Suvarna Karnataka - Karnataka at 50

Jai bharatha jananiya thanujaathe, Jaya hey Karnataka Maathe. Karnataka turns 50 this year, so golden jubilee celebrations are on. On November 1, 1956 state of Karnataka was formed though it was called Mysore state till 1973. So now it is a good time to look at how the state progressed in the last 50 years.

Karnataka was formed in the year 1956 comprising of princely state of Mysore and areas held under Bombay, Madras presidencies and areas of princely state of Hyderabad, which even today is called Hyderabad Karnataka. Great men who championed the cause of unification of Karnataka include Alur Venkata Rao, Goruru Ramaswamy Iyengar, S. Nijalingappa and Kengal Hanumantiah. Huyilugola Narayana Rao’s poem Udayavaagali Namma Cheluva Kannada Naadu worth mention here.

Though known now for it’s IT and BT, Karnataka is unique compared to other states in India, it is the only state, which exports sandalwood in India. Karnataka is the largest producer of coffee, raw silk and sandalwood based products in India. Three-fourth of the Indian floriculture industry is based in Karnataka. Brighter aspects of progress of the state include IT boom in Bangalore started in the mid 90s, and now slowly spreading to tier II cities like Mangalore, Mysore and Hubli. One good aspect of this IT revolution was the boom in setting up Engineering Colleges in the state. But unlike other states it has not a developed city to be called next Bangalore till now. Mysore becoming next Bangalore is a long wait and I see it only in terms of IT industry. As per my observations other states have developed other industrial center to provide job opportunities other than state capital – say in Kerala(capital – Thiruvanthapuram), there is Kochi, in Tamil Nadu(capital – Chennai), there is Coimbatore, in Andhra Pradesh(capital – Hyderabad), there is Vishakhapattanam and in Maharashtra(capital – Mumbai), there is Pune. Now with Bangalore becoming victim of its own development there is an urgent need to shift focus to other cities in Karnataka to create an alternative to Bangalore. As Sir M Vishveshvaraiaha told long back ‘Industrialize or Perish’ is the need of the hour. Of course, in this direction lot of right steps have been taken to set up various industrial parks to be set in various centers and establishing airports in prominent district centers and encouraging MNCs to set shop in tier II cities. Right steps in the right directions.

Another industry which needs a boost is the tourism industry. With the kind of geography Karnataka has one wonders where it lost the race to neighboring Kerala and Goa. Karnataka can be good tourist destination if it is projected properly. Chalukya, Hoysala, Rashtrakuta and Vijayanagar temples are sure a tourist’s delight. It is not that now tourists don’t visit here but it can draw big number of tourists if properly projected. Another area which was never explored is Coastal Karnataka. Maravanthe, Kapu, Ullala Surathkal beaches, St. Mary’s Island can be made good tourist spots.

Dasara season is nearing. Mysore is all set to host the grand event. Wish you all a Suvarna Karnataka Varsha and a Happy Dasara.

Jai Karnataka

Talking Cricket . . .

Cricket season is back again. But again haunted by rains. Anyway that is part and parcel of the game. Its been long time before I wrote anything about cricket. So back to square one.

Cricket commentary is one thing which sets apart this gentleman's game from rest of the sports. Every ardent fan of cricket is sure to have fascinated by the words of commentator. In an era when TVs were a luxury, cricket commentry on radio or shall I say transistors was the only source of instant info on cricket.

Its not just the on-field action which gives colour to this game, but also these band of gentlemen who with their words arouse the interest in a loosing game too. To name a few: Ravi Shastri, Geoffrey Boycott,Tony Greig, Harsha Bhogle and off late Navjot Singh Sidhu. For the curious bunch here is a list though not complete. It is these people who add spice to the rather boring play of test matches or one-sided encounters of ODIs with their stories, comparisions and anecdotes.

