SOCIETY

Over 40 people comprising students, food-rights activists, members of I-Cycle, Bangalore Bikers Club and more, took part in a cycle rally for Safe Food on August 19th, Sunday. The rally started at Cubbon Park, went through Brigade Road, Garuda mall up to Lalbagh before returning. The participants were nourished by a specially cooked organic lunch from ‘In The Pink,’ an organic food restaurant located on Bannerghatta Road. All set to ride. Pic: Maitreyi Ananth The event which was organised by India For Safe food and it started at 11.30am  from the Victoria statue at Cubbon Park. With placards strapped on…

It is seven days since the mass exodus of residents of North Eastern states from different parts of India including Bangalore, started. Though the number of people leaving has reduced, it is estimated that around 24,000 have fled. What was the reason for the panic, while there have been numerous assurances from all quarters that this is a safe city?Thousands of people from Assam, Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh flock to places like Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Delhi and Chennai every year in search of better education and employment opportunities. While they have easy access to colleges and…

Even as police confirmed making the first arrests in Bengaluru for rumour-mongering, city businesses depending on staff from the Northeast have been affected since the panic-driven exodus began on Wednesday.  V S D'Souza, DCP (Intelligence) confirmed around midnight August 17th that two people were arrested earlier in the evening for threatening rumors. D'Souza however declined comment on whether the arrested were from any sectarian organisation or community.  Meanwhile, restaurants, retail chains and spas have been hit according to some business owners in the city. Philip Deepak, owner of Popsies restaurant in Koramangala who employed 12 Northeast service staff says that…

The epithet ‘Gaanchali bidi Kannada maathadi' (GBKM) would translate colloquially as ‘let go of your (English) affectations and speak in Kannada.' For those of us born and brought up in Bangalore, this has been a familiar epithet; as children from middle-class families, we were exposed to peers from ‘convent' schools who spoke ‘European' English, but they would disdain to speak in Kannada despite knowing the language well. We would accuse them of ‘gaanchali', and of course would strive to throw in as much Kannada in our ‘English' conversations as possible. The fact that many of the wannabe ‘convent' schools (where…

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…

Based in a small, neat campus, Asha Niketan, located in Koramangala, is truly the ‘Abode of Hope’ that its name says it is, as I’ve learnt from occasionally visiting it over the last several months. Its charter describes it as a community of people ‘with and without intellectual disabilities’, sharing life together, and ‘celebrating the value of every person’ based on ‘mutual relationships and trust in God’. Chikku and Chris, live at Asha Niketan. Pic: Yoginder Sikand Home to a community of some forty amazing people, around thirty of Asha Niketan’s members are ‘intellectually challenged’ adults, the rest being assistants…

Seema Vijay, 29, hardly goes out of her house alone after 7pm. Seema stays in the posh JP Nagar 2nd phase, next to JP Nagar Cultural Association. But after 7, the roads here are dark and isolated, and harassment is common. Women rarely walk around alone at night here.There is a playground near the club, which has only added to women’s woes. Though a ‘public’ place, only boys and men use the ground. In the evenings especially, women stay away from this area as they are harassed and commented on by men hanging around in the ground. There have been…

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:…

She calls herself a Jayanagar resident for 20 years now, but has resided in different localities across Bangalore, after shifting from Mumbai. A national award winner in journalism, Sakuntala Narasimhan, who is in her 70s, has authored several books on gender and music. She is also known for her activism on consumer rights. She is the only vocalist in the country who holds a grade ranking in both Carnatic and Hindustani classical music. She teaches music and travels quite a bit. Sakuntala Narasimhan - Journalist, author and musician. Pic: Anisha Nair You have won several awards in music. How has…

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…