2024 Parliamentary Election: Whither Opposition and Congress?

The Parliamentary election 2024 is only a couple of months away and the nation is experiencing a new kind of election fever which we have not seen except in 1977, the post-Emergency Parliamentary election. Then, as expected, the newly cobbled up Opposition parties, under the dynamic and well-accepted leadership of Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan (JP)  called Janata Party, took on the Congress party and won.

The present BJP in its older avatar at that time known as Bharatiya Jana Sangh was almost an apology of a political party compared to its other partners namely Congress (O), Socialist Party of India (of Raj Narain and George Fernandes), Bharatiya Lok Dal (of Charan Singh, who was posthumously given Bharat Ratna this year) and Swatantra Party (of C. Rajagopalachari and ‎Minoo Masani). Together, these parties, which were a part of Janata Morcha, a political movement known as ‘Total Revolution’ led by Jayaprakash Narayan, became  Janata Party.

During the election campaign, Indira Gandhi called this Janata Party as a ‘strange animal’ and a ‘khichdi’ party without any political or moral principles. She called the Janata Party as an ‘opportunistic party.’ Indira Gandhi was prophetic in her utterances and tirade against the Janata Party. The Janata Party which won the election and formed the government soon came apart as its Central leadership could not hold those disparate parties together with each party asserting its own political and economic ideology. Naturally, things fall apart when Centre cannot hold.

Leaders of these coalition political parties were too ambitious to become Prime Ministers and looking for an excuse, no matter how frivolous it was. A replay of a similar political acrobatics was seen when Rajiv Gandhi was defeated in 1989 and V.P. Singh became the Prime Minister poisoning the nation with Mandal Commission. Its pernicious effect on our country’s earlier healthy reservation policy is impacting on our society even now.

Before Mandal Commission,  the evil of caste system was just an undercurrent in electoral politics. But thereafter it brazenly surfaced in the elections throwing up many caste-based satraps in States like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. No wonder we are hearing the hoarse voices for caste census which will surely perpetuate caste system for all time to come as long as there is electoral politics in our country.

If anyone is to be blamed for this anti-social development, it is our politicians who strut around calling for the abolition of the caste system, but doing nothing about it. We are marching towards an age of reason and societal enlightenment where socially every citizen is of equal status, mutually respected and treated with dignity. But see, what our politicians have done. Their greed for power has seared the souls of the socially discriminated and deprived sections of our citizens. Therefore, we need no more political leaders now. There are enough of them. The need of the hour is for social reformers like Mahatma Gandhi, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule, Subramania Bharati, Swami Vivekananda, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Dayananda Saraswati, Narayana Guru and others.

However, unless the caste factor with its identities is erased from electoral politics, we will never have a fair and free election. Therefore, we need tall social reformers who will reform our politicians  to eschew caste factor in elections completely. Is it an utopian idea?

Be that as it may, let us take a peek into the election that is at our doors. As I mentioned, the Opposition coalition in the past, in 1977 and 1989, won the election. To that extent at least it was a successful political strategy, though it committed harakiri soon after forming the government.

But see what is happening to  a similar coalition launched to face the BJP (rather Modi!) in the 2024 election. The I.N.D.I. Alliance is a still-born baby. Look at the way I.N.D.I. Alliance is coming apart, exploding. It is said that the strength of a chain depends on its weakest link. But here it seems all its links are weak except the one —Congress! And Congress itself seems to be at large, its Prime Ministerial candidate walking the Indian Roads in all directions on a journey to nowhere.

An angry young man, who had the audacity to tear to smithereens his own UPA government’s notification at a press conference in Delhi, he is going to take on Modi in 2024 Parliamentary elections alone, like a One-Man Army without foot soldiers. And worse that his high-ranking officers are deserting him one after the other. Yesterday’s Deccan Herald had given a list of them by name with an apt sub-heading “Never-ending list” and at the last count there were 34 and still counting.

Well, but “Who is afraid of Virginia Wolf?” Or “Who is afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?” Not Rahul Gandhi, of course. Among those who deserted the sinking Congress Boat are many honourable, loyal Congressmen like for example Supreme Court Advocate Kapil Sibal, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Amarinder Singh,  Jyotiraditya Scindia and Milind Deora. Yes, others might have left to save their skin from ED.

However, should Congress High Command lose these senior honchos at a critical time of Parliamentary election? No. Rahul Gandhi’s great-grandfather Nehru or his grandmother Indira Gandhi and even his father Rajiv Gandhi (who spoke in a public meeting in Mumbai about ending the evil of power-brokers in Congress and then compromised) would not have allowed these stalwarts to leave the party? Didn’t Nehru stop Gen. K.S. Thimayya from resigning despite V.K. Krishna Menon? But Rahul has guts. He simply shunned these people with a ‘Couldn’t care for you’ attitude saying “People who are leaving tomorrow, should go today itself.”

Now over to the 2024 Parliamentary election.

e-mail: voice@starofmysore.com

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Defender of Faith and Renaissance Man of India

The 2024 Parliamentary election is only a couple of months away. Looking back, in the last 10 years, it has been a golden decade for India. The credit should indeed go to BJP Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi. I am sure this kind of approbation of Modi’s rule will ruffle the feathers of BJP’s bete noire, the Left liberal members of the Opposition.

But, let me begin with a parable told by Kahlil Gibran as my answer to those who ruled us after independence from 1947 to 2014 before Narendra Modi arrived as Prime Minister.

One nightfall, a man travelling on a horseback towards the sea, reached an Inn on the roadside. He dismounted and confident in man and night, he tied his horse to a tree beside the door and entered the Inn.

At midnight, when all were asleep, a thief came and stole the traveller’s horse.

In the morning, the man awoke and discovered that his horse was stolen and grieved for his horse. Then his fellow lodgers came and stood around him and began to talk.

And the first man said, “How foolish of you to tie your horse outside the stable.”

And the second man said, “Still more foolish, without strapping together the legs of the horse.”

And the third man said, “It is stupid at best to travel to the sea on a horseback.”

And the fourth man said, “Only the lazy and the slow on foot own horses.”

Naturally, the traveller, who was the victim of theft, was much astonished at the remarks and comments of other lodgers. At last, he cried, “My friends, because my horse is stolen, you have hastened to tell me my faults and my shortcomings. But strange, not one word of reproach have you uttered about the man who stole my horse.”

