District Minister Sreenivasa Prasad is seen felicitating the freedom fighters as (from left) MLA Tanveer Sait, MP H. Vishwanath, Police Commissioner M.A. Saleem, DCP A.N. Rajanna, Deputy Commissioner C. Shikha and SP Abhinav Khare look on
Mysore :
Five freedom fighters amongst the few survivors of a generation that took part in the freedom struggle, were felicitated for their contributions during the I-Day celebrations yesterday.
The District Administration, which identified five out of the 50 members of Mysore District Freedom Fighters Association, honoured them. They are:
1. P. Venkata Swamy: Born in 1927, he was arrested during the Quit India Movement despite being a student. He had also been taken as a political prisoner for participating in the movement and imprisoned for a month. Currently, he is the Secretary of the District Freedom Fighters Association.
2. M.B. Hale Gowda: Born in 1930, he was involved in picketing during anti-tobacco and anti-liquor movements in the district and also took part in social reconstruction besides being involved in the Mysore Chalo Movement. He too underwent imprisonment at the Srirangapatna Sub-jail.
3. C.N. Ashwathnarayana Shetty: He took part in social movements connected with freedom struggle and was arrested along with scores of Congress leaders during such struggles. He was sent to Mandya jail before being shifted to Bangalore central jail for one month.
4. M.Somashekaraiah: He took part in Mysore Chalo agitation and was taken into custody while on a Prabhat Pheri at Hassan.
5. B. Lingaiah: He was felicitated for his participation in the Goa Liberation movement.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 16th, 2013
Replica of theDandi March statue at Freedom Fighters park in city.
The city of the Mysore is usually identified for its tradition, culture and aesthetics. Thousands of tourists from across the globe visit Mysore every day to view various tourist spots across the city. While the Government has been chalking out plans to improve city’s tourism, little is done to promote the city’s role in the freedom struggle and freedom fighters who laid their lives. Tyagis such as Thagadur Ramachandra Rao, M.N. Jois, Yashodamma Dasappa, Ramaswamy and many more fought for the freedom. Mysore, which was a Princely State then, witnessed ‘Mysore Chalo’ agitation against the rulers, for disagreeing to join the Union of India. Prior to Mysore Chalo, freedom fighters took active part in the ‘Quit India Movement.’
This Weekend’s Star Supplement tries to give an insight into the freedom struggle in Mysore.
Freedom Struggle and Mysore
Mysore :
As India celebrates its 67th Independence Day on August 15, 2013, people in Mysore also remember the contributions of freedom fighters from Mysore, who braved their hearts to fight for Independence and also during ‘Mysore Chalo,’ the post-independence struggle to bring the Princely State of Mysore under the Union of India.
At a time when the struggle for independence had begun, Mysore was also influenced by the national awakening which was being evidenced by newspapers such as The Hindu, The New India, Maratha and some of the local newspapers such as Karnataka Prakashika, Suryodaya Prakashika and Vrittanta Chittamani.
There was definite activity in the direction of national awakening as was evidenced during the I World War when Thagadur Ramachandra Rao started his movement against the foul criticism of the Hindu Society by the Christian Missionaries and also started selling pictures of Jalianwallah Bagh tragedy at his shop in Mysore in 1919.
When Bal Gangadhar Tilak passed away on August 1, 1920, there was a huge procession of mourners and shops in Mysore were closed. Even the district court was forced to shut. The procession was led by the students of Maharaja’s College followed by the boys of Marimallappa High School and other schools and among the leaders were Devudu Narasimha Shastry, a college student then, M. Venkatakrishnaiah, who was the Principal of Marimallappa High School, who were responsible for bringing in leaders such as Thagadur Ramachandra Rao, M.N. Jois, Palahalli Sitaramaiayya and Agaram Rangayya to the national cause.
