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Re 1 initiative helps the poor build dreams, brick by brick

Amazing Feats, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, World Opinion
The house of gardener Sampangi, which was built using the funds collected under the Rupee
The house of gardener Sampangi, which was built using the funds collected under the Rupee

Bengaluru:

For over 30 years, 44-year-old Sampangi and his wife and three daughters lived under a leaky roof which they called their home. “The roof would leak every time it rained and we’d have to shift clothes and electronic items to one corner of the house. The house would shake whenever there’s heavy wind,” the gardener recalled.

Today, Sampangi lives in a two-bedroom home with a garden and three dogs that he found abandoned on streets. His eldest daughter is now married, while his two younger daughters are school students. A photograph of Japanese volunteers from NGO Habitat for Humanity, who constructed the house, is displayed on top of the TV shelf, and his eyes light up whenever he sees the people who made this possible.

“As my children got older, my wife and I would talk about building a better home. We had even begun saving some money from the meagre amount we earned. But four years later, we were left with only about Rs 1 lakh,” he said.

Things changed for the better when he met a person from the Habitat for Humanity, through whom he learned about interest-free loan. The rest, is history.
Rupee for change

What can you do with Re 1 is a question that everyone asks. Apparently, you can build houses.

Habitat for Humanity has tied up with 20 schools in Bengaluru. Students, parents and teachers contribute Re 1 per day towards funds to construct houses for people from low-income group. In the past two years, the NGO has raised Rs 10 lakh which has gone into constructing 14 houses in Nagenhalli, Byrathi, Bagalur, Yerapanahalli and other parts of the city. Students, through the volunteer build programme, are also assisting in renovation activities.

India faces a shortage of about 6 crore housing units, said Rajan Samuel, managing director, Habitat for Humanity India.
12 lakh in need of houses

“In Karnataka alone, over 12 lakh people don’t have a decent home while 49% of the population does not have access to a toilet. The Centre has introduced policies like ‘Housing for All’ to provide adequate shelter to each and every family by 2022. The state government too has undertaken measures to provide affordable homes to the poor and to redevelop slums. About 70% per cent of the urban housing need is in the affordable segment and this is where Habitat for Humanity is working,” he said.

In Karnataka, the NGO is building 74 homes and 123 toilets for the low income, marginalized people, he added.

According to him, in most cases, women bear the brunt of lack of housing or toilets.
Learning experience for students

While lives of people like Sampangi or Kaliyamma, who recently moved into her newly constructed two-bedroom home are being transformed, student volunteers are learning as well.

“Recently, our students painted a government school as part of the volunteer build programme and they were surprised to see a blackboard. Most of them have seen white boards in classrooms, but never a blackboard on which chalk is used,” said Asha Samuel, faculty incharge of CAS at Canadian International School.

“These activities help them grow. They come back realizing that there are so many things that they take for granted and so many things they should be grateful for,” she said.

Poor women bear the brunt

Women and girls from the lower income families live in highly unsafe and substandard conditions without access to basic sanitation. Majority of them suffer from poor health since they do not have the liberty to relieve themselves when required and have to wait till dusk to go out and defecate. Owning a house with proper sanitation facilities is a deep desire of all poor women across the country. By providing access to decent housing and sanitation facilities, Habitat for Humanity India intends to improve health and provide security for the whole family

– Rajan Samuel, managing director, Habitat for Humanity India

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bangalore / Merlin Francis / TNN / July 31st, 2016

A Glorious silver jubilee of harmony

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

Bengaluru:

City-based Glorious Festival of Harmony is set to celebrate 25 years of harmony singing on July 30 and 31. From its quiet start in 1996, Glorious is a much-awaited festival today.

“When we started, it was difficult to put together six choirs from the city because there were no choirs then and nobody was excited about harmony singing. It is starkly different today, with harmony singing being a part of mainstream music. Every year, when schools and college reopen we have students waiting for the festival,” says Regi Chandy, co-founder of the festival, in which over 1000 people participate every year.

This year, the silver jubilee celebrations include performances by the city’s best schools, colleges, churches and even children’s choirs. Besides independent choir Astrophels, from Kottayam in Kerala, a performance by popular singer-songwriter Sheldon Bangera from Mumbai is another highlight.

For Chandy, harmony singing is more than just a music performance. “It is not about giving prominence to only one singer. It’s a performance where every voice comes together to make beautiful music,” says Chandy.

