- Celebrations of the 6th International Jawa Yezdi Day on 13th July at Cubbon Park, Bangalore at 7am

The International Jawa CZ Yezdi Day is an annual celebration of those 250 cc Jawa & Yezdi bikes that were sold in India from 1960 to 1997. They are popular for their reliability and low maintenance costs. They were manufactured at the Ideal Jawa factory in Mysore.

To commemorate the 6th International Jawa-Yezdi Day, the Jawa – Yezdi Club of Bangalore is organizing a rally. The following is the route: Cubbon Park - MG Rd - Brigade Rd - Richmond Circle - Lalbagh - Corporation Circle - Mysore Rd - Chennapattana Coffee Day and back

Get-together at 7.00am
Flag Off at 8.00am (Sharp)

For more info, pls contact: Lokesh-9880033994; Sam-99451 44774; Brian-9886101005

Here’s a message from a friend, about a meeting I consider it important to attend:

There will be a meeting at Environment Support Group (ESG) at 3.30 pm tomorrow (Sat. 5th), to discuss and strategise on two very important issues concerning the city.

1)The BBMP has touted a road-widening program on 91 roads ( to be extended to 123) of Bangalore. Since the announcement of the scheme, ESG and Hasiru Usiru have been opposing the project, as it is irrational and against all basic principles of design and planning.

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Art has become fairly big business now, and Bid and Hammer, who are fine art auctioneers, are presenting an auction of modern and contemporary Indian Art in Bangalore.

The preview of the works, which include such well-known artists as Souza, J.Swaminathan, and our own Balan Nambiar, will be from 4 June to 14 June 2008,

at

Bid and Hammer Preview Hall
226-1/1, 39th C Cross, 8th Main Road, 5th Block,
Jayanagar, Bangalore 560041

and the auction proper willl be on the 15th June at

ITC Windsor Sheraton
Sankey Road

at 7.00pm sharp.

For general enquiries:

info@bidandhammer.com

+91 80 2211 0684

To place an order for catalogues:

catalogues@bidandhammer.com

+91 80 2211 0681

For registration: Bidders who wish to participate, either in person or through absentee or telephonebidding, will have to register all details, such as id proof, bank information, security deposit, etc.) that is required by Bid and Hammer, prior to the start of the auction.

The registration form is available on the Bid and Hammer website

www.bidandhammer.com

and it can be filled and sent in by post, email (registration@bidandhammer.com) or fax (+91 80 2227 2223), at least 2 hous before the start of the auction.

This is the second auction that Bid and Hammer is conducting.

Even if one is not a bidder, one can go and look at the art, and watch the fascinating process of the auction…but do make a prior appointment.

http://bcp.wikidot.com/city-walks:old-city-urban-space-event

BANGALORE CITY PROJECT PRESENTS
PAYTAY, KOTAY, KERAY, THOTA
AN OLD CITY URBAN SPACE EVENT
8.00–11:30 A.M. ON SUNDAY, 18 MAY 2008

Now that you have explored Gavipuram (the first BCP Urban Space Event, held on March 8, 2008) and the Whitefield heritage space (held on 26 April 2008), it’s time to delve deeper into the City’s history and culture – with the Old City Urban Space Event; a walk titled “Kotay, Paytay, Keray, Thota – Changing Geographies & Fragile Futures.”

The history of a place is writ large on its cultural landscape. Opportunities exploited, imaginations expressed/withheld, memories recollected and forgotten, injustice and inequality negotiated from different positions of power and powerlessness. The city is fraught with complex and not-always-pretty stories.

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This photograph shows the three kinds of flowers that most Bengalureans are used to….

On the extreme left is a florist. Floriculture is a major business in Bangalore, and indeed, of this part of Karnataka. Cut flowers are exported to all parts of the world from here; and one can get excellent Dutch roses, for example, or even exotic-looking orchids, for really very reasonable rates here.

The pavement stall, of course, deals with the traditional flowers….marigolds, roses, jasmine, and such flowers, which are either sold loose or strung together to form garlands, and are sold for city-dwellers to use in worship.

And above the little stall is a wonderful heritage that we have….that’s the Tacoma Argentina, whose leafless trees are a blaze of yellow at this time, and whose carpet of yellow on the road heralds the arrival of summer. Dr Krumbiegel, the German botanist, was responsible for the planting of trees in Bangalore in such a way that there is always some variety of avenue tree in flower….the African Tulip, Akasha Mallige, Jacaranda, various kinds of Tabebuia, the Gulmohar, the Copper Pod….

The way we are losing trees in Bangalore, I wonder how long we will enjoy this third category of flowers…..!

Karnataka being the largest producer of silk in India continues to strive towards Silk production and marketing. The Silk Mark Expo 2008 an exhibition was held by Silk Board in Kanteerava stadium showcases varieties of silk-ware and even the useful information about silk production.

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‘Old is Gold’ may not apply to the construction industry. Here the old has to let the ‘new’ take it’s place in the modernization ambit…

Here is a famous landmark building on MG Road getting reconstructed, the old structure was quite stylish as seen by the arches of designer corners that once used to hold tapering wooden roof….

Bengalooru Habba is back with its repertoire of cultural events that include Carnatic music, folk dances, Yakshagana to fashion shows…

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Every year, I drop by at a friend’s house near Malleswaram, to see her Dassara display of dolls. A couple of days ago, I found Prabha sitting by her collection wondering how she would lower the curtains on “Bommai Kollu”, now that the 9-day festival was over. “The process takes me a good four hours,” she said, explaining that each doll had to be individually wrapped in soft liners and snug paper rolls and then placed inside a specially created trunk. “Every year, this is one job that gives us mixed feelings,” she mused. (I can understand that, because for a little more than a week, the display gets pride of place at home. It’s a feeling of visual euphoria that’s hard to describe.)

Prabha Venugopal’s display had more dolls than I could count at one stretch. There was a Pongal set, Dasha Avatara, Kall Alagar Utsavam, Krishna dancing with the Gopikas (Rasleela); a set of Ram, Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman; a wedding collection and several individual displays that included Siva, Parvati, Durga; Lord Srinivas with Sridevi and Bhoodevi.

She actually had tears in her eyes when she exchanged glances with her husband and daughter, who helped her showpiece a collection that has taken them years to put together. The dolls would now have to go back into their wraps.
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I was passing through J C Road when this historic theatre building caught my eye…

Once upon a time, Shivaji Theatre was a major landmark in Bengaluru; today, it is a neglected, dilapidated building. But against the glass facade of the new economy that drives Bangalore today, the statue of Shivaji still stands, defying the present that has relegated him to the dusty pages of history. One can see the sculptor’s name, and the date, 1940…

And right under the statue is a little tableau: here’s the goddess Bharat Mata, giving Shivaji the sword to fight with, as he kneels before Her:

How much longer, with the greed for real estate that we see today, will this historic building stand? Not for long, and that’s a sad commentary on our inability to preserve some of the highlights of our past.