Date: 31st August 2008
Starting time: 7.30 am
Starting point: Bull Temple, Basavanagudi.
Ending time: Approximately 9 am
Ending point: Vidyarthi Bhavan, Gandhi Bazaar Circle.

To participate, mail me at sandeep[dot]shande[at]gmail[dot]com

Route Map:
View Larger Map

Read more

4

This is what I saw right behind my motorbike in the parking area at Palace grounds, soon after attending the Independence Rock Festival last Sunday. And needless to say, I stood there, partially frozen and wonder struck, pinching myself to see if I was hallucinating. The driver was kind enough to allow me to take a few pictures of this masterpiece.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Rolls Royce Phantom ! Take a bow !

In 2007, Rolls Royce sold 11 Phantoms in India .The car is priced between Rs. 3.5 and 4 crore.

5

The next Barcamp Bangalore, an interesting amalgam of events and communication, where everyone is a participant, is happening at IIM-B on the 13th and 14th September.

For details, visit

http://barcampbangalore.org/wiki/Main_Page

And if you want to know in detail what a Barcamp is, go to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BarCamp

Read more

0

TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS (TFA), in association with Counter Culture Records (CCR), invites entries for the fifth annual TOTO awards for young budding musicians and bands. The winner of the award has two options: (i) the Rs 50,000 cash prize (to be used towards your music!) OR (ii) a complete record deal from CCR + a music equipment voucher from On-Stage Music (India’s high quality music equipment store) worth Rs 15,000! The record deal will include recording and releasing your debut album across India.

TFA is looking for entries in contemporary music from all parts of India (bands or individuals). The list of genres extends from rock, jazz, heavy metal, trance, house, instrumental, folk, to any genre which is yet to be “born”. The award is open to music in any language.

Read more

1

“The First Leaf”, a special play for children in English, will be staged at Ranga Shankara from 26-28 August 2008 at 7.30 pm.

“The First Leaf” is a production of AHA! Ranga Shankara’s Theatre for Children initiative. Padmavati Rao, who has previously served as Assistant Director on Shankar Nag’s popular TV serial, Malgudi Days, directs the play. The translation into English from the original by Shrirang Godbole is by the director. Padmavati has also co-directed AHA!’s other production “Gumma Banda Gumma” in Kannada.

Music for “The First Leaf” is by Bhavataarini, daughter of the famous composer, Ilayaraja.

This play opened in December last year to an appreciative audience of children and adults. Till date, over 6200 children have enjoyed the play through the Deccan Herald’s Newspaper in Education programme.

“The First Leaf” tells the inspiring story of Putti, her brother Dodu and friend Chinna who live in a time of imminent environmental catastrophe, which is as real as today and looms as close as tomorrow. The three young students explore their surroundings through fantasy and fun with the new tenant in their residential complex, who breathes new meaning into all he touches and encounters. The lesson ultimately learnt is one of protecting Plant Earth.

Read more

0

I attended the Independence Rock festival at Palace grounds last night and watched some amazing performances by some of the best bands from Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin and Trivandrum. While I was being frisked at the security counter at the entrance I spotted two advertisements that brought a big smile on my face. If you’re a fan of Def Leppard or Jethro Tull, you’ll know why. Its Rock ‘n’ Roll Season again in Bengaluru !

0

The family dropped by at Coffee Day the other day for a steaming night cap, after dinner. When the coffees came, my son pointed out to the smiley poster on the wall. The message there was interesting : If you don’t see a smiley in your cup, the coffee is on the house.

As you can see, my cup had something that looked like a coffee bean - not even remotely close to a smile. I alerted our friendly waiter about the smiley and sure enough, they didn’t charge me for my coffee.

Net takeaway : If there’s no smiley in your coffee cup, there’s bound to be one on your face … when you see the bill. Nice gesture.

(Not sure how long this offer is open, so do check this out the next time you’re at Coffee Day.)

There’s a link to “latte art” here, if you’re interested.

