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Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Common Wealth Games: Adjust & Pray
In his interviews, he does not give straight answers, instead gives convoluted excuse. He seems to believe that if you cannot convince, then confuse. What is amusing is his new habit of ending each of his answers with “it’s going to be the best games ever!” Some people may say “what a misplaced sense of over - confidence” and call this “delusional” behaviour and some like Sharad Yadav have simply called Kalmadi “thick skinned”. Read On

Destitutes’ Rehab Centre: Children of a Lesser God?
Walking through the corridors of the Destitutes’ Rehabilitation Centre in Jyothinagar, Mysore, one could see the overwhelming despair in the faces of the inmates, many of whom have been brought here without enquiry. They say they have families and wish to be released from the Centre, which has failed to be a home even to the homeless due to the impassivity of the officials concerned. The roofless rooms, windowless bathrooms, corridors overfilled with the “children of a lesser god” feature in this article. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Return of Dengue, the Dark Evil
I can say this because he happened to be my close personal friend who used to spend much time with me all through his last posting as we used to share our place of work in what was then called “Veerappan Territory”. Like me, he too had great love for books and he had a fabulous personal collection in his home library. He was a great “conversationist” with a phenomenal knowledge about many subjects especially weapon systems and aeronautics. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Good Horn, Good Brakes & Good Luck
As far as India’s traffic problem is concerned, one needs to have a sense of humour, patience and the biblical attitude “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change…” As much as we get irritated in traffic, we must not lose our mind. Its better we laugh at it. The comedy of Indian traffic and people’s behaviour on road may not be a laughing matter but it sure can be turned into a satisfying laughter therapy. As a TV host said, “In India you need Good Horn, Good Brake and Good Luck”. You also need a good sense of humour to survive it. Read On

T. J. S. George: Why greed is endless
Whether the man is punished or allowed to escape, the people of this country have formed a clear opinion that he plundered everything he came across in his days of power. Why would such a man insist so loudly on a big pay increase? It must have something to do with the attitude of mind politicians develop after several years of looting and grabbing with immunity. When you can do such things and still get elected as a patriot, then you develop special complexes. You feel that you are elected because people admire even the way you plunder. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: The Axe of Parashurama
This shift happens before the arrival of Ram and is marked by another of Vishnu's avatar, Parashurama, which literally translates as “the axe - bearing Ram”. He is also called Bhargava Ram or “Ram of the priestly Bhrigu clan”, distinguishing him from Raghava Ram or “Ram of the royal Raghu clan”. Parashuram's grandmother Sathyavathi was a princess, daughter of Gadhi. She was given in marriage to Richika, Parashuram's grandfather. It was common practice for Rajas to offer their daughters to Rishis, along with cows. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Padayatra or Publicity Jatra?
So is the Congress which is so disturbed by the “looting of State’s wealth” going on a padayatra to conduct a CBI probe on their own partymen also? Why are these leaders whose names are in the list of illegal mining even allowed to take part in the padayatra? If Congress was really sincere, then it should have suspended the Congress leaders who, according to Lokayukta, are involved in illegal mining and demanded that they too be investigated by the CBI. They could have always reinstated them back to their positions if the probe proved that they were innocent. Read On

T. J. S. George: US trapped by ISI; Advantage Taliban
By contrast, India gives America everything America wants — nuclear treaty clauses as stipulated by the American Congress, favoritism to companies like Union Carbide, virtual immunity clauses in the event of future industrial accidents, even a false declaration to ex - President Bush that the people of India loved him. What does India get in return? Repeated verbal declarations that Pakistan must do more to contain terrorism. Why doesn't America do more to contain Pakistan? Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: Love for Baldur
He was the gentlest of Viking gods in whose memory people kiss under the mistletoe. The Vikings believed in the large number of gods and these gods lived in the great city of Asgard, high in the heavens. The story goes that the most favoured of all gods was one Baldur while the most hated god was a slimy trickster called Loki. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Columbus, the Discoverer
In the meantime, he started his voyage in 1477 to Ireland and Iceland. Next year a merchant commissioned him to buy sugar and deliver it to another merchant. He did it satisfactorily. He developed friendship with a rich widow and married her in 1479. He started living with her happily in Madeira. They had a son by name Diego. It is said; Columbus had affairs with many women and had many illegitimate children. Normally this happens with navigators who live outside their homes for a long time. Then Columbus went on a voyage to Guinea. By these voyages Columbus learnt the technique of sea - going experience which became useful later. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Beggars too can be choosers
As I go about my daily grind, I stand at an unobtrusive distance and watch this daily drama which can be a free lesson in the art of living for any one who would otherwise only be too willing to pay and hire a spiritual guru or God - man for it. Whether the likes of me watch it or not, I feel certain that God above watches it unfailingly with its reward held in his hand. When most of us have reached a stage in our lives where we lead a ‘dog eat dog’ life without caring one bit about doing something for others, here is a beggar who chooses to go about doing his good turn day in and day out. Who says beggars can’t be choosers? Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: ACICM NGO or Lobbyist?
Having a District in - charge Minister from the same district is not enough to put that district on the path of progress. We need a Minister who has the ears of the Chief Minister, the trust of the bureaucracy and the goodwill of the Police force. If the Chief Minister does not take the words of the in - charge Minister seriously, he will not be well - disposed to do work in that district. If the bureaucracy is not happy with the Minister, then everything will move at a snail's pace. And finally, if the Police does not do an honest job, then the district will always remain chaotic. Read On

T. J. S. George: Conspiring against the People?
One excuse for not introducing this system countrywide is that it is expensive. Certainly the Railway Minister can find the money to introduce it at least in and around West Bengal so that the treacherous CPM's conspiracies can be defeated once and for all? Mamata Bannerji is like a train that has gone off the rails. It is running on rail less surface. There is danger ahead. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Divine ordained Joan of ARC
History has been a witness to many unlucky women who by their hardwork, sincerity of purpose and bravery served the society in different walks of life. Queen of Jhansi, Kittur Chennamma, Belavadi Mallamma of our own history may be cited as good examples. Perhaps, Joan of Arc who also belonged to this category suffered more than our own brave women. More poignant is her death at just 19 years at the hands of cruel people. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: Etana and Adapa
In Mesopotamia, now called Iraq, in the land between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, there bloomed one of the oldest civilisations of man. And the people there, who built great brick cities with tall towers for the gods, believed so long as man served the gods and offered them sacrifices life would be good; any sign of defiance and the angry gods would bring down storms and floods and pestilence. This world where man feared gods had many tales to tell. Read On

Shikaripura Harihareshwara passes away
He served the cause of Kannada during his 30 - year stay in the USA, being the Chief Editor of the bimonthly Amerikannada. He had rendered yeomen service in organising Kannada movement in that land, apart from authoring 17 literary works. The State Government had honoured him with Rajyotsava award in 1999. Harihareshwara's wife Nagalakshmi and daughters Nandini and Sumana are also writers, serving Kannada literary world. He and his wife had taken an initiative on bringing out a collection of essays and other writings in connection with the ensuing AKKA meet. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Putting an end to dirty linen
When we pay for a good room at a hotel or a resort, we naturally expect it to have a good laundry service that ensures safety of our health. That is why we feel so good when everything there feels, looks and smells clean and good. The broad paper ribbon across the toilet seat and the tiny labels at the corner of every towel which announce that everything has been sanitised just for us seem very reassuring. But do we pause to wonder whether what looks so spick and span is really so? Read On

T. J. S. George: From Cicero to Sushma (Via Bellary)
What motivates the BJP top brass when the Reddys are (a) not BJP - wallahs in any ideological sense and (b) an obvious liability to the party? The short answer to that one is: Sushma Swaraj. The Reddys publicly worship SS as their mother. Sushma Swaraj ignores their sins, ignores their unpopularity and gives them full support because perhaps she sees a day when brazen Reddy money can install a BJP government in Delhi as it did in Bangalore. No prices for guessing who will be the Prime Minister in such a government. Read On

Menaka Gandhi: Octopuses are more intelligent than Dogs
“Octopuses can learn, they can process complex information in their heads and they can behave in equally complex ways. Consciousness means they can combine their perceptions with their memories to have a coherent feel for what's happening to them at any moment. The star of the FIFA World Cup was the octopus Paul. How sad that one day later, all the disgusting food shows on TV had octopuses on their menu! Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Elephanta, a Karnataka Contribution
Any visitor to Bombay (now Mumbai) will not ignore visiting the famous Elephanta caves. Actually, Elephanta is a beautiful island with an area of 5 miles and about 10 kms from the Apollo port which can be reached through a streamer or a boat. Elephanta is a modern name given to it in the 17th century. In ancient times its original name was Sripuri, it was also called Gharapuri. The Mouryas ruled it in the early period. It was then a part of Konkana. When the great Karnataka emperor Pulakeshi II came to the throne, he defeated the Mouryas and this island including Maharashtra became a part of Karnataka. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Urban Bumpkin
It is also time that the Indian “Executive Class” is reminded that soft skill comprises more than merely wearing a tie and a crisp full - arm shirt. Yes indeed, the rural student has to struggle to make it in a pompous English speaking urban environment such as Bangalore. Mysore is much better. But what is worse is the non - encouraging attitude of their English speaking urban cousins which makes it even harder for them to survive, adapt and climb the corporate ladder. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Hegde’s emotional liability
Justice Hedge did not budge even when Home Minister P. Chidambaram requested him to withdraw his resignation. Instead, he replied, “No way am I going to withdraw my resignation. I am not that fickle - minded to resign over an issue and then withdraw and make it a tool for gaining publicity. The decision was taken after great deliberation with my family.” But just a few days later, our beloved Lokayukta has done a volte - face. Yes, indeed we appreciate, respect and welcome him back but does he have the same sentiment towards us? This question has risen in our minds due to the reason he gave for his withdrawal of resignation: “L. K. Advani is like a father to me”. Justice Hegde seems to worry more about the feelings of his “father” than the doubts he has cast in the minds and hearts of Kannadigas. Read On

T. J. S. George: When leaders fail, tragedy follows
Do the big leaders in Delhi have that quality? The Prime Minister visited Kashmir recently. That was another good opportunity to announce a policy shift or two that would have reassured ordinary citizens. The opportunity was missed. All that Delhi could think of was a march by the army and an exhortation from Home Minister Chidambaram to parents in Srinagar to keep their boys home. Read On

Menaka Gandhi: Sleep patterns of animals, it is not beauty sleep either!
It must be at least 30 years since I slept more than 5 hours a night. When I got married, we shared the bed with an Irish wolfhound the size of a small donkey. Since my husband died, there have been three dogs on the bed and while they change every few years, their habits of wanting to go out every few hours or of squeezing me into a corner or kicking while dreaming never does. Along the way, I have developed a very odd feature — I need to be lulled to sleep by a voice and so the TV drones on through the night. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Story behind Vivekananda Rock Memorial
Vivekananda rock memorial at Kanyakumari is a world famous monument and attracts thousands of visitors from different parts of India and abroad. Apart from the greatness of the monument, it stands out prominently in the vast and unlimited expanse of the blue waters of the oceans. Without our knowledge we thank the persons and organisations which were responsible for this great memorial. But most of the people do not know or even cannot imagine the trouble, frustration and disappointment experienced by the persons behind the memorial. Like a Trivikrama and Nakshatrika, Ekanatha Ranade stood by this memorial and ultimately became successful. This story is not only poignant but also brings to light the meanness of the politicians of the contemporary times. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Ending a controversy & an eyesore
I vaguely remember a poem in my old high school grammar book written by Wren and Martin which says; "Whether a hero perish or a sparrow fall, He sees with equal eye, as God of all." So, big or small, a martyr is a martyr, irrespective of whether he or she is a high ranking officer or an ordinary constable. This is the reason why it could be construed as unfair if not improper to build a martyrs’ memorial with the likeness of just one officer. As it is impossible to install busts of all those who died in service, it would have been fine to call the place a Police Martyrs’ Memorial to honour all the dead without any suggestion of importance to any particular person. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: What Darshan means
Darshan is a very simple ritual; one does not have to say any prayer, make any offering, perform any ritual; one is expected to just look at the image of god, and that act of looking is enough to bring about spiritual and / or material upliftment as the case may be. The word darshan literally means outlook, viewpoint. Technically, it means “philosophy”. Thus by looking at the world, one forms an opinion about the world. By looking at a person, one forms an opinion about the person. Better the observation, better the understanding. Read On

T. J. S. George: ... And Football Produces Gods
Not all the misplaced genius of the Lalit Modis and the Sharad Pawars of our land can generate the drama and passion football inspires. India is a net loser in becoming a cricket - only country. On the one hand, it destroys the spirit of cricket itself by turning it into a crass money machine. On the other, it leads to the neglect of glorious games like hockey and football. Cricket covers but a few countries; football is universal. Cricket is colonial; football is democratic. Cricket, especially today's commercialised format, is an artificial creation; football is utterly natural. Cricket needs cheer leaders; football doesn't. Cricket corrupts; football enlivens. Cricket produces heroes; football makes gods — like Pele, Maradona, Zidane, Kaka, Messi, Drogba. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Sri Venka Avadhoota
About a month back, TV 9 beamed an interesting story regarding a holy man by name Venkusa, referred to as Venkavadhoota Swamy. The greatness of this person is that he was the guru or the teacher of the internationally famous saint Shirdi Saibaba, who was an epitome of social and religious amity. As this appeared interesting, we (myself, my wife, Mrs. and Mr. Ramanuja) undertook a trip to the place where Venkavadhoota lived and died more than a century ago. The place is a small village called Husainpura in Pavagada taluk of Tumkur district. Its original name was Chaudesvaripura. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: The springtime of my childhood
With most of the flowering trees in and around at their best display, Mysore is awash with colour. All those who have the Seeing Eye cannot fail to see how the summer rains have decked the trees around us with the flowers that they were designed and destined to display year after year. Long ago while we were at school, we used to be taught that there are four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. This teaching was certainly lingering British legacy although by the time I reached school the British had left our shores and reached theirs long ago. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: Lakshmi’s Owl
Owls are solitary creatures, who sleep all day and prowl at night. Because of their nocturnal activity and screeching call, they have been associated with bad luck and death, leading to the conclusion that she is Alakshmi, Lakshmi's elder twin, the goddess of strife and misfortune. But because of its round eyes that never move and stare straight ahead, the owl has been associated with wisdom in many parts of the world, especially ancient Greece, where it was closely associated with Athena, goddess of wisdom. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: Escape from PUT
For several days and nights, Rishi Jaratkaru was tormented by visions of old men hanging precariously upside down from a ledge extending across a dark bottomless pit. "Save us, save us," they cried. "Who are you?" asked the sage. The old men replied, "We are Pitrs, your ancestors. Save us. Save yourself." "How?" asked Jaratkaru. "Here is how," said the ancestors, "get a wife and beget children. If you don't, we will forever be trapped in Pitrloka (the land of ancestors) hanging upside down, and you will be trapped forever in the hell known as Put." Read On

T. J. S. George: God’s chosen rogues
Israel's greatest exceptionality is the immunity it commands in the world. It can do pretty much what it likes — and get away with it. Other countries get damned by "the international community" for all kinds of assorted sins: India is attacked for not signing the nuclear proliferation treaty; Iran is threatened for following a nuclear policy; Iraq was blown up for possessing nuclear arms it never possessed; China and Russia are criticised for persecuting their dissidents; Serbs and African leaders are tried for war crimes. Read On

Menaka Gandhi: Transforming a Free Chicken into a Headless Glob of Meat
The next scenario is as macabre as anything thought up by a twisted mind. Ordinary looking men and women in lab coats are creating a humongous glob of meat with no head, no heart, no liver and no intestines but alive. Think of all those horror movies coming alive! Once upon a time this blob used to be called a chicken. And once upon a time, it was free and happy as a chicken could be till man decided he would play god to feed his appetite. Now do you still want that chicken burger? Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Enchanting Cleopatra
Thus ended the life of a charming woman who could lure kings to achieve her objective of becoming a Roman Queen. As per their wish, she was buried by the side of the grave of Antony. Cleopatra is dead. But her memory is kept alive by many literary works dealing with her charm, conspiracy and ambition. Even Shakespeare could not ignore her and hence, wrote a drama about her. That is the attraction of Cleopatra who lived 2000 years ago. Read On

MLS: Kathiawari Horses
God must have been a poet, so they say! According to a middle - eastern legend, God created a particular four - legged creature from winds blowing from four different directions: the mammal was given the spirit of the north wind, strength of the south wind, speed of the east wind and intelligence of the west wind. To cut a long story short, we mortals prefer calling this animal as the “horse”! Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Lokayukta Big Bark, No Bite
In the video of the raid, a copy of which was sent to our office, Ramachandra has an absolute look of arrogance when his hands are held up by the Lokayukta officer. Not just that, he also kept a menacing stare pointedly on the young legal counsel who had set up the trap as if to say “I will come back for you”. The disturbing fact is that he just might be right, considering that Lokayukta till date has never ever taken a case to its logical end. The Lokayukta only fixes the symptom but never the problem. How can it, when it has no real teeth? Thus the Lokayukta has a big bark but absolutely no bite. It remains a mere pussy cat in the garb of a menacing tiger. Read On

