Category Archives: Education

9 Bengalureans in ComedK top 10

Education, Records, All

Bengaluru :

The results of ComedK 2017 test which will decide admission to private engineering colleges in Karnataka were announced on Saturday.

The top 10 scorers are from Karnataka, nine from Bengaluru and one from Uttara Kannada. Candidates can access their ranks on ww.comedk.org.

Of the 2,000 top rank holders, 1,423 secured more than 70% and remaining 577 secured 67% and above but below 70%. Also, 7,427 candidates secured less than 60% but more than 50%.

Of the first 100 rank holders, 70 candidates are from Karnataka while the remaining 30 are from across the country.

Also, 398 of the 1,000 rank holders are from Karnataka and 602 are from other states.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Bangalore News / TNN / May 28th, 2017

75-year-old one man army in Mangaluru

Amazing Feats, Education, Records, All

 

Narayana Nayak briefing students about scholarships and other facilities that they are entitled to, at Balmatta First Grade College for Women in Mangaluru |Rajesh Shetty Ballalbagh
Narayana Nayak briefing students about scholarships and other facilities that they are entitled to, at Balmatta First Grade College for Women in Mangaluru |Rajesh Shetty Ballalbagh

Mangaluru :

The clock strikes 8 at Karpe house in Bantwal taluk and sprightly 75-year-old K Narayana Naik is already at the gate, ready to begin his day. Clad in a pant and shirt and a cotton bag on his shoulder, his appearance is unassuming but Naik is the reason countless students have achieved higher education.

Naik’s routine has remained the same since his retirement as school inspector in 2001. He starts his day by travelling to government-run schools and colleges in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts, paying all the travel expenses from his pockets.

At these schools and colleges, he helps deserving students avail scholarships.Naik says that there are several scholarships available for students. “But there is lack of awareness among students.”

Nisham, a BCom student at Balmatta First Grade College, told Express, “Our ‘scholarship master’ (as Naik is known to students) not only creates awareness about new scholarships launched by government and private entities, but also helps students in completing the application and submitting it.” He even takes the trouble of hand delivering cheques to students who have passed out from college, she says.
Nisham is just one of the hundreds of students who Naik has helped. In 2016, Naik had visited 130 government schools and colleges to help students, especially children of daily wage labourers, avail scholarships. “Many workers are aware of the schemes available for their children. I encourage workers to register with the labour welfare department to make them eligible for the benefits,” says Naik.

Naik himself battled all odds to complete his Master’s degree in Kannada and Hindi and therefore believes he should help poor students have a fair chance at a better future.
His efforts to help students does not stop at finding the best scholarships for those who deserve it. He has even encouraged others to support students’ education.

When a student from Neerumarga in Mangaluru’s outskirts told Naik that she and her sisters would be forced to discontinue their studies owing to financial problems, he immediately approached a couple. The husband and wife were teachers and did not have children of their own. Naik encouraged them to support the three childen.
Naik lives on a pension of `25,000 but he has generously spent at least 90 per cent of it paying fees. “Some students return the money, some don’t,” he says. He adds with a smile, “Being in the midst of students and teachers, I have never experienced post-retirement blues.”

Corpus fund at school
Apart from helping students, his efforts have permeated to helping educational institutions as well. He has helped set up a corpus fund of `26,000 in Koila school in Bantwal. His efforts have earned government colleges in Balmatta and Car Street receive scholarship aid worth `50 lakh to 60 lakh annually.

Naik, an inspiration
Naik’s motto to help others in any manner possible seems to have inspired others too. Five to six construction workers who received help from Naik are now building a house for  a widow  at a cost of  K7 lakh.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Express News Service / May 07th, 2017

Reversing drug resistance made possible

Education, Records, All, Science & Technology

Drug-resistant E. coli become sensitive to antibiotics when H2S synthesis is inhibited

Make them vulnerable: (From left) Dr. Saurabh Mishra, Dr. Amit Singh, Prashant Shukla and Dr Harinath have been able to reverse antibiotic resistance in E. coli.
Make them vulnerable: (From left) Dr. Saurabh Mishra, Dr. Amit Singh, Prashant Shukla and Dr Harinath have been able to reverse antibiotic resistance in E. coli.

Indian researchers have unravelled the mechanism by which hydrogen sulphide (H2S) gas produced by bacteria protects them from antibiotics and plays a key role in helping bacteria develop drug resistance. And by blocking/disabling the enzyme that triggers the biosynthesis of hydrogen sulphide in bacteria, the researchers from Bengaluru’s Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune, have been able to reverse antibiotic resistance in E. coli bacteria; E. coli bacteria were isolated from patients suffering from urinary tract infection. The results were published in the journal Chemical Science.

Antibiotics kill by increasing the levels of reactive oxygen species (oxidative stress) inside bacterial cells. So any mechanism that detoxifies or counters reactive oxygen species generated by antibiotics will reduce the efficacy of antibiotics. “Hydrogen sulphide does this to nullify the effect of antibiotics,” says Dr. Amit Singh from the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology at IISc and one of the corresponding authors of the paper. “When bacteria face reactive oxygen species a protective mechanism in the bacteria kicks in and more hydrogen sulphide is produced.” Hydrogen sulphide successfully counters reactive oxygen species and reduces the efficacy of antibiotics.

