Easily the most boring sign I have seen in the city, but it seems to have done its job.  Wasn’t greeted with foul smells when I parked.

17 – 29.08.2009, 9.00 a.m. to 6.30 p.m.
Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan

Inauguration on 14.08.2008, 6.30 p.m.
All are welcome!

The objective of the intensive 3-week workshop for Bangalore photo enthusiasts, conducted by German photographer Stefan Koppelkamm, whose exhibition Ortszeit/Local Time has just concluded at the Bhavan, was to define the personal criteria that determine the “quality of life” in a city. The focus was more on the routine and normal, rather than the unusual. Social aspects of the city (neighbourliness, the presence of smaller stores and cottage industries, etc.) that are not immediately discernible to outsiders were more important than outstanding architecture or excellent design.

The 15 participants – a mix of professional and amateur photographers – started their field work in the last week of July trying to visualise the intrinsic qualities of “their” places. In the second part of the workshop the group discussed the different projects and made their selection for the exhibition.

The places portrayed in this exhibition are as diverse as the city itself: They include bustling markets or shopping centres such as Russell Market or Avenue Road, secluded and peaceful areas such as the Mughal Fort and the Someshwara Temple in Ulsoor, Charles Correa’s Bimanagar township from the early ’70s and the L&T South City, a recent project on the periphery of the city which is contrasted by quarters like Malleswaram or Cooke Town, where the architectural heritage is threatened by land speculation and the building of freeways. Two of the photographers portray their favourite hangouts, one a small café in Indiranagar, the second one the famous Koshy’s in St. Marks Road.

For more details, visit

http://www.goethe.de/ins/in/bag/kue/en4905386v.htm

In the case of Avenue Road which is actually threatened by plans to widen the road, the exhibition might hopefully be a strong visual argument against the destruction of this unique architectural and socio-economic ensemble.

Featuring photos by:
Aniruddha Ghosh
Apurva Mathad
Archana Venson
Arnab Dey
Dayaprasad Kulkarni
Deepti Jois
Jyothy Karat
Kusum Dhar Prabhu
Mallikarjun Katakol
Peeyush Sekhsaria
Rahil Arora
Rajeev Malagi
Rajesh Pandey
Ravi Shankar Kolara
Swarna Kumarswamy

Dibru-Saikhowa is a biosphere reserve. This little known site, is one of the biodiversity hot spots situated in the south bank of the river Brahmaputra. It is located in the alluvial flood plains of the Brahmaputra. Fashioned by nature – earthquakes and ever changing water courses it has numerous island pockets and water bodies providing an unusual habitat for varied wildlife
and aqua fauna and avifauna.

Contained between the Debang, Lohit & the Great Brahmaputra rivers,the 340 sq Kms reserve was set up with a view to protecting the grass land and swamp habitat. Its internal water channels & bodies,seasonally flooded forests, “beels”, and grassy pockets, makes it an interesting birding destination for rare specialized grass land and swamp forest birds such as the threatened Marsh Babbler, Jerdon’s Babbler, Black throated Parrotbill, Rufous-vented( swamp) Prinia, and Jerdons Bushcat. You can also spot altitudinal migrants such as Pale-capped pigeon, White-tailed Rubythroat,and Black – breasted Thrush, and various warblers. More than 300 species have been recorded.

Located in Arunachal Pradesh, Namdapha lies in the extreme North East of India. Spread over 1985 sq Kms, Its altitude varies from 200 m to 4578 m. However it is only approachable up to altitudes of 850 m.Its avifauna is a unique blend of Indo-Burmese, Sino-Tibetan and Himalayan forms, which thrives in the bio-diverse habitat encompassing tropical, temperate and alpine. Largely unexplored 665 species of birds have been recorded, of which some are exotic – Blyth’s Tragopan,Wards Tragopan White- Winged Wood Duck, Rufus necked hornbill, Blue napped Pitta, Wedge-billed Wren Babbler, snow
throated Babbler, and Beautiful Nuthatch. Brown Hornbills may occur here, together with a fabulous list of pheasants, babblers and laughing-thrushes, which include the Arunachal endemic – Austen’s Spotted Babbler. Whilst such truly rare and elusive species occur, you should treat a sighting of any of them as a real bonus. It will be years before sites for such species are sufficiently well known for them to be found more easily.Nonetheless a visit to this remote park is an experience to remember.

