GENRE: Features

Bella, an 18-month-old mixed breed therapy dog in Bengaluru, boasts of a busier calendar than many of ours. Apart from working as a therapist at the Paws and Hooves Project at Wag-ville, her one-acre sprawling therapy center, Bella also visits schools and homes for one-to-one therapy sessions. Her patients are kids or adults with behavioural issues, ADHD (Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), severe disability and autism. In her one-year career as a therapist, Bella has added many feathers to her cap. “Bella was my father’s therapy dog for a little over two months. She was helping him deal with speech and mobility issues…

The Mumbai Marathon is a special race. Great weather, flat course, the sea breeze and  wonderful crowd support from the cheerful Mumbaikars during the race -- all this is rare to find in any other Indian city. The city which never stops, halts completely for a few hours so that runners can have the roads to themselves. I have run this race many times. Every time I come back with some great memories. Procam organises the race efficiently and participation is higher every every year. But if there is one thing that I have not seen any improvement in—and it…

Just like sports clubs and art clubs, several Chennai colleges will soon have Anti-Human Trafficking (AHT) clubs to sensitise and train youngsters to prevent and act against human slavery. Twelve colleges in Chennai have expressed intention to launch AHT clubs in their institutions to elevate human trafficking issues to public discourse and combat the rampant human rights violation. The launch of the programme, to commemorate the 70th International Human Rights Day on December 10th, took place at the Madras School of Social Work (MSSW).  The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) spearheaded the initiative, in collaboration with the International Justice Mission…

[This story is co-authored by Aditya Dipankar, a Mumbai-based musician and designer.]   In Chilla Khadar, an urban village close to Mayur Vihar Phase I, live many families who pull cycle rickshaws, work as domestic helpers, clean up the streets and sell vegetables at the mandi. They survive with the help of generators and tube wells. The government, some residents say, has yet to give them electricity and water. Their children attend makeshift schools in the open or under thatched-roof huts because the government school is far away and hard to reach without a pucca road. Despite their own hardships,  many of them…

This article is part of a special series: Air Quality in our Cities A layer of dust covers every conceivable surface in houses in Samy Nagar in Tirusulam. The vehicles parked on the road have a thin film of grey over them. The drums used to store water have to be shut with heavy lids to prevent the dust from coming in. The curtains in the houses are always drawn tight, so as not to leave any room for passage of dust. But that blocks out the light too. The residents, particularly the women, are constantly dusting and cleaning their…

If you thought you were born in Ahmedabad, prepare to forget it soon. You need to get used to the identity crisis that could befall you when your birthplace suddenly becomes Karnavati. However, there is always consolation: Cousins from other cities might be sharing your distress. After all, Hyderabad is soon to become Bhagyanagar and Aurangabad will become Sambhaji Nagar. Would that really achieve anything? You may be mourning the expiry of a name that always reminded you of your first standard teacher, your grandparents' legacy or the first experience of flying kites in a steely wind. Then again, others may ask,…

Can you drop an egg three storeys down without breaking it? Eager young children from schools across the Chennai grappled with this challenge as part of a science camp where they were provided a simple kit with which they could use the elements present to prevent the egg from breaking. Twelve-year old Aniket Tadepalli fashioned a contraption out of cardboard that managed to keep the egg intact. “The egg drop challenge is one of the many activities that we have done as part of camps. It was very exciting because we were not provided any instructions. We had to figure…

In an earlier article that traces the gradual but unchecked degradation of the Dal Lake in Kashmir, it had been pointed out that as early as 2009, the Jammu and Kashmir Pollution Control Board had drawn attention, in a report, to the lake pollution created by the houseboats which have been traditionally been tourist favourites. The second largest lake in Kashmir, Dal Lake has four basins: Gagribal, Lokut Dal, Bod Dal and Nagin. According to studies, Lokut Dal and Bod Dal receive about 97,000 kg of sewerage every day! Ghulam Mohammad Itoo, a resident of Rainawari, shares that “The strong…

Fertile lands, adorned with lush paddy and coconut trees -- this is the picture that would flash before my eyes at the very thought of the Cauvery Delta districts in Tamil Nadu. But after I saw the impact of Cyclone Gaja’s wrath on these districts, the scene has changed completely. Uprooted trees and structures, damaged crops and inaccessible roads -- the aftermath of the cyclone has changed the geography of the delta, leaving thousands of citizens homeless. Cyclone Gaja swirled through Vedaranyam on November 16th, leaving the districts of Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Pudukottai, Tiruchy and Dindigul in disarray. In a…

"I was nine when the Naxalites killed my father. I love libraries. I want to be a doctor." These were three hard facts of her life that 15-year-old Sumanwati declared in an excited rush of words when we spoke to her. Piecing Sumanwati's confused sentences together builds up a narrative that reflects the lives of almost all students in Education City at Jawanga, Chattisgarh. Sumanwati was nine when she lost her father and was enrolled into Aastha Vidya Mandir, a school for children who have lost either or both parents to Naxalite attacks.  Over the years, she picked herself up, immersed herself…