This morning I had to attend two functions, rather per force. More for the reason of politeness and courtesy to honour the invite than to benefit from the participation. The first one was at Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Ashram on Ooty Road where the first All India Bonsai convention and exhibition was being inaugurated.

Swamiji seems to have a mystical power to give a new experience, each time a function is held in the Ashram, to the participants as well as the audience. No wonder the programmes in the Ashram always attract a full house. At the end of most of these functions and celebrations a very tasty prasadam is given. No wonder once Swamiji jocularly said that he wondered whether people came to listen to the Pravachan or taste the prasadam!

Be that as it may, like all the functions held in the Ashram this one too was conducted not only with clock - work precision, importantly punctuality where the function began at 9 am as given in the programme, but also the proceedings were conducted in a way that reflected the tradition of the Ashram and the culture of this ancient land.

The Vedic chants and the universal prayer charged the vast expanse of the Nada Mantapam with spirituality, making even the haughty very humble. Maybe, that is the power and glory of, not religion, but spirituality. Though Swamiji inaugurated the convention by lighting the lamp, it was the pouring of water to a Bonsai plant “Ficus Bodhi India” by Daizo Iwasaki, probably the oldest Bonsai expert, which was very symbolic of the meaning and significance of the function.

The quality of the souvenir and the calendar that were released on the occasion is undoubtedly world class and something that will make any-body to love to possess and preserve them in their library.

Meera Dutta, Chief Post Master General, Karnataka Postal Circle, who is the devotee of Swamiji for many years, was probably responsible for bringing out the First Day postal cover to commemorate this All India Bonsai convention and exhibition. Therefore, it is quite understandable that she should release the First Day Cover.

As I left the Ashram in a hurry to catch up with another function about which I shall presently write, I was quite inclined to agree with the opinion of a speaker that the Swamiji "is a spiritual leader with a scientific outlook".

The other function was sponsored by the Mysore City Corporation at the JSS Women's College auditorium in Saraswathipuram. It was billed as a workshop on Government of India's Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission (JNNURM) and about the public participation in that project.
After succeeding in parking the car, I rushed in hoping to be there on time. After all, the Suttur Seer was there and he is known for his punctuality.

When I reached the hall, the invocation was being rendered by Arpana and her companions. I found a jam - packed hall where on one side were seated our honourable newly - elected but yet – to - take oath Corporators. Though their number is 65, there was no way I could check if all of them were there. On another side of the hall were seated the special invitees and journalists. On the stage were only distinguished VVIP guests who were all politicians except for the spiritual heads belonging to Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Sikh religions, apart from the officials from City Corporation and MUDA. Whether other spiritual heads belonging to Budhism and Jainism were also present, I do not know. With so many VVIPs on the stage I wondered if the Suttur Seer had the premonition that one day such a huge stage would be required to accommodate so many of our political, religious and other leaders.

As I was witnessing the proceedings, I knew the moving spirit behind this function was P. Manivannan, the most sought after officer of the Karnataka Government by the people. I am sure, poor Manivannan who discovered to his dismay that Mysore City was losing thousands of crores of rupees under the JNNURM project due to sheer ignorance, negligence and self-indulgence of both the officials and the people’s representatives went about setting up Ward Committees and Advisory Committees comprising experts from different walks of life.

Some of them are senior citizens, retired engineers and technocrats. This was to the exclusion of our elected representatives which naturally invited their ire. Manivannan was quick to feel the heat of this exclusion and was equally quick to rectify it by holding this function where only elected representatives were present and dominant.

According to me, the only person who was conspicuous by his absence was M. Lakshmana, Convenor of ACICM, who was the first person to voice the concern of the citizens of Mysore about the JNNURM project.

It was Lakshmana and Lakshmana alone who was instrumental in informing the people of our city about the JNNURM project that is offered to our city along with other 63 selected cities in the country. Not just that, he also brought to light the negligence on the part of MCC (read Commissioners) in making preparations to avail the funds under the project. When Lakshmana took up the cause, Mysore had already lost two precious years. Since it is a project under which the fund is given on first – come – first - served basis, as announced by the Union Minister for urban Development Jaipal Reddy, any further delay would have left our city without any funds at all. The Corporation did not even prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the various projects, mainly in the nature of infrastructure like Under Ground Drainage (UGD), Water, Road etc. Under Lakshmana and his team pressure was mounted on the authorities (he even met the Chief Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy in this regard) and a few DPRs were prepared. After Manivannan’s arrival these projects got a momentum and from what I saw at the function on the multi-media screen a total of 25 projects will be prepared under JNNURM. Of this, funds for four projects are already released and for another four projects approval is awaited.

The rest of the projects will have to be prepared and pursued at the highest level.

One curious part of the function was the administration of oath to those who were present saying: “The beautiful Mysore City has been selected by JNNURM under its Renewal Project. For the implementation of the project, the participation by the public is made compulsory. The steps to form citizens committees at the polling booth level has been taken up. I hereby take oath that I will strive for the successful implementation of this project offering my “mind, body (labour) and money”.”

Fortunately I left the hall much before this oath was administered. Seeking indulgence from my readers I would like to say that having seen our Ministers taking oath only to fool the people, I have lost faith in all those who take oaths. After all, taking oath is a sacred and spiritual act. Only those who have a pure conscience should take oath. Unfortunately, taking oath has become a joke, if not a ritual. And JNNURM project is no joke. What a charade!

K. B. Ganapathy
Editor in Chief
Star of Mysore
Mysore

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