Society

We live in a city that brags of its achievements, of its IT sectors, of its socially aware and educated crowd. For a while now, I lived with thi impression, until an incident that took place on June 19th changed my very perception of the city and its people. It was just another normal day and I was off to meet a friend living less than three kilometers from my place. I commute by rickshaws most of the time, since I don't have my own vehicle. I got into an auto, the drivers earrings and strange looks did not bother me…

  On my way to office, which is located in Bagmane Tech Park, C.V. Raman Nagar, our office cab passed through the streets of Austin Town. On the pedestrian footpath, lay a helpless, old soul, wrapped in torn bits of clothes and plastic. On inquiry, her neighbors revealed that she has been lying in the same place for more than 10 years, all by herself. On December 19th 2012, after office hours, I decided to spend my evening with the elderly citizen. I held her tiny old hand to hear about her life and share her heart. She spoke to me…

Bengaluru has lots of people who want to minimise their waste by preparing their own compost, and growing vegetables from that. Some such people started this wondeful initiative - Oota From Your thota, the organic vegetable gardening fair. The fair is here again. Trees of Bengaluru is pitching in this time. When: Sunday, June 15 Venue: Whitefield Club, Whitefield main road Map: http://goo.gl/2PjU1f Tree walks will be conducted by Trees of Bengaluru. 1)  A season Watch Workshop - 11 AM 2) Tree Walk for kids - 4 PM 3) Tree Walk for adults - 4 PM Here's where you can…

View of the Somanathapura temple from the porch entrance. Pic: Wikimedia Commons The temple at Somanathapura took 58 years to build with 500 sculptors ceaselessly working on it. A true work of art, the Gods come alive in the stones of Somanathapura.  The stone figurines speak to you, be it is the ornately carved temple ceilings, the intricately carved pillars or the heavily sculpted star shaped Trikuta style temple of Somanathapura.  Somanathapura as the name suggests, is not a Shiva temple; it is a famous Hoysala styled Keshava temple. A brief history The temple was constructed in 1268 AD by commander…

During the week that the newspapers carried reports about proposed curbs on lavish weddings, coincidentally, Jaya and Valli came to me announcing weddings of daughters in their families. Jaya works as cleaning maid at two commercial establishments in south Bengaluru. Valli is a roadside flower seller. Both are of course, indigent, leading a hand-to-mouth existence. Jaya’s 16-year-old grand daughter Asha used to work in a clothes shop but when her mother (Jaya’s daughter) was diagnosed as suffering from kidney failure and it was clear she would not survive for long, Jaya decided that Asha should be married off while her…

On a day when no one predicted fast timings, Geoffrey Kamworoor-Kipsang obliterated the six-year-old course record with an excellent 27:44 clocking, while Lucy Kabuu led a Kenyan podium sweep in the women’s race, also with a brilliant new time of 31:48, in the 7th edition of TCS World 10K Bangalore. Pacemaker Daniel Salel, a silver medalist in 10000m at Delhi Commonwealth Games four years ago, led the runners through the first half of the race in 13:57.   Defending champion Alex Oloitiptip and his Kenyan teammate Kamworor were in the lead group, as was Ethiopian Kinde Atanaw.  Incidentally the Ethiopian has the fastest…

The Dance at Dusk organized on 26th April by PNLIT together with the Snehadhara Foundation was truly an event with a difference. Attended by over 60 people, most of them adults, the Gazebo was cramped for space. Some mothers held back their children for safety but ironically, the evening began with a three year old running into the middle of the ring of dancers and twirling her yellow frilly frock. Geetu of Snehadhara persuaded the child to join the group and the music began to play.   After a warming up slow number, Lakshmi from Snehadhara engaged the participants in a brief…

The essential characteristic of the world of the Blind or visually impaired is darkness in varied degrees. How well do we, the sighted, comprehend this world? What is it like to dance, sing, laugh, eat and cry in the dark? Prevention of Blindness Week, observed during the first week of April, highlights the key needs and efforts to address the challenges confronting visual impairment in the country. Activities as part of Prevention of Blindness Week The Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled and The Eye Foundation’s planned activities during the forthcoming week, however, promise a lot more and are a cause…

Pic: Huda Jaffer Drum beats and illuminating LED bulbs powered by the sun... do they have anything in common? Naah, nothing! Ponder over it for a minute. How are drums made? The typical response would be that the workers gather raw materials, add their labour and voila, the drums are ready.  Here we have workers who actually make drums under light bulbs powered by solar panels. Isn’t that exciting? Eco-friendly drums! A 500 year old craft In Thannisandra, a locality of Bengaluru, there is a small community of Mirasis living under the roof of tarpaulin tents. The Mirasis are a…

Students of St Mark's Public School at the Road Safety Campaign. Pic: Ravikala Baliga Children crusade for road safety Children’s Movement for Civic Awareness (CMCA) children believe that ‘Change begins with each one of us’!  The Game Changers Civic Club of St. Marks Public School is one among the many member school clubs of the CMCA who stand by this belief.  Students of this club are a bunch of enthusiastic teenagers, who yearn to bring about a positive change in themselves, and inspire and transform citizens of their community and the city. Towards this endeavour to make a difference, the…