Jayanagar

As my bus was passing through Jayanagar, in south Bangalore, this sign caught my eye and I clicked it out of the window. It says that the Jayadeva General Hospital was inspected by "Lanchamukta Karnataka Nirmana" and found to have many staff who were demanding bribes to do their work, and gives a number to call in case someone finds a bribe being asked for. It was a very heartening poster to see, with at least the ability to make a complaint and the possiblity of redressal. I wish the organization success in its efforts. I do hope prospective patients…

As my bus was passing through Jayanagar, in south Bangalore, this sign caught my eye and I clicked it out of the window. It says that the Jayadeva General Hospital was inspected by "Lanchamukta Karnataka Nirmana" and found to have many staff who were demanding bribes to do their work, and gives a number to call in case someone finds a bribe being asked for. It was a very heartening poster to see, with at least the ability to make a complaint and the possiblity of redressal. I wish the organization success in its efforts. I do hope prospective patients…

I went to visit Lalbagh on 3rd March, and was pleasantly surprised, at the area where the majestic Ficus benjamina trees are (leading from Kempe Gowda's tower to the Glass Hoouse) being used to set up some beautiful wood carvings, done on solid tree trunks. This seems to me to be a beautiful way of making a dead tree come alive again. Here are some of the carvings. The work is only one month old The installation is still under way. Less appealing was the fact that the title of at least one work and the name of the artist…

I went to visit Lalbagh on 3rd March, and was pleasantly surprised, at the area where the majestic Ficus benjamina trees are (leading from Kempe Gowda's tower to the Glass Hoouse) being used to set up some beautiful wood carvings, done on solid tree trunks. This seems to me to be a beautiful way of making a dead tree come alive again. Here are some of the carvings. The work is only one month old The installation is still under way. Less appealing was the fact that the title of at least one work and the name of the artist…

In December 2016, a workshop on ‘Trees, Culture & Urban design’ was held in Bangalore as part of CEPT University’s Summer Winter School program. The focus of this 10-day winter school was to study the practice of tree worship in the city. Specifically, it looked at how people generate and sustain community spaces through worshipping the Peepul tree (Ficus Religiosa) shrine with its serpent stones and the raised platform around it, locally called the Ashwath katte. This workshop was based on previous research. The paper can be accessed here: The practice of tree worship and the territorial production of urban…

In December 2016, a workshop on ‘Trees, Culture & Urban design’ was held in Bangalore as part of CEPT University’s Summer Winter School program. The focus of this 10-day winter school was to study the practice of tree worship in the city. Specifically, it looked at how people generate and sustain community spaces through worshipping the Peepul tree (Ficus Religiosa) shrine with its serpent stones and the raised platform around it, locally called the Ashwath katte. This workshop was based on previous research. The paper can be accessed here: The practice of tree worship and the territorial production of urban…

Day before yesterday (22nd June, 2016) my driving licence (along with many other cards and quite a lot of cash, but that's another story) was stolen. The website told me, I needed to get a notarised statement to the effect that I'd lost the licence, along with three photographs, and go to the Regional Transport Office (RTO) where it had been issued, and submit my application. Part 1.I started off with a visit to the photo shop (not Photoshop!) to get my passport photos. It took about half an hour and some extra charges, but I got 16 photos (Rs.120)…

Day before yesterday (22nd June, 2016) my driving licence (along with many other cards and quite a lot of cash, but that's another story) was stolen. The website told me, I needed to get a notarised statement to the effect that I'd lost the licence, along with three photographs, and go to the Regional Transport Office (RTO) where it had been issued, and submit my application. Part 1.I started off with a visit to the photo shop (not Photoshop!) to get my passport photos. It took about half an hour and some extra charges, but I got 16 photos (Rs.120)…

Tipu Pasha of Book Bonanza. Pic: Amith Kumar A few days ago, Amith Kumar introduced me to a rather unusual bookshop in Jayanagar—Book Bonanza.  I have always been a lover of second-hand books, Somehow, these, to me, have the lustre of the previous owner, in addition to their contents, and so are greater treasures than usual. When I walked into the bookstore, I was quite thrilled to see books stacked up along all the walls, and piled up along bookshelves, too. All sorts of books, fiction and non-fiction, best-sellers as well as arcane treatises, jostled each other, and in front…

Tipu Pasha of Book Bonanza. Pic: Amith Kumar A few days ago, Amith Kumar introduced me to a rather unusual bookshop in Jayanagar—Book Bonanza.  I have always been a lover of second-hand books, Somehow, these, to me, have the lustre of the previous owner, in addition to their contents, and so are greater treasures than usual. When I walked into the bookstore, I was quite thrilled to see books stacked up along all the walls, and piled up along bookshelves, too. All sorts of books, fiction and non-fiction, best-sellers as well as arcane treatises, jostled each other, and in front…