Expo of clocks open to public till Jan.26 between 9 am and 4 pm
Mysuru :
The Department of Anatomy, JSS Medical College, Shivarathreeshwaranagar, had organised a presentation on ‘Time Management’ by M.S. Chandrashekar Iyer, city’s well-known horologist, at its premises this morning.
During his presentation, Chandrashekar Iyer explained about mechanism and accuracy of various types of clocks — digital, mechanical, analog and atomic clocks.Dr. N.M. Shama Sundar, Professor and Head, Department of Anatomy, JSS Medical College, Mysuru, speaking to Star of Mysore, said, “Chandrashekar Iyer’s Grandfather K.S. Lakshmana Iyer, was the first person to start a watch repair shop in Mysuru. The shop was started under the name ‘Lakshmana Iyer Watch Company’ on Ashoka Road in city in the year 1912.”
He further said that Chandrashekar Iyer started repairing watches at the age of 10 years and has over 70 years of experience in repairing watches.
Speaking about the purpose of conducting the presentation, Shama Sundar said that it was organised to make the Medical Students understand the value of time. He noted that time management is very important for doctors because during emergencies, even seconds matter in saving the life of patients.
On the occasion, an exhibition featuring wrist watches, wall clocks, alarm clocks, time pieces, cells, batteries, engravers, programmable time switches, bells, sirens, cardiac pacemakers, digital diaries, thermometers, hygrometers, barometers, mobile phones, calculators, lactometers, digital calendars, telephones and other time-related instruments, was inaugurated by Chandrashekar Iyer at the College’s Histology Lab.
The exhibition will be open till Jan.26 between 9 am and 4 pm. High School students can attend the exhibition.
The exhibition is dedicated to late Dr. K.H. Basavaraj, Senior Professor of Dermatology, JSS Hospital, Mysuru.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Saturday, January 24th, 2015
‘We should ask ourselves what we have done to attract youngsters to history’
80-year-old S. Settar has spent half a century researching Indian archaeology, art history, history of religions and philosophy and classical literature.
There are no signs of fatigue or ennui, as he continues to dig deep into history to come up with new gems, with his new area of focus being history of language, script and literature.
As his friends, admirers and students get together to celebrate his life and work on January 29, Prof. Settar is himself busy with three ambitious projects that he hopes will make history accessible to young readers.
The eminent historian, who has held several teaching and non-teaching posts, including Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research, and Emeritus Professor at National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) at present, spoke to The Hindu .
Excerpts:
Q. What motivates you to keep at research?
A. There is so much wonderful source material that interests and excites me. I also feel ashamed that it is not being explored. Our conventional ways of reading history has made us ignore much of the rich material.
What historical material have we missed?
We have, for instance, not explored literary classics as tools of reading history and culture, beyond their literary value. The history of the evolution of language and script is another fascinating area that has largely remained unexplored.
What should be the focus of historians?
We should stop advising others and complaining about young people not being interested in history. Instead, we should ask ourselves what we have done to attract the younger generation to history. Much has been done, for example, to make Shakespeare or Socrates accessible to the young, which we have not done.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Bageshree S / Bengaluru – January 29th, 2015
Jalaja Naik, the Chairperson, Karnataka Tanda Development Corporation (KTDC) addressing presspersons in Vijayapura on Tuesday. / The Hindu
Admitting that there was a high incidence of migration for better livelihoods in the Lambani community, Jalaja Naik, Chairperson, Karnataka Tanda Development Corporation (KTDC), has said that the Corporation has decided to encourage self-employment programmes for people of the community to prevent their migration.
Addressing presspersons here on Tuesday, she said that the Corporation was contemplating to give cows to the people of the community so they could involve in dairy activity.
She said dairy farming would bring additional revenue to families, which could prevent them from migrating to other States for earning a livelihood.
Lamenting that the traditional art of the Lambani community has not gained enough popularity in handicraft sector, Ms. Naik said that the Corporation would like to set up at least 12 handicraft centres to promote cottage industry among Lambanis.
She said, “These centres would purchase the handicraft materials from the community and sell to buyers. This will have a twin objective. While it brings extra money to the community, it also popularises traditional arts”.
