An activist for the rights of differently-abled persons from Bagalkot district is producing a movie on the life of 19th century social reformer from north Karnataka, Devaraya.
In an exclusive interview with dna, Ghanashyam T Bhandage, who lost his legs to polio in childhood, said the insensitivity of Sandalwood towards the physically challenged motivated him to take task of producing movie Ingale Marga.
The movie will focus on the struggle of Devaraya for the emancipation of Dalits. Devaraya was born in Ingale village near Chikkodi in Belgaum district in July 1889. Influenced by Buddha, Basava, Jyotiba Phule, Devaraya, who was two years older to BR Ambedkar, started a social reformation movement in the region. Quitting his job of a teacher, he launched street plays to spread awareness among commoners. He strived to eradicate the Devadasi system, which was rampant in the region in his age.
“The novel Devaraya, written by Dr Sarjoo Katkar, who has penned over 60 books in Kannada, influenced me a lot. After reading it thrice, I approached Katkar to seek his permission to produce a movie,” Bhandage said.
Vishal Bharadwaj agreed to direct the movie, which involves veteran actors like Sidhendra Prasad, Shivani, Ashok Badardinni and Ramesh Pandit, Bhandage said.
The aspiring movie maker and hyperactive social activist hails from family involved in silk business in Bagalkot. After completing his degree, Bhandage tried various businesses including watch repair and running an STD booth.
“My college mates treated me as their friend and never allowed me to develop an inferiority complex,” Bhandage said. He participated in International sports competitions for the physically challenged, including wheelchair race, javelin throw and discuss throw, in England in 1995 and in Australia in 1999.
source: http://www.dnaindia.com / DNA / Home> Bangalore> Report / by Sangamesh Menasinakai , Place:Hubli, Agency:DNA / Saturday – October 12th, 2013
Left: 1) An aerial view of Mysore Palace shot by Ramesh Sarkar with his Phantom Go Pro Hero-3 Camera (Right) ( 2) Ramesh Sarkar is seen operating the Phantom Go Pro Hero-3 Camera.
A shot from above
by Anagha Mahesh
How about a camera that flies in the air just like a toy plane? Is it a toy camera or a real camera? It is indeed a proper camera, which can shoot upto 15 minutes of video or photo mid-air.
The camera — Phantom Go Pro Hero-3 Camera, with a quadcopter (four-winged tiny helicopter), is a brain child of a company in USA. The camera is fixed in the middle of a 4-winged small helicopter kind of thing (see pic). It comes with a monitor and battery operated remote with two joysticks for movement. The person operating this camera uses the monitor to view the images captured from the camera when in air. The camera can capture 60 shots within a second.
In India, only about ten people know how to operate this camera and one among the ten is Ramesh Sarkar, a photographer from city. Sarkar has been into photography since the past 35 years. Basically a Science graduate, he has many firsts to his credit — was the first person in city to use video coverage at a wedding, first to use a digital camera for wedding and the most recent and the coveted one, the first one to use an Aerial camera to shoot wedding videos and photos from the sky.
Apart from this, he has also done the wedding shoot for families of the Wadiyars, Cycle Agarbathi Brand, MPs and MLAs in city. He has made documentaries for Coorg Public School, Gonikoppa and KALS, Mysore. He was also the official Dasara photographer for covering the festivities in all its hues and colours from 1990-99 and again from 2006-12. Till date, he has shot more than 6,000 weddings! That’s quite a figure.
The Phantom Go Pro Hero-3 Camera was introduced to India in the year 2012 by AVCS Systems India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. They are the only agents, distributors in the country. The company provides a 10-day training at Delhi for those who buy this camera.
Camera Stats
Cost: Rs. 4 lakhs
Weight: In all, 750 gms.
Batteries: Runs on a rechargeable nickel-cadmium battery (comes with 4 batteries in total).
Kinds of shots: Wide-shot, narrow-shot and a normal-shot.
Has the option of shooting both videos and photos upto 10 hours; once in air it can shoot upto a max of 15 mins.
Usage: Mainly for weddings and for big industrial plants and other industries.
Memory: 32 GB; expandable upto 64 GB.
Application: GoPro
Video type: mp4
Monitor: Wireless and 14” wide
Compatible with any smart phone, tablet or ipad.
A higher version of the same is on the anvil with a 3-wing Tricopter instead of the 4-winged Quadcopter.