0

Is a photograph really about what you see? Or is it about how you see what you see?
At Bangalore Photography Club, it is believed that a photograph is about a frame of mind. A perspective. When a frame not only tells you what to see, but what to hear, smell and feel you know it’s more just a snapshot. It’s a true photograph.

Showcasing work of more than fifty artists across photo categories as well as winning photo documentaries, Bangalore Photography Club is delighted to welcome you its third annual photography exhibition, Frames of Mind 08.

Hope to see you there..
Dates : 29th – 31st August 2008 (10am – 7pm)
Venue : Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Race Course Road,Adjacent Chalukya Hotel, Bangalore-01
Phone : (080) 22267303/22265746/22267421

0

I was in the thick of traffic the other day driving somewhere and the traffic hadn’t moved for a few hours. Okay, it wasn’t a few hours, but it was close to half hour. As usual, people had jammed up the road by treating the two way road like a one-way road - this meant that the on-coming traffic now had absolutely nowhere to go.

So the result was that we were stuck. And badly. And of course, no one had any clue what to do after that. The rickshaws and motorbikes got onto the pavement. That’s one thing I am happy about - that Bangalore hardly has pavements because most of the times they’re used by 2 wheelers :-)

Earlier, they had cut down all the trees in the surrounding area - if you folks have been on St. John’s Road recently - you’ll see how mercilessly they’ve chopped down everything. I saw huge bulldozers one day and tree stumps lying all around the side of the road. The next day, everything was gone. This was one beautiful road - the stately old gulmohar trees providing the much needed shade by forming a canopy over you.

What have they done now? Cut off all of them - more than 50 of them I think - to make the road the size of a football field. Did they ask anyone before they decided to take up their axe?

Unfortunately, none of the other connecting roads are so wide so we are stuck with the same congestion problem - again. And it was proof that all the tree-chopping by the tree mafia hadn’t changed a thing. We were still stuck in one position for 1/2 hour now despite them making St John’s road the size of a football field.

Wider roads within reason is fine but what is this mindless chopping without a second thought? Without any concern or approval from citizens (is this allowed? do we have any rights?!). How many more trees will they cut and how wide will they go? And what when they’ve finished cutting down everything in sight? What will they do after that? Have they figured out that one day, there won’t be anything left to cut and chop off?

We really need people who are slightly smarter and think a little when on the road too. And that is going to be a challenge, always. Can you imagine a motorist pausing and thinking, “maybe I shouldn’t go that way and block all the incoming traffic”. Road sense I am afraid, especially when in times when most needed, goes away with the wind (perhaps it was never there to begin with).

We need more traffic cops out there sorting out traffic problems. Where do these people disappear when you need them? We need more ways to get from one place to another! We need a whole new underground train system that will take off half off the motorists and vehicles off the roads.

I think we need a lot more than mindless tree-chopping and I am afraid that by the time this city finds out, it’s going to be too late. It is already too late.

It took me 2 hours to reach from Koramangala to Silk Board, a distance of about 3-4 kms.

4

Anita Gracias from Sahai

In Bangalore, there is a dedicated suicide helpline that you can call and hope to find a friendly, helpful voice that gives you hope, courage and strength. To take that one step backward, turn around and face life square in the face. And that helpline is called “Sahai”.

I was talking to Anita Gracias, who also sits by the phone at Sahai as one of their special volunteers. She is ready to answer the phone and listen – as if someone’s life depended on it. She will then forge a relationship with a voice that cries out for help; and gently take it from darkness, to the light at the end of the tunnel.

There’s a lot of good work they do there, so I requested Anita to answer a few questions that could raise awareness levels among people. Hopefully, this interview will get people to work as volunteers as well.

