Take conversations beyond the superficial and find what you share in common with a fellow human in a different country. Quicksand, a design studio based in Bengaluru, New Delhi and Goa, and Invisible Flock, a UK-based interactive arts studio are carrying out a year-long art project, launched in February, titled ‘Duet’ which anonymously connects two strangers from India and the United Kingdom. Participants in the project use the Duet app to get paired with someone in the other country, and answer one new question every day. Through questions about a place which makes you happy, bad advice you may have received and the last thing you made with your own hands, you slowly get a picture of your partner’s world.

With a smartphone in hand, you can practise swaras and ragas to perfection in the comfort of your home using the mobile app Riyaz. Developed by Bengaluru-based startup Musicmuni Labs, the app helps you learn Carnatic and Hindustani vocals through step-by-step modules. You can sing along with the instructor or listen and repeat and the app will give you immediate feedback on your performance.

What would happen if doctors replace scalpels with paintbrushes? Sameeksha Art, Research and Media has put together a group show titled ‘Drs@ART’ at the Venkatappa Art Gallery, featuring paintings and artworks by 24 doctors from the state and other parts of the country. ENT consultant Dr Sreenivasa Murthy always wanted to try out painting because, as a surgeon, he was interested in anything that involved the use of his hands. “My daughter wanted to join a class. When we found a teacher, out of curiosity, I asked if I could join too,” he said. For the past one-and-a-half years, he has been practising for at least 10 hours a week and attending classes in the weekend.

Reasonable prices and wide variety of media attract large crowds to the Chitra Santhe every year. Though affordability makes the art fest popular among public, serious artists are not amused. “Chitra Santhe devalues art,” said Ramdas M, a watercolour artist who was disappointed with customers haggling over prices. “Since it is a fair, people are not willing to spend. They expect me to sell a painting worth Rs 30,000 for half its price. The frame alone costs between Rs 2,000 and Rs 4,000,” he said. Amateurs sell for very low prices so the public expects even experienced artists to sell at such rates, he complained.

An ordinary NGO worker who fights crime in the city on the side — this is Bengaluru’s very own superhero named ‘Karma.’ Created by Rajeev Tamhankar, Karma, or Abhay as he is otherwise known, is inspired by the sessions he attends on the Bhagavad Gita. When dangerous villains try to incriminate his NGO in a drug-peddling scandal, Abhay puts on a mask and fights them.

Known for being early-adopters, Bengalureans are now taking to Lucia No 3, a light machine which makes you “high”. IT professionals, lawyers and others in the city leading stressful lives are finding peace and relaxation in becoming “light travellers.” Developed by Austrian scientists Dr Dirk Proeckl and Dr Engelbert Winkler, the Lucia light looks like a contraption from a sci-fi movie. It has a central halogen light, surrounded by eight LED lights. The user sits in front of the lamp with eyes closed and headphones on to cut out external noise. Then the journey begins.

A play on the life of a scientist. If this statement has not captured your interest, you will miss out on an exciting tale of ambition, betrayal and a complicated friendship between two great astrophysicists of modern times. Written by Nilanjan Choudhury and directed by Prakash Belawadi, “The Square Root of a Sonnet”, is about the life of “little known” astrophysicist, Subramanyan Chandrasekhar. Chandrasekhar, the nephew of Nobel laureate C V Raman, was 19 and on a ship from Bombay to Cambridge when he formulated the equations that led to the discovery of black holes. But his own mentor, Sir Arthur Eddington, did all he could to suppress the young scientist’s work, resulting in a Nobel Prize awarded over 50 years late in 1983.

None could have better captured the richness and diversity of the land and people of Karnataka than Mario Miranda did in his illustrations for the book ‘The Open Eyes’. An exhibition titled ‘Karnataka as seen by Mario’ at the Indian Cartoon Gallery here, showcases the illustrations which the internationally acclaimed Goan cartoonist made to support the writing by Dom Moraes for the book commissioned by the Department of Information, Government of Karnataka.

Though each state in South India has its own flourishing film industry, filmmakers say the movies they produce are often homogeneous and fail to capture the distinct identity of each state. Gopi Peenya, director of Kodava movie ‘Talang Neer,’ said the primary reason was that majority of the films, be it Kannada, Tamil or Telugu, are set in urban locations, focussing on lifestyle in the city.

If walking in the streets after dark makes you jittery or if you feel unprepared to tackle an eve-teaser, Jeet Kune Do is the answer to your fears. Developed by the man in the yellow jumpsuit, the legendary Bruce Lee, JKD prepares an individual to fight the dangers in this modern world. As Bruce Lee said, JKD is the “art of fighting without fighting,” which means you defeat your opponent with the least possible effort. “Nothing is foul in JKD. If biting is the move which will help you bring down your opponent, use it. Also, in JKD, men, women, burly and lean people, all engage in combat with each other. After all, you don’t get to pick your attacker,” said Dr Ritesh Reddy, one of the 500 genuine JKD instructors in the world.

Come December, these runners are going to lace up their well-worn shoes and sprint to give millets, the forgotten superfood, a push among urban consumers. ‘Miles for Millets’ is a campaign to increase awareness on this homegrown grain by Mera Terah Run collective, a group of volunteers who run for a cause. Conceived in 2014 by Jagdish Damania, an IT professional, Mera Terah run started as a journey to run 13 half-marathons in 13 days, travelling by rail and raising funds for various NGOs. Their effort was even appreciated by the Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in a letter addressed to them.