The 25th Glorious Festival of Harmony will be held on July 30 and 31, 5.30pm to 9.30pm, in Dr B R Ambedkar Bhavan, Vasanthnagar.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bangalore / TNN / July 29th, 2016

A school for the connoisseur

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education
Bharatanatyam artists Kiran Subramanyam and Sandhya Kiran / Photo : Sudhakara Jain
Bharatanatyam artists Kiran Subramanyam and Sandhya Kiran / Photo : Sudhakara Jain

In an age marked by excessive competition, Bharatanatyam duo Kiran Subramanyam and Sandhya Kiran tell Archana Nathan that there can be no substitute for hard work, practise and simplicity

For years now, the sound of the thattu kazhi emerging from a low-roofed house on 18th cross road in Malleswaram in Bangalore, has greeted commuters and passers by. There are tiny boards with the title ‘Rasika Arts Foundation’ pinned onto the gates today but nothing else has changed about the appearance of the 27-year-old dance school set up by Bharatanatyam duo Kiran Subramanyam and Sandhya Kiran. It is modest in size, retains an old-Bangalore charm, and has survived the commercial strains tugging at the heart of Malleswaram.

This, however, is not so surprising when you meet the Kirans. If you walk into the room in which Kiran and Sandhya took their first class in 1989 for a batch of four students — a room that is kept intact and now houses a tiny study — one sees that the foundation of humility and simplicity has been laid by the hosts themselves. Years have come and gone but their simplicity seems to have been untouched.

Kiran and Sandhya are not new to those who are familiar with the landscape of Bharatanatyam in Bengaluru. Their institution has been prolific whether in terms of dance productions, workshops or collaborations. It is home to around 300 students and is the alma-mater for many others settled across the world.

The couple met when they were both students of Padmini Ravi and then went to train under the Dhananjayans in Chennai – V.P. Dhananjayan and Shantha Dhananjayan – before setting up the Rasika Academy finally in 1989. “When Sandhya came to learn from Padmini Ravi, she had already learned Bharatanatyam for a few years. I was one among two male students in the class at that time. I was very confused because while my heart was in dancing, I was wondering whether I could take it up full-time. Sandhya and I became the best of friends and eventually I told her I want to take up dance as my career. She only said one thing: ‘If you have the conviction, then go ahead. Somehow things will fall in place,’a dictum she believes even today,” says Kiran. By then, Sandhya had already ditched options of CET and Engineering to take up an arts course, just so that she could focus on dance.

“I realised there was a certain oneness in our thought process and I felt I should ask Sandhya to marry me. When I did, she said she wanted a day’s time. I don’t know what she did in that one day,” he recalls. “I also don’t know what I did with that day. But I told him the next morning that I was okay with getting married but that I was scared too,” adds Sandhya.

When the couple went to their guru, Padmini Ravi, to tell her that they wanted to take up dance as their career, they got a rather unexpected response. “She said if you are going to take this up as a profession, then I will not allow you into my class. We did not know it then but this was her way of testing us whether we were serious about our decision. Later, she sat down with us and spoke to us about what taking up dance as a career really entails,” recalls Kiran.

Padmini Ravi, say the Kirans, is someone they are in love with. “Not only was she unconventional when it came to the kind of innovations she introduced in classical dance, she was also unorthodox when it came to her relationship with her students,” says Sandhya. “Fearless is the word. She didn’t hesitate in trying different choreographies and movements. She presented her dance in such a beautiful manner that others too were encouraged to try new things. Sometimes, we feel that a part of her fearlessness has rubbed off on us too,” adds Kiran.

How did they choose to go to the Dhananjayans in Chennai? “We wanted to learn the nuances of ‘duet dancing’ from them. But another aspect that we discovered is their proficiency in what we today call art management. Apart from stellar dancing, the Dhananjayans knew how to take care of communication, networking and public relations at a time when all of these weren’t professions in themselves. They could put together a show perfectly all by themselves,” says Kiran. “Shantha akka used to say, V.P. na enna theriyuma? (you know what VP stands for?) ‘Very Punctual’ Dhananjayan,” says Sandhya.

From the Dhananjayans, the Kirans learnt the essence of a duet. “A duet demands that ideas, concepts and thought processes of the two dancers match too. Of course there needs to be synchronisation in terms of physical movements. But most importantly, the sattvam – the essence – has to be one even if it is two different individuals and mindsets performing together,” they explain.

