Smitten by ಕನ್ನಡ

Having been the first Kannada Sahithya Sammelana I got to witness, the words I am left with is - I am proud to belong here! An absolute brilliant show by Mr.Nallur Prasad(driven by sheer will to work towards kannada) and BJP members to some extent. Grand old man of Kannada lexicography,ಜಿ ವೆಂಕಟಸುಬ್ಬಯ್ಯ of ಇಗೋ ಕನ್ನಡ fame deserved every bit of respect, honor and more. A mobile dictionary himself, it might be his enthusiasm that has kept him like a mercury at 98! So much for them to pass on to our generation! & that means a rise in the bar of responsibilities and expectations to be met by us!

I read some articles where the authors and intellects are skeptical on spending crores of rupees on such occasions, that the modest ಸಮ್ಮೇಳನ of the 1920s and 30s do not exist any more. C'mon - ದಿವಸ ಗಣೇಶನ ಪೂಜೆ ಮಾಡ್ತಿವಿ ಅಂತ ಗಣೇಶನ ಹಬ್ಬ ಮಾಡೋದು ಬಿಡೋದಕ್ಕೆ ಆಗುತ್ಯೇ? A celebration is a celebration! Each of us play important role in preserving our language and all of it is hidden in small things like - teaching children ಚೈತ್ರ, ಆಷಾಡ, ಜೆಷ್ಠ or at the national level where Anantha Kumar (and many others at center) takes oath in Kannada and signs in Kannada. Such small gestures make huge impact.

And ಸಮ್ಮೇಳನ ನಡೆಯುವ ಸ್ಥಳವನ್ನ ಗೊತ್ತು ಮಾಡುವ ಬದಲು, ಆ ಮೂರೂ ದಿನಗಳನ್ನ ರಾಜ್ಯದಾದ್ಯಂತ ಆ-ಆ ಪ್ರದೇಶದ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಗಳನ್ನ ಹೊಮ್ಮಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಹಾಗೆ ಆಯೋಜಿಸಿದರೆ, ನಮ್ಮ ದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ ಇರುವ ಸಾವಿರಾರು ಪ್ರಾದೇಶಿಕ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಪ್ರೋತ್ಸಾಹ ನೀಡಿದಂತಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಉದಾಹರಣೆಗೆ, ಗದಗ, ಬಾಗಲಕೋಟೆ, ಬಿಜಾಪುರ - ಈ ಪ್ರದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿನ ಕನ್ನಡ ಭಾಷೆ ಮತ್ತು ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ, ಕೊಡಗು ಅಥವಾ ಮಂಗಳೂರು, ಬೀದರಿನ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಗಿಂತ ವಿಭಿನ್ನವಾದುದು. ಗದಗ-ಬಿಜಾಪುರ, ಬಸವ ಮತ್ತು ವಚನ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯವನ್ನು ಎತ್ತಿ ಹಿಡಿದರೆ, ಶಿವಮೊಗ್ಗ ತಾನು ಬೆಳೆಸಿರುವ ನೂರಾರು ತೀರ್ಥಹಳ್ಳಿ ಕಲಾವಿದರನ್ನು ಬಿಂಬಿಸಬಹುದು. ಮೈಸೂರು ದಸರಾವನ್ನ ನಾಡ ಹಬ್ಬದಂತೆ ಆಚರಿಸುವ ಹಾಗೆ, ಸಮ್ಮೇಳನವೂ ಒಂದು ಊರಿಗೆ ಸೀಮಿತವಾಗದಂತೆ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ ಪ್ರತಿ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಆಚರಿಸಬೇಕು. I think this will also help to make the event more intricate and detailed.

