LEISURE

Perhaps not everyone is aware that less than 150 km from Bangalore is a beautiful place where the critically endangered animal, the Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) can be sighted.This is the Maidanahalli Blackbuck Reserve. "Maidana Halli" in Kannada, means, "Village of the open meadows". The open grassland of the Deccan Plateau have steadily shrunk due to human habitation, and it was the efforts of Wildlife Aware Nature Club (WANC) along with other NGOs and individuals from the 1990's. This resulted in the creation of the Jayamangali Blackbuck Reserve in 2007. Pics: Deepa MohanPics: Deepa MohanPics: Deepa MohanPics: Deepa MohanPics: Deepa MohanPics:…

Book lovers in Koramangala are in for some treat as some of the book stores are offering discounts. Kannada, Malayalam and English books of different genres are up for grabs. Here are some book stores that have offers. DC Books store. Pic: Deepthi M S Landmark is having a 'Buy 2 get 1 free' offer on selected books. Books ranging from fiction, non- fiction, Best sellers, Children's books, Harry Potter series, Twilight series are available under this offer. The offer also extends to books by author Robin Sharma. Landmark Ltd., The Forum, 21 Hosur Road, Koramangala, Bangalore - 560 029…

Bengaluru will finally have its own literary weekend. Lekhana comes to the city between February 10-12. The event has been organized by Toto Funds the Arts (TFA), Sangam House (an international writers’ residency program), DeshaKaala (a journal for arts and letters in Kannada) and Reading Hour (a print magazine for Indian creative writing), in partnership with the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA). “The City" is the theme this year. With panel discussions, readings, performances and an event bookstore, it promises to be an intersection space for the city’s varied writers, literary cultures and languages. C K Meena, Chairperson, TFA says…

If kite flying has ever caught your fancy, ‘Gaalipata Time' maybe a good place to start. Namma Bengaluru Foundation and Citizen Matters are organising this community event on Sunday, February 12th.  Time: 9 am - 3 pm, February 12thVenue: Koramangala 3rd block playground, next to Post Office, 12th main, 3rd block. Kite expert and former state award winner Sabir Hussian will guide those participating in kite flying. "There will be some 50 varieties of kites for sale and exhibition at the event. In additional to traditional kites, there will be designer kites with bird and animal patterns. Kites will be…

Up South at Jayanagar is an exclusive South Indian restaurant which offers combination meals at affordable prices. "We do not have the concept of thalis but we have combo meals", says Vinay Kumar, manager, 23. "There are totally six types of combos, there is lunch combo priced at Rs 85 which has white rice, sambhar, rasam, flavoured rice and a sweet", he explains. There is a wide range of dishes; each dish is accompanied with different types of chutneys and spicy sambhars and also they do not use soda. Up South is easy on the pocket and a fun place…

 I've always been interested in Origami.... so I attended the Origam workshop at Jaaga I found that the teacher, Krishna Panyam, was someone I had met earlier, on the bus tour of the lakes of BangaloreHere's one of the pieces that Krishna made:More photos can be seen on my FB album, if you click here (you need a Facebook account).Here is Krishna, starting the workshop:Here are some samples of his work: Here's a sample of (very difficult) curved origami:For more pictures, visit Krishna Panyam's Facebook album, click here  Wonderful....I enjoyed myself very much, as did all of us. ⊕

One of the events at Lalbagh that the citizens of Bangalore, always look forward to is the Republic Day Flower Show. The weather is always very pleasant, and the beautiful displays in the Glass House are a great attraction for the visitors to this lung-space of our city.Having seen the displays each year, I thought I will go and see how it's all put together. So, by 630am, I was in Lalbagh with some friends. When I told the guards that I was from Citizen Matters and wanted to cover the preparations, they allowed me into the Glass House. I…

Sandwichwallas, a fast food joint at JP Nagar offers toasted sandwiches prepared in a homemade style, breaking away from the usual grilled sandwiches. It also features on its menu tasty pizzas, extremely delicious garlic bread, chats and coolers. The price here is enormously reasonable and the food you get here is worth every single pie you pay. A vegetable sandwich is priced at just Rs 15. Not a single dish on the menu would exceed Rs 40. This is how a sandwich is prepared at Sandwichwallas. Pic: Shruti Mohan "We have about 37 different kinds of toasted sandwiches and everything…

"Every morning in Africa, when a Gazelle wakes up, it knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up, it knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle... when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."We've heard this quoted every time when talk veers about running. For humans though, running is not a means for survival, but it certainly is a means for healthy living.I am a resident of Chaithanya Samarpan, a…

Tomatina, is a newly opened multi cuisine vegetarian restaurant at HSR Layout. As the name suggests, red predominates the colour scheme of the interiors and ‘tomato' is used in almost every delicacy. The ambience has a touch of countryside charm and there is terrace seating too. Tomato dhaniya shorba, tomatina. Pic: Nagashree Gururaj "The restaurant specialises in Jain food, Tandoor and continental food", says Shivaram Nataraju, 31, Assistant manager. He also adds that the chefs are from the Maldives.The menu offers sizzlers (Rs 200-400), continental food, north Indian food and salads; it also has soups served chilled - like tomato…