Bangalore LiveJournal Community

The bomb blasts - Why?

2008-07-26T06:59:07Z

I was feeling very depressed yesterday. My first reaction when someone told me about the banner headline on NDTV.com was "Shit. I hope it's a false alarm and not true". Alas that was not to be.

But more importantly, why are people putting bombs?

Is it just some deranged "mental patients" who'll gladly do anything if Pakistan pays them enough money?

Is it due to age old Hindu-Muslim antagonism? Perhaps our social fabric was always torn but only now we have the collective conscience to cry foul at overt acts like this?

Or has independent India done something gravely wrong? Have we exacerbated divisions and increased acrimony? Do these people have a genuine grievance against the Indian State, and by proxy, against the average Indian itself?

I don't have the answers to these questions. And sadly the media won't raise them even when topical.

The most uninteresting part is they had access to such bombs and could "plan" this event. That's a given if the motives are strong enough. People can do far more with far less. Remember 1857?

Bangalore Rocks!

2008-07-25T11:15:48Z

The terror turkey has come home to roost. The myth of a secure Bangalore was long shattered when the blasts had occurred in IISC a few years ago. However, those blasts today are hazy memory to most Bangaloreans.

Today 6 low intensity blasts have taken place at multiple locations - Adugodi, Nayandahalli, Madivala among others. Placement of bombs at widely scattered locations and the precision of timing indicates meticulous planning and extremely devious (BUT/& intelligent) minds. The city is yet to groan to a grinding halt. People surely have been thrown out of their comfortable rocking chair existence today. The blasts establish the laxity in security and lack of concern regarding safety provisions within the city. We still can not however make comments about intelligence network and its success or failure. Any negative comment at this juncture would not only be hasty but also flippant.

Will the Governments wake up? Will also the common man wake up to the new reality? That there is NOTHING called a safe place anymore.  Will we become REAL citizens from now?

Bangalore, it's not just Mumbai (and Delhi and Hyderabad) that rocks.. Is it just the beginning or is it the beginning of an end?

Blasts in Bangalore

2008-07-25T10:13:00Z

According to early reports, at least one woman has been killed and 15 people injured in a series of blasts in Bangalore. Six blasts have been reported so far.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/6_blasts_rock_Bangalore_2_dead_20_wounded/articleshow/3279730.cms

Bangalore based freelance UI designers and Joomla developers

2008-07-07T13:53:05Z

Hi All,

We need some freelance Joomla developers and UI designers to design a intra-office portal and another site.
If any of you know any Bangalore based developers and/or designers , please mail me at vinay.sreenivasa@yahoo.com or pls call at
98805 95032.

Thanks all!
Vinay.

Laptop purchase ideas in Bangalore

2008-06-20T04:28:45Z

Hello,

I don't know how relevant this post is to this forum, but again as I am looking out for some information in Bangalore. I have decided to post it.

I am looking out for a laptop purchase for a student friend of mine. We have decided upon the budget of Rs.20,000/- to Rs.25,000/-
And we looked out for stores like Computer Ware House and another store in MG Road.
Lenovo, HP and Acer Models have within that range, but they are Intel Celeron processor based and the vendor's do not suggest those models for any programming tasks ( say Java apps development). Memory of those Laptops are 512 MB.
Does anyone has experience with those models and would suggest going for it? What would drawbacks in choosing Celeron based Laptops.

I understand, AMD processors are cheaper than Intels, so I was looking out for AMD based laptops within 20-25K range and could not find any at the shops I went.

I would like members suggestion on "a good laptop recommendation" within 20-25K and where would you advice me to purchase it in Bangalore.

Thanks in advance.
Senthil

World's End

2008-06-17T08:10:47Z

This world might be coming to an end by 2012. Its survival depends on us. We have to do a tapas. Tapas consists of eliminating all death of hunger among humans, starvation among young and otherwise disadvataged humans and death of hunger among cats and dogs, including homeless ones. This tapas has to be successful within certain number of months from now.

I want everyone who worships any Hindu God to donate once off $150 to a World Hunger cause through any ethical charity or website, and also $150 on behalf of every minor child and every unemployed person. If you live outside of USA, donate 150 of your local currency. I want everyone to donate at least $40 to World Hunger every 3 months.

Make this first priority and tell your family about it.

Blessings,
Shree Maya Ishvari

Run Run Run like the wind

2008-06-13T11:29:48Z

I have been running for some time now.Also joined http://www.runnersforlife.com and am always on the look out for running events.There is a very nice track planned for the next run off Kanakpura Road this Sunday.I really want to make it but i am not very sure if i will be traveling that day.Anyone interested in the run can visit:
http://www.runnersforlife.com/events/event/show?id=2086499:Event:5257

What are your weekend plans?

