talk mag march 28, 2013

talkVolume 1 | Issue 33 | March 28, 2013 | Rs 10

the intelligent bangalorean’s must-read weekly talkmagazine

STRAYSHumane adoptions

bring joy 9

MOVIESPaan Singh Tomar and the

new Indian cinema 7

TRENDWhat’s electronic dance

music all about? 16

* Turn to Page 2 for testimonials from readers who love TalkGet this mag at your doorstep every weekCall 95388 92600

Bangalore is pitching in to build the world’s largest telescope, to come up in Hawaii.The Rs 7,600-crore, five-nation project, helmed in India by Kannadiga astronomer ShrinivasKulkarni, will help unravel many mysteries about the universe, reports PRASHANTH GN 11-15

Bangalore is pitching in to build the world’s largest telescope, to come up in Hawaii.The Rs 7,600-crore, five-nation project, helmed in India by Kannadiga astronomer ShrinivasKulkarni, will help unravel many mysteries about the universe, reports PRASHANTH GN 11-15

FIRST IN TALK NR Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murty on family genius Shrinivas Kulkarni

EYE ON SPACEEYE ON SPACE

Letters column on Page 31 this week

3talk|28 mar 2013|talkmag.incredit cards

editor talk

SAVIE KARNELsavie.karnel@talkmag,in

March is always atight month forfinances, whatwith tax deduc-tions, school fees

and insurance premiums. Forsome of us, it might mean difficul-ty with EMIs and paying off creditcard bills. So it is also the timewhen recovery agents are at work.

Naveen Giddappa, generalsecretary of Credit Cardholders’Association of India, says com-plaints about harassment fromrecovery agents go up during thisperiod.

“We are receiving 80 to 90

calls every day,” he told Talk.The association has request-

ed banks to “excuse” borrowersthis month, but banks, not sur-prisingly, haven’t agreed. “Theycould at least give borrowers twomonths’ time,” saysNaveen.

Banks havebegun using harsh-er methods to pres-sure borrowers topay back on time.The latest is theR B I- s a n c t i o n e d‘Name and Shame’ policy,’ of whatare known as ‘wilful’ defaulters.

Banks publish names andphotographs of defaulters innewspapers, along with theiraddresses, within 15 days of a

notice urging borrowers to pay up.The State Bank of India has

taken the lead and published pic-tures of defaulters in Delhi. Thesepeople had taken loans of Rs 3 lakhand their outstanding amounts

were in the rangeof Rs 2.6 to Rs 2.9lakh.

Some bankshave decided topublish the detailsonly in localnewspapers circu-lated around the

residences of the defaulters. Somebanks will put up pictures ofdefaulters on their notice boards.

Of course, borrowers don’tlike it. “In India people are veryconscious of their reputation. The

Banks plan topublish namesand photos ofdefaulters in newspapers

While wilful defaulters make lifedifficult for genuine borrowers,sometimes it is the recoveryagents who cross the line. Learn to tackle them

Don't let recoveryagents harass you

In our enthusiasm for informationtechnology, we often forget Bangalore isalso a city of brilliant people working inpure science. Scientists immersed inphysics and astronomy pursue ideas thatsound esoteric to lay people but advanceour understanding of the universe. Suchdisciplines offer no immediatetechnological benefits, but in the long runchange the way we experience andperceive our world.

We launched Talk with a story on the‘God particle’ experiment, with PrashanthGN visiting Geneva, looking around theLarge Hadron Collider site, and returningwith an interview with CERN chief Rolf-Dieter Heuer. Ours was a sceptical story,perhaps the only one of its kind, thatsuggested the announcement of thediscovery of the Higgs boson waspremature. Our story won an appreciativereadership, and gave us the confidenceto publish more science-related stories---on Bangalore’s work in nanoscience,aeronautics, and bioengineering. Whenwe started exploring the possibility ofreporting on the Thirty Metre Telescope,we were excited to find its Bangalore andKarnataka connections. Bangalore iscontributing critical elements to thisambitious five-nation project, and theastronomer guiding its course for India isShrinivas Kulkarni, brother-in-law ofIndia’s IT elder statesman NR NarayanaMurthy. We got interviews not only withKulkarni but also with his illustrious sisterSudha and her husband NarayanaMurthy, and have put together a packagethat should inspire this city’s sciencebuffs and inquisitive young minds.

Happy reading!

SR [email protected]

name and shame policy candrive many to suicide,” saysNaveen, The association isplanning to approach theReserve Bank of India (RBI) todo away with this policy.“Going to the Supreme Courtwould have been better, butwe do not have the resourcesto fight a case there,” he says.

The banks have theirown case. This policy is applic-able only to those RBI calls‘wilful’ defaulters. Accordingto RBI guidelines a wilfuldefaulter is one who deliberately doesn’tpay his dues, despite having adequate cashflow and net worth. Banks can also classifydefaulters as ‘wilful’ if the loans are utilisedfor purposes other than those previouslystated, funds are siphoned off from thebank-financed activity, records are falsi-fied, or securities are disposed of withoutthe bank’s knowledge.

But as Naveen points out, it is the aamaadmi who seems to suffer the most.“Banks haven’t been fair with the recovery.For example, Vijay Mallya is a big defaulter.Why didn’t the banks publish his picture inthe newspapers?” asks Naveen.

Bankers on the other hand feel some

people default on loansbecause of a casual attitude.Some borrowers think theycan get by without repayingthe loan. In such circum-stances, banks have to usestrict measures. A recent RBIreport says bad loans couldjump three times if not tack-led. “Bad loans in India couldjump to as much as 5.8 percent of the total within twoyears in a severe risk scenario,up from 2.8 percent inSeptember 2012,” states the

report. The name and shame policy is aresult of this scenario.

For smaller amounts of defaulted pay-ments, the banks have been using themethods that they have been using formany years now like harassing phone callsand sending recovery agents to the houseor office.

If you feel you are being unfairly tar-geted, the Credit Cardholders’ Associationsuggests some ways in which one can han-dle this harassment.

Phone calls: The association suggeststhe CVG formula, named after the founderof the association CV Giddappa. Answeryour mobile or landline and keep the

phone aside. Let the agent keep taking. Hewill get fed up and hang up. If your familyis living elsewhere, he may call your familyand abuse them. Ask your folks also to fol-low the CVG formula.

Beware of tricks: When borrowerschange mobile numbers, the recoveryagency pulls out the call list from the ser-vice provider and notes the numbers thatwere frequently called. Most often thesenumbers are of family and friends. Theycall these numbers andstate that they are from acourier company andhave to deliver a parcel tothe borrower. “When theyget the number theharassment starts again,”says Naveen.

A recent ploy is tocall from outstation num-bers. “When it’s an STD call, we tend tobelieve them and give the correct phonenumber of the borrower,” he says. If yourfamily receives such a call asking for yourcontact details, ask them to say that theydon’t have your number, he advises.

Don’t share contact details on socialmedia: Recovery agents have started spy-ing on profiles of borrowers on Facebookand Linked-In. Do not leave your phone

numbers on the profile. If you do, use ade-quate privacy settings so that your numberis not visible to the public.

If agents turn up at your house:According to RBI guidelines, before send-ing a recovery agent, the bank is supposedto send you a letter with a picture, nameand phone number of the agent. The agentis also supposed to carry a copy of the let-ter when he comes. Ask for the letter. Ifthey don’t have it don’t entertain them. If

they create a scene, dial100 and call the policecontrol room.

If they barge intoyour house, they commita crime of trespass. Youcan call the police andseek their help. “Ifwomen are alone in thehouse and the agents

don’t leave, they can claim self defence andattack the agents. They could throw chillipowder in the eyes, and call 100,” saysNaveen.

Above all, remember that credit is tobe used for convenience, to be paid back ina planned way. It is not free money.

Call The Credit Cardholders’Association on 22129894 or call Naveen on9341261962

4talk|28 mar 2013|talkmag.in

Some borrowersthink they canget by withoutrepaying theloan

Naveen Giddappa, GeneralSecretary of CreditCardholders’ Association

BASU [email protected]

Because no one can votethem out, bureaucratsfeel more secure thanpoliticians, but manyamong them are keen to

join politics once they retire. Thistime around, as Karnataka goes to thepolls in May, hundreds of babus areturning netas.

Most bureaucrats are clamour-ing to join the Congress, the partythey believe will sweep the polls.Former IAS officers Ashok KumarManoli, Baburao Mudbi, K Shivaram,S Puttaswamy and Baladev Krishnaare already in the party fold, andmore are following them.

But it is not just officials. SeniorCongressman SM Krishna’s gunmanR Manjunath and former superinten-dent of police MK Solabheswarappaare also set to don khadi, thefavourite attire of politicians, and jointhe Congress.

New political bossesLoyalties are shifting, too. When inservice, former inspector general ofpolice Shankar Bidari is known tohave favoured Yeddyurappa. Now, heis ready to contest elections on aCongress ticket. “I have joined theCongress because I admire its ideals,”he says.

The other parties attractingbureaucrats and policemen are theJD(S) and BSR Congress.

IAS officer MV Veerabhadraiah,who last served as deputy generalmanager of the Upper Krishna pro-ject, is likely to contest on a JD(S). IASofficer Ashok Kumar Manoli, formerprincipal secretary for IT-BT and sci-ence and technology andCheluvaraju, former assistant com-missioner of police are also gravitat-ing towards HD Deve Gowda’s party.All the three have applied for volun-tary retirement.

Former deputy inspector generalof police MC Narayangowda is con-testing from the Chickpet con-stituency on a JD(S) ticket, whilehigh-profile police officer BB Ashok

Kumar, who had earned himself thetitle of ‘Tiger,’ is planning to contestfrom Shivajinagar on a JD(S) ticket.Former IAS officer S Subramanya toowill contest elections on a JD(S) tick-et, but from where he is not sure.

Yeddyurappa’s KJP will field for-mer IAS officers Dr Baburao Mudbiand IR Perumal. Former inspector ofUpparpet police station Lokeshwar islikely to be the party’s candidate fromTiptur.

BJP last in lineThe BJP holds no attraction forbureaucrats aspiring to be politicians.Karnataka State IndustrialDevelopment Corporation officerChikkanna is rumoured to be joiningthe BJP. No other big bureaucrat hasjoined the party this time.

By contrast, B Sriramulu’s BSRCongress has many takers. FormerKAS officer Ramapriya has become apolitical advisor to the party. Seniorjournalist and botany professorRavindra Reshme is its officialspokesman. Former Bellary deputycommissioner B Shivappa and retired

bureaucrats Dr Chandrashekar,Cheluvaraju and Dr Hanumantappahave also joined the party.

How have bureaucrats andpolicemen fared in politics?

Ramesh Jigajinagi came from aDalit family in Bijapur. He was select-

5talk|28 mar 2013|talkmag.inpolitical diary

The Congress is thehottest destination for

bureaucrats andpolicemen migrating

to politics this season

YES BOSSFormer inspectorgeneral of police

Shankar Bidari(bowing) is

contesting on aCongress ticket

There is nomodelbureaucrat-turned-politicalleader currentlyin India. People

of the calibre of HM Patel (ICSofficer during Sardar Patel'stime) no longer enter politics.Bureaucrats entering politics isnot new. The numbers haveincreased now. It's a democracyand anyone can contestelections.

Chiranjeevi SinghDistinguished IAS officer (retired), now

President, Alliance Francais, Bangalore

Babugiri to netagiri

ed for the post of a police sub-inspec-tor and was in the waiting list. He wasso influenced by Ramakrishna Hegdethat he jumped into politics in 1983.He became a minister. Now, he is inthe BJP and is an MP. His son-in-lawGovind Karjol, a PWD supervisor, fol-lowed in his footsteps and is now theKannada and Culture Minister in theBJP government. Both politicians havea fairly unblemished track record.

Police inspector DT Jayakumarresigned following a tiff with hisseniors. He joined the Janata Dal in1985 and contested elections fromNanjanagud constituency. He losttwice and won once. He became aminister in JH Patel’s cabinet, but didnot earn a good name.

H Chenningappa was a head con-stable who went on to become forestminister in Kumaraswamy’s cabinet.He was involved in illegal mining andtrapped by the Lokayukta police. Healso gained notoriety for party hop-ping between the JD(S) and the BJP.

Suspended but rewardedIAS officers J Alexander and BS Patilheld the top-most bureaucratic post inKarnataka, being chief secretaries. OfKerala origin, Alexander was the rea-son for the downfall of two chief min-isters. He was the excise secretary dur-ing Hegde’s rule and chief secretaryduring S Bangarappa’s government.

During Veerendra Patil’s govern-ment, the Lokayukta trappedAlexander, and he was suspended.Despite his notoriety, he got the chiefsecretary’s job in Bangarappa’s cabinet.He was involved in the Classic com-puter scam, which resulted in the fallof the government. A CBI inquiry fol-lowed.

The next chief minister, VeerappaMoily, kept Alexander under suspen-sion. But after he retired, Alexandercontested elections on a Congressticket from Bharatinagar constituencyin Bangalore. He became a minister inSM Krishna’s cabinet.

BS Patil was the chief secretary inJH Patel and SM Krishna’s govern-ment. He is in the Congress now. In2008, he contested the Lok Sabha elec-

tion from Dharwad North and lost.From a feudal Lingayat family, Patilmoves around in elite circles. Heshares a close relationship with formerchief minister Yeddyurappa andexpressway builder Ashok Kheny.

Former Bangalore police com-missioner P Kodandaramaiah resignedfour years before his retirement. Hecould have become the inspector-gen-eral of police, but chose politics. Hejoined the Janata Dal in 1996 and waselected from the Chitradurga parlia-mentary constituency. He thenhopped to the Congress and lost. He isagain gearing up to contest elections.

Sangliana’s recordHT Sangliana came from Mizoram toKarnataka and made a name for him-self as a super cop. He was alsoBangalore’s police commissioner. Hehad become a folk hero of sorts, withtwo commercial feature films beingmade on him in Kannada. After hisretirement, he contested on a BJP tick-et and became an MP from BangaloreNorth constituency. He was neveraccused of corruption, but his politicalcolleagues were contemptuous of hiscraving for publicty. Later, he movedto the Congress and lost.

Similarly, police inspector BC

Patil gave up his uniform to join films.He acted in and directed 25 films. In2004, he joined the Congress and wonassembly elections twice fromHirekerur. His performance has beenaverage in all the three fields.

Many top-ranking police officershave lost their popularity after enter-ing politics. Prominent among themare Subhash Bharani, BK Shivaram, GABawa and Abdul Azeem.

Subhash Bharani contested theassembly election on a BJP ticket fromKollegal in 2008. He lost by a hugemargin. He then joined Mayawati’sBahujan Samaj Party (BSP). He hasnow jumped over to the JD(S) and nowhopes to contest from Gandhinagar.

Shivaram gained popularity asACP at the Bangalore Crime Branch.He joined the JD(S) in 2008 and lostthe assembly elections fromMalleswaram. He has now joined theCongress and will again contest fromMalleswaram.

Police officer Abdul Azeem wasangry that Deve Gowda didn’t makehim a MLC a second time. He spokeagainst the former prime minister tothe media. He said that the crowdgathered for the Deve Gowda’s Muslimrally, actually consisted of Hindusmade to wear Muslim skull caps. Hewas ousted from the party. He has nowreturned and is likely to contest fromHebbal.

Bawa served the force for 37 yearsand retired as deputy commissioner ofpolice. He may contest elections fromHebbal or Surathkal.

Over the last three decades,bureaucrats and policemen haveentered politics and risen to minister-ship, but few can claim distinguishedpublic service records. The new cropjoining politics shows no promise thatthings will be better this season.


BABU BRIGADE Former chief secretary BS Patil (Congress), and former IAS officers BaburaoMudbi (KJP) and Ashok Kumar Manoli (possibly JD(S))

Reactions, statements,accusations, complaints,or just straight talk—thisis where you get them all

Questions

?3?

