Vol.16 No. 5 May - 2016

BOOK POST

LANDMARK CENTURY ATINDIAN INSTITUTE OF WORD CULTURE

Dr. SudhaMurty

Chairperson,Infosys

Foundationfelicitating

JusticeM. RamaJois whowas the

chief-guestat

the 100th

annualprogramme

at IIWC

A culture NGO with

phenomenal reach, infrastructure,networking and public goodwill isBharatiya Vidya Bhavan (BVB),anywhere in the country. Itsactivities continue to lend hopethat ancient Indian wisdom andtraditions will not disappear

against the onslaught of westerncultural and lifestyle influences.

A sure fire pointer to this isthe 100th successful conduct ofthe BVB-Infosys Foundation(IF) programme on April 15 atThe Indian Institute of WorldCulture (IIWC) venue in

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Bengaluru, marking a centuryof shows of the varied traditionalarts of Karnataka, especiallydying arts.

Besides music sabhas,several private organizationspromote classical music anddance year round in the City.This is apart from some of themajor annual festivals devoted to

these arts. What ails othertraditional performing arts ispatronage, finance, and viaibility,a lacuna more than rectified bythe BVB-IF project.

It provided an opportunityfor over 500 artistes to go onstage since inception in April2010; brought to fore some rarearts form; created an interested

Devotional music to mark 100 shows

Artistswho

performedpose withDr. Sudha

Murty ,Justice

Dr.M. Rama

Joisand

Sri H.N.Suresh

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and appreciative audience, andacted as a clap board for youngartistes from all over Karnataka,especially from rural areas, manyof whom had their first glimpse ofa metro such as Bengaluru, whenthey came to perform for InfosysFoundation.

Six years ago, whenthe association of the twoorganizations was concretizedfor this project, it was a comingtogether for a cause—promotingyoung talent, especially from theeconomically weaker sections, andthose from rural areas. The idealhas been more than met, the 100th

programme of devotional music onnot marking a culmination of theventure but ushering in a renewedbeginning of much more to come.

If Sudha Murty thought itbest to propagate Indian culturethrough the Bhavan there was asound reason behind. Way back,in 1997, she set up an annualendowment programme in herpersonal capacity in memory ofher grand father, Hanumanth RaoKadim Diwan, a teacher byprofession, and a true Indian atheart...... his love for the country’sculture and philosophy was whatprompted Murty to set up aprogramme in his name. Thisassociation got further cementedin 2010 through the BVB-IFproject.

Says H N Suresh, BVBDirector, Bengaluru Kendra,‘This project has been an idealchannel for the less seen and lessheard arts and artistes. In thatsense it is the unique projectwhich is truly altruistic in nature”.K.C. Pemmaiah

Prema Thothadri

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Pointing out that everyprogramme has been aboveaverage in quality, he says theproject will have a cascadingeffect with its nurture and revivalof near-extinct art forms. ‘Thepublic in South Bengaluru haveresponded well; the key is to toprovide interestingprogrammes’,he says.

Harikatha, Gamakavaachana, puppetry, magic shows,yakshagana, vachanas, fusionmusic, daasapadas, light music,devotional songs, DVG’s famous“Mankuthimmana Kagga” inmusic form, instrumental music

such as violin, flute, veena,jaltarang, mukhaveena andsaxophone, percussion, booklaunches, environmentalawareness projects, and lecture-demonstrations are just a few ofthe forms and themes coveredunder the programme.

One of the most gratifyingaspects of this project has beenthe recognizing of talent of the

Bombeyata

PROGRAMMEHAS BEENABOVE AVERAGEIN QUALITY

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differently-abled, whoseperformance in this forum was aninspiration to the organizers andthe public, more than being anopportunity for them to perform.

One has to mention twopersons responsible for the

continuation andsuccess of theprogrammes—K CPemmaiah, Manager,Programmes &Projects, and PremaThotadhri, AssociateSecretary, BVB.It is a reality todaythat cultural eventseven in residentialareas do not attractmuch of an audience,many shows runningto near-emptyauditoria. Hamstrungwith this difficulty,the duo also had todeal with presentingnot popular art and

artistes, but less popular or nearextinct forms, and yet wooviewers—a horrendous task initself.