Talking about cricket commentators, I think undoubtedly Ravi Shastri is the best ever commentator from India, closely followed by another veteran Harsha Bhogle. Not only commentary but also the post-match presentation is well handled by him, whether it be speaking on the occasion or asking questions with the captains of both teams in play. Phrases like 'margin of error is minimal on this pitch' or style of saying score of 101 as one-o-one have a mark of Ravi Shastri on that. Another good thing about Ravi Shastri is his control over his talk and presence of mind. For an instance, once Ravi Shastri had commented 'Good Shot' when a batsman hit aerial shot on the on-side. But it landed safely in the hands of long-on. Then he changed his comment as 'Infact too good'. Nowadays you can find his shades in Ramiz Raja's commentary. Harsha Bhogle's comments have a lot of research and analysis in it. Amazing for an IIM guy who had no background in cricket to become one of the best commentators in the game. When it comes to speaking the language of the common man in commentry box, nobody can beat Navjot Singh Sidhu. Look at some his comments : 'That ball went so high it could have got an air hostess down with it', 'Experience is like a comb that life gives you when you are bald', 'The cat with gloves catches no mice'. No doubt, he has made a name for himself with his 'Sidhuisms'. Coming to English commentators, Tony Greig and Geoffrey Boycott are unique with their British accent. Dont know who among the two pronounces 'crickeeet' for cricket. Boycott's comment on Sourav Ganguly as 'God of off-side' can be remembered here.

On the other side there are commentators who take the interest away from the game with their boring and slow-paced commentry. One of them would be Sanjay Manjrekar. No enthusiasm in his commentary. Michael Holding's commentary makes us difficult to understand his accent.

With the sports channels increasing this breed continue to increase with their own style of commentary. Lastly, a familiar scene after a coin is tossed in the middle of the pitch used to be Ravi Shastri invariably asking whenever Sourav Ganguly lost the toss 'Disappointed with the toss?' and Sourav invariably replying 'No, Not really'.

One good thing about following cricket commentary is the exposure you get to the vast vocabulary of English. In my opinion, if you want to learn Hindi watch Bollywood movies and for a better English follow cricket commentary. Your opinion may differ.

Comments are welcome.

Raveesh

Munna Shines Again

Bole tho ek dum jhakkas. September 11, 2006 marks the 100th anniversary of Satyagraha started by Mahatma Gandhiji in South Africa way back in 1906. So this film Lage Raho Munna Bhai comes at a right juncture to remind all of us of the long forgotten Gandhiyan principles of Truth and Non-voilence.

Interestingly, this film is not a sequel to the earlier Munna Bhai MBBS as many of us thought. Other sequel released this year was Phir Herapheri, sequel of Herapheri, which was not up to the mark set by its prequel as it is the case with most of the sequels. One more sequel was Krrish, sequel to hugely hit Koi Mil Gaya. But this film Lage Raho Munna Bhai breaks the jinx that sequels do not perform well than its prequel(Ironically it is not a sequel and only the concept in the prequel has been carry forwarded).

Here the Bhai with a golden heart comes in a new avtaar of history professor. If it was healing doctor Munna in Munna Bhai MBBS, here he is preaching Satya aur Ahimsa, in the footsteps of Mahatma. The plot starts with the kidnapping of the Corporation official much in the same light as in Munna Bhai MBBS, but with a different plan. Well begun is half done. Thab se shuru hotha hai dil kholke hasne ka silsila jo film ke aakhir thak chaltha rehtha hai.

If you are convinced that Munna Bhai MBBS was the best comedy film ever made in Mumbai, think again, Lage Raho Munna Bhai(LRMB) is set to break all the records. As with the other big budget films of the year LRMB boosted of first several shows in Mumbai being entirely booked before the release itself. So I take pride in the fact that I saw the movie two days after release i.e on Sunday itself. Story unfolds as Munna is in love with the RJ Jahnvi (Good Mornnnnnning Mumbai, as she greets her audience every morning). Munna wins the quiz organized by the Radio Channel on October 2 based on Mahatma with the help of the professors caught by him and gets a chance to meet Jahnvi and go on air. Again for the professors he has prizes if they answer the questions first. There in the studio he introduces himself as professor of history. So he is invited by Jahnvi to her home to give lecture on Mahatma. Munna now goes to Gandhi Library to study about Mahatma and gets into chemical locha to see the Mahatma everywhere in Mumbai and what follows after that is a tale of Munna walking on the footsteps of Mahatma. There is never a dull moment in the film. To be frank you may miss some of the jokes cracked when you start laughing for the first one. Such is the impact that the whole theatre will be indulged in laugh riot.