?

The Indian Institute of Management isorganising a workshop for scholars whowant to learn to write their research paperswell. The institute is hosting the Academy ofInternational Business (AIB)'s India chapterannual conference between April 15 and 17,and the workshop is one of its highlights.

How do you rate the quality of researchpapers in India? What areas need to beimproved? Often, good work in India goesunrecognised because no one hears aboutit. Also, planning to publish one's researchin a top journal can be intimidating. Somescholars do not really understand themechanics of peer-reviewed publication. Atour paper development workshop, editorsof international journals provide guidanceon these issues.

How can Indian B-Schools gain from theconference?This is an opportunity to gain world-classexposure at a low cost (Rs 1,000 for threedays). This will help aspiring researchscholars as well as managers and academicsinterested in updating their knowledge ofinternational business.

What is the AIB? AIB is the leading association of specialistsin international business. Present in 81countries, IIM-Bangalore hosts the IndiaChapter of AIB. This year’s theme is‘International business in the context ofemerging economies’.

For details of the AIB conference, log on tohrm.iimb.ernet.in

Prof S Raghunath, AIB India Chapter chairperson, is alsoDean (Admin) and Professor, Corporate Strategy and Policy,at the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore (IIMB).

A writing workshop forbusiness scholars

Prof S RaghunathChairman,Academy of International Business India Chapter

K SRINIVAS

IAS officerJayaprakashNarayan (57)hails fromAndhra Pradesh.He was a doctorwho appeared forthe IASexaminations in1980. He rankedamong the top

10 and chose the Andhra Pradeshcadre. He served for 16 years.People affectionately called him JP.In 1996, he resigned from hisgovernment job and founded theLok Satta Party, with the whistle ashis symbol. He created awarenessabout people's rights andgovernance. After 13 years of

social service, he contestedelections in 2009 from Kuktpallyassembly constituency. Withoutbribing people for votes, he wonwith a margin of 15,000 votes.

His was a lone battle. He continuedserving people even after enteringpolitics. He may not havesucceeded in changing the politicalsystem but he has provided a ray ofhope. His party plans to field goodcandidates in the Karnatakaassembly elections. Ravi Reddy willcontest from BTM Layout, VivekMenon from Shantinagar, ShantalaDamle from Basavangudi, AshwinMahesh from Bommanahalli, DrMeenakshi Bharati fromMalleswaram and SridharPacchishetty from Hebbal.

Lok Satta Party and the power of one

JayaprakashNarayan

The announcement of theNational Film Awards onMarch 18 may not havethrown up surprises—Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Paan

Singh Tomar, the winner of the BestFilm Award, has few detractors—butit may mark a decisive moment in thehistory of Indian cinema.

India’s art filmmakers havealways denied there are two distinctcategories—‘art’ and ‘commercial’—incinema, insisting that there’s only‘good’ and ‘bad’ cinema. But, the factis that popular and art cinema havealways addressed two different con-stituencies.

Art cinema began as an initiativefrom the government in the early1970s, during Indira Gandhi’s regime,due to a desire—on the part of thestate—to help create a valid Indianfilm aesthetic. While this was respon-sible in the 1970s and 1980s for muchof the best cinema ever made in thecountry, it gradually became amethod by with the state exhibited‘social concern.’ Wherever the State

was failing in its social duties, itattempted to compensate by reward-ing artistes who brought its failuresto public attention and this, in turn,became a token of its sincerity!

If one considers the subjectsdealt with by art cinema—farmers’suicides, displacement of local popu-laces by development projects, casteoppression, globalisation and itseffects upon traditional livelihoods,etc—they almost entirely representareas in which the state has failed. Tophrase it differently, the art filmmak-er was expected to be ‘socially respon-sible’, i.e. help extricate the countryfrom the morass in which politics hadplaced it. Needless to say, this is plain-ly impossible and has resulted in thegradual decline of Indian art cinema.

The best art cinema made in thecountry—like two or three films eachof Adoor Gopalakrishnan and GAravindan from Kerala, and AribamSyam Sharma from Manipur—hasnot been ‘socially responsible’ in thisnarrow sense and has tried to be morepersonal. Art cinema today—whether

in Malayalam, Kannada, Assamese orMarathi—hardly has a paying publicand the constituency it addresses isonly the state. As a result, art films aremade on small budgets, have poortechnical qualities and the actors arerarely paid. Many people work on artfilms in various capacities with only anational award in mind, creating ahuge gap between art films awardedlocally and cinema acknowledged asaesthetically significant around theworld.

Indian art films do not winawards at majorinternational festi-vals and one cannotrecall the last oneeven allowed intocompetition atCannes, Berlin orVenice. The last non-art film to receive a best film award atthe national level was perhapsMadhur Bhandarkar’s Page 3 (2005),but that film was too sensationalistand exploitative to represent achange for Indian cinema. Apart from

this film the National awards havebeen dominated by directors likeShaji N Karun, Buddhadev Dasgupta,Girish Kasaravalli and Jahnu Baruawho represent the art film in Indiatoday.

But Paan Singh Tomar is a newexperience; having found a payingpublic, it was made with a budget ofaround Rs 7 crore where most artfilms have to manage with budgets ofless than Rs 50 lakh. The film may notwin major international awards, butit is, technically and in terms of per-

formances, an accom-plished work whichcan still competeinternationally. Onehas only to compareit to the Marathi artfilm Dhag (aboutsomeone born into a

caste traditionally engaged in cremat-ing the dead) which won the BestDirector Award, to recognise the dif-ference that it represents for Indiancinema—not only technically but alsothematically.

7talk|28 mar 2013|talkmag.infilm matters

Technically on a par withthe best of world cinema,

Paan Singh Tomar wasalso a popular success.Its winning the national

award for Best Film—anhonour usually reservedfor arthouse productions—signals a decisive turn

for Indian cinemaWORLD CLASS Tigmanshu Dhulia’s (left) Paan Singh Tomar tells the real-life story of a medal-wnning athlete who becomes a bandit

The state backedart cinema toexhibit its‘social concern’

A leap across the gap

M K Raghavendra is the author ofSeduced by theFamiliar: Narrationand Meaning inIndian PopularCinema (Oxford,2008), 50 IndianFilm Classics(HarperCollins,2009) and BipolarIdentity: Region,Nationand the KannadaLanguage Film(Oxford, 2011).


This is not a review of Paan SinghTomar, but the film fits into a patternemerging in Hindi cinema today. The filmis about a patriotic sportsman who latercomes into conflict with a corrupt State bybecoming a dacoit. Increasingly, it wouldseem, Hindi cinema is addressing theAnglophone public from the metropoliseswhich seek to connect directly with theNation without the State as intermediary.

The State may have grown weak andwasteful in the past decade or so, but thismay be due to the attempts by elected gov-ernments to hasten its withdrawal fromareas in which it had been active, to makeway for private enterprise. Although it isonly the State that can ensure an inclusiveNation, this withdrawal has been support-ed by the upwardly mobile classes—per-haps because they are implicated in the pri-vate sector as employees, vendors andshareholders. The association of sport andindividual achievement with ‘patriotism’ istherefore a corollary to the State beingdeliberately distanced from the Nation.

One may, as I do, find Paan SinghTomar to be politically dubious. And yet, itsconcerns make it much more widelyacceptable than Indian art cinema has everbeen. It provides evidence that there is nowa large public in the metropolises which is

prepared to support cinema addressing itsconcerns even though this cinema is for-mally indistinguishable from the cinematicnorm around the world. This makes for acinema as different from HAHK or DDLJ ascheese is from chalk.

Paan Singh Tomar may be the mostaccomplished among the new films, butothers like Kahaani, directors like AnuraagKashyap and actors like Irrfan Khan andNawazuddin Siddiqui announce this just asclearly. If the gap between the Indianblockbuster and the international filmonce seemed unbridgeable, the day is notfar off when there will be more films likeLagaan—Oscar nominees if not winners—although another Pather Panchali is asunlikely as ever.

New directors like Tigmanshu Dhuliamay eventually put Indian cinema in a cat-egory technically comparable with main-stream cinema in the rest of the world(although countries like South Korea andTaiwan achieved this earlier). But the issueis also whether a country like India, with itsclaims to high culture, should not also havea cinema in the Satyajit Ray mould, a moreintimate cinema that will place Indian cin-ema firmly in film history.

The State, it is apparent, cannotensure this; although it is going on with its

tired system of national awards and TVrights on Doordarshan. Since the affluentclass which might support such a cinemavalues individual achievement, perhaps abusinessman (who can afford to losemoney) will start an international filmschool for gifted film talents with profitnot as its only motive.

The exorbitant new film schools inIndia, it is evident, are essentially scamsbecause none of them has the capacity tocreate international winners, and the tradi-tional ‘Indian’ way of making films needslittle formal training. These schools havebeen recycling the same human resourcesfrom the FTII for eons and new blood fromoutside is evidently needed.

A new kind of training could create anew cinema in which only artistic expres-sion is paramount. The last film to win theGolden Palm at Cannes, Michael Haneke’sAmour, one may be sure, is not echoing thesocial agenda of the European Union.

Indian cinema today is unrecognis-able from its avatar just a decade ago and ifan overarching reason is to be found, it isevidently in globalisation and the comingtogether of culturally diverse populations.Audiences in Mumbai are therefore closerto those in LA or Seoul than they were atone time. That a Paan Singh Tomar won theNational Award at this juncture onlyunderlines this fact, because TigmanshuDhulia’s film is ‘mainstream’ fare compara-ble to cinema from anywhere in the worldand with performances to match. It needsno special tolerance levels that we wereonce forced to concede to our own popularcinema and this is heartening.

ART FIRST Unlike Indian arthouse films, Amour, thelast film to win the Golden Palm at Cannes, does notecho the State's social agenda

How did Bharat Stores, your award-winning film,come about?On September 14 last year, the central governmentdecided to allow foreign direct investment inretail. It set me thinking. Several shops had closeddown when Big Bazaar opened shop in my neigh-bourhood. Why, even a chain like Food World hadshut shop. I spoke to 25-30 Setty and Malayali shopowners. I decided to make a film on what was hap-pening around me. Small traders and their cus-tomers share a certain bond, and I wanted to cap-ture this emotional aspect. Once FDI flows intoIndia, about six crore traders are likely to go out ofbusiness.

How much does it cost to make a film like yours?About Rs 30 lakh. With the Canon D5, it hasbecome easy to make films inexpensively. About15 Kannada films have already been made withthis camera. When I took the script of my first filmMunnudi around, one producer laughed at me andsaid the Rs 15 lakh I was asking for was what hespent on just a song. Yet, he refused to fund it, say-ing it had a Muslim theme. His rationale was thatHindus wouldn't be interested, and the Muslimsdidn't watch Kannada films. My friends and Iformed a co-operative and made the film, and it

went on to win a national award. Jayamala pro-duced my children's film Tuttoori (Trumpet).Basant Kumar Patil has produced my last twofilms.

Commercial film-makers complain art film-mak-ers are an elite club...We have never distanced ourselves from the indus-try. They ignore us. Under Girish Kasaravalli'sleadership, we have started Chitrasamooha, a soci-ety to promote art films. We regularly arrangeshows at Tribhuvan cinema. How many from thecommercial circuit come to watch our films?

P Seshadri is the only director in India to have won seven nationalawards for seven films in a row. His latest, Bharat Stores, has won

the national award for best regional feature film in Kannada. Theformer journalist has also directed several documentaries and TV

serials. Excerpts from an interview with Basu Megalkeri

WALLED MART Senior actor Dattatreya in P Seshadri’s (right) Bharat Stores. He plays ashopkeeper affected by giant MNCs cornering the retail market

‘You can make a filmwith Rs 30 lakh’

RAMESH HUNSUR

9talk|28 mar 2013|talkmag.inhumane adoptions

SAVIE [email protected]

Little Chinky in her blackcoat whizzes past you likea bullet. At her Rajajinagarhome, it is difficult to geta good glimpse of her, for

she is forever speeding. She jumps onthe bed and over the sofa. It’s onlywhen she stops to take a breath thatyou notice she is three-legged. Theyear-old-dog stands in a dignifiedpoise on her three legs.

“I don’t think she knows that shehas a leg missing,” says KamalaVaidyanathan, a retired employee ofNational Textiles Corporation. ForKamala, Chinky has been a compan-ion and friend since her husband’sdeath.

It is eight months since Chinkycame to her house. “My husband wasbedridden then. Chinky used to playwith him. He was happy to haveChinky around,” says Kamala. Whenher husband passed away fourmonths ago, Chinky ensured Kamaladidn’t feel lonely. “She doesn’t leaveme alone even for a minute. Shecomes wherever I go,” she says.

Kamala never thought of havinga pet. One day her nephew VinayNarayanaswamy was passing by inVijayanagar when he noticed a crowdon the road. “Everyone was watchingan injured puppy run over by somevehicle,” he recalls. Vinay picked upthe pup and went to the VeterinaryCollege Hospital in Hebbal. The doc-tors said she would survive if her legwas amputated. “I brought her homeafter the treatment, but I already hadthree dogs, so I asked my aunt to keepher until she recovered,” says Vinay.

When Vinayreturned to takeChinky fromKamala, she didn’twant to part withher. “She is just likemy child. She makesme understandwhatever she wants to say in her lan-guage,” she says. When Kamalathrows a ball, Chinky fetches it twotimes, but doesn’t do so the thirdtime. “She says bow-bow asking me toget it,” Kamala laughs. The two stayinseparable and sleep next to each

other.Chinky’s dis-

ability doesn’t seemto have caused anyproblem with theirrelationship. “She isfaster than any otherdog,” adds Vinay.

Caught under an autoPinky Chandran’s dog Bonnie wasrun over by an auto. She rescued herand got her treated by a vet, but herleg also had to be amputated. Sincenobody wanted to adopt her, Bonnie

now lives at the community radio sta-tion Pinky runs at Jain College. “She ishealthy and active. Her missing leghasn’t stopped her from having a lit-ter,” says Pinky.

It is not uncommon for peopleto choose a street dog as a pet. But ifthe animal happens to have a disabil-ity, no one wants it. Debadrita Jadhavfound such an unwanted puppy inMalleswaram. Hatchi was born in alitter of 11 pups. “When they wereyoung, they looked like Labradors,and people adopted them all, but noone took Hatchi, who was born witha deformed leg,” says Debadrita.

Debadrita fostered Hatchi andput her up for adoption at an adoptioncamp. “But no one picked her up thereeither,” she says. She decided to keepHatchi as her pet. “She is my daugh-ter,” she says. Nothing has been ableto stop Hatchi from walking graceful-ly. The three-legged dog won the titleof Showstopper at the recently heldThe Great Indian Dog Show. She runsand plays with Debadrita’s five-yearold son. “I think she is as active as anyother dog,” she says.

When retired teacher SavitaSharma brought Pulla home, he wasin a coma. He was flung from thefourth floor and had suffered spinalcord injuries. She took him to severalvets and cared for him. Some told herPulla would not survive. He was ondrips and steroids. “We poured milkin his mouth. The only hope was thathe was urinating when in coma. Itmeant that his kidneys weren’t dam-aged,” she says.

Savitha sat by Pulla day andnight, tending to him. “I kept chanti-ng the Mahamrityunjaya mantra. It isa powerful mantra which brings vic-tory of life over death,” she says. Trueto her belief, Pulla stood up after aweek. “He couldn’t walk properly forsome time, but is perfectly fine now.”

Before Savita adopted Pulla, hewas a stray who lived outside arestaurant in Sadashivnagar. Everyday at about 4 pm, Pulla used toknock at Savitha’s gate. She and hergrandson would feed him milk and

Bangaloreans with a heart aretaking home crippled street dogs

and nurturing them with affection

‘I don’t thinkshe knows herleg is missing,’says Kamala

WOOF! Kamala

Vaidyanathan withChinky, who was

rescued by hernephew Vinay

RAMESH HUNSUR

Stray, disabled and loved


rice. It was a routine for about two years.

