Society

The Spotted Owlet (Athene brama) is one of the many species of owls that have adapted to the urban environment and can be seen quite often in Bangalore. Usually they prefer open habitats including farmlands, groves, and ruins to heavy and dense forests. The spotted owlet has acquired a negative image and is associated with bad omens. Pic: Vikram Nanjappa. It is a squat, white-spotted, greyish-brown owl, approximately the size of a Myna Bird. They have the typical large round head associated with owls and forward-looking yellow eyes. Two races are recognised in India and they are Athene brama indica…

Golden Goddess. Pic: Ravi Kaushik. The various festivals that we celebrate in Bangalore ensure that we have an ever changing landscape dotted with electric goddesses like the above one.⊕ 

Golden Goddess. Pic: Ravi Kaushik. The various festivals that we celebrate in Bangalore ensure that we have an ever changing landscape dotted with electric goddesses like the above one.⊕ 

It's now the time of the year, when the Mahogany trees in the city put out their lovely "chocolate ice-cream" fruit-pods.... here's what they look like:If you find these pods upon the ground, pick them up and see the beautiful red striations inside!I wish the BBMP would start planting the saplings of such life-sustaining, shade-giving, and long-lived trees once again in our city.... ⊕

It's now the time of the year, when the Mahogany trees in the city put out their lovely "chocolate ice-cream" fruit-pods.... here's what they look like:If you find these pods upon the ground, pick them up and see the beautiful red striations inside!I wish the BBMP would start planting the saplings of such life-sustaining, shade-giving, and long-lived trees once again in our city.... ⊕

The word 'Rodent' usually makes the hair on the back of our necks stand up. We associate the word with rats and mice which we occasionally encounter near our homes and makes us reach out for our rat traps and rat poison. In our minds they are unwanted pests that need to be dealt with severely. The three-striped palm squirrel is a very adaptable species and have made their home in the urban environment. Pic: Vikram Nanjappa. However there is one rodent that we find extremely cute and which lives in our close proximity. I am referring to the common…

"Love is Slow Poison" said an auto that nearly killed me yesterday; I would have normally belted some un-pleasantries to nobody in particular and forgotten the close-shave. But how can one not stop and mull over a near-death-experience that comes with such succinct wisdom? I assure the auto-driver that no love is lost between him and I now. May all his passengers readily pay him 'double meter'. We must make haste in claiming credit for any pop-culture phenomena that may have emerged from the city and label it 'city-chic' or some such; you will agree that this sort of thing…

The word 'Rodent' usually makes the hair on the back of our necks stand up. We associate the word with rats and mice which we occasionally encounter near our homes and makes us reach out for our rat traps and rat poison. In our minds they are unwanted pests that need to be dealt with severely. The three-striped palm squirrel is a very adaptable species and have made their home in the urban environment. Pic: Vikram Nanjappa. However there is one rodent that we find extremely cute and which lives in our close proximity. I am referring to the common…

"Love is Slow Poison" said an auto that nearly killed me yesterday; I would have normally belted some un-pleasantries to nobody in particular and forgotten the close-shave. But how can one not stop and mull over a near-death-experience that comes with such succinct wisdom? I assure the auto-driver that no love is lost between him and I now. May all his passengers readily pay him 'double meter'. We must make haste in claiming credit for any pop-culture phenomena that may have emerged from the city and label it 'city-chic' or some such; you will agree that this sort of thing…

Everywhere in J P Nagar, I am coming across trees carved with the symbol of a political party, and then coloured:Is there no better way for the political party to flaunt their symbol? Carving the symbol into the tree saves them printing and posting costs, I suppose. Who cares what happens to the living tree? After all, we nail umpteen posters on to their trunks anyway....These are the people who are wanting to govern us.... :( ⊕