They recall how in the initial days of Rasika, the first half of the month would be spent teaching their students and the second half, travelling to Chennai and performing there. Teaching, they say, helped them look at dance differently. “With a school like Rasika, it became our responsibility to create the next generation of connoisseurs of dance. These need not be dancers but people who can appreciate dance, which is crucial today,” says Sandhya.

Having seen a whole new generational change of students over the years, the Kirans feel that students today are a bit impatient and want to have it all. “It is not just the students but their parents too who get worried if their child is not up on stage in a few months after he or she has started learning dance. That apart, young dancers today want to be everywhere and do everything at the same time. They strain and injure their body in the process. Reality TV and Facebook’s offer of instant popularity has made things worse. There are very few takers for the long haul, for a deep investment in dance,” they say.

Is it also because of a lack of conviction? “There is either a lack of conviction or just too much conviction that they can do everything under the sun. Creativity cannot be forced or planned. It is intuitive,” says Sandhya.

Ultimately, it is a phase, they say. “A Facebook post today about someone’s dance or play performance is now capable of sparking off a whole gamut of insecure reactions in many others. It is quite amusing to be honest. Why can’t one do one thing properly and focus on it? Why is there such a plaguing worry of irrelevance today? What substitute can there be for hard work and simplicity?” they ask.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Friday Review / Archana Nathan / Bengaluru – July 28th, 2016

Pages from History : Dr. S.R. Rao: A World Class Archaeologist from Karnataka

Education, Leaders, World Opinion

by Prof. A.V. Narasimha Murthy, former Head, Department of Ancient History & Archaeology, University of Mysore

Dr. Shikaripura Ranganatha Rao, popularly known as Dr. S.R. Rao all over the world, has made not merely Karnataka but our country proud by his contributions to Indian Archaeology, art and culture. It was my good fortune that I was his contemporary and I have learnt a lot from him and his works. Added good fortune is that I have been asked to deliver the third Dr. S.R. Rao Memorial Lecture at Bengaluru arranged by his daughter Dr. Nalini Rao, a Distinguished Professor of World Art in one of the American Universities. This is not an ordinary achievement indeed!

If my memory is right, Dr. Nalini Rao prepared her thesis under my guidance and I am proud of such a brilliant student. Now she has taken the initiative to arrange Dr. S.R. Rao Memorial Foundation for Indian Archaeology, Art and Culture where our Central Minister Ananth Kumar will inaugurate the photo exhibition at Bengaluru (Mythic Society) on Sunday, 24th July 2016.

About Dr. S.R. Rao: Born in 1922 at Anandapuram in Shimoga district, he received BA (Hons) and MA degree from Mysore and Nagpur Universities. Mysore University awarded the D.Lit degree to him for his magnum opus Lothal and Indus Civilisation. After retiring from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), he met Jawaharlal Nehru, our first Prime Minister and apprised him of the Indus civilisation. Nehru shrugged his shoulders and said that Harappa and Mohenjodaro have gone to Pakistan and what will you do sitting in India. Dr. Rao had a stock reply: But now I have discovered Lothal in Gujarat which is a better maritime site than Harappa.

Immediately Nehru saw that Dr. Rao was conferred with the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship. Dr. Rao did not turn back. He researched and wrote the book Lothal and Indus Civilisation. Though lot more research has been done now even today it is considered as the most authentic book on Lothal. When he discovered the dockyard, the first of its kind in the ancient world, he did not like to presume things on his own. He invited technical experts who examined the Lothal dockyard and said that large ships could come down to Lothal and proved that Indus people participated in international trade during that period, which is more than 5,000 years old. The world of scholars were astonished at this great discovery.

Another special feature of Indus sites was the occurrence of small, square or rectangular clay seals which generally had an animal and a pictographic label writing above. Scholars all over the world tried to decipher this script, but nobody could give a satisfactory reading. Dr. Rao also tried to decipher the script by following a scientific methodology and learnt ancient scripts of Babylonian and Assyrian and began comparing the letters. Many scholars had presumed Indus civilisation to be Dravidian and tried to read the script as early Tamil. By this time it was known that Indus civilisation was the creation of the Aryans themselves. Without any presumption

Dr. Rao prepared a concordance of all the symbols found on the Indus seals and analysed them. He found that certain symbols occurred very frequently. Thus he came to the conclusion that Indus people were evolving an alphabet from picture writing. This gave him certain readings like pala, mahapala, baka, mahabaka etc. Thus he showed that they were proto-Samskrita and not Dravidian.