Festival outrageOn a Diwali day eight years ago, Pulla didn’tturn up. Savita assumed he was hiding some-where because of the sound of crackers. Whenhe didn’t come even after two days, she senther grandson to look for him.

“My grandson returned and said thatPulla was lying dead. I ran in my nightie with-out chappals. He was lying outside the restau-rant, motionless. He was breathing, and therewas no bleeding,” she recalls. Savita carriedhim in her arms and brought him home.

She found out from the restaurant staffthat a man had thrown Pulla down from thefourth floor. He had been lying there for twodays. The restaurant staff lived on the fourthfloor and had a day off on Diwali. They had satgambling that night. “One of them lost all hissavings of Rs 4,000. Frustrated, he flung Pulladown. Nobody bothered what happened tohim after that,” Savita recalls.

After Pulla recovered, Savita adopted himand walked him regularly. The restaurant staffstarted demanding Pulla back. They claimed itwas their dog. “I fought back. I said they wouldonce again throw Pulla down when they gotangry. I couldn’t let him go to those cruel peo-ple again,” she says.

Savita is 76, and Pulla is 10. Pulla came

into her house eight years ago. “He is still dis-turbed and traumatised. He shakes violently inhis sleep,” she says. Savita asked a vet the rea-son. He said Pulla hadn’t overcome the shockof being flung to the ground.

Her family cannot think of a life withouta pet. “He is my grandchild. When someonesays where Naani is, he runs to me,” she says.

These are among the lucky strays whohave found happy homes despite their disabil-ity. But for the majority of crippled strays, lifeis a nightmare.

SAFETY NET Savita Sharma with Pulla, who she adopted after he was thrown down from thefourth floor of a building. (Left) Debadrita with Hatchi, rescued from the street.

11talk|28 mar 2013|talkmag.ineye on space

PRASHANTH [email protected]

Deep in the recesses ofspace are secrets stillwaiting to be discovered,resistant even to themost advanced optical

and radio telescopes and the effortsof brilliant astrophysicists andastronomers across the world.

These scientists are now lookingforward to the building of the ThirtyMetre Telescope (TMT), the world’smost advanced ground-based obser-vatory, with a ‘light gathering power’10 times of what exists today.

Set to become operationalsometime after 2020 on a hill inHawaii, five countries are comingtogether to build and operate the

TMT. India is one of them.Bangalore is set to play a key role

in more ways than one. After all, oneof the key personnel driving it is thebrilliant, soft-spoken, DharwadKannada-speaking scientist ShrinivasKulkarni, currently based in theCalifornia Institute of Technology(Caltech), the premier agency in theTMT Corporation.

Kulkarni, who also happens tobe Infosys icon NR NarayanaMurthy’s brother-in-law—he is SudhaMurty’s brother—is on the GoverningBoard of the TMT Corporation.

The TMT will be 12 times morepowerful than the well-knownHubble Space Telescope. With its pri-mary mirror designed to be 30 metreswide, and made up of almost 500hexagonal mirror segments, it is amassive undertaking. It will cost 1.4

billion dollars, or about Rs 7,600crore. India will fund 10 per cent ofthe cost — about 100 million dollars,or Rs 540 crore.

In a day and age when countriesresort to international cooperationeven for strategic defence projects, itis not surprising that major scientificendeavours take multiple countrieson board. The Large Hadron Colliderat CERN (See Talk Issue 1) is anexample of how such expensive proj-ects are undertaken today.

The Indian government’sDepartment of Science andTechnology (DST) has been involvedin the project since 2010. Bangalore’sIndian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA)is the nodal agency in India, the oth-ers being the Aryabhata ResearchInstitute for Observational Sciences(ARIES) in Nainital and the Inter-

Hubli man Shrinivas Kulkarni is themoving spirit behind India being on boardthe Rs 7,600-crore, five-nation ThirtyMetre Telescope project, comparable insome ways to the scale and ambition ofthe ‘God particle’ experiment

The Thirty MetreTelescope story Countries building it: USA,

Canada, Japan, China and

India.

Location: Mauna Kea inHawaii, at a height of 4,050 m

Primary mirror is 30 metreswide, with 492 segments; is10 times more powerful thananything existing today; 12times more powerful than theHubble Space Telescope

Project cost 1.4 billion dollars(about Rs 7,600 crore)

Construction begins after2014, operations begin aroundafter 2020

ALL-SEEING Twelve times more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope but not as expensive, some experts believe that the TMT can unlock the secrets of the very nature of the universe

COURTESY TMT OBSERVATORY CORPORATION

Reach for the stars

University Centre for Astronomy andAstrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune. AvasaralaTechnologies, a Bangalore-based compa-ny, will be supplying the actuators(motors for moving or controlling thesystem).

Meeting ManmohanKulkarni had begun to contact Indianscientists and administrators around2006-07 to persuade them to get into theproject. He made a series of visits sincethen, incuding one to meet PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh in 2011.

Kulkarni told Talk (see interview)that like many expat Indians, he wasmotivated to “return something of valueto India.”

Saddened that Indian astronomywas “always 20 years behind,” he decidedIndia had to take a bold leap forward.

India only has a 2.6 metre telescopeand was considering building a 4-metre,a 10-metre and then a 30-m telescope.“The alternative was to take a risk andjump to 30-metres. With the new foundconfidence in India, especially amongour youth, I thought the latter was theway to go,” he said in an e-mail inter-view.

Distinction in the USKulkarni was born in Maharashtra, andeducated at Kendriya Vidyalaya in Hubli,Karnataka. After an MS in physics fromIIT Delhi, he went on to do a PhD inastronomy at the University ofCalifornia in Berkeley. Today he isMacArthur Professor of Astronomy andPlanetary Sciences at Caltech. He hasheld positions in and been honoured bytop institutions like NASA, MIT, Cornell,Princeton, University of California,Berkeley, and Stanford University.

Prof Bhanu Das, astrophysicist andActing Director of the Indian Institute ofAstrophysics (it works fromKoramangala in Bangalore, told Talk:

“But for Shri, as we call Prof Kulkarni,India today would not have been part ofthis project or may not have been con-tributing in the very substantial way inwhich it will now.”

Critical meetingsKulkarni did not for a moment ceaseefforts to get India on board the project.Just one year after India decided to jointhe telescope project in 2010, he andother scientists of the project arrived inIndia to discuss progress on the tele-scope. Kulkarni persuaded PresidentJean-Lou Chameau of Caltech andChancellor Henry Yangof the University ofCalifornia, SantaBarbara, who was chair-man of the board, totravel with him to meetthe Indian PM.

Das said, “There isno room for error inbuilding the telescope. The mirrors can-not afford to have a speck of dust. Thesurface should be so fine and so precisethat it only reflects the light it sees andnothing else.” India will be buildingabout 15 per cent of the mirror seg-ments.

Birth of the galaxiesThe research the telescope will enable isfar-reaching, from the birth of the veryfirst stars and the formation of the earli-est galaxies, to the nature and composi-tion of the universe and the search forlife outside earth. Further work on whatare known as dark matter and dark ener-gy—calculated to make up the bulk ofthe universe but for which direct evi-dence has been difficult to obtain—should add to the excitement. (See box).

According to Eswar Reddy, pro-gramme director, India TMTCoordination Centre, Bangalore-basedAvasarala Technologies will manufac-

ture and supply the 1,500 actuators.India will also contribute the completesegment support system including theactuators, and some control software.(See box).

IIA being the nodal agency for theproject, India TMT Coordination Centrehas been set up at IIA, Bangalore. At thelab here, engineers are involved in devel-oping hardware to test and calibratesome systems. Also, scientists are devel-oping tools that could help the astrono-my community to better utilise the TMTonce it is commissioned in 2021-22.

Each mirror segment will be drivenby three actuators andaltogether 1,476 actua-tors will be required tokeep all the segmentsaligned. There can beno space between eachsegment, so the mirrorswill have to be craftedcarefully. Reddy says 12

Indian companies have been identifiedto supply components.

The CERN comparisonOn a visit to Bangalore in 2011, Kulkarnihad said on the sidelines of a lecture:“India participated in the Large HadronCollider project at CERN, but when itcomes to the TMT, it will have an evenbigger involvement.”

Ram Sagar, director of theAryabhata Research Institute forObservational Sciences, had told themedia two months ago: “Qualitatively,this will be a more important contribu-tion by India than to the CERN project.”

For non-scientists, 2020 may seema little far away, but for a discipline thatstudies the very creation of time and thebending of space, it will be well worththe wait.

(Information in boxes sourced fromIndia TMT Digest)


What will the telescope seeand study? Birth of the first stars and formation

of the earliest galaxies.“The TMT will be able to look fartherback in time than is currently possible”

Nature and composition of theuniverse“Normal matter - baryons thatconstitute stars, planets and life -make up only a small fraction of theuniverse. Much more plentiful is darkmatter, matter that neither emits norreflects light. The vast majority is madeup of dark energy, a mysteriousrepulsive force that is responsible forthe accelerated expansion of theuniverse.”

Relationship between black holesand galaxies.“At the centre of our Milky Way galaxy,and perhaps inside every large galaxy,lurks a super-massive black hole — aninfinitely dense point that can wrapspace, trap light and stretch time.”

Study of the Milky WayIts origins

Formation of Stars and PlanetsWhen stars collide, leftover debrisbecomes planets. “The TMT's infraredmission will peer into these dustyareas, revealing new solar systems inthe making.”

Extra-solar planets and search for life“The first planet around another starwas discovered in 1995. Since then,the number of exoplanets discoveredby space and ground telescopes hascrossed 1,000.” Can we find a planetwith life on it?

Our solar systemPlenty left to study in our own 'home'environs.

What is India'scontribution? 10 per cent of the cost -- 100 million

dollars or about Rs 540 crore

15 per cent of the 492 mirrorsegments that make up the telescope

1,500 actuators, for precisepositioning of the segments

3,000 edge sensors, which measurethe displacement, tip and tilt of thesegments

Major part of the observatory controlsoftware

Mirror segment polishing

Segment support assemblies

MIRROR, MIRROR An artist's impression showing the TMT’s primary mirror, consisting of 492 hexagonal segments. (Above) Dr Shrinivas Kulkarni.

The TMT will bethe world’s mostadvanced observatory

13talk|28 mar 2013|talkmag.ineye on space

PRASHANTH [email protected]

As TMT board member, how often do youinteract with DST or Indian scientists?I travel to India four times a year and inaddition I meet Indian colleagues at theTMT Board meetings (which now rotateamong the collaborating countries andpartners: Canada, China, Japan, India, UCand Caltech)—also four times a year.Sometimes I find this exhausting but I’menergised by the fact that when the projectis completed young Indian astronomerswill have access to a global facility andthus can compete on an equal footing withthe rich countries.

What inspired you to bring India on boardthe TMT?Like many expatriate Indians I wanted toreturn something of value to India. I triedmany small schemes but found that it washard to have a major effect. In 2006, whenTMT was launched, I thought I should dosomething completely different from theapproaches I had tried before—namely abold project that would catapult Indianscience on to the global stage. Actually we

Shrinivas R Kulkarni, is professor of astronomy and planetary sciences atthe California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and a Fellow of the RoyalSociety, London. He is on the governing board of the Thirty MetreTelescope (TMT) project. Shuttling between cities in the US, Kulkarnioutlined for Talk readers his vision for Indian astronomy

GREAT LEAPFORWARD

Kulkarni believes Indiacan reap significant

R&D ‘spinoff’ benefitsfrom the TMT project

Indian astronomy has totake risks to goglobal: Kulkarni

had only two choices: Indianastronomy remains behind—infact, always 20 years behind—as webuild a 4-m, a 10-m and then a 30-m telescope. The alternative was totake a risk and jump from our exist-ing 2.6-m telescope to a 30-m one.With the new found confidence inIndia, I thought the latter was theway to go.

How has education in Hubli influ-enced your choice of science andastronomy?I attribute my interest in scienceentirely to my great teachers at theCentral School(Kendriya Vidyalaya)in Hubli. I had trulyexceptional teachersin all subjects. Iattribute my interestin astronomy to ProfGovind Swarup(now retired from TIFR). He is myrole model and I truly admire theamazing work he has done andachieved in the Indian context.

What was the influence of your sis-ters, Sudha Murthy, JaishreeDeshpande, and your brother-in-law,Infosys icon NR Narayana Murthy,on you and your outlook?I am the youngest in the family. Mysisters were all brighter than me.They won gold medals at the col-lege and university level. As a resultI have grown up with the idea thatwomen are smarter than men. I didnot win any gold medal at IITDelhi, which I joined after KVHubli, and while I did well therewere many people brighter thanme. I did win a gold medal at theage of 35—the National ScienceFoundation Alan T Watermanaward—given to the best researcherin science, medicine and engineer-ing in the US. I proudly gave this tomy father and said he should behappy his son is now equal to hisdaughters. We had a very academicbackground in our family—and Iattribute this to my mother. To myfather, I ascribe my ambition andenergy.

I have known Mr Murthy sinceI started going to IIT Delhi. I usedto stop in Pune en route to Delhiwhere he was working. I was reallyhappy when my sister got marriedto him. Little did I realise that bothof them would scale such greatheights.

Murthy is a true academic. Hegreatly values the fact that I doresearch. I think in another life hewould have been quite happy to bean academic. He thinks like an aca-

demic but is practical, which mostacademics are not. I too have a bitof that combination and that is whywe really get along well.

All my sisters really showered,and continue to shower, affectionon me. They have been supportiveof my dedication to research. Mysister Jaishree was particularly help-ful and affectionate during myschooling.

What will be the R&D contributionof India to the project and what willbe our R&D takeaway?One of the reasons the TMT proj-

ect has receivedgreat supportfrom DST, DAEand the Indiana s t r o n o m i c a lcommunity isthe R&D spinoffto India. TMT,

unlike traditional telescopes, is notmade of one mirror. The mirror ismade of 492 hexagonal segmentseach 1.4 m across. Through cleverelectro-mechanical system, the 492segments are aligned and the lightfocused. This “segmented”approach is the future of telescopesfor the simple reason that this is acost effective way of making them.The segments can be thin sincethey are not large. In contrast, thesingle mirror (old style ‘monolithic’telescope) has to be thick so as notto deform. I hope that as a result ofIndia participating in the TMTproject, and with the Indian com-panies heavily involved in segmentsupport, segment polishing andsegment alignment, we will see therise of several companies which canoffer next generation cost-effectivetelescopes not only to India but alsofor export to other countries.

How will the telescope help darkenergy and dark matter research?One of the great hopes of TMT isthat we can start addressing the ori-gin of dark matter. We haveinferred that dark matter exists andwe know that each galaxy has alarge halo of dark matter. How isthis ghostly matter organised? Is itin clumps and if so what is the sizeof clumps? What determines thesize of these clumps? Through avariety of techniques, TMT will beable to trace this ghostly matter onespecially small scales—somethingthat we have not been able to do sofar. I am not an expert on darkenergy. That field is very active nowand so it is very difficult to predictwhat TMT can contribute in abouteight years from now, when weexpect to see the first light of TMT.TMT is expected to make greatcontributions to the study of extra-solar planets, in particular, spec-troscopy of their atmospheres.

What are the most recent develop-ments in the thirty metre telescopeproject from the India perspective?We had an extensive road showabout two years ago and nearly adozen major companies in Indiashowed interest. TMT-India is nowputting out RFP (request for pro-posals) for ‘proof-of-concept’ or‘preliminary work’ to those whoresponded to the RFPs. Somerecent examples are Avasarala ofBangalore (actuators for the pri-mary mirror; segment supportassembly), GOAL of Puducherry(edge sensors of the primary seg-ments). RFP for software is nowactive. Our engineers are shortlyleaving for Chennai to discuss an‘electronics fab’ with several Indiancompanies.


