Category Archives: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

The man who built a bridge between Tamil and Bengali

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Chennai :

Building a bridge between two languages is not easy. But S Krishnamurthi (aka Calcutta Krishnamurthi), who died recently in the city, did exactly that by translating major works in Tamil into Bengali and vice versa in a career spanning more than five decades. He translated the works of veteran Bengali writers like Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Mahasweta Devi, Sunil Gangopadhyay and Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay into Tamil. Similarly, he translated classic Tamil Sangam literature ‘Tirukkural’ and many modern Tamil literary works into Bengali.

Krishnamurthi’s translation of Indira Parthasarathi’s novel “Kuruthippunal” into Bengali won him the Sahitya Akademi award in 1991. “He would invite visiting Tamil scholars and writers home for dinner after long conversations in the Bharathi Tamil Sangam in Calcutta. It would lead to a lot of discussions on literature in Tamil as well as in Bengali,” said Tirupur Krishnan, scholar and writer. Krishnamurthi died on September 7 in the city after suffering from illness. Speaking at a condolence meet organized by the Tamil Heritage Trust a couple of days ago, Krishnan said, “He should have been recognized in Chennai like the way he was in Bengal.”

Born in Pudukkottai in 1929, Krishnamurthi obtained his MA in English literature from Nagpur University. Even though he was fluent in his mother-tongue Tamil, he learnt other languages like Hindi, Bengali, Sanskrit, English and German. While he was working with the audit department of the Government of India in the then Madras state in 1955, he was transferred to Calcutta. He embraced Calcutta as his second home since then.

“After Subramanya Bharathi who translated Rabindranath Tagore’s works into Tamil, Krishnamurthi was the one who took up the challenge. He also translated English and Hindi books into Tamil, including “Nehru, Ideology and Practice”, written by veteran communist leader EMS Namboodiripad,” said R Gopu, a software engineer.

Krishnamurthi wrote biographies of Nazrul Islam, Sarat Chandra, Munshi Premchand and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar in Tamil. K Mohan, a retired school teacher, said, “Krishnamurthi translated a Tagore story studded with proverbs with great expertise. It was a great attempt as he did not want to lose the flavour in Tamil. This was the main reason why communist leader and former chief minister of West Bengal Jyoti Basu praised him for the beauty of his Bengali,” he said. Even though Krishnamurthi didn’t want to leave Kolkata, he had been living in Chennai for more than a year due to old-age related illness. He is survived by a daughter and a son.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by M. T. Saju, TNN / September 16th, 2014

Feminist writer Rajam Krishnan dead

Arts, Culture & Entertainment
Feminist writer Rajam Krishnan
Feminist writer Rajam Krishnan

Chennai :

Feminist writer Rajam Krishnan, who had been ailing for a while after an accident, passed away at a private hospital in Chennai on Monday night. She was 89.

A recipient of the Sahitya Akademi award, New York Herald Tribune award, Soviet Land Nehru award and others, Rajam was known for her writings in Tamil on the lives of poor farmers, saltpan workers, criminals, dacoits, undertrials and female labourers.

“She used to visit the place of these people on whom her story was going to be based. She lived their lives and recorded them in the form of a short story or novels,” said CPM state general secretary G Ramakrishnan in a tribute to the writer.

“Her writings on women issues and labourers were lively and explained the actual condition of the victims. Apart from writings on many issues, she also took part in several agitations to give voice for the oppressed,” said Ramakrishnan.

Born in a conservative family Trichy district in 1925, Rajam started writing at the age of 16 and since then had written several short stories, articles and novels. Though she had not undergone formal education, her writings became a subject of research at universities.

Rajam married Krishnan, an electrical engineer, at the age of 15. He encouraged her to read several books, and his encouragement helped her turn to writing at a young age.

She was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1973 for her novel ‘Verrukku Neer.’

The Tamil Nadu government nationalized her writings in 2009, making an exception to the general rule that only the works of deceased authors were considered for nationalization. An official release said her works had been nationalized for Rs 3 lakh as a special case, based on her request.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> India / by B. Sivakumar, TNN / October 21st, 2014

Researcher Finds Stone Age Pallankuzhi

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, Sports
Pallanguzhi holes found by a research team at Pannamparai village in Thoothukudi district | express
Pallanguzhi holes found by a research team at Pannamparai village in Thoothukudi district | express

Thoothukudi :

Pallanguzhi (a traditional mancala game) holes dating back to the Stone Age were found at Pannamparai village in the district, claimed Thavasimuthu, an archaeologist. The holes were discovered during a ground study by Thavasimuthu and his students.

Pallanguzhi is a traditional mancala game played in rural areas. It is normally played on boards and before boards emerged, people played the game by making holes in rocky areas. Thavasimuthu claimed that the holes represent a shorter version of Pallanguzhi, which is played even now.

He added that the holes represent several things, including the earliest human settlements, the impact that the game had on human lives and also the adjacent trade routes. He further said that the game was even used to settle disputes between kings and had avoided several wars as the winner of the game was considered the winner of the dispute.

