Society

Every year, come Christmas, I get nostalgic. Thanks to my convent school education, it is indeed my most favourite festival in the year. All I really want to do is go back in time, to my school days and relive the wonderful Christmas celebrations we had. Decorating the playroom, lots of carol singing, putting up the nativity play (I have proudly played the part of Joseph on two occasions at least), waiting for Santa (typically the tallest girl from the tenth standard) to distribute gifts and finally, getting a sip of Christmas wine in a one of those really tiny…

It was in 1927 that the then Municipal commissioner TB Russell initiated the construction of what is today a landmark market of Bangalore: Russell Market. He wanted to organise the anarchic markets of the Cantonment area which catered meat, fruits, vegetables and flowers from around the world to the British settlement in Bangalore throughout the 19th century and into the early 20th century. A brickwork of lime and mortar, roofed by corrugated sheets of aluminum supported by a framework of imported steel girders, this structure was built in Indo-Saracenic style, incorporating the Hindu architectural elements in the bulbous domes capped…

The recent altercation at Bangalore Club involving Rajvir P Sharma, ADGP, Railways, whose driver allegedly abused a security guard onsite, raked up the issue of people in power or their staff flouting the rules or demanding special treatment. [also read: Rajvir Sharma case: CAT on the wall] Sharma was asked to show the club identity card, following which it appears that one thing led to another. Referring to the incident, Sharma says, “I was on official duty, going from my office to the DG’s office. I needed to use the restroom, and therefore considered going through the Club to use…

Inside Johnson market. Pic: Mansoor Ali The BBMP proposes to demolish 18 old, traditional markets and replace them with malls. Most of the markets they plan to destroy are more than 60 years old, and some, like Johnson Market, are much, much older.   We believe the government must consider the heritage value of these markets before deciding to replace them with malls. Instead of thoughtlessly destroying them, the BBMP could easily involve urban, conservation and heritage experts such as INTACH to help revitalise these markets.   INTACH, together with like-minded people, has launched a campaign to save these structures and also promote…

The flag-off ceremony.Pic: NBF As the countdown for the close of nominations for the Namma Bengaluru Awards 2014 (NBA) has begun, Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF) in association with BTV, the media partners for the awards, organised the flag off of the display vehicle from Dr Rajkumar Memorial grounds at Peenya.  The display vehicle will move around the city to enable citizens to nominate their heroes from right where they are.  The vehicle was flagged off by well-known director of the Kannada film industry, MG Shrinivas who now is making his debut as an actor in his new movie “Srinvasa Kalyana”.…

A 16-year-old tribal girl, an aging illiterate social worker in Rajasthan, a 23-year-old physiotherapist  in Delhi, a young journalist in Mumbai, a 50-year-old tourist from Europe, a six-year-old school girl in Bengaluru–what do these females, from different parts of the country, with diverse backgrounds, have in common ? They were all  victims of gruesome rapes that made “news”. One of the first lead stories that I wrote, over three decades ago (1979), was about the infamous Mathura rape case, in which the court released the accused policemen (who had raped Mathura at the police station) on grounds that the 16-year-old…

There was a commotion at the front gate. A woman crying and speaking at the same time. I, then a 1970s high school student, rushed to the living room to look out to see who it was and what was going on.  Just at the same moment as amma rushed out of the kitchen. The woman at the gate was Kamala. Amma rushed to the front door to ask what had happened. In between sobs and convulsive crying, Kamala said, “My anna (older brother) has died and they have brought the body to the village. Is my mother here?” “The…

Sometimes people do not encounter problems; but rather problems have a way of finding those who have the vision and resolve to make the world a better place. That’s what happened to Prateek Kaul and Prarthana Prateek Kaul, when they were working on an event with blind kids and had to struggle in order to arrange for appropriate gifts for them.  Prarthana and Prateek Kaul of GiftAbled Foundation at an event This made them think of what would happen if a sighted person wanted to give a card to a blind person. If it was a card with words, the…

On November 26 and in the days before, police in Bangalore, India, rounded up more than 150 hijras and put them in a concentration camp. (Hijra is a traditional term, across much of South Asia, for people born males who who identify either as women or as a third gender.)  At Orinam, an online resource for LGBT issues in India, human rights lawyer Gowthaman Ranganathan tells the story: Approximately 167 members of the transgender community have been taken away by the police and kept at the Beggars’ colony. These detentions have been entirely arbitrary … Most detainees were not on the streets begging or doing any act that is prohibited…

As November 14th was Children's Day and Nehru's birthday, the Manjari Ladies Association, which has been organising events for children for many years, wanted to do a special event this year as well. Annapurna Murthy, President of the association came up with the idea of holding a painting competition for underprivileged children.   Two schools, Marenahalli Government School and Shree Ramachandra Grameena Vidya Vikasa Kendra Trust, were shortlisted for the competition.  Around 160 students, from the two schools took part in the competition. The association also provided the material, colour pencils and drawing paper, for the competition.  The children were very enthusiastic about the…