Life-en-treats

'Gulabi Talkies' screened at Badami House The movie was seen as a response to contemporary society in a discussion that followed the film's screening. By Sushumna Kannan 27 Jul 2009, Citizen Mattersbookmark email print Art, Resources, Training Trust (ART) on 12th July, 2009 screened Girish Kasarvalli’s Gulabi Talkies at the Badami House located near NR Circle. Renowned scholars from the field of Film- Studies and Literature took part in the discussion that followed the screening. This was ART’s second event. Although Sunday morning 10 AM did not see many Bengalureans at the screening, the regulars did not miss it: film-makers, artists and students. The event brought together scholars belonging to different institutions as well as Kasaravalli. Mamata Sagara, Kannada poet and faculty at Central University, Hyderabad, began the discussion by suggesting that Kasarvalli was a film-maker who responds to contemporary society and that we should understand Gulabi Talkies as his late...

Offering hope An interesting read in Kannada… Ondu Photoda Negative by Sridhara Balagara Ankita Pustaka, Rs.120. If you had begun to feel disillusioned that fiction today was hopelessly caught between historical or ideologically-driven agendas and its very opposite extreme — character sketches that believe in the universality of the human spirit — Balagara’s “Ondu Photoda Negative” is the perfect cure that would render you back into that ever-elusive zone called hope. Balagara’s 13 short stories are each so unique, so brave, true-to-life and filled with themes captured to perfection, that they ask for a redefinition of not just what it is to write, but also of that higher aim of literature — what it is to live. Every story weaves such a magical spell through brevity of language and the introduction of multiple plot-prototypes that we would want to expand the notion of believability as a criterion in art. Balagara is the very epitome of the thumb-rule of literary writing: ‘show, not tel...

Conversations • Government • BTM Layout BTM LAYOUT MLA "Ask the public, they can tell you about the changes I have brought about." BTM Layout MLA, Ramalinga Reddy, talks about the issues in his constituencies and how he resolves them. By Sushumna Kannan 21 Jul 2009, Citizen Matters bookmark email print Ramalinga Reddy hails from Anekal and did his schooling at the government school at Hombegowdanagar in Bangalore. He completed his B.Sc. from Government Science College in Bangalore after which he began pursuing an L.L.B. at the University Law College. He got into politics before he could finish the Law degree and has been associated with the Congress party in important capacities since that time, in 1973. Even as a student, Reddy was active in Youth Congress and was a city level office bearer while still at college. He was elected to the city corporation in 1983 and became President of Jayanagar Block Congress in 1985. He was the district Congress President fo...

ಸುಷುಮ್ನಾ ಕಣ್ಣನ್ ಸಮಾಜ-ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ ಅಧ್ಯಯನ ಕೇಂದ್ರ (ಸಿ ಎಸ್ ಸಿ ಎಸ್), ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು. ಎಸ್. ಎನ್. ಬಾಲಗಂಗಾಧರ ಅವರ ಲೇಖನಕ್ಕೆ ಕಳೆದ ಮಾತುಕತೆ ಸಂಚಿಕೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮನು ದೇವದೇವನ್ ಅವರು ಪ್ರತಿಕ್ರಿಯೆ ನೀಡಿದ್ದರು. ಮನು ಅವರ ಪ್ರತಿಕ್ರಿಯೆಯು ಹಲವಾರು ವಿಷಯಗಳನ್ನು ಇನ್ನೂ ಗೊಂದಲಮಯಗೊಳಿಸಿವೆ ಎಂಬುದು ನನ್ನ ಅನಿಸಿಕೆ. ಈ ಕುರಿತು ನಾನು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಹಂಚಿಕೊಳ್ಳಬಯಸುತ್ತೇನೆ. ಮನು ತಮ್ಮ ಪ್ರತಿಕ್ರಿಯೆಯನ್ನು ಕನಿಷ್ಠ ಎರಡು ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ರಚಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ: ಮೊದಲನೆಯದಾಗಿ ಪ್ರೊ.ಬಾಲು ಅವರ ಲೇಖನದಲ್ಲಿ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಕಂಡ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆಗಳನ್ನು ಟೀಕಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ, ಮತ್ತು ಎರಡದನೆಯದಾಗಿ ಏಕೆ ಪ್ರೊ. ಬಾಲು ಅವರು ಇಂತಹ ವಿಷಯಗಳನ್ನು ಹೇಳಿದ್ದಾರೆ ಎಂಬುದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಊಹೆ ಮಾಡುದ್ದಾರೆ. ಈ ಎರಡನೆಯದನ್ನು ಅವರು ಮಾಡಿರುವ ರೀತಿ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಅಸಭ್ಯವಾಗಿಯೇ ಇದೆ. ಲೇಖಕರ ಮನಸ್ಥಿತಿಯನ್ನು ಊಹಿಸಿವುದು, ಹಾಲುಹಸುಳೆ ಎಂದು ಹೇಳುವುದು, ಗೂಢೋದ್ದೇಶವೇನು ಎಂದು ಕೇಳುವುದು, ಇತ್ಯಾದಿ. ಇವೆಲ್ಲದಕ್ಕೆ ನಾನು ಪ್ರತಿಕ್ರಿಯಿಸಲು ಬಯಸುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಆದರೆ ಬೌದ್ಧಿಕ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾತ್ರ ಎತ್ತಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತೇನೆ. ಮನು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ ಪ್ರೊ. ಬಾಲು ಕೇಳುವ ಚರಿತ್ರೆ ಬೇಕೆ, ಗತಕಾಲ ಬೇಕೆ? ಎಂಬ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಯು ಅನೇಕರಿಗೆ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಯಾಗಿಯೇ ತೋರುತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂದು. ಈ ಅನೇಕರು ಯಾರು ಎಂಬುದನ್ನೂ ಅವರು ಸ್ಪಷ್ಟವಾಗಿ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದರೆ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿರುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ನನಗೆ ತಿಳಿದ ಹಾಗೆ ಚರಿತ್ರೆ ಎಂಬ ಅಧ್ಯಯನ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದ...