Rajan-Nagendra Musical Evening- Chintamani Relished

It was a musically soothing Saturday evening when the legendary music composer of Kannada film industry Shri. Rajan (of Rajan- Nagendra  duo fame) graced upon Chintamani.

. The event "Jenina hoLeyo...Halina maLeyo" was a  program that will be remembered for a long time. The musical program was organised by the admirers of Rajan-Nagendra genre of music. The singers enthralled the jam-packed auditorium at the Vidya Ganapati Ranga Mandira by rendering back-to-back greatest hits of Rajan-Nagendra. The songs ranged from the years 1960s to 2014, be it devotional hits like indu enage govinda, gopi lola, tallaNisadiru, or hot number like Sutta muttalu, or candid haLLiyadarenu shiva or the evergreen duets like jeeva veene, ellelli noDali, mathonda heLuve, nagu nagutha, or romantic melodies like omme ninnannu, aakaashave beeLali, peppy number like gil gil gillakku and couple of Telugu hits emo emo idi and Mallelu poose. etc were all  beautifully sung and the audience enjoyed every bit of it. The latest songs from his devotional albums were also rendered. The 24 songs that were rendered were just a few from his enormous store of hit songs. Shri. Rajan was honored by the fans from Chintamani. Speaking on this ocassion Shri. Rajan said "the admirers and the fans are the real assets I have earned through my work. And I will affectionately cherish the love shown by the Chintamani people all my life". Shri Rajan's son Shri. Ananth's presence gave strength to the singers. When the program ended the people were found still wanting.

The program was well organised by Sukh-Sagar Murali, Eye TV Nagaraj, Journalist Ravi Prkash, Raaghu, Vinay and Gurunath, ably supported by enthusiastic volunteers. Mr Murali welcomed the guests. The program was hosted  by Gurunath and Ankita of E-TV serial fame. Kannada Sahitya mattu Samskruti Ilakhe backed this event. And ofcourse, the sponsors generous contribution helped to put-up a great show as a gift to the people of Chintamani. The traffic and the crowd were orderly controlled by the Police. Thanks to the Vidya Ganapati Mandir Trust for conceptualising this suitable venue and for constantly supporting many cultural and entertaining programmes like these.

Click on the links for the video. Happy watching!!
Jenina hoLeyo...Part-1
Jenina hoLeyo...Part-2

Jenina hoLeyo...Part-3
Jenina hoLeyo...Part-4
Jenina hoLeyo...Part-5
Jenina hoLeyo...Part-6
Jenina hoLeyo...Part-7
Jenina hoLeyo...Part-8

The Train Facility - An Inadequate Advantage

The train- it's definitely a much needed mode of transport, that finally took shape after lots of dilly-dallying.(read from CC archive) The train passing through Chintamani has a lukewarm response from the general public. However, there are a good number of people who are using the train as a mode of transport, especially towards Bangalore. When CC did a reality check on the Bangalore Passenger Train, that arrives at the Chintamani station at 3:00 pm and departs at 3:02 pm, there were around 150 passengers waiting to alight the train, most of the passengers  bound to Shidlaghatta. The Bangalore Passenger which was flagged-off last February travels roundabout, passing through Shidlaghatta, Yelahanka, Krishnarajapuram and reaches the Majestic Railway Station in Bangalore at 6:30-6:45 pm.  The train fare of Rs 25 to Bangalore makes it very economical, but the fact that the train is scheduled at an inconvenient time for the daily commuters to Bangalore makes this train less preferable. If the train is scheduled in the early morning to Bangalore, this could help thousands of people who work in Bangalore to commute daily. Tumkur and Bangarpet are the examples of how the train facility to the state capital could help the working population and the college going students of those towns. Mr K.H.Muniyappa, MP from our constituency, during his tenure as a railway minister  revived this rail route, but  the railway minister Sadananda Gowda, also from Karnataka forgot to smile at us  in the 2014 Railway Budget. Hope the newly anointed railway minister Mr Suresh Prabhu will inflict some more activity by adding new train along this route.  

Saahitya Koota - 3000 Incredible Weeks!

"Saahitya Koota" completed it's 3000th Saturday's weekly program on 27th July 2014. To mark the occasion it was celebrated at the Hari Keerthana Mandira in Sri Brahmachaitanya Srirama Mandira. (The weekly programs are usually held at the Shishuvihaara, behind the Public Library) Prof. RVS.Sundaram, a former Professor and Director of Kuvempu Institute of Kannada Studies, University of Mysore was the chief guest and the orator for the day. Shri G.H. Venkatesh Murthy and Shri B. Srirama Murthy presided over the function.