Ms. Naik said that since the community has many women who have not completed SSLC, the Corporation would offer tailoring training to them to help them become self-employed.
“During the training, the women will be given a stipend of Rs. 1,500. A decision will later be taken on supplying sewing machines as it needs government approval”, she said.
She said that the government has allocated an amount of Rs. 56 crore annual budget to the Corporation, and said that she has urged the Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah to augment to at least Rs. 200 in the coming budget. eom
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Karnataka / by Firoz Rozindar / Vijayapura – January 28th, 2015
A story in the media goes that one day a few decades ago, The Times Of India (ToI) cartoonist and creator of The Common Man, R.K. Laxman, retired. The following day, the legend’s cartoon was not to be found as readers rubbed their disbelieving eyes over their morning cuppa.
Sustained letters and calls to the ToI offices from the loyal and casual readers finally led to Laxman being dragged out of retirement and reinstating the uncommon, signature cartoons to their dedicated slot on Page 1.
That was the command Laxman’s Common Man in “You Said It” pocket cartoons held over masses, having regaled several generations of ToI readers in Mumbai and elsewhere in the country, for decades.
ToI management rewarded Laxman with lifetime employment, while his son Srinivas Laxman, considered India’s only journalist specializing in space reporting, retired in 2009.
“He continued as a regular fulltime employee and drew his salary till the end…” Laxman’s wife Kamala told IANS.
After a rich life, the creator of the man with a bushy moustache, tufts of hair on the rim of a balding head and perenially donning a chequered coat with patch-work – The Common Man, immortalised as a statue in front of an educational institute in Pune, died Monday at the age of 94.
Born Oct 24, 1921, in Mysore, Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Iyer Laxman and his brother R.K. Narayan, who later became a leading Indian English writer – besides four other brothers – had an ordinary childhood, as evidenced from Narayan’s books, “The Malgudi Days”.
Laxman loved drawing, painting, and even writing a bit, grabbed all opportunities to practice his talents – be they books, tables, floors or walls.
At an early age, he lost his father, a school headmaster, his elder brothers took up the responsibility for managing the house while Laxman completed schooling.
He applied to Mumbai’s famed Sir J.J. School of Arts, but was rejected – his drawings failed the high expectations of the renowned institution.
Disappointed but not disheartened, Laxman joined Maharaja College, Mysore, and earned his B.A. degree from the University of Mysore, and came to Mumbai for a living.
Alongside academics, he pursued drawing, first with freelance contributions to local publications, ‘Swarajya’, ‘Swatantra’, and later sketched cartoons for brother R.K. Narayan’s stories published in ‘The Hindu’ and other newspapers.
His earliest works with Mumbai media were a stint with the defunct Blitz, and then to the leading newspaper of that era, The Free Press Journal, as a staff cartoonist.
At that time, Laxman’s colleague was one soft-spoken gent, Bal Thackeray – who later became a commanding political force in Maharashtra – and they remained dear friends till Thackeray’s death Nov 17, 2012.
Laxman later got an offer with the ToI – which proved to be the turning point in his career and made him a living legend.
As the ToI’s cartoonist, Laxman had a field day – always taking a bit cynical, humorous, and hapless, view of the country rising from the ruins of the so-called jewel in the crown of the British Empire into a force to reckon with in the global arena – through the eyes of The Common Man, his vocational trademark.
Laxman had an uncanny knack of caricaturing all humans – politicians, film stars, celebs or criminals – highlighting some or the other of their features and characteristics, which bestowed upon them an instant identity.
The antics of all his powerful subjects – who became equal under Laxman’s brutal pen and brush – were reduced to ordinary jokes or public buffoonery.
It was the bald head of the late prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who was rarely seen without the Gandhi cap, while it was the long pointed nose and narrow eyes for his daughter, Indira Gandhi.
Rajiv Gandhi was depicted as a confused, cherubic baby-faced youth, while younger brother Sanjay Gandhi was the naughty, enfant terrible of Indian politics, and Morarji Desai was one tall thin, grim man, standing ramrod, both in Laxman’s creations and in real life.
Who can forget the short and roly-poly perpetually grinning image of former deputy prime minister Jagjivan Ram or the potbellied S.B. Chavan with a stern, headmaster expression always on.