The researchers carried out simple experiments to establish this. They first ascertained that regardless of the mode of action of antibiotics, the drugs uniformly induce reactive oxygen species formation inside E. coli bacteria. Then to test if increased levels of hydrogen sulphide gas inside bacteria counter reactive oxygen species produced upon treatment with antibiotics, a small molecule that produces hydrogen sulphide in a controlled manner inside the bacteria was used. “Hydrogen sulphide released by the molecule was able to counter reactive oxygen species and reduce the ability of antibiotics to kill bacteria,” says Dr. Singh.

The small molecule was synthesised by a team led by Prof. Harinath Chakrapani from the Department of Chemistry, IISER, Pune; he is one of the corresponding authors of the paper. “We designed the small molecule keeping in mind that synthesis should be easy, efficiency in producing hydrogen sulphide should be high and the molecule should release hydrogen sulphide only inside bacteria and not mammalian cells,” says Vinayak S. Khodade from the Department of Chemistry, IISER, Pune and one of the authors of the paper who contributed equally like the first author. The researchers were able to selectively increase hydrogen sulphide levels inside a wide variety of bacteria.

To reconfirm hydrogen sulphide’s role in countering reactive oxygen species, the team took multidrug-resistant, pathogenic strains of E. coli from patients suffering from urinary tract infection and measured the hydrogen sulphide levels in these strains. “We found the drug-resistant strains were naturally producing more hydrogen sulphide compared with drug-sensitive E. coli,” says Prashant Shukla from the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology at IISc and the first author of the paper. So the team used a chemical compound that inhibits an enzyme responsible for hydrogen sulphide production. “There was nearly 50% reduction in drug-resistance when hydrogen sulphide production was blocked,” Dr. Singh says.

“Bacteria that are genetically resistant to antibiotics actually become sensitive to antibiotics when hydrogen sulphide synthesis is inhibited,” says Prof. Chakrapani. The multidrug-resistant E. coli regained its ability to survive antibiotics when hydrogen sulphide was once again supplied by introducing the small molecule synthesised by Prof. Chakrapani.

“As a result of our study, we have a found new mechanism to develop a new class of drug candidates that specifically target multidrug-resistant bacteria,” says Prof. Chakrapani. The researchers already have a few inhibitors that seem capable of blocking hydrogen sulphide production. But efforts are on to develop a library of inhibitors to increase the chances of success.

How H2S acts

The researchers identified that E. coli has two modes of respiration involving two different enzymes. The hydrogen sulphide gas produced shuts down E. coli’s aerobic respiration by targeting the main enzyme (cytochrome bo oxidase (CyoA)) responsible for it. E. coli then switches over to an alternative mode of respiration by relying on a different enzyme — cytochrome bd oxidase (Cydb). Besides enabling respiration, the Cydb enzyme detoxifies the reactive oxygen species produced by antibiotics and blunts the action of antibiotics.

“So we found that hydrogen sulphide activates the Cydb enzyme, which, in turn, is responsible for increasing resistance towards antibiotics,” says Dr. Singh. “If we have a drug-like molecule(s) that blocks hydrogen sulphide production and inhibits Cydb enzyme activity then the combination will be highly lethal against multidrug-resistant bacteria.”

This combination can also be used along with antibiotics to effectively treat difficult-to-cure bacterial infections.

The link between hydrogen sulphide and Cydb enzyme in the emergence of drug resistance is another key finding of the study.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sci-Tech> Science / by R. Prasad / May 06th, 2017

Ryot’s son reaps success, clinches 11 gold medals

Education, Records, All
Gold medallist Raghuveer M wants to take up research
Gold medallist Raghuveer M wants to take up research

Bengaluru :

Coming from a family of farmers, Raghuveer M is no stranger to hard work. The youngster who lost his father at a tender age has been shouldering the responsibility of his underprivileged family and depending on scholarships for financial support. His efforts bore fruit on Monday when he bagged 11 gold medals at the University of Agricultural Science (UAS) convocation ceremony.

“The love for every subject helped me achieve this success,” said Raghuveer, who graduated with a bachelor of science degree in agriculture.

“I took up agricultural sciences because my father was a farmer. I had seen him struggle in the fields and wanted to come to the aid of farmers. I want to be a scientist and conduct research on varieties of seeds and saplings,” added Raghuveer who’s preparing for a career in the Agricultural Research Services (ARS).
Students from various degree programmes won 116 gold medals, including 35 university gold medals, three undergraduate and five postgraduate campus gold medals and 73 donor’s gold medals at the 51st convocation ceremony. Fifteen boys shared 38 gold medals and 33 girls won 78 medals. In all, 953 students were conferred degrees – 646 bachelor’s, 234 master’s and 73 doctoral.

