LEISURE

Every evening, A M Aravind, a birdwatcher in Madipakkam, ensures he spends at least an hour hanging around his balcony or terrace. The lockdown may have temporarily halted many of his regular activities, but not his bird watching hobby. Though he could not travel to the woodland edges or the marshes, Aravind has spotted over 35 species in his neighbourhood habitat over the past three months.  Like Aravind, many city residents have taken to balcony birding or backyard birding this season, to enjoy a break from the mundane routine of the lockdown. The high-pitched, loud and persistent calls of the…

Sudha Rao is at her wits' end. Her six-year-old daughter Sharanya is staying home longer than normal and the mother has run out of ideas on how to keep her occupied. Painting, dancing, singing classes, summer camps - there is absolutely nowhere to go in these dangerous times created by the coronavirus outbreak. Sudha's story isn't unique, though. So we have put a list of things available for you kids to keep them engaged: COMMUNITIES / ORGANISATIONS 1) Bookaroolitfest An initiative on the International Mother Language Day 2020 YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch 2) Kathalaya's International Academy of Storytelling YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch 3) Delhi Storytellers' Tribe A…

The "spring" of good times Of all the things that Besant Nagar beach is known for, Spring Potato (also known as Tornado Potato) seems to be the one that has witnessed the most phenomenal growth. A spring potato is a snack where  a single potato is sliced continuously into a spiral, fried and served with spices, on a sharp skewer. Over a 100 spring potato shops lined up next to each other, compete for 5000+ customers every month. "Business is dull these days due to the monsoon," says a stall owner. "We get 100+ customers in a single evening but…

Sekar, popularly referred to as the birdman of Chennai, is an environmentalist at heart. His Facebook by-line says it all – let's grow trees and feed lives, a loose translation from Tamil. A cameraman by profession, he pursues a rare passion, of feeding thousands of parrots everyday in the morning and evening. I had read about him a lot, but didn’t pay much attention, until one day, I decided to meet him along with my friend Subhashini. He had asked us to come by 3.45 in the evening. We trudged through the urban concrete jungle of Triplicane, with an odd…

With Ganesh Chaturthi just around the corner, beautifully crafted Ganesh idols have begun to brighten up the streets of Chennai. Even though the colourful, plaster of Paris idols are visibly high in number, clay ones are in the market too. According to Kumudha R, a vendor at Mylapore market, the demand for clay idols has been increasing, thanks to the awareness generated on eco-friendly or 'green' festivals. “People have become more aware of the damage caused by Plaster of Paris idols. So they opt for mud ones,” says Kumudha.  The demand is evident from the increasing price of clay which…

Madras week has not only been a celebration of heritage but also of the people who made the city. Over the years, many who called the city home have achieved remarkable feats in various fields to put Madras on the global map. One among  them is the mathematical genius, Srinivasa Ramanujan – The Man Who Knew Infinity. A walk through the Ramanujan Museum was organised this Madras Week by Rajith Nair a travel curator who regularly organizes heritage and cultural trips in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondicherry. The walk was a celebration of the life and times of Ramanujan, who…

Is ‘culture’ and its representation through art galleries ‘public’? This question came to my mind when I recently dropped by the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) Bengaluru after a gap of 6-7 months. When I attempted to walk in, a security guard stopped me at the gate, and asked me to buy a ticket. Surprised, I enquired if the gallery had started charging a parking fee, and pointed out that I was on foot. He said, “No, no, it’s entry fee. Everyone entering the compound has to pay.” Though he replied promptly, he seemed a bit annoyed. Perhaps other…

Did you know Crazy Mohan and Kamal Haasan met for the first time in a cemetery at St Mary's Road?  Can you even imagine that the Tamil Nadu capital had freezing temperatures during summer in 1815 due to weather changes that happened after Mount Tambora erupted in distant Indonesia? Only five localities in Chennai have a conducive environment for sparrows.  An establishment in Ebrahim Sahib street prints the cardboard tickets once used for travel and they are shutting down soon.  These are just the some of the facts around which questions were posed to participants in a quiz conducted recently…

In Part 1 of this series, I wrote about how we, at Sobha Quartz apartment in Bellandur, have been composting garden waste. Our compost pits are not just an ideal way to dispose of garden waste, they also yield high-quality manure for the entire garden. Our apartment association also saves around Rs 25,000 annually with this process, as we don't have to ship out the waste or buy chemical fertilisers for the garden anymore. But how exactly does composting happen? And how can you ensure good-quality compost? This part of the series deals with these questions. What exactly is ‘composting’?…

Many apartment complexes and layouts in Bengaluru have large gardens with flowering plants and trees. A lot of yellowing or dry leaves fall to ground everyday in such gardens, and these are swept away regularly. Hedges are also routinely pruned to maintain aesthetic appeal. This generates significant amounts of garden waste. Many complexes dispose off garden waste to tractor operators, who pick it up, assuring it would be dumped in approved sites. Though these operators charge stiff prices, no one knows where they ultimately deposit the waste. I would like to highlight a better, responsible way of handling garden waste, based on…