Once Laxman said at an informal gathering that politicians of every genre used to approach him and begged of him to make their caricatures, that would make them famous and ‘noticeable’.
But, he would politely shoo them off, saying ‘when your time comes, I will make you a cartoon…’ – and mercilessly chronicled all the good, sad, grim and ugly historic events during his more than six decades of caricaturing.
His severe criticism of successive governments at the states and the centre, always highlighting their glaring acts of omission and commission in his typical wry humour, earned him fans and admirers even among his worst detractors.
Later, his works were compiled into a whopping nine volumes of pocket cartoons and a book of select political cartoons, “The Eloquent Brush” featuring his best commentaries from the Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi eras.
Laxman was invited by various organisations and governments to travel around and write and illustrate his memoirs – in the form of short stories or travelogues – as he did for Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and also Australia.
However, the government mandarins and politicians whom he slaughtered with his pen and brush, proved a forgiving lot when they honoured him with top civilian awards like Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan, and on the international stage, he bagged the Magsaysay Award.
Laxman also wrote a few novels, many short stories and directed a movie “Wagle Ki Duniya” for the national television, his autobiography “The Tunnel Of Time” and later, a tele-serial based on his works was also launched.
Doted by his writer wife Kamala, son Srinivas, and daughter-in-law Usha, Laxman preferred to discard his home in the posh Malabar Hill, south Mumbai, to live in the quiet environs of Pune, just a couple of hours’ drive away.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Nation / by IANS / January 27th, 2015
Popular numismatist P.K.Keshavamurthy of Hunsur is exhibiting his formidable range of rare and bygone coins, notes and stamps today and tomorrow (Jan. 23) at the BSNL Regional GMT Office, Jayalakshmipuram (behind St. Joseph’s School) from 10 am to 6 pm.
The exhibition, inaugurated by the Principal General Manager BSNL Mysore T.V. Venkatram, is Keshavamurthy’s 132nd expo and boasts of having coins as old as 5th century BC on display.
Visitors can see coins issued by the Greek, Romans, Kushans, Guptas, Satavahanas, Cholas, Pallavas and Pandyas apart from the monetary units issued by the Delhi Sultans, the British Raj along with numerous coins and currency notes from the post-independence era.
Speaking to SOM, Keshavamurthy, Sub-Divisional Engineer at BSNL Regional GMT Office, said that he has been collecting coins, notes and stamps for the last 30 years and has collected some of the rarest coins like the gold coins from Vijayanagara period and a host of commemorative coins and notes.
He further added that his collection would give a visual testament to historical facts and narratives.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Thursday – January 22nd, 2015
Born in Mysuru on Oct. 24, 1921, R.K. Laxman grew up in the old locality of Laxmipuram and was always enthralled by the sights and soul of the city. It was the charm of the old Mysuru that moulded Laxman’s simple yet fascinating world view and honed his eye for details.
He used to visit his old haunts like the Devaraja Market, Clock Tower and Sayyaji Rao road whenever he used to visit Mysuru.
R.K. Laxman shared a great bond with Maharaja’s College where he had studied Politics, Economics and Philosophy from 1942 to 1944. During one of his recent visits to the city, Laxman visited his college more as an alumnus rather than as a guest. He had searched for an etching he had made in one of the class-rooms and had found the scribble “RKL” on one of the walls along with ‘RKS’ (R.K. Srinivasan), ‘RKP’ (R.K. Pattabhi) and ‘RKN’ (R.K. Narayan) — his brothers. Laxman had also recalled that it was his English lecturer, B.S. Keshavan, who had encouraged him to draw cartoons.
The last time Laxman visited Mysuru was in 2009. He was bound to a wheel-chair and had visited Maharaja’s College with his wife Kamala. When asked by a student what his connection with Mysuru was, since he was not living here, Laxman had said, “I always miss Mysuru and Maharaja’s College.”
Dignitaries tweet tributes
Prime Minister Narendra Modi: “India will miss you R.K. Laxman. We are grateful to you for adding the much needed humour in our lives & always bringing smiles on our faces. My condolences to the family & countless well-wishers of a legend whose demise leaves a major void in our lives. RIP R.K. Laxman.”