When KPCC was formed in the Nagpur Congress convention, its branches were opened all over Karnataka in 1921 and M. Venkatakrishnaiah was the first President of Mysore District Congress Committee. In the mofussil areas, Visveswara Gowda of Nanjangud, T. S. Subbanna of Thagadur, T. Rama Rao, Siddhoji Rao and T.P. Boraiah at T.Narasipur, advocate M.A. Srinivas Iyengar and G. Krishna Murthy of Hunsur and Ganapathi Shastry of Saligrama were some of the early leaders of Congress during 1920s and early 1930s who spearheaded the freedom movement.
The Congress in this part of the region was funded by philanthropists like Sahukar D. Banumaiah, P.N. Sangappa and hotelier Badri Prasad.
By 1938, the struggle for independence intensified after the Shivapura Congress was held. Many leaders were imprisoned after the Shivapura Satyagraha and Dwaja Satyagraha in Mysore region. Freedom fighters from Chamarajanagar and K.R. Nagar actively participated in the freedom struggle which resulted in about 6000 people being sent to jails across Karnataka.
Speaking to Star of Mysore, Mysore District Freedom Fighters Association President D.S. Jagadish said that at the time of Quit India Movement people involved in freedom struggle laid a siege on the post offices, damaged the railway tracks and cut off the telephone lines in protest. The protest intensified after news about Mahatma Gandhi’s arrest was announced.
Majority of the planning regarding the freedom struggle was being done at Subbarayana Kere, which is located opposite Anathalaya on Narayana Shastri Road in city.
Mysore also witnessed the visit of Mahatma Gandhi during the freedom struggle on August 19, 1927 to propagate the cause of khadi following which a khadi production unit was started at Badanawal in Nanjangud Taluk.
Later, at the time of the Simon Commission visit to India, Thagadur Ramachandra Rao published a booklet ‘Simon Commissionnige Dhikkara’ (Down, Down Simon Commission) and addressed a public meeting in Mysore. He was sent to 15 days imprisonment and thus became the first political prisoner in Mysore State (1928).
The Tricolour was hoisted by M.N. Jois and L.V. Rajagopal on January 26, 1930 at Mysore as per the call of the All India Congress Committee. When the Civil Disobedience movement was launched in the British territories, two batches of volunteers — one led by Siddhanath Pant and another led by G.R. Swamy — went to Bombay-Karnataka area and returned after the signing of Gandhi-Irvine Pact in 1931.
Mysore also witnessed the commencement of Diamonds’ League, a nationalist youth organisation started by B. Srinivas Murthy and Krishnamurthy Padaki with the help of A.N. Suryanarayan Rao at Chamundipuram. The organisation was started to mobilise youths for the national movement. It also organised an exhibition of Swadeshi goods in 1932 at Chamundipuram.
Again, a large number of youths went to Bombay in 1932 and underwent imprisonment. Among them were M.N. Jois, his wife Subbamma Jois, Suryanarayan Pandit, N.D. Srirangachar and T.S. Subbanna. Many faced social boycott on return and M.N. Jois and his wife were even refused entry into their house.
Thagadur Ramachandra Rao organised temple entry programme for untouchables at Nanjangud and also founded a Harijan hostel in Thagadur in 1934. Gandhiji visited Mysore to advocate the eradication of untouchability and raised contributions for Harijan fund. After this, Thagadur Ramachandra Rao and his colleagues like M.N. Jois had to face lot of humiliation and insults when they went to work among the villagers. They were denied food and shelter even by the hostels and were greeted by pelting of stones, footwear and cowdung.
In later years, student leaders like Ramachandra Jois, H.S. Sadashivaiah and T.S. Subbanna conducted nationalist programmes at Maharaja’s College including flag hoisting in 1937, 1938 and 1939. To curb the nationalist activities among students, an order was passed in June 1938 that students failing in annual examination of the high school classes should not be allowed to attend classes for a second year. This resulted in Congress leaders like M.N. Jois taking initiative to start the Mahajan High School for victimised students in 1938.
