Glimpses of Namma Bengaluru
When a City Becomes a Character
How do you tell the tale of a city? Can the city become a character in a book? How do you write a non fiction book about a place that you call home? In this session, writer Shoba Narayan uses her new book, ‘Namma Bangalore: The Soul of a Metropolis‘ as a vehicle to discuss the writing process. She talks about the craft of writing, the process of writing this book, about being a travel writer– even in your own city, about finding characters and plots and how you edit your own work.
In this session, Shoba will also discuss the themes of her book with three important participants: MD Pallavi who will talk about the music of Karnataka/ Bangalore, Kunal Bysani who is an expert on Bangalore’s food; and Udaya Kumar who has researched Bangalore’s history for decades. She will draw them out about their expertise and also talk about how she wove in many such elements in the writing of the book.
Speakers
Shoba Narayan
Shoba Narayan is the author of six books, a journalist, columnist and content creator. She has written on a variety of topics and won a James Beard award and Pulitzer Fellowship. She has taught courses at IIM Bangalore and the Indian Institute of Science. She founded and co-created two websites: Project LooM, about textiles traditions of India, and Jewels of India: about Indian jewellery. She is the host and anchor of Bird Podcast: about birds and nature. She serves on the board of Industree Foundation, Neev Academy and Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography. Her lifelong mission is to get fit without exercising and lose weight without dieting.
Kunal Bysani
Kunal Bysani aka Ghatotkatcha, represented Bengaluru food in National channels like Delhi Food Walks and Hmm, is an avid foodie who says food is his first love.
He started expressing that admiration for food on social media channels like Instagram and Facebook. He was also the first one to have started making food videos with a Kannnada voiceover, which now is a leading trend. He has been mentioned in multiple articles in the media for the knowledge of Old Mysore and Rayalaseema cuisine.
Passion for food has now become an occupation and he’s a full time consultant for restaurants to market their place through his firm Afthonia Media.
Udaya Kumar
Udaya Kumar is a passionate Bangalorean, citizen historian and heritage conservationist. He loves to research lesser-known aspects of the city’s history. He is currently working to secure and build more awareness about Bangalore’s incredible inscription stones. He has a Master’s degree in Engineering Mechanics from IIT Madras and has worked with the Tata’s, General Electric and Schneider Electric.
Udaya was recognized as Namma Bengaluru citizen individual of the year 2019 for his work in the area of heritage conservation in Bengaluru. Udaya is now the Honorary Director for the Bengaluru Inscriptions 3d Digital Conservation Project of Mythic Society.
Pallavi MD
Pallavi MD is a singer, composer, actor and filmmaker. She comes from a family of artists and has a degree in Hindustani classical music from The Benares University. She has been performing Kannada poetry (bhavageethe) for the last twenty eight years. She has been composing music for theatre, dance and television.
She won the State award Best Playback Singer in the year 2007, and the State Kempegowda award for her contribution in the field of music. She has been awarded the prestigious Ustad Bismillah Khan national Award for her contribution to the field of Music. She has performed jugalbandis with classical musicians, and has been a part of many fusion and world music ensembles. She has been a part of many international and interdisciplinary collaborations. She is keen on collaborating with multidisciplinary artists and looks for projects that experiment with form and content.
Perhaps you may want to include two others, one from Kolkata and he raves about Kolkata and his name is Raju Raman, film critic, also a fascinating pundit with knowledge of German, French, English, Bengali, very well known in kolkata
Was reading the Introduction section of the book page xii ” Winter temperatures rarely drop below 15d and even the two hottest months of the year-April and May- see average temperatures only in the high 20s.
Cut to 2024… April2024 Bengaluru recorded high 30s and even touched 41.8d on 1st May
Hope it is a wake call for us to go back to old Bangalore with tree and lakes.