Society

Even as the large water bodies in the city struggle to keep encroachments at bay, the smaller ponds and kalyanis that have been nameless but have been part of the city’s water systems historically are losing the battle. One such nameless pond that maybe lost to encroachment is situated near the Don Bosco College at Mysore Road.  While the encroachment (as we have seen it) measures about 40 X 20 meters, the kalyani is about 6 to 8 times bigger. It abets the rear compound wall of the educational institution and the water body has a cemetery near by which…

When one goes to see a play,one goes with certain constructs; one, that there will be a linear narrative, that one may be entertained while also made to think, and that one will connect to the action on the stage. But recent visits to experimental performances have made me realize that all of these may not happen at some performances, and it was in this frame of mind that I went to watch "RamaNaya", by Sandbox Collective, at Ranga Shankara, on Friday, 9 Feb '18. The play drew quite a good house for a Friday evening, especially when it had…

When one goes to see a play,one goes with certain constructs; one, that there will be a linear narrative, that one may be entertained while also made to think, and that one will connect to the action on the stage. But recent visits to experimental performances have made me realize that all of these may not happen at some performances, and it was in this frame of mind that I went to watch "RamaNaya", by Sandbox Collective, at Ranga Shankara, on Friday, 9 Feb '18. The play drew quite a good house for a Friday evening, especially when it had…

Even as the evening melted into the night of January 31, hundreds were standing torturously on tiptoe at the Lal Bagh hillside. Mobiles and cameras were flagged out like click-baits as everyone wanted to shoot a special moon that was going to strike the peaty sky after 150 years. In fact, it was going to be a Pink Moon due to the filtering of red light through the earth’s atmosphere, even as that body passed through the umbra of the earth to eclipse the sun. It was also going to be a Blue Moon that was not Blue, but was…

Even as the evening melted into the night of January 31, hundreds were standing torturously on tiptoe at the Lal Bagh hillside. Mobiles and cameras were flagged out like click-baits as everyone wanted to shoot a special moon that was going to strike the peaty sky after 150 years. In fact, it was going to be a Pink Moon due to the filtering of red light through the earth’s atmosphere, even as that body passed through the umbra of the earth to eclipse the sun. It was also going to be a Blue Moon that was not Blue, but was…

At any Darshini restaurant in Bangalore, the south Indian "filter kaapi" (coffee that has been percolated through a filter, and always made with milk) is first poured into the glasses, where the colour gleams invitingly in the sunlight. Then, boiling, frothing milk (with or without sugar , as per the customer's requirement) is added. One is one, the other one waits... This was taken at Vidyarthi Grand, on Kanakapura Road, one of my favourite post-birding-outing favourites.

At any Darshini restaurant in Bangalore, the south Indian "filter kaapi" (coffee that has been percolated through a filter, and always made with milk) is first poured into the glasses, where the colour gleams invitingly in the sunlight. Then, boiling, frothing milk (with or without sugar , as per the customer's requirement) is added. One is one, the other one waits... This was taken at Vidyarthi Grand, on Kanakapura Road, one of my favourite post-birding-outing favourites.

Once a year, Bengaluru becomes busy, being the poor cousin of Mysore, the grand-dasara city. The capital lives her dual life with Navrathris, the festive flashes of silk sarees and gold jewellery, surrounded by dry, autumn days of brown trees and dead leaves among trash piles. You do see women visiting each other hurriedly to exchange prasadams and if you peep into their houses, you can also catch glimpses of their droll doll sets, assorted gifts and the sound of bhajans. Still, the seasons run in parallel and it’s a bipolar city. The Durga, Laxmi and Saraswathi idols are prayed…

Once a year, Bengaluru becomes busy, being the poor cousin of Mysore, the grand-dasara city. The capital lives her dual life with Navrathris, the festive flashes of silk sarees and gold jewellery, surrounded by dry, autumn days of brown trees and dead leaves among trash piles. You do see women visiting each other hurriedly to exchange prasadams and if you peep into their houses, you can also catch glimpses of their droll doll sets, assorted gifts and the sound of bhajans. Still, the seasons run in parallel and it’s a bipolar city. The Durga, Laxmi and Saraswathi idols are prayed…

There is one thing to be said for the Bengaluru monsoons – it pulls down the curtains on the city and puts you back into the float of your memories. If you wade through the waterlogged streets during the rains, you at least need not see the crowds, smell the traffic or taste the garbage. You just have to squint through your half-shut eyes as you walk under a straggly umbrella in the pouring rains and understand that this year, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike has not undertaken the recharge that you did not expect it to pursue, anyway. Not…