In PhD programmes, six girls and five boys were awarded 10 university merit gold medals and eight donor’s gold medals. In PG degree pro grammes, eight boys and 17 girls bagged 19 university merit gold medals and 36 donor’s medals. In UG programmes, 2 boys and 10 girls won 38 gold medals -6 university merit gold medals, 3 campus gold medals and 29 donor’s medals.
“In 10 years, youngsters will lose interest in agriculture. How do we attract them?
Empowering them is the only way to ensure sustained support for the field. They have to explore the area of entrepreneurship, which will give them far more returns than anything else. Youngsters should carry out research as well, which will make agriculture more successful as an occupation,” said T Mohapatra, secretary, department of agricultural research and education and director general, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Bangalore News> Schools & Colleges / by Rakshitha R / TNN / April 25th, 2017

They walked in as greenhorns, and walked out as doctors

Education, Records, All, Science & Technology, Uncategorized

Bengaluru:

Six years spent toiling in laboratories and classrooms can make the best of friends out of anyone, and this was evident as 250 proud doctors received their degrees on the graduation day of batch 2011 of Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, which was held at Koramangala Indoor Stadium here on Thursday.

The students had written one liners to describe each of their batchmates, which were read out as they walked up to the dais to receive their degrees. “None of us knew what the others had written for us until we heard it announced,” said Dr. Prerna, a graduating student.

Minister for Medical Education Sharanprakash Patil, who was the chief guest, declared the graduation day open. Guests of honour Vijaya Laxmi Deshmane, president of Karnataka Cancer Society and C.N. Manjunath, director of Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research; advised the students on how to carry forward the lessons learnt in the classroom. Dr. Manjunath urged students to treat their patients with compassion irrespective of the circumstances. “One should have tremendous patience when dealing with patients and should allow them to express their problems and symptoms freely,” he told the graduating students.

Dr. Vijaya Lakshmi said that just having a degree did not make someone a doctor, “you have to earn respect through your work.” Balaji Pai, special officer, Trauma and Emergency Care Centre, BMCRI, urged students to work with passion and to keep a work-life balance. “In medicine, you never cease to learn. Always be a student,” he said.

Topper Divya C. Ragate, who also came second in her university, comes from a family of doctors – her father, brother and sister-in-law are all doctors and her younger brother is also studying MBBS at BMRCI. The Bidar lass said she was keen to pursue her MD in Neurology at NIMHANS. “I find neurology fascinating. People say it is a difficult subject, I want to see what’s difficult in it,” she said with a grin. Dr. Ragate topped in several courses and her family members who had come down from Bidar beamed as she received one accolade after the other.

Javagal Amith Thejas, Chirag Jain, Devamsh G N, Priyanka KP, Prashanth V, Megha P., and Kavyashree K won awards for topping individual courses.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Staff Reporter – Cynthia Anand  / March 16th, 2017

These two women light up lives through education in Udupi

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, World Opinion
Shamitha and Renita thought outside the box during 1995 and established Mother Teresa Memorial Education Trust
Shamitha and Renita thought outside the box during 1995 and established Mother Teresa Memorial Education Trust

Mangaluru :

A school started with just 12 students on an open stage by these two young women two decades back, has grown from strength to strength and now imparts knowledge to around 1,167 students – that too exclusively from rural areas.

This wouldn’t have been possible if Shamitha Rao and Renita Lobo, educated in Mangaluru city, had not set their priorities right – to educate the rural children.

Being women, they thought outside the box during 1995 and in spite of struggles and humiliation, the duo were successful in establishing Mother Teresa Memorial Education Trust in Shankarnarayana, Udupi district. The education institution , which is 110 kms away from Mangaluru, empowers rural children with education.

“It all began during 1995, after our graduation we were sent to a village named Siddapur in Kundapur Taluk to serve in a private school which had just started. That was for the first time we were exposed to rural environment – Rural school, rural people, and hardly any access to quality education. Being born and brought up in Mangaluru city, it was very hard for us to accept that life where little ones were so much deprived of basic quality education. We served in that school for two years after which our parents wanted us to come back to Mangaluru. One evening when we were packing up all our belongings, some parents came to us with gratitude and said they did not want us to go. Meanwhile, our house owner suggested us to open our own school. We both looked at each other’s face. That night we knelt and prayed to God and decided firmly to open a school which could be afforded by any section of the society. We wanted to educate the children of the uneducated parents unlike other schools who wanted to teach only the educated parents’ children,” recall Shamita and Renita.

Shamitha and Renita, 40, graduated from St Agnes College, Mangaluru and pursued MA through distance education from University of Mysuru.

Shankarnarayana amidst forest area is economically backward and nearby village areas are affected by Naxalites. “We were looking for a place which is small and backward. There was a call from within to start the school here as this was a very small village with small population of not more than 10,000 people. We started everything from scratch. We were very young to make a great plan with a big budget. We knew only thing that we wanted to teach the small children in the best way possible. This small beginning has a great ending.

In 1998, we hired an open stage from village Panchayat on a nominal rent. In the hall we accommodated two classes (LKG & UKG) for 12 students. For the other expenses we used our little savings of two years. Today institution has grown till PUC II with good results,” said the duo sharing their tale.

