Storyteller

Karnataka - An outsourced Congress government?

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:50:58 +0530

DK Shivakumar, one of the most powerful Vokkaliga leaders and a six-time MLA was in the race for the Chief Minister's post till last week. He has now failed to

In Karnataka, the lotus won't bloom this summer

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 06:24:04 +0530

First things first. The BJP can see the writing on the wall and realise that the urban local body poll results are the beginning of the end of saffron party

Public fury over Delhi gangrape case

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 10:13:48 +0530

'Fasi do, Fasi do - death to rapists, death to rapists' - slogans continue to rent the air at India Gate to Vijay Chowk. Young people from all parts of

Why Karnataka is not Gujarat Part Two

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 04:13:23 +0530

On 13 February, I wished Pramod Muthalik a 'Happy Valentine's Day' in advance! To my surprise, Muthalik, whose Sri Rama Sene, known for its strident opposition to 'foreign culture,' was

I am a farmer and I want FDI

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 02:22:56 +0530

I was still in college when farmers' leader Professor MD Nanjundaswamy's men ransacked the first outlet of Kentucky Fried Chicken on Brigade Road in Bangalore. That was in the mid-1990s.

In Ayodhya, Dasaratha's wives gorged on idli-dosa

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:01:49 +0530

AK Ramanujan's essay,'Three Hundred Ramayanas-Five Examples And Three Thoughts On Translation,' has finally been dropped from the history syllabus of Delhi University. I wrote the following article in the last

Solitary Song of Shimoga

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 05:31:38 +0530

The only thing most people in Shimoga discuss these days is real estate. The real estate bug has bitten the people of Shimoga. Wherever you go in this booming town

Gill is over the hill

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 10:02:39 +0530

Sports minister M S Gill is an instant politician (instant as in instant coffee). He has never won any election. (The Rajya Sabha election isn't really an election. It is

Mangalore Diary: Highrises, malls & beautiful Bunt women

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 02:08:14 +0530

One of the best descriptions of Mangalore comes from 'Outlook' editor Krishna Prasad. He writes: "The tourist guidebooks don't quite put it that way, but Mangalore has always been

The second landing for the king of good times

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 05:09:45 +0530
It's the latest partnership in Indian politics, the King of Good Times with Karnataka's farmer king. Liquor baron Vijay Mallya stepping out to file his nomination for the Rajya Sabha,

Nithyananda, the sadhu who reads Cosmopolitan

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 12:55:26 +0530
Nithyananda isn't your garden variety swami. He flips through glam magazines, chit-chats with the powerful, and beds the pretty and gullible. "God's will is always good, acceptable, and perfect.

Rashmi's Stilettos - Newsroom Masala

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:46:02 +0530
The novel I've enjoyed the most in recent times is Stilettos in the Newsroom. I found this little book in a bookshop corner and leafed through a couple of pages.

A Decent Star falls silent

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 04:51:56 +0530
Early morning telephone calls always bring a bad news for me. This morning it brought the sad news of the untimely death of Vishnuvardhan. He was already a big hero,

When BJP's Things Fall Apart

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:09:11 +0530
TURNING and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide

How Media Made Muthalik

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 06:55:43 +0530
Mangalore is the flavour of the season. It is now more famous than Madrid! Muthalik is hogging the headlines across India. Is he just a media creation or a real

Random notes on Kashmir

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:05:45 +0530
"Kashmir shrinks into my mailbox, my home a neat four by six inches. I always loved neatness. Now I hold the half-inch Himalayas in my hand. This is home. And

Paul Theroux's 'Idiots' of Bangalore!

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 01:26:01 +0530
The travel writer Paul Theroux first came to Bangalore 35 years ago when he was working on his iconic 1975 travelogue, The Great Railway Bazaar. But, he didn't stop

Aravind Adiga , The White Tiger or just a paper tiger?

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:38:46 +0530
I must confess or admit that I was wrong! When Aravind Adiga got the Man Booker prize for his White Tiger, I was one of the millions of Kannadigas who

Global Meltdown - America at Bay

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:00:33 +0530
In 1851, when white Americans persuaded the Red Indians to sell two million acres of land for 150,000 dollars, chief Seattle, who spoke on behalf of the Indians in Washington

Catholics, Karnataka and BJP

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 04:17:25 +0530
What is now happening in my home state Karnataka is quite disturbing. It was unthinkable before mid 90s. People like me who went to schools and colleges in the 1980s

Will Chiru be an NTR?

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:31:31 +0530
"A crucial qualification needs to be made while dealing with the star phenomenon. As far as the superstars of the Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films are concerned, all the superstars,

Order, order: no English, only Kannada!

