bandhan jo janam janam... mar ke judaa na ho

16... Sweet?

Homeland to Home.... 16. And still counting. Nuff said.

...

me.PRETTY_PLEASEd

ಸಾಗರದಾಚಿನ ನಾಡು...ನೆನಪು

ಪ್ರತಿ ಮುಂಜಾನೆ ಇಂಥದೊಂದು ದೃಶ್ಯ ಕಾಣುವ ಭಾಗ್ಯ ಎಷ್ಟು ಮಂದಿಗುಂಟು?!

ಇದು ಯಾವ ಊರು ಹೇಳಿ ನೋಡೋಣ?

ಸರಿ, ಈ ಚಿತ್ರ ನೋಡಿ... ಗೊತ್ತಾಗಬಹುದು. :-)



ಹಳೇ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಏನನ್ನೋ ಹುಡುಕುತ್ತಾ ಸಿಕ್ಕ ನೆನಪುಗಳಿವು....ಆಣಿಮುತ್ತುಗಳು!

ಹೀಗೊಂದು ಮಾತು...

ಇವತ್ತು ಮೋಕ್ಷಗುಂಡಂ ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರಯ್ಯನವರ ಜನ್ಮದಿನ ಅನ್ನೋದು ಎಷ್ಟು ಮಂದಿಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತಿದೆಯೋ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ. ಇವತ್ತು ಬೆಳಗ್ಗೆ ನನಗೆ ನೆನಪಾದಾಗ ಏನಾದ್ರೂ ಬರೀಬೇಕು ಅಂತ ಅನ್ನಿಸಿತಾದರೂ ಏನು ಬರೀಬೇಕು ಅಂತ ಮಾತ್ರ ತಕ್ಷಣ ತೋಚಲಿಲ್ಲ. ನಾನು ಅವರ ಬಗೆಗಿನ ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳನ್ನು ಒಂದಷ್ಟು ಓದಿದ್ದೀನಾದರೂ ಅವರೇ ಬರೆದ ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳನ್ನು ಅಷ್ಟಾಗಿ ಓದಿಲ್ಲ. ಕೆಲಸದ ಮಧ್ಯೆ ಆಗಾಗ ಯೋಚನೆ ಮಾಡ್ತಿದ್ದಾಗ ಇದ್ದಕ್ಕಿದ್ದಂತೆ ಒಂದು ವಿಷಯ ನೆನಪಾಯ್ತು. ಅದು ಇತ್ತೀಚೆಗೆ ಬಹುಮುಖ 'ಮೇಧಾವಿಗಳ' ಮೇಳವಾಗಿರುವ ನಮ್ಮ (ಭಾರತದ) ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಸರಕಾರದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಒಬ್ಬ ಮಹಾನ್ ಮಂತ್ರಿಯೊಬ್ಬರ ಪ್ರಚಂಡ ತಲೆಯಿಂದ ಉತ್ತೇಜಿತವಾದ ನೆನಪು.

ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರಯ್ಯನವರು ಮೈಸೂರಿನ ದಿವಾನರಾದ ಮೇಲೆ ಮಾಡಿದ ಮೊದಲನೆ ಮುಖ್ಯ ಕೆಲಸ ಅಂದರೆ Economic Conference ಎಂಬ ಸಂಪದ್ವಿಷಯಕ ಸಂಸತ್ತಿನ ಸ್ಥಾಪನೆ. ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಮೂರು ಶಾಖೆಗಳಿದ್ವು: ಯಂತ್ರಪರಿಶ್ರಮ ಮತ್ತು ವಾಣಿಜ್ಯ; ವಿದ್ಯಾವಿಷಯ; ಭೂವ್ಯವಸಾಯ. ಈ ಮೂರೂ ಶಾಖೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಆಯಾ ವಿಷಯಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಪಟ್ಟ ಮುಖ್ಯ ಅಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳೂ, ವಿಶೇಷ ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಜ್ಞರೂ, ಅವರೂ-ಇವರೂ ಸದಸ್ಯರಾಗಿದ್ದರು. ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ತಲೆ ಇದ್ದವರೇ. ಈ ಸಮಿತಿಗಳ ಮೂಲಕ ಮೈಸೂರು ಸಂಸ್ಥಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಲವಷ್ಟು radical developments ತರಬೇಕು ಅನ್ನುವ ಕನಸನ್ನು ಕಂಡ ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರಯ್ಯನವರು ಮಾತ್ರ ಕುಚೋದ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ಗುರಿಯಾಗಿಬಿಟ್ಟರು -- ಈ ಸಮಿತಿಗಳ ಮೇಧಾವಿಗಳಿಂದಾಗಿ (ಮತ್ತು ಕಳ್ಳರಿಂದಾಗಿ -- ಆಗಿನ ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಸರಕಾರಿ ಕಛೇರಿಗಳು ಶುದ್ಧವಾಗಿದ್ವು ಅಂತ ಯಾರಿಗಾದ್ರೂ ಭ್ರಮೆ ಇದ್ರೆ ಆ Economic conference-ನ ಕಾರ್ಯಪದ್ಧತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಓದಿನೋಡಿ ಭ್ರಮೆಯಿಂದ ವಿಮುಕ್ತರಾಗಿ!).

ಈ ಸಮಿತಿಗಳ ಮೇಧಾವಿಗಳಿಂದ ಬಂದ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮಗಳ proposals-ಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಬಂದ ಒಂದು ಸಲಹೆ ಹೀಗೆ:

"ಮಲೆನಾಡು ಪ್ರಾಂತದ ಕಾಡುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹುಲ್ಲು ಆಳಾಳುದ್ದ ಬೆಳೆದಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ಒಂದು ನೂರು ಜನ ಕುಯ್ಯುವ ಆಳುಗಳನ್ನು ಗೊತ್ತುಮಾಡಿ, ಅವರು ಪ್ರತಿದಿನವೂ ಈ ಹುಲ್ಲನ್ನು ಕೊಯ್ದು ಪಿಂಡಿಪಿಂಡಿಗಳಾಗಿ ಕಟ್ಟಿ ಆ ಪಿಂಡಿಗಳನ್ನು ಬೇಲುಗಳನ್ನಾಗಿ ಜೋಡಿಸಿ ಆ ಬೇಲುಗಳಿಗೆ ಭದ್ರವಾದ ಕಬ್ಬಿಣದ ಪಟ್ಟಿಗಳನ್ನು ಕಟ್ಟಿ, ಇಂಥ ನೂರಿನ್ನೂರು ಬೇಲುಗಳು ಸಿದ್ಧವಾದಾಗ ಅವನ್ನು ಬಾಬಾಬುಡನ್ ಬೆಟ್ಟದ ಪಶ್ಚಿಮದಿಕ್ಕಿನ ಇಳಿಜಾರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ವರಸೆವರಸೆಯಾಗಿ ಜೋಡಿಸಿ ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಬಲವಾಗಿ ಒದ್ದು ಉರುಳಿಸತಕ್ಕದ್ದು. ಆಗ ಹುಲ್ಲಿನ ಬೇಲುಗಳು ತಾವಾಗಿ, ಯಾವ ಖರ್ಚೂ ಇಲ್ಲದೆ, ಉರುಳುರುಳಿಕೊಂಡು ಸಮುದ್ರತೀರವನ್ನು ಸೇರುತ್ತವೆ. ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಹುಲ್ಲನ್ನು ದೋಣಿಗಳ ಮೇಲೆ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರಸ್ಥಾನಗಳಿಗೆ ಸಾಗಿಸತಕ್ಕದ್ದು."

ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಸಲಹೆ:

"ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ನಾಟಕಶಾಲೆಗಳು ನಾಲ್ಕಾರಿವೆ. ಒಂದೊಂದರಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಸಾವಿರ-ಸಾವಿರ ಜನ ಸೇರುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಆ ನಾಟಕಶಾಲೆಗಳ ಸಮೀಪದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾಲ್ಕೈದು ಬೇರೆಬೇರೆ ತೊಟ್ಟಿಗಳನ್ನು ಕಟ್ಟಿಸಿ ಅವುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಮೂತ್ರಸಂಗ್ರಹ ಮಾಡಿ ಅದರಿಂದ ಅಮೋನಿಯಂ ಸಲ್ಫೇಟ್ ತಯಾರಿಸಬಹುದು."

ಇದೆೇ ರೀತಿಯ ಸಲಹೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಕೊರತೆಯಿಲ್ಲದೆ ಇಕನಾಮಿಕ್ ಕಾನ್ಫರೆನ್ಸ್ ನಗೆಪಲಾಯ್ತಂತೆ.

ಇಂಥವರನ್ನು ಕಟ್ಟಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ರೂ ಸಹ ಭದ್ರಾವತಿಯ ಉಕ್ಕು ಕಾರ್ಖಾನೆ, ಮೈಸೂರು ವಿಶ್ವವಿದ್ಯಾನಿಲಯ, ಮೈಸೂರು ಬ್ಯಾಂಕ್ (State Bank of Mysore), ಕೃಷ್ಣರಾಜಸಾಗರ ಜಲಾಶಯ ಇತ್ಯಾದಿಗಳು ಅಸ್ತಿತ್ವಕ್ಕೆ ಬರಲು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಾಗಿದ್ದು ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರಯ್ಯನವರ ಸಂಕಲ್ಪಶಕ್ತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಕಾರ್ಯದೃಢತೆಗೆ ಸಾಕ್ಷಿ.

ಹಳ್ಳಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಜನಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂಜೆಯ ಹೊತ್ತು ತುಂಬಾ ಸಮಯ ಇದ್ದು ಅದನ್ನು ಹೇಗೆ ಕಳೆಯಬೇಕೆಂದು ಗೊತ್ತಾಗದೆ ಬೆೆೇಗ ಮಲಗುವುದರಿಂದ ಜನಸಂಖ್ಯೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗ್ತಿದೆ, ಅದನ್ನು ತಡಗಟ್ಟಬೇಕಂದ್ರೆ ಹಳ್ಳಿಹಳ್ಳಿಗಳಿಗೂ ವಿದ್ಯುಚ್ಛತ್ತಿ ಮತ್ತು TV ಸೌಕರ್ಯ ಕೊಟ್ಟು ಜನ ಬೇಗ ಮಲಗದಂತೆ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು ಅನ್ನುವಂಥ ಮಹಾನ್ ಐಡಿಯಾ ಕೊಟ್ಟ 'ಆರೋಗ್ಯ' ಮಂತ್ರಿ ಗುಲಾಂ ನಬೀ ಆಝಾದರಂಥವರನ್ನು ಕಟ್ಟಿಕೊಂಡು ಮೇಧಾವಿ ಮ.ಮೋ.ಸಿಂಗ್ ಏನೋ ಕಡೆದು ಕಟ್ಟೆ ಹಾಕ್ತಾರೆ ಅಂತ ನಾವೇನಾದ್ರೂ ಅಂದ್ಕೊಂಡ್ರೆ ಅದು ನಾವು ನಮ್ಮ ಮೇಧಾಶಕ್ತಿಗೆ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡ ಅವಮಾನ.

PS: ನಾನು ಮೇಲೆ ಉದಾಹರಿಸಿದ ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರಯ್ಯನವರಿಗೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಪಟ್ಟ ಘಟನೆಗಳ ಮೂಲ: ಡಿ.ವಿ.ಜಿ. ಕೃತಿಶ್ರೇಣಿಯ "ನೆನಪಿನ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳು".

ಶಿకాగో సాహితీ మిత్రులారా!

