Society

Who doesn't love getting a chance to hear his/her own language, in a far-off place? Across the world today, niche radio markets have found a place, with some channels choosing to cater to non-native residents. Mauritius has Radio Plus Indiz that broadcasts in Hindi, Bhojpuri, Tamil and Telugu from 1 pm to 3 pm every day. Radio Punjab focusses on the South-Asian population in Canada. There are Italian and Spanish radio stations in the USA. Citizen Matters, through this two-part series, tries to explore why Bangalore, though tagged as being ‘cosmopolitan,' doesn't have any space for the music of other…

Who doesn't love getting a chance to hear his/her own language, in a far-off place? Across the world today, niche radio market has found its own place, some of the channels choosing to serve non-native residents. Mauritius has Radio Plus Indiz that broadcasts in Hindi, Bhojpuri, Tamil and Telugu from 1 pm to 3 pm every day. Radio Punjab focusses on South-Asian population in Canada. There are Italian and Spanish radio stations in the USA.Citizen Matters, through this two-part series, tries to explore why Bangalore, though tagged as being ‘cosmopolitan' and having seven FM channels, doesn't have any space for…

For Bangalore-based ecologist Harini Nagendra, whose name has just been announced as a winner of the 2013 Elinor Ostrom award, it is a bittersweet moment. Harini Nagendra and Dr. Ostrom at Kaikondrahalli Lake. Pic: Priya Ramasubban. The award has been instituted in the name of Elinor Ostrom, the USA-based scholar who received the Nobel Prize for economics in 2009 for her long standing body of work on the governance of the commons. For Harini, Elinor was, apart from being one of the most brilliant, incisive and deeply humanistic scholars, a very dear friend, collaborator and mentor with whom she worked…

When I quit full-time work to bring up the babies, I often wondered how difficult or impossible would it be to get back on the career track. Eight years and two brats have taught me how nonsensical that thought was. If you are a full-time mom (and all moms are full-time, whether working or staying at home), you have skills that are valuable in any and every work area. They just haven’t been discovered yet, or else every headhunter would be hunting for new recruits among moms. Here’s why essential, everyday mommy skills would be an asset in any job.…

The first batch of students from aAp - an Actor prepares Acting and Performing Institute (for film and television) in Nagarbhavi, graduated on 19 May 2013. The occasion was marked by a finale performance that showcased the talents of the first batch of eight students - two girls and six boys, who underwent a three-month course. The show was held at the City Central Library Auditorium, RPC Layout, Vijayanagar on Sunday. Dignitaries lighting the lamp on stage. From left: R Manjunath, Hayavadana, Usha Bhandary, Krishnamoorthy Kavattar and V Manohar with students of aAp in the background. Pic: Ganapa Gowda aAp…

It was a warm week-day afternoon, around the early 1950's. I had just finished my school day and was crossing the road to pick up my father from the office of N Sirur & Company, at Kalaghoda, Fort, Bombay.As I reached the other side I chanced upon  Ramakrishna A Lajmi, who had retired from the firm a decade earlier. Relying on a walking stick, attired in his customary shirt, dhoti, coat, black cap and chappals, he portrayed the quintessential Saraswat gentleman of a past age. For some inexplicable reason, he held my arm and spoke to me in Konkani:"Vhai re…

Chowdaiah memorial hall in Malleshwaram witnessed dance in different flavors on Saturday, 18 May 2013. From tiny tots to the elderly women, everybody danced with awe-inspiring enthusiasm. Not just the performers that night, but the audience too fired-up the place by swaying to the beats. All these efforts lionize the Chasse Dance Studio (CDS), Bangalore who explore the realms of dance and promote it as a medium of expression. The main aim of the studio is to explore the poetry of dance. Still from the dance show Pic: Priyanka Nadgir They want to engage people of all walks of life…

The city already boasts of the TCS10k, Bangalore Ultra and the unique Midnight Marathon which are already major landmark events and attract both local and international runners. Why a new running event then? “We wanted to do an event that is affordable, reaches out to the common man and puts the spirit back into running,” says Santhosh Padmanabhan, a running coach and founder of Runners High. The event is also the first one to have a Kannada name, a hat tip from the runners to the city of its origin. The event will have Thayi mane ota - 4k, Ananya…

The ecstatic French architecture has been collectively displayed in the National Modern Art Gallery, Palace Road in collaboration with Institut Français in India and Alliance Française, Bangalore, as part of the Bonjour India Festival 2013. The exhibition was inaugurated on the 18th April with the photographs of French colonial edifices in India. Amid the verdant Modern Art Gallery are displayed the delightful photographs of the French Colonial Architecture, which expressed identity, power, superiority and indestructibility. Puducherry Delhi-based Conservation architect, Aishwarya Tipnis, who invited distinctive photographers like Anay Mann, Gigi Scaria, Rishi Singhal, Serena Chopra, Isabel Singhal and Jean-Pierre Dubois, brings…

Are you the one who would love to revel in the old melodies and take up a journey to that logn-forgotten world of nostalgia? Then visit Voice of India exhibition, you will find a lot of stuff that's the treasure trove of the bygone era that keeps you hooked.Archive of Indian Music, a not-for-profit trust founded by Vikram Sampath, that seeks to digitise and preserve old and rare gramophone records of our country, has organised the audio exhibition 'Voices of India,' at Alliance Francaise on Queens Road. The expo started on 10 May 2013; the inaugural of Archive of Indian…