The Beat :March 2023

THE BEAT THE BEAT

WOMEN IN DRIVER’S SEAT

EDITOR’S NOTE

Dear Readers,

This issue is a mix of themes and ideas.

It is a bouquet picked from this year’s Long Form Writing stories, stories planned for an earlier issue of The Beat (that did not eventually materialize), and the (current) March issue of the magazine. That explains the eclectic mix.

We do, however, have a cover theme -- Women who run Bengaluru -- which was meant to coincide for Women’s Day this year. The idea was to feature women pourakarmikas, law keepers, Metro pilots, delivery personnel, cab and bus drivers.

It turned out that we are featuring only two women who, literally, move the city -- a cab driver who started her own company that exclusively drives women passengers, and a Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation bus driver. The former story is in a narrative format while the latter is in an interview format.

This is followed by half a dozen features that were written by Long Form Writing students in the first semester of 2022-23. They are a delightful mix ranging from Bengaluru’s gujri market, hitherto known (politically incorrectly) as chor bazaar, to the state of Indira Canteens, how Bengaluru is becoming bird-unfriendly, the class-system practiced on a highstreet of the city, the absence of gender-correct language in officialdom etc.

The last section has a bunch of art and culture stories that include review of films and television series, the art involved in video games, the undying love for the ancient art of calligraphy and the like.

We hope you like the issue.

Happy reading!

Magazine Students 2022-23

MEET THE TEAM

Priya Pathak

Janani Srinivas

Suryash Kumar

Sneha T S

Ahona Roy

Shruti Banerjee

Firmly in the Driver’s seat

By Shruti Banerjee

The world has undergone many changes. Previously there were certain professions that were only meant for men and women were not allowed in them. But with time, the line that separated men and women in certain professions has somewhat become blurred. There are female Metro rail drivers, bus drivers, cab drivers, food delivery agents, police personnel and a lot more. One such woman is Mahalaxmi, a cab driver in Bengaluru.

Mahalaxmi I, 37, has been a cab driver in Bengaluru for the last 7-8 years. At first, she used to work with Ola. In 2020, she started her own cab business called Maahi Cabs (Maahi is short for Mahalaxmi).

Mahalaxmi was born in Chitradurga in Karnataka. When she was 12, her family – mother, father and elder brother – moved to Bengaluru. In the city, her mother worked as a housemaid for a family in Richmond town. She recalls that the household treated her mother and Mahalaxmi with great respect. “They treated me like a princess”, Maahi had a radiant smile while saying this. “It was they who had made me learn driving at the age of 14. At that time I did not know that such a skill would come in handy later. Not only that, they also taught me English.”

Maahi’s parents went back to Chitradurga but she stayed back, got married and settled down as a homemaker. She has a 17 year-old daughter and a 15-year-old son. Before taking up the job of a cab driver, she had a daily routine of doing her household chores and looking after her family. But then she realized that whatever her husband earned was not enough to meet the needs of the family.

As she did not have any educational qualifications, procuring an IT job was out of the question. It was then that the thought of being a driver crossed her mind. She decided to use her skill and try her hands at it, professionally. When she came across an advertisement that the cab aggregator, Ola was looking for female drivers, she promptly went for it. “Ola really helped me a lot. They provided a car and helped me get my driving license”, she said. Getting a driving license was a challenge as she had not completed her tenth standard. Maahi joined a correspondence course, took exams and passed tenth standard. It took her almost two years to go through the process of acquiring a driving license.

Opting for a tough job like driving a cab was never Maahi’s first choice. In fact, she tried hard for other jobs, such as working in the corporate sector. “I was rejected and

sent back from every office as they did not want to hire someone like me who did not even complete her Class Ten”, Maahi said. The thought of becoming a maid just like her mother crossed her mind several times. The Richmond Town household, where her mother had worked, had always taught her to think out of the box. “They made me dream big; and that was why I didn’t become a maid like my mother”, Maahi recalled.

When she chose to drive a cab, there was opposition from her parents and her inlaws. Much of the opposition was because people attached a stigma to the job of driving, especially when the driver is a woman. Maahi went ahead because her husband stood by her decision. And Maahi also believes that driving is an art and she loves it. “When you are passionate about something, nothing can stop you from pursuing it,” said she. That is how her journey with Ola began.

Like Maahi, a few other women also joined the company at the same time. Initially, the male drivers passed snide remarks that if women start joining this profession, the male drivers would lose their jobs. Gradually, even they supported Maahi and the other women drivers.

The homemaker who founded a cab company exclusively for women, by women.

Maahi started her career in cab driving first with Ola. | Credit : Shruti Banerjee

Women who run Bengaluru

At the cab company, Maahi she received a salary of approximately Rs 8000. It was during the lockdown that the cab business suffered and so did the drivers. Things were normal during the second lockdown. Maahi could even do outstation trips like driving people to Mysore, Goa, Chennai, Mangalore and many more places. It was then that she decided to quit Ola and start her own cab service. Maahi Cabs came into existence. Maahi cabs provides services exclusively for women, by women.

The very idea of starting her own business was to provide safe rides to women passengers who commute during the night. Maahi said that often woman have late

night flights or trains to catch or go home from the airport or the railway station. “They need rides at odd hours and mostly they do not feel safe travelling with male cab drivers. As a woman I believe that my skills can be of real use only when I’ll be able to help another woman in need” Maahi proudly said.

Maahi is not alone in her business. There are three other women who also work for Maahi cabs and Maahi does not consider them as her employees but as partners. Her cabs are equipped with GPS trackers and WiFi, so passengers are safe and also connected. Maahi also said that whoever travels with her do not want to opt for any

other cabs as they love her service. Maahi loves her job as she is not answerable to anyone. She loves to learn new things and describes herself as a fast learner. Her fluency with five languages - Hindi, English, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu have only added to her professional competence.

As with any other job, there are professional hazards too. Maahi has to sacrifice her sleep and stay up in the night. She leaves home after dinner and comes back before breakfast.

But then, she is her own boss.

shruti.b@iijnm.org

Maahi has started her own business of cab driving where she provides rides to women especially who are travelling at night. | Credit : Shruti Banerjee

“They need rides at odd hours and mostly they do not feel safe travelling with male cab drivers. As a woman, I believe that my skills can be of real use only when I’ll be able to help another woman in need.”

Women who run Bengaluru

It was her dream to be a bus driver

By Ahona Roy

Dugamma K.B. is a 32-year-old government-trained driver, who is currently working at Bus Depot 30 in Puttenahalli, near Yelahanka. Working from 9.30 am to 6 pm, she drives buses inside the depot for washing and charging (in the case of the new electric buses). In a matter of a few months, Dugamma hopes to become the only female Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation driver to drive through public roads. We interviewed her about her journey and how she reached where she is. Here is an excerpt:

What inspired you to want to be a bus driver?

I have always wanted to drive, ever since I was a child. My father was a bus driver for a private bus transport company, so I saw him driving buses all my childhood. It is my dream to work as a bus driver, a dream which I am willing to achieve at any cost.

When did you first learn to drive?

It was in 2019, that I first received the opportunity for free training under the Nirbhaya Fund scheme introduced by the BMTC. I did my training at the Shanti Nagar BMTC Bus Depot. Before that, I

used to work as a security guard at a hospital. They (the trainers at BMTC) taught me the technical aspects of how to drive a bus on a road and it was from there that I received my driving license.

My driving skills on the public road is supposed to be tested by a government trainer for about two to three times before I am allowed to drive buses on public roads. It will probably happen within a few months. Tell me about your family. How do they feel about your job?

Both my parents as well as my husband and my in-laws are very supportive of me. My mother-in-law even takes care of my son who is eight years old during my work hours.

Are there any kind of challenges that you have faced during your training period? Are there any challenges you still face?

