INTO KIRANRAJ K'S DIRECTORIAL PROJECT

May 20- May 26, 2022 | Pages 16 | `2.00 Follow us @OurBangalore ourbangaloreweekly ourbangaloreweekly

SUMMER NIP IN THE AIR

While most of India sizzles and boils, Bangalore is the ‘cool’ city

on the block. Why? PAGE 10

BOOZE BRUNT Alcoholism is on the

rise in the Silicon Valley of India and IT is

involved. Say what? PAGE 9

www.ourbangaloreweekly.com

MEDIA VIOLENCE & KIDS

How exactly does consumption of virtual violence affect a child’s temperament and

actions? PAGE 6

Get lost in the melodious history of Jazz in Bangalore. PAGE 11

Even if you are, it’s not exactly legal in India, even though Indian culture and history are intricately intertwined with marijuana. PAGE 13

Explore the latest and age-old contraceptives to protect yourself while having a fun time PAGE 8

ARE YOU HIGH?

BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY

SNAZZY JAZZY

INSIDE LIFE EXPERIENCES, PATIENCE AND ZEAL BREATHE

INGENUITY

777 Charlie’s trailer promises an organic journey of a person and an animal, both of whom found each other in the

nick of time before life could script any other narrative for them. This journey finds its roots in the need for companionship to view the

world differently and maybe, be a better entity in the long run. In an OurBangalore exclusive interview, Dhiraj MV picked Kiranjraj K’s

brains to understand his filmmaking process better

INTO KIRANRAJ K’S DIRECTORIAL PROJECTCOVER STORY

PAGE 7

May 20 - May 26, 2022

PLAN WEEKYOUR SOURCE: BOOKMYSHOW

SUNIL GROVER LIVE IN BANGALORE

Sat 21 May 2022 at 7:30 PM Forum Shantiniketan Mall: Bengaluru

₹ 999 onwards About: The Entertainment Factory is presenting to you, “SUNIL GROVER LIVE IN BANGALORE”!

Come and get your dose of fun and laughter-filled hilarious night. Can`t resist the tingly feeling in your tummy? So go and book your tickets now! Hurry!

WILD COMEDY NIGHTS AT INDIRANAGAR Fri 20 May 2022 - Sun 05 Jun 2022 Tilt Bar Republic (European Bar): Bengaluru

₹ 199 onwardsWhy should you attend? Come down for a great night of Laughter. DON`T MISS OUT

Watch the funniest comedians in Bangalore under one roof

Good food and great ambience About: Comedy Shots presents

Wild Comedy Nights.Come on down with friends, family, enemies, random strangers, or by yourself for an absurd, edgy, and funny evening at The Tilt Bar Repub-lic as these Bangalore regulars try to crack you up with their jokes. Add some food and drinks to the mix and the evening promises to be the one to remember.

TRIBUTE TO PINK FLOYD FT. DARK LIGHT

Sat 21 May 2022 at 9:00 PM Hard Rock Cafe: Bengaluru ₹ 999 onwards About: Dark Light is a Banga-lore-based five-piece band that was formed in 2013. Psychedelic/Progressive is their preferred genre. This band, which is soulful and ambient in nature, draws heavily on Floyd, Porcupine Tree, Opeth, U2, and Guns `n` Roses, to mention a few. This is a band you can`t afford to miss because of their different musical back-grounds.

At Hard Rock Cafe St. Marks,

Bengaluru on May 21st, feel the trance with Jose Xavier on vocals, Anand Pilakkat on keys, Shashank Dutt on bass, Subir on drums, and Uvais on guitars, the closest thing to live Pink Floyd.

SHANKAR CHUGANI LIVE

Book Sun 22 May 2022 at 7:00 PM Glens BakeHouse, Koramangala: Bengaluru

₹ 349 onwards About: Shankar Chugani is back onstage with jokes about incidents that have happened to him and incidents he imagines would happen to him.

Watch him reveal his secret to great gifting, talk about him go Jamaica tripping and one other thing. That was just to complete the rhyme, he`ll talk about many topics, one at a time.

SALSA AND BACHATA WITH MOTLEY DANCE COMPANY

Sun 22 May 2022 - Sun 29 May 2022

Lahe Lahe: Bengaluru ₹ 600 About: Have you ever dreamt to move your hips like Cuban Salsa stars?

Here is your chance to get things started with the help of a great Indian Salsera : Minoti Ramachan-dra and Khushboo from the Motley Dance Company.

Minoti is a Santo Rico certified Teacher. Finalist at the hit reality TV show Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch bhi Karega- Sony Entertainment Television. Semi final qualifier- World Latin Dance Cup, World Salsa Summit. Semi Finalist- World Salsa Championship (Hong Kong 2012). People love Minoti because of dance and last but not the least her SIMPLICITY

Khusboo is a Brilliant Dancer, Choreographer and lovable instructor who has been dancing and teaching for the last few years and still going strong.

WHOSE MIC IS IT ANYWAY?: OPEN MIC NIGHTS

Sat 21 May 2022 - Sat 04 Jun 2022 Dialogues Cafe, JP Nagar: Bengaluru

₹ 169 About: Whose Mic Is It Anyway?: Open Mic Nights

It’s yours! An open mic event welcoming all musicians, comedians, poets, storytellers, and more. Whether you’re a first-timer or a seasoned performer, this open mic is for you.

It will be a safe space (rather, a safe stage) for you to try out your new stand-up material, to perform a poem close to your heart, or sing that song you’re not confident about. No pressure, no judge-ment; just a place for you to own the spotlight and give the world your best.

2 YOUR BANGALORE

OB Bureau

The unrealistic beauty stan-dards set by the film industry and social media have

claimed a life in the city.Chetana Raj died after she

underwent liposuction or fat-free plastic surgery in a private hospital in Bangalore. Post surgery, she developed severe complications following which she breathed her last. Chetana has acted in small roles in several Kannada tele-se-rials like Dorasani, Geeta and Olavina Nildana.

Chetana was also a social media influencer, who had a good num-ber of followers on YouTube.

Chetana’s family members have accused the hospital of negligence and have filed a complaint with the police. Investigating officials said Chetana was admitted to Dr. Shetty’s Cosmetic Centre in Rajajinagar for liposuction. None of her parents were aware of this. According to sources, her friends signed in the hospital form as guardians. After the surgery at Shetty‘s she developed a com-plication - her lungs were filled with water and she was unable to breathe. She was immediately rushed to another hospital - Kaade Hospital, where she is said to have breathed her last.

Chetana‘s father Govind, a theatre artist, said: “She had ap-proached me seeking permission

to undergo liposuction. But I did not encourage it and said it was unnecessary. Despite our objec-tion, she underwent the surgery and died due to negligence of doc-tors. My daughter is just 22. How did the hospital conduct a surgery without consulting the parents? This needs to be probed.”

In another development, officials from Kaade Hospital have filed another complaint with the police alleging that a doctor from Shetty‘s hospital threatened them to admit Chetana for further treatment.

In a complaint filed with Basaveshwara Nagar police, Kaade hospital authorities said: “On Monday, around 5.30pm, a doctor named Melvin from Shet-ty‘s clinic barged into our hospital with a patient and demanded she be treated immediately. He threatened the hospital staff, in-cluding security, and took her di-rectly into the intensive care unit. He did not even submit a patient file nor any doctor’s recommen-dation notes. On checking, the doctors in our hospital found that she had no pulse. On the insistence of Dr Melvin, she was given CPR. But even after trying for almost 45 minutes the patient could not be revived. Our doctors suspect that she was brought dead. We were also forced to declare her death time as 6.45pm.

This sounds shady and must be investigated.”

Chetana’s post mortem was conducted at MS Ramaiah Hos-pital.

Actor-turned-politician Divya Spandana aka Ramya comment-ed on the issue highlighting the double standards in the film in-dustry. Posting about the incident the actor wrote on social media: “I read the news about a young actress who died after undergo-ing plastic surgery. Unnatural Beauty Standards are imposed on women. There is intense pressure on women to look like them. I also suffered from a body weight problem after a leg tumor remov-al in 2018. I lost weight on my own. It is easy to get attracted to many quick fixes, ” Ramya posted on Twitter.

