GENRE: Features

Baijudev, Benny Paul, Bijoy Velekkatte, Devidas Varma, Dr Mohan K G, Gireesan V S, Gireesan Bhattathiripad, Gopi P S, Jayan Pudumana, Jose P O, Krishnana Mallissery, Manikandan Punnakkal, M A Venu, Mohan Alankode, Nandakumar, N B Lathadevi, Renjan P C, Revathi Venu, Roy Thomas, Satheesan, Sasidharan, Sasi Kandoth, Shadanan Anikkath, Sivadas, Venugopal and Viswanath P I displayed the paintings that they had created specially for this show called Pallette 2009. Painting by M.A.Venu (Pic: Lakshmi Menon) With such a huge number of participants, one can only imagine the variety and size of the show. Most of the work was abstract…

The response to the first edition of the series ‘Birds of Bangalore’ was extremely encouraging, and so here is the next part.  In this series we take a closer look at some of the birds in our backyard. In deference to reader’s feedback, a few tips on bird watching have also been included at the end of the article which is sure to help one get started and develop the hobby. Areas to sight it around Bangalore: It is fond of well watered areas. So the best places to sight it are Lalbagh, Cubbon park, Hebbal and Madivala lakes. The…

The Carnatic classical music scene in Bengaluru is active with many mellifluous spots spread all over the city. One such small venue is the residence of Raviprakash HK. A consultant print engineer by profession, his busy life limited his time for music. When Ravi was building his house at Basavanagudi, an idea stuck him; why not have a dedicated place for young upcoming musicians to perform? So he went ahead and constructed a single room with tiled roof on his terrace for this exclusive purpose. Latest concert at the music terrace (Pic: Raviprakash)Raviprakash's wife Anuradha explains “When we were small,…

Disgustingly Cool Books for Kids. Hearing the title, I was certainly curious to know more. I decided to meet Poonam Bir Kasturi (founder of Daily Dump, which offers home composting solutions in Bengaluru through a range of services and products), the person responsible for these publications. The sleek set of five booklets, published by Daily Dump, introduces concepts of environment-friendliness, waste, sustainability, consumerism et cetera to children in an interesting and engaging manner. Disgustingly Cool books for kids (Pic: Vinitha) Poonam firmly believes product design must always intersect with sustainability. The primary design consideration for this set of books was…

“You see this fan, ma’am? When this turns, air is sent into a compression chamber. The compressed air is then mixed with fuel that is sent through the fuel injectors and the mixture is ignited. The resultant hot gas provides a thrust for the turbines to turn." Walrus Overhaul (Pic: HAL museum) I nodded my head eagerly as Ranjan, the guide at the HAL Aerospace museum, explained the mechanics of turbo fan engine which is used in the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) built by HAL. We were standing in front of the engine model in the HAL museum and vague…

Anybody who has walked down Jayanagar’s 4th Main (Nanda Talkies) Road or any of Bangalore’s other avenues, would know that trees can significantly lower ambient temperatures. And that is just one of the many ecological, social and economic benefits of city trees. They help reduce pollution, runoff and the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. And they contribute to the well-being of citizens, literally: a classic experiment in the US showed that hospital patients who had a view of a grove of trees recovered faster than those whose rooms faced a brick wall. But all this information on urban…

Bangalore does not have the most conducive environment for persons with respiratory complaints. How serious this was struck me only when my little one started having bouts of wheezing, at just 9 months of age. In my anxiety I visited a pulmonologist and even started administering an inhaler. It was only a few weeks later that I checked myself and wondered if an alternate remedy was possible. Colius Aromaticus (pic: Meera K) And then as I started searching for more natural and homemade remedies for common ailments, I realised what a treasure trove (rather, a medicine chest?!) I had right…

In 1996, noted writer and publisher, S V Sreenivasa Rao, was given the Aryabhatta award, in recognition of his contribution to Kannada literature. Thereafter he was awarded the ‘Kannada Sri' from the Kannada Sahitya Parishat (2000) and ‘Karnataka Sri' from Karnataka Rajya Prashasti (2005). Rao has also won Attimabbe and Ranne Sahitya Prashasti for Mahitikosha, his encyclopedia on Kannada writers. Sreenivasa and Anusuya Rao (pic: Sudha Narasimhachar) Winning awards is a habit for 76-year-old Rao. His drawing room has no more space, given the awards that he's won; starting from school days, through college life, until today. Strangely enough, this…

Life on a road with all the hustle bustle goes on as usual. One fine day, residents and traders on that road wake up to the fact that there are strange markings on many of the properties which have appeared overnight. The President of the Traders Association gets a letter from the municipality that the road where they do business and reside is up for expansion. Reason: need for better connectivity from the city centre to the new international airport. A couple of days later, overcome with grief, the man suffers a heart-attack and passes away. Undeterred by the official…

Talented and energetic children keen on action. Inspired and excited adolescents eager to share their learnings. A strong and supportive working women's collective. A potent mix for a promising start. And start they did! In amazing style. Singing, dancing, speaking and drawing about the country, society, violence, peace and unity. Generational Shift - an unlettered yet empowered Rukminiamma (a SJS veteran) with her English speaking granddaughter Nisha and friend Vidya, both CYS members (pic: PA)On 26th January 2009, Chaitanya Yuwa Samiti (CYS), a community-based organization and youth wing of Stree Jagruti Samiti, was formally launched at the SJS office, off…