T. J. S. George: Karnataka: Will Congress Survive?
Today the Congress has a State leadership which has virtually zero credibility. Election after election, this has been proved, but neither they nor their High Command learn any lesson. The aforesaid Shiva Kumar called a press conference to say he failed. He failed more than once, and he will fail again because his image is against him. So why doesn't he do a favour to his party by calling it a day? The other President, Deshpande, can also likewise oblige his party, having done nothing so far to earn people's trust. The Congress cannot even begin to make a comeback unless it finds the courage to think out of the box and restructure itself. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Timur: Over – ambitious conqueror
History has been a witness to the cruelty inflicted on innocent men and women though they had nothing to do with wicked persons, except that they had the bad luck of being the contemporaries of these notorious persons. Historians, unhesitatingly and with justification, have included Timur (1336 - 1405 AD) in the list. Historians are happy that the achievements of Timur have been described by himself in his autobiography titled Malfuzat – I - Timur. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Doctors and the Lay Press
But of late I find that much publicity is being given even to the routine successes that should be the natural outcome of the very expensive treatment that is offered by most super specialty hospitals. The sadder part of this trend is that very often many of the patients whose recovery is spoken of highly in the press will actually either be convalescing in a less expensive hospital close by or will be struggling to come to terms with their disabilities, both medical and financial. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: Swan Lake
In Hindu mythology, a swan is called Hamsa. The word Hamsa is believed to have its origin in two other words, hum and so. Hum indicates expiration or exhalation of breath while so indicates inspiration or inhalation of breath. Thus the word, Hamso which eventually becomes Hamsa, is the embodiment of breath which gives us life. Hamsa, the bird, is the physical manifestation of that thought; it symbolizes pran or the life - force whose movement into and out of the body generates life. But is Hamsa a swan or a goose? Scholars are divided. Read On

T. J. S. George: Caligula Cripples Cricket
What indeed was going on among these colleagues, especially the BCCI and the so - called Governing Council consisting of some of cricket's most celebrated stars? The first and foremost crime of these bodies was their secrecy. Playing with public money and public emotions, there should have been a system that enforced at least a modicum of transparency on them. But their only system was mounavrit. Was this because they were scared of Caligula, or was it because Caligula was generous with his loot? Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Dhanvantri, the Divine Doctor
According to our tradition, he was a divine doctor and the inaugurator of Ayurveda. He is not mentioned in the Vedas. The first reference to him is found in Kaushika Sutra (8th century BC). His origin is traced to the famous episode of churning the ocean of milk. It is said that Lakshmi came first followed by Dhanvantri draped in pure white with a pot containing amrita or the divine elixir which made gods immortal. Bhagavata purana considers him as the twelfth incarnation of Vishnu. He is considered as a specialist in treating the poison from snake bite. As he also good at treating other diseases also, Gods requested him to be their physician. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: An overdose of Sleaze and Slush
Looking at the scandals and skeletons that seem to be tumbling out of the most hallowed cupboards with sickening regularity across the length and breadth of our country, most of us can only agree that something is going radically wrong these days with our leaders, both political and spiritual. They seem to be no longer bothered about what image they have in society or what example they set to others by their actions, most of which seem to be wrong. It is indeed unfortunate that many of our government officials, political leaders, Ministers, Governors and even God - men think that they should make hay and also have a good time before thinking of doing their duties as expected of them. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Reflection of our ungratefulness
What is disappointing is that we tend to forget our people in uniform very easily. We never hesitate to curse them saying they are corrupt and ruthless but when the good ones die serving us, we keep their bust wrapped up in dirty rags for years. Why did not the citizen groups take up this inexcusable show of disrespect towards our officers? If this is the respect we show to our men in khaki, then we seriously doubt if any more officers will come forward to do their duty sincerely. Read On

T. J. S. George: Why won’t we learn from New York
Circumstantial evidence gives some credence to the sensational theories former Maharashtra Inspector General of Police S. M. Mushrif spelt out in his book Who Killed Karkare? His answer is that the Pakistani terrorists carried out only the Taj – Oberoi - Trident attacks. The train terminus - Cama hospital attack was organised by India's own sleuths in order to eliminate Hemant Karkare, the anti - terrorism squad chief who had unearthed uncomfortable facts about "Hindu terrorism." Mushrif betrays an Islamic bias and thereby weakens his case. But the many questions he has raised call for answers. And no answers have come. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Prestigious Club? No, Fight Club!
These days when a member of a social club says he is going to the club, his family members are worried! They are confused whether he means he is going to the club — the place where people relax and enjoy each other’s company — or if he is going to, literally, “club” another member down. In fact, these days when a youngster says he’s going clubbing, the mother is OK; but when her husband says he’s going to the club, she and the kids nervously ask why, with whom and at what time he will return. The reason? Of late, reputed clubs in Mysore have become brawling grounds instead of being a place where people exchange ideas, indulge in sport activities and relax. They have become centers for petty politics and cheap liquor. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Nur Jahan: Beauty & Power
History has been a witness to many queens and empresses all over the world for almost over two thousand years from now. The list is long enough to include Cleopatra, Gupta Queen Kumaradevi, Hoysala Shantaladevi, Chandbibi, Queen of Jhansi Kittur, Channamma, Belavadi Mallamma, Queen Victoria etc., each one was famous for a particular aspect. Cleopatra had a unique personality of attracting men; Kumaradevi was a benevolent queen, Shantaladevi was famous as a dancer, Chandbibi was just a ruler, Queen of Jhansi, Kittur Channamma and Mallamma were heroic queens. But none of them is famous for the beauty coupled with unmatched political power as Mughal Queen Nur Jahan was. Read On

T. J. S. George: Rascal or Rogue? The Choice is yours
Shibu Soren is a star of Jharkhand. He became people's "Guruji" when he fought the moneylenders who were terrorising the adivasis. But, with the first whiff of political power, he turned into one of the most cynical leaders of our time, accused in at least two murder cases and several graft cases including the notorious JMM bribery case for which he was jailed. He had to resign his Union Cabinet position as well because of criminal cases. Our politics allow such a man to manoeuvre for his son to become Chief Minister while he himself moves on to a Cabinet post in Delhi. Read On

A Letter from a Golfer and a Member of MRC
This was the letter late C. Srikantan, owner of Lakshmi Talkies, who was a member of Mysore Race Club (MRC) and also a golfer, wrote to MRC members and all golf players in 1989 after noticing the overbearing conduct of Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Golf Club (JWGC) formed in the year 1985. In retrospect, we can say, Srikantan has indeed been vindicated in his perception and opinion in the matter of the MoU with the JWGC. He could see the danger within four years of MRC signing the ominous MoU with the JWGC. In this letter, it may be noted that nowhere Srikantan has mentioned the name of JWGC but an inference can easily be made by a careful reader. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: MCI should heal itself first
My charge that the MCI was most well - known not for its contribution to upholding medical ethics but for its own corrupt practices was proved right when its chief Dr. Ketan Desai was arrested last week for taking a bribe of two crore rupees to grant permission for a private medical college to be started in Rajasthan. This is actually a very paltry sum which will certainly seem like peanuts when you consider the fact that he was not only caught and prosecuted but also convicted for corruption of a much higher scale a few years earlier. But since big money can always get you out of big trouble, he never had to pay up for his misdeeds. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: Secrets of the Parrot
In another story, the wife discovers her husband hiding under her bed while she is with her lover and has to think fast how to save herself from the situation. She then shouts loudly at her lover, winking as she does, "The only reason I am doing this terrible thing with you is because an astrologer said that unless I do this, my husband will die in a week's time of a snake - bite. I don't mind going to hell for being an unchaste wife so long as my husband is safe from that cruel snake." Read On

T. J. S. George: Media is amoral, but it works
Arrogance of this kind has marked many high - society crimes in recent years. This murderer was arrogant because of his money and his pedigree as a former Minister's son. Spoiled rich kids ran their limousines over pavement sleepers in Delhi and Mumbai because of their social arrogance. Police officer Rathod in Haryana raped an underage girl because of his power arrogance. Sons of politicians, police officers and IAS babus across the country have been caught indulging in activities civil society should be ashamed of. They also use their influence to make an ass of the law. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: IPL mess a moment for reflection
There was indeed a serious lapse of judgment on the part of the Minister Tharoor. Like Bill Clinton, during the Monica Lewinsky days, who looked straight into the camera and told all Americans “I did not have sex with that woman” because he did not indulge in a conventional sexual act commonly perceived, Tharoor said he has done nothing wrong for he has no stake in the filth cake that is now IPL. But the fact is a “close personal friend,” a lady he has been spotted with often, a lady he is said to be dating for a while and planning to marry, was given Rs. 70 crore free! It's just wrong. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Krishnaraja Wadiyar III and Dewan Poornaiah
"Is it a crime to understand the administration? I have no work to do. Sitting idle in the palace is shameful. It is not befitting for a king. Let the Dewan run the administration for hundred years; let him sign the documents with his seal. But I have every right to know how the administration is going on, its revenue and other details. These details should be made known to me. Resident Cole brought this letter to the notice by Poornaiah and he laughed and said that this is due to the misdirected energy of the youth, coupled with wrong advice: Some wicked people are behind this boy and he is dancing to their tunes." However, Cole did not accept this explanation. But Poornaiah was stubborn. He told "I have obtained this position by contract and not by the grace of anybody. After me, my son or relative will become the Dewan." Cole told Poornaiah not to entertain such foolish ideas. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: Many meanings of Yarn
In another event, Krishna himself removes the clothes of women. He hides these clothes while the milkmaids are bathing. The mood here is different. There is no lust but mischief. There is prank, there is love, there is affection. Here, the clothes represent not law but the mask we wear to survive in this world — the mask of pretence and politeness that enables to engage with people. When Krishna removes the clothes, he is asking the maids he is informing them playfully that what he seeks is not their public face, but their true, honest, private face. Wrinkled, fat, bent or ugly, he loves each one of them for who they are and not for how they decorate and present themselves. Read On

T. J. S. George: Batman faces Svengali in Money Game
Indians have the rare genius to turn everything into an item of trade. Who else has turned God into such profitable commerce? We discovered early that this line of business required the least investment. And the returns are huge. All it takes is the right kind of uniform — saffron robes or bishop's cassocks or a neutral white that looks now like a saree, now like a winter shawl — and some kind of marketing mantra. Then you get enough believers around the world to keep you in eternal wealth, not to mention attractive fringe benefits provided by young devotees. Read On

K. Rathna: Learn to Laugh, Laugh to Live
Ha, Ha, Ha… Ho, Ho, Ho… Hee, Hee, Hee… Are you wondering what this lot of homosapiens are upto? A common enough sight that we come across in our city parks daily, either early morning or late evenings. A hectic life - style or loneliness may make us forget to laugh. We laugh when we find that everything looks rosy and bright … smiles everywhere, for laughter is contagious. Who really knows? May be it releases some chemicals in the brain. Perhaps that is why, people having discovered this secret, are gathering everywhere for laughter therapy classes. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Before the Rains arrive
The one thing that I have noticed in connection with all our tree planting drives is that while the whole exercise always starts with much fanfare and enthusiasm, the trees that are planted at great expense, are never looked after even for the first few years they need to be watered and protected till they can sustain themselves without human help. We can see a classical example of this kind of neglect in the hundreds of saplings that were planted all over the vast grounds of our Government House two years ago under the “Vanamahotsava” scheme in the presence of many politicians and public functionaries. Read On

Jai Ho! What does Jai Ho! mean? Certainly not what is conventionally assumed
Jai means victory. Vijay also means victory. Why two words? Do they mean the same thing? Jai Ho means “may you be victorious”. But the phrase is never interchanged with Vijayibhava, which also means “may you be victorious”. Jai Ho is used almost as a greeting in many parts of India or as an exclamation. But Vijayibhava is used very specifically when one is setting out for a conflict, confrontation, duel or competition. What exactly is the difference? Like in all things Indian, no clear answers are given anywhere; meanings have to be derived. A clue perhaps rests in the Mahabharata whose original title was Jai. Read On

Dalit Question and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
When Dr. Ambedkar’s turn came to speak he remembered B. G. Kher's remark and corrected it saying, "I would say I am an Indian first and Indian last." Indeed. It is not surprising, therefore, today he is not only adored like a demi - God to the point of being worshipped, but his writings and thoughts are also being studied and analysed in the context of nation - building in all its dimensions — political, social, educational and economical. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: One Summer Holiday, Too Many Summer Camps
This whole summer camp fad is a recent phenomenon that has grown for three reasons. First, today's parents want to give their child a taste for everything. There is a new term for this — hyper-parenting — where a parent thinks by controlling all the child’s activities the child’s success will be guaranteed. They are in an over - enrichment mode for their kids. They don't want to miss out on an opportunity that their ward might actually become a Pankaj Advani, a Sachin Tendulkar, an A. R. Rehman, an Aamir Khan, a Sania Mirza……oh! that… no, not anymore. The fact is parents are desperate to test their child's aptitude for too many activities. And they want to know it in 2 months so that they can develop the child's skill. Great, Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: The Story of Oedipus
One of the most popular stories in ancient Greek mythology is the story concerning a king by name Oedipus. He was a king of Thebes, a kingdom in ancient Greece. His father was king Layas; his mother was Iocoste. They were living happily, and a son was born to them. At that time a supernatural voice announced that king Layas would be killed by his own son. The king became sad and consulted his Ministers and they advised the king to kill his son. The king accepted their advice and injured the boy severely in the leg by sharp nails and abandoned him in the forest to die. Read On

T. J. S. George: Much ado about nothing
The level of these televised recriminations is pretty low. A Congress spokesman said, with patriotic emotion, that Mr. B must make his position clear about the Gujarat riots. A BJP spokesman, with louder patriotic emotion, asked who were "these guys" to talk like that after massacring Sikhs for several days. The logic is: You massacred Sikhs, so it’s okay for us to massacre Muslims. To which the people will say: A plague upon both your houses. Such puerile debates divert attention from the business acumen of the main protagonist, Mr. B. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: Created in delight
Folk tradition has it that Krishna's great grandson Vajranabhi commissioned three artisans to make images of his illustrious ancestor based on the descriptions given by Abhimanyu's wife, Uttara. Abhimanyu was the son of Arjuna, the Pandava, born of Krishna's sister, Subhadra. But none of the images could capture Krishna's beauty in totality. In one, the face was identical, in another it was the upper body, while in the third it was the lower body. Vajranabhi built temples for each image in Vraj. Temples were also built to mark spots associated with Krishna's feats. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Hussain’s Travails
Hussain may be a very great painter by the standards of the society he moves in and I move away to make way for but I fail to understand why, to retain his greatness; he has to paint something that hurts someone’s sentiments. It does not matter one bit whether he means to hurt them or not. What matters is that in a civilized society everyone is entitled to a little bit of respect from everyone else for what he or she holds sacred, even if it means nothing or makes no sense to the offender. Islam clearly underlines this and it is only to highlight this that I am writing about this issue here. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Hussain is no more an Indian
This being the case, where was the need for Hussain to draw a woman sitting between Lord Hanuman’s tail and name the painting “Sita”? Where was the need for him to draw a woman in “sexual union” with a lion and name it “Durga”? Where was the need to draw Goddess Lakshmi sitting in nude on Lord Ganesha’s head? Even if it is said that Hussain did not give the captions, it is obvious that they are paintings of Hindu Goddess and Gods. Some secularists argue that most of the Hindu temples have nude sculptures, so he just painted what was already there. Yes, they do. But the sculptures are not of goddesses or gods. Now we ask, if this is his inspired work, how come he is inspired only to draw Hindu goddesses in the nude? Why did he not try something like this with his own religion? Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Pledging the Sons
We are all familiar with pledging a property or any other thing for taking a loan or getting some advantage. Pledging takes place in ample measure in clubs, race courses or wherever gambling takes place. Mahabharata has a solitary example of a woman (Draupadi) being pledged by Dharmaraya to Duryodhana in the game of dice. He loses her also. Thus there are not many examples of this nature in our tradition. Pledging sons is unheard of in our tradition and not even in our mythology. Sons and daughters are everything to a father or mother and hence pledging them was considered a heinous crime. Read On

T. J. S. George: India is losing out. Beware!
It is clear that America now sees India as a country that can be taken for granted. In all honesty, America cannot be faulted for this conclusion. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lost half the game when he turned the civil nuclear treaty into a personal prestige issue, even risking the survival of his Government. The other half of the game is being lost by his eagerness to get Parliament approval for the nuclear liability bill that virtually absolves US companies of financial responsibility in the event of an accident. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: Horse – Headed Beings
Hayagriva means one with a head of a horse. It is said that such a creature once stole the Vedas and hid under the sea forcing Vishnu to take the form of fish, seek him out and destroy him. In another story it is said Vishnu was unable to defeat this horse - headed demon because the latter had a boon that he could be killed only by another horse - headed creature. Tired after many battles, Vishnu went to Vaikunta, his abode, and there he rested, wondering of a method of killing the demon, placing his chin on one end of his bow. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Live – in & Lovin’
Unfortunately, the modern media has discovered that bare - midriffs and cleavages are an easy way of filling space and time, in turn influencing the attitudes of young Indians and even the old towards sexuality. It seems the urban Indian suddenly has become sexually active, or should we say hyper - active, considering that many IT companies have reported plumbing problems as condoms have clogged their pipelines. Suddenly youngsters don't find it too hard to say “I'm going on a date.” There is no hesitation to show off one's girlfriend or boyfriend and introduce them as such. The same goes for adult companionship. Middle aged men and women seem to act just as “cool” as their teen counterparts. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Gandhiji in Belgaum Congress Session
Thus except for a short period of less than 100 years when it was under the Marathas, remaining 1,900 years it was under the direct control of Karnataka Kings. This fact cannot be ignored or erased out of the minds of Kannadigas. With the idea of pleasing the people of Belgaum, the government of Karnataka has been spending crores of rupees for the development activities there. This is politics. Thus Belgaum is in news. But Belagum made news in 1924 for a worthy and laudable reason and that is Gandhiji presided over the Congress session held at Belgaum. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Disgraceful Government Doublespeak
“The government has failed to provide electricity with just one - hour power cut to help our students. Why not the government provides free inverters and baby - generators just like free distribution of cycles to students? Although it is not very surprising, considering that it has become an almost indispensable attribute of most governments, our State government too seems to be having a forked tongue. Otherwise how do you explain why it always seems to say one thing while doing just the other the very next moment? Read On