“This beauty standard is not applicable to men. (Not applicable to anyone). The 65-year-old actor with a hollow head and a wig on his head is still considered a hero. But a woman shall not. Her aunt and grandmother troll her even though her body weight is a bit overweight. The world should not say what women should look like. It is time for the cinema to change. Women and men must fight together against remuneration, beauty standards and charac-ter discrimination,” she further tweeted.

KANNADA GOTHILLA? (DON’T

KNOW KANNADA?)

Brinjal Badnekai

Cabbage Elekosu

Carrot Gajari

Cucumber Sautekayi

Garlic Bellulli

Ginger Sunthi

Lady’s Finger Bendekayi

Onion Irulli

Potato Alu gedde

Tomato Tometo

Liposuction Attempt Claims Budding Liposuction Attempt Claims Budding Actor’s life; Probe Underway Actor’s life; Probe Underway

VEG

ETA

BLE

S

NEWS AT A GLANCE

3HARD TAKEMay 20 - May 26, 2022

LET’S GROW TOGETHEROurBangalore would like to invite you to be a part of the tabloid’s

growth initiative because we know that our strength lies with you. What makes you tick, honestly, makes us tick. So if you want to reach your fellow

Bangaloreans through a memo or an advertisement; do reach out to [email protected] on for queries. Let’s build together,

and only then can we grow together.

‘Bangalore through YOUR eyes’We clearly love Bangalore! On that note, we know everyone loves Bangalore for their own unique reasons. So, to celebrate the spirit of Bangalore in stories and images, we’d like to invite your take on why Bangalore is the best city ever. For each week, the entry that makes us swoon and fall in love with Bangalore all over again, gets to feature in our Tabloid! Cool right? We invite your entries at: [email protected]

Ward committee Ward committee meetings now meetings now mandatorymandatory

OB Bureau

In an effort to ensure smooth func-tioning of the city and to make sure that the public woes are heard and

sorted, BBMP commissioner Tushar Girinath has instructed the officials to conduct ward committee meetings regularly on the first and third Saturday of every month.

The officials have been told to put up details of the meeting on the BBMP website. Also, they have been instructed to put up notice announcing the date and time of the meeting three days before the meeting, failing which stern action will be taken.

The BBMP has appointed nodal officers for 198 ward committees after the council’s tenure ended recently. Speaking on the recent developments, Girinath said, “It is very important to hold such meetings to strengthen ward committees. Nodal officers have to conduct the meetings regularly starting this Saturday.”

Honey trap: BJP Honey trap: BJP leader ends lifeleader ends lifeThe city police, probing the death of

BJP leader Ananthraju, have revealed that the 46-year-old committed

suicide after he was blackmailed by three people in a honey-trapping case.

Ananthraju, a BJP leader from Herohalli ward and a resident of Byadarahalli, was found hanging at his residence on Thurs-day. Initially, police had registered a case of unnatural death. But, during the investiga-tion, they were able to secure a death note where Ananthraju had mentioned that he was being blackmailed by three people for money. Ananthraju’s wife had also suspect-ed the trio’s involvement in the suicide and the death note has confirmed the same.

In the death note, Ananthraju has named one Rekha, her husband Vinod, and their friend Spandana - all residents of KR Puram - as the accused. All three are now absconding.

An investigating officer said, “The BJP leader had befriended a woman on social media. After chatting for a while they met in a hotel and spent some time togeth-er. The woman recorded those private moments and started blackmailing him. Ananthraju, who was also a businessman, had paid the trio multiple times. But when their demand started growing, Ananthra-ju denied to pay any more. Then the trio threatened that they would send those videos to state BJP leaders and approach media. Fearing shame, Ananthraju took the extreme step.”

According to police, they initially thought Ananthraju must have taken this extreme step due to his ill-health. He was suffering from thyroid-related illness. But once they found the death note, it was re-vealed that he was a victim of a honey trap.

OB Bureau

In a recent development in the Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) exam scam inves-tigation, the Criminal Investigation

Department (CID) officials have arrested head constable Sridhar and seized Rs 1.5 crore from his residence.

Accused Sridhar, who is attached to the recruitment wing, was arrested following a statement by another accused DySP Shantakumar, who was arrested last week in the PSI scam.

The officials said Sridhar has confessed that Shantakumar handed over the cash to him. Some documents related to the

scam and blank cheques have been recovered from Sridhar’s house.

The CID officials raided the houses of both Sridhar and Shantakumar after ob-taining permission from city court. Duo has been sent to judicial CID custody.

Recently, city Armed Reserve Police inspector Basavaraju was also arrested for his alleged role in the PSI scam. Basavara-ju and Shantakumar are associates and according to preliminary reports, all three of them have played a major role in the PSI scam, CID officials said.

More officials’ names are expected to tumble out during the probe.

The city police have arrested a 36-year-old businessman for stealing a car in the guise of

buying it from a seller in Bangalore. The accused MG Venkatesh Nayak, a resident of Amrut Nagar, was arrested after 3 months of investigation.

The incident happened in January when one Ravindra Elluri, a resident of Elluri, put up an advertisement on OLX to sell his car (Maruti Vitara Brezza). Venkatesh approached Ravindra and said he would buy the car, but he had to take the car on a test drive first. Unaware of his intentions, Ravindra handed over the keys. But when Venkatesh did not re-turn even after hours, Ravindra realised he had been cheated and approached the Amruthahalli Police.

Since Ravindra had just met Ven-katesh, police could not gather much information about the latter. They initially tried to track him through the mobile number from which he had

contacted Ravindra but in vain. Police found out that the mobile phone too had been also stolen on the same day.

Police then approached OLX and obtained over 2000 IP addresses to probe the case. “After thorough search we were able to track the IP address of Venkatesh to his Dasarahalli home. We then confronted him and he confessed to the crime,” an official said.

In a statement to the police, Ven-katesh said he owned a similar car but had to sell it after he suffered loss in business. Since he had built up a suc-cessful businessman image in his na-tive village Bagepalli in Chikkaballapu-ra district and always visited the place in a car, he stole the car to maintain his status there.

Venkatesh had changed the num-ber plate and was using the car when police confronted him. The accused has been sent to judicial custody, an official said.

PSI SCAM: HEAD CONSTABLE PSI SCAM: HEAD CONSTABLE CUFFED, CUFFED, `̀1.5 CRORE SEIZED1.5 CRORE SEIZED

MAN STEALS CAR TO MAN STEALS CAR TO MAINTAIN SOCIAL MAINTAIN SOCIAL STATUS, ARRESTEDSTATUS, ARRESTED

VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS!Have you been a victim to the vicious circle of bribery or even public nui-sance? Know your rights, say ‘no’ to bribery. We see you, we hear you and we’re there to put your stories out. Let’s expose anyone who misuses their

badge of authority. This could be your local traffic police or any

government official. Send in your pictures, videos and stories with proper date stamps and allow us to aid

your voice.

9886555565

OB Bureau

The city police have arrested a 24-year-old woman and her friend for allegedly stealing her mother’s

gold jewellery worth Rs 40 lakh.The accused Deepthi, a resident of

Jakkur layout, had separated from her husband and was living with her par-ents. Deepthi was aware that her mother Rathnamma, who was tailor by profes-sion, possessed around 950 grams of gold jewellery worth Rs 40 lakh.

She informed the same to her friend Madan, 27, a resident of Amruthalli. The duo immediately hatched a plan to steal the jewellery. Deepthi, who knew her mother’s daily routine, started stealing the jewellery one by one and replaced it with imitation jewellery. This went on for almost 6 months.

But on May 5, when Rathnamma was getting ready to attend a wedding, she got suspicious about the quality of jewels in the locker. When she confronted Deepthi and Madan, they denied their role. Soon after the incident, Madan went missing. This raised suspicion and Rathnamma

approached the police.In her complaint, Rathnamma I said: “I

had kept all my jewellery in a safe in my house. The last time I wore it was on Feb-ruary 20, 2021. Then, because of Covid, I did not attend any functions. But on May 5, I had to attend a relative’s wedding. So I opened the jewellery box and was shocked to see imitation jewellery.”

When confronted, Deepthi denied any

role. But after two days of questioning, she confessed and said the duo pledged the jewellery and used the money to lead lavish lives. In fact, Madan had purchased three cars for personal use. They also spent the money on lavish vacations.

The accused were arrested and pro-duced before a magistrate court in the city. They are now in judicial custody.