In the above parable, imagine the traveller to be the Rajas of different countries within Hindu India in the beginning of the 10th century ACE. The horse that was stolen to be their kingdoms. The lodgers of the Inn to be the Left liberals and those who ruled us from 1947 to 2014 after we got independence in 1947. As an Indian, specially if you are a Hindu, what would be your feeling? Same as that of the victim — traveller in the parable.

These Left liberals are the ruling parties of India who found fault with the Hindu kings and Hindu people of this country for losing the war against foreign conquerors. Strangely, not one word of reproach has been uttered by the Left liberals and the ruling parties about the foreign invaders who stole the kingdoms of these Hindu kings.

The rulers of independent India compromised the evils perpetrated to the virasat (heritage) of Hindus and did not enable Hindus to reclaim their important temples that were destroyed by the Muslim invaders.

Be that as it may, after independence the Hindus had one golden opportunity to reclaim their lost heritage with regard  to their temples, names given to the old Hindu kingdoms, important places and roads. So also with regard to the British and Persian names that are in the land records. There is Moghul and Colonial influence in criminal and civil laws that was crying for change to affirm the fact that India is an independent, sovereign country with a Hindu majority.

Unfortunately, it did not happen for several decades because the first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who ruled for more than 16 years did not countenance efforts of the victims of destroyed temples to reclaim them for reasons best known to him.

The rulers of independent India considered the majority Hindus of the country as a burden on the minority and its impact was seen in the government’s discriminatory policy on education, temple management and criminal and civil laws.

It is axiomatic that the British India was divided in 1947 on the communal political principle of Hindu majority and Muslim majority provinces. The majority Hindus of truncated India believed that they could reclaim their virasat (heritage) and then pursue the path of vikas (development) once the Muslims were granted their demand for Pakistan.

Surprisingly, the Congress leaders who became the rulers of divided India could not influence or convince Nehru to be considerate towards the aspirations of Hindus. It is now revealed that such attitude by the then rulers in dealing with the Hindu question after independence had a political purpose (Remember there was a ‘Muslim question’ before independence!). It was a hidden vote bank agenda of the ruling Congress party and there being no strong Opposition party, there was no one to speak for Hindus.

Defeated, denied, oppressed and even humiliated in a gradual manner for over thousand years, it was but natural for the Hindus to reclaim their lost inheritance and heritage when they got freedom.

However, due to the electoral politics played on the hidden rules of caste, creed, religion and also money, the Hindu majority continued to languish without seeing the new age of renaissance and resurgence.

Fortunately, by sheer serendipity, in 2014 Parliamentary election a miracle happened both for India and for Hindus. The BJP with NDA partners got an absolute majority in the Parliament and also a Prime Minister Narendra Modi like an avatar mentioned in Bhagavad Gita. This helped in reclaiming Hindu virasat and boosting India’s economic growth which took a quantum leap that many thought would be impossible. And the man who made this impossible possible is our Prime Minister Modi.

Though the going is good for the country and its people, both the majority and the minority, it is important to pause and ponder about our democracy and its healthy growth. Presently, the political ethos across the country is eclipsed by a disparate Opposition bereft of political ideology anchored by a weak and fatigued Congress party.

The Opposition seems to suffer not only from a policy paralysis but also from a leadership crisis. Fortunately for the country, the BJP does not suffer from these two major deficiencies and therein lies its strength for now.

In a matured democracy, there must be a strong Opposition in the Parliament. It is for this reason, the Prime Minister too had expressed his desire in the Rajya Sabha for a good constructive Opposition in the Parliament.

Fortunately, the forthcoming 2024 election does not seem to be complicated or complex. Therefore, we can expect a healthy mix of the Ruling and the Opposition parties in the new Parliament functioning from the new Parliament House.

In the midst of all this, we hear a discordant note coming from an MP from Karnataka D.K. Suresh sowing the seed of another partition of the country as North and South for the frivolous alleged reason of the Centre not giving Karnataka its share of tax. The PM was much upset about the MP’s threat and said in Rajya Sabha, “What is this language being spoken? Stop creating such new narratives to break the nation.”

Hearing the utterances of some of our politicians from across the political parties, it seems necessary for them to read the history of India — ancient, modern and the present. Only then they will know how India was conquered and ruled by foreign invaders and traders. Only then they will know how important it is for India to stay united and thereby stay strong so that history will not repeat itself.

Reflecting on the statements made by Congress MP D.K. Suresh and some DMK leaders about our country’s unity, I am reminded of what Dr. B.R. Ambedkar said in Bombay in early fifties at a public meeting when the then Chief Minister of Bombay B.G. Kher concluded his speech saying, “I am an Indian first and Maharashtrian last.”

When Dr. Ambedkar’s turn came to speak, he alluded to Kher’s concluding remark and said, “We should always think we are Indians first and Indians last.”

Let us hope our present day ambitious and parochial politicians will hear Dr. Ambedkar’s advice and think themselves as Indians first and Indians last. Dr. Ambedkar also said in another context, “If India loses who wins.”

History of the world tells us that at all times and circumstances, war, peace, famine or pestilence, as the Leader so is the Country. When you have a good leader, keep him.

Jai Hind.

e-mail: voice@starofmysore.com

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Two days ago, on Valentine’s Day, I visited a cousin’s house. There, I met my niece who was visiting home. She’s typically effervescent and exuberant but on that day, she was veiled in an aura of melancholy. The cause? She had just broken up with her boyfriend of over a year.

She said they had met on a dating app and it all looked promising until it didn’t. That’s life. But what struck me was her poignant admission. My niece, typically possessed of steely resolve, confessed that the process of disentanglement had become an arduous task, despite the passage of several months.

After talking for a while, I found the reason why it was so hard for her to move on  — because she was ‘creeping.’

‘Creeping’ is basically stalking someone on social media such as following someone’s Facebook, Instagram and ‘X’ pages. It was called ‘stalking’ in the early days, now it is called ‘creeping’ to give it a gentler connotation so as to disassociate it with criminal activity.

As I spoke to her, it got me thinking — finding love, keeping it, and getting over it has gotten harder in today’s digital age because the internet never forgets, and social media doesn’t allow you to forget.

Love often begins online these days and even after it’s dead, it lingers on in cyberspace like a digital ghost in the form of an ex’s ‘Facebook story’ that pops up unannounced to traumatise you.  

Dating apps have changed the love and lust game. As I speak to users of dating apps, both young and old, both men and women, their approach to finding a partner has changed.

One doesn’t need the once much-needed courage to break the ice — to walk up to someone you’re attracted to and strike up a conversation.

