Environment

Sarjapura village/town, located in the south of Bangalore Urban District, has about 26 lakes in a radius of 7 km. Said to cover about 505 hectares, the largest lake is 271 acres big. If one looks at google maps though, one would find it difficult to find any water patches. Indeed, the lakes are currently bereft of water, but residents of the area have learnt, from local old-timers, that these lakes were full just a decade ago.       Inspired by the efforts of Bangaloreans to save their lakes, residents of Sarjapura, under Sarjapura Residents Welfare Association (Sarajapura.RWA), they have taken…

I am here to apologize to all the Indians, the Kannadigas I’ve met in the last three weeks. Immediately upon meeting you, you either spoke to me in English, with the assumption that of course I wouldn’t be familiar with your language. Or, you asked if I spoke Hindi, and when you learned I didn’t, you jumped right into English with no apparent judgement. India, I am grateful for your linguistic abilities and I am sorry for my linguistic limitations.   I studied French for several years, but I am only fluent in English. Meanwhile, every single person I’ve met…

I am here to apologize to all the Indians, the Kannadigas I’ve met in the last three weeks. Immediately upon meeting you, you either spoke to me in English, with the assumption that of course I wouldn’t be familiar with your language. Or, you asked if I spoke Hindi, and when you learned I didn’t, you jumped right into English with no apparent judgement. India, I am grateful for your linguistic abilities and I am sorry for my linguistic limitations.   I studied French for several years, but I am only fluent in English. Meanwhile, every single person I’ve met…

Once in a while, one is privileged to attend a concert that not many people seem to know about, Indian Institute of Managerment, Bangalore (IIMB) and The Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Amongst Youth (SPIC MACAY)  together organized a violin concert by Lalgudi Shri Krishnan,  accompanied on the mridangam by Shri K U Jayachandra Rau , and on the ghatam by Shri H Sivaramakrishnan. Opening with a varnam in Nalinakanti, followed by Dhenuka (Theliye ledu Rama) he went on to play Sri Rangapura Vihara in Brindavana Saranga,  Marukela Ra in Jayanthashri (Thyagagaja) followed.   The main…

Once in a while, one is privileged to attend a concert that not many people seem to know about, Indian Institute of Managerment, Bangalore (IIMB) and The Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Amongst Youth (SPIC MACAY)  together organized a violin concert by Lalgudi Shri Krishnan,  accompanied on the mridangam by Shri K U Jayachandra Rau , and on the ghatam by Shri H Sivaramakrishnan. Opening with a varnam in Nalinakanti, followed by Dhenuka (Theliye ledu Rama) he went on to play Sri Rangapura Vihara in Brindavana Saranga,  Marukela Ra in Jayanthashri (Thyagagaja) followed.   The main…

On Saturday, 16-July-2016, Horamavu Parisara Abhivruddhi Samiti (HPAS) organised an intensive day-long lake cleaning and beautification event at the Horamavu Agara Kere. More than 100 people participated in the event. In addition to local residents, students from Mount Carmel College’s Eco Club enthusiastically joined in picking up litter strewn around the lake, segregating waste, removing weeds from the lake’s fence, levelling the ground where needed, planting tree saplings, and making the place aesthetically pleasing enough to dissuade people from littering and dirtying the place in future. This 50-acre lake in north-east Bengaluru has been a prime location for local residents to toss their…

On Saturday, 16-July-2016, Horamavu Parisara Abhivruddhi Samiti (HPAS) organised an intensive day-long lake cleaning and beautification event at the Horamavu Agara Kere. More than 100 people participated in the event. In addition to local residents, students from Mount Carmel College’s Eco Club enthusiastically joined in picking up litter strewn around the lake, segregating waste, removing weeds from the lake’s fence, levelling the ground where needed, planting tree saplings, and making the place aesthetically pleasing enough to dissuade people from littering and dirtying the place in future. This 50-acre lake in north-east Bengaluru has been a prime location for local residents to toss their…

Pic: Shubha Ramachandran Often times we (BIOME) are asked to compare the prices of recharge wells quoted by various well diggers. After speaking with the clients, we realise that they maybe comparing apples to oranges. Apples to oranges – since the well is not a standardised product but requires and includes several components and activities. Each well digger has his own vision of the well and related costs. Hence this blog post will throw some light on the components and activites that go into the making of a recharge well. And here we are not speaking of quality of activities…

Pic: Shubha Ramachandran Often times we (BIOME) are asked to compare the prices of recharge wells quoted by various well diggers. After speaking with the clients, we realise that they maybe comparing apples to oranges. Apples to oranges – since the well is not a standardised product but requires and includes several components and activities. Each well digger has his own vision of the well and related costs. Hence this blog post will throw some light on the components and activites that go into the making of a recharge well. And here we are not speaking of quality of activities…

A night view of M G Road. Pic: Shree D N After finding out I would be coming to Bengaluru, an Indian city I knew just as the "Silicon Valley of India," having grown up in Seattle, I became fascinated with the idea of comparing my hometown to B'luru. The differences between these two cities, 8,000 miles/13,000 kilometers apart, are stark (food, geography, language, ethnicity, weather, traditions, you name it). Finding the similarities, I thought, would be more of a challenge. The questions I had in mind: do Bengalureans romanticise their pre-tech past as much as Seattleites do? Do they…