LEISURE

A short but satisfying trip to Nandi Hills....As usual, by consensus, Nandi Hills was agreed upon as the destination for Saturday's birding trip, and 7 of us....Kannan,Nandan, Naveen,Poornima, Santosh,Sumeet, and I...left very early in the morning, so as to catch the sunrise at Nandi Hills.As it happened, we caught the beautiful "moon set" instead. The moon was just a day past full, and still looked quite gorgeous as it sank down in the west, behind the bettA (hill) that is Nandi. By the time we'd queued up for our tickets, and got into the road, and gone up the hill…

In the August Oota from your Thota (OfyT) event, not only did I have the opportunity to interact with several garden enthusiasts, I also managed to overhear snatches of conversations among the visitors and participants. What struck me particularly was how people thronged to buy vegetable seeds sold at the event. Some visitors even fretted over the absence of particular seed varieties! And then there were the school children who had not only initiated and nurtured a vegetable garden but had also saved seeds which they sold that day. Students from B M English School, had set up a stall…

Shenoy Stores is a landmark that has stood its ground since it began forty years ago (1971) Shobha Shenoy and Vittal Shenoy started the shop as a general store in 1986. Initially, their objective was to meet the need for traditional and fresh condiments. Eventually, affordable home-made tindis (savouries) that were packed to maintain freshness were made and sold. Their specialty is the samosa that is sold at just Rs. 1, proving that the best in life need cost an arm! Ready snacks also include holige, chaklis, mixtures and several Mangalore delicacies. Shenoy Stores also stocks pickles, curry powders. Shenoy’s…

My fondest childhood memories of a ‘santhe' have comprised my annual visits to the Dasara exhibition in Mysore during the festival season. Over time, the duration for which the entire fete lasted continued to increase, as did the kind of displays, shops and rides that turned it into a curious blend of a shopping festival with theme park style rides and lots of food. Cut to the present when, as a resident of Bangalore, I was excited about the prospect of visiting the recently held Sunday Soul Santhe at the Palace Grounds on Sunday, September 11th. It seemed like an…

"Next question, so why are we celebrating a Spanish festival in the first place? To foster bilateral relations with Spain? Definitely not; because it is loads of tangy fun. The whole idea of the Tomatina festival has been popularised by the Bollywood movie 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara'. Haven't you watched it? The next thing you know you'll be asked to leave the country! Go catch it first thing this evening. The movie of course was immensely popular but even more fame was garnered by the sequence of the tomato festival where the three main leads of the movie; Hrithik Roshan,…

The Joy of Giving Week is a national movement that hopes to engage every Indian in "acts of giving" - money, time, skills, resources or love. To be celebrated every year for a week including Oct 2, the week aspires to become a "festival" of giving that unifies India across its classes, castes, socio-economic strata and the urban/rural divide. This year the week is celebrated from Oct 2nd to Oct 8th, 2011. As part of one of the programmes conceived for this year, there will be fund raising dinner with a musical concert by singer M D Pallavi at the…

The Bangalore University presented "World of Books 2011", an international book festival, which was held from the 2nd to 11th September, at Tripuravasini, Palace Grounds, Bangalore. The book festival played host to many leading bookstores including Oxford Bookstore, Hachette and others. The 10-day book festival saw thousands of people flocking in to take a look at the lakhs of books that were on display. For many of the booklovers, this festival has been a season of celebration. "I visit the book festival every year with my daughter," says Geeta, a bank employee, "my daughter is crazy about books and this festival is a…

 We generally dress in our oldest, dull-coloured clothes to go on nature trails, because many creatures are sensitive to bright colours, and vanish as soon they see such colours moving around. In Nature, blending in with one's surroundings is often the key to survival...what stands out is often what's eaten, and also what could be dangerous.But there are creatures who manage to blend beautifully into their surroundings, and yet remain very colourful!The PRAYING MANTIS that we found on Saturday at the Valley School was a prime example:It was quite tough to see the Mantis at first, but we all soon…

Whitefield Diaries Screening followed by panel discussion Sep 10th, 2011 6-7.30pm Whitefield Club, Bangalore Map to location All are welcome A series of six short films, titled Whitefield Diaries is being screened a special event on September 10th, 6-7.30pm, at the Whitefield Club. The films capture the transformation of Whitefield from its origins in the 1880s to the present day, especially more recently, with rapid urbanisation. The famous inner circle and outer circle of Whitefield, and the Waverly Inn where Winston Churchill stayed are covered in the films. Whitefield is tucked within the great triangle between KR Puram, Marathahalli and…

During the launch of her book 'The Bad Boy's Guide to the Good Indian Girl' this month in Bangalore, co-author Annie Zaidi talked about a friend in college. Though Annie was close to her friend for three years, she never realised that her friend used to smoke through college even though smoking was banned in campus. It was many years later, when they met again, that Annie came to know about this.The book by Annie and Smriti Ravindran explains why Good Indian Girls (GIGs, as they are called in the book) have to be ashamed of something as simple as…