The governor of the state has become a pain - no doubt. He is digging his own grave by throwing his never ending tantrums. Not granting doctrate to a well-renowned legend Chidananda Murthy based on political interests is just ridiculous and unpardonable. Personally felt that it was a disgrace to have Mr.Siddaramayya who pursued his political interests on-stage, in-spite of having been warned not to do so! Yes, all the politicians of Karnataka looked like dirt smeared on a neat shimmering white coat amidst the resplendent cultural cauldron! Anyway, he(and the whole government) got a virtual slap from ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ ಚಂದ್ರು the very next minute in his speech(which was superb!). Memorable speeches - Bhuvaneshwari Hegde, Mukhyamanthri Chandru, Nallur Prasad. In the end, that has taken my respect for these people to a new strata.

Last but not least, one trivia - Karnataka has bagged 4th place in must-visit-places along with Orissa from India in an international travel organization. Again, proud to belong here. I hope more kannadigas realize the importance to work towards conservation of the same.ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರಿಂದ ಕನ್ನಡ ಭಾಷೆಗೆ ಆದ್ಯತೆ ಇರಲಿ.

No strings attached

Scandinavian countries are top ranked for the liberty of women, not the US. India occupies a place somewhere in the end.
Despite being poorest of the poor, Cuba still fights the USA(not technically). It raises its voice against the USA. Cuba has consistently achieved 90+ percent education since its revolution. The medals it has won per Cuban exceeds that of the USA. One family gets only one soap per month for usage in Cuba. Fidel Castro has escaped death waged by the CIA for as many as 60 odd times, which includes poisoning his cigar, incorporating machine guns in the cameras, and also through Castro's shoes! During the much celebrated Cuban carnival, food crops in fields were poisoned. Children above 7 years do not get milk because of lack of money in treasury. People do not use vehicles because the country cannot afford fuel. It is amazing, that every citizen in this nation has contributed for the revolution. Cuban sports persons are discouraged by the US by denying them visa for participation in events. Clinton rubs off Castro during an International meet's dinner, during his reign. When the Vajpeyee government sent a ship filled with wheat, Fidel Castro received it at the harbor with "Thanks to India, I will feed my people with good quality bread for a week". The US awaits the death of Castro, like China awaits death of The Dalai Lama. Inspite of being such a small country and a struggling one, it fights sternly with dignity against the odds of its neighboring country just 90 miles away. And we, inspite of having the second largest army and rich human resource, nod for others' puppet hands. (I am not favoring a war here)

Daniel Ellsberg, after witnessing the horror during his Vietnam deployment brought out the "Pentagon papers" back in the 1969 which shocked the world and US citizens for the language used by the then President Richard Nixon regarding the Vietnam war. Nixon stepped down soon after, fearing his dismissal from office. In a conversation with an unrelenting army official, he states "You have to think big!" for dropping nuclear bombs during the Vietnam War, which thankfully didn't happen. 2 million Vietnamese and 58,000 American soldiers were killed. Hiroshima, Nagasaaki were devastated by US during World War. How could a decision of dropping a "Fat man" seeing the aftermath of the "Little boy" be made by a "Human Welfare and rights - fighting nation"?!

Newspapers and Media find it hard to cope with the increasing expenses they have to spare for the correspondents to be posted at various locations. They get the news for one-third the prices they have to otherwise shell-out directly from the sources- yeah, mostly manipulated ones. So, the news around the world are far from the facts. In fact, the top newspapers in the USA are claimed to work based on the governmental instructions (it doesn't happen in India alone!) This incident happened back when Hillary Clinton was the first lady. At some women rights meet held in China, Mrs. Clinton faced protests and despise in the form of Human chains from the audience after her arrival. The newspapers around the world described her arrival as a glorifying moment for the program! The Indian lady delegate present at the same program records what she factually witnessed on the day. This is the fate of authenticity of the media.

And the latest - Afghan war Wikileaks.

I have no disrespect for the American citizens. I have much heard that they are peace-loving. It is the government. And without scrupulous inspection of all the atrocities one nation forces over every other affair of the world, (for example, what was the necessity for Mrs.Clinton to be present when Pakistan and Afghanistan signed an agreement?! Was she bearing a witness? It is their job, why not just leave them alone!) we, Indians, have lost the war of finding our true selves. There are umpteen number of things to be learnt from so many nations! Like the Latin American ones, who fight and not show cowardice! I only hope more number of people deviate their attention from an attention-seeking nation and "LOOK" and introspect and give importance to what actually needs importance.