The park is home to outstanding wet tropical forest. The remote and inaccessible nature of the park has preserved its pristine forests,and much of the area remains unexplored. It is as close to true wilderness as any of the many national parks and sanctuaries in India.But do bear in mind that access will be restricted, as the network of trails and tracks that allow exploration of most national parks and wildlife reserves simply does not exist here. Over 150 species of tree are found in Namdapha, including such tropical giants as Hollock,Mekai, Hollong, Jutuli, Dhuna, Mechelia champaka and others. Amongst the temperate and subtropical zones a wide variety of rhododendrons and oaks, birch and magnolias are found. Species of particular note are Pinus merkusi and Abies dalavavi, which are not found elsewhere in India; whilst one of the rarest and most endangered orchids, the Blue Vanda, occurs here, together with the Mishmi Teeta a well-known local medicinal plant, used by endemic tribal people to treat a host of illnesses.

Details of the trip are as follows :

19th December 2009: Arrive Dibrugarh in the morning, transfer to Dibru-saikhowa ( 1 1/2 hrs). Birding around the guest house. Overnight at Dibru-saikhowa.

20th December 2009 : Boat Safari / Borajan WLS visit. Overnight at Dibru-saikhowa.

21st December 2009 : Trekking/Maguli beel visit. Overnight at Dibru-saikhowa.

22nd December 2009 : After the breakfast drive to Namdapha & Overnight at Namdapha.

23rd December 2009 : Birding/trekking at Gibbons Land.Overnight at Namdapha

24th December 2009 : Birding /Trekking around 13th Mile/Anamika falls.Overnight at Namdapha

25th December 2009 : Birding around 19th Mile and transfer to Dibrugarh.Tour ends.

Cost : Rs.20,500/ per person Ex- Dibrugarh.

Cost includes : Transporation,all meals,guide charges ,Inner line permit and entry & Boating fees to the national park Ex – Dibrugarh for Indians.

For further details, please contact:

IT Nature Club
C/O Avanti Holidays
1922.Nisarga Layout
3rd Main 4th A Cross
Bannerghatta Post
Bangalore-560083
Tel/Fax : 080 – 27824059
(M) : 9845383882
Email : itnatureclub@rediffmail.com
itnatureclub@gmail.com
info@avantiholidays.com
Web : http://www.itnatureclub.com

Cost does not include : Camera Charges and any personal expenses.

Participants must be in Guwahati by 18th of December in order to leave for Dibrugarh to begin the trip. There is a good non-stop train from Bangalore to Guwahati, apart from the air option.

*Photo Exhibition *on Bangalore’s cultural heritage by Bangalore Weekend Shoots*. *

Time: 7:00 – 9:00 am Venue: Cubbon Park Bandstand

Time: 7:00 am- 9:00 am Venue: Lalbagh Bandstand

Time: 10:30 am – 7:30 pm Venue: Bangalore Fort.

*INTACH Parichay* (heritage walk) (In Kannada) led by Dr.S.K.Aruni

Time: 8:30 – 11:00 am; Venue: Tipu Palace, Bangalore Fort and its vicinity.

For Registration contact: Meera (99860 23014)

Heritage Hunts, by Bangalore City Project, explore the city, solve some clues and you just might win a prize.

Time: 3:00 – 5:00 pm; Venues: Gavipuram, Malleswaram and Whitefield.

For further details check www.bcp.wikidot.com
or call Krupa (99721 14110)

*Cultural Programme* including a talk on Bangalore’s heritage by author Vikram Sampath, release of a set of postcards on Bangalore’s heritage, and light music by Vijay Havanur.

Time: 5:30 – 7:30 pm

Venue: Bangalore Fort

For Entry Passes contact: Pankaj (93421 35215)

Heritage Quiz

Time: Throughout the day

On: Radio One

These events are organised and supported by the Archaeological Survey of India, Bangalore Circle; Department of Kannada and Culture, Govt of Karnataka; Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike; Bangalore Weekend> Shoots; Bangalore City Project; Max Mueller Bhavan/Goethe Institut; UDBHAVA Forum; ABIDe; and the Bangalore Chapter of INTACH./* *

Heritage Hunts

*Bangalore City Project presents Heritage Hunts as part of citywide World Heritage Day celebrations.*

Make sure you join the fun in atleast one location at 3pm on Saturday 18 April 2009

*Gavipuram- the historic vernacular settlement predating the city of Bangalore, to the South,

*Malleswaram-one of the first planned extensions to the city, to the North and

* *Whitefield – the colonial period Anglo-Indian settlement, to the East.*

Walk in 3pm onwards to:

Bull temple entrance, Bull Temple Road, Basavanagudi for the Gavipuram Hunt,

St. Peter’s Seminary (Gate 2), 8 Main, Malleswaram for the Malleswaram Hunt,

Whitefield Club entrance, Whitefield for Whitefield Hunt,

…. and get started!

