September 2019
‘ಸಂಧ್ಯಾದರ್ಶನ’ವನ್ನು ಬರೆದ ಆಚೀಚಿನ ವರ್ಷಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನನಗೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಕರ್ಮಕಾಂಡಗಳ ರೂಪ-ಸ್ವರೂಪಗಳನ್ನು ಪರಿಷ್ಕರಿಸಬೇಕು, ಸುಧಾರಣೆಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡಬೇಕು, ಜಳ್ಳು-ಕಾಳುಗಳನ್ನು ಬೇರ್ಪಡಿಸಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಕಾಲಕ್ಕೂ ಶ್ರುತಿ-ಸೂತ್ರ-ಸ್ಮೃತಿಗಳ ಆಂತರ್ಯಕ್ಕೂ ಒಪ್ಪಿಗೆಯಾಗುವಂಥ ಶುದ್ಧವಾದ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಗಳನ್ನು ಹವಣಿಸಬೇಕೆಂಬ ಹಂಬಲ ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಇದನ್ನು ಕುರಿತು ಶೇಷಣ್ಣನವರೊಡನೆ ಸಾಕಷ್ಟು ಹೇಳಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದೆ. ಆಗೆಲ್ಲ ಅವರು ನನ್ನ ವಿಚಾರಧಾರೆಯನ್ನು ಮೆಚ್ಚುವುದಲ್ಲದೆ ತಮ್ಮ ದೃಷ್ಟಿ-ಧೋರಣೆಗಳನ್ನೂ ಹೇಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಅಂಥ ಒಂದು ಸಂವಾದದಲ್ಲಿ ಒಮ್ಮೆ ನಾನು ಮದುವೆ-ಮುಂಜಿಗಳಂಥ...
Home in Chamarajpet
Puttanna Shetty’s home on the 5th (main) road of Chamarajpet was excellent in all aspects. A huge compound, vast space with abundance of fresh-air and natural light. Lawn on all its sides and small trees around. Campaka, Cannonball and Pādri trees.; Bushes of flowering plants like Jasmine. Garden was kept clean each day by clearing off fallen and dried leaves. Amidst this vast space was a baithak style home and a kitchen...
It is very hard for me to write about V.S.Srinivasa Sastri or to get anything written about him. It is a challenging task to decide where to start and where to end. What’s all the more difficult is for me to control my own emotions. I had always considered him as my younger father (Uncle). He too, similarly, had great affection for me. It is impossible not to get swept by his showering of love and affection. However, this might also hinder an...
Note: This is the first part of the English translation of a series profiling D.V. Gundappa's life and legacy authored in the original Kannada by Dr. S.R. Ramaswamy, part of his essay collection titled "Divatigegalu."
"Do you have a notebook?” asked DVG when I went to see him one evening. When I said “yes,” he made me write this verse:
अज्ञस्य दु:खौघमयं
ज्ञस्यानन्दमयं जगत् |
अन्धं भुवनमन्धस्य
प्रकाशं तु सुचक्षुषः||
ajñasya du:...
Everyone present there congratulated Bhīmasena. He bowed down before his elder brother and said, “Now the entire world is yours, free of all obstacles. The main person behind all this hatred and enmity is now fallen here with his limb broken. Duśśāsana and the other evil men have been eliminated too!”
Yudhishitra said, “Yes! What you say is true! Thanks to Kṛṣṇa’s generous assistance, we have now won over the entire world. You have vanquished...
ನಾನು ಊಹಿಸುವಂತೆ ಅವರ ಮನಃಸಿದ್ಧತೆ ಬಹುಕಾಲದ ಮುನ್ನವೇ ಆಗಿತ್ತಾದರೂ ವ್ಯಾಸಂಗಸಿದ್ಧತೆಗೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಅನುಕೂಲ ಬಂದದ್ದು ನಿವೃತ್ತಿಯ ಬಳಿಕ. ದಿಟವೇ, ಅವರು ನಿವೃತ್ತರಾದಾಗ ಮಗಳ ಮದುವೆಯ ಬಾಧ್ಯತೆ ಉಳಿದಿತ್ತು, ಮಗನ ವಿದ್ಯಾಭ್ಯಾಸ ಪೂರ್ಣವಾಗಬೇಕಿತ್ತು. ಇದಕ್ಕಾಗಿಯೇ ಶೇಷಣ್ಣನವರು ನಿವೃತ್ತಿಯ ಬಳಿಕವೂ ಕೆಲವು ಕಾಲ ದುಡಿಯಬೇಕಾಗಿ ಬಂತು. ಈ ಎಲ್ಲ ಬಾಧ್ಯತೆಗಳು ತೀರಿದ ಬಳಿಕ ಹೆಂಡತಿ-ಮಕ್ಕಳನ್ನು ಕೂಡಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಕೇಳಿದರಂತೆ:
“ನಾನು ತಿಳಿದ ಮಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಮನೆಯ ಬಾಧ್ಯತೆಯನ್ನು ನೆರವೇರಿಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಕೈಗೆ ಬರುವ ನಿವೃತ್ತಿವೇತನ ಮನೆವಾರ್ತೆಗೆ ಸಾಕು. ಪಾರ್ಥನೂ ಅವನ...
Reorganizing the Municipal Council
A situation arose about eight- ten days after this, which required a reorganization of municipal council. A recommendation was sent by the municipal president to the government about nominating a few people. Diwan Visvesvaraya personally had my name added to the list. I was told that Puttanna Shetty was elated when this was made known to him. He called out to me and expressed his happiness about it. “I’m indeed...
The Hauteur
Such goliathon pastimes of my great grandfather were rather popular. For a subject of the Queen of Scantiness that I was, I sensed pride in every pompous fable that surrounded my great grandfather. At least he got to eat what he wanted.
From the aforementioned conversations gleaming with haughtiness, it is quite evident that hauteur was an obvious underlying factor in his administration.
Nevertheless, he was famed as a just and a...
Note: This is the second of a two-part series of an English translation of D.V. Gundappa's essay titled "Bengalurinalli Hotel Udyamada Arambha," the tenth essay in the volume titled "Hrudaya Sampannaru," in the Jnapaka Chitrashale volumes.
Read Part 1: The Dawn of the Hotel Industry in Bangalore
Decamping
Before the food arrived to serve our turn, another person entered. My friend poked my elbow and said, “Your elder uncle is arriving.” The...
The Exuberant Play of Upamās (Part 2)
In the thirteenth chapter, while explaining the word ‘adambhitva’ (freedom from hypocrisy, sincerity), he says even when a miser has a threat to his life, he doesn’t reveal where he has hidden his wealth; similarly a person should never speak about the good deeds he has done to the other. That is adambhitva. Just as a nasty cow doesn’t let her master milk her and keeps the milk for herself, just as a rich...