The interview is a long post so I have hosted it at this link.
Please click here : Interview with Anita Gracias

0

Avighna exhibits an exclusive collection of Swarovsky crystal
jewellery by Kala Ramachandran and oil paintings of Lord Ganesha
avatars by Shankuntala Jain at

88 Sankhla House,3rd Main,
Vyalikaval, Bangalore 560003

The exhibition-cum-sale will be on the 23rd and 24th August 2008, from 10.30am to 8pm

For further information, contact Indira Sankhla at

avighna88@gmail.com

or on 6567 0035/ 99809 22328

Their website is

www.avighnacollections.com

Here’s my previous posting about Avighna, when Indira started her store:

http://bangalore.metblogs.com/2007/09/20/avighnaa-new-store-for-you/

Avighna has completed nearly a year of existence now, and is growing from strength to strength, as Indira and her team work hard to bring the best of home decor to the discerning patron of arts and crafts!

0

- Are we eating veggies that are cultivated in wastewater?

a new 53-city survey, including Bangalore and Chennai, conducted by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) indicates that most of those studied are using untreated or partially treated wastewater for agriculture. In over 70 per cent of the cities studied, more than half of urban agricultural land is irrigated with wastewater that is either raw or diluted in streams with wide ranging implications. Less said the better for the health hazards due to heavy metals, a wide spectrum of pathogens and organic compounds that are hazardous to the environment and human health.

“In areas where infectious diseases due to enteric pathogens are common, these pathogens are found in very high concentrations in the sewage water. When this water is used for irrigation without any treatment the pathogens are applied to the agricultural land. This is a potential health risk to people exposed to it, such as field workers and their families, consumers and handlers of wastewater-irrigated crops and people living in the neighborhood, passing the fields frequently” says this report.

0

On August 23rd, people in 192 cities around the world will go on a “photo walk” apparently to celebrate the launch of some book. Yes…it hardly sounds like a worthwhile reason to expend energy on a Saturday morning, but look at it this way… it’s just cool that the whole world will come together under a few common flickr tags that day. So if you’d like to know more about this event and register for it, please visit:

http://www.photoshopuser.com/photowalk/city/bangalore.html

Read more

0

TOTO AWARDS 2009

CREATIVE WRITING

CALL FOR ENTRIES

TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS (TFA) invites entries for its fourth annual TOTO awards for Indian creative writers in English. Two cash awards of Rs. 25,000 each will be given in January, 2009.

BUT: Entries are only invited from young people — over the age of 18, and who have not celebrated their 30th birthday before January 1, 2009.

ALSO: The spirit of the Toto Awards is to identify promise and encourage young talent. Therefore, do not submit an entry if you are already an established writer.

TFA is looking for entries in three genres –– short plays, short stories and poetry.

The submissions should not exceed 7,500 words. You can submit any combination of your writing in the above genres, as long as the entire submission is within the stipulated word limit.

Entries should reach TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS (TFA) by 4 October, 2008 at the latest. There will be no extension of the submission date.

TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS (TFA)

H 301 Adarsh Gardens, 8th Block, 47th Cross, Jayanagar, Bangalore 560 082

Phone: 080-26990549

Entries should be sent in soft e-mail copy to totofundsthearts@yahoo.com as well in hard copy form to the above address. Please address queries to the same e-mail ID.

THE FINE PRINT:

Entries must be accompanied by a signed statement confirming the applicant’s date of birth, whether the applicant’s work has been published in print (give details), and also affirming that the submitted work is original. Please ensure that the hard copy does not carry your name on it. Submitted entries will be given code numbers to protect applicants’ identities from the jury during the judging process.

Submitted material will not be returned.

The decision of the TFA jury is final and cannot be contested in any forum.

TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS (TFA) is a not-for-profit public trust set up in memory of Angirus ‘Toto’ Vellani, who was intensely passionate about music, literature and films.

0

Citizen Matters, Bangalore’s own e-magazine , is looking for your experiences this Independence day - what did you do? Did you go to see the parade? Or attended the flag hoisting in your apartment complex? Or participated in your school function?

Best Entry wins Rs.2500 and a certificate.

Email your entries to editors@citizenmatters.in

Contest opens Aug 15th … closes Aug 18th midnight.

Rules:

* Submissions should be based on original and actual experiences
* Professional journalists are not allowed to participate
* Length of submission should range between 500 to 1000 words
* Enclose your full name, age, address and contact numbers

0