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Showing posts from November, 2010

The Craving

This is a story I translated for my friend Chidananda Sali. Sali is an award winning Kannada writer, who has brought out books of short stories, poetry and Ghazals. The story was read in a recent workshop organised by the Kendra Sahitya Akademi in Cochin, Kerala The Craving Even before he was completely awake that morning, an intense craving for a smoke hit Masterji. Oh Shucks… he almost said it audibly. But he could hear his heart shout loudly that not yielding to the craving as not as easy as wishing it away. For a man of 30, Masterji looked three times older. There were scores of fights between his heart and mind every day. These constant battles had taken a toll on his health. His cheek had gone into hiding in his mouth, and he was getting weaker and weaker every moment. The craving hit him from within like a battering ram. It seemed to have come well prepared. It had come equipped with a concoction of logic, justification and the will to convin...

Recent article in Kendasampige

ಎಮ್ಮ ಚೆಲುವ ಕರುನಾಡು:ಒಂಥರಾ ಮಂಥನ ಶಿಬಿರವು ಹೃಷಿಕೇಶ್ ಬಹದ್ದೂರ್ ದೇಸಾಯಿ ಸೋಮವಾರ, 15 ನವೆಂಬರ್ 2010 (05:18 IST) (ಚಿತ್ರಗಳು:ಪ್ರಕಾಶ್ ಬಾಬು) ಅವತ್ತು ನಮ್ಮೂರು ಹಾನಗಲ್ಲಿನಲ್ಲಿ `ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಕುಲಪುತ್ರ ಗೂಳಿಹಟ್ಟಿ ಶೇಖರ್ ಫ್ಯಾನ್ ಕ್ಲಬ್' ಉದ್ಘಾಟನೆ. ನಾನು ಹಾಗು ನಮ್ಮ ಗೆಳೆಯರು ತುಂಬ ಗಡಿಬಿಡಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಓಡಾಡಿಕೊಂಡು ಇದ್ದೆವು. ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮವನ್ನು ತುಂಬ ಡಿಫೆರೆಂಟ್ ಆಗಿ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು ಎಂದುಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದರಿಂದ ನಮಗೆ ತುಂಬ ಕೆಲಸಗಳು. `ಬರೀ ಭಾಷಣ ಬೇಡ, ಏನಾದರೂ ಪ್ರ್ಯಾಕ್ಟಿಕಲ್ ತರಬೇತಿ ಇಟ್ಟುಕೊಳ್ಳಿ' ಅಂತ ಜಗದ್ಗುರು ರೇಣುಕಾಚಾರ್ಯ ಅವರು ಅಪ್ಪಣೆ ಕೊಡಿಸಿದ್ದರಿಂದ ತಿಂಗಳುಗಟ್ಟಲೇ ಕಷ್ಟಪಟ್ಟು ಒಂದು ಶಿಬಿರವನ್ನೇ ಆಯೋಜಿಸಿದೆವು. ಅದಕ್ಕ ವಿವರವಾದ ವೇಳಾಪಟ್ಟಿ ತಯಾರು ಮಾಡಿದ್ದೆವು. ಶಿಬಿರ ತುಂಬ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ನಡೆಯಿತು. ಅದೊಂದು ಹೊಸ ರೀತಿಯ ಪ್ರಯೋಗ, ತುಂಬ ಇಂಟರೆಸ್ಟಿಂಗ್ ಅಂತ ಅನ್ನಿಸಿತು. ಓದುಗರಿಗೂ ಕುತೂಹಲ ಇರಬಹುದು ಅಂತ ಅನ್ನಿಸಿ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಕಟಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದೇವೆ. ಬೆಳಿಗ್ಗೆ ಐದು ಗಂಟೆಗೆ ಊರ ಹೊರಗಿನ ರಿಸಾರ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ವಾಕಿಂಗ್ ಹಾಗೂ ವ್ಯಾಯಾಮ. ದಿನಾಲೂ ವಾಕಿಂಗ್ ಮಾಡದೇ ಇದ್ದರೂ ಟೀವಿ ಕ್ಯಾಮೆರಾದ ಮುಂದೆ ತೋರಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು ಹೇಗೆ ಎನ್ನುವುದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ನಿಕಟಪೂರ್ವ ಶಾಸಕರೊಬ್ಬರಿಂದ ಟ್ರೇನಿಂಗ್. ಆಮೇಲೆ ತೂಕ ಇಳಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಧರಂಸಿಂಗ್ ಹಾಗೂ ನಿತಿನ್ ಗಡ್ಕರಿ ಅವರಿಂದ ಚಿಂತನ. (ಇನ್ನೇನು ಅವರು ಕಸರತ್ತು ಮಾಡಿ ತ...

BJP government reduces OBC seats in Panchayat bodies

This is the story of the reduction in OBC seats in Panchayats I wrote about recently. The BJP government in Karnataka has reduced OBC seats in rural local bodies by 33%. This could mean that politically backward communities and minorities would have no place in the Panchayats. A recent ordinance of the state government amends the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act and caps the reservation to various deprived communities at 50 per cent. This means that half the seats are available to general merit candidates. This, according to the ordinance, will be achieved by keeping the reservation for SC/STs in tact and reducing the number of seats reserved for OBCs. Many backward classes leaders have opposed this move as they say it would affect the balance of political power in the villages. This will impact the political system at the grass root levels. The order will reduce the total number of OBC seats in Zilla Panchayats to 223 from 334. This is an average reduction of 33 per cent. The new seat matr...