HARD TAKE4 May 20 - May 26, 2022

NEWS AT A GLANCE

RAIN EFFECT IN CITY

BOMMAI INSPECTS RAIN FURY AFTERMATH

Techie-turned-Techie-turned-bizman arrested bizman arrested for cheating for cheating friends and friends and relativesrelatives

OB Bureau

The city police have arrested a software engineer-turned-busi-nessman for allegedly cheating four

people of Rs78 lakhs. The accused Manoj Rao, a resident of Nanjamba Agrahara, was a software engineer. He then quit his job to start a biscuit-supply business with friends and family members. He approached them and convinced them to invest in his business promising high returns.

The victims are - Nitin N (30), Basavaraj (53), Kumuda P (45) and Naresh Rao. While Nitin had invested Rs 35 lakh, Basavaraj had given Manoj Rs 10.5 lakh, Kumuda had invested Rs 21 lakh and Manoj Rao‘s cousin Naresh Rao had lent Rs 11.5 lakh. All four of them approached the police recently after Manoj failed to give them profits and denied to return their investments. Following the com-plaint, the police have filed cases against Manoj Rao, his mother, sister and two other relatives.

Police said: “Manoj Rao was working in a private firm after finishing his engineering degree. Apart from his salary, he used to earn Rs 30,000 as rent from his inherited property. After sometime, he quit his job and started a business with friends. He then approached some of his friends and family members and convinced them to invest in the business. Friends and family members, who had some soft spot for Rao as he had recently lost his father, invested in his business after constant pursuit.”

“Rao lost all his money to online games and cricket betting. Hence, he couldn’t pay back. He had not invested any of the money in business,” police said.

Manoj Rao’s cousin Naresh Rao said: “I am an artist and my father is a BMTC driver. Manoj’s father had died a few years ago. We thought of him as our own and invested our hard-earned money. But he took advantage of the situation and cheated us.”

Police suspect that Manoj might have cheated other people too and might have raised funds worth crores of rupees. Be-fore approaching the police, friends and family members had tried to settle the dispute verbally. When he did not budge, they all approached police.

DAUGHTER STEALS DAUGHTER STEALS MOM’S JEWELLERYMOM’S JEWELLERY WORTH WORTH `̀40L, ARRESTED40L, ARRESTED

SSLC RESULTS DECLARED ON THURSDAY The SSLC results were announced by the Karnataka Education Minister BC Nagesh on Thursday morning. The state recorded the highest pass percentage, standing at 85.63 per cent, this year. The rural parts of the state have outdone the overall stats once again with a pass percentage of 91.32 per cent while the urban areas stand at a percentage of 86.64 per cent. An A grade was secured by Bagalkot, Ballari, Udupi and 28 other districts while only Bengaluru South and Yadgiri secured a B grade.

5May 20 - May 26, 2022

Chaithra Annechira

The topic of media vio-lence and how it expos-es children and young adults to various mental and physical problems

has always been in the limelight. Now, we all binged movies like The Hills have Eyes, Saw and Texas Chainsaw.

Was it flinchingly fun? Now, while the movies aren’t for the faint-hearted, are the movie children-friendly? How does violence in media alter a child’s mind? Huesmann defined media violence as, “visual portrayals of acts of physical aggression by one human or human-like character against another”.

This being said, media violence can be propagated via any form of mass media such as television, radio, social media, books and so on that portray aggression and negative force being

inflicted on animate characters. This could even include cartoon characters. According to reports, there have been close to 300 stud-ies conducted on the topic which took more than 5 decades of scientific data to infer that media violence increases aggression.

Media Violence and Its Effect Is it true that watching violent movies and shows makes people’s violence tolerance increase?

Children and adolescents are known to pick up or learn habits either by observing or imitating the behaviours of those around them. This is known as “observa-tional learning”, and a classical example of this can be observed through a social experiment conducted by Albert Bandura, a Canadian-American psychologist.

The Bobo Doll experience summarized that “children are able to learn social behaviour such as aggression through the process of observation learning, through watching the

behaviour of another person”. What happens when children

are constantly exposed to violence? Well, it’s simple, isn’t it? They start to accept violence and negativity as an appropriate mode of solving an issue or even approaching their goals. According to various studies and research, a child on an average maybe to exposed to approximate-ly 10,000 violent incidents in a year. Each negative exposure has a role that shapes them into the adult they tend to be.

Media violence can cultivate behaviours such as bullying, using foul language toward others, and being desensitized toward violence. While there can also be

other effects such having trouble sleeping, nightmares, fear and can even lead to depression. Children cannot differentiate between the world of fantasy and reality before the age of 8. Watching even cartoons which aren’t friendly for a child’s mind can adversely affect the kid growing up. This makes children vulnerable to learning negative social behavior.

A paper conducted by Dr. D R Sahu in support of ICSSR, Ministry of Human Resources Develop-ment, aimed at examining media violence and its impact on youth in various states of India. Using 1,500 youths as the sample, the study revealed that a large pro-portion of respondents reported that they preferred watching movies with high levels of violence such as Bahubali, Singham and Body Guard and television shows such as Savdhaan India, Crime Petrol, and so on. 29 percent of youth stated that they enjoyed watching action, crime and horror programs. Towards the end of the study, the youth blamed media for increasing violent behaviour among the young generation and hinted at how media programs having gory content make young adults insensitive. About 3/4th of respondents admitted that media plays a massive role in their behaviour. On the other hand, 2/5th of them feel news channels propagate violence.

In 2000, the Federal Bureau of Investigation released a report stating that media violence is a risk factor when it comes to school shootings. The topic of whether aggression and media go hand-in-hand has been a controversial topic for a long time, but a new re-

search states otherwise. Research from Griffith University found that “personality and frustration are better predictors of anger and aggression in the context of media exposure”. While the topic is still under research and discoveries are being made, it is important to monitor what children and adolescents are subjected to. From stories to movies, it is necessary to build the structure of good vs bad.

The line between street violence and screen violence is thin. Keep tabs on what your child is exposed to. When it comes to children, it is said that they are keen observers. You might think media might be the only issue but think before getting aggressive in front of kids as they will pick up the same habit.

Children and adolescents

are known to pick up or learn

habits either by observing

or imitating the behaviours of those around

them. Research shows children

and young adolescents

too picked up on the fact that

such display of violence

on screen has repercussions in real life for them. So let’s

understand the scientific

reason behind the same

FOOD FOR THOUGHT6 May 20 - May 26, 2022

MEDIA VIOLENCE & MEDIA VIOLENCE & AGGRESSION IN KIDSAGGRESSION IN KIDS

Type of Media Violence and how

children responded While the studies around the topic of violence in media have been doing the rounds for decades together, social sci-ence researchers Daniel Linz, Barbara J. Wilson,and Barbara Randall introduced a study on types of media violence and how children reacted to it.

• THE REWARD FOR VIOLENCE If a violent act is left unsuper-vised or rewarded with silence, it is more likely to pave the way for an attitude that supports ag-gression. The lack of punishment for such behaviour is seen as a reward for negative behaviour.

• THE REALITY OF VIOLENCE According to this category, the more realistic a violent act looks, the more likely it is to be imitat-ed. Young adults are more prone to respond emotionally to shows that portray violence in a real-istic manner. For example, the movie Kabir Singh was popular among teens and young adults. The violence portrayed by the protagonist has been depicted in form of a realistic event. This is likely to be imitated by teens, like slapping their significant other for not listening to them.

• VIOLENT ROLE MODELS Children imitate violence from characters that are portrayed as attractive or necessary. It shows that children who identify with violent characters tend to get aggressive themselves.

• JUSTIFIED VIOLENCE When an act of violence in cartoons or shows is justified, kids tend to imitate it. According to justified violence, children are more likely to hurt than help their friends after watching a show with aggression that is justified.

• VIOLENT CONNECTIONS When an act of violence, theme or even character is on par with how a viewer feels or acts, they are more likely to take on that behaviour in real life.

• AMOUNT OF VIOLENCE Constant exposure to any stimuli will produce a psychological re-sponse of desensitizing. A child exposed to excessive media violence will tend to have lesser responsiveness to violence in real life.

To begin with, 777 Charlie’s trailer has become a huge hit. How do you feel about it?We are very happy. We were thinking that people would like our trailer. They not only liked the trailer but it has been accepted with such warmth. We have been getting great responses from people speaking languages other than Kannada. I saw a lot of reviews, messages and comments and everything has been positive. A lot of celebrities are also sharing this. Overall, it’s a great positive feeling.