How did you get this job at the Bus Depot?

The Nirbhaya Fund scheme introduced by the BMTC also ensured a job for me at this Bus Depot. It is here that I first learnt how to drive electric buses.

How much do you earn working here (at the Bus Depot) at present?

I earn Rs 18000 on a monthly basis.

When do you expect to go out and drive on the public road?

There are always challenges, but you can never back down. The only way you are able to overcome your challenges is by working hard and doing your best. I have made it this far, I won’t give up now, no matter what obstacles lie in front of me in the future.

ahona.r@iijnm.org

“In a matter of a few months, Dugamma hopes to become the only female Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation driver to drive through public roads.”

A Junkyard of Treasures

By Riya Roy Chowdhury

Repair and reuse are concepts alien to the modern consumerist world, but Bengaluru’s Gujri market keeps the sustainable tradition alive

Gujri market, hidden among narrow lanes and by-lanes of Shivajinagar, is full of scrap shops. If you are going there for the first time without knowing anything about the market, you will feel like you are in a junkyard.

It is perhaps the only place where someone can find out-of-production car parts. Most of the shopkeepers in the market are from this city, and they have deep roots in the market. Some of them are the second or third generation in the family to run the business. Just like the rest of the world, business in Gujri is also changing.

Nasser, 68, who does not look his age, runs a shop in this market. His great-

grandfather started this business long before India was independent. He said,“The new generation here is doing business differently, we are old people and our stubbornness does not let us upgrade our business method.” The market is more than a century old but still, somehow it has managed to retain the name ‘chor bazaar’.

Nasser is one of the oldest people in the market, he wanted to become an IPS officer but his father did not allow it.The Gujri market existed before India’s independence and the shop owner there did not have a good experience with the police. While sipping tea Nasser said, “My father had no objection when I told him that I wanted to be a football player. He said, ‘become

everything in life but a police officer.’Every day, after closing the shop he still exercises for one and a half hours and lifts weights as well. He said, “My employee passed away during COVID, and after that, I’m running the shop alone.” It is manageable for me because business is not going that well. The only difference is he used to close at five p.m. but now he closes the shop at seven.

Stephen’s Square Merchants’ Association (SSMA) is a registered society in 1963 which takes care of the legal aspect of the market. From the beginning of the 1900s, motor vehicles started appearing in the city. The area around Stephan Square then began to serve as a market for automobile

Two wheelers waiting to be scrapped at Gujri Market. Credit: Riya Roy Chowdhury

repair and scrapping. In Kannada, Gujri means scrap yard, the market always functions as a scrap and junk market by vendors who collect metal and other waste from households on bicycles and resell them in the market.

From the beginning of the 1900s, motor vehicles started appearing in the city. The area around Stephan Square then began to serve as a market for automobile repair and scrapping. In Kannada, Gujri means scrap yard, the market always functions as a scrap and junk market by vendors who collect metal and other waste from households on bicycles and resell them in the market.

The association also support the shop owners emotionally and financially. One Assistance Inspector of Shivajinagar police station (he asked not to mention his name) said, “Gujri people and the Association are doing business while abiding by every possible government rule. They are very cooperative and they contact us if they find someone suspicious. It is not their fault if people do not want to change their minds about the market.” But the scenario was different in 2011, the police suspected

the Gujri people when a car was stolen in the market. In a mint article, then secretary of the SSMA, AjazSuroorsaid, “We were raided by the police repeatedly around twothree years ago and we cooperated with them always,”

Police often visit the place now as well, but not for inspection but rather to inform about old car auctions. Every shop sells different car parts in the market. There are 120 shops in the market currently, and these shops buy cars from everyone who has paperwork. Nishad, who rented a shop and is doing business in Gujri for 20 years now said, “I have three employees working in my shop and I only sell gearboxes. Although we faced some issues during COVID, but business is doing well now. Gujri market always had loyal customers.”

Iftikhar Shariff, whose father was a very well-known person in the market said, “I never wanted to join this business but circumstances made me. I never wanted my son to join this business; heis doing well as a construction manager. But, after me, the shop will go to him, I am not sure what he will do with it. The market has suffered a lot and the sales have decreased

exponentially; it is getting more difficult to run business.”

Sadiq whose shop is right next to Iftikhar said, “The market is intact because of the Association, some of the newcomers used to work as mechanics. I am a school dropout but I have learned a lot about cars because of Gujri. All the cars that come in are first produced at the Association office. If they see that the papers are in place, the cars are allowed to be scrapped.”

The market does not use any kind of promotion tools like other businesses. Word of the mouth has been the only way to reach people. Cars from all over India used to come to Gujri for scrapping but now there are many new scarp shops in the city. The market people are also worried that they are going to lose their customers because of these new shops.

We talk a lot about recycling nowadays but we still end up replacing it instead of recycling. Naseer said, “I have seen the market thrive and I have also seen it at its lowest. One thing I am sure of is that Gujri will never lose its essence.”

riya.c@iijnm.org

Nasser believes that the Gujri market will never lose its relevance. Credit: Riya Roy Chowdhury.

The ABC’s of the Queer Community

By Sneha S.K

On September 13, 2022 the Karnataka government announced a reservation for “male third gender” for the recruitment of police constables. However, there is no such term or gender called “male third.” “Who is a male third gender? You are either a trans person or a non-binary person. There are even transexuals, trans-men, trans-women. By making this category, you are just misgendering all these people.” said Meghna Mehra, Author, ‘Mini Dictionary of the LGBTQIA+ community’. According to her, this reservation is not inclusive and is just tokenism.

Visibility of queer persons in India is often limited to the term “third gender” which can only refer to trans persons. The whole spectrum of LGBTQ community cannot fit into one term. Many feel that the term “third gender” itself is exclusionary, as it

looks at transgender persons as “other”. The Supreme Court in 2104 recognized transgender people and gave them the category of “third gender” for reservation in jobs and education. Before this, the Election Commission of India had a category called “other” for people who did not identify as male or female. It is only now that people in the country are becoming more sensitized and aware of the various other terms and pronouns other than third gender.

Jayden Frank, a non-binary and pansexual person goes by the pronouns he/they said that people often mis-gender them. “It feels like they are kicking me in the gut over and over again,” they said. They said that even people who understand the concept of gender-neutral pronouns fail to understand the usage of multiple pronouns like theirs. He also said that since he

is not out legally, people use his deadname and use she/her pronouns to protect his identity. “Sometimes even the people close to me that know my actual pronouns tend to use the wrong ones. This makes me feel really dysphoric because I cannot physically transition the way I want to. It makes me feel conscious when people use wrong pronouns or my deadname.” They also said that they want people to interchange the usage of their pronouns and not only use he/him or they/them as per their own convenience.

Nimisha Agarwal, a diversity and inclusion facilitator said, the understanding of the queer community among the general public varies. She said that some people are unaware of even basic terminology or why people have different gender identities. She also said that there is a language barrier, as most terms for the community are in Eng-

People in Bengaluru celebrate Pride Month as Namma Pride enters its 15th year in the city. | Credit : Aditi

lish, there is no equivalent in the regional languages. “If I have to do sensitivity training in Hindi, the word for sexual identity and sexual parts is the same,” she said. Shruthi Sharada, gender and queer rights trainer said that there is a need to “decolonize” the idea of queer terminology as it is not fair to restrict it to just English. Language often defines how people perceive a community. Sadly, words and terms associated with the LGBTQ+ community in India are often derogatory and slurs. Even the word ‘hijra’ was used in a negative connotation and as a slur, however the community has now taken back ownership of the term. It is now used to describe transgender women and inter-sex people. In order to address this issue, the Tamil Nadu government recently released a gazette notification that listed a set of glossary terms for LGBTQ+ persons in both English and Tamil. The Madras High Court ordered media houses and government ministries and the police to adopt these terms to reduce hate speech and usage of derogatory terms against the community. This is a very progressive move by the Tamil Nadu state government, said Nimisha. “When you actually have the terminology in a language that you understand, it makes it easier to relate to,” she said. When you have a prescribed list of terms, the usage of such terms also becomes popular.

