blogs » lifestyle
BangaLore #22: A midsummer day's reality
By Sonalee Rau | May 13, 2009, midnight | In Lifestyle Blog »
We're having an Indian summer in Bangalore right now.
An on-screen offense
By Fran Djoukeng | May 10, 2009, midnight | In Lifestyle Blog »
With the onset of the summer blockbuster season, Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros, and Walt Disney Pictures, among other giant film companies, are maximizing every opportunity to publicize possible hits.
F for Facebook
By Julia Wynn | May 5, 2009, midnight | In Lifestyle Blog »
For all Facebook's social charm and fun applications, parents may now have the proof they need to limit our use of the social network or prohibit it entirely (gasp).
BangaLore #21: IIT's "it"
By Sonalee Rau | May 2, 2009, midnight | In Lifestyle Blog »
The college craze: it's an inevitable part of life for high school students and graduate school applicants all over the world. To make matters more difficult, there's a stigma associated with not going to a great college in any country.
Viva la Slanket!
By Kiera Zitelman | April 25, 2009, midnight | In Lifestyle Blog »
As a member of both the "When I grow up, I'm going to be Liz Lemon…blerg" and "The Slanket is far superior to the Snuggie" Facebook groups, I was obviously ecstatic when my love of Slankets (I own a blue one) united with my favorite TV show, "30 Rock," on Thursday.
BangaLore #20: Tibet or not Tibet?
By Sonalee Rau | April 24, 2009, midnight | In Lifestyle Blog »
That is the question. The 50th anniversary of the Tibetan rebellion recently passed: March 10, 1959 marked the day when the uprising of Tibetans against the Chinese government officially began.
BangaLore #19: Why did the Bangalorean cross the road?
By Sonalee Rau | April 17, 2009, midnight | In Lifestyle Blog »
Beats me, but it probably took him half an hour to get to the other side.
BangaLore #18: Train of thought
By Sonalee Rau | March 31, 2009, midnight | In Lifestyle Blog »
At a glance, you wouldn't recognize the Metro station in Bangalore as a Metro.
BangaLore #17: In the 'hood
By Sonalee Rau | March 22, 2009, midnight | In Lifestyle Blog »
At midnight if you listen out the window, you can hear the neighbors playing table tennis. During the Olympics, they celebrated every night with their television turned up to maximum volume. They're Chinese immigrants and they live next door in an apartment complex full of Buddhists. There's a statue of a Hindu idol outside the gate.
Bangalore #16: Screen time
By Sonalee Rau | March 16, 2009, midnight | In Lifestyle Blog »
Indians aren't heavily into sports. In Bangalore, it's mainly just cricket, badminton...and surfing. Channel surfing, that is. Indian television is almost like American television, except sans WETA phone-a-thons and with a few twists.
BangaLore #15: Charity case
By Sonalee Rau | March 9, 2009, midnight | In Lifestyle Blog »
Last month I saw a beggar woman sprinting down the street. She had stolen a businessman's laptop, hoping to make a quick buck by selling it - and he was at her heels. But not all lower-class Bangaloreans are thieves. Many are generous and charitable despite their financial situations. Random acts of kindness aren't extinct in Bangalore quite yet.
BangaLore #14: The fundamentals don't apply
By Sonalee Rau | March 1, 2009, 11:02 p.m. | In Lifestyle Blog »
In India, the regular rules of the universe don't seem to be in effect. Take, for example, the laws of time and space. Einstein stated unequivocally that they can't be bent, yet this country proves otherwise. "In a minute" to an Indian can mean anywhere from an hour to two days.
A fun night at the Kodak Theatre
By Anika Manzoor | Feb. 26, 2009, 1:44 p.m. | In Lifestyle Blog »
I never watch Oscar-worthy movies until well after the awards season...which is why I watch the Academy Awards not to see who goes home with the most gold, but to see all the gorgeous dresses and the entertainment. After last year's show of forgettable gowns and a so-so host (love ya, Jon, but stick to "The Daily Show"), the 2009 Oscars celebration was quite a treat for this shallow viewer.
BangaLore #13: What not to wear
By Sonalee Rau | Feb. 23, 2009, 10:35 p.m. | In Lifestyle Blog »
What, really, is the dress code on Bangalorean streets? Well, when in Bangalore, do as the Bangaloreans do. For one thing, wearing "revealing" clothing like shorts above the knee is generally taboo. Yet sandals are a given for both men and women in Bangalore - whether on a walk in the park or at a formal gathering.
