Society

An interesting photographic exhibition is on from 3rd October to 15th November at Café Fresco’s on Cunningham Road. Titled ‘Stone Theater’, the exhibition displays photographs of a different kind by Magali Couffon de Trevros. These beautiful images not retouched or reframed, but just printed on aluminum sheets. It is hard to believe that these are photographs of stones, sand and water bodies around them and the aluminum sheets add to the earthy effect of the theme.Magali is French by origin, and has been in Bangalore for about 6 years and in India for 15 years. Trained as a graphic designer,…

All of us know how difficult it is to keep in touch with the fine arts while managing a household or a profession; imagine how much tougher it can be to do so if one wanted to travel the world as well. But one extraordinary individual who has managed to all this, and managed to both teach and learn music in other countries, is Anasuya Kulakarni. Anasuya, who is in her fifties now, had a lovely voice as a young girl, and, after her training under Ganakala Ratna R R Keshava Murthy, was often asked to sing everywhere, though her…

Rock On is quite unlike any other movie that the Bollywood factory has churned out. It is the first Hindi movie that deals with rock music as its central theme, and is refreshingly different from most of the standard fare that we, as cinema-goers, have been subjected to. While the public in general seems to have been greatly appreciative of the movie, as box-office records would illustrate, I had mixed feelings about it once I walked out of the multiplex and walked back into reality, where rock bands were struggling to make it big, despite the odds being stacked heavily…

"There is no conflict in the city," was the opening statement by M Narasimha, one of the panelists in a discussion on ‘Conflict and the Future of Bangalore’ organised by Meta-Culture Dialogics (MCD is an organisation working on conflict resolution through dialogue) and hosted by Citizen Matters on 19th October, at Alliance Franchise de Bangalore, in Vasant Nagar. (16th October was World Conflict Resolution day and MCD has organised a week-long film festival on the topic during Oct 13-19. Preceding the discussion was the Anand Patwardhan film ‘Bombay, our city’ and following it was ‘Fishers of men’ by Ranjan Kamath.)Fortunately…

Day three at the recently concluded Bangalore test. The setting was perfect, the day promised a lot for India and Sachin fans. Bhajji and Zaheer started the revival of India towards the end of the day, hopefully the revival for the series.Sachin gets going in the first innings, his first boundary, joy was shortlived though as he was dismissed for 13More than the cricketers patrolling the boundaryShock and Awe tactics by the crowdEcstasy for Watson , despair for Dravid as the dreaded finger goes upWho uses the Drinks Trolley anymore ?They have the best view and the stamina‹ › $(document).ready(function(){…

Nandi Betta or Nandi Hills, 60 kilometres from Bangalore, is a favourite and convenient picnic spot for all kinds of Bangaloreans – young or old, with or without families, with girlfriends or grandmothers. ‘Nandi nodade iddavaru handi ginta kade’ (Those who haven’t seen nandi are worse off than a pig) is a popular old village saying. But try to avoid the trip on a public holiday since there are more footfalls here than in your nearest mall. If you do visit on a weekend or a holiday, reach the hills in the early hours. Walking across the fort and in…

Navaratri, or the Nine Nights, are celebrated by the Bengalis as Durga Puja, or ‘Pujo’, for short. Over a period of years, several community Pujas have sprung up, and a roundup of a few ‘pandals’ (shamianas) over the five days of the Pujo brought some interesting vignettes of Bengali culture in our city, between the 5th and 9th of October. Abstract at Ulsoor pandal (Pic: Deepa Mohan)Rites and ritualsDurga, in her aspect of Mahishasura Mardhini (slayer of the Buffalo-Demon) is fondly addressed as ‘Ma’, and the mother is invited with pomp and celebration as she is supposed to be coming…

Arts and Culture Kannada books go go hitech Nallur Prasad, President of Kannada Sahitya Parishad, a supreme body of Kannada literary works, said that a proposal to computerise the administration and digitalisation of all Kannada books is submitted to the government. Work on the website has also begun.. Mr Prasad opined that Kannada books should be made available on the internet so that anyone across the world will have access to them. (Kannada Prabha, Saturday, Oct 11) Civic Not a bus in sight The rapid development of the city has surprised many. However there is a village in Bangalore which…

PANEL DISCUSSIONCONFLICT AND THE FUTURE FOR BANGALOREANSFacilitated by Hosted by 4:00 pm, Sunday, 19 October 2008Alliance Francaise de Bangalore. No 108, Thimmaiah Road, Vasanth Nagar, Bangalore All are welcome!The panel discussion is part of a weeklong festival of films and discussions, facilitated by Meta-Culture, a conflict resolution centre. The panelistsM Narasimha is the founder-secretary of the Udayabhanu Kala Sangha, a Bangalore-based volunteer-driven cultural and social organisation, founded in 1965. He was formerly Assistant General Manager at Hindustan Machine Tools. He has been a social worker for four decades in the area of Kannada literature, culture and education.Dr Ambar Abdul Qaiyum…

PERCEPTIONS and PERSPECTIVESDispute and Resolution In CinemaA week long festival of films and discussionsOctober 13 – 19 To celebrate Conflict Resolution Day, October 16th, Meta-Culture Dialogics, Center for Dispute Transformation and Dialogue, in collaboration with Bangalore Film Society, and Alliance Francaise de Bangalore, and with the generous support of Arghyam, Citizen Matters and Visthar, are presenting a week long Festival of Films on Conflict and Resolution. After a very successful launch in 2007, with over a thousand viewers, Meta-Culture Dialogics is renewing its effort to reach out to the Bangalorean public, offering alternative ways of looking at disputes and conflicts…