Famous Ramgarh of Gabbar Singh( Where Sholay was shot in 1971) will now become a district, will make its debut on Independence Day.

As per the 2000 Indian census, Ramanagara had a population of 79,365. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Ramanagaram has an average literacy rate of 63%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 67%, and female literacy is 58%. In Ramanagaram, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Along with Ramanagaram, Chikballapur in Kolar district will be carved out as a district on August 15, with the cabinet clearing both the proposals on Thursday. With this, the number of districts in the state will go up to 29. It is said Rs 72.58 crore had been earmarked for infrastructure for Ramanagaram and Chikballapur districts.

It’s all about being sensitive and responsible the way we treat birds and animals….. I was shocked to see this man carrying few chickens on a scooter near KR Puram station junction …. It was horrible!! are we so cruel?

He just ties them with their legs and hooked them hanging up side down, sucha shameful act and behavior….despite provisions of cages and carriers he just opted the easy way out and gets Scot-free despite many RTO’s and police constables deputed on the station area and around!!

They can now travel on KSRTC buses (some conditions apply) with their pets - including dogs, cats, rabbits!

This reminded me of the time I had to transport my cat from Mumbai to Bangalore. It had turned out to be a rather frustrating experience as airlines in India are not good with handling pets. Either they refuse them on board, or they don’t know what to do with them!

I had quite a nightmarish experience with Indian Airlines, which actually says it allows small caged pets in the cabin, but when I reached the airport, none of the officials seemed aware of what to do with it! Or what the process was for pets in the cabin. Anyway, in the end it did turn out well (after a last minute plea to the captain about 5 minutes before take off!) and I did manage to get the cat on board with me.

I am not sure how she will take to bus travel, but I am sure some travellers would like to take their pets along with them on a holiday! This is a very accepted and frequent practice overseas - but the Indian system - whether it is hotels or transport - is not pet friendly.

So it was quite nice to read this news about pets being allowed on board buses. There are some conditions of course, like one dog only per bus (we don’t want dog fights!) and only on non-airconditioned buses. Dogs will be charged on adult rates and cats/rabbits etc. on child fare.

You can read the news here.

Tasveer presents “Silver Screen” by Fawzan Husain, a series of images taking a closer look at our prolific film industry “Bollywood”.

Husain is a post-graduate in journalism from the Bombay School of Journalism and is currently a lecturer at the Bombay School of Journalism and SNDT Women’s University, Bombay. He has over 17 years of experience as a photojournalist, and has traveled extensively across India. Specializing in editorial photography, he has been Principal Photographer, India Today (1993 - 2006), Senior Photographer, Mid-Day (1989 - 1993) and contributing photographer for Asia Week for six years.

Fawzan is a widely exhibited and published photographer and his work is included in permanent collections at The Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts, Japan, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA. Catch his works at:

Venue: Tasveer -Sua House, 26/1 Kasturba Cross Road,
Bangalore 560 001
Opening: 22nd June-8th July
On view: 11:00a.m-6:00pm. Mon-Fri (Sat-Sun by appointment only)

The Alliance Française is celebrating World Music Day. The program is on June 26 at the Française and one of the performers will be the French Kiss.

Apart from this trio, Raghu Dixit Project will also be performing.

AF is very near Cantonment Rly Station and you can contact them for more details.

So be there!

Bangalore, in my mind, is associated specially with Nandi the Bull, which is the vehicle of Lord Shiva. The Divine Bull is called Basava in Kannada, and an old settlement of Bangalore is Basavanagudi, which has a temple with a huge monolithic icon of Nandi, on a maginificient rock-face amongst spreading majestic trees….and one of the great philosophers of Karnataka was the illustrious Basavanna, who strove to free people of the mental shackles of orgnized religion and led them into independent, rational thought. And one of the getaways from the city is to the lovely Nandi Hills….

I found this lovely granite statuette of Nandi/Basava at Lalbagh, and loved the image of the bull (surely the height of machismo) with delicate flowers placed upon its head; the colours of the flowers contrasting with the black of the granite.

I was also struck by the devotion of the people who come daily and decorate the statuette thus. Surely, while we venerate animals in this way as the vehicle of the Gods, there is hope for our wildlife yet…!

Everybody says that Bangalore had beautiful weather. There is so much that is written about how it used to be many years back. Recently an aunt who came down to Bangalore commented that as the bus would start nearing Bangalore the air would start to get cooler & that would give them the hint that Bangalore was nearing. Now she says it is hardly like that.

I suppose for those of us who have recently moved to Bangalore or for those of us who can’t relate to how things were many years back they should all probably step out today. Step out now!
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According to the Times of India, two schools in Mumbai have banned “public displays of affection and unwarranted touching.” By this they mean holding hands, hugging, or a peck on the cheek. They are also prohibited from spending time together before or after class.

The justification is that they are ‘not acceptable by society at large’ and ’school at some point has to take a stand and play the role of a guardian of moral values’ and ‘if the brakes aren’t applied now, 15 years later it may lead to an unhealthy campus environment.’

I find this sort of reasoning baffling and appalling. What sorts of “health” problems do they expect to result from rampant hand holding? It seems obviously that these are nothing more or less than prudish overreaction. The role of schools in a modern pluralistic secular society is not to teach moral values, moral values are properly taught by parents and a family’s chosen moral and spiritual teachers. Public schools have no role promulgating repressive sexual attitudes on their captive population.

Is society really so weak that it can be destroyed by children holding hands in school?

Don’t book expensive tickets to go to California or to a European country! Just take the road to Nandi Hills past Mekhri Circle, and you will be there….

So, whether it’s stars you want, or watches, or cheese, or chocolate, or secret bank accounts…just send the ticket amount to ME, and head out on the Tumkur road!

When I moved into Bangalore, one of the first things I felt happy about was that I would be learning a new language. I took up my daughter’s textbooks and learnt to read and write Kannada, and can do so (including Kannada numbers.)

Alas, I found that in the Cantonment area, Kannada was NOT the lingua franca. My knowledge of the spoken language remained rudimentary, and with a busy life, increased proficiency in spoken Kannada took a back seat.

I thought that once I moved to the suburbs of Bangalore, my spoken Kannada would improve. But no. The reasons for this were:

I was living in an apartment building, where many languages were spoken when residents meet, and the link language remains English. And neither shopkeepers, servants, or service providers spoke Kannada. There being no need to speak the language, my knowledge improved only very marginally. Yes, I have still been making efforts to learn, as I believe that learning another language can only enrich me.
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