Society

Long before television, it was the radio that caught your ear and put it to the ground of the world. Never mind if it was a word, a note or even just a sound byte that floated into your mind. It chimed around in your head and drove home special, or even just informal, messages.   The celebration of the legacy and experience of that special wonder gadget, then, resonated with the diverse audiences at The Radio Festival (TRF), hosted by the International Association of Women in Radio and Television, partnering with UNESCO on February 15th, 2018, at New Delhi.…

From regular meetings by political parties, to cultural festivals, panel discussions or programmes in schools -- hundreds of events are hosted in the Chennai metropolis every day. While they add much to the vibrancy of life in the city, it is undeniable that these events typically increase the burden of waste on our landfills. Starting from the promotional phase to actual conduct, piled up thermocol, flexi boards, plastic sheets and various other forms of waste, many of them highly toxic, are generated during the life cycle of any event. Ironically, even many environmental events use flex banners and serve food…

If you are an environmentally conscious person, yearning to give back to Nature and the planet that sustains us, here is an opportunity in Chennai for you to know more and actually move towards translating your plans to action: the Reciprocity fest scheduled for the coming weekend (February 10-11th). Reciprocity concerns holistic sustainability, thus indicating that everyone is an affected stakeholder. Considering the steady rise in the mounds of waste in the city, the Reciprocity fest reiterates the need for citizens to join hands and do something to reduce and recycle waste. Seminars and discussions would be held on the…

A strong stench of seafood fills the air at Ayindhu Gudisai Street in Chintadripet, which is a stone’s throw away from the banks of the Cooum river. As the sun descends slowly on a Friday evening, a group of lungi-clad men aimlessly banter about their day-to-day chores, while the women sip on their tea and play Daya kattam. Overpowering the Tamil song played from one of the MGR movies on the narrow street, the verses of Bharatiyar resonate through the entire locality. With a wide smile and excitement writ large on their faces, children repeat the verses after their teachers,…

I first met  Prasad Natarajan in 2014, when we attended a wildlife volunteer training program together. Even then, in the beautiful environs of Kudremukh, Karnataka, I always found him with a sketchpad and a pencil in his hands. Since then, his artwork, especially on the theme of wildlife, has become quite well known. He is not afraid of using the most difficult and unforgiving of art media, such as Indian ink (lampblack collected in a container and mixed with grease, and applied carefully to paper.) He is now an artist whose work finds homes across the world. However, Prasad decided to…

The spate of horrific news from schools across the country does not seem to subside. The most recent incident, of course, is the mysterious death of a Class 9 student in the school toilet in northeast Delhi's Karawal Nagar. It is suspected that the teen died of internal injuries resulting from assault by a group of friends. Earlier this year in Lucknow, Hrithik Sharma, a Class 1 student, was stabbed on the back, chest and left eye by a girl in Class 7, in anticipation of a holiday that the school would inevitably declare in the wake of such a…

Even as the evening melted into the night of January 31, hundreds were standing torturously on tiptoe at the Lal Bagh hillside. Mobiles and cameras were flagged out like click-baits as everyone wanted to shoot a special moon that was going to strike the peaty sky after 150 years. In fact, it was going to be a Pink Moon due to the filtering of red light through the earth’s atmosphere, even as that body passed through the umbra of the earth to eclipse the sun. It was also going to be a Blue Moon that was not Blue, but was…

Makkala Jagriti, an NGO working with children and youth from the underprivileged communities, is holding an event ‘Makkala Raaga’, at Chowdaiah Memorial Hall on February 2nd, 2018. The event marks the 15th year of Makkala Jagriti’s establishment and we believe that that this esteemed platform will ignite the dreams of several children from marginalized communities who have had no opportunity to perform in front of a huge audience and showcase their talents. Makkala Raaga, meaning ‘Symphony of the Children’ is an ensemble of 500 children and youth from the underprivileged and marginalized communities to showcase the rich cultural heritage, diversity…

An artist friend insisted that I visit Lalbagh to check out his buddies sculpting dead trees at Lalbagh. I was intrigued and strangely had not heard about this from any other source. Also the customary visit to the flower show was pending, a ritual that cant be missed twice a year,  I headed off to Lalbagh this afternoon. As we approached the glass house on either side we spotted logs of wood taking different shapes and forms – Buddha, Ganesha, crocodile, a peacock  to name a few. Perched on a scaffolding was well-known Bangalore artist John Devraj working with an…

Chennai may never become a super metro or a smart city, whatever those two terms may mean or imply, but it is fast becoming one of the most built-up cities of India. The value of open space is fast being forgotten and Government and private parties alike view all such areas only as places where buildings can be put up. You name the precinct – colleges, University, the High Court, the stations, administrative headquarters – everywhere the trend is the same. More and more buildings are coming up. No thought is being given to alternative campuses in other parts of the…