Bhavageethe is a perceptive song from a poetic heart

 The year was 1950. The day auspicious, being the Gowri festival. The family was huddled around a radio. The air was filled with a sense of curious anticipation... Then came the announcement of the song by H.R. Leelavathi from All India Radio, Mysore. During the next ten minutes, there was an absolute stillness except for the melodious song “Haradi Parvathi Devi...” The flow was smooth like the subtle waves of a gentle breeze on a placid lake... The experience was thrilling... Little did anyone realise then that this would be the beginning of a long and eventful musical journey to culminate in the pinnacle of glory... thus writes K.R. Bapu Somashekara, the brother of Leelavathi, in the book ‘Nadaleela.’
Yes, it was a long musical journey which brought widespread praise and fame to H.R. Leelavathi, who can easily be called the ‘Mother of Sugama Sangeetha.’ The yesteryear listeners of Akashavani would enthusiastically remember Leelavathi who was synonymous with AIR and bhavageethe as it was she who nurtured the hitherto lesser known sugama sangeetha and introduced it to the world in all its poetic glory on AIR. Not only has she experimented and sung thousands of songs in both Karnatak classical and bhavageethe categories, Leelavathi has also penned poems, articles, books and composed ragas for poetry. A student and contemporary of great poets including Chennaveera Kanavi, Prof. M. Gopalakrishna Adiga, Dr. K.S. Narasimhaswamy, B.R. Lakshman Rao, Sumatheendra Nadig, Dr. N.S. Lakshminarayana Bhatta and other stalwarts in the fields of music and literature, Leelavathi is married to (late) S.G. Raghuram, also a well-known sugama sangeetha singer. After spending a lifetime serving Goddess Saraswathi, the couple founded Sugama Sangeetha Academy in city with a view to pass on the treasure of light music to the youngsters.
In a tete-a-tete with me at her home in Saraswathipuram, the singer-poet-writer-guru spoke on the life that she led, about music close to her heart and her fears on the future of music...
Shwetha Halambi: Sugama sangeetha seems closer to heart than classical music.
H.R. Leelavathi: That is because literature (sahitya) is the soul and essence of sugama sangeetha while classical singing is mainly based on music. Bhavageethe includes all the emotions experienced by man — be it love, god, friendship, romance, affection, motherly love, all feelings are seen in the poetry, which is the main element of sugama sangeetha. Hence, it is liked by all. Music is the vehicle through which literature reaches the hearts of people. For example, people like hearing a story in song form than reading it. But while providing tune for a poem or song, a sugama san-geetha singer has to first un-derstand the words of the poet, his thoughts and feelings expressed in the poem. Anybody who sings cannot be a sugama sangeetha singer.
A singer should also have a good voice which can touch the sensibilities of the audience. In Karnatak classical music, there is neraval, swara prasthara, alapane and even though we may not have a good voice, we may reach the audience through our expertise. Sugama sangeetha ends in about 4-5 minutes. It is just a perceptive song from a poetic heart. As it is pure sahitya, the singer should sing with feeling, purity, articulation and pellucid words. Then it will be a successful song.
Shwetha: You first learnt Karnatak classical music and then stepped into bhavageethe sphere, which was unexplored till then.
Leelavathi: I and P. Kalinga Rao were the first ones to sing sugama sangeetha. He came in 1949 and myself in 1950. I used to give classical music kacheri earlier. According to me, a successful sugama sangeetha singer need not have complete maturity in classical music. But the roots of any form of music is classical music, where you will be introduced to shruthi, gati, laya... Our sthayi can be practiced through which our voice will attain purity. On the foundation of classical music, any other form can be learnt as they are just branches of the classical root.
In the professional theatre of earlier times, singing was mandatory for artistes — from the character of a servant to a king. They had to know classical music and there would be music teachers to teach rangageethe in the drama companies.
 love and respect all styles of music. May be we grew up in such an environment. My mother Jayamma was a disciple of theatrist Kotturu Basappa and learnt Karnatak classical music. She also sang ghazals, Hindi    and Marathi songs. My father Hassan Ramanna (well-known  in olden days as Athana Ramanna as he was fond of Athana raaga) was proficient in gamaka vachana and was B.M. Shri's disciple. He also sang many English poems after composing raga for them apart from bhavageethe. But then it was not formally known as sugama sangeetha.
All these forms have influenced me. When we were in T. Narasipur at a young age, I had seen many dramas and heard theatre songs.
I learnt Karnatak classical music along with sugama sangeetha. When I was studying in Christ The King Convent (CKC) in Mysore, all students had to compulsorily listen to radio. One day I heard two bhavageethe – Punyabhoomi Bharathi... and Jaya Jaya Jaya Vijayeebhava... Hearing those two songs, I was thrilled. I wanted to know who directed music for those songs. My friend Prabhavati, daughter  of Rallapalli Ananthakrishna Sharma, said it was A.V. Krish-namachar, a disciple of her father, who had composed music for those songs. It was then I decided that I had to learn under Krishnamachar.
At that time, the Mysore Akashavani conducted a talent search. Four of us went to the contest from our school. I did not know any other song apart from what I learnt at home. Then I sang the Kannada translation of Thomas Hood’s 'Bridge of Sighs' taught by my father. At the age of 16, I started singing. I learnt classical music from Sangeetha Vidyanidhi late Chennakeshavaiah. Though I started singing both forms, I  fully shifted to sugama sangeetha due to throat problem, because of which I had to bid adieu to classical music as it needed a firm tone.
I listen to Chinese music, Jazz, Rock... I have music cassettes of about 12 languages. I have also sung in Bengali, Gujarati, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and many other languages.
Shwetha: At a recent function, poet G.S. Shivarudrappa opi-ned that the cacophony of loud instruments was spoiling the beauty of sugama snageetha. What do you say?
Leelavathi: Yes, it is true. As I said, sugama sangeetha is literary and poetry-based. If the audience cannot comprehend poetry and its words, what is the use of singing it? We can sing any song and no one will understand it. In Gamaka, Bharatha va-chana, it was reading of epics and not based on musical laya but on poetic beauty. We were interested in the story and would keenly listen to the story.
Now loud instrumental music is killing sugama sangeetha and through this we are committing sacrilege towards poets. When I and Kalinga Rao sang, we used only a string instrument and a percussion instrument, a violin and a tabla. Each of us would sing for four hours, unlike now where many singers sing a song each on the stage and exit. People loved our singing.
Many people have written down the songs I have sung in Akashavani and learnt them, this was because there was clarity in singing and absence of too many instruments which blotted out singing.
Once Siddalinga Pattana-shetty told me that nowadays, when singers sing sugama sangeetha in orchestras and music programmes, we think we hear some words scattered here and there between loud music. There is no respect for sugama sangeetha where literature is not given any value.
Shwetha: You have been in music field since many years. What do you feel when you look back?
Leelavathi: Seeing a seed planted on earth, which grows to be a plant, a tree, yielding flowers and fruits, is a great feeling. There is happiness and sorrow in everyone’s life. When you achieve in a field, there will be people who feel happy, who pull your leg, who bless you... But we have to accept everything with a single-mindedness.
This is my chosen field. Art is like an ocean and we can take only so much water from it. There is no end to what I can achieve here. No one can reach the pinnacle of perfection which is a mirage in music field. But our attempts should not end till our last breath. A goal is that which can never be reached.
However, there is contentment in trying. When I walk forward and look back, there is the satisfaction of still carrying out my job with love. Saraswathi is unattainable. She comes nearer as we perform our penance, but we can never attain her. I believe I have done my work to my utmost capability.
Shwetha: You have met and interacted with many great personalities. Are there any instances that touched your heart?
Leelavathi: Shivarudrappa always praised me saying, "Leelavathi helped me in gaining recognition as a poet by singing my poems." He said Leelavathi is 'Uduganaveshtitta' and the song 'Uduganaveshtitta' is Leelavathi [Leelavathi sang this song many times in various programmes and also at Phoenix, USA, when she had gone to take part in the World Kannada Meet in 1998. The song became very popular and was aired by Akashavani many times].
In 1962, I sang D.R. Bendre's songs 'Kogile Cheluva Kogile...' and 'Hotte Hosedare Hasivu Hinguvudenu...' during a programme in Bangalore’s Town Hall. When I came out of stage, Ben-dre came to me and said, "How beautifully you sing, like Asha Bhosle." It was an unforgettable compliment to me. I regularly met Kuvempu. I am the only singer to have sung Kuvempu’s 140 songs. He would say that if I hadn’t sung his poems, they would be lying in the closet, unread, unknown. Poems should reach the public, at least through music. Karanth and Jayacha-maraja Wadiyar too appreciated my singing. Wadiyar always asked me to sing his favourite song Gopalakrishna Adiga’s Aaradiru aaradiru o nanna belake... at all his functions.
One incident which will always remain in my memory happened in Holenarasipura during a music programme when I was about 22 years old. I was giving a kacheri for about two-and-half hours. A woman bent with age came onto the stage and said, "How melodiously you sing. I felt as if I saw Goddess Saraswathi in you. I cannot sit for a long time due to my back pain. Hence, I am leaving." She left after giving me a rupee and blessing me. I will always remember this because I may have been honoured with hundreds of awards, but the happiness she got from my music made by concert worthwhile. If I touched the hearts of people with my music, their appreciation in turn touches my heart.
Shwetha: Were there instances which brought you sorrow?
Leelavathi: Sorrows are a part of life. There are many instances of injustice where my program-mes have been usurped by others because I never go to knock on anybody‘s doors and ask for anything. I have never done any work by losing my self-respect and will never do that. Many of my students have betrayed me. Life has both sweet and bitter moments. I accept everything.
Shwetha: Are present day poems by contemporary poets suitable for singing as bhava-geethe? Will there be the fragrance of sugama sangeetha?
Leelavathi: Poems of ‘Navya’ (modern) time written in a raw manner cannot be sung. Even in ‘Navodaya’ style, there should be beautiful themes in the poems. Many senior poets have written on some brazen topics which cannot be sung. They may be great poems from the viewpoint of poetry, but they are not poetic and emotional enough with  beautiful word structure to be sung as bhavageethe. Even the words should be melodic. We should be careful and intelligent enough to select suitable poems of short length. For example, Bendre has penned 'Jogi Ka-vana' which cannot be sung. The poets surely are great but the styles of some of their poems do not suit sugama sangeetha. Even prose can be sung, but they will not become songs.
You may ask that 'Kurigalu saar kurgalu...' and other such songs have been sung, but they are just experimental. If we sing such songs for three hours, there will be no audience left to hear us. There is no opportunity to savour the beauty of words.
Shwetha: You applied raga for nadageethe Jaya Bharatha Jananiya Tanujaathe... for the first time. But then it was changed and there was a controversy regarding the tune.
Leelavathi: Yes. I had sung that song when Kuvempu was honoured with Pampa award. My raga is in Ragamalike and Kuvempu had liked it. Hence, the then AIR Mysore Station Director had asked me to sing it on AIR. Later, Mysore Anantha-swamy applied a different raga for the song. I agree that my raga was suitable for solo singing but when nadageethe is to be sung, it is better to sing it in group. Nadageethe should be sung by everyone present on any occasion, be it in hundreds or thousands and Ananthaswamy’s raga made it possible.
Shwetha: What is your opinion about today's film songs?
Leelavathi: I don't understand why we have sunk so low. I am surprised that no one in the film industry knows anything about sahitya. Anybody can make a film, write songs and such an attitude is deplorable. Words have lost their value. Oldies were very good. Experts like Vijaya Nara-simha, K.R. Seetharam Shastri and others penned good and valuable lyrics. Some songs of today speak derogatorily about one’s own mother and father. Even in stone age, there may not have been such a lowly language. Film industry is culturally bankrupt now. Our children will be under a very bad influence because when they listen to the same bad songs everywhere, be it in loudspeakers, marriages, hundreds of uncensored TV channels, festivals etc... the repetitive words get stuck in their mind. But such songs are not aired on Akashavani because there is censorship. Every song is listened to first and then selected before deciding to air it.
Shwetha: In the midst of sugama sangeetha and classical music, is the value of sugama sa-ngeetha losing  significance ?
Leelavathi: Though the number of singers is increasing, no one at present has the capa- bility to sing for two to three  hours perfectly. To most people, it is just a way to gain fame. Anybody with money can bring out a cassette nowadays. Just like when Pandavas won Mahabha-ratha and all the five said to Krishna one day: I am king, he too is king and all the five are kings, here everyone is a singer.
All those who learn are not su-gama sangeetha singers. Shruthi should be pure, laya should be perfect, sahitya and bhava sho-uld be understood before anyone can sing a song and touch the hearts of others. A singer who does not understand the meaning of words in the song is never a sugama sangeetha singer. I ask meaning of the words with my students and many fail to answer because most don’t even know Kannada properly.
Many singers who come to Akashavani are unaware of even the basic knowledge about poets. They confuse Kuvempu’s poems with that of Bendre and Bendre’s as someone else’s.  Adiga is Lakshminarayana Bha-tta to them. They just hear some song, write it down and come to sing. This is cassette singing, which is just sad.
Recently, there was Bendre songs contest at a city college. Many sang but each time I would get up and say, this song is Adiga's, this is Kuvempu's and  so on... Someone came and ask-ed me what is this, as most participants failed to sing Bendre’s songs. I said I have been singing since the age of 16 and I read, have knowledge about who wrote which poem.
Shwetha: What are your words for youngsters?
Leelavathi: As I said, they have to be ready for assiduous work. Any art, including music, is as huge as an ocean. What you can hold in the cup of your palm is yours. If you take up music for fun or to participate in a reality show and learn two songs, it will not carry you forward. Your face is seen on TV, your parents and neighbours feel happy and that’s it. It’s not growth; it needs commitment, penance, diligence. Only when art is taken up for art’s sake will it succeed.
Some parents today just want to see their child on stage — equipped with just two songs. In olden gurkula system, a disciple would not perform till the guru permitted. That was commitment, respect and love towards their guru. Even my students’ parents ask me to teach their kids two songs so that they can participate in a reality show.
Learning any art is not that easy. That is why I said, a goal is that which can never be reached. Youngsters should learn music with love and we ourselves should transform into that song and express its intricacies. Any art should be learnt through a guru and cassette is not a guru. Only those who have dedication towards music will become a  successfully singer.