TWIN PIONEERS Kulkarni with former President APJ Abdul Kalam

‘Astronomy inIndia remains 20years behind theworld’

In 2006 I was appointed as the Director of theCaltech Optical Observatories. The remit of theObservatories includes the iconic Palomar

Observatory, the WM Keck Observatory (which ismanaged jointly with the University of California) andthe proposed Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project.

The TMT partnership at that time consisted ofUniversity of California (UC), California Institute ofTechnology (Caltech) and Canada. It was clear that thescale of the project was such that an additional part-ner or partners were needed. Japan was very interest-ed in participating in a large telescope project and dis-cussions had begun. We still had room for a partnerfor a 20 per cent stake in the project.

I proposed that we approach India and China fora 10 per cent stake each. I did appreciate that neithercountry had telescopes larger than 2-m. In contrast,the US had gone through two additional generationsof telescopes: 4-m class and then 10-m class of tele-scopes. My view was that if India and China wanted tobe serious players across board (industrial productionand research) then they did not have the time to gothrough two generations of telescopes (with each gen-eration lasting about 10 to 15 years).

Of course the alternative view is the traditionalone; namely, these countries should undergo asequential development. I disagree with this approachbecause we have a burgeoning population of youngpeople. We can either have a demographic dividend ora demographic disaster (or demographic fizzler). Indiadoes not have time to go through the sequence ofdevelopments that took place in the West. It was alsoclear that should India and China take up the offerthen both countries would have to rapidly develop aworld class astronomy program in less than a decade.

The upshot was that I was empowered by theTMT Board to go and discuss TMT with India andChina. Over the period 2007-2009 I visited both coun-tries. Each country undertook their own studies ofnext generation telescopes and the astronomers inIndia and China decided that TMT was their choiceproject.

Shrinivas Kulkarni recalls how Indiabecame a partner in the TMT project

How we got on board

15talk|28 mar 2013|talkmag.infirst person

Shrinivas Kulkarni is a phenom-enon. When he was doing hisPhD, he discovered millisecondpulsars. (A pulsar is short for

pulsating star). When he was teaching atCaltech, he discovered the first browndwarf (a distinctive class of stars), andlater, he was the first to discover gammaray bursts (extremely energetic bursts indistant galleries). He has 58 papers to hiscredit in the science magazine Nature. Iunderstand having two or three papersin Nature is considered good, and tohave 58 in the most prestigious sciencemagazine in the world is stunning, andpossibly the highest in the world for anastronomer.I've always looked at him as a bright andyoung member of the family. He looks atme as an elder member of the family,particularly after the death of his fatherin 2000. I happen to be the eldest now. Ihave an elder-brotherly relationshipwith him. I am proud of him, and I havea lot of affection for him and his wifeHiromi. He is equally fond of me and mychildren. Of course, he is very close toSudha. My relationship with him hasbeen largely familial. If you ask me howmuch astronomy I discuss with him, Ican only say he works at such a cutting-edge level that I wouldn't be capable ofholding a meaningful conversation withhim. He's way too advanced in his field.I have had interest in electrical engi-neering, and I dabbled in computer sci-ence. I am deeply interested in popularscience and popular astronomy, but Ican't claim his kind of knowledge.

Shrinivas is a rare combination. Hehas built a lot of instruments. He is ascomfortable in engineering as he is inphysics and astronomy theory. He is asharp theorist, and he's also a wonderfulengineer. He sees through all the soft-ware we've done. The Caltech physics

department is considered the bestphysics department in the world, so tobe there is truly a big honour for him.I first met Shrinivas in Pune way back in1976 when he came to meet his sisterSudha. He was in the third year of hisprogramme at IIT Delhi. He was full ofcuriosity and confidence. It was clear hewould go far in science. I was impressedwith how hard he worked. I am remind-ed of my son Rohan whenever I seeShrinivas. Rohan is just like him, brightand hardworking. The good things I seein Shrinivas, I see in my son.

Shrinivas is honest, and he is atruth seeker. He has no hesitation instanding up for his beliefs. He hastremendous insight. And he loves toencourage younger people. When wemeet we discuss our family all right, butwe also share thoughts on how India isprogressing in science and technology.

I am proud of his initiative to getIndia on board the Thirty MeterTelescope. My understanding is, withthis project, young Indian science stu-dents and astronomers will get to usethe most advanced telescope in theworld. Indian science will reach a high—it has not in some time. I saw progressduring the time of Nehru and IndiraGandhi, it dipped in between, and nowit’s resurfacing with Dr ManmohanSingh. It's a very positive sign India isgetting into the project.

There is need now to catapultIndian science to become a world beater.Since you ask me, I'd say we can nevertell whether a person will get the NobelPrize. It's too competitive now. Shrinivashas secured all the awards in the worldof astronomy, and the Nobel is the onlything in the coming. We pray God smileson him.

(As told to Prashanth GN)

Shrinivas is a quick learner. Wewere three daughters, and he wasthe last child. We would knitoften. One day he asked my father

and mother why only women were knit-ting and he too would like to. He quicklylearnt knitting from us and knitted twoelephants. We were surprised he hadpicked it up fast. He is extremely passion-ate about anything new.

One of my sisters used to paint. Helearnt painting from her and did his ownpaintings. He then jumped into photogra-phy. We became aware he possessed aninquisitive spirit and the ability to learnthings quickly. One summer, he and I weresitting together, bored. We suddenlydecided we'd read dictionaries. And wecompeted reading them! I read theKannada dictionary and he read theOxford English dictionary, completelyfrom the first word to the last. We wereexhausted, but it was fun.

He and I would do things together. Iwas the second child, he was the fourth, soNo 2 and No 4 was one team, and No 1 andNo 3 was another. We have similar atti-tudes—we enjoy reading, exploring newthings… we love the same food, too. Welove the Dharwad speciality jolada rotti(jowar roti) to this day, and the other

favourite is avalakki (beaten rice). In our younger days, we frequented a

corporation library. We had breakfast athome, and packed lunch for the day at thelibrary. We reached the library five min-utes before it opened and left when it wasabout to close. We went there every day fortwo months. He picked up the readinghabit from our mother. She was readingeven on the day she died in hospital.

Our father had a strong scientificoutlook, but Shrinivas's choice of astrono-my was his own. He caught the interestfrom one of his teachers. Our parents gaveus the freedom to make our own choices inmarriage and careers. So Shrinivas hasmarried a Japanese. He hasn't forgottenanything he picked up from Hubli, andremains frank and open. He refrains fromidle comment, and works hard. He lovesHindustani music, and his great passion isNusrat Fateh Ali Khan. He has all his col-lections.

We keep in touch often. I visit him atleast four times a year and he makes sever-al visits to Bangalore. Over time we havebuilt private libraries in our homes and weborrow and return books. We are very par-ticular books are returned, we considerthem very personal. He has plenty ofJapanese writing and Agatha Christie. Heloves detective stories. Whenever he is inBangalore, we watch a detective DVD. It's amust. Where we differ is—I love history, hedoesn't. He's an atheist, I am religious. Butour love for life makes up for all that.

BACK THEN Kulkarni with sister Sudha Murty and wife Hiromi Komiya

NR Narayana Murthy

NR Narayana Murthy, Infosys founderand chief mentor speaks fondly abouthis elder-brotherly relationship withthe astronomy genius

Star gazer, dreamer,potential Nobel laureate

Sudha Murty on how she grew upwith her brother Shrinivas Kulkarni

Lover of Nusrat, joladarotti and spy fiction

Incessant beats and 20,000-odd peoplegrooving and crooning Don't you worry,don't you worry, child, see heaven's got aplan for you. Bangalore witnessed thiselectronic dance music (EDM) maniawhen Swedish House Mafia performed

here in January. Many other international actshave spun their tunes here, and March will seeTiesto, voted the greatest DJ of all time, give usa taste of his music at a much-awaited gig (seeinterview on page 18).

EDM, also known as dance music or clubmusic, is typically created by disc jockeys usingelectronic equipment in a nightclub setting.Many people still associate EDM with rave par-ties where dopey people get high to thumpingmusic, but fans say there’s so much more to thisgenre.

Take for instance, the various sub-genres—ranging from house to trance and drum andbass to dubstep—which it breeds with surpris-ing ease. All of them are created with synthesis-ers, sequencers and keyboards, apart from com-puters that use a whole array of software pro-grammes. EDM is called so because it uses noacoustic instruments, such as the piano and theviolin. “It has many sub-genres bordering eachother, all of them up tempo and danceable,”says Bangalore-based DJ Anoop.

For Ivan, a well-known city DJ, EDM is theideal dance music in a club setting because itnot demanding. “It requires no sense of rhythmon the part of the listener to understand themusic. It's a 4/4 beat, there are not too manylyrics. You can just put your hands up in the airand become a cool dancer. Dancing to D&B andhip-hop may require genuine talent, but houseis easy to dance to," he says.

Gigs galoreThe popularity of EDM has brought some ofthe biggest names in the genre—David Guetta,Fatboy Slim, Avicii and Armin van Buurenamong them—to Bangalore. Even the secondrung of artistes, acts like Laidback Luke, DJChuckie and Richie Hawtin have made theirpresence felt here. Sunburn, India's biggestEDM festival held in Goa, can be credited withpopularising the genre in the country, and hasseen such biggies as Dutch DJ Armin vanBuuren play. Grammy winners Paul Van Dyk,and Roger Sanchez, English trance trio Above &Beyond, Swedish DJ Axwell and Indian artisteslike Anish Sood and Lost Stories have been partof the line-up there.

Popular DJ Rohit Barker, who has beenplaying electronica for a decade and a half,believes EDM has exploded the world over andis on every DJ's 'want to play' list. “India, andespecially Bangalore has become a must-stopfor every international DJ touring the region,”

he says. Part of the attraction, he believes, is thefact that "a Bangalore audience is always enthu-siastic, always up for it and very educated whenit comes to music."

Ivan agrees with Rohit that Bangalore'scrowd is more receptive. "The audience hererespects the DJ and there's also a superior danceculture here. Kids here are exposed to thebiggest and the best," he says.

While Anoop agrees Bangalore's crowd iswilling to experiment, he prefers to use a pseu-donym when he's having a dubstep night. "I usethe name 'biaatch' while spinning EDM. If Iwere to play dubstep using my actual name, thecrowd would go 'what the hell is happening.' Itstill needs a lot of exposure and support.During EDM nights, people walk up to me andask for desi music!" he says.

Storm festival, held in Kodagu (Coorg), isthe other major gig on the EDM calendar for

Bangaloreans. Artistes featured include nameslike Dash Berlin, Pearl, Nikhil Chinapa, andTuhin Mehta. Another crowd puller was theNH7 Weekender, which held its first edition inthe city this year.

Moneyspinner DJ Rohit says things have changed over theyears. "EDM is more popular than ever nowbecause it has crossed over into mainstreamterritory and therefore has brought a much big-ger audience into the fold. What was once con-sidered underground or niche or music fromand for Europe is now in every club, every carand every iPod!" says Rohit.

Ivan has a more sceptical take on the sud-den interest in EDM in India. "What happens inAmerica determines how worldwide pop cul-ture moves, be it in music or fashion. EDM washuge in the early ’90s with acid house popular

in clubs, rave parties and festivals. Then there isDavid Guetta, who made a name in the States,and who knows how to make things bigger thanthey actually are. With the music getting on tothe radio and topping the charts, it’s nowbecome a mass phenomenon. And the growingnumber of fans here makes our country a mas-sive market to exploit."

Anoop is frank in his assessment of theEDM scene when he says that "it's all aboutmaking hay while the sun shines." For a fan,there's nothing like attending a live perform-ance by his favourite DJ, but not everyone canafford to go to major international gigs likeTomorrowland (Belgium) or Sensation White(Toronto). For their benefit, big players likePercept Entertainment (organisers of Sunburn)brings down heavyweight names to a venuewhere the average fan can drive up and catch aglimpse of the stars. "Eventually, some realise

they're spending way too much money on theseconcerts," says Anoop, who believes that Indianartistes are equally talented and they need theirshare of promotion too.

Fan-atic followingSenior business manager Anand Vechambelongs to the kind that eats, breathes andsleeps electronic music. "After I started listen-ing to EDM, I got addicted to it. I can't listen toany other music. The kind of energy and high itgives you especially after you drink is amazing.”Citing progressive rock and trance as hisfavourites, Anand says he wakes to EDM everyday. “My friends wonder how I listen to it allday. Even when it comes to artistes likeColdplay, I like the EDM remixes more than theoriginals,” he says.

Ask 26-year-old marketing professionalAkersh David why he likes the genre so much

and he goes, "EDM makes all your worries goaway. You are completely engaged in the beatsand they make you groove. It's so much positiveenergy and it makes you feel light." Avicii,Afrojack, Calvin Harris, and Dmitri Vegas arehis favourites. An ardent EDM follower since2006, Akersh says, "The good ol' days had rockruling the world, but in this era its EDM thatdoes it!"

For 25-year-old advertising professionalAmogh Sridhar, EDM is a form of expression."The beats are awesome and this music helpsme connect with my inner self. It's like a form ofmeditation and if you connect to it, you don'teven need alcohol to get you high," he quips.

Anand has been religiously attending allthe dance music fests. "I've been going toSunburn for five years. The first time I went,there was hardly any crowd, but last year therewere more than a lakh people." As for IndianEDM artistes, he picks Tuhin Mehta, LostStories, Nikhil Chinapa and Rohit Barker. "Thekind of marketing done by the organisers makesa difference too. Chinapa has a huge fan follow-ing."

Not all fans can afford the shows. "Of late,there's a concert happening every fortnight.They are pretty expensive for students and forthose who've just started earning," says Akersh.

Dubstep (the music that Grammy winnerSkrillex is known for) is a genre that's been

catching up here. Actress Jennifer Kotwal says,"Right now, I'm drooling over dubstep. Also, I'vealready made plans to go for Tiesto's gig inIndia." That's not all—she'll be heading to theCoachella festival in the US. "I've even bookedtickets for Tomorrowland, but if work comesup, I won't be able to make it," says Jennifer.

Upbeat downbeatWhile so many youngsters swear by this genre,there are those who still think that EDM's justnoise and that the beats get monotonous.Analyst and music lover Pria Robert is categori-cal in her rejection: "EDM cannot classify as agenre of music. It's simply a rip off from all thebeats and tunes of existing music created bytalented musicians. It doesn't appeal to every-body. I guess you need to be high to enjoy it,"she says.

Veterans like Ivan question the very con-cept of EDM. "It's just a term made for conven-ience. What I play is house music and I've beenplaying it since 1994. It's music with a lot ofsoul, it has evolved into something more elec-tronic and it's going back to soul all over again—it works in cycles." He thinks EDM will soonreach its saturation point, "It might just die ormorph into something else," he says.

This feeling of spuriousness could also bewhy a couple of accomplished Bangalore musi-cians who have experimented with EDM,refused to comment when approached for thisstory.

Rohit, on the other hand, is more upbeatabout EDM's prospects, saying "Every big artistearound the world now has dance music influ-ences in their music. The biggest festivals andconcerts are now led by DJs. It's not a fad, it'shere to stay, the water is warm. Jump in!"

17talk|28 mar 2013|talkmag.indance music

EDM gearDDJJ IIvvaannAbleton 9 (loop-based music sequencer)DDJJ RRoohhiittPioneer CDJ 2000 disc playersDJM 900 mixer

DDJJ AAnnooooppYamaha Motif ES sequencerNuendo digital audio workstationPro Tools HD recording platform

PopularIndianEDMartistesTuhin MehtaLost StoriesJalebee CartelNikhil ChinapaBay BeatCollective

FIRESTARTERS A performance by EDM pioneers DaftPunk, whose 1997 album Homework was rated number

one in the genre’s history by Rolling Stones magazine. (Top) Indian EDM pioneers Jalebee Cartel

Ikyatha Yerasala takes a close look at Bangalore's love affair with electronic dance music and finds that forevery sceptical voice that considers it a rehash of original music, hundreds sing its praise

18talk|28 mar 2013|talkmag.indance music

PRACHI [email protected]

Delhi-based band PeterCat Recording Co isbest known for itsunusual sound, often

described as ‘orchestral folk-rock’ and ‘gypsy-rock.’ All themore surprising to see its leadvocalist and guitarist going solointo eletronica, which somewould consider a ‘downmarket’genre.

