Society

On a sleepy Sunday afternoon of 29 June, Bengaluru made history of sorts. A 400 strong crowd made its way from Basavangudi's National College to the Town Hall, marking the city's first ever Pride Parade. For the uninitiated, the Pride Parade is an annual march held by queer communities around the world, as an expression of pride for their sexual identities and, in India's case, a demand for equal rights. The four-km rally was organised on Sunday, 29 June, to coordinate with the anniversary of what is commonly believed to be the beginning of the queer rights movement in the…

The morning of Sunday, 22 June, saw a motley bunch of people assemble at the entrance to Bangalore Fort. Architects, housewives, techies, photographers, writers and scientists, among others, gathered to learn more about Bangalore's heritage and its past from one of the city's leading historians, Dr S K Aruni. The event was organised by the Bangalore chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) as part of its Parichay (meaning ‘introduction') programme, an initiative aimed at raising awareness of Bangalore's heritage among its citizens. Participants in the INTACH Parichay event at the Bangalore Fort. Pic: MB…

The Karnataka Quiz Association (KQA), breeding ground for some of the best quizzers in the country turns 25 this year. Around 200 quizzers from across the country will meet in Bangalore on 28-29 June (Saturday and Sunday) to celebrate the occasion with a special two-day version of its anniversary quiz ASKQANCE. Round one In 1983, the late Wing Commander GR Mulky along with seven other quizzing enthusiasts- Deepak Murdeshwar, Rajeev Gowda, Thomas Uthup, KN Mahabala, Tribhuvan Kumar, P Raju and Jagadish Raja, founded the KQA. Mulky (or Wing Co as he's fondly called) explains on the KQA website that the…

26-year old Sarika R, an IT professional from Bangalore, is anxious about her 10-month old son Ganesh while she prepares to go back to work after a year's extended maternity leave. As her parents live in a different city, she doesn't have any one to take care of her toddler while at office. "I have been looking around for options of day care for him," she says, "but there are so many things that need to be taken care of for a child - it's a difficult choice." Fun time at Kara. Pic: author. This feeling is familiar among working…

What can be more soothing for a person, in the latter part of life, than to sit back and reminisce on bygone days? Some people are indeed lucky to be blessed with very special memories, and Ramadevi is one such person who has had the fortune of meeting literary stalwarts in her lifetime. Today, at 78, golden memories and thousands of books are her best companions. Her life is full of interesting happenings but she modestly dismisses them, saying that she has achieved nothing that deserves to be written about. Writer Ramadevi at her residence (pic:author) On entering her simple…

CIVIC Save lakes, say techiesTaking a break from their routine mechanical work, a group of techies have come forward to save Hosapalya tank, situated in Sector 2 of HSR layout. They are trying to bring awareness among citizens about the importance of retaining tanks. The group has formed an association called 'Sundara Jaga' (a beautiful place) with the motto 'Kere Ulisi' (Save Lakes). The group may be contacted through http//groups.yahoo.com/group/banao_sundar_jagah. (June 17, Prajavani). Dump under the nose of BBMP HQ The BBMP had once promised to build gardens in every locality. Forget new gardens, it will do well for the…

In the basement of Chitrakala Parishath, Bangalore is a long narrow room. Unlike regular Saturday mornings, on 17th May 2008 the room is bustling with activity. In one end of the room, members of INTACH Chitrakala Parishath Art Conservation Centre (ICKPAC) are busy packing their materials in cartons. Madhu Rani, who heads the initiative, tells me that they are getting ready for their trip to the Thiruvarur temple scheduled for the forthcoming week. An oil painting on canvas “Goddess Saraswathi” by artist S.K.Ayya, was received at our centre for restoration. The painting was in an extremely bad condition and it…

Deccan Development Society India, Hyderabad and the Network of Women in Media, Bangalore cordially invite you to the launch of a unique publication: Affirming Life and Diversity: Rural Images and Voices on Food Sovereignty in South India Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Auditorium, Race Course Road, Bangalore 56000110:30 am to 3 pm on 18 June 2008 Our partners in hosting this event are Communication for Development and Learning (CDL), Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR), Sarathi and Openspace. Affirming Life and Diversity is a multimedia publication comprising 12 video films made by the peasant women filmmakers of the DDS Community Media Trust…

The students of Bangalore School of Speech and Drama (BSSD) will be performing Aladdin at Chowdiah Memorial Hall on 27 and 28 June 2008 at 7:00 PM. Aladdin screens at Chowdiah Memorial Hall on 27 and 28 June at 7:00 PM. Tickets: Rs.250, Rs. 200 and Rs.150. Contact: 9845071197 or 9886360004. What makes this production unique is that it is not the familiar Disney version, rather a retelling of the original Chinese folktale in the form of a hilarious pantomime. Thrown in for good measure is some foot-tapping music and dance. You just might be enthralled by the power-packed performances…

Bangalore in the fifties was a relaxed, laid back town with little aspiration to cosmopolitanism. There was a rarely articulated divide, between the westernized cantonment area and the city areas with their predominantly old Mysorean culture. Double road (K H Road) was the dividing line as is still suggested by the crematorium on its eastern side. The cultural divide was quite stark, Veena and Carnatic music, long skirts and long hair, kho kho and tenniquoit in the schools on the south side and piano and western classical music, basket ball and hockey, knee length skirts and god forbid, shorts! on…