Society

A friend and I are at a local café, with her daughter (nearly 4) and my son (5). Now this café is one of those small, cosy places, where you're encouraged to sit close to your love and gaze into his or her eyes, and occasionally bite into your blueberry muffin. Or sip your cappucino. So yes, space is rather at a premium, inside. Naturally, it's also the kind of place hungry, active children love to go to. And are terrible to manage once within. Because either they burn themselves on the tall cauldrons of scalding soups (helpfully placed bang…

"Kasa Muktha Bellandur" campaign (earlier called Clean Bell and renamed to align with city level initiative) has taken off to a very positive start. This campaign aims to achieve responsible, end-to-end solid waste management in the Bellandur ward. The main objectives of phase-1 of Kasa Muktha Bellandur are as follows: Standardise waste segregation process for all residential communities (using colour coded bins) in the ward. Accomplish 100% segregation and eliminate usage of plastic bags for garbage disposal.  Segregation pamphlet outlining the waste categorisation followed by Kasa Muktha Bellandur. Key accomplishments in last four weeks: Around 30 apartments adopted and implemented this…

"Kasa Muktha Bellandur" campaign (earlier called Clean Bell and renamed to align with city level initiative) has taken off to a very positive start. This campaign aims to achieve responsible, end-to-end solid waste management in the Bellandur ward. The main objectives of phase-1 of Kasa Muktha Bellandur are as follows: Standardise waste segregation process for all residential communities (using colour coded bins) in the ward. Accomplish 100% segregation and eliminate usage of plastic bags for garbage disposal.  Segregation pamphlet outlining the waste categorisation followed by Kasa Muktha Bellandur. Key accomplishments in last four weeks: Around 30 apartments adopted and implemented this…

A workshop on "Wikipedia and the Indian Wilderness" by Shyamal Lakshminarayanan, was organized on the 1st of March, 2014, at ThoughtWorks, Koramangala. Shyamal's presentation started with a short history of Wikipedia, and how the present structure of Wikipedia and its administrators has evolved. He narrowed down the field to contributions to the field of natural sciences, particularly in India, and pointed out how contributions by each "ordinary person" could somehow add value to the information available on the net. He fielded several questions from the audience, and proceeded to demonstrate how people can contribute both content and images on Wikipedia.…

A workshop on "Wikipedia and the Indian Wilderness" by Shyamal Lakshminarayanan, was organized on the 1st of March, 2014, at ThoughtWorks, Koramangala. Shyamal's presentation started with a short history of Wikipedia, and how the present structure of Wikipedia and its administrators has evolved. He narrowed down the field to contributions to the field of natural sciences, particularly in India, and pointed out how contributions by each "ordinary person" could somehow add value to the information available on the net. He fielded several questions from the audience, and proceeded to demonstrate how people can contribute both content and images on Wikipedia.…

As Sivaratri is being celebrated tonight by millions of people, here are some Carnatic songs that extol the greatness of the Hindu God Shiva. Tyagaraja's Naada Tanumanisham in raga Chittaranjani, Shambho Mahadeva and Shiva Shiva Yena Radha in raga Pantuvarali, Raga Sudha Rasa in raga Andholika, Ilalo Pranatharthi in raga Atana to Dikshithar's Akshaya Linga in raga Shankarabharanam, Shri Matrubhootham in raga Kannada and Shri Vishwanatham Bhajesham Chathurdasa Ragamalika are some of the songs heard on the Carnatic platform. There are innumerable compositions on Lord Shiva in Carnatic music by different composers. Some of the popular ones in Tamil are…

As Sivaratri is being celebrated tonight by millions of people, here are some Carnatic songs that extol the greatness of the Hindu God Shiva. Tyagaraja's Naada Tanumanisham in raga Chittaranjani, Shambho Mahadeva and Shiva Shiva Yena Radha in raga Pantuvarali, Raga Sudha Rasa in raga Andholika, Ilalo Pranatharthi in raga Atana to Dikshithar's Akshaya Linga in raga Shankarabharanam, Shri Matrubhootham in raga Kannada and Shri Vishwanatham Bhajesham Chathurdasa Ragamalika are some of the songs heard on the Carnatic platform. There are innumerable compositions on Lord Shiva in Carnatic music by different composers. Some of the popular ones in Tamil are…

Having watched Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Art Research (what a mouthful, I'll call it ALTAR for short!)'s earlier production, "The Tenth Head" at Ranga Shankara, and reviewed it here, I was prepared for an interesting evening when I went to watch "Nidrdravathvam". The play is about two brothers of the protagonist and the antagonist of the Ramayana: Lakshmana and Kumbhakarna. They are connected in having received boons that, in the words of the excellent brochure provided by ALTAR, "dramatically alter their cycles of sleep and wakefulness." Kumbharkarna's tongue is tied by Saraswati, and instead of asking for "Nirdevatvam" (destruction of the Devas) he…

Having watched Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Art Research (what a mouthful, I'll call it ALTAR for short!)'s earlier production, "The Tenth Head" at Ranga Shankara, and reviewed it here, I was prepared for an interesting evening when I went to watch "Nidrdravathvam". The play is about two brothers of the protagonist and the antagonist of the Ramayana: Lakshmana and Kumbhakarna. They are connected in having received boons that, in the words of the excellent brochure provided by ALTAR, "dramatically alter their cycles of sleep and wakefulness." Kumbharkarna's tongue is tied by Saraswati, and instead of asking for "Nirdevatvam" (destruction of the Devas) he…

Spot the fairer of the two? A woman walks into a local health/beauty store. She has some beauty essentials to buy — lipstick, moisturiser, some talc. And a particular brand she likes for face powder because it claims to follow Ayurvedic principles in preparing it's formulations. So, she goes to the counter for that brand. Surprise, surprise, that face powder is not available anymore. Instead, the brand has, in similar packaging, launched a 'lightening' or brightening or fairness-enhancing variant. “What happened to the 'non-lightening' variety,” she asks the sales girl who is, as usual, hovering so close that if the woman…