Mother of Sugama Sangeetha: H.R. Leelavathi, A Profile

Born on Feb. 8, 1935 to Hassan Ramanna and Jayamma, H.R. Leelavathi studied her BA in the Mysore University in 1954 and Senior Grade in Karnatak Classical Music (Vocal). Leelavathi is the third daughter among four children — two elder brothers H.R. Bapu Seetharam (late) & H.R. Bapu Satyanarayana (retd. Engineer and city's well-known social activist) and younger brother Bapu Somashekar.
 An 'A' Grade Music Composer (retd.) of All India Radio, Mysore, she is married to sugama sangeetha singer (late) S.G. Raghuram and has two sons — Sunaad Raghuram and Sukumar.
A singer with a dulcet voice, Leelavathi trained in classical music under Sangeetha Vidyanidhi late Chennakeshavaiah; in light music under famous music composer and AIR violinist A.V. Krishnamachar (who wrote under the pen name Padmacharan), Jnana Prakash Gosh at Calcutta and Deben Sharma Gauhati and in Rabindra Sangeeth under Robin Ray in Calcutta.
Apart from giving hundreds of performances in India and abroad and being a playback singer, Leelavathi has served as the Chairperson of Karnataka Sangeetha Nritya Academy and chaired many conferences on music.
She is the founder of Sugama Sangeetha Academy (1985), Mysore, for promoting sugama sangeetha and has trained hundreds of students who are now artistes of AIR and Doordarshan.
Leelavathi has penned many books including a play, musical feature Nisarga Vandana for AIR, short stories, poems and vachanas like 'Savirada Sanchaya' which received Rathnamma Heggade award and DVG Mukthaka award.
She has also written many articles on music. Her book Sugama Sangeethada Hejje Guruthugalu has bagged Sharada Ramalingappa Endowment Award by Sahitya Parishat.
The prestigious titles and awards conferred on Leelavathi are numerous including Karnataka Kala Tilaka by Karnataka Sangeetha Nritya Academy, Rajyotsava award, Sree Santa Shishunala Sharief award by Karnataka Government, Ganakala Paripoorne, Kannada Gana Kogile', 'Ganakala Sharade'... the list goes on with honours and awards by hundreds of organisations in the State and USA.