The institution is known to be one of the best in Udupi district. Every year more than 75% of the students come out with distinction. This year in district, the school is in the top most positions by QPI (quality Progressive Innings) in SSLC result. Even in PUC out of 5 years’ results, thrice they have secured cent percent.

People, family mocked us:

It was not a cake-walk for Shamita and Renita during their initial days. “People mocked us saying that we will close the institution after three or four years. Meanwhile, our families too did not support our ideas. Even government officials during school documentation works kept on pestering and harassing us because we were two young women with no prior experience. But the constant support from donors, especially Bishop of Mangalore Most Rev Aloysius Paul D’Souza kept us going to reach our goal,” they said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City> Bangalore / by Kevin Mendonsa / TNN / March 07th, 2017

How the old boys from Bishop Cotton’s school built Bangalore as we know it

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Leaders, Records, All

bishopcottonBF06mar2017

The documentation of local culture in India is a vanishing art, especially in the English language. There are few go-to resources to get the real feel of the sights, sounds and smells of our cities, towns and villages.

Result: click-bait stuff dredged up by search-engine algorithms—“10 best biryanis in Bangalore”—is all there is to find on the world wide web.

Senior advocate Aditya Sondhi, currently an additional advocate-general for Karnataka, went to Bishop Cotton Boys’ School in Bangalore, and has written two books on his old school: Unfinished Symphony (2003) and The Order of the Crest (2015).

In this excerpt from The Order of the Crest, he writes about the role Old Cottonians, past and present, have played in crafting the “edgy, new vibe” that has made Bangalore the new melting pot.

***

‘Then, with the encouragement and help of Canon Elphick and Dewan Bahadur K. Matthan, the well-known café and store on St. Mark’s Road was started in 1952-53.’

from Maya Jayapal’s Bangalore: The Story of a City on how Koshy’s was born

****

AdityaSodhiBF06mar2017

by ADITYA SONDHI

In referring to M/s Elphick, Matthan and Koshy, Maya Jayapal actually refers to many stories within a story. The cantonment of Bangalore emerged only in the early part of the nineteenth century and that is when the city began to develop its colonial flavour.

By 1952, the city was well and truly bifurcated into the largely British/Anglo-Indian ‘cant’ and the native City or ‘pete’ areas.

There was no love lost between the two as well.

In some ways Koshy’s became the ‘common area’ for the old city and the cantonment to meet sans any protocol.

The intriguing part is how Cottons related to the blossoming of the city.

Dewan Bahadur K. Matthan felt compelled to admit nine out of ten of his children to the Bishop Cotton (boys and girls) Schools in the 1920s and later join the board of governors mainly on account of his rapport with warden Canon Elphick.

This broke a certain glass ceiling in that a prominent Indian Syrian Christian family was closely associating with the school. Another prominent member of the Syrian Christian community, Rajasabhabhushana K. Chandy had done so too.

That M/s Elphick and Matthan could prevail upon the late P. Oomen Koshy is not surprising in that he was an old boy, a Syrian Christian and at a loose end at that point of time.

Koshy’s has gone on to become a hoary part of Bangalore’s history, just like the school.

The next generation, Santosh and Prem have continued the legacy, being Cottonians and keeping the restaurant running in top form. (Prem is also a gifted actor and singer, and a compelling story-teller.)

And here is where the tapestry of the school and city meet.

Its people, institutions and culture have in a small but tangible way rubbed off each other. The Bangalore Club was founded two years before the school in 1863 and shares a wall with the school on Residency Road.

These have in some ways become twins, considering their trajectory and the fact that OCs have heavily populated the membership and control of the club. (And the fact that parts of it are still ‘for gentlemen only’!)

More significant is the fact that the club was started as the Bangalore United Services Club for serving officers of the Raj, many of whom sent their sons to neighbouring Bishop Cotton, which on its part was founded to cater to the needs of the Civil and Military Station.

General K.S. Thimayya as a young boarder is known to have gazed wistfully at the wild Saturday night dances at the club from his dormitory window in the 1920s. (PCs in the 1960s were mind-boggled to find that Timmy could still spot the loose grill in the window from whence many a furtive escape would have been made!)

With the passage of time, both, the club and school, transitioned from being ‘all-White’ and began to (selectively) let in Indian members. These were not necessarily ‘military admissions’, and several trading (and royal) families began partake in these places. Today, both of them are well and truly enmeshed with the city, but still struggle to ward off the ‘elitist’ tag.

Cottons has had a subtle touch on other institutions too.

Bangalore Little Theatre debuted in the school hall. The Bangalore School of Music had old boy Dr. Raja Ramanna as one of its earrliest patrons. St. Mark’s Cathedral is the literal sister institution with the wardens previously serving as ex officio chaplains and the boarders (still) worshipping there every Sunday.

The British Council was housed above Koshy’s as a tenant. The Green and Gold Ball was held at Bowring Insitute for many years. The Queen’s statue (and that of and King) in Cubbon Park were put there by an OC.

The old rivals have not been spared too.

Baldwins was founded by an Old Cottonian and the famous Webbs ground that doubled up as the sports field of St. Joseph’s belonged to old boy, John Webb. The first commandant of King George’s (Military) School, Bangalore was an old boy. The first student to be admitted to Stracey Memorial was a boy who moved across from Cottons.

