The Kannada and Culture Department has announced various awards including the prestigious Dr. Gubbi Veeranna Award and T. Chowdiah National Award for the year 2015.
Renowned city theatrist Na. Ratna has bagged the prestigious B.V. Karanth Award. Mumbai-based senior tabla artiste Suresh Talwalkar has bagged T. Chowdiah Award.
The other awardees are: Peter Lewis of Dakshina Kannada – Varnashilpi Venkatappa Award; N. Pushpamala of Bengaluru – Jakanachari Award; Belakawadi Rangaswamy Iyengar of Bengaluru – Nijaguna Purandara Award; Kamalamma Vittal Rao of Bengaluru – Kumaravyasa Award; Singer Ratnamala Prakash – Santa Shishunala Sharif Award; M. Shakuntala of Bengaluru – Natyarani Shantala Award; Sattur Imamsab of Ballari – Janapada Sri Award; R. Paramashivan of Bengaluru – Dr. Gubbi Veeranna Award; Nemichandra of Bengaluru – Danachintamani Attimabbe Award; M.S. Sindhura – Prof. K.G. Kundanagara Award; Jambanna Amarachintana of Raichur – Sangolli Rayanna Award; Dr. B.A. Sanadi of Kumta, UK District – Pampa Award.
The T. Chowdiah Award carries a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh and a citation, while all other awards carry a cash prize of Rs. 3 lakh each and a citation. The Awards will be presented by CM Siddharamaiah at a function to take place at Ravindra Kalakshetra in the State capital on Nov. 15.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / November 10th, 2016
Writer Devanur Mahadeva presenting the award to Somanna at Motta haadi near H.D. Kote in Mysuru district on Saturday.
The first list of Karnataka Rajyotsava Awards announced this year had the name of Somanna, a tribal rights activist for four decades from the backward Jenu Kuruba community, as one of the winners in the social service category. But his name disappeared from the final list.
In response to this “insensitivity” of the government, a group of social activists, writers and academics on Saturday felicitated Mr. Somanna in what they called “People’s Rajyotsava” at his haadi (tribal settlement) of Motta, near Heggadadevanakote, in Mysuru district.
The award, which included a purse of Rs. 1 lakh, put together through people’s contributions, was presented by Devanur Mahadeva, writer and activist, in a warm ceremony. Mr. Mahadeva said the award represented the “voice of conscience” at a time when the tribal communities were losing their livelihoods to the so-called “civilised” ways of the world.
Responding to the felicitation, Mr. Somanna said the award had made him “much happier than any State award ever could” as it came from the hearts of the people.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Special Correspondent / Bengaluru – November 13th, 2016
Ornamental garden is the dream of plant-loving urban dwellers. Plants, foliage and flowering of different hues in various combination can express the beauty of nature around the living area. It is not the size that matters as one can landscape even a small home ground in the same way as done for larger estates or public parks. When done in the best form it is the pride of the house.
An ‘ornamental garden’ developed by a woman falls into this category. The owner, gardener and executor is none other than the winner of the first prize in the Annual Dasara Flower Show under ornamental garden category: Ms. Hashmath Fathima. It is an artistic outdoor garden developed around her little dwelling place in a plot of land in Kalyanagiri, all on her own. The garden has all the ingredients of a modern ornamental garden with display of choicest flowering and foliage plants in the form of annuals and perennials (herbs, shrubs, climbers, trees, ornamental grasses, bulbs etc.) embellished with various design elements.
The special feature is most part of the garden is developed using containers of various size, shape and hues. The entrance gate opens up into a path leading to the garage, beautifully paved with lawn grass in the crevices which makes up for the absence of a lawn (due to lack of space). On entry into the garden you can notice the potted plants stacked up in multiple rows in various colour combination of foliage and flowers & height along side the wooden wall. The half wall of the verandah has been decked up with colourful overhanging Lantanas, besides the hanging pots at the entrance of the house.
For embellishment valuable objects of artefacts in the form of figurines of various objects, birds nests etc., are placed at vantage points. The northern wall of the house is fully green, a breathing wall completely covered with creeping fig (Ficus repens). The perennial climbers (Allamanda, Quisqualis, Bougainvillea etc.) with their foothold on the northern edge ramble on the wooden barricade. The garlic vine (Mansoa alliacea) overarching the garage makes spectacular display with purple coloured blooms and attracts the onlookers. A small pond is also designed in the backyard with water lily (Nymphae sps) in it. In addition to being pleasant to look at, this ornamental garden is also enjoyable to use with a recreation area to sit and enjoy reading etc., in the form of a bench decorated with an arch covered with a climber in the front yard and an aviary with plenty of beautiful birds in the backyard.
