7/30/2019 20130107A_008103

1/1

CMYK

ND-ND

CHENNAI: Bhakti establishes anatural link with the SupremeBeing as is evident from the vari-ous instances in the lives of thedevout. The omniscient Lord ismoved by compassion and re-sponds to the Bhaktas selfless

love and worship in myriadways, and thereby this bond getsstrengthened.

The true quality of BhaktiBhava transcends all other fac-tors such as status, birth, schol-arship, wealth or ostentation,and this is exemplified in thecase of Pusalar, who lived a sim-ple life as a Siva devotee, said SriB. Damodhara Dikshitar in alecture.

His worship took the form ofbuilding a temple for Siva, andsince he did not have the moneyfor this he began building thetemple in his heart in a meticu-lous manner. He imagined thathe brought the bricks and sand,and the architects. When theconstruction of the temple wasover, he even fixed the auspi-cious time for consecration andprayed that the Lord be presentat that time to grace theoccasion.

In a parallel situation, thereigning Pallava king had alsobuilt an exquisite temple for Siva

in Kanchipuram and requestedthe Lord to be present for theauspicious inauguration. It issaid Siva appeared in his dreamand told the king that He hadalready promised to be presentat the consecration of another

temple at the same time in thenearby Thiruninravur, built byone Pusalar.

Much impressed by the devo-tion of such a Sivanadiyar whomSiva wished to grace, the kinghastened to meet this Bhaktaand participate in the consecra-tion ceremony. When he reac-hed the place, there were no signof any celebration, nor was thereany temple in sight.

Enquiring about the where-abouts of Pusalar, the king foundthe Sivanadiyar in deep medita-tion. When he came out of thetrance, he was accosted by theking, who was eager to knowabout the temple. The unassum-ing Pusalar had kept this grandevent in his heart and not toldanyone.

He wondered how the kingcame to know of it. When he wastold that Siva had told the kingthat he would be present for the

consecration, the Nayanar wasoverwhelmed at the Lordsboundless grace.

Pinnacle of BhaktiRELIGION

Across

1 Anyone can be upset by irritation (9)

5 Selfish desire for good grass (5)

8 Principle governing conduct is becoming incourt cases (8)

9 Struggling, the large cow gently went out tofind the compound (6)

11 Surface lustre causes great failure (5)

12 One of 17 elements that are rather

unusual (4,5)13 Robin Hood was a heroic one (6)

14 A popular cereal containing a bit of thiaminecovered with cheese and browned (2,6)

16 Become out-of-date? But be victoriousaround the world! (4,4)

18 Studies in music (6)

22 Making an announcement about accidentallyfinding toy daughter lost (9)

23 Not proper in small apartment (5)

24 Old mate, reversing position, applauds (6)

25 A memento to make one nervous, oddly (8)

26 Mist causing a bit of strain? Appeal togod! (5)

27 Deliveries assessed and given too muchimportance (9)

Down

1 Music giving everyone, for example, gold inreturn (7)

2 Welsh town with a novel harbour (7)

3 Assurance of fidelity, a part of letters (5, 10)

4 The disposition of flora, fauna and so on (6)

5 Interpreting order, reeling vet somehowgets the dog (6,9)

6 Disallow including royalty in a passage from

a book (7)7 Marine creature, a plaything docked by one

from Helsinki, say (7)

10 Throat problem treatment of water indrinking vessel needed (5)

15 Courteous and polite assembly of Romanfigures (5)

16 The German caught in reverse kind of fall isdoubtful (7)

17 More brainy like a teacher, it is said (7)

19 What may be cast by cops to catch theculprit (7)

20 A butterfly that is tardy, unusually (7)21 Dont pay attention to one hiding in to

malign or exaggerate (6)