South Parade in the 1880s had an unmistakable Cottonian connection. Old boy Walter Abraham, an honorary magistrate, founded the auctioneering firm Abraham and Co. The local businesses, the bank and the Bowring Institute closed shop for the day as a mark of respect when he passed away.

Colonel Percy Alfred Barton (OC) for many years ran Barton & Sons. This now houses Barton Centre. Barton was one of the founder members of the Rotary Club of Bangalore and also served on the board of governors of the school. A stickler for transparency, he would write letters as chairman of the OCA to himself as MD of Bartons when the association needed some silverware!

Webbs, of course, was next door. (Colin and Olive) Dozey’s Garage became a veritable hangout for Cottonian chinwag. Later, EGK (Venkatesh and Jaideep Ellore) and Jamaals (Ameen) joined the ‘M.G. Road Battalion’.

On South Parade was the unforgettable Plaza theatre belonging to OC Ananth Narrain and his family – descendants of the Arcot Narainswamy Mudaliars who run the RBANMS Educational Charities.

Many old and now non-existent theatres were in Cottonian hands.

Galaxy (Rehman), Symphony (Kapurs) Urvashi (Amit Gowda) and Nartaki & Lavanya (Shindes) for instance. (Bangaloreans also flocked to the Liberty cinema on South Parade circa 1958 because local boy Don Anderson, OC starred in Hugo Fregonese’s Harry Black and the Tiger!)

The one theatre that stands tall is Rex. Also owned by the Kapurs, it is one the few single-screen halls (thankfully) still in existence in Bangalore.

For this, OC Anil Kapur needs to take a bow. He is a passionate businessman and a passionate Cottonian. Which is not surprising, considering the number of boys and generations from his family that went to Cottons.

Along with the Kapoors (Union Street), Matthans and the Peerans, the Kapurs must hold the record for the maximum number of Cottonians produced. I am pretty sure several other families will be happy to stake their claim too.

OCs have marked their territory on adjoining Brigade Road too. Radio Shack is run by Suhail Yousuf who is also the president of the Brigade Road Traders’ Association.

Some of the Nilgiris’ family were also from the school.

S.J.P. road is speckled with establishments run by old boys.

Union Street and neighbouring Russel Market have the offices of Ameen Shacoor and Jansons (Akmal Jan). Shacoor’s has now yielded to a high-rise commercial outfit.

The India Garage has lodged itself as a monument on St. Mark’s Road. Owned by the ‘Vellore family’ whose V.K. Surendra, V.P. Mahendra, V.T. Thiruvendaswamy, V.V. Vijayendra, V.P. Thirumurthy and A.T. Nahender are all old boys. As was the patriarch  V.T. Krishnamoorthy, the second son of V.S. Thiruvengadaswamy Mudaliar after whom the family–run VST Group is named.

The group is a massive conglomerate of petroleum, automobile and construction businesses, and is equally well-regarded for its CSR efforts in the city. The VST folks have also steered the fortunes Bangalore’s social, golf and motor racing clubs with poise. The eclectic Raintree stands on their property.

Commercial Street has been infiltrated as well. The Green Shop which made the school blazers and crests (Junaid Mahmood), Clifton’s (Azhar Sulaiman and family), Mysore Saree Udyog (brothers Kamlesh and Dinesh Talera) and Men’s Favourite Shop (Chatlanis) have been (and in some cases, remain) prominent landmarks of the bustling street.

The imperial jewellery store, C. Krishniah Chetty & Sons was founded a little after the school in 1869, and has had at least two generations pass through its portals. C.V. Hayagriv and C.V. Narayan looked after it with acclaim and now their respective sons, Vinod and Ganesh are following suit.

Woody’s which stands bang centre on Commercial Street used to be Rubin Moses’ eponymous shoe-shop. (Winston Churchill was one of his many loyal clients.) Moses’ son Sydney is an old boy and distinguished himself as a horse trainer. They are one of the few remaining Jewish families in Bangalore.

Together with the Jews, Bangalore has been home to many other ethnic groups, who have shared a relationship with Cottons.

The Kodavas have for long sent their sons to Bangalore (or to Lovedale, Ooty) and several prominent Kodava families are proud Cottonians.

The Chittiappa brothers (of whom Puttu was instrumental in organizing the acclaimed inter-family hockey tournament in Coorg) come to mind, along with a running list of many others who went on to serve the armed forces with great merit.

The others reverted to native Madikeri to look after their plantations and bring the house down at the North Coorg Club. Ram Bopiah has done both with acclaim! The Hurricane Stud Farm, founded by OC Kumar Siddanna is the only stud farm in Coorg.

A veritable melting-pot, Cottons has seen several of the prominent, immigrant Muslim groups admit their wards in the school.

The Persians (Khaleelis, Shirazis), the Deccanis (Mekhris) and the Cutchis (Saits), for instance.

The grandsons of Haji Sir Ismail Sait were in Cottons in the 1920s and as Eric Stracey recalls in his memoirs ‘lived in an imposing house … and sported a Jaguar’.

