He Wins, She Wins, Who Wins?

Sonu Nigam, I Am Sorry, but Chitra can console you. 
Let me give you an example of how the movie awards are given. When my mother was in the committee for film awards a few years back, she awarded the ‘Best Female Playback Singer’ award to Chitra for the movie ‘Chandramukhi Pranasakhi’. Since my mother was the [...]

ಅನಿಸುತಿದೆ ಯಾಕೋ ಇಂದು

Karnataka state awards for movies have been announced. What caught my eye was the award for the male playback singer.
Hemanth has won the “Best Male Playback Singer” award for the movie ‘Kallarali Hoovagi’. Sure, he has done a good job. He has certainly sang well.
But, wait a second. Didn’t the saints in the award committee [...]

Ambition = NOT Happiness?

A relative of mine came up from humble beginnings. Unlike me, he grew up in a village, sailed through scholarships, attended REC and IIT, and finished his PhD. He is a decade plus older than me and he effortlessly juggles between management and technical tasks in his office. Of course, like any self made man [...]

Thank You Minus One

It was a large gathering. My mother was being felicitated on the 50th anniversary of her singing career. A very well deserved honor. The biggest names in Kannada literature and music world were present. My mother was overcome by emotion. She thanked her parents, brothers, all the relatives, teachers, contemporaries and friends. She forgot to thank my [...]

And The Winner Is….

Alright, I was shy and red for the past few days. But, yesterday night, my wife convinced me that it is nice to share good things with the World. So, here’s something which I had mentioned only to six people – J, R, V, V, S and K – and one of them doesn’t even know [...]

Footsteps

ಹೆಜ್ಜೆಗಳು
ಕತ್ತಲ ಕಣಿವೆಯ ಅಂಚಿನ ಕೆಂಪು ಗೋರಿಯ ಕಾವಲುಗಾರ
ಬೆಳುದಿಂಗಳಿರುಳಿನಲಿ ಮಲ್ಲಿಗೆಯ ಮೊಗ್ಗ ಕದ್ದ ಮಾಟಗಾರ
ಅಮರ ಪ್ರೇಮದ ಬದಿಗೆ ಮದಿರೆ ಪಾತ್ರೆಯನಿಟ್ಟ ದೇವದಾಸ
ಶೃಂಗಾರದಮಲಿನಲಿ ಪ್ರಣಯ ಶ್ಲೋಕವ ಬರೆದ ಕಾಳಿದಾಸ
ನಶ್ವರ ಬದುಕಿನ ಸುತ್ತ ಜಾಂತಿಪೆಯರ ಅಟ್ಟಹಾಸ
ಶಾಶ್ವತ ಕಾವನು ಕೊಟ್ಟ ಮೇನಕೆಯರ ಮಂದಹಾಸ
ಮಾತೃದೇವೋಭವ, ಸಾಕಿನ್ನು ಸ್ತ್ರೀ ಪಾತ್ರ
ಯೌವ್ವನದ ಬಿಸಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮಧುಮಿಲನ ಶ್ರೀ ಮಂತ್ರ
ಹುಡುಗಿಯರ ಸ್ವೈರತೆಗೆ ಮನುಕುಲವು ವಿಭ್ರಾಂತ
ಜೀವದಾಟದ ಬಯಲಿಗವಳೆದೆಯೆ ವಿಶ್ರಾಂತ
ಓಂಕಾರ ಎಲ್ಲಿಹುದು ? ಎಲ್ಲೆಡೆಯು ಚೀತ್ಕಾರ
ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣರ ದೇಗುಲದಿ ಸರಸತಿಯ ಝೇಂಕಾರ
ವೇಶ್ಯೆಯರ ಬಾಗಿಲಲಿ ವೀರ್ಯಾಳುಗಳ ಸಾಲು
ಹೂಮಾಲೆ ಮಂಚದಲಿ ಪತ್ನಿಯರ ನಗೆ ಮೇಲು
ಶಿಶಿರನು ಬೋಳು ಬಾಳಿನ [...]

A True Human Being

There was a muscial tribute to my father on Sunday. Several poets, musicians and businessmen spoke about appa before the music flowed. All the songs were composed by my father and it was a fitting tribute. I was told that the Jaganmohan Palace auditorium was packed and more. I was overcome with joy and sorrow.
One [...]

Creativity Without Inspiration

Chitrakavana is an interesting site I came across. They post a new picture every week and you are asked to write something about that picture. A very interesting concept indeed. Kannada magazine Mayura has a very similar section called ‘chitra-kalpane’ and I was a big fan of that. If you are a fan of Kannada [...]