Society

City of Women is an upcoming podcast about how women in the city explores the calculated strategies, the backdoor negotiations and the sometimes absurd lengths women go to have fun and feel free in their city. Every Indian woman knows that being out in the city comes with rules - rules that determine who gets to be where and what you can and can’t do. But this show is not about those rules. It’s about how they get broken, bent, and jumped over when women decide to do things just for themselves. City of Women is fun, complex, and a…

Women’s labour is often unseen and their stories, often unheard. This unseen, invisible, and often unpaid labour is the ground upon which all ‘development’ in this monster economy takes place. We are witness to a moment in time when women are organising, fighting, and demanding their rights, questioning the very ideas of growth, progress and citizenship. In short, they are making their voices heard and making their labour visible. As part of our ongoing Satyagraha for the Sacred Economy, Gram Seva Sangh, Centre for Budget and Policy Studies along with few more organisations want to create a platform in the…

India sustains 16 percent of the world population with only 4 percent of the world’s water resources. With the rapid growth and expansion of metro cities like Chennai and Bengaluru in South India, providing safe drinking water is one of the biggest challenges that the region faces today. One of the major challenges to tackling water stress is the ongoing mismanagement of resources that has led to the overexploitation of water resources, particularly groundwater.  It has been predicted that in South India, climate change would affect water resources in terms of, increase in both drought-like situations and flood events, change…

This edition of Kaikondrahalli Kere Habba enters its sixth year. Kere Habba is a sunrise to sunset event that celebrates the gorgeous Kaikondrahalli Lake. It hosts a variety of sessions ranging from fitness to traditional art and crafts, for adults and children alike - all talking the same idiom of ecology and environment. The day starts with a bird walk at 6am followed by a 5 km run on the jogging track around the lake. Special medals made of lake reeds will be awarded to all registered participants and finishers of the run apart from 5 lucky draw prizes. Kere…

The annual Chitra Santhe was held on 6th January 2020 in Bengaluru this year. Since 2003, the festival has been celebrating traditional and contemporary art and making it accessible to the public. It has brought art out of galleries and museums to the streets thereby reaching out to broader audiences. The art fair featured over 1,300 artists this year and is estimated to have had around four lakh visitors. For more details, see Yourstory. Artists from outside Bangalore - North Karnataka, Goa, Odissa, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala participate. The Kumara Krupa Road leading up to the Karnataka Chitrakala…

It has been about three months since an update on the status of Iblur lake rejuvenation was shared. So here is one. As the picture suggests, there is water! That is a great news indeed. It is far from full, but to get to this point required a fair bit of work. Copious rains over the lake body were not enough. We had to find ways to clean up inlets of roadside drains that could feed the lake. We now have 4 such inlets and we will add a couple more once the current roadworks are complete. Here are some…

After two successful shows – one in Amsterdam in March 2019 and the other in Bengaluru on August 24th at Courtyard Koota, Kengeri, the dance-theatre piece ‘Goddess and her Magic Broom’ will be performed at Vyoma Artspace and Studio Theatre on September 14th at 6.30 pm. ‘Goddess and her Magic Broom’ is a dance-theatre performance based on poetry and imagery created around a homemaker’s life. Rendered invisible or reflecting the form accorded to her by a patriarchal world, women do not have it easy – whether they operate from a space of choice or role-play. Juggling familial and societal expectations,…

Bangalore Little Theatre is ready to present our next production Six Dead Queens and an Inflatable Henry (SDQ). Originally produced by Foursight Theatre Group, United Kingdom this popular play which has been produced worldwide by various theatre groups will now be premiering in India. In keeping with BLT’s socially conscious character and commitment to an enlightened agenda, this  all-women’s production is a small endeavour towards highlighting women’s capabilities through a production where women are involved in the creation process right from its start to finish. To that end, the comedy which had been chosen was not only written by women…

A non-Bengali friend (we both majored in English) once told me, “I want to read Chandalika (one of Tagore’s greatest plays) right now.” I looked hapless. I had a Bengali copy with me. Where would I get an English version right at that point? I was rather amused that she went on to grudge - “You can read that great poet when you want. Maybe, I should learn Bengali.” I laughed, “His Bengali is not easy to grasp re…let me get you a translation ASAP!”. We, as Bengalis (of course a particular section of the society), have always had the…

A day-long workshop has been organised on how we can envision alternatives to the smart city and challenge the top-down and exclusionary nature of such policies. The workshop includes a number of speculative and participatory design activities through the day and encourages participants to contribute as part of this conversation, which will particularly focus on how those marginalised by gender, caste, disability and other vectors might propose alternatives that are realistic and constructive for these communities. ‘Gendering the Smart City project’ is led by Professor Ayona Datta, UCL, and Dr Padmini Ray Murray, Design Beku. Event details: Date & Time:…