Society

Pic: Shree D N Diwali or Deepavali, literally a row of lamps, is just round the corner. Spread over five days, it is the biggest festival for our family and our community. The biggest festivities are reserved for amavasya or New Moon day. We look forward to the festival of lights year after year. During my childhood, I used to strongly associate crackers with the festival, but as years passed by, the focus shifted elsewhere. We stopped associating 'firecrackers' as core to Deepavali. Cleaning and white-washing the house, decorating with leaves and flowers, lighting dozens of earthen lamps, performing the puja, preparing traditional cuisines, greeting neighbours, friends and relatives - all of these took centre-stage. In years of reading our scriptures…

Every city, even giant metropolises like Bengaluru, still have a few patches of green, blue or brown that have managed to survive or at least allay the formidable onslaught of concrete and glass. Look carefully in these oases and you’ll be sure to find a sign of life (or five)! Snakes: Pic: Ashish Par Among the most revered and reviled animals in India, snakes are also very common in our cityscapes. Bengaluru has about 40 species of snakes of which six are venomous. Most snakes, even venomous ones, will flee upon detection. They only stand their ground when provoked or…

Every city, even giant metropolises like Bengaluru, still have a few patches of green, blue or brown that have managed to survive or at least allay the formidable onslaught of concrete and glass. Look carefully in these oases and you’ll be sure to find a sign of life (or five)! Snakes: Pic: Ashish Par Among the most revered and reviled animals in India, snakes are also very common in our cityscapes. Bengaluru has about 40 species of snakes of which six are venomous. Most snakes, even venomous ones, will flee upon detection. They only stand their ground when provoked or…

On the 15th of October, 2016, as my friends and I were returning from a nature and birding trip to Nandi Hills, we saw these Yakshagana artistes on the road back (which is also the road from the airport into the city.) That was the goddess of power, Shakti, herself, stepping out into a city, state and country that had just finished celebrating Her in the form of Navaratri or Dashera.   I realized that I would never know why these people were dressed up, and where they were going...was it for a performance, or something else? Yakshagana is a…

On the 15th of October, 2016, as my friends and I were returning from a nature and birding trip to Nandi Hills, we saw these Yakshagana artistes on the road back (which is also the road from the airport into the city.) That was the goddess of power, Shakti, herself, stepping out into a city, state and country that had just finished celebrating Her in the form of Navaratri or Dashera.   I realized that I would never know why these people were dressed up, and where they were going...was it for a performance, or something else? Yakshagana is a…

Earlier this year, in February, a group of friends and I had conducted a bird survey in the campus of IIM-Bangalore. At that time, the Dean of Administration, Prof. G Shainesh, and his famkily, keenly followed us througout the morning of birding and documentation. This morning, I received a message from him asking about a bird that had fallen from a tree in his garden. He asked whether it could be a kingfisher or a barbet, as the appearance seemed different to him. I viewed his excellent photo-documentation of the bird...here it is:   Indian Pitta,IIM-Bangalore campus, 15 Oct 2016.…

Earlier this year, in February, a group of friends and I had conducted a bird survey in the campus of IIM-Bangalore. At that time, the Dean of Administration, Prof. G Shainesh, and his famkily, keenly followed us througout the morning of birding and documentation. This morning, I received a message from him asking about a bird that had fallen from a tree in his garden. He asked whether it could be a kingfisher or a barbet, as the appearance seemed different to him. I viewed his excellent photo-documentation of the bird...here it is:   Indian Pitta,IIM-Bangalore campus, 15 Oct 2016.…

Cattles die from eating plastic. While plastic may seem almost indispensable in our daily lives, we tend to remain oblivious to the harm that we cause to animals and the environment by using this material in almost every aspect of our lives. Plastic is not bio-degradable in that it cannot be decomposed into simpler chemical constituents. It remains in the environment for thousands of years, endangering various life forms. Therefore, this year, the state government of Karnataka took the momentous decision to ban the use, sale and distribution of various items of plastic across the state. As per the notification,…

Cattles die from eating plastic. While plastic may seem almost indispensable in our daily lives, we tend to remain oblivious to the harm that we cause to animals and the environment by using this material in almost every aspect of our lives. Plastic is not bio-degradable in that it cannot be decomposed into simpler chemical constituents. It remains in the environment for thousands of years, endangering various life forms. Therefore, this year, the state government of Karnataka took the momentous decision to ban the use, sale and distribution of various items of plastic across the state. As per the notification,…

October 2nd was Gandhi’s birth anniversary and a reminder of his vision of Clean India. Our Prime Minister Modi revived the dream two years back on this day by launching Swacch Bharat Mission. We at Bellandur ward were fortunate to have passionate citizens to form Kasa Muktha Bellandur who introduced the 2bin1bag concept in 2012. Later, with the support of hundreds of volunteers across the city and solid waste managment round table, it became a law in December 2015 by the Karnataka high court. I am a new kid on the block in Waste management and had the privilege of diving deep…