Student strike continued even after the students spread themselves in groups to mofussil areas. Eight student leaders including H.Y. Sharada Prasad and Abdul Gafoor were arrested and 26 elder detainees from Mysore Jail were shifted to Bangalore Central Jail with a view to keep the students in ‘isolation’ in Mysore Jail. Despite all efforts by the Government to stop the students from striking, it continued. But, the death of a student, Shankarappa, in Mysore jail due to lathi charge on October 29, 1942, created panic among both the jail inmates and their parents. A student meeting at the Town Hall on November 23, 1942 which was chaired by Bhupalan Vasudeva Murthy, was attended by more than 1000 students who passed a resolution to withdraw the strike and return to classes and engage themselves in national and constructive work.
This was followed by the release of H.Y. Sharada Prasad and other convicted leaders on December 3, 1942. Even after the schools and colleges reopened, incidents of explosions were reported from Maharaja College Library on December 9, 1942. M.V. Krishnappa, one of the leaders, who was underground, offered satyagraha and courted arrested in January, 1943. The 11- week student struggle in Mysore went on to become one of the unique factors in Karnataka’s history of Quit India Movement.
Even today, freedom fighters in Mysore observe Quit India Movement Day. The District Freedom Fighters Association organises special function on August 9 every year and remembers those who sacrificed their lives during independence struggle.
Mysore Chalo
Even after India achieved independence from the British Rule on August 15, 1947, the celebrations in Mysore were subdued due to the resistance from the administrators of the Princely State. The then ruler Jayachamaraja Wadiyar refused to establish Responsible Government. Even the Indian Tricolour was not allowed to be hoisted. This prompted for yet another struggle called as ‘Mysore Chalo’, the last phase of freedom struggle. Even when the nationalists hoisted the flag at Subbarayana Kere, the Police intervened and removed the flag on September 3.
The Congress gave a call to volunteers from all parts of the then Mysore State to organise jathas to officially announce the commencement of ‘Mysore Chalo’ on September 4, 1947. Everyone including the students, workers, railway employees from all parts of the State rushed towards Mysore to take out rallies against the rulers of Mysore. Several liquor shops were attacked, taluk offices gheraoed, telegraphic wires delinked and railway lines removed.
At the time of intense protest, one high school student, Ramaswamy, died in Mysore when the Police opened fire at a procession at the Circle in the junction of JLB Road and Chamaraja Double Road, which has been appropriately named after him. A boy called Chandrashekar managed to hoist the National Flag on the Palace. As the jails were full, the arrested were taken in vehicles to be let off in far off places.
Later, Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wadiyar climbed down by accepting the demands on September 24, 1947 which was announced by K.C. Reddy at Subbarayana Kere. Following this, a responsible K.C. Reddy was sworn-in as CM on September 27.
The city also observes the ‘Mysore Chalo’ anniversary every year at the Freedom Fighters Park. People who participated in the ‘Mysore Chalo’ movement assemble at the park and pay respects to those who lost their lives in the struggle. It is said that around 69 people died and about 229 were injured during the struggle. [Source: Karnataka State Gazetteer]
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / August 10th, 2013
Your recent reference to the Naval Hospital and the Gun Carriage Factory (Miscellany, July 8) did not mention that these were located in what was called New Town and which was once a major area of Anglo-Indian settlement, messages William Rodrigues. Indeed it was, what with not only the Naval Hospital and Gun Carriage Factory but also Central and Egmore Stations, the General Hospital and the Corporation, all favoured places of employment of the Anglo-Indians of the time, working as railwaymen, mechanics, overseers, nurses and secretaries.
More significantly, this area hosted the David S. White Memorial Hall and the offices of the Anglo-Indian Association of Southern India, the headquarters of the Anglo-Indians of South India. The Hall, the offices and the grounds of the Association were where the Hotel Ramada Chennai and a portion of its neighbour, the CMDA’s second block, have come up. In a small site here, the Association’s offices still remain, I’m told.