I hope I'm allowed to put this up on my blog:



If you happen to be in Chicago area and are interested in Telugu literature, this is a good place to be on Sept 20th (next Sunday).

Tongue-in-cheek disclaimer: I haven't read the book yet. So, if you happen to attend the program and end up hating it, don't blame me! ;)

Ganesha Revisited

I couldn't believe Ganesha festival came back so fast! It felt like it was only recently that I bought a "Made in China" Ganesha idol, performed the pooja and blogged about it! And here he was, yet a gain, dominating the weekend and the days on either side of it.



This time, I managed to perform the pooja in much more detail. What was even more special was that, for the first time in my life, I attempted something which I believed I would never do -- prepare steamed kaayi kaDubu (ಕಾಯಿ ಕಡುಬು)! It turned out to be pretty tasty, but the appearance was a disaster! I guess I am not sophisticated enough for certain things!



To make up for the disaster, I also prepared Gulab Jamoon which I consider myself pretty adept at (is 3 times in 14 years not enough of an experience?!).



I surprised myself by preparing two types of sweets in a day because, you know, I don't like sweets. I hardly eat any. This was only for naivedya (and others with a sweet tooth) -- so maybe I earned more puNya because of selfless cooking :P

By the way, lamps (and clouds) form in so many interesting ways that sometimes I am amazed by their uncanny resemblance to familiar shapes and forms. But what I saw in this lamp while doing Ganapati pooja simply stunned me! Do you also see what I am seeing?

Sad state of Indian elections... When will this change?

When will our people understand that giving a free color TV is NOT good governance? Good governance is about empowering you to BUY that color TV yourself, creating an atmosphere where you can watch something beautiful and relaxing on that TV instead of brutal killings and bombings we see so regularly......

Sad to see people dance like this:



Picture taken from Rediff

Squint is better than blind, but it is the blind that won!

It is an unfortunate day. Not just for the millions who voted against the UPA, the Third Front, the Fourth Front, etc. For all the people who consider India their home and want to see it safe, secure, stable, and prosperous.

India has voted UPA back to power, and this time with even bigger mandate. Not that UPA's victory was unexpected. Nobody really expected NDA to win a majority anyway. The general expectation was that UPA and NDA would be very close, and who formed the next government would depend solely on who was better at horse-trade. There was an outside chance of a situation emerging where a maniac like Mayawati would bargain and beat everybody to the PM's chair. That scared the hell out of me! Thank God that it didn't happen.

I am really disappointed that the people thought Congress was the better bet than BJP. I hope these results won't prove too costly for India. Congress has ruled India for 50 years, and everybody knows the kind of progress we have made in those 50 years. And people still vote for that same party. BJP did so much better under Vajpayee and still it was voted out at the end of its term. How do you explain this!?

I accept that BJP was partly responsible for losing it this time. And it was not totally Congress' win -- others' loss was Congress' gain as was seen in UP, Bihar and West Bengal. And now that Congress has been backed by Muslims, you will see the game of appeasement go up a few notches! Congress and the other socialist jokers have already redefined secularism -- and it is only going to get worse now.

Manmohan Singh may be a decent, well-educated, and even well-meaning guy. But I don't want people like him to lead my country. What I want is a strong and patriotic person who doesn't hesitate to show his spine in defense of his country and his countrymen. What we have now is a person who is nothing more than a brilliant but mute loyalist of Sonia Gandhi. Given a choice between national and Sonia interests, he will choose Sonia's any day. If that is not true, I'm sure I am not the only one still waiting for him to prove me wrong. As if to show his loyalty (and maybe his desire to continue as PM?), one of the first few things he uttered as soon as he realized that UPA would form the next government was that he would be "delighted to have Rahul Gandhi in my cabinet." I am sure he meant "honored".

So, would Rahul Gandhi join the cabinet? As what? Of course, any portfolio would be his for the taking, but what would it be, I wonder. Something that doesn't expose him to controversy but keep him in the limelight, I guess. I hope it is not as big as a Deputy PM! You never know with these Congresswallahs --Manmohan Singh might suddenly "retire because of health reasons" and all the MPs might "request" Rahul Gandhi to save the nation by ascending the throne! After all, Manmohan Singh was only keeping it warm for him all these years. Oh well, I guess we Indians deserve this!

