OPINION

A friend recently posted pictures of her daughter at the dining table attempting to demolish a cake all by herself. To say that she was covered in chocolate would be an understatement.I was feeding the younger child when I spotted the picture and laughed out loud. In a minute the slightly harried atmosphere around me - baby refusing to eat, older child whining about what was on his plate, turned lighter. A kid eating all by itself. Pic: Reshmi Chakraborty Sometimes in Mommyland, it does you a whole lot of good to laugh. It eases the situation when it seems…

My 12-year-old daughter, off late, has stopped listening to me and also wants to copy whatever her friends do. She was a good student last year, but now her scores in some subjects are falling. I am unable to understand, what has happened to her?This is a common scenario in any household which has an adolescent. Adolescence is a period of tumultuous change from childhood to adulthood, starting at 10 years of age till 18 years. Numerous changes are occurring at this time --- physical,  sexual, emotional  and psychological. Your daughter is in her early adolescence, where the rapid growth…

The last few decades have witnessed an exponential rise in the number of cell phone users. Remember the old days when getting a single landline number used to be an achievement? Today, a large number of people are carrying more than one mobile in their pockets. There has been occasional outcry about the harmful effect of radiation that may be associated with use of cellphones. Are mobile phones harmful? Pic: Wikimedia commons It is in this context, it would be helpful to understand the radiation effect from a mobile and its implication on health issues. Firstly, the radiation that is…

He had seen the paper and started reading the headline before I had a chance to hide it. "M-O-L-E-S-T" he read, pronouncing it as ‘molet' before inevitably asking me the meaning. My six and half year old has developed a new love for reading and I had forgotten how trauma and disaster laden our news was, when I encouraged his attempt to read the newspaper.What do you do when all the media that confronts your child, the TV, newspapers and magazine, not to mention the internet, has nothing but bad news. Do you tell her as it is or do…

Are you a sneaky mum? The type who cannot think of kneading atta without mashing dal or spinach into it? Or pasta sauce without pureeing carrots? If you do, chances are that like me you live with a fussy eater. Food in our house, at least for the brat, comes with hidden ingredients. Veggies and greens are boiled and mashed to get into the atta, parathas are stuffed with whatever can behave itself inside a paratha without peeking, pasta sauces (even store bought ones) are revved up with pureed veggies, the list goes on... Kids are fussy eaters. Pic courtesy:…

You know how it goes. You’re sitting in a movie hall, watching Kahaani and Vidya Balan is almost being pushed in the path of a speeding train when woaaaa, goes the toddler sitting behind you with his parents. And all you can think is, why do parents need to get kids along for movies.  You do have a thought there, but hold on for a second, especially if children aren't part of the picture in your life at this moment. Once they are around, you may often have to eat words spoken in the pre-child era. Here are my top…

In 2008, according to WHO, 4,58,000 deaths were caused by breast cancer worldwide. Cancer Registry, Bangalore estimates a 2.7% annual increase in breast cancer, for the period 1982-2005 (ICMR Report). In India every year, one lakh new cases are diagnosed, 50% of them in advanced stage. Some important trends over the years are:Shift in cancer incidence to younger age, that are more aggressive.Detection at a late stage: In USA, 89% of women with breast cancer have a 5 year survival rate (a benchmark for control of cancer). In India, the corresponding figure is approximately 69%. The difference is due to…

Sadly, it's only when some people leave the scene that one is moved to write about the immense worth of their lives and work. Though I had met Dr Joseph George (1st October 1921 - 9th July 2012), it was only when he passed away, that I realised that I could have documented this doyen of ornithology in Bangalore, much earlier.Dr Joseph George got the first rank in his bachelor's degree, studying at St Joseph's College, Trichy, and went on to continue his studies at Agra University, with a scholarship. He later completed his doctoral degree. Dr Joseph George. Pic:…

Gandhinagar locality is one of the oldest localities of Bangalore and is the centre of trade, commerce, entertainment and tourism. All the old business streets like Chickpet, Balepet, New Tharagupet, Avenue Road, Cottonpet, Raja Market and so many other hubs are in this locality. It separates Bangalore North and West from Bangalore South and East and hence acts as the main link between these zones. Despite so many important factors, this locality became popular mainly due to a record number of cinema houses that were located on the main road, as well as the surrounding roads. In fact Gandhinagar was…

The Citizen Action Forum (CAF), a federation of RWAs will be sharing their inputs on Bangalore’s Master Plan 2035 with BDA. On May 7th, BDA had quietly begun a process of revision for Bengaluru's city master plan, and invited suggestions from public. This plan will be for the years 2016 to 2035. CAF along with Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF) and various individual RWAs will respond at a federation as well as individual level. Inputs to this process can be at two distinctive levels, at a micro and macro level. At a micro level, i.e. the rules and regulations governing various…