Zackria Hashim Sait serves as the president of the Cutchi Memon Jamath. Fellow Cutchi, Feroz Sait (Safina Plaza) is a prominent face in the turf club circuit. His namesake Feroze Abdullah Sait (Feroze’s Estates) holds an annual ‘harmony lunch’ on Eid that has become a symbol of the secular spirit of Bangalore.

The Parsis are equally well entrenched with Cottons.

Dara Shroff founded Shroff’s Realtors in the 1950s and is considered to be the patriarch of real estate in Bangalore. Some of the prominent landmarks in Whitefield were acquired by his clients at a time when those parts were a trunk-call away!

Dinshaw Cawasji is the president of the Bangalore Parsee Zoroastrian Anjuman. A graduate in English from the St. Olaf College, Minnesota, he returned to manage the Bai Dhunmai Cawasji High School and sanatorium founded by his grandfather Late Seth D. Cawajsi.

His predecessor as president of the Anjuman was Bishop Cotton comrade Phiroze B. Bharda. The sons of the high priest Dastur Nadirshah Pestonji Unvalla – Adil and Yezdi – are also old boys, the latter having served as honorary treasurer for a few terms.

Eminent planter-families from Chikmagalur (Jayarams), Goans (de Mellos), Sri Lankans (Jaysuryas) and royalty from the Deccan (House of Banganapalle, Sachin, Sandur) and West India (Bhonsles, Thorats, Ghatges) have all engaged with the school with purpose.

Sivaji Ganesan sent his sons and nephews across from Chennai being impressed with the turn-out of some PCs he met on a flight.

The Devanesens of Chennai had already beaten them to it.

Many of the affluent Dindigul families insisted on their sons being groomed at Cottons. S. Devnraj was one such loyal old boy from the 1950s. Many boys came down from Sikkim, Assam, Nagaland, (more recently) Jharkhand and even Africa, Burma and Tibet.

Expectedly, the critical mass of students to have entered Bishop Cotton were the British, Anglo-Indians and other Protestant families associated with the Church of South India.

Most books on the Anglo-Indian community are replete with references to Cottonian families such as the Robinsons, the Wollens, the Claudius’ and the Harts.

A solid vestige of those Anglo-Indian days is Len Sheperd (ex GM, Binny Mills) who could rarely be missed at the India Coffee House. He served on the board of the school as a representative of the OCA and is still sharp as a tack. (Catch him for anecdotes from the ‘40s at Koshy’s, where else!)

Plenty of families from old Bangalore parts, ie. Jayanagar, Gandhinagar, Sadashivnagar and Malleswaram were happy to send their wards to Cottons despite it being founded on Christian principles.

Nandan Nilekani, who grew up around Magadi Road, recalls his father having admitted him to Cottons for its being ‘the best place for quality education’.

Many of the trading families from the Sindhis, Marwaris and Punjabis can claim to be Cottonian. These are largely post-partition migrant families that came down to Bangalore from Karachi (since Mangalore was the nearest port), Lahore and Quetta. They joined the ranks of other old boys who made Bangalore the hospitality destination it now is.

Haroon Sulaiman’s The Only Place, Balu Nichani’s Peacock and Ashok Batla’s Tycoon are part of Bangalore’s restaurant-ing folklore. Haroon supplied frozen beef and lamb to the embassies in New Delhi and Mumbai.

The crew of David Lean‘s A Passage to India is rumoured to have frequented his restaurant for all meals regardless of which hotel they stayed at.

Anand Chetoor (Rogue Elephant), Gautam Krishnakutty† (Thulp) and Mako Ravindran† (Harima) and Ajit Muthanna & Vikram Dasappa (Nando’s) have kept the tradition going.

Vikram ‘Vik’ Lulla of the timeless Kabab Korner on St. Mark’s Road found greener pastures in New York and runs one of its best ‘Indian-Chinese’ outlets, Chinese Mirch.

Mathew Chandy† did so with Moolis in London, serving wraps and eclectic Indian street food. Michael Watsa (La Casa) is a restaurateur and raconteur of the top order. He has served the OCA like no other.

Bikash Parik’s Green Theory is nestled in an old bungalow on Convent Road serving only organic vegetarian fare. Some members of the Airlines Hotel family also marked their time at Cottons.

The Sadhwanis (Ashok and Ramesh) were among the earliest to help Bangalore earn its tag as a pub city, with their authentic debut on Church Street. Ashish Kothare (Juke Box, Legends of Rock) and Sunil ‘Chue’ Deshpande (Take 5) were on hand to keep Bangalore’s watering holes moist.

Vinod Reddy (10 Downing) did so with Hyderabad. Chue now runs a spanking property in Chikmagalur called Flameback. He remains one of the few renaissance guys to have retained their grain.

Not far from his lodge is Sunil Gowda’s must-see Villa Urvinkhan. Suneel Mahtani’s Underground made its mark in the 1990s. Gaurav Sikka has struck gold with his Arbor Brewing Company.

Old boys have flavoured the city in their own little way.