Meghna’s book has a list of English terms

to address members of the community. She is now working on coming up with terms in regional languages as well. “I am working on developing terms in Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi; I am also looking for people who can help me with southern languages like Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil as well,” she said. Meghna, whose sexuality is asexual said that it took her a

terms we bring in, the more inclusivity and awareness will be brought about.”

while to realize that a term called asexuality exists. Therefore, she felt that there was a need to simplify terms and definitions about the community to make it accessible not just to allies but to members of the community themselves. “I realized in order to be accessible we need to have terms in regional languages as well. People who come from villages to the city to study in universities often do not understand the complexities of English language and terminology,” she said. Similarly, Jay also feels that there is a need to have proper queer terms in all regional languages.”

“The only gender-neutral pronoun in Hindi is “aap”, but that is all. The more

Many within the queer community feel that having a list of terms in both English and regional languages is only the first step towards greater representation. Education and normalizing the existence of gender and sexuality beyond the binary are the most important, according to voices in the community. Sharada said, “I would push for schools and colleges to take this up because the earlier you open your mind to such ideas the better. It is harder to unlearn, harder to have sessions with people who have spent decades believing something and now they are being challenged or questioned about it, there is usually a lot of pushback and defensiveness about it,” she said.

Karnataka does not have a list of glossary terms of the community in Kannada. People in the community are not hopeful that there will be one anytime soon. “I don’t know where the state policies are at the moment regarding this. But I don’t feel very hopeful about Karnataka, given that the state has been working against various sections of marginalized communities. I am not very hopeful, but there is a part of me that would want it to be a reality.” Nimisha said.

sneha.sk@iijnm.org

Terms for LGBTQ+ persons in Tamil language

“The Madras High Court ordered media houses and government ministries and the police to adopt these terms to reduce hate speech and usage of derogatory terms against the community.”

A high street that disallows talent

Church Street is mini India. There are people of different ethnicities and religions and there are people who have come from far-off lands. Nandini Mudaliar, COO and cofounder at Calmastery says that she likes Church Street specifically for its diversity of people and things to do and buy.

“I love how small artists come to the place to showcase something that they are good at. There is someone doing standup, singing, beat boxing, dancing etc. I like how it is a space for budding creators.”

It seems like Nandini went to Church Street a long time back. She would be disheartened to know that there are hardly any artists who have the courage to put up their stalls at the 750 meter stretch now. Many of them are scared of the police who chase them away.

According to Sebin Sebastian, a 22 year old artist from Kerala many artists have stop ed coming. “They are scared of the police. I also heard that the owners of big shops complained about people putting up their stalls. I do not think the pedestrians have any issue with us.”

Sebin says unlike many artists his career is not in danger as he has created a brand name for himself. He gets lots of orders for his painting over calls and Instagram but he is concerned for other artists. Sebin a free bird, who has travelled to many places to sell his artwork, says that

By Sneha TS

the place that earned him the most fame and money is Bengaluru “The people of this city have always supported and appreciated artists and their works.”

Suchitra MS, who does bottle art, makes upcycled bottle lamps, bookmarks and polymer clay earrings. She said “The main reason behind them not allowing artists and other vendors is that this street is generally considered to be the street of the rich. They do not want that image and idea of the street to be spoiled. ”She was even scared to display her artwork and kept it in a bag “They can come at any moment to take your things away.”

“Why don’t we have freedom to do our own work? We are just normal selfemployed people struggling to make ends meet.”says Nehru Chauhan, a resident of RT Nagar who makes and sells rice engraved key chains and pendants.

“I have two children to raise. I have to pay their school fees. I earn 15000-16000 per month. Last month I did not earn anything because of the havoc,” he said. Despite the struggle, Nehru is still hopeful “Everything will be fine” he says with a smile on his face “We belong here. Where else would we go?” He feels awkward to say his name, “I know it is an odd name (laughs) but I can’t help it.”

Among all these artists there stands a writer holding a poster that says ‘Buy my first book

here, I am the author’. He is Moyeen V N the author of a fantasy-fiction called A Thousand Years of Pain, “I do see myself going back to Church Street; I have not been going for the past three weeks as all my books were sold out. I will go back to the street once I get more copies printed.” Moyeen says book stores do not keep his book and the only way he can sell it is by promot - ing it on a place like Church Street. For the past eight years Syed Rasool has been lighting up people‘s lives, but these are dark times for the paper lantern maker. “Everything was fine but the owners of the big, established shops are trying to shoo us away. I used to sit at Church Street. Now, I moved a little.” said Rasool who sells painted paper lanterns for Rs. 75 each at the end of the street that extends to M.G Road.

The license issued by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike does not help, he said.

“It is unfair to not let anyone do their business” said Saleemudin who sells lime soda and sweet corn. “The Police is not just chasing away the artists but also chasing away the small vendors. I am grateful to the cafe owners who have given me the permission to do business in their spot, everyone does not have that privilege” he added.Syed Aleem and Ramachandran who have been doing business in the street for the past many years want their friend Nehru to continue on Church Street.

sneha.ts@iijnm.org

Sebin is worried for his fellow artists.|Credit:Sebin Sebastin

The Indira Canteen experience

By Suryash Kumar

The good and affordable food served in these canteens is undone by its filthy surroundings

The place is littered with garbage, the smell of urine permeates the air, vermin scurries around. The Indira canteen in Bengaluru’s Gandhinagar has every reason to repel people. Yet, a crowd throngs here. Because, where else can the poor working class people of the city get a meal for Rs 5 and Rs 10.

This is the case with most Indira Canteens in the city.

The canteen draws people from different classes from rag pickers to migrant

labourers. It was conceived by the previous government in the State, led by the Congress, to serve this very section of people. Of course, it was a populist measure meant to get votes, but there is no denying that it was a much-needed facility.

People enjoy the canteen’s food, and it’s not only the affordability but also the taste of the food that brings people to Indira Canteen. “Morning, we get Idli and pulao for Rs 5, afternoon, rice and sambhar for Rs 10, and at dinner, pulao for Rs 10. The

quality of the food is good. At a hotel, it would cost Rs 30 or Rs 50,” said Devendra from Andhra Pradesh.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, the city’s civic body, runs the canteens. One of the BBMP officials said, “BBMP appoints marshalls for each Indira canteen, and they oversee the cleanliness, the food quality and the quantity. Apart from the above checks, Indira canteen has audits to monitor the food quality and hygiene of the canteen.”

This Indira Canteen near Nrupathunga Road, one of the better maintained canteens, is one of the 174 Indira Canteens that continue to serve food in Bengaluru | Credit : Navya Sruthi

In 2017, the Indira canteen was started by the Congress government, and the budget for the first two years was around Rs 100 crores, but from 2019 onwards, coincidentally, after the BJP formed the government in the state, the canteen’s funding shrunk.

In the last two years, the government hasn’t allocated separate funds for the canteen, and the BBMP had to allot funds for the canteen from its budget.

“Budgeting depends upon activities. In the initial years, the Indira canteen required new construction, but now the budget is only required for food. The funding has decreased not because a different party has formed government in the state but because the operational costs have reduced,” the BBMP official said.

He added further, “the food was earlier outsourced at a higher price, but now the food is prepared by NGOs: Adanya Chetana and ISKCON. The operating cost has decreased; therefore, a lower budget is required now.The government still ends up the subsidising food by Rs 25-30 per plate.”

