RSN Memorial Awardees – Music Director A.S. Prasanna Kumar, Sugama Sangeetha singer G. Pushpalatha and Composer Sunitha Chandrakumar – are seen with the guests and organisers.
Mysuru :
RSN Memorial Awards were presented to three doyens of music at a programme organised by R.S. Naidu Art and Cultural Welfare Trust at Nadabrahma Sangeetha Sabha on JLB Road here yesterday.
The event was held in commemoration of 30th death anniversary of Freedom Fighter and sculptor R.S. Naidu.
The awards were presented to Music Director A.S. Prasanna Kumar, Sugama Sangeetha singer G. Pushpalatha and Composer Sunitha Chandrakumar of Raghuleela School of Music in city.
Speaking as the chief guest, Visiting Professor of Mysore University Prof. C. Naganna lauded the services of late R.S. Naidu and his simplicity.
Bar Association President B.R. Chandramouli presided. Trust President Ramesh, Secretary Srinivas and others were present.
Later, Prasanna Kumar, leading a group of young singers, presented a music programme.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / February 27th, 2016
Her muse might be centuries old, having lived and survived long enough to label it ordinary. But paper is central to designer Jenny Pinto’s life and keeps her enthralled, excited by what one can do with it. Right now, she is busy in designing a structured light in veneer and paper to be fit into a pitched ceiling for a client in Chennai. A few months ago, the Bengaluru-based artist had a particularly good showing at ‘The Amethyst’ in Chennai where she showcased her art in all its uniqueness, especially the hand-made elegant lamps in all shapes and sizes. Pinto puts to good use this meaningful, tactile and versatile medium as she dubs it by fashioning life-size book sculptures as well as quirky paper art.
Pinto’s sense of design goes back to the time she was a successful ad film-maker based in Mumbai. “Ad film-making requires one to have a wider design sense involving musical, visual and art direction. But it is different from a craft which is about materiality, form and function,” says Pinto, who moved to Bengaluru in 1996 to pursue a different career path.
Papers may have served as her vehicle of creative discovery but to explain the connection is not easy, says she, insisting that one cannot pin down the why of any artform or craft which is individualistic. Also, she is delighted by what one can achieve through this medium, as her art found an outlet in the products she designed, ranging from lights to home accessories and stationery including paper and sculptures.
The lighting designs—be it the flame of the forest table lamp, the oyster mushroom wall lamp or the sea urchin ceiling lights, blending in both aesthetics and functionality—seem to find their inspiration from nature. “I feel everything a person does is inspired by nature in essence, which is very wide and all-encompassing. It is about form, colour, light and randomness,” she says. As she takes us through the designs, she points to her favourite one, the passion flower chandelier inspired by dried flowers on a wild creeper. “I love the randomness of a creeper. It goes towards the light with the flowers usually lasting a day or two only for the creeper to have dried and fresh flowers to have bloomed at the same time,” says Pinto.
Sustainability is a key component of Pinto’s art. She makes her own paper using only natural fibres that are waste from agriculture like banana, sisal, mulberry, pineapple, kora grass and jute, preferring banana fibres over the rest. Her studio located off Sharjapur Road is an example of sustainable architecture. “All the paper is made in the studio which has been built from mud blocks. It recycles all water, grey water and the water from paper making,” reveals Pinto.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Magazine / by Sunita Raghu / February 20th, 2016
The old bungalow is marked by a British colonial architectural style, with a touch of Indian influence Jithendra M
Bengaluru :
Plaques detail the contributions of the three Tagores — Abanindranath, Gaganendranath, Rabindranath — and various art movements in the country at National Gallery of Modern Art on Palace Road. But no boards speak of the significance of the heritage structure that houses the collections of rare paintings — Manikyavelu Mansion.
A document in NGMA’s official files, titled Excerpts from Karnataka Government Gazetteer and signed by its former owner Vilum Manickavelu Mudaliar’s granddaughter Vitto Bai, tells you that this once belonged to the Yuvaraja of Mysore.