Responsible for banding the Anglo-Indians of South India together was David S. White who was an officer in the Directorate of Public Instruction. Curiously, he is better remembered in Bangalore where he established what was once a major Anglo-Indian settlement, Whitefield.
White was a founder member of the first Anglo-Indian association, the Eurasian and Anglo-Indian Association founded in Calcutta in 1876. Then, for some unstated reason, he broke away and founded in 1879 the Anglo-Indian and Domiciled European Association of Southern India. Today, there are eight other associations in South India and, together with what White founded, they teamed together in 1892 as a federation of Anglo-Indian associations mainly in Southern India. Some of its members also belong to the now Delhi-headquartered All India Anglo-Indian Association, but the majority are with the southern federation. The All-India association grew out of the 1876 association thanks to Henry Gidney’s leadership in the 1920s.
What the reason for the schism responsible for the break-up in Calcutta was I’m not very clear, but it certainly continued because of the attitude of Frank Anthony who succeeded Gidney who had been trying to effect a patch-up. Anthony had no time for those who were called Feringhis, were mainly dark of complexion, and spoke Malayalam, Tamil or Konkani. These descendants of the Portuguese found no favour with Anthony who refused to accept them as Anglo-Indians and turned down the applications of their associations to join the All-India Anglo-Indian Association. This only strengthened the Federation in the South that had its roots in White’s association and spread in South India.
White himself helped to establish the associations in Mysore and Coorg and persuaded the Maharajah of Mysore to grant nearly 4,000 acres east of Bangalore to establish an Anglo-Indian settlement. Whitefield in time grew with several from the Kolar Gold Fields adding to its numbers.
Today, the number of Anglo-Indians in Whitefield has diminished, but it is still more than in White’s home beat, New Town, now a forgotten name in south Vepery.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / July 22nd, 2013
State government to bring out a coffee table book on the building that defines Bangalore.
Kengal Hanumanthaiya and Jayachamaraja Wodeyar inspecting Vidhana Soudha construction work.
The magnificent Vidhana Soudha may draw ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from visitors to the city, but the man responsible for the constructing the imposing mansion that seats the legislature and the government in Karnataka, had to face the face the ignominy of an indictment from an inquiry committee that found him guilty of wasting tax-payers’ money on the building, during its construction.
Kengal Hanumanthaiya, then chief minister, who made it the mission of his life to build the structure which is considered among the grandest legislature buildings anywhere in the country, was indicted by a committee appointed by himself, and headed by the then leader of the Opposition, JM Imam, the then accountant general and the then general manager of the State Bank of Mysore, BV Narayana Reddy.
The committee finished its work in six months and came out with a 222-page report after questioning over 200 people. The anecdote and many other interesting ones are contained in a coffee table book that the state government is set to bring out. The 324-pager, commissioned by the state government and written by veteran journalist CM Ramachandra, was completed three years ago, but was not released for some reason or other.
The book explains how Kengal, as he was known, had to go face a litany of allegations during the construction of the Soudha, including criticism within the party of spending scarce public resources on a building rather than focus on social and economic development.
Once, Kengal had to defend himself against such a charge in the presence of then union minister for community projects SK De at a public meeting held at the Town Hall in the city. De, considered confidante of prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, was reportedly unhappy with the state government’s failure in implementing community development projects, but Kengal defended himself vigorously, asserting that construction of Vidhana Soudha was his top priority.
Prisoners from the central jail in the city were used in the construction of the building, and as Kengal was making an inspection tour during the construction along with Kadidal Manjappa, the future CM, one of the prisoners attacked him with an iron rod, the book says, adding that a man called Puttaswamy from Chikkaballapur saved the chief minister from serious harm.