One really good thing in the middle of such disappointing news is that blackmailers like Laloo, Paswan and Mulayam have been kicked really hard in their back side (note that I didn't say they have been taught a lesson -- because they will never learn!). Another good thing is that the Left have been spat at. As long as the Communists are close to power, the possibility of them gifting a part of India, if not the whole, to China is never dim. And then, the final good news, great news in fact, is that Mayawati has been cut to size. I used to have nightmares of her becoming PM -- with the way Indian politics work, it was always going to be a possibility. Just look back at how Deve Gowda became our PM not too long ago!

By the way, aren't these Electronic Voting Machines supposed to be error-proof? Then what's up with the "Lost, Lost, and Won!" result of P. Chidambaram's Shivaganga seat? It does sound fishy! So, you mean these machines can be manipulated? In that case, it makes me wonder, did UPA manage to find a chink in these machines that others couldn't? I hope not!

The (not so) Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Long (overdue) post. Read at your own risk.

I miss the general elections in India. I miss the sight of the largest democracy in the world thundering over the slumbering junta and bringing live shows of its comedians and villains (most of them playing both at the same time) to the nearest galli, circle, playground, and railway station. For free. Sometimes, even with a gift or two if you are considered (un)worthy enough. I miss the loud cheering and jeering, yelling & squealing of everybody and anybody even remotely associated with the elections.

I also miss the self-important journalists trying yet again to get their equations right, on TV and on paper, everyday and every sleepless night. I miss watching every TV channel and newspaper, suitably compensated by various political parties for their outstanding journalistic service, parading its own number-theory experts, psychologists and psephologists who claim to have understood the most ununderstandable of all species - the Indian voter. I miss seeing them go wrong election after mid-term election and still not give up!

And I also miss taking an active part in this whole mela! Of course, voting is one of the ways to take an active part in this democratic process. If you can vote, you must vote. And not only must you cast only your vote but also make sure nobody else casts your vote. I haven’t had a chance to vote since I did a few years ago back in Delhi. And I don’t think I will get a chance to vote again in India in the foreseeable future. I really miss it.

But what I meant by ‘active part’ was actually participating in the electioneering process itself! Yes, even before I attained the voting age, I had been playing my part as a volunteer. For BJP, of course. I really miss those days of crazy activity which involved putting up posters on every blank and non-blank wall, going door to door and distributing pamphlets, putting up buntings along the streets only to find them torn or missing the next morning, crying hoarse at the Congress hooligans (when they weren't around) for taking them apart, and putting them up all over again till we ran out of buntings, roaming the whole city in “on-election-duty” autos throwing handbills, screaming into the portable loudspeakers, getting chased from hostile areas, putting up makeshift “stages” for the leaders’ public speeches at all hours of day and night (one such night stands out when we had LK Advani at Chamundi Circle in Mysore – he showed up at midnight for an hour’s speech and there was not a single empty spot in that big circle and the buildings around it – and I got a chance to shake his hand as he was getting back into his car!). We would roam around the streets with copies of voter list in hand making sure the voters were accounted for, urging them to vote in general, requesting them to vote for our candidate in particular, and advising them to vote as early in the day as possible to defeat the illegal voters (we used to do this after the deadline for public canvassing was over!). And on Election Day, we would gather at the polling booths, sit at a rickety table holding a copy of voter list and “take attendance” of our voters, and spy on the other camps! At the end of the day, we would go back to the party office or the candidate’s home and soak in the news pouring in from other polling booths, areas, and cities. We would sit around the radio and the TV to gather news and analysis from folks who pretended to know everything. By the end of it all, we could barely speak because of all the yelling and screaming! And then the results would come in…. The voters would have spoken. And some of us would have shut up.