T. J. S. George: Lessons from UP’s Louis XIV
But she won't change because she won’t understand her critics. She is absolutely convinced that she is doing the right thing for the empowerment of Dalits. For the same reason, she sees everything proper in her followers giving her gifts including cash. The system itself was not invented by her. Many parties have taken this road. Even communist leaders received garlands of 2 - and 5 - rupee notes in the old days, though it has now grown to big bucket collections. Karunanidhi once travelled by foot from Rameshwaram to Madurai in an emotion - packed political show and there were cash collections all along the route. Chandrasekhar's famous padayatra also featured collections. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: A Humble Journey
Then I saw the person and immediately recognised his face but could not recall his name. I knew he is a singer with a very different voice, I also knew from my friends in Chennai that he was a fantastic poet and that I had seen him a million times in the famous national integration initiative song “Mile sur mera tumara” music video. No, it was not Bhimsen Joshi, it was not Hari Prasad Chourasia. And then it came to me: the person sitting ahead of me was the revered Karnatak vocalist, Dr. M. Balamurali Krishna. I walked up to him and introduced myself, had a little chit chat and excused myself as I didn't want to be too intrusive. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Double trouble for Doctors
For every medical college and post - graduate institute with adequate infrastructure there are at least a dozen others in our country which do not have even the vestiges of what they need to be called centers of learning the art and science of healing. Most of them do not have full - time teachers to impart even the rudiments of the knowledge a doctor or dentist needs to practice safely. Most members of their teaching faculties are actually well paid “migrant birds” who are airlifted from one corner of the country to the other, sometimes in the very same aircrafts along with the MCI inspectors, to be physically present at different colleges at the time of inspection! Read On

T. J. S. George: Women and Yaduvamsha Reality
If and when 33 percent seats in legislatures are reserved for women, around 30 percent of that will likely go to wives, daughters, nieces and girlfriends of male politicians. Lalu Prasad himself put his unlettered wife in the Chief Minister’s chair while Mulayam Singh could only find his daughter – in - law to contest a Lok Sabha seat. The Kanimozhis and Supriya Sules will multiply when reservations become law. And what will happen when they sit as law - makers? Will it mean an end to the killing of newborn girls in the villages of Tamil Nadu and Haryana? Will it stop crimes against women which increased by 30 - 40 percent in recent years as against 16 percent increase in general crime? Will it bring down dowry killings which doubled in the last decade? Will it make a difference to one - third of married women in India being children below 18? Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: If there is will, No need for a Bill
Now if 33.3 per cent reservation for women is added to the already existing 22.5 per cent for Scheduled Castes and Tribes, more than 55 per cent of seats in Parliament would be reserved. So what is left is 45% for others. The members who come under reserved constituency can also contest in the non - reserved category. Is this fair? In a country of over a billion, 55% of the House of Representatives are from reserved constituency. Will they be fair to the non - reserved 45% who constitute 500 million Indians? Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Is this how dispensable our youngsters are?
The gut - wrenching scene that you see in the picture is the scene that greeted me as I left my home for work on Tuesday morning. Tuesdays, as most people who know me, would know are the days when I drive out of town to attend to my outdoor clinic at Kollegal. It is a drive which, though I have dreaded for long, I now look forward to because the road I have to take is now almost in the final stages of the repair it had been begging for over the past 25 years. Read On

Prof. A. S. Dasan: Seek integral Spirituality, Be like a swan
The immediate provocation for writing this is the alleged scandal surrounding Swami Nithyananda. In the light of the unveilings, many questions can be asked. One of them may be: How can one cope with the situation if one were to be a believer in God or a follower of Godmen or God - women? I am of the view that my relationship with God and the people around me is independent of those who have impacted my life. Irrespective of the scandal with which a person, who has impacted my life, is associated, I still hold on to the view that the insightful wisdom I have derived from the messages and the writings of the person has certain transcendental connotations independent of the particularities of the person or a particular predicament arising out of his or her past or present culpability. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Kalajnana is not astrology
In recent years the word Kalajnana has been made popular by the print and electronic media. The highly respected an admired Swamiji of the famous Kodi Mutt is always in the news for his accurate predictions, particularly with regard to politicians and some significant events. These predictions are supposed to have been based upon Kalajnana works. Kalajnana is not astrology. It is an occult knowledge obtained through intuition. This is obtained not by reading Vedas or religious literature, but by the divine revelation to such persons who have attained that power through a form of Yoga. Patanjali, the great Yoga saint of ancient India, attributes this to supernatural powers. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Lighting up as a special gesture
About 25 years ago, when I was doing my post - graduation at the Mysore Medical College, I was in charge of the hospitality arrangements for a group of three examiners from outside the State who were here to conduct the final year MBBS examinations. It was a Saturday and the last day of the examination and all of them were very keen on visiting the Brindavan Gardens that evening after finishing their work. But I sensed well in time that despite doing their best, they seemed all set to miss the deadline of the illumination timings which would make their visit to the place meaningless. So I hit upon a plan to save their day. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Godman? No, Just Human
Nithyananda certainly seems to have made some people’s lives better. He smiled his “toothpaste smile” all the time. But to be happy he needed more than just “pada pujas” and money, it seems he also needed “intimate healing sessions”. Now the question is, did Nithyananda do something wrong by having sex? Legally, No. Two consenting adults had sex, it’s a non - issue. But the problem is that he said he was a swami and a brahmachari. Accordingly, he was treated like god by his devotees who now feel he defrauded them. To be sure, there are also other criminal charges of destroying evidence and the possession of illegal materials. But why is everyone so surprised? Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: Greek Tragedy
As the years pass, the drama remains the same but those watching the drama are growing up or growing old. They discover different layers of meaning in the same play, in the same character, in the same dialogue. With that consistent and repetitive interaction with theatre more light is thrown on the meaning of life. The goat’s song thus joins us in our struggle to make sense of existence. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Only Bovine is not Divine
Cow lovers need to wake up and get their priorities straight, and that priority should be to make the life of all animals as painless as possible. Where are the cow lovers when cow owners leave their cows on the roads to eat plastic bags next to dustbins? Where are these bovine fanatics when overloaded bullock carts are dragged by suffocating bullocks behind smoke-spewing tempos? Where are these saviours of holy cow when cows are overloaded into a lorry to be transported hundreds of miles without water? Guess they are too busy saving a cow from being slaughtered. I would rather be dead than be tortured and I’m sure the cows feel the same. Read On

T. J. S. George: Whose security is Pawar working for?
His friends say that Sharad Pawar is more knowledgeable about agriculture management than any other political leader. May be. What the public knows is that he pays less attention to his portfolio than any other Minister. The little attention he pays leads to dubious results. Farmer suicides have become a feature of life in India, with Vidarbha in his own State at the heart of the tragedy. But the minister never seemed worried about it. Food prices went up so badly for so long, that his own government colleagues openly pointed a finger at him. He replied casually that the Cabinet as a whole was responsible and went off to play games at Bal Thackeray's house. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Real Life and Reel Life Medicine
But I have my reasons for being backward by choice. To tell you the truth, long before it became available, I too had yearned for news on television and had even succumbed to the temptation of watching it when it first came to our country. But in just a few years when with the advent of cable TV and with the need to hold on to the attention of the viewers round – the - clock, when news channels began succumbing to sensationalism, television completely lost my attention. Even if I happen to watch a few discussions on the small screen occasionally, serials are an absolute no no for me. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Mirza Galib, Distinguished Urdu Poet
One distinguished Persian poet explained the concept of creativity and this exposition was admired by one and all. But young Mirza pointed out certain flaws in that exposition and explained it in his own way. The emperor was greatly pleased by this young poet and requested him to write the history of Moghuls from the time of its originator Timur, on a monthly remuneration of Rs. 50. Further he appointed him as his chief court poet. Other scholars became jealous of Mirza. Read On

The Voyage of Watery Melon
In our younger days, summers were fun; not just because of two months of sweaty and muddy playing, but also because of the cool delicacies we would get on the pretext of heat. And the cold, juicy watermelons were among the most desired fruits enjoyed by all. Then, eating watermelon was all about its crispy taste and large red messy flesh, spitting out its numerous black seeds. Now, we seem more interested in the numerous health benefits of the fruit which is packed with antioxidants like lycopene which prevents prostate cancer, Vitamin C, B & A etc. thus having a special cooling effect on the body, protecting us against macular degeneration and being a natural viagra. Read On

T. J. S. George: Why Pakistan gains, And India doesn’t
The terrorist wins when he does not lose. Security forces lose when they do not win. This universal law gives small bands of insurgents an edge over large Government formations. In a country as vast and diverse as India, it is impossible to keep track of every man with a backpack in Aurangabad and Puri, Anantapur and Mandya. Rather often, our security men seize caches of explosives or detain people with strange interests, like recording, from the privacy of their hotel rooms, airline pilots' conversations with the control tower. Each such capture is another terror strike averted. Yet some slip through the net and we pay a bloody prize. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Coronation of Krishnadevaraya: A Controversy
Once a teacher of history was dictating notes to his students. Most of the students were taking down notes. But one student was not taking down the notes of the teacher. The teacher got angry and asked the student why he was not taking down the notes. The student replied, “Sir, my brother was your student two years ago and your notes taken by him is available with me”. Then the teacher saw another student sitting idle, and chastised him. He replied “Sir, my father was your father’s student. The notes dictated by your respected father has been preserved by my father and he has given that to me. Your father’s notes which you are dictating is very good, Sir”. Read On

Sri Krishnadevaraya: The 16th Century Rajaneethi Thajna
The Government of Karnataka celebrated the 500th anniversary of the coronation of King Krishnadevaraya from January 27 to 29, 2010 at Hampi. The extravaganza consisted of an exhibition at Kamalapur on the life and times of the King. The cultural events were staged on six platforms erected in different strategic locations, including the one inside the Virupaksha Temple, besides the main stage, said to be the biggest stage erected in India. Read On

Millennium Year of Tanjore Temple
Exactly a thousand years ago in 1010 AD, there arose a temple with a lofty tower (sikhara) trying to touch the sky in Thanjavur (Tanjore). The creator of this marvel was Rajaraja the Great, the most illustrious ruler of the Chola dynasty. In his rule of 31 years (985 - 1016 AD), he made the Cholas a power to reckon with, not only in South India but also in far - off South - East Asia and Sri Lanka. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: The Keyboard Generation
A few days ago, I wanted to send a “thank you” note to a friend. As I opened my Microsoft Word Processor to type the letter, the office peon came in and handed me an inland letter from one of our readers. It was a note of appreciation. It had been a while since I got a hand - written letter. It somehow felt more real, more personal, and more heartfelt than a sheet of typed paper. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: Wives of the Gods
The Devadasi tradition has a long history that can at once be seen as liberating and exploitative. She wanted to go across the river at night to attend Damu’s wedding. But the day was drawing to a close, the sun had slipped past the horizon, the river was rough and the boatman was eager to return to his house. "Oh please, please, lord, take me across, I do not know the way," she said. "Here, lord, take my nose ring," she said. "I don’t want it," said the impatient boatman. "Here then, lord, take my bracelets," she said. "I don’t want it," said the boatman again. "Here, then, lord, take my anklets," she said. "I don’t want it," repeated the boatman. And so she kept removing her jewels, and he kept saying no. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: The Agony of “My Sore” City
While most people with common sense intact may wonder why he is so senseless, Kailas seems to be in complete control of his senses knowing where his happiness lies. Now going back to his daughter’s wedding, it appears he told his wife Bramaramba that they should shun all gifts brought by guests. His wife, perhaps with a little more practical wisdom, is said to have convinced him that instead of hurting the sentiments of well - meaning friends and relatives, they could donate all the cash collected on the occasion to charity. And, that is exactly what they did. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Fat in Khaki
Fitness is crucial to crime - fighting for the simple reason that one has to be as strong as his advisory, not just mentally but also physically. We never see fat thieves, do we? (Sorry, politicians cannot be considered for this particular argument) A person cannot be both fat and a thief; here by thief we mean criminals involved in crimes that require physical ability. So in order to catch a shifty thief or a gang of tough dacoits, cops must also be strong and agile. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Nanjangud: The Southern Abode of Shiva
A unique feature of this temple is that it has devotees from both Vaishnava and Srivaishnava sects. When I think of the Nanjangud temple, a funny incident comes to my mind, not because of the deity but because of the administrators of the temple. This incident took place about twenty years ago. I received a letter from the Muzarai Department asking me to quote my lowest rate to write a book on Nanjundeshvara temple! I laughed at the ignorance of the officers and ignored the letter. I do not know if any scholar (?) quoted his lowest rate for the job and the lowest rated book has been published. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: Three faces of all religions
Imagine you are walking in the woods and suddenly a leopard leaps in front of you. What will you do? Flee? Fight? Freeze? These are the standard three reactions to any stressful event. Imagine if this leopard standing before you is life itself. How will you cope? Will you flee, fight or freeze? An exploration of these standard reactions to stress helps us appreciate how religions have helped man cope with life through the ages. Read On

T. J. S. George: New License Raj and Hindiwallas
Infighting Thackerays are indulging in competitive chauvinism and there is no Maharashtrian leader willing to call their bluff. Linguistic chauvinism is of course a factor in most of our States. But in no other city has it been developed into a political constituency. Yet, what are the Chavans and the Deshmukhs and the Pawars doing? They have the stature and, as office holders, the responsibility to treat law - breakers as criminal offenders. Instead, they act in a cowardly manner. They are politically foolish too because they won't get the parochial votes anyway. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Rare Royal Brothers: Hakka and Bukka
About seventy years ago I heard the names Hakka and Bukka in my primary school and as the name sounded a bit odd, I laughed and the class teacher used the cane generously on me. That was my first encounter with Hakka and Bukka. Later, when I became a serious student of history, I was specially attracted by these two brothers who were responsible for the establishment of Vijayanagara Empire, generally referred to as the golden age of South Indian history. Read On

Pages from History: Kumbha Mela
Kumbha means a pot also. This also is associated with this festival. When the ocean Ksheera Sagara was churned during the mythological Samudra mathana, pots full of Amrita (nectar) appeared and the demons took them away. The gods fought with them for twelve days and twelve nights (equivalent to twelve human years). It is believed that during the battle, Lord Vishnu flew away with the Kumbha of elixir, and that is when drops of amrita fell at four places on earth: Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik, and that is where Kumbh Mela is observed every 12 years. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Fashion Show? Again?
I thought this college fashion show business was over when I left for the United States to study, but I was wrong. I visited a fest by the Indian Students Association there which comprised almost completely of Americans of Indian origin, and the moment I saw “fashion show” on the invitation I wondered if fashion show had now become part of our cultural identity. I had also taken an American friend along who appreciated the beautiful Indian sarees but could not understand why they were modelling jeans pants and skirts in a western country. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Will all quacks now shut shop?
The law should insist that every doctor should not only display his certificates in his clinic or hospital but also clearly mention under what system of medicine he is practicing. Finally since it is their life that is at risk, it is the patients who should have the courage to discuss a doctor’s qualifications and his claims before blindly swallowing his pills or baring their biceps to his ever - ready needle. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: Value of Symbols
They did not attack just any building. They attacked Taj and Oberoi and Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), formerly Victoria Terminus (VT). The Chief Minister of the State did not just go to the site with his son and friend. He went with a Bollywood film star and a Bollywood director, known to make commercial films based on real people and real events. Another Chief Minister did not just go to pay his respects to a dead soldier. He went there with dogs. They did not just feel sad. They lit candles. These four events display the place symbols hold in human consciousness. Read On

T. J. S. George: Our Leaders on the Marx Scale
Even A. B. Vajpayee chose to miss the bus. Both his instincts and his intellectual thinking told him that there were serious limitations to the politics of hatred in a country of India's diversity. He even dared to speak up when all boundaries of democratic decencies were broken by his party colleagues in Gujarat. But he buried his better instincts and let evil prevail. He had the stature to save his party just as Jyothi Basu and EMS, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv had. None of them rose to the level of their abilities. The loss was not Karl Marx's. It was India's. Read On

Kiran Kumar & Shwetha: Mandakalli Airport – Will it take off?
Mysore Palace is said to be the second most popular tourist destination in the world after Madame Tussaud’s Museum in London attracting about 2. 5 million visitors annually. In this backdrop, there is an immediate necessity to make the non - operational airport at Mandakalli village near Mysore city an operative one. Industrialists, software giants and stakeholders in the tourism sector have been urging the State Government and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to make the Mandakalli airport operational at the earliest. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Walking down Sayyaji Rao Road with a bucket and a car in hand
Sayyaji Rao Road, the business hub of our city which used to be our pride, has today become our best example of traffic mismanagement. Nobody seems to realise that all the cumbersome if not outlandish measures that are being implemented to improve the chaos there are only increasing it. The officers who survey the scene from behind the tinted glasses of their air- conditioned chauffeur - driven limousines and suggest remedial measures never have to park their own cars or do their own shopping. They never have to get down and walk along almost non - existent footpaths occupied by hawkers or try to cross fully barricaded roads taking long detours or suffer the sickening smells and sights of the underpasses they have so graciously provided to lesser mortals. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Mob & Property Damage
For a country that got its independence through non - violence and for a nation of people who never miss a chance to remind the rest of the world what a peace - loving bunch we are, we sure love protests and destroying public property. Let us face it folks, we are living in denial. We are nowhere close to what the Father of the Nation expected of us. Let alone non - violence, India today is packed with uncivil citizens and they are starting to move in packs like wolves wrecking havoc wherever they want, whenever they want — yes, we are talking of the new trend “mob – o – cracy” in our democracy. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Ashoka, the Father of advertisement
He is the first king to have issued inscriptions on stone boulders and pillars. Encomiums have been heaped on Ashoka for his decision to eschew wars. Actually he waged a war against Kalinga (Orissa) and was victorious. But he found thousands of people dead and this changed his mental attitude and he became a changed man. Consequently, the Mauryan army became inactive and useless and the result was the downfall of a mighty empire within two decades. Thus historians have put the blame on Ashoka. That is a different story. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: The dance of wisdom
Everybody who has danced in a party knows how wonderful it is to dance. Scientifically speaking, moving the body vigorously to music that one enjoys releases endorphins in the brain that makes us happy. But that is not the reason we dance. We dance because it liberates us from the otherwise rigid social rules that govern body movement in daily life. Every culture has its own rigid way of sitting, standing, moving for men, women and children. These rules of body language become a prison, from which we are liberated when we hit the dance floor. Read On