Butterflies in the stomach have all but become extinct as you don’t have to worry about charm, humour, or the ability to keep a conversation going. Now you just need a smartphone and a finger to break the ice.   

Today’s social media world has also sucked away the joy of discovery. The essence of serendipitous discovery has been eclipsed by social media.

It is so easy to digitally stalk a person that even before you meet them, you know what they do, where they live, what they like, where they have been and who their friends are. If they are an ‘over-sharer’ you will also know what they ate and if they had a good poop earlier in the day.

Maybe, that’s why physical intimacy happens so much sooner than before. After all, you already know so much about each other, what else is left there to discover but the touch?

That’s okay, but conversational discovery assists in ‘quality check’ and helps avoid that sense of ‘regret’ one sometimes experiences post-hasty coitus.

This ease and speed of interaction between sexes assumes a reckless tenor, fraught with perilous ramifications. The effect social media has on the healing process post a break-up is something that must be addressed. Especially among young people.

Before social media, if you broke up with someone, you never saw them again or heard from them. Some would hold on to love letters and maybe a few photos.

If it was a bad breakup, you would just burn them all, talk to your friends, spend time outdoors and eventually in a few months, you forget that person, heal quickly and properly. There was a sense of finality or closure to it all.

Now the ubiquity of social media platforms preserves a lifeline to an ex, perpetuating a cycle of longing and desolation.

If you are in a serious relationship, social media has almost made it impossible to achieve a level of indifference so as to heal fast enough and move forward.

Today, your ex is always somewhere in your mind-space because ever so often they are in your face as Facebook will tell you what’s happening in their life. Though Facebook has a ‘take a break feature’ it’s not very effective if your common friend posts updates.

The other issue is storage. Today with phone cameras and cheap memory space, we save every moment, every experience and every chat, no matter how banal.

It starts with WhatsApp, but it doesn’t end there. Even after the relationship has ended, the shared pics, conversations and cute exchange of kissy emojis on WhatsApp will continue to lure you back, hindering your healing process.

One of the hardest parts of a break-up is accepting that it’s over, but social media keeps us from this part of the process. Algorithms see black and white. But it doesn’t see the grey where human emotions linger.

So, even if you have blocked an ex’s news feeds, they will suddenly pop up to remind you of the happy times. Worse, a mutual friend’s picture pops up showing them at your ex’s wedding!

A broken heart is a wound, and as long as you keep sliding into a former lover’s social media that wound will never heal.

As per a study conducted by Pew Research, a staggering 53 percent of social media users acknowledge resorting to these platforms to surveil their former flames. But the danger is, what may commence as a mere curiosity or a yearning of a broken heart for closure, soon metamorphoses into a maelstrom of emotional turmoil, precipitating feelings of solitude, ire, and betrayal.

In this new world of digital courtship, we all have to re-learn the way we love, the way we hurt and more importantly the way we heal. Youngsters need to know that this too shall pass… But if you don’t digitally cleanse yourself for a while, it shall never come to pass. 

The panacea for afflictions of the heart and mind often lies in communion with the natural world. For me, it has been the walk up Chamundi Hill, amidst the mellifluous melodies of Mynas and Seven Sisters. I hope my niece will join me so the therapeutic cadences of nature can assuage the afflictions of her young and tender heart.

e-mail: vikram@starofmysore.com

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By Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem

The first part of the title of this article, as is most certainly known to almost all my readers, is actually the title of a very famous historical novel penned by Charles Dickens, published in the year 1859, set in London and Paris, before and during the French Revolution which came to be known as ‘The Reign of Terror.’

It tells a very poignant story of love, sacrifice and redemption, against the backdrop of the turbulent historical events of the time.  It focuses on two look-alike characters who are both in love with the same woman. While one marries her, the other, in the true style of a true and selfless lover, eventually gives his life to save her husband’s life years later.

In a most absorbing narration, the tragic story explores the themes of sacrificial love, revenge and forgiveness. But mind you, the similarity in the title of what Dickens has written then and what I am writing now, a full hundred and sixty years later, ends here! The times and things he has written about then and the times and things I am writing about now, are completely unrelated although not dissimilar.

I am only using his title for impact, secure in the knowledge that with Dickens long gone, I would certainly be safe from any legal hurdles or consequences, of the kind that such acts are prone to attract!

The times then were turbulent in France and the times now too are indeed very turbulent, across the entire world. Exactly like actors on stage in a play, as completely helpless inhabitants of this earth, destined to live here and share our living space, just for what you can call the ‘blinking of an eye’ in a historical time-frame, we can only hope and pray that we have the good sense to strive for it and hope against hope that elusive peace, will eventually prevail!

It is perhaps for times like these that the Persian Sufi poet, Rumi has said: “Since life itself is as brief as a half-taken breath, let’s preach only love!” Yes, there’s just no time for any other kind of preaching.

It is very interesting and pertinent to note that Dickens opens his novel with a sentence that has become very famous and iconic: ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way —in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.’

Why I have chosen to render this certainly very long sentence in full here, is only because I want the impact of his words to inspire the people of our time, especially the youngsters, who have not yet read Dickens, to read his works and relish what can be called very delightful reading. Although enjoying reading, which is often considered laborious, certainly is an acquired taste, they will most certainly acquire it and enjoy it too, for the rest of their lifetimes, if only they go along with a little perseverance. After that, believe me, it is bound to be a roller-coaster ride!

And, to make this process easier and less painful, they can always start by reading the easily available and much abridged and simplified versions of the classics, which would otherwise seem very daunting. That is exactly what I did as a fledgeling reader. The two cities that I am writing about today are faraway London and our own Mysuru and the only two things I am talking of are the two iconic clocks that have been standing in their respective places over the ages.

Starting with London, The Big Ben that stands there, is undisputably the most iconic and most well-known clock in the world. It has been marking the passage of time since the year 1859, which by a quirky coincidence, was the year Dickens penned his magnum opus!

Strictly speaking, the name Big Ben, refers only to the actual bronze bell weighing 15.1 tons that peals every hour, but it is commonly associated with the whole clock tower at the northern end of the Houses of Parliament. The tower itself was formally known as St. Stephen’s Tower until 2012, when it was renamed Elizabeth Tower on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee celebrating 60 years on the British throne.

Here too in the heart of Mysuru we have our most iconic clock tower that has been marking the passage of time, albeit with a few pauses from time to time, since the year 1927  when it was erected to mark the Silver Jubilee of the rule of one of our most illustrious Maharajas, H.H. Sri Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV. There’s nothing dishonourable that there were a few pauses in its ticking because like any other man-made machine, it needed periodic attention to keep it ticking.