How was 777 Charlie born as an idea?After completing Kirik Party as

an Associate Director, I got the confidence that I could make a movie now. I was thinking about what subject best suits a debutante. I wanted it to be interesting and different. That’s when I came across an article where I read that a man travelled to many places along with his dog and I also saw an event where a street dog followed

a person to Sabarimala. I

have always been a pet lover and I have encoun-tered a lot of

inci-

dents with dogs. Gathering up all these experiences, I wrote a story based on animal and human bonds. That’s how I got the idea for Charlie.

Please tell us about your journey. How did you get into films?I used to do stage dramas during school days after I completed school. I had to start working in many areas and that helped me gain a lot of real life experience. I used to make a note of those real life stories. I was inclined towards films and then when I came to Bangalore, I met Imran Sardhariya and worked as an AD in his film Endendigu. After that I worked as an associate to Rishab Shetty in Ricky. There I met Rak-shit and then I joined 7 odd teams of Rakshit and worked for Kirik Party and this is how my journey started.

What is your idea of a good film? According to me, a good film is something that we do not forget about after we walk out of the the-atre. You should be able to recall it, think of some best moments and it should stay with you for some time or a few days. That is good film according to me.

What are your strengths as a director? Whenever I think of a script or whenever I write, I don’t write with any bound-aries. And during the course of executing my vision, I ensure that I

bring that on screen irrespective of the challenges and hurdles I face. I think that obstinacy (Hata in Kannada) is my strength as a director.

Who are the directors who have inspired you?Puttanna Kanagal, Rajkumar

Hirani, Steven Spielberg, Majid Majidi - all have inspired me a lot and I love their works. For instance, Steven Spielberg has done films pertaining to various genres and he has directed them all immaculately. He

serves as a genuine inspiration for me.

What’s your writing process? Do you first get an idea, then do you write a line and then does the screenplay happen or do you work in any other way?Whenever I get an idea, I don’t write it. I keep developing the idea in my head. The reason behind doing so is that there is a chance that the initial idea is good and ex-citing, but once you start writing it and by the time you complete it, it might not sound great. Hence, whenever I get an idea, I work on that idea and once I have a complete picture of it in my head is when I put it on paper. There are a lot of instances from where I get my cues from - I might get it during sleeping, while driving and so on. I make a note of it at that point. This is how I proceed with my writing.

How long did it take you to com-plete the 777 Charlie script? And

for how many days did you shoot?I took me 1.5 years to complete the script and I also had to research dogs. We took about 167 days to complete the shoot.

Character or plot? Which one do you think is more important and why?According to me, it’s the plot. Plot becomes important because there can be no characters without a good plot. The story should have life/soul and that’s when charac-ters can add life to it. And hence plot is primary for me.

What were the challenges that you faced during the filming of 777 Charlie? It is not at all easy to shoot with a dog. We had to teach the dog about 350 tasks. But everything cannot be taught at once. Hence we had to teach around 10-20 tasks, go to shoot and take a schedule break. This results in ex-tended shooting days. And there are days where we did not get what we wanted so these things will shoot up the budget. And we had a lot of travelling to do and it was indeed challenging because it is not easy to go through a 5-year journey along with an entire whole crew. But as a team, we all pulled it off.

What kind of subjects/genres are you inclined towards?I like the genre of Comedy-Dra-ma a lot. As a spectator, I watch all kinds of subjects and genres.

Your all-time favorite films?There are a lot. But I would like

to say all Charlie Chaplin films. I like his way of conveying things emotionally. I like visual storytell-ing. I’m greatly inspired by Charlie Chaplin, especially the way he conveys emotions without any language. Thus, it is because of Charlie Chaplin that I’ve included the name Charlie in my film. It is like a fanboy moment for me. Apart from this, other films that are my favorites are Nagarahavu, Ran-ganayaki, 3 idiots, Tare Zameen Par, Sanadhi Appanna, Children’s of Heaven, Thanmathra, Pursuit of Happiness, ET, Terminal, Schin-dler’s list and almost all Spielberg films.

What next after 777 Charlie? During the lockdown, as I had a break, I could manage to write a couple of scripts. But for now, I’ve not decided any-thing. I will think about anything

else after the release

of Charlie.

7COVER STORYMay 20 - May 26, 2022

Life experiences, patience and zeal breathe ingenuity into Kiranraj K’s directorial project

EXCLUSIVE

Kiranraj K and Rakshit Shetty

Kiranraj K

Rakshit Shetty and Charlie

KIRANRAJ K

— Dhiraj MV

Chaithra Annechira

The topic of sex is always a very hush-hush affair. It’s ironic that in an over-populated country like India, sex is still a

taboo. A country that proudly portrays “Kamasutra” through scripture and architecture is still ashamed to talk about the con-cept of contraception.

This brings us to the question, how many of you have a solid knowledge of contraception? What all options are available gender-wise?

Contraception, popularly known as birth control, is a method de-signed to prevent pregnancy. This could be in the form of devices, techniques, or even the use of drugs. Can we blame the country’s high fertility rate on the lack of sex education received by the people in rural areas? Well, the stigma behind contraceptives or even safe sex is not restricted to rural areas alone.

How high is India’s fertility rate? As of the year 2022, it is at 2.2 per woman, making us stand at the rank of 93 in the world. According to UNICEF, 67,385 babies are born every day. The National Family Health Survey-5 reported that the country’s fertility rate was declin-ing. But according to the United Nations’ World Population Data Sheet 2021, it stated that India will surpass China’s population by the year 2024-2028.

As cliché as this sounds, most men don’t prefer contraceptives such as condoms because they feel it’s less comfortable and that it decreases pleasure. Does this put pressure on women to succumb to unsafe sex? This brings us to understanding the different types of contraceptives available for women in the market.

• Female Condoms - Men aren’t the only ones available with this option. Condoms have been given the most importance in the country. Ladies, remember that female condoms exists and if your partner refuses to wear one, don’t be ashamed to step up.

• Birth control pills - You may

have seen these pills in your daily medico store. These pills act as a barrier to pregnancy. You could be 99% sure with pills like iPill, PlanB, and so on. But hey, why risk the 1% with uncontrollable mood swings and hormonal imbalance?

• Vaginal rings - A vaginal ring

has a plastic body that can be easily stretched. Being quite flexible, it produces proges-tin once placed in your body. Sounds scary but it is said to be effective. A vaginal ring needs to be replaced every month.

• Spermicide creams - This is like

your average cream but it is said to kill the sperms after inter-course. The downside of this? It could lead to a bad allergy reaction.

• Medical procedures such as

IUD – An intrauterine device (IUD) is a T-shaped device that is placed by a doctor in the uter-us. This contraceptive method is reversible and lasts up to 5 years. Again, the downside of this? It could lead to heavy bleeding and cramps.

Are contraceptives a women’s ornament? While women have a plethora of options to explore from the contraceptive bank, is it really a women’s ornament? Is it true that Indian men don’t prefer con-doms? As per the National Family Health Survey-4, it showed that 97% of men knew the importance of condoms while 94.4% of men hated using them.

Keeping this in mind, a survey conducted in 2018 by the National Health Profile showed that 95% of married couples do not use condoms. Being uneducated and not being aware of birth control is one thing but pressuring women to bear a never-ending ocean of

children, seems a little unempa-thetic and selfish.

This being said, men who believe in the magic of “pulling out” are at the risk of transmitting infections. The same study also pointed out how only 1.3% of men used protection in Karnataka. Is it fair to shift the burden entirely on women?

• Condoms - The most common-ly sought out contraceptive for men is condoms. A latex rubbered cover which is 98% effective. Condoms come in all shapes, sizes, and colours. How-

ever, the market which produc-es condoms is booming with creativity – and thus condoms bring to the table different quirky flavours and textures.

• Spermicide - Typically used by

a woman, it needs to be topped with a condom. But again, is this really a contraceptive for men?

• Vasectomy- Male sterilization

is an irreversible method of contraception. The doctor seals off the tubes which stops sperms from reaching the uterus. It is said that it takes about 3 months for semen to be sperm-free. This also means that the man would never be able to reproduce ever again.

Are there any other methods

that are not so extreme? The fu-ture seems to be bright in terms of contraception and birth control.