Mudaliar, it reads, was the third son of a poor family. He married into an aristocratic family and became a successful ‘business magnate’ after taking manganese and chrome mines on lease. He acquired this building, the document says, ‘during his early years’, and called it Manickavelu House. While reliable history books say it was sold to him, the record of the sale perhaps remains unknown, says historian and researcher Arun Prasad.
Officials in the NGMA say Mudaliar and his family lived in the mansion for some years. “But due to a domestic problem, they defaulted payments either to a bank or the government, and the house was put on auction,” says an official. It was acquired by the City Improvement Trust Board, the erstwhile BDA, and then transferred to the Housing Board in the 1960s. The Ministry of Kannada and Culture, which has taken it on lease, sub-leased it to the Ministry of Culture in 2000, when it became the chosen location for NGMA’s southern centre.
As for when the mansion was built, again records are elusive. “It’s neighboured by several century-old colonial bungalows, including the Balabrooie Guest House,” says Prasad. Hence, it’s probably safe to assume ManiIf you wander in its 3.5-acre campus, and look beyond the official records, you might catch snatches of a fascinating oral history account: Mudaliar, on a visit to Bengaluru, stumbled upon the colonial-style house when it belonged to the Yuvaraja of Mysore. Impressed, he sought entry and was refused until he greased some palms. After a tour around the mansion, he vowed he would one day come to own it.kyavelu Mansion dates back to that time, he adds.
If you wander in its 3.5-acre campus, and look beyond the official records, you might catch snatches of a fascinating oral history account: Mudaliar, on a visit to Bengaluru, stumbled upon the colonial-style house when it belonged to the Yuvaraja of Mysore. Impressed, he sought entry and was refused until he greased some palms. After a tour around the mansion, he vowed he would one day come to own it.
Indra Rajaa, daughter of Mudaliar’s granddaughter Vitto Bai, says her generation, brought up in Madhya Pradesh, is rather removed from their Bengaluru connection. “My maternal mother, Manickavelu’s only daughter, moved to Kotagiri after marriage,” she says. “She died a month after giving birth to my mother, who was brought up by her paternal uncle and his wife. My mother thought they were her parents till she got married.”
In 2003, the year she passed away, 67-year-old Vitto Bai visited the mansion with her husband. “She said she got a royal reception by the officials there, and was very happy,” her daughter says. Rajaa tried locating the house when she was last in the city. “I asked for Manickavelu’s mansion, but no one seemed to know where it was,” she says.
The Chennai-based chartered accountant recalls that an ‘uncle’, one of her clients who had met Mudaliar, had told her that great grandfather was a ‘generous man’. She quotes him: “He would willingly feed any number of people, but would refuse loans.”
But Mudaliar’s descendants are scattered across the city, says architect Naresh Narasimhan of Venkatramanan Associates, involved with the restoration and design of the new wings. “It is said he lived atop a hill in Rajajinagar, next to the one Iscon is on. He owned a lot of land in Mahalaxmi Layout, named after his daughter,” he says.
He says although the house is prominently British colonial in architecture, it features some Indian decorative elements on the outside.
When Narasimhan began visiting the site, what he calls the biggest bungalow in Bengaluru had a kitchen in the back. “It was in ruins, so we took it out and built the new galleries there,” he says.
In 2003, when restoration and construction began, the heritage building needed plugging of leaks, to say the least. “Water used to seep in,” says Rehana Shah, currently Bengaluru NGMA’s curator, who was posted here from the headquarters in Delhi to oversee the work. “The entire building was built with brick, with mud plastering,” says Narasimhan, adding that most structures back then were not constructed to last.
The auditorium too, built – according to Narasimhan – when the property was with a UN body before it was acquired by the government, also required work. “We replaced the roof,” Shah says. “And extended the stage, originally designed for talks,” he adds. The first couple of rows of seats were taken off to make room for this, and the hall now accommodates 168 people.