For more details, contact Ramesh Sarkar, Sarkar Video Trix, Saraswathipuram on Mob: 99800-89345 or e-mail: sarkar.camera@gmail.com.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / October 12th, 2013
The State government on Tuesday decided to implement ‘Universal Health Coverage’, a scheme which envisages bringing every citizen under a health scheme.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the State Health Mission Authority headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The scheme, which has been planned as per the recommendations of the High-Level Expert Group of the Union Planning Commission, will be launched on a pilot basis in Mysore and Raichur districts.
Health Minister U T Khader said the department will now begin preparations for implementing the scheme which is the first of its kind in the country. The Union government has agreed to fund the pilot project, he added.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State / DHNS / Bangalore – October 01st, 2013
Centenarian Brijita Lobo with her daughter Philomena Lobo.
Rotary Club of Mysore Royal
by Rtn. Pius Saldanha
This doctor neither has a medical degree nor has she gone to any school but she was an expert in herbal medicine. Meet Brijita Lobo, who celebrated her 101st birthday recently.
Born on Sept. 30, 1913 in Betolli village of Virajpet taluk, and settled down in Beppunad (Kedamullur village) after marrying M.P. Lobo (late), who was a Shirastedar in Virajpet court, she celebrated her 101st birthday on Sept. 30 at Bangalore. Many joined the celebrations which included a Thanksgiving Mass and prayed for her good health.
Like a Kannada saying goes, ‘Aadu muttada soppilla,’ there is no ailment that she did not handle and was an expert as Gynaec. The nearest town, Virajpet being six kilometres away, she was often disturbed for midnight emergency. Any difficult delivery, she handled with confidence. She was fondly called as ‘Badavara Bandhu’ (Messiah of the Poor) by the villagers.
I was her neighbour and in the summer of 1977 came down on holidays from Haryana. Following day, I was relaxing under a tree, talking to my neighbours. I saw her coming down from a hillock, situated a kilometer away. On seeing me, she came and enquired fondly, ‘how are you my son!’ (kosuasaiputa?). I said, ‘Moushe, (O Aunt) I can’t lift my right hand, a dozen boils under my arm due to the heat of summer. On examining me, she went back to the hillock, and returned after 45 minutes and treated me with her herbs. Next day, I could lift my hand with ease and on the following day, I was cured totally.
My cousin Trecilla, a teacher delivered a baby girl in a hospital, and was suffering with acute stomach ache. After a week, this ‘doctor’ treated Trecilla with her herbal medicine, the dead twin baby was flushed out. Trecilla is enjoying her retired life with good health now. Her first twin girl is a mother of two now.
The grand-mother, Brijita Lobo is living with her children in Bangalore. Last year, well-wishers and friends wished her for her 100th birthday. She can be contact on Mob: 9482220399.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / by Rtn. Pius Saldhana / October 04th, 2013
Enterprising individuals have begun door-delivery of food and booze right through the night to cater to the demand of graveyard shift workers.
– Anantha Subramanyam K/ DNA
“When I finish work and come out of office, I find that there is nothing to eat or drink,” says Tushar Nadkarni, an online retail businessman. Tushar’s lament is the lament of scores of people and professionals working in Bangalore, which calls itself a global city but behaves like a small town.
But not all have surrendered to the temptations of a goodnight sleep, as Tushar recently found out.
Tushar had a gastronomic surprise when he discovered Biryani Night Out through a phone inquiry service. “I ordered food at 1.30am for myself and two colleagues. The food was superb. We felt like ordering more, and there it was, again, with the delivery boy at our doorsteps smiling,” says Tushar.
Like Tushar, many professionals working in the IT/ITeS sectors are a relieved lot to find midnight eating options in the city: where there is demand, there will eventually be supply.
Enterprising individuals in the city are supplying food and drink right at the doorsteps between 11.30 pm and almost until pre-dawn.
For instance, one such enterprise Biryani Night Out in Yeshwanthpur even has a Facebook page which states “Treating tastebuds at midnight”. It caters to clients until 3am from its outlet in Yeshwanthpur.
Nayaz Pasha, owner of Biryani Night Out, says that he always wanted to be his own boss; and after completing his engineering degree last year, he did just that: he opened Biryani Night Out after realising that there was a large demand for night delivery services.
On Jan 18, 2013, based out of Yeshwanthpur, Biryani Night Out began dishing out biriyanis to famished Bangaloreans within a 10-km radius.
