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Why not too many Indians bag the Nobel Prize
Every October, India goes through the by-now familiar drill of asking why there are not too many Indian-sounding names on the list of Nobel Prize winners. And on the odd …
Time to save S.L. Bhyrappa from Hindutva bigots?
For an “infuriatingly good” wordsmith whose 21 works fetched him the Saraswati Samman and Sahitya Akademi awards, it is an odd twist of fate that, at 81, the Kannada writer …
When Fernandes tried to blow up Vidhana Soudha
Like him or loathe him, there is no ignoring U.R. Anantha Murthy. As an academic, as a writer and as a public intellectual, URA has towered over the political, social …
If the Mahatma could rethink his xenophobia…
Ramachandra Guha in The Telegraph, Calcutta: R.K. Narayan did not write in Kannada, but his works sensitively portray the people, culture and landscapes of the state of Karnataka. His 1938 …
One law for man, another for our Godmen?
B.S.NAGARAJ writes from Bangalore: Watching the sensational developments in Swami Nithyananda‘s “ashram” over the last couple of days and his “escape” to an undisclosed location, you wouldn’t be wrong in …
Everybody loves his own Jnanpith winner
The heat and dust over the selection of the poet, playwright and writer Chandrasekhar Kambar for the Jnanpith Award has subsided, but the self-inflicted sense of injury about S.L. Bhyrappa …
Does Kambar deserve Jnanpith before Bhyrappa?
The selection of the poet, playwright and novelist Dr Chandrasekhar Kambar for the Jnanpith Award threatens to go the way of the previous two winners from Kannada, U.R. Anantha Murthy …
U.R. Anantha Murthy, our greatest living novelist?
In the mid-1980s, he stormed into the pages of The Illustrated Weekly of India as “one of the 50 most important people” in the country. But the trajectory of the …
Should NRN open world Kannada conference?
The letters to the editor of Kannada Prabha carries this epistle from the Kannada writer, Baragur Ramachandrappa (translated): “I am writing this letter against the backdrop of reports that Infosys …
CHURUMURI POLL: Will you vote for Hema Malini?
The BJP’s decision to nominate the former dancer-actor Hema Malini as the party’s nominee for the Rajya Sabha polls from Karnataka is now a fait accompli. In itself, appointing an …
What can a statue at Rs 25 crore do for Kannada?
E.R. RAMACHANDRAN writes: Ajji applauded the Kannada Sahitya Sammelana president G. Venkatasubbaiah for his forthright remarks. “Kaddi thundu mado haage helidrallo on corruption. He didn’t mince any words.” “Ajji, at …
What our Sahitya Sammelana should be all about
PRITHVI DATTA CHANDRA SHOBHI writes from Bangalore: In his classic Jnapaka Chitrashale, D.V. Gundappa (more popularly known to all as DVG) reports on the 1922 Kannada sahitya sammelana in …
The book Bhyrappa won’t be writing? Or will he?
Deccan Herald and Praja Vani cartoonist P. Mahmud‘s take on the writer S.L. Bhyrappa‘s description of the people of Karnataka as tarlegalu (a bunch of good-for-nothing whiners), in the weekly …
What Obama missed by not coming to Bangalore
PRASHANT KRISHNAMURTHY writes from Bangalore: Looking at the wide-eyed, over-the-top coverage of US president Barack Obama‘s 100% sanitised weekend break to Bombay and Delhi, you can only wonder what he …
‘Brahmins need a deeksha to awaken empathy’
As the caste and communal cauldron gets nicely stirred up in Karnataka by the competitive padayatras of Hindu and Dalit seers, the noted Kannada writer, Devanoor Mahadeva, turns the mirror …
Did Adolf Hitler fetch S.L. Bhyrappa’s freedom?
The American humour writer P.J. O’ Rourke says the Soviet Union did not collapse because of Ronald Reagan or Margaret Thatcher or Star Wars; it collapsed because of Bulgarian blue …
“An appeal in the name of our friend, George”
The following is the full text of an appeal/ statement in the matter of member of Parliament George Fernandes by his longtime friends and wellwishers, issued by former Union minister …
It takes all types to keep a City clean and green
At the beautiful Gangothri Glades cricket stadium in the city that produced English language wordsmiths of the calibre of R.K. Narayan and R.K. Laxman, Raja Rao and U.R. Anantha Murthy, …
CHURUMURI POLL: URA, smooth, smart or stupid?
He has himself publicly stated that he had his disagreements with the Janata Dal (Secular) as a party and some of the decisions taken by H.D. Deve Gowda and H.D. …
‘Campus interviews polluting schools, colleges’
The Jnanpith Award winning Kannada writer U.R. Anantha Murthy has lashed out at campus interviews and recruitments, saying that they “pollute” the education atmosphere. Corporates and campus recruiters, he has …
‘Mavinakayi Chitranna’ in 5 easy steps
For most people, obbattu marks the high point of Ugadi, but allow me to strike a seriously contrarian note: It’s the mavinakayi chitranna that really gives the Kannada New Year …