Feeding Nation's Guardians

George Patton, a General who led the American army during World War II, once said: Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. Men whose needs ought to be taken care of by a grateful nation in turn for their utmost sacrifice — their Life. India’s jawans are fortunate in this aspect as they have a separate institute to look after their needs of food which is the most necessary for their sustenance in harsh climatic and living conditions apart from keeping them cheerful amidst the drudgery of army life. The Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) in Mysore may not be glamourous, but it feeds hungry jawans whose life seems to be the most pretermitted in this country. Here is a tribute to the scientists who are doing a noble work.
Napolean Bonaparte said 'An army marches on its stomach,' thus concisely giving the gist of a military win against an enemy – well-fed and fit soldiers. Soldiers who serve the country at extreme climatic conditions exerting themselves physically and mentally had to suffer for long due to lack of proper food. The food items, when they reached the guardians of our nation across rough terrains, would be unpalatable. In times of peace, man forgets three persons — god, doctor and soldier. And it is the nation's responsibility to constantly remember the soldier and his sacrifices, and take care of his needs. Since 50 years, the DFRL has served the armed forces by providing logistical, storage, transport and research & development support. Its services are sponsored mainly by the armed forces, apart from the Coconut Development Board in Kochi, Karnataka government's Neera project. They have also taken up many rural projects to help the village youth by providing them simple technologies and teaching them skills. Armed forces in all areas — hot, hot & humid like Assam, sub-zero conditions, etc. — need quick cooking food without elaborate processes, says Dr. Sajeev Kumar, Scientist 'E' and Public Relations Officer of DFRL, taking this correspondent around the DFRL premises. Elaborating on it, the scientist said that DFRL started preparing dehydrated products which were cooked, dried and preserved. A soldier can just boil it for a lesser time and consume it. The food needed just 15-20 minutes for reconstitution. Then the reconstitution time was reduced from 15-20 minutes to 2-3 minutes like in case of Maggi noodles. It just needs warm water to cook.
Such packaged foods weigh just 100gm to 400 gm so that a soldier can carry it easily for long distances. Western countries first started using canned foods but they were not appealing to the Indian palate due to the metallic taste of the food got from the can and the soldiers were not happy. Then they brought out food in pouches. However, the imported equipment needed to prepare the pouch-food cost nearly Rs. 3 crore, which was too costly for us. Hence the DFRL scientists themselves took up an ambitious project and indigenised the technology with every part of the equipment made here. Now it costs just Rs. 12 lakh. This was our major achievement in cost-reduction, says Dr. Sajeev Kumar.
During wars like the Kargil operation, the soldiers at the frontlines did not have time to heat the food or boil water to cook the food. In such a situation, DFRL's ready-to-eat products helped them immensely, he added, before taking the correspondent to a conference room where Director & Scientist 'G' Dr. Harsh Vardhan Batra and senior scientists of the Institute — Dr. K. Radhakrishna (Scientist 'G' and Associate Director), Dr.G.K. Sharma (Scientist 'F' and Head, Cereals & Pulses Technology), Dr. M.C. Pandey (Scientist 'F' & Head, Freeze Drying & Animal Products Technology), Dr. S.N. Sabapathy (Scientist 'F' and Head, Food Engg. & Packaging), Dr. A.D. Semwal (Scientist 'F' and Head, Central Instrumentation), Dr. Farhath Khanum (Scientist 'F' and Head, Biochemistry & Nutrition), Dr. K.V. Ramana (Scientist 'F' and Head, Food Biotechnology), A. Ramakrishna (Scientist 'F' and Head, Research Appliances), P.E. Padki (Scientist 'F' and Head, Post-Graduate Diploma), Dr. K.R. Anilakumar (Scientist 'E' and Technical Staff Officer) and Dr. Jagannath (Scientist 'D') — had taken their time out and gathered to give a glimpse of DFRL's activities. Dr. Batra answered most of the questions with other scientists answering the queries related to their field. 

Shwetha: Not many people know what exactly the scientists create here in DFRL.
DFRL team: DFRL has got a broad mandate. Our mainstay is that we have to take care of all the three Armed Forces — Army is the main user of our products, and then Navy and Air Force; and very recently, the security forces involved in low-intensity conflicts, anti-terrorist, anti-naxal operations etc. like CRPF, ITBP, Special Protection Group and NSG. They are using our products for their survival and energy needs and we are continuously improving our technology. Though there are some restrictions regarding cost, we do not compromise on quality and hence we try to look for cost-reduction ways.
We have supplied specialised food to space missions, for Wg. Cdr. Rakesh Sharma (who flew aboard Soyuz T-11 as part of the Intercosmos programme and was the first Indian to travel in space) and even Soviet astronauts, for Chandrayaan mission etc. The scientists working in Antarctica mission are being supplied food by DFRL since many years. They stay in Antarctica for long periods ranging from six months to an year, without much contact with the outside world.
We look after the Armed Forces' food requirements during combat situations fulfilling their logistic, climatic and physiological requirements. All these vary depending on the nature of their job, place and duration where they are stationed. We take all these things into account before we design and develop specific foods.
Today's soldier does not just come from any village and join the Army. He has to operate electronic gadgets, he needs to be alert, his mind function has to be very sharp and quick. That requires some functional foods with specific nutritional requirements. We see how we can provide them easily available and natural food, not tablets or chemicals. We don't want the soldiers to be depressed when they are serving the country. Hence we have taken up research to keep them from depression. This is a new area where our scientists are working and progressing.
Our role in all sorts of disaster management is a flexible approach where we are continuously growing and proving our skills, technologies, capabilities. We are very closely working with National Disaster Management Authority and providing inputs for their operational requirements.
Another area in which we are working based upon our expertise and zeal is, rural employment generation. Our former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, when he visited the Institute recently, spoke about it and also about additional income for agri-based population when monsoon fails. Rather than the farmers committing suicide, we are seeing to it if we can generate alternate income so that they survive that period of calamity.
Added to that, Dr. Kalam wanted us to develop low cost processed packaged foods to take care of mal-nourishment of children.
We are also mooting on how we can play a pivotal role in midday meal to children so that pilferage does not happen and adequate nutrition is gained by the children who are our future. All spin-off technologies from DFRL go to rural and urban industries of the country helping educated youth build success stories.
We also train students who, after completion of the course, get jobs in food industry, quality control assessment etc. The job-oriented course is recognised by Mysore University and is held from September or October every year to May or June.
These are our mandates.

With DFRL Director Dr. H.V. Batra

Shwetha: How are you different from CFTRI?
DFRL team: CFTRI has a different mandate from us. We have a targetted customer — Armed Forces. In the civil sector, we have all the gadgets to prepare and conserve food, whereas for armymen, guarding the country is of utmost priority and not food. But they need food to keep them in fighting shape.
To make it easier for the jawans, Dr. Sajeev Kumar has come out with a self-heating system where the pouch itself heats up the product inside it so that the soldier in a sub-zero area gets his food easily cooked within minutes.
Shwetha: What about technology transfer? Do you transfer the technology developed to private companies?
DFRL: Yes. We have been regularly transferring our technologies. Examples of industries who have used the technologies and prepared successful products are MTR, Aashirvaad, etc., who bring out ready-to-eat foods prepared by using our technology.
Shwetha: Do you yourself prepare food for the Army or transfer the job to outside industries?
DFRL: In small quantities, we prepare food for the Army. In case of emergency like Kargil war too, we had to provide a large amount of food. We have a production unit for emergency services like war or natural disaster.
Shwetha: A new invention?
DFRL: Foods that help a soldier to stay alert. Those who are fighting 24x7, don't have time to cook food. So we have prepared nutrition-rich 15 to 20 types of ready-to-eat products like bars and munches with lots of carbohydrates.
Shwetha: Foods that suppress sleep in soldiers. How do they work?
DFRL: There are some substances which block the receptors in the brain so that the person remains awake for a longer time without affecting their performance. We get the substances from natural sources.
Shwetha: Does not suppressing sleep affect the person's body? Because sleep is a natural instinct of man to get rest.
DFRL: No. Because any security-based operation needs alertness and the soldier should be necessarily awake. Like for example the Mumbai terror attack where the soldiers had to stay awake for three days and be alert, especially when there is no replacement possible. Then, in order to survive, they should stay alert and have energy.
Such foods are mainly used for small anti-naxal or such paramilitary and other operations.
Shwetha: How do you plan to increase the shelf-life of perishable foods as in our country lots of food is going waste due to improper storage methods.
DFRL: We are right now concentrating on perishable foods like tomato and pineapple. Due to their low shelf-life, farmers are either forced to sell them at very low prices or commit suicide unable to bear the burden of losses and debts. So we are encouraging farmers to prepare value-added products from such foods like sauces and jams with the help of local co-operative societies. Instead of committing suicide, farmers can use simple technologies, prepare products and sell them. We are demonstrating low cost food and vegetable storage in rural areas. Soon, without the use of electricity, villagers will be able to produce all sorts of foods that will stay for two months. The technology will be low cost.
Shwetha: What about food grains? How do you plan to preserve them?
DFRL: Dr. Kalam's vision includes this. Recently lots of wheat were lost in Punjab due to lack of storage methods. Now we are looking into grain storage in silos for two-three years. And the life of a silo is about 20 years.
Shwetha: You teach food technologies to rural people. Do they easily accept it and turn away from age-old methods?
DFRL: We are starting on a small scale with women entr-epreneurs and there is acceptance by villagers. After about six months or so, if permitted, we may go on a larger scale by conducting a national-level mela of rural technologies in food processing by all institutions including DFRL. State governments may like to take up these technologies and use them to help farmers and the economically backward.
Shwetha: What about the rampant malnutrition in India, especially in children?
DFRL: It is a big challenge to us as malnourished people wouldn't be so if they could afford nutritious food. About 50% of girls around the world are malnourished though they can afford good food. This is due to lack of awareness and the love for a slim body. There is a natural chemical Bromolin present in pineapple. It is helpful in reducing weight naturally. We are working on how to get it to reduce weight without leading to malnourishment. There are also herbal tea and other products which though nutritious, do not make you gain weight. We have to develop new technology wherein malnourishment can be taken care of at a low and affordable cost to the poor. There are many good research papers exploring feasible ideas in this direction but those researchers do not take it to the implementing stage.
Shwetha: What about your interaction with technology-based institutes of other countries?
DFRL: We were having some interaction with research institutes but still not on the expected lines for the very simple reason that our interaction with foreign countries is more related to technological components. They have better expertise in developing processes with the help of high-end equipments. However, we cannot take much help from them as their foods are fully different from Indian cuisine. They consume raw meat, sausages etc., for breakfast which is not possible in Indian cuisine.
Here is an example: Yogurt is nutritionally rich in protein, calcium, riboflavin, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12. It has nutritional benefits beyond those of milk. It is available in many forms all over the world and is stable at extreme temperatures. But our jawans say, "give us curd, we don't want yogurt." Their palates refuse yogurt as they are accustomed to the indigenous curd. Thus we cannot fully use foreign technology as our cuisine is different.