Another eye-catching addition is the bottle garden (hanging) created using soft drink bottles planted with variegated Alternantheras. This impressed me a lot. In general the display of plants is such that as soon as one enters one can experience the burst of flowers of all hues amidst the colourful foliage. Above all, with innumerable flowering and foliage plants (Acalypha, Althea rosea, Asparagus, Aglonema, Alternanthera, Anthuriums, Asters, Coleus, Catharanthus, Chrysanthemums, Cocks comb, Begonias, Cosmos, Calendulas, Chlorophytum, Duranta, Euphorbia milii, Gamphrena, Gazania, Gerberas, Day lily, Ferns, Marigolds, Pentas, Petunias, Zinnias etc., etc.) this little paradise looked like a “mini flower show.”
Ms. Hashmath is into gardening for more than a decade and has won several first prizes in the past too. I understand that she herself carries out most of her gardening work and uses only organic manure. Most of her earnings are spent on maintaining the garden. A dress designer by profession, she has put her heart and soul in designing the beautiful and attractive garden as well! Furthermore, she has shown the ability and imagination of the gardener in her in the best form besides the woman power.
Text & photographs by Dr. Mahadeswara Swamy, Scientist, Mob: 97429-91057, e-mail: swamy_clri@hotmail.com
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / November 06th, 2016
Minister for Kannada and Culture Umashree is seen presenting Kannada Rajyotsava Award to Prof. J.R. Lakshmana Rao at his residence last evening. Others seen are Prof. Rao’s wife Jeevu Bai, daughter Vidya Shankar, son Anil Kumar, niece Jayanthi, her husband Mohan, along with MLA Vasu, Kannada and Culture Director K.A. Dayanand, former Mayor Modamani and others
Mysuru :
Kannada and Culture Minister Umashree yesterday conferred Kannada Rajyotsava Award on Kannada science writer G.R. Lakshmana Rao at the latter’s residence on 12th Main, Saraswathipuram here.
Umashree, who conferred the ward on Lakshmana Rao, also met his wife Jeevu Bai and handed over a cheque for Rs.1 lakh which is a purse associated with the award.
Speaking to media persons on the occasion, Umashree said that the Government had chosen Lakshmana Rao for the award on the basis of his contribution to the world of Science literature.
She also said that she came to Mysuru to personally present the ward as Lakshmana Rao could not attend the award presentation ceremony on Nov. 1 owing to ill health.
MLA Vasu, former Mayor R. Lingappa, Kannada and Culture Director K.A. Dayanand, Asst. Director Chennappa and family members of Lakshman Rao were present.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / November 06th, 2016
Noted Muktaka poet K.S. Manjunatha of Hariharapura, Chikkamagalur, has been selected for the Rotary-Muktaka Sahitya Award.
He will be conferred the award at a function jointly organised by Mysuru-based Karnataka Muktaka Sahitya Academy and Rotary Mysore North, on Nov. 25 at Rotary Centre on JLB Road at 6.30 pm. Dr. K. Anantharamu, retired Professor of Kannada, University of Mysore, will inaugurate the function.
Profile: K.S. Manjunatha hails from Hariharapura in Chikkamagalur district and is serving as Sub-Divisional Engineer of Bharath Seva Sanchara Nigam Limited in Hassan. A Muktaka poet by virtue of his literary involvements, he has produced a Muktaka book titled “Sri Manjunatha Vachanamrutha” which contains more than 13,000 Muktaka verses.
Apart from this, he has authored books, Sri Raghavendra Bhakthi Sukthi, Sri Govindha Suktha and the like. An expert in Yakshagana, Talamaddale arts, he was instrumental in establishing a number of Socio – Cultural organisations like Yakshavedike.
The award consists of a cash prize, citation and a memento, according to a press release from S. Ramaprasad, President of the Academy.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / November 05th, 2016
To stage play ‘Yamala Prashne’ in city this evening
Mysuru :
For any organisation or group to survive for 50 years is nothing but a great achievement. And that to a theatre group completing golden jubilee is something truly that needs to be recognised and appreciated. Mysuru-based theatre group ‘Samathentho’ has just achieved another feather in its camp through successful completion of glorious 50 years.
‘Samathentho’ (Saraswathipuram Madhyada Thengina Thopu) was the brainchild of Dr. Sindhuvalli Ananthamurthy, Dr. Na. Rathna, Vishwanath Mirle, H.M. Cennaiah, Dwarakanath, Balagopal Verma — who also formed the core group of the amateur theatre group. It was in 1966 that the amateur stalwarts came together to form an amateur theatre group which today is celebrating its golden jubilee.
