Society

Nation-wide strike ... some thoughts. a) People who feel that they are not sharing in the economic gains of the country resort to strikes. That much is understandable. And we must do something about this - inequality at these high levels is harmful in many ways. b) The public at large, however, is tired of strikes - especially because in addition to economically motivated strikes called by disaffected workers, there is another set of strikes called by employees of over-staffed public sector organisations that most people think should have been closed long ago, because they are just a drain on…

The Joy of Giving offers so much satisfaction and adds a definite meaning and purpose to our lives. The joy of sharing and giving is especially much more significant when we live in a world where we spend money easily on several material and non-material comforts but often forget the fact that a simple home cooked meal for one person costs only about Rs.50 at the most. We swipe our debit cards on clothes, cosmetics, food, gadgets, toys, travel and don’t think twice about spending huge amounts but have we ever thought of how much more a relatively minuscule amount…

In the previous story on athletics for kids, we dealt with what Bengaluru city lacks when it comes to training budding athletes or athlete enthusiasts. Here is the second part of the series on the private and government facilities that are available for young athletic talents. The government does allocate funds for the sports activities. In the financial year 2015-16, Rs 118 crore was sanctioned (State and Central) for initiating various works in the Sports and Youth Services Department. The department officials say that of the grants allocated, 70 per cent was earmarked for sports-related works and the rest is for…

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The Venkatappa Art Gallery could well see more activity and action in the coming days, as artists in Bengaluru come together to make the Gallery a vibrant public space and regain its lost glory, and all this without private participation. The heart of Bengaluru is buzzing with public activities right now. The Rangoli Metro Art Center is a hit because it’s open for all. Vehicle-free Sundays in Cubbon Park attract enthusiastic crowds. With the Venkatappa Art Gallery and the museums being near Metro stations, there is a lot of scope for improving footfalls at the Gallery, feels Suresh Kumar G,…

The theme of this year's flower show is Parliament House. Pic: Kate Clark What is Lalbagh flower show? The biannual Lalbagh Botanical Garden Flower Show. Every year in January and August a flower show is put on in Lalbagh to celebrate Republic Day and Independence Day. This August’s theme is the Parliament House. A large flower rendition of the Delhi Parliament House is on display. There are also dozens of stands with artisan crafts, spices, coffee, books, purses, scarves, seeds, plants and ceramics for sale. Where is it? The flower show is at Lalbagh Botanical Garden in and around the…

How Chennai’s famous Urur Olcott Kuppam Vizha Took Roots When a few disturbed individuals met around a couple of years back, it started a chain of events that seemed like Lego blocks falling in place. When I use the word 'disturbed', I mean disturbed by many happenings around us. All of us just could not fathom how some people could be termed superior or inferior to others. And just as much, how certain arts could be termed superior or inferior to others. We decided to do something about it. And that was the birth of the Urur Olcott Kuppam Vizha.…

My Experience volunteering for Vegam 2016 It's been two weeks, but the excitement and the spirit of volunteering for Vegam hasn't faded. July 16th was a big day for all the 1180 differently abled students, who participated in a Sports Event or Athletic Meet held successfully at the grand Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. "Vegam" is an annual athletic Meet for differently-abled children organised by Chennai Social Service (CSS), a volunteering organization working for the socially backward people over the last 10 years. Apart from this event, Red Drops, Nalanda, Environmental Care, Aravanaippu and V-Scribe are some of the initiatives from CSS.…

In an age when the colloquial phrase “there’s an app for that” is true of almost everything imaginable—dating, determining whether your watermelon is ripe, predicting bad hair days—it makes sense Bengalureans would use apps to teach and learn Kannada. As early as 2001, before the largest cohort of migrants took up residence, Kannada, the official language of Karnataka, was the first-language of only 40 percent of Bengaluru's residents (this statistic doesn't include those who speak Kannada as a second or third language) Since then, the number of English-medium schools grew, Hindi became a more common choice of second-language, English became…

WOMEN’S SAFETY – A LONG WAY OFF? I was walking home from the grocery store in my neighbourhood of R.A Puram the other day, when the driver of a passing rickshaw stuck out his tongue and made an obscene gesture at me. I was stunned. For less than a second though, after which I started laughing, highly amused. I suppose I should have been offended. But it happens so often that I have learnt to ignore it and laugh at it, indirectly allowing it to persist, not just with me but with scores of other women in the city. I…