David Diringer, the greatest authority on ancient scripts exclaimed that Dr. Rao has hit the nail on its head. The Russian and Scandinavian scholars agreed to the suggestion of Dr. Rao. Dr. Walter Spink of Michigan University hailed the readings of Dr. Rao’s Indus script. It could safely be said that nobody has improved upon the readings of Dr. Rao. Many scholars suggested that this work deserves a Nobel Prize. Thus Dr. Rao’s contribution to the study of Indus Valley civilisation has not been surpassed by anybody. He was hurt when Dr. Mortimer Wheeler who become the Director-General of ASI wrote a book titled ‘2,500 years of Pakistan’ and even a school child knows that Pakistan was born in 1947. Thus he tried to give a false boost to Pakistan.

Another important contribution of Dr. Rao was the inauguration of under-water archaeology, known as Maritime Archaeology. He may be called as the founder of this branch of study in India. ASI did not show much interest in this branch. Without the active support of the government, he swung into action with the help of corporates interested in it. Many people thought that Krishna’s Dwaraka was a literary bunkum and was based upon myths. But Dr. Rao disagreed with this and went to Dwaraka (Bet Dwaraka) and with the help of deep sea divers went down to the bottom of the water. He collected lots of pottery and other artefacts which were in use at Dwaraka during Lord Krishna’s period and the scholars all over the world were greatly impressed by this. The devotees of Sri Krishna expressed their gratefulness to Dr. Rao for this great discovery. With assistance and guidance from National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, Dr. Rao opened up a new branch to trace the rise and fall of maritime civilisation. This led him to take interest in ancient as well as modern ship-wrecks. Apart from all these, Dr. Rao took interest in murals of Ajanta, Ellora, Badami, Lepakshi, Padmanabhapuram, Mattancherry and traditional paintings of Karnataka. He also gave more interest to conservation of monuments and also beautified the surroundings by gardens and lawns.

Yet another achievement of Dr. Rao is the formation of a Circle Office at Bangalore (Mid – Southern Circle) which was given the responsibility of maintaining monuments in Karnataka. Thus Hampi, Shravanabelagola, Pattadakal, Aihole and other places flourished well under his guidance. When he was in Hampi, he found a stone image of a saint and immediately he identified it as that of Purandaradasa. A workaholic, Dr. Rao did not take any rest and worked hard to spread the message of India through archaeology, art and architecture. When he passed away, condolences poured in from scholars all over the world.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / July 23rd, 2016

Travel Fellowship for City Doctor

Education, Science & Technology, World Opinion

DrHanumanthacharBF28jul2016

Mysuru :

Dr. Hanumanthachar Joshi (in pic), Principal, Sarada Vilas College of Pharmacy, Mysuru, has been awarded the prestigious Travel Fellowship Award by Alzheimer’s Association, USA. Travel Fellowships are awarded to young scientists who make exceptional contributions to Neuroscience Research, especially Alzheimer’s disease.

He has been invited by the Association to present a research paper on “Cerebro-protective effects of Gangetin alkaloids on sodium nitrite induced hypoxia and ethanol induced neurodegeneration” at Alzheimer’s Association International Conference at Toronto, Canada, from July 24 to 28.

Dr. Joshi is working in the areas of drug discovery for management of neuro-degenerative disorders, particularly for Alzheimer’s disease. He is also invited by Department of Psychology, Ryerson University of Toronto, Canada, to deliver a guest lecture on management of Alzheimer’s disease and associated complications.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / July 22nd, 2016

For him, the battle continues

Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, World Opinion
Bezwada Wilson.
Bezwada Wilson.

The Magsaysay Award winner says India still has over two lakh manual scavengers

Fifty-year-old Bezwada Wilson, national convenor of the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), was declared one of the six recipients of the 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Award by the Philippines-based award foundation, in Manila on Wednesday. Recognised for his efforts to eradicate manual scavenging, Mr. Wilson told The Hindu that India still has over two lakh manual scavengers who needed to be rescued, according to a nationwide survey by the SKA.

The award citation recognises Mr. Wilson’s work in “asserting the inalienable right to a life of human dignity”. Of the estimated 600,000 scavengers in India, SKA has liberated around 300,000, the citation notes.