T. J. S. George: Australian Violence Jai Ho!
One reason for the continuing attacks by White Australians on Brown Indians is the Australian Government’s refusal to take them seriously, let alone see racism in them. They don't take it seriously because they don't take India seriously. And they don't see any racism because Australian racism is part of a rising tide of racism across the world. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Bloody @ #%$&!
Bloody bastard, does he have any shame? Bloody bastard, who is he? This is the man who sent Shobha Karandlaje begging to my house to say that he will resign from BJP and join JD (S) if made a Minister. What is this nonsense?” These are not the words of a disgruntled party worker or a disgruntled voter but that of the former Prime Minister of the largest democracy in the world — H. D. Deve Gowda. Luckily, Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa did not encourage this debate to continue, although it would have been very interesting to see how creative they could get with their abuses. But all Yeddyurappa said was, "I am deeply hurt and he has lost his mental balance". Read On

T. J. S. George: Every citizen is a stake – holder
Appointments inside a newspaper are usually of no concern to the general public. But what happened in Business Standard last week should interest every citizen. For it was a re-assertion of values we all hold dear and yet are vanishing almost unnoticed by us. Outwardly it was a simple matter of re - styling. The editor of the paper was made chairman of the company and a new editor appointed in his place. But the significance of the move is wide-ranging for a variety of reasons — its rarity, the quality of the players involved, the importance of the values they represent, and the universality of stake-holders in this field. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Who are the real idiots?
The movie makers must stop hiding behind contractual technicality saying they have given Bhagat the credit. The idea of giving credit is so the audience knows who has contributed what to the movie. Ask anyone among the audience who has not read the book and they'll say Joshi wrote the original story; no one will know it was based on a book. Did the movie makers do this so Joshi can get an award for original story? Who knows, but thanks to a few “idiots”, people were distracted from a very important message that this movie conveys. But this issue has generated enough publicity to make people go watch the movie and also buy the book. So who are the real idiots?! Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Remembering Dayananda Saraswathi
He preached that there is only one god and he has no forms and no names and no families. He is a principle of divinity; he is not born like men and animals. He does not take avataras also. Rama, Krishna and others are not gods but human beings who rose to the highest level by their deeds. Hence they should not be worshipped in temples. This will send wrong signals to ordinary people about the multiplicity of gods which is not true. If a Muslim can convert a Hindu to Islam; If a Christian can convert a Hindu to Christianity against his will out of compulsion, should the Hindu suffer it for ever, questioned Dayananda. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Finding something pleasurable to do
Personally, I have never been bored at any time in my life and so I am always a little surprised and even amused whenever someone says that he or she is bored. I find that most people, especially youngsters, these days complain that life is boring. Finding something to do when there is nothing to do seems to be the most difficult thing to do these days. Despite all the newer forms of entertainment available today which could only have been a part of some science fiction movie fifty years ago, people feel that they do not have enough of it. Read On

Murali Rao: Depression in the physically ill
Feeling sad or blue alone does not necessarily constitute clinical depression. However, the wide range of symptoms of feeling sad or low, fatigued or being disabled to the extent that one may be unable to even get out of bed in the morning or do simple routine tasks, should alert the clinician to the possibility of coexisting clinical depression. Depression can be a complex and challenging condition especially in the physically ill. Read On

T. J. S. George: Happy New Year? For whom?
What is it if not the class character of our politicians that makes the indefensible defensible? What explains a popular hero whom adoring masses called "Guruji" turning into a personification of corruption the moment he gets power? The hero – turned – convicted - murderer has again become Jharkhand's Chief Minister. What explains Madhu Koda, Karnataka’s Bellary Brothers, communist rulers with capitalist tastes? For that matter, what explains the sex maniac former Police chief of Haryana and the rapist Police chief of Rajasthan absconding for a decade? They all think that power gives them the right to plunder and rape and kill. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: It’s 2010
Once a person graduates, he generally moves on to hard liquor and more uncoordinated dancing. The rate of throwing up tends to reduce substantially but one still wakes up with a hangover. Finally when one is married, the gear shifts to a comfortable 3rd gear, like in a car; you can go fast but not fast enough and you can go slow but not too slow that your car would look aged. It’s a perfect time for young couples where you don’t have to worry about looking for a partner to dance and at the same time even if you dance alone its OK, people will not think you are a lonely loser. But there is a problem… planning. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: The Battle of Talikota
“Battles maketh history” is an often quoted popular statement. If all the historical events all over the world are analysed, the common factor would be the battles or wars, big or small, just or unjust. Thus there is no history without a war. One or two greedy men declare a war and thousands of people pay a heavy price for this. The medieval history is notorious from this point of view. Even mythology is not free from the havocs of war. Whatever might have been the provocations for battles, Ramayana, Mahabharatha and puranas stand accused in this direction. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: Tulsi in your courtyard
What is the story of the Tulsi plant? A clue comes from the Hindi movie, "Mein Tulsi tere aangan ki" starring Nutan. In it, the protagonist sings, "I am just the Tulsi plant of your courtyard. I claim no right over your husband," and one wonders what that song means. What is the poet trying to communicate? As one delves into the scriptures one comes upon a startling tale that makes us question notions of marital fidelity. And one realises why this name has been taken by up many a soap character in the saas - bahu tele serials. Read On

T. J. S. George: Festivals? They are all business now
The end of anything is supposed to cause gloom. But the end of a year magically produces rejoicing everywhere. Is this because one year's death is another year's birth? And because a new year always means new hopes? It's rather like the sentiment behind the saying, "The King is dead, long live the King." But royal successions have not been commercialised as cynically as our festivals have been. Every celebration today, religious or social, is an occasion for high - pitched marketing frenzy. Look at Diwali, for example. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: A Crafty Warning!
In the early 1990s, there was a very popular government - sponsored anti - smoking advertisement in India. Many may remember it; the advertisement begins with a young college student lighting a cigarette and trying to look cool. Along with this, the background music also begins with the booming voice of the then India’s famous English singer Gary Lawyer singing “With a cigarette in my hand, I felt like a man.” Soon the boy gets older and succumbs to cancer and the jingle ends with “With a cigarette in my hand, I was a dead man”. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: A Khan who killed his wives
Ancient India presented a different picture. Deliberate sacrifice of women and attendants do not seem to have been followed. Hundreds of queens of the Kadambas, Chalukyas, Hoysalas and other dynasties were found to be living even after the death of their husband kings. Some of the queens committed sati on their own free will. While Attimabbe's sister committed sati, she her self did not resort to it; served the society with great devotion and became a celebrated Jaina lady in Karnataka. But in a rare instance queen Kamayi (Yadava Ramachandra's wife) refused to commit sati as per the practice of those days and ultimately she lived for many more years. Read On

H. R. Bapu Satyanarayana: T. S. Satyan, My Dear Friend
Therefore when the agent came in the morning Satyan told him that he would like to shift to Madras hotel in Connaught place which is familiar to south Indians and it was no star hotel. The agent was taken aback and said his superiors would not agree to it for it is a matter of prestige and that he was entrusted to reserve in the best hotel. But Satyan was firm and would not relent as he said he would be more comfortable in Madras hotel. Finally, a deal was struck that they would keep this a secret from the superiors and that Satyan would get the allowance as though he is staying in five star hotel! Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: A Prescription for our ailing Mysore city
They may argue that our city needs much change and that time is a great healer for our sense of loss of all that is old and dear to us. While I agree that our bruised emotions can be healed over time they should remember that squandering public money without caring for public opinion is an unpardonable crime even if funds are freely available. So, before their every deed let them understand our every need. Let them realise that if the only tool they have is a hammer, every problem will indeed appear like a nail. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: The Man from Venus
Friday is named after Frigg, a Germanic goddess associated with marriage, household, love, and fertility. She was the wife of the Odin, king of the gods, and only she was allowed to sit on his high throne and look upon the world. She had the power of prophecy but she never shared what she knew with anyone. She sat in the high heavens and spun clouds, and she rode a chariot pulled by cats. Scholars have traced the name “Frigg” to the Sanskrit word “priya” meaning the beloved one. Read On

Forever in friends’ memory: Satyan – A Legendary Personality
I cannot forget an incident in Melkote Temple where he was taking pictures. He came across a brass image of Garuda which was kept mounted on a wooden base. He asked the Chief Priest to decorate it with ornaments and flowers. Surprised, the Priest said that can be done only when devotees ask for a Garudotsava by paying the required fee to the temple. Satyan asked me to arrange for it immediately. When I expressed my apprehension as to whether the Department would bear this expenditure, he immediately took out a postcard from his bag and wrote a very interesting short note to my Director and asked me to post it from the mail box near the temple (the content was that the Director would receive the choicest blessing of Garuda if he reimburses the cost to me). Later, the Director told me how he had preserved Satyan’s postcard for posterity. Read On

Satyan through the eyes of his wife
As Satyan was adamant in his decision that he would not marry for another two years, the talks stopped and there was no proposal of marriage for two years. Though I was staying in Kolar at that time, he kept in touch with me through letters once a week. Mother blushed when she learned that he was writing love letters. Though I was extremely happy reading them, I never replied to his letters. Getting angry at this, he wrote another letter, asking why I didn't reply. I wrote whatever occurred to me. He used to drop by suddenly to see me. I still remember the days when we both went for a walk on the banks of the lake. Two years later when his father asked Satyan to marry his uncle's daughter, he replied that the first girl he ever saw was Rathna and said he would marry only her. Finally we got married on Aug.31, 1950. Read On

T. J. S. George: Seas are rising. Is the end nigh?
We let hazardous wastes to be dumped irresponsibly, our rivers to be systematically killed by sand mafias. In Copenhagen, the world's worst polluters fought for their right to pollute. Perhaps we deserve what the Bhagavatam has predicted for us: Lord Kalki will kill by the millions those thieves who have dared to dress as Kings. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: A Gentleman from Mysore
Earlier this year, I had written a posthumous article on the legendary Professor G. T. Narayan Rao. Mr. Satyan called that evening after reading that article to appreciate it and jokingly asked if I would write one about him after he died as I knew him also since a very young age. I laughed and didn't think more about it. Three weeks ago at a party, he grabbed me by my arm and said, “I know you didn't take me seriously when I asked if you would write a posthumous piece on me, but if at all you do, I'd prefer the headline to be — A gentleman from Mysore” and added that we must meet for a drink and chat the following week. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Darbari Seth of Coorg
Mr. Seth was very close to Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (BVB). He knew Ramakrishna very well. One day the latter approached Mr. Seth for a donation of Rs. 50 lakh. Seth laughed and said, “Ask for a crore, you will get it. By 5 in the evening, your application should reach me in my office (Bombay)”. He was anxiously waiting for Ramakrishna's letter which arrived a bit late. But the money was sanctioned. When Ramakrishna thanked Seth, he said "I am grateful to you for making me an agent of the divine in giving". Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: An adieu to T. S. Satyan: The King of Black and White
In recognition of his contribution to the field of photography, among many other distinguished places his pictures have been put on display at the Smithsonian Institute too. I think our government should acquire some of his best pictures and put them on a permanent display at one of our art galleries both at Bangalore and at Mysore too, his birth place, as a fitting tribute not only to his talent but also to highlight the fact that it is an essential part of our rich heritage. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: Fourteen Year Mystery
She casts aspersions on the Dashrath’s integrity: why was the coronation taking place while Bharat was away? Given this, Kaikeyi’s first boon, that Bharat should be made king in place of Ram, seems fair, even appropriate. It ensures that Dashrath does not go back on his promise to Kaikeyi’s father. But why did Kaikeyi have to ask the second boon, insisting that Ram go to the forest? The simplest answer given is that Kaikeyi did not want any rivals to the throne around when her son was crowned king. But then why was the exile given for a finite period of time? Why a finite period fourteen years? Why not forever? Read On

Book Reviews: Coorg, an Insider’s perspective
The newly released book on Coorg — Rise and Fall of the Coorg State, Kodagu's Loss, Karnataka's Gain — tries to throw light on the circumstances leading to the unpopular merger of the erstwhile Coorg State (now officially known as Kodagu District) with Karnataka in 1956. The book also deals with the neglect ever since of the scenic Kodagu by successive governments in Karnataka. Authored by the Bangalore - based freelance journalist P. T. Bopanna, the book finds answers to some of the questions like why the key players, including the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, took such a shortsighted decision resulting in the snuffing out of the prosperous Coorg State forever from the Indian map. Read On

T. J. S. George: From Patriotism to Parochialism
What on earth does this status signify? Is Raj Thackeray's violent chauvinism helping Marathi develop? As for development of the State, there is not a single case so far of linguistic identity having helped a State progress. On the contrary, it has produced undisguised enmities among States. Just look at the war - like posturings of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra over water sharing. The next stage will be when one - dimensional leaders like Mulayam Singh and M. K. Azhagiri become the rulers of the land — unable to talk to one another or understand one another. It will be not unity in diversity, but disunity in distrust. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Mistress Distress
True, Tiger Woods did what was not morally acceptable to the society. But what about the women? It seems every time there is an affair, it is always the man who is portrayed as the villain while the woman is looked upon as a victim when in almost all celebrity affairs, the female has been a willing partner. And why is it that they always come out after the press has published the story? Is it because while they are in the midst of the affair, they enjoy the power of being a powerful man’s girlfriend which comes with money and luxury, the kind they cannot afford with their limited qualifications? Read On

K. M. Chengappa: Mir Mukhtiar Ali’s Roohi Rang
The shayari about a lover who becomes an alcoholic by merely looking at the eyes of his beloved; Yeh jo halka halka suroor hai, sab teri nazar ka kasoor hai, jo sharab peena sikha diya, mujhe ek sharabi bana diya... was truly intoxicating. In another verse, Ali, citing himself as an example, sung; Gaoon bajaoon... sab ko rijhaoon... albeli mastani... deen dharam se begaani... (I sing and play instruments, entertain everyone, I am unaware of caste or religious barriers). Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: An invisible Temple at Talkad
When I was moving about on the sands of Talkad, an old man asked me a question. He appeared highly agitated. “Sir, when I came here about ten years ago, I had seen a huge Vishnu temple: two eyes were not sufficient to look at that Vishnu image, four hands, sanka, chakra, gada; I also saw Lakshmi; I am searching for that temple now; no Policeman could give me a proper reply; the young volunteers have not even heard of that temple; you are an old man like me and I am sure you must have seen it. My real apprehension is if it is destroyed for some reason or the other”. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: A Really Royal Walk
But very recently I went out for a different kind of walk, a real one in the true sense of the word and this too was a unique kind of experience. It all started with a young lad Vinay walking into my office one morning and introducing himself as the chief of a one - man organisation called the “Royal Mysore Walks”! He said that he was an engineer who had been working in Singapore for a brief while and had been inspired by the extremely well - organised walking tour of Singapore which had become immensely popular with the tourists there. He had therefore decided to return to Mysore the city of his birth and try out this new venture here. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: Snakes for Hair
She was once a beautiful woman, until a goddess turned her into a revolting monster. A prow refers to the pointed projecting front part of a ship. In ancient Greece and Rome, a carved image was fixed on it. The most common of these was known as a Gorgoneion. This was the head of an ugly woman with wide opened bulbous eyes, sticking out her tongue, baring her fangs. Most noticeable of her features was her hair — made of snarling venomous serpents, ready to strike. Images such as these were also found at the entrance of temples and public buildings, on wine jars, treasure chests, on the clasp of belts and on shields that warriors carried into battle. Read On

T. J. S. George: A Rare Case of Wit and Wisdom
Ashok Gehlot’s Congress Government in Rajasthan today has a Minister, Golma Devi, who could barely read her oath card and took three days to learn how to sign her appointment letter. And she is Minister of State for nothing less than Home, Civil Defence and Rural Industries. In Karnataka, a wanton family that plunders the earth controls the Government. Unworthy men and women abound in Parliament. These are the realities that should make us grateful that a man like P. V. Narasimha Rao, warts and all, lived in our midst once upon a time. Read On

