An excellent collection of essays, compiled by an Outlook journo called Sugata Srinivasaraju. I happened to pick it up recently. It is edited by a Kannadiga, and some essays are his too. The reason I am going into this is because his explanation is a bit like Think Global, Act Local or to reverse its logic, one way to be global in outlook (pun unintended) is to understand the local immensely well.
Excellent essays on many things I wanted to know but was afraid to ask (not really, but sounds good). For instance, why Dharwad produces so many musical geniuses, like Mallikarjun Mansur, Gangubai Hangal and Bhimsen Joshi. Bhimsen's guru Sawai Gandharva is from Kundagol near Dharwad.
From the Mangalore pub attack (and poems about it by two Kannada women poets), to the Baghdad war, many topics are covered-intelligently. Like land acquisition and the imminent decline of agriculture as a way of life. Rarely have I enjoyed reading essays that are contemporary but deal with such varied Indian themes. Ramayana and its controversial withdrawal from the Delhi Univ. syllabus is the subject of one essay. No holds barred, is how I would describe it, on the whole.
Bendre and Kuvempu, the well-known Kannada poets are also talked about. So are some civil servants like Sharda Prasad who worked closely with Indira Gandhi. Shamlal, a former editor of Times of India, is the subject of another one. And V.K. Murthy, the cinematographer of all the Guru Dutt classics in black and white, such as Pyaasa, Kagaz ke Phool, and Sahib, Bibi aur Ghulam.
Highly recommended!
Excellent essays on many things I wanted to know but was afraid to ask (not really, but sounds good). For instance, why Dharwad produces so many musical geniuses, like Mallikarjun Mansur, Gangubai Hangal and Bhimsen Joshi. Bhimsen's guru Sawai Gandharva is from Kundagol near Dharwad.
From the Mangalore pub attack (and poems about it by two Kannada women poets), to the Baghdad war, many topics are covered-intelligently. Like land acquisition and the imminent decline of agriculture as a way of life. Rarely have I enjoyed reading essays that are contemporary but deal with such varied Indian themes. Ramayana and its controversial withdrawal from the Delhi Univ. syllabus is the subject of one essay. No holds barred, is how I would describe it, on the whole.
Bendre and Kuvempu, the well-known Kannada poets are also talked about. So are some civil servants like Sharda Prasad who worked closely with Indira Gandhi. Shamlal, a former editor of Times of India, is the subject of another one. And V.K. Murthy, the cinematographer of all the Guru Dutt classics in black and white, such as Pyaasa, Kagaz ke Phool, and Sahib, Bibi aur Ghulam.
Highly recommended!