Hailing from a Dalit family in Kolar, Karnataka, Mr. Wilson said his first brush with the local authorities over the abominable practice was in 1986-87, when he saw poor Dalit women cleaning human waste in the public latrines of Kolar Gold Fields. His own family members had been manual scavengers for generations.

“It was a big town, and in those days KGF was known to be the most electrified town after Tokyo,” he said. Yet, the town lacked public toilets with running water. Moved by the plight of the women who had to clean them every day, Mr. Wilson decided to petition the local town municipality to improve facilities. In 1986, he sent a complaint about dry latrines to the authorities and, when it was ignored, he sent the complaint to the Prime Minister, threatening legal action, the award citation notes. As a result, the town’s dry latrines were converted into water-seal latrines and the scavengers transferred to non-scavenging jobs.

Despite his 32 years of activism, Mr. Wilson says challenges remain in putting an end to the practice. “No thorough survey has been conducted as yet to enumerate manual scavengers though State governments have been promising one since 2010,” he said. Expressing scepticism over the implementation of the government’s flagship Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, he said the scheme did little to address the plight of manual scavengers and only sought to build more and more toilets.

Mr. Wilson formed the SKA as a network of activists in 1993. A PIL he filed in the Supreme Court, naming all the States, Union Territories, and relevant government departments as violators of the 1993 Manual Scavenging Prohibition Act, produced positive results. In 2014, the SC ruled in his favour demanding that all States ban manual scavenging and even fixed a compensation of Rs. 10 lakh for families of scavengers who had died on the job.

“In 2014, we gave the Centre a list of 1,073 people who had died while cleaning sewers, but the families of the dead are yet to be compensated fully. Only 36 people from the families of dead sewer cleaners have been compensated, but they did not get the full amount prescribed by the court,” he said.

Our Special Correspondent from Bangalore adds:

Practice still rampant in Kolar

In the hometown of Bezawada Wilson, who has been honoured with the Ramon Magsaysay award for 2016, manual scavengers are not hard to find.

The century-old mining set-up at the Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) saw thousands of people — primarily from Dalit communities — being brought in to deal with night waste. Mr. Wilson’s father was among those brought from Andhra Pradesh to KGF.

Though mining operations ended in 2001, the prohibited practice continues in the town where dry latrines are abundant.

The government claims that there are only 82 manual scavengers in KGF. This is disputed by activists and government officials who peg the figure at 800 families — making it the highest density of manual scavengers in Karnataka.

“While more than 12 criminal cases have been filed across the State for manual scavenging, there is little clarity on the prevalence of the banned practice. A 2007 survey threw up a figure of 15,375 manual scavengers. This is clearly under reporting, says Narayana, Chairman of Karnataka State Commission for Safai Karmacharis.

“The number is higher than 25,000,” he alleged. “We have sought a re-survey, but government officials are looking at their list and claiming that the number has reduced.”

The announcement of the Magsaysay award for Mr. Wilson did not trigger celebrations in KGF. Much of his activities have been in Andhra Pradesh or at the national level.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News / Vidya Venkat / Chennai – July 27th, 2016

R.K. Narayan’s nephew and grandson visit Writer’s Yaadavagiri house

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Travel

Memorabilia brought from Chennai being arranged for display at the Museum.

MCC Commissioner Dr. C.G. Betsurmath is seen displaying the Padma Bhushan Award Certificate of late R.K. Narayan at the writer’s house in city this morning. Others seen are Corporator D. Nagabhushan, MCC Superintending Engineer Suresh Babu, RKN’s grandson Karthik Krishnaswamy and nephew R.S. Jayaram.
MCC Commissioner Dr. C.G. Betsurmath is seen displaying the Padma Bhushan Award Certificate of late R.K. Narayan at the writer’s house in city this morning. Others seen are Corporator D. Nagabhushan, MCC Superintending Engineer Suresh Babu, RKN’s grandson Karthik Krishnaswamy and nephew R.S. Jayaram.

Mysuru :

With the renovation work of Novelist late R.K. Narayan’s house on Vivekananda Road in Yadavagiri reaching completion, the arrangement of the writer’s memorabilia brought from Chennai commenced this morning at the house turned museum, which will be inaugurated soon. The memorabilia include RKN’s cot, chair, table, watch, glasses, books, medals, awards and certificates won by him.

The photographs and paintings that adorned the walls of the house earlier too have been brought back.