Saving Mysore: Act before it is too late
Mysore city is growing rapidly both in terms of population, geographical spread and more importantly, thegrowth of vehicular traffic on the roads. The available infrastructure of the city is unable to handle this growth and hence the discomfort experienced by citizens. The chaos that prevails in our neighboring city Bangalore is well known to all of us. Today most of the measures taken by the Bangalore city administration is crisis management. The situation could have been avoided if we had visionary leadership who would have foreseen the things to come. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Snatched!
The Indian population suspected that “their houses were targeted because they were Indian”. Soon the Police figured out that only gold was being stolen from these houses and soon they caught the thieves. How? The Police picked up a telephone book and looked for all Indian names, especially Patels, since it is a popular Indian surname in that area. They waited around the vicinity of a few Patel residences in nice neighborhoods and finally when the burglars struck, they caught them. It turned out the burglars were not targeting Indians because they were “Indian” but because they knew Indians like gold and they always bought a lot of gold jewellery. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Lure of Antiquity
The traditionalists would hate the very idea of fixing the age of Sri Rama or Sri Krishna or the heroes of Mahabharata, Ramayana or Bhagavata. According to tradition, our gods and goddesses are age - less and eternal; they have no origin and no end. That is the strength of our tradition. This is not just in theory but is seriously believed and practiced. When one visits even a small temple we experience the truth of this concept. For the question 'how old is this temple?' the reply would be highly interesting. We believe that this is a very ancient temple going back to thousands of years; nobody knows the age of the god. Read On

Shwetha: Street Artisans
It is indeed saddening to know that the traditional, ancestral arts like pottery and idol - making are vanishing not due to industrialization or due to the influence of other modern arts, but because of non-patronisation from the local bodies or the public. As the artisans do not have money to rent a shop or take part in the handicraft exhibitions, they eke out a living on the road sides. Instead of evicting them, the City Corporation authorities ought to make a sincere effort to provide them free space for marketing and living, and if they cannot do so, at least let them alone so that they can live in peace. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: Rational Minds
In India, there was always a conflict between the logical and the emotional. And while logic was associated with the Devas, the occult secrets associated with Asuras were given equal importance. Logic played an important role in engineering hence the close association of Vishwakarma and Brihaspati. But Logic did not create poetry. The design of the altars and the meter of the hymns that were used in yagnas were all based on logical and mathematical principles, but the ritual itself was magical and potent with occult power. Read On

T. J. S. George: Aapka Swagat Hai. Of Course
The sari is perhaps the most gracious dress a woman can wear. But it does not lend itself to fashion variations like a Western woman's gown does. The Indian male faces the same disadvantage as his dress too is confined to a black bandhgala shut jacket. The Western male can mark formal occasions with black tie and cummerbund. Or white tie and tails. At the much - discussed State dinner at the White House, our Prime Minister looked extremely well - dressed. But the style was the same as on any other occasion: black shut - coat suit and trademark blue turban. Barack Obama’s dress showed that it was indeed a special occasion: black bow - tie and black studs on a starched white shirt. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Liberhan Report, Just a distraction?
While BJP leaders are being blamed for their over - action, the Congress, the ruling government at the time along with the Muslim leaders should be held responsible for their inaction. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi when asked if Congress was also responsible for the demolition, said with his hands on his chest “I am touching my heart that Congress is not responsible”. Our leaders touch their hearts in one hand while they slap us with the other. The fact that this report was leaked, and that too only certain parts that could lead to communal disharmony, at a time when Congress is in troubled waters shows that “whoever” leaked it cares very little for public peace and harmony. ‘Whoever’ is responsible for the leak must be booked for attempting to incite communal violence. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Panchalingeshwara at Govindanahalli
The concept of Panchalingas is as old as Puranas. According to a mythological story, the gods met Shiva and told him that “you have thousands of forms and it is difficult to concentrate and worship all of them. If this is difficult for us gods, what will be the plight of ordinary mortals?” Hence gods requested Shiva to manifest himself in smaller number of forms. Shiva agreed to their request and told them that he would manifest himself in five forms each representing directions north, south, east and west and finally the Kailasa in the centre. This came to be called Panchalingeshwara. By worshipping Panchalinga aspect one would get the merit of worshipping all the thousand and more forms of Shiva. The gods became very happy and expressed their gratitude to Shiva. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Farewell to the City of Nawabs, Kababs and Heart Throbs
You will find people of all classes, some having come in swanky cars, holding currency notes of all denominations in their outstretched hands, trying like beggars to draw the elusive attention of overworked vendors with plaintive wails of “O, Bhai, O, Bhai”. The ones blessed with a little luck or maybe a little extra bulk to elbow themselves in, seem to be the only ones who are served while the others only seem to endlessly wait cursing their fate. And among the other shops that sell everything else, from crisp golden parathas right down to the Luckhnawi paan, “Tunde Kabab” is the king. Read On

Escalators: A Boon for Elders
The electric escalators are based on “Censor Technology”. As soon as commuters arrive, the doors will start opening; as soon as they climb the first step, it will start moving upwards automatically. The steps will be stationary when there are no people. A large quantity of fuel could be saved through this technology, he said. Around 30 passengers can use the escalator at a time with luggage. There will be normal steps at either side of the escalator too, he added. Read On

K. M. Chengappa: NAZ India: Home for HIV positive orphans
Asked whether her work hampered her personal family life, Anjali replied, "Serving the AIDS - affected children itself is my life and my family. I see no difference between work and family. I have totally dedicated myself to the cause. I did not want to have children of my own. If I had, I may not have been able to rear the children at Care Home properly." "Most of the older children know about their status (orphaned and tested HIV positive) and they understand. They are resilient and are able to take care of themselves. As they reach adolescence, they have the natural sexual urge. The adolescents are made aware of the need to protect their partners and to be honest to them," said Anjali. Read On

T. J. S. George: A Wall collapses, the World Changes
Our press and patriots made quite a splash to mark the 25th anniversary of Indira Gandhi's tragic death. As it happened, it was also, to significant sections among us, the 25th anniversary of the tragic massacre of Sikhs in Delhi. So the controversies will go on, the accusations not blunting the justifications. The violations of the time were as heinous as the loyalties were blind. In the hurly - burly of the Indira Gandhi emotions, we barely noticed the 20th anniversary of an event that changed the course of history — the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: Rakshasas in the forest
Calling Rakshasas demons is perhaps a convenient rather than a correct translation. In Himachal Pradesh is a temple dedicated to Hidimbi reaffirming that Rakshasas were not demons, rather guardians of the forest. Their way of life perhaps did not appeal to the heroes of the epics but it did not stop Manavas from taking their help in times of crisis. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Marathi Manoos or Indian Manoos?
But then, one can never know because as long as there are fanatic Islamic extremists targeting Mumbai, Shiv Sainiks will be tolerated by even educated Hindus as Bal Thackeray himself said speaking of the 1992 - 93 Bombay communal riots: “If my boys would have not come on the street, I'm sure Hindus would have been slaughtered.” In the same interview, Bal Thackeray said he will oppose a Muslim “if his body is here (India) and his heart is in Pakistan”. We agree, but Mr. Thackeray, what about a Marathi like yourself, whose body is in India but the heart beats only for Maharashtra? Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Iqbal, the author of “Sara Jahanse Achcha”
Most people including school children are familiar with the famous song “Sara Jahanse achcha Hindusthan hamara” and majority of them may not know that it was written by Mohammad Iqbal (1877 - 1938). This enchanting song was written by him on August 16, 1904 and published in a weekly called Ittehad. It was written for children. Next year, he recited it in a college and overnight it became famous as Taran – E - Hind (Song of India). Then it attained the status of a patriotic song. When Rakesh Sharma, the Indian astronaut was flying in the airship, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi asked “How does it feel?” Sharma replied, “Sare Jahanse achcha”. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: A City and a Mausoleum like none other
Since I was looking for another bookshop which had been listed as a “must visit” site in my tourist guide, I asked him for his name. He seemed a little sad at my perfectly normal question and quickly proceeded to inform me with raised eyebrows and a stern look that Jawaharlal Nehru and three Presidents of India, not to mention many famous writers and diplomats had visited his shop in its heydays. Now it was my turn to raise my eyebrows, a reflex I could not restrain quickly enough! Among the dusty tomes, I quickly picked up from the four corners of the spooky place one book called “Lost Monuments of Lucknow”. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: A Rajput who defeated Ghori
So he arranged a svayamvara (the process of the bride selecting her husband) and invited all Rajput kings except Prithviraj. On the contrary, he had made a wooden statue of Prithviraj dressed as a door keeper and placed it at the entrance of the hall. Princess Samyukta entered the hall with a garland and not finding Prithviraj came out of the hall and garlanded his statue. Jayachandra became furious and before anything could happen, Prithviraj who was hiding there carried Samyukta on his horse and married her at his capital. A highly insulted Jayachandra was waiting for an opportunity to take revenge on Prithviraj, and the opportunity presented itself when Mohammed Ghori invaded the kingdom of Prithviraj. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: The Nawabs and the British: A fatal friendship
The Residency was a very extensive complex of many lavishly furnished buildings with a distinctly European style, which were built by the Nawabs of Lucknow in 1800 to house the British residents and their attendant staff under a treaty that has been very aptly described by historians as a “Fatal Friendship”. The British who came to India as ordinary traders and established the East India Company, befriended the gullible Nawabs of Oudh and succeeded in getting them to accept the patronage of alien might in protecting their kingdom from home - grown strife. It was only subsequently, after they had established themselves firmly that they removed the dagger of their real intentions from behind their cloak of deception and intrigue for which they became notorious all over the country. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: No Baby Yet?!
A friend called recently after a long time and asked if I had any kids. I said I don’t and he half - jokingly asked, “It’s been a while since you got married, isn’t it?” I said yes, but we want to take our time and he mischievously asked “Your equipment working alright?” All I could say was, “Yes, my equipment is in perfect working condition, but maybe you’d like to take a look at it when you come to Mysore next time, just to be sure.” Then we have a few posh friends who use the age old fancy metaphor when they see us — “No bun in the oven yet!” and all I can say is, “We’re not baking anything as yet.” Read On

T. J. S. George: India goes unipolar, Alas!
The most disappointing — and the least surprising — of political collapses is the CPM's. Not a single seat won in West Bengal. Not a single seat won in Kerala. What a fall for a party built on the dreams of the masses. Yet it surprises no one because the party of the proletariat had become the party of five - star leaders. The Bengal leaders at least accepted their defeat and said they would try to correct their ways. The Kerala leaders are justifying themselves by saying that the percentage of their votes had gone up and that anyway it was all the fault of an abominable media conspiracy. Read On

Shwetha Pangannaya: Children’s Day: Celebration of Children’s spirit
Imagine living without parents; especially bearing the tag of being the children of criminals. The society will call the child a future criminal, despite the nature of the child. The parents of other children will shun the child, avoid their children from mingling with the child and the relatives of the children refuse to support them fearing that he or she would become like their parents. Most such children become vagrants and beggars. Some resort to violence to fill their empty stomach and in turn become what the society feared they would become — criminals. To avoid this and to give a home to such children Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: Liminal Beings
Both the Yali and Budh are what is known in mythology as liminal creatures. These creatures challenge the imagination because they cannot be confined to a particular box. Budh is neither male nor female. His Yali is neither lion nor elephant. One can say they are a bit of both. Mythology has high regard for such liminal beings. The most famous liminal being is Narasimha, the manlion incarnation of Vishnu. In that story, an Asura tries to escape death by seeking refuge in liminal space. He says, "I should not be killed by either a man nor an animal, neither a weapon nor a tool, neither inside a house nor outside, neither at day nor at night, neither on the ground nor above it." Read On

T. J. S. George: The Kingdom of Money is here
What a splendid procession of cultures, customs, traditions and fashions! What a heritage! But have you noticed a glaring lacuna? From the Mauryas and Yadavas to the Chalukyas and the Hoysalas, everyone was there. But not the Reddys. The absence of such a heroic and ancient dynasty was a blot on the fair face of Bellary. So God decided to step in for the second time. The first time was when the Rakshasa named Bella was wrecking havoc in the region. Indra appeared and slayed the demon, thus giving Bellaari its name. This time God did a double whammy. He put both the Kingdom of Bellary and the Kingdom of Kadapa under Reddy dynasties. After all, Kadapa and Anantapur were part of Bellary until the British separated them. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Between Gods and Resorts
It’s been over two weeks now and the BJP is busy working out numbers while farmers in North Karnataka are barely surviving. While the politicians are sitting like well - fed fat cats in resorts in Goa and Hyderabad, the State is left unattended. No wonder the absence and incompetence of our political representatives makes the bureaucracy so powerful. Between the political representatives’ time spent in the laps of priests and luxurious resorts, the people are completely forgotten. The question that comes to mind now is, have the gods too become incompetent or have our political leaders gone beyond the reach of any form of enlightenment that the gods have given up on them? Read On

The Boston Tea Party
In recent times parties have become the order of the day. Oxford dictionary defines a party as "a social gathering especially of invited guests at a private house as dinner or tea party". Once upon a time it used to be the privilege of the elite in cities or big towns. But now it has spread to the grassroot level and even school children take part in parties. We search for a pretext to throw a party and the invited guests would not like to miss the party. Thus this is the age of parties of all sorts and it is no longer a fashion or a prestige. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: God of War
Animals fight for food and territory and mates. Humans fight over the same thing. It is the animal side of us — that side which seeks domination. Sometimes, however, war is noble — fought to defend independence, to defend honor. Greed or need, there is no escape from war. That is why every culture has need for a god of war. In Hinduism, Kartikeya was the god of war. And to be the god of war, he had to be virile, hyper - virile in fact. That is why scriptures describe him as having one father but many mothers. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Lucknow Gun with Mysore Connection
Despite what her detractors say, I will not be surprised if she actually succeeds in her mission considering the luck if not the lineage of all those who have ruled over our destinies, and made their own, sitting on the most sought after chair at New Delhi. Hundreds of acres of land have been enclosed by monotonous pink sandstone walls to create parks and memorials to commemorate leaders, both dead and strangely the living too. Read On

T. J. S. George: Shankara: The Power of Passion
Shankar Nag combined passion with energy. The result was something like ten men in the form of one man. He was everywhere at once, doing everything at once. Now he was planning a ropeway to Nandi Hills, now a Metro rail for Bangalore, now affordable prefab housing for ordinary folks. Shankar dreamed ahead of his times. But instinctively he was a theatre man forged in the crucible of Marathi theatre in Bombay. Then elder brother Anant became a hit in Kannada cinema and Shankar abandoned Bombay for Bangalore. Marathi’s loss was Kannada’s gain. Read On

Vivek Cariappa and Juli Cariappa: Fight Bt. Brinjal, Save Indians
There has been a widespread debate in the Indian agriculture sector over the possible release of Bt. Brinjal seeds into Indian agricultural production system, which has caused a lot of apprehension among the public. Vivek Cariappa and Juli Cariappa, Krishi Pandits and members of Organic Farming Commission, probe the risks involved in genetically modified crops and suggest steps to block the entry of the technology. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Flood of thoughts
Later in the day, we visited renowned speaker Siddeshwara Swamiji at his ashram. He spoke of how this flood had brought us together “no more North Karnataka and South Karnataka, we are all one” and ended by saying “you have come and seen broken homes, I hope you will come again and see beautiful homes with happy families living in them that you help to build.” After a long time, I have heard a Swamiji who sounds sincere, sensible and seems above pettiness and publicity. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Glory, Thy name is Karnataka
Kannadigas did not lag behind in taking part in the war of independence, the fruits of which we are enjoying now. From all these achievements, the definition of Karnataka meaning its “glory lingers on in the ears” is apt and meaningful. Perhaps no other State is dotted with heritage building as Karnataka has. Our duty is to protect our great culture and pass it on to the posterity. This is a great responsibility indeed. This is the message of Nov. 1, the celebration of Rajyotsava. Read On

T. J. S. George: We use sports to destroy
There is a lot of money in sports (and money is to politicians what honey is to ants) and there is a lot of patronage bossmen can dispense at will. There is some obligatory auditing of moneys received, but the sports federations function largely free of accountability. As for privileges and patronage, we only have to remember that Indian sports delegations that go to international meets are notorious for having more officials than athletes in them. What we lack is a national vision and a national pride. If we had these in sufficient measure, we would have seen in international sports events an opportunity to achieve overall national progress. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Musings on Ravana
Actually Ravana was not the name given to him by his parents. Having performed a severe penance, he obtained a boon from Siva that he would not be killed by any god or goddess, assuming that no human being would even think of killing him. With this pride and over - confidence, he wanted to remove Kailasa from his path. In the process the Mount Kailasa was just shaken. Observing this, Siva sitting with Parvathi pressed his toe and Dashagriva's hands were caught in between and he roared with pain and anger which was heard in the three worlds. Read On

Spectrum Pectacle
Is the Congress pampering its allies too much and giving them too much freedom to handle Ministries? Should the country lose over Rs. 22000 crore just so Congress can stay in power? The Congress’ attitude has always been that of nonchalance when it comes to dealing with corruption, right from Nehru’s time when Krishna Menon allegedly received kick backs for ordering more than necessary jeeps for the army. Then it was Indira Gandhi who resorted to “fund raising” for elections. Then Rajiv had his share with the Bofors deal and now Sonia Gandhi seems to be turning a blind eye to the activities of DMK and YSR Reddy family. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Laughing and Singing away our differences
Sometimes bad or even sad events can have some unexpectedly good fallouts. A case in point is the recent communal unrest that we witnessed in parts of our city and which was thankfully quickly contained due to some quick action by the Police and some quick thinking by a handful of concerned citizens too. For the first time in the history of such events in our city, which thankfully have been very few, the district administration, the concerned political leaders and particularly the Police thought it pertinent to arrange discussions involving citizens to mull over the causes and to find preventive strategies to such problems in future. Read On

