Life-en-treats

The first page on Google search for “anti-aging” contains an 80% of nothing else but product ads. And if you are not skeptic enough, you might think that this world is real and that that’s all there is to it. Equally annoying is the range of ads that declare that there is “one weird anti-aging trick that a housewife somewhere has discovered that has made doctors angry!” But what does skepticism even mean if you are convinced that you have to look pretty, young or lovely all the time? As testimony to the fact that many women amongst us are convinced and converted, skeptic or not, the beauty industry runs into multi-billion dollars in the US and is growing in India at a rapid rate of 20% every year. Whether converted into buying a bunch of beauty products and visiting parlours or not, everyone did gasp when Madhuri Dixit danced with Ranbir Kapoor. She looked 18! It’s appalling to think that researchers are at work day and night just so we could look a little better at a party! Ar...

CARNATIC STATES (Right & facing page) The IFAASD festival has emerged as one of the biggest Carnatic events outside India Indians at home may take their culture for granted, but among those in the US, there’s a pervading cultural hunger. The week long festival at the Indian Fine Arts Academy of San Diego is just one of the many ways to satiate that hunger As India gets a tad more Westernised every day, curious stuff is happening in the US. Among the NRIs, Carnatic music is gaining popularity and flourishing. In the US city I moved to a few months ago, about 750 people pay 200-odd dollars for a year-long engagement with Carnatic music through the Indian Fine Arts Academy of San Diego (IFAASD). Numerous concerts are arranged through the IFAASD every year, and a majority are Carnatic music concerts. The week-long festival this year had so many more Carnatic treats that I felt I was given a crash course, and could suddenly i...

Energy Future   (   Technology  |  Magazines   )   Published On: 2013-01-01 India, Jan. 1 -- The "Supergrid" or the "mega-grid" are the new buzzwords on the future energy horizon. Sushumna Kannan reports on the European Supergrid and how it is all set to change the manner in which the world fathoms energy. A "Supergrid" is a wide area transmission network that allows the trade of energy across great distances, usually countries endowed with different natural resources. A supergrid may also be referred to as a "mega grid".... Link: http://htsyndication.com/htsportal/article?arid=%22909522%22&pub=%22Energy+Future%22   

About the artist:  (Text by  Sushumna Kannan ) Rathnakara Gudikar  has been sculpting bhuta murtis since age ten and is joined by his sons today. “Gudikar” in Kannada refers to “s/he who makes gudi or temple”. “ Ella daiva ne ” or “It is all divine” says  Gudikar , when he refers to the bhutas in relation to the more well known gods of Puranic Hindu culture. Bhutas in Dakshina Kannada are not seen as “devils”; they are worshipped as forms of helpful energies. In their temples, called daiyyada mane, they stand next to each other in rows and each has a specific location so that they have to be placed exactly in the same position after a refreshing coat of paint, when they are re-consecrated. Failure to do so will incur their wrath. Often, two different animal murtis that represent opposing or different principles are placed together. One dominates the other in terms of size and strength but the other is always present, like the small ram paired with the larger tiger. ...

Thermal and a quarter is a name to be reckoned with Bengaluru's rock scene for nearly two decades. Their new space for rock schooling, jam sessions and recording studio is a culmination of this long journey. By Sushumna Kannan 12 Mar 2012, Citizen Matters TAAQADEMY in Koramangala is the result of the band, Thermal and A Quarter's 16 year old tryst with music. This 3-month-old academy teaches music-making and song-writing as well as playing instruments and is also conceived as a space for musicians and bands to practice or hang out: ‘Make Space for Music' is TAAQADEMY's sweet demand of us. The story behind this academy started four years ago, on Queen's Road. It is intricately linked to the journey its members themselves made since starting as a band in Christ College in 1996. 23 thousand people ‘like' it on Facebook alone; the music has been played to audiences of over 50 thousand. TAAQ is known for its unique collaborations with musicians pursuing different for...

Kasaravalli on cities, and cities in his films.  My films have always had a political-social message. In 'Mane' I recorded the experiences and perceptions of those with an agrarian background who come to inhabit a city. By Sushumna Kannan 01 Feb 2012,  Citizen Matters 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 has been there from the very beginning. My early films ...

Citizens engage in a dialogue over issues confronting society and discover new avenues of understanding and bonding. By Sushumna Kannan 12 Mar 2009, Citizen Matters Meta-Culture, a Bangalore-based Relationship and Conflict Management consulting company, organised an event called  Bengaluru Speaks  on 21st February 2009 at the Ashirvad Community Centre on St. Mark’s Road. Bengaluru Speaks , a community conversation series is one of Meta-Culture’s community-focused initiatives, and had for its eighth theme: “Competing Cultures: Morals, Malls and Marriages”. The stated goal of the programme was to engage the people of Bengaluru in constructive conversation about critical issues so as to strengthen relationships across the city and create a more secure, cohesive and viable community. The event was organised to facilitate dialogue ‘in times of a rapid change, socially and culturally,’ said Gayatri of Meta-Culture, as she introduced the theme and event. “What do you think of when yo...