Karnataka: Preserving Its Culture

On Karnataka Rajyotsava day, as many as nine cities in Karnataka were renamed. Significantly, Bangalore has been rechristened as Bengaluru. However, on such a colorful and joyous day, the scenes were somewhat similar to when Rajkumar passed away earlier in the year. The difference was that there wasn't any violence. But the show of strength and might of Kannadigas was in full display with the yellow and red flags all around.

All the big shopping malls were geared up for any untoward incidences by appeasing these groups and hoisting the flag all over. In fact the flags were pasted all around food joints at Forum where I had been. Though Forum was flooded with these flags, it was ironic to note that at PVR cinemas (inside Forum), almost all seats were available for a Kannada movie, while even badly doing Bollywood and Hollywood movies were housefull.

One can very much empathise with the Kannadigas, because their culture is fast getting eroded. The cosmopolitan populace in the city of Bengaluru has made them feel insecure about their identity. MNC's, international fast food joints, multiplexes, all seem to be nurturing interests of everything which is non-Kannadiga. What was concerning to see was, the show of strength was with an intention to create problems wherever they possibly could. Large groups were going around in rickshaws and vans waving the flags all around the city. A sense of insecurity which can only be overcome by show of strength one could say. Which in a way is right. But to intimidate the citizens and then demand respect is not the way forward.

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Cravings in Engravings

Well, I couldn't have thought of a more apt title for this post. And that too when all my thoughts are succinctly portrayed in it. Ever seen toilets in Indian Railway Trains ? Or, for that matter, the wall in front of any crown where a guy can relax and attend to nature's call ? Well, they are all profuse with the engravings of artists who are fascinated by a girl or a girl's(to put it more subtly that is, no offense intended).

Well, one good thing about it is, that the crowns are distinctly separated between the guys and girls. So, there is no possibilty of embarassment - first, if a girl were to enter a guy's restroom, secondly, if the girl were to observe such passionate drawings. This is not to point fingers at the artists themselves. Sometimes, in moments of privacy, one tends to imagine passionate portrayals. And the artist in us, tends to come out I guess.

But the point the transformed artists forget is, that the place is of public nature shrouded in privacy, and needs to be maintained cleanly. For the same will be used by other citizens who are equally in need of it, sometimes too soon. And, not all enjoy the artists' feelings in front of them. Also, it really gives a bad impression for foreigners who have the same human nature to use such public places when the need arises urgently. And though they might enjoy the engravings, it leaves a bad impression as far as maintaining such public places are concerned.

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Grow Up India !!

10 days of action, on entirely two different kinds of pitches, if I were to put it in terms of cricketing terminology.One, fought and probably, lost on battleground film stardom, and another still being waged off the cricket pitch, but not on it. Both relate to how India is trying to come to terms with the changing generation of sports,culture and western exposure.The former is the Khushboo incident I am alluding to and the latter the 3 day old finger salute by India's cricket coach Greg Chappell.

Before I do a postmortem of each of these incidents, let me put things in right perspective by stating what happened. In Khushboo's case, it was a mere statement which brought out the stark reality, and the supposed cultural integrity that India possesses in it's women population being virgins before marriage. She stated that educated Indian men should stop expecting that their brides would be virgins when they tie the knot. Poor Khushboo .. the price that she had to pay for blurting out a bold and arguably, likely expectation, was quite unexpected. She was hounded by political parties, esp. DMK, who are against the incumbent Jayalalithaa government of the AIADMK. Devoid of any possible issues to be raised before the assembly elections next year, this was a starter, one could say , for the DMK supporters. When Suhasini tried to defend the remarks by Khushboo, there was flak even for her.

Then, on the eve of the Kolkata match at the famed Eden Gardens came the Chappel finger salute. The coach apparently showed the middle finger to the crowd which was jeering him, for the spat he had with Ganguly during the Zimbabwe series. But that really is not an issue that I want to highlight in this post, though, if Chappell did do the finger salute (which he confessed to having done, he certainly owes a public apology to Kolkata and even to India !! Because, he is the one who is a non-indian and is here by virtue of a high profile job given and entrusted to him by India's cricket board and backed by most of the Indian public. So he owes it to them. And I sincerely believe he should apologise.

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