Thus DFRL was born...

Before Independence during the First World War, only the British soldiers of the army serving in India was supplied rations and allowances. Indian soldiers got just cash allowances and the food had to be arranged by themselves. Indian soldiers suffered from scurvy during World War I whereas the British soldiers remained unaffected. This led the authorities to supply food items to Indian soldiers also. However, during World War II, supply of rations became difficult due to rise in the cost of living. Malnutrition cases were commonly observed among Indian soldiers and food with higher nutritive values was recommended.
However, after independence, our soldiers got traditionally preserved food. But it was difficult to protect food items from physical and chemical deterioration during storage, transport, handling and packaging. Indian defence troops include soldiers from rural background and diverse cultures. They often operate in either mountainous regions or in hostile weather conditions like extreme hot or extreme cold where transportation and communication facilities are not easily available. As fresh food is unavailable, they can survive only on packed food. Thus entered Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) located in Mysore which provides simple-to-cook food for soldiers which can be preserved for six months to 1 year under extreme climatic conditions, apart from giving much-needed nutrition and energy.
DFRL was established in Mysore on Dec.28, 1961 under Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India, with a view to meet the challenging needs of food by the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force and paramilitary forces. Before its inception, activities related to Food Science and Technology with special reference to Military Nutrition was being carried out by a small Food Group within the precincts of Defence Science Laboratory, Delhi. The lab has progressed under the leadership of its Directors Dr. P.K. Vijayaraghavan, Dr. H. Nath, Dr. T.R. Sharma, Dr. R. Sankaran, Dr. S.S. Arya and Dr. K. Santhanam, Dr. A.S. Bawa and now, Dr. Harsh Vardhan Batra.
The work by DFRL scientists get regularly published in the international journals of repute. A good number of patents are also being filed every year. Post Graduate Diploma Course: To benefit food processing, the laboratory runs a 10-month Post Graduate Diploma Course in Food Analysis and Quality Assurance affiliated to Mysore University, the students of which are employed in food industry.
Bars, chikkies, fruit slices: A 'snacky' refreshment
The lab does not just produce meals, but also snacks — nutritionally balanced and high in energy — like cereal and fruit bars, chikkis, halwa, egg biscuits, fruit slices and so on to keep the soldiers on their toes and happy. Earlier, these energy bars were used by sports-persons who were involved in strong physical activities and therefore, needed greater source of energy during peak performance. But today, due to the increasing focus on nutrition and healthy food habits and an increasing number of people involved in greater physical activities, energy bars have become a perfect choice as energy sources.
These energy bars are prepared either using compression technology or using different binders of choice.
The bars contain wide range of nutrients as well as sufficient amount of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates and are available in smaller packets or pouches, light in weight, very convenient to carry.
There are different types of energy bars referred to by different names such as protein bars, meal replacement bars, granola bars, neutraceutical bars, breakfast bars, health bars and so on.
DFRL has developed different types of energy bars such as compressed tasty bar, composite cereal bar (protein rich), sweet and sour tasty bar, flaxoat tasty bar (rich in soluble fibre), soya-fortified oat bar, ergogenic bar (energy dense), barley bar (rich in soluble fibre ß-glucan), omega-3-rich bar (rich in omega-3-fatty acids), fibre enriched bar, coco-cocoa delight bar (antioxidant and fibre rich), and bars for desert and high altitude to cater to the requirements of the Armed Forces.
Each bar provides maximum health benefits with a calorific value ranging from 400-540 kCal with shelf-life of 6-15 months.

Serving tasty chapathis to jawans

The DFRL's well-known product is the chapathi, half of India's staple diet. Now it comes in flavours and in phulka form too for jawans. Tasty spiced potato parathas, potato-stuffed and sweet-stuffed parathas, green leafy vegetable chapathis have been developed by DFRL.
Preservation of chapathis has great importance in operational pack rations of Armed Forces. The freshly prepared chapathis have limited shelf-life of 12-24 hour and later becomes unpalatable due to moisture loss, development of off-flavour and microbial spoilage. Hence, attempts were made to preserve chapathis using antimycotic agents like sorbic acid, propionic acid and other ingredients with shelf-life of one year.
These chapathis, however, were not acceptable due to bitter aftertaste of preservative and brittle/hard texture during storage. To overcome this, chapathis were prepared by lowering the concentration of sorbic acid along with natural biopreservative nisin.
With an aim to prepare chapathis without additives and having a shelf-life of one year at ambient temperature, the DFRL team started extensive research and developed chapathis with natural sensory attributes and additives using thermal processing.
Chapathi makers: Leg-operated, semi-automatic and automatic chapathi making machines are the major inventions of DFRL. The leg-operated machine produces 200 chapathis per hour. It may also be used to prepare pooris and papads.
Non-veg delights: The jawans, who miss home-made non-vegetarian food neednot despair as DFRL has also taken up producing yummy non-veg dishes like chicken pulav, meat chunks (mutton & chicken) which can be reconstituted into meat curry, shrimps etc., as also instant mutton soup and chicken soup powders rich in protein which can be consumed after adding hot water. The Army personnel deployed in icy heights like Siachen and Kargil can now expect mutton and chicken biryanis or non-veg sandwiches with all nutrients and home-made taste.
Freeze dried food and drinks like fruit juice powders, fruit slices, herbs juice, electrolyte drinks flavoured with orange, apple, cucumber etc., quench the thirst of Army personnel who sometimes have to walk for long distances carrying a heavy backpack.
Testing kits: Kits to test milk, meat, microbial presence like E.coli etc., have been developed by DFRL which can be very beneficial to farmers, industries and also the Health Department which can use them to check the quality of the food at hotels and meat-sellers.

Moving ahead with technology

DFRL doesnot just produce foods. It has been trying its hands, very successfully, at developing various technologies. Retort pouch processing, Food additives, Cold shock dehydration, Accelerated freeze dehydration, Flaking, Fluidised beds — Drying of cereals, pulses and vegetables, Spray drying, Hurdle processing and preservation, Intermediate Moisture (IM) foods, Microencapsulation, HTST processing, Extrusion, Thermal processing of food in aluminum containers (canning), Combination dehydration, Stack encapsulation, Extension of the shelf life of fresh fruits & vegetables, Self-heating system, High pressure processing, Pulsed electric field processing, Infrared processing, Irradiation etc.
Nanotechnology: The programme on nanotechnology — studies on the application of nanotechnology in nutrition, food additives, biotechnology and packaging (estimated cost Rs. 18.25 crores) will be taken up soon.
The other programme in the pipeline is on the development of food products to improve combat efficiency at high altitudes. In addition, the programme to develop systems and products for detection of bio-threat pathogens and toxins in food and water is also submitted for the approval. By this, anti-hunger RTE foods, convenience mixes and drinks and establishment of their shelf-life, development of ready-to-eat bars / chocolates with natural / synthetic ingredients to keep troops awake and alert will be developed.

Know what our jawans eat

Meals-Ready-To-Eat (MRE) for Indian Army: This ration does not require any cooking since the contents are thermally processed. It can be consumed readily after a little warming if required. The pack consists of chapathis, sooji halwa (300 g), vegetable pulav (300 g), potato peas curry (300 g), chocolate bar and tea (3 servings). Items like spoon, tissue paper, matchbox, specially designed foldable stove and fuel tablets for warming the food are also included.
MRE for Marine Commandos of Navy: They may land in unknown and hostile territories as part of their duties. Hence they need specialised rations with required calories, easy to carry and of high quality. DFRL's food for them is based on mutton, chicken and a vegetarian food. The ration packet provides approximately 3300-3800 calories / day and weighs less than a kg.
One Man Compo Pack: It consists of early morning tea, breakfast, mid morning tea, lunch, evening tea and dinner. It is easy to reconstitute by using hexamine fuel tablets. Weight is 880g.
Mini Combo Pack Ration: It contains Sooji Halwa mix (100g) and pre-cooked dehydrated vegetable pulav (125 g) along with 3 times tea, weighing about 400 g.
Survival Ration: It consists of 2 pieces of soft bar each of 100 gm, 3 pieces of chikki each of 50 gms and 3 pieces of chikki (Jaggery base) each of 50 gms.
Main Battle Tank (MBT) Ration: Being a major achievement of DFRL, it helps in the survival of a soldier who is in closed conditions for 3 days. First and second day ration packs weigh 2 kg each and provide 4000 calories and third day ration weigh 1.5 kg and gives 3000 calories.
Operation Vijay: DFRL processed and supplied 50,000 survival rations and 30,000 MRE rations to the Army for Kargil operation at a very short notice of only 48 hours. Besides, it supplied 1,000 MRE rations to Navy and 125 MRE rations to Air Force Station, Pune.
Other food items: There is less oxygen at high altitudes. Armymen in areas like Siachen and Kargil in the Himalayas suffer from acidity and feel their stomach always full. Thus they tend to lose appetite, eat less food and lose weight. DFRL found solution for this by developing appetiser foods and drinks which can be consumed 30 minutes or one hour before a meal. These are based on lemon, ginger, ash gourd, cumin or curd-based. Sea-buckthorn grown in Himalayas are rich in minerals and antioxidants which help in controlling ageing, cataract, diabetes. Biscuits and squash are prepared using its fruits and leaves.
Tender coconut water: DFRL has developed a technology to preserve tender coconut water for up to six months at room temperature and up to nine months under refrigeration with thermal treatment and a bio preservative.
Minimally processed vegetables: It is a latest technology by which a variety of tropical, subtropical and temperate vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, carrot, beet-root, potato, sweet potato, sponge gourd, ridge gourd, radish, papaya raw, mango raw and French beans etc., are proce-ssed. It does not include any thermal treatment. This retains the freshness of vegetables for a longer period. They are safe from microorganisms besides being rich in ascorbic acid.
DFRL's technologies for food preparation and preservation include: Freeze-Thaw dehydration technology (6.25 tons of instant khichadi was supplied to victims in Gujarat earthquake); Self-heating packets with three components — one of food and other two of a special liquid and a chemical powder. By connecting the liquid and the chemical powder compartments, heat is generated due to chemical reaction. This heat is transferred to the compartment of food and cooks it in a few minutes; Packaging the food using technologies like hot air drying, foam-mat drying, freeze drying etc., retort pouches, jute bags or high density polyethylene woven sacks, etc.
Preserving environs: DFRL has also developed a biodegradable package material as the normal material may pollute the enivornment in high altitude areas like Himalayas.