And this resting and restoration period is exactly what it is going through right now. A Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the restoration of the clock tower had been prepared by the Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage while the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) will take up the work at a cost of Rs. 41 lakh under the supervision of members of the Mysuru District Heritage Conservation Committee. The imposing, 75-feet-tall structure, overlooking the equally imposing Rangacharlu Memorial Town Hall, had developed cracks in the dome while some of the decorative features in the canopy atop the structure had fallen off. It appears that the steps inside the structure leading to the dome too have been damaged.

Though the clock was ticking and telling us all the correct time, the bell of French origin, had fallen silent since the last 20 years. It is not very clear whether it stopped striking on its own or was silenced to prevent further damage to the ageing tower but its restoration too is on the cards. But the experts still seem to be in some confusion whether its loud booming peal and the consequent hourly vibration, will start damaging the tower once again.

So, some citizens are now of the opinion that to avoid this possibility, the bell should only be retained in its present lofty perch just for ornamentation and the business of proclaiming the passage of the hours should be done by some kind of an electronic device, through a loudspeaker. Others feel that we can do without this gross ignominy and leave the clock to stand silently, retaining its past glory and dignity but still doing its duty of showing us the time.

I’m not very sure which side of the fence I should stand on in this matter, because getting over this quandary is a challenge best left to the experts. But like the many old-timer Mysureans I recall that the magical sound of the bell would reach as far as five to six kilometres away.

It is a different matter that with the passage of time, the sound of the bell got drowned in the sound of automobiles and other noises that gradually became all pervasive across our fast-growing city.

Now whether we give it an electronic voice or retain its original source of sound, while we should all feel happy that this ‘time keeper’ of our beautiful city, that has been telling us the correct time, from the time when not many people in the city had wrist watches or clocks at home, we should certainly  not allow it to fall silent!

e-mail: kjnmysore@rediffmail.com

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On Tuesday, a man died when a tree branch fell on his head. Even his helmet couldn’t save him. But what could have saved him was probably the timely pruning of the tree. 

Every year, people die in our city as tree branches fall due to lack of timely pruning.  Yet citizens are confused about who should prune trees. 

This reminds us of the 2013 monsoon when rains wreaked havoc in the city, with several trees falling. A survey was conducted and it concluded that scientific and timely tree pruning was necessary to stop death and service disruption. Ten years later, we still have the same problem! 

In 2013, M. Mahadev, the then Managing Director of Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC), said that non-pruning had cost CESC heavily as it had brought down around 200 electric poles. Mahadev said the onus of surveying and pruning trees falls on the Forest Department.

Strangely, the then Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF), Mysore, P. Durgegowda, responded by saying that the Forest Department prunes trees only when citizens call and there is no need for any survey or scientific pruning! 

Shockingly, the ACF expects citizens to know which tree is deep-rooted enough to withstand heavy rains.

Also, who’s standing around looking up at trees, wondering which branch will fall and kill us? And what’s the number to call to report if we find such ‘criminal trees’ and their sidekicks the ‘killer branches’?  

The question is, should the CESC prune trees to protect their electric lines, should the Forest Department do it as the trees come under their preview, or should the MCC do it as they are the caretakers of the city? Who is to prune our trees and save lives? 

According to a Forest official, MCC has to cut and prune dangerous trees and branches in its jurisdiction, and the Forest Department maintains trees only inside parks. 

This could be true considering that the MCC paid compensation of Rs. 10,000 to a rider in 2014 whose two-wheeler was damaged in a tree fall at Metagalli. 

So will MCC pay compensation to the family of Reginald Platel, who died on Tuesday, Feb. 6? 

Meanwhile, where is Shaktiman?

 It was also reported day before that the Horticulture Department of the MCC, responsible for pruning old and dangerous branches, is not equipped to prune trees at the moment.

The MCC Assistant Executive Engineer confessed that they didn’t have a vehicle equipped with a ladder to prune trees as the RTO had seized them because they were more than 35 years old and unfit for operations! But why not use Shaktiman?

In 2019, the then MCC Commissioner K.H. Jagadeesha introduced Shaktiman to Mysureans with great fanfare. He had said that Shaktiman is the first such machine procured by any City Corporation in Karnataka, and this will be useful in pruning trees, branches, dry twigs and even leaves.

The MCC Commissioner then went on to say that Shaktiman is so tall that it can even prune the tallest trees over 30 feet easily. 

The MCC also released a press statement extolling  Shaktiman’s traits. It said Shaktiman can swivel 360 degrees and has a smooth operating procedure. It has a long-reach chainsaw cutter. It is a rugged machine and is low maintenance as it does not have clutch, gearbox, etc. 

The way MCC promoted Shaktiman, some wondered if MCC was looking to get Shaktiman married. Was MCC looking for a bride, a ‘Shakti-woman’? Some Mysureans, who are fans of science fiction movies, thought that Shaktiman was a Transformer – a machine that comes alive. They, for a moment, thought we had finally found our ‘Optimus Prime’ of tree pruning and that he would save our heads from murderous branches.  But where is Shaktiman now?

It seems Shaktiman has not disappeared, he is quietly being deployed in certain areas because he is the only one MCC has.

Interestingly, in 2021, it was lying idle and was gathering dust in MCC due to non-maintenance. However, after the public outcry, it was put to use.

May be the MCC must procure more Shaktimans considering the old ladder-laden vehicles have been deemed unfit.

While we wait for trees to be pruned, let’s hope the administration ensures it’s done safely without causing too much inconvenience to the public. 

I say this because unprofessional tree-cutting led to the death of a young woman. In 2011, Prarthana and her family were on their way to Ooty for a holiday. They were stopped near Gundlupet and asked to wait as a huge banyan tree was being cut for road widening.

The unscientific tree-cutting method resulted in the massive tree crashing on Prarthana’s car. She lost her life. She was just 33, and two children were left without a mother.

Maybe MCC should call for tenders with the condition that tree cutting or road works were  open only to contractors who can do work at night or during the wee hours when the public will not be inconvenienced and exposed to possible danger.

People have to wake up and realise that most officials don’t care about public safety unless there are VIPs involved.

When Barack Obama came to India, officials in Delhi made sure all the trees around Gandhi Museum were trimmed and the coconut trees were rid of all their coconuts. 