After learning more about Cuba, I think it stands as a role model for the rest of the third-world countries. There is a saying in kannada that the thoughts of philanthropic deeds you do from right hand, shouldn't even reach the left hand. That is called selfless service, which the Cuban citizens do for their motherland. No strings attached.

For all the followers of the West; and the casual followers of anything under the sun without close examination, below is a "Monkey see, Monkey do, Monkey remember" article :

There’s an experiment attributed to Harry Harlow. Five monkeys are placed in a cage, with a ladder and a banana hanging from the ceiling. Whenever a monkey climbs the ladder to grab the banana, all monkeys are sprayed with ice cold water. After a few times, monkeys know better and nobody tries climbing the ladder.

Then, one monkey is replaced. The new arrival wants to get the banana, but as soon as he climbs the ladder, the other four start beating him – they want to stay warm and dry. After a few attempts, the new monkey conforms to the group and stays down. Then, another monkey is replaced and the story repeats itself – when the monkey that was never sprayed with cold water joins the other three. And so on until there is no monkey left who was sprayed with cold water, but still the new arrival gets beaten when he tries to climb the ladder.

Now, the decision was made by team members long gone. There’s nobody on the current team who made the decision, and nobody knows why the decision was made. It just gets passed to the new team members, with no questions asked. It may have been a good decision when it was made, and it may still be a good decision now.

But if you ask “why are we doing this” and the only answer is “the decision was made before we got here”, form your own opinion and don’t be afraid to question the status quo.

Chinese Drag-on

2500 years ago, little did Gautama Buddha realize that his preaching would be a topic of ridicule by a power craving nation. That his high-held prayer abode would be a dump-yard of nuclear waste. The “Roof of the world”, whose main principles stood on non-violence, peaceful co-existence not only amongst human beings, but with all living entities, would be a super-power’s military base. Out of billions of people who exist in this world, when a several lakhs of people beg for help and dignity, was it not the moral responsibility of every religion, humanity or nation who boast of their invincible strength to pay atleast a listener’s ears? It is a shame that Tibet had to go through all the suffering it has gone through – probably the worst genocide in Asia – EVER! China – I was wrong about communism. With some superficial knowledge on the way it developed into what it is today in economic, military and industrial fields, I let go its social and civic ethics. No doubt with its Communism it is its own king. But in the end, for what joy? Are the Chinese citizens at peace? In the name of “People’s Liberation”, the crime it has committed is immense - be it Tibet or Tiananmen Square. Moreover, its shameless attempts to blame the suffering party for all of its atrocities, on baseless grounds, with an obvious fact that it is itself that is the culprit, makes it all the more eviler. What does any nation in the end achieve by this? Generations come. Generations go. Government comes. Government goes. The purpose behind the existence of the whole system called government is to have a good infrastructure, provide necessary way to have an organized social life. Development – what are we developing for? -To reach an ideal state. What is its end result? - Human comfort. From micro-technology, we have reached nanotechnology. But there definitely has to be an end to this somewhere! All the development - it is to bring the necessary changes that benefit the society. Like what Emperor Ashoka or King Krishnadevaraya did and nearly attained a Ramaraajya.

China’s crooked ways have been unbound! May be it’s a readers’ and writers’ perspective. But, the injustice it has done (and continues to do) with Tibet (and its own people) is much beyond brutality. The holy Potala palace holds no natural colors it had at the start of this century. It is surrounded by Chinese night-clubs and prostitute homes! Atleast 12 lakh Tibetans have been murdered in the name of Cultural Revolution. Millions of trees have been uprooted causing a great deal of ecological imbalance. A lot of questions flood within me as I learned more about the cultural and moral exploitation of the Tibetan Civilization. Is there no judicial system in the world to inspect such genocides? Why is still China let to be a member of the UN, when it does not serve the guidelines of the UN? Why is the UN itself not taking a firm stand on resolving this issue even after China has been proven guilty in the human rights strand? Tibet was the buffer nation that held three Asian giants – India, China and Russia within their boundaries. India should have realized the threat it was bound to face when a country whose main purpose is land-expansion gulped up a subtle, unarmed friend.