Before starting the construction, Kengal visited the House of Commons building in London and similar structures in Sweden and Norway, as well as buildings in Mumbai and Delhi. The book, which contains rare photographs, recalls that Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation stone on July 13, 1951, and it was inaugurated on October 14, 1956.
source: http://www.dnaindia.com / DNA / Home>Bangalore> Report / Place:Bangalore, Agency:DNA / by Y Maheswara Reddy / Sunday – July 14th, 2013
The rich Indian traditional Carnatic and Hindustani music in the form of vocal and instrumental found its way to reach the common man in the early 1900s through the Gramophone and LP records or Long Playing records. But with the advent of magnetic tapes, CDs, mobile phones, and other technological innovations, the Gramophone and LPs became more of a collector’s item.
Many treasures of great music by eminent musicians like Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, Gangu Bai Hanagal, M.S.Subbulakshmi and a host of others recorded in the form of the LPs were lost and it called for some initiative by passionate people to preserve whatever could be.
That is when Vikram Sampath, a tech savvy young Bangalorean and a music aficionado took up up the mammoth task of archiving the music of yore. By digitising original recordings and making it available to music lovers at the click of a mouse on a digital platform, Vikram’s mission, Archive of Indian Music (AIM) is a comprehensive and honest approach to wards preservation of some of the gems of Indian music.
The challenges
“The first challenge of the project was the collection of LPs of different genres of music from different sources across India. Then we had to evaluate the quality of the records. The process of conversion to the digital format and finally uploading to the public domain through a website involved using top class technology,” says Vikram.
Collecting rare LPs from different parts of the country, spreading across genres, was indeed a tough task for Vikram and his team. He says, “The first ever Indian gramophone record was made in the year 1902 by Gauhar Jaan. I had a collection of a few hundreds of LPs to begin with. It was an absolute team effort to collect LPs from different parts of India, in different languages cutting across the genres of music.
Today, we are in possession of a huge inventory of LPs which include speeches of famous personalities.”
Bringing Gauhar back
Vikram, who is also a published author of three major books- ‘Splendours of Royal Mysore’, ‘My name is Gauhar Jaan! – the life and times of a musician’ and ‘Voice of the Veena: S Balachander, a biography’, stumbled upon an LP of Gauhar Jaan, when doing research on his book on the Mysore royals. “Gauhar was an extremely gifted Hindustani vocalist and it was her music that inspired me to initiate AIM,” says Vikram.
Giving shape
During his visits to Berlin, Vienna and other European countries, he was exposed to the technology of archiving of music content and that was the triggering point for him to give concrete shape to the project.
“Initially I proposed the concept to the Government of India, but the response was lukewarm but I was lucky to get help from Mohandas Pai of Manipal group. It has been a great journey in the world of music which has connected me to a team of dedicated music lovers,” he says. To listen to the preserved music, visit www.archiveofindianmusic.com.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bangalore / by R. Manjunath Chavan rmchavan@newindianexpress.com / ENS – Bangalore / July 13th, 2013
Director (Epigraphy), Archaeological Survey of India, Mysore.
Dr. K.V. Ramesh, doyen among the epigraphists, who strode like a colossus in the field of epigraphy, breathed his last on 10.7.2013. His passing away has created a great void in the field of epigraphical research and a terrible loss to the epigraphical fraternity and his admirers.
His long association with the Epigraphy Branch, ASI Mysore, was so close and continuous, even now it is difficult for us to come to terms that he is no more with us. He relentlessly pursued during his tenure as Director (Epigraphy) and also after, for the betterment of the Epigraphy branch. It was during his tenure two zonal offices was created and he was making efforts for further expansion of the branch.
On many forums he strongly proposed to create National Mission for Epigraphy, like National Mission for Manuscripts, so that inscriptions that are located in the farthest and interior places could be located and documented. Apart from this, he had also proposed to have the National Institute for Epigraphy at Mysore to carry on intensive research work in the field of Palaeography and Epigraphy and also as one of the capacity building measures.
His contribution to the field of Epigraphy is immense, particularly with regards to Epigraphical Studies in Karnataka, he added a new depth and dimension.
The book on Western Gangas and Chalukyas of Vatapi, to name only a few are his masterly works. He has contributed innumerable articles for national and international journals and a multi-volume dictionary of the Social, Economic and Administrative Terms in South Indian Inscriptions, a project of the Indian Council of Historical Research. Also, he was fondly remembered by scholars for his profound contribution in the Ayodhya verdict.
