12 April 2006, It was a Black Wednesday for millions of people in Karnataka as we have lost an elderly person Rajkumar in our home .The demise news brought a massive storm in my life, I was in tears at my desk, It is already a year for now and still I cant digest that Rajkumar is not with us, I am still missing him.
The death news not only brought sadness among us but also made incurables scratches on the body of the Bangalore which happened by the riots at the time…. It was unforgettable days for many because of death and riots.

[Image source]
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The news of Poornachandra Tejaswi’s demise hit me so hard that it took a lot of time for me to digest the news and accept it. Spending more than an hour reading through several pages of memories of Tejaswi in Vijaya Karnataka and Udayavani today, I re-lived, in a depressing mood, the magical world of nature and birds created by his books that elicited fascination

Image from Vijaya Karnataka

Tejaswi is no more with us but his works on nature, birds and literature, and his eye of fascination towards everything will continue to remain an inspiration for us. May his soul rest in peace.

There is one man who is keen on writing biographies of people like you and me. M.S.C. Rao, a retired banker who will write your biography if you want to be preserved for posterity. It is his passion to do so because “we should not live and die like animals. When we have the capacity to record everything, we should use technology and document our lives. And we should also have a small library of our forefathers’ history.

I read this bit of news in today’s paper, and found it interesting. I also recollect having heard about it earlier.
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– On Women’s day!!
Here is to salute to the true spirit of independent & empowered women of Bangalore.

This face helps us relate to break the social paradigms set for centuries. It demonstrates that more and more aspects, avenues and opportunities for growth, prosperity and self reliance are opening up and available to women.

picked up this photo in a BMTC Volvo and there she was, confident and sharp lady conductor. She was all the way kind enough to answer all our queries gently, while we did a round trip from CBS to Yelhanka and back just to feel the Volvo journey and enjoy the ride…

You would be forgiven for thinking that I’m talking about celluloid stars. Hardly. The literary firmament of the Kannada language includes many doyens including, hold your breath, a German born missionary!

A statue in the honour of Rev. Fr. Ferdinand Kittel is enclosed in a well maintained ( but fraying at the edges, methinks!) park at a pivotal point on M.G Road, called the Ferdinand Kittel Circle.

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Vint Cerf gave a lecture on the past, present, and future of the Internet last night at the Dr. Ambedkar Bhavana Memorial Trust. The invitation-only event was sponsored by Google as the kickoff for an ongoing technical speakers series. One of the highlights of the evening was his discussion of the design of network protocols to support an “InterPlanNet” or IPN as a sort of “deep space” backbone for transmission of data from spacecraft and planetary probes.

More photos of the event on flickr

Vint Cerf, one of the founders of internet, co-inventor of TCP/IP, Currently chief internet evangelist & VP, Google was in Bangalore y’day…

Image source : Bart Nagel
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Well, well,well. After my post of yesterday wherein I referred to stars endorsing sodas, little did I imagine that today, I would be commenting about them proclaiming their love for cities with a view to sell property!!!

Take a look at this pic. There are several issues that I find with, well, the issue in question!
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The veneer that coats India’s “Silicon Valley” what with its shiny glass and chrome structures, its hep and stylish people, malls, cars, brands etc slips every now and then to reveal a facade where some people battle it out – on its footpaths, junctions, streets etc – to make ends meet. Desperate to make a living yet holding on, as a last resort, to a tiny strand of self respect and dignity.

Take Babu Ahmed for instance. He comes all the way from Hoskote to sells his musical instrument on Church Street. The daily struggle to sell a couple of them, the dishevelled look and the weary lines on his face do nothing to diminish his unbowed spirit. Pegging the price high at Rs 70/- is a gambit to land a customer who walks away satisfied with his bargain. Meanwhile, Babu’s talent with the simple instrument is clear to see and hear. Listen up.
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Scaling the new highs, Mr.Ratan Tata, chairman of TATA Group took off in a combat fighter F-16 at the Aero India Show at Yelahanka Y’day, The sortie lasted for more than 30 minutes and hovered 18000 ft above south bangalore …

Photo: G.R.N. Somashekar @The hindu

He did take control of the aircraft from the rear seat and flew for about 10 minutes. Almost at the age of 70, he successfully manned the co-pilot seat of the flight commandeered by Paul Hattendorf, the test pilot of Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the aircraft. With this event, Mr. Tata has now become the oldest Indian to fly the American-made aircraft. It was clearly a coup by the US Company to subtly project Mr.Ratan Tata as the brand ambassador for the F-16.
Great Going Mr.Tata, here is to salute the Sportsman spirit …