Yet Suryakant Sawhneyseems to have pulled it off;Rolling Stones magazinedescribed his solo electronic actLifafa as “a different persona,”and the tracks in his first album,Lifafa I, as ‘stoner electronica,’though Sawhney himself calls it‘post-party music’ (same thing,we thought)

Here, Sawhney candidlytells us that it wasn’t the sleekconsoles that seduced him, butan early fascination for discomusic. Excerpts from the inter-view:

What made you want to take toelectronic music?I’m not really treating it as anelectronic act. But yes, there isthe drum machine beingreplaced by a computer. Frankly,I have always had this side of methat is interested in disco music.

Also, I didn’t like it when at aconcert, after we finished, a DJcame and played dance music forthe rest of the evening.

Is there pressure on bands andmusicians to go electronic?It has become part and parcel ofmusic these days. People are get-ting more dance oriented. Also,it is obviously a cheap way ofmaking music. But then, if youare a really good band you canget away without having to playelectronic stuff.

Electronic music seems easier toproduce. Is that why more peopleare taking to it? Yes, some aspects have becomeeasier, but some have becomemore difficult too. The majorproblem of elec-tronic musicremains withplaying it, whereone person endsup having to doeverything.

What software do you use? I use Logic, VLC for the film partand VDJ. I keep trying differentstuff.

Where does your electronica inspi-ration come from? Do you listento a lot from the genre?I am actually not an avid listenerof electronic music. My inspira-

tion ought to have come fromthe likes of Burial and JamesBlake, but honestly, I don’t havethe orientation. For me, the ideais to create my own catalogue ofsound. I try to tap into childhoodmemories of disco and imagineit sounding something like BappiLahiri or Namak Halal.

What’s good and bad about amusician shifting to electronica?You obviously have the advan-tage of having your sense ofmusic in place. As a musicianyour knowledge of things likethe ‘tempo’ is more pronounced.The disadvantage really is thefact that I don’t listen to muchelectronic music.

Where do you see Lifafa going?It is too earlyto talk aboutmy future inthe genre, asthe two gigs Ihave had so farhave beenquite a drunk-

en mess. But, once it goes right Iwant to be able to take over thewhole evening. I feel we can cre-ate a set where the band appearsin intervals between the elec-tronic act, creating room forcontinuity.

Suryakant Sawhney performed atCounterCulture last weekend

‘The two gigsI’ve had so farhave been quitea drunken mess’

CATS UNITED Suryakant Sawhney (third from left) with his bandmates in Peter Cat Recording Co

SANDRA M FERNANDES

He prefers to drop the ‘DJ’ label and likesto be known only as Tiesto. Ranked theworld’s number one consequently for

three years by DJ Magazine, he is the only DJ inthe world to have a wax statue at MadameTussauds. Excerpts from an email interview:

What were the early days of your career like?It was a very smooth journey. I first startedplaying at a small club in my hometown Bredaon weekends and since then, there has been nolooking back for me.

Who or what inspires your music?I’m inspired by everything around me—fromyoung producers to my travels. There are alsomany great producers and DJs from Hollandwho I grew up listening to.

You play House, Electro House and ProgressiveHouse mostly. Which do you relate to most?I connect with each of these genres. I connectwith music, period.

You have collaborated with many well-knownartistes. Which one was the most memorable?I like to collaborate with artistes of whom I’m afan of. I recently worked with Bono of U2 andwas very impressed. He’s a legend.

How do you react to rumours like the one inwhich you were supposed to have died in a carcrash? (Laughs) I don’t know where these stories comefrom. I had to assure my fans that I am alive.Though it was nice to know that people careabout my life.

What are your future projects?I am working on new music, doing some greattours, etc. I am also working on a new install-ment of my ClubLife mix series and my newartist album. My tour of American universitieshas just finished and I’m really looking forwardto returning to India.

Tiesto will be performing at Bhartiya City,Thanisandra on March 30

Says the world’s highest-paid DJTiesto, ahead of his show in the city

Suryakant Sawhney,vocalist and guitarist

of popular band PeterCat Recording Co, is

one of the fewestablished rock

musicians in India totry his hand at

electronica

The cat that strayed ‘I’m inspired byeverything’


OOKtalk

'Osho’ Rajneesh calls Zen“a way of dissolvingphilosophical problems,

not of solving them.” ‘Dang DangDoko Dang’ represents the soundof the drum beaten by a ZenBuddhist master as an existentiallesson for a disciple. Dang DangDoko Dang (Rs 399) a collectionof Osho’s commentaries on well-known Zen stories, is meant toserve the same purpose. It hasnow been re-issued by Penguinunder their Ananda imprint.Below is an excerpt:

A small girl came once to me,and I asked her, ‘Do you want tosay something to me?’

She said, ‘I would like to singa small song.’

She was a very small girl, andshe sang a small song, and I lovedit.

The song was:Pussycat, pussycat, where

have you been?I have been to London to look

at the queen.Pussycat, pussycat, what saw

you there?I saw a mouse under the

chair.Of course, a cat cannot see

the Queen, it is impossible. A catcan only see the rat. The Queenwas there sitting on the chair, butthe cat could not see; she saw amouse under the chair, and it isabsolutely logical. A cat has eyes forthe mouse and for the rat, she hasno eyes for the Queen. We only seethat which we can see:

If youdon’t see godli-ness in exis-tence, then youhave toremember onething: youdon’t yet haveeyes for godli-ness. So work

hard to have eyes, and don’t borroweyes; eyes are not like glasses. Youcan borrow somebody else’s glasses,and sometimes they may even fit,but eyes are not like glasses.

And when I’m talking, orZen people are talking about eyes,they are not like your ordinary eyes.It is an inner vision. Even these eyescan be transferred; you can havemy eye, my physical eye. I can haveyour physical eye, they can betransplanted; but the inner vision,the inner eye, the third eye, isimpossible to transfer.

(Extracted with permissionfrom Penguin India)

Excerpt

A cat only sees a rat

In the newsWeb stop

The recent newsof the exhuma-tion of ChileanNobel Laureatepoet PabloN e r u d a ' sremains createda flutter in liter-ary circlesworldwide. Reports say theexhumation, to be conduct-ed on April 8 by a team ofinternational experts, wasordered after officials beganlooking into the possibilityof him having died of poi-soning and not prostate can-cer, as is believed. The claimof Neruda having been poi-soned by agents of theChilean military dictatorGeneral Pinochet's regimefirst came from his driver.

This excerpt fromNeruda's famouspoem, Death Alone,which imaginesdeath as an Admiral,shows an eerieresemblance to therumours circulatingabout what actually

happened on September 23,1973, the day he died.

Death lies in our beds: in the lazy mattresses, theblack blankets,lives a full stretch and thensuddenly blows,blows sound unknown fillingout the sheetsand there are beds sailing intoa harbour where death is waiting,dressed as an admiral.

Death, dressed as a General

Google has opened its e-book collec-tion to the Indian market, which arenow available at the company’s IndiaPlay Store. Users can now downloade-books from a collection of morethan 4 million titles including thou-sands by Indian authors. Prices startfrom as little as Rs 49, and there arealso ‘free’ books to draw readers in. Inall there are 10 categories (such asbiographies & memoirs, business &economics, children’s books, cooking,fiction & literature and more), eachfeaturing various sub-categories.Going by the display on the homepage, the usual suspects (Vayuputras,Fifty Shades etc) are the star attrac-tions here too. You can also previewsome of these books before buying. Log on to:play.google.com/store/books

Google’s e-bookstore

Authorspeak

A former professor of English at Bangalore University, MAYadugiri is the author of The Pronunciation of English,Principles and Practice, just out from Viva Books. A PhD inLinguistics-Stylistics from the Indian Institute of Science,she has also taught and researched in the University ofLondon. She is the author of Making Sense of English, andthe co-author of English for Law.

Who is your book aimed at?The book is designed in such a way that it can be used forclassroom teaching or for self study and self improvementby anyone interested in English pronunciation.

Isn’t this an age when all kinds ofEnglish accents have gained accept-ance? Why should we worry aboutpronunciation?Globalisation has revolutionised tech-nology and communication and givenrise to a large number of new profes-sions and careers. However good yourcommand over vocabulary and gram-

mar may be, you will not be able to speak English well ifyou have problems with your pronunciation.

And in today’s world you have to make yourselfunderstood to native as well as non-native speakers ofEnglish. Pronunciation problems affect your performancein another way too. People react to not only what you saybut also how you say it.

British and American pronunciations are well defined. Inmulti-lingual India, is there something that could be clas-sified and standardised as Indian English pronunciation?Even British and American pronunciations show a lot ofvariation. I don’t know if you can define or describe some-thing called ‘standard Indian English pronunciation.’ AnyIndian wishing to speak English well should aim at beingcomprehensible to Indian as well as speakers of Englishanywhere in the world.

What are the biggest pronunciation problems Indiansface? How can we overcome them?We should try to speak English as English and not as wespeak Kannada, Hindi or Bengali. The usual excuse givenis that we don’t have to speak like a British or Americanspeaker. Exactly. This is not only unnecessary but alsoimpossible. What is crucial is that we should be aware ofthe pronunciation features that characterise clear Englishspeech and learn to use them. We don’t have to lose orsuppress our Indian identity.

The Pronunciation of English, Principles and Practice, (with CD)

Viva Books, Rs 495

MA Yadugiri, author of The Pronunciation of English

‘People also react tohow you say things’


Anniversary killings: Carbombs and a suicide blasthit Shia districts of Baghdadand south of Iraq’s capitalkilling at least 50 people onthe 10th anniversary of theinvasion that oustedSaddam Hussein.

Chemical charges:Syria’s state news agencyaccused rebels of usingchemical weapons in anattack in the northernprovince of Aleppo which itsaid killed 15 people.

Bomber flights: TheUnited States said it wasflying training missions ofnuclear-capable B-52bombers over South Korea,in a clear signal to NorthKorea at a time ofescalating military tensions.

Dutt conviction: TTheSupreme Court has upheldthe conviction of Sanjay Duttand has sentenced him tofive years imprisonment inthe 1993 serial blasts case

Missile test: India carriedout the maiden test firing ofthe over 290km-rangeversion of BrahMossupersonic cruise missilefrom underwater—becomingthe first country in the worldto have this capability.

Honchos summoned: ADelhi court summonedBharti Cellular chief SunilMittal, Essar Group promoterRavi Ruia and five others ina spectrum allocation case.

Kashmir attack: ThreeBorder Security Force (BSF)troopers were injured inSrinagar when separatistguerrillas fired at theirvehicle.

Startup programme:Nasscom announces thelaunch of 10,000 start-upsprogramme aimed atincubating technology start-ups over the next 10 years.

Prosecute Mallya:Kingfisher Airlinesemployees, frustrated overnot getting salary for last 10months, have asked thegovernment to prosecutepromoter Vijay Mallya.

RewindThe week that was

More than 6000 peoplewere thrown out of theirhomes in EWS quarters,Ejipura, between January18 and 21, many of themliving there for more than25 years. Now onlinepetitions put up on thepopular Change.org sitewants the stategovernment to cancel thecommercial project that isto come up on the site.One of them is started byKarthik Ranganath, whohas been active at the sitesince the demolition. Hispetition demands thatMaverick Holdings, thecompany that operates

the Garuda mall chainand has won the contractfor the project, to step outof the deal. It says that“the land in question wasoriginally allotted andlegally meant for buildinghouses for theeconomically weakersections (EWS). Norehabilitation has beendone by either Maverick orthe BBMP and thousandsof people have been outon the streets, withoutshelter, water orsanitation. Many of themhave lost their income asthey are not able to go towork, children are not

able to go to school andseniors citizens aresuffering.

“The people living inEjipura are lawfulresidents and theGovernment has issuedthem biometric cards,BBMP ID cards, Voter IDsand Ration Cards.However, they were noteven consulted before adecision was made todevelop the land.

“I think this is unfair andthis needs to stop. Asowners of the popularGaruda mall in Bangalore,Maverick Holdings has aresponsibility towards itscustomers and thecitizens of Bangalore. Wealso demand thatMaverick step out of thisatrocious deal and cancelthe agreement to build acommercial complex onland earmarked for EWSquarters.”

To view the petitions,search for ‘Ejipura onChange.org.

Flood of petitions againstMaverick Holdings

Get online for your ration cardDon’t have a rationcard? People livingwithin Bangalore citylimits can now apply forone online.

SStteepp 11:: Send in yourfull name via SMS to9212357123 (format:RCNEW Karthik M Patil). Make sure yourname is complete and spelt correctly.The moment you send this SMS, you willget a token number and a security code.

SStteepp 22:: Use this number and code toopen your online ration card applicationat the nearest Photo Bio Centre. Makesure you do this in the presence of avalid ration card holder.

SStteepp 33:: Fill all required information inthe form correctly.

SStteepp 44:: Upload pictures of your familymembers and their biometrics.

SStteepp 55:: While going to thephoto centre, make sureyou carry a recentelectricity bill, a photo IDproof and original addressproof. Scan and uploadthem there.

SStteepp 66:: To make theprocess effortless, make sure you areintroduced by a valid ration card holder.He or she should also carry his or heroriginal ration card and a recentelectricity bill.

SStteepp 77:: After filing your onlineapplication, download a self declarationform and print it at the Photo Bio Centre.This form should then be signed by theapplicant and the introducer andsubmitted.

For more details log ontowww.ahara.kar.nic.in

A wish list forthe PopeAuthor Jerry Pinto has a wish list for thenew pope, Francis, which he shared onhis Facebook wall

1. Treat women with respect. This meanswomen priests too.

2. Treat gays and lesbians and peoplewith alternative sexualities withrespect.

3. Butt out of science. Don’t evenapologise to scientists. They don’t careany more. Just stay out of the way.

4. Treat women’s bodies with respect.This means letting them decide aboutbirth control and abortion.

5. Treat other religions with respect. Yourboss did say, “My father’s house hasmany mansions”, remember?

6. Treat children with respect. Do notprotect child molesters.

7. Treat the law with respect. That meansif a cardinal is wanted by Interpol, yougive him to Interpol, you don’t hide himin the Vatican. Your boss did say,“Render unto Caesar the things thatare Caesar’s and render unto God thethings that are God’s”, remember?

8. Treat the poor with respect. They’reyour last bastion and they still love you.Don’t talk rubbish about the church notbeing “a compassionate NGO”. It is inits role as a compassionate NGO that ithas earned the world’s respect, eventhe respect of those who follow otherfaiths.

9. Treat Jesus with respect. Ask yourself:“How would Jesus deal with this?”Remember his friends were among thepoor and the downtrodden; and heforgave freely including those whokilled him.

10. Treat love with respect. Rememberthe holy book says: “...the greatest islove”.


Racism probe: More thanone and half months after aUK-based Indian bank officerwas brutally assaulted byracist thugs in a tram,Manchester police has finallyswung into action seekinghelp from the public to trackdown the attackers.

On the boil: Dhaka is onthe boil in the lead-up to thetwo-day-long nationwideshutdown, beginning Monday,called by the 18-partyopposition alliance led by theBangladesh National Party.

Lanka tense: Britishtourists are tense over SriLankan immigrationauthorities deporting a Britishnational for having images ofBuddha tattooed all over hisbody.

Taking charge: Notedjournalist Aparisim ‘Bobby’Ghosh, an Indian national isall set to take charge aseditor of Time International.

