SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA, BENGALURUDECEMBER 6, 20152 TIMES CITY

COMEDY | BENGALURU LAUGHTER CARNIVAL:Stand-up comics Praveen Kumar, who introduced the 'frustrated software engineer' to the world, Raja Sekhar, and Umesh Somani will perform a live stand-up act. Rangasthala Auditorium, Rangoli Arts Centre, 7pm

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DIARYBOOK LAUNCH | A GRANDMOTHER’S LEGACY: Jenny Mallin offers a unique insight into five generations of an Anglo-Indian family; a memoir that stirs the imagination of the reader by bringing to life her grandmothers, their lifestyle and their recipes. Christ University, Hosur Road, 4pm

PLAY | RAJU RAJA RAM AUR MAIN: A comedy about an industrialist who catches his wife in an act of adultery. With tempers running high, the husband is accidentally murdered, and chaos ensues with multiple mistaken identities and look-alikes. Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Malleswaram, 6pm

THEATRE | GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES: Adapted from the play by the Pultizer Prize-nominated playwright Rajiv Joseph, this is the story of a relationship between Adhiraj and Ira, unfolding between the time they are eight years old till the time they are 38. Rangashankara, 3.30pm and 7.30pm

MUSIC | MORTAL MEN, IMMORTAL MUSIC: The concert pays tribute to the immortal music of Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhonsle through a live concert with a 14-piece orchestra led by Pradeep Patkar. Good Shepherd Auditorium, 6pm

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Sitting next to her mound of peanuts at a corner of Bull Temple Road in Basavanagudi, Shantha, a resident of Salem in Tamil Nadu, is worried

about her relatives in Chennai."I came early this year for the mela.

Many of my relatives who were to join me from different parts of Tamil Nadu couldn't make it due to crop loss because of rain and floods. You saw on television how bad the situation is," she added.

The annual groundnut festival, popu-larly known as Kadlekayi Parishe, is set to officially kickstart in Basavanagudi on Sunday (December 6). But the impact of floods is visible here as a good share of peanut produce comes from Tamil Nadu. Also, many vendors from Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu make it a point to come for the festival this season, and set up stalls here. But Nagarani, another ven-dor from Chennai, says the number of traders is coming down this year.

Mela organizers were not sure how re-duction in supply from Tamil Nadu will have an impact on prices of groundnuts. “Apart from Tamil Nadu, groundnuts come from Anekal, Gauribidanur, Chintamani, Kolar. Mandya and some parts of Andhra Pradesh as well. We have to wait and see how it turns out,” said Dr M Shivarama Reddy, physical education director with BMS College of En-gineering, who is closely associated with the festivities. But the organizers agree that of 300-odd stalls that come up during the an-nual festival, around 40% are occupied by traders from Tamil Nadu.

“One has to also consider the fact that unseasonal rain has its impact on local groundnut production, and impacts pric-ing too. But we have to wait and see how it turns out when the mela begins on Sunday. A lot also depends on the turnout for the mela and the demand for groundnuts. In 2013, the price per seru went up to Rs 60,” said Ramachandra K, a groundnut trader attending the mela for 35 years.

On Friday, raw groundnuts were selling at Rs 20 to 25 per seru (0.93kg) and roasted and boiled ones for Rs 30. There are also jaggery-coated and other flavoured varieties, besides puffed rice, sweets and savouries, and various articles for kids’ entertainment. Consumer durables and clothes are also sold at the venue. While the mela is officially held for three days -- Sunday to Tuesday, with Monday being the main fair day – the cele-bration will spread through the week.

RELIEF SORTIE: Rescued passengers disembark from the AN32 at HAL airport on Saturday

GOING NUTS: Rain and crop loss have cast a shadow on the Kadlekayi Parishe

Kadlekayi mela loses shineChethan Shivakumar

HAL opens for rescue flightsTIMES NEWS NETWORK

HAL airport opened up its airstrip to rescue mis-sions from Chennai, flooded due to incessant

and record-breaking rainfall since November. On Saturday, an AN32 ferried 40 persons from Tambaram to HAL airport.

T Suvarna Raju, CMD, HAL, said the airport will be used for no-ble missions such as this, for as many days as required. The airport is open to military flying, test flights, chartered and VVIP flights. “There is no time bar for these flights. HAL is willing to render its services and keep the airport open for such rescue operations,” he said.

KSRTC CARRIES RELIEFKSRTC rescued over 5,200 stranded Chennaiites from the deluge from Wednesday to Friday, on 136 buses. The transport corporation, which operates 43 schedules on a regular day, deployed extra buses for the rescue operation. It is also trans-porting relief material sent by the government and NGOs.

Rajendra Kataria, MD, KSRTC, said the corporation is willing to operate three buses —two Sarige services and one AC Airavata be-tween December 4 to 12.