Only to start all over again! The elections were never too far those days what with all the jokers assembling in Delhi at the same time and making a tamasha of the whole expensive exercise the entire nation went through for months!

The election campaign scenario is probably much different now. Election Commission has robbed much of its charm, probably with a good reason. The political parties don’t pull governments now as frequently as they used to. But it still is the same rotten game of numbers, it still is the horse trade it always was, and you still can’t tell which party is in which new alliance. Nobody remembers the party symbols anymore. The Congress is still monopolized by the family whose feet its ‘leaders’ are eternally lined up to lick! Then there is a new spineless ‘Secular Front’ or ‘Third Front’ or whatever the flavor of the season is coming up every election consisting of the same old power brokers who have no ideological agenda whatsoever! There is no greater danger than these parties coming together at election time and making a mockery of democracy. Each one of them has a PM-aspirant who will go to any extent to grab that chair.

Sadly, even the BJP has failed to escape the rot that is part of the political landscape. Its moral base has eroded as its power base has expanded. There was a time when BJP leaders asserted that they would rather win only a handful of seats than compromise on its principles. It really used to be a great organization. But somewhere down the road, some leaders got tired of sitting in the opposition, ran out of their patience, and acceded to the younger leadership that argued that nothing can be achieved without power, and to achieve that power, certain principles can be and should be compromised. Good organizers became bad politicians. Powerful people with questionable backgrounds came into the party’s fold. The party tasted success. The decline began.

However, in spite of all this, I believe BJP is still better than other parties. BJP still has a leadership that is stronger, more committed to the welfare of Indians, and more dependable than others. BJP perhaps is still the only party with a true nationalistic agenda in spite of all the negative things the party has become famous for in recent times.

It is our misfortune that we are forced to pick the least evil of all available parties. Every party is corrupt to a certain degree, and every party has its share of fanatics, criminals and cheats. Whether you vote or not, someone will win. Vote we must because that is our fundamental responsibility towards our nation for which our forefathers have laid down their lives. If we don’t vote, we have no right to complain about the sorry state of things. We might as well vote for the party that is most likely to lead us better and/or harm the least!

At this point, I believe BJP is that party. You may not agree with me. You don’t have to. But I hope you will at least agree that you must vote.

The voting starts today.

A Gulzar gem...

Started the day humming this song...

ಕೆರೆಮನೆ ಶಂಭು ಹೆಗಡೆ ನಿಧನ

ಯಕ್ಷಗಾನ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದ ಮಹಾನ್ ಕಲಾವಿದರಾಗಿದ್ದು, ಆ ಕಲೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಅವರ ಕುಣಿತದಷ್ಟೇ ಅದ್ಭುತವಾಗಿ ಮಾತನಾಡುತ್ತಾ, ಕಲೆಯನ್ನು ಜೀವಂತವಾಗಿ ಉಳಿಸಲು ಶ್ರಮಿಸುತ್ತಾ ಇಡೀ ಜೀವನವನ್ನು ಸವೆಸಿ, ಕಡೆಗೆ ಇವತ್ತು ಕುಣಿಯುತ್ತಲೇ ಕುಸಿದು ಹೊರಟುಹೋದರಂತೆ ಇಡಗುಂಜಿ ಮಹಾಗಣಪತಿ ಯಕ್ಷಗಾನ ಮಂಡಳಿಯ ಹಿರಿಯ ಚೇತನ ಶ್ರೀ ಕೆರೆಮನೆ ಶಂಭು ಹೆಗಡೆಯವರು. ಯಕ್ಷಗಾನದಂತಹ ಅದ್ಭುತ ಕಲೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಕಿಂಚಿತ್ತಾದರೂ ಆಸಕ್ತಿ ಇದ್ದು ಅದನ್ನು ಆಸ್ವಾದಿಸಿದವರಿಗೆ ಶಂಭು ಹೆಗಡೆಯುವರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಆಗಲೀ, ’ಕೆರೆಮನೆ’ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಆಗಲೀ ಏನೂ ಹೇಳಬೇಕಿಲ್ಲ.

