Society

Apart from growing into a booming martial arts school in Bengaluru, Independent Shootfighters Inc. is also rapidly gaining ground in training women in self defense.Established in March 2007, the school has trained more than a lakh women in self defence through corporate workshops, schools, colleges and also as a social cause for Sri Lankan women refugees in Chennai. "Women’s self defence, has always been a topic close to my heart," says Ashwin Mohan. Pic credit: Ashwin Mohan. Independent Shootfighters was established with three students by Ashwin Mohan.  Today, it has eight coaches, seven centres and over 800 students across the…

Winter in Bangalore is an amazing time. It isn’t bitterly cold but chilly enough to make you want to wrap a stole and seek the warmth of the sun. The rains are gone and the city is dry, green and colourful, with pink blossoms all around. And most importantly, after a month of dull weather the sun is finally out. What’s a better time than this to take the children out and indulge in something unusual? We give you a list of 10 things to do with kids this winter. Indoors and outdoors, both. The eco-park 'Our Native village'. Pic…

What should be an ideal way to find a match? A man and a woman meet and then they decide to marry. Of course, this is the practice followed in many western countries but a rare practice in India. We claim we are a modern and civilized society but still keep a highly orthodox perception about marriage. There are two roadblocks to perfect marriage in Indian society. One is horoscope matching and the other is the practice of dowry, which is used to decide matches by most parents. The bride and groom rarely get the privilege of taking their own…

“Only five per cent of people follow their heart. The rest work to please others”, said the 45-year-old S V Ramachandran as he welcomed us into The Qurio City shop, the centre of his passion for antiques. It was around 7 PM on October 21st – and the second edition of the event, 'City Specks: Mapping Memories'. “Only five per cent of people follow their heart. The rest work to please others”, says S V Ramachandran. Pic: Pushpa Achanta. The event was  part of the theatre group Maraa’s recently concluded October Jam. For the next hour and a half, he…

Last night, I was returning from the house of a friend. We were a group of six, and all sober. We realised that a few in our group were hungry, and headed to Paramount in Koramangala for dinner. The time was around midnight, and the cops were at the door ensuring that no impressionable, upright citizen was enticed into the den of vice.. Oh sorry, they serve only food! The moral indignation of the police was to be seen to be believed. I understand the concern behind having bars/pubs open late. But I cannot for the life of me understand…

The Namma Bengaluru Awards, set up by the Namma Bengaluru Foundation, has received a whopping 3902 nominations from across the city. The nominees include a banana leaf-seller R V Badraiah, Sr Adeke Korah who counsels prisoners, police sub inspectors and a BBMP official. There are two categories for the awards - the Public Officials and Agencies category and the Private Citizens and Institutions category. Among the nominees R V Badraiah: A banana leaf seller, however have arranged drinking water facilities in all the neighborhood bus stops.Sister Adele Korah: A former school principal. After retirement she devoted her time to counseling…

A wall is a wall, whether it is plain, peeling or broken. But it is much more when it is painted with flowers, animals and mystical beings. It is street art. On Rest House Road, off St Marks Roads, one can see flowers, clouds and a man reading under a tree.Shilo Shiv Suleman, Siddharth Chadha and Ridhi D Cruz are the three young people who painted this wall. Ridhi is a Bangalorean, trained as a journalist, who freelances with independent media projects. Chadha who is from Delhi and Ridhi’s J-school classmate, is a film maker and researcher. Shilo is a…

One can get a peek into the Bharatratna and Oscar Award winner’s life at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) on Palace Road, where slew of photographs by Nemai Ghosh titled, “Satyajit Ray: From Script to Screen”, are on display. They are on display till November 27th of this month. One of Satyajit Ray's photographs displayed at the National Gallery of Modern Art. Pic: Deepa Vaishnavi It is said, ‘A picture is worth a thousand words.’ This is indeed the case with these photographs which have been selected from over tens of thousands of photographs taken over a period…

Life throws pleasant surprises along the way when you least expect it. Until Friday afternoon I hadn’t really planned on attending the launch of Yt’angle (Yours Truly angle for children by the theatre group Yours Truly). But one thing led to another and me, a reluctant theatre enthusiast jumped at the chance of introducing my children to theatre. They were not entirely enthusiastic about this last minute Saturday program to go watch a play when they could be home with video games and television. The chock-a-bloc traffic and losing our way to JC Road didn’t help either. But we reached…

Meteor showers happen when masses of meteors fall into the earth's atmosphere in a shower, producing heavenly fireworks. They are named after the constellations in which they are seen. On October 24th, we had the Orionid showers, and on November 17th, we are about to witness the Leonid showers. Expected peak of the Leonid Showers over India Approximately midnight to 3.40 AM on the night of the 17th/early morning of the 18th of November, 2009. (Actual time may vary). The showers can be viewed with the naked eye and no telescope is required. For more info see here and here.…