India innovatesIndia is making the world’s first injectable male contraceptive. The injection was developed by The Indian Council of Medical Re-search (ICMR) The product is said to be effective for 13 years after which it is reversible. This method stands as a replacement for vasec-tomy, in case someone decides to have a change of heart. As of 2019, the drug was tested and sent to trial. While it is said to be released soon, only time can tell.

A piece of recent news that took netizens by surprise was when a group of scientists came up with the idea of male contraceptive pills, which are said to be 99% effective. The drug was tested on a mouse by the researchers. Ac-cording to reports, the mice were given YCT529, a compound that could reduce the fertility levels of the mice. It was fed for about 4-6 weeks until the sperm count saw a significant reduction. Will this work on humans? More like, are men willing to take the risk?

India being a developing coun-try, it is time we understand the importance of planned pregnan-cies and family planning. Sex education plays a crucial role in moulding the country. A lot of trouble in society can be put to rest if it is implemented widely. It is important for men to start being understanding and considerate towards the other gender. It is also necessary for women to start seeing the value behind using contraceptives and avoiding un-necessary pregnancies. As much as it brings you shame to ask for a condom at your regular store, it is better than dealing with the repercussions.

CONTRACEPTION: ‘PROTECT’ TO CONQUER

In India, sex is not an easy topic of conversation, let alone contraception. But it is very important to be aware of the options available to better utilise them for one’s own protection and to avoid unwanted repercussions. At the

same time, contraception, as a concept, is highly gendered and our society has a huge role to play in moulding the consciousness around it. So where do we stand in terms of a protection, knowledge and action?

India’s Condom Use Scenario

CONTRACEPTION METHODS

THE MORE YOU KNOW8 May 20 - May 26, 2022

Tanushree Bhowmick

Mostly everyone enjoys a swig of alcohol and the dis-sipation of bound-aries, restraints and

rigidity that comes with it. The numbing becomes all the more welcome, especially in this modern lifestyle dominated by a 9-to-5 job and umpteen number of respon-sibilities. Thus, for many, alcohol is sometimes the only respite.

The city of Bangalore surely sees people using alcohol as an escape from their reality. The microbrew-ery capital of India surely knows how to throw a good party and a host a colourful social life. How-ever, all that glitters is not gold as they say. Alcohol is just a tempo-rary respite and it causes more harm than good. Consumption of alcoholic drinks is rising rapidly in Bangalore and all other areas of Karnataka. What can be the reason for this increase? Let’s find out.

Bangalore gets a huge revenue from the sale of alcohol. In the years 2018 and 2019, Karnataka had made Rs 20,000 crore from sale of beer only. In the excise de-partment data, the division of Ban-galore is one-sixth of the divisions and it contains the rural as well as the urban areas of Bangalore. The

southern side of Bangalore had re-ported the most amount of alcohol sales which was 5.3 percent. South Bangalore also sold the largest number of cartons – around the ballpark of 39 lakh cartons.

The age group of Bangalore that drinksAccording to a study by E. A. Priya from the Department of Nursing, Dhanalakshmi College of Nursing, Kannur, India, the most amount of alcohol was consumed by college students and middle-aged workers. The most frequently used substance among the first-year students at colleges in Bangalore was alcohol. Almost 92.38% of youth had consumed alcohol at least twice in their lives. This shows that the youth (18

to 30) of the city, drink the most amount of alcohol. Data also reveals that alcohol intake among the youth of Bangalore has increased exponentially. WHO’s research on alcohol consumption in Bangalore found that almost two-thirds of the people who drank alcohol were between the ages of 25 and 45.

Why do they drinkThe most common problem due to which the youth of Bangalore drink alcohol is family problems. According to Dr. U. Vivek, who is a psychiatrist, most young people either drink because of peer pres-sure or because of mental stress due to family. Dr. Kiran Kumar who is the president of the Indian Psychiatric Society has said that cases of depression, as well as anx-iety, have increased in Karnataka in the recent years due to huge ex-

penses and financial turmoil after the pandemic. The other causes are conflicts with family and anxi-ety about career. These can lead to substance abuse and that is exactly what is happening.

Consequences of drinking heavilyThe consequences of drinking are always negative and there is evidence speaks for itself. There was a study done in 2018 by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in the biggest hospitals of Bangalore. They found out that almost 28 % of accidents and injuries on the roads were directly related to alcohol consumption. This survey had shown the fact that nearly 40% of the drivers were drunk. The traffic police website of Ban-galore has shown that there has been an increase in the amount of drinking and driving accident

cases. The total amount of cases which were recorded

in 2018 was 12,277 and in 2019 it was 20,672.

Apart from this, the other nega-tive consequences can range from health problems, cognitive and psychological problems to huge accidents whether it is on the road or at home. It can also lead to liver and kidney failure and cancer.

Prevention and remedies of drinkingSeveral places in Bangalore can help an individual undergo alco-hol detox. The prevention of addic-tion is a dire requirement because alcohol consumption can become an addiction very soon. Counsel-ing is the most important step to helping an individual come out of alcohol addiction. One of the best rehabilitation centers for alcohol consumption is Veda Rehabili-tation and Wellness. This center takes every single step of coun-seling seriously and has different treatments for different kinds of substance abuse. They provide a huge variety of services which aim at providing a healthy lifestyle for all patients.

Final thoughts Alcohol only breaks everything a person builds in their life. Banga-lore is facing a huge rise in alcohol consumption and the main reason is anxiety and depression. To prevent this, people have to become more aware about mental health and talk about it. If we do not come together and help each other, who will?

9FACTS SPEAKMay 20 - May 26, 2022

ALCOHOLISM ALCOHOLISM SETS DOWN SETS DOWN

FIRM ROOTS IN FIRM ROOTS IN BANGALOREBANGALORE

SOUTH BANGALORE

REPORTED HIGHEST SALES IN

BANGALORE URBAN

Out of 1.27 crore carton boxes sold

in Bangalore Urban in 2018-19,

Bangalore South had the largest

share of 39 lakh carton boxes

Shares of Alcohol Sales in different Bangalore

Urban Zones

SOUTH

31%

NORTH

25%

WEST

23%

EAST

22%

Anxiety, depression and lack of avenues to discuss about instances plaguing

you can lead one to take up a bottle of alcohol and treat it as a best friend in the

absence of human contact. This is very dangerous and habit-forming and has

dire consequences in the long run

Chaithra Annechira

While the rest of the cities in the country are burning in the oven, Bangalore

is chilling, quite literally.

Is Namma Bangalore the new Shimla Manali?

As shocking as this sounds, the city is experiencing one of the coolest summers this year. Bangalore now boasts of a temperature lower than that of Shimla and Mussoorie, standing at 23 degrees Celsius. While the temperature in parts of NCR rose to 49 degrees Cel-sius and IMD issued an orange alert, people are contemplating packing their bags to drop by and experience a ‘cold wave’ in Bangalore.

Why is Bangalore experiencing such moody weather?

This can be attributed to Asani, the first cyclone of 2022. It is said that this particular cyclone was quite tricky to forecast. Casting a storm over the Bay of Bengal, it completed its landfall on the 11th of May over the Andhra Pradesh coast, between Machilipatnam and Narsapura before it re-emerged at its original source, the Bay of Bengal by midnight. Even though no causalities have been reported by the storm, neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka and Kerala witnessed heavy rainfall.

Well, do you want to know why Bangaloreans are rejoicing over the weather? According to IMD reports, it is said that there are going to be showers until mid-May. Owing to the cyclone, the city recorded the second coldest day in May in the last 50 years on May 14, 2022.

What attributes to Bangalore’s pleasant climate?

You may already know the answer to this but there’s no harm in revisiting right? Along with being the garden city, Bangalore takes pride in having amazing weather for most of the year.

2022 has proved that the city, even though not a hill station, can have one of the coolest summers. Even though it does get hot sometimes, the people of Bangalore are blessed with good weather for most parts of the year. The question, “What’s good in Bangalore?” is asked by most people new to the city and the answer is always, the weather.

Hail storms mid-summer? Only Bangaloreans witness such peculiar weather ex-tremities. The question boils down to, why is the city blessed with such a pleasant climate throughout the year?

• Location: Being in the centre of the southern peninsula, Ban-galore is not too far

away from the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. India experiences two monsoon branches - The Bay of Bengal branch (North-East mon-soon) and the Arabian Sea branch (South-West mon-soon). Both these monsoons have different time periods. Since Bangalore is at the cen-tre of the peninsula, and not too far from the coast sides, it experiences such dramatic rain showers.

