Bangalore Diaries

  Itihasas embody the values and virtues of our illustrious past and have a wide acclaim across various sections of the society. Ramayana is a topic of immense interest, specially in the current times due to certain events in the history of Bharatha. This book provides a different way of understanding Rsi Valmiki’s Epic through the perspectives of few of its central characters. The format of the book is about understanding the main story of Ramayana through some of the central characters. This is a very interesting approach to the epic where the reader learns about the epics in a gradual manner where new information augments the previously discussed points i.e. incremental approach which builds the overall picture in a much more detailed and clear fashion. One of the standout features of this book are the interesting anecdotes from other epics like Skanda Purana, Mahabharatha, Arthashastra etc. This provides a comprehensive view to the reader which is really beneficial. Some of the...

  This talk on Bengaluru Pete : A review was organised by Samyuktha Bharatha & Atharva Forum in collaboration with Revival Heritage Hub, a group dedicated to preservation and conservation of our rich history. Personally, I had been exposed to an earlier work of RHH through Sri. Swaminathan Natarajan on Hebbal Kittaya Inscription, but wasn’t aware that the same team would be talking about my favourite place in the world, Bengaluru. Dr. Rajeeva Nrupathunga and Sri. Hari Hara Sudan from RHH gave an illuminating talk on the rich ancestry and history of Bengaluru right from the origins of the name to the detailed planning of the city, the historical significance behind each of the landmarks in the city, the rich detailed water distribution plan to the most favourite festival of Bengaluru, Bengaluru Karaga. Along the talk, I learnt a lot more about my own city and just goes on to show how much we don’t know about the city we live in. The speakers gave a very detailed account of Kempe...

  An instinctive pick from Cochin Airport, this was an absolutely wonderful read during my wait time. Vaikom Muhammad Basheer is one of the most respected and widely read authors from Malayalam Literary field. This is one of his more celebrated works. While the desire to read the original in Malayalam still persists, I couldn’t resist when a good translation was available from Mathrubhoomi books. This book has multiple facets to it, with a different perspective presented to a different reader. Ranging from an episode in one’s life to a social commentary to understanding the human psyche deeper, this book is just a fantastic read. Time flies by when one delves into the life of the author along with his mother, siblings and their families with an idiosyncrasy of their own and finally the protagonist, the Goat. The first paragraph of the introduction is an absolute laugh riot. I couldn’t help laugh out loud on this. Personally for me, this book is a mixture of social commentary of an ...