When the officer in-charge was asked why the coconuts were being plucked en masse, he said, “Why take a chance?” I guess he was worried if a coconut broke off and fell on Obama or even around him, the officer’s coconut would have been broken.  

Why don’t the officials and administration apply the same safety standards to the commoner? Because we citizens don’t demand it.

Most of us don’t take the trouble to call our local Corporator or MCC to fix things. Instead, we wait for some NGO to do that for us. 

If we keep waiting, branches will keep snapping and our heads will keep breaking.

e-mail: vikram@starofmysore.com

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By Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem, MD

The recent proclamation of the State Government that the possession of all kinds of wildlife artifacts by citizens would be dealt with by taking very stern legal action, under the Wildlife Act, has become the cause for much concern among people who have been having wildlife artifacts, both small and big, in their households, over many decades.

This announcement certainly seems like a knee-jerk reaction from the Government to the solely media-created sensation that we saw a couple of months ago, when some high-profile people were depicted wearing ornaments that were purportedly made from tiger claws. That many of these supposedly expensive feline claws were only dirt-cheap fakes, made from humble buffalo horn, was an admission sheepishly made by their owners who had until then proudly flaunted them as the real stuff, acquired at exorbitant cost, commensurate with their status in society. This rather humiliating genu-flexion did not come easy to them and their false pride but there was just no other way to dodge the long arm of the law!

But a great many people who are likely to be affected by the recent announcement of the Government are in the process of prevailing upon it to grant them some kind of amnesty and allow them to retain what they now have with them. Needless to say, they only possess relics of the hunting done by their forefathers in a long bygone era, when hunting was a fully legitimate and even much-admired sport. That was the time when the commoners indulged in hunting animals for food and the elite did it both for food and sport.

A third category, the royalty, did it not only for food and sport but also to pamper and please the primitive instincts of their overseas guests, who would certainly relish the thrill of themselves procuring what would become a part of the royal feast laid out for them, on the royal dining tables.

Although there was nothing very wrong in what they were doing during their times, considering the social traditions that prevailed during that era, what was certainly very wrong and even very painful, was the wanton killing that often went on in the name of sport. Hunting parties vying with each other as in any other sport, would end up indulging in what would be nothing short of massacres of unimaginable magnitude that would mindlessly and needlessly leave hundreds of animals and birds dead at their feet.

This is amply evident from the photographs we invariably see in every book that chronicles the lives of our Maharajas, Maharanis, Nawabs, Viceroys and their blue-blooded overseas guests.

Taking high-profile guests of their era, on a tiger or lion hunt was considered a ‘must do’ activity without which their visits would never be complete, although the meat of these magnificent animals was never eaten, either by them or even by their most lowly aides or servants.

Coming to the present era, there is no denying that some amount of illegal hunting may still be going on in the hidden nooks and corners of our forests, fringing human habitation. But it is very unlikely that people indulging in such illegal and harshly punishable acts would be having the nerve to possess, let alone display, even the slightest evidence of their wrongdoings.

And, what we are talking about here is not the problem of illegal hunting but only about the possession by law-abiding citizens, of wildlife artifacts that are only the remnants of the hunting their ancestors did, generations ago, as a perfectly legal activity. Many of these possessions are well over a century old and there are a good many households all over the countryside which have them. And, why the descendants of these long-departed hunters would be so keen to hold on to these relics from the distant past, is because they hold them close to their hearts, solely for sentimental reasons.

In addition to being memories of their forefathers, these are all now very interesting conversation pieces, which become sources of recollections of a bygone era over fireside chats! They are not unlike the old fountain pens with no ink in them, or the older still pocket watches, that have long stopped ticking and which now just lie in our table drawers, or the elegant walking sticks that are only displayed on our drawing room walls which nobody takes along during their morning walks, but still remain the supports that our memories and recollections lean on!

Over the years that have gone by, many of these objects have even acquired the status of being a part of the paraphernalia that is used in religious rituals in many people’s homes. It is perhaps for similar reasons that we find our sages and saints invariably depicted sitting in meditation, on tiger-skin or deer-skin mats. While that is how it has always been in the past, it is noteworthy that we find this very same tradition being followed even in the living present.

Now, with the Government planning to completely do away with the possession of all wildlife artifacts, will it deprive them too of this age-old traditional practice, which has come to be seen as a harmless privilege and status symbol, both by them and their devotees?

It is for these very same sentimental reasons that most people in possession of these wildlife artifacts are reluctant to part with them and are therefore prevailing upon the Government to take a more lenient view and give them one last chance to declare the presence of these vintage pieces in their possession and get them registered and duly legalised.

Although a provision to do this was made in the year 1972, when the prevailing Wildlife Protection Act came to be implemented and once again in the year 2003, not many people availed of this opportunity. This was most ostensibly because, unlike the present information era, that was the time when knowledge about changes in rules and regulations would often simply fail to reach the masses. So, this is a matter that has to be handled, not just by interpreting the existing rules in their strictest sense but rather by taking a more liberal and compassionate view, that will certainly go a long way in fostering much goodwill between the rulers and the ruled, of the present era!

e-mail: kjnmysore@rediffmail.com

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Six days ago, within 12 hours, between 9 pm and 9 am, 20 people met with accidents. Three young men lost their lives. Two young women become widows. Three children became fatherless. Three families lost their primary breadwinner and three families were destroyed…all because of two unscientific road humps.

Shockingly, not a single MLA has been outraged enough to speak up. No contractor has been punished. No official has been suspended. No one has been held accountable! 

Road humps and barricades have become a menace on our city roads. Humps are laid unscientifically and barricades are placed erratically. While one is a death trap, the other causes traffic jams.

Do we need them? Yes, we need speed-breakers to force people to slow down at certain intersections, but speed-breakers should not turn into skull-crackers and bone-breakers. Unscientific road humps, like on Bogadi Road, are self-defeating — what was meant to save lives took lives.

Why can’t the MCC insist on putting rumblers — a series of small road humps that force one to slow down their vehicle rather than one huge hump that could send a motorist flying to his death or a barricade that holds up traffic on one side?

Road hump in our city is like a mirage; you think it’s there, but when you get closer, it’s not there; it’s just a faded zebra crossing. Then as you keep driving, thinking it’s a smooth black road, the hump suddenly appears, like the Grim Reaper in the dark; by then, it’s too late.

Contractors in Karnataka don’t know how to build humps, it seems. In 2019, the then Karnataka Public Works Minister C.C. Patil admitted that 99 percent of speed-breakers on the State’s highways and roads are ‘unscientific’.