Wooing DMK: As the DMKdecided to withdraw support,the government is moving tobring a resolution on the SriLankan Tamil issue inParliament in an attempt toplacate the key ally which hasset it as one of the conditionsfor reconsideration of itsdecision.

K’taka polls: The state isexpected to witness heatedpolitical action after theElection Commissionannounced single phaseassembly polls to be held onMay 5.

Electric car: Mahindra &Mahindra is driving in thee2O electric car, promising arunning cost of 50 paise perkm, nearly one tenth of apetrol car.

Free Wi-fi: Free wirelessinternet services areexpected to commence inBangalore, the first for anIndian city.

ForwardThe week ahead

An inspiring talk show for womenConversations with Namu Kiniis a live talk show for urbanwomen that aims to inspirewomen to reach out, meetkindred spirits, find relevantrole models and personalheroes. Hosted by NamrataKini, owner of Kynkyny Artgallery, it puts the spotlight onhigh-achieving women and menand celebrates their life journeyand personal and professionaltriumphs. With assorted

themes, the showaddresses all the keyaspects of an urbanwoman’s life, includingcareer, motherhood,work-life balance, self-esteem, health,money, happiness andthe different pathwaysto it.

Namu Kini doesn’t follow thepredictable Q&A format, andinstead initiates a free-wheeling

conversation thatgoes right to

the heart of issues,while leavingsufficient room forhumour andanecdotes. Throughthe 60-minutesession, intimacies

are shared, notes swapped,victories celebrated and goalsset. The idea is to bridge thegap between the high-achieving

guests who feature in the showand the women in theaudience, and make successand transformation seemachievable. The recordedconversations will be aired onwww.namukini.com, which willbe launched on April 12. Toattend Conversations withNamu Kini, drop them an emailon [email protected]. Formore info, visit the Namu KiniFacebook page.

An ad doing the rounds on the Internetshows a man going about flaunting howtablets offer apps for everything: painting,posting notes, making notations, printing,reading, and so on... And then, he walks tothe bathroom and sits on the commode.Job done, he gives a voice command, onlyto find the tablet slide up with a picture ofa toilet paper roll. The message: There arestill some things you can't do with an iPad.The Le Trefle toilet tissue ad concludes:Paper has a great future.

Stripped:The Death ofthe Funny Pages afeature documentaryon the world's best

cartoonists: talking about the art formthey love. Its makers Fred Schroeder andDave Kellett are currently in the processof obtaining funds through crowdfundingwebsite Kickstarter. Highlights of the filmare interviews with comic world giants likeBill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes), andJim Davis (Garfield)). The film will also fea-ture original background score by StefanLessard of Dave Matthews Band.

Contest for children’s bookillustrations

iPad and motionsensitivity

If you like drawing things that interestchildren, then this contest is for you.Singapore-based Asian Festival ofChildren’s Content (AFCC) has announcedAFCC Sketch, an online contest forchildren’s illustrators. The theme is ‘OneBig Story’ and the illustration shouldinterpret what it means in the context ofcontent for children. Hand-drawn or digitalart is also accepted, as long as it can beemailed. All entries will be posted onAFCC’s Facebook page. A panel of judgeswill rate them for skill, aesthetic quality,and adherence to the theme.

The winner will get one AFCC Writers andIllustrators Conference Pass and a voucherfrom NoQ Store worth 300 Singaporedollars (approximately Rs 15,000). Firstand second runners-up will win vouchersworth 200 Singapore dollars and 100Singapore dollars respectively.

Send high resolution PDF/TIF copies ofillustrations to [email protected]. The

last date for submission is May 13, 2013,3 pm. For details visitafcc.com.sg/_2013/programme/afccsketch

Free cancer detection campBangalore Baptist Hospital (BBH) isholding a free cancer awareness anddetection camp from March 21 to 28.The hospital will conduct basic cancerscreening for all women and men whoare over 20. The camp will be held inthe Radiotherapy Department of thehospital from 9 am to 3 pm fromMonday to Friday, and from 9 am to11.30 am on Saturday. Advanced testswill be provided at a subsidised cost .For more details, contact KR Seshadrion 9945816005

Film on thecomic strip


Reactions, statements,accusations, complaints,or just straight talk—thisis where you get them all

Questions

?3?

?

What’s the funniest case ofunintended humour you’vewitnessed on stage? There are two actually. At one ofmy shows, a girl in the audiencehad a peculiar laugh and shekept laughing throughout theshow. So, my jokes, followed byher laughter, brought doublethe laughs.

Another time, I was mimickingShah Rukh Khan on stage and avery big fan of his (a girl) yelledout, ‘I love SRK and you remindme of him, so I love you too’. ‘Ionly wish I had his money,’ Iresponded.

What do you do when a jokefalls flat?I make a joke about how thejoke didn’t work. That way theaudience realises you are anhonest performer and notarrogant.

What would you have been ifnot a standup comic?I always wanted to be an actorand I still do work as an actor.Being a standup comic wasn’tintentional; I was just the funnyguy amongst my group offriends. I love the camera andwould be comfortable in frontof it for all 24 hours.

Varun Thakur is actor and standup comicbased in Mumbai. A former UTV Bindaas VJ,he has also dabbled in humour writing forshows on MTV, UTV Bindaas and NDTV GoodTimes. He performs at bFlat on March 23

echwalk

Bangalore's start-upecosystem has been gettingstronger, and whileproblems remain, there is

no longer any real excuse to put offaction on that idea of yours, orramping up what you are alreadyplaying around with.

Angel networks and VCs are fairlyactive, and start-up events abound.This week saw online financial newsportal VCCircle network bring in theinternational 'Demo' conferences toIndia, starting off with an edition inBangalore. The vehicle is VCCircle'sTechcircle.in, which focuses on thetechnology world, and it is the soleDEMO licensee in India.

DEMO, owned by IDG enterprises, isa conference platform which givesstartups old and new a platform toshowcase their new products, to notonly the investor community and themedia, but significantly to "influenceearly adopters." The more userscome on board quickly, the better forthe baby product.

Twenty two-year old DEMO boasts ofproviding such a launch pad to nowwell-known companies like Picasa,Salesforce, Palm, VMWare, Tivo andWebex. It has offices in Boston andthe Silicon Valley, and conducts four'editions' a year in the US.

The first edition of Techcircle DEMOIndia will feature 29 companies,shortlisted from over 100applications. Simultaneously, one inChina was launched. Companies payto be on the platform. PV Sahad,

VCCircle founder said that whilethree of them were already bigcompanies, like Makemytrip, the bulkwere new startups—18 to 20 of themstill unfunded. A handful is fromBangalore.

"It is a 'coming out' for startups. Wesharpen their offerings, providementoring support, and get themready for a platform like this. Whilethere are other such avenues, I don'tthink anyone else is as stringent withquality checks as we are, asorganised," Sahad said.

Presentations are highly disciplined,with no gimmicky stuff, or attemptsto out-do one another—a key benefitof that is those watching get a goodidea of the product and thecapabilities of the company. That issomething that doesn't alwayshappen when you listen to "pitches."

Also on hand are top investors andstart-up veterans.

Sahad is careful not to gloss overlingering problems with the start-upecosystem. One of the things heemphasised is the need forestablished companies in India toget into an "acquisition-mode."

"In the West, big companies mightacquire a start-up a week. Thisdoesn't happen here and is thebiggest bottleneck," he said.

Of course, what we also need is agood number of exciting start-upswith appealing products that quicklygain market traction.

VCCircle's Business Director Chandni

Jaffri pointed to another interestingphenomenon. Expats in Bangaloreare quite active. "We worry so muchabout the deficiencies in our system,but these expats actually find thesystem quite supportive."

Interestingly, there are three 'foreign'companies in the list, includingMoxtra from the US and Khemelafrom Paris, founded by desi expats. Abonus for them is that presentinghere enables them to present forfree in a US edition.

Here are the Bangalore companies: Little Eye Labs: A mobile app forperformance management andanalysis for Android developers.

Vivyo (from photography startupCanverra): An online platform forphotographers to showcase,collaborate and market work online.

WebMobi: Began as an appcreation platform, now a mobilecustomer relationship managementplatform

Relona: Synchronising animationand video across multiple page views—useful for advertisers.

Safekar: Personal vehicle trackingproduct meant for families who havedriver driven vehicles

Zoom: A membership based, self-drive car club.

Techwalk will keep an eye on them,and the others, and bring you moreas we go along. Watch this space.And in the meantime, do somethingabout that idea, now!

SRIDHAR K CHARISend feedback to

[email protected]

The first edition ofDEMO India

presents a platformfor maturing

enterprises

Coming out party for startups

PRACHI SIBAL

‘I was just thefunny guy in mygroup’

Varun Thakur Stand-up comic


SAVIE [email protected]

We do not need to look up a dic-tionary for the meaning of scien-tist. We all know what it stands

for. It is a term used in common language.More than a century ago,

though, it was word to beavoided. It was consideredignoble and prohibited byreputed publications.

The term science enteredEnglish in the 13th century, but scientist is arecent addition. Unlike with most words,we can pinpoint the exact date the term sci-entist was coined. It was on June 24, 1833,but gained acceptance only in the 1900s.

Before the coinage ofscientist, people involved

with science were callednatural philosophers,men of science, or cul-

tivators of science. There was no singleterm to define practitioners of science. Themost common of the many terms was nat-ural philosophers. Thinkers, writers andphilosophers (the ones not into science),were not happy with rationalists too beingcalled philosophers. They thought that thevision of men of science was superficial,while philosophers went far beyond intheir thinking.

The romantic poet Samuel Coleridgewrote a treatise on scientific methods andwas invited to a meeting of the newlyformed British Association of theAdvancement of Science. Coleridge had

been a recluse and was ill, butmanaged to attend this con-ference held on June 24,1833.

At the meeting, whenWilliam Whewell, a fellow of

Trinity College, Cambridge and a formerprofessor of mineralogy finished his open-ing speech at the conference, Coleridgewho was in his early 60s, stood up. He saidthe members of the association should notrefer to themselves as natural philosophers.

Laura J Synder, the author of ThePhilosophical Breakfast Club puts it this wayin an essay, “Coleridge remarkedacidly…that men digging in fossil pits, or

performing experiments with electricalapparatus, hardly fit the definition. Theywere not, he meant, “armchair philoso-phers,” pondering the mysteries of the uni-verse, but practical men—with dirty hands,at that. As a “real metaphysician,” he for-bade them the use of this honorific.”

The people gathered there sat dumb-struck, and some took offence. Whewellcourteously said he agreed with Coleridgethat a term to describe the members of theassociation was required. He said thatphilosophers was a too wide and lofty aterm. He suggested savant, which meantlearned. But this was found to be rather

presumptuous and too French. The Englishdid not share a great rapport with theFrench and so savant didn’t make it.Whewell then thought of the German termnaturforscher, which means naturalist. Themembers expressed concerns that peoplemay make fun of them, pronouncing it asnature-poker or nature-peeper.

Whewell then suggested that by anal-ogy with artist, they could coin the termscientist. He added that there were similarwords like economist and atheist.

Citing the word atheist as a parallelcreated a problem. Whewell in his report inthe periodical Quarter Review recalled howgeologist Adam Sedgwick exploded andsaid, ‘Better die of this want [of a term]than bestialise our tongue by such a bar-barism.’

However scientist came into generaluse, especially in America. But the termwas not regarded as respectable. Manypublications like The Chicago Daily News,London Daily News, New York Evening Postand Century Magazine, mentioned it as aterm to be avoided in their style sheets.

Perhaps it was for want of any otherterm for men in science that the wordgained popularity in common parlance.Publications could not ignore it any longerand had to start using it.

The Talkcolumn onword origins

K EW O S

YR D

The ‘barbarism’ that became the byword

Scientist

The 'Flammarion engraving,' by an unknown artist,depicts the scientific quest for knowledge

24talk|28 mar 2013|talkmag.inL I S T I N G S

food

They are not fat: Watch All the Fat Childrenperform live this weekendas they perform some oftheir original songs. Theband has Eben Johnson onguitars and vocals, VickramKiran on vocals, SachinSavio Dane on drums andNaveen Thomas on guitars. Opus, 4, 1st Main,Chakravarthy Layout PalaceCross Road, Sankey Road ,March 22 9008303330

Music with a twist:Performing this weekend isParvaaz, a Bangalore basedband that is known for theirmusic in Urdu andKashmiri. Their music is amix of blues and psychedel-

ic rock. Watch KhalidAhmed on vocals and gui-tars, Kashif Iqbal on leadvocal and guitars, FidelDsouza on bass and SachinBanandur on drums. Bak Bak Bar, # 1, KiraLayout, Kormangala, March22, 8.30 pm9243777970

Four Stroke live:Bringing you a mix of rock‘n’ roll, blues, country, rockand jazz this weekend isFour Stroke. The band hasGerard Besterwitch on gui-tar, saxophone and vocals,Joe Louis on guitar andvocals, Charles Reigo onbass and Mark Besterwitchon drums.

Opus in the Creek, No 2,Doddanekkundi IndustrialArea Mahadevapura,Brookefields Main Road, OffITPL Road ,Whitefield,March 23, 9 pm9844030198

Jazzy weekend: Head out this weekend tolend an ear to Emiliano andhis Trio. The ensemble willplay some gypsy, jazz andAmerican-Latin tunes. Ithas Emiliano Da Cruz onviolin, mandolin and vocals,Oscar Rozario on guitar,Avelino Cardoza on man-dolin, recorder and percus-sions and Zubin Da Cruz onmandolin and vocals. likethatonly, #14/31A,

Hagadur Road (BehindForum Value Mall)Whitefield, March 23, 7.30pm 65475610

Here come the Gods:Presenting Carnatic musicwith an influence of duband trip- hop are GodsRobots. Gods Robots com-prises Janaka Autugo andShridevi Keshavan akaTaamara. bFlat , 100 Feet Road,Above ING Bank, HAL 2ndStage, Indiranagar, March22 , 8.30 pm 41739250

Music from the bass-ment: Bombay Bassment is oneunique band. The membersof the band itself provethis. The band has twoGoans, one South Indianand one African member;hence their music is a mixof hip-hop, rap, reggae andfunk.