Film tells the principles of truth and non-voilence in a much acceptable manner. Be it be the confession of Munna to Jhanvi or the facing bribe problem in a govt office by retired teacher or the problem with the neighbour's nuisances. Worth a watch for every film goer. I am now planning to go for this movie for the second time.

On the other side I felt some of the dialogues were repeated from the Munna Bhai MBBS. Like when Munna goes to the Gandhi library circuit says padhai me dhyann de bhai, tension nahin lena ka. Or when circuit and munna decide to leave for the village, Munna asks what will you do in the village. For that circuit says main gaon jaavunga tho bail kya karegi?.

When Munna Bhai MBBS was made, it was remade in Kannada(with Upendra as Uppi Dada MBBS) , Telugu(with Chiranjeevi as Shankar Dada MBBS) and Tamil(with Kamal Hasan as Vasool Raja MBBS). Will Lage Raho Munna Bhai be remade in regional languages? Lets wait and watch.

What I feel is that when everyone comes out of the theatre after seeing the movie one is sure to have tilted a little for the Gandhiyan principles. Lage Raho Munna Bhai.

Tulu Cinema at 35

Enna Thangadi was the first film to be released in Tulu in 1971. Tulu cinema is turning 35 this year. Rightly for the occassion, film Sudda made it into the international headlines few days back, with it winning the award for the best Indian film at the eighth Asian Film Festival "Ocean - Cinefan" held at New Delhi. The film is based on a Tulu play Bojja by Narayan Shetty Nandalike and was directed by P N Ramchandra. The film depicts the gradual fall of the feudal system in coastal region of Karnataka.

Speaking of Tulu films, first film that strikes in my mind is Koti Chennaya with its immortal songs Padumaleda Brihma and Ekka Saka. Though the new version of Koti Chennaya was made and released this year it made less impact than the original. Koti and Chennaya were twin brothers and heroes of Tulu Nadu and their story is beautifully depicted in the film. Other films which worth mention are : Pagetha Puge, Beesaththi Babu, Tudar, Badkada Bile, Mari Bale, Bollidota, Sathya Olundu, Dareda Budedi, Kaasdaaye Kandani, Yer Malthina Thappu. K N Taylor is the prominent name associated with Tulu films with the films he made. More recently, in the 90's, one film which was huge hit and run successfully in Bangalore too was Bangar Patler starring Kannada actress Sudharani. It also won national award for the best film. It ran for 107 days in Jyothi Talkies in Mangalore.

Another film which made in the 90's was September 8, directed by Richard Castelino, starring Kannada actor Sunil and Kannada writer, Dr. K Shivaram Karanth. The film was shot in 24 hours (One complete day from 6 AM to next morning 5 AM on September 8th - to be exact 23 and half hours) entirely in Mangalore, a record in the world cinema. 9 Cameras with 9 units were used for the completion of the film in the given time.

To mark the 35th year of Tulu cinema a programme was held in Mangalore on Friday, August 25. Kannada actress Jayamala inaugurated the programme and music director V Manohar inaugurated the 7 day long Tulu film festival. Jayamala expressed her desire to make a film on Abbakka, the queen of Tulu Nadu who faught bravely against the Portuguese.

Last year some 7 Tulu films were announced. Some of them had theatre artists like Naveen D Padil who has already made a name for himself with his Tulu dramas like Pudar Deethiji, Nervous Narayane, Oriyardori Asal. Hope to see more and more Tulu films hit the screens in the near future.