Lakshmi Palecanda: A Nobel Prize called Lottery
The very fact that Indian - born scientists do very well abroad shows that Indians have the potential to do well, given the right circumstances. In fact, there are many, many people trying to do good work right here. But they are hobbled by poor facilities, poor training, favoritism, and all forms of corruption, not to mention lack of funds. Funding agencies are headed by babus who are unaware of the scientific implications of the research stated in the grants submitted by scientists and, what’s more couldn’t care less. So scientific grants are given out on the basis of who knows whom, not who knows what. Students get into Ph.D. programs to get a degree, not to do research. And research programs are biased in the favor of finding the “correct” answers to problems, instead of experimentation, observation, and truthful recording of data, whether or not it supports a hypothesis. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology - Lunar Tales
In India, the moon is never seen as a goddess but rather as a charming romantic god called Chandra who constantly flirted with the stars. He is also called Soma, the one whose waxing and waning influences the rising and ebbing of earthly fluids. The most visible impact is seen on the sea where he causes high and low tide. He is believed to have a more subtle impact on the sap of all plants, making him the lord of all vegetation. Read On

T. J. S. George: Genetically Engineered India
Prolonged court cases, the Supreme Court’s intervention, scientists’ arguments and vociferous campaigns by civic groups have amounted to nothing. The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) has allowed commercial cultivation of the dreaded Bt. brinjal. If this decision is ratified by the Government of India, some 170 of our commonest food items will also become chemically altered. Rice and wheat, potatoes and onions, mustard and bananas will all be genetically manipulated for us. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: In search of Sanjivini
The word Sanjivini occurs in Ramayana and Mahabharatha and also in some Puranas. But unfortunately some people are doubting the very historicity of these epics and feel that they are figments of poetic imagination and literary bunkum. This has recently come to the forefront when the issue of Rama's bridge came up for protection. Fortunately, more number of scholars and scientists and historians are believing in the historicity of Ramayana and Mahabharatha though there are bound to be some poetic exaggerations. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Yes You Can….. Say No
To give is up to them, but then, to take or not to take, to accept or reject is solely one’s own choice and when the ball was in the court of the 44th President of the United States, he accepted. Does President Obama think he really deserves the Nobel Peace Prize? If he did think so, then he definitely seems to have been confused between words and actions; if he didn’t think he deserved it, then he should have politely declined it. Obama was one of the 205 nominees for this year’s Prize and the decision came as a surprise to many as it was Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai who was the favourite. Read On

Lakshmi Palecanda: Banana cultivation success story
A Banana Field Day was held at a farmer, Venkatesh's field at Thandavapura in Nanjanagud taluk recently to celebrate his banana cultivation success story. An average yield for banana is about 15 kg per plant but Venkatesh has managed to get an average yield of 40 kg per plant. The secret to his success is the use of tissue culture - propagated plants and schedule of agronomic practices, both provided by Labland Biotech Private Limited in Mysore. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: The London Cabbie & the Mysore “Rickkie”
After reading this letter, I could not help wondering how very different things are here from the rules that govern the licensing procedures in London for anyone who aspires to get into the driving seat of the famed London Black Cab. I used the word famed because the gleaming black London taxi which has a distinctive and almost menacing look is one of the most well - known and prestigious taxi services in the world today. Naturally, all those who are licenced to drive one of these cabs are considered to be members of a team of very highly trained and polished brigade envied by thousands who fail to get their badge. Read On

T. J. S. George: Making a farce of Vulgarity, too
Mukesh Ambani's salary is Rs. 44. 2 crore a year, about three – and – a - half crore a month. In a country where the poor outnumber the well – to - do, that seems vulgar. On the other hand, the big salary works out to 0. 23 per cent of the Ambani companies' net profits. That doesn't look vulgar. Sun TV's Kalanithi Maran and wife Kavery take a salary of Rs 37. 08 crore each. That works out to 16. 96 per cent of their net profits. Is that vulgar? Anil Ambani's salary is Rs. 30. 02 crore a year, or two – and – a - half crore a month. Is that vulgar? The answer is really simple: Vulgarity, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. When Serena Williams obliges an ESPN publication by posing in the nude (Good heavens, Serena Williams of all people!) it is vulgar according to the Tennis Federation. But it is inspirational to herself and to others according to Serena. Who is wrong? Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Was Taj Mahal originally a Palace?
He has collected a mass of information from this point of view and has published a book titled Taj Mahal: The True Story. It is not our intention here to speak for or against this view. Our main aim is to bring this view to the general readers who can take decision on their own. Nowhere in any Muslim country a tomb is referred to as a Mahal. Several Europeans and Muslim writers refer to it as Taj – e - Mahal because it was previously famous as Tejo Mahalaya. As it was a temple, Shahjahan and Aurangazeb have avoided the use of the name and refer it as a holy tomb or grave. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: The Golden Hour and a Golden Era
Very often we lose accident victims because there is much delay in reaching the patients to the safety of a hospital or in making available to them the trained personnel and basic life saving equipment on board an ambulance. Like the dictum that says “Justice delayed is justice denied”, in the field of medicine too “medical care delayed is medical care denied”. Reaching a good hospital often serves no purpose if you do not reach there in time. In medical parlance, there is what is called the “Golden Hour”, which is the crucial time during which accident victims must receive appropriate first aid if they have to survive or even fully recover their physical and mental functions. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: Kubera, Treasurer of the Gods
Kubera, the pot - bellied king of Yakshas is a close relative of the Rakshasas and ruler of the northern direction in Vaastu Shastra. Kubera is not worshipped today as he once was in ancient India. So popular was he that even after the rise of Buddhism and Jainism, he remained a part of their mythology as guardian and fertility gods such as Manibhadra. Hindu, Jain and Buddhist stories are full of Yakshas who tell puzzles and cause trouble. Read On

T. J. S. George: Hail the All – American World!
Even at the height of its superpower omnipotence, it was not the military - economic might that really gave America the power it wielded. Arms were just the icing. The cake was the cultural hold America established over the hearts and minds of people across the world through music and cinema, education and books, food and drinks and glamorous drugs, jeans and T - shirts and brandnames and the thousand tantalising ingredients of pop culture. Read On

Circus is our home
A circus is a traveling company of performers. It includes acrobats, clowns, animals, trapeze acts, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt - oriented artistes. The word also describes the performance that they give, which is usually a series of acts that are choreographed to music. A circus is held in an oval or circular arena called a ring with tiered seating around its edge; in the case of traveling circuses this location is most often a large tent called the big top. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: A Kannada Minister in Tamil Kingdom
Movement of scholars, poets, saints, merchants and others from one linguistic area to another is commonly seen in our history. At this distance of time it may not be possible to say with certainty whether such movements and migrations were unwelcome. But from the extant records and literary works it appears that they were not opposed and were welcome and even praised for their contribution to the migrated land. Read On

T. J. S. George: Why the Cat and Mouse Show?
As Mr. Hardy would have sternly told Mr. Laurel: "Well, there's another nice mess you've gotten me into." Except that Manmohan Singh and associates are not doing a Laurel and Hardy show. It's more like a cat and mouse show. India, rising economic power and IT giant, looks today like a cornered mouse being teased and taunted by a gang of sadistic cats. Consider the fine mess. America's military boss reports that growing Indian influence in Afghanistan is a problem because it will invite Pakistani counter - measures. Washington is finalising an aid package to beat all previous aid packages to Pakistan. To Indian protests that American-supplied weapons are used by Pakistan against India as Musharraf testified, America replies that Musharraf is a private citizen. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Austerity?! Enough Please
Keeping politicians looking austere is an expensive business. In an interview, famous film - maker David Lean mentions how the first Indian Prime Minister Nehru told him that though Gandhiji traveled simple, they had to have a separate carriage for him to house a goat as Gandhiji drank only goat's milk because the poor in India drank only goat's milk. All this cost a fortune. In fact, Freedom Fighter Sarojini Naidu, who was known for wit and humour, famously said in public "It costs a lot to keep Gandhi poor!" Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Krishnadevaraya’s Dasara
The entire arena of Dasara was so vast and far flung, Domingo Paes was provided a horse to go around. He states that to look at various sights he had to turn right and left so often that he had to fall from the horseback out of giddiness! Ultimately his conclusion is that the entire ten-day programme of Krishnadevaraya's Dasara was marked by richness of gold and precious stones, decorated horses, elephants, acrobatics, wrestlers, young dancing girls and hence pomp, pomp and pomp everywhere. The Dasara of later dynasties is nothing but an imitation of the same with suitable changes. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: The Dasara of my childhood days
The arrival of Dasara used to be a much awaited affair over many weeks in every household all over the city. Since it was an extravaganza exclusive to Mysore, it used to be the privilege of Mysoreans to host the event by sending out postcards well in advance inviting friends and relatives from far and near to come over for the event. Almost every household used to have some guests for Dasara and my maternal grandfather’s house where I had been left to pursue my studies was no exception. Read On

T. J. S. George: YSR & the problem with Empires
By every Indian standard, N. T. Rama Rao and M. G. Ramachandran were mass heroes of a kind that Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy could never be. The succession battles following their passing were ugly, but relieved by a semblance of ethics. Chandrababu Naidu mounted what looked like a family feud primarily to save his father – in - law’s reputation from the clutches of Lakshmi Parvathi who suddenly surfaced to claim the late patriarch’s mantle. MGR had a legal wife to claim his mantle, but everyone knew that the politically innocent Janaki was propped up only to block Jayalalitha, the political heir. The gritty heir prevailed in that war. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Saligrama, the Sacred Deity
Salagrama, also called Saligrama is a sacred stone of unique character. Though it has a scientific explanation, its origin is shrouded in puranas and legends of great antiquity. Salagramas are found in almost all the important Mutts, temples and traditional homes. Salagrama is a village on the banks of the river Gandaki in the Himalayas. Sage Vishwamitra's son Salakayana had the darshan of Vishnu in a Sala tree in his house and hence the village came to be called Salagrama. It is also the name of a type of stone available in the Himalayas and Nepal, mostly on the banks of Gandaki River. The Gandaki River is an ancient river referred to in puranas and Mahabharatha. Its sacred nature has been described in Mahabharatha. Sri Krishna, Bhima, Arjuna and others are said to have crossed this river during their journey. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Death Traps
We as a people are never proactive and are only selectively reactive. The so - called “saviour – mobs” who protest against women going to pubs and denim pants would get a little more acceptance if they directed the same blind - fury towards badly constructed roads that kill people, open government manholes that kill children and unscientific speed breakers that break heads. People in India have an obsession when it comes to saving even at the cost of their life or for that matter someone else’s. The very fact that people break dividers to cut across the road and drive up one - way streets to save 200 mts worth of petrol shows how irresponsible we are. No wonder we are probably the only nation where there is a Traffic cop right under a traffic light. Read On

T. J. S. George: Point of view of Desire, Logic and Social Conscience
The Buddha describes lust / desire as the origin of suffering. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad states point - blank that a person consists of desires. For Manu, desire is one of humankind’s ten vices. Every source of wisdom warns us against desire, greed, avarice, the craving for more and more. Yet, desire drives us. The latest example of this is cricket star Harbhajan Singh driving an unlicensed Hummer vehicle in Chandigarh. It may seem like a minor matter, but it is a symptom of what seems to have become a national trait — the arrogance of money. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Jurist Vijnaneshwara of Karnataka
That there was corruption during the period is hinted by Vijnanesvara. If the juries acted with bias or received bribe they were to be fined. In case a Minister or an officer accepted a bribe and delivered judgment they should be fined one thousand gold coins and the king himself should deliver judgment. Thus Vijnanesvara made a deep impact on Hindu judicial system. Read On

Interview: Man behind the “Maharaajas”
Since it's a Mysore team, should the team be ion Mysore? Wouldn’t it make Mysoreans more interested? What happens is, Mysore region has had a tradition from the beginning. By following that tradition, everyone knows that this is our team. Now we have a troupe that goes from taluk to taluk chanting “Mysore Maharaajas ki jai! Adu namma teamu”. They come saying that they are our team. I am putting up hoardings everywhere — 32 hoardings, each representing a player. I'm putting up hoardings in Mandya, Mysore, Bangalore, Madikeri at taluk headquarters. So people will show interest and come. It will also encourage their family and friends to participate. Read On

Vikram Muthanna: KPL: Wadiyar speaks his mind
Karnataka is the first to come up with KPL, when others could also have done it. Was this your idea or did you have any assistance? No, I will never say that it is my idea. It is something we decided with the company who got the tender for stadium rights, the Frontier Group. They came up with the idea initially and someone mentioned it to me at the office. I told them to put it before the respective committees. And if the members approve, I have absolutely no objection at all to this form of the game. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: A Unique Tribute to a Teacher
But very sadly, most often our teachers never get the share of our tributes that is their rightful due. However, it is good that one day in our calendar is marked as Teachers’ Day as it helps us all to remember from time to time that we should recall the role of our teachers in moulding and shaping our personalities, our careers and our lives. But as we all prepare to pay our debt of well earned and well deserved gratitude to all the members of the teaching fraternity tomorrow by observing Teachers’ day, somewhere in the heart of rural Tamil Nadu a group of students is all set to say ‘thank you, sir’ to one of their school teachers in a very unique way. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Legends of Thiruvalluvar
Ever since our Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa decided to install a statue of Thiruvalluvar in Bangalore and accomplished it with great success in spite of some opposition, most people are wondering as to who this Thiruvalluvar was. The print and electronic media have given maximum publicity to this event due to their own reasons. Most people have satisfied themselves by understanding Thiruvalluvar as a counterpart of Sarvajna. Read On

Decoding Hindu Mythology: Layers of the Hindu World
Since Hindus believe in rebirth, there are ample opportunities to enter Devlok, but stay there is temporary, limited by the balance of equity of past deeds in one's karmic account. When this runs out, one is out of Devlok. The good news is, stay in Patallok is also temporary. By doing good deed, one can move up to a higher realm of more happiness and lesser work. Thus a Deva can become an Asura and an Asura can become a Deva. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Hungry Nation is Angry Nation
At the present rate, it is only a matter of time before our political class' greed for land and power will render this nation hungry. Mahatma Gandhiji said India lives in her villages but thanks to the urban India's greed for land, India today is dying in her villages. Let's not forget every time a farmer goes hungry or commits suicide, we in the cities too are a step closer to hunger and chaos. Read On

T. J. S. George: BJP etc: The death of ideology
First, the BJP was the only national formation that rose to challenge the Congress which inherited its all - India mantle from the independence movement. For our nascent democracy, the two - party choice was bad enough given the country’s size and diversity. It grew worse when one of them developed into a family oligarchy and the other pursued a communal divide – and - rule policy. The worst may happen now if the challenger leaves the arena and the voter is left with a choice of one. That will put us on par not with China but North Korea, for though China has a one - party system, it has no family rule. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Lurking death and Appalling Apathy
What makes this a very sad event is that while Swine Flu is not easily preventable with the technology available to us as of today, Dengue fever and the high mortality that it carries can be thwarted a great deal if citizens and civic authorities wake up to the danger and act. While some awareness about its mode of spread and prevention have been disseminated from time to time whenever there have been sporadic outbreaks, nothing seems to have been done as a continuous and sustained effort to curtail its deadly march. On the contrary, we seem to be doing everything possible to facilitate its spread. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: King Kaun
It seems like Shahrukh Khan, aka King Khan was upset because the official treated him with a “King Kaun?” attitude. In fact, he joked that when he was asked to come into a room for a more detailed questioning, “For a second I thought I was going to be accorded VIP treatment.” Jokes apart, we are sure for a moment our Bollywood Badshah must have actually thought that he would be getting a Police escort to the performance venue like he gets here often. Moreover, recently he was also voted one of the most influential people in the world by America’s top news magazine “Newsweek”. So Shahrukh must have for a moment had a rude shock when he was actually being questioned like a suspect. Read On

The Prophet and the Poet: A Review
The play starts with Tagore's voice — he reciting "jana gana mana" written by him and the National Anthem of India — a thrilling experience indeed. The experience continues by the instrumental music of “Raghupati Raghava Rajaram” a very favourite bhajan of the Mahatma and musically composed by the great vocalist of India — late D. V. Paluskar. I remember having heard by my father that Pandit Paluskar had the capacity of playing just eight lines for more than an hour singing with many spontaneous novel varieties to the delight of the Mahatma. He has also composed memorable compositions like “Payoji maine raamaratana paayo”, “Vaishnava jana to tene kahie” and other bhajans of saints of North India. Any meeting in Sabarmati Ashram started by his vocal music. Read On

T. J. S. George: BJP’s gift to Jinnah: A New Life
All monolithic organisations feed on their collective myths. For the BJP - RSS ideology, survival depends on establishing Jinnah and Pakistan as evils. To allow any dilution of this doctrine will be like the Vatican allowing Catholics to question the infallibility of the Pope or, for that matter, the Congress Party allowing its members to question the infallibility of Sonia Gandhi. Certain divinities must remain divinities. Or they’ll collapse. Read On

Shwetha Pangannaya: The unseen hands behind Ganesha idols
Once upon a time, Ganesha Chaturthi was just a festival like any other in Indian households celebrated with enthusiasm and reverence. Then freedom fighter and social reformer Bal Gangadhar Tilak gave the festival a patriotic and mass flavour by giving a call to celebrate it in public. Thus Ganesha Chaturthi became the most widely celebrated festival where people of all castes participated without cultural and traditional restrictions. Read On