But the credentials of thequality of the performances andthe innate attraction of the artforms presented were establishedsoon after the project got off,ensuring a steady audience.Buoyed by this response, theBVB-IF project is poised to getbigger and better.

-Jyothi Raghuram

Noted Puppeteer K V Ramesh presenting a colourful puppet to Dr. Sudha Murty

PERFORMANCEIN THIS FORUMWAS ANINSPIRATION

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It was a coming together of

Samskritam scholars, spiritualgurus, academicians, and artistesat the Rotary Centennial PeaceSymposium in Bengaluru, whichlooked at coming to anunderstanding of the word peaceitself, and how it can beestablished at the micro level,and consequently in society, sothat antagonism, war, strife andconflicts no longer rule the world.

The two-day symposiumgot up by Rotary BangaloreIndiranagar and BVB, BengaluruKendra, from April 22, saw the

ESPOUSINGPEACE

participation of familiar yetrespected names such asShatavadhani Dr R Ganesh,Rajagopala Sharma Ganapaati,Prof. M N Chandrashekar,Swami Shanthimayananda ofRamakrishna Math, Bengaluru,Ananda Bhanteji, GeneralSecretary, Maha Bodhi Society,and Dr Chiranjeev Singh, former

Doves, symbols of peace being released by Rotarian’sto mark the conference

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ambassador to UNESCOamong others.

“Peace is Possible” wasthe underlying message of the

Mantra recitation byRajagopala Sharma and Group

Lighting the lamp from left : Rtn. M.K. Panduranga Setty, Past RotaryInternational Director, Rtn. Peeyush Jain, President, Rotary Banagalore

Indiranagar, Rtn. Sushil Gupta, Trustee, The Rotary Foundation,Rtn. Flt. Lt. K.P. Nagesh, District Governor – RI Dist 3190, Rtn. Suresh Hari,

Chairman, Rotary Centennial Peace Symposium

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seminar, which began withchanting of peace mantrasdrawn from Samskritamtexts by Rajagopala Sharma,with eloquent commentaryby Shatavadhani Ganesh.A specially choreographeddance on the theme of peace,titled “Rasothkarsha” by

Abhinava Dance Companylent strength to the concept

Rajendra and Nirupama in Rasothkarsha

“RASOTHKARSHA”

BY ABHINAVA

DANCE COMPANY

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in terms of interpreting itthrough a visual art medium.

Yoga and meditation areintegral to inner peace, fromwhich stems tranquility at themacro level. Dr S N Omkargave a lecture-demonstrationon “Yoga and meditation” onApril 23, which was followedby a panel discussion on thetheme of peace. Noted scholarDr Hampa Nagarajaiah,Rev Fr Dr Eugene Lobo, PRO,Karnataka Regional CatholicBishop’s Council, and Dr SyedEjazuddin Ashrafi, former MLC,lead the discussion.

Curtains were drawn onthe two-day event with musicrecitals by several artistes,

revolving around the conferencetheme. “Shama-Saama”,under the direction of Carnaticvocalist T S Sathyavathi, sawMaruthi Prasad S R, AnjanaP Rao and Shilpa Shashidhar(vocal), Sangita Srinidhi (veena),Smitha H M (violin) andAdamya R (mridanga)take to stage.Violin byAneesh Vidyashankar and aBharatanatya recital bySubhashini Vasanth roundedoff the programme.

Prof. Chandransher reciting Veda Mantras

YOGA & MEDITATION

SHAMA - SAAMA

DANCE RECITALS

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Justice Jois writes onHuman Rights

Post retirement, legal

luminaries take to lecture toursand writing, drawing from theirlong work experience. Somehowever, keep abreast of themoves of the legal machinery inminute detail, dig deep into Indiancivilization’s philosophy, retrospecton their own active legal inningsand gift it to the public as an“awareness module”.

Justice Dr. M Rama Jois hasbrought exactly this Indian legacyto the public domain through hislatest book, “Human Rights andBharatiya Values”, which will belaunched at the Bhavan on May 4,by Justice R K Lahoti, formerChief Justice of India.

“The most importantaspect of human rights is theright to happiness, and this isconspicuous by its absence in theUniversal Declaration of HumanRights; it is worthy of beingincluded in it. Dharma is themost valuable contribution ofour country. Our legal system ismore in the nature of pursuanceof dharma. Dharma is self-imposed whereas law isenforced” says Justice Jois.

