Society

Springfields Apartments near the Outer Ring Road junction. Pic: bhooshan Iyer. The kingdom of heaven was discovered at an apartment complex on Sarjapur Road last weekend. We are referring to the Onam celebrations conducted at Springfields Apartments near the Outer Ring Road junction. In this massive complex of over 550 apartments, close to a thousand people turned up to view the festivities that were spread over two days. Lighting of the Lamp & Crowd. Pic: Bhooshan Iyer. The singular event, organised by a handful of people from various walks of life under the banner of Springfields Welfare Association, boasted of…

"Uplands" in High Grounds, Bangalore became the residence of Sir MV after his retirement.  When the owner wanted the bungalow, he shifted to No. 5, Cubbon Road, a small bungalow placed at his disposal by the Mysore Government. . . . Sir MV lived alone in those days except for his cook, his personal assistant, Sadgopalachar, and12 servants. At the instance of Advani and other friends that he should have somebody to look after him in his old age with love and affection, he permitted only M. R. Krishnamurthy, his nephew and his wife to stay with him in "Uplands."…

It's been a happening fortnight at the movies in Bangalore. The fourth Indo-German Film Festival ran between August 20th and 26th at Lavanya Theatre in Ulsoor, drawing a niche audience from across the city. Amongst the top German films screened were  A Year Ago in Winter, Jerichow, Storm, John Rabe, Soul Kitchen, Whisky with Vodka and Lila Lila. The Indian films in the festival panorama included Kanasembo Kudureyaneri, Vimukti, Kanchivaram, Bioscope, Paltadacho Munis, Gabhricha Paus, Harishchandrache Factory and Ek Cup Chya. Next in line were a couple of much-awaited new releases at the cinemas over the weekend. Bollywood had the…

Think Id and Biryani comes to mind. Think Ganesha and the visual imagery is that of the elephant god with a Modaka in his hand. Food, either abstaining from it or partaking of it, has always been central to religion and community. This could be due to the fact that while men may create rites in the patriarchal societies that most of us live in, it is women who perpetuate them. Within families, the bedrock of any community, women carry on rituals and customs; ensuring that traditions thrive. The food stalls around Swagath Road get busy in the evening as…

It only took 13-year-old Aditya's bragging about how quick and efficient he was at the newly acquired skill of tying flowers, for the girls in his group to take it upon themselves to beat him at his game. What started as a fun contest, turned into a fierce battle with each camp pelting flowers at each other. Your reporter, lips pursed in concentration, attempting to learn to tie flowers from ten-year-olds, was caught in the crossfire. A participant at the workshop making a Ganesha idol using clay. Pic: Siri Srinivas This was the workshop organised by the Environment Support Group(ESG)…

A Children's Magazine, HAM Radio, General Science, Traffic... Yes! A unique quiz that involved all of these - Quiz on Air. Hoopla Club, a monthly children's magazine, in association with Indian Institute of HAMs organised the second annual 'Quiz on Air' on Friday September 3rd, 2010 in Bangalore. After earlier preliminary rounds, ten Hoopla Club member school teams made it to the finals that was conducted and aired ‘live' on HAM Radio. HAM Quiz on air, was conducted on September 3rd. Pic courtesy: Hoopla Club. Why a quiz conducted on the HAM Radio network? Hoopla Club's Reena Mirpuri and Balchander…

On Sunday August 29th , the Kannada translation of Prof. S N Balagangadhara's book, "The Heathen in his Blindness"...Asia, West and the Dynamic of Religion (1994) was released at the Kannada Sahitya Parishat in Chamarajpet. The book titled 'Smriti, Vismriti: Bhaarateeya Samskruti', translated by scholar-historian Dr Rajaram Hegde, was released by writer-journalist Ravi Belegere. Published by Akshara Prakashana, the book is priced at Rs 415. An introduction to the book was presented by Prof. Sivarama Krishnan, retired Sociology Professor, Bangalore University. Centre for the Study of Local Cultures (CSLC), Kuvempu University organised the event with support from Nagasri Book House,…

Radish grown in Manikandan's terrace garden. Pic Courtesy: P Manikandan. P Manikandan used to garden during his school days. After a break prompted by preoccupation with higher education, he restarted in January 2008, at his fourth floor apartment on Bannerghatta Road. So gardening, he says, has always been a passion. He now grows his own vegetables using organic methods so that they are pesticide-free. He also has ornamentals that include roses, Crotons, Coleus, Dahlia, Zinnia, Rudbeckia, Oleander and Jasmine. P Manikandan. Like most planners and gardeners, Manikandan first decided on a few key aspects like the size of the garden,…

'Behind The Seen' at 1, Shantiroad (on till September 1st), digs into visuality and the very idea of ‘a show'. It has successfully attempted to turn the canvas to face the wall and coax the viewers to see what is hidden behind that beautifully painted picture. This is the display of the productions of four individuals who work as technicians, doing numerous odd jobs at four dynamic art spaces in the city. Curated by city based artist Surekha, ‘Behind the Seen' is in honour of the quiet ones who work behind the scenes making many of the major shows in…

Murder mystery games have been a popular form of entertainment, where a group of people get together and play the roles of various people in a murder mystery, trying to solve the mystery. Once a parlour game, it has now become a popular exercise for corporate Human Resource initiatives, where people participating in the exercise are also involved in the development of the 'murder' situation. A scene from the interactive play. Pic: Deepa Mohan. M D Riti, who established Riti's Murder Games in 2004, has been staging  murder mysteries for corporate clients for six years now. She recently staged one…