2008-06-13T05:01:08Z

Well I can suggest something interesting! Come one and come all to make a small difference to our city!
Let us plant some trees... Here is "when and where" we can...

Plantathon – Month of June

June 14^th - Lasala Arapana Niweas, Sakalwara, Bannergatta Road 09:00 AM	120 nos.
June 14^th– Fathers’s of Holy Cross Sakalwara, Bannergatta Road (all fruit trees ) 11:00 AM	220 nos

June 15^thNobonagar Resident’s Assn, Bannergatta Road, Near Meenakshi Temple 10:00 AM	150 nos.

June 21, 2008 People for Animals, Chennasandra, Uttarahalli	250 nos.

June 28, 2008 Clara Nivas, Bannergatta Road (Shool for Handicapped Children) Gottigere (fruit and avenue trees)	100 nos.

Visit http://treesforfree.org to know more about us!

bangalore @ 2008-06-07T18:09:00

2008-06-07T12:40:16Z

Is there a group of parents (or just some parents) doing homeschooling or unschooling with their children in Bangalore? It would be great to get any information on the issue, please share if you do know!

An official India community for LJ

2008-06-02T11:00:32Z

Greetings from LJ_India, the new official India community we’re piloting to connect all our India users.

We’re writing to invite you to take a first look at the Community (http://community.livejournal.com/lj_india/) as it’s launched and share your feedback. You’re, of course, under absolutely no obligation to join, but we’d be delighted if you did :)

Do join us at http://community.livejournal.com/lj_india/ and let's get this conversation started!

Cheers and thanks,

Team Blogworks for LiveJournal India

Airport Road

2008-05-26T06:56:26Z

I take the Airport Road(will it hence be called 'Old Airport Road'?Yeah ok,i am no creative genius :P) to office everyday and it takes me about 35 mins to get to Sarjapur Outer Ring Road.Today was my first commute after the HAL airport shut down to make way for the brand new BIAL(B'lore International Airport Ltd),and i made it to office in 20 mins flat.I dunno if it was pyschological or if i was plain lucky today but it was not even a bit frustrating to ride through the otherwise heavy traffic on Airport Road.After today i can say i like living in B'lore better now.
Although i did feel bad about so many people who lost their jobs after the HAL airport shut down and the frequent flyers who probably will take longer to get to the new airport than to their destinations.But just may be, pain and frustration can 'niether be created nor destroyed,but can only be transferred' from one person to another! :)

road.inc

2008-05-20T17:17:58Z

Is it me just dreaming or have the roads turned better overnight?!!
The whole stretch starting from Bellary Road to Koramangala has been completely revamped!

Fighting the setting up of a pizza place next door..

2008-05-18T07:56:16Z

Hi All,

My immediate neighbour wants to rent out his ground floor to a pizza place. Me and a couple of our other neighbours really dont want it - I mean imagine a pizza place next to your house - the smells from the kitchen, the crowds etc in a residential neghbourhood.

What I want to know is how exactly do we fight this? I think he needs a no-objection certificate from us, which he wont get from any of the neighbours. But just in case he still goes ahead and rents out the place - how do we fight it? Should we approach the health department in the corporation? Is there any other department in the BBMP we need to go to?

Any inputs will be much appreciated.

Thanks a lot all!

For Sale

2008-05-13T07:33:14Z

Owner Going Out Of Country

For Sale:

Sofa Set,

4-Seater Dining,

Beds,

Cupboard,

W/Machine,

Music System,

Crockery,

Computer And Other Household Items…

Open: Fri 16^th And Sun 18^th

10.00am - 9.00pm

And From Mon 19^th For 1 Week:

5.00 Pm - 8.00 Pm

Contact

C-1 Madhuban Apts., 2nd Floor, Hosur Main Road, Adugodi Bangalore 560 030
Landmark : Close To Star Bazaar, Opp. Adugodi Police Station
9886020850

Request support - for kannada medium student needing to clear 10th supplementary

2008-05-09T06:24:18Z

Hi All,

Some friends of mine conduct spoken English classes in a slum in Thilaknagar. One of the girls in their class has just written her 10th Std exams. Unfortunately she has not cleared 4 subjects - Science, Maths, Hindi and Social Studies. The result coupled with peer pressure and parental pressure took a bad toll on her mind and she is extremely depressed about it.

