Deepa's Jottings

In Bangalore in the early 90's, I was very impressed by one very young dramatist who wrote plays in English that showed a talent and an ability to mirror social issues well beyond his physical age.I watched every production of Mahesh Dattani's plays that I could, and bought the book of his plays to read the rest. I have also grown up in Kolkata, enjoying the vibrant Bengali theatre scene; to me,there was no greater  accolade of a person's creative talent than the words, "O theatar korcche" (He is into theatre).  So when my friend Shangon told me that a…

One of the things that I find very difficult about travelling by BMTC is the fact that most of the bus stops do not display the route numbers of the buses that service the stop. When BMTC (or BBMP, which, I think, holds the land on which the bus stops are constructed) can use so much space for advertising, why can there not be a mandatory display of the routes touching the particular bus stop? This would make life far easier for commuters. In other countries, and indeed, in other Indian cities, this is a standard feature of a bus…

Voting is a process of showing the (correct) finger to the various issues that spoil our country...and ushering in a true democracy.     Do vote, even if it is a NOTA vote!

My response to someone who asked about how to capture a snake and "rehabilitate" it: 1. In my experience, even common non-venomous snakes are identified as cobras by security guards and, indeed, many panic-stricken people, In 8 cases out of ten, we find that it is a non-venomous snake (a keelback or a rat snake). However, I do not rule out the possibility that it might indeed be a venomous snake such as a viper, a krait or a cobra.   2.Catching the snake is itself a very risky procedure, and there is no guarantee that there will be only…

The first meeting of Eco-volunteers (those who took the Volunteer Training Program, or VTP), was held at ThoughtWorks, Koramangala, Bangalore, on 120414. It was as if Ganesha, the Elephant God, had waited in the foyer with a gesture of benison!     Raju KV took up the job of co-ordinating the meet, and conducting it:     Over 40 people turned up, showing their interest in volunteering for wildlife conservation:         Raju welcomed the gathering, and while the two Prasahanths set up their video presentation.     N C Mohan talked about patches of fragmented forest, which…

Here is a short video Abhisheka Gopal and a few of her friends made, about the Malleswaram Central Library:     Do send feedback to abhishekagopal@gmail.com

Playing with tops ia a boys' sport and pastime  in India. This is not a sexist statement, it quite simply is so; I have not seen girls playing with tops, from my childhood, till date. As I grew up, I found that there was a season for tops (referred to as "lattu" in Hindi and Bengali), much as there was a season for marbles, kite-flying, cricket, football, and gilli-danda. Tops came traditionally as wooden globes, with nails sticking out of them. Thin ropes were wound round and round the lower part of the top, which had grooves to accommodate the…

The Jacaranda trees are in full bloom now, across the city.     Against the blue, the purple looks lovely:     And then, of course, Nature strews the blooms across the path.     It's lovely to walk through a carpet of purple. The Jacaranda is native to tropical and subtropical regions of Central America, South America, Cuba, Hispaniola and the Bahamas. It has been planted widely in Asia, and in Bangalore, at this time of the year, it adds great beauty.   Here   is the Wiki entry about the tree. Enjoy the flowering trees of spring and…

  Despite the scorching heat, there is so much to see all around us! Lets capture bangalore's summer life in our sketchbooks !    Here's the GreenScraps, nature journaling workshop for this summer! Please find all the details in the poster attached - the batch, date, age and place. As always, the registrations are restricted to about 12 participants each batch.  So, please contact us ASAP, before it gets filled in! Your participation would be confirmed only once the payment is made.     For more detail: GreenScraps Blog - http://greenscrapsjournal.blogspot.in/ GreenScraps Facebook -  https://www.facebook.com/GreenScraps?ref=hl

  Friends of Elephants    is having an event on  Monday 7th April 2014  at Rangasthala, Rangoli Metro Art Centre on M G Road. Do come in large numbers!