“I don’t charge for delivery as everyone gets hungry. So even if someone wants just one biryani, we deliver,” he says, adding that response has been so good that he now has five delivery boys, two chefs, a manager and a marketing consultant.
Vaibhav Ali, who runs Midnight Hunger Solution 24/7 from Indiranagar, used to be an event manager. “Events and parties go on till late night. After all the hard work, when we are hungry, there were very few options. I wanted good, hygienic, tasty and reasonable food available 24/7. That apart, MHS was born out of another need too. February-March-April season is a lean period for events. So there was a gap in business for me then. That’s prompted us to come up with Midnight Hunger Solution,” says Vaibhav Ali, co-owner.
Then there is SRS Restaurant 24/7. Started six months ago by Satish M, the restaurant is now doing roaring business, confirming once again that the city is very alive, kicking and hungry through the night.
Satish’s biryanis (chicken and mutton) and Andhra-style meals are a hot favourite and he delivers “anywhere in the city”, he says.
Senthil Kumar, owner of KFDS 24/7 (KFDS stands for Kevin Food Delivery Service), too has a smile on his face, as his gamble to open a 24/7 restaurant paid-off. He has a regular clientele with IT offices. “They (IT professionals) asked me to start late night delivery as well. I tried it out and found the business to be roaring,” says Senthil.
According to legal experts, there is no prohibition on delivering food after 1pm. “A commercial establishment has to be closed at 11pm. However, there is no prohibition on delivering food to homes post 11pm,” says senior advocate Ravi B Naik.
Former advocate general Uday Holla, too, agrees: “There is absolutely no bar on delivering food post 11pm. Home delivery for food is not illegal post 11pm.”
However, such night delivery services are set to witness a boom in the near future with National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) predicting more than a three-fold increase in IT/BPO workforce by 2020 — a sizable portion of which will be Bangalore-bound.
(Inputs from Suchith Kidiyoor and Odeal D’Souza)
Midnight Hunger Solution 24/7
Phone: 080-66534184,
8088922299, 8088922295
Email: midnighthungersolution@gmail.com
Service started on Feb 24, 2012.
They deliver anywhere in the city.
Serves Mughlai, Indian and Chinese food.
Meal for two would approximately cost Rs 300-400. Delivery charges are Rs 100.
Biryani Night Out
Phone: 09741109909
Serves chicken, vegetable biryani, kababs and soft drinks.
Veg biryani is priced at Rs 139, chicken biryani at Rs 159 and kababs at Rs 159 or 179 for 10 pieces.
SRS Restaurant 24/7
Phone: 080-49152614, 9738973503
They deliver anywhere in the city.
Late-night delivery charges around Rs 100-Rs 150 (based on the distance from Kammanahalli — their base).
Biryanis and Andhra-style meals are hot favourites.
When young, least did she know she would one day do something adventurous. Neither did she do something of the sort until she started her career. But unlike many with a dream of doing something adventurous since childhood, she suddenly developed a liking for cycling just less than a couple of years ago. And today, this young Mysorean has succeeded in cycling upto Leh in Jammu & Kashmir from Manali in Himachal Pradesh in a span of 14 days.
Sahana Murthy, 24, a Mysorean based at Bangalore, is a young and enthusiastic adventure cyclist. For this girl, it was a sudden instinct that made her develop a liking to cycle which makes her story special. And such is the love for her passion that she not just wanted to go on a long and challenging cycling expedition but even succeeded in doing so by cycling 600 km from Manali to Leh and from there to Khardung-La — the world’s highest motorable Pass.
Come, let’s learn of her experience:
“It was once in a life-time experience. I along with three other friends — Krishna Vasudeva Rao from Mysore, Kamakshi Sahai and Rajeev Agarwal — started cycling from Manali and would cycle upto 40-50 km in a span of 8 hrs per day,” says Sahana, daughter of city-based scientist Vindhya Murthy and businessman Raghavendra Murthy.
Sahana works as an Operations Associate at Genpact, Bangalore. Talking of the expedition, she said, “it was a major challenge altogether, especially for a person like me for whom everything associated with it was a first time experience.”
On a cycle with a load of 20 kilos that included everything from their camping tents to food and clothing, it was a taxing task, she says. “The very first day we started cycling, it began to rain and continued for three days. Our clothes were wet yet we had to continue cycling as we hadn’t carried many clothes to avoid extra load. But we weren’t deterred by it. Three days later, the weather turned sunny so much so that it then became difficult to bear the heat. A few hours after we started cycling, the skin started peeling off and the combination of the cold went and scorching sun was literally killing us. Yet we continued. By the end of the day, we would halt in tent-like restaurants where we would get some food, rest by night and start by 8 am the next morning post breakfast.”