• Altitude: Another attribution

towards Bangalore’s good weather is related to the altitude or as experts call it, “elevation”. The city lies at a height of about 3000ft above sea level. Now we all know how it goes, higher the altitude, colder the place.

• Do cyclones contribute to the

city’s good weather? Experts state that Bangalore also experiences its showers due to cyclonic activity that affect the coasts of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.

• Bangalore weather is moody and residents here can attest to that. While it can expe-rience hot, need-ice cream weather in the morning, by night it can turn into sweater weather with spells of rain through the noon. This depends on various factors such as humidity, atmo-

spheric pressure and

temperature.

What caused hailstorms in the city amid such a severe heatwave?

The beginning of May wit-nessed hailstorms in the city. Netizens took to social media to showcase their joy. From pictures to videos, a ‘hail’storm overtook the blazing heat. Dr. Geeta Agnihotri, a scientist at IMD, stated: “This is the season for severe heat-induced thunderstorms to occur in this part of India. And if large scale weather features such as high wind speed and hailstorms are present, the severity of the thunderstorms increases exceedingly.” Experts stated that a hailstorm during an on-going heatwave is completely normal.

As the clouds got gloomier and the climate got frosti-er, non-Bangalore netizens took to Twitter to voice how envious they felt about such pleasing weather favouring Bangalore. On the other hand, Bangaloreans took cover under their comforters and resorted to counting their stars after experiencing the sudden drop in temperature.

A Twitter user stated, “Peo-ple living in Bengaluru and complaining about traffic in the current 22 degrees weather, come to Delhi da...Sit in this 43 degree & ‘zoom past’ the city okay, and if your cab cancels or AC feels futile, you can also get a taste of what it feels like to be a tandoori momo.”

When someone asked a question as to how people deal with heat in natural ways, a girl from the city answered, “We in Bangalore just complain about it for 2 days and the rain gods take care of the rest.”

As divine as the weather feels, there are still some downsides to the same. The rain has done enough damage to properties and the poor condition of roads isn’t getting any better either. But hey, for now, a chilly day in the city is the buzz of the town and the source of envy of

non residents.

MOODY SKIES & A SUMMER-TIME

NIP IN THE AIR?

India is battling a scorching

heat wave with temperatures

inching towards the half-century

mark in some parts. However,

Bangalore seems to be an exception

with people enjoying chilled weather owing

to hailstorms and rain? But why is this happening?

WEATHER-LUDES10 May 20 - May 26, 2022

Tanushree Bhowmick

Every morning when you put on your play-list on shuffle before going to work or to your responsibilities,

you might come across a jazz song in the playlist. You listen to it while traveling through the beautiful roads of Banga-lore maybe in an autorickshaw or a taxi. In these times, does it ever make you wonder how Jazz might have come to India? Does it even make you think jazz might have also arrived at Bangalore in the 1920s? If you do wonder then you are in the right place.

Bangalore has always hosted a huge amount of diverse musical culture and it is home to several forms of musicians who are experts in different genres. The genres range from pop, Indian classical, rock, fusion and also jazz. International Jazz Day was on April 30 and so it is the perfect time to find out where the his-tory of jazz music stands among other music genres in Bangalore. Let us learn about the fascinating history of jazz and how it came to Bangalore.

How jazz came to Bangalore

It is definitely worth noting that the city of Bangalore has come a long way when it comes to the genre of jazz music. The latest scene of jazz music in the city is very small but it is thrives on the interest it receives from the youth. Jazz is an extremely important revolutionary aspect for youngsters because it show-cases the strength and the zeal of rebellion of young people. According to Jagdeesh who is the founder of Moonara and White-field ensemble, jazz is just like a movement and a specific section of people all across the world are very passionate about this genre.

In the early 1930s, Mayavaram Subramaniam Natarajan had started to explore the idea of jazz and he had inculcated his own group of people into a band so that he could bring to life the melodies that he imagined in his mind. Born to a famous

dental surgeon in Bangalore in the 1920s, Natarajan had mastered more than 18 musical instruments and was a musical prodigy.

Natarajan lived in the urban city of Bangalore where the elite classes were huge lovers of art. By the time it was 1935, he had finally found five people who had the same thought process about music as he did and he formed what was called the Saraswati Orchestra.

By the time it was 1936 there were 25 band members and instruments such as Tabla, Veena, Sitar, violin, banjo, guitar as well as piano featured in the band. It was a mixture of Indian and western classical instruments. The most unique aspect of this band was that it catered to a musical fusion of Hindustani classical and jazz. The orchestra was finally invited to concerts all across India and they travelled to cities such as Bombay, Jaipur, Srinagar, Kara-chi and they even travelled to

Kabul. This band created tunes such as Twilight of the Gods and Cloud Messenger. This is how jazz music was introduced to Bangalore and also India and it was introduced in a unique way because it was combined with Carnatic music.

Influence of jazz The Indian jazz scene gained huge momentum in the 1930s in cities like Bombay and Cal-cutta. One of the main reasons behind this gathering of steam was the tours that were done by American jazz musicians such as Teddy Weatherford, who had settled down in India. This is how Indian musicians started to take up jazz music and got in-fluenced by it. Several of the In-dian musicians had come from Goa and they had learned a lot of western classical music styles from the Portuguese. Indian jazz finally got solid recognition in the 1960s with an increasing interest in Indian music among jazz musicians in the West.

The latest jazz scene in Bangalore

Bangalore has contributed a lot to the Indian jazz scene. There are a lot of clubs as well as restaurants that keep bands and weekly musical gigs that are related to jazz. The veteran mouth harp player named Silu Jamal is also contributing to the jazz scene of Bangalore. By the time it was 1988, Racecourse Road and Brigade Road had become the biggest jazz song destinations and international jazz bands were attracted to the city and played gigs for elite classes. Around 1996, musi-cians such as Gopal and Geetha Navale had also tried to recreate the live music of jazz. The latest millennial generation has seen Opus as the main destination of jazz concerts as well as karaoke in Bangalore.

11RHYME & RHYTHMMay 20 - May 26, 2022

While jazz is not local to India or even Bangalore, jazz as a music genre has been around the block for a long time and it’s only right that we explore the influence of jazz, it’s history and its fusion with Indian music over the ages

JAZZY TUNES, SNAZZY ROOTS

FOUR PLACES TO LISTEN TO JAZZ IN BANGALORE There are beautiful bars

that play jazz music in Bangalore and you can have a gala time by lis-

tening to live music while you sip your favorite

drink. Some of these jazz bars are given below.

B Flat This place is located on 100 Feet Road in Indiranagar and this place is the perfect spot for people who love music. This is a safe haven for all music lovers and artists who perform at the lounge. Two of the best things come together here - food and jazz.

Take 5This is a very underrated place in the city. This quaint area has seen several amazing perfor-mances and it hosts a huge range of artists. The special nights are always jazz nights. The music is dominated by the jazz scene and few local bands perform on the weekends.

The Humming Tree It is located at 12th Main in 100 Feet Road, Indranagar. This place is always bustling with beautiful nightlife and live jazz music. This pace also hosts jazz music fests.

blueFROGThis place is very unique and elegant. They host live band performances and the music scene thrives on jazz. Big jazz artists such as Adrian D’Souza and Acuri have performed here.

FUTURE OF JAZZ IN BANGALOREThe future of hazz looks very promising in the city because the youth are already invested in the jazz scene. Given the history of the music genre, it is only going to thrive more and bring about new jazz artists in the music scene.

(PICTURE CREDIT- SCROLL .IN)

Chaithra Annechira

The city of Bangalore is known for its weather. The constant mood swings of the weather can be quite soothing along with bringing in frustrations. As much

as the weather is pleasant, the city has so much more to offer in and around it. From early morning rides to Nandi Hills to a quick trip to Coorg, the city offers comfort to travellers. One can hone their love for the city by visiting coffee shops in the centre of the city, MG Road, or even satisfy their taste buds in well-curated restau-rants. We all love the city, don’t we? But sometimes, it gets tiring. The deafening sound of traffic, overly populated hotels, or even constant calls from your boss. Let’s be honest, we all deserve a break from the never-ending life we live in the city. As the city is embracing hailstorms and cooling down to an extent, the prospect of a vacation has more takers than ever. Have you been bit by the travel bug? Then this is a sign for you to pack those essentials and opt for a weekend getaway!