To accelerate epigraphical studies and studies in Onomastics, he established two Societies and was the founder-member and Chairman of the Epigraphical Society of India and Place-name Society of India. He took to great heights both the Societies and they have carved a special niche among the scholarly world.
He was a down-to-earth person and friendly towards his colleagues, and always encouraged young scholars. Now we are orphaned because of his sudden demise. He was a fatherly figure to all the members, and continuously guided the destiny of both the Societies till the end.
The rich tribute we can pay to this scholar-extraordinary is by only creating a band of dedicated and committed epigraphists who by unraveling new inscriptions, enrich epigraphical studies, for which he strongly stood for.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / by T. S. Ravishankar / July 21st, 2013
He has been collecting Indian currency from the time he was a 15-year-old boy. Today, he has a priceless collection, which he says “is more valuable than his kids”.
Rezwan Razack , Managing Director, Prestige Group
His is a familiar name among the realtors in the city. His name is on most buildings dotting the urban skyline of Bangalore. Rezwan Razack is a busy man, yet he makes time for his hobby, collecting notes, which began when he was a teenager. Even after 40 years his passion for currency remains evergreen. “I don’t do metal. I am an Indian notes specialist,” says Razack.
The love for “notes” was triggered when he found a Rs 5 note in his granddad’s house with Reserved Bank of India printed on it. What made this note special and which piqued Razack’s interest was a seal on the note that said: Pakistan note payment refused. “I couldn’t understand why an Indian note had a Pakistan seal. That aroused my curiosity to find out what it was all about,” he says. Apparently, Pakistan didn’t have their own currency but had an arrangement with the RBI to use Indian currency with an over-print that said Government of Pakistan in English and Hukkumat of Pakistan in Urdu. The notes were printed in the Nasik press; till June 1948. Some people would use a blade to erase the over-print. When it came for encashment the banks were looking for the serial numbers. Instead of tearing it up, banks would put a rubber stamp and say Pakistan note payment refused.
That was the beginning of Razack’s life-long dalliance with notes. “After this I got a good starter kit from my cousin in Coonor,” he says about the time when he received 30 notes from his cousin.
“Traditionally, not many people collected money because paper disintegrates over a long time. But I do because of the satisfaction it gives me. It is a stress buster to find out the history behind each note.” Razack collects only Indian currency notes. He has around 1,000 in his collection, valued “priceless,” he says. “To me, it’s a national treasure of notional value. It’s more valuable than my kids.” Razack collects his notes at auction houses, cut note dealers and even from relatives and friends.
One of the oldest notes in the world is a Rs 100 Indian currency from 1812, and you can find it in Razack’s collection. It bears the serial number 108. He also has a note with a serial number 10.02.58, which also happens to be his birth date. “I don’t chase the notes, they come to me,” he says.
Razack preserves his notes first in a Mylar holder before storing them in albums. He also has a curator to help him with his collection because, he says, “it is important to have a curator to keep a tab on the notes collected and preserved”.
“My family thinks I’m crazy,” he says. “My shopaholic daughter says that I should spend all this money on her retail therapy and not notes.”
As Razack’s hobby started many years ago, he did not pay a fortune for these. He says, “For a Rs 10,000 note, I would have paid Rs 15,000, but today, it would cost close to Rs 5 to 6 lacs. It’s like buying land.” But, one wrong bend or fold can devalue the note. It has to be handled with care. “If you’re not mad, you can’t do this. You have to be obsessed. This is my stressbuster. Each note is a learning experience.”
source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Wellness> You> Story / by Khushali P Madhwani / Sunday, July 14th, 2013
Tucked away among the shops selling textbooks (” IAS tutorials on USB Drives: With free USB” ), jewellers and medicine shops, opposite the Balaji temple on bustling Avenue Road, is a small store that seems to specialise in bronze statuettes of Ganesha and Krishna. You might be forgiven for assuming it to be just another shop selling trinkets for the lost tourist, but Seetha phone Company (Since 1924) also sells gramophones and records. If you ask for turntables, or LPs for that matter, the shop assistant will take out a long steel key and lead you through a warren of side streets and up a dingy staircase to a small second-floor room. The room is packed with old LP records and players. “We sell hundreds of LPs, we have customers coming from Tamil Nadu, Andhra and Kerala as well, all making bulk purchases ,” he says.