WATCH OUT FOR

MAY 4, 20, 2016.

Among the 10 books he haswritten, “Legal and ConstitutionalHistory of India” is a text bookfor law degree colleges all overIndia, and “Dharma: The GlobalEthic” is a hand guide forprofessionals and the layman.

The book delves intoissues such as right to equality,education, protection, socialsecurity and impartial and speedyjustice release, and special rightsof women among others.The launch is at 5 pm.

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Music With A Message

May 20 : Although thebhakti-enveloped Haridasamovement began as a means topropagate Dwaita philosophy, itblossomed into a representation ofthe art, culture and philosophy ofKarnataka in what then fell in thegeneral ambit of South India.Purandaradaasa is the best knownamong these saint-philosophers,his pithy compositions painting aview of life, here and beyond,which is both universal andtimeless.

Vadirajatirtha, Kanakadaasa,Vyasatirtha and Sripaadaraayawere among the prominent saint-singers who took devotion to thealmighty to heights that were yetunderstood by the common man.The lofty philosophy couched insimple lyrics and tuned to soothethe mind and heart, changed theface of classical music, drawingmore adherents to it as listeners.It was as much a literarymovement, earning the name“daasa sahitya”.

Preceding this was theVeerashaiva movement fromwhich arose Basavanna’svachanas in North Karnataka inthe 12th century, although MadaraChennaiah, a cobbler was the

progenitor of this type ofliterature. Daasapadas andvachanas point out theshallowness and hypocrisy of aworldly life and the need toreach out to divinity.

These compositions will beformatted into a full-fledged musicconcert by Dr K S Vaishali at theIndian Institute of World Culture,at 6 pm. A Hindustani vocalistwho is as fond and adept atlecture-demonstrations to helppopularize classical anddevotional music, Dr Vaishalihas put in single-minded effortsat propagating classical musicand its offshoots such as bhaktisangeet to draw more listenersand practitioners into it, which ispraiseworthy indeed. Make it tothe venue, especially consideringthat the lyrics, being in Kannada,will surely make the recitalimpactful, the musical aspectbolstered by her classicalbackground.

- JR

Vaishali

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BHAVAN-INFOSYS FOUNDATIONOUTREACH CULTURAL PROGRAMMEAT BVB, ON FEB 20, 2016.

Dasara Compositions with Emphasis on ‘Dina Nithya Jeevana Thathva’

Artists : Neela Ramgopal, Geetha Murthy, Rema Ramaiah,

Usha Kesari, Bhargavi Manjunath.

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PROGRAMME :

MAY - 2016

Wed 5.00 p.m. - Khincha Hall

04. Book launch –“Human Rights & Bharatiya Values’authored by Justice Dr.M.Rama Joisby Justice R K Lahoti,Former Chief Justice of India

Chief Guest :Subhro Kamal MukherjeeChief Justice, Karnataka High Court

Presided bySri. D.H. Shankara MurthyChairman, Karnataka LegislativeCouncil.

Guests of Honour :Sri. N. Ramanuja,Chairman, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

Sri. Sanjay Sahay, IPSAdditional D.G..P.

Sun 5.00 p.m. - ESV Hall

08. Sri G V Bhave andSmt. Lakshmi Bhave endowmentprogramme : Devotional Music byVidushi Rama Krishnaswamy

Sat 6.00 p.m.

14. BVB -Infosys Foundationand Ananya Outreach programme :Carnatic Music Vocal byVidushi M K Tejaswini andVidushi Meghana Murthyaccompanied byViolin : Vid Vaibhav RamanMridanga : Vid B S PrasanthVenue : Keshava Samskruti SabhaNo. 556 Samskruti Bhavan II MainISRO Layout, Bangalore

Fri 6.00 p.m. -

20. Dasara Padagalu & Vachanas

Vocal : Dr K S VaishaliTabla : Vid.Vikas NaregalHarmonium : Vid.Madhusudha Bhat(in association with InfosysFoundation)

Venue : Indian Institute of WorldCulture, Basavanagudi, Bengaluru

Sat 6.30 p.m. - Khincha Hall

14. Horizon series -

Bharathanatya by students ofAradhana Institute of DanceDirection : Smt. Sudha Nagaraj(in association with IndianCouncil for Cultural Relations)

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May - 2016