CounterCulture, 2D2 , 4thcross, DyavasandraIndustrial Area ,Whitefield,March 23, 8.30 pm41400793

Relive the classics: Enjoy your share of classicsand like Pink Floyd, TheBeatles, The Rolling Stonesand newer ones likeNickelback, Maroon 5 andAdele. Watch Radler per-form some numbers bythese bands and artists. bFlat , 100 Feet Road,Above ING Bank, HAL 2ndStage, Indiranagar, March24 , 8.30 pm 41739250

Magical night: This week witness themagic of Mandolin maestroU Shrinivas and Hariharanas they perform live.Lakeside Amphitheatre,Orion Mall, Rajajinagar,March 23, 6.30 pm

music

Look like a star: Go crazy as you shop at Adidas’Jeremy Scott’s Spring SummerCollection. The collection is inspiredfrom Eagles and billiard balls andhas eagle prints throughout. Pricedat Rs 8,999 onwards.Available at select Adidas outlets

Dressed to kill: Ladies will be spoilt for choice aswith a new range of dresses fromJade, a collection by designersMonica and Karishma. You canchoose from cocktail dresses toshort dresses and more. Available at www.jadecouture.com

Vintage Touch: This Spring season don the rose-gold watch from Fossil and sport the

vintage look. The collection offerswatches in black and gold dials withgold straps. Available at all leading Fossil outlets

A splash of colour: This Holi season add a splash ofcolour to your inner wear too.Choose from a range of brightcolours and style to suit every needand outfit. Say Happy Holi like adiva. Available at www.zivame.com

Smell good: This season smell fresh as a fruit asyou try out the Anna Sui’s range ofperfumes, Fairy Dance. The fra-grances available are tangerine,mango and pink pepper. Available at leading lifestyle stores

Eggless baking: Learn to bake hand rolledorange truffle, olive andpaprika roll, fresh fruit pas-try, brown bread andsemolina turuline, sugarfree panacotta, honey andoatmeal biscuits and more.The highlight of the work-shop is that all dessertswill be eggless. Lavonne, No. 151, 2nd Cross

Domulur, 2nd Stage,Indiranagar, March 239740544442

Korean flavours intown: Try out some authenticKorean dishes like threecoloured pancakes-wrapped with seafood andvegetables, assorted veg-etables salad with mustard

sauce, braised chicken andvegetables with soy sauceand stir-fried eggplant withsoy sauce and more at theKorean Food Festival. Sheraton Hotel, 26/1, DrRajkumar Road,Malleshwaram, till March24 42521000

Hone your cookingskills: Learn to make pastas likefettucine, ravioli, macaroniand more at this workshop.Participants will be provid-ed with a recipe kit andingredients at the end ofthe class. You can also gethands-on experience onthe pasta machine. Cilantro, HalcyonCondominiums, 9, DrafadillaLayout, 4th Block, 4th MainRd, Koramangala, March 249844707517

Seafood delight: Craving for some seafood?Then head here and try outsome grilled seafood, rocklobsters and jumbo prawns.Priced at Rs 2,500 Zen, # 25, The LeelaPalace, Old Airport Road,March 24 2521 1234

Choose your own poi-son: How many times do youget to choose ingredients

for your cocktails? Wellyou can do the same nowas Le Cristaal has acelebrity bartender whowill attend to you.Cocktails are priced at Rs375 each. Le Cristaal, #36, VittalMallaya Road, 8 pmonwards

Holi special: This Holi festival after youare done with your shareof colours, head here torelish some dishes likeramo ram khichdi, thandai,rose sharbat, phoolkachori, keri panna, methipakoda chat and more.Available at all Rajdhanioutlets

Sweet tooth craving: With over 15 home bakersparticipating at the Baker’sShowcase, this place oughtto be heaven for peoplewith a sweet tooth. Youcan try out homemadesimple desserts or eventhe exotic dishes. Choosefrom a variety of cupcakes,rainbow cake, pastries,tarts and more. So drop byto indulge and satiate yoursweet cravings. NGV Club, National GamesHousing Complex,Koramangala March 2325702247

Galata in town: A unique concept that began last year, TheGreat Galata aims at bringing together thetheatre community under one roof. Theentire process kicks off with the playwrightsbeing given the concept or the idea fourdays prior to the performance. The play-wrights will have to write the script andsubmit it within 24 hours. The next day,actors will be chosen through a pick of lots.What follows next is two days of rehearsalsand then the final performance. There willbe noted theatre personalities like PrakashBelawadi, Pawan Kumar, Walter D’Souza,Rajiv Krishnan, Rajat Kapoor, Atul Kumarand others. This will be performed in threelanguages; Kannada, English and Hindirespectively with 12 actors for each.Ranga Shankara, 36/2 8th Cross II Phase,JP Nagar, March 27, 7.30 pm 26493982

retail therapy

God’s Robots

Emiliano and the band

LEKHA NAIDU AND ASHIQA SALVANThe Great Galata

Book Launch: Best-selling author Amish Tripathiwill be in town to launch his latestbook The Oath of the Vayuputrasand will oblige his fans by signingthe books for them. The Oath of theVayuputras is the last book in theShiva trilogy. In this book, Shivareaches Panchvati and comes faceto face with his biggest enemy.Amish is an IIM graduate who gaveup his banking job to become awriter and has written TheImmortals of Meluha and TheSecret of the Nagas in the past. Reliance Timeout, Mantri Square,Sampige Road, March 23, 12 pm2667122

25talk|28 mar 2013|talkmag.inL I S T I N G S

How I learned to Drive: A Pulitzer Prize winner, this play byPaula Vogel is about the childhoodjourney of Lil’ Bit. She recounts herexperience of a colourful journeythat has some dark secrets. The playbrings out the strained relationshipthat Lil’ Bit has with her Uncle Peck.Lil’ Bit's relationship with her UnclePeck is as sweet as it is lethal, aspaternal as it is co-dependent, asinnocent as it is dark. Directed bySidharath Selvaraj, it has MarioJerome, Shubangi Sunder, MalihaIbrahim, Naomi Menon and SudhirSelvaraj in the cast. Alliance Francaise de Bangalore, # 16GMT Road, Vasanthnagar, March 22,8 pm, March 23, 5 pm and 8 pm

41231340

So Many Socks:The play is about three generationsof a Tibetan family. Scripted byAnnie Zaidi, it explores the situationsthe family is stuck in. Directed byQasar Padamsee, it has VinatiMakijany, Shruti Mishra, Saattvic,Shivam Sharma, Suhaas Ahuja,Abhishek Saha and Bhavna Pani inthe cast. Jagriti Theatre , Varthur Road,Ramagondanahalli, Whitefield, March22 and 23, 8 pm and March 24 , 3 pmand 6.30 pm 41248298

Bikhre Bimb: Directed by Girish Karnad and KM

Chaitanya, Bikhre Bimb is one of themost talked about plays and hasseen more than 100 shows in thecountry. It brings theatre personali-ties and actors Arundhati Nag andGirish Karnad together on stage. Theplay is about an English professor,who has had an unsuccessful stint asa Kannada writer. It is a journey ofthis professor, who later goes on tobe a bestselling writer. Ranga Shankara, #36/2, 8th Cross,2nd Phase, J P Nagar, March 22 and23, 7.30 pm 26592777

What's Up with Indian Men: From the makers of Love, Sex andMocha comes another comedy aboutlove. The play is about the journey ofa girl who is looking for true love. Ithighlights well-known stereotypes ofmen like the pretentious metro sexu-al, the penny saving marwadi, thedowry seeking Reddy boy to theshaadi.com stalker and the sleazySindhi. It has Raj B, Karan B, Krishik,Ashwin N, Vamsi, Varnika, Shruthiand Neha in the cast. Alliance Francaise de Bangalore, # 16GMT Road, Vasanthnagar, March 24,5.30 pm and 7.30 pm 41231340

Male Mantrika: The play is about Lizzie who givesaway her house to her father and thecattle ranch to her brothers. Shethen goes to meet her cousins whoare looking for a groom for her butthings don't go as planned. As shereturns, she sees that the farm is

suffering from drought and the cattleis on the verge of dying. She thencomes across Starbuck, a tricksterwho promises to bring rain inexchange for a 100 dollars. Ranga Shankara, #36/2, 8th Cross,2nd Phase, J P Nagar, March 24,7.30 pm 26592777

Sahebara Saarkeetu: Based on MR Srinivasa Murthy'sbook, Rangannana KanasinaDinagalu, the play is aboutRanganna, a school-teacher who ispromoted to the post of inspector.After visiting a number of schools, herealises that his job is not easy. Hismission to improve the working ofschools earns him the love of teach-ers and the wrath of local politicians. Ranga Shankara, 36/2 8th Cross 2ndPhase, JP Nagar, March 24, 7.30 pm26493982

Rabdi: The play revolves around Saavantriand her mentally challenged child.Though her dreams of her child hav-ing a bright future remain unfulfilledshe does not lose hope. In order toenroll him into a special school sheoffers to be a surrogate mother foran IT couple. Directed by Nithish S,the play delves into motherhood,love, societal issues and human emo-tions. Tickets priced at Rs 50. KH Kala Soudha, RamanjaneyaTemple Compound , Banashankari,Hanumanthanagar, March 27, 7 pm26539239

theatreSo Many Socks

book launch

To get your event listed, write to us at

[email protected]

Aatma Hindi The movie is about thejourney of a single mother,Maya who begins her lifeafresh with her six-year-old daughter, Nia. As Mayabegins a new chapter inher life, her daughterstarts talking to her deadfather. At first the motherbelieves that she is justimagining things but sherealises that is far fromthe truth. Her dead hus-band is back to take theone thing that he loves themost, his daughter.Directed by SuparnVerma, the film starsBipasha Basu andNawazuddin Siddiqui inthe lead role. Innovative Multiplex,Marathahalli- 11 am, 4 pm,

8, 10 Fun Cinemas,Cunningham Road- 10 am,12 pm, 7.45 Cinepolis,Bannerghatta Road- 10 am,12 pm, 2.10, 5, 10 GopalanCinemas, BannerghattaRoad- 10 am, 2.45 pm,8.10 Rex Theatre- 11.10 am,5.45 pm Gopalan Mall, SirsiCircle- 12.30 pm, 10Gopalan Grand Mall, OldMadras Road- 12.45 pm,5.15, 10 Everest Theatre,Frazer Town- 6.30 pm,9.30 INOX, Mantri Mall,Malleswaram- 10 am, 4.10pm, 7.25, 10 INOX, GarudaMall, Magrath Road- 10.10am, 2.50 pm, 7.30, 10INOX, Central, JP Nagar-10.15 am, 2.50 pm, 7.35Fame Lido, off MG Road- 10am, 2.30 pm, 7, 10 FameShankarnag, MG Road-

6.50 pm Fame ForumValue Mall, Whitefield-10.20 am, 1.30 pm, 5.25, 7, 10

Rangrezz Hindi The film is based on theidea of friendship and love.The movie has been innews for JackkyBhagnani's number onPsy's Gangnam Style.Directed by Priyadarshan,it has Jackky Bhagnani,Priya Anand and AksharaGowda in the lead. Innovative Multiplex,Marathahalli- 4.25 pmUrvashi Multiplex- 2.30 pmFun Cinemas, CunninghamRoad- 10.20 am, 3.25 pm,9.35 Cinepolis,Bannerghatta Road- 11 am,1.50 pm, 6.25, 9.25 Rex

theatre- 12.55 pm EverestTheatre- 11.30 am, 2.30 pmGopalan Cinemas,Bannerghatta Road- 10 am,5.30 pm Gopalan Mall, SirsiCircle- 10.15 am, 7.20 pmGopalan Grand Mall, OldMdras Road- 10 am, 7.15pm INOX, Mantri Mall,Malleswaram- 10.20 am,4.40 pm, 9.25 INOX,Garuda Mall, MagrathRoad- 10.35 am, 3.35 pm,6.25, 9.15 INOX, GarudaSwagath Mall, Jayanagar-10 am, 3.30 pm, 9.25INOX, JP Nagar- 10.20 am,4.50 pm, 9.25 Fame Lido,off MG Road- 10 am, 12.45pm, 6.40, 9. 25 FameShankarnag, MG Road-12.45 pm Fame ForumValue Mall, Whitefield-10.40 am, 3.35 pm, 6.25,9.15 Visions Cinemas-10.30 am, 4 pm, 9.45

Django UnchainedEnglishThe movie is set againstthe backdrop two yearsprior to the Civil War. It isabout Django, a slavewhose brutal history withhis former owners landshim face to face withGerman born bountyhunter Dr King Schultz.Schultz is on the lookoutfor the murderous Brittlebrothers and only Djangocan lead him to them.Directed by QuentinTarantino, it has JamieFoxx, Christoph Waltz,Kerry Washington,

Leonardo DiCaprio andSamuel L Jackson in thelead. Innovative Multiplex,Marathahalli- 10.30 am,1.30 pm, 7, 10 UrvashiCinemas- 11 am 6,15 pm,9.45 Fun Cinemas,Cunningham Road- 12.30pm, 6.35, 10 Cinepolis,Bannerghatta Road- 10.10am, 1.05 pm Rex theatre-9.50 pm Gopalan Cinemas,Bannerghatta Road- 11.50am, 4.40 pm, 10 GopalanMall, Sirsi Circle- 3.45 pm,9.15 Gopalan Grand Mall,Old Madras Road- 10.15 am,4 pm, 7 INOX, Mantri Mall,Malleshwaram-10.35 am, 3.45 pm,8.45 INOX, Garuda Mall,Magrath Road- 10 am,12.30 pm, 3.40, 6.50,8.55 INOX,Swagath Garuda

Mall- 6.15 pm INOX, JPNagar- 10.10 am, 3.40 pm,9 Fame Lido, off MG Road-10.50 am, 3.30 pm, 6.15, 9Fame Shankarnag, MGRoad- 3.35 pm FameForum Value Mall,Whitefield- 10 am, 12. 40pm, 3.50, 6.25, 9CineMAX, Total Mall- 10am, 1 pm, 3.45, 9.30

Olympus Has FallenEnglish The whole of USA is inshock when the WhiteHouse is captured by aterrorist and the Presidentis kidnapped by him, a for-

merPresedential

guard MikeBanningfinds him-

self

trapped within the build-ing. As the NationalSecurity team is trying torespond to this, they areforced to rely onBanning’s inside knowl-edge to help save theWhite House and thePresident. Directed byAntoine Fuqua, it starsGerard Butler, MorganFreeman and AaronEckhart in the lead. Fun Cinemas, CunninghamRoad- 10 am, 2.05 pmCinepolis, BannerghattaRoad- 10 am, 4.40 pm,7.30, 10 INOX, Mantri Mall,Malleswaram- 11.55 am,4.50 pm, 9.35 INOX,Garuda Mall, MagrathRoad- 10 am, 12.15 pm,3.45, 9.35 INOX, SwagathGaruda Mall, Jayanagar-2.25 pm, 7.35 INOX, JPNagar- 10.15 am, 9.20 pmFame Lido, off MG Road- 12pm, 4.30, 9.30

Ziddi KannadaThe movie is directed byAnantha Raju and starsPrajwal Devraj, AindritaRay and Aishwarya Nag inthe lead roles. The musichas been composed byGiridhara Diwan. Bhumika Theatre,Gandhinagar- 10.30 am,1.30 pm, 4.30, 7.30Navarang Theatre,Rajajinagar- 10 am, 10 pmINOX, Mantri Mall,Malleswaram- 12.55 pmRockline Cinemas,Jalahalli- 12.45 pm, 4.20

filmDjango Unchained

Ziddi

Some events cause intensegrief: death of a loved one,breach of trust, or heart-

break. To survive grief you needto be able to isolate pain and keepit away from the other emotionsin your life. This ability can onlybe built with great determination,responsibility and spiritualstrength.

Intense grief arises fromintense love, not from love thatcan be measured. Grief arises, forexample, from the unconditionallove of parents for their children.

A few examples in my life: Iloved two cats beyond anythingin this world, and my father. T-Meow was a cat I had saved andshe believed I was her mother. Weshared an inexplicable bondbeyond that of a man and animal.It was a bond of life and death.One day she was bitten by a dogwhen I was away at work. When Ifound her, it was too late and Icouldn’t save her. I went mad anddug her grave with my hands tillthey bled and had no flesh. It tookabout three months for my handsto recover. Six hellish monthswent by. It was like I had lost mydaughter.

Kuruvilli and I shared a loveas deep, if not deeper, than anyhuman relationship. We used toplay hide and seek every morning.She used to get into my sock andtear her way out of the other end.I had to get myself a fresh pairevery time she did this. I musthave bought myself more than150 pairs. She would tear my

track suits and business suits, butall that was okay. My friends toldme to wear ordinary clothesinstead of expensive ones. But forme that meant cheating her ofher fun, something I couldn’tbear. It would have made me andour bond cheap. When Kuruvillidied, it was such agony I decided Iwould never love anyone like thatagain.

The man I loved the most inthis world was my father. When Iwas six and he was late returningfrom work, I would sob my heartout for fear that he wouldn’treturn. In later years he was paral-ysed, and I managed to remaindetached from all his suffering. Idid not let the pain reach meinside. I have learnt over the yearsto isolate pain and go about life asif it did not exist. I suffer chronicphysical pain because of injuriessustained over the years, and thetough training I put myselfthrough. But I can tuck the painaway and go about my work andhave more fun than most others.