THE HINDU CROSSWORD 106641 2 3 4

5 6 7

8 9

10

11 12

13 14

15

16 17 18 19 20

21

22

23

24 25

26 27

A L G E B R A I C I S S U E

D E U O L A N

V A N I S H I N F L A M E D

I E T D S U S L

S E R B B I R T H S T O N E

E A U S A T N S

L I L A C B U R S A R S

A T O U A G

A L S O R A N L E T G O

C S A S A E N F

C H E S S B O A R D D I O R

U M O L Y L S A

S U B H U M A N D I A T O M

E L N T D E E

D R Y A D E N G R O S S E D

Sankalak

Solution to puzzle 10663

Road towards split

The Chinese Communist Partyindicated the possibility of a

split in the world Communistmovement and said the SovietUnion and Communist move-ments which supported its posi-tion would be responsible forsuch a split. The possibility wasraised in Red Flag, the fortnightlyjournal of the Central Committeeof the Chinese Communist Party,in an editorial quoted by the NewChina news Agency. The articlewas not directed against the Sovi-et Union by name, but againstmodern revisionists the termwhich has become the standardChinese and Albanian euphe-mism for the Soviet Union, Yu-goslavia and Communist leaderswho support these countries. RedFlag said that the modern revi-sionists have openly embarkedon the road towards a split.

Temple taken overThe red-white-blue flag of

Cambodia was raised over the an-

cient Khmer temple of Preah Vi-hear.

Taking formal possession of

the disputed temple, the Cambo-dian chief of State, Prince Nor-dom Sihanouk, made an offer offriendship to neighbouring Thai-land which had lost a fight in theWorld Court for retaining pos-session of the ancient shrine.Prince Sihanouk offered to allowThais to visit the temple withoutvisa or passport and described

this as a reasonable basis for im-proving the strained relations.

DemarcationThe Centre is to constitute a

three-member Commission todemarcate territorial constituen-cies for elections to the Lok Sab-ha and the State Assemblies. Theenabling Bill the DelimitationCommission Bill, 1962 has be-come an Act after the Presidentsassent. It does not, however, ap-ply to Jammu and Kashmir andNagaland. Two members of theCommission will be either ex-judges of the Supreme Court or ofthe High Court and the third willbe the Chief Election Commis-sioner. In its work in a particularState, the Commission will asso-ciate nine members, four of theLok Sabha representing thatState and five of the Assembly.The respective Speakers willmake the nominations. The

Commission will determine itsown procedure and have all thepowers of a civil court.

(dated January 7, 1963)

THIS DAY THAT AGE

PERISCOPE8 T H E HI N D U M O N D AY , JA N UA RY 7, 201 3

NOIDA/DELHI

VARIETY

Days after the young womanwas gang raped on a bus inNew Delhi, many thought herstory would fade along withother, equally brutal crimes.But three weeks have passed,and the 23-year-old studentsdeath continues to inspireprotestsand still dominatespress coverage, to the sur-prise of those who thoughtthe media would soon leavethe tragedy, and the issue ofcrimes against women, be-hind.

The media is always shift-ing its gaze, said Pamela Phi-lipose, editor-in-chief of theWomens Feature Service,delivering her remarks to astanding-room-only crowd atthe Indian Womens PressCorps on Friday. For per-

haps the first time, there hasbeen an undiluted responseby the media. It is not liftingits gaze from this story.

Ms Philipose spoke as partof a Reporting on Rape pan-el of journalists and media ex-perts called to evaluate presscoverage of the incident andthe public outrage that fol-lowed or, as the event pressrelease put it, was the mediahysterical and irresponsible,or effective and balanced inits coverage?

KTS Tulsi, an attorney andcriminal justice expert, gave

the press low marks. Heclaimed the coverage hadsparked violent street pro-tests and too much focus onthe sentencing of the accusedrapists over concrete crimi-nal justice reforms. Insteadof generalising anger to con-structive purpose, it actuallyfed the frenzy, he said. Whycant we have specialists inmedia who know a little moreabout crowd control?

Mr. Tulsis critique raisedquestions you might hear in

any journalism classroom:Should the media reflect so-ciety, or direct it? Whereshould the line between jour-nalist and social activist bedrawn?

Shoma Chaudhury, ma-naging editor of online maga-zine Tehelka, said thateditors contrary to the pop-ular ideal of journalistic ob-jectivity should haveenough of a political point ofview to choose to stick with astory after the immediate,

white-hot attention is over.Whether there is interest

in a story or not, whetherthere is commerce in it, willyou follow it or not follow it?