So the heritage building is like a central diamond, with the new additions – two galleries a museum shop and the cafeteria – like the ring around it, Narasimhan says. “That’s why there’s a pool next to the old mansion. Together with its reflection, the mansion forms a spectacular image in the evenings. The pool’s pump keeps its water moving, cleaning out fallen leaves.”
Tree Treasure
During the restoration and construction, the team of architects and Central Public Works Department officials took care to retain all the tress. “Next to the cafeteria stands the biggest, and probably the oldest rubber tree I’ve seen,” says Narasimhan.
The trees probably have their own stories to tell, says Prasad, for many of them have been around since the bungalow was built. Tree walks are conducted here regularly, and a part of the city’s tree festival, Neralu, was also held here.
“The trees here are truly grand,” says Janani Eswar, who conducted one of the festival’s sessions. “They have been allowed to grow undisturbed as they would be in a rain forest. Finding a spot like this in the city is very rare.” Visitors must not miss the nearly 150-ft tall banayan the back corner and a huge raintree in front, she says.
The Gallery and Museum
“As early as 1989, the state government proposed that the bungalow should be converted into a museum,” says historian Arun Prasad. “And the Centre agreed.”
In 2000, the Ministry of Culture took over the building for the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) and the foundation stone for the new structure was laid in 2001, during S M Krishna’s government. Work began in 2003 and continued right up to 2008. A 1, 260 sq metre gallery block, where exhibitions are organised, was added to the 1,551 sq metre art museum in the heritage building on the walls of which hang works of unknown artists alongside greats like Raja Ravi Varma, Jaimini Roy and Amrita Sher Gil. “This is perhaps the only colonial structure, located in such an aesthetic setting, that has been aptly converted into a museum – a museum with a collection no other in South India has,” says Prasad. “The extension has been made without damaging the original structure. Even the wooden panel flooring and the ornamental windows have been retained.”
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Chetana Divya Vasudev / February 25th, 2016
Artist Basavaraj S. Musavalagi being presented the Dhrushya Bhushana Award in Kalaburagi on Friday. —Photo: Arun Kulkarni
Artist Basavaraj S. Musavalagi was presented the Dhrushya Bhushana Award instituted by the Ideal Fine Arts Trust here on Friday.
The award, carrying a purse of Rs. 10,000, a commendation certificate and a shawl was presented to Mr. Musavalagi by the former Vice-Chancellor of Karnataka Law University J.S. Patil. The former chairman of the Karnataka Sahitya Academy Giraddi govindaraj, art critic K.V. Subramanyam, Veeranna Dande and senior artist and the former chairman of the Karnataka Lalitkala Academy V.G. Andani were present. Mr. Musavalagi, who is dean at the Government Dhrusya Kala Mahavidyalaya in Mysuru, popularly known as KAVA, has exhibited his works in different parts of the country and many of his works adorn the walls of prestigious museums, corporate offices and private collectors.
He is an alumnus of MMK Fine Arts College in Kalaburagi.
Prof. Patil said that it was misnomer to call the Hyderabad Karnataka region as backward as it had produced artists, legal luminaries and experts in many fields.
The autobiography of Dr. Andani was released by Dr. Giraddi Govindaraj.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Kalaburagi – February 20th, 2016
by Prof. A.V. Narasimha Murthy, former Head, Department of Ancient History & Archaeology, University of Mysore
I had the good fortune of serving the Numismatic Society of India, Varanasi, as its President, Secretary and Editor. I used to attend the annual conferences of this Society regularly. I once noticed that scholars attending the Varanasi Conference from South India could be counted on finger tips. The reason, I learnt, was that North India was very far and travel would be difficult and many scholars suggested ‘Why not a South Indian Coin (Numismatic) Society be started?’ It was a good suggestion and I contacted Dr. R. Krishnamurthy, Editor of Dinamalar (Tamil Daily) from Chennai and he welcomed the idea but told me that his business as the Editor of a Daily would not allow him to devote full time and energy for this. But he hastened to add, ‘If you can take that responsibility, my full support to you is there.’