T. J. S. George: From Mount Rajiv to Rajiv Rajya
It is the eternal, inviolable Law of Democracy: You serve the people meaningfully, they will reward you with votes; you fool the people, they will bide their time to punish you. This law was dramatically in evidence in this year’s election. Congress gained significantly because it was seen actively promoting a programme that helped jobless masses — the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). It was not politics, but service. Alas, it is now going to be politics. Recognising the voter appeal of the programme, State Government leaders began exploiting what was a hundred percent Centrally sponsored scheme. Mayawati has launched a campaign in UP with her portrait in all publicity material — as though it is her idea and her implementation. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Swine Flu need not scare you
There is a passing reference in the report that the government is likely to consider awarding of financial compensation to the family members of the victim which is likely to open a Pandora’s Box and churn up a very big controversy. Since the epidemic is likely to remain active for some more weeks or even months and claim some more victims in the process, the question that arises here is whether the government will be capable of doling out similar sums to all the affected families? Read On

Bhamy V. Shenoy: "Tryst with destiny speech of Nehru: But where is my freedom?”
As we celebrate our 63rd Independence Day, it is time for us to reflect upon the kind of freedom we have in our city. When we look at those unfortunates who live below the poverty line (often forgotten people excepting during the election times), do they have the luxury of celebrating it? Do they even know what it is to be free? When 30% to 40% Mysoreans are enjoying Independence Day holiday, those street shop owners, street cart vendors, daily wage earners, and many such cannot take a day off. If they do not earn even on Independence Day, their families will go hungry that day. How many of us follow the advice given by Mahatma Gandhi during the freedom struggle that we need to look into the eyes of the poorest of the poor and ask ourselves how we are helping them through our programmes? How many are really helped by NREGS which is supposed to provide employment to the poor? Read On

T. J. S. George: Our Poverty + Their Wealth = India
Why have the many governments of India allowed the poverty of India to continue as a humiliating spectacle? The main reason must be that our politicians were busy with other things. When they did talk of poverty, it was only for purposes of gimmickry. Indira Gandhi sold the slogan "Garibi hatao," won elections — and that was that. In his otherwise insubstantial book After Nehru, Who? American author Welles Hangen wrote in 1963 what is true to this day. "The tragedy of India," he said, "is not poverty, but the mentality that accepts, even condones, poverty." That mentality persists. When a film depicting the horrors of Indian poverty wins Oscars in Hollywood, we protest against foreigners looking only at the negative side of India. We don’t do anything about eliminating the negative side. In fact, we, too, try to profit from it by starting "slum tourism" in Dharavi. Read On

K. Rathna: Who Let the Dogs out….
"Oh, my God, I can’t forget that day in my life. When I was casually walking on the road for my tuition, suddenly a stray dog attacked me. I ran madly as it continued to chase me. Somehow, I managed to reach home safely. Even today I am afraid to walk on that road. Now, I have changed my route to the tuition classes," recalled Yashwanth, a student in Yadavagiri. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Krishnadevaraya’s 500th Year of Coronation
Five hundred years ago and to be precise, the first week of August 1509 AD, there was a lot of activity at the Vijayanagara royal Palace in Hampi. Elaborate preparations were being made for the coronation of Krishnadevaraya, son of Narasanayaka. The latter had four sons by different wives and they were Narasimha, Krishnadevaraya, Achyuta and Sriranga. Krishnadevaraya's mother was Nagaladevi, in whose memory, the town Nagalapura was established later. Krishnadevaraya is believed to have been born in 1487 AD either on Krishna Janmastami or closer to that day and hence he was given the name Krishnadevaraya. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: UID: Will it work?
My name is Kaliyatanda Vikram Muthanna, well my passport says so. But my father’s name is spelt as Kaliatanda Ganapathy and my brother’s name as Kalyatanda Bopanna. Same family name spelt differently in three passports. This is just a small example of how clerical errors creep in a very important identification document in India. Now considering that in our nation attention to detail is as casual as our attitude towards hygiene, it makes us wonder how the new and rather ambitious Unique Identification (UID) project will do. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh at least seems very serious and sincere about it, like he is towards all his projects. But is he being realistic? Read On

Expert’s views on Gas Pricing dispute between Ambani Brothers
The legal and now political battle being waged by Ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil, regarding Krishna Godavari (KG) gas reserves, has now become daily news, thanks to questions asked in the Parliament. When North and West of India are getting the benefits of all this gas, no one from the South is taking part in this debate. When they are demanding gas be charged at a low price of 2.34 dollars, we in South may well remember that when we get gas we will end up paying international price which could be as high as 17 dollars based on last year's prices. This involves subsidies of not just a few dollars, but billions of dollars to the North and the South will end up supporting this. Where are our big time politicians? asks Dr. Bhamy Shenoy, who has over 30 years of experience in the international oil sector. Read On

T. R. Dakshina Murthy: Keep Tourist Spots Sparkling - An Australian Experience
Gaganachukki and Bharachukki falls in Shivanasamudra continue to be dry. However, even the view point at the falls is in pathetic condition. It shows how we are maintaining the beautiful tourist centres in our country. The lack of basic necessities at our famous tourist spots which are frequented by a large number of our countrymen and foreign tourists is a matter of shame. In contrast, in Australia, even a small attractive piece of land with a small lake, a waterfall or an old monument is converted into a beautiful tourist centre or picnic area. The government provides all basic necessities to the tourists who frequent these places. Read On

T. J. S. George: What makes beautiful women beautiful?
Leela Naidu was of course an extraordinarily beautiful woman. It was not the Aishwarya Rai kind of beauty. Its brilliance was not wholly, or even mainly, physical. It emanated from, and was embellished by the beauty of an active, comprehending mind. That was what made Maharani Gayatri Devi beautiful even at 90. That's what makes Nandita Das or Arundati Roy or Mallika Sarabhai stand out in a crowd. That — and not Mallika Sherawat — is the reason for the poetic proclamation that "beauty is truth, and truth beauty." The best of them know that what they are born with must make them grateful, not boastful. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: A Friendly British Officer
A group of Europeans came to India with the intention of trade in which British became successful. Because of the weakness and disunity of Indians, they entertained political ambitions and again became successful in this too. No doubt these merchants were highly adventurous and hard working but they lacked moral and ethical principles so as to attract criticism even from their own countrymen and the queen had to supersede the East India Company and take over the administration through a Viceroy. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Old Horse and a Thoroughbred
The old horse Muzzafar Baig might have thought Omar was just a one trick pony who could be bullied and done away with, but he must remember, and he will now, that Omar is a thoroughbred stallion of politics. Politics is in his genes, three generations of it. He might be young and many may say he is inexperienced and is having teething trouble, but now that he has outmaneuvered the PDP’s old horse, he just might chew through his troubles. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: The Passing Away of an Era and a Princess
She was also one of the most photographed personalities and our own T. S. Satyan has done much justice both to her beauty and to his own talent. He too says that among all the persons he has photographed she was the most beautiful and has dedicated a full chapter: "The Maharani at the Hustings" to her in his autobiography, "Alive and Clicking". In fact he was the first person I telephoned this morning for some inputs when I decided to write this article. Read On

T. J. S. George: Must End - Users end up as Fools?
In 1994 in the wake of the Bhopal gas tragedy, we allowed Union Carbide boss Anderson to walk free. Indian law was rendered toothless. In 1995 after a foreign aircraft dropped arms in the remote area of Purulia, five Latvian and one British crew were finally sentenced. But all of them were given executive pardon and allowed to go home. Will the American system allow any such leniency to jailed fashion designer Anand Jon who is widely believed to have been framed by business rivals in Los Angeles? Six decades after independence, we are still to learn how to stand up for our dignity. Read On

T. J. S. George: The CPM's Last Hurrah
Perhaps we need not be surprised that the CPM is being driven by a death - wish. Perhaps the CPM should die away so that a genuine, progressive Left movement can take shape in India. It is written that destruction precedes creation. Kerala, more than West Bengal, demonstrates the lethal certainty of the death-wish. For it is in Kerala that the CPM has turned against itself with devastating effect. In Bengal, it is the people who turned against the CPM - the result of three decades of terror rule. That it was indeed ruled by terror, the world is only now beginning to learn. Read On

Dr. Manik Bengeri: Gangubai Hanagal: A Guiding Star
Many singers change their style of singing as per the changing times but Gangubai is perhaps the only one amongst few to maintain the tradition of classical singing and Khyaal gayaki. No doubt a big vacuum has been created by her death but she has lived her full life and contributed a lot to the music field, which will remain a big treasure forever. She was a true guiding star. Her achievements were many but my big achievement was to know her, meet her several times and get inspired at every time in a different way. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: The Emperor and the Nightingale
The title of my article today is bound to remind some people about the fairy tale of the same name which is a very touching story of how a Chinese emperor once fell sick and was about to die of depression, after the nightingale which used to enthrall him every morning with its song, flew away. It flew away heartbroken because someone presented the emperor with a toy bird that also sang when wound up with a key and he began to love it more since he could make it sing at his will. Read On

A Tribute to Gangubai Hanagal
One of her grand daughters was going to be married to a young man from Mysore, a photographer. Gangubai remarked that Mysore had remained a quiet place unlike Bangalore, which had become so large that one had to spend Rs. 60 on an auto rickshaw merely to go from one place to another. Even Hubli had become too large. The new broad gauge platform at Hubli was so long that once or twice she had not been able to board the train. On one occasion a taxi driver had offered to take her to her destination before the train she had missed had reached there provided she paid Rs. 300 and he had been as good as his word. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Music: Balm for Mind, Body and Soul
I was hooked on to western music and guitar became the new instrument that had won my affection. I played the cassette almost everyday and once an elderly professor who had come home, heard the music from my room and later confronted me saying "Enappa, English haade? Raaga illa, Thala illa, sumne kugkothare" (What is this child, this English music has no raga, no proper beat and they simply scream loudly). Then he cheekily added, "Modern boy, modern music ahh?" Soon I picked up a guitar but unfortunately did not find a good teacher. I stuck to what I could play by ear. I still play the guitar but of course, as you can see, I didn't get very far with it professionally. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Alwars: Flowers of Vaishnavism
The most important character of the Alwars is that at the height of Vedic orthodoxy, they made no distinction of caste or sex and thus appear to be quite modern in this concept. One was a Vellala, another belonged to mleccha or thief's profession, one was a Harijan, and only three were Brahmins while the precise caste of the other four is not known. Above all one is a woman. But all were equal in stature in divine love and not distinguished on any other count. Read On

S. R. Krishna Murthy: Veene
Mysore is synonymous with many things. Be it Mysooru Mallige (Jasmine), Chigurele (betel leaf used in pan) or Eranagere Badane kayi (Brinjal) and so on. But one thing stands above all these, the grace of veena playing (Veeneya Bedagu). Read On

T. J. S. George: Why Rs. 1417030000000 Won't save us
A gentleman like A. K. Antony would be unaware of such goings - on, let alone be party to them. But the innocence of leaders like him only helps the crooks who operate unseen. This ground reality adversely affects the quantity and quality of our military purchases and therefore of our capability to counter a hostile neighbour or an invading terrorist group. Unless this problem is addressed and solved, one followed by all the zeroes in the world won't help us. Read On

Dr. M. Renuka: Sibling Rivalry - A Universal Phenomenon Why brother fights brother...
You aren't really a parent until you have had your second child. In today's scenario of nuclear families and working parents, sibling rivalry is no news to anyone. Sibling rivalry simply refers to jealousy among off springs who are reluctant to share the parental love with a brother or a sister. Constant fighting, putting downs, arguing and comparisons among children are the causes of sheer frustration and concern for most parents. Read On

Bharat Shetty Barkur: A Tribute to K. K. Srinivasan
During weekends when time permitted the kid's parents visited Srinivasan's house here and then. He always hugged the kid with his trademark tight grip, and the kid smiled supremely. He always asked some questions to check the kid's rational analytical abilities and gave some suggestions to the kid's parents. Mama: Neenu ivattu newspapers odideya (in Kannada)? Did you read newspapers today? What was the major news that you read (in English)? The kid, confused by the sudden change of languages, stared baffled at his mother, who asked him to repay attention to Mama. Kid: Are you asking something about the newspapers? (In Kannada). Mama: Smart guy, you should try and learn English slowly and try to reply in English (in Kannada). Kid: Will try. Mama: No trying, you can do it. The kid grows up and manages to confound his parents by his sustained consistent academic performances at school and finally enters the college. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Confessions of a Chocoholic
When I was younger, my favourite sweet was "kadle mitai  (peanut candy). A sweet candy where each peanut is coated with thick sugar which comes only in two colours, red and white. I loved it and even better, I could afford it. It was two rupees for a paper cone full. But as I grew up, I was introduced to Cadburys eclairs when a classmate distributed it on her birthday. Then came the divine Chocolate fudges of Kapali stores. Since then I have been addicted to chocolates. I eat them as I drive to work; while at work, after lunch and finally I have just a little piece before I go to bed. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Mylara - A Unique Deity
Mylara, Mylari, Mylarappa, Mylari Rao etc., are some of the popular names in Karnataka and parts of Maharashtra even today. In my college days, there used to be an excellent English professor Mylari Rao at Maharaja's College, Mysore, whose thousands of students are spread not only all over Karnataka but even abroad. In recent years, Mylari Hotel has become famous for tasty and crispy dosas. That is a different matter. Read On

T. J. S. George: Spectacular Music, Spectacular Wreck
Marriages and divorces, children from hired wombs, plastic surgeries one after another, chemical treatments to make his black skin white, sleeping in coffins, dangling a baby from the balcony, and the man was a psychological wreck. And the drugs. They ve calculated that he was taking drugs worth 24 lakh rupees every month. There was no food intake. What the post-mortem revealed was a skeleton sustained by narcotics. And an accumulated debt of nearly 3000 crore rupees. What is the use of fame? What is life worth if it gives you the whole world, but not one day s peace of mind? The biggest truth revealed by Michael Jackson s death is a truth all of us know but few of us accept: Money cannot buy happiness. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Kittel, the Doyen of Kannada Dictionary
Kittel studied ancient Kannada works which were written on palm leaf (not yet printed) in a short time. He also learnt Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Tulu and Sanskrit. The missionaries normally learnt the local languages so that they can mingle with the local people and explain the tenets of Christianity to them. But Kittel's study of Kannada took him beyond Christianity and thus he distinguished himself as a Kannada scholar. However, he had to fulfill his obligation as a missionary and hence he wrote many books in Kannada relating to Christianity. He also wrote many Kannada songs in praise of Christ. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Let s Get Sporty
As they get older, they stick to a sport not to be the best in the world but to get government jobs under sports quota. The only way India is going to ever get sporty is when they have an audience and a few officials with honesty and vision. And, of course, we must encourage local talent by going to the venue and watching a match or a sport live. Watching sports only on TV will only narrow our love for games. Don t let television dictate what you love and what you don t. Get out, go to the field and see and feel for yourself, you just might love the agility of hockey and the hyper athleticism of basketball. Read On

T. J. S. George: How we smashed a Jewel
What a pathetic plight Air - India has reached. It's become the first Government - owned company that is unable to pay salaries. The Unions blame the Government and insist on their privileges. Which means the irresistible force of business economics is in head - on collision with the immovable object of employee resistance. Disaster beckons. Public sympathy is unlikely to be with Air - India. For one thing, it has been unpopular with passengers for many years. The reasons range from unreliable timings to on-board discrimination against Indians. In the Gulf sector, where it maintained a lucrative monopoly for as long as it could, its ill - treatment of passengers on delayed flights had become a scandal. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Michael Jackson Music and Madness
But then, what kind of parents send their child for a sleep - over in a 40  year - old, single man s house? That too, a 40  year - old black man who has turned himself into a 30  year - old white woman? If Michael is accused of child abuse, then the parents who sent their children to his house should be guilty too. But Michael Jackson s real issue began when he started to change his persona from being a cute African American 11  year - old boy singing catchy tunes, to a single white female and finally to an alien like creature. So was Michael Jackson trying to become Caucasian? Did he think he would be more accepted throughout the world if he was white? Well, if he did think it and if that s why he got his skin grafted, it worked considering that Michael Jackson was, and still is, one of the most loved musicians in Europe in a time when some European countries were still racist. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Mudduraja and Alamanda Doddavva
History of Kodagu is a fascinating chapter in the history of Karnataka because of its geography, people, coffee estates, sportsmen and military Generals. Recently, I was reading a book on the history of Kodagu by a great Kodava D. N. Krishnayya. This bulky book reads like a novel with anecdotes collected from the local people. These folktales have been now elevated to the position of oral history. One or two such stories attracted my attention. The author has based his work mostly on the source Rajendraname, which narrates the history of Kodagu from 1600 to 1807. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Is our Police Commissioner s post a musical chair?
In asking this question even as another Police Commissioner has just occupied the hot seat, I think I am only voicing the doubt that has no doubt been nagging the minds of most Mysoreans. I am saying this because the impermanence of our Police Commissioner s post even for the minimum three years, which is the unwritten but accepted minimum tenure of every government post, is the topic of discussion at every place where Mysoreans of any importance gather. Read On

T. J. S. George: Our country deserves a Rightist party, a Centrist party and a Leftist party
The overwhelming difference between this election and every previous election is the change in the character of the electorate. Times have changed and people have changed for a variety of reasons, economic liberalisation, the emergence of an affluent middle class, the spread of internet and the civilisational shifts in attitudes it has brought about, the rise of youth power, popular disgust with political corruption, a growing tendency to hold rulers accountable. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Emerson: The Boston Brahmin
Emerson died in 1882 at the age of 79 at Concord and unprecedented number of admires paid homage to this great friend, guide and philosopher. The church bell tolled 79 times to mark his 79th year. I had the good fortune of visiting both Boston and Concord about fifty years ago. Emerson is no longer with us today but he will remain in our minds for ever. A great historian has said: "Emerson had all the wisdom and spirituality of Brahmins and perhaps he was the best Brahmin outside India." Most Brahmins are so by birth but Emerson was a true Brahmin by culture. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: By George! This is too Good to be true
When I picked up the Star of Mysore last Tuesday, very late in the night, after a really hard day s work, I was pleasantly surprised to see a note from the editor at the lower right hand side of the front page announcing that the very popular column Point of View  by T. J. S. George would henceforth be a regular weekly feature in Star of Mysore. Incidentally, when a man is smiling and when he has a drink in his hand it is only a matter of time before secrets begin tumbling out! Although I have shared K. B. Ganapathy's smile often, I have never ventured to share his drink despite much persuasion from him. When it comes to praising the virtues of wine he has no equal but thankfully he has not made any headway with me. Once I got away by telling him that I was in no need of his wine since I had my wife by my side! Read On