ಹಲವಾರು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ನಂತರ ಶಂಭು ಹೆಗಡೆಯವರ ಯಕ್ಷಗಾನವನ್ನು ತುಂಬಾ ಹತ್ತಿರದಿಂದ ನೋಡಿ ಹೃದಯ ತುಂಬಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಅದೃಷ್ಟ ನನ್ನದಾಗಿದ್ದು ಅವರು ೨೦೦೬ ನವಂಬರ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಶಿಕಾಗೋಗೆ ಬಂದಾಗ. ಅವರು ಆಡಿದ ’ಜರಾಸಂಧ ವಧೆ’ ಎಂದಿಗೂ ಮರೆಯಲಾಗದ ಅನುಭವವಾಗಿ, ಈಗ ಆ ಅನುಭವಕ್ಕೆ ಮತ್ತಷ್ಟು ವಿಶೇಷ ಸ್ಥಾನ ದೊರಕಿಹೋಗಿದೆ. ಇನ್ನೇನಿದ್ದರೂ ಅವರನ್ನು ಮನಸ್ಸಿನ ಅಥವಾ ದೂರದರ್ಶನದ ತೆರೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಮಾತ್ರ ನೋಡಲು ಸಾಧ್ಯ. ಹಾಗಾಗೇ, ಅವರ ಕುಣಿತದ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾನು ತೆಗೆದ ಕೆಲವು ಚಿತ್ರಗಳು ನನ್ನ ತುಂಬಾ ನೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಲವಾಗಿ ಉಳಿದುಬಿಡುತ್ತವೆ. ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಲವಿವೆ:

Ganesha Outsourced!

Take a look at this beautiful Ganesha idol I bought at the Aurora temple a few weeks ago:



As I was admiring its beauty, I don't know why, but I happened to flip the idol to see the part of Ganesha that we should normally not want to see:



I was stunned to see something that I never thought I would be condemned to see someday.

Now tell me, are we Indians so incapable of producing Ganesha idols for the world market that we have to get them made in those child-labor shops in China? Are we so inefficient that we can't stay profitable in a business like this unless we use cheap labor outside the country? Are we so devoid of a sense of social responsibility that we choose to ignore an opportunity to give jobs to Indians in our pursuit of maximum profit?

A friendly argument followed with the store manager (a volunteer with no stake or decision-making power whatsoever in the store) who very zealously tried to explain to me that Indian businessmen just don't want to commit to the consistent quality and quantity the export orders demand. She was speaking from her experience in pharmaceutical sales in the US. She said it was almost impossible to do business with Indian suppliers.

Trying to make me feel better, she said: "Oh, by the way, these idols are actually made by businesses connected to ISKCON though they are made in China!" Sure, that really made me feel better!! ;)

I bought the idol anyway. And today is his day. Though made in China, this is how he eventually turned out:

H. V. Seshadri-ji

Ho. Ve. Seshadri-ji passed away over the weekend. I just don't feel good since I heard the news first thing Sunday morning. The end was expected for a while, but as anybody who knew Seshadri-ji would tell you, we never believed he would someday be gone...... How can you imagine an RSS without Ho Ve Seshadri??

I miss him... The last few days, since I came to know that he was on life support in a Bangalore hospital, the memories of those precious days that I was fortunate to spend with him over several years since my childhood up until I left India keep coming back to me... Especially those fews days in May 1984 (during my OTC in Bangalore) where I was lucky enough to sit by his feet in his room every night and talk to him and pester him to recount incidents from his life...... He had fractured his hand and it was in a cast.... He was in his late 50s at that time.... A perfect grandfather-figure!

The man was to succeed Param Poojaneeya Balasaheb Ji as the Sar Sanghchalak (the chief of RSS) which he declined and made way for Rajju Bhaiyya. He forever remained the low-profile leader with immense stature.

I consider myself fortunate to have known this learned, loving, saintly person.