They are sure that with little tutoring she will be able to clear the exam comfortably. But the challenge is that she will have to re-write the exam in June, which is not too far away. They require someone who can teach her the above mentioned subjects fast and well, preferably during the day. Also, they really need someone with good Kannada speaking and reading skills as she studies in a Kannada medium school.

To summarise the following are the requirements:

* Comfortable with Kannada reading and speaking
* Capable of tutoring 10 standard government state syllabus level in Science, Maths, Social Studies and Hindi
* Can teach during the day, as she has only until June 1st week

Any help will be welcome. Ideally they are looking for someone who can do this for free or at minimal cost, as these guys work on a voluntary effort with very little funding. But even so, please do not hesitate to contact them if you can help as the matter is very very urgent. Even if you are comfortable with teaching any ONE or TWO of the above mentioned subjects and not all, please contact them at : swagath.english@gmail.com

Thanks Guys!

Mehendi??

2008-05-06T10:55:47Z

Hi,

I'm looking for someone on Bangalore who does mehendi. Ideally I would like someone who can come home and do it (I stay in Sanjaynagar). Do let me know if you know anyone! Thanks!

Review, I guess?

2008-05-02T21:42:41Z

Pragathi Travels, Malleshwaram - DON'T USE THEM

A few days back I was stuck at Race Course road at 3 in the night. We called Pragathi Travels and asked for a cab back to Koramangala. The cab came and we noticed that the driver was talking funny. I suspected that he was drunk and asked him, he said he wasn't. So, at the MG-Brigade junction, this guy didn't stop the car and tried to cross it at a speed of 90kmph. Oh, he was also on his cellphone at that time. Our car got hit by another cab coming from the other side. It was a terrible accident, our car flew and flipped in the air and landed upside down. Thankfully, we weren't that hurt. I just broke a finger. Enter the normal drama after any accident; the police asked us if we wanted to press charges against the driver, we didn't. I honestly thought it was a one time incident and didn't take any action. BAD MOVE.

I have been talking to a few friends who know the place well and apparently reckless driving, drunken drivers etc. are common things with Pragathi Travels. Unlike the rest of the cab services, they don't keep a check on their drivers. I called the travel agency to question them and they said, and I quote here, "You should have pressed charges if you wanted to. It is not our fault." It IS your fault dammit. If you don't keep a check on how your drivers are doing their job, who else will! I wasn't even asking for anything. I just wanted to tell them to be more precautious in the future.

Bottomline, if you need a cab, call City Taxi or someone else. Anyone else. Don't trust Pragathi. I did, and it was a big fault of mine that I am having to pay for with a broken finger.

Ramaseva mandali live classical concerts

2008-04-25T11:44:24Z

Hi

I dont know how many of the ppl in this community are really classical music fans. but if you really are then the fort high school ramaseva mandali should be a common name for all bangaloreans. This is an mandali which has been organising classical music concerts of stalwarts of the field of music from the past 70 years. This mandali is very active during the months of April and May and organises regular concerts for the music lovers. I have been there and love the traditional ambience of sitting in a concert.

to view the official webpage of the ramaseva mandali
http://sreeramasevamandali.org/

to view the programme list of the concerts which are going to take place please click on the link below
http://sreeramasevamandali.org/programme_list.html

do check it when you are free. it will be a different cultural experience altogether :)

Tracking the new airport

2008-04-22T10:50:51Z

Devesh Agarwal of the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce has a rather well informed blog on the upcoming Bangalore International Airport. It's worth tracking if you want to understand exactly what the conflict is between the new and old airports.

An example post: The REAL capacity of Bengaluru International Airport.

Engaging in the Electoral process - as educated voters in Bangalore

2008-04-22T05:30:37Z

Yesterday, I had an (unexpected, unplanned) opportunity to engage in the electoral proceses actively..

The ex councillor of our area (in Bommanahalli assembly constituency) who has recently switched parties from left all the way to the right, met some of us to invite us to an interaction with the candidate who is standing for elections from our constituency from his(current) political party. Though I am convinced that it is important for me to engage with the voting process, with the way the political parties in Karnataka are placed right now, I am pretty confused about who to vote for, because they all seem to do the same things when they are in power and all of them keep switching parties anyway when they are out of power/feel threatened with loss of power. So I thought maybe getting a first hand view of the candidates is one way to decide. It was a pretty interesting meeting. We had an opportunity to directly question the candidate. I asked him to spell out his manifesto for our constituency. I could see him thinking on his feet, because (as my friend the ex councillor explained to me later), they are not used to being asked politically relevant questions. He said his priorities are Cauvery water supply to the whole constituency, better roads and improving the storm water drainage system, and that he would regularly visit/stay in touch with us at least once in 2 months ( all of which sounded good enough to me). I then asked him, how we can trust that he will deliver on his election promises, because the previous legislator of our area was also from his party and we had not seen him/or had him do anything for us in the last 5 years. He said the previous constituency was too big (while I am not sure whether it is a good enough excuse, that is true..Uttarahalli encircled most of Bangalore urban area, and had a population of 19 lakhs and was supposedly the largest constituency in the country..our new constituency has a population of 1.9 lakhs-10% of the old).

