Articles by Lakshmi Menon

Evangelical Social Action Forum (ESAF) in collaboration with JSS public school, HSR layout launched 'Happy and Safe Route to School Program' in HSR Layout. The launch was marked by cyclathon and walkathon. Nearly 100 people, including students, teachers and parents walked and cycled in a planned route to create awareness on the importance of active transportation to reduce pollution, congestion, leading an active and healthy life style. In cities, rights of children to move around safely are infringed on various accounts. At the same time, the sedentary lifestyles to which children are exposed have contributed to various life style disorders…

For the first time in Bengaluru, the Walk to School (W2S) program was conducted successfully in Sanjaynagar. 1,500 children from six schools participated in the program by walking to school from their homes on Saturday November 5th. Those living further away and typically travelling by bus or other vehicles, were dropped off at common points a few kilometres away, and walked to school in groups. Pic: Manju George It was surprising to see that instead of complaining that they had to wake up early and walk to school on a cold morning, the children were excited and happy to walk.…

Evangelical Social Action Forum (ESAF) in association with Citizens for Sustainability (CiFoS) with the support of B.PAC is organising the Walk to School on Saturday Program (WSS) to encourage children to adopt the Active and Safe Routes to School (ASRTS) initiative. File pic. Pic: Shree D N Six schools in Sanjay Nagar will participate in this initiative which is bring organised on December 5th 2015. Background Active commuting has reduced in the recent days due to many reasons. Lack of last mile connectivity and inadequate public transport have paved way for the increase in use of private vehicles. Even the…

Theatre has always been a media that awed me. The whole idea of performing live is fascinating and challenging. I have been attending plays for a long time, but being part of a theatre crew was a totally different experience. I got an opportunity to be a part of the production team for Evam’s “An Idiot for dinner” that was recently staged at Rangashankara on the 12th, 13th and the 14th of June. A stage adaptation of the Hindi movie, Bheja Fry, which is based on the French play Le dîner de cons. Sanjay and his friends have a tradition…

There are many instances when you find yourself staring at something and wondering, ‘Have I seen this somewhere?' MS Gopal's photo exhibition, which opened on 11th May and will go on for a month at F&B restaurant, off St. Marks Road, makes you ask that question. M S Gopal's picture of a security guard, Jeevan originally from Assam. Gopal, a young professional has found his metier in shooting Bangalore with his pocket sized Canon A350. Many may feel that this is too small a tool for taking photographs, but Gopal looks at it as an opportunity. He can carry it…

The well known artist G Subramaniam's works were on display at Silk Interiors in Bella Vista on Lavelle Road earlier this month. This store for interior décor artifacts houses a gallery named "iArt". Artwork by G SubramaniamG Subramaniam has a fascinating and unique way of expressing his creativity. He creates collages on canvases. Yes, the same collage techniques from your college and school competitions! Subra as he is popularly known in the art field, has combined this with his imagination and created a splendid new image. Most of his works revolves around Indian deities; Krishna, Brahma and Ganesha. Subra says,…

“I hope I win an Oscar for India as Indians are crazy about Oscars,” AR Rahman quipped before he even won the Oscar. It is true the Oscars are a big deal in India, as is evident from the post Oscar success of the film. The lives of slum dwellers are suddenly coming to the forefront; inspiring film-makers, writers and artists. One such group of 14 artists came together at Crimson Art Gallery in Hatworks Boulevard on Cunningham Road, with an exhibition, ‘Big Dreams’, which had a collection of paintings inspired by Slumdog Millionaire. The show was on till 30th…

The Adigas fast food joint at Jayanagar 4th block is known to all south Bangaloreans and people of all ages come here to enjoy the food and coffee. But most of them are so busy that they don’t notice a serene art haven called Magnitude Art Gallery, situated straight down the road. Magnitude Art Gallery hosts exhibitions by artists whom they promote. It is one of the few firms that encourage talented yet unknown artists from various parts of Karnataka. The gallery has artists who work only for Magnitude; their work is exhibited and sold here. The artists work on…

I was at RV Dental College at JP Nagar, looking for Maltesh Badiger, a theatre director and set desginer. Badiger had offered to loan me whatever I needed from his vast collection of theatre sets, for a play I was helping out with. Badiger, a small simple man walked in. I explained what I needed and he opened up a small room in the basement. It was full of set pieces - doors, thrones, backdrops and more. He told me to choose, and I was lost. He had a solution to create any set I wanted!. When he learnt that…

Baijudev, Benny Paul, Bijoy Velekkatte, Devidas Varma, Dr Mohan K G, Gireesan V S, Gireesan Bhattathiripad, Gopi P S, Jayan Pudumana, Jose P O, Krishnana Mallissery, Manikandan Punnakkal, M A Venu, Mohan Alankode, Nandakumar, N B Lathadevi, Renjan P C, Revathi Venu, Roy Thomas, Satheesan, Sasidharan, Sasi Kandoth, Shadanan Anikkath, Sivadas, Venugopal and Viswanath P I displayed the paintings that they had created specially for this show called Pallette 2009. Painting by M.A.Venu (Pic: Lakshmi Menon) With such a huge number of participants, one can only imagine the variety and size of the show. Most of the work was abstract…