GENRE: Features

Peace, solitude, glimpses of mythological past and a touch of divinity are what you get when you head for a trip to Mulbagilu. We set out from Bangalore by eight in the morning on Bangalore-Hoskote route. It was just me, my 5 year old and my husband. We reached Kurudamale by 10 am and covered both Maha Ganapathi and Someshwara temple. Chat with the Someshwara temple priest for some time if you can and he will gladly furnish you with details of the temple architecture and its history. Mulbagilu - View from Lav-Kusha hill. Pic: Usha Hariprasad. Our next stop…

A woman in a ghetto in Cambodia who will not let her house be pulled down. Elsewhere, in Rio Janeiro, a mother mourns the death of a son killed amidst the rivalry between favelas. In India, another woman wows that her son will only marry a rape victim. In Kibera (Kenya), the largest slum in Africa, a mother still dares to dream of a better world for her children. These are some of the protagonists of director JR's Women are Heroes, joined only by their gender and their undefeatable propensity to hope. Pic courtesy: JR's official website. The picture represents…

Kempe Gowda (Kannada)Kempe Gowda is a typical "cops and robbers" film from Indian cinema. But Kicha Sudeep brings together excellent production values and powerful performances to make for entertaining cinema. Source: Facebook Official Fan Page Based on the Tamil film Surya-starrer Singam, we see police officer Kempe Gowda (Sudeep) taking on the powerful underworld don Arumugham (Ravishankar). Backing him every step is the lady he loves (Ragini Dwivedi).The highlight of this film is Sudeep's performance as he breathes fire and power into his role. It's hard to find a single frame where he's not in character, and this gives the…

With segregation and composting, communities in Bengaluru are successfully making their surroundings zero-waste zones. Sadashivnagar, LIC Colony in Jayanagar and Ferns Paradise – a gated community near Marathahalli – shared their stories at ‘Love my city; manage my waste’ - an event on community composting held by waste management solutions company Daily Dump on February 20th. Citizen Matters and Apartment Adda were partners for this event. Working together, these communities have minimized waste, turned waste into resource and in the process, help BBMP garbage contract workers earn extra money. Green Diamond, Diamond District complex, Domlur Shalini Khanna Charles of Project…

Did you know that 50,000 people die of venomous snakebites in India every year? Deaths that could be averted if people had access to an effective anti-venom cure. This was one of many startling discoveries at the end of the screening of A Million Snakebites by the Gerry Martin project at the British Council. The Gerry Martin Project is an initiative for wildlife conservation and education, spearheaded by Bangalore based Gerry Martin. In this film made for the BBC, reptile conservationist Rom Whitaker travels across India, from Tamil Nadu to Rajasthan to Assam, collecting snake venom in an effort to…

The Bangalore East Railway Station is very close to my house and very often I find myself walking along the railway tracks looking for butterflies and other urban wildlife. The bushes and shrubs along the line are a haven for urban wildlife. One day among the bushes and shrubs, I happened to chance upon a familiar plant, almost like an old friend. It was the Milkweed. The Giant Milkweed. Pic: Vikram Nanjappa. Milkweed is also known as French cotton, crown flower or bonba in Spanish is a soft wooded, evergreen shrub. Its long limbs hold six to eight-inch opposite leaves…

The Democratic Actor's Association of Misf!t Theater (Theatrix) in association with Cult Entertainment staged a play in Alliance Francaise called "Poison" on February 19.  The play was written and directed by a debutant young director, Chandrahasa Reddy. It was promoted as a laughter riot, which talks about people, their relationships and rumours. The play was based on the story of a married couple, Mr and Mrs Sharma and their shallow unsatisfying existence. Two other stories of a Police Inspector and an ambitious Social Worker, Smitha run in parallel to the main story. The play is about how these stories cross paths creating…

Over the past two weeks, Citizen Matters caught up with four of this year's Namma Bengaluru award winners for quick tete a tetes. The awards were given on February 3rd to ten deserving Bangaloreans at the Bangalore Palace.   Award winners and jury members at the Namma Bengaluru award ceremony. Pic: Yogaraj S Mudalgi VASUDEV ADIGA(Entrepreneur of the year) Entrepreneur of the year Vasudev Adiga, his award from Lokayukta Santhosh Hegde. Pic: Yogaraj S Mudalgi K N Vasudev Adiga, Managing Director of Adigas Fast Food Pvt Ltd started with a darshini in 1993 serving delicious food at affordable prices and…

It was a day to remember the nine lives lost and 70 others who were injured in the fire that broke out at Carlton Towers, Indiranagar on 23rd February 2010. A memorial service was organised exactly one year later at the Manipal Hospital auditorium by Beyond Carlton, a trust founded by Uday Vijayan. Vijayan is father of one of the victims, Akhil Uday. The trust carries on fire safety awareness initiatives at public places and educational institutions to prevent another fire like the one that broke out in Carlton Towers. Lighting the lamp, with a loss felt deeply. Pic: YM.…

Walk into any locality in Bangalore, even some of the more densely packed areas, and take a moment to try and block out the urban noise. It is almost a given that you will hear a penetrating two toned whistle, you might think that it is some roadside Romeo making a nuisance of himself but in fact it is made by a resident whose presence in our city vastly outnumbers those of our roadside Romeos. They too frequent market places looking for easy pickings. He even shares a name with the roadside Romeo of the silver screen but unlike his…