M. Ashwini Kumar: Is cash withdrawals from ATM a boon or bane?
Finally I got Unable to process, Transaction Denied  slip. I tried at the other ATM of ICICI bank in the same booth, only to get Transaction Denied slip again. As advised by the security guard, present at that time, to try again in the first machine, if I get the same type of response not to try further. So I got the same type of response from the ATM. Finally I was left with three Transaction Denied Slips. Next day, say 31st May 2009 around 8 am I withdrew a cash of Rs. 5000 successfully and got the print out slip of balance. To my surprise, I found the balance cash in my account was less by Rs 10,000 instead of Rs 5000. Read On

Akhila Mithanthaya: Greeting Grandma in our midst
Thayamma sits at the T - junction behind Dasprakash Paradise in Yadavagiri where she spends most of her time greeting, wishing and waving at passersby. She takes bath in one of the quarters there, thanks to some kindhearted residents. She has her first meal of the day, which comprises of bun and milk at the nearby bakery. People in the locality are so concerned about her that they panic if they do not see her for a day. Thayamma stays there till four or five in the evening during which many passersby offer her food, clothes, money, fruits, etc. In fact, she is now an expected fixture behind Dasprakash Paradise. She is addressed by many as the Hello Ajji  as she keeps wishing everybody. Read On

T. J. S. George: Point of View: Diffident US Vs Combative Them
By any standard, the violence against Indian students in Australia is nasty business. What lends an astonishing edge to it is the Indian Government s routine, pedestrian, unfeeling handling of it. Indeed, non - assertiveness seems to be a characteristic of the Manmohan - Sonia leadership. By contrast, Australia took a combative position. First, Police bosses remained almost indifferent, refusing to see any racial angle in the repeated attacks on Indian students. At the political level, high-ranking leaders chose to express themselves against violence in general terms while declaring Australia as "the safest country in the world" for students. Read On

S. R. Krishna Murthy: The string sings from the City
Rajiv Taranath, internationally acclaimed performer, is undoubtedly in the top echelon of the exponents of music today. A distinguished Sarod player, disciple of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, can take his audience to the higher realms of traditional music with imagination and intensity. Turning 78 in October next, he has ultimately chosen Mysore as his residence, much to the delight of the music fraternity and his innumerable friends. He feels that, the Sarod, his chosen media, can bring out the inner feelings and beauty of a Raga. Read On

Nireekshe - A School for Special Kids
Teaching a special child  needs special skills and a lot of patience. Moreover, it is not possible for any teachers to impart teaching to these children but they need to be specially trained. There are very few schools in Mysore city to provide such extra care. Nireekshe is one such school in city that has been in the forefront of providing education to special kids  making all possible efforts to make them lead normal lives. Nireekshe, a school for special children and slow learners was started by Hema Malini Krupakar with the sole intention of serving such children in and around Mysore. Now the school is run by Kripanidhi Foundation Trust. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: No Pain, No Gain
"Will my child be able to read and understand his lessons painlessly if I buy him the concentration enhancing goggles that are being advertised on TV." "Can the body armour that is shown there improve my child's posture and personality?" "Will I be able to get rid of all the spare tyres around my middle with the help of the vibrator belt that is being sold at all the exhibitions I visit?" "Will I be able to say good- bye to my diabetes and blood pressure if I start wearing the bracelet that is available by post?" I am writing this article because as a practicing doctor I am invariably asked questions like these by at least one patient every day. Read On

Vikram Muthanna: Road Vs Tree
It s the Road Vs Tree debate again. To cut or not to cut. In the last couple of days, everyone from NGOs to government officers, to politicians have jumped on the issue of widening the Narasimharaja Boulevard. I would like to air my opinion too, considering that I travel on that road 4 times a day and have been doing so for the past 4 years. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: The Story of an Unborn  Report
Some political parties and some prominent men complained to the President of the country that religious conversions were going on in the country and asked him to intervene in the matter before the problem became serious. The President sent for sociologists, anthropologists and historians and asked their opinion in the matter. They showed him the census reports which were educative in character which had projection of population growth, poverty, sex ratio and other details. The President was happy and asked the concerned Minister to appoint an officer for this job. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Racism? We don t have it, but we have.....
Indian students in Australia have been targets of racism. But is it really racism or just a bunch of thugs taking advantage of the weak and the docile? Indian students have been harassed there for a while now. My brother who went to study in Australia came back after his first semester saying All they want is our money, not us . So why do students go to Australia and other countries to study in the first place? Is it because in our country also there is discrimination? Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Centenary of Arthasastra s Publication
One fine morning in 1905, he picked up palm leaf manuscript from a heap. He examined this palm leaf and was pleasantly surprised to know that it was a work on Arthasastra or administration written by an author called Kautilya, Chanakya or Vishnugupta before the dawn of Christian era. Some people thought that it must have been a hoax: others looked at this with suspicion; but the introduction written by Shamasastry in 1909 giving the details of the author and its authenticity convinced that it was a genuine literary wonder of the ancient world. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Heroic Maratha Tarabai
Even her adversary Khafi Khan had a word of praise for Tarabai. She was the only lady capable of taking over 6 provinces of the Moghul Empire, a great feat indeed!  Another eye witness recorded: Marathas became dominant over the area because of Tarabai . Another Muslim historian wrote: The Maratha leaders and their troops with great confidence ushered in by Tarabai cowed Moghul commandos and inspired fear in them. At present Marathas move under her command showing no fear of any Moghul troops . Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: The Terrific  Signs
The incoming Bangalore - Mysore road is the road taken by almost every one who happens to visit our city and one can imagine what kind of confusion it may be causing to the visitors. Leaving aside the commoners like you and me, I wonder why no one from the Police top brass or the political bigwigs has noticed this situation. Is it because they move at such a fast pace, enjoying the immunity from traffic rules that their position offers, that they have no time to take in roadside trivia such as this? Read On

Pattabhi Jois: A Tribute
Jois considered yoga to be a form of mind medicine: Ashtanga yoga is helping many people throughout the world to balance the mental, physical and spiritual pressures and stresses posed by the modern world we live in today . Pattabhi Jois is the author of two books Yoga Mala  and Surya Namaskar . A book, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois: A Tribute , chronicling his introduction and lifetime dedication to yoga was published in 2002. As a tribute to his achievements, the Triyoga centre in Primrose Hill, North London, issued a statement saying: Guruji was much loved for his heart, his smile, his humour and his devotion, both to his family and to Ashtanga yoga . Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Indian influence on Tibet
Exactly fifty years ago, His Holiness Dalai Lama came to India in exile after the Chinese aggression of Tibet. From then on, the fourteenth religious leader of Tibet has been living in India hoping to get back to his motherland when the congenial atmosphere sets in there. Actually, Dalai Lama is not a personal name but it denotes the exalted position like Shankaracharya, Jeeyar, Jagadguru etc. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: The Subway Muddle
Only very recently I wrote about a book I read about successful Sikhs abroad, written by a much younger namesake of Khushwant Singh, one of our most well - known writers. Just a couple of days ago I picked up the latest offering of the real Khushwant Singh, the title of which seems to be co - incidentally in tune and in time with our election results. It is called Why I Supported the Emergency  and since our election results have been a very successful Italian Job , the book may sell and even gel well with the readers. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Return of the Yuvaraj
Sonia Gandhi took over the party in 1998, seven years after the death of Rajiv Gandhi. Since then, the Congress party has seen a steady rise in its fortunes in spite of the menacing drag and pull of the multi-layered and multi-faceted regional parties. No wonder the Congress party workers screamed, Our pride Mother India. Our guide Mother Sonia  and, of course now, they have brother  Rahul to add. So why did people vote for Congress? Was it Rahul s dimple or was it the charm of his handsome sister? Was it Rahul's massive campaigning and youth movement? Or was it just that the people are slowly getting tired of small regional parties whose only purpose seems to be that of splitting votes and blackmailing for plum portfolios while hindering development. Read On

K. Rathna: Mango has become dearer
Mango flowering begins usually towards the end of January but this time the flowering took place in November and the fruit ripened early. But unfortunately rains, fog, gusty winds and excessive atmospheric moisture affected the flowering, resulting in powdery mildew, a fungal disease affecting the flowers. This powder - like substance on the flowers prevents fruit formation and even if fruits are formed, they drop off early, resulting in less yield. Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Pre  University Blues
As Prof. Ken Robinson says If you are not prepared to be wrong, you will not come up with anything original  This issue is global but in a PUC - crazy India it is worse. Oh! Yes our students are good. Our education makes them work hard but the question is, can it make us work smart? Will it make us innovators and entrepreneurs? No. So will PUC be a judge of your intelligence? No. Intelligence is dynamic and ever accumulating and growing. So for the smart ones who passed with flying colours, congratulations and for the ones who did badly or failed nothing to worry. There is a long way to go. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: The Manuscript that Frightened the British
It is said that he was not supplied the pen and ink to write and he used a pencil to do his writings. Thus he had prepared a huge number of white sheets using pencil only. He kept all these loose sheets close to him as they were precious to him. Thus legally it was his property in jail. As per the law he should have been allowed to take these pencil written sheets with him when he was released from jail. But it did not happen. The Jail Superintendent told Tilak that these sheets would be sent to him later. Any amount of argument with the jail authorities did not bear fruit. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: A Fine time to forgive and forget
The thing that has to be decided quickly is who to kick and whom to hug and for how much money, although most people with some knowledge of the way our politicians think say that it has all been already decided. It seems all our political parties have worked out all the possible strategies to adopt for all the eventualities that come up tomorrow. For them there will be no surprises but only possibilities with the surprises remaining only for us the voters. Tomorrow is going to be a unique day for all Indians. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Some thoughts on Shoes and Chappals
According to folk belief, beating a person with shoes or chappals brings bad luck to the beater and good luck to the beaten person. That is why the elders in the villages advise not to use chappals or shoe for beating even your enemy. We can verify the veracity of this belief if all these people beaten by chappals get good luck during the recently - concluded elections. Read On

S. Sharath Chandra: Mystic Musings of the Sadhguru
Everything that we see, hear and feel happens within us . It is the individual who comprehends the reality around him. The Sadhguru illustrated this with an example. If there were to be a debate between an owl and a man as to what is daylight, who would be right? To the owl which is awake in the night, the moon would appear like the bright sun, what the man sees in the day. When somebody in the audience cried that both could be right, the Sadhguru replied such an answer was given mostly by diplomats and those who had successful marriages!" Read On

Vikram Muthanna in Black & White: Let s Pay Up
Government services are usually inefficient because most of us are corrupt. The bureaucrats want an ego massage or a cut, the politician wants to favour a particular contractor or get a cut and the citizens want it free or else they steal. Over 50 % of agriculture and domestic consumers in villages steal power through illegal connections. Commercial consumers also indulge in power theft, either by directly hooking up to overhead transmission lines or installing hi - tech remote controls directly to power meters. Meter tampering is another common method of pilfering. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Musings on our Elections
What has been called the Greatest Indian Show by many writers is finally over. But I call it the Greatest Indian Tamasha because it was a Tamasha and nothing more. A Tamasha is any show that is meant to delude and entertain the audience and that is exactly what our elections always have been doing ever since we started having them almost sixty years ago. It is wrong to say that the politicians who were the pioneers of our democracy, whom we all hold in high esteem as its pillars, were a class above our present ones. No, not at all. Most of them too were just as selfish, just as unpatriotic and just as evil as our present day ones. But the only difference was that the magnitude of corruption then was much smaller for the simple reason that they were not as bold and brazen as they are now. Read On

Vikram Muthanna: Touchy!
Before I could finish my greeting, grabbed both my cheeks and pulled them outward like they were made of elastic. I squirmed in awkwardness and pain. She let go but before she left, she gave my cheeks a quick rub, like how doctors do after they have given a painful injection. The rest of the afternoon I stayed away from both the groom and his family. Instead I safely placed myself between my wife and a glass of whiskey. Soon I was feeling better and felt glad that the groom hadn t gone for my butt cheeks instead. Then suddenly I realised how babies and young children felt. Because babies and young children are the most touched and harassed creatures after pets in the world. Read On

P. Manivannan, District Election Officer and Deputy Commissioner, Mysore: Missing Voters: Let s Solve the Problem
The BLOs are normally primary school teachers, water man, bill collector etc. At that level they do not realise the importance of the roll completely. As we all know, quite a number of them are also inefficient, demotivated and do not take the job seriously. Thus deletions at times may not be genuine. One may ask, What are the senior officers doing? And why can t the system be devised in a way that it doesn t allow the subjectiveness of the BLO?  The answer is: The senior officers are so few (1 DC, and 12 senior officers to manage 21 lakh records, that too part time!). Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Manjayya Hegde: A Noble Savant
Karnataka has seen hundreds of Heggades in its long history who have been forgotten. However, the word continues even today as a popular personal name as a suffix. But when the word Heggade is uttered our mind goes to Dharmasthala, a great religious institution of the type of Vatican which is well-known all over the world. Thus the word Heggade and Dharmasthala are inseparable from ancient times. Read On

Vikram Muthanna: Youngistan Meri Jaan
Yes, there are many youngsters who do not care about caste but more about their future, the nation s future, but there is also an equal measure of youngsters, if not more, who believe in the upliftment of their own caste. We pin too much hope on our youngsters, while berating the old brigade. Have you all ever wondered; every time there is a riot you don t see older people burning buses, do you? When Raj Thackeray moved to chase the Biharis we didn t see older people beating up innocent fruit-sellers, did we? Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Tantya Tope: Was he really hanged?
The British were unable to catch Tantya and this caused great resentment in the British circles. Hence they enacted a mock court martial and brought another freedom fighter Narayana Rao Bhagawat. His grandson still has a portrait of this man in his puja room. He states that Narayana Rao sacrificed himself so that Tantya could continue his work against the British. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Tragic end of An Officer and Gentleman 
He was no philosopher but he had put all his faith in the simple belief that in a civilised society all citizens should respect the law and anyone who refused to believe in this truth should be brought to book. His role along with that of his two colleagues, Dharmesh and Puttaswamy Gowda while they served on the Anti- Rowdy Squad in putting an end to the then prevailing Rowdy Raj  was most noteworthy. One hallmark about him was that he was most approachable by anyone in trouble and he would promptly look into the merits of every complaint, big or small, brought before him, following it up with prompt action. Read On

Azlan Shah Cup: Kannadiga Sunil shines despite Father s demise
Sunil received the tragic news through telephone. Already playing in the tourney, he was in a fix whether to rush back to India to participate in the last rites of his father or continue playing. Several players along with the team coach were learnt to have advised Sunil to get back to India. Initially, Sunil too felt he should return and pay his last respects to his dad. On a second thought, he strengthened his mind and preferred to play for the country and thus fulfill his father's ambition. Speaking to media on his arrival at Delhi along with the team, Sunil recalled that his father Vittalacharya gave him a lot of encouragement to play hockey. Playing the game and winning the trophy was paying a tribute to him, observed Sunil. Read On

Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy: Nalanda Educated Tibetan Naropa
One night he was studying a Buddhist text in his monastery and suddenly a female voice accosted him and asked him, Can you read this text?  Naropa was astonished but calmly answered Yes, I can study . Again the female voice asked, Can you understand this text?  This time Naropa really got frightened but with composure replied, Yes, I can understand . The female voice laughed and said Your answer to the first question was true; but your reply to the second question was false. Without the guidance of a Guru you cannot understand any Buddhist text . Naropa felt sorry and remembered his teacher at Nalanda who had asked him to take guidance at the feet of Guru. Read On

Ashvini Ranjan: Swiss Bank deposits our men in white
In this struggle for power no holds are barred. Be it tearing people apart on the grounds of caste and religion or dragging one s reputation into dirt. The latest addition to the arsenal of catching eyeballs is moral policing in the name of championing the sanctity of a religion. This includes beating up of women or breaking up of an evening party and throwing innocent revelers into jails. Anything to create an identity that will win votes. Call them the Indian chapter of the notorious Taliban and the Al Qaeda? Securing a ticket through a recognized party is half the battle won or even more. The other half can be won with the monies stashed away in the Swiss Banks. Read On

Vikram Muthanna: Sole for the Soulless
It is said that "The ink of the scholar is holier than the blood of the martyr." But when the ruling class has lost its sense of guilt, shame, conscience and soul, does the pen really wield that much power and is the martyr s blood still sacred? Though the behavior of Jarnail Singh was wrong, it turned out his shoe finally did what his pen could not. In frustration he gave a little sole to the soulless political clan. Oh! On the down side, thanks to our new flinging Sikh , we journalists just might have to leave our footwear outside when attending a press conference. Read On

Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem: Festivals and Holidays Galore
While this kind of inter-faith interaction may even serve a very important purpose in bringing us all together across the self - imposed divide of hate and mistrust that have become the bane of our society today, I think we Indians are wasting too many precious man - hours or more rightly, person - hours  by having perhaps the highest number of official holidays in our calendar. I do not know of any other country which has as many holidays as we have. Read On