Magpie Robin. The autobiography of Zafar Futehally" by Dr K Ullas Karanth.    Wednesday 10, December 2014. 6.30    BIC Auditorium, TERI complex 4th Main, 2nd Cross Domlur II Stage, Bangalore 560071   RSVP 98865 99675

When we observe water birds, we find that they have many different varieties of fishing for food, and here's one of the most interesting. The birds in my photographs are Painted Storks, beautiful birds which you will see in almost all large lakes of Bangalore. I took these photos at Kaikondrahalli Lake, on November 23rd, 2014. Here's a Stork, standing in the water, getting ready to look for its breakfast. The eye is already cast down in concentration. As the birds look for fish under the water, they raise one wing and hold it just above their head level. This…

Someone in your apartment complex has collapsed. You suspect it is a cardiac arrest and have called for an ambulance. However, you know that the ambulance is going to take a while to arrive, considering the traffic. You also know that the victim needs timely help. What can you do now? When an individual suffers a cardiac arrest, this is what happens within his body: His heart has unexpectedly and suddenly stopped functioning. This prevents the effective supply of blood, and therefore oxygen to his brain. This also causes him to lose consciousness and stop breathing. If untreated, the lack…

PNLIT is committed to promoting awareness of the environment among the residents around the Puttenahalli Lake. We are happy to tie up with Artyplantz to achieve this end. Like PNLIT, ArtyPlantz loves nature and takes real pleasure especially in plant life.  ArtyPlantz and PNLIT are organizing two specially designed programmes on Sunday, 16th November at Puttenahalli Lake, JP Nagar 7th Phase, Bangalore.   Session 1 - for adults and children above 15 years - to sensitize and help them connect with nature. This event will be held 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fee Rs. 350/participant. Seats limited to 20.   Session 2 - for children between…

It was good to get back to Ranga Shankara and theatre after a long hiatus, and it so happened that it was a play from the land I had left behind! Poorna Jagannathan Productions was staging, as part of the Martin Moran India tour, his play, "The Tricky Part". The play, written and performed by Martin Moran, is the story of his life.  Between the ages of 12 and 15, he had a sexual relationship with a much older man, who was actually a counselor he met at a Catholic boys' camp. How he resolves the ancient conflicts, and his…

Kannada pride in Nagashettihalli. Pic courtesy: M S Gopal My daily commute takes me from Mallathahalli (which gets confused with Marathahalli a lot) to a place in Kadubeesanahalli, which lies next to Devarabeesanahalli. My colleagues commute from places like Konanakunte, Gottigere, Bilekahalli, Parappana Agrahara, Kaikondarahalli, Doddakanelli, Kaggadasapura etc.I sometimes wonder how a non-Kannadiga who’s just landed in Bangalore Bengaluru, or living here for a few years, would take to these names. He/she would also have the problem of having to live in places like Garebhavipalya, Bommanahalli, Tippasandra or even Kormanagala, or Madiwala that make you pull out the South Indian…

Today KCDC has around 300 vermi-composting pits. Pic: Nikita Malusare I had ended my first blog on garbage (you can read this blog here) with the observation that the Karnataka Compost Development Corporation was not making a great deal of money from the business of producing compost from city garbage, even though we had a long waiting list of satisfied customers and no marketing problem on our hand. We had two problems with compost production. The first was that in a city that produced plenty of garbage - it was estimated to be around 1,000 tons per day then and…

One of the origami cranes with the message of acceptance on the bottom of the wings is shown above. Credit: Shivani Pal Shivani Pal, a fan of Origami, residing in Bangalore, firmly believes she can overturn the societal conviction where inter-caste marriage is treated as a “crime.” Shivani is working on a project to promote acceptance of inter-caste marriage as part of her education at the Landmark Worldwide group. The project is two-fold: Her and a close group of family and friends make origami cranes with a message about “A Community of Love: Look beyond caste, creed and religion” with…

A week has sped by but the story telling event we had on Sept. 6th in collaboration with The Storywallahs is so vivid in our minds as if it took place, well, today. The occasion for special too - celebrating International Literacy Day.  The day was murky from morning and when it began to rain at around 2 p.m., we were relieved. If it rains now surely it won't during the story telling. We reached the lake well in advance, set out the registration counter and ... it rained. We took the table to the gazebo, wiped it dry and…

In 1997, while I was enjoying myself grappling with the policy challenges of the power sector, I was abruptly told that I must hand over my charge to an appointed successor – I was the Additional Secretary in the Energy Department, Karnataka – and take command of a tottering public sector undertaking, the Karnataka Agro Industries Corporation, as its Chairperson and Managing Director. I was aghast; but there was no going against the appointment. The Karnataka Agro Industries Corporation, a once proud institution that owed its prominence to the fact that it was a near monopoly provider of fertilizer retailing…