Prof. K.V. Raman of Chennai gave me his support. The Head of the publication of New Era, Dr. Srinivasan Srinivasan agreed to print and publish the Journal of the Society on the condition ‘I should be its Editor.’ I agreed and South Indian Numismatic Society came into existence in 1990. So far it has conducted 26 conferences at different centres in Karnataka, Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala. This time it met at Thiruvananthapuram in Jan. 2016. About 150 Numismatists attended.
It was our good fortune that it was hosted by the Centre for Heritage Studies under the Cultural Affairs Department of Kerala. K.C. Joseph, Minister for Rural Development, Culture and Planning, who inaugurated the conference, extended full cooperation to this conference which was a success.
There was a time when barter was the system of trade. People realised its limitation and began using coins. Coins as such have not been noticed in the Indus Valley Culture. However, Rig Veda mentions coins like Nishka, Rukma, Khadi, in the sense of coins. But actually Nishka means a necklace and hence, it has been taken as a necklace made of gold coins (kasinasara). Anyway, that is the earliest coin of our country.
South India had a period which is generally referred to as Sangam age and it was considered as a literary imagination or even bunkum. Suddenly, Dinamalar Krishnamurthy discovered a coin belonging to a Sangam King called Peruvalathi. For the present, this is considered to be the earliest coin of South India. Barring this, the Satavahana (Andhra) coins are the earliest coins of Deccan and South India.
However, we have had uninscribed punch marked coins all over the country including South India and Karnataka. These silver coins had 5 symbols punched on them and one of them represented the government or the king. At this time, Roman merchants came to South India and gave their gold and silver coins and purchased our spices, especially black pepper, which was considered as an antidote for malaria. Thus the large number of Roman coins gave an impetus for the minting of coins in South India.
Kadambas of Banavasi are considered to the actual inaugurators of coinage in Karnataka. They issued what are called Padmatanka coins. A Padmatanka is a gold piece which has a central punch of a lotus or Padma with some symbols and letters like ‘Sri’ with or without the name of the issuer. The Pallavas of Kanchi issued their own coins in gold and copper. This system was continued by the Cholas of Thanjavur. They minted the portrayal of the king with Nagari or Tamil legends. Chola coins have been discovered in plenty as to fill up them, in gunny bags. In Andhra area, Vishnukundins minted coins. In Karnataka, the Chalukyas minted coins and their most popular coin is called Varaha. This word survives even today in traditional parlance. In fact, the coin name Varaha is a contribution of Karnataka in general and that of the Chalukyas in particular.
The Western Gangas of Talakad minted gold and copper coins with elephant as the important symbol. Unfortunately, Rashtrakuta coins have not been discovered in plenty. Later, Chalukya coins have been found in plenty. The Hoysalas minted coins in gold and copper. Vishnuvardhana minted coins with lion and the legend Talakadugonda symbolising the defeat of the Cholas. One interesting coin is the one which has a portrait of Saint Ramanujacharya. The Sevunas or the Yadava coins include those of Bhillama, Singhana and Ramachandra.
Kings of Vijayanagara introduced innovation in coinage. It is not only a golden age but a golden period for Karnataka coinage. Their coinage has been praised by foreign travellers also. They introduced legends in Kannada and Nagari. The most important coin of Krishnadevaraya are the coins representing Lord Venkateswara of Tirumala and Sri Krishna holding a lump of butter in his hands. Krishnadevaraya performed Kanakabhisheka to Balaji of Tirupati by minting gold coins which had the representation of Venkateswara with Sridevi and Bhudevi and his name in Kannada or Nagari. Nayakas of Madura imitated the coinage of Vijayanagara. Their coins contain legends in Kannada and Tamil.
