Deepa's Jottings

I visited my friend Dr. Sanjeev Managoli today, and in idle curiosity, asked him, "Don't you have a landline in your home?" Sanjeev immediately took out this registration form where he has applied for a BSNL connection. It is dated June 2012:It's now four months, and he has heard nothing about the connection yet.I thought that BSNL were giving off-the-shelf connections now, after hordes of subscribers surrendered their connections with the advent of mobile phones, sick of the monopolistic pathetic service of BSNL.However, it seems that sometimes BSNL hasn't improved at all.... ⊕

I've been doing this for years, and been reviled as "cheap"...but now recycling has become "cool" and here's my how-to....Requirements:Envelopes. This obviously works better with the long envelopes that arrive in the post. "Windowed" envelopes won't work (those with a cellophane window to display the name and address inside.) I use this method on invitation cards and thick envelopes, too, but be prepared for the occasional tearing and wastage.A sharp paper-knife, of the sort I have photographed. The blade needs to be thin, long and sharp.How:Slit open the glued folds of the envelope, on the width (after having opened it…

Here's a photography exhibition that the nature/wildlife/photography enthusiasts would not want to miss - 'Where The Wild Things Are' is a photography exhibition of recent works by Aditya Singh, Ganesh Shankar, Jayanth Sharma and Kalyan Varma. This exhibition brings together four individuals whose passion for wildlife photography comes through in the visions they create with their cameras. Some of the photographs (all are limited edition) are intimate portraits, and others include breath-taking vistas. The exhibition is on till the 26th of this month at the Five Forty Five, the art gallery in Indiranagar. 545, 6th Main, 4th Cross, Indira Nagar…

Arakere Lake, located on Banerghatta road is one of the several dying lakes in Bangalore. To restore this lake to its previous glory, a team of environment conscious citizens comprising of Arbind Gupta ( president), Amitabha Saha Roy, Meeta, Vandana Veena, Aradhana , Amit came together and formed a trust - Arakere Neighbourhood improvement Trust ( ANIT )  hey are planning awareness campaigns to engage more citizens. In order to raise funds for the campaign, they decided that Amitabha, a photography enthusiast and a keen naturalist, would hold a photography workshop at Classic Orchards, Bannerghatta Road. There were 18 people who…

Take a little time to read throught this. The MD of BESCOM (Bangalore Electric Supply Company), Mr Manivannan, maintains a Facebook page, and a friend of mine, Mr. Ajit Lakshmiratan, approached him with a problem.(This was on 6 th Oct 2012, when there was a Bandh in Bangalore.)He wrote:MD Sir, 1800 425 2627 the toll free number of BESCOM is "switched off", if you please....08022873333 get's no response....no power here ( near Kundalhalli gate) since two & 1/2 hours..IsBescom "bandhed" too? Or is it a genuine outage, Sir?A little while later, he posted on FB:Ajit Lakshmiratan Power restored in just…

Artist-in-Residence Fresh Deadline - Call for ApplicationsArtist-in-Residence at Jaaga, 1 Shanthi Road &Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology You can still apply for Artist-in-Residence in collaboration with the Bangalore art communities Jaaga, 1 Shanthi Road and Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology.Deadline for applications: October 11, 2012.For more details: Artist-in-Residence ************ Call for EntriesSynapse - The International Curators' NetworkApril 23 - 27, 2013, House of World Cultures, Berlin Round two of the international curators' network SYNAPSE. Up-and-coming curators who work at the interface of art and academia can network and exchange views and information at a five-day workshop…

Ranga Shankara & JustBooks CLC Shakespeare Play ReadingsAs a precursor to its annual Theatre Festival, Ranga Shankara will present play reading sessions. Three well-known Bangaloreans, Padmavati Rao (among Bangalore's best-known story-tellers), RJ Shraddha Chaudhary (the sweet voice over the radio all of us love to hear),the multi-faceted Vasanthi Hariprakash (ex-RJ, Radio City, NDTV's special correspondent, and writer) and Aarti Aney (from the Ranga Shankara team) will read Shakespeare's most-loved plays to children at JustBooks outlets across the city.Children above eight and adults are invited to these sessions at 11 AM on 30 Sep, 14 Oct and 21 Oct '12. Admission…

My friend Sugandhi Gadhadhar writes:"1. The driver in an Innova that had "Police" marked on it was honking away. He argued that he *had* to do that, because he was on his way to duty, and others had to make way for him. And we were on our way to what, a party, at 8:30 am ?2. We ask the car behind him to block the way, so that he doesn't turn right from the leftmost lane that he was on. The driver in this 2nd car says, 'I'm going right, why should I go left' ?3. Lump on forehead…

Greetings from the Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan!Magic Lantern Movies and DOK-LeipzigPresentDoc Wok*A year-long documentary training and mentoring programmeSupported by the Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan and the British CouncilCommemorating: "Germany and India 2011-2012: Infinite Opportunities"This pioneering initiative brings together two institutions that work fordocumentary promotion: DOK-Leipzig (the oldest and one of the leadingdocumentary festivals in the world) and Magic Lantern Movies (an imprintof Magic Lantern Foundation - that works to create public access todocumentaries via archive and curation), to support and mentor documentarypractice in India.Doc Wok aims to address the missing link, that of mentoring, in thedocumentary practice in India, by creating a…

The Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival '12 is back, and is now in its ninth year! This year the theme celebrates one of the greatest playwrights of all time: William Shakespeare. So, gear up for two weeks of non-stop theatre starting from Oct 27 to Nov 11 '12, and come revel in the magic of the Bard of Avon!Our inspiration this year has been UK's recently-concluded Globe to Globe Festival. In store at the Festival are productions from different corners of the world, plus two from India. From Mumbai, there are Atul Kumar's "Twelfth Night" and Sunil Shanbag's "All's Well That…