Second, BBMP is relocating Indira canteens that see less footfall to areas that can draw more crowds. The footfall has declined because of several factors.

North Indian labourers do not patronize Indira Canteens because they prefer roti. Indira Canteens do not plan to serve rotis because of logistical challenges.

The BBMP holds that the slump in funding is not because of the government cutting corners, but for operational efficiency. Surendra, a regular, said, “Earlier for breakfast, we got bisibele bath, but now we get Idli or puliyogare rice. The food is delivered on time, and we get filtered water. But the food quality deteriorates in the evening.”

Manaravidas, who frequents Indira Canteen, said, I like the food, but we get only one vegetable curry. I would like the food more if the canteen provided more than one vegetable curry.

On Indira canteens offering fewer food choices than before, the official said, “Indira canteen is not for luxury but to provide food to everyone so that no one sleeps hungry. People who need variety can afford meals from Uphar Darshini, which offers variety.”

Gandhinagar canteen had heaps of garbage bordering it, and rodents scampered about the canteen, to which the official said, “we can’t take care of every land available in the city. The garbage land seems like a

transfer station, and it must be cleaned daily. Moreover, the food isn’t cooked at the Indira Canteen.”

Every Indira canteen also has a drinking water facility that gives one more reason for people to eat at Indira Canteen.

Shiva, a rag-picker, said, “I like the food, and they also provide clean water. Water means a lot to me.” His eyes welled up with tears when he spoke about drinking water.

Indira canteen is a safe bet for people who have had food poisoning because of eating food from other places. Nayeem from Bagalkot said, “he had food poisoning when he was eating from outside, but since he has been eating at Indira canteen, he hasn’t had any health issues. Bisibele bath is his favourite, and anna sambhar reminds him of his home.” K Mohan, M Ravi and Adnan, all have good things to say about the canteen’s food..

Indira canteen goes beyond political parties; it offers tasty food at an affordable price, which is what people want. Whether it’s the first timers, occasional visitors or frequent visitors, people love the food at the Indira Canteen.

Suryash.k@iijnm.org

Indira Canteens offer good quality food at reasonable price to the people of Bengaluru | Credit: Navya Sruthi

Birds: Nature’s Alarm Bells

By Ahona Roy

Every second Sunday of the month at 7:30 AM, you will find a group of people in Lalbagh Botanical Garden roaming around with binoculars and cameras in their hands. They are looking for birds. Earlier during the winter season local birds such as the great kit, the magpie robin as well as migratory birds such as the golden oriole, paradise flycatcher, green warblers, monarch flycatcher and common swallows could have been easily spotted in the localities in Bengaluru. But now one would have to travel further outside the city’s periphery to see them.

Who would know this better than Ulhas Anand, a birder who is part of the bird watching group Bng Birders. His group organises bird watching activity every second Sunday of a month at Lalbagh Botanical Gardens. Birding trips to Jakkur Lake, Saul Kere and Valley School are also held.

Bird populations in the city, Anand believes, have gone down by 98 per cent. In Bangalore specifically, the design of lakes had played a huge role in why birds can’t be seen anymore. Water birds’ numbers

have gone down by 90 percent, if not more. Most of the waders (wading birds which would walk into the lake) are gone all thanks to the new lake design.

“The new design which has been implemented, is a soup bowl kind of design where the shoreline is at the same level.

So, the birds have no place to walk into the water anymore. Water birds like the barheaded geese, pochards and a lot of ducks cannot be seen anymore. Gardens too have become more fragmented,” Anand said. The loss of connectivity between gardens and green spaces affected the movements of the birds, he pointed out, adding that vehicles were responsible for isolating several pockets of greenery.

Ornithologist Dr. Krishna MB also voiced his concern about the shrinking numbers of birds in the city. Like Anand, he too attributed the loss in the number of birds to changes made in the shapes of the lakes along with active removal of green spaces and rocky terrain. A good shoreline, he explained, must have a gradual slope and marginal vegetation. “For that to happen,

there must be a diversity of microhabitats,” he added. The decline of lakes made sure that migratory birds like gargarney ducks, wood sandpipers, green sandpipers and shallow waders like storks are no longer seen. The sandpipers would previously travel nearly 12,000 Km from the Arctic to the city of Bengaluru.

Rocky scrub birds such as the yellowthroated bulbul, little brown dove and larks have also seen a steady decline due to the decline in the rocky terrain in the city. It is the buffer zones between the cultivated land and the city that has seen the most decline in the number of birds.

For Dr. Krishna MB, greenery is the most crucial element in attracting birds in the city. He talked about how the old bungalows with garden spaces being replaced with multi storey buildings have led to the reduction of green spaces.

As per The Forest Survey of India Report, the green cover has reduced to 6 percent in the city from 2011- 2021. The Deputy Conservator of Forests, Sareena Sikkaliger, attributes the cause of this reduction to a

A Grey Heron at Jakkur Lake. Credit: BNG Bird Watching Group.

lot of developmental projects. “There is no proper idea about how to do development in the city,” she said. “They should think about the environment when creating these developmental projects…most of these developmental activities ignore the environment in the city.”

She said the rise in temperature has also contributed to a fewer number of birds being found in the city. “When the number of trees is reduced, there is a rise in the temperature because of carbon dioxide concentration,” she explained. “When concentration of carbon dioxide and other gases are more in the air, automatically heat is generated. We all survive in normal temperatures. So, when the temperature is high automatically it leads to other changes in our body. The same goes for other animals. Some animals cannot tolerate it, so automatically they will die or become extinct or will leave the city for suitable habitats.”

According to Dr. Krishna MB, extreme temperatures due to climate change have the possibility of altering the movement

of the birds at a continental level. He explained that during severe winters, the birds can move towards the south which is closer to the equator. But this too is an ordeal for the birds, as they would now have to fly longer distances, a feat for which their low weighted small bodies are not suited.

The loss of green cover has also led to a lack of trees for nesting. Garden birds such as the greenish leaf warblers, blyth reed warblers have become very difficult to find in the city. Other factors like air pollution have an indirect effect on birds by affecting the growth of plants in the city.

The Forest Cell of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike is involved with a lot of compensatory afforestation works and as well as implementation of several lakes in the city to recover the loss of green cover. The afforestation project which began in June last year covers avenue plantation. The department has set a target of 2 lakhs plantation of trees in all eight zones. Till now, 70 percent of the target has been achieved. They are also planting vegeta-

tion surrounding the lake. A tree expert committee has also been set up since 2019, under the orders of the High Court to check tree felling. The committee includes scientists, professors who are experts in forestry; who would look into various proposals of development projects which involve the cutting down of trees. Members from the committee would visit the site and determine how much green cover should be retained and how much green cover should be translocated.

Man-made chemicals and other industrial wastes dumped in open grasslands have also proved hazardous for the birds. According to Dr. Krishna MB, due to their low body weight and the high rate at which they burn up food in order to fly, birds are the most vulnerable amongst all animals when exposed to man-made chemicals such as pesticides. In other words, birds are the first warning devices to go off each and every time we destroy a habitat.

ahona.r@iijnm.org

Red Wattled Lapwing in Saul Kere. Credit: BNG Bird Watching Group

Vijayalakshmi Nachiar, the mastermind behind ‘farm to fashion’ brand ethicus| Credit: ethicus.in

Baby Steps towards Sustainable Fashion

By Sneha TS

The increasing demand for cheap and trendy clothes has led to the boom of the fast fashion industry. The National Center for Biotechnology Information refers to fast fashion as readily available, inexpensively made fashion of today that makes it quickly to the retail stores from the ‘catwalk’, keeping pace with the constant demand for more and different styles.

Shifting to organic and environmentfriendly materials is the option. And, even those fabrics that claim to be organic

could be environmentally unfriendly, claim experts. For instance, Khadi is generally known to be eco-friendly and sustainable, but if the cotton is grown using pesticides, they are not sustainable.