We may turn our attention to the coinage of Muslim kings — the Bahamani dynasty, Adil Shahi dynasty and Barid Shahi Sultans. They minted coins with legends in Arabic and Persian on both sides. Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan occupy an important place in Karnataka history. Tipu’s innovation in coinage is amazing. He established seventeen mints in different parts of South India and minted coins in gold, silver and copper. He gave each coin a name after the Islamic Saints. His gold coins contain the Persian legend ‘The religion of Ahmad is illumined in the world by the victory of Hyder.’ The reverse has the legend ‘He is the Sultan, the unique, the just, the third of Bahari, cyclic year Azal 2.’
The Wadiyars of Mysore (now Mysuru) began issuing coins with legends. The representation of Hindu Gods by Krishnaraja Wadiyar is unique. They also minted coins with portrayals of lion and elephant with legends in Roman, Kannada and Persian. Once the British took over, they began to follow the British coinage. After independence, the entire country, including South India, is following the system which we are now seeing. Thus, South India followed a unique system of coinage which has a history of over 2,000 years.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / February 21st, 2016
MLA M.K. Somashekar, Mayor B.L. Bhyrappa and other officials yesterday felicitated Pourakarmika leader Mara who left for Singapore.
Somashekar, speaking on the occasion, lauded the role of Pourakarmikas in Mysuru being named ‘Cleanest City in India’ for second time in a row and added that all efforts would be made to provide them with benefits. Corporators Sunil Kumar and J.S. Jagadish and others were present.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / February 19th, 2016
Her journey towards ‘Swach’ Bharat had begun before Modi’s Mission
From Reel life to Real lIfe: Rekha during one of her lec-dems at an apartment in city.
Giving up was never an option for this ebullient woman, who was a child actor once and was known by the name of Baby Rekha. She has acted in more than 70 films in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu like Bhakta Siriyala, Tulasi Dalam, Madhura Sangama, Simhada Mari Sainya to name a few.
by Sujata Rajpal
Long before our Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Mission was launched across India, a woman in Mysuru had already started working towards it slowly and steadily. Unaware of Modi’s plan, she had named her organisation SWACH (Segregation of Waste And Composting at Home).
Started in 2013 as a one-woman army, Rekha Rohit visits people’s houses, ladies clubs and apartment complexes (on invitation, of course) to educate residents on how to manage household wastes. Apart from organising awareness sessions on cleanliness, Rekha also trains people on how to segregate waste in various categories and disposing it off accordingly. Besides segregation of waste, she also teaches children and destitute women how to make paper bags.
“I got inclined towards this cause many years ago when I used to travel a lot by train taking my children for various table tennis tournaments across the country. The second class compartments were an eyesore. Dirty wash-rooms, trash strewn all over, passengers spitting anywhere — it was stink and filth all around on the platforms and stations. That instigated me to create awareness about the need for better civic sense,” says Rekha.
Why people in India can’t treat the public property just the way they regard their houses? Is it the lack of civic sense or plain disregard towards one’s surroundings? There is nothing wrong with people but obviously something is not right with the system. Indians lack civic sense only on their motherland. When they go abroad, like everyone else there, they dutifully throw trash in the trash bins and in the absence of a trash bin in the vicinity, they save the wrappers of chips and used paper napkins in the outside pocket of their bag until they can spot a dustbin for depositing the waste where it rightfully belongs. But the moment they land on Indian soil, there is total reversal of behaviour. The civic sense goes for a walk in the woods and these very people litter everywhere.
Come to think of it, each household adds 365 plastic bags to the total waste. Multiply 365 by the number of households in Mysuru and you will be shocked by the amount of waste that only one Tier-2 city is producing. Can such a huge quantity of waste be decomposed naturally?
How is the response to your campaign? I am curious to know.
“When I started, the response used to be very disappointing; women would come up with puerile reasons for not segregating the waste like there is no place in the house to keep two dustbins, the maid servant doesn’t know how to segregate the waste etc. There were days when I used to cry because people shrugged me off wherever I went.”
Despite the cold response, Rekha stayed steadfast in her mission. “The response is much better now, people are aware and understand how important it is to reduce the total amount of waste that we produce,” Rekha says with a glint of hope in her eyes.
