Latest news with #BangaloreLiteratureFestival
Indian Express
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Writer's Corner: ‘Barefoot and Pregnant' author Shinie Antony on Bengaluru's calming effect, publishers take on short stories
Shinie Antony is an editor, writer, and compiler all rolled into one. For those Bangaloreans with an abiding interest in literature, she is also a prominent face as one of the original movers behind the Bangalore Literature Festival that draws bibliophiles every December. Like many other writers from Bengaluru, Antony has noted the influence of the city on her work. As she puts it, in an email to The Indian Express, 'Bengaluru has had a calming effect on me, like coming home. I was here in the early 90s, and left for Mumbai, coming back here from Delhi in 2007. Immediately the city lay a cool palm on my forehead. My little desk is situated in some corner of this city and faces a particular view. I like the sameness of my days here and hope that grounding infuses what I write.' She forayed into the world of writing through short stories. Antony recalls that early in her writing career, around 2002, publishers were of the opinion that short stories 'don't sell'. She recalls, 'I had once interviewed Shashi Deshpande and she had told me to start with short stories, go on to long short stories, then short long ones and finally to long long ones…..I have no memory of how my first collection of stories, Barefoot and Pregnant, got published except that it seemed impossible.' Antony has also delved into compiling volumes of short stories for publication, with multiple authors contributing to a theme. She says, 'Any theme, like life itself, is treated differently by everyone. No two authors grasp an idea the same way, they bring so much of who they are and their own styles into it. Whether the theme is revenge or the whole business of being a woman, reader curiosity lies in studying what a writer comes up with'. Like many veteran authors, her writing routine is whimsical – as she puts it, lingering over phone calls until she finally switches on her computer. According to her, 'I meet deadlines first, then go to the one or two files that contain half-done stories. If the stories do not meet me halfway, I listen to music. I love Tamil and Malayalam folk songs, also old Christian hymns. These then either distract me completely or bring me back in some mysterious way to my story.' One of the major contributions of Shinie Antony to Bengaluru's literary scene is the two-day Bangalore Literature Festival. As every year draws to a close, authors and fans of books from around the world assemble at the Lalit Ashok Hotel, the venue of the Bangalore Literature Festival, which is a mere stone's throw from where Mahatma Gandhi himself held court before his disciples in 1927. In the initial years, the event faced several challenges, which were largely financial. Once that problem was solved, after every festival, the focus shifted to preparing for the next edition. 'Grand visions and curation were the easy part, but funds had to be real, countable. But once the festival became community-funded, it took on a dreamlike quality. No ads, no sponsors, only people. Every year, we must unlock a secret: 'What does Bangalore want to read now?' The festival has grown beyond its organisers, it belongs completely to the city. The preparations are yearlong. We are always hearing of this book or that book, and we are not fixated only on the latest or the newest. The team is filled with passionate readers, and this translates into loud rows or giggles during the planning stage,' she says.
Indian Express
22-04-2025
- General
- Indian Express
160-year-old Bengaluru heritage building gets new lease of life as public space for a noble cause
As you walk down Kamaraj Street in Bengaluru, a newcomer may not realise that the building opposite the Sri Vittoba Temple is over a century old. Known as Sabha, it has undergone significant changes over the years but has now been restored to its original appearance, reminiscent of the time when Rao Bahadur Arcot Narrainswamy Mudaliar, a well-known philanthropist, built it over 160 years ago. RBANM's Educational Charities, founded by Mudaliar, owns the building and seemed to have been run as a school for some time past 1945, according to surviving documents. The premises lay unused for over a decade when the Ammini Trust undertook the restoration efforts. V Ravichandar, who runs the trust alongside his wife Hema, said, 'I was aware of the building about five-six years ago and brought some potential donors to restore it, but it did not work out. We decided to do it ourselves as it was a project worth doing.' Ravichandar was previously involved in constructing another public space, the Bangalore International Centre, and is one of the major forces behind the Bangalore Literature Festival each year. He added, 'We have shrinking public spaces in the city… A lot of buildings like this are coming down. Hopefully, somebody else could be inspired to restore a building like this instead of bringing it down.' Apart from two courtyards, the location has two buildings. The older one, dating back 160 years, is a flat-roofed 'Madras terrace' reinforced from below with teak wood beams. The other building, around 130 years old, features sloped roofs and circular rose windows that were in vogue then. Due to the various complications and damage from age and water, he estimated that the project cost was 40 per cent higher than building it from scratch. (Express Photo) However, it was not all smooth sailing. The age of the building necessitated the aid of specialist carpenters from Kerala and a veteran adviser in the field from Vadodara, R J Vasavada. Ravichandar noted, 'These buildings were made with lime mortar with jaggery as a binder. We have followed the same principles to restore the Madras terrace. Several wooden beams had to be replaced, with the bent beams re-used as rafters… We have stayed true to the design principles which were followed at that time.' Due to the various complications and damage from age and water, he estimated that the project cost was 40 per cent higher than building it from scratch. Architect Bijoy Ramachandran, who also worked on the Bangalore International Centre, said, 'This is a low-lying area close to the Ulsoor Lake, so there is a lot of underground water just three or four feet below the surface. So a lot of the walls were damaged by water rising from below.' 'By inserting stone into the wall along the periphery, we stopped the water from climbing up the masonry and damaging it. We also added a set of perforated pipes under the floor so any water enters a drainage system. The roofs were also badly damaged over the replaced large portions of both the roofs,' added Ramachandran. According to Ravichandar, Sabha is intended to be a self-sustaining venue. While it is owned by RBANM, the Ammini Trust will manage Sabha, which will be rented out for artistic and cultural events. Surplus income will be used to benefit underprivileged children, sixty of whom have signed up for art classes at the venue, which was formally opened on April 12. Interested visitors may find the building opposite the Sri Vittoba Temple on Kamaraj Road, some distance past Commercial Street, and can enter the building using a side entrance.
