INTERVIEWS

An individual who leaves his personal agenda aside can work very well with the Government bodies, feels Narahari Mukund, Jayanagar resident.This he says from experience as he has been working to resolve civic issues in Jayanagar 5th block. He has lived there for 45 years. passion towards the civic society helped me to write problems that public faced in the society” says Narahari Mukund. Pic: Vijayalakshmi P 48-year-old Mukund has been part of traffic committee for a over a year now. He regularly collected information public grievances on traffic situation and presented to the traffic department. He is also a…

He is 29, trained as an engineer, a Kannada-film maker of rising repute. However that is not why he is the focus of this article. Pawan Kumar is also a piracy warrior in Sandalwood. For his debut film, Lifeu Ishtene, he ended up irking the Censor Board by re-releasing the movie with a changed ending. Now he's gone back to a familiar approach engineers take to fix problems: technology. Home talkies aims to protect Kannada cinema piracy. Pawan has founded Home Talkies a movie viewing website to release Kannada films on the web. As the description the website goes ‘through…

"People connect to my paintings easily," says Sangeetha Kadur, wildlife artist. A graduate from Chitrakala Parishath, Sangeetha is a avid birdwatcher and a wildlife artist.'A Brush With Nature,' her first solo exhibition of wildlife art was organised at No. 1 Shanti Studio at Shantinagar. The exhibition was on from 27th January to 30th January. Sangeetha along with her collection at the exhibition. Pic: Deepthi M S The exhibition which ran for 3 days saw a lot of wild life enthusiasts attending the event. "The spirit in the Leopard's eyes are so real," says, Atrijit Dasgupta, 45, who claims to have…

Filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli has won hearts and stimulated minds for a few decades now. Ghatashraadhha to Gulabi Talkies, his films have won him great accolades. He offers interpretations of the stories he chooses, something not usually done by directors. Citizen Matters caught up with this resident of BTM Layout for an interview. I see a shift in your film-making. Recent films, especially those after Gulabi Talkies seem to be explicitly ideological in nature. They ‘tell’ more than ‘show’, I think. What do you mean when you say ‘ideological’? My films have always had a political-social message, if you like. It…

This is not the story of someone who fought against an indifferent system and brought it to its knees, rather of someone who made her peace with the system and worked patiently from within, to achieve the best results possible. Pic: Manvel Alur Manvel Alur's connection with the environment seems almost karmic, with her choices in life steering her on the green path quite early on. Even as a child growing up in Bangalore, she was environmentally aware enough to write in to the National Geographic magazine on various issues and it seemed like a natural transition that she went…

Residents of J P Nagar have a reason to smile. B S Angadi, 49, the new Inspector of Police is an accomplished officer with major international experience. In this exclusive interview with Citizen Matters, he talks about his experiences and the challenges in his job.  A native of north Karnataka, he joined the police force 1990. He is a BCom and an LLM graduate, with four years experience as an advocate before joining the police force. With experience and skills in sharp shooting, driving and English language, he was chosen by the UN peacekeeping mission in May 2002 to serve…

A Bangalore of leisurely afternoon siestas, trees in abundance, monkey tops adorning grand bungalows, joyous celebrations unrestrained through the night and cycle rickshaws that got you about town. How do you celebrate the best years of your life? Artist Paul Fernandes does it with a series of 50 paintings that relive vibrant Bengaluru of the 70s. While the series currently reflects life in the Cantonment areas, Paul hopes to extend this in the coming months. aPaulogy opened on 21 December 2011. Paul Fernandes. Pic: Christina Daniels The paintings themselves are not easily classified into any genre, as humorous caricatures meet…

Running culture is not new to the city. Bengaluru has hosted many marathons and is also witnessing an increase in the number of runner enthusiasts. Among those are Athreya Chidambi and Neera Katwal. They have been among the top finishers in the last few marathons. Chidambi and Neera were the first Indians to finish the Midnight Marathon in Bangalore. Athreya Chidambi and Neera Katwal at the Ultra marathon in November2011. Pic: Anju "It was on one of my new years' resolution list," says 33-year-old Athreya Chidambi, reminiscing about the time when he first gave running a ‘try.' Chidambi, who is…

On November 1st, KSPCB released a guide on Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs). In this exclusive interview with Citizen Matters, KSPCB Chairman A S Sadashivaiah talks about how the guide will help, and clears the air on many issues that resident associations have been raising on STP maintenance. Most apartment complexes today have their own Sewage Treatment Plant(STP). According to KSPCB rules, any large apartment (more than 5,000 sq m in the outskirts or more than 20000 sq m in core areas) need to have STPs. The new guide has illustrated explanation about the working and engineering features of STP, and…

"I am 80 years old. I have spent 76 years in theatre", when I heard the senior citizen on the stage say this, I thought he must have got mixed up. But I was wrong. He joined the Chamundeshwari Karnataka Nataka Sabha, which was then run by Nandi Basappa for the Mysore Palace authorities, at the age of four because of abject poverty. "My father was an archaka (priest) in a small temple. His income was not sufficient to feed our family of seven", says R Paramasivan. He can can sing 1260 Ranga Geethegalu (songs from the plays) from his…