Twenty-five things I could do without
By Rose Wynn | Feb. 18, 2009, 11:51 p.m. | In Lifestyle Blog »
It has taken the online social networking world by storm. The "25 Random Things" note, which asks Facebook users to list 25 interesting, bizarre, fun and often surprisingly revealing facts about themselves, is part of a new and strangely addicting phenomenon.
Wanted: a real hero
By Katie Sint | Feb. 17, 2009, 1:54 p.m. | In Lifestyle Blog »
When I was a kid, my celebrity hero was chef Julia Child. She was a WWII veteran and inspired my love of all cooking shows. She may have been old and her cooking styles may have been simple, but she was my hero.
BangaLore #12: Southern (Indian) hospitality
By Sonalee Rau | Feb. 10, 2009, 1:30 p.m. | In Lifestyle Blog »
Bangalorean dinner parties are seriously time consuming. If you've ever been to one, you know what I mean. Here's the basic schedule...
BangaLore #10: An unnatural limbo
By Sonalee Rau | Jan. 21, 2009, 10:13 p.m. | In Lifestyle Blog »
There are few places so totally in harmony with nature as Bangalore. South Indian parties and "functions" feature meals served on banana leaves, the perfect disposable plates. Cows roam the streets freely and motorists tend to give them the right of way.
BangaLore #9: How to talk first class
By Sonalee Rau | Jan. 10, 2009, midnight | In Lifestyle Blog »
Well, since we're finally in 2009 (the year before the year of all years...ONE-OH) here's a little something from SCO to you: the official unofficial guide to talking like an Indian! Practice speaking with these "Indianisms" to be as hip as those "Slumdog Millionaire" characters.
BangaLore #8: Joe the rickshaw driver
By Sonalee Rau | Jan. 8, 2009, midnight | In Lifestyle Blog »
India is a kaleidoscope, a tapestry woven of 17 languages and a billion people. And it's people who give the country its color: the seemingly ordinary, unsung heroes of everyday life, the blue-collar workers.
Prices may fall, but keep our awareness up
By Jenna Bushnell | Dec. 27, 2008, midnight | In Lifestyle Blog »
With all of this holiday cheer and flakes of snow comes what seems like another blessing: low gas prices. Sure, maybe not the first thing you think of when you think of the excitement of winter break, but according to CNN, gas prices are at a five-year low at $1.65 per gallon and that is something to be thankful for.
BangaLore #7: Pass the ketchup
By Sonalee Rau | Dec. 23, 2008, midnight | In Lifestyle Blog »
"My, how THIN you've gotten! Come in and eat something!" Every Indian has heard this upon visiting the home of a long-lost relative. Whether or not one has actually lost weight is irrelevant. If someone asks you if you want more food at an Indian meal, it's a rhetorical question.
BangaLore #6: The price is right
By Sonalee Rau | Dec. 15, 2008, midnight | In Lifestyle Blog »
Every day is Black Friday in Bangalore. Comic Russell Peters proudly proclaimed to the world on one of his shows that "all Indians are cheap." And while that's a bit of a blanket statement, most Indians are, truthfully, pretty frugal. It's part of the culture. Why go all the way to the grocery store when there are door-to-door vegetable vendors? It's easier than Peapod and more affordable, too.
BangaLore #5: Hot off the press
By Sonalee Rau | Dec. 8, 2008, midnight | In Lifestyle Blog »
When I entered the austere, white concrete reception hall at the Times of India (ToI) printing press in Bangalore, filled with plastic chairs, I stopped in my tracks for a moment. Could this press, I questioned, really be the largest facility of its kind in all South Asia?
Desperate for a bargain
By Jenna Bushnell | Dec. 1, 2008, midnight | In Lifestyle Blog »
Our deteriorating economy gives reason to bargain shop. We all want to find good deals to save money, but it seems like some are taking it too far. That desperation for a deal, which manifested itself this past Black Friday, became deadly at a Long Island Wal-Mart when an employee was trampled to death by a frantic mob of shoppers. Jdimytai Damour, 34, was killed while trying to restrain the crazed barganeers.
We found 238 results.