Sonia Gandhi: “Shri Laxman’s ‘Common Man’, for more than one generation, represented India, served as conscience-keeper of establishment. His death is passing away of an institution.”
Sachin Tendulkar: “The man who expressed so much for and as the Common Man is no more. Deepest condolences to his family and friends.”
Ramachandra Guha: “R.K. Laxman was the greatest member of a great Mysore generation — among them M.N. Srinivas, R.K. Narayan, T.S. Satyan, A.K. Ramanujan…”
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Tuesday – January 27th, 2015
An anatomy professor has chosen a unique way of educating people about the need to donate bodies as well as ways to preserve them.
Dr N M Shama Sundar of JSS Medical College has preserved his mother’s body in the anatomy lab ever since she passed away five years ago. Now, he has preserved his sister’s body too. His sister, N M Nagamani (74), a
retired KSRTC employee, died some months ago, and her body now lies in an adjacent room. Sundar has used a method called plastination to preserve the bodies longer. Plastination is a technique of tissue preservation developed by Dr Gunther von Hagens in Heidelberg, Germany, in 1977.
Sundar, who is also secretary of the JSS Body Donation Association, said Nagamani and other members of his family had donated their bodies to research.
He said preserving the bodies also allowed his relatives settled abroad who could not come to India at the time of his mother’s death to later “see her”. One of Sundar’s brothers, who lives in Australia, flew down two months after the death and saw his mother’s body.
Murali Mohan, another of Sundar’s brothers and a retired deputy chief engineer at Kolar gold mines, said he visits the lab whenever he feels like seeing his mother and sister.
Six of Sundar’s nephews and nieces who live abroad could not make it when his mother died. They came after many months, he said.
The Brahmin family did not perform any death rites for the two bodies. “My mother was against religious rituals,” Sundar told Express.
He said the proximity of two bodies of close relatives does not affect his work in the lab. He said his gesture had inspired several others to pledge their bodies.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Vincent D’Souza / January 25th, 2015
The 10-day Mahamastakabhisheka ceremony for the 42-foot-tall monolithic stone image of Lord Bahubali atop a rocky hill will begin in Karkala on Wednesday.
Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts could be called the land of Bahubali as they host three towering monolithic statues at Karkala, Venur and Dharmasthala. Among them, the Karkala Gomateshwara is the tallest at 42 feet. Karkala — an evolved version of the original ‘Kari Kallu’ — derives its name from the black stones that cover the vast landscape.
Mahamastakabhisheka was performed at Karkala in 1951, 1957, 1962, 1990 and 2002. The gap of 12 years was not maintained for various reasons and the anointing in 1990 was held after a gap of 28 years due to problems caused by the implementation of the Land Reforms Act.
The imposing monument was installed by King Veera Pandya Bairarasa at the behest of guru Lalithakeerthi, a pontiff of Karkala Jain math, in 1432 AD.
The Karkala monolith of Bahubali is the third largest of the four Bahubali statues in Karnataka, the first one being the 57-foot-tall monolith at Shravanabelagola. Dharmasthala and Venur statues measure 39 feet and 35 feet, respectively.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Mangaluru / by Stanley Pinto, TNN / January 21st, 2015
Most Rev Bernard Moras, Archbishop of Bengaluru diocese, said let the shrine of Blessed Joseph Vaz satiate the spiritual hunger of those who approach in need of strength.
The Archbishop on Friday unveiled the statue of St Joseph Vaz to mark the end of the three-day celebration of the canonization of the saint at the Miracle Hill shrine. The Archbishop also launched a free meal programme for devotees by pouring rice into a pot. The shrine will provide free meals once a week to devotees on Friday.
The celebrations were a bit dampened after chief minister Siddaramaiah and his cabinet colleagues missed the event due to state mourning announced in the wake of the death of former governor Rameshwar Thakur on Thursday.
This is the first time a priest from the coastal region has been elevated to sainthood.
The statue of Blessed Joseph Vaz was brought to the shrine in a procession from Panir to Mudipu in a decorated vehicle on January 9, in the run-up to the event. Pope Francis on January 14 raised Blessed Joseph Vaz, who performed miracles on the hill of Mudipu, to the altar of sainthood in Sri Lanka.