Indeed, the lack of journal-istic follow-up was as much toblame as any branch of gov-ernment for all but ignoringcrimes against women untilnow, Ms. Philipose said: Wehave been letting this issuegrow in front of us until it hasbecome a Frankenstein mon-ster.

Or until such a shockingcase grabbed public atten-tion. With government statis-tics showing that a woman israped every 22 minutes in In-dia and with many of thosecases equally horrific, panel-ists had different answers forwhy this case appears to havebecome a watershed momentfor the country.

She was able to galvaniseby her courage, saidNiveditaMenon, a politics professor atJawaharlal Nehru Universityaffiliated with social-politicalblog Kafila.org. She was ev-erywoman.

And who was she, exact-ly? As of yet, news outletshave preserved the 23-year-old students anonymity,leaving it to her family tochoose whether to release herreal name a journalisticstandard that goes beyondthat of some countries, in-cluding the United States,where newspapers wouldhave published the victimsname after her death. Ms.Chaudhury took some newsoutlets to task for using fakenames in the absence of a realone particularlyThe Timesof India, which has dubbedthe young woman Nirbhaya

or without fearcalling thepseudonym cheap, abhor-rent sentimentality.

But whether press cover-age of the young womansdeath, and the discussion ofwomens rights that has en-sued is excellent, mediocre,or downright terrible, all pan-elists agreed that it shouldnot let up. For the first timethis issue is on the front bur-ner, Ms. Philipose urged theaudience, many of whomwere journalists themselves.Dont let it go to the backburner.

Sticking with the storyA panel discussion on Reporting on rape threw up the hopethat the issue would be retained by the media on the front

burnerVictoria Rossi

VIGNETTES OF PROTEST: Where should the line between journalist and activist

be drawn? PHOTO: V.V.KRISHNAN.

The burgeoning popularityof the Internet forcedphilately, the hobby ofcollecting stamps andstudying postal history,

take a back seat a few yearsago. Even letter-writingbecame another victim ofthe Internets success storyand has become near-obsolete an art now.However, owing to itsmultifarious inroads todifferent fields, theInternet is now serving as asignificant platform forphilatelists to promotetheir hobby as well aspatrons of letter-writing tobuild up support for the artthrough online newslettersand blogs.

The Rainbow StampClub blog and newsletterwas started by Jeevan Jyotifive years back with an aimto spread awareness aboutphilately and also to createa common platform forphilatelists where they canshare their views, getinformation about newissues, exhibitions and thephilatelic world. Theobjective of RainbowStamp Club is to relatephilately with every day lifeand to present it in such away that a common personcan understand the essence

of stamp collecting, saysMs. Jyoti, editor of thenewsletter and a philatelistwho started the blog fromKullu, Himachal Pradesh.

These days, people prefere-mailing over writing

letters because it is quickand free of cost reducingthe once popular youthactivity to a lazy pastimefor the elderly. We areusing the Internet as amedium because it has agreat impact on the youthand we can interact withpeople across the world.The response to the blogactivities is veryencouraging and gives hopeto all the philatelists whoare struggling to keep thehobby alive, shares Ms.Jyoti.

The members of thisonline club not onlyinteract online but alsosend letters to each otherand exchange postagestamps to enhance theircollection.

There are many otherwebsites like Stamps ofIndia, Arpin Philately andAmerican Philatelic Societywhich cater to amateurphilately enthusiasts byproviding basicinformation aboutphilately, and also givestechnical details aboutpostal history and

innovations to moreserious philatelists.

What makes stampcollection a unique hobbyis that stamps are culturalambassadors of a countryand tell the history of that

country in a form of storywhere we can clearly seethe gradual development ofthe country and its people.Philately cultivates ameticulous and focusedattention to detail alongwith increasing knowledgeand aesthetic sense,according to Ms. Jyoti. Italso helps one to makefriends across territorialboundaries and age limits.