South Western Railway also trans-ported thousands of helpless citizens on a special train that arrived in Ben-galuru late Saturday night.

TRAINS BACK ON TRACKOn Sunday, these trains will leave for Chennai at their regular timings:

Train No. 12608 Bengaluru-Chennai Lalbagh Express from Bengaluru, 6:30 am

Train No. 12610 Bengaluru-Chennai Express from Bengaluru, 8amTrain No. 12008 Mysore-Chennai Shatabdi Express from Mysuru, 2.15pm

Train No. 12658 Bangalore-Chennai Mail from Bengaluru, 10.40pmTrain No. 16022 Mysore-Chennai Kaveri Express from Mysuru, 8.30pm

Passenger special to leave Bengaluru to Chennai Beach at 9am is cancelledMONDAY

Train No. 12028 Bangalore-Chennai Shatabdi Express from Bengaluru, 6am

Train No. 12610 Bangalore-Chennai Express from Bengaluru, 8am

TOI

CHENNAI FLOODS

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Bengaluru: When 32-year-old Srilatha KS took to theramp on Saturday, she was liv-ing her dream. For, the corpo-rate employee who lost herlimb to polio in her childhood,was vying for the Miss Wheel-chair India title along with sixothers from Punjab, Bihar,Maharashtra and Delhi.

One of the first of its kindin Bengaluru, Miss Wheel-chair India Beauty Pageant,2015 was organized by Dr Raj-lakshmi SJ, winner of the lastyear’s contest. Dr Rajlakshmi,who lost her legs in a road ac-cident in 2007, said: “Beauty isnot about having a perfect fig-ure and ability. It’s all aboutinner beauty, confidence andintelligence. The initiativeshowcases the strength of allspecially-abled women andproves we can do everythinglike a normal person.”

Priya Bhargava from Del-hi won the pageant this year.

Srilatha, a resident of Bal-lari, said, “Since childhood, Iwanted to become a model anda fashion designer, but my dis-ability was the only obstruc-tion. I never wanted to fallprey to it, so auditioned forthis contest. And today I amhere, ready to rock the show inmy self-designed lehenga,”

For 25-year-old interior de-

signer Manyata Bawa fromPunjab, it is an opportunity toaccept the challenges. Shesaid, “Since childhood I could

not walk due to a genetic mus-cular dystrophy and at everystep of my life, I felt I was theodd one. Today, I want to provethat the disability has gotnothing to do with me beingindependent and brave.”

The judges panel com-prised Dr NK Venkatarama-na, neurosurgeon and vice-chairman of BGS Global Hos-pital; Tara, Kannada actress;Albina Shankar, director ofMobility India RehabilitationResearch and Training Cen-tre; and Dr Rajlakshmi.“Technology has made dis-ability, no disability today.That day is not far when ablind will be able to see, a deafwill be able to hear and a dis-abled one will be able to walk,”Dr Venkataramana said.

Women on wheelchairsset the ramp on fire

Chethan Shivakumar

SPOTLESS BEAUTY: Participants at the Miss Wheelchair India contest

inhabitants of Ireland’s Tory Island have a king even today. The 71-year-old painter, Patsy Dan Rodgers, became king in 1993

— not by inheritance — but as per the custom of the island which has one road,

one church, one grocery store which doubles as a post office, one lighthouse, one hotel, one hostel and one social club. The tradition dates back the 6th century when Saint Columba arrived. The saint

made a man called Duggan the king and later all the inhabitants converted to

Christianity. A pot of clay with magical properties gifted by the saint to Duggan is

believed to have left the island without rats since then and also protected fishermen at sea. The king’s duties

include ambassadorial obligations, welcoming visitors at the harbour, entertaining them by playing the accordion and telling them stories

about his home land

T H E B A R O M E T E R

ROYAL ISLAND

150bbc.com

Bengaluru: Just 10 days after BBMP andthe state government, on November 26,assured fixing potholes within twoweeks, a 30-year-old private company em-ployee died after falling down from a bikenear Vijaya Bank Layout in Hulimavu,south east Bengaluru, on Saturday morning.

Santosh B Sasalli, 30, resident of Be-gur, was riding pillion with a colleague,Devendra Kothari, and heading to a hos-pital as he had a backache. His family andfriends suspect that Kothari lost controlof the bike while negotiating a pothole.However, police said he fell from the bikedue to health problems.

Sasalli, a native of Gadag, North kar-nataka, had sustained head injuries. Hewas working as a service staff with acompany that sells fire extinguishers. Inhis statement to police, Kothari said San-tosh fell down when he slowed down toavoid a pothole.

