Deepa's Jottings

I was walking along in Jayanagar 4th T Block, when I noticed these young men selling "fresh honey from the hive, madam, do you want?" I looked down; the broken pieces of the honeycomb were there and pieces of it had been put into containers for the honey to drip down into them. This was, probably, the freshest honey one could get one's hands on. Alas for me, I still had a lot of walking to do. I noticed a few dead bees on the hive and this saddened me until I realized that this was, indeed, a humane way…

I was walking along in Jayanagar 4th T Block, when I noticed these young men selling "fresh honey from the hive, madam, do you want?" I looked down; the broken pieces of the honeycomb were there and pieces of it had been put into containers for the honey to drip down into them. This was, probably, the freshest honey one could get one's hands on. Alas for me, I still had a lot of walking to do. I noticed a few dead bees on the hive and this saddened me until I realized that this was, indeed, a humane way…

Dignity, and quality of life in one's old age is not something given to all of us; sometimes, for various reasons, people have to take up residence in an old-age home. I recently visited one such home, only for ladies, in J P Nagar.   I found that the number of ladies in residence had dwindled to only eight, but these ladies seemed quite peaceful and content with their lives. Indeed, one of them (name withheld on request) regularly makes rangolis in front of the gate each morning. However, life is not luxurious. There are, indeed, several "senior citizens" residential…

Dignity, and quality of life in one's old age is not something given to all of us; sometimes, for various reasons, people have to take up residence in an old-age home. I recently visited one such home, only for ladies, in J P Nagar.   I found that the number of ladies in residence had dwindled to only eight, but these ladies seemed quite peaceful and content with their lives. Indeed, one of them (name withheld on request) regularly makes rangolis in front of the gate each morning. However, life is not luxurious. There are, indeed, several "senior citizens" residential…

We often lament about our children using tablets and X-boxes all the time...but I find, often that even our urban children are quite in touch with the traditional games of childhood. Today, when I went to Kaikondrahalli lake for the kere habba, I found this pile of flat stones, with a young girl piling them up carefully.   I knew that a game of   Lagori was in progress, and waited a bit while the girls surrounded the pile of stones and began their game. The game involves a ball and a pile of flat stones, generally played between two…

We often lament about our children using tablets and X-boxes all the time...but I find, often that even our urban children are quite in touch with the traditional games of childhood. Today, when I went to Kaikondrahalli lake for the kere habba, I found this pile of flat stones, with a young girl piling them up carefully.   I knew that a game of   Lagori was in progress, and waited a bit while the girls surrounded the pile of stones and began their game. The game involves a ball and a pile of flat stones, generally played between two…

Having heard about the   Dhaatu Puppet Festival   I went with my daughter and two grandchildren to watch the parade, which started from the Dhaatu Bus Stop in Banashankari,      and ended at the JSS Auditorium, where several shows are to be held over the weekend.   The parade was a riot of colour, as you can see from this video:   There were puppets and puppeteers from all over the world:   Here are two  home-made puppets...Vaishnavi, the young lady on the right, is looking as happy as her puppet !   The group all posed for…

Having heard about the   Dhaatu Puppet Festival   I went with my daughter and two grandchildren to watch the parade, which started from the Dhaatu Bus Stop in Banashankari,      and ended at the JSS Auditorium, where several shows are to be held over the weekend.   The parade was a riot of colour, as you can see from this video:   There were puppets and puppeteers from all over the world:   Here are two  home-made puppets...Vaishnavi, the young lady on the right, is looking as happy as her puppet !   The group all posed for…

Yesterday (Sun, 1st Jan 2017) , at about 7.30pm, we drove on to the NICE Road (now it's the NECE Road) at the Mysore Road junction,  and there were long queues of cars waiting to pay the tolls. We found two men standing in front of the toll gates, collecting tolls. Thinking that they had devised a good way to speed up the process, we decided to pay the toll to them. Our toll from Mysore Road to Bannerghatta Road was Rs.58. To our surprise, they asked us to pay Rs.60. When we  challenged them as we knew the exact…

Yesterday (Sun, 1st Jan 2017) , at about 7.30pm, we drove on to the NICE Road (now it's the NECE Road) at the Mysore Road junction,  and there were long queues of cars waiting to pay the tolls. We found two men standing in front of the toll gates, collecting tolls. Thinking that they had devised a good way to speed up the process, we decided to pay the toll to them. Our toll from Mysore Road to Bannerghatta Road was Rs.58. To our surprise, they asked us to pay Rs.60. When we  challenged them as we knew the exact…