According to her, stampsrepresent various coloursof life and that is why shecalls it RainbowPhilately. Postage stampsare not only tokens ofreceipt of postage but arealso mediums tocommemorate, celebrateand promote nationalheritage and events.

I am positive that thepopularity of thisinternationally recognisedhobby will grow with time.The Internet is alreadyplaying an imperative rolein promoting the hobbyand it has the potential tomake philately a part ofpeoples life, says Ms.Jyoti.

TREND

The stamp is onlineThough philately

and letterwriting have

been fading in

popularity due

to the Internet,

it is this very

medium that is

promoting both

online

Gautami Srivastava

RAINBOW PHILATELY: A miniature sheet on theletter box. PHOTO: V.V.KRISHNAN.

HOBBY: Postage stamps are a way to promote national heritage.PHOTO: H.S.MANJUNATH.

When the medium is asstrong and stimulating astheatre, language hardly pos-es any hindrance. Perhapsthats what drove Americantheatre professor Terry J.Converse, an expert in maskcharacterisation, to get asso-ciated with the Cochin-basedLokadharmi theatre compa-ny for his six-month-longFulbright scholarship inIndia.

A professor at the Wash-ington State University forthe last 22 years, Dr. Con-verse teaches direction andspecialises in the use of

masks in theatre.He was in Amritsar recent-

ly, along with the cast andcrew of Lokadharmi to per-form Draupadi in Malaya-lam on the last day of the 10 th

National Theatre Festival or-ganised by the city-basedManch-Rangmanch group.

The play analysed the rela-tionship between a contem-porary Indian girl and theepic character Draupadi delving into the many layersof the Pandava queens com-plex life.

Dr. Converse, who helpedin the creation and use ofmasks for the play, sees a l otof genuine love among peo-

ple for theatre in India. It isunlike in the U.S., where peo-ple have little value for thelove of arts, despite havingsome of the finest institu-tions in the world. In India,my most positive observation

has been sensing an apprecia-tion in people, probably be-cause there is a lot of theatrehappening in different cul-tures. It perhaps comes out oftheir temples and their vil-lages. Here, theatre is not el-itist like in the U.S., hepoints out.

He adds, I have seen a lotof traditional theatre in Co-chin and other parts of Ker-ala. People seem to havegrown up with theatre. I de-liberately chose a theatregroup for my scholarship as Idid not want to be associatedwith any university struc-ture. While conducting work-shops for Lokadharmi, ofcourse, language was a hugebarrier. But Chandradasan[artistic director and foun-der-member of the group]was an effective translatorand could make his actors,most of whom speak Malaya-lam, understand the nuancesof my mask techniques.

As a Fulbright visiting lec-turer, Dr. Converse brings hisexpertise in exploring cross-cultural themes in contem-porary world theatre to thisCochin-based group. High-lighting the role of the maskas an acting tool, his three-month workshop with

Lokadharmi focused onencouraging actors to use

body language more effusive-ly since they could no longeruse their faces to emote.

Mask workshops areabout aesthetics, perform-ance and technique. Whenyou take away the face, howto communicate becomes achallenge for an actor. Thefocus then is on physicalisingan emotion and various bodymovements, he explains.

An actor has to create var-ious characters using thesemasks and their body lan-guage. We made the partici-pants dress in black and theywould emote in front of themirror. The idea is to stripthem of any kind of self-iden-tity. The mask becomes pow-erful then and we see animmediate transformation inthese actors as they become acompletely new person.

Dr. Converses mask work-shops with Lokadharmi havebeen warmly received andwill result in a new produc-tion a Malayalam transla-tion of the famous play TheElephant Man written byBernard Pomerance.

With his scholarship end-ing in February next year, theAmerican professor plans totravel extensively across In-dia and experience variousother forms of theatre in themeanwhile.

Masks of meaningA specialist in the use of masks in

drama, Fulbright scholar Terry J.

Converse has discovered genuine love

for theatre among Indians during his

stint in regional theatre

Parul Sharma Singh

EXPERIENCING INDIA:

Dr Terry J. Converse.

THEATRE