A harried experience: Love for language or...?

I visited Chennai after many years to attend a function on Wednesday. My experiences from the past visits made me cringe at the thought of going there. However, I thought things may have changed in the first major British settlement of South India. But I was gravely desponded and disappointed.
The AC car which took us from the railway station was not imperviable to the odours I had so well come to connect with the city since childhood. In the evening, I and my hubby went in search of a bindi for me and believe it or not, walked for nearly two kms for a fancy store. But the story was yet to begin. None of the auto drivers we got knew any English. The next day we were to board the train to return home at 5 pm and had to get the train ticket which was in email inbox printed.
At 3 pm, we went in search of an internet cafe near Nalli Silks. We walked for nearly a kilometre, inquiring on the way. Nobody seemed to know what an internet cafe was and everybody pointed us either in the wrong direction or towards an STD booth. Frustrated and nowhere near an internet centre even at 3.45 pm, we went back to the room and packed up.
On coming to know that there were two cafes nearby, we went there, only to find that the girl in the first one did not know how to open the webpage! When we did and tried to print the ticket, power went off. Then again started our search for internet centre, which resulted in begging with travel agents, cafe operators, auto drivers who did not/ cared not to help us... Finally after a tension-filled hour of running here and there and trying to be amicable with an auto driver who simply did not understand our urgency, we managed to get a print-out and reached train station at 4.55 pm.
With 5 minutes left, we went in search of our platform and decided to hire a coolie who would invariably know it, or so we thought. But our coolie only succeeded in learning from us about the location of the platform! He then got lost in the crowd with our bags. I stood a harried five minutes being watched by men with hungry eyes and pickpockets behind me till my hubby successfully searched for the coolie and came to me. The train moved out of the city to our utter relief!
Now I fully realise the need for Indians to learn English or the national language like Hindi for practical purposes, even though we love our mother language. Or else, visitors or tourists to the city will invariably suffer from the lack of communicational skills of the localites. I wish our 'litterateurs' who send their children to English medium and ask poor kids to compulsorily learn in Govt. Kannada Medium Schools, learn a few lessons about the need for English learning in the present day.

Pearls of Wisdom for Laymen, Management Students

How does a person stand uncompromised on ethical values in business and in life? How does one find answers to queries on loss and gain, finding success, countering negativity, social engineering and such other questions? Is morality dying in business practices? How to find spirituality in daily life?
The book In search of meaning: A spiritual perspective of management by Management Monk Moid Siddiqui attempts to quench both the spiritual thirst of laymen and the moral dilemma faced by most businessmen.
Though akin to hundreds of in-spirational books on the art of living, the book is written with a st-rong judgement over some less-discussed topics including bea-uty contests, cosmetics & porn industries, sex reassignment surgery etc. Denouncing the glamo-rous world and its illusionary attractions, the author says success lies in living in the contaminated world and getting the least tainted.
He says beauty treatments and products harm India's culture, civilisation, chastity and the national character; beauty contests are a frog's leap towards indecency, encouraged by cos-metics industry for its gain. The author justifies his opinions by quoting American Rabbi and author Harold S. Kushner: "There is no right way to do a wrong thing."
Though some of the 65 articles in the book seem quite opinionated and one-sided, others make the reader see the world of spirituality in a new light.
Moid asks the reader not to go on looking at a 'closed door' but to look around and see the many open doors and walk towards one of them confidently.
An interesting theory debated by Moid in one of his chapters is the presence of 'God Spot' in hu-man brain, discovered by Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran, Head of research team at University of California (San Diego). He says that scientists believe if a 'God Module' exists, then it might suggest that individuals who are atheists could have a differently configured neural circuit. But he believes atheists choose to deny the 'truth' and are willfully blind.
Every piece has a quote by a well-known personality. Though most quotes are quite commonplace, it is refreshing to read them again and try to associate them with the pearls of wisdom given in the chapter.
Small stories in most chapters interspersed like seeds in a fruit are a delight to read, as mere write-ups seem like dry sermons but remain anchored to our consciousness if delivered with interesting stories. May be that is why children are taught morals through stories. Though told in simple language, Moid's words are sprinkled with wisdom at its best when he says: If you want to live your truest life, fill your heart with so much love and passion that there remains no place for hatred; Unless you join two perceptions, you cannot understand the Whole and clichés Humility is the sign of greatness or Laugh at yourselves...
Management students can take a leaf out of this book in case they find themselves at crossroads. Moid's lessons for them are based on analyses of the hu-man mind and its workings. He teaches them the 'art of building a cloud' to examine a problem and resolve differences and conflicts to get a win-win situation. Though they make for a smooth-reading, some oft-quoted sentences seem unrealistic to adapt in life.
Moid, who has written numerous books like The Corporate Soul, Management Parables, etc., with his articles published in the famous Chicken Soup for the Soul series, is the MD of Intellects Biz, known for its innovative training and consulting out-looks. The collection of articles are a delight to read for those in the management and people who hanker after motivational books. Laymen too may gain from the pearls of wisdom in each page.

Mysore seen thru kaleidoscope of colours, words

Rain-stained walls, cracked windows, creeper-hugging pillars, crumbling steps, rusty gates, desolated and littered gardens, houses that seem to tremble beneath the burden of the past, either engulfed in assorted weeds or standing isolated like a lone warrior struggling to hold back the adversary called time, buildings that seem lonely at the outset but whisper secrets about the long-gone dwellers when you go near... they beckon you to visit them and revisit them on the pages of this digest titled 'between Mysore & Mysooru.'
The coffee table book, with poems on the left and cityscapes on the facing page, is not a book to be read, but one to be enjoyed and contemplated upon.
The verses penned by artist and art curator Shoaib Chadkhan, who has brought out the book, create a world intermixed with innocence and maturity towards life and its happenings. The unedited verses, though seem unrefined at first glance, stays in one's mind long after the page has been turned. Reading between the lines becomes easier with the simple words which carry profound meaning when seen through the eyes of a Mysorean.
The poems say it all; about the feeling of belonging to a place, considering that place as one's own even when it is inhabited by lakhs of other strangers, the onslaught of bland modern housing style -- apartments -- replacing quaint old houses with their own architectural beauty and the blinding of the city's walls with ugly, gaudy posters, the vanishing of emotional value about one's place which have been replaced by material value...
New-age artists like H.K. Vishwanath, Sujan Ghosh, Vishwanath Kondlighatta Hiriyanna, Dhanashree Gadiyar, Kavyashri Shastry, R. Shiva Kumar Rangaiah, M. Chandrakala, B. Brahmanand, Smitha Ningaraj, Yogananda Lakshmaiah, H.S. Vinay, Ambika Shankar, P. Anil Chandran, Shoaib Chadkhan, Manoj Guddekuppa Sripadamurthy, Sharath Kumar, Deborah Stromberg, A.M. Swamy, Mahesh B. Lingaiah, H.G. Kumar Gowrav, Shaitan Singh, H.S. Suresh, Bharath Kumar, Akhilanka, K.J. Pavan, C.S. Vijay Kumar and N. Punith have travelled across the city, searching for the houses which may not have been declared heritage but carry the legacy of the city in them.
The collection is an artistic documentation of a heritage city which, in a quest for development, loses its identity and becomes as mundane as the next city and the next... as seen across the land after advertisements, hoardings, buying and selling gained more space in a city than the basic necessities. When seen through the kaleidoscope of colours and words, the book seems to come to life and begs to be considered in terms of conserving the heritage of this royal city.
Though the efforts of the artists are quite appreciable, the book would have helped old-timers and the young generation who are unfamiliar with the serene beauty of old Mysore, their purpose would have been served better if the paintings carried the titles of the buildings and places alongside to identify them and reminisce on their history. Some browsers, who try to find correlation between the poems and the art on the opposite page, remain disappointed as both do not have any connection whatsoever, apart from a joint mission to protect the heritage of Mysooru.
However, the book is an artistic journey back in time through well-known and hidden landmarks of the city like Ashoka road, Sayyaji Rao road, Doddagadiyaara, Free Mason’s Building opposite Town Hall, Chikkagadiyara (Dufferin Clock tower), Seetavilasa Choultry on Chamaraja Double road, the dilapidated quarters near Nallappa Thana on Dewan’s road, the road that leads to Jaganmohan Palace, bungalow where former President late Prof. S.Radhakrishnan lived...
Hope the artists succeed, considering the poem in the book which is a dialectic on itself:
"isn't it funny
that
anything over a hundred years old
is considered old
it is like a psychological benchmark that got crossed."

