Society

A few months ago, I was going through the ‘Bangalore District Gazetteer.’ The 'oldness' and the 'dustiness' of the Gazetteer just seemed to add to the authenticity of a ‘gazetteer.’ The stories were mostly likeable, bringing in a sense of wonder and revealing a past that I did not know. I looked for ‘markets’ and ‘bazaars’ on its index page. I’m sharing here some excerpts from it. The ones that I found most interesting were the ones with names of localities in the city that we know today but are so completely transformed from the old days. For instance, it…

Garden City Farmers (GCF), Bengaluru, is delighted to celebrate World Kitchen Garden Day with the 8th edition of Oota From Your Thota, Bangalore's only urban organic gardening fair. The one-day event will be held on Sunday, 25 August 2013, from 10am to 5pm at the Durga Parameshwari grounds, Opposite Rangashankara, JP Nagar. Over the past few years, while Bangalore has lost countless trees, the patches of green in its houses are growing, slowly, yet steadily. Bangaloreans have begun turning their spaces, however small, into lush gardens and the kind that provides food. The number of vegetable terrace gardens in the city have grown to…

Zafar Futehally, who passed away on 11 August, 2013, was known for the deep interest, knowledge and passion he brought to the fields of bird-watching and conservation. He was 93. Zafar Saheb, as he was affectionately referred to, was born in 1920 in Mumbai. He was a student of Economics. At the age of 22, he joined his uncle and cousin to run a machinery company. His wife Laeeq is a niece of the incomparable ‘Birdman of India,’ Salim Ali. Zafar and Laeeq had two daughters, Zahida (Zai) and Shama, both of whom became writers. Zafar was soon initiated into…

Dahlia of a rare colour. Pic: Vanila BalajiYellow Daisy Pic:Vanila BalajiMore yellow Daisies Pic: Vanila BalajiRed Dahlia Pic: Vanila BalajiPurple Aster Pic: Vanila BalajiPink Rose Pic: Vanila BalajiPink Dahlia Pic: Vanila BalajiOrange Cock's Comb Pic: Vanila BalajiA Dahlia of hybrid variety Pic: Vanila BalajiTeam of flowers! Pic: Vanila BalajiBee enjoying nector Pic: Vanila Balaji‹ › $(document).ready(function(){ $('.carousel .carousel-inner .item').first().attr('class', 'active item');}); If you haven't visited the show, you have only two days left! Click here for more details.

Inclusiveness’ is the word for namma literary extravaganza, the Bangalore Literature Festival, to be held from September 27 to 29 this year at Jayamahal Palace. There are authors appealing to both the commoners and cognoscenti, English as well as bhasha readers, while technology is being used to democratise and promote. Vikram Sampath, author, musician, archivist, team leader in an IT firm and one of the co-founders of the festival, points out that BLF’s inclusive, tech-savvy personality is reflective of the city. Here’s an interview with Vikram Sampath, where he reveals his plans for the literature festival. Vikram Sampath talks about…

On July 16th, an 18-year-old student from Christ University consumed poison, alleging sexual harassment from her NCC instructor. The girl is out of danger now. Though the teacher was taken into custody, there are no further reports on whether he is still in custody or if he was let off. The college authorities, not surprisingly, sided with the teacher. I haven’t been able to confirm if the student has resumed her studies in the same college or if she has moved out. One report says that the father withdrew the case because he “realised that she is a female child…

A friend forwarded me the link to a parenting blog recently. The blogger, mother of a seven-year-old, takes up the challenge of yelling less. She’s inspired by the blog famous among parenting blogs, Orange Rhino. For those who are not familiar, The Orange Rhino is the name of a challenge where the aforementioned blogger decided to go 365 days without yelling at her kids. All four of them. Yes. Four. And she succeeded. As for me, I prefer the Maun Vrat, the age-old spiritual practice of silence. Of course, I have my own version of it. Mine comes into application…

I was taking my cycle to the ‘Fitness Through Travel’ to get it lubed properly for the race on Sunday. As I passed the playground near 19th Main (BTM Layout), I noticed a young woman in filthy clothes lying unconscious near the grills of the ground. A lot of young men were playing in the ground, paying no attention to her. Everyone was just glancing at her and moving away with the assumption that she was drunk. I too started moving away, but then I noticed dried blood around her foot. I felt bad, went near her and woke her…

  S G Vasudev is an interdisciplinary artist – an artist whose works are deeply influenced by other arts – music, dance, poetry, weaving, mythology and more. The release of the artist’s coffee table book “Vriksha – The art and times of SG Vasudev,” held on 20 July 2013, couldn’t have been better timed. The garden city is also playing host to a month-long exhibition of paintings of one of the country’s greatest interdisciplinary artists - Rabindranath Tagore. The austere occasion started with the launch of Vasudev’s book by the high priestess of theatre in Bangalore, Arundhati Nag. On the…

In part I of the series 'Blending with Bangalore,' Citizen Matters had explained the trend among non-Kannadigas to learn Kannada. Here is part II of the series, that throws some insights on how to learn Kannada in Bangalore. Kannada class being conducted by Kannada Learning School Pic courtesy: kannadalearningschool.com Journey from ‘Kannada Barolla’ to ‘swalpa barutte’, and then to ‘Kannada Barotte’ can be a pleasant and exciting ride if you choose the right path. Kannada is a very simple yet rich language. If you have real interest in the language, it is possible to speak reasonable Kannada within one month,…