There is an inspirational anecdote from the life of Swami Vivekananda. Once, Swami Vivekananda was coming from a temple in Varanasi, when a chattering group of monkeys surrounded him with a menacing tone and threatening look. Panic stricken, he began to run, the monkeys chased him. A sage who was watching all this, asked him to stop and face the monkeys sternly. He did so. It was now the monkeys’ turn to panic. They fled. “If you ever feel afraid of anything, always turn round and face it. Never think of running away” – Vivekananda. India used the term “LoC” instead of “McMohan Line” in every public gathering and talks with Chinese envoy – definitely what the Chinese wanted. When miles and miles of Indian land were acquired by it, Indian PM described it to be “just a piece of barren land, filled with pebbles and stones!!” and that “It would have not done any good to India!” These words will fill any patriotic Indian with wrath! Motherland can’t be prioritized to be barren land or fertile land and let another person acquire the barren land! When China included Arunachal Pradesh to be its possession in its maps in 1980s, no explanation was demanded! When it republished its maps in 2004, with Arunachal Pradesh to be a state of India, it “thanked” China for giving it back!! Yes, there is no harm in extending a warm and friendly gesture, which India did. In spite of doing it repeatedly, when a hostile response is got, it should stand for its honor and dignity. It should have foresightedness that, it will be under attack too, sooner or later.

By offering generous warmth to The Dalai Lama, Tibetan government in exile and thousands of followers, India has proved that it looks up to humanity and morale. It still holds dharma to be the blood running in its veins of valleys and basins across its land. Athiti devo Bhava! It has time and again proved that the guests are given all amenities and are put at comfort first. Probably an end to all this can be put only with a revolution for free-will within China ignited by Chinese themselves. I hope the Tibetan culture holds on to the dismantling string till that D-day. Else, another rich heritage will disappear into the thin air by merging with other cultures.

Twisted forever

A politician's profession is just another profession. In any profession, when it comes to handling one's duty, the best is delivered and justice done to the job if no emotions come attached as strings to the post one holds. When he/she emotes in profession, it leads to personal prejudices, especially in politics. Evidently, we have all seen on television the maaramaari happening in the parliament sessions. When do we behave in a similar way? Sometimes within our family, within the four walls and with our dear ones; also, one takes to violence (say something like throwing the central government's chairs at opposition parties)when one is extremely angry, seething to revolt and take revenge etc. - which is as good as an animal's behavior. Outrageous! A few months back there was an article by Pratap Simha in a kannada paper on the language used by our politicians (Indians to be specific). A brilliant article! It would have been nice if a copy of that column was posted to every politician in state - Just as a reminder. (But yeah! like it would make a difference to them!)

