Society

A thief gave up stealing and became a construction worker under his guidance. He received 35 cash awards from the Deputy Commissioner of Police for his service. The list of accomplishments does not end here for Rajiv B R, a constable who has been working in the JP Nagar police station for the past nine years.“He is extremely committed to his job and tireless in his duty,” said Shivalingaiah, head constable, who has known Rajiv for the last four years. “He is hardworking and sometimes covers for others’ pending work too.”However, joining the Bangalore City police was not a planned…

  Women with courage, strength and patience. Supporting their children and each other. Speaking out against violence at home and outside. Despite the pain of abuse and the threat of ostracization and backlash. In India, Cameroon, China, Kyrgyzstan and elsewhere. Portrayed through the lens of sensitive and concerned artists. In the women's own voices and others'. This was Daughters of Fire, a festival of films and discussions on violence against women and women's resistance to it. Last weekend, Vimochana and the Asian Women and Human Rights Council in collaboration with the Bangalore Film Society and Alliance Francaise de Bangalore organized…

“For men may come and men may goBut I go on for ever”.In the spacious library in the basement of St Joseph’s College on Langford road, I read these lines of Lord Tennyson’s poem that aptly captured the spirit of St. Joseph’s educational institutions, which have been in existence for more than a century. However, in May this year a piece of history was lost for ever; the 84 year-old magnificent gothic building that housed St Joseph’s Arts and Science College on Residency Road was brought down.A few years back, while working out of one of the glass and chrome…

I have run a full marathon and a couple of half marathons but I never really enjoyed running. I did it more as a chore, somewhat like eating healthy food and doing laundry. That is until I started running with Asha, an NGO working on children's education in Bangalore. Initially it started with a curiosity as to what drove Santhosh Padmanabhan, an Asha volunteer and marathon runner in Bangalore to do a 24 hour/156 km non-stop run. I learnt that it was a fund raising activity for education related causes. Padmanabhan, a software engineer, spends innumerable hours in education related…

Theatre has always been a media that awed me. The whole idea of performing live is fascinating and challenging. I have been attending plays for a long time, but being part of a theatre crew was a totally different experience. I got an opportunity to be a part of the production team for Evam’s “An Idiot for dinner” that was recently staged at Rangashankara on the 12th, 13th and the 14th of June. A stage adaptation of the Hindi movie, Bheja Fry, which is based on the French play Le dîner de cons. Sanjay and his friends have a tradition…

Is it a memoir or another book depicting the glory of old Mysore? Is it about the politics and administration of the kingdom of Mysore? It is hard to categorise MA Sreenivasan’s ‘The Last Mysore Pradhan’. I presumed it would be the author’s autobiography when I had started reading it. But the book had much more to offer.Sreenivasan started his career as a young Mysore Civil Service (M.C.S) officer in 1918. He served as with both Mysore Kingdom and then the Government of British India. He was made a minister (pradhan) in 1943. In 1947, he was invited by the…

The participants in their golden age put on their running shoes and impressed one and all, with their enthusiasm and stamina. It was an ordinary lazy Sunday morning but the bright spirit of the "silvers" added cheer to the Kanteerava Stadium on the morning of 31st May. Senior Citizens at the run (pic: Monika Monalisa) Harmony for Silvers Foundation, a Mumbai based non-governmental organisation conducted the run for senior citizens under the umbrella of the Sunfeast 10 K run. An initiative of the Dhirubhai Ambani Memorial Trust, it was founded in 2004 by Tina Anil Ambani, and working to enhance…

Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure and Development Task force (ABIDe) is a Karnataka Government initiative  to build a better Bengaluru. The agency’s main aim is to provide solutions to the challenges faced by the city. Given the number of agencies required to be involved in any issue of city level urban and social development, the initiative appears to be a step in the right direction. It makes sense to create a nodal agency to co-ordinate between the various principal stakeholders.Among other recommendations towards the betterment of the city the agency has just come up with a blue print for Bengaluru’s Heritage.…

It was not a typical Sunday when people wake up leisurely for brunch. Bubbling energy and enthusiasm radiated from Kanteerva stadium Bangalore.Kanteerva stadium saw Derbia Merga winning Men's event and taking home a prize of USD 1,55,000. The day belonged to the Ethiopians.Mergia Asslefech - Winner of women's 10k raceIt was a good idea to have an exclusive prize for Indian athletes in men's and women category. Kavita Raut from Maharastra was the winner in the Indian women's category. Participants were running like a storm. Nothing but energy and enthusiasm:The best part was the Kingfisher Run-in-costumes: It made the entire…

H-O-N-K...It's still ringing in my head, keeping me awake and goaded; it was all I could hear (especially today) while travelling to work in the evening...It was TRAFFIC and TRAFFIC all the way from home till Whitefield. Now when you are in a jam or in a signal and every "INCH" is covered with vehicles, why is it a few brainless uncivilised people HONK? Can't you see, the vehicle in front of you can't even move an inch?? Grrrr...More...There was a speed breaker in front of us, a two wheeler rider moved slowly, when my intolerant driver starts honking (not…