Cothas Coffee and Batla Ladders are both quintessential Bangalore brands. Contemporaries Chandan Cothas and ‘Rinku’ Batla have grown the old businesses to new strengths. The Lekhraj brothers – Sanjeev and Praveen, have done so with Cotton World. They may well have named the business after the school?

M.A. Khader’s Fun World has been spinning Bangaloreans on the Ferris Wheel for decades.  The age-old Shivananda Stores belongs to an OC family, as does the popular Olympic Sports.

Sohail Rekhy’s Sadaya Guild makes garden furniture from reclaimed oak and teakwood. He is the elegant Waheeda Rehman’s son. Amar Murthy’s Town Essentials is an online grocery that supplies specially cleaned fruits and vegetables to restaurants and hospital canteens across the city.

Architect (the late) Nikhil Arni started Design Friday with Sujata Kesavan in 2002 as a platform for the art and design cognoscenti of Bangalore. Shivdev Deshmudre as trustee of the Shakuntala Devi Educational Foundation Public Trust strives to keep her mathematics techniques relevant in the city.

Harish Padmanabha served the chairperson of the very popular art fest Chitrasanthe during its early years. His art collection is unrivalled in Bangalore. Bharath Candade is an art consultant with the Chitra Kala Parishat and a treasure-trove of old Bangalore stories, especially from Malleswaram where he grew up.

E.S. Marcar joined Cottons as its first student in 1865, when the school was called Westward Ho! Mr. Marcar would not have had the pleasure of studying at the 14-acre campus on Residency Road where the school now stands.

The school till 1870 was housed in a bungalow in High Grounds, which is now the stately Balabrooie Guest House.

A few such remaining bungalows of Bangalore remind one of Cottons.

Old boy lieutenant colonel D.C. Basapa’s majestic bungalow Leela Vilas now houses the play school First Steps, which is run by his daughters under the auspices of a trust in his memory. He is from the Dodamanne family whose matriarch Mrs. D. Sakamma was one of the few women to be appointed to the erstwhile Mysore Representative Assembly. Many members of this family went to the school.

Close by Leela Nivas is Rishad Minocher’s quaint cottage on Cunningham Road that once belonged to commissioner of police, Cubbon Gutten. Part of it is now Hatworks Boulevard, which replaced the famed Imperial Hatworks.

Dr. Nandakumar Jairam’s 140-year-old bungalow off Ali Asker Road remains a rare reminder of the heritage of old Bangalore.

Expectedly, old Whitefield homes bear the same connection.

OC Charles Barden owned the lovely Caroline Villa in the outer circle of Whitefield in the 1950s. He moved to Australia and joined the secretariat of the New South Wales legislature. The home of the late Lionel Moss is another remnant of the Raj. What is now the exclusive Palm Meadows gated community was an old boy Cariapa’s farm.

Purna Prasad of the late Raghavendra Rao Purnaiya bears testimony to the legacy of his ancestor, the Dewan of Mysore. The Anjaneya temple in the home is a sight to behold. Two of his sons too went to Cottons. The Raos’ bungalow ‘Lumbini’, on Museum Road was a Montessori and doubled up as an ‘adda’ for theatre rehearsals.

The bungalow of the Basha brothers – Ghazanfar and Khusru on Hayes Road is another spark of the city’s heritage. It was bought in the 1978 by their father to enable the boys to walk across to school.

Planter Vinod Shivappa’s lovely home and the classic cottage of brothers M.C. Chandy and M.C. George are not far from the school. Jeffrey Madan’s old plot on Lavelle Road provides direct access to the back gate of the school.

Jamshed Lentin’s classic cottage borders the (old) Grant Road gare. The Achoths’ bungalow nearby remains an isolated memoir of what the environs of Cottons might have resembled in the good old days.

Old boy C.N. Kumar has founded an online group called ‘Photos From a Bygone Bangalore’ that is an astonishing repository of old pictures of a city that has now morphed beyond recognition.

Somewhere in that glorious city, my old school has played its part.

(Excerpted from The Order of the Crest, published by Penguin, 320 pages, hardback, with the permission of the author)

Author photograph: courtesy Law Octopus

source: http://www.churmuri.blog / by Churmuri / Feb 18th,2017

Bengaluru college students to go vroom in international races

Education, Science & Technology, Sports
Students of RV College of Engineering with their car
Students of RV College of Engineering with their car

Bengaluru :

The RV College of Engineering’s student racing team, Ashwa Racing will unveil two cars – one hybrid and another combustion-based that have been developed and designed by its students, today. The team will also be participating at two international student competitions in USA and Italy to be held in a few months.

The combustion vehicle will take part in the ‘Formula SAE Italy’ that will take place in July that will see participation from around 80 teams from across the world. The hybrid vehicle will take part at the ‘Formula Hybrid’  competition to take place in May. Both the events have been organised by the Society of Automotive Engineers or SAE.

Dr Ravi Kulkarni, professor and mentor of the student team say that there have been a few tweaks and changes this year in the vehicles. For example in the combustion car they have reduced the weight by as much as 40 kgs compared to previous vehicle. There are also very improvements in the combustion vehicle. “We have been taking part in these competitions for quite now and I can tell you that we do pretty well. For example in the Hybrid category we came fourth last year. This year we want to finish in the top three.”

