B.R. Lakshman Rao - He deals with words, in this business town.

Romanticism is his forte. His microscopical view of romance and its nuances are well described with the beautiful lyricism and pun with the same earnest passion he has towards love through his poems. This has made him one of the prominent faces in the modern kannada literary world. His half-humored, cynical and sometimes paradoxical take on the earthly matters in his poems has brought him recognition and people have honored him with awards, and the most recent being  the Karnataka government's prestigious Rajyotsava Award. His exemplary contribution  to the kannada literature and the way he has delighted the hearts of the young and those young at heart alike has made B.R.Lakshman Rao a name synonymous to Chintamani.

B.R.Laksman Rao, also-known-as BRL, was deeply influenced by the works of great English poets Keats and Eliot during his masters in English literature. "Gopi mattu Gaandaleena,1971- Jolly Baarinalli "  link- a poem portraying an innocent boy's plight in a dance bar became widely popular. The collection of his poems "Chintamani" (dedicating to his native) and "Camera Kannu" has captured and has brought-forth the intricate and vivid pictures of life. Many reputed writers like H.S. Venkatesh Murthy, Jayanth Kaikini, etc, have written forewords to his books. He has also written a novel(Heegondhu Premakathe) and his compilations of poems "Columbus" has also been translated to English, in which there is a poem on Chintamani titled "My Native".

  Dr. Rajkumar, S.P. Balasubramaniam, Ratnamala Prakash, Sonu Nigam, Mysore Ananthaswamy, M.D.Pallavi  (Amma Ninna Yedeyaaladalli)and many other famous singers have lent their voice to his lyrics. Noted composer and singer C. Ashwath has brought out several music albums (Kengulaabi, Subbabhattara Magale, Anuraaga, etc) and were loved by the listeners and they still linger in their minds. But, listening to some of his compositions in his own inimitable voice, especially "Nimbegida thumba chanda" song is a treat. The students who went to the english classes in his Vinayaka Tutorials recollect those wonderful time when he used to sing for his students. A couple of BRL's compositions ("Baare Rajakumari" - "Baa Maleye Baa" youtube link) have been adopted to films. "Baa maleye baa" another youtube version will leave you mesmerised with its music, tune, Sonu Nigam's voice and amazing lyrics.

A poet who made his mark, and whose works originated from Chintamani, and is a proud posession of Chintamani, is now moving to Bangalore. CC wishes him and his wonderful family all the happiness and prosperity.

Here is the link to BRL's "Baare Rajakumari"  ( sorry, couldn't find this, but enjoy all the other above links)in which he candidly and yet wittily has described a couple's life in a city like Bangalore.
TV9 interview of BRL.(click here)

Bandh: Do we deserve this?

Where do we go from here?

The bandh enforced by the state government  managed to disrupt the day-to-day affairs of peace loving Chintamaniacs. The shops and the business establishments closed shutters to avoid triggering of any unruly incidents. The people who had travel plans had to negotiate some road blocks and torching of tyres. The government bus-stand wore a deserted look because the buses had stopped plying from early  morning. The children had a field day enjoying their surprise holiday.

Ronald Reagan had said,  "We must not look to government to solve our problems. Here government is the problem." True, and here - the government is in problem.



Bus-Stand Stands Still





The cricketers having a' field' day at Bus Stand



CHILL....CHILL...CHILLTAMANI.



ಚಿಲ್ ...ಚಿಲ್ ....ತಾಳೆನು







Nature's Hill Disappearing Act




Time to show-off winter wears



It's the weather that has been the subject of every conversation from the past couple of weeks in Chintamani. The mercury is playing around 14-19 degree C. On some  days it also dropped to 11 degree C and finally on 23rd  Dec early morning it dipped to 9 degree C. The fog completely engulfed Chintamani. The chill has given a super beauty enhancing effect to Chintamani. It's Chill..... Chill....... Chilltamani. To the people suffering from cold or nose block, unconducively it's Chitamani( 'ಚಿತಾ'ಮಣಿ ).
Happy New Year To All Chintamaniacs.