Each day, each step was a challenge, she recalls. “We had to motivate ourselves every minute as it was emotionally, physically and mentally very demanding. We had to cycle upon a vehicle with heavy load, pass by steep uphills, eat only dryfruits, biscuits and chocolates as we could find no food anywhere until we reached a certain destination by dusk and even remained with no shower for 13 days.
Especially for girls, the expedition was tough, she says adding “The tents we would halt at would be shared by many people and mostly guys which would make me and my friend Kamakshi insecure at times. But the day I reached Khardung-La, I was the happiest.”
But it is because of her parents support and backing from her friends and office that she could manage to achieve her goal, she says. It was no easy thing for my parents to let me go on such an expedition. However, they trusted me and did not come in my way of my happiness because of which I have done this today, says Sahana and adds: “I will be soon learning paragliding and mountaineering too and go on cycle expeditions as well. Being a girl, it was not at all easy to strain myself the way I did, get tanned so horribly that my skin almost looked charred. I came back with loads of knee pain, back ache and sores in the leg. Yet, when people complimented me for having reached the world’s highest motorable Pass on cycle, all else would fly off my mind, making me feel proud of my achievements.” —AN
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / September 23rd, 2013
The Mudhol hound, which was on the verge of extinction, has become a source of livelihood for hundreds of families in Bagalkot district. The breeding of these hounds has helped improve the living standards of several poor dalit families after the government set up a separate research centre in Timmapur village of Mudhol taluk. These hounds are one among the 32 such breeds recognised at the international level.
The Mudhol Hounds Research and Information Centre has been encouraging breeding and reproduction by providing puppies to more than 300 dalit families in Bagalkot.
The centre is also supplying food and free medical care to these hounds apart from training the beneficiaries who can sell the puppies. The families involved in the breeding exercise is on the rise as there is a heavy demand for Mudhol hounds from various parts of the country and abroad.
“A family can easily earn upto `3 lakh a year if it has three female and a male hound. The cost of each puppy has gone up to `7,500 from just `1,000 two years ago. We will help more dalit families become self-reliant by breeding the hounds and selling them if the government provides more assistance”, said head of Mudhol Hounds Research and Information Centre Dr Venkangouda Doddagoudar.
These dogs were brought to India by Persians, Arabs and Afghans several centuries ago. The hounds are known for their ability to endure extreme weather and for their hunting skills. There are people involved in breeding of hounds in several villages in Mudhol, Bilagi and Jamkhandi of Bagalkot district. People arrive from various parts of the country to buy these hounds during the dog show held every year.
“The maintenance of Mudhol hounds is economical as these hounds eat very less. They sleep less during the night and can identify a scent quickly”, said Rajendra Chandanshiva who belongs to a family involved in the breeding of these hounds for the last three centuries since the Mughal era.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC / by Vittal Shastri / September 04th, 2013
Sri Mummadi Shivarudra Swamiji is seen presenting the award to former State DG & IGP Shankar Bidari at a function organised by BEML Basava Samithi in city on Sunday as Sri Chidananda Swamiji, litterateur Dr. Malali Vasanthkumar, Samithi Hon. President Umashankar N. Devappa, President B.S. Thandavamurthy and others look on.
Mysore :
“The Veerashaiva Mutts have been giving shelter to people from all communities and religions for the past several centuries,” opined former State DG & IGP Shankar Bidari.
He was speaking after receiving ‘Basavashri’ award at function organised by BEML Basava Samithi to mark Basava Jayanti and the Samithi’s 22nd anniversary at Nataraja Mandira in Khille Mohalla here on Sunday.
“The Veerashaiva Mutts provide shelter and food to the needy people from all castes and religions without any discrimination. The Mutts have been doing yeoman service to the society through Akshara Dasoha and Anna Dasoha,” he remarked and called for following Basavanna’s principles, thus becoming a model for the present and future generations.
Quoting Basavanna’s numerous sayings, Bidari said the Veerashaivas should bring honour to the community by doing their work with dignity and honesty.
Continuing, he said Basavanna treated people from all religions and communities with due respect. The Veerashaiva Mutts too have been doing the same all these years, providing shelter to the oppressed classes and others, he pointed out and suggested that the Veerashaivas taking cue from Basavanna’s principles, should lend a helping hand to others.