Understanding this, a few clothing brands are now going organic, prompting the term ‘sustainable fashion’. Ethicus, a designer clothing store based in Zamin Uthukuli village near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, is one of them. It was founded by the husband and wife team of Mani Chinaswamy and Vijayalakshmi Nachiar.

The founders have been in the textile industry for twelve years now. “Earlier we were into cotton textiles but as soon as we realised that the cotton that we produced were not organic we shifted to organic cotton that is the cotton grown without the use of chemical pesticides or fertilisers. We made sure that we only use GOTS certified chemical dyes,” said Vijayalakshmi Nachiar. She went back to the roots by choosing to produce and sell handloom sarees. Though it is a slow and long process of manufacturing clothes, she believes it’s all worth it because the handloom weavers are in a safe environment.

Ethicus sells naturally dyed Ajrakh, Kalamkari and Jacquard Sarees. They are made from a naturally soft and strong fabric, the cotton for which is grown without the use of chemicals or pesticides and requires less water and energy.

Shrutanwita Chakraborty, founder of Quirkybae, a Kolkata-based sustainable clothing line says, “Organic Cotton is tricky to deal with. It is difficult to say which is organic and which is not. That is why we buy yarns from a GOTS certified mill which is then sent to the local mills where it is woven and then we send it to the dyers. The clothes are hand block printed we use Azo -free dyes. We use handloom cotton and bamboo fabrics that are eco-friendly.”

Quirkybae is trying its best to reduce their carbon footprint by producing handloom clothes where unlike in power looms, no electricity is required. They believe in ‘Make to Order’ fashion that follows a production technique where clothes are manufactured only when the customer places the order. It does not keep stocks which if not sold ends up in wastelands.

Chakraborty was always keen to know about labour rights and the primary reason behind starting her own clothing line was to support the handloom workers. She says, “The Mahajan community had a huge control on the textile industry of West Bengal; they exploited the workers to a very large extent, they were shifted to power looms from the handlooms that they were used to. In the power looms -they started getting skin issues and visual impairments.”

The upcoming generation of entrepreneurs is aware of the social and environmental cost that they will have to pay in

order to establish their ventures. They stand for sustainable development. There are few brands which are not completely sustainable but are in the making of one.

One such brand is Clotho, founded by Vridhi Jain, who comes from a textile business family. “I have grown up in an environment where I witnessed a lot of fabric waste generation. The same encour-

Why is fast fashion harmful ?

aged me to start a clothing line that would be a sustainable one. We are not there yet. Currently we are in the revenue generating stage. We aim to put that money into study and research of organic cotton and natural dyes made from vegetables, fruits and flowers. We would also love to implement fabrics like lyocell and organic hemp.”The 22-year-old upcoming entrepreneur said.

India was always known for its sustainable clothing choices until the international fast fashion brands entered the Indian market and changed consumer behaviour. Many home-grown brands imitating them not only killed the organic textile industry but also had a negative impact on the environment.

sneha.ts@iijnm.org

Of all the chemicals used for the mass production of clothes, Azo dyes are the most dangerous. They are widely used as colouring agents. S.F Harlapur, Selection Grade Lecturer, Department of Textile Technology, said “Azo dyes are carcinogenic. Azo chemicals include chemical compounds like Benzedrine and paraphenylenediamine which are the major allergens that are linked with skin irritation and chronic problems.”

Making dye involves sulfonation of benzene. The fumes released in the process are harmful to the factory workers. Apart from this, naphthol dyes (prepared by dissolving both sodium nitrate and hydrochloric acid) are used to prepare the bleaching agent. The workers working in the factory end up inhaling these chemicals without knowing the consequences. They do not even have safety equipment like gloves and masks. Shifting to organic fabrics is the only solution. A fabric is only sustainable if they are cultivated without using pesticides.

Make to order fashion unlike fast fashion is eco-friendly| Credits: Sneha TS

B'luru residents protest the cutting of trees for the construction of metro | Credit: Sankalp Taru

Once green Bengaluru now concretized

By Shruti Banerjee

There are a lot of problems that affect the Earth but the most urgent problem that is affecting everyone is the rise in temperature of our planet.

There are numerous reasons why the Earth is heating up, some of them being burning of fossil fuels, cutting down of trees for developmental activities like construction of buildings, roads, dams etc. Emissions from vehicles contribute to air pollution leading to greenhouse gases being released and which in turn heat up the surface of the earth by trapping the Sun’s heat within the atmosphere.

While the decline of the environment is on a global scale, it can be seen and felt even at the micro-level. Bengaluru has been affected by global warming due to its loss of green cover.

Sangeeta Siddhanta, teacher at Deccan International School who has been living in Bengaluru for the past 22 years, sadly admitted that Bengaluru which has lost so much of its tree cover

She shared that Jayanagar was once a very green area but with time due to the growth of population trees had to be cut down to construct buildings. She mentioned that a lot of deforestation happened in the Jayanagar area due to the metro construction. Also, there were small hills near Chikalsandra, Uttarahalli which were cut down due to the construction of various roads. The Nice Road construction led to felling of large number of trees.

In 1970, the population of Bengaluru was 1,614,756 and in 2022 13,193,035. The population of Bengaluru has increased by 717 percent.

Sangeeta noted that Bengaluru’s weather, known to be pleasant throughout the year, changed as well. When she first set foot in the city in 2001 she would put on her hoodie in the evenings since the weather would turn cold. But now the weather pattern has changed due to deforestation and also pollution due to increase in the number of vehicles contributing to air pollution, she said.

The average annual temperature of Bengaluru in 2000 was 23.4 Celsius and in 2022 was 23.7 Celsius. The number of vehicles in Bengaluru in 2002 was 2.62 million and in 2019 was 8.05 millions.

Bengaluru, the city that was once known as ‘The Garden city of India’ due to the presence of innumerable gardens, parks, and lakes has now become the IT hub of India popularly known as ‘The Silicon Valley of India.’

Sareena Sikkaligar, Deputy Conservator of Forests and Tree Officer, at BBMP voiced her concerns about the loss of green cover in Bengaluru. She explained in detail that the loss of green cover in Bengaluru is mainly due to the large-scale developmental activities that have taken place in Bengaluru over the past few decades. She mentioned that from 2011 to 2021, the green cover in Bengaluru has reduced.

The built up area in the city was 7.97 percent in 1973 and in 2013 it increased to 58.33 percent.

Expressing disappointment she said that she still receives dozens of applications from people for permission to cut down trees. This, she said, is mainly to make way

for private constructions.

She added that people here do not have an idea about how to undertake developmental activities and as a result a lot of unplanned activities take place which destroy the green cover. Bengaluru was earlier called the garden city of India with 500 to 600 lakes. It had several green zones with biodiversity, which brought migratory birds.

She then said that the afforestation project was launched in June 2022 with an aim to plant two lakh tree saplings throughout the city. Till date 70 percent of it has been achieved. Sikkaligar also expressed concerns about the loss of green cover affecting the natural beauty of the city.

Sandeep Anirudhan, Convenor of Aikyam Community for Sustainable Living, said there has been a 98 percent loss of green cover over the past five decades and most of it happened after the nineties when the city started developing. Earlier, Bengaluru comprised of 30 percent wetlands which had its own pristine beauty with a good network of streams, marshes, ponds and lakes. But now the city’s surface area has become 90 to 95 percent concrete, he said.

In 2022 Bengaluru witnessed a very erratic rainfall and places like the Outer Ring Road, Whitefield got flooded. Due to excessive concretization and lack of trees and soil the water could not make its way into the earth resulting in heavy floods. The concretization of places in Bengaluru have created heat islands, another reason for global warming.