The most frequently appearing space in kannada news is on "Opposition demands the resignation of the Chief Minister". Why? Because he stumbled on a stone?! Lets go to basic rule of resistance. Why opposition and criticism? - Results when what we think is right is not being done by the one who is actually supposed to be doing it(one with the POWER in hands). And it is not supposed to result in public and press meets just for the sake of doing it and with an intention to snatch the POWER! (Our politicians never give up on this! Every opportunity is well used). As Winston Churchill quoted “Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.” Criticism should always be healthy in nature and a thoughtful one; a step towards rejuvenating the system by pulling out the drawbacks. It should be such that the one facing criticism provokes within him the same thoughts and inspires himself to turn those thoughts into actions. What we see in the Karnataka government is nowhere close to these simple rules of criticism. Criticism for them is mere opposition. Opposition offered to root out the rulers. Verbally, it is called abusing. Abusing too is not the word. Vulgarity? Nope! I do not know what it can be called. In democracy, the role of the opposition party should be as a supporting entity; joining hands with the ruling government to attain the set goals in a stipulated period of time. Showing them and reminding them of their promises if they deflect from the actual path to be followed. Providing feedback, alternate solutions, plans, policies. Utilize the time for the betterment of their own party, so that they can achieve better than the present government in future. It plays a significant role in democracy and in many ways. What we see instead is a 24X7 attempt by the opposition to crush the ruling party; spy on their moves; create havoc in sensitive situations through the party workers to degenerate the ruling party's thoda bahut bacha hua reputation(remember when Dr. Raj Kumar was kidnapped or similar situation?). But, all of the available time is spent to bring out mistakes in every other move of the ruling party. Sheer waste of time!

With the instance of BSY shedding tears at every criticism he faces in picture -
It would be great if he takes it as a challenge and proves the critics wrong. Nobody is here to sympathize him or get carried away by sentiments. Because almost none of his subjects share a personal relationship with him. Do your duty, gain trust. Deliver your promises, get respect. Anyway, with the suo motto powers debate and the resignation of the Lokayuktha officer(to the exact point of 2 years "celebration" - it simply shows), I think it all reduces to "politics". Be it BJP or Congress or JDS! They all belong to the same class. The class of politicians, until death parts them. All these days I used to repent not casting my vote. It is the duty of every responsible citizen to cast his/her vote. And I was kind of ashamed that I had not. But, for the first time I did not feel bad for holding back my vote.

The city of Pondicherry

The year was 2008. And it was our(4 friends') first cross-border (state) venture. And it was Tamil Nadu. With our base station as Chennai, we had one day to discover Pondicherry. I was more keen on looking at it as a former french colony, and kept my eyes open to look for the influence they had left back.
In front of one such building:

Driven by these intentions and concluding that the best way to accomplish them would be to wander on its streets, we hired bicycles from a local cycle shop. And I was right! There was no better way it could have been done, with the time-factor ticking away. The good old buildings and amazing architecture urged us to lock the images within us - eternally.

Pondicherry - with a perfect blend of Old Tamil traditions, disciplined city structure and a spicy French touch provided a good day off. If you are the kind who likes French cuisines, you can probably relax and spend time at one of the French cafes there. And not to forget the famous Aurobindo ashram, which was founded by Sir Aurobindo Ghosh. The ashram has a good collection of books as well.

The best part of the times I'd spent here would definitely be
> cycling on the streets - with aged architectural splendors surrounding our ride; old governmental buildings, specifically French ones.
> admiring the immensity of the ocean, which by the way appears all of a sudden, out of nowhere in the city of Pondicherry.. like a door opening to salvation!

2 purposes - caught!

"I shed my inhi­bi­tions, my fears, I trav­eled light. I traded my stock options for a lonely planet, my cell phone for a com­pass. My brief­case for a back­pack. I took off. I wan­dered in the com­pany of tourists, rev­el­ers & a gui­tar as old as me. I learned that peo­ple are good. Strangers are fas­ci­nat­ing. And that every jour­ney reveals another. I’ve lost track of time. And per­haps my job, my apart­ment & my fiance. But I have my com­pass & I know its point­ing me in the right direction "
- Found this quote on one of my favorite sites by Anita Bora.

Khuda ka raasta khula hai! May be this is what it means to just hit the road. And MOVE. Simply MOVE, meet new culture, be one amongst them, learn and explore. Appreciate and admire at creation and the manipulation of these creations. Take an unknown road, a bus or a rail whose destination is strange. Stop, drop and mingle. For, the best is felt and learnt when one mingles; living fully and by becoming one with his/her environment.. like the inseparable fragrance in the flower; the colors in paint. Ultimately, colors bloom in nature. So, does a human being. This alone gives the best experiences in life and once into the world, nothing is to be left unexplored. Because you wouldn't want to repent when you reach 60 years' milestone. "Into the wild" as Christopher McCandless in the name of Alexander Supertramp experimented with the Alaskan wilderness. Everything else is hottegaagi, genu battegaagi (which of course is important). But, the ultimate purpose of life would be to never stop exploring what it holds in it's navel. Desha sutthu, kosha oodhu. In my experience gained in years, I have found these two alone to be the prime purpose of life. The rest can rest! - i.e., On a broader perspective!

