Profiles
Masti Venkatesha Iyengar - The Person and his Approach to Literature
Poetry in Hosagannaḍa
Masti, who was inspired by the Hoysaḷa sculptures, wrote his early poems in Hosagannaḍa. Upon seeing this, T S Venkannayya remarked, “It has been more than three hundred years since something this original has been composed in Kannada.”
Amin-ul-Mulq - Sir Mirza M Ismail - Part 6
Not Bookish Scholarship
Mirza didn’t think of himself as an erudite scholar in polity. He was not too interested in the science of politics nor just theory. What he wanted was peace and contentment of the common people. He left the bookish knowledge to others.
Masti Venkatesha Iyengar - The Respected Guest and his Short Stories
‘Respected Guest’
Amin-ul-Mulq - Sir Mirza M Ismail - Part 5
Industries
Mirza Ismail opined that in every town or Hobli, a factory, a trading unit, or some other business should be established. He encouraged prominent people (to set up industries) by promising adequate support from the government. The opportunities thus provided were used by some; they were also misused by some.
S Srikanta Sastri (Part 5)
Researcher
Masti Venkatesha Iyengar - A Patron of Literature
Masti Venkatesha Iyengar can be called the ‘Dewan’ of modern Kannada literature. Masti, who gained appreciation having served various governmental departments with great diligence and competence, could have been the Dewan of the State in a real sense. He had the capacity and was also slated to rise to that position. But for reasons unknown, that was not to be. Seeming to compensate for that lacuna, Masti ruled as the Dewan of the world of Kannada literature and scholarship for the good part of fifty years. In the past, the well-being of the State depended on the Dewan.
Amin-ul-Mulq - Sir Mirza M Ismail - Part 4
Vidurāśvattha Riots
The agitation for a Responsible Government led to yet another riot, this time at Vidurāśvattha. This incident too led to firings and killings.
Appaji Gowda was Kolar’s Deputy Commissioner then.
S Srikanta Sastri (Part 4)
In a play, at minimum there would be a hundred to hundred and fifty songs and verses. Their tunes would be composed on the lines of ‘Kamalākṣi nāṃ dhanyanādè,’ or the cakli song, or ‘Nāri māyākarāḻè,’ or ‘Nāḻè baruva rītikeḻi.’[1] In between these, on and off, there would be a tukaḍa jāvaḍi[2] or a tune of ‘iṅgliṣ cāl’ [Western classical tune], and so forth.
S Srikanta Sastri (Part 3)
Śrī-kṛṣṇa-vijayam; Compositions for Singing
In the branch of the Vèllāḻa family that had settled in Srirangapatna, one Candraśekhara-śāstrī was famous. Either it was he or his son Rāmacandra-śāstrī who composed the Vyāyoga titled ‘Śrī-kṛṣṇa-vijayam.’ It was composed during the early part of the nineteenth century or perhaps even earlier.