Sandeep mentioned that the rainfall that Bengaluru used to experience previously was during the monsoons and the retreating monsoons. The rainfall was in a gradual and evenly distributed manner but nowadays it is like cloudbursts. The reason behind this is the change in climate. The presence of trees help in controlling the Carbon dioxide levels in the air. Trees help in extracting Carbon dioxide and transport it to the ground and this process is called Carbon sequestering. So the absence of trees is leading to the Carbon being present in the air.

Factors like these have been contributing to global warming. Humankind being blessed with the power to construct, is exploiting nature for selfish reasons and inviting disasters.

shruti.b@iijnm.org

The Revivers of Calligraphy

By Sneha T.S

There was a time when calligraphy artists and their works were in huge demand. It is rare to find these creative artists now. Currently, there are very few artists who practise hand- calligraphy as digitisation, with its graphic designing tools and software, has edged out calligraphers. Yet, there are several calligraphers who are leaving no stone unturned to keep the art alive. Neha Vinay’s journey as a calligraphy artist began at a summer camp when she was seven years old. “My father was particular about having good handwriting” says Neha, today an engineer by qualification, a calligrapher by profession and a homemaker by choice.

Her father Tallam Sunil always encouraged her artistic pursuits. “When I was in class five I wrote all the certificates for the sports day. I also used to write the names of all the seventy-five students of my class on their report cards.”

Though calligraphy had become a major part of her life since then, it was only in the year 2014 she decided to become a professional calligrapher and a trainer.

She started a calligraphy training institute, ‘VinNie’s Calligraphy, where she has so far trained 400 students through online and offline sessions.

While the year 2020 was a forgettable year for most people due to Coronavirus, Neha says that it was a year for a calligraphy wave. As she saw a rising demand for calligraphy that year, she understood that calligraphy is not just an art but also therapy for many. “It is mostly dependent on a person‘s emotional quotient. One would not be able to get the strokes right without concentrating on the art itself,” she said.

C Prasad, an Air Force officer and Neha’s former student said, “I had attended 18 sessions of calligraphy with her. I was not confident about my own handwriting. Learning calligraphy boosted my confidence. I was able to write well in all the public exams.”

Dr. Prathibha K, a pathologist at Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology Cancer Research and Training Centre, said “I had enrolled myself in the calligraphy classes when my two children were taking handwriting classes with Neha. I am a blood

bank medical officer and calligraphy really helped me in writing certificates for the donors.”

Not every artist starts early like Neha. There are some who take time to realise the artist within them. Ankita Jain is one of them; she does brush pen calligraphy, faux calligraphy, in broad edge, Neuland script, and is learning Devanagari.

“I learnt calligraphy in 2020, during the first lockdown, to help my child with his project work. I learnt the basics of brush pen calligraphy from a young girl named Archie who used to organize summer camps for small kids back in my hometown, Mysore,” said Ankita.

She liked the backgrounds which were taught and was very keen to learn those backgrounds. Ankita would go at 6 am to learn brush pen calligraphy. After learning and practising, she showed it to her sister Nikita. Nikita, who lives abroad, wanted Ankita to teach her online. On her sister’s suggestion, Ankita started a teaching institute ‘LUCKNLOVECREATIONS’.

“If anyone mentions calligraphy in Benga-

Calligraphy Tools | Credit : Neha Vinay

luru, they should know who Ankita is,” she said followed by a hesitant laughter.

Ankita takes it as a challenge to train one batch at a time rather than conducting weekly classes. She also conducts calligraphy workshops. To promote and create awareness about calligraphy.

According to her there are six stages in a calligrapher‘s life. The first is the excitement to learn it; you will start looking for

calligraphy in everything like restaurant menus and placards. Second is searching for information, facts and figures, basically everything about calligraphy. Third is looking for your tools and getting your supplies like a brush pen. Fourth stage is where you start writing and then you are disappointed with your own writing but you still continue experimenting. The fifth stage shows how persistent you are, it is the improvement stage. The sixth and final

stage is actually where you will eventually master it.

Neha disagrees that digitization has replaced hand rendered calligraphy. “The old trend always comes back, no matter what. Everything is so automated these days but people still crave for handwritten stuff.”

sneha.ts@iijnm.org

“Calligraphy makes me feel tranquil,” says Ankita. | Credit : Ankita Jain

“Currently, there are very few artists who practise hand- calligraphy as digitisation, with its graphic designing tools and software, has edged out calligraphers. Yet, there are several calligraphers who are leaving no stone unturned to keep the art alive.”

ADHD in Women gets no Attention

Most women or girls find it difficult to get diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

By Shreya Chekkilla

“Iremember thinking that there is something wrong with me throughout my childhood. But whenever I tried to tell anyone, they would say that I am overreacting or that it’s just the puberty hormones,” said Shrushti, a 24-year-old artist who was recently diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Shrushti spent all her childhood feeling like she does not belong. She used to be yelled at for interrupting people too much. So she learnt to keep her thoughts to herself. She was told that she should learn how to sit still and not be too loud, because girls are supposed to be well-behaved.

Whenever she tried to tell someone that there is something different going on in her brain, they would tell her: “Everyone goes through that. you are just overthinking everything.” So, she learnt to hide all her problems and act ‘normal’, as that’s what everyone told her to do. It wasn’t until she was 18 and stumbled across an Instagram post about ADHD, that she finally feel seen.

Shrushti said that she spent hours and hours doing research and realised that she might have ADHD. “I felt so relieved. I finally let myself hope that I’m not overreacting after all. Maybe there is a reason why I feel the way I feel,” she said.

ADHD or ADD (Attention-Deficit Disorder) is a chronic neurodevelopmental condition. It affects millions of people all over the world. The symptoms start showing up during childhood and continue to persist into adulthood. Many studies have reported that ADHD is primarily caused by structural differences in the brain.

Dr. Baijesh A. Ramesh, a clinical psychologist, said, “ADHD is characterised by a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity and impulsivity that has a direct negative impact on the academic, occupational or social functioning of an individual.” He said that it is usually diagnosed by the person’s hyperactivity, inattentiveness, forgetfulness, etc.

Teachers and parents are the ones who usually observe these symptoms in children. He added that usually ADHD is diagnosed before the age of 12, but many

people get diagnosed well into adulthood. The stereotypical misconception about ADHD is that only people who cannot sit still or are always jumping are the only ones with ADHD. But in reality, ADHD presents in different ways in men and women. In men, the symptoms present externally while in women the symptoms present internally. This means that women have internalised symptoms like anxiety, which are harder to identify.

“Around the world, boys are almost three times more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than girls. This is because the symptoms present more subtly in girls than they do in boys,” said Dr. Baijesh. Though clinically ADHD in men and women are almost the same, the way it affects their lives is different. He said that girls with ADHD tend to be more withdrawn and have low self-esteem, while boys tend to be loud and disruptive. This makes it harder for girls to get diagnosed.

Vinay, an 18-year-old football player, was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 10. “My teachers used to complain that I disrupt the class too much. I could never stay

in one place for too long. My parents got me checked out by my paediatrician to see if it was normal. He was the one who diagnosed me with ADHD,” he said. Since he was diagnosed early o and had professional help, he learnt to manage his symptoms.

As easy as it was for Vinay to get diagnosed, it was quite the opposite for his little sister. Vinay noticed that she was experiencing the same symptoms that he does, in a different way. He talked to his parents about taking her to see a psychologist. But his parents said that there is no need for it as his sister does not disturb anyone anyway.

“This is when I realised that ADHD and many other mental disorders like autism, are only recognised if they cause problems to the people around them. It does not matter if we suffer, as long as we don’t disturb others, our feelings do not matter,” said Vinay. He added that it was the first time he noticed how difficult it is for women to get anything in life as compared to men.