Regretting that several politicians and organisations have been missing the Veerashaiva religion for meeting their own ends, Bidari said he has entered politics to serve people from all walks of life.
Former BEML General Manager and Samithi’s Founder President C.P. Basavaraju was presented “Kayakashri” award. Winners of Vachana recitation, Vachana interpretation and other contests were given prizes.
Rajarajeshwarinagar’s Rajarajeshwari Akkana Balaga members presented a cultural programme. Litterateur Dr. Malali Vasanthkumar delivered a lecture on Vachana Sahitya.
Mummadi Shivarudra Swamiji of Maralegavimutt in Kanakapura Taluk and Sri Chidananda Swamiji of Hosamutt graced the occasion. Samithi Hon. President Umashankar N. Devappa, President B.S. Thandavamurthy and others were present.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / July 30th, 2013
SPICity Phase II of Software Paradigms Infotech (SPI) will be inaugurated tomorrow at # 316 – 318(P), Hebbal Industrial Area, Mysore, at 4 pm. Minister for IT and BT S.R. Patil will be the chief guest. Swami Muktidanandaji, President, Ramakrishna Ashram, Mysore, will be the guest of honour. B.V. Naidu, Chairman and CEO, Sagitaur Ventures India Pvt. Ltd. will preside. Sid Mookerji, Global CEO & Co-founder of SPI, will be present.
Mysore :
SPI was founded in 1994 by Sid Mookerji in the United States with the company headquarters in Atlanta. Sid, a graduate of BITS Pilani and the Goizueta Business School, had worked extensively overseas. Sid saw an opportunity during his stint at a leading retail giant in the US that led him to start his own company. He grew up in Mysore and calls the city his home.
“I always knew that if I started my own company, I would do it right here in Mysore,” says Sid Mookerji, Global CEO & CoFounder, SPI. In 1997, SPI’s first offshore development centre was established at an incubation centre in Mysore with three employees and one client. Local leadership was provided by K.K. Mookerji, a retired scientist from CFTRI. Success came quickly and today the company has 1,500 knowledge workers globally with nearly a 1,000 of them based in city.
SPICity: The Mysore office boasts of a state-of-the-art Offshore Development Centre (ODC) called ‘SPICity’ that sits on a sprawling campus spanning 13 acres in Hebbal Industrial Area. A second ODC is situated in Kathmandu, Nepal. The Phase 2 of SPICity that is built to accommodate an additional 1,000 employees is being inaugurated on July 13 by S.R.Patil, Minister of Planning and Statistics, IT, BT and S&T.
Since its inception, the company has come a long way and now has offices in North America, South America, Australia, Singapore, Brazil, India and Nepal. Primarily an IT services and solutions provider for retailers around the globe, SPI also has a Financial Services division and recently forayed into Products, Platforms & Solutions building intellectual property in the Retail domain.
SPI has made its mark globally and has won various prestigious awards — ‘Highest Exporter Award (IT)- Mysore Region’ for four consecutive years by the Govt. of Karnataka; Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 2012 ‘Pacesetter Award’; named as one of ‘Georgia’s Fast 40’ companies by the Association for Corporate Growth, Atlanta.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and community development programmes have been an integral part of SPI. Under the stewardship of Sophie Mookerji (Chairperson and Co-founder, SPI), SPI Foundation supports a wide range of socio-economic and educational causes. For example, SPI has adopted Kudremala Higher Primary School in Mysore and has been providing funds and volunteers’ time to the school. Funds are provided to sponsor education, upgrade the school’s infrastructure and support other rural schools.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / July 12th, 2013
SUSHANT KULKARNI follows members of Project Meghdoot as they try to understand the monsoon by following the clouds
It is not raining. It seems as if the deep grey monsoon clouds have nothing to offer to this patch of north Karnataka, for the time being, at least. Inside a speeding minibus, a choir of 15 sing Kaale megha from Lagaan. As we come to the end of the song, a cooler breeze wafts in and the next moment the raindrops become the drum beat of the song.
The choir here is unusual, it comprises scientists, science students and meteorology-lovers who have set out on a journey to accompany the monsoon rains as they arrive in India in the first week of June and slowly proceed towards the Western Ghats. Our journey begins from Agumbe village in Karnataka, the Cherrapunji of south India, where the TV series Malgudi Days was shot. On the way, the team meets locals, studies the biodiversity of the landscape and takes weather readings to scientifically understand what the monsoon means to India.