ON THE GO12

SOUL DETOX IN REJUVENATING LANDSCAPESA change of scenery has never hurt anyone and can actually be quite refreshing and important to set your body clock, physique and health right by de-stressing and enjoying. You may cite workload and choose to not go but know that your body needs this. So what are you waiting for? Pack your bags!

May 20 - May 26, 2022

DAY OUTING NEAR BANGALOREDid you know that Namma Bangalore is also home to waterfalls and aesthetically pleasing lakes? Behind all the IT and corporate build-ings, hidden away in the lap greenery are places that will make your day better.

THOTTIKALLU FALLS A waterfall in the city just 15 km away from Kanakapura? Count me in. Popularly known as TK Falls by the young crowd, it is also called “Swarna Mukhi” (Golden faced) falls and is situated near a small village known as Byalemaradadoddi. The road that leads to this waterfall is a blessing for bike enthusi-asts. Muddy and rocky, this adds a perfect texture for an adventure-filled day. The place also offers multiple accommodations nearby for a serene weekend if you wish.Best time to visit: During or after the monsoon

NANDI HILLS A paradise for sunrise and sunset lovers, Nan-di Hills is one of the most famous travel spots for the people in the city. While everyone loves visiting the place, what is the history behind the locale? Stories behind how the hills got their name are numerous - some say it was because of the resemblance of the hills to a sleeping Nandi, whereas some say it was called Anandagiri (hills of happiness) during the Chola period. Situated just 60kms from Bangalore, it is said that there are proposals to build cable cars to protect the environ-ment by reducing the number of vehicles going up the place. Nandi Hills offers a wide range of activities like paragliding and so on. You can even catch the view of floating clouds. The place charges a minimal amount for entry and parking tickets. Best time to visit: June through February

STRAWBERRY FIELDSWho doesn’t like the flavour of strawber-ry? From milkshakes to ice cream it makes everything better. But what if you could pick fresh strawberries? Sounds exciting? If you’re someone who has always fantasized about something like this after watching movies, then this is your calling. Situated about 70 km from the city it is a perfect picnic spot for people of all ages. The Strawberry farm at Varlakonda is spread across 20 acres of land, even though there are no eateries nearby, you can definitely take your own basket. But hey, make sure to keep the place clean. Make sure to pluck as many as strawberries you need, keep in mind not to waste them.

WEEKEND GETAWAY NEAR BANGALORE CHIKMAGALURHidden among the beautiful luscious greenery is a district in Karnataka, Chikmagalur. This weekend getaway is situated 250 km away from Bangalore city. A perfect place to break your monotonous life schedule with the rich heritage and culture that it has to offer. Most visited, when in Chikmagalur, are the Baba Budangiri hills along with the Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary, among others. The weather is an add-ed bonus when it comes to this beauty. Amidst the widely spread coffee plantation, you will find pleasing accommodation with a view one would kill for.

COORG Located 270 km away from the city is a hill town in Southern India called Coorg. Officially known as Kodagu, it is situated on the Western Ghats. Is it true that it is called “The Scotland of India”? From having perfect weather most of the time to various tourist spots, this place is a popular getaway for many. The drive to Coorg is a scenic one that should definitely not be missed. Coorg offers various stays from resorts to homestays which will make you feel at ease. Waking up to a picturesque view, the place will take your breath away. While you’re here, make the most of it and cover as many as places you can.

BANDIPUR NATIONAL PARKBeing one of the first nine Tiger Reserves in the country, it is situated 250 km away from the city. The national park is home to sloths, guars, Bengal tigers, golden jackals and Indian elephants. The most commonly found birds in the forest are Peafowls along with grey jungle-fowl. If wildlife is your passion, mark this place on your calendar. While you’re in Bandipur and have plans of extending your vacation, be sure to visit Masinagudi and Ooty.

MYSOREFamous for its palace, the city has a plethora of sightseeing spots to offer. Being home to the famous Devaraja Market, the city is just 150 km from Bangalore. The city is known for its royal her-itage, monuments and of course, Chamundi hills. From a historical tour to a fun-filled tour, Mysore caters to all. Some of the places to visit when in Mysore are, GRS Fantasy Park, Venugopala Swamy temple and Brindavan Garden among others. While on your way back to Bangalore, don’t forget to halt at Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary.

As the month of vacation nears its end, it’s not too late to book a vacation. These places will put your mind to rest without burning a hole in your pocket. Be it an outing with your fami-ly or a solo trip, be assured to come back with a pocket full of memories to cherish. As much as everyone loves a good trip away from the city, we all know that our heart always belongs to Namma Bangalore.

Best time to visit: November to March

Best time to visit: September to May

Best time to visit: October to March

Best time to visit: July and September

Best time to visit: October to February

Tanushree Bhowmick

Believe it or not, cannabis has always been a part of the ancient legacy and history of India. It has been a part of India

for centuries and especially the Hindu culture. It is a key ingre-dient in India’s favourite drink during Holi, bhang. Bhang is also considered to be Lord Shiva’s favourite drink and is associated with Hinduism in unique ways.

This brings us to the main ques-tion - why is marijuana banned in India? When the culture and the tradition of India is ripe with this natural ingredient, then why is marijuana not being legalised in India? Should it be legalized?

YES TO BHANG BUT NO TO MARIJUANA. WHY?In India, bhang is accepted and consumed by many people, espe-cially during the festival of Holi. On the other hand, marijuana is not legal and if people want to avail it, then they might get fined or worse, put in jail. But why does such a discrimination exist when both are made from the cannabis plant? The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in 1985 had put forth the law that dealt with marijuana or cannabis possession in India. According to this law, the posses-sion of this drug is illegal in India and it is a criminal offence to have it. The NDPS does not allow consumption, as well as the sale and production of cannabis or its the flowers. The seeds and leaves can be used legally inside the Indian states. That is why bhang is legal in India, because it is taken from the leaves of the cannabis plant. The weed or marihuana is extracted from the flowering part of the cannabis plant and that is why it is illegal in India.

CONSEQUENCES IF MARIJUANA IS LEGALIZED IN INDIA

There are several positive conse-quences of legalizing marijuana in India.1. Eradication of illegal smuggling

and trade of weed2. If marijuana is legalized in India

then the government will put taxes on it which will bring in more revenue for our govern-ment

3. It can create more jobs in the process once marijuana gets the legal stamp

4. It can be used for several med-ical cases, wherein marijuana may be able to help an illness, like epilepsy, chronic pain etc

SHOULD MARIJUANA BE LEGALIZED IN BANGALORE?

Recently, a huge group has mobi-lized in Bangalore to support the legalization of marijuana. They have cited the medical benefits of the use of marijuana on social media platforms and other related plus points.

Marijuana is less harmful than tobacco, according to research done by John A Henry, Professor at the Academic Department of Accident and Emergency Medi-cine, Imperial College School of Medicine, London.

Can legalization be expected?There is hope through The Great Legalisation Movement of India for the legalization of cannabis in cities such as Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad. They have also organized a march in

these cities in the hopes that the leaders of India would see the fact that the citizens want the freedom to choose cannabis. The move-ment only grew in momentum af-ter WHO delivered the statement that if marijuana is used medically then it is not addictive.

THE PRESENT STATE OF THE USE OF MARIJUANA INDIA The usage of cannabis is not banned completely in India

and the government allows some minimal leeway because of its medical and scientific usage which are allowed legally. There is not a complete ban on cannabis by the NDPS Act but it can only be used for medical purposes or scientific purposes.

Final thoughts Cannabis is a natural plant and its presence in Indian culture dates back centuries. It is sug-

gestively not addictive and it is not harmful like alcohol and to-bacco, if taken moderately. Any-thing consumed beyond limit is unhealthy but if it is consumed in the right amount, it is not harmful. Taking all these things into account, cannabis can be made legal in India or maybe there is still a lot more to explore in the legalization process, what do you think?

As the momentum grows worldwide to bring marijuana under the ambit of recreation, let us take a look at weed’s Indian link, how its consumption is still illegal and how we can go about to raise awareness enough that its usage is decriminalized

LEGALIZING 420

MINISTRY OF SOCIAL JUSICE AND EMPOWERMENT, GOVERMENT OF INDIA

PREVALENCE OF CHARAS/GANJA USE (IN %)

13LIT SCENESMay 20 - May 26, 2022

Words harbour influence - to either com-pliment, impress or complain. But these words, when rolled out to comment on

one’s size, shape or stature, it can have a negative impact.

