Society

It is now official. Puttenahalli Lake Birds Conservation Reserve is now a reality! Puttenahalli Lake in Yelahanka has been declared a "Conservation Reserve" by the Karnataka Government.  Bangalore Mirror's article dated 14th Sep 2015 says: The move makes Bengaluru arguably the only Tier-I urban area to have a bird sanctuary within the city limits.   For several years, efforts have been on to get this lake in north Bangalore onto India's Conservation Reserve list. A report in The New Indian Express of April 2007 said: According to biodiversity expert Dr Harish R Bhat, Bangalore is left with only 34 healthy tanks, 14 of which are in…

Surely by now the Horticulture Department at Lalbagh knows that there are a very large number of walkers early in the mornings, even more so on weekends. A very tiday and neat-looking toilet has been provided, close to the Siddapura Gate, by the authorities...but when my friend went to use the facility, it was tightly locked. What is the point of providing a facility if it cannot be used? Lalbagh, I find, has too many things wrong with the administration.

Surely by now the Horticulture Department at Lalbagh knows that there are a very large number of walkers early in the mornings, even more so on weekends. A very tiday and neat-looking toilet has been provided, close to the Siddapura Gate, by the authorities...but when my friend went to use the facility, it was tightly locked. What is the point of providing a facility if it cannot be used? Lalbagh, I find, has too many things wrong with the administration.

Thank god it didn't rain! We never thought we would say this but it was important that the early evening of Sat. 12th Sept remained nice and dry. "Keshavraju Thippaswamy" wanted a drum above everything else. Would he get it was the question in the minds of the 30 odd children who had gathered in the Gazebo at the Puttenahalli Lake in South Bengaluru. The occasion was a celebration, though a little delayed, of International Literacy Day with a story telling by Geetu and team from the Snehadhara Foundation in an event organized by PNLIT. As part of its One Day…

Thank god it didn't rain! We never thought we would say this but it was important that the early evening of Sat. 12th Sept remained nice and dry. "Keshavraju Thippaswamy" wanted a drum above everything else. Would he get it was the question in the minds of the 30 odd children who had gathered in the Gazebo at the Puttenahalli Lake in South Bengaluru. The occasion was a celebration, though a little delayed, of International Literacy Day with a story telling by Geetu and team from the Snehadhara Foundation in an event organized by PNLIT. As part of its One Day…

A house made of glass That belongs to times past. Dreaming in the sunshine In a world now paced rather fast. The sun, however, rises Just as it used to do When people from other shores Walked around and watched the view. Twice a year, it gets filled With an array of dazzling flowers. But it looks just as beautiful In its peaceful, empty hours. Oh, house of glass, lying beneath A bluu, cloud-mottled sky... You were a jewel before we were born; You'll be a gem after we die.

A house made of glass That belongs to times past. Dreaming in the sunshine In a world now paced rather fast. The sun, however, rises Just as it used to do When people from other shores Walked around and watched the view. Twice a year, it gets filled With an array of dazzling flowers. But it looks just as beautiful In its peaceful, empty hours. Oh, house of glass, lying beneath A bluu, cloud-mottled sky... You were a jewel before we were born; You'll be a gem after we die.

Entry to Lalbagh Botanical Gardens is free up to 8.30am, and cameras are not charged. The entry ticket business has been outsourced to some private organization. Yesterday (13 September 2015), we noticed people from this organization chasing visitors at about 9.30am and asking them to pay for their cameras. Some groups, visiting for special purposes, have special permission; eg, the Bird Watchers Field Club, which has a bird walk in Lalbagh on the 2nd Sunday of every month, has permission for the group until 10.30am. I cannot understand why officials should chase visitors after 9am and start charging for cameras,…

Entry to Lalbagh Botanical Gardens is free up to 8.30am, and cameras are not charged. The entry ticket business has been outsourced to some private organization. Yesterday (13 September 2015), we noticed people from this organization chasing visitors at about 9.30am and asking them to pay for their cameras. Some groups, visiting for special purposes, have special permission; eg, the Bird Watchers Field Club, which has a bird walk in Lalbagh on the 2nd Sunday of every month, has permission for the group until 10.30am. I cannot understand why officials should chase visitors after 9am and start charging for cameras,…

They wait, in their toxic colours in swathed in plastic, these un-green Ganeshas...a miniscule mimority tries to make green idols, much older people remember a time when a little pinch of mud or turmeric was enough to represent the elephant-faced god. I wonder how many of them remain, mercifully, unsold, and are recycled the next year.