Kulkarni further says that the team has been improving over the years. “People think that these are primarily racing events however more then racing these test the engineering capabilities of a team. The races test parameters such a drivability and maneuverability, endurance and other factors.”

Rounak Maru, a fourth year instrumentation student and a team member highlighted that there are as many as 110 students from across all years and various branches who are part of the team.

He also highlighted that for the combustion based vehicle, a few teams from India may also be participating. “For the hybrid event however our team is probably the only one from the country,” he adds
Rounak Maru, a fourth year instrumentation student and a team member highlighted that there are as many as 110 students from across all years and various branches who are part of the team. He also highlighted that for the combustion based vehicle, a few teams from India may also be participating.

“For the hybrid event however our team is probably the only one from the country,” he adds.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Express News Service / February 25th, 2017

History of princely states do not feature in the larger Indian narrative, says Cambridge professor

Education, Records, All, World Opinion
David Wash-brook: History of princely states do not feature in the larger Indian narrative, says Cambridge professor
David Wash-brook: History of princely states do not feature in the larger Indian narrative, says Cambridge professor

Mysuru :

Professor of world history at the prestigious Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, David Washbrook said that the history of princely states – territories that entered into Lord Wellesley’s treaty of subsidiary alliance – had been relegated to the marginalia in the larger narrative of India’s modern nationhood.

Prof Washbrook on Friday delivered the keynote address during the Prof Achuta Rao memorial international conference at the Rani Bahaddur auditorium within the University of Mysore (UoM) premises on ‘Power, resistance and sovereignty in princely South India’. Organised by UoM, and the Prod DS Achuta Rao Centenary Programme, the conference saw discussion on the past and present of the princely states.

DS Achuta Rao was a professor of history at UoM, whose research into Mysuru’s past earned him accolades aplenty. Prof Achuta Rao passed away in 1965, aged 47. The conference was organised as part of a series of events to commemorate his centenary this year.

Washbrook opined that the Indian National Congress was so focused on fighting the British that it ignored the princely states till 1930. “They were then subsumed into a programme designed to obliterate their difference. Also, given the circumstances that prevailed in the early years of independence – partition and accession of states – also made post-independent India instinctively hostile to the traces of princely privilege and power. Perceived as feudal relics, India’s maharajas were meant to fade into history, while the societies they held dominion over were meant to blend into a single, homogenous and continuous national modernity,” he added.

Although the princely states, and their rulers, did not essay prominent roles in the political struggle against colonialism, particularly after 1857, they led the country in terms of social development, Washbrook said. “The strides these territories made in education, public health and other sectors put the backwardness of British India to shame. It’s scarcely a coincidence that cities such as Bengaluru and Vadodara, which were part of erstwhile princely states, should be leading centres of science and industry today. The history of the princely states may be more relevant to understanding India in the 21st century than it ever was in the 20th,” Washbrook said.

Jawaharlal Nehru University professor Janaki Nair delivered a talk on ‘The making of the modern Mysore Matha’, while associate professor at the University of Tokyo Aya Ikegame lectured on ‘Was power transferred to whom? Princes and gurus in modern Mysore’, at the conference.

UOM registrar Prof R Rajanna also inaugurated an exhibition on the life and works of DS Achuta Rao.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Mysore News / TNN / February 18th, 2017

29-ft terracotta tree to adorn UAS-B campus

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Leaders, Records, All, World Opinion
Masterpiece Students working on artist John Devaraj’s artwork at the Indian Agricultural Science Congress in Bengaluru on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: Sudhakara Jain
Masterpiece Students working on artist John Devaraj’s artwork at the Indian Agricultural Science Congress in Bengaluru on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: Sudhakara Jain

Titled tree of life, artist attempts to enter Guinness Book of World Records

The sprawling campus of the University of Agricultural Sciences-Bengaluru is set to have a 29-ft-tall terracotta tree, which is claimed to be the world’s tallest terracotta structure.

Bengaluru-based artist John Devaraj is trying to create the tree, titled ‘tree of life’, with the involvement of scientists and students of the university. Mr. Devaraj plans to seek entry for this structure into the Guinness Book of World Records.

The process of creating the tree of life has begun at the Indian Agricultural Science Congress, where nearly 2,000 scientists are deliberating on the theme ‘climate smart agriculture’. The creators of the tree are not only getting mud impressions of leaves from different species of trees on the university campus, but also the signatures of scientists on it. “It is like an endorsement from scientists and dignitaries that they would commit themselves to protecting farmers,” says B.N. Sathyanarayana, university Head of Horticulture Division, who is co-ordinating the artwork.

Mr. Devaraj said: “Our tree of life tries to send a message that the society will stand by farmers when the agriculture sector is going through crisis,” he says.

The artist has also come out with two paintings on either side of the entrance to the venue. While one depicts the bountifulness of nature, which was extracted by humans, the other represents a sorry state of affairs in which a farmer is being crucified to his plough.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by B S Satish Kumar / February 23rd, 2017