Vinyl is back. Worldwide. For a medium that was written off 20 years ago — “End of track”, The Economist mourned in 1991— LP records have begun to see a resurgence. Sales of vinyl almost doubled in the US in 2009, and have been bucking the music industry’s downward slump, growing by 14% last year when overall album sales dropped 13%.
“I got hooked on to vinyl about five years ago,” says Adrian Cooke, a 38-year-old Bangalorean who handles Levi Strauss’ retail operations. “It was at my friend’s place. He had a Garrard 401 LP player and I was struck by the depth and clarity of the sound. I decided to get myself a turntable and picked up Garrard Zero 100 player for Rs 2000 at Lingarajapuram. Since then I’ve been collecting LPs,” he says. You get exposed to a lot of new music through LPs, feels Cooke: “I started off by collecting country music and rock and then moved on to jazz.”
Vazir Alli Minhaz is the proprietor of Habitat, a shop on Church Street that sells vinyl. Habitat initially started out as a gift shop and diversified into video cassettes and CDs, echoing Minhaz’s interests. “Habitat always targeted a niche market, one that reflected my tastes,” he says. Minhaz started selling vinyl last year. “I’ve been collecting vinyl since I was 16; I’m 64 now,” he smiles. “After a point, I realised that I had many records that did not bear up on repeated listening and it was in an attempt to prune my collection that Habitat started selling vinyl,” he says.
The collectors’ instinct drives several vinyl aficionados. Suresh Ramabhadran is a senior executive with a software company who has been collecting vinyl for nearly seven years. “My obsession with vinyl started when my father brought home a Philips turntable when I was seven. The first record I listened to was MS Subbulakshmi singing Bhaja Govindam — the one with a spoken introduction by Rajaji. The 70s and early 80s were a wonderful time for Carnatic music vinyl lovers. The advent of CDs and MP3s changed that, but there is nothing that equals the pleasure of finding a rare Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer performance backed by L Shankar and Palghat Mani in the dusty stacks of a second-hand record store.”
“I spend one day every week going around Bangalore, looking for vinyl,” says Jonathan Freer, a 28-year-old Bangalorean . Jonathan’s affair with vinyl started when he found his father’s old turntable languishing in an attic. He refurbished it and now has more than 500 albums.
“More than 50% of my records have were bought secondhand. It takes time to tell a good secondhand record from a bad one — I made a lot of mistakes buying scratched or warped records initially, but now, I just have to take a look and handle a record and I can tell if it is good,” he says. “I used to collect cassettes and CDs, and friends would always borrow and seldom return them. I don’t have that problem with vinyl,” he says, smiling.
According to Minhaz, the vinyl market is not large, but its fans are dedicated. “Some of them are tired of just downloading music. There are others who buy records without having turntables. Some of them buy records as an investment. And then you have the collectors.”
But vinyl collection is not cheap. “I spend anything between Rs 4000 and Rs 10,000 every month, and I’m permanently broke,” laughs Freer. Cooke says that a good condition Garrard turntable can cost anywhere between Rs 60,000 and Rs 1 lakh. “I started off with a Philips 312 turntable, like my father’s . Now I have four of them,” says Sridhar.
Record companies and retail stores have noticed. Lijin Varghese, head of marketing at Landmark, says that the chain started stocking vinyl after the record companies began imports last year. Since then, Landmark has seen a small but steady demand for vinyl. “Its usually classic rock or classical music that sells best. And our customers come to us with requests for specific albums which we then import.”
