LEISURE

No, museums are not boring. Take them to the Viswevaraya Science Museum and enjoy their grey cells perk up. It’s a wonderful and fun way to learn science (and we mean not just the kids). From Aviation, Principles of Electronics, Optics to Space Exploration, it can keep them and you interested for hours together. The younger ones will enjoy the Dinosaur section.Contact details: 22864009 10-5.30 PM, Website: vismuseum.org.in Movies – Your kids will love you if splurge on a mall-movie-ice-cream day, friends in tow. Ice-creams at Corner House, Koramangala/Sheshadripuram/Jayanagar 9th block will work fine too... your halo will shine for…

Is it snowing in Bangalore this winter? No, but something just snowballed into a major event!What started as a simple outing that a few friends wanted to do together has now got all the makings of a major sports fixture. Let's see how the Tour Of Nilgiris (TFN) event that some Bangalore cyclists have put together, grew from small to large..... Pic: Aravind Teki of Bangalore Bikers' ClubThe whole idea was triggered in March of this year, when Ravi Ranjan Kumar, a software engineer, thought of organising a holiday ride for some friends. He posted the idea on Bikezone, one…

Here I was merrily plucking tomatoes from my garden as and when i needed them in the kitchen, till S – our domestic help - told me that she had just bought it for 40 rupees a kilo in Russell Market?! FORTY?! I resolved to tend to my garden with greater care and gratitude! 'The garden' has always been integral to my growing years and it was only a matter of time before I started my own. So, ever since we moved to our place earlier this year, I experimented with various methods in the endeavour to make my garden…

The Ragigudda Temple, Jayanagar 9th Block, is celebrating the Hanumath Jayanthi (birthday of Hanuman or Anjaneya) from the 3rd of December. The area around the temple has been cordonned off to traffic and several stalls have sprung up, making the area a colourful, bustling one now.One man was setting up his bookstall as I walked past:at another bookstall, a policeman on duty was having a look at the books:There were plastic toys (probably Chinese-made ones) for sale:So were clothes:An incredible heap of ceramic items:Some people were setting out template rangoli-pattern plates:When the powder was put through these plates, these beautiful…

I was walking down Jayanagar 9th block when I saw this really beautiful work of art. Its function is to keep people from bumping into the glass, but the artist in the person entrusted with the job was not satisfied with just drawing a cross across the glass. Art..and aesthetics...show up in the most unlikely places... who would think of the glass pane of a building under construction as a canvas for someone's imagination? ⊕

The Valley School area, just off Kanakapura Road, is a beautiful spot, retained as a wilderness by the Valley School authorities,and it's a great way of escaping into the outdoors, even on a weekday morning!The unexpected trip, with three friends, proved to be a real treat, with the light at its warmest, and all the birds (except of course the evil few...more about that later) actually posing in a calm and composed way for us....Here are my friends, C and R, clicking away to glory, and the glory was, the grasses lit up by the morning sun:We were not able…

I belong to a volunteer group called Clean and Green, which has been going out on trips to the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary and cleaning up as much of the plastic trash as possible in the time available. On the last two occasions, Wipro has both sponsored the trip, as well as providing volunteers to help us with our task.I thought I would post about how a cleanup usually happens....this is probably the 16th or 17th such trip we are making. This time, the trash collected in two hours was 167 kg, and I am happy to say that the amount…

Bengaluru made international headlines with the successful Chandrayaan operation, the first unmanned mission to moon by India. And the institution responsible for Chandrayaan's initiation and monitoring is none other Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). In the same league as ISRO are the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Jawaharlal Nehru Pl anetarium (JNP) and so on. Indeed, among the many feathers in the city's cap are some ofthese renowned science institutions. But how many of us, especially students and scientifically-inclined citizens are aware of the opportunities for the local public at these major institutions? Not many,…

Jean-Luc Godard’s 1967 movie, Weekend, was screened by LACEfilms on 26th October at Suchitra Film Society. On a nice Sunday morning which usually is reserved for films by great auteurs, a bunch of 30 or so gathered to watch this French film. What I expected to see in the film was general drama on how the bourgeois or the privileged class is enjoying his weekend – but I then immediately realigned my cognisance about Godard and what he stands for. To be able to comment on Godard or his films requires serious credentials than being a mere journalist who has…

The city life sure is a busy life. Work pressure, traffic jams, chores at home and hassled running about call for a weekend off from time to time, for there is nothing like fresh air and scenic valley views to cheer the run down spirit. Especially when it comes with a refreshing streak of adventure – energetic trekking and some liberate flying. Flying, in Bangalore!? Well, not exactly, but Bangaloreans now have a flying club a few hours' drive away from city limits, near Krishnagiri. Traditionally, India boasted of two flying sites – at Panchgani (near Pune) and Bir (in…