Green Spaces

The morning sun shone through the trees as we entered Lalbagh today...The trees and the light together gave the effect of a painting!The light shone on these flowers...this little squirrel:this lady with her morning newspaper:It turned the sky blue as a backdrop for this magnificient Brahminy Kite:and in spite of this white Asian Paradise Flycatcher trying to hide in the foliage, shone enough for me to take a photograph!Truly, Lalbagh is a magical place of light and life....It was a wonderful Christmas; we might not have celebrated the birth of the Son, but we certainly enjoyed the birth of the…

The Valley School area, just off Kanakapura Road, is a beautiful spot, retained as a wilderness by the Valley School authorities,and it's a great way of escaping into the outdoors, even on a weekday morning!The unexpected trip, with three friends, proved to be a real treat, with the light at its warmest, and all the birds (except of course the evil few...more about that later) actually posing in a calm and composed way for us....Here are my friends, C and R, clicking away to glory, and the glory was, the grasses lit up by the morning sun:We were not able…

I belong to a volunteer group called Clean and Green, which has been going out on trips to the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary and cleaning up as much of the plastic trash as possible in the time available. On the last two occasions, Wipro has both sponsored the trip, as well as providing volunteers to help us with our task.I thought I would post about how a cleanup usually happens....this is probably the 16th or 17th such trip we are making. This time, the trash collected in two hours was 167 kg, and I am happy to say that the amount…

I had heard a lot about the Manchinbelle dam (across the river Arkavathy) from fellow photographer friends and it appeared at the top of my interest list for the weekend. Trip To: Manchinbelle DamFree Add-On: Big Banyan tree, Naga TempleDistance: 40 Kms.Trip directions: From Bangalore city, drive down Mysore Road and turn right at Rajeshwari Dental College. The road will take you directly to the Big Banyan tree and then continue to Manchinbelle Dam. The road is a great all through but the last few kms to the road promise to be bumpy.. EXPERIENCEAs the drive from the Rajeshwari dental…

Amongst the many images and impressions at that I saw and experienced at the "Namma Raste, Namma Ooru" walk on Sunday, 9th November 2008, was the picture of this tiny tot; She didn't seem to be angry, or against anything; she made a peaceful statement that surely none of us can disagree with...and was calmly eating something that a tree gave her, too!Surely, if a little one like her can come out to express her opinion, the rest of us can take heed and protect the trees we have left!Update: What a coincidence! I shared this image with Hasiru Usiru...and…

With regard to the tree-felling and road-widening that is happening now.....we are against *indiscriminate* use of this facility, that's all. The point is, that cutting down trees is irreversible, so what we are saying is, involve the citizens in this decision-making process, and let us cut down trees ONLY when there is no other solution.The High Court of Karnataka has given a decision that the BBMP authorities must include the citizens' forum, Hasiru Usiru, in its deliberations and only take decisions on tree-felling and road-widening that complies with the Town and Rural Planning Act. Right now, this is not being…

It was an initiative that was long overdue; Nandi Hills, a scenic spot, was slowly being overrun by plastic trash thrown carelessly by visitors. Several civic-minded citizens got together and decided that instead of just complaining about the plastic litter, they would take positive action to clean up the trash, and more importantly, try to raise the awareness among tourists about the importance of keeping this beautiful place clean. Clean and Green Nandi Hills Campaign sign (Pic: Deepa Mohan)Yahoo, the sponsor for the event, has an internal team called ‘Purple Green’ 6 7 mths... (‘purple’ being the Yahoo corporate colour,…

I was walking along the "80 ft Ring Road" (I still don't know the name of this road, that goes from the Silk Board along Ragigudda up to Kanakapura Road!), when I saw how this tree had been revered, and a small shrine built to it: Trees (Pic: Deepa Mohan)It was good to see that some trees are still held in such reverence; but in these days of road-widening and tree-felling, I could not help wishing that the BBMP adopted the same attitude towards the beautiful living beings that give us shade, oxygen, shelter, beauty, and a home to several…

Bangalore has a large number of NGOs doing enormous work in various fields like leprosy eradication, caring for schizophrenics or dyslexics, protesting against felling of trees and so on. But there's also a group of volunteers who prefer to remain just that, and quietly go about their work without evangelism. They belong to Clean and Green, an organisation instituted for the specific purpose of keeping Bangalore that way. One of the volunteers briefing the others about using the rakes and sacks. Pic: Author. Clean and Green was born in February 2006, when a group of six came together and decided…

It's a prickly, 15 acres of prime land that stretches through shrub and wild grass, unaware of the legal battles that have been waged over it for the past 20 years. Part of the Jakkasandra Lake (Meistripalya), it stretches a few yards away from the BDA Complex in Koramangala, adjoining the 7th Cross Road and Telephone Exchange. The bone of contention has been its identity. Is this undeveloped land, belonging to the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) earmarked as a civic amenity, or is it meant for construction with commercial intent? The troubled land in Koramangala fourth block citizens are fighting…