Ugadi Greetings

If you cannot read the Kannada fonts here, please see here for help.

ತಮಗೂ, ತಮ್ಮ ಕುಟುಂಬದವರಿಗೂ ಉಗಾದಿ ಹಬ್ಬದ ಹಾರ್ದಿಕ ಶುಭಾಶಯಗಳು.

ದ ರಾ ಬೇಂದ್ರೆಯವರ ಈ ಹಾಡನ್ನು ಕೇಳದೆ ಉಗಾದಿ ಸಂಪೂರ್ಣವೇ ಅಲ್ಲ.

Windows Kannada Theme

I have the Windows Kannada theme on my laptop and it ROCKS!!! You can download it here. (Courtesy: U.B.Pavanaja)

eraDu rekhegaLu

Watched the movie 'Eradu Rekhegalu' last weekend. Loved it ! There were some amazingly good dialogues interspersed with family drama. And superb acting by Srinath, Geeta and Sarita! But I don't know why they have used someone to give voice for Geeta !

And the one song song from the movie that I loved and have been listening/humming every now and then : neelamEgha shyaama...nityaananda dhaama . Watch the movie if you get a chance!

ದೀನಗಿಂತ ದೇವ ಬಡವ

I really love this Kannada poem by Dinakara Desai. I had read this long ago when I was young. I recently came across this and typed it in Baraha.

ದೀನಗಿಂತ ದೇವ ಬಡವ - ದಿನಕರ ದೇಸಾಯಿ

ಹರಿಗೆ ಎಂದು ಗುಡಿಯನೊಂದ ಕಟ್ಟುತಿರುವೆಯಾ ?
ಹರಿಯ ಒಲುಮೆ ಪಡೆದು ಪುಣ್ಯ ಗಳಿಸುತಿರುವೆಯಾ ?

ಹುಚ್ಚ ! ನೀನು ಹಳ್ಳಿಗೋಡು
ದೀನ ಜನರ ಪಾಡ ನೊಡು
ಇರಲು ಗುಡಿಯು ಇಲ್ಲವಲ್ಲ
ಹೊಟ್ಟೆ ತುಂಬ ಅನ್ನವಿಲ್ಲ !

ಹರಿಗೆ ಎಂದು ಗುಡಿಯನೊಂದ ಕಟ್ಟುತಿರುವೆಯಾ ?

ದೀನಗೊಂದು ಗೂಡು ಸಾಕು
ದೇವಗೊಂದು ವಿಶ್ವ ಬೇಕು
ಮಣ್ಣ ಹುಲ್ಲ ಸಣ್ಣ ಗೂಡು
ಬಡವಗದುವೆ ಸಿರಿಯ ಬೀಡು

ಹರಿಗೆ ಎಂದು ಗುಡಿಯನೊಂದ ಕಟ್ಟುತಿರುವೆಯಾ ?

ಜಗಕೆ ಗೋಡೆ ಹಾಕಿ ಗುಡಿಯ ಕಟ್ಟಬಲ್ಲೆಯಾ ?
ಹರಿಗೆ ಎಂದು ಗುಡಿಯನೊಂದ ಕಟ್ಟುತಿರುವೆಯಾ ?
ಹರಿಯ ವಿಶ್ವರೂಪವನ್ನು ಮರೆತುಬಿಟ್ಟೆಯಾ ?
ದೀನಗಿಂತ ದೇವ ಬಡವನೆಂದು ಬಗೆದೆಯಾ ?

If you can't see the Kannada font above, you can see an image of the poem below.

Blog find of the week !

There is no humour like sarcasm... And this blog really makes you laugh your guts out. Thanks Bangalore Torpedo for all the free fun :-)

Rang De Basanti - Huh... nothing great about it!

Finally I did catch up with Rang De Basanti(RDB) ! First of all, why the name RDB ? Where is the Rang ? ... and no Basanti in the movie either !

After all the hype regarding the movie and plans to see it in Atlanta, we finally got hold of a good copy(courtesy: Akash Rao). Thank God I did not go to Atlanta - it would have been a waste of a day and $30!

Let me present some critical analyses:

When National Geographic(with Mission Udaan) and other foreign channels in India try and portray our IAF in a patriotic light, the last thing that we need is to see the MiG crashes and they being blamed for engine defects and politicians. Comon... give me a break. The defence recruitment numbers are at an all time low and we DO NOT need this kind of propaganda! I am surprised how the IAF gave a green signal to RDB ! If at all they wanted to show it, they need not have taken the name of the aircraft! Maybe it is a concidence that I watched this movie 2 days after Srinivas sent me a mail about the myth of MiGs and how the media is spreading false rumours about it.

Another thing is that you can no longer accept Aamir Khan as a student. The guy is over forty and will no more fit the role of a student. But well, to be fair, I like his portrayal of Chandrashekhar Azad. In fact, all of them suit their historic roles very well. I would have loved to see a completely historical movie accurately depicting the life of Chandrashekhar Azad and the others instead of juxtaposing with the present everynow and then(though it looked good at times).

Atul Kulkarni rocks! My respect for his talents has gone several notches up after watching his phenomenal role as 'Encounter Shankar' in that dumb movie Dum. I think he got shortchanged in this movie. Agreed that all 5 of them had to get equal roles and all that but I guess the director did not extract the full potential of Atul in RDB.

And Atul is portrayed(I think so) to be a party worker for the saffron party by showing other workers around him sporting orange towels on their shoulders. I think this is unfair(Well, I am entitled to my quota of irrationality!). Too much of Punjabi dialect for a South Indian ... Couldn't understand quite a bit of the slangs.

On the brighter side, there are some really good scenes in the movie and some dialogues(though they sound cliched at times). The music by A.R.Rahman is really good and the background tunes are splendid. I guess on the whole my rating is 6.5/10.

Prof.Honnell

You seldom see or meet people who are in their nineties and still enjoying their life. I have seen some in Bangalore but today, I met Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering at Auburn University, Prof. Martial A. Honnell.



Prof.Honnell did his BS,MS and PhD from Georgia Tech and has been at Auburn University since 1958. He has weathered the two World Wars, the Great Depression and the Cold War. He is 96 years 'young' and used to handle a graduate course (Electromagnetic Compatibility) until 4 years ago. He is at his desk by 8AM and works on most weekdays. He walks erect, has perfect vision, speech and hearing capabilities. But what stands out is his devotion to work and keeping himself updated about the trends in Satellite Communication and Televison. Prof.Honnell helped pioneer the initial developments in Television(Instrumentation) for Space Communications during the heydays of NASA from the 50s to the 70s. He is an IEEE Fellow and a Distinguished Faculty at Auburn.

When I asked him what was the secret of his health, he said he gave up eating meat about 75 years ago, doesn't smoke or drink. According to him, people either eat/drink/smoke themselves to death! Limited food, some amount of exercise and keeping oneself busy daily has kept him healthy and fit even at this age ! I salute you Prof.Honnell. I hope you complete a century and still keep batting !

Vrishabhaavati

I found this photo amongst others which I had taken during my Winter trip to India. This is supposed to be the ancient river Vrishabhaavati, that used to flow in Bangalore. Sad to see it in this state.