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Bangalore / by Narayanan Krishnaswami, TNN / July 15th, 2012
SP of Excise and Lottery Enforcement Cell Basavaraj Malagathi is seen riding a vintage bike after flagging off the rally from Regency theatre premises in city this morning.
Mysore :
About 185 vintage Jawa and Yezdi motorbikes ranging from 1947 to 1996 models, hit the roads in city today to mark the International Jawa Day.
Owners of bikes manufactured by Jawa such as the 1957 Jawa CZ 175 cc, Jawa twin cylinder 350 cc, Yezdi 350, Yezdi Roadkings, Oilking, Yezdi ‘B’ type and Yezdi Colt under the aegis of Jawa Friends Club, assembled at Regency theatre premises in Ittegegud from where they took out a rally.
SP of Excise and Lottery Enforcement Cell Basavaraj Malagathi, who flagged off the rally, rode a vintage bike for a distance which passed through Chamaraja Double road, Ramaswamy Circle, Kuvempunagar, Vontikoppal, Kalidasa Road and to the place where Jawa factory stood earlier, culminating at Bal Bhavan in Bannimantap.
The rally was led by Sameer, Manju, Khizer, Hameed and others.
Earlier, senior Jawa mechanics and employees of Jawa factory Anwar, Prabhakar, Manju, Shankar, Sangam, Majid and others were felicitated on the occasion.
The word ‘Jawa’ was coined using the first words of Czech founder Janeek, Frantisek and Wanderer, the German bike he started producing at his plant in Prague. But for Mysoreans, Jawa is also the acronym for its ruler Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar.
Jawa Yezdi bikes were manufactured in India at Yadavagiri in city. Today, apartments have come up on the land where the plant was once situated.
Gavin Wilson of CZ Jawa Yezdi Owners Club of Mysore who had been organising the event till last year, did not participate in the rally.
Gavin and his entire family had been participating in the rally from the beginning and SOM discovered that Gavin Wilson and his brother Ainsley Wilson own 18 of the rarest bikes ranging from 55cc Pionyr to Roadking.
Gavin and his friends, as a tribute to Jawa, rode their prized possessions to Tonnur Kere in Pandavapura.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / July 14th, 2013
Dr. K.V. Ramesh (78), eminent Epigraphist and former Joint Director-General of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), passed away at a private hospital here on July 10 following a cardiac arrest.
A resident of Kuvempunagar, he leaves behind his wife and three daughters. Last rites will be performed in city tomorrow after the arrival of his daughters from abroad.
Profile: Born on 8.6.1935, Dr. K.V. Ramesh had a Master’s degree in Sanskrit language and literature from Madras University; Doctorate from Karnatak University, Dharwad (1965).
He joined the Epigraphy branch of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) at Ootacamund as Epigraphical Assistant (Sept. 1956). He also served as Dy. Superintending Epigraphist (1966); Superintending Epigraphist (1976); Chief Epigraphist (1984); Director, Epigraphy (1986) and Jt. Director-General of ASI (May,1992) before his superannuation (June, 1993).
He was also the Hon. Director of Oriental Research Institute, University of Mysore (1998-2006). He was awarded “Honour of Excellence” by the Prime Minister of India, in recognition of his contribution to the field of Epigraphy at a function in Delhi (Dec. 2011) to mark the celebration of 150th year of ASI.
He was also honoured by Governor of Karnataka on Dec. 28, 2012 on the occasion of 150 years of ASI, jointly celebrated by the Bangalore and Dharwad Circles of ASI at Bangalore.
He was appointed as the National Professor in Epigraphy by ASI on Sept. 11, 2012, was the Chairman of the Epigraphical Society of India and the Place Names Society of India also.
Condoled: Prof. A.V. Narasimha Murthy, former Head, Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Mysore and Dr. Mysore Nagaraja Sharma, a researcher in Archaeology have condoled his death.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / July 12th, 2013
