LEISURE

The ever-busy Silk Board junction. Pic: Abhishek Chandel The clock chimed seven on a balmy Wednesday evening, as I peered out of the dusty window of my motionless office bus. A cacophony of voices, the humdrum of engines, snatches of conversation and a curse word or two greeted my eardrums. The scene in front of my eyes appeared as dull and despondent as my day had turned out. A middle-aged lady driving back home from office killed her car's engine, and got busy yelling instructions to the domestic help about that evening's repast over her phone. A bored taxi driver…

  For many of us, ‘concern for the environment’ is that green bulb  which our schools effectively fitted at the back of our heads. It glows whenever we urinate under ‘Do not urine here’ murals or someone goes ‘thoop-splat’, staining a wall with red paan. Maybe when someone asks us to segregate, and we think that it is the most challenging thing to do, or when we walk past a water tanker which has water spilling out. This will in all likelihood continue happening, until one day the bulb fuses and the most convenient thing to do will be to…

The temple at Belur. Pic: Niveadha Nanjundeswaran Do you enjoy travelling? Are you a history buff? Here's a holiday that offers the best of both. A four-hour drive from Bengaluru on NH 48 will take you to Hassan. This district in Karnataka comes with its own bag of historical charms, waiting to be discovered. Pay a visit to the hamlets of Belur, Halebid and Shravanabelagola and take a step back in time. Belur Belur is home to one of South India’s most beautiful temple complexes, making it an ideal weekend getaway for history lovers. The cradle of the Hoysala Empire,…

Citizen Matters and India Together co-founder Subramaniam (Subbu) Vincent has won the John S Knight (JSK) Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University for 2015-16. He is one among eight awardees who have been awarded the fellowship to pursue proposals for journalism innovation at Stanford University during the 2015-16 academic year. The other fellows are from Ukraine, Venezuela, Kenya, Germany, China, Australia, and Brazil. "I am thrilled and excited by receiving this award," says Subramaniam Vincent. Explaining the project on which he will work on during the fellowship, he says: "Around the world, city newsrooms are often using reporters to both track city…

There was once a time in Bengaluru when one could see only a few buildings and a handful of people from right where they were standing. These days however, you should consider yourself lucky if you can see more than the bumper of the vehicle in front of you. From being referred to as Garden City, it has now been tagged as Garbage City. Independent bungalows and vataaras have given way to high-rise apartments. Empty streets are now jam-packed with vehicles.   Here is a comparison between the Bengaluru of yore, when it went by several flattering sobriquets, and the…

As a child, I would visit my grandparents house in Trivandrum for the summer vacations. And unlike most city children these days, I didn’t go to any summer camp. This is something I’ve never regretted because I always had fun in the sun, up in my tree house, in a park, or at a museum. As art and culture entered my life, my interests expanded. Summer became the perfect time to paint and read. For those parents who are currently playing host to their children on account of summer vacations, here are some fun family activities that you and your…

Pic: Deepa Mohan Auto-drivers come in all shapes and sizes: old, young, thin, fat, toothless, handsome, smelly, bearded, grumpy, cheery, etc. Like a good box of chocolates, you never know what kind of driver you’re going to get. Sometimes you can depend on them and you feel like they are there to support you… At other times, they seem to derive joy from your frustration, they tease you when they pass by, they try to kill you with their reckless driving, and when you need them the most, they are nowhere to be found. After a few weeks of taking…

"Is your dog well tied up?" "Yes, he is." I found this picture amongst other dog photos, in Lalbagh.

Our favourite event of the year is around the corner... Yes, we are talking about the Fête de la Musique! As each year, the celebration will take place on the weekend of June 21st. This time however, the event will be bigger with more venues across the city.  As always, it is a free event, a huge gathering that celebrates music of all genres. We thus, rely entirely on the motivation of bands who would like to get together in the spirit of the festival, in celebration of music and all things music, and are willing to play for free on that…

Looks can be very deceiving. Pic: Eden Ezsak When people ask about my daily discoveries in Bengaluru, I have a hard time recalling what I still find surprising in India. After two months, I have moved past the innumerous cows that so nonchalantly add to the congestion on the Bengaluru roads. The symphony of barking dogs, shouts, calls to prayer, traffic and endless horns has drifted quietly into the background of my consciousness. I no longer feel like rickshaw rides are similar to my childhood experiences at amusement parks. The perpetually burning mound of garbage near my apartment has become…