PEOPLE

Bhopal. Manipur. Karnataka. Chattisgarh. Orissa. Tamil Nadu. Ayodhya. West Bengal. Maharshtra... Gas leak victims, women, sex workers, adivasis, domestic workers, children, dalits, differently abled... Survivors. Marginalized. Minorities. Excluded. Students, social activists, writers, film makers, folk artists, volunteers and others from across India united with subjects of human rights violations nationwide. Through candlelight vigils, dialogues, films, street plays, photo exhibitions, rallies et al, Bengaluru's conscious citizens and inspired passersby showed that they stand with those whom many ignore! These pictures are from events organized between 28th November and 10th December, 2009 at various Bangalore venues. The latter date is the 61st…

This is my response to Citizen Matters' article on 'Junctions where grade separators are to come up'. The thought of having the prolonged construction of yet another set of grade separators foisted on us is really scary. As everyone knows, the underpass on 24th Main, 15th Cross, J P Nagar is way behind schedule as was the case with Jayadeva circle flyover. When the Jayadeva flyover construction was going on between the years 2003-06, traffic was diverted through Bilekahalli Dollar Layout adjacent to Bannerghatta Road, where I live, for years on end.The decision to divert traffic through our layout, was…

Past Saturday, December 5th saw a bunch of metal heads from the garden city of Bengaluru become a part of history by default. History because they witnessed India’s first ever international metal festival for climate change; default for the simple reason that there was absolutely no talk about climate change on stage. However, NGO heavyweights like Green Peace, Indian Youth Climate Network and Life did their bit by setting up stalls and signing petitions about climate change. These petitions will eventually be sent to a United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2010. At last count, a total of fifteen hundred…

Indian personaliites like to become celebrities. One way of achieving this is to put up cutouts of their photographs in sizes large enough to stop passing clouds....Mr Kheny can be proud of the fact that he's now permanently overseeing the road that he built.....I'd like to know who the other two faces are....couldn't read the names as we went past. Are they the ones mentioned below Mr Kheny's name?If this had been Tamil Nadu, the name would have been followed by some laudatory phrase such as " our honoured builder of roads".....⊕

With Christmas round the corner, if thoughts of plum cake, fudge and wine have been invading your mind and you’re wondering how to get your hands on home made treats, here are a couple of names for festive goodies.Lorraine Correa, who has been in the business for a while and makes a variety of sweets for the season, changes her product list annually to suit customer demands. However, the two things you will always find at Lorraine’s is Christmas Cake priced at Rs 350 per kg and Kulkuls at Rs 250 per kg. This Christmas there’s also Shell Cream –…

As soon as I read that Bangalore was hosting the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation's (IWAS) biennial event, I decided that I would definitely see these remarkable people whom I have viewed a bit on the telly. Although I attended only the colourful and slightly chaotic opening ceremony and also witnessed some of the confusion prevalent among the organizers, I felt enriched and elated! When I asked Mr. David Premnath, the event's Technical Director about the motivation behind bringing the games to India he promptly replied, "We wanted to create awareness about these games, here." However, despite the occasion's specialty,…

You see them everywhere....at every traffic signal, on the pavements, on the roads.They thrust all sorts of things at you: yellow dustercloths, packs of cotton buds, little battery-operated lights, expanding "laundry" bags, rolling windshield screens...or they sit on the footpaths, selling ceramic wares, cheap chandeliers, or put up tents offering herbal medicines.These are the visible yet invisible people. As the motorists and two-wheelers stand at traffic lights, they sometimes notice these people enough to buy their wares, after bargaining them down into the ground; but more often, they flick a glance their way and turn their minds elsewhere, while these…

 A new house recieves a fresh coat of paint. Quite a risky job being a painter!  ⊕

The Namma Bengaluru Awards, set up by the Namma Bengaluru Foundation, has received a whopping 3902 nominations from across the city. The nominees include a banana leaf-seller R V Badraiah, Sr Adeke Korah who counsels prisoners, police sub inspectors and a BBMP official. There are two categories for the awards - the Public Officials and Agencies category and the Private Citizens and Institutions category. Among the nominees R V Badraiah: A banana leaf seller, however have arranged drinking water facilities in all the neighborhood bus stops.Sister Adele Korah: A former school principal. After retirement she devoted her time to counseling…

Meteor showers happen when masses of meteors fall into the earth's atmosphere in a shower, producing heavenly fireworks. They are named after the constellations in which they are seen. On October 24th, we had the Orionid showers, and on November 17th, we are about to witness the Leonid showers. Expected peak of the Leonid Showers over India Approximately midnight to 3.40 AM on the night of the 17th/early morning of the 18th of November, 2009. (Actual time may vary). The showers can be viewed with the naked eye and no telescope is required. For more info see here and here.…