Articles by Deepa Mohan

Deepa Mohan is a freelance writer and avid naturalist.

When I went to the IISc (Indian Institute of Science) campus, I was meeting a couple of cyclists there, so, while walking with me, Pradeep B V pointed out a red-and-yellow cycle that was sailing past us."That's the initiative of the IISc campus, one which our cycling community particularly likes," he said. He explained that every year, outgoing students dump the cycles that they use while here...and the present students had the great idea of painting them yellow-and-red, and allowing anyone to use them on the campus!If you see a red-and-yellow cycle anywhere in the IISc grounds, you can use…

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In the well-designed brochure that Ligra distributed at the staging of Samuel Beckett's "Happy Days", at Ranga Shankara on the 12th and 13th of December, was a line by Chandran Sankaran, written to the husband of the actor who plays the lead, Winnie (Patty Gallagher) ...and it says, "I finally understood a Beckett play!"That's an important line to keep in mind as we approach one of Samuel Beckett's lesser known plays ( the better known ones, of course are "Waiting for Godot" and "The End Game".)Samuel Beckett won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1969, and it's amazing to think…

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Its time again to reconnect with nature, and enjoy the flora and fauna around Bannerghatta.This month's Third Sunday trail will be on 20th of December 2009.Place : Ragihalli Village TankTime : 6.00 AMMeeting place : Govt Primary School, RagihalliGoogle Map Coordinates : 12.739328, 77.574592Group Leader : Mahesh ChandComfortable clothing,good walking shoes, cap, water bottle,binoculars ( if you have them!), a camera ( if you like to shoot)...these are what you need to join the trail. This outing is free and open to anyone who can walk the trail of around four to five hours . We recommend car-pooling between participants.…

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The horticulture department is planning a foodcourt at Nandi Hills. The proposed location is part of the habitat of Nilgiri Wood Pigeon. The plan is likely to have impact on this I do feel that Government can use the present buildings at Nandi Hills, some of which lie unused and abandoned. I request each of you to email the concerned people and voice your concern. I received an email from Subbu, an avid bird-watcher of Bangalore. This should come as a shocker to all those who love watching birds at Nandi Hills. The proposed food court on top of Nandi…

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Skyscraper

Indian personaliites like to become celebrities. One way of achieving this is to put up cutouts of their photographs in sizes large enough to stop passing clouds....Mr Kheny can be proud of the fact that he's now permanently overseeing the road that he built.....I'd like to know who the other two faces are....couldn't read the names as we went past. Are they the ones mentioned below Mr Kheny's name?If this had been Tamil Nadu, the name would have been followed by some laudatory phrase such as " our honoured builder of roads".....⊕

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Protest Against ID Card for Entry to Lalbagh and Cubbon Park Gains StrengthQueen's Statue, Cubbon park, Monday, 30th November, 2009Over 200 people rallied at Cubbon Park on Monday, 30th November 2009, to voice their outrage at the proposed plan by Karnataka Horticulture Minister Umesh Katti to restrict access to Cubbon Park and Lalbagh by imposing mandatory ID cards for anyone who wishes to enter in the mornings and evenings. This heinous violation of the Right of Access to Public Spaces transforms the two heritage sites into elite clubs which will require this new "membership card" for entry. It is an…

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The logo of Karnataka that I had noticed, was very good indeed:There's a "abhinaya mudraa" at the beginning, followed by a waterfall, a musical wind instrument, pillars signifying architecture, a palm tree, a jungle creeper, a temple gopura, then an elephant, and last of all, what has put Karnataka on the world map...the computer mouse!Someone has done an excellent job of the logo design! A heart-warming sign to come across when away from home!Today, I clicked this logo on the BIG 10 bus:If you notice, you'll see that the "BIG" is also "big" written in Kannada script on the diagonal...very…

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I was on the 25th Chennai Photo Walk and we were walking past the Annamalai Mandram, in front of which is the statue of the famous banker/philanthropist, Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiar photographed here with an alert citizen in front :)....  and when I looked at the plaque, I realized that the king of the erstwhile kingdom of Mysore,  Jayachamaraja Wodeyar had been the Governor of the erstwhile Madras Presidency, and had actually unveiled this statue in 1954!   It's only now that we have Andhra and Karnataka and Tamil Nadu...we were all brothers, not so long ago!   ⊕

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