A romantic rendezvous with Mysore architecture

Words may mean different things to different people. However, images open up a whole new dimension. When artists create images, then the mind registers them better. "between Mysore & Mysooru" is one such set of images, impressions and words.
The book, authored by art curator Shoaib Chadkhan, will be released by veteran journalist Krishna Vattam at a function to be held tomorrow at Art Dissemination, No.11, Opp. Bal Bhavan, Bannimantap in city at 5.30 pm. MLA Tanveer Sait will inaugurate. An exhibition of a group of paintings published in the book will be launched by K.R. Ramakrishna, Commissioner, Dept. of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage on the occasion.
Usually a book or an exhibition on a town includes the history of the place. But here, the author and the artists do not believe in writing about the history of Mysore. This coffee-table book by art curator Shoaib Chadkhan is an artistic documentation of a heritage city through the eyes of artists. He says though the title would suggest a Mysore story, it is, however, the story of many places across the land; places which are in a quest for development. The book is also about how we evolve to the things and experiences around us.
The 80-page book is a fictional story of the curator's own life depicted through Haiku-type poems — it is a romantic rendezvous with the architecture of Mysore and the artists here.
The book is quite a 'page-stopper' as the reader, who after contemplating on the beautiful poems, sets his eyes on the paintings and gets captured by the aesthetics in the paintings, quite forgetting to turn the page and move on.
It is a journey which started in 2009 when the author stayed at the India Song House in Vonti-koppal, a quaint old house that had a history of being a creative space with hosting of exhibitions like Abstract Perception & Contemporary Cows at Crossroads.
The house was sold by their owners to a firm from Bangalore who in all likelihood had seen it more as a real estate investment rather than the heritage that the house held, says Chadkhan.
Yogananda, a young city artist, was keen on creating a painting of this house. Chadkhan used the painting to put up a story on internet. The response that it evoked was huge and quite emotional. A lot of people were concerned about the way beautiful spaces like these were being treated. It was there that an understanding of the romanticism took place, the melancholi-ness and all the feelings that a painting could evoke was bro-ught forth. This led to a quest for more such buildings and to use this type of imagery to create a subtle but powerful way of re-introducing sense of aesthetic and thus go about preserving them.
The making of this book has changed how these artists and their friends see a building today, says Chadkhan, adding that now they see it as a life form in itself.
Totally, 30 contemporary artists  of Mysore have created 70 paintings of Mysore in their varied forms and styles and about 50 of these paintings will be exhibited in the show.
If one artist has painted in monochrome, then another artist has made the house become a subject for a stamp. Hence there was a need to photograph them, have artists make portraits of these houses, make a book, make a film and document it in some form.
The landscape paintings, which are vivid both in colours and black & white, portray the places the artists have explored and painted, often with rich metaphorical possibilities. These artists have used the paint medium to raise awareness on conservation concerns. The series of paintings capture a changing Mysore, which is falling prey to changes in time and the inevitable urbanisation.
The heritage Mysore that has a unique identity, has been revisited by the artists with a tinge of nostalgia and raises the question of introducing a policy to conserve the heritage of the city for future. The 'Tropical Architecture' of Mysore homes with typical Mysore roof tiles, sloping roofs, chajjas, wooden trellis work and solid wrought iron grills, have been recreated by the artists to show the signature look of the city, says Suresh Jayaram in his critique in the book.
The author says T.P Issar's book 'Mysore the royal city' helped in reiterating the belief that most paintings have a stronger emotional quotient than photos. The poems have been penned by Shoaib with an earnestness to create a little world through words and images.
Though the inauguration is by invitation only, the painting exhibition will be open to the public from May 19 to 25 between 10.30 am and 7.30 pm at the same venue. The book is priced at Rs.3,000 and will be available on a discounted price during the show at Rs.2,400.
After Mysore, the exhibition will move on to Venkatappa Art Gallery in Bangalore.

Shoonya, A Timeless Wisdom

There is no reason as to why the rivers flow or the mountains remain stationary. There is no rationale as to why only birds fly and humans do not. There is no purpose as to why there is a universe in itself under the sea... thus the book 'Shoonya: An Abyss of Absolute Timelessness' is introduced to the readers.
No, this is not a science book which answers queries regarding the workings of the universe but is of a higher realm and goes into the workings of God, life and its myriad emotions and the ways to deal with them.
The author of the book, Sreesha Belakvaadi, tries in his simple English to find answers to these and many other questions regarding existence, meditation, faith, destiny, consciousness, silence, security, ego, love...
His chapters, which he discloses in the Preface to be e-mails of mere thoughts and experiences shared with his friends, start with quotes and reflections which are elaborated and explained with examples and stories in some cases. Each chapter opens up unwritten answers to questions which most of us would have wondered briefly at some point of our lives. Some answers are predictable while others manage to surprise the rea-ders with the author's deep insight. Sreesha Belakvaadi has coalesced each topic so well that the reader gets the gist of the topic.
As one goes on reading the book, however, it seems familiar. Then you recognise it — the flow, the words and the way a topic is presented is similar to that of Osho Rajneesh, who seems to have influenced the author to a certain extent, as acknowledged by the author himself.
"Intellectuality must stem from humility. The moment the mind acknowledges that you are an intellectual, the very purpose of it is defeated," says Sreesha Belakvaadi in the chapter 'A true intellectual is unaware he is one,' expatiating that an intellectual is always in a state of folded hands and bowed head to the wonder life throws at him. This chapter makes us realise that the very purpose of intellect has been defeated in modern 'intellectuals.'
The write-up 'Children are the closest reflection of Godhood' seems a cliche and gets repeated in another chapter 'Being childlike is the greatest human trait' where he says as we grow, we start losing our innocence, our childlike attitude towards life.
Two more thoughts of Sreesha Belakvaadi which are worthy of mentioning here are — 'Women & existence mirror each other,' which speaks about male and female psyche and 'Silence is an absolute symbol of the divine' where he says that wisdom dawns in the silence between myriad thoughts which flow in and out of human mind, which is akin to a continuous chatter-box — a delight to the reader.
The tranquil thoughts that flow from one brief piece to the next makes the reader easily nod with agreement.
However, for those of us mere mortals living in this practical world where each decision taken every minute necessitates a dependence on practicality, some of Sreesha Belakvaadi's philosophical thoughts seem utopian and unachievable.
The book is a must read for those philosophically-inclined, meditative beings who wish to find their own thoughts reflected in the pleasantly designed book of 54 chapters. The author sees Godliness in simple things around us and the reader may expect to see the same once they finish the collection of reflections.

Guru of Mysore Traditional Art teaches painting

He is an exemplary Guru, akin to the keystone to Mysore traditional style of painting. Though frail and ripe with age, Ramanarasaiah, who was the Palace artist, enthusiastically carries on with the guru-shishya tradition.
About 35 enthusiasts, mostly women, are learning the indigenous art of Mysore traditional painting under the 91-year-old artist and his daughter-in-law Suma Krishna at the painting workshop being held at the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS), Wellington House on Irwin Road in city.
The workshop, which will conclude on Apr. 24, is being conducted under the 'Do & Learn' series programme of IGRMS.
Some of the participants expressed their happiness with Star of Mysore about being taught by the maestro and said that they came to the workshop after coming to know that they will be taught Mysore painting by Ramanarasaiah.
The finer nuances of painting taught by Ramanarasaiah never fail to astonish those present. Even in old age, his memory has the clarity to recall the compositions of each colour, their Kann-ada names which most of the present generation are unaware of and the mixing of colours to get another colour etc. He says in earlier days, they used only natural colours extracted from fruits, vegetables, leaves, barks, minerals and other natural substances. Brushes were made of different materials like squirrel, camel and goat hair. Grass blades were also used to draw sharp lines.
The artist recalls that earlier, people who were enthusiastic about art but had no materials to practise on, used even newspapers after painting them white.
Mysore style of painting evolved under the patronage of the rulers of Mysore. The traditional artists prepared all materials required for painting like brushes, paints, board, gold foil etc., unlike the present day artists who get them readymade from shops. Then they painstakingly prepared their sketch and painted on them. Mostly religious topics like Rama Pattabhisheka, or Gods and Goddesses like Lakshmi, Saraswathi, Krishna, Eshwara, Gayatri etc., were the subjects of paintings, with the favourite being Lakshmi, according to the participants of the workshop Asharani, Poornima Jaga-dish and Hemalatha Raju.
Ramanarasaiah's paintings are exhibited in Jaganmohan Palace, of which he was the curator, and at Amba Vilas Palace. He is famous for his portrayal of Wadiyar family members of late 18th and 9th centuries.
He says he learnt Mysore school painting under his Guru Keshavaiah, who was also the Palace artist. The Wadiyar family painting in Jaganmohan Palace took him nearly two years to complete. So far, he has spread the fragrance of Mysore paintings everywhere in the land through about 500 disciples. His three children out of eight took up the task of propagating the renowned art in various places — daughters Sudha Venkatesh in Bangalore & Chandrika Pa-manabhan in Mysore, son S.N. Simha in Coimbatore and daughter-in-law Suma Krishna in Mysore. The nonagenarian has been honoured with many awards, the recent being the M.T.V. Acharya award. Suma Krishna may be contacted on Mob: 9739548643.