The first play Samathento staged was ‘Yamala Prashne,’ written by Poornachandra Tejaswi, during the Kannada Writers Conference in 1967, but Samathentho gained currency during 1968 by staging the play ‘Raktakshi’ written by Kuvempu. Later, plays such as Kaaduprani, Ellige Eli Bonu, Sattavara Neralu, Mruchhakatika, Jo Kumaraswami, Ghashiram Kotwal, Hucchu Kudure Tuglak, Vamshavruksha, Taledanda, Bhootagalu, Maadriya Chite, Muktaadhaara, Huliyakathe, Cocktail Party, Kadadidaneeru and others were staged by the group over the past 5 decades.
Samathentho is known to be the first group to charge for the entry tickets, conduct writing contest and the troupe to introduce Dr. U.R. Aanthamurthy, H.M. Chenniah, Na. Ratna, Chaduranga and others as playwrights to people of Mysuru. It also started the legacy of honouring great personalities who have contributed immensely to theatre. Stalwarts like Sampath, Prof. Gururajarao, G.B. Joshi, Parwatawani and others have been felicitated by Samathentho. It also has the credit of instituting scholarship for students of theatre.
The specialty of Samathentho is that all its members have an equal say as they believe in universal decision making. The friendship among the mem- bers is such that all of them consider themselves to be a part of a single family. Though for various reasons there was a lull in the activities, the troupe still enjoyed the love of Mysureans which encouraged the troupe to revive and rejuvenate in 2009.
The troupe, not limiting its activities to Mysuru, has staged plays in Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Udupi, Dharwad, Gonikoppa, Ooty and other places to a packed audience. Many of the plays staged by Samathentho have found repeated audience thus making it one of the favourites among the amateur troupe in Mysuru.
On the occasion of its Golden Jubilee celebrations, the troupe has organised a programme titled ‘Suvarna Samathentho.’ The programme, which began this morning with the inauguration of poster exhibition at the Lankesh Gallery in Rangayana, will also feature staging the play ‘Yamala Prashne,’ the first play which was staged by the group in 1966. The play will be staged at Vanaranga in Rangayana premises after the stage function at 6 pm.
As part of the celebrations, Samathentho also plans to organise theatre workshops, exhibitions and other theatre activities throughout the year apart from staging various plays.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / November 05th, 2016
She is a frequent visitor to the city as her parents stay here
It was a day of celebration for a proud couple in the city as their daughter, who left for the U.S. at the age of 16 to pursue her education, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives after she won the Washington State Senate seat.
Pramila Jayapal, a candidate endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders, ran from the seventh Congressional District of Washington State, including Seattle, and won. Pramila, who hails from Kerala, is a frequent visitor to the city as her parents stay here.
Her mother, Maya Jayapal (76), is a well-known writer and counsellor, who is the author ofBangalore:Roots and Beyond
A teacher and columnist, who has a deep love for the city, Ms. Maya Jayapal has authored another book on the city as well.
She and her husband have been in Bengaluru since 1993. Speaking about her daughter’s entry into the U.S. legislature, she said, “We were a little surprised by her decision to contest, but we always had faith in her dedication. When I heard the news of her win, I was over the moon,” the proud mother said.
Speaking about her childhood, her mother said that both Pramila and elder sister Suseela had studied at the Jakarta International school when they were posted there.
“We stayed in Bengaluru for 10 years after my marriage and then moved to Jakarta and then Singapore where we stayed for 24 years before returning here,” Ms. Maya Jayapal, who is a graduate of Mount Carmel College in the city, said.
Suseela, who by training is a lawyer, currently lives in Portland, Oregon, but does not practise law actively. “It was a first for us as no one from our family has been in politics,” she said. “Her favourite place is Karavalli restaurant where she loves the appam and stew,” her mother said.
The family is looking forward to a reunion soon after the initial rush of the elections subsides.
“I did not get to speak to her for long on Wednesday; she had to give her victory speech. She sounded happy. I look forward to catching up with her soon,” she said.