She received a lot of encouragement from Dr. M.R. Ravi, former MCC Commissioner, who advised her to continue in her mission despite innumerable road-blocks.
“What I am doing is a very tiny step. If the government sees the waste management as a mammoth problem in future then there is only one solution. Make it mandatory to segregate trash into wet and dry categories, the way it is done in the developed countries. Don’t you see now two-wheeler riders are wearing helmets because it is either wear helmet or pay fine,” says the woman with a contagious smile.
Rekha is now ably supported by K. Sowmya (Gynaecologist and Assistant Professor at JSS Hospital) and K.P. Ganga (Vice-Principal at Queens Institute for Fashion Designing) and, loads of well-wishers from Rotary East who were her backbone in the initial stage of bringing SWACH into action. The organisation has a team of 15 volunteers but many more hands are required to spread the message.
Rekha believes in driving this mission through children. She regularly conducts awareness sessions on cleanliness and waste management for the students of Kalalavadi School in rural Mysuru. If the initiative is taken through children, it is always long lasting. Now children of Kalalavadi School ensure that their village is kept clean.
Giving up was never an option for this ebullient woman who was a child actor once and was known by the name of Baby Rekha. She has acted in more than 70 films in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu. To name a few Bhakta Siriyala, Tulasi Dalam, Madhura Sangama, Simhada Mari Sainya.
“I take it as my duty and contribution to the society. Even if people don’t respond, I feel satisfied that I am doing my tiny bit to make this world a better place for the coming generation,” says Rekha humbly.
“I am nothing without my family,” she says when asked about the family support. “The name SWACH was suggested by my husband,” she says shyly.
Rekha and R. Rohit couple, residents of Chamundipuram, is blessed with two lovely daughters — Ridhi Rohit, who is studying Physiotherapy at JSS Institute and Ruthu Rohit is in 9th at Vidyavardhaka school.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / February 19th, 2016
In Akshaya Kavya, poet K.V. Tirumalesh’s award winning work, there are constant meditations on the nature of language, the relationship between word and meaning, and glimpses of the poet’s own life
Akshaya Kavya by K.V. Tirumalesh
Abhinava, Rs. 150
Dr. K. V. Tirumalesh’s first collection of poetry,Mukhavadagalu (Masks, 1968), was written in the Navya or Modernist mode; but, very soon, he began to explore ways of transcending the constraints of Modernism, culminating in his famous Mahaprasthana (1990). Till today, he has published eight collections of poetry, his most ambitious and experimental work being Akshaya Kavya (2010), which has won the Sahitya Akademi Award for the year 2015. Today, though he can loosely be called a post-modernist poet, he declares, “I will not willingly identify myself with any movement” (“My Challenges in Poetry”, Muse India). However, Tirumalesh has also written novels, short stories, regular columns, and criticism besides scholarly works on Kannada grammar and linguistics. Being a bilingual writer, he has written on language and linguistics in English also, his well-known work being Derrida’s Heel of Achilles. A few of his translations from English to Kannada include the poetry of Ezra Pound and Wallace Stevens.
Talking of his Akshaya Kavya, Tirumalesh says, “I would like to call it an epic poem.” In his Preface, he confesses that the voluminous work does not have any “characters, situations, style and grammatical person-tense markers.” We can add that it has no punctuation also.
When one begins to read the work, one finds it a “labyrinth,” full of recursive themes and images.
Loosely, it can be viewed as a brilliant and colourful ‘collage’ of motifs and word-pictures or images. It was Georges Braque and Picasso who practiced this technique of collage with great success in painting, and hence it is no wonder they are often alluded to in Akshaya Kavya. In this world of ‘ever- full poetry,’ fleeting moments of personal experiences, passage of Time, works and characters in Indian and European literatures, philosophers and artists – all jostle with one another. We find here miniatures of philosophers like Buddha and Nietzsche, poets like Vyasa and Dante, literary characters like Draupadi and Beatrice. Interspersed with such word-pictures, there are constant meditations on the nature of language, the relationship between word and meaning, and glimpses of the poet’s own life.
