Society

There are public spaces and there are public spaces. While city’s bus stops, railway stations, and the streets make up one side of public space; malls, movies and restaurants make up the other side. And the two sides have very different set of rules and these rules as usual affect women the most. Sartorial choice might seem to be a very trivial issue in larger scheme of things but the right to choose what one wants to wear rather than be told what to wear is hardly something to ignore. This in a city that boasts of being cosmopolitan.Offices have…

With Bangalore’s landscape transforming so rapidly, the current scenes in the city are sure to vanish before one can observe the rate of this change. There is already a great sense of nostalgia that is prevalent among us as we move through the city even to get simple chores done. We suddenly realise that the little shop has disappeared, that muddy road has now become a commercial street. Srividya G S has captured scenes of the city in her photographic memory and reproduced them with the medium of charcoal, water color and paper. The show is being held in Gallery…

Despite the downpour last Saturday night, you could see an eager and motley group waiting near/opposite Ulsoor Police station a little before 8 am last Sunday (July 11th) morning; for the Ulsoor Parichay (introduction). This was a part of the series of heritage walks organised by the Bangalore chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) as part of its Parichay programme, an initiative aimed at raising awareness of Bangalore's heritage among its citizens.The parichay was planned so as to walk through some parts of Ulsoor where we could witness and discuss processes of urban change.…

If you go with expectations to see a movie about Bengaluru, you are going to be thoroughly disappointed. Even as the feature film titled 'Bengaloored' may seem misleading to the regular movie-goer, director Swaroop Kanchi says the city is merely a backdrop in this story about a man and the changes in his life. (Read Citizen Matters' interview with Swaroop Kanchi here) 'Bengaloored' is about an author, Babruvahana or Babbu, who returns to the city from France after ten long years. With a lot of changes in his personal life, the film is about Babbu's struggles and his journey to…

Most of you are aware of the 11 pm curfew on Bangalore’s night-life that is in place today, but did you know that a couple of years ago there was a ban on western live music performances altogether?As unusual as it may seem now, western music performances were put in the same bracket as club or bar dancing. Karan Karthik, stifled by this lack of freedom of expression, wanted to bring about a change in people’s perception of live western music performances. To achieve this, he, along with a few friends, sought the help of the state horticulture department to…

Vasu Dixit, Bangalore-based music composer-vocalist-guitar player for the folk-fusion band Swarathma, has recently turned music-director with his first movie Bengaloored. The 90-minute English movie directed by Swaroop Kanchi features Kannada actors and has received good reviews both for its music and performances. From humble beginnings in 2002, Swarathma has grown to be one of the major fusion bands in the city now. After regrouping in 2006, the six-member band’s first music album, also called Swarathma, was released in 2008. Their second album was Soundpad Sessions, a project by UK Producer John Leckie, in which they were featured as one of…

Language has always been the bone of contention between people. Some people go to any extent to show their love for languages. Most often such fanatic attitude leads to negative incidents. But there are yet a few who show their love for languages in a very positive manner. K K Gangadharan, 60,  is one such person. Born into a Malayali family in a village called Pathanadukkam in Kasargod District, he migrated to Kabbinasethuve village in Coorg District in his childhood. Courtesy: K K Gangadharan. “Since First Form (today’s VI Grade), I had to travel to Somwarpet for schooling, which was…

Amidst all the excitement of the FIFA World Cup, Bangalore had its own mini world cup tournament last week, with players representing France and Spain fighting it out in the finals on Sunday. The KIPSTA Cup football tournament ended with two ‘France’ teams - Rootsports (representing Bangalore based sports management firm Root Sports) and BSSF (Bangalore School Sports Federation) - winning the cup in the Senior and Under-15 categories respectively. The runners-up in the two categories were ARM Technologies Pvt Ltd and SPT (from SPT Sports Academy) respectively. Kipsta cup U15 team in action. Pic: Navya P K. A small…

Courtesy: Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH). It isn’t often that an old structure gets added to the cityscape but exactly this happened two months ago when the Muzrai Department excavated the old tank associated with the Someshwara Temple in Ulsoor.A cowshed stood at the spot earlier and a little shop on one side. The unearthing of the tank involved demolition of portions of some houses along its sides and so naturally generated some controversy – the excavation is now mired in a court case.Like in the case of the temple itself, we have no exact date…

Monday, June 21st saw 16 students from eight different schools participating in the 4th Annual V V Madhuranathan Memorial Debate Competition organised by Jnanajyothi, the Senior Citizens Association of Banashankari II Stage. The topic of the debate was "Law can prevent the abuse of elders by family members". Participants in the debate competition, with the Jnanajothi team. Pic: Prasad Students from standard 8th to 10th participated in this debate (some spoke in English while others spoke in Kannada) which was judged by a panel comprising of V R Kulkarni (Secretary, Swasahaya NGO), N B Jayaprakash (Director, Dignity Foundation Bengalooru Chapter)…