However it’s imperative to ensure that no one passes comments as such to merely defame on the basis of physical appearance.

Our physicality is a divine blessing.Body shaming or fat shaming is no less than

bullying. And this bullying with negative conno-tations pertaining to body dysmorphia can be hurtful and derogatory leading to low esteem, self isolation, with crippling repercussions.

There could be numerous factors, few in one’s control and few beyond.

“It all starts in the mind and manifests in the body “

Thus, sound sleep, peace of mind, no stress, social well being and security, surrounded by smiles all around, are also equally crucial in shap-ing one’s life and body.

Body shaming, while undesirable, is something that can be controlled and it starts and ends with our mental approach in tackling it.

Contentment is also the key in most scenarios, failing which nothing seems good enough. Tendency of gaining weight could also be due to genes, low metabolism, thyroid, hormonal changes etc.

All in all, regardless of the reason behind any anomalous appearance, what’s more important is to find or scan the goodness as it’s present in every body.

Flaws and frailties could be the biggest source and inspiration to foster one’s personality, because each and every one of us is unique. Just identify your individuality, celebrate it and rejoice it as your inner strength.

Happiness and satisfactionYou are the best and there is none other like you. Don’t be or feel shy with your body.

Life is short, don’t wish for it.Life is short, don’t wait for it.Just love it to live it ...

14 WELLNESS

Sage Marichi Pose C (Marichyasana C) is a seated twisting yoga pose

that involves the engagement of the spinal muscles and emphasizes deep breathing to open the chest and shoulders. It also helps in digestion.

Sage Marichi Pose is a spine twist pose, hence it is bene-ficial for improving flexibility and mobility of the spine. On a daily basis, the movements of the spine are either forward bending or backward bending. This leads to stiffness in the spine or back pain. Practice of spine twisting poses like Marichyasana and its varia-tions help stretch the muscles of the spine, and thereby releases any tension in that area. The pose also helps open up the shoulders and chest and stretches the intercostal muscles which gradually leads to breathing improvement. Twisting movement will

also impact the abdominal muscles like liver, kidneys, spleen and pancreas. It will aid in better blood circulation and result in improvement of digestion.

Lizard Pose is an intense hip opener and stretch yoga pose.

Lizard Pose is a great way to stretch your hamstrings, hip flexors and quadriceps. Strengthening these muscle groups will help you maintain a full range of motion. A slow, deep, hip-opening stretch can help alleviate low back pain or sciatica, release tension, and prevent injury both in your yoga practice and your every-day life. Strength in your hips and hamstrings, in particular, can improve your balance and flexibility.

The pose also has many mental benefits, including reducing stress, improving focus, energizing creativity, and releasing emotion.

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GAYATRI TAGOREGayatri Tagore has been teaching yoga for 5 years. She has done her TTC from Mysore and is currently a practis-ing Ashtanga. She is trained in prenatal and postnatal pro-fessional as well.

BEND IT LIKE YOGAMay 20 - May 26, 2022

TRIUMPHING OVER BODY SHAMING

ÀSBA SURYANIBANGALORE

15SPIRITUAL JOURNEYMay 20 - May 26, 2022

A determined Indian men’s team etched its name in history books by lifting the Thomas Cup for the first time,

defeating 14-time champions Indonesia. The Indian contingent registered a resounding 3-0 win over Indonesia in the finals at Bangkok on Sunday.

While looking at any event which has brought glory to India, we find the number 3-6-9 in it.n India adds to 12(3), Bharat adds

to 15(6).n 3, 6 and 9 are the family of num-

bers which works for India.n We won Thomas cup on 15(6)th

May in year 2022(6) during the 75(3)th year of independence.

n India beat Indonesia 3-0 to historic win in Thailand which adds to 24(6).

n We won our first cricket World Cup in 1983(3) under the cap-tainship of Kapil Dev, a no. (6) being born on 06/01.

n Even India won the T20 finale on 24(6) September in the year 2007(9).

n India also became a space super power on 27(9) March in year 2019(3) in the 72(9)nd year of independence.

n The magic of 3,6,9 and Indian India adds to 12(3).n Bharat adds to 15(6).n We got independence on 15(6)

August.n India got independence in

1947(3).n India became republic in

1950(6).n First television service started in

India in 1959(6).n First nuclear test in Pokharan

1974(3) in the 27(9)the year of inde-pendence.

n First non-Congress government at Centre and Emergency ended in 1974(3).

n India’s current ruling party BJP was formed in 1980(9).

n First Oscar by Bhanu Athaiya for film “Gandhi” which adds to 18(9) in year 1983(3)

n Launch of Mars “Orbitor Mission” in year 2013(6).

n India conducts nuclear tests and joins club of countries possess-ing nuclear weapon in 1998(9) in 51(6) year of independence

Sri Lanka CrisisSri Lanka has been going through the worst economic crisis since in-dependence in 1948. Fuel, food and medicine – most of which are im-ported – are scarce, and rising

prices are putting what remains out of reach for many Sri Lankans.

Even printing paper is difficult, which has forced schools to cancel ex-ams. The problems have sparked the biggest protests seen here in years.

The ‘numero-logic’ of numbers behind Sri Lanka tragedySri Lanka adds up to 18, which represents Mars. Mars is a red, fiery planet which can be seen with the naked eye.

18 is composed of the Sun (1) and Saturn (8) creating the fiery Mars (9). The conjunction of the Sun and Sat-urn is one of the most inhar-monious ones. One starts, the other ends. Compound 18 is psychic 9 and it fac-es intense inner conflict, oppositions, obstacles and strife in life.As per Numerology, Number 18 means: This number is one of the most difficult to interpret. It is

pictured as ‘A rayed moon from which drops of blood are falling; a wolf and a hungry dog are seen below catching the falling drops of blood in their open and hungry mouths, while still lower, a crab is seen hastening to join them.’ It is symbolic of materialism try-ing to destroy the spiritual side of na-ture. It generally associates a person or nation with bitter quarrels, feuds, wars, social upheavals, revolutions, underworld activities, terrorism and in some cases, indicates making money through wars and weap-ons of destruction. It warns of treachery, deception by others, dangers from natural elements such as storms, death by drowning, accidents, fires and explosions.

When this compound number appears in anyone’s calculations of names and future dates, uttermost caution should be exercised to avert its destructive effects and safeguard the family, self and loved ones.

An engineer by qualification and a numerologist by

profession, Gautham Azad has been fascinated by

numbers since childhood. He is a trusted advisor to successful industrialists, businessmen, corporate

houses, renowned politicians and famous

Bollywood celebrities. What started out as a passion,

turned into a full-fledged profession in 2014, when

he decided to quit his job with an MNC to start

a full-time Numerology consultancy under the

brand name NUMMEROBAY. His engineering background

allows him to practice it more as a science than

superstition

GAUTHAM AZAD

Did you know that your body actually needs inflammation to stay healthy?

If you’ve ever twisted your ankle, cut your finger or caught a cold or flu, in-flammation is what helps your body to fight off hostile microbes and repair damaged tissue.

It is a natural response that is inbuilt in every one of us and therefore it is vital for healing any injury or illness.

Inflammation can become a problem when it continues even after the hurt has been healed.

This type of chronic inflammation not only attacks healthy joints and tissues, it attacks the cells, your brain, your immune system and even your DNA. It also leads to illness like rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, neuro- degenerative disease and cancer. In fact, chronic inflammation is believed to be the root cause of as many as 80% of all major human disease!

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CHRONIC FATIGUE? NO ENERGY? MENTAL FATIGUE? IT COULD BE INTERNAL INFLAMMATION!

WHAT ARE THE NUMBERS BEHIND INDIA WINNING THE THOMAS CUP?

LOCATION: WOQEM Quantum Wellness International, #44/5, Dick-enson Road, Near Manipal Center, Bangalore-560042

CALL US

+91 9739076535/63648 82689 or +91 80 4966 7045

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16

Owner, publisher, printer: White Horse Publication , Suit no. 207, Regency Enclave, No: 4, Magrath Road, Bangalore-560025. | Printed at : MNS Printers, Bangalore | Editor: Sridhar | Email : [email protected] | VOLUME 3 | ISSUE 22 | KARENG/2015\60730

May 20 - May 26, 2022