Deepa's Jottings

One  sight that can be seen frequently in the mornings is that of different people reading the morning newspaper. It's a habit deeply ingrained in our culture, and no matter which newspaper it may be...our mornings are not complete without the daily dose of newsprint.We may have the radio, the TV, and the internet...but for most of us, there is no substitute for the peaceful few minutes as we learn about the world around us through the printed page. ⊕

Pankaj Kothari is a well-known Bangalore caterer, and once a year, he brings Kaushik Kothari and his orchestra, the Golden Greats, to Bangalore to stage Rang De Basanti, which stages several evenings of old Hindi film hits, with sumptous dinner being included in the ticket price as well.We went to the show on Monday night and were treated to a medley of rousing songs, patriotic numbers, and mellifluous duets, and several haunting old immortal songs. The dinner that precedes the show is always amazing; there are varieties of pasta, pizza, chaat, and salads as well as the regular food items…

For the past few years, Chitra Kala Parishath (CKP) has been organizing an annual art event, Chitra Santhe (Art Fair) in and around the CKP campus and its environs. It has become a fairly important event in the art scene of the city.This year, the gate of CKP was beautifully decorated as usual:The slogan of the Santhe highlighted the symbiotic relationship between artists and their patrons....CKP also used the opportunity to hightlight some of the other initiatives they are carrying out, such as ICKPAC, the art conservation effort:The range of geographical locations represented at the Santhe was phenomenal, and there…

Since the series "Birds of Bangalore" has been started in Citizen Matters, I thought I too could add to the list... Here's the TICKELL'S BLUE FLYCATCHER, singing away sweetly at the Valley School this morning... Will be posting other birds' photographs, too, watch this space!⊕

I went to M G Road on work for Clean and Green today, and decided to visit India Coffee House as well....This part of Bangalore heritage seems doomed to go into the history pages soon. Here's a waiter in the familiar uniform, that I have seen in both Kolkata and here:Several of the waiters have been working in this co-operative for many years, and the chances of their finding another job seem bleak. Bangalore will be the poorer for losing out such parts of what it has been, in the name of commercial development. I still see the demolished top…

We were participating the Bangalore Bird Race, and had gone to Madivala Lake right at the end to see what water birds we could spot; but a "kite" (not a Black or Brahminy Kite!) caught my eye....The backlit kite, soaring above everyday cares, while yet tethered to the ground, against the liquid gold of the evening sky, seemed a metaphor for all of us in this city...we are tied down to our commitments and our various problems, but once in a while, we can fly above them and enjoy our place in the sun....And it was lovely to see that…

A friend of mine called up this morning and said that as he was passing Tilak Nagar, he saw a sign which said, "Tipu's Secular Army". That tickled me as much as it did him! Is this new secular army a new political party? Or are we finding secularism in unexpected places now? Can anyone shed any light on this army? ⊕

Here's the first beauty which you can spot, if you are lucky, just inside the West Gate of Lalbagh:That's the Asian Paradise Flycatcher, one of the more spectacular birds to be found in the city! You can see the wiki entry about it here .The other beauty is something that is blooming right now near the Bandstand, near the Deputy Directorate of Horticulture building. It is the Philippine Jade Vine:That is the true, and unusually beautiful, colour of the flowers!Here's the board giving the scientific name:Do try and catch them now! ⊕

I am normally not out in the evenings, but this evening, I was able to watch how, at least in one respect, the truckers' strike is impacting our city.  Many of the petrol pumps were closed, and where petrol was available, the chaos was unimaginable. Long queues of vehicles snaked back across the roads, and sometimes down side roads as well. Two wheelers kept jumping the queue trying to get their chance ahead of others, and added to the mess. Can the government do nothing right? If it saw the transporters' strike coming, could they not make sure that there were…

Sometimes misspellings have a kind of weird association that make you wonder if, after all, the mistake was one after all...How fitting that Bangalore which, these days, seems to have a seamless transition from the summer to the winter monsoon, should have, not a mega, but a Megha (cloud) sale! ⊕