According to Indian Roads Congress (IRC) guidelines, a hump should have a central height: 10-12 cm; Shape: Parabola; Width: 3.5 metres; Length: Same as road width. That is only the structural design part.

The other important part is to make the road- user aware of its presence. For this, the IRC states that the road humps should be painted with a ‘V’ shape and illuminated with a cat’s eye along the ‘V’ lines.

 Our officials paint it like a zebra crossing! What are they thinking? Build one unscientific hump with confusing marking and get two victims free? A pedestrian and a motorist?

IRC also says that the humps should not be more than five metres (16 feet) away from an intersection. It then adds, stating that two reflective sign boards — one at 20 to 30 metres and another 10 metres before the hump should be placed to warn the drivers — ‘hump ahead’.

Has our administration followed these dictates? No. Sadly even Praveen Sood, the former Police Commissioner of Mysuru, who was praised for instilling fantastic traffic rules and facilities in another country — Mauritius, could not solve the road hump problem in Mysuru.

Praveen Sood too made a mistake. He ordered scientifically approved road humps to be placed at strategic places in the city. What was the problem then?

The road humps he ordered were scientifically designed for concrete and asphalt roads but our roads are not concrete and the asphalted roads are not thick enough because some of the thickness had gone into the lining of political pockets.

So in just three months, the rubber road humps came apart, and soon, long metal screws that held the humps became exposed, posing a major traffic hazard. Mercifully, Praveen Sood introduced these road humps only as an experiment and did not take this project any further.

The Supreme Court, while calling road accident deaths in India “a tragedy that arises only due to lack of concern by authorities,” also rued, saying, “Unfortunately, no criminal action is taken against authorities for their negligence.” It then sought a response from the Government on how to address this problem.

This is like asking the fox to decide how to protect the chicken coop? After all, in most cases, the lawmaker forces the bureaucrats to give public works contracts to their ‘party’- approved contractors. Then why will they prosecute their own?

According to the Motor Vehicle Act 2019, contractors, consultants and concessionaires will be held accountable for faulty road design and safety standards. It says they will also be legally punishable with a fine of up to Rs. 1 lakh in case of a road accident that results in death or disability. Will the MCC implement this? Nah! 

Student Unions, NGOs and activists make some noise

There is a saying — “Find out just what people will quietly submit to, and you have the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them.”

What this means is silence is golden in personal matters. When it comes to the issues of the city where you live, you’ll be doomed if you are silent.

In recent years, as a city that was once very protective of its lakes, air, water, and public facilities, we have now become silent as our city is systematically being destroyed. What is surprising is the silence of civil activists and student unions who protest at the drop of a hat for politically motivated causes.

Why the silence on issues that matter — local issues — such as saving Chamundi Hill or road humps that kill youngsters, parents and fellow citizens?

Interestingly, yesterday, Anveshana Seva Trust, an NGO, requested permission to protest about the killer road humps, but permission was denied! It’s time NGOs, student unions and civil activists fought for a safer Mysuru.

Officers and politicians come and go, but we Mysureans have to live here. We cannot let them ruin this city and move on to the next posting. We have to hold them accountable. It will keep the next officer in check. 

If we are silent, it means we are OK with official apathy and incompetence. If that’s our attitude, then there will be more unscientific humps in our city, and Mysuru, now known as the Royal City, will become the ‘Royally Humped City’.

e-mail: vikram@starofmysore.com

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Saluting Dr. Filliozat, Padma Shri awardee

When a French Sanskrit Scholar Dr. Pierre-Sylvain Filliozat, a resident of Mysuru, was awarded the prestigious national civil honour Padma Shri, I was not surprised. Star of Mysore had the honour of introducing him to its readers many years ago as a Sanskrit scholar, who had done research on the great Sanskrit grammarian Panini and author of many books on ancient Indian culture.

Much as I wished to meet him soon after the announcement of the Padma awards by the Central Government before the Republic Day, it was not possible. At last, I could make it yesterday and it was indeed like being in the presence of a Jnana Yogi that Lord Krishna mentions in Bhagavad Gita. He seemed to be an embodiment of scholarship in Sanskrit. Tall, frail and smiling, he was an epitome of humility.

I was received by Dr. Filliozat and his wife Dr. Vasundhara Kavali Filliozat, who is a noted Historian and Epigraphist. She was also a recipient of Kannada Rajyotsava Award. Age seems to have taken toll of their younger days. Dr. Filliozat is 87 and Dr. Vasundhara Kavali Filliozat is 84. They live in an old house, spacious and with a huge backyard at Yadavagiri. The interior of the house has the characteristic of a heritage house. Understandably, it has a spacious library where they must be spending more time doing what is close to their heart and passion.

Dr. Vasundhara gave me a Kannada book titled Alidulida Hampe (The Remains of Hampi). The book was written in 1975 giving an overview of the Vijayanagar Empire and its capital. She said when she visited the place again in October 2023, she was shocked to discover that a couple of temples in ruins that she had seen were not there. Instead, there appeared in its place a hotel.

Dr. Vasundhara Filliozat’s achievement in her given field of study is equally admirable. It is not surprising therefore that she was invited to deliver the ‘Eleventh Pupul Jayakar Memorial Lecture’ on Apr. 19, 2019 at INTACH, New Delhi. She is of the opinion that there are misconceptions and wrong interpretations on the history of Hindu Kingdoms which should be corrected. Sadly, the post independent India’s education policy was totally lopsided so much so we were taught more about Muslim rule, which was dominant in Northern India, and the history of British India and very little or nothing about the ancient history of Hindu India or the Hindu dynasties and kings of Southern India. It was interesting to know that Dr. Vasundhara Kavali Filliozat had also played an important role in bringing Hampi among the world heritage list of historical monuments being recognised by UNESCO.

I was just browsing through a book about Hampi and Vijayanagar Empire published by INTACH and authored by Dr. Vasundhara Filliozat and felt elated to read her observations about the way the history was written about India (apparently patronised by the rulers) which is similar to my own opinion on the subject. Let me quote her and leave it to our readers to reflect on what was taught to us in the past 75 years of Independence:

“It was the British administrators’ idea that to rule permanently over India, our real Indian history should be conceived and written in accordance with the legends, dubious copper plates and later literary sources, so that the scholars would fight amongst themselves on those points, instead of searching for true facts.”

Dr. Vasundhara in her book records: “Vasucaritra of Bhattamurti calls Vijayanagara, Karnata Kingdom. Evidences complied but suffice it to show that the real name of what is well-known as Vijayanagara empire is Karnata-samrajya or Karnataka empire.”