Prof  RVS. Sundaram is a recipient of A.P Sahitya Academy Award who had worked as a Telugu lecturer at the Chintamani Municipal College in the year 1969. He was not familiar with Kannada when he first came to Chintamani, but his urge and inclination towards Kannada language made him to accomplish M.A in Kannada within a year. Apart from writing several books in Telugu, he has translated many Kannada works of great poets and writers to Telugu for which he has received  Bhaasha Bharati Award for translation from Central Institute of Indian Languages, Ministry of HRD. His books, monographs and over 200 papers and articles are published in Telugu, Kannada and English. He is a visiting Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, USA on the South Asian Studies where he helps the students acquire knowledge on Telugu and Kannada and study the great works written ages ago. It's his humility that he dedicated his achievements to his brief occupation in Chintamani a few decades ago.

Speaking on the occasion he said - "Kannada is a very rich language with lots of books that can be considered as a treasure of knowledge. Kannada has had great writers in every era who have comprehensively written on various subjects, be it on great epics(Ramayana,Mahabharata) or on Science or on Mathematics. There is a book in Sanskrit that was written in the past which introduces the reader to the Kannada language. And there's also a book written in English on Kannada which the Britishers used to learn the language. Kannadigas themselves will be startled to hear the immenseness of Kannada language. The students of many countries are showing lot of interest to learn Kannada and study the works of great writers and have also translated them to the language of their land. It's kind of unfortunate that the Kannadigas are unaware of the richness they possess and there's a disinterest towards the language." After Prof. RVS. Sundaram's 75 mins of outstanding oration the audience were overjoyed with attaining knowledge about their own language and were beaming proudly because their love towards Kannada increased manifolds.

 He appealed to the people, especially the youth, to love the language and try to read the great books written in Kannada.

And later there was also a Bharatanatya Program by the students of Srisai Kalanikethana. The dance by the students was a treat to watch with each song having different flavours of expression. The budding talents exhibited their potential in the limited time available. Thanks to their teacher Smt.Bhaamamani for keeping  this great form of art alive in Chintamani.

The 3000th week was a befitting program, all thanks to Shri Y.G.Anantha Shastry, Shri G.Jayaram, Shri. Ashwathnarayana and many others who have shouldered the responsibility of keeping it going gracefully. 

Archive: 2800th week

        

Check this out!! - A Captivating Check Dam

Hidden inside the green patch of forest area is a beautiful water bed, nearly 30 kms from Chintamani. After the 23 kms of drive on the Madanapalli Road, you have to take a left turn after Kurupalli that leads to Doddabaandrahalli. The 7 kms drive, off the Madanapalli Road towards Doddabaandrahalli, on the narrow road in between the Mango grove and a stretch of really secluded Eucalyptus Woods is so scenic and is an exciting trail in itself. In between the Eucaluptus tree, a right turn on the muddy lane will lead you to this fascinating and mammoth Morampally Check Dam Project.The huge catchment area in between the weald on the countryside is so delightful to see and to experience. This Check Dam project initiated more than a decade ago seem to be left incomplete, reason best known to the government authorities. However, the quantity of water in the dam depends solely on the amount of rainfall in the catchment area. The locals say that they last witnessed it in full glory 4 years ago when they had good rains and the water over-flowed through the channels and the water bank looked like an ocean. The people who utilise this water for their farms and who bask on this stunning place in their vicinity are eagerly waiting for the God's generosity- gifting them the rains. And the color of joy will be back again. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow! Oh God... please bless with rains, we bow!!
     

Chintamani, Na Kolar ka..Na Chickballapur ka!!

SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2009

CHINTAMANI GETS A DOUBLE BONANZA

The congress party has given Chintamani a double bonanza in the cabinet. Chintamani, which is in Chickaballapura district falls in a Kolar parliamentary constituency.In the recently held parliamentary elections, the victorious candidiates,Mr K.H.Muniyappa from Kolar and Mr Veerappa Moily from Chickaballapur, have been chosen as ministers in the Dr.Manmohan Singh's cabinet. Mr K.H.Muniyappa is a minister of state for railways and Mr Veerappa Moily was sworn in as the law minister.CC and the citizens of Chintamani have high expectations from these two leaders.Hope they make best use of this opportunity and wish they make progress as their mantra.What better could we ask for?  