Further details on

www.bcp.wikidot.com

or call Krupa (99721 14110)

All participants might just get a surprise, while something special awaits the team that solves all the clues first and cracks the hunt.

Please remember first come first served!

More than light, music and action of over 300 folk artists from 28 districts, classical elements and one concept – ‘the fight against casteism ’, that was the show at Lalbagh last evening taking the audience through a journey of human evolution with a depiction of the cause of the casteism. To help large Audience to enjoy the show it was seated on the huge rock face in Lalbagh ….

The show organized by the department of Information is directed by Vishwakumar and scripted by K Ramaiahm- Lakshmipati Kola and K Y Narayanawamy and music was by Hamsalekha….

For the plot and other details of the play,
<a href=” here

is the Wikipaedia link.

Here’s the cast taking a bow after the matinee performance:

As usual, the cast of the play got their comic timing right, and the audience thoroughly enjoyed themselves, laughing at well-quoted Wilde lines such as “It’s a great thing to the 35, I’ve been 35 for years!”, and sometimes laughing at the well-rehearsed comic interaction between the cast members in their various roles.

The sets were designed to provide exits and entry points, and there were a couple of displays of ballroom dancing that had the audience clapping.

However, the sets did take a little time to set up between scenes and acts, and that did break up the narrative a bit, but luckily the plot was not too intricate to follow. The stage properties were fairly simple, and the costumes of the Victorian period done fairly adequately..

Evam also made innovative use of the ticket paper when they used a portion of it to ask for the viewers’ contact details. Sunil made the announcement when, at the end of the play, the cast and crew make t take their bows.

However (at least not in the 3.30 show which I attended) the cast was not intriduced to the audiences, and we got none of the names of the crew backstage, either. This, I think, is something that Evam needs to rectify.

Also, at the beginning of the play, Karthik and a few other members of the cast did fluff their dialogue in a noticeable way; so perhaps they are not as word-perfect with the dialogue as they wish to be.

The sets were innovatively designed, but they took time to set up, and it was a good-willed audience which applauded them while waiting in between seats and darkness!

Given the popularity of the play and of Evam’s productions up to now, Evam will probably be a smash sellout whenever they visit this city.

But I would still ask Evam if they could do a slightly more serious play, and also contact information.

Wishing Evam success with their corporate co-operation productions,

Deepa.

A friend of ours has just moved to a place near Hosur and I guess you
can see why. There’s a picturesque lake skirting his backyard.

Just imagine, a place to call home, with a lake attached.
Straight out of a dream sequence.

I didn’t have my regular camera with me and these pictures were taken with
my N72. Not bad at all.

Was passing through Indiranagar the other day and found this immaculately maintained
Royal Enfield. The customizing done on the paint job and seating only add to its appeal.
Makes you want to just kick-start the bike and take it for a chakkar.

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

Mahesh Shantaram will be leading the photo walk in Bangalore on that day. It’s going to be a fun way to rediscover Residency Road backwards, and while we’re at it, present the best face of our city to the rest of the world. The world is watching!

Editing brings logical conclusion to a photo shoot. Mahesh would also like to take the opportunity to introduce amateur photographers and serious hobbyists to photo editing using Lightroom 2.0. You are invited to a free hands-on workshop that he will be conducting at my place that afternoon. Participants will go through the entire editing workflow and put together a photo essay from the morning’s shoot.

Contact Mahesh Shantaram:

Email:

ms@thecontrarian.in

Web:

http://thecontrarian.in/

Mobile: (+91) 99801 29770

The pot was not there to provide a home for birds (in fact, I would say that pigeons and crows rate as pests and are not encouraged there) and it was upended in a net, so that the opening of the pot faced down. I could not find anyone who could give me a reason why it was suspended from the roof of the bus station. Any explanations, anyone?