The journey is a part of Project Meghdoot, an initiative of the Pune-based group Centre for Citizen Science and this is the third year of the activity. The aim is to gather, collate and analyse traditional knowledge about the monsoon from peoples across India and connect that with available scientific know-how.
Mayuresh Prabhune, a Pune-based freelance science journalist and researcher, who founded the group, says it is named after Kalidasa’s poem Meghadootam. “Like the yaksha who has been exiled to central India and who asks the clouds to take his message to the love of his life, who is in the Himalayas, we too travel with the cloud messengers. We meet people — fishermen, farmers, old people in villages.” He explains that Project Meghdoot consists of three teams of three or four members each; one team takes observations and readings of the biodiversity indicators of the monsoon. One tries to understand how the lives of people are affected by the monsoon by talking to people. Speaking to people provides an invaluable resource as knowledge about local climate has been accumulated over generations. Documenting these stories helps determine the long-term effect of man’s actions on the climate. And the third team focuses on taking readings of weather parameters like temperature, humidity, pressure, wind speed and direction.
In Agumbe, the group stays at the 120-year-old house of Kasturi Akka Shenai, which happens to be Swamy’s house in Malgudi Days. “The people we interviewed — most of them local villagers — told us that the rains have reduced significantly in the recent past. But the people at the local observatory in Agumbe told us that they see cycles of increasing and decreasing rain every six years. Both are important observations,” says Sumit Tambe, a member of the group who is an aerospace engineer.
Through interviews with the local police, members learned that after the onset of monsoon, the movement of Naxalite groups hiding in the jungles of the Agumbe also increases as it becomes difficult for the police to enter and comb the forests. An officer with an anti-Naxal cell of the Karnataka police says, that deployment of the police in villages increases during the monsoon.
On the picturesque mountain top named Kundadri near Agumbe, the group records the call of the Malabar whistling thrush. A group member, Spandan Waghmare says, “A particular whistle is a mating call that one hears only in the monsoons.” The same call is also recorded in Amboli, another beautiful spot in the Konkan, “The call is as melodious as a song,” says Waghmare.
Every morning, you see members of the group recording the calls of toads, frogs and crickets. Ashutosh Alekar, a zoology student says, “To us, all those noisy calls may seem alike. But in reality, the calls vary from species to species, with differences in duration of the call, the pitch and the intensity. We can also see an increase in the population of insects like ants, bugs, grasshoppers and arachnids.” All these observations are discussed during the group meetings that are held every night on the six-day tour.
From Agumbe, the group moves to Karwar in Karnataka and then reaches Goa on the fourth day. Throughout the journey, heavy rains accompany the group. On the way, they meet farmers from whom they learn that the arrival of pre-monsoon showers has shifted ahead and these areas are receiving less pre-monsoon showers. Spandan says, “In Goa the fishermen told us that they predict the arrival of the monsoon when a species of fish is seen swimming on the surface to avoid sea current and when a particular snake is spotted in the waters. We will be verifying these observations and try to find out if they have any scientific basis.”
The group is also accompanied by acclaimed Canadian filmmaker Sturla Gunnarsson, who is making a film on the monsoon. He says, “Travelling with the group was wonderful. I experienced parts of India I would never have seen otherwise, in the company of young people, optimism and scientific inquiry.” The film is about the season, as experienced by people. Gunnarsson adds, “It deals with the spectacle, the science, the cultural and spiritual dimensions of the rains. I found the project exciting as it attempts to reconcile scientific knowledge with ancient, traditional knowledge, in search for a new narrative for the subcontinent.”
In the last phase of the journey, the group comes to Mhaswad village in Sangli district of Maharashtra, an area that was badly hit by drought this summer. The group visits a camp set up during summer to provide fodder to cattle. A group member, Sneha Kulkarni says, “This part of Maharashtra receives rains mostly during two Nakshatras — the constellations that mark the time of the year — Rohini, that is the end of May and Hasta, the beginning of August. But this year, they have not received rains during Rohini. They wish there was no need for fodder camps.”
As the group readies to end their week-long journey, they pore over hundreds of photographs, dozens of weather parameter readings, and observations on biodiversity and recordings of interviews. Some of the data will also be submitted to institutes like Agharkar Research Institute and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune for analysis.
As the luggage is unloaded from the buses the group seems to share the thought that the monsoon can be better understood but never fully known in India.
source : http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home / by SushantKulkarni / New Delhi – June 30th, 2013