RKN’s nephew R.S. Jayaram and grandson Karthik Krishnaswamy have arrived in city from Bengaluru to inspect and guide the arrangement of memorabilia. Incidentally, Jayaram too had been living in the same house and was very familiar with the arrangements of all items.

MCC Commissioner Dr. C.G. Betsurmath, Superintending Engineer Suresh Babu, Assistant Executive Engineer Manjunath, Development Officer Jagadish and Corporator D. Nagabhushan were supervising the arrangements at the museum.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Betsurmath said that MCC had spent Rs. 29 lakh for renovating the house and another Rs. 5 lakh for landscaping.

He pointed out that the building has been renovated to the original looks including the colour of the paint and wood structures to bring back the memory of yesteryears. He added that the maintenance aspects have to be worked out in future.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Jayaram recalled the nostalgic memories of his stay in the house and his association with his uncle RKN. He expressed happiness in conversion of the house into a memorial keeping the heritage intact.

Dr. Betsurmath has requested people who are in possession of any memorabilia of RKN to pass it on to MCC which could be exhibited at the Museum.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / July 21st, 2016

Book Talk : A. Kiran Subbaiah

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Travel, World Opinion

City’s Multifaceted Sculptor

SculptorBF26jul2016

Title : Bahumukhiya Shilpi Sarvabhouma A. Kiran Subbaiah

Author : N.B. Kaverappa

Pages : 100 (including 20 pages of pictures)

Price : Rs. 100

Publisher : Ila Mudrana, Bengaluru

by Dr. Prakash Padakannaya

Recently I attended a book release function at Kalamandira where a Kannada book entitled ‘Bahumukheeya Shilpa Sarvabhowma A. Kiran Subbaiah’ was introduced and officially released in the presence of several artists, Academy officials, and art lovers of Mysuru. The book was authored and designed by N.B. Kaverappa, a well-known artist and founder of Bharani Art Gallery in the city. Karnataka Shilpakala Academy, Bengaluru, celebrating its 20th anniversary, is the publisher of this unique book.

I am not an expert on sculpture art but I was curious about the book and also the sculptor as I had heard many remarkable things about Kiran Subbaiah’s work from the author. After the function, I bought a copy of the book availing 50% discount offered on the book releasing day.

The book, though runs into only 71 pages, is very well designed with attractive cover page and several illustrative quality pictures without which the descriptions would have been incomplete. The editorial comments by L. Shivalingappa and preface by the author provide the necessary background for the book. The author, who knew A. Kiran Subbaiah personally for the past three decades, has been very successful in presenting the life and work of this extraordinarily talented sculptor and his magnificent sculpture in a lucid yet scholarly way.

The book has been divided into two parts. The first part, ‘inside the sculptor’s life’ deals with the life sketch of Mr. Kiran Subbaiah while the second part, ‘inner turmoil beneath the external looks of sculptures’ describes major works of the sculptor with illustrations. The first part narrates the innate aptitude that Mr. Subbaiha had from childhood for sculpturing; and his extraordinary and eventful yet dedicated saga of what he has accomplished in the field so far.

His passion for sculpturing was ignited when he visited Beluru-Halebidu temples during his college days. His prodigious skill was exemplified by the fact that he could master the entire syllabus of five year diploma course in sculpture at Chamarajendra Technical Institute, Mysuru, in just one year. It is irony that such a prodigy was forced to leave the Institute after three years of basic training (he was not allowed to go for advanced course by his supervisor though the same teacher in later years pleaded him to apply for the lecturer’s vacancy, which Mr. Subbaiah turned down). Such incidents also testify how creativity and dedication triumph over all odds.

Mr. Subbaiah’s perseverance and diligent experimentation in sculpturing with all kinds of stones made him probably one of the greatest contemporary sculptors of our land. Hailing from Kodagu, today he owns a museum of sculpture ‘Shilpanikethan’ in Mysuru, which houses hundreds of wonderful stone sculptures carved by him.

The author makes a sincere attempt at highlighting the sculptures sculpted by Mr. Subbaiah, in terms of both breadth and depth of sculptor’s creativity, in the second part of the book.

The illustrations of his work presented in the book demonstrate that Mr. Subbaiah is as proficient with traditional style as with contemporary and modern style. Normally a sculpture has only a front view. But Mr. Subbaiha has mastered the art of carving multifaceted or many-sided sculptures using a single stone (the same piece may depict one image when seen from front and a different image when seen from sides or back). It is like four different sculptors carving four different sculptures on four sides of a stone! This is an astounding feat by any standard!

