Z-Blogs

We've all read the "Utterly butterly delicious" slogan of Amul butter; now it seems to be "udderly butterly delicious, as cows line up for bun-butter-jam at Sri Manjunatha Condiments, Jayanagar, Bangalore...The shop specializes in buns, spread with butter and all kinds of fillings. A quick, filling, and tasty lunch for a lot of office-goers in the area. Even the cattle love it! ⊕

We may be in the twenty-first century, indeed, in the second decade of it...but we still cling to the past in many ways.In a bustling city, this is a common sight...It may be a cheap and eco-friendly form of transportation...if only it didn't choke up traffic!⊕

Background- According to our estimates (made through actual door-to-door surveys) there is no more than 3200 tonnes of waste collected in the city each day. Of this, about 1000 tonnes at the most is wet waste, and the remainder is dry. A small portion (5-10%) is electronic and bio waste.- Current technologies permit most, if not all, of the wet waste to be converted into compost or energy. Composting can be done at different scales - in the home, in neighbourhoods, and in large zones.- A very large chunk of the dry waste can be recycled, even profitably. The recycling…

Mahesh Shantaram writes on his Facebook wall:On October 2nd, my mobile phone was stolen. The thief was caught on October 25th. Of the more than 40 phones he had stolen, he made the mistake of keeping mine for himself. My thoughts:1. I had to get a court order for the police to legally release the phone from their custody. This picture goes to the court as 'proof' that the transaction is complete. The System exists, and the System works, but I am amazed and amused by how the System sees photography as a tool for evidence gathering and documentation.2. Amongst…

A few days ago, I jumped at the opportunity of 'converting' yet another fellow urbanite. My cousin wanted some help in planting pudina (mint) in his balcony and we soon got talking about various aspects of plant care. Watering can. Pic:Vinita It was then I realised that while watering appears to be a simple activity, it is in fact one of the most misinterpreted, often with disastrous consequences for the plant. When understood and carried out properly, it is capable of significantly influencing the relationship with the garden. So, let’s start at the very beginning. We don't water plants, we…

I was looking forward very much to the Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival this year, and was even happier to note that there would be a curtain-raiser montage of Shakespeare by Evam. Evam, to use a punning phrase, usually has its act together, and I was looking forward to some good pre-entertainment entertainment.Alas, I do not know who thought of using the entire ground floor space of Ranga Shankara (and the stairs, too) as a stage for the montage. Though the idea was a novel one, and intended to gather in the audience all over, with scenes being played at different…

I've spoken before of my friend who has now developed into a professional wildlife photographer. He got together with a team, and directed this video; the images are all from Karnataka:   The lyrics are written by H S Venkateshamurthy, and Ricky Kej is the music director. here is the Deccan Herald write-up about it. It is being released today, on the occasion of Rajyostava Day. Congrats, Amogh, and may other such efforts follow! ⊕

There inature, conservation and bird-watching communities in Bangalore are deeply saddened  at the loss of one of their  champions, Deepak Arya.   Deepak Arya was well-known to the rock-climbing and birding communities of Bangalore; he had been quite active in protesting against the privatization of public commons, and his last major initiative was for the protection of the Turahalli Forest, which was under threat. He was also documenting the history of the common vegetables that we use.Under the email id of "z_axis" (he explained to me once that we had the 'x' and 'y' axis in a graph, so he wanted to…

Timber Depot, Dandeli, Karnataka, 251012The sun slants into the groveIn a million rays.The leaves take beautyIn a million ways.We, who see it, cannot hope to createA hundredth part of such a scene.We can only capture and share...And be awed by what we have seen.A salute to Karnataka, my home,my mother, and my muse...She came into being on this day. ⊕

I can certainly understand, and applaud, an effort by a police station to get the common citizens of Bangalore involved. But this mural, painted on the J P Nagar Police Station, seems to want the citizens to "join hands" with the Bangalore Police in committing as many illegal acts as possible!Well, I got the gist, but the mural made me smile all the way home! ⊕