Z-Blogs

 புத்தாண்டு வாழ்த்துக்கள்! transliterates to "putthANdu vAztthukkaL" and it means, New Year Greetings!It's the many others celebrate it today too...So....Happy New Year to everyone!tiny_mce_marker ⊕

...That subject title is literally true, since a Black Kite floated past on the thermals, at eye level, as I took these pics! Some of them are through very dirty glass, so I apologize for the marks across the sky.I went to conduct an interview yesterday, and from the 11th floor of the building (guess which one it is!) I took these shots of central Bangalore as it is today (or was, yesterday...maybe a couple more buildings have mushroomed!!)It's lovely to see the various landmarks...Chinnaswamy Stadium, Utility Building, the various convent schools, and so on.Prof Ramani of TTK says that…

The weather, friendly people and great coffee at any random darshini - these are the reasons I proffer to folks when they ask for the secret that Bangalore became, and continues to stay, home for us. To that list, add the fast spreading delights from the small little Nondescript "Hot-chips" Shop (the NHS) in practically every neighbourhood. It goes amazingly well with Bisibele bath, sandwiches, burgers, regular dal-rice or just a cricket match on the telly. Packets disappear in a jiffy, and you really cannot stop at one. Cholesterol, fat and other such demons are momentarily swept under handily available…

Duniya Sabkia theatre workshop for childrenfor children between 9-12 yearsFrom 7th May to 14th May 2011, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PMAt Rhythm School of Fusion, 14, Kaikondanahalli, Sarjapur Road(Near Total Mall, Sarjapur Road)For registrations and enquiries -Write to warafiki@yahoo.com, orCall Ravindra on 99863 71543.Note:rafiki is offering an eight day theatre workshop for children between 9 and 12 years. The workshop is titled Duniya Sabki, and is based on a poem (by the same title) written by the poet and theatre artist, Safdar Hashmi.Employing theatre games, exercises and our own experience of working with children - the workshop will aim to…

   A man buys plantain leaves on the occasion of Ugadi - the Kannada New Year. I can only imagine the sumptuous meal he would have had on the plantain leaf.  Pic by Ravi Kaushik.

Meet Ganesh, a rapicker. I met him when we went around Malleswaram with our Corporator.  We were trying to create solutions for the road-side garbage dumping. Ganesh was retrieving recyclables from a dump near the Malleswaram Market on 9th cross. He was a very pleasant person and showed us his booty. I just started realising that he is an Eco Hero who is doing what we should be doing....Reduce ..Reuse ..Recycle. I see a big conflict there: that dump is his bread and butter while we were looking at eliminating it!  Creating alternative options for these workers will be a win-win situation…

This year's Ranga Ugadi at Ranga Shankara celebrates the seven Jnanapeetha Award Winnersof Kannada, in a daylong festival on Sun, Apr 3. While Karnad and Anantamurthy read fromtheir works ("Hoovu" and "Suryana Kudure" respectively), the works of Kuvempu, Bendre,Karanth, Masti, and Gokak will be represented in the form of plays directed by well-knowndirectors, theatre songs and a film.Ranga Ugadi is a tradition at Ranga Shankara. On the Sunday before Ugadi (falls on Apr 3 thisyear), Kannada theatre, literature, folk arts and food come together for a daylong celebration.Special folk arts from various parts of Karnataka will be performing too. The…

BBMP's 2011 garbage tender draft is a scam. Complaining about garbage is easy. Collecting it and transporting it is tough. Citizen Matters expose of one contractor who handles a part of Bellandur ward has shown this: Contractors continue to severely and illegally underpay garbage workers and cook the books. Collection is very irregular and some areas are left out completely. New residents are ignored. With no other choice, citizens, who are themselves not very civic minded, start dumping garbage in vacant sites and outside roads, unwilling as they are to chase down a contractor with no name and no face.…

   Every morning when we open our newspapers, they scatter in a leaf-fall cataract...the little pamphlets that advertise all sorts of products and services.It is much cheaper for the advertisers to pay for such insertions in the paper, rather than pay for advertisements in the paper itself, which may also be missed out by the less-attentive page-turner! But alas, I have a mental block towards these ad-pamphlets, because they usually provide services that I am not interested in, and also, the putting in of these tracts by the newspaper agent occupies time, and delays the delivery of my newspapers. And since…

   The Government of Karnataka in association with Karnataka StateArchery Association is organizing "Archery Camp" on 19th & 20th March,2011 inthe premises of Sree Kanteerava Stadium, B'lore. This is to encourageArcheryand create awareness in the game of Archery in the State. This camp is primarily meant for the beginners/amateurs withoutage limitations. 1. Open to groups of IT and BT employees/Journalists. 2. Open to other individuals. 3. Open to groups from Educational Institutions. 4. No age restrictions. 5. No entrance fee or any other fee. 6. Professional Archers are not eligible. Interested persons may attend the practice/coaching session on19-03-2011 between 10.00 AM…