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 05:21:45 +0530
Former Indian all rounder Roger Binny was a nominated MLA in the Karnataka Assembly under the Anglo Indian quota. He never opened his mouth during his five-year term. He attended

BJP, Bellary and Reddyurappa's story

editor@ibnlive.com — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 04:48:41 +0530
Chief minister B S Yeddyurappa is upset these days. His face tells it all. He must be thinking it's easy to come to power but not so easy to rule.

How many Ramayanas? I am for many Ramayanas

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 03:57:08 +0530
The late A K Ramanujan is arguably one of the best internationally known Indian writers. The Mysore born and educated Ramanujan taught at the University of Chicago for decades. He

Why India loves the Laxman rekha

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 10:28:01 +0530
Who is the greatest Mysorean of our times? Difficult question, given that Mysore has produced some of the best minds in India, and the world. Two names that come

Who is a Ratna? Are cricketers Bharat Ratnas?

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 07:36:11 +0530
One of the best informed journalists in India, Krishna Prasad from Mysore, has initiated a raging debate on Bharat Ratna award in his popular website www.churumuri.com. I sent a comment

Nataka in Karnataka - When you Gowda go

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 09:37:19 +0530
Does the Deve Gowda family have divine protection? Veteran journalist from Mysore K B Ganapathy wonders in " Star of Mysore " the English daily he edits, "Sometimes I

Lake City, Green City - Roaming in Bangalore

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 12:52:27 +0530
Concrete on the lake As my plane readies to land in Bangalore, I take in the changes. I notice that new buildings are coming up in the expanses, and shockingly,

Jog Falls Diary and Coffee Crisis

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 06:28:41 +0530
On the Way to Jog Falls There is no train to Jog falls. Centuries back the British had an ambitious plan of linking the Konkan coast to Deccan plateau

More Bangalore for your buck - IT for Info Tech or Intl Terror?

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 07:14:51 +0530
Strap: Is it any surprise that Islamic terror masterminds are outsourcing jobs to the world's most famous vendor city" When news broke of the arrest of two Bangalore boys

Bangalore - As by two coffee loses out to cappucinnoâ€¦

editor@ibnlive.com — Fri, 11 May 2007 10:35:49 +0530
Whenever I visit my home state of Karnataka, friends and relatives ask,, "Why don't you come back to Bangalore, where you can happily eat Idli, Dosa, Mosaranna and Chitranna. Why

Narayana Murthy as Prez would be a shame

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:46:35 +0530
I write this at my own risk. I know I invite the ire of Indian IT professionals by talking this way about their patron saint. Kannadiga software pros,

KARNAD, KAVERI AND KANNADA

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 04:20:55 +0530
Eminent playwright and artist Girish Karnad is in the news for wrong reasons, once again. His comments supporting Tipu Sultan had led to a statewide protest, just 3-4 months back.

Shilpa Shetty, Aishwarya Rai – Bunts and Bubblies

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 07:02:49 +0530
Once dreaded Mafia don Sadhu Shetty told me ' look, we the Bunts are the only caste, who are into everything. We are really great. Nobody can match the Shettys

Golden South - Technocrats v/s Film Stars

editor@ibnlive.com — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 02:09:53 +0530
Sir M Vishweshvaraya is like an elderly member in the family for the people in old Mysore region in Karnataka. He died decades before I was born. But I knew

Bangalore to Bengalooru – A Big Bang or a Whimper?

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 03:13:06 +0530
" The Kannada cosmos is so rich, varied and plural that no intelligent, sensitive, Kannada speaking individual would ever feel maimed or incomplete for being a part of it. This

In praise of vintage

editor@ibnlive.com — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 03:19:40 +0530
Old buildings talk, and give our cities character. Why are we razing them? Old buildings fascinate me. The older the better. Whenever I go to a new place, I

Omkara: A Midsummer Nightmare

editor@ibnlive.com — Sat, 05 Aug 2006 03:42:48 +0530
Had Shakespeare been alive today, he would definitely have filed a criminal defamation suit against the entire team of Omkara. Much hyped Omkara is so disgusting. Disgusting is

Rajkumar: We never wanted him to die

editor@ibnlive.com — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 12:00:29 +0530
How old was I when I first saw a Rajkumar film? I must have been four years old. The movie I saw was the legendary Bangarada Manushya. I

The Chalukkudy Train

editor@ibnlive.com — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 07:40:38 +0530
Chalukkudy. A beautiful name. A town in Trissur district of Kerala. A town if you want to call it one. A village if you want to call it one. A