This is not repression. It isthe ability to be unperturbed afterarriving at an understanding ofthe truth. A few years ago, myfather died. At that moment Iasked myself: What should I do?Give him a hug? Tell him all that Iwasn’t able to over the years? Cry?Can I cry enough for the 25 yearsof not having done enough forhim? As a sensei, don’t I teach mystudents not to hold on? For abrief second these questionsflashed through my mind. I

believed, like my students, that Iwas different. So I didn’t cry. Iwent to a darshini with a friendand fed her idli-vada, and went toclass as usual the next day. I wasin emotional pain but askedmyself why I should let it affectthe other aspects of my life. Thegrief was intense but I left itbehind.

Extreme sorrow can be dis-astrous because it burns the life-force in your body. If you are con-stantly in pain, it weakens you.Grief kills faster than anything.Haven’t we heard of people whodon’t live long after their spouses’death?

How to cope with emotionalpain? Say the one you love foughtwith you. And it was totally unex-pected. Ask yourself: Should I callthe relationship off or forgive theperson? If I love the person andwant to continue the relation-ship, I will say why agonise evenfor one day. Never answer toprove a point or win a battle. Thatis mere ego. In fact if you knowthe person really loves you andfeels bad about the fight, don’teven show you are hurt. If yourgrief is a response to events (likedeath) that can’t be reversed, giveup the sorrow. Know that the uni-verse’s spirit is to survive, heal andbring to life.

How to train to overcomegrief? When in pain know whyyou are in pain. Is the knee painbecause of too much walking orrunning? Find a method of relief-painkiller, for example-and then

go about doing what you have todo. With emotional pain, analysesimilarly. Reflect, pack away thepain and get out of misery as soonas possible.

Practise isolating pain. It isonly in real time that you willknow how to do this. I am what Iam only because of the intensepain in my life. Only by puttingaway the pain in a box have Ibecome stronger. Today, I burnaway the boxes I have accumulat-ed.

A student once accidentallyshot himself and was in shock. Idiverted his mind from thewound, and joked on the way tothe hospital, saying the bullet scarwould make him look nice! Heunderwent surgery and wasadvised three weeks’ bed-rest. Asone trained in budo, I said, hewould need only three days. Infact, he got out in three days andovercame the trauma. I had toldhim what he could have told him-self or what you should tell your-self when in pain.

In life you will experiencegrief, so be prepared. The budopath is constant growth andpreparation for war. In the movieShooter, the hero is ridden withbullets and near death. But hedoesn’t worry about logical con-sequences and comes back to lifeto fight his enemies. Never giveup. As long as you breathe, youcan always do something more.Make life your choice. Don’tbecome life’s choice. Live withthat spirit and you will win.


Nothing drains the life-force like sustained sorrow,but it still can be overcomewith training, says SenseiAvinash Subramanyam

DEMONSTRATED BY PRIYA CRASTA. PHOTOS BY RAMESH HUNSUR. TRANSCRIBED BY RADHIKA P

Way ofBudo 25

How to deal with grief and sadness

STRETCHING EXERCISE

1: Starting Posture: Stand erect with feet shoulder width apart and parallel to each other. Back straight. Body relaxed. 2: Move feet two shoulder-width apart. Bend knees as in horse rider's stance. Fold palm intofist and bring to waist. 3 & 4: Draw in left leg and push hands upwards. Inhale in the process. 5 & 6: Bring down left leg and hands and return to posture shown in Pic 2.

Perform the technique similarly with right leg. Do the entire technique 4-6 times. This gentle exercise is a whole body tonic. It helps exercise shoulder, back, hip, arms, neck, knees and legs. It improves balance.

1 2 3 4 5 6

THE STORY SO FARA seemingly gentle sadhu moves into a

burial ground in Okalipuram and wins theconfidence of its residents, especially the

kids. But unknown to them, he plans tosacrifice 11 young boys over 11 full-moon

nights to gain magical powers, followingthe advice of a tantric.

It was a full moon day. That after-noon, a boy walked into sadhuLakshmana Giri’s house.Oblivious to his fate, he got hisshare of milk and toffee. He was

delighted at the bonus that day: thesadhu handed him a Rs 10 note with themilk and toffee. As soon as he drank themilk, he collapsed onthe floor. The sadhuhad mixed bhang(cannabis) in the saf-fron-flavoured milk.

Lakshmana Girilocked his house fromthe outside andentered it from the back door. As dark-ness fell, he started his ritual. It reachedits climax at midnight. The boy was stillunder the influence of bhang, and thesadhu sealed his mouth with a piece ofcloth. As the ritual reached the final

stage, he slit open the boy’s throat with ablade and collected the blood in a bowlto offer to Smashana Taradevi, the deityhe had been told by a tantrik to worship.Within minutes, the boy was dead. Thefirst of 11 recommended sacrifices wasdone.

A human sacrifice had taken placeso quietly and so easilythat he felt he could sacri-fice hundreds of boys, notjust 11. After the murder,the sadhu buried the bowlin a corner of the burialyard, stuffed the body intoa gunny sack, and threw it

into an open drain. The discovery of the body was big

news in the city, with all news paperscarrying it prominently. The boy’s par-ents were inconsolable. They worked ina factory producing incence sticks, and

the father suspected one of his enemies.The grief-struck mother came to thesadhu and fell at his feet. He consoledher with his characteristic mild talk.

As murders were not rare inBangalore, the buzz died down once thenewspapers stopped reporting on it. Butthe city was shocked when a similar inci-dent took place exactly a month later.The morning after a full moon day,another young boy was found dead in anidentical fashion in the same drain. Histhroat had been slit the same way.

The police started thinking a serialkiller was out to murder boys from theOkalipuram slum, and suspected hecould have a strange motive as the mur-

27talk|28 mar 2013|talkmag.inmemoir

Fabled ranconteur andBangalore’s top-notchcriminal lawyer bringsyou moving, sensationaland bizarre stories from40 years of his practice

CH HANUMANTHARAYAcrim

e fo

lio

He slit open theboy’s throat andcollected theblood in a bowl

‘Sadhu’ Lakshmana Giri wasfinally caught, but his tortureand death in police custody

leaves the governmentreeling

Bangalore's evil sadhusacrifices four boys

VIVE

K AR

UN

28talk|28 mar 2013|talkmag.inmemoir

ders had taken place on full moon nights.This was followed by the murder of

another boy the subsequent full moon day,and people were terrified. There was a bigpublic outcry, and the government cameunder pressure, with the media askingtough questions. Chief minister R GunduRao faced severe criticism in the assemblyfor his government’s inaction.

The government formed a specialinvestigation team led by Circle InspectorShivalingaiah. The police did not suspectthe sadhu as his words and behaviourshowed no signs of violence. In fact,Shivalingaiah sought his blessings forspeedy completion of the investigation.

One day, when he was passingthrough the burial yard after meeting thesadhu, Shivalingaiah found a dog scratch-ing the ground in a corner. Curious, hewent closer. The earth was wet and blood-stained. He collected a sample and sent itto the forensic lab.

When the test revealed the stains ashuman blood, and that too of a boy, thethought entered Shivalingaiah’s head thatthe sadhu could be the murderer.

Keeping a watch on Lakshmana Giri,Shivalingaiah’s plainclothes men startedspying around the burial yard. Alarmed bythe vigil, the sadhu left the place a week

before the next full moon day, saying hehad to visit his native village.

On the full moon day, detectivesclimbed the trees in the burial yard andremained there all night to see if they couldcatch the murderer red-handed. No killerturned up.

But the body of another boy wasfound in the drain the next morning. Anenraged Shivalingaiah asked his men toarrest the sadhu.

The police locked up Lakshmana Giriat the Kengeri Gatepolice station inCottonpet. They tor-tured him, and he con-fessed to his crime andexplained how he hadkilled the boys.However, the thirddegree treatment the police had meted outto him was so harsh he died in custody.

As he was close to many VIPs, includ-ing ministers and rich industrialists, thenews of his death rattled the government.HD Deve Gowda, then Leader of theOpposition in the Assembly, demanded thechief minister’s resignation and an investi-gation into the death.

The post mortem of the sadhu’s bodywas done by Dr BC Chandre Gowda, then

head of the forensic division of VictoriaHospital. The report said Lakshmana Girihad died of internal bleeding after he hadsustained severe injuries.

Armed with this report, Deve Gowdainsisted on the chief minister’s resignation.Gundu Rao ordered another post mortemand the sadhu’s body was exhumed for thepurpose.

The second post mortem was done byDr Somaiah, and this time around, thereport said the sadhu’s death was caused by

asthma, high blood pressure,and diabetes, and notbecause of the injuries hehad sustained.

The opposition and thegovernment started squab-bling over the contradictingreports. The government

constituted an inquiry commission underVK Govindaraju to find the truth.

Chandre Gowda wanted my seniorlawyer Devadas and me to appear for himbefore the commission. He approached meand pleaded that I convince Devadas totake up his case. Chandre Gowda wasknown for his honesty. When I took him toDevadas, he obliged. However, when I methim with Chandre Gowda two days later,the scene had changed. Devadas was sitting

with some police officials. It turned out hehad changed camp. Struggling to explainhis shifting loyalties, Devadas said hewould fight Dr Somaiah and the police.

I had always fought the police incourt. Even in this case, I stood againstthem as I represented Chandre Gowda.Prof MR Janardhan guided me. LawyerKotyan extended me special help, but I stillhad to face my mentor as my opponent incourt. Some of my friends criticised me,saying, “By fighting for Chandre Gowda,you are indirectly arguing for the cruelsadhu.”

Prof Janardhan and I jointly appearedfor Chandre Gowda before the inquirycommission. During the arguments, I hadto clash verbally with Devadas.

Finally, the commission ruled that thesadhu’s death had been caused by hisinjuries and held the police guilty. It evennamed the police officers responsible forhis death.

But the government threw the reportinto the dustbin. I wondered whether therewas any sense in the government appoint-ing inquiry commissions, and any respectfor the efforts of lawyers like me.

(Concluded)Translated by BV Shivashankar

Friends said, ‘Youare indirectlyarguing for thecruel Sadhu’

In 1925, con artist parexcellence VictorLustig approachedwholesale scrapdealers in Paris,posing as agovernment official.He claimed the citycould no longer pay forthe upkeep of theEiffel Tower, andintended to dismantleand sell it as scrap.Lustig’s scam worked,and he famously madea pile collecting an

advance from thegullible businessmen.But Dennis Hope ofGardnerville, US, hastaken the game to awhole new level; overthe past threedecades, he has built athriving business by“selling” plots on themoon, Mars andVenus. Why, he evenissues certificatesthat confirm yourownership of this orthat piece of lunar

land. Now, the manhas no legal authorityto do so, but gets awaywith it because 1)

people like the idea ofowning property inspace 2) you can sayanything you want toanybody as long asyou smile, a trick hesays he picked fromhis dummy during aformer avatar as aventriloquist.Incidentally, the word‘lunatic’ was derivedin Latin from the wordluna, meaning “moon.”Coincidence, youthink?

We promise that thisis the last Facebookstudy that we willburden youwith for awhile, butlook whatthese

Cambridgeresearchers justdragged in. Theirstudy, which usedsomething calledAlgorithmic analysis(go look it up), foundthat your FB ‘likes’

give everythingaway—your IQ,

personalitytraits, drug

usage, and evenwhether your

parents divorcedduring your

childhood. Forexample, they foundthat they couldcorrectly distinguishbetween gay andstraight men on thesite 88 per cent of thetime by analysing thekinds of TV shows andmovies they liked. Inother words, withevery click onFacebook, you arebuilding a nuancedpicture of yourself.Since we have always

believed that only theparanoid survive, thismerely confirms oursuspicion—that FB is amachine designed tosuck up every littledetail of everyone, andthen sell them downthe river to whoeverwants it—whethermarketers orgovernments.Next time you ‘like’something, remember,you just might begetting Zuckered.

We have called your attentionbefore to the love Germanshave for all things natural,manifested in such ideas as aproject to develop ‘eco-friendly’bombs. Now a bunch of themhave taken the whole nature-love thing in another direction—pornography. Berlin-basedF*** for Forest, described as “araggedy group of hippies,” dojust that; they film and sellhomemade pornography toraise funds so that they can dotheir bit to help save therainforests. Their motto is,‘Have sex. Save the world.’Founded by Tommy HolEllingsen and Leona Johansson(in pic below), the group films

themselves having sex (often inpublic), and also invites othersto do so. If we can believe them,one in 10 people they approachagree to feature in their films.It seems the strategy devisedby Tommy and crew (includinga Mumbai girl called KaajalShetty) does pay, for the grouphas raised nearly Rs 3 crore sofar, meant to fund ‘ecologicalactivities,’ and have even had adocumentary made onthemselves that’s now doingthe festival circuit. Whateverfloats your boat, Tommy. Givenyour love of all things green,we’re sure that’s a, umm, radicalthing to do… but just what’snatural about porn, again?

The con who sold the moon The latest saviour of rainforests: porn

Why you should think twice before you ‘like’

29talk|28 mar 2013|talkmag.infun lines

1st Cross Talk’s weekly crossword for Bangaloreans who know their way about town

ACROSS1 ____ Memorial Hall: Venue for

plays and musical performances inMalleswaram (8)

4 Director of Topiwala (8)7 Deputy CM who has been sent a

notice by the High court forallegedly falsifying income details(1,6)

8 The ____ Room : An upmarketcontinental restaurant that shutdown (6)

10 ___ Hills: The highest point inBangalore (5)

11 ____ Datta: Captain of MT Royalwhose ship was hijacked bySomali pirates (7)

12 Theatre in Rajajinagar (7)

15 According to a recent survey the aver-age size of an ____ in Bangalore is thehighest amongst the major metros inthe country (9)

16 The BDA recently razed unauthorisedstructures in this colony (6,7)

17 A laser fountain in Mysore will tell thisgreat philosopher's tale (11)

DOWN2 Select cities in the state will soon get a

____ response force to deal with naturecalamities (8)

3 SR ____ : MLA from Yelahanka namedin a case from 2009 which involvesfudging revenue records of govern-ment land in Madappanahalli (10)

5 Hospital in the news when a new-born

baby abandoned in a dustbin was rav-aged by stray dogs (8)

6 Motorcycle company which conducteda training programme at MaharaniWomen's College (6)

9 Hospital on Bannerghatta Road (6)11 DK _____ : Former minister who was

told by the High Court that courts arenot shopping centres (5,5)

12 According to judge K Sreedhar RaoBangalore is worse than this famouscity when it comes to crime (3,4)

13 Government organisation which han-dles our city's transport service (4)

14 A BBMP ____ was in the news recentlyfor owning 5 houses and 2 acres of land(4)

Across: 3 Spielberg, 5Green, 6 Walkathon, 8Six AM, 9 Sahakarnagar,11 Neha Ramu, 13 PalaceGrounds, 15 Kashi, 17Vasan, 18 BWSSB, 19Rahul Dravid.

Down: 1 Menaka, 2Cancer, 4 Eshwarappa, 7Air India, 8 Smart cards,10 Amritsar, 12 Udupi, 14Katju, 16 Anshi.

Last week’s solution

T I M E P A S S 30talk|28 mar 2013|talkmag.in

ProfGood Sense

I am 21 years old. Myproblem is that I crywhenever someone talks tome in a rough manner. When Iwas a child, if my parentsraised their voice with me, I’dbe inconsolable for hours. Ithink there’s somethingwrong with me. Even asquabble with friends sets meoff. How do I handle this?

Anonymous, Bangalore There’s nothing wrong inshowing your emotions—itshows you are human. But itmakes sense to control youremotional outpouring tosome extent. We can’t stopfriends from saying thingsthat might hurt us. And thingscan get worse when peopleknow you are affected easily. Isuggest you undergoCognitive Behaviour Therapyfrom an experienced therapistto rid yourself of toxicthinking schemas. Don'tforget to smile more often.

Prof M SreedharaMurthy teachespsychology atNMKRV First GradeCollege. He is also awell-knownphotographer.

Mail queries to [email protected]

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They callthese

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reading more such stories infuture editions.

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Excellent story on Bhanwari Devi

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