The above article was written five years ago when the Congress led UPA formed the union government. Chintamani cheered with hope that the political development would bring in a package of goodies to the town. It is argued that the parliamentary elections are all about the national issues and addressing the overall development of the nation. But when the representatives or MPs who go on to hold a significant position in the government, it raises huge expectation among the citizens who voted. The voters have reasons to expect. They hope the elected representatives would work for resolving local problems or would take measures to improve the general living of the society. Five years have gone by and it's time to review the gains Chintamani got from the "Double Bonanza". Apart from the lone namesake train that stops for 2 minutes at 3:00 pm, Chintamani did not profit much considering the prominent posts the ministers held in the UPA government. What the people thought as advantage turned out to be detrimental to Chintamani's growth. One minister could have ignored because Chintamani doesn't come under his candidature district and the other obviously thought it doesn't fall under his electoral constituency.  Ultimately, Chintamani reh gaya na idhar ka na udhar ka! (Na Kolar ka, Na Chickballapur ka) As the saying goes, " The one who rides two boats is sure to be overthrown!" . We have no other option, but frown!
Hope whoever wins will include Chintamani in the government's development programmes and make the people of Chintamani proud for electing them.

NOTHING COMES IN

 


  

TRAFFIC LIGHTS - A SIGNAL TO PROGRESS!

The unmanageable traffic snarls of Chintamani got the much needed controlling tool- the traffic lights. The solar powered LED traffic signal lights became operational on Monday, the 24th Feb. With the advent of traffic signals at all main circles, the haphazard movement of vehicles has come down considerably. The clogging at the Petrol Bunk Circle, PCR Complex, Gajanana Circle, Chelur Circle and the Taluk Office Circle will be the thing of the past. The situation of the traffic movement was chaotic and dangerous too. The negligent and rash driving has taken few lives too.( Read on: A Businessman Dies- Traffic Disorder Inflicted Tragedy ) Now, suddenly you see the vehicle owners are stopping to the red lights and are patiently waiting for the lights to turn green! Thanks to the Police Department and also the people who have strived to equip Chintamani with the traffic lights. Now isn't it time to have an exclusive traffic department too? 

There definitely will be an improvement or reformation, like painting the 'Zebra-Crossing' and the lanes, adjusting the signal timer, etc. Sadly, we still see few people who jump the signals and drive on the wrong side of the road.( Check the video, at 5:40 an aged person is on the wrong-side and at 10:36 a lady jumps the signal from the right side of the median). The attitude "wrong-side ಅಲ್ಲಿ ದೂರು ನಮಗೆ ಅಡ್ಡ ಬರೌರ್ ಯಾರು?" " ಹೇಳೋರ್  ಕೇಳೋರ್  ಯಾರು ಇಲ್ಲ " (from the song "Namma Ooru Chintamani"(click here)) is spoiling the party. Will they ever learn at all!

And, what the government has completely overlooked is the plight of the pedestrians. Do they have a space to walk? Aren't they entitled to some safe footpaths? Hope the concerned authorities will take steps to make the pedestrians life easier!

BEFORE THE SIGNAL LIGHT INSTALLATION 

'Sahasradeepa', - The Torch-Bearers of Change

A vacation is the time to freak out and have fun. It's the time to revel in various activities. Here is an organisation, 'SAHASRADEEPA'  of young boys and girls who have a flair for social activities. They get a kick out of their participation in socially relevant  deeds. They think they have a responsibility to contribute to the society, or a sense of obligation to give back to the town they love. They do not think they have to get elected to take up a social cause. (Ironically, our elected municipal representatives are still resting on their laurels of election victory  since10 months click here).  The robust team includes Shashank Reddy, Prashanth Reddy, Sanjay M, Govardhan, Varun Reddy, Sajjad Ali, Anil, Sree Vani, Lakshmi P, Lakshmi Segu, Meghana, Deeksha M, Shwetha, Revathi, Anusha, Brinda Reddy, Jahnavi, Ashwini, Rashmi, Sanjay, Girish R.V, Praveen, Gouthami, Varun T.R  etc., Chintamani Calling congratulates them. They inspire!

These young people under the activity called 'VIDYADEEPA' visit the government schools and they share their knowledge with the little ones. They carry laptops and show the kids some interesting pictures that'll induce the thirst for knowledge in the little minds. The co-ordination between these volunteers during the activity is impeccable and the caring attitude of the volunteers is effectual.

Under 'PARISARADEEPA', on Jan 12th,  they chose to clean-up the plastic mess on the route to the hill top of ' Kannampalli Betta'. The empty snack packets and the water packets were strewn all around by visitors. And more recently some people had "religiously" generated a considerable heap of contamination. The volunteers picked up all the mess in the bags given by the municipal office and was loaded to the municipality tractor. Restoring the natural beauty of the hill has been accomplished. Now these young people plan to replicate the activity in the centre of the town to bring about awareness among the general public of Chintamani. Let this socially inclined tribe grow!