ALL FINE ART FORMS HAVE A GAMUT OF THEATRE IN THEM, SAYS DR. R. PURNIMA

Stepping into many shoes and suceeding in it is not everybody's cup of tea. It comes naturally to some persons while others will have to first find their true interests and then cross many hurdles to fulfil them in their own way.
Dr. R. Purnima, Chairperson, Department of Studies and Research in English, Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) and Founder of Children's Literary Club, apart from being an academician, has also donned many roles in her life — as a teacher, researcher, guide, singer, instrumentalist, Kathak dancer, a mentor for underprivileged kids and a writer. However, the field that is closest to her heart is theatre. The versatile academician spoke to Star of Mysore on her varied interests:
Shwetha Halambi: You have been doing a great service to kids through your Children's Literary Club. What made you start the Club?
Dr. Purnima: One day 21 years ago, I watched my niece playing a game again and again in the house for the whole day. Watching that for a whole day, I thought I should engage this child in something interesting. I started the Club with my niece and her neighbour kid. Then I started tapping on the doors of people's homes and asked them to bring their kids to me. The Club is a 100% voluntary organisation. I brought together kids of maids, underprivileged, slum-dwellers, etc., and engaged them in cultural and literary activities. When we wish to do something, we should have no ego. If we think that people should come to us, any venture is bound to fail. These kids are so much into theatre activities. I teach them songs at the end of every session and they love it. I encourage them to come out and speak without fear or hesitation. Now, if there is no theatre component or singing at the end, they feel the session is incomplete.
At first, I gave a topic to the kids to discuss, act etc. Later, the interests and subjects taken up branched off. Whether in music, dance or any other field, creativity evolves when a straight line starts bending.
Shwetha: Why do you go to their doorsteps?
Dr. Purnima: If such kids are asked to come to Kalamandira or Rangayana to learn, they cannot. It is because they have their own limitations and also because when they are kept away from their world, either they don't develop a taste for art or those who live in a privileged world or have access to such a world, say underprivileged kids are good for nothing. People fail to realise that maybe the kids too may have an inclination towards arts. Hence I strongly believe in taking things to their doorsteps. Once again, if we have to do good to somebody, we should never nurture an ego. Once when my photo came in the newspaper, one of the kids asked me, "Miss, this news is about Children's Club. Hence the photo of children should be published. Why is your photo published in the paper?" I felt this was the height of my success — when the kids don't hesitate to ask such questions.
Shwetha: Where do you conduct the Club programmes?
Dr. Purnima: When I began the Club, my target was to conduct 100 programmes at my home. Then it rose to 1,000. Then I thought I would stop conducting programmes at home and started visiting SC/ST hostels, areas of underprivileged kids, slums etc. I conduct literary programmes not just in Mysore, but also in Sringeri, Sullia, Chikkamagalur and other places. In Mysore, I go to Suruchi Rangamane for story-telling, with Pratham Mysore to children beyond the portals of my Club.
I had arranged a campus tour for the low-profile kids of Bharathi Sthree Samaja to KSOU some six months ago. My intention was, since this is an Open University, people come from all strata of life — married, working, aged — and I wanted the kids to know that in case they cannot continue studies, there is an opportunity for them to study.
Shwetha: You were awarded the Fulbright Fellowship and you chose to do research on "Empowering young lives through arts: The role of theatre in America." Why did you choose that subject?
Dr. Purnima: I teach English at KSOU, but I am also interested in fine arts. I founded Children's Literary Club in Mysore 21 years ago. Then a thought entered my mind that I should evolve different strategies to educate kids because at the Club, I was handling children from different strata of society like underprivileged kids, school dropouts etc. I wondered what the problem was with the education system in the land and how to address it, in what manner and methods. Then I thought fine art was the one field through which we can tackle the issue. In all the fine art forms that I have covered in the articles of my book "Sharing Experiences...," there is a gamut of theatre in it.
I not only teach students the prescribed text in the class but also enact the characters of the story. For example, I myself enacted the character of Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare's play Macbeth in the classroom while teaching the play.
When my sister Prof. R. Indira (Sociology Department, Manasagangotri) went to a village in Australia, she met a nun who said she was a student of KSOU English Department. When Prof. Indira mentioned that her sister teaches there, the nun immediately exclaimed, "Oh, is it Lady Macbeth?"
Theatre has that potency to create that indelible impression on the students' mind. And if you make them participate in the classroom, they can never forget it. So when I applied for Fulbright, I decided to walk out of pure literature and do something related to literature. And since I was working with kids in Mysore and experimenting with children and theatre, I decided to choose that subject for research.
Shwetha: What did you discern from your experience in USA?
Dr. Purnima: Though connecting to people in America was a bit difficult at first, I gradually succeeded in it. When we work intensely and with commitment, people will surely recognise our work. I thought I should do something to connect both the societies. I started approaching people for their views and in the book "Sharing Experiences...." Many people ranging from 13 years to 90 years of age have contributed their perspectives. I approached youngsters because I believe in next generation voices. We do some work, but how will the beneficiaries accept it? We may have done a fabulous job, but what does the second generation feel about it? I needed answers to these questions.
Shwetha: You have been a teacher for 39 years. What do you love about teaching?
Dr. Purnima: I love the learning part of teaching. If you are a real teacher, you are always learning. It is a continuous commitment to learning and sharing what you have learnt. And society needs committed teachers. I have always been satisfied with my work. During contact classes of KSOU, I take extra events to students and after the classes, I try to identify the talents in students by making them enact dramas, sing, dance, English speaking hour etc., and I too participate in it.
Shwetha: You have done Ph.D on the "Concept of the ‘Fallen Woman': A Study of the novels of Hawthorne, Flaubert, Hardy and Karanth" under Jnanpith laureate Dr.U.R. Ananthamurthy. Who is the 'fallen woman' in your view?
Dr. Purnima: According to me, 'fallen woman' is the one who has crossed the boundaries set by society. For the research, I took up 'The Scarlet Letter' (Nathaniel Hawthorne), Tess, Maimanagala Suliyalli. Fallen woman is the woman who has stepped out of the institution of marriage. Manjula from Karanth's book, who is a sex worker, Scarlet Letter's Hester Prynne feature in my thesis. The novels deal with failed marriages, where the lovers become husbands and husbands fail to remain so, due to varied reasons. These women wish to show that they too have an identity.
Shwetha: What do you feel is the impact of drama on kids' minds?
Dr. Purnima: I will give you an example. Once when I was walking down the road near my home, I heard some kids calling out 'Miss.' I thought they were calling somebody else and kept walking. But they all ran upto me and said, "We are 'chitte manushyas' miss," and started reeling off dialogues from the drama. Then I recognised them as kids from an orphanage in city whom I had taught the drama some three-four years ago. This is the potency of drama and see how it gets internalised.
If you are enacting a drama in class, it makes a great difference to student clientele. Though we teach superbly in classrooms, it is hard to engage students. But drama and such creative events create an interest in kids. Parents who visit my Club with their kids would pressurise and prompt kids to answer my questions as they take it as their failure if their kid fails to answer. I suggested them not to pressurise kids as their behaviour itself was contributing to the child's failure.
Shwetha: What other activities do you engage yourself in?
Dr. Purnima: Theatre in education is the best way to teach. The year 2010 was the death centenary year of O'Henry, Leo Tolstoy and Mark Twain. I conducted programmes based on the three authors for higher education students. I made the students enact O'Henry's stories by making the script, which made them realise how difficult it was to write a script. The students said they enjoyed the creative class which was a new experience for them. They came to realise that a story can also be converted to script and brought on stage.
In KSOU this year, I framed 20 questions under the title "What is common?" I took up Nehru's autobiography and Khaidigala Kathana (by Ganesh Amingada). Research students come to us asking for topics. I ask them to attempt giving their own point of view.
February is commemorated as 'Celebrating February as the Month of International Languages.' As part of it, I took up programmes both in the Children's Club and KSOU. I created a chart of countries and their official languages, apart from a quiz for students. KSOU Vice-Chancellor Prof. K.S. Rangappa too participated in the quiz. He asked the participants which language starts with the letter 'Q.' No one knew. But when I went to the KSOU Study Centre in Udupi, I visited a govt. college in a village for a special event. I conducted the same programme there and was astonished to see a village girl answering that question. She said the answer was Quechua, a Peruvian language. When I asked for her source, she said she had read it in Peru Yatre, a book by Nemichandra. This is where reading habit gets you. When I couldn't get the answer in so many urban locales but got in a village, why should we underestimate village children?
This is Charles Dickens' bicentenary year. I conducted various events in the Club and also for MA students. Then I came to know that Dickens had written a play. I requested Dr.C. Naganna to write a poem on Dickens in English. He obliged. The poem was translated by himself to Kannada and I read it out in the class. I also asked a student from Sringeri to translate a chapter of Dickens' Hard Times and read it aloud. Such events can be conducted by other organisations also.
[Dr. Purnima was awarded the Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship in 2009-10 by the Fulbright Foundation and conducted research in the University of Texas, USA. Dr. Purnima has the distinction of being the only KSOU teacher to be awarded the Fellowship. She has edited a book titled Sharing Experiences: Varied Voices, a collection of articles on fine arts and theatre by the young and old.
Founder of Children's Literary Club about 21 years ago, Dr. R. Purnima has been conducting literary and cultural programmes to underprivileged kids of the city. For her endeavour, she has been awarded the Karnataka Nataka Academy award for achievers in Mysore district last year.]

