Articles by Siri Srinivas

It has happened to every woman. You are filling a form for a bank account or a driver's license or an internet connection. And the tip of your pen momentarily hovers over the section that stubbornly demands a ‘Father/Husband's Name'. In nearly every form we fill, however irrelevant to the nature of application you are filling, this information is vital. You ignore the thought as if the field were a leering lout serenading you on the street with a song and comply to the necessary evils of paperwork. A pre-paid SIM card application form picked up in Bangalore. Pic: Siri…

At the Bangalore Literature Festival last week, I adopted a cautious, rodent-like approach to finding the best seat in the capacious front lawn. I took, at first, a modest seat by the aisle, encountered a wall of tall people obstructing my view of literary greats; shifted to another seat, this time on the other side, a little further up. I spent five minutes paying full attention to Ashish Sen speaking about Mahesh Dattani's works as the playwright himself sat beside and sagaciously offered agreement until the aged gentleman in the row before mine began to rise every five minutes; perhaps…

They began as wishful lamentations that soon turned into hushed whispers transforming eventually into convincing rumours. With all those regular claims about being home to culture, heritage and genteel intellectuals, how is it that Bangalore was missing a multiple day, A-Lister- filled literary fest?The optimists amongst us knew it was only a matter of time. When news of it finally came, Bangalore's very own literature festival, unlike those preceding it, emerged to find a ready audience. Where other literary events have had to slowly build audiences, BLF suffers a large crowd bouncing excitedly on its feet, waiting to be let…

There's something about living in this city for a long time that makes it impossible to not be a loud and brash bigot. There is a wordless demand that you don't simply love this city but be a little proud, a little overbearing, and become an insufferable little mobile advertisement for your part of town. It is with the same sentiment that we took part in Hunt For The Past - INTACHís Heritage Hunt held in the Basavanagudi area last week. The event was an sms-powered treasure hunt that took one to different parts of the old South Bangalore area,…

In the Whitefield campus of technology major iGate, a most unusual tournament was on last week. It appears to many a curious bystander that all these people - of various ages and nationalities-were spending Monday morning playing intense games of Scrabble. At a table in the first row sits a man in a New Zealand t-shirt having just finished a game that his opponent is intently analysing. Nigel Richards at the tournament. Pic: Siri Srinivas You and I will not recognise the name but 42-year-old, Nigel Richards is the current world champion of Scrabble and a veritable legend. He had…

"Love is Slow Poison" said an auto that nearly killed me yesterday; I would have normally belted some un-pleasantries to nobody in particular and forgotten the close-shave. But how can one not stop and mull over a near-death-experience that comes with such succinct wisdom? I assure the auto-driver that no love is lost between him and I now. May all his passengers readily pay him 'double meter'. We must make haste in claiming credit for any pop-culture phenomena that may have emerged from the city and label it 'city-chic' or some such; you will agree that this sort of thing…

It only took 13-year-old Aditya's bragging about how quick and efficient he was at the newly acquired skill of tying flowers, for the girls in his group to take it upon themselves to beat him at his game. What started as a fun contest, turned into a fierce battle with each camp pelting flowers at each other. Your reporter, lips pursed in concentration, attempting to learn to tie flowers from ten-year-olds, was caught in the crossfire. A participant at the workshop making a Ganesha idol using clay. Pic: Siri Srinivas This was the workshop organised by the Environment Support Group(ESG)…

The Bengaluru Infinite 2010 marathon photography contest culminated in a lively exhibition and award ceremony on the 1st of May at the very unusual creative center Jaaga. A motley crowd of amateur, hobbyist and semi-professional photographers gathered there on a lazy Saturday evening shared camaraderie and discussed the pictures on display and their own experiences during the photo marathon. The Bengaluru Infinite 2010 photography contest - award ceremony at Jaaga. Pic: courtesy: InfinityF. Contestants submitted upto eight pictures shot between 8 am and 8 pm in Bengaluru on April 25th which focused on the changing face of the city. Shutterbugs…

Amidst the noise about how this year mattered to bankers, politicians, environmentalists, neo-Nazis, and godmen, one important voice was left out in the cold. It isn’t like we young people are used to too much attention; but to listlessly ignore the tumult in our lives isn’t quite done.Education may be the best phase of everybody’s lives – but one considers it memorable only when it has passed. In the midst of dreary college years, it is quite, quite horrific. Don’t you want to know, then, how this year broke new ground in our lives? Pulling all stops and no résumésTo…

A contest for rock bands judged by Lounge Piranha, workshops on martial art, movie spoofs, mascots and lots of glam-- IIM Bangalore’s recently concluded Unmaad 09 had all the trappings of a major college fest. There were events for the sober and the cerebral, and then there were the artsy dos with pretty people and related regalia; rounding it all off was the standard issue high profile pro-show by the trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Making things interesting, however, was IIMB itself. And one means this literally. Anybody who has ever tried to navigate their way through the labyrinthine corridors of IIMB…