Mr. Kaverappa describes the way Mr. Subbaiah goes about creating these multisided sculptures. It seems when Mr. Subbaiah has a piece of stone in front of him ideas keep running and he visualises them in his mind first. Then he makes a rough sketch directly on the stone and begins carving. When he has multiple ideas and icons in his mind’s eye, he first whittles all of them coarsely on the stone. Then, he starts the fine work simultaneously on all of them till they attain their proper shapes. Again, at the end he would start fine finishing work concentrating on one of them at a time.

The book also gives an account of a master piece in making, the most wonderful work of art by Mr. Subbaiah, the stone sculpture of ‘Lord Adishesha’ displaying 135 hoods with a special pedestal. When completed, this pedestal will also depict 45 snake Gods with different poses carved on it. Presently, Adishesha deity at Pashupathinatha temple in Nepal holds the world record with 108 hoods. Adishesha that Mr. Subbaiah is making with 135 hoods a height of 4 feet and 3 inches without the base (5 feet and 1.5 inches with the base) shall get that name and fame. Shree Yanthra, Om Yanthra, and Gayathri Manthra have been engraved on the back side of this unique statue. This statue carving took three years till now. It seems another 6-8 months’ hard work is required to finish the intricate carving of the main statue and the pedestal. According to Mr. Subbaiah, once he starts this arduous task, he has to devout at least 8-10 hours per day for this work for several months!

The author of the book has sprinkled some of his own observations on the work of Mr. Subbaiah throughout the book. One of them is related to the artists who have influenced Mr. Subbaiah. Kaverappa has mentioned the influence of Henry Moore, one of the greatest modern sculptors of 20th century, in Mr. Subbaiah’s creations. He has also rightly observed that five-sided sculptures (five in one) are not viable as a visual treat as it actually disturbs the composition of the sculpture as a whole. One cannot miss ubiquitous presence of ‘shringar rasa’ (flavour of erotic/ romantic love) in most of the contemporary sculptures of Mr. Subbaiah.

Editor of the book, L. Shivalingappa, in his foreword comments that depiction of shringar rasa theme in Mr. Subbaiah’s sculptures is a lot more powerful than words can explain. Mr. Subbaiah himself acknowledges that ‘…the female nude form…from time immemorial… has caught the fancy, imagination, liking and admiration of a vast majority of mankind, artists, sculptors and writers’ (page 19). Mr. Subbaiah is no exception!

The book gives us a list of multisided sculptures done by the sculptor since the year 2008, list of recognitions conferred, and a list of glossary along with the direct contact address of the sculptor at the end for the benefit of readers and art lovers. Some of the colour reproductions of original work are also excellent.

When I finished reading the book, I felt that there is a genius sculptor, probably one of the best in the country, living amongst us in ‘namma Mysuru’ without getting due recognition (may be it does not matter to Mr. Subbaiah). I do hope that this book will help people of Karnataka to know and feel proud of the genius sculptor in Appaneravanda Kiran Subbaiah. Both Karnataka Shilpakala Academy and N.B. Kaverappa should be commended for their great service to the art and culture of Karnataka by introducing this master sculptor and his works to the public. It is a must read book to all those interested in sculpture art.

About the author of the book

Author of this book, Nellamakkada B. Kaverappa (in pic.) is an eminent senior artist of Kodagu living in Mysuru. He is well-known as the founder of Bharani Art Gallery, the first private art gallery in the city that he established in 1994 with a noble purpose of promoting visual art. Artists who like to exhibit their work are given the gallery for free of rent and also an independent guest room to stay (also free) for the duration of the expo. Artists from neighbouring States as well as other countries such as Australia and Finland have exhibited their paintings in Bharani Art Gallery.

