PEOPLE

Vasu Dixit, Bangalore-based music composer-vocalist-guitar player for the folk-fusion band Swarathma, has recently turned music-director with his first movie Bengaloored. The 90-minute English movie directed by Swaroop Kanchi features Kannada actors and has received good reviews both for its music and performances. From humble beginnings in 2002, Swarathma has grown to be one of the major fusion bands in the city now. After regrouping in 2006, the six-member band’s first music album, also called Swarathma, was released in 2008. Their second album was Soundpad Sessions, a project by UK Producer John Leckie, in which they were featured as one of…

Language has always been the bone of contention between people. Some people go to any extent to show their love for languages. Most often such fanatic attitude leads to negative incidents. But there are yet a few who show their love for languages in a very positive manner. K K Gangadharan, 60,  is one such person. Born into a Malayali family in a village called Pathanadukkam in Kasargod District, he migrated to Kabbinasethuve village in Coorg District in his childhood. Courtesy: K K Gangadharan. “Since First Form (today’s VI Grade), I had to travel to Somwarpet for schooling, which was…

Fresh out of college, they chose to tread the path less-taken. These are Bengaluru's young entrepreneurs who have broken away from 'regular' careers. They have started from scratch, gathering capital, customers and clients. These bold and daring women in their early twenties have turned their dreams into reality and started their own enterprise. Twenty-three-year-olds Eshanya Karle and Savita Vijayakumar are one such pair. Their not-for-profit 'So, What Now?' was started in May 2009 and is an extension of the duo's vision to provide a platform for creative young minds to "meet, develop and implement their ideas." 'So, What Now?' sells…

On July 3rd 2010, Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde announced that he is withdrawing his resignation, following a conversation with senior BJP leader L K Advani. Hegde said the BJP has promised to cooperate with the Lokayukta and give the body suo moto powers. Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa told media persons that the state government will also help in checking illegal mining in the state. Justice Hegde has another year to complete his five-year term as Karnataka Lokayukta. More than a week after he announced his resignation, Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde seems more at ease. On June 23rd, when he…

Obtaining khatas is known to be an ordeal in itself. It is not uncommon to hear BBMP officials demanding various sums of money to 'get the work done'. In the past few weeks several residents in Bengaluru have narrated stories of how much money they doled out to get a khata. But there is also a success story amidst them, which has inspired many others in the city to follow suit. Fifty families residing at Suncity Apartments on Sarjapur Road applied for khatas with the BBMP and obtained the registration document last year. All this without paying a single rupee…

Even though Bangalore does not have many professional clubs, the game is increasingly becoming popular, according to observers. “Over the last decade there has been lot of exposure to football through the broadcast of international matches on TV and internet. There are many sports camps and private academies now and people are taking to these,” says Sunil Kumar K, Player at Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) Football Club and former Captain of the State Football Team.Ramesh B, an upcoming player, says, “Earlier even though I had interest in the game, I couldn’t get much exposure and faced difficulties. Three years back…

Parvathamma Aiyappa runs a small tea shop in a village near Kengeri. This is where she lives. She also works occasionally as a domestic helper. With some savings, she managed to get her two  sons – Shivaraj, 12, and Amar, 13, to a not-so-nearby school run by a welfare society, where she has to pay a nominal fee for books, admissions and uniforms. Her husband is a labourer. Parvathamma Aiyappa with her children. Pic: Lavanya Keshavamurthy. Being the self respecting mother that she is, she refuses to accept any donations for their education from the well-off families where she works.…

It was a two-decade old case that finally came to a close, at least partially, in February this year. The 11-acre Meistripalya kere in the heart of Koramangala was at the centre of a legal battle, with residents of the locality fighting to protect this much-needed lung space. An individual with ancestral linkages to the land had claimed it. It all began with one woman. Laila Ollapally. A Koramangala resident and a practicing advocate. More than a decade ago, Laila chanced upon the Meistripalya tank. It was her determination to protect and preserve open spaces in Koramangala that saw her…

The water-melons slowly making way for the golden mangoes, dark grey clouds rushing in from nowhere to establish their sovereignty across the azure sky, the sudden afternoon thunderstorms playing the spoilsport and keeping the children indoors, the cool relief from the scorching heat as the sweet smell of the wet earth floats up and fills the air - the monsoon has finally arrived. Pic credit: Wikkicommons. With the schools welcoming back the brats after a seemingly never-ending summer break, the young mothers are happily settling down to trade in the bustling mornings for the long-awaited peace and normalcy in the…

One afternoon last week I met R Sunder Rajan, the founder of Just Books at N S Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL), IIM, Bangalore, where the two-year-old startup is incubated. Rajan belongs to a new generation of entrepreneurs, who has slipped into something totally different after years of working in IT firms.  Rajan spent 15 years at the IT firm IFlex, after joining them as a fresh graduate from Regional Engineering College, Trichy. The soft spoken and mild-mannered Madurai native in his late thirties says, “My father says I am the first in the family to ever handle a…