Articles by Meghna Raghunathan

Instead of the focus being on the foremost brands in the world, this week, the focus is on the foremost art galleries in the city. Friday the 26th of February saw the inauguration of the five day long “Art Bengaluru 2010”- Bangalore’s contemporary art festival. Art Bengaluru was a five day program with an on going display of work from different galleries in UB city.The inaugurationWomen and high heels and men dressed in suits, browsed the three floors of UB city, wine in hand to see art from the best galleries in Bangalore. Each gallery had a small space to…

An experience at Matteo, a new coffee house on Church Street will guarantee you much more than a hot beverage. Matteo is a modern coffee and tea joint started by the Sterling Mac group (Mac fast food) and is already attracting a sizable group of people. Their walls are plastered with boards explaining the coffee harvesting process and their pillars have facts about tea. Pic: Meghna Raghunathan.This coffe house opened on December 21st and it boasts of some of the best coffee in the country with imported varieties from all over the world and tea in silk sachets. According to…

I walked into the auditorium in Bal Bhavan, Cubbon Park, to a stage full of little people dressed from head to toe in black, wielding puppets over half their size. Hope for the flowers performed by students of Ananya school. Pic courtesy: Ananya Trust. It was a puppet show organised by Ananya Trust, which runs a school called Ananya Shikshana Kendra to educate underprivileged children. Students complete their 10th standard and also undergo internship at companies like Printo. The school educates first generation learners and has a life skills program which integrates teaching and real like experience. The puppet show…

I stepped into the famous ‘Food Street’ in VV Puram and I was at once flooded with smell of hot vadas, and roasted Averebele. “Food Street” as the local community calls it, had been transformed into a culinary Mela in honour of Averebele, or cow beans. Averebele is a staple in Kannadiga cuisine and is extremely popular in winter season. The Mela is on till January 17th. Pic: Meghna Raghunathan. This Mela is organised every year by Vasavi Condiments, a store selling sweets and savouries in VV Puram. They hire street vendors from the area to make food items centred…

A colourful exhibition showcasing dolls, took place from December 15th to 19th at 1 Shanthi Road. The main organiser of this exhibition was Vishakha from the Craft Studio, who has experience in the theatre and craft field. Other organisers were Nandini, Chandra, Sushila and Shashikala. Besides being just a showcase and sale of dolls, the exhibition served as a platform for discussion and creative interactions on topics related to craft, games, theatre and storytelling.The overall aim of the exhibition according to Vishakha was to support the craft, add an additional facet of identity to the dolls and lay emphasis on…

The first dayOn Saturday the 12th of December, I left my house ready to reconnect with my childhood, at the Children’s film festival, part of the Bangalore Habba 2009. As I went up the escalator towards the movie theatre, the numerous posters and signs, left me in no doubt that I was in the right place. It was 9.50 AM when I reached the ticket counter.I excitedly asked for passes which were supposed to be available at the venue. The man behind the counter looked at me, somewhat amused and told me he couldn’t issue me a pass because I…

A science exhibition on a 16 coach AC train! Yes, “The Science express”, a science exhibition on a train that is travelling all over the country is now in Bangalore. The exhibits have been developed by the Max Planck Society, Germany, in collaboration with the Department of Science and technology (DST), the Government of India and the Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre (VASCSC).The train is in Bangalore, stationed at the Cantonment station, from the 10th to the 14th of this month. So far the train has visited over 100 cities covering a distance of 32000 kms. An exhibit at…