Society

While Bombay found many an obsequious reference in timeless books by its Vikram Chandras and Suketu Mehtas; William Dalrymple wrote home about Delhi in The City of Djinns; and numerous homegrown authors did as much for Kolkata, Bangalore drew a near blank in the English literary scene. Until now, of course. No longer the poor cousin, Namma Bengaluru is coming to seal its place on literary firmament with authors increasingly finding inspiration from Garden City. Thanks in part to the Indian Publishing industry opening up, leading to writers of diverse backgrounds. Thanks, also, to international interest facilitated by a flat…

We are a team of ten from various backgrounds and organisations who have taken on a community project involving senior citizens since May 2008. We wish to bring happiness and fun into the lives of seniors at old age homes. We want to be with them in this phase of their lives, care for their health and empower them by creating an atmosphere of warmth and well being. Senior people end up at old age homes for various reasons; mostly because there is no one to take care of them, sometimes because they themselves are tired of living with family…

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon on 6th July when I was surfing through my scrap book on my Orkut profile and saw it. ‘International Yezdi / Jawa Day- 13th July 2008. Interested people may meet at 7.00 AM in Cubbon Park, for a joint ride to Café Cofee Day at Channapattna on Mysore Road’.It may sound silly but in reality, for the next six nights, I frequently dreamt of the ride. I saw myself on Mysore road riding my bike on various turns and different speeds. Every morning, I woke up with disbelief regarding my own subconscious excitement about…

In our country, it is not a common occurrence to find someone changing the direction of their career completely, and strike out in a totally different direction. In the course of the past few years, I have been privileged, though, to come into contact with a few such individuals, and their stories interested me greatly.When I first met B N Ramesh (who now spells his name as Ramessh, thanks to numerology) he was an executive in the corporate world...his last job was as the all-India Sales Manager of K G Denims. He did his M.Sc in Physics and Electronics, and…

A musician's path towards the final goal of being able to reach out to a mass audience with quality, original music is one that is full of trials and tribulations. For those that make the assumption that most of the work is done once musicians have composed, recorded, mixed and mastered their songs, the amount of significant additional effort involved in getting the music to gain mass-level popularity comes about as a rude shock.Once a band is ready with a demo, the next thing that needs to be done is to distribute this work and help promote the music they've…

The soft rhythms of the tabla greet visitors at ‘Sriram’, the simple residence of Pandit Ravindra Yavagal at Jakkur, Bangalore. The living room is stacked with trophies, mementoes and citations in every nook and corner. The ambience reflects the simplicity of Karnataka’s famous tabalchi, and his passion for this classical art. Tabla exponent Pandit Ravindra Yavagal.Starting bright and early 49 year old Ravindra Yavagal, a Staff Tabla Vidwan of All India Radio since 1981, is the youngest son of Late Ramachandra Yavagal. In an era when parents did not have to study child psychology to bring up dozens of children,…

It was the year 1848. Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV was the Maharaja of Mysore. A plague epidemic had hit Bangalore. Perturbed by living conditions in the cramped city area (primarily in and around present day Majestic), the forward-looking Dewan of Mysore, Sheshadri Iyer, initiated the creation of Malleswaram and Basavanagudi. His vision was to create new and clean suburbs to accommodate the city’s burgeoning population. A view of Margosa Road. Pic: Author.I remember going to Malleswaram as a kid tagging along with my mother for shopping sprees. A lot of memories come flooding back - the Malleswaram Circle Jataka (Tonga/horse cart)…

"25 years, these days in Bangalore, is very old" - a remark made in jest by Arul Mani, the Vice President of Karnataka Quiz Association (KQA) just might be true for Bangalore, a vibrant, over populous city with a largely transitory and migratory population. But for the founding members of Bangalore's oldest quizzing association it was indeed a significant milestone in sustaining a culture that is increasingly lost in the malls and discotheques of this city. Quizzers a the KQA anniversary event. Pic: Author. The event ASQKANCE 2008 scheduled over two days, in keeping with tradition, delivered just what it…

Satyajit Ray, Francois Truffaut, Girish Kasaravalli, Film Noir, Iranian documentaries and more - Bengaluru is the new haven for those wanting to explore cinema beyond the multiplexes. Whether one is looking for international film festivals or intimate rooftop screenings, the city's many film societies have it all. Besides bringing us the best in the world of cinema, they offer film buffs both new and seasoned, the opportunity to interact with one another. Pic: Suchitra Film Society. The city's oldest existing film society is of course the Suchitra Film Society (SFS). Suchitra started in 1971 as a forum for screening films…

Arts and Culture Exorbitant rent in Kalakshetra Exorbitant rent for Ravindra Kalakshetra is making Yakshagana performance (a folk art from coastal Karnataka) difficult now. The organisers of Yakshagana shows find this difficult to get suitable alternative places. The rent has been increased from Rs.9700 to Rs.13,700. Yakshagana lovers urge to lower rent in the interest of safeguarding a folk art (Udayavani, Monday, 30 June) Crime They came to help but were cheated They came with a trust but got betrayed instead. Lee Sung Shin and his wife Kim Bong Sun came to Bangalore with the intention of helping tribal and…