Here are a few representative passages in which the poet reflects on word and meaning, the purpose of poetry and the mystery of poetry.
“What is the least demand of the poem from the poet?
Does it demand active involvement in a big social struggle,
in broad daylight, visible to all? Or, total surrender before a great force?
No, none of these; / all these are the domain of actors.
What is required here is purity of everyday – life,
total self-control, not the figure that comes out of the darkness
of the imbalance between speech and action.” (p.64)
“Words sitting near words / what do they say or do?
They are talking with each other / like shy people muttering something.
They are quiet, they pinch each other / touch and embrace each other/
whisper some secret in others’ ears.
They place their hands on the head of others/ and reach out to those sitting away from them / or, they just tease.” (p.201).
There are two long poetic passages at the end of the volume. The first one (pp. 380-409) gives us snippets from Buddha’s life and the way we respond to the Buddha today. The snippets include Buddha’s sermons on the body and soul, Angulimala and Kisagautami episodes, Buddha’s idols, Ashwaghosha’s narrative about him, and such. Importantly, all the teachings and incidents in the life of Buddha are viewed from a critical angle. The last passage (‘What remains is as Usual – Now’, p. 458-478), mostly autobiographical, records the poet’s wrestling with words and meanings. A highly emotive paragraph runs thus:
“O my very personal god! / You are a witness / to my conflicts/
the ambition to include the entire history/ the intention to hold the sky
on my palm./ You used to laugh and ring warning bells . . .
But I didn’t believe you” (p. 460).
“Not being in the main stream of Kannada, I have been writing such invisible poetry,” Tirumalesh says ruefully in his article “My Challenges”.
I am positive, with Akshaya Kavya and the recognition of Sahitya Akademi, his poetry will become very, very visible.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Friday Review / C.N.Ramachandran /Bengaluru – February 18th, 2016
City based chef Mandaar Sukhatanakar has been awarded with Chef of the Year in the Times Food and Night Life Awards for 2015-16 organized by the Times of India recently at Hyderabad.
It was the first time, People’s Choice Award instituted by the Times of India. In previous year, Mandaar had adjudged as one among top 10 young chefs of India that had published in The Celebrated Chefs of India, a publication of Times Group. Mandaar is the son of late Col. Ajit and Bharati Sukhatanakar from Belagavi.
Born in Belagavi, Mandaar is a graduate with BSc in Hospitality from Institute of Hotel Management, New Delhi. He has trained in the US and Europe and specializes in Italian Cuisine. Currently he is executive chef of The Park Hotel in Hyderabad and controls nine kitchens, which run under him. The award function took place in Hyderabad on 6th February.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Mangalore / TNN / February 10th, 2016
Nothing seems to go well for the much loved and regarded Wadiyar dynasty of erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore these days. Rather since independence of our country in 1947. The problem for the then last Maharaja Sri Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar [1940-1950] began when, under wrong advice by his much-hailed Dewan Sir Arcot Ramaswamy Mudaliyar [1946-1947], His Highness refused to sign the all-important Accession Treaty with the Union Government and lost its goodwill for ever. The dilly-dallying did not last long though.
Since then, the events in the Mysore Palace (Amba Vilas Palace), the Bengaluru Palace and the Palace in Ooty (Udhagamandalam) Fern Hill Palace and other minor Palaces in city and may be, elsewhere are under the shadow of ill-omen. Nothing seemed to go well for the Royalty — from domestic affairs to the ownership and management of its multi-crore rupees worth of properties spread all over the State and who knows abroad.
The Wadiyar dynasty, which never drew the battle-sword from its sheath or fired a shot from the gun or cannon eversince Hyder Ali usurped the throne in 1761 till this day, lived a leisurely, languid life under the suzerainty and protective wings of the British Raj. However, after the death of Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, whom Mahatma Gandhi rightly called the Raja Rishi, the philosopher King of the kind described by the Greek philosophers, the dynasty seemed to lose its hallow of earlier glory.
