Society

Birthdays are not anymore a simple affair with a bunch of friends, cake, balloons and candles. Today, childrens' birthday bashes can be quite a fancy event with everything from bouncing castles to magic shows, all managed by professionals. Pic: Wikimedia commons Hotels/party halls have tie ups with event management companies for the décor and theme of the party though it is optional. "The basic décor starts at Rs 3000, magic show at Rs 2,500, tattooing at Rs 1,500 and caricature at Rs 2,500", says Srinivas N, an event manager. "My five year old son is always excited to go to…

Enjoy these visual glimpses of the programme held at United Theological College (UTC) on Millers Road, to mark International Women's Day (IWD) 2012. Shahina K K, a popular mediaperson, highlights caste, class, religious and gender discrimination that surfaces during natural disaster relief efforts Veteran journalist Ammu Joseph discusses skewed representation of women in Indian news media LesBiT, a support forum for gender minorities staged an aesthetic and meaningful multilingual performance on the different kinds of social exclusion prevalent in India, currently An image of one of the posters from Our Pictures, Our Words by Laxmi Murthy and Rajashri Dasgupta, (publisher:…

Enjoy these visual glimpses of the programme held at United Theological College (UTC) on Millers Road, to mark International Women's Day (IWD) 2012. Shahina K K, a popular mediaperson, highlights caste, class, religious and gender discrimination that surfaces during natural disaster relief efforts Veteran journalist Ammu Joseph discusses skewed representation of women in Indian news media LesBiT, a support forum for gender minorities staged an aesthetic and meaningful multilingual performance on the different kinds of social exclusion prevalent in India, currently An image of one of the posters from Our Pictures, Our Words by Laxmi Murthy and Rajashri Dasgupta, (publisher:…

Just the other day I was at this store, eager to pick up their weekly fresh organic vegetable produce. I overheard another customer ask the store owner to please cut away the leaves of the cauliflower as she did not know what to do with it. The store owner agreed, adding that she was also unaware. Pic: Vinita I could not resist jumping into this conversation. After all I had recently learnt something interesting about cauliflower leaves and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to share it! Julius Rego, a powerhouse of simple, practical and interesting information on plants and…

Just the other day I was at this store, eager to pick up their weekly fresh organic vegetable produce. I overheard another customer ask the store owner to please cut away the leaves of the cauliflower as she did not know what to do with it. The store owner agreed, adding that she was also unaware. Pic: Vinita I could not resist jumping into this conversation. After all I had recently learnt something interesting about cauliflower leaves and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to share it! Julius Rego, a powerhouse of simple, practical and interesting information on plants and…

An effort to bring the House Sparrow back... Today is World Sparrow Day, and I too will be taking part in a panel discussion on the topic of these lovely, perky birds, that suddenly seemed to vanish from the Bangalore urban scene. click here to see the schedule for today.However, they do seem to be making a comeback lately, and that is probably what I will mention during the discussion this evening.I'd posted some time ago about the "Building-a-House" Sparrow:http://deponti.livejournal.com/467396.htmlAnd, from the same area, posted this video of a sparrow and the rear-view mirror:I do love sparrows, and was grieved, a…

An effort to bring the House Sparrow back... Today is World Sparrow Day, and I too will be taking part in a panel discussion on the topic of these lovely, perky birds, that suddenly seemed to vanish from the Bangalore urban scene. click here to see the schedule for today.However, they do seem to be making a comeback lately, and that is probably what I will mention during the discussion this evening.I'd posted some time ago about the "Building-a-House" Sparrow:http://deponti.livejournal.com/467396.htmlAnd, from the same area, posted this video of a sparrow and the rear-view mirror:I do love sparrows, and was grieved, a…

Another visit... I went to Lalbagh on Friday evening, because a friend wanted to try out the 300mm prime lens. I've not often been to Lalbagh in the evening, and was freshly amazed at what one can see and observe, in spite of many more people being there than in the morning. Apart from the sights and sounds....were the smells, that cannot be replicated, at the present state of technology. The air was redolent of the scent of the entire lane of Sampige (Champa, Shenbagam)...Michelia champaca, belonging to the Magnolia family, says the scientific mind...but my mind was thinking of how the…

Another visit... I went to Lalbagh on Friday evening, because a friend wanted to try out the 300mm prime lens. I've not often been to Lalbagh in the evening, and was freshly amazed at what one can see and observe, in spite of many more people being there than in the morning. Apart from the sights and sounds....were the smells, that cannot be replicated, at the present state of technology. The air was redolent of the scent of the entire lane of Sampige (Champa, Shenbagam)...Michelia champaca, belonging to the Magnolia family, says the scientific mind...but my mind was thinking of how the…

 When I heard that "Stories in a Song", created by Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan, was going to be staged at Ranga Shankara, I was very keen to see what it would be about; because it promised something new. Both performances were sold out!The performance had been staged earlier, when it was created for Arpana, for the Baajaa Gaajaa music festival at Pune in 2011.It is very interesting to watch a practically new genre of theatre...one in which the music takes the centre stage, instead of being an accompaniment and an accent to the main performance, as it usually is.…