GENRE: Features

'There are melas and there are melas', says Ashok Vyas of the Grameen Art Blue Pottery Society, Rajasthan. Vyas is a blue pottery craftsperson who hails from Kotjewar, around 40 km from Jaipur and has been associated with the Kala Madhyam Mela since its inception in 2001.According to him, though cities like Bengaluru are today typically saturated with numerous crafts fairs right through the year, there are only a few that offer a truly meaningful platform to showcase the craft and the craftspersons. And he counts the Kala Madhyam Mela as one of these. Leather wall hangings - craft from…

This centuries-old, elegant but small, temple in Begur is a place where Lord Shiva is worshipped. Begur temple is about 3.6 kms down Begur Road from the Bommanahalli junction on Hosur Road. People visit the temple to perform pujas or just a weekly ritual. I visited the place as part of a heritage walk organised by INTACH, Bangalore and the Bangalore City Project, on a bright Sunday morning, last month. Begur Temple Begur Temple from the side. Pic: Meera K. The domes of the twin temple are built in typical Dravidian style. The floor is raised slightly higher than the…

For Shyam Kumar, a software engineer from Domlur, taking a tour of the Hoysala terrain, was the ideal way to spend the weekend. While most people would associate Belur and Halebeedu (near Hassan) with the Hoysala kingdom, Kumar also got to explore the ancient town of Dwarasamudra spread around Halebeedu, ancient tanks and the lesser explored Hoysala temple at Belavadi. Exploring a Hoysala tank. Pic courtesy: Arun Bhat, Travelwise. The deviation from the usual Hoysala tourist circuit was courtesy Travelwise, a concept travel firm run by media professional and travel enthusiasts Lakshmi Sharath and Arun Bhat, a former IT professional…

How often have we not heard non-vegetarians crib about the lack of variety in the vegetarian cuisine - constantly branding it as "Ghas-poos"? Well, after a meal at the South Indies, even the most intractable of "pure" non-vegetarians would be forced to lick their fingers and then, eat some humble pie.South Indies is a part of a very small club of genuinely authentic restaurants in Bangalore and this is largely due to the entrepreneurial excellence of Managing Director, Vijay Abhimanyu  and the culinary expertise of Master Chef and CEO, Venkatesh Bhat. In fact, barring the beverages and the usual spread…

A science exhibition on a 16 coach AC train! Yes, “The Science express”, a science exhibition on a train that is travelling all over the country is now in Bangalore. The exhibits have been developed by the Max Planck Society, Germany, in collaboration with the Department of Science and technology (DST), the Government of India and the Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre (VASCSC).The train is in Bangalore, stationed at the Cantonment station, from the 10th to the 14th of this month. So far the train has visited over 100 cities covering a distance of 32000 kms. An exhibit at…

Past Saturday, December 5th saw a bunch of metal heads from the garden city of Bengaluru become a part of history by default. History because they witnessed India’s first ever international metal festival for climate change; default for the simple reason that there was absolutely no talk about climate change on stage. However, NGO heavyweights like Green Peace, Indian Youth Climate Network and Life did their bit by setting up stalls and signing petitions about climate change. These petitions will eventually be sent to a United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2010. At last count, a total of fifteen hundred…

Your father needs a set of diagnostic tests to be done. Your child is prone to allergic coughs. You need a second opinion before you go in for a treatment. You have a sore throat and you want to be sure it is not a serious virus attack. Who can you check with? Paramedicals explaining the Anyuta scheme. Pic courtesy: Anyuta Trust.What you need is a ‘Family Physician' or a ‘General Practitioner'. Someone who can provide primary and preventive healthcare, as well as advice and educate you to make an informed choice. Unfortunately, the concept of a family physician is…

There are 99 couples on the waiting list of Adoption Coordinating Agency (ACA), Karnataka, some of them patiently awaiting their turn since 2006. ACA is an NGO recognised by the Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) that facilitates adoptions across the country. The wait is due to a shortage of healthy babies below one year at these agencies, And most parents want to adopt babies very young. A happy 6 month old with her new mother. Pic Gokul Janga. Behind the Wait It's a common story across agencies in Bangalore. "There are not enough healthy infants and toddlers in adoption centres…

Apart from growing into a booming martial arts school in Bengaluru, Independent Shootfighters Inc. is also rapidly gaining ground in training women in self defense.Established in March 2007, the school has trained more than a lakh women in self defence through corporate workshops, schools, colleges and also as a social cause for Sri Lankan women refugees in Chennai. "Women’s self defence, has always been a topic close to my heart," says Ashwin Mohan. Pic credit: Ashwin Mohan. Independent Shootfighters was established with three students by Ashwin Mohan.  Today, it has eight coaches, seven centres and over 800 students across the…

“Parikrma does not have an ‘a’ before ‘m’ akka”, Phalitha corrected me. Sitting between seven school children who kept a watchful eye over my notes, I forgot that I was the one who should ask the questions. An eight-member-student team from Parikrma participated in the recent TEDIndia conference held at Infosys' Mysore Campus. Pic: Poornima Dasharathi. Phalitha G A, Soumya N, Vinod C, Vignesh S, Nikhil G, Manohar J Achar, Sreenivas and Nehminlen Haokip (“he’s from the north-east akka”) – all studying in 8th and 9th standards were a part of eight-member-student team that participated in the recent TEDIndia conference…