Society

"Koramangala was a no man's land then," says, Professor N S Ramaswamy, 86, the man behind the Indian Heritage Academy (IHA.) Prof Ramaswamy, Chairman, Director, IHA, believes that a place can be made liveable only through its culture and its ethics. Pic: Deepthi M S Built in the early 80's, the academy's sole purpose was to foster the growth of Indian culture. Situated amidst the a busy area, it has a retained its old charm. The academy, a non-profit making organisation, spread over 30,000sq feet, it has around 500 varieties of plants. With temples, open yards and trees, it takes…

He is 29, trained as an engineer, a Kannada-film maker of rising repute. However that is not why he is the focus of this article. Pawan Kumar is also a piracy warrior in Sandalwood. For his debut film, Lifeu Ishtene, he ended up irking the Censor Board by re-releasing the movie with a changed ending. Now he's gone back to a familiar approach engineers take to fix problems: technology. Home talkies aims to protect Kannada cinema piracy. Pawan has founded Home Talkies a movie viewing website to release Kannada films on the web. As the description the website goes ‘through…

Book lovers in Koramangala are in for some treat as some of the book stores are offering discounts. Kannada, Malayalam and English books of different genres are up for grabs. Here are some book stores that have offers. DC Books store. Pic: Deepthi M S Landmark is having a 'Buy 2 get 1 free' offer on selected books. Books ranging from fiction, non- fiction, Best sellers, Children's books, Harry Potter series, Twilight series are available under this offer. The offer also extends to books by author Robin Sharma. Landmark Ltd., The Forum, 21 Hosur Road, Koramangala, Bangalore - 560 029…

Bengaluru will finally have its own literary weekend. Lekhana comes to the city between February 10-12. The event has been organized by Toto Funds the Arts (TFA), Sangam House (an international writers’ residency program), DeshaKaala (a journal for arts and letters in Kannada) and Reading Hour (a print magazine for Indian creative writing), in partnership with the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA). “The City" is the theme this year. With panel discussions, readings, performances and an event bookstore, it promises to be an intersection space for the city’s varied writers, literary cultures and languages. C K Meena, Chairperson, TFA says…

If kite flying has ever caught your fancy, ‘Gaalipata Time' maybe a good place to start. Namma Bengaluru Foundation and Citizen Matters are organising this community event on Sunday, February 12th.  Time: 9 am - 3 pm, February 12thVenue: Koramangala 3rd block playground, next to Post Office, 12th main, 3rd block. Kite expert and former state award winner Sabir Hussian will guide those participating in kite flying. "There will be some 50 varieties of kites for sale and exhibition at the event. In additional to traditional kites, there will be designer kites with bird and animal patterns. Kites will be…

As some of you may have seen the announcements, Citizen Matters' second print edition has launched in Koramangala-HSR layout from 14 January. This is a very exciting development for us and is inline with our plan to foster hyperlocal communities around Bengaluru through independent coverage of current affairs, communitiy and culture. Two fortnightly editions are currently going out of our office every alternate week, one for the JP Nagar-BTM-Jayanagar area and one for Koramangala-HSR. Like the active community in Jayanagar-JP Nagar area, Koramangala and HSR Layout's citizens too are at the forefront of several city reform initiatives. Many of them…

‘Varna Mythri - Centenary Retrospective 2011' was launched in December 2011 to commemorate the birth centennial of artist Rumale Chennabasaviah. The retrospective is being held by National Gallery of Modern Art NGMA, Benglauru. Play of light, High Court, c 1960 - oil on canvas. Pic courtesy: NGMA The programme was to end on 31 January but the date has been now extended. "By popular demand, the last date for viewing has been extended until 19 February 2012", shared Shoba Nambisan, the director of NGMA.The programme included insightful weekly discussions by artists and art historians on Rumale's paintings, landscape art and…

The Bengaluru Habba featured the staging of Robert Bolt's A Man for all Seasons. For those of us not familiar with Bolt's name, he was an Oscar-winning screenplay writer and playwright, who wrote the screenplays for Dr Zhivago (one of his Oscar efforts) and the legendary Lawrence of Arabia.His other Oscar came from the screenplay adaptation of this play, A Man for all Seasons. The play for the Habba was stage directed by Arjun Sajnani, who is of course known for the high quality of his productions that include Fire and Rain and Tughlaq. This play was no different in…

Filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli has won hearts and stimulated minds for a few decades now. Ghatashraadhha to Gulabi Talkies, his films have won him great accolades. He offers interpretations of the stories he chooses, something not usually done by directors. Citizen Matters caught up with this resident of BTM Layout for an interview. I see a shift in your film-making. Recent films, especially those after Gulabi Talkies seem to be explicitly ideological in nature. They ‘tell’ more than ‘show’, I think. What do you mean when you say ‘ideological’? My films have always had a political-social message, if you like. It…

This is not the story of someone who fought against an indifferent system and brought it to its knees, rather of someone who made her peace with the system and worked patiently from within, to achieve the best results possible. Pic: Manvel Alur Manvel Alur's connection with the environment seems almost karmic, with her choices in life steering her on the green path quite early on. Even as a child growing up in Bangalore, she was environmentally aware enough to write in to the National Geographic magazine on various issues and it seemed like a natural transition that she went…