The political events in the country moved so fast, the Wadiyars were unable to anticipate the consequences. The worse happened after the death of Sri Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, the father of the scion of the royal family Sri Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar leaving behind the burden of many unsettled property issues among his children and the Government. His son Sri Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar himself died without issues on Dec. 10, 2013 and the Maharani Pramoda Devi Wadiyar had to resort to the Hindu tradition of adopting Yaduveer Gopal Raj Urs, a grand nephew of her husband and rechristen him as ‘Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar.’ But, the Maharani and her adopted son Yaduveer are now to carry on a different kind of battle — in the law courts. And to think that so many valuable properties are lying around like imaginary assets without generating any income or income commensurate with its value is indeed sad.
What could be the cause for this ashanthi, for these problems haunting the Royal family? Is it similar to the legendary curse of Alamelamma to the Wadiyars that is thought to be the cause for the dynasty not having a son to inherit the throne by a direct descendent of the ruling King? We do not know. But here is a probable cause for the present troubles of the dynasty after the death of Sri Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV as told to me by a reader of this paper.
The root cause is traced to the Palace atop Chamundi Hill, known as Rajendra Vilas Palace, now lying in a state of total neglect — euphemistically called under repair and renovation.
But before I come to that, a brief history of the Palace atop the hill itself. It all started when one englishman by name Sir Arthur Cole constructed his bungalow here in 1822. The kingdom was under the suzerainty of British East India Company following the fall of Tipu Sultan in 1799 and Sir Arthur Cole must have been in the service of the company. Lord William Bentinck, the Governor-General of India [1833-1835], had stayed here in 1834 for a few days, according to history.
Later when the British left, under the royal ownership, it was used as a Summer Palace, a hill station residence at an altitude of 1000 feet above mean sea level. It is said, Mahraja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV was taught English and Philosophy here in this ‘Summer Palace.’
It was re-built as a Palace in the Indo-Saracenic architectural style found in Rajasthan by Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV and completed in 1938-39. The Palace was further developed with a high dome during the period of Sri Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar. However, the Maharaja was cautioned by the Chief Priest of the Palace and the Chamundeshwari temple not to raise the dome to a height which will be higher than that of the vimana gopura atop the tower of the Chamundeshwari temple closeby, hardly 1000 meters away. The warning was ignored.
The Palace was leased to a hotel for some years where ‘sinful’ activities were taking place. And later it was closed. Sri Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar ran it as a hotel for a while but failed and then the Palace fell into disuse and royal neglect. The Palace, located on 15 acres of land, was valued at Rs. 6 crore during the year 2000.
Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar wanted to remodel the Palace with special interiors and re-start the hotel after his vision: “The Rajendra Vilas Hotel will have the stamp of a five-star luxury and heritage Palace hotel. Ancient scenes of Khedda operation, Dasara processions and Jumboo Savari will be depicted on murals by artists,” Wadiyar used to say to journalists who talked to him on seeing the construction work being carried out. Sadly he did not live to see his dream-hotel operational. But, what about the prognosis of the Palace Priest?
Would the property problem of the Wadiyars find a final resolution if the dome of the Palace is reduced in size or removed to comply with the Chief Priest’s warning? Or would it help the Wadiyars if the Palace itself is given up as belonging to the presiding deity Chamundeshwari on the lines how properties of some temples are considered belong to the deity as owner?
God only knows. But I would be happy if Wadiyars are allowed to live in peace by the government and the law of the land under a democratic governance. After all, the Wadiyar Kings were good Kings, benevolent Kings, encouraged art, literature, sculpture and worked to make Mysore a great cultural capital of Karnataka.
e-mail: kbg@starofmysore.com
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Abracadabra….Abracadabra / by K.B. Ganapathy / February 11th, 2016
