Profiles

Home Remedies - Part 2

Discharging Social Debts

Now I will narrate some social etiquette that was in practice more than seventy years ago. People did not frequent hotels or restaurants back then. In fact, one couldn’t find any hotels or restaurants in any town other than Bangalore [in the Mysore Province]. The common belief among the brāhmaṇas was that running a restaurant or eating in one was highly improper.

Karpura Srinivasa Rao (Part 2)

A Special Incident

A scholar used to attend all the Sahitya Parishat meetings. But, Venkatanarayanappa wouldn’t give him much attention. He would be kept isolated. Let’s say there were perhaps reasons. Let’s call him Mr. X.

When the Sahitya Parishat met in Chikkamagaluru, it looked like Mr. X pleaded with Rao. Rao said “Venkatanarayanappa, please give him a chance now at least. He wants to tell something; he will keep whining otherwise. Please show some mercy!”.

Home Remedies - Part 1

I’ve heard that medical experts document in detail, in accordance with their working philosophy - the onset of an ailment in a patient, its progression, the effect the ingested medicine has in curing the patient, and so forth (as evidence) in their articles and books. I too have suffered some ailments in the past. I’m interested in developments in medical sciences. I intend to record a few case histories that could possibly help future editors of pharmacopeia. I will present two cases now - Hunger and Indigestion.

Sri K.T. Appanna and The Hindu Coffee Club

Sri K.T. Appanna hailed from the Aruvelu Brahmin sect. He was originally from Kollegal. His father was Sri Tirumalaswamayya working as a First Division Clerk at the Bangalore General Post Office, earning about ₹ 70-80 a month. This was a big salary in those days. But he had a family big enough to match it. Tirumalaswamayya’s wife’s elder brother Sri Ramaswamayya and his wife and children, Tirumalaswamayya’s sister-in-law (a traditional widow), two or three other sisters-in-law, their children…the family was indeed large. And then there were guests and visitors from time to time.

Who are the Rasikas? (Part 1)

It will be appropriate to explain the purpose behind reminiscing several musicians and rasikas.[1] The purpose is simply the lament that connoisseurship has decreased in today’s world.  Everywhere and in all walks of life, the business mindset reflected by the materialistic nature of people has increased.  The number of people asking the question “What do you get by listening to music?” is increasing. High-rise buildings have value. Silk clothes have value. Motor cars have value.

S G Bindu Rao (Part 3)

One of the stories of Sri Ramakrishna

Whenever I remember Bindu Rao, a story that Bhagavān Ramakrishna Paramahamsa often narrated comes to my mind. 

A scholar approached a king with request to help. The king asked him, “What is your area of scholarship?”

The scholar replied, “I expound the Śrīmad-Bhāgavata.”

“Is that so? That is good to know! I’m curious to listen to the Bhāgavata-purāṇa. But I’m not at leisure today. If you’re here next Saturday, I will be able to sit and listen.”