“He called me around 5 am asking forhelp. He was suffering from acute backpain and we decided to take him to Ash-wini hospital at Bilekahalli,” policequoted Kothari as saying. “The road is inbad condition. So I decided to ride slow,”Kothari told police. He further told policethat Santosh said he could not sit anymore, but before Kothari could stop thevehicle, Santosh fell down and sustainedhead injuries. A senior police officer said

they are working on both angles. “There is no doubt that road is in bad

shape. Santosh’s injury would have beena normal one if the bike had been movingslowly,” he said.

City’s pothole claims onemore life? Cops unsure

WEEKEND BEGINS ON A GROOVY NOTE

ROCK ON: UK-based band Peasant’s King performs at the StrayDog Jamroom as part ofmusic festival NH7 Weekender in Bengaluru on Saturday. For details, visit www.StrayDog.in

Bengaluru: Foreign stu-dents seeking admissions touniversities in Karnatakadon’t have to visit severalwebsites to get informationor select the institution.

The recently launchedOverseas Centre for ForeignStudents of the KarnatakaState Higher EducationCouncil will have a portalwith details of all universi-ties in Karnataka. Besidesgetting details of courses,foreign students can evendownload application formsfor admissions to the univer-sities. Each university willhave an international centreand a nodal officer to assistforeign students.

Bharat Lal Meena, addi-tional chief secretary of thedepartment of higher edu-cation, said this initiativewould bring numerous bene-fits for students.

Under its ICT initiative,the department will make thepre-exam and post-examprocess online with introduc-tion of online application andadmission process for under-graduate and postgraduatecourses. Other benefits willinclude digital attendanceregistration, inter-universityinformation highway and on-line affiliation process. TNN

Foreignerscan apply to K’taka

univs online

Bengaluru: A 4-year old son of a mechanicplaying on vacant BBMP land near a templein Kalasipalya, west Bengaluru, drownedin a pit on Friday evening.

S Manoj was the last son of Suresh whohas six other children. Police said Manojand his friends were trying to catch tad-poles in the pit when Manoj lost his balanceand drowned. Suresh desperately searchedthe neighbourhood when Manoj didn’t re-turn home at night. “Suresh asked childrenwho were playing with Manoj about hiswhereabouts. On getting evasive replies,Suresh went to the pit full of water andfound the body,” Kalasipalya police said.

Probe revealed that BBMP had fencedthe barren land, saying it would be made in-to a park. “But no work was carried out oth-er than digging the pit,” police said, adding“We are seeking legal opinion whether wecan book BBMP officials for the tragedy.”

Four-year-old drownswhile playing near pit

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The SSLC examinations conducted by the

Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) will start from March 30 and conclude on April 13. The timetable is available on the board's website. Students will be given 15 minutes to go through the question paper at the beginning of every exam

SSLC exams to begin on March 30

TAKE NOTEMarch 30: First languages – Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, English and Sanskrit from 9.30am-12.30pmMarch 31: No examApril 1: Core subjects – Indian political science and civics from 9.30am to 12.30pm and Karnataka music/Hindustani music from 2pm-5.15pmApril 2: Elements of engineering, elements of electronics engineering, elements of computer science and Indian economics from 9.30am-12.15pm and engineering drawing from 2pm- 5.15pm

April 3: No examApril 4: Math and Indian sociology from 9.30am-12.30pmApril 5: No examsApril 6: Second languages – English and Kannada from 9.30am-12.30pm

April 7, 8, 9, and 10: No examApril 11: Social science from 9.30am-12.30pmApril 13: Third languages – Hindi, Kannada, English, Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Sanskrit, Konkani and Tulu from 9.30am-12pm

For more details, visit: http://kseeb.kar.nic.in/sslc_time_table.asp

Photo for representation only

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DANGER LURKS ON ROADNov 26: Ullas, 19, a hotel management student from Mysuru, died after falling down from his scooter while avoiding a pothole on Mysuru Road flyover

Sept 18: Stuti Pandey, resident of Banashankari, died on the spot and her husband Om Prakash sustained injuries when they fell down while avoiding a pothole on Devarabeesanahalli flyover, east Bengaluru

Aug 23: Sunitha Kumar, 28, and her son Nikhith Gowda, 10, riding a scooter were hit by a private bus after she swerved to the right to avoid a pothole on Tumakuru Road. While Nikhith was killed on the spot, Sunitha, who was rushed to hospital, died of brain haemorrhage a few days later

Physical disability should not be abarrier to scaling great heightsand the Miss Wheelchair IndiaBeauty Pageant is a right steptowards it. Given technologicaladvances, people with disabilitiescan compete neck and neck withothers, so the onus is on thesociety to provide them with alevel-playing field. Organizingmore such events would not onlyboost their morale, but alsoinspire them to explore newfields. However, one must ensurethat these events don’t end upbecoming tokenism, but bring in achange everywhere.

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