When I heard the news of her win, I was over the moon. Maya Jayapal – Pramila Jayapal’s mother
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / Avinash Bhat / Bengaluru – November 10th, 2016
Writing and the practice of theatre is not merely an exercise of the mind, nor is it an act of self gratification. It is, for K.V. Akshara, living it out in real life, in all its pains and pleasures
If you have to describe, say a writer, you would perhaps speak of the key features of his writing. Maybe his style, his language and his chief creative concerns. But in the case of K.V. Akshara, this more or less general methodology, needs to be altered. A playwright, an essayist, translator, theatre director, teacher, and a diligent student of philosophy, who, with his unconventional, bold views, surprises even the masters. In modesty, Akshara calls himself a la Jack of all, “ellakku edataakuva edabidangi” as he dabbles in mythology, economics, science… with the seriousness, rigour and curiosity of an academic. It is impossible for an individual to become these multiple interests all at the same time, and it is true in Akshara’s case as well. What is different is that these several pursuits are never insulated from each other at any given time – so if one stream takes centre stage, the others fuel from the periphery. Let us illustrate this with his essay “Maatina Nona” from the collection, Sammukhadali Svagata. The essay begins on a note of remembrance – a joke made on the weariness of the word by the late critic D.R. Nagaraj. Using the “word or speech” as his starting point, Akshara unravels its hidden meanings from philosophical, scientific, literary and theatrical points of view. He evokes Shakespeare’s “Words, Words, Words” from the play Hamlet and climaxes it with the “bhrunga” of Bendre’s poem, Kalpana Vilasa. Akshara’s writing is not merely an indulgent collage of his varied interests, but it is inherently inter disciplinary through which he expands the very meaning of what he seeks.
Early on in his writing life, Akshara published an anthology of poetry, though prose writings and drama are his key interests. Apart from being a playwright, he teaches drama at the reputed Ninasam Theatre Institute which he heads. Theatre, for Akshara, is not a pastime, neither is it his profession. For him, it is a way of life. Even while he is addressing his other interests, it is through the language and mimetics of theatre that Akshara negotiates with the world and interacts with his fellow beings. In other words theatre is his modus operandi. His literary writings are also marked by his essential dialogic imagination. For instance, Akshara’s essay “Naanu” based on his theatre production of Gopalakrishna Adiga’s poetry (with Channakeshava, 1999), is starkly different from conventional literary criticism. His two major productions G.K. MaastararaPranayaPrasaga (Chandrashekhara Kambar) and Babugiri (Rabindranath Tagore) are based on fictional narratives. Akshara deals with his literary experience through theatrical tools, thereby opening up rich, new possibilities of these texts. In fact, summing up his approach is his collection of essays titled, “Rangabhoomiya Mukhaantara” (Via Theatre).
With his father K.V. Subbanna
Akshara, like his father K.V. Subbanna, has a remarkable sense of language: it is at once poetic, charming and quirky. Since both Akshara and Subbanna are translators, they have often come up with new coinages, which eventually have become part of the Kannada lexicon itself. If Subbanna coined words like “antahpatya” to mean subtext, Akshara has come up with brilliant words like Akarmaka, Sakarmaka as Kannada equivalents for French words ecrivain and ecrivaint. This keen and dynamic sense of language, renders Akshara as one of our finest translators. Shakespeare’s outstanding rhetoric acquires equally grand poetic dimensions in his Kannada translations. So much so that they refrain from being literal translations and embody Kannada itself. Speaking about the right approach to translate Shakespeare, Akshara says: “He has to be captured in meaning, the way we hold on to a song. To be able to get him into your language successfully, the contempt of Navya writers for rhetoric has to be abandoned. You must don the playfulness and love of language that the Navodaya writers had.” The rhythm of the text is so creatively exploited that one can read his translations and also watch them on stage without losing out on its poetry, politics or philosophy. Akshara interprets Shakespeare in the immediate context of our time and space without being over indulgent or didactic. Akshara’s love of the word, its inherent drama and also his reading, can be seen in his choice of titles itself: Merchant of Venice becomes Venissina Vyapaara, Winter’s Tale becomes Shishira Vasanta and so on. Apart from this, Akshara has also translated Chekov’s Cherry Orchard, Gogol’s The Inspector General of Police, Dario Fo’s Virtuous Burglar which are also memorable productions for theatre audiences.