Shrushti also had a hard time getting diagnosed. “I tried different therapists and psychiatrists but was told repeatedly that since I was not hyperactive as a child, I did not

fit the criteria for ADHD.” She thought that maybe she was overthinking this and almost gave up on getting a diagnosis. It was her supportive parents who helped her finally get the validation she needed. She said, “I am lucky enough to have parents who were there for me. But sometimes I think about women who do not have any emotional support. How many women or girls gave up on getting help because they were told to shut up? Why does it have to be so hard for us to get a diagnosis? Why is everything we feel considered to be just hormones?”

Dr. Unnati is a clinical psychologist who works with children who have ADHD and autism. She said that there has been very little research done on ADHD in women. Almost every study focuses more on the most obvious symptoms of ADHD, which are the ones that mostly show up in men.“Getting help for mental health problems is difficult in a country like India, where therapy is still considered taboo in many places. The patriarchal society of our country shames women who try to speak out and express their problems. It is one of the reasons why even if women get diagnosed with ADHD, they do not get the proper help they need,” she added.

In India, ignorance of mental health issues is still prevalent and going to therapy means being certified as crazy. DR. Baijesh said that this is mainly due to the lack of awareness amongst the people. There should be more awareness programs conducted to educate people on how to identify mental health issues. “School teachers, especially, have to be able to recognise and identify when a student needs help,” he said. He added that there is also a lack of manpower in the country to make this happen. He said, “There are very few professionals in the country who are equipped to diagnose and treat conditions like ADHD.” India still has a long way to go in the journey of mental health. Women still have to fight against the whole society just to feel validated. Many women and girls struggle throughout their lives and suppress their instincts so that they do not inconvenience anyone. They live in a state of constant battle with their inner self. There should be more research done in the field of ADHD and how it affects women. This will be a step in the right direction, and will ensure that women get to live their lives to full capacity.

shreya.c@iijnm.org

The art in life-like video games

By Suryash Kumar

Remember playing video game Mario, or tanks protecting the treasure from enemies. The late 90s and early 2000s video games were great; please refrain from comparing them with today’s video games.

By today’s standards, those video games would appear as dots moving around the screen, but back then, those dots represented the pinnacle of technology, and people perceived video games as a game rather than art.

But with time, the canvas of artists has evolved: from a traditional white sheet clipped to a wooden board to digital screens. And the development of hardware and software has helped video games grow from a minimum art interface to an intense art interface.

“Art contains a variety of stuff ranging from 2D, Texturing, Modeling, Animations, etc. For 2D Art, all the artists and game studios have their preferences, like Krita, Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. For 3D, there are some industry-standard software like Maya, Max and Blender, and many studios use one of these,” said Chinmay Gawande, Director, Parody Studios.

The development of sophisticated graphic cards has facilitated the development of games that offer a real-world experience rather than a virtual world. It allows gamers to immerse themselves in the game and forget the real world because the virtual

world appears as good as the real world.

“In the earlier times, due to hardware limitations, developers had to focus on pixel art since they had limited colouring options and hardware capabilities, they often made pixel art, wherein they had to join some pixels on the screen so that they would look like something. Modern technologies and hardware like paint tables, provide more realistic canvases to paint, and artists are able to express anything nowadays with these tools,” Mr Gawande explained.

Mr Gawande added, “See Art is everything which a player can see with his naked eye right, so it is a critical part because sometimes art affects gameplay too. It ultimately comes down to how real the studio wants its game to look. The more realistic the game is, the more GPU power it consumes.”

“And video games are continuously evolving or becoming better. Game industry is continuously pushing boundaries when it comes to art, graphics and animation, where some are looking to make their games more and more realistic, while some are focusing towards abstract styles to express themselves,” Mr Gawande stated.

Games are getting better: each version of a game has a significant improvement over its previous version.“If you look at the Grand Theft Auto series, Rockstar games have made huge improvements in their

games. I mean look at the first GTA, it was a top-down 2D game, and now look at GTA5 the difference is massive, also GTA5 was made in 2013 we are now 9 years apart from its release, god knows what they will do with it today,” Mr Gawande explained.

Some gamers love to play games having a real game set-up; in contrast some gamers love toony or cartoon-slanted graphics. Mr Gawande said, “It varies vastly, some people like modern realistic games, some like the artistic approach in games such as Limbo, some like games such as Fortnite which has toony graphics, it varies vastly upon the gaming audience.”

And how long does it take to develop a game; well just like good things take time so do good games. The more intense graphics the game uses the more time is needed to develop the game. Mr Gawande endorses the above view, “It depends if it’s an indie small game it could take a few months but if it’s a AAA game it could take years. Some general steps are : Concept Art, Modeling, Texturing, Animation, Lighting and then Integration.” Developing games constitute different phases as stated above.

So next time you play a virtual game, keep in mind the creativity and resource that goes into creating the game.

suryash.k@iijnm.org

Gamers enjoying a graphic intensive game; the game offers them an immersive experience making them lose track of time | Credit: Ishan Rathi

The Fall of the Star

By Ahona Roy

Queues of people stand in front of the ticket counter at the Anjan Cinemas in Magadi Road, Bengaluru. It was Republic Day. And, there were two star-studded films that had released the previous day. One was Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan, the other was Vijay’s Varisu. Both of these films, with the biggest stars in the respective languages, were highly anticipated.

J Srinivas had come along with his entire family which included his wife, his son and daughter-in law and even his mother to watch Vijay starrer Varisu. Post covid, their visits to the movies had decreased quite a lot, he said. Otherwise, they would usually come to watch a film once in a month, if the reviews for the film are good. Srinivas and Co. have turned primarily to OTT platforms for films.

“It’s only to watch something sensational that we come to the movie theatres these days,” he said. Like Srinivas, Manoj Reddy, visits Cinema halls very rarely only when a good film releases be it a rom com or thriller or over the top action genre. He has moved to Amazon Prime.

Said Dhanya Naik, who had just come out from the cinema hall with her friend Sahana after watching Pathaan: “The film has to be good; the story has to be engaging

enough to draw us to the hall, whatever the genre,” Dhanya says. Otherwise, Amazon Prime and Hotstar would suffice, they said.

In her 2021 FC Producers Adda interview which featured some top producers in India, Anupama Chopra quoted Box Office India on how OTT platforms have led to underperformance of multiplex films like Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui as the audience would rather stream these films than buy a ticket to watch it in a theatre hall. Sameer Nair, the CEO of the Applause Enter-

dead.

Meanwhile, Pathaan has become a runaway hit and critics and analysts alike are wondering if its success has to do with the presence of a star.

According to Rupesh Rajanna, people were already starting to come less and less to the theatres even before the pandemic happened, because there were no good films.

tainment, had in reply said that’s where Stardom comes in. He defined Stardom as the ability of the actor to draw people to buy tickets in the theatre hall only by the association of their name to the film.

In that same interview, he also stated that because of the Pandemic, people were forced to stay home and watch streaming platforms which had led to a complete change in their taste of films and what kind of films they would prefer watching in theatres. Filmmaker Karan Johar in one of his interviews with Film Companion, had declared that Stardom was effectively

The manager of Anjan Cinemas, Rupesh Rajanna would disagree. “Stars don’t matter anymore,” he said in a matter-of-fact manner. “All one needs is a good story and the audience will come.” He cited the example of the 2021 Telugu language film Love Story, starring Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi. “It was relatively a small budget film, yet it was a huge success at the box office because people came to see it in throngs in the theatre halls in spite of the pandemic.” The film grossed Rs. 90 crores against its Rs. 30 crores budget. good.”

The loss of stardom in one sense would help actors and filmmakers to experiment and innovate. It could also take away the power of stars to control the script. Just like how the director, cinematographer or editor are subservient to the script, actors too would fall in line.

ahona.r@iijnm.org

“Stars don’t matter anymore. All one needs is a good story and the audience will come.”