Dr. Pierre-Sylvain Filliozat told me that he came to India for the first time in 1955, eight years after independence and when I asked him how he found the administration, he said, without batting an eyelid, “Well, it was like colonial India.”

Again when I asked him if he is finding any change now, his answer was ‘Yes’. I thought it could be positive and asked him to explain. He then told me how certain values which were special for India are disappearing. Actually I was thinking he would touch upon the political situation. However, he was far removed from politics. He is a man of culture and scholarship. He said, giving an example, the attire of Indian women saree is very unique and also beautiful. However, these days saree seems to be yielding place to other types of dress.

At this point, his wife Dr.  Vasundhara joined him and said, “Very true, our sarees are very very unique and beautiful. When I went to France in 1965 people there looking at me dressed in a saree thought that I was a princess.”

As I was about to take leave of them, there entered two visitors — Dr. Gil Ben-Herut, tall handsome, all smiles, accompanied by R.S. Shankar of Ramakrishna Ashram with fruits, flowers and a shawl to honour the recipient of the Padma Shri award. The moment I saw Dr. Gil with Shankar whom I knew personally, I wished them with namaskar followed by shake-hands. Shankar introduced me to Dr. Gil, a Professor at the University of South Florida, USA, a Fulbright Scholar, who has come to India to do research on Vachana Sahitya. No wonder he spoke to me in Kannada. It was my pleasure to join them in felicitating the octogenarians Dr. Filliozat and Dr. Vasundhara.

I saw a couple of oil paintings of unique style done by Dr. Filliozat. Apparently, they were done many years ago as the artist’s signature was almost erased to a pale shadow. Couple of them are produced above.

e-mail: voice@starofmysore.com

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From today it is only seven days for the consecration of Ram Lalla’s (baby Rama) idol at a ceremony in Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir. Monday, 22nd January, 2024, will be a red letter day for all the Hindus all over the world because that will be the day when the Hindus of the world will be redeeming their self-esteem and will reclaim their Lord Rama who was driven away from his birthplace more than 500 years ago by Babur, the invader.

To reclaim the most important cultural and religious inheritance and symbol Sri Rama of our country Bharat, steeped in Sanatana Dharma, was not easy even after 76 years of independence despite 80 percent of the population being Hindus. It behoves well to the majority of the population that they could reclaim their spiritual and culture heritage through peaceful agitations, negotiations and finally through the Law Court. Of course, there were some violent incidents but it was more for political reasons than for lack of tolerance and understanding between those involved in the Ayodhya conundrum. That Lord Rama, his very name, elevated the thoughts and emotions of Hindus is evident from the fact that the struggle to reclaim Ram’s birthplace had begun from the day the temple was demolished.

Be that as it may, we can now look back and say all is well that ends well and the long-awaited consecration ceremony of installing the idol of baby Rama at his birthplace will take place as scheduled.

Now the whole nation resonates with the spirit of Sri Rama, the God Head, who is the avatar of Lord Vishnu, one of the three aspects of Eshwara — the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara — the Creator, the Preserver and the Destroyer respectively. In Bhagavadgita, there is a verse which says that whenever there is a need to protect the righteous and destroy the evil forces in order to establish dharma Lord Krishna would incarnate again and again in different Yugas. This is Kaliyuga and the evil forces had destroyed temples and subjugated His bhaktas. Surprisingly, He did not incarnate as an avatar for over 1,000 years in this land to redeem what was lost and to reclaim what really belonged to his bhaktas.

Anyway, now during the Prime Ministership of Narendra Modi, Sri Rama’s Ayodhya has been reclaimed and the celebration has already begun. Surprisingly, Prime Minister Modi, last Friday (Jan. 12), began a special eleven-day fast to prepare himself for the consecration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The consecration would be a realisation of a pledge and dream of generations of tolerant Hindus, who made ‘tremendous sacrifices’ for the cause. Speaking after beginning his fast, Modi said, and rightly so, “God has made me an instrument to represent all people of India.”

Already, many interesting anecdotes, stories and real life situations are making the rounds. Certainly some could be apocryphal. The one that rouses admiration and wonder is that of one Mauni Baba, who took a pledge not to speak at the age of 10 and has been walking barefoot for years with a resolve to build the Ram Mandir. According to reports, he will break his silence by chanting Lord Rama’s name on Jan. 22. Mauni Baba, hailing from Madhya Pradesh, will give up the pledge of not wearing slippers and not speaking as soon as the idol of Ram Lalla is seated in the Temple at Ayodhya. His original name was Mohan Gopal Das and reports said that he was with  kar sevaks in Ayodhya when the structure of Babri Masjid came down. As I write, it is not known if he has been invited for the consecration ceremony.

Yesterday morning, I spoke to Dr. S.L. Bhyrappa, the renowned Kannada novelist and an intellectual on his return to city from a visit to Lucknow and Ayodhya, about which, news had already appeared in Star of Mysore and other newspapers. His first response to my question about law and order in Uttar Pradesh (UP), known for its chaotic and violent social situation in the past, specially before the present Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath came to power, was surprisingly very positive.

Yes, it was considered a lawless land like Bihar during the days of Lalu Prasad Yadav. According to Dr. Bhyrappa, the law and order situation seemed to be under total control. Senior IAS Officers hailing from Karnataka, with whom Bhyrappa interacted, too endorsed this view with an explanation. The reason was a stern warning given by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to all bureaucrats to work strictly according to the law, rules and regulations and not to make compromises to oblige the MLAs, MLCs and MPs. With this kind of orders and guidance from the Chief Minister himself, the bureaucracy in UP today are working with confidence and without fear of the elected representatives, who often ask the bureaucracy to compromise for reasons of electoral politics. While in the past, it used to be difficult for women and children to move around at night,  it is not so now under Yogi Adityanath, Bhyrappa said.

When I heard this I was wondering why our Chief Minister here in Karnataka too issue similar instructions to his bureaucrats — not to take instructions from the MLAs, MLCs and MPs and follow the law instead. Just this morning, I read in the Deccan Herald about the most abominable Hangal gang-rape case, where the Chief Minister replying to a query said that ‘he had spoken to Byadgi MLA Shivanna and necessary steps would be taken…’ Well, why speak to MLA? Why not the Health Officer or the Police Officer?