Akshara, in all his five plays, deals with contemporary issues. The problems they negotiate are the real problems of contemporary India. If Sahyadri Kanda is about the ripples caused in the life of the people in a village on the Western Coast which will soon have a nuclear plant, Choorikatte Artharth Kalyanapura, deals with communalism. While the former addresses the notion of development, the latter raises questions on identity politics. His trilogy Swayamvaraloka, Bharatha Yatra and Sethubandhana dwell on the seeming binaries of village-city, success-failure, modern-traditional… but examines the nature of human relationships in the changing world. Even when Akshara deals with “real” problems of life and living, he never traps his plays in the realistic mode. His plays reflect an ambition to elevate the real experience to a mythical level. While most playwrights attempt to echo contemporary concerns by reinterpreting history and mythology, Akshara reverses the process: he transforms contemporary experience into myths. For Akshara, the epics, their grandeur, the struggle, the wars are not episodes that happen in kingdoms and palaces and battlefields, they are also that which takes place in the microworld of one’s consciousness. Each time you encounter the epics — either through reading them or reliving them in the mind, it is to live life all over again. The repeated talk of dharma in these classics is the constant search for an anchor in the seamless ocean of infinite possibilities of being in the world, feels Akshara. Each character in these epics find their own dharma, yet it offers no model for the reader, and remains only a pointer to the complex process of finding it.
In his play Sethubandhana, there is a ‘play within the play’ which is an interpretation of not just politics but also aesthetics. Akshara, through the character of Jois, seems to say that it is only through art experience that one can re-encounter life experiences.
This takes us to two things: one is Akshara’s engagement with Kavya literature where emotion takes precedence over the world itself. To put it in Akshara’s terms “bhaava is higher than bhava”. While Akshara constantly waters his imagination in the Kavya mode which stresses on the nurturing of the antahkarana (inner emphathy), he lives it in his everyday life working with students at Ninasam, doing theatre with farmers and fellow villagers at Heggodu, mentoring and guiding all who come by. Writing, theatre and the politics that he believes in, bears meaning only when it is practised in the life around him — as in kriyajnana (the knowledge of action), to which philosophy accords the highest place. Speaking on contemporary Indian theatre, Akshara, by way of validating these observations, says: “We have reached a point where we need to develop our capabilities to address politics in radically different ways. The trite political correctness of being with the oppressed, or the more intelligent way of problematising oneself – all these are becoming easy ‘conventions’, and we urgently need to develop deeper philosophical modes of questioning.”
A reader of Akshara’s writings is familiar with his deconstruction mode. He strips the layers of meaning, only to reconstruct it with fresh meanings. Whether it is a foreword, or an essay, or a play, writing for Akshara is not a commodity with which he wishes to woo his reader, it is an unsparing tool of self exploration.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Friday Review / by T.P.Ashok & Deepa Ganesh / Bengaluru – November 10th, 2016
The finals of the 200-metre Dragon Boat Championships, which was held for the first time in Bengaluru, on Sunday proved to be a fine spectacle for the residents of the city, especially for those in and around Ulsoor Lake.
The race was held in three categories — women’s, men’s and mixed — with participants from Kerala, Maharashtra as well as different parts of Karnataka, as well as from those from armed and naval forces.
The races were eagerly cheered on by curious, enthusiastic crowds.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India /News Home> City News> Bangalore News / by Mohammed Waseem / TNN / November 08th, 2016
Her love for animals compelled Krithika Ramesh, 33, who holds a masters degree in Zoology, to become a canine physiotherapist and hydrotherapist and has healed over 1,000 dogs. In a chat with City Express, she tell us about her love for animals and more.
When did you take to being a canine physiotherapist and hydrotherapist?
I started my career in March 2013. I thought I could connect to animals easily, which is what moivated me. Dr Pawan Kumar, a veterinarian at Cessna, gave me a platform to explore my skills.
Did you take any special training for this?
I studied canine physiotherapy at the College of Animal Physiotherapy in Aylesbury, United Kingdom.
How has your experience been so far?
It has been fantastic. I don’t realise when the day ends. I have to travel for two hours to reach the hospital, but I look forward to going there and meeting new canine friends everyday.
Any memorable moment you had at the hospital?
I met a five-month-old labrador named Luke. He had hip dysplasia. At the end of the session, he got too attached to me. In fact his parents recorded my voice and play it now. He comes running towards the phone looking for me.
Everyone calls him my boyfriend, and his mother Aparna, jokingly says that I am in her will and I shall inherit him.
Another case is of black labrador called Sirrius.
He was scared of water. His parents were worried, but after a few sessions with me, he got used to it and loves playing in water now.
How is hydrotherapy helpful to dogs?
Hydrotherapy is good form of exercise. It helps in rebuilding muscle strength. In case of paralysis, it stimulates the nerves.
How much time does a dog take to heal with hydrotherapy?
If it has hip dysplasia, it takes close to six months to heal. We conduct two sessions every week for four months and one session for next six months. Paralysis takes an year to heal completely without surgery.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Pratima Shantaveeresh / Express News Service / November 05th, 2016