well, while I think the candidates from all the other parties too will probably have similar agendas/answers, a face to face meeting like this helped us to at least assess him as a potential legislator. Which leads me to think, that maybe I will ask the political activists of other parties who live in our neighbourhood to bring their candidates too for an interaction.

While (probably) throwing myself open to (cynical) responses :-(, I am still (hopefully :-) posting this here hoping that maybe other Bangaloreans too can engage in a process similar to the one that came to us serendipitously..

Being gay in Bangalore

2008-04-19T05:16:30Z

Hi, I am from El Salvador so sometimes people think that I am from India. My partner might have to go to India for 12 to 18 months and he has invited me to join him. We live in Minneapolis, USA
i lived in Pune when I was a college student in the early 90's and I am aware of some of the issues witt homophobia.

I have not been back to India, and I know it is changing. Anyone know of any expat gay couples who live or have lived in Bangalore.

I don't care about the small things, like people raising eye brows. My main issue is to be respectful of the culture but also to be safe.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Theatre Performance at Ranga Shankara

2008-03-31T04:56:56Z

You may have not have noticed...
But you would have passed him many times on the street.
You may not remember his face,
But you may have seen him standing in long queues.
You might deny knowing him...
The fact, though, is that he is all around you.

---

[ Yours Truly Theatre ] presents
COMMON MAN

'Complete-the-story' type interactive style theatre.
(The actors give you 3/4th of the story and You suggest how to end it - an ending which will be performed then and there, impromptu, on stage)

---

DETAILS
DATE: April 2, 2008
TIME: 7.30pm
VENUE: Ranga Shankara, J.P. Nagar
TICKET PRICE: Rs. 100/-

DATE: April 3, 2008
TIME: 7.30pm
VENUE: Ranga Shankara, J.P. Nagar.
TICKET PRICE: Rs. 100/-

---

ALSO FEATURING
- Common Man's menu at the Ranga Shankara Cafe
- An exhibition of the caricature stylings of cartoonist Rasheed Kappan
- A special platform performance of a Life in the Frame

---

TICKET BOOKING
PHONE BOOKING: Call 98452 43051 or 98458 53093
EMAIL BOOKING: Write to [ yourstrulytheatre@gmail.com ]
NEW! LJ BOOKING: LJ users can leave a screened comment on [ my journal ] with their contact details. Do note that screened comments cannot be viewed by anyone other than the journal's owner and the comment's author (assuming that the author has posted the comment through his/her LJ ID).

---

Please note: Given thematic elements in the scripted portion of the play and further possible forays into said elements from audience inputs, it is recommended not to bring young children along. If wanted, however, tickets can be booked for any person over eight years in age.

Buying real estate in Bangalore for Expatriates?

2008-03-18T20:13:47Z

We're getting pretty close to our move to Bangalore, and I'm curious if anybody can point me to a guide on expatriates buying real estate in India?

Tax Refund

2008-03-13T07:12:38Z

For all the Salaried people of Bangalore,

At the end of every financial year I am told that I have paid more tax and that Govt will refund me the extra amount. I waited for 2 years and still no sign of my money. Today while surfing the web regarding this I found a link that helps the people of Mumbai to get to know how much the govt owes them as tax refund and ways of collecting it back. But did not find anything for people of Bangalore.

The Govt does owe me a couple of thousands as my Tax refund. I am sure its the same case with many others here. If any one of you have any idea as to how to collect it back, Where to go, Whom to approach, What's the process involved, then please let me know.

Also I came to know about RTI or "Right to Information". I was also informed if I can submit this form then i will get my money back. If any one here has already done the same before then please through some light on the process involved.

Travel ideas?

2008-03-12T16:12:28Z

I'll be visiting Bangalore from the USA in July to attend my best friend's wedding. We'll have a few days toward the end of our trip to do some sightseeing or day trips. Any recommendations of what not to miss or what to avoid?

Thanks!