Another travel account

Bylakuppe

It’s a mini Tibet out there. Monks of age as small as 6-7 years can be found. The monastery is also a home for aged monks. This is one of the regions provided as shelter to the fleeing Tibetans. The Namdroling Monastery. Neatly maintained, you feel like you are in Tibet (minus the Himalayan ranges). When we arrived at the place, pleasant sounding prayers were in full swing, with monks chanting. Also, all of them equally astonished to look at us (– the visitors) as we were to look at them!

Many parts of the temple is built by gold, for which it is known as The Golden Temple – includes a massive statue of The Buddha and 6 other monks. The walls of the monastery are filled with beautiful and colorful paintings mostly depicting the life and stories of The Buddha. I tried to look around to find someone to get an explanation. But could not. Their dedication is worth an appreciation when it comes to preserving and propagating the teachings of Buddha to followers.

Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta

It was surprising to feel a sudden decline in temperature as we moved up the Gopalaswamy hill, which is located near Gundlipete in Chamarajanagar district. It is the home of Lord Gopalaswamy (do observe the idol - is very divine and different, full of life). Water trickles down at the entrance of the garbha gudi for which it is prefixed “Himavad”, it is worshiped as the holy water. On one side of the hill, you find plain land and villages and the other side with mountains resembling the tea plantations of Munnar, with sun rays piercing the clouds onto the hills.

Talacauvery
Located in Brahmagiri, it is the place where River Cauvery (worshipped as a goddess - Lopamudre) takes birth. Talacauvery is a neatly maintained religious and tourist spot.

With the bit of gyan obtained from the pujaari – “Lopamudre was the wife of Agasthya muni. Like all sages, he set out on journeys for Loka-kalyana, with a nirbandhana on Lopamudre that she should stay at Brahmagiri. And somehow, with time, she decides to move forward and does. People around in Brahmagiri plead her to stop. So, during this time between her start of flow and stop by the local people, it is not known where she flows or how she flows – and is thus known to flow as Guptagaamini. After a distance, Cauvery reappears in Bhagamandala”. There is a small temple of Agasthya muni within the premises of River Cauvery’s origin.
Brahmagiri amidst the clouds holds with it, a breath-taking scenic view and it gave me a second chance to be a part of the clouds! Bhagamandala has a temple of Lord Bhagamandaleshwara. Temple's architecture is influenced by Tibetan style. “Triveni Sanagama” – the sangama of rivers Cauvery, Kannika and Sujothi can also be seen here. It was all dried up with very less water.

Kodagu

Well, what can I say about this part of the world! Words can’t describe and colors can’t paint! The smallest district in Karnataka, but tremendously huge in beauty - with misty mornings and drizzles at least once per day! There is no particular place that I can describe, but the city of Madikeri was not very impressive. It is the surrounding towns that catch you. One aspect to look out for – the towns and its people close the day as early as 8 – 9 pm (you will not find a single shop open, nor a house that has burning lights). Each patch of land is beautiful and green with coffee estates. Those who are passionate about driving (and don’t mind the road curves) will have a great time here. Just start your engine and move – anywhere! Reward – Fresh air and nature’s best looks!
If you get a chance, you can visit the neatly maintained estates. The place gives a hard time for school-going children who live here. They commute everyday on foot to attend schools and colleges.
A great break from the city’s buzzing life; I missed it for almost a week. Coorg holds my hometown (though this was only my second visit in life till date) and that makes me a proud Coorgi! (not those native Kodavas)