A scene from Kadala Mage

Updates : 20th January 2008 : Kadala Mage was released in 2006 and went on to become a hit and had Diganth (of Mungaaru Male and now Gaalipata fame) in a lead role. Diganth hails from Theerthahalli, Shivamogga/Shimoga.

Updates : 02nd May 2008 : Birse starring Tulu drama veteran, Naveen D Padil was released on 11th April 2008 in Prabhath Talkies, Mangalore. You can read the review of the movie here.

Regards,
Raveesh

References :
- mangalorecity.com
- mangalorean.com
- daijiworld.com

Literature : Local or Global?

Thought of writing something about literature. And this post talks about whether literature can be global or local. Read more to find out.

Which do you enjoy most - story of Bangalore guy(if you are in Bangalore) or of some unknown guy in the streets of London or New York? Whatever may be the arguments, I feel that when you read story which involves the characters and environment of your home town or village, you will appreciate it much better. That's why Goruru Ramaswamy Iyengar's Naani makes more sense to us than Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer.

As such every literature is local. Author tries to explain his experiences in the local context only. In this era of globalization, literature is one area on which it had less impact. Though this is changing with the global internet connectivity and this virtual world changing people's lives across the world. People sharing their experiences in the web nowadays can make more sense around the world now.

So it was hard to identify Charles Dickens's David Copperfield among us whereas characters in Dr.Kota Shivaram Karanth's novels were easy to identify. When I say literature is local, language can not be a barrier. So it is more joyful to read R K Narayan's English novel Swami and friends and even imagine the imaginary town Malgudi. When it comes to humor writings, this is more prominent. There would be hardly anyone who had not enjoyed Padukone Ramanand Rao's Kodeya Vichara(if you had read that lesson in the school days).

Even when a Indian author travels to a foreign country, there too he sees it through the eyes of an Indian. So when you read travelogue of a Indian author, it is more convincing. So you will sure enjoy Goruru Ramaswamy Iyengar's humorous travelogue Amerikadalli Goruru.

But there may be exceptions. Urbanites who would have grown in different environment may find convincing and make more sense out of the writings of a foreign author.

Your comments are welcome.

other news : Sad to see Cricket tri-series in Lanka, first becoming bi-series and then a monoseries (with Lanka at home, just kidding). But rain disrupting the series is nothing new to the series played in Lanka. But this is one of the few occassions when the entire series had to be called off.

Raveesh

Heroes in the End

You feel immensely happy when you see the hero winning in the end of the film fighting against all odds. Anybody remembering Revanth in the movie Beladingala Baale when at the end of the movie solves the puzzle to find the Beladingala Baale's address when he is in a chess tournament.

We are like that. We wait till the last minute to do our work. Let it be the paying of bills, finishing the assignment in colleges or planning for a trip. And its more joyful when finish your work in the end when the pressure is mounting rather than you do it in the beginning itself. Out of the chaos you find the solution and it is better. You are more happy to see Indian cricket team winning the final against Australia after losing all the matches against them in the league stage rather than winning all the matches including the final. Strange isn't.

Remembering a incident in the school days. Our teacher asked that how many of you would like finish the homework much early before the submission date. Hands raised were few. But when asked how many of you would like to finish the homework on the day before the submission date many hands were raised. Many of us still would remember the last minute assignment completion whether in school or in college. In college that was different, come early in the morning to college finish the assignment work just before the lecturer arrives. And how can I not mention the day or night before the exam when you yourself are tensed and get calls from all of your friends for those extra tips for the exam. Even remember some of my friends saying proudly 'I read all in the last 2 days and still able to finish and write the exam'.

Our movies reflect our attitude and sometimes it influences the latter. We want happy adventurous endings in our films. So for all, the title suits the best "Heroes in the End".When success comes to you on a daily basis you are obsessed with it. So when greater challenge comes before us, we would enjoy facing it.