GENRE: Voices

As I walked past the market a week before Ganesha chaturthi, a wayside seller was bringing out from his shed large idols that he had not been able to sell the previous year, and was ‘touching up' the paint, to put it on sale again. He had a few more ‘leftovers', large and small, inside the shed, waiting to be ‘recycled'. I chatted him up, and got confirmation that these were indeed ‘leftovers'. File pic: Siri Srinivas When I was a child, each family fashioned its own clay images of Ganesha, with the children of the household enthusiastically fetching some…

Is it already six months since I began my iBrowse book club in the Catholic Club (CC)? The months seem to have flown by and there are a lot more readers coming in to enjoy a discussion and listen in to the guest author of the month! Author Gita Aramvudan with her books. Pic Courtesy: Marianne de Nazareth It all began really by default. Schonali Rebello began a book club called 'On the Same Page' and I joined along with other friends. Since the club did not have a fixed venue to meet in and was having the meetings in…

Recycle, reduce, reuse, replenish, renew, rethink... just a few of the Rs that led to the formation of a group that aims to promote reuse, recycling, and hopefully a greener, healthier place for us to live, through a series of flea markets in Bengaluru - Second to None (in short, 220). We organised our first flea market at Jaaga on Double Road, in the last week of July and the entire experience was a completely enriching one. Pic courtesy: Second to None The idea behind 220 was to provide a space for folk in the city to come, buy and…

"Be pleased! Your area has been moved up into the commercial zone," said a builder to us. "What you paid for your house in the `80's has now jumped to more than ten times the price." Should you be pleased? If you plan to live in the same house, get ready to see a slow and steady decline into a nightmare - just like what happened to us. Castle Street was a little quiet street in the ‘80's with bungalows and small families that happily knew each another and enjoyed the peace and quiet of being in the heart of…

If Pride and Prejudice is a timeless novel turned in two films, a TV serial and more, so is Greed and Connivance. Except, stand back. Greed and Connivance is not a piece of Victorian-era fiction, it's the title of a report published by V Balasubramanian, Chairman of Karnataka's Task Force for Recovery and Protection of Public Lands on land grabbing in the state, particularly Bangalore. Each chapter in this book is a story in its own right, and the entire report is perhaps worth a television series of the length of Ramayana. TASK FORCE FOR RECOVERY OF PUBLIC LAND AND…

Very few things in life can compare to the joy of becoming a new mother. The nine months' wait, severe labour pains, all find expression in the joy of mother when she hears the baby cry at birth . However, this joy transforms into sleepless nights, when the parents return home from hospital. If the baby cries too much, it is disturbing. If the baby cries too little, it is worrisome. The absence of a senior person (read mother or mother in law), compounds the situation in a nuclear family. Our professional experience is interspersed with frantic calls, from mothers…

BMTC fares went up a month ago, and hikes in petrol/diesel prices were cited as the reason. The story is more complicated than that. The real reasons are the three C-s -- ‘Collection' , Corruption among staff, and Complete apathy towards commuters' convenience or rights. 364E is a route that plies from Boopasandra in north Bangalore to south Bangalore (beyond Jayanagar) so it is very convenient for people like me who travel from north to south regularly. If I get 364 E, I can go directly to Jayanagar, otherwise I have to take two buses, one to Majestic or Shivajinagar…

We, Perfect 32 - Dental Care and Implant Centre plan to select one centre and provide our services, free of charge every month. This way we give something back to the society. as part of this, for August, we chose Ejipura's Gerizem Rehabilitation Centre for mentally challenged children. It was truly an enriching experience. In today's materialistic world, where we are all chasing one worldly possession after another, we receive new perspective when we meet these mentally challenged kids who are so affectionate, grateful and satisfied with what little they have and never hesitate to offer a smile. So much…

Two major government functionaries will leave office shortly. One is Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa. The second is Justice Santosh Hegde of the Lokayukta. BSY is being forced out by the BJP top brass to contain political fallout of Karnataka's massive mining scam in the ongoing BJP-Cong tug of war on who is more corrupt. A defiant BSY is not going to be happy. (Hopefully the Reddy brothers will be asked to quit, too.) No more bouquets. File Pic: BSY calls BJP's L K Advani in New Delhi in September 2010. Press department, GOK. But when Santosh Hegde demits…

Non-compliance is being captured live in Bangalore by netizens logging on the traffic police's facebook pages. Grab from BTP's Facebook page, pics posted by citizens.   Another grab from BTP's facebook page.   And another...   For more photos posted by citizens on Bangalore Traffic Police's Facebook page, go here ⊕