INTERVIEWS

Balasubramanyam S, 59, popularly known as Bali, a professional musician and singer has enriched the world of music and enthralled the audience with his artistry. He lives in Jayanagar 7th Block with his family.With passion and immeasurable love for music, he has touched the soul of music in every sense. In 2000-01, Karnataka State Sangeeta Nrutya Academy honoured him with ‘Karnataka Kalashree' (Sakala Vaadya Kalaanipuna) in recognition of his contribution to the music field. Balasubramaniam founded Ramya Cultural Academy in 1993. Pic: Sankar C G Balasubramanyam founded Ramya Cultural Academy, a charitable trust, in 1993, in his own house, aimed…

More often than not, talented children drop out of sports when they reach tenth standard; to perform well in board exams. But Ashritha Bharadwaj, is an exception. She continued to win medals even while studying for the all important, tenth standard exams. She also secured 90 percent. The medals she won, decorate a wall at her home. Ashritha Bharadwaj - Swimming athlete. Pic: Anisha Nair She has won 11 national level awards in swimming and aquatic championships so far. She lives with her parents Nagesh and Srividya Bharadwaj in JP Nagar. Her father is a businessman and mother a teacher…

In 1967, Suresh Shah, a Gujarati by native, started Sapna Book house in Majestic, around 100 square feet. Today the same book store is set up in a multistoried building in Gandhinagar. It is claimed to be India’s largest book mall by Limca book of records as well as India book of records. Nitin Shah. Pic: Abhishek Angad And 45 years later, it opened its eighth book store in Karnataka and 6th in Bangalore. This is in the time when book stores like ‘crossword’ recently shut down one of the stores in Bangalore. This may be attributed to the age…

Ramakrishna B V, 75, is one of the 16 nominated councillors in BBMP now. In April, just before Mayor election, he was in news for alleging that the candidate (current Mayor) D Venkatesh Murthy had encroached Civic Amenity (CA) sites.Ramakrishna is Joint Secretary of Abhyudaya, a Federation of South Bangalore-based RWA. He had retired as Production Engineer in HAL, and is also President of Radha Krishna Layout RWA now. He, along with other nominated councillors - all BJP supporters - had taken oath on July 2nd and were part of the budget discussions. According to Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act, state…

Achala Paani has come to be known as the angel that comes to the rescue of street dogs. 27-year-old Achala, runs ‘Let’s Live Together’ - an organisation providing a platform for puppy adoption. She strongly believes in adopting a puppy from the street and saving a life than buying one. Achala Paani. Pic courtesy: letslivetogether.org How did you come up with the idea of Let’s live Together?I have volunteered for a lot of organisations all these years. And as a final year project for my advertising course, I took up adoption of Indian dogs. That’s how it actually started. I…

She calls herself a Jayanagar resident for 20 years now, but has resided in different localities across Bangalore, after shifting from Mumbai. A national award winner in journalism, Sakuntala Narasimhan, who is in her 70s, has authored several books on gender and music. She is also known for her activism on consumer rights. She is the only vocalist in the country who holds a grade ranking in both Carnatic and Hindustani classical music. She teaches music and travels quite a bit. Sakuntala Narasimhan - Journalist, author and musician. Pic: Anisha Nair You have won several awards in music. How has…

It has been 11 years since doctors predicted that Saroja Puthran would survive for just three months. She was declared HIV positive. Her husband had died within two years of being infected by HIV. As a homemaker, completely dependent on her family, nothing could have prevented her from collapsing completely. But she fought the disease successfully and works for people infected with the same disease. “I will work for them till my death.” she said with a voice that is not discouraged with bad experience. Saroja Puthran at work. Pic: Sankar C G What do you think about the attitude…

Sriram Iyer has been working in the corporate financial sector for over two and a half decades now. A global Bengalurean i.e. Bengalurean who has lived in different parts of the world gives a tongue in cheek, humorous peek into the corporate world with this book. ‘Musings of a Corporate Voyeur’ is a collection of eleven short stories. The surveys that are supposed to boost employee morale, the ‘bosses’ who are leaders and office gossip - all feature in these stories. Anyone who has been in a corporate environment is sure to relate to the book. Sriram Iyer. Pic courtesy:…

S Laxminarayan, 36, a software engineer by profession, is also a part-time urban farmer. He aims to get people started on kitchen gardening. He is a co-founder of Garden City Farmer’s Trust that aims to spread awareness on organic farming. He lives in ISRO layout with his wife Sowmya M, a physiotherapist. S Laxminarayan. Pic: Abhishek Angad Excerpts from his interview.You use a bicycle for commuting while your motorbike and car are covered in dust. Are you a green enthusiast?Well, I am just getting ready for the future. Natural resources are depleting due to use and abuse of it. So…

An engineer by profession, 35-year-old Raghavendra Raju, calls himself an absolute Bangalorean who has lived across the city and knows it well. He now lives in JP Nagar. He is currently heading the marketing team at Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), Bangalore.Raju brought paintball gaming to India with his venture Yuyutsa. Later, he sold the business, and joined another startup as part of their marketing team.  Raghavendra Raju. Pic: Sathish S Excerpts from the interview. Bangalore has become the paintball capital of India. Do you think there are enough arenas and coaches for the game?Not yet! There is enough…