'Shivaratri' propounds Basavanna's ideals: A review

A thing which we do not need, even if it is wealth, is akin to stone; when there is no equality between the work done and the pay received, it is corruption..." thus spring up pearls of wisdom from the lips of a sex worker, who was greatly influenced by Basavanna's philo-sophy, in the play 'Shivaratri,' invi-ting wide applause from audience.
"If gold is valued by the upper caste, the working class values the soil. Desires and temptations surround gold and to get it, vile acts are carried out; but commo-ners surround soil and here, work gains importance," propounds the play written by Jnanpith awardee Dr. Chandrashekar Kambara.

Pic. by Hampa Nagaraj

'Shivaratri' was staged by the artistes of city-based Nirantara Foundation last evening at the University Fine Arts College under the direction of renowned theatre director Chidambararao Jambe. The play, though started late, pleasantly surprised the audience with the entry, or more appropriately, rising of the village deity of Kalyana in flowing robes encompassing the stage. The two men on the sides of the stage swaying throughout the play added to the intrigue.
The drama starts with Shiva Sharana Mugda Sangaiah sear-ching for the house of a sex wor-ker Savantri, to worship Lord Shiva with Kamakshi, also a sex worker. It gains interest with the entry of King Bijjala to Savantri's house seeking Kamakshi's company, only to find Sangaiah worshipping Shivalinga on the bed. The theft of an expensive pearl chain from Bijjala's palace and its subsequent finding its way to Savantri's house through Sangaiah runs parallel to the meeting of Bijjala and his former Minister Basavanna at Savantri's house and their dialogue on Sharana philosophy and Bijjala's follies.
The story flows smoothly without any hiccups, and gives a different dimension to Kalyana, portraying the continuing struggle to eradicate caste system and accept Basavanna's philosophy wholeheartedly by all, irrespective of their vocation and beliefs.
The presentation of the play was quite appealing to the audience, but the audibility of the dialogues was less in the back of the theatre. The play saw a huge response with tickets being sold out and extra chairs put up for the public. Dr. Chandrashekara Kambara's presence delighted the audience who did not expect to see the Jnanpith awardee himself. The Foundation needs to take up more such experiments, so that Mysoreans get a chance to watch good plays.
The play gives rise to two valid questions: Is Basavanna's philosophy forgotten by his very followers, as there seems to be no end to casteism and obstacles to inter-caste marriages even now? Are Basavanna's ideals lost?

A Mother's 'Special Effect' on Mentally Disabled Kids

Someone once said, a good mother is worth hundreds of school teachers. Rearing a child is an endeavour which needs immense patience and love. And who else is better at it than a mother? But even most mothers, when they find out that their child is not among the 'normal' ones, lose heart and get depressed. They tend to think that God has punished them with a mentally or physically challenged child and that it is now their fate to suffer. Most parents do not stop to think that though their child is not 'normal,' he or she may be 'special', with abilities different than the normal ones. It is rather refreshing to find a mother who thinks that her child is indeed 'special' and discovers love through that 'special' child.

Anuradha Nandakumar, wife of city-based builder M.S. Nandakumar, has two children — son Nishanth and daughter Nimisha. Being the mother of a mentally challenged son, she decided to work for the empowerment of such children, teach them innovatively, train them in vocational courses and get them economically independent to an extent by helping them get jobs.
In order to support the parents of such special children, Anuradha founded the Mysore District Parents' Association for Empowering Developmentally Disabled (MDPAEDD) in the city, which works from the Namana Kala Mantapa building on 2nd Cross, Krishnamurthypuram. With a view to create interest about arts in the mentally challenged, this down-to-earth achiever also provides Namana Kala Mantapa, which she owns, without any rent to the organisations helping mentally challenged to conduct various programmes including drama, singing and yoga.
Anuradha's achievements do not stop here. She has also served as the Past President of Spoorthi, the Ladies Wing of Builders' Association of India (BAI), Mysore Centre.
When I caught up with Anuradha, she spoke about her experience of raising a special child and her aspirations towards rehabilitating the children and supporting their parents. Excerpts:
Shwetha: What was your experience as the mother of a mentally challenged child?
Anuradha Nandakumar: When I came to know that my son was mentally challenged, I was initially depressed, but only for some time. Then I thought spending my life in depression was of no use and I had to look after my child and bring out his talents in a positive way. I took him to Chetana Trust for Mentally Disabled. There we taught the children letters, words and colour concepts. They were taught their letters and words musically, sounds of animals and other basic syllabus, mainly through phonetics. A new syllabus was created and circulated among all mothers. It was such fun, innovating new things for the kids to do, creating new ideas... all parents were together and it mattered a lot. What was the next step to be taken towards teaching them was always on our minds. We always had something different to do because they were not run-of-the-mill children. They don't do most activities that normal kids do. So we had to keep inventing new concepts and that's what kept us going.
Shwetha: Where did your son study?
Anuradha: Chetana Trust guided us in all our steps. He studied pre-nursery, LKG and UKG in play home and then at Mahabodhi School. However, after 4th standard, we stopped taking him to school because we felt academic pursuit in normal lines was not suited for him. So he started going only to Chetana. Mathematical concepts were introduced there along with time concept. Even today he is so perfectly punctual that none of us has that kind of discipline. Our relatives and friends call him the 'Time keeper to the nation' like the famous HMT slogan. Today, all children of the parents who were the first members of MDPAEDD are grown up. They are aged 26, 30, 32 years etc., but they are very much together.
Shwetha: Is there any incident that saddened you most?
Anuradha: I will tell you one incident that happened when my son was young. I used to take him to school in bus everyday. One day, playful that he was, he refused to get down the bus at our stop as he fell in love with bus travel. I was coaxing him to get down when the bus conductor started shouting, "Why do you have to bring 'such' children in bus to trouble us?" Everybody in the bus started staring at us. That day, the conductor's behaviour saddened me. Then my husband decided that he would buy me a scooter to take our son to school.
Shwetha: How does your daughter Nimisha cope up with her 'special' brother?
Anuradha: She is so co-operative and mature for her age. All the siblings of such kids are mature. They learn the societal pulses and they feel it quickly. She was so matured that even in childhood, the childishness was absent. Even when we elders lose patience, she corrects us and comes to her brother's rescue saying "Mama, don't scold him like that." The siblings of such kids have that special kind of affection. My daughter is so motherly with her sibling that she started taking care of her parents too along with her sibling. We feel so proud of them. It's all because of that 'special' effect...
Shwetha: Most organisations that work for the cause of mentally challenged, just teach them but don't think about rehabilitating them by providing jobs. You have successfully taken up the rehabilitation work and are providing jobs to special children. What is your inspiration?
Anuradha: Yes, in most organisations there are prevocational and vocational courses for special kids. Then one fine day in 1999, the National Trust Act came into existence which declared no child will stay in any pre-vocational or vocational centre for more than six years. After that they have to be taken out of that place— either placed or engaged in an income-generating activity. When there was a demand to repeal the Act, we appealed to the government not to do so. I thought there would be no future for special children if they were just taught a vocational course.
Anuradha Nandakumar: A profile
Anuradha Nandakumar, 48, is a Rehabilitator under Rehabilitation Council of India, Social Activist in psychiatric social work. She has volunteered as a teacher in Chethana Trust for Mentally Ill & Handicapped and as Counsellor in Police Helpline. Apart from this, she is the former President of Inner Wheel Club of Mysore Midtown. She is the Director of Namana Creations, Founder of Saadhya, an empowerment project for dignity of special-needs citizens and Vice-President of Parivaar Karnataka, State Federation of Parents’ Associations.
Not just social work, Anuradha is also active in sports, screen-printing, theatre and many more such activities.
She has bagged the International Woman of the Year award-2008 given by the International Women’s Guild, Anu Spandana award-2011 by Inner Wheel Club of Mysore Midtown, KSOU award for working in the area of special education.
Anuradha has produced audio cassettes on — Rhymes on colours, animals, sounds, tables etc. for 5-year-olds; 'Shringara Bhaava' in DVG’s book 'Antahpura Geetegalu' etc. apart from films and documentaries "Munnota," "Nenapina Nauke" — a documentary on H.L.N.Simha, "Nail Polish" — a short film for children; "Chaavadi" — a talk show on Law of Land v/s Law of Nature etc., and has also acted in numerous plays.