Z-Blogs

I thought it was difficult to write a review of a play I liked very much; I did not want to sound as if the theatre group had sponsored my review!But alas, the difficulty of that task is nothing compared to that of writing a review for a play that left me completely cold. Whatever the impression the play has on a member of the audience....the fact remains that a lot of effort and time has been invested in the production. For this reason alone I would like to find some positives in any play that I watch, and write…

Occasionally, instead of a light-hearted evening of theatre, one gets a  powerful, thought-provoking play to watch. My friend Shangon and I braved the rain to go and watch Michael Freyn's play, "Copenhagen" which was being produced by Centre for Film and Drama. I had not read up about the play, or watched it before.There can be no better synopsis than the online one that Ranga Shankara has on its online schedule:"Frayn's play, Copenhagen, speculates what might have transpired during a meeting between Nobel laureates Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg in Copenhagen in September 1941, at the height of the German…

Theatre Professionals, a part of the  Drama School, Mumbai, staged "The Dragon", translated from the Soviet author and playwright, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evgeny_Shvarts">  Evgeny Shvarts </a>This  is a play written in 1944.. The excellent translation, bringing the action forward to a contemporary time, was done by  Harsh Khurana.As a reviewer, I usually watch the first show.  This time, for a change, I decided to watch the last one, and see how the successive stagings had honed the production values.A film of the play was made in 1988. I thought it would be interesting to watch how germane the concepts of totalitarianism, first…

Today two young teachers who work at Indira Priyadarshini School in J P Nagar came over to conduct a caste census. Amongst other things, I was asked what caste I belong to, and what sub-sect of that caste I belong to! I cannot understand either the reason or the goal of a caste census. We are officially supposed to have left caste behind several decades ago. So why is a caste census being done?  There still is so much opacity about these enumerations undertaken by the Government, using public money. If my mother was a Christian, and my father a…

A blind adherence to regulations today made a bank manager give a suggestion that was, at the very least, inappropriate.Let me recount how this came about.My maid, before she came to work for me, opened a savings account. Not being aware of the options, and being barely literate, she slowly wrote her name on the specimen-signature card. She then realized that she would have to sign exactly the same way whenever she wanted to withdraw money; so she started worrying about not being able to.She therefore requested me to come with her to the bank, and ask them to change…

Bellandur Buzz... Issue #33 Date: 8th April 2015 This newsletter is published fortnightly by the citizen group bellandur-forum@googlegroups.com. Surprisingly it has survived despite 32 previous lack-a-daisical issues!   The best waste management deal ever! Coinciding with the red moon last week, the local Aishwarya store has been bitten by the green bug. They have declared that they will no longer give out those illegal cheap plastic bags that clog Bangalore’s drains. As part of their CSR, they will hereby buy out the produce of all the impoverished roadside vendors and hand it out to customers in freshly printed newspapers. They will…

Pic: Deepa Mohan Auto-drivers come in all shapes and sizes: old, young, thin, fat, toothless, handsome, smelly, bearded, grumpy, cheery, etc. Like a good box of chocolates, you never know what kind of driver you’re going to get. Sometimes you can depend on them and you feel like they are there to support you… At other times, they seem to derive joy from your frustration, they tease you when they pass by, they try to kill you with their reckless driving, and when you need them the most, they are nowhere to be found. After a few weeks of taking…

World water day at Rainbow Drive layout, March 22nd  Is there any other better way to celebrate world water day than at Rainbow Drive (RBD) layout in Bengaluru? Rainbow Drive has been a pioneer in many good practices towards water sustainability, and this was one such occasion which provided an opportunity to celebrate that spirit of working towards water self-sufficiency. The involvement of the young generation in taking photographs and developing a movie on the good practices followed in the community, the residents themselves talking about the current practices and interventions around solid waste management, recharge wells, rainwater harvesting, etc. made…

Guiana chestnut | Pachira aquatica Now that's a sight worth spending a morning for, isn't it? This is how it came about. Nidhi Chawla and Reshmi Chakraborty, who founded an online magazine for seniors, asked me to conduct a nature/birding walk in Lalbagh, and I readily agreed. I've taken many mixed groups, but this would be the first time it would be an only-seniors group. I carefully thought out a trail that would touch on the iconic sights in this wonderful city garden, and yet would not tire our older friends. We started at the iconic tower of Kempegowda, and…

"Is your dog well tied up?" "Yes, he is." I found this picture amongst other dog photos, in Lalbagh.