Skip to content

Monthly Archives: November 2005

Vacana: State of the world!

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

For a wedding of dwarfs
rascals beat the drums
and whores
carry on their heads
holy pitchers;
with hey-ho’s and loud hurrahs
they crowd the wedding party
and quarrel over flowers and betelnuts;
all three worlds are at the party;
what a rumpus this is,
without our Lord of Caves.
Allama Prabhu, Vacana number 461, translated by A K Ramanujan.
Here is more poetry for you, [...]

Filed in Vacana | | Comments (0)

Fasting for Kannada

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

In Mysore today, Kannada writers and activists led by D. Jawaregowda are holding a symbolic one day hunger strike. Their demand: status of classical language for Kannada on par with Sanksrit and Tamil. Now this has to be done by the Government of India. From January 15th, Jawaregowda plans to launch an indefinite hunger [...]

Filed in Calm-entry | | Comments (1)

Dr. Raj Kumar: Babhruvahana - 2 (1977)

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Part 2
There is something qualitatively different and even magical in the dramatic reinterpretation of epic episodes in South Asian performative traditions, be it music dance, dance-drama, theatre, folk performers or even film in recent times. I am more familiar with (and will focus on here) the south Indian performative traditions, especially theatre (professional, [...]

Filed in Kannada, Writing Films | | Comments (3)

Vacana: Those brave warriors

Monday, November 28, 2005

Not knowing how to mount a given horse,
They wish to mount another horse,
Neither brave, nor warriors.
For this reason, carrying the saddle
Across the three worlds, they suffer.
How will they know the linga called Guhesvara?
A vacana (saying) by Allama Prabhu

Filed in Kannada, Vacana | | Comments (1)

Dr. Raj Kumar: Babruvahana - 1 (1977)

Monday, November 28, 2005

Part of the Sundays with Dr. Rajkumar series, which begins with the mythological Babhruvahana. Soon I hope to write a profile of Dr. Rajkumar but until then be satisfied with this and this.

Part 1
The first time Babhruvahana sees his parents side by side is in the battlefield, when his mother Chitrangada volunteers to [...]

Filed in Kannada, Writing Films | | Comments (0)

Blackened Faces

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Does Kannada need to be protected by those brave warriors, whose weapon of choice is black paint? Or is Fair & Lovely a better choice? Are the masaladosa eating Kannada writers not radical enough for protecting Kannada? what are we protecting anyway?
Kannada activists celebrated November 24th as victory day, in lieu of their earlier [...]

Filed in Disputes, Kannada | | Comments (5)