Mr. Kaverappa has immense interest and actively involved in creative visual art (multihued) and literature. As an artist, he has been part of many Karnataka Kala Melas. He exhibited his ‘Creation’ series of oil paintings at Ahmedabad, Gujarat and ‘Dance of Kodavas’ at India International Centre, New Delhi. He has been honoured by Karnataka Kodava Sahitya Academy (in art field), Kodava Samaja Bangalore and Kodava Samaja, Mysuru. His oil portrait of legendary ‘Haradas Appacha Kavi’ is the most authentic one and is displayed at Kodava Samaja Bangalore as a gift. He is also a frequent writer in Kannada and Kodava periodicals. He has translated two books for Karnataka Lalithakala Academy.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / July 20th, 2016

Release of Book on JC Wadiyar’s compositions marks Vaggeyakaras’ Day

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All
Pramoda Devi Wadiyar (fourth from left), who inaugurated the Vaggeyakaras’ Day celebrations organised by Karnataka Sangeetha Nritya Academy at Jaganmohan Palace in city on Monday, is seen releasing a book titled ‘Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar’s Compositions’ authored by Musicologist Karnataka Kalasri Vid. V. Nanjundaswamy (third from right). Others seen are Academy Member-Convenor Dr. Sukanya Prabhakar, KSGH Music and Performing Arts University VC Dr. Sarvamangala Shankar, Academy Chairperson Gangamma Keshavamurthy, Registrar Banashakari V. Angadi and author’s wife Prof. H.S. Umadevi Nanjundaswamy.
Pramoda Devi Wadiyar (fourth from left), who inaugurated the Vaggeyakaras’ Day celebrations organised by Karnataka Sangeetha Nritya Academy at Jaganmohan Palace in city on Monday, is seen releasing a book titled ‘Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar’s Compositions’ authored by Musicologist Karnataka Kalasri Vid. V. Nanjundaswamy (third from right). Others seen are Academy Member-Convenor Dr. Sukanya Prabhakar, KSGH Music and Performing Arts University VC Dr. Sarvamangala Shankar, Academy Chairperson Gangamma Keshavamurthy, Registrar Banashakari V. Angadi and author’s wife Prof. H.S. Umadevi Nanjundaswamy.

Mysuru :

“Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar’s contribution to music as a composer and critic will always be cherished by musicians,” opined Dr. Sarvamangala Shankar, Vice-Chancellor, KSGH Music and Performing Arts University.

She was speaking at a function organised by Karnataka Sangeetha Nritya Academy, Bengaluru, at Jaganmohan Palace in city on Monday to mark Vaggeyakaras’ Day.

Dr. Sarvamangala said that thousands of composers like Patnam Subramania Iyer, Bidaram Krishnappa and Mysore Vasudevacharya laid a strong foundation for music with rich literature. She added that music and literature were both soothing elements for mind but not just that as a music should have a good literature for real value.

Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, who inaugurated the programme, also released the book ‘Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar’s Compositions,’ authored by Musicologist Karnataka Kalasri Vid. V. Nanjundaswamy, on the occasion. The day also witnessed Dr. Veena and troupe rendering compositions of Mysore Vasudevacharya and Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, lecture by the author, veena recital by Vidu. Rajalakshmi and troupe and violin duet by Tejas Manjunath and Pranav Manjunath.

Academy Chairperson Gangamma Keshavamurthy, Registrar Banashakari V. Angadi and others were present.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / July 20th, 2016

DFRL Director inaugrates Instant Idli Sambar and Chutney production unit in Hebbal

Business & Economy, Science & Technology

InstantIdliBF26jul2016

Mysuru  :

Dr. R.K. Sharma, Director, Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL), Mysuru, inaugurated the Instant Idli Sambar and Chutney Production Unit of Rajaganapathy Agro Food Industry in Hebbal here on July 11.

DFRL transferred the technology and know-how of Instant Idli Sambar & Chutney to Rajaganapathy Agro Food Industry.

The inventors Dr. G.K. Sharma, Sc. ‘G’, Dr. A.D. Semwal, Sc. ‘G’, Padmashree, Technical Officer, Govindaraj, Technical Officer, Neha Negi, Sr. technical Assistant, Dr. M. Pal Murugan, Scientist ‘D’, Technology Transfer Team and Managing Partners of Rajaganapathy Food Industries were present on the occasion.

Rajaganapathy Food Industries is a joint venture company making entry into food industry by adopting the food technology from DFRL to serve the Indian Armed Forces and the civilian population.

Idlis, a fermented steam cooked south Indian delicacy, is relished all over the country due to better digestibility with unique textural and sensory attributes. However, idlis are highly perishable in nature and get spoiled within 24 hrs of preparation. To overcome the above problem, instant idlis along with sambar and chutney was developed by DFRL using combination drying technology.

The products are capable of reconstitution by mere addition of hot water within 4-5 minutes. The shelf life of the product is 12 months at ambient conditions.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / July 20th, 2016