GENRE: Features

We all have heard of the dangers of plastic - about how animals can ingest the plastic and can then die due to indigestion. But there are several other ways plastic can endanger wildlife, too. Sometimes, the dangers are seen quite dramatically. Let me illustrate with two examples that I saw. At Nandi Hills, I saw this Black (or Common) Kite, with a big plastic bag entangled in its talons. It was flying about, desperately trying to get the bag off, but in vain: Black Kite with Plastic Caught in Talon Nandi Hill The Kite could not chase any prey…

One of the amazing things about the city of Bangalore is that it sits on a natural wonder... the rock that the city sits on is one of the oldest exposed rocks in the world. Lalbagh rock. Pic: Deepa Mohan This wonder of Nature, called Peninsular Gneiss, is so easy to see. Here’s what the Wikipedia entry says: “The Geological Survey of India identified one of the best exposures of this rock mass, protruding high above the ground as a hillock (pictured), dated 2.5 to 3.4 billion years, in the Bangalore city in India at the famous Lalbagh gardens and…

Diwali always brings back fond childhood memories of buying new clothes, bursting crackers and the house filled with the yummy aromas of various sweets and savouries being made at home. Preparations for Diwali would start a week or two in advanceand the goodies stored in boxes for eating and distributing among friends and families during the festival. The more we gave the more sweets and other goodies that we got back in return. Though this happened just once a year, by the end of the festive season we got to the point of having an overload of sweets. These days,…

Day 1: September 27, 2013 It was a very pleasant day. Crowne Plaza in electronic City was teeming with life. The first day of the Bangalore Literature Festival had kick-started. Unsurprisingly, Friday saw the smallest attendance due to it being a work day. The line-up for Friday’s panels featured a variety of famous faces ranging from Sri Sri Ravishankar and TV Mohandas Pai to Farhan Akhtar. Being the first day of the Literature Festival, I had made the decision to meander between talks. At first it had seemed like a smart idea. I thought it would allow me to get…

Goddess of the occasion - Durga - a synthetic marble dollDolls of Sharada, Durga and Lakshmi made of Clay and PoPThere are too many dolls to choose from , mostly all traditional.Park items - trees and shrubs - made up of clay and PoPHanumantha meeting Rama with a message from SitaA part of Ramayana setRavana's courtDolls of Thirupathi god and goddessKrishna stealing clothes of Gopikas - a scene from Bhaagawatha - clay and PoP dollsCute students studying ABCD in school - dolls are not meant to be only traditional.‹ › $(document).ready(function(){ $('.carousel .carousel-inner .item').first().attr('class', 'active item');}); Click to view the…

I don’t really know his name. Never need it I guess. The conversation with him happens because we cannot find a parking spot. It is eight in the night on a road near Commercial Street. The shops are still open and cars fill the tiny road. Me and husband are hungry and want to buy a burger from a shop nearby. A rickshaw driver stands parked on the road, blocking the space our car can fit it. I get down, request him to back it a little and direct my car in triumphantly. While the burgers are being ordered, since…

Who doesn’t love Eric Carle’s super illustrated bug book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar?” You haven’t read it? Shame! Then go read it now! It was my initiation into a wonderful world of insects, and caterpillars in particular.  When my little one first showed interest in bugs, I figured this book would be a fun way to introduce insects to him in a non-threatening way. There was no stopping him after. Stop! Don’t click over to the next post! This is not a book review about Carle’s book. This post is about the delightful world of insects that abound around us.…

Kids are fussy eaters and there’s hardly a parent who isn’t stressed out about what their child ‘will and won’t’ eat. Most of the times the ‘won’t ‘list exceeds the one’s that they do eat. Sometimes these are not of utmost concern for most pediatricians or dietitians, but if key nutrients are getting missed out on a daily basis, then an alternate solution needs to be looked into. Minimise the consumption of junk foods with no mnerals and vitamins among kids. File pic. One of the key nutrients in a child’s diet is calcium. If your child is allergic (lactose…

All you gardeners of Bengaluru, here's something you might have missed. Lalbagh saw a beautiful show of Orchids last weekend. The Orchid Society of Karnataka (TOSKAR) had organised a two-day Orchid show, on September 21 and 22. Exotic species and range of hybrid Orchids were on display. It was altogether a new flowery world, with blooms of all colours, size and shapes.   That does look like a butterfly, but no, it's not! The shape is deceptively similar. There were many more surprises like his on display at the exhibition.  There were stalls selling Orchids, Orchid accessories and books related…

Bangalore Literature Festival (BLF), the flagship literary event on the cultural calendar of Bangalore city, is all set for its second edition from September 27 to 29 at the Crowne Plaza, at Velankani Park in Electronics City. From (L-R) Shinie Antony, Vikram Sampath, Srikrishna Ramamurthy - cofounders of Bangalore Literature Festival (1) Building on the successful 2012 debut edition, this year BLF will  feature over a 100 authors and speakers, including several distinguished literary names like Gulzar, RamachandraGuha, William Dalrymple, U R Ananthamurthy, Rajmohan Gandhi, Chandrashekhara Kambara, Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Rakesh Omprakash Mehra, Farhan Akhtar, David Davidar, Wendell Rodricks, Prasoon…