Newer Therapies that make people express easily

By Priya Pathak

Practicing

psychotherapist Naomi

Bhatia is of the view that books and journaling, though non-mainstream, are impactful as therapy for a range of mental illnesses.

This comes from her belief that “Art is the language of the subconscious and it helps in expressing.”

Weekly workshops show change in the mental state of the person and also helps to understand what kind of thoughts they have, she says.

Rushika, who has tried bibliotherapy shares, “Personally, it has helped me escape from the real world. I don’t stress or worry about my problems when I’m reading, which has resulted in better mental health. Reading has also helped me improve my vocabulary and widen my horizons.”

Creative Journaling Therapy is another way.It involves writing down in a diary how one’s day went, all the important, good or bad days and incidents or memories. Some people practice it and are unaware of how

it is helping them. Some do it because it feels therapeutic.

Naomi says, It also helps to heal by creating what you think and also things you aspire with help of charts, drawings, stickers, dance, music and writing down notes of what the person thought after doing the same. It helps self realise emotions and understand where things are going wrong.

It can be done in workshops or individually too. If it is done in a group, it motivates people to be in the group and talk about problems they face. “If you find another person with similar problem it helps you relate and feel comfortable talking about it and change the point of view to recover from the problem,” she says.

Her workshops involve creatives like stickers, newspaper cuttings, dry flowers, paints, colour pens and charts or more to create what one feels. It may be a theme based creativity or just heartfelt for the therapist to understand the person’s mood, thought and mental state.

Creative journaling therapy differs from person to person as few feel better with counseling and few others with art or reading.

Sia Shetty shares her experience of attending a creative journaling therapy and says, “I felt relaxed as doing anything creative makes me happy. We also had an ongoing discussion that made me reflect on a lot of things. Others shared their views and I got a new perspective on certain things.”

Anyone from any age group can do it and find it a useful creative outlet and it is a simple yet wholesome way to express one’s thoughts and do something creative and fun. “People should experience it once,” said Sia.

Art therapy and this technique of creative journaling are not the mainstream ways of therapy. But these creative ways are simple and it can be done by oneself the way they want, to calm down and express themselves, recommends Naomi.

priya.p@iijnm.org

Art physiotherapist Naomi Bhatia at a creative journaling therapy session on Women’s Day | Credit: Priya Pathak

The only Pinocchio film you should watch

By Ahona Roy

In the opening montage of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, we see a father lose his son to bombs dropped from aircrafts. Most ironically, the son dies inside a church while praying to the statue of Jesus on a cross. Through the aforementioned scene, Guillermo del Toro tells you exactly what kind of film you are going to watch for the next two hours. You realize this is not really a kid’s film; in fact one could even say that this film deals with themes that would appear too dark even for the adults. Guillermo del Toro who directs this film also serves as the producer and shares the role of writer with fellow writer Matthew Robbins. Both del Toro and Robbins lifts the storyline from the eponymous novel by Carlo Collodi and infuses it with themes of loss, trauma, war, existentialism and the human condition not found in the original. Del Toro sets his version of the story at the backdrop of Italy during the World War II, when Mussolini was in power. So, we see Pinocchio get conscripted in the army, performing for Mussolini and get killed in various ways over and over again. Guillermo makes the titular character immortal and hence inhumane. The first time Pinocchio is shown alive, the carpenter Geppetto shudders in horror and so does the audience. This character’s design is a far cry from the adorable character design of Pinocchio that has been established by Disney in the

collective memory of the masses. It also speaks to the prowess of the stop-motion animation style and the animation team who has managed to make the character look creepy and yet relatable at the same time. The stop-motion animation style has astonishingly well complemented del Toro’s vision for the story adding textures and depths that makes the film stand out amongst all the three Pinocchio films that released in 2022, including a live action remake by Disney. Special mention also goes to the character design of the two Angels. The animators have made the two angels in the film look beautiful and equally terrifying at the same time; and somehow quite fitting to the biblical description of the Seraphic angels. But then again, it is the special quality of Guillermo del Toro to find beauty in what is considered to be monstrous, the nonhuman, the other.

In films such as The Shape of Water or Hellboy and now in his latest film, del Toro makes us feel sympathy for these monsters. It is as if he wants to say it is not the monsters who are really the monsters but the humans who do all these terrible things – who wage war and who cannot love. Pinocchio also shares similarities with another of his famous film Pan’s Labyrinth, as both are set in the back drop of countries under the rule of autocracy. It seems as if for Guillermo del Toro,

autocracy brings out the worst in human nature. This ideal of autocracy often clashes with the innocence of his nonhuman protagonists who try to resist it. In Pinocchio too, the main character struggles and resists the various forms of autocracy be it from the fascist government official who trains the boot camp, or the circus master who enslaves him or Mussolini himself. All of this makes del Toro’s adaptation superior than the iconic 1940 Disney adaptation, and in a rare case of exception, even more superior than the original novel. It is no surprise then that the film has won the Best Animated Feature at the 95th Academy Awards. By adapting a coming of age story children's novel into an animation film which reflects on the terrifying experiences of childhood and comments on the facets of life, del Toro has not only pushed the boundaries of adaptation but has also challenged the boundaries of animation films as art forms only meant for children. Guillermo del Toro says it more aptly in his winning speech at the Golden Globes for this film, “Animation is cinema. Animation is not a genre for kids, it’s a medium.” ahona.r@iijnm.org

A scene from the movie

Screen Shot

‘Class’ clubs murder mystery with elite school snobbery

By Shruti Banerjee

The Hindi web series Class is an adaptation of the Spanish drama named Elite by Carlos Montero and Dario Madrona. Directed by Ashim Ahluwalia, Class is an eight-part series which centers around the murder of a student named Suhani Ahuja. Class was aired on 3rd February, 2023 on Netflix and has gained positive criticism till now.

The story of Class is set in New Delhi and revolves around the murder of Suhani Ahuja, a student of New Hampton International School which happens to be an elite school. It even has a swimming pool. The series kickstarts with a lower middle income class boy named Dheeraj Kumar Valmiki played by Piyush Khati being interrogated by the New Delhi police for the murder.

As Dheeraj narrates the events, flashback follows and the audience is introduced to the beginning of the story. It shows that three teenagers – Dheeraj, Saba

Manzoor played by Madhyama Segal and Balaram Patwal played by Cwayal Singh commonly known as Balli who belong to low income families – join New Hampton International School through a scholarship. Their old school was burnt down in a fire, it is mentioned.

The three students get a very dismal welcome and they are taunted and shamed in various ways. Dheeraj belonged to a family where his father was an alcoholic and his elder brother Neeraj worked at a local restaurant. Saba Manzoor belonged to a conservative Muslim family and wore a hijab to school and was asked by the principal to remove it. Balaram aka Balli is of a very garrulous nature.

Suhani Ahuja, a very rich kid develops a liking towards Dheeraj. The series has a lot of layers and subplots and they mainly explore the emotions that teenagers go through and the difference in social class. It also deals with how the three newcomers

adjust to the new surroundings.

The around-5-minute episodes show the lifelessness in rich families who, despite having all the luxuries feel a void, how corruption breeds in such households, and how they live masked lives.

The subplot also deals with things like teenage relationships, mistakes they make that haunt them for a long time. Class also openly showcases homosexuality and bisexuality and how they are tabooed topics in India.

The music and visuals add a vibe to the series that actually creates a suspense of who committed the murder of Suhani. The dialogues at times get cringy. The costumes show the difference in the social status of the characters. Recently, a second season of Class has been announced. The series deserves a rating of 8 out of 10.

shruti.b@iijnm.org

A still from the television series ‘Class’ | Credit: Screen shot

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