This reminded me of my visit to Patna some years ago after the fall of Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi’s rule. My friend and I took a taxi to go to our next destination out of Patna at about 6 pm. While travelling, the taxi driver told us that it was only after the new Government came to power the taxis and cars began to move on that road at night as earlier there used to be a number of mafia operating on highways to waylay and rob passengers. Now in UP, according to Dr. Bhyrappa, “We can call it a heaven.”

Another interesting observation of Dr. Bhyrappa was about newspaper reports. According to him, there is a sharp contrast in the news we read in our newspapers here and the ones he read in Lucknow. Here we find, according to him, news full of reports about rape, molestation, murder etc. in addition to road accidents and robbery. We also read about frequent chain-snatching incidents. He said he rarely saw these kinds of reports in UP papers that he had read. It carried more of positive news and about development.

He said it would be wrong to say newspapers are guilty of canard or tendentious reporting. After all, newspapers are just mirror image of whatever happens in the society. Just as the mirror reflects the images before it, so also, the newspaper reports whatever is happening in the society.

Having heard the intellectual oracle of our city Dr. S.L. Bhyrappa, I thought there is some food for thought for the Congress Government that is ruling Karnataka today.

e-mail: voice@starofmysore.com

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By Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem, MD

A little more than a week ago, I read in very small print, an announcement in Star of Mysore that said an exhibition of watercolour paintings was being held at Coffee City, the relatively new gallery café in the Hebbal suburb of our city.

Being a fledgling or more rightly, a struggling, self-taught watercolour painter myself, I decided to visit the place and accompanied by my wife who is my art critic, I spent some time browsing the exhibits there. Although the café itself was full, there were hardly any visitors at the adjoining picture gallery, which was indeed rather sad but not very surprising.

I say this because I have been seeing over the years, that while events like textile or jewellery exhibitions and clearance sales of household goods and garments, offering real and even fake discounts, attract huge jostling crowds, areas like art, culture and literary events take a back seat and they usually have very anaemic attendance. While I feel that this attitude should change, I do not see much change in it, which is what makes it sad.

The solo exhibition was of about fifty watercolour paintings done by a young lad, Chetan Chukki, hailing from the nearby temple town of Talakad, whose parents, from an agrarian background, are now settled at Anekal, a small town near Bengaluru. Chetan happens to be a final year student of the Sree Kalanikethana College of Visual Art in our city. Perhaps because of his rural background and more importantly because of his origin from Talakad, a temple town of very historic significance, where ancient temples abound, most of the paintings he had displayed at the show were of small temples or their surrounding rural landscapes, depicting very quaint and charming village homesteads, which made them a treat to the eyes. 

None of the paintings featured any large or even famous temples that most of us know about and whose architecture we admire, as being representative of the many dynasties that make up the checkered history of our subcontinent. Except for a few, depicting some of the more well-known edifices that abound at Hampi or the temple town of Melkote, almost all the temples that have found a place in Chetan’s paintings, happen to be unknown and unseen but very enchanting structures, scattered across the hidden reaches of our State, hardly accessible to, or visited by mainstream tourists and travellers.

Because it is forlorn and ‘lost-to-the-world’ places like these which my wife and I love to explore on lazy Sunday mornings, we could immediately feel at home at the tiny art expo and connect with what it showed! I felt that Chetan’s forte, apart from his interest in the rural countryside, was the way he had laid his subtle washes in continuous tones, which is the hallmark of the art of watercolour painting and the quality of which makes or mars an artist’s work. This is also the most difficult part in watercolour work, where, unlike with other media, there is absolutely no way a painter, however capable, can correct his or her mistakes.

I must admit here that this is the area which is the most difficult to master for any student of watercolour art and sadly the area where I am still rather weak. So, every art show I visit, I treat as a learning experience and thankfully, there was much that I could learn from Chetan’s work and style too, in the very short time I spent viewing it!

Another one of his strengths, which you can see from his paintings I’ve shown here, is that he is a ‘minimalist’, which means that he has a very good ability to show what he wants to show, with the minimum depiction of details, leaving the discerning viewers’ minds to see what their eyes often do not! This is another attribute of every good artist, which holds good in the field of photography too, where what is left unshown, is often what is conveyed best!

(Chetan does art assignments too and he can be contacted on Tel: 80955 69980)

An Adieu, to My Jim Corbett!

Last Thursday, I lost one of my best friends, Peter Bahadur Singh, a retired Assistant Executive Engineer, who had served a very long innings in the Karnataka Electricity Board. We knew each other over the last thirty-three years, ever since we met when I was serving as a young and newly-married physician at the very remotely located Holy Cross Hospital in Kamagere, on the edge of what was once considered the dreaded ‘Veerappan Territory’, during the heydays of his inglorious exploits.

My friend was then serving in his equally remote post, at the hydroelectric power generating station at Shivasamudram. And, though the lofty Boodagatta Hill and miles of thickly forested and elephant infested terrain separated our two locations, they were no hindrance to our frequent, long, meetings and musings, over endless cups of tea and some crispy fried snacks.

Although he was more than thirteen years older than me, the difference in our ages never once made either of us feel that we could not be the best of friends. And, his age too never made him once feel that he was no longer a boy to be doing the things that he did. That is why on many occasions, after completing his morning walk, he would be found ringing our doorbell, well before dawn and also before we had even unlocked our front gate. And, this he would do most easily, by effortlessly leaping across our compound wall, like a truant schoolboy!

Two fried eggs, sunny side up, and still a little runny, with three slices of crisp toast, followed by a large mugful of hot coffee, served by my wife, would serve as his most favourite breakfast. Having been the son of a forester and an avid hunter in his younger days, when hunting was perfectly legal, he had by the time we met, given up hunting completely and become a passionate conservationist like the legendary Jim Corbett, whose conversion story too was no different.

But he continued to be an ‘Armchair Hunter’ and an articulate raconteur of hunting stories, all his life, which is what made him a great favourite at gatherings and parties. You just had to ignite the storytelling spark in him and he would forget the present world, taking you decades back and narrating shikar stories as if they had happened yesterday!

Having imbibed by his father’s side, the jungle lore that came to him automatically from a very young age, he was a great naturalist too, knowing the ways of all the denizens of the jungle. In addition to being an excellent marksman, he had a phenomenal knowledge of ballistics and guns, including their technical details and was a good repository of information in that field.

A very passionate and devoted family man, he loved to have all his friends and loved ones around him always.

We will all miss him dearly now. May his noble soul rest in peace. Amen!

e-mail: kjnmysore@rediffmail.com

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