LEISURE

An impatient Hanuman, a confused Pinocchio and a confident Alice in wonderland, who did not seem lost at all. The morning of 8 August 2009 saw all of them together at Brigade Millennium, JP Nagar phase VII for a fancy dress competition. The event was a part of the week-long Malhar 2009, a community festival of the apartments’ Mayflower block. Participants at the children's fancy dress competition. Pic: Priyanjali Ghose. As the children of the apartment dressed as different characters from popular books, the scene looked like it was straight out of a fairy tale. And it was not just…

It is an often repeated story. You spot an exhibition of enticing cotton fabric and immediately start dream-designing the kurta that you can convert from desk to dinner wear. So you go ahead, buy the fabric, get it stitched as soon as you can say tailor, only to discover that it has shrunk and no longer fits you and has to be handed down to your slimmer younger sister. Then of course there is the somewhat inevitable pitfall of the colour running and turning your vibrant vermillion dupatta into a tame rust. Variety of cotton fabrics. Pic: Meera K. Despite…

RaasilasDespite the tag ‘fine dining’, Rasilaas is the kind of place you enter with some trepidation, given its location and general ambience. Your hopes sink further on scanning the menu which runs into many pages and covers the popular Indian trio. How can this non-descript place manage a gamut of Indian, Chinese and Tandoori dishes is the question hovering on your lips. But you’ve thrown in your lot, so to speak, so you order and resign yourself to whatever’s coming. Pic: Theresa Varghese And what comes is a delightful surprise.  Beautifully seasoned, well cooked and nicely presented; every dish here…

Traditional board games in India have been a major source of entertainment for many generations now. Even though still popular in some parts of the country, games of this kind are soon losing out to computer games and electronic gadgets among the urban middle class. In an attempt of reviving these traditional games, Kavade, a toy store based in Seshadripuram, organised a traditional board games tournament on the 25th and 26th of July, 2009. A Kavade volunteer helping participants with the rules. Pic: Deepti Sarma Sreeranjini GS, an ardent lover of traditional games, had founded Kavade earlier this year. Kavade…

Sapaad brigade is a group of food enthusiasts that gather at Koshy's restaurant on St. Mark's road, every Thursday at 1 PM. After the group has gathered, they go visit one pre-selected restaurant which is well known for its food. Usually the restaurants selected are low cost, and relatively obscure. One person from the Sapaad Brigade group is selected to scout for such places and the final list is discussed within the group. By Thursday, a consensus is arrived at, and they spend the afternoon wining and dining at the selected restaurant. Citizen Matters Audio   Download Audio The group…

Gud DhaniThe flyer says ‘desi khana’ and ‘gaon ka ambience’, which should prepare you. Even then, the rustic appearance of Gud Dhani takes you by surprise. A rough textured pink building; it’s a sudden splash of vivid colour in a sedate by lane within BTM layout. Inside, the rustic theme is completed by bamboo furniture and simulated mud walls with chalk drawings. A small eatery that opened in end 2008, this place offers pure vegetarian Rajasthani fare. So if you happen to be in the vicinity and are looking for a meal that’s different, head for Gud Dhani. Gud Dhani…

Authenticity is a tough art to master. There was one time when I went to a restaurant abroad that claimed to be Chinese, had interiors that was roughly Korean, displayed Japanese art and was called, hold your breath, Dalchini (Cinnamon in many Indian languages). The Confused Orient would have been a better name. A food critic once wrote about how any self respecting European chef would take the next flight out; livid with shock, on seeing what was passed off as Italian cuisine in the city.You must sympathise with the purists for the raw deal they get. Or perhaps, you…

‘An early morning run at Lalbagh. Yippee!' That was my spouse displaying objectionable amounts of enthusiasm at a time one should still be curled up in bed. Propping my bleary eyes open with my fingertips, I cautiously allowed the daylight in. Only to find there wasn't really much of it out there yet. Would have dropped off again, but could't go back to sleep. Reluctantly popping out of bed, I proceeded to soothe my jangled nerves with a refreshing cup of tea.The milk delivery was more than an hour away. No second cup of tea till then. The newspapers were…

Last Monday (20th April) afternoon was witness to an inflow of people into the Bhageerathi auditorium at BNM School, Banashankari II Stage. The reason, Jnanajyothi, the Senior Citizens’ Forum of the locality had organised a one hour talk by S Shadakshari of the ‘Kshana Hottu Aani Muttu’ fame. An opportunity that many senior citizens of the locality were not willing to miss despite the threat of imminent rain. Pic: Deepa Vaishnavi Jnanajyothi has been, for the past 9 plus years, organising monthly meetings of its members with the intention of enabling a common meeting ground for Senior Citizens of the…

Sports entrepreneurship is the new mantra among management graduates in Bangalore.With large and small organisations alike looking for a respite from everyday routine, selling sports to them has grown into a promising idea and sports event management companies have started cropping up all over the city; not only as a means of business but also as a great way to spread a lot of awareness about the sport involved. "Sports management in Bangalore is fairly robust and has potential to grow. Lots of national sports management companies are based out of Bangalore and have grown well in the last few…