January 2021

Parliament
An Open Letter Keeping the glory and successes achieved by the Mahārāja of Bikaner as a pretext, I wrote and published around ten or fifteen open letters concerning the politics of the indigenous provinces addressing them to him. (‘Problems of Indian Native States: Open Letters to His Highness The Maharaja of Bikaner’ – By A Mysorean.) A compilation of these open letters published as a small book had been reviewed in the newspapers. A...
ಮಹರ್ಷಿ ವಾಲ್ಮೀಕಿ ಶ್ರೀಮದ್ರಾಮಾಯಣದ ಮೊದಲಿಗೇ ಬರುವ ನಾಲ್ಕು ಸರ್ಗಗಳ ಕಥೆ ಕವಿ-ಕಾವ್ಯ-ಸಹೃದಯರ ದೃಷ್ಟಿಯಿಂದ ತುಂಬ ಮಹತ್ತ್ವದ್ದಾಗಿದೆ. ಪ್ರಥಮಸರ್ಗದಲ್ಲಿ ವಾಲ್ಮೀಕಿಮುನಿಗಳು ನಾರದರನ್ನು ಆದರ್ಶನಾಯಕನೊಬ್ಬನ ಸಾಧ್ಯತೆಯ ಬಗೆಗೆ ಪ್ರಶ್ನಿಸುವುದು ಬಹ್ವರ್ಥಗ್ರಾಸಿಯಾಗಿದೆ. ಮಹಾಕಾವ್ಯ-ನಾಟಕಗಳ ನಾಯಕರು ಧೀರೋದಾತ್ತರಾಗಿ ಇರಬೇಕೆಂದು ನಮ್ಮ ಆಲಂಕಾರಿಕರು ಒಕ್ಕಣಿಸುವುದು ಎಷ್ಟೋ ಬಾರಿ ಶುಷ್ಕವೂ ಅಜ್ಞೇಯವೂ ಆಗಿ ತೋರುತ್ತದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಸದ್ಯದ ಸಂದರ್ಭ ಅದನ್ನು ರಸಾರ್ದ್ರವಾಗಿ, ಸುಗ್ರಾಹ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಮಾಡಿದೆ. ಇಷ್ಟೇ ಅಲ್ಲದೆ ಸಂವೇದನಶೀಲನಾದ ಯಾವುದೇ ಕವಿಗೆ ತಾನು...
Cancellation of Sastri’s Lecture It had been announced that V S Srinivasa Sastri—member of the Servants of India Society—who had come to Bangalore, would be delivering a lecture on the subject of ‘Education’ the very next evening (of the previous incident) or perhaps it was three days later. A thousand people came, in batches, to listen to that lecture – I was a witness to it. Even this programme was revoked upon the orders of the government...
The Story of Ahalyā and Devendra Once upon a time there lived a great seer named Gautama and he was sentient of things from times past, present, and future. He had a wife named Ahalyā, whose beauty surpassed that of the apsarās. Once, Devendra caught a glimpse of her, was besotted by her beauty, and desired her. The minds of the lords, blinded by riches, takes to immoral paths from time to time, indeed! Ahalyā refused his proposals. Gautama...
Legislative Assembly Sitarama Shastri was a nominated member of the legislative assembly for a few years. He utilised that platform effectively to facilitate people-friendly measures. Only a handful could face him in a debate. Once when he was criticising a particular decision of the government, M A Srinivasan, a Council Member (and Minister), was embarrassed; overcome by anger, he said, “Do you remember that you are just a nominated member (as...
Let us get back to the Bhagavad-gītā. There are so many punaruktis (repetitions); upamāna-upameyas (comparisons in a simile) and paradoxes. Our attention should be on their purport. When prosaic speech does not suffice and figurative expressions are resorted to even while describing commonplace incidents and worldly experiences, how else could the mind of the philosopher expressing thoughts about the supernatural reveal itself to us without...
ಕಲಾಮೀಮಾಂಸೆಯು ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯವಾಗಿ ವಿದ್ವದ್ರಸಿಕರಿಂದಲೇ ಮೊದಲಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಇದೇ ಮುಂದೆ ಆಯಾ ಕಲೆಗಳ ಸೌಂದರ್ಯಶಾಸ್ತ್ರವಾಗಿ ರೂಪುಗೊಂಡು ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ವ್ಯಾಪ್ತಿ-ವೈಶದ್ಯಗಳನ್ನು ಗಳಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಅದೆಷ್ಟೋ ಬಾರಿ ಕಲಾನಿರ್ಮಾತೃಗಳಾದ ಕವಿ-ಕಲಾವಿದರಿಗೇ ತಮ್ಮ ತಮ್ಮ ಕಲೆಗಳ ರೂಪ-ಸ್ವರೂಪಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹುದುಗಿರುವ ಸೊಗಸನ್ನು ವಿವರಿಸಲು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಾಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಮಾತ್ರವಲ್ಲ, ಇಂಥ ಸೊಗಸಿನ ಲಕ್ಷಣಪರಿಷ್ಕಾರವನ್ನು ನಡಸುವ ಸಾಮರ್ಥ್ಯವಾಗಲಿ, ಮನೋಧರ್ಮವಾಗಲಿ ಅವರಿಗಿರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಆದರೆ ಹಲಕೆಲವರು ಕವಿ-ಕಲಾವಿದರು ತಮ್ಮ ಕಲಾಮಾಧ್ಯಮದ ನಿರ್ಮಾಣರಹಸ್ಯವನ್ನೂ ಆಸ್ವಾದವೈಶಿಷ್ಟ್ಯವನ್ನೂ...
Plague The Plague pandemic came to Mulbagal perhaps after all other places in the vicinity. When the news spread that Plague had broken out in Kolar and Bowring Town, people of Mulbagal mused: “To the West of our town is Virūpākṣi Māramma. Nācāramma stands guard atop the hills. Raṇabheramma is at the centre of the town. And in the East Āñjaneyasvāmi stands tall with his mighty arm raised, protecting us vigilantly. When we are so protected on...