Z-Blogs

Entry to Lalbagh Botanical Gardens is free up to 8.30am, and cameras are not charged. The entry ticket business has been outsourced to some private organization. Yesterday (13 September 2015), we noticed people from this organization chasing visitors at about 9.30am and asking them to pay for their cameras. Some groups, visiting for special purposes, have special permission; eg, the Bird Watchers Field Club, which has a bird walk in Lalbagh on the 2nd Sunday of every month, has permission for the group until 10.30am. I cannot understand why officials should chase visitors after 9am and start charging for cameras,…

They wait, in their toxic colours in swathed in plastic, these un-green Ganeshas...a miniscule mimority tries to make green idols, much older people remember a time when a little pinch of mud or turmeric was enough to represent the elephant-faced god. I wonder how many of them remain, mercifully, unsold, and are recycled the next year.

It seems to be men who transport these colourful bangles all over the cities and villages...rainbow fragility on women's wrists that are given in fours at religious festivals,and adorn, in dozens, a pregnant woman's arms. Women pride themselves on wrists that can acommodate smaller bangles, while the bangles are often used as a major insult in our men-are-dominant culture. Made of plastic, metal, and sometimes the finest glass..these circlets are an integral part of our culture and heritage. Valley School, 05 Sept 2015.

Hello, dear reader, with whom I’ve shared so much. If you’re reading this, it means the time has come for me to leave. Perhaps, as you’re rubbing your weary eyes and preparing for bed, I’m up in the air, waving goodbye to you from the polluted sky above Bengaluru. Yes, after 11 weeks in the Garden City, I’m going back home. Back to a place, where, like they say on Cheers, “Everyone knows my name.” Then again, did anyone even watch Cheers in India? Another question I’ll never know the answer to. Add it to a growing list of questions I…

In his classic book, 'Ways of Seeing' John Berger says, "The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled. "Each evening we see the sun set. We know that the earth is turning away from it." what we know a Street for Cars and People to move what we see  what we know There must be an EDGE differentiating spaces and functions, a distinction between where the street vendor belongs, where the pedestrian walks and where the vehicles move. "We only see what we look at. To look is an act of choice." And, if we were…

Most Hindus celebrate the birth of the dark baby God, Krishna, by installing an image of the god and worshipping it in the traditional manner, with flowers,fruit, and other offerings. However, Priya Mukund, of J P Nagar 3rd Phase, celebrates the festival a little differently.  She has, over the years, made a large collection of figurines of Krishna: as a baby, holding ball of butter; sleeping in a cradle.holding a flute while he herds the cattle; in unison with Radha; or in the form of preceptor, revealing the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna. The figurines start from very old pieces in…

I arrived by the Air France flight which lands at  Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) at 23.50 hrs. It most definitely meant that by the time I navigated Customs and Immigration and came out of the Arrivals area, it was about 01.30 hrs.  I am an avid user of public transport, and there is a Vayu Vajra service (KIAS 12) that drops me at my front gate. I would have felt much more safe in using that, rather than taking a cab. But the service is suspended between 00.30hrs and 0700 hrs. Therefore, I had no alternative but to take a…

She seemingly had it all—the vitality of youth, varied and interesting career choices, a vibrant life, a vivacious personality. Yet she is now no more, after allegedly plunging off a Bengaluru high rise to certain, violent death. Her story is all over the city newspapers now. The question uppermost in peoples' minds (as my own) is why? Why did this bright, beautiful girl feel she had to end it all? To leave behind loved ones who are probably traumatised for life. What spurred her on to do this terrible act?  Today, we (at least most urbanites) live “always-on” lives. We…

The Registrations for the CEPT Winter School in Ahmedabad are now open! There's a wide variety of courses and one of these is 'The Everyday City'. Sharing the details of this course below. Dates: 1st to 17th Dec 2015 Location: School of Architecture & Planning, CEPT University, Ahmedabad In India, as in other parts of the world, some of the physical development of the city is influenced by the everyday practices of its people. The urban spaces are continually transformed by social, cultural, religious, political, economic and other practices. Currently, these practices intermingle with each other and with the streets…

Recently I went on a food walk with Bengaluru’s Unhurried walk and tour company. The three-hour walk led me through the charming streets of Basavanagudi and into some fabulous eateries. At the handful of small restaurants, shops and bakeries, I tried everything from piping hot kaapi (coffee) to heavenly neer dosa with sweet coconut chutney to idli in a savoury sambar. Plus some pomegranate ice cream, banana chips and a “Japanese cake” along the way (the latter of which is neither Japanese nor really a cake, but is delicious.) It was a deeply satisfying and very educational evening. Holly trying…