Earlier during the mass, Mangaluru Bishop Aloysius Paul D’Souza, Msgr Denis Moras Prabhu, PRO Fr William Menezes, and others took part. In his homily, Moras said Blessed Vaz brought more people near God with his work and dedication. Bishop Aloysius Paul D’Souza said apart from his missionary work, his service to society in helping the needy was exemplary.
Who’s the saint:
Joseph Vaz was born on April 21, 1651, in Benaulim, Goa. He was the third son of Christopher Vaz and Miranda. He became a priest in 1676 and served in different parishes of Goa till 1681. Later, he was sent to Canara. Fr Joseph Vaz travelled from Goa barefoot. He served in Honnavar, Basrur, Kundapur, Gangolli, Mulki, Mangaluru and Panir. He was miraculously saved from an attempt on his life in 1684 while serving as the parish priest of Panir Church.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Mangaluru / TNN / January 17th, 2015
Today is the birth centenary of K.S. Narasimhaswamy, a poet known for a language and style that was simple and quintessentially Old Mysore
The notion of love and its expression may have changed over a generation, but K.S. Narasimhaswamy holds his place in the Kannada literary canon as the ultimate “poet of love”. His best known workMysooru Mallige, published in 1942, still is fresh and fragrant.
Monday marks the birth centenary of K.S.Na., born on January 26, 1915.
A poet known for a language and style that was simple and quintessentially Old Mysore, K.S.Na’s early poetry (including the iconic Mysooru Mallige) celebrated conjugal love and portrayed images of middle-class life.
It’s a world of ordinary men and women with their simple pleasure, but not devoid of tensions and strife. His early poetry won him a great fan following, but proponents of the ‘Navya’ (modern) tradition also mocked him as ‘pushpa kavi’, implying that he was too romantic and incapable of “more serious” preoccupations.
Though K.S.Na’s great popularity still rests on his image as a ‘love poet’, his later poetry proved his detractors wrong. Poems like ‘Tereda Baagilu’ and ‘Gadiyaradangadiya Munde’ are testimony to his poetic genius that far surpassed his image. This was acknowledged by firebrand journalist and critic late P. Lankesh, who was once scathing on K.S.Na’s ‘romanticism’.
Writer and critic Narahalli Balasubrahamanya argues that Mysooru Mallige’s popularity overshadowed the “real potential” of K.S.Na. He read moderns like Ezra Pound and T.S. Elliot and was influenced by Robert Burns. The native Kannada idiom and poetry of 16th Century poet Ratnakaravarni shaped his sensibility, Mr. Balasubrahmanya said.
Poet H.S. Venkateshamurthy says that though family remained the central metaphor of K.S.Na’s poetry, the definition of family itself grew and evolved to include the whole world, taking on a metaphysical dimension.
Describing his oeuvre in a nutshell, critic G.S. Amur describes K.S.Na as “a poet of the earth, its joys and sorrows, its beauty and ugliness”.
Poetic inspiration
K.S. Narasimhaswamy’s collection of poems Mysooru Mallige, published in 1942, has seen more than 32 reprints and was long regarded as an ideal gift for newly-married couples in Karnataka. National award-winning director T.S. Nagabharana made a film based on the poems, popularised by Sugama Sangeeta (light music) singers of the State. This was the first such film in Kannada where a story was written with the framework provided by poems. K.S.Na’s poems have been used by various film directors, including Chaduranga and N.C. Rajan, in their movies.
KSNa on Peotry
“What is a poem? I have no idea. Eyes are boats as tiny as shells, but the view is a beast as vast as the ocean. I grope for an answer as I write.”
“I have worked for long as a clerk in government offices. I have been through many hardships of life. All that pain has metamorphosed into the fragrance of poetry, giving me equanimity.”
January 26, 1915: Born in Kikkeri in Mandya district
1977: Conferred Sahitya Akademi Award for Tereda Bagilu
1995: Awarded Pampa Prashasti
1991: Presides over 60th Kannada Sahitya Sammelan, Mysuru
1996: Named Fellow of Sahitya Akademi
December 27, 2003: Passes away in Bengaluru
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Muralidhara Khajane and Bageshree S. / Bengaluru – January 26th, 2015
