GENRE: Features

He is a 5-year-old boy. Most days, he is happy playing by himself, with his bead string or colour blocks. Occasionally his gaze is fixed outside the window, lost in the light. He throws tantrums when his favourite toys are taken by his 2-year-old sister. He is happy when he hears music - anything from classical to Bollywood numbers. He cannot sense any approaching danger. He has no fears of heights or heat. When Shyamantak was 3.5 years old, he was diagnosed as autistic. His parents were counselled and trained to adapt to the child's world. He goes to a…

Janapada Loka located at around 43 kms from Bangalore will make for an ideal visit for those who are who are inquisitive about cultural heritage. Just hop onto a bus, ride on your bike or stop by on the way to Mysore and have a peek at this world steeped in culture and art. Janapada Loka is located on the Bangalore-Mysore highway at about 3 kms from Ramanagaram. Inside Lokamatha Mandira (clockwise from top left): Flower baskets, Bhumanni & Achambli Ritual baskets and storage boxes; Fruit Baskets and Granaries; Vegetable/fish Cutter; Baricoot traps and tools used to pluck areca nuts;…

Koramangala resident Suman Bolar, communications consultant and creator of the Foodtravelbangalore blog is a fairly new art enthusiast. Her passion for art started with a visit to the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC about five six years ago. Right Lines Gallery at Indiranagar. Pic: Reshmi Chakraborty. "I did not know that looking at the photograph of a painting and looking at the real thing on the wall were such completely different experiences," Suman says. That visit started an interest in art that has seen Suman and her husband visit galleries and develop much more than a fleeting interest…

Draped in a beautiful black-and-grey cotton saree, Vinatha Iyengar, 68, walks into Nightingales Elders’ Enrichment Centre (NEEC) at Malleswaram to attend a talk on ayurveda. Her grace is arresting and voice resonates with confidence as she reels off botanical names of medicinal plants. She has doubts, arguments, and also visible concern about the dwindling medicinal varieties. The NEEC members from all walks of life share a few laughs after the regular Friday talk. Pic: Savita Hiremath. But it was the same woman ravaged by depression following her husband’s death three years ago. A homeopath and acupuncturist, she used to be…

A lot of heated debates at the recently concluded Copenhagen Climate Meet 2009 threw up more questions than answers. Though many argued over India's position in the debate, little is known of how its rapidly growing cities are contributing to global warming. Speaking locally, how much does Bangalore, teeming with a six-million-plus, contribute to India's total carbon emissions? How does it hold itself accountable to the mess our planet is in and how does it plan to help clean it up? The answer is systematic assessment of its emissions. As with much of the climate change topic, here it becomes…

The residents of Kaverinagar in North Bangalore have not received water from the BWSSB for about two years now. But bills from the water board have been delivered regularly. The only relief they have now is because of one of their neighbours Victoria who took it upon herself to help her neighbours by distributing water freely from her borewell.A kilo litre (1000 litres) of water costs the BWSSB Rs 34, including production, distribution and so on. An average consumer receives this water at a highly subsidised rate, paying around Rs 18 per kilo litre. It's those who purchase them through…

Bengaluru’s homegrown music bands have always created a buzz. Swarathama, Raghu Dixit Project, Thermal & a Quarter, Galeej Gurus are some of them.One such young band, which aspires to be big is Solder. Formed in 2009, this band is already riding high with number of shows lined up. They also walked away with the runners up trophy at the NLS Strawberry Fields. Formed in 2009, this band is already riding high, with a number of shows lined up. Pic: Madhu Shweta. Within this one year, Solder has had played in venues such as Opus, Kyra, Furtados (along with the band…

Rural idyll is not too far from the city and sometimes almost inside. A relative of mine told me about Mallaiah and his scenic farm just on the periphery of the city and how the land was under threat as the city greedily expands. Mallaiah with family. Pic: Varsha N Achar. Mallaiah lives in a small village called Gongdipura which comes under Kodigehalli taluk, about 5 kms away from Magadi Road-NICE Road junction in Bangalore city. I drove on the narrow road leading to Kodigehalli from the Sunkadkatte main road. Small houses on revenue sites and petty shops dotted on…

I walked into the auditorium in Bal Bhavan, Cubbon Park, to a stage full of little people dressed from head to toe in black, wielding puppets over half their size. Hope for the flowers performed by students of Ananya school. Pic courtesy: Ananya Trust. It was a puppet show organised by Ananya Trust, which runs a school called Ananya Shikshana Kendra to educate underprivileged children. Students complete their 10th standard and also undergo internship at companies like Printo. The school educates first generation learners and has a life skills program which integrates teaching and real like experience. The puppet show…

Close to 500 employees from companies within the Salarpuria Softzone campus including National Instruments, Airvana Akamai, SonicWall and so on were treated to a collection of bikes from Track & Trail and SportsXS on January 22nd.It was the first of the cycling workshops conducted by Bangalore Bikers Club (BBC) in 2010. The workshop also provided a platform for existing bikers within the campus to know each other and may be start group commutes and ask for cyclist friendly facilities within the campus. Pic credit: Krish. Personal cycles from members of BBC were displayed for participants to check out. It was…