After examining the holes, Thavasimuthu said, “The Pallanguzhi holes should be at least 10,000 years old.”

He added that the holes would normally be made with axes but in the case of holes found at Pannamparai village, the holes were made using stones.

He noted that by relating the age of the Pallanguzhi holes and the earliest possible  human settlements, it could be discerned that men from Africa had first settled in the southern parts of Tamil Nadu.

He added that similar holes were earlier found in Pazhani hills and they date back 25,000 years.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Express News Service / November 16th, 2014

Gandhigram University scientists save tree from extinction

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Nature, Records, All

Madurai :

If researchers at Gandhigram university are successful in their endeavour, the rudraksha tree, which is endemic to the Western Ghats, can soon be saved from extinction.

Researchers from the university have germinated seeds of the species ‘Elaeocarpus blascoi Weibel’ under laboratory conditions and the saplings reared by them are slowly taking root in their natural habitat of the shola forests in the Western Ghats.

According to Dr Raju Ramasubbu, professor in the department of biology at the Gandhigram Rural Institute, there are 250 species of the rudraksha tree in the world, of which 25 are found in India. Eleven of the 25 are confined to the Western Ghats, and 10 can be seen only in the Palani Hills, Dindigul district. Fruits from the subspecies ‘Elaeocarpus sphaericus’ are used as beads to make rosaries, necklaces and bracelets.

Dr Ramasubbu and his student Felix Irudhayaraj were alarmed at the fact that only a single ‘Elaeocarpus blascoi’ tree was found in the Palani hills when they undertook a study on the trees, which are on the red list of the International Union for Consevation of Nature (IUCN). The study on ‘E. blascoi’ was conducted from July 2012 to May 2014, and was published in the October 26 issue of the ‘Journal of Threatened Taxa’.

On reason for the tree facing extinction is that nuts take very long to germinate due to their hard cover. A mature tree takes 15 years to start flowering and grows to a height of 20 meters. This large evergreen tree was found in the Bear Shola in the Palani Hills in 1970. But another report published in 1999 said it had become extinct. Later, a lone tree was spotted in 2000.

After confirming that the species was staring at extinction, they went to the mother tree and collected seeds. Many seeds were found viable but had not germinated. Some were too old or affected by fungus, and there were no saplings near the mother tree.

The researchers took the seeds to their laboratory and were successful in germinating 80% of them. They planted four saplings that were two- and-a-half months old in an isolated spot in its natural habitat and are happy with the way they are growing. “We visit the spot twice a month and check their growth,” Dr Ramasubbu said.

The researchers collected tissue from the shoots of the mother tree and are culturing them. If successful, they plan to plant more trees in their natural habitat as it aids seed germination, which would help remove the species from the IUCN ‘red list’.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / by Padmini Sivarajah, TNN / November 12th, 2014

Birding session marks birth anniversary of Salim Ali

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Nature
Bird watchers at the Government Botanical Garden in Udhagamandalam on Wednesday. - PHOTO: M. SATHYAMOORTHY / The Hindu
Bird watchers at the Government Botanical Garden in Udhagamandalam on Wednesday. – PHOTO: M. SATHYAMOORTHY / The Hindu

As many as 25 species spotted at Government Botanical Garden

Spread over 55 acres and dotted with hundreds of trees and flower beds apart from many ponds, the Government Botanical Garden here played host to a birding session organised by the Nilgiri Wildlife and Environment Association on Wednesday to commemorate the 118th birth anniversary of Salim Ali, the father of ornithology.

With the undulating venue and the occasion complementing each other, members of the association and students of Wildlife Biology in the Government Arts College returned with the satisfaction of having spotted birds belonging to about 25 species.

Pointing out that the most prized sighting of the day was a Kashmir Fly Catcher, the association’s executive committee member K.Vijay told The Hindu that the migratory bird from the Himalayas, which has been classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, could not be seen here last year.

Pointing out that its presence now signifies the commencement of the migratory season, he said that among the other birds spotted were the Grey Wag Tail, the Black and Grey Fly Catcher, the Common Hawk-Cuckoo, Pond Heron, Great Pit and the Nilgiri Blue Robbin.

Responding to a query, Mr.Vijay said that the botanical garden with its wild fruits and flowers is an ideal bird habitat.

Birding destination

Expressing the view that it can be promoted as a responsible birding destination, he said that the authorities concerned should regulate the activity and restrict it to one or two days a week. Stating that birding is a very effective stress buster, he said that it also encourages people to walk. Volunteers including students of Wildlife Biology should be engaged to create awareness among tourists about the role of birds in protecting the ecology.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by D. RadhaKrishnan / Udhagamandalam – November 13th, 2014

Chennai historian sets off on trail of Tanjore Marathas

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All

Chennai :

In October 1677, Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji paid a visit incognito to the Kalikambal temple in George Town, supposedly while contemplating an attack on the British forces. He came, he saw, he prayed, though he never did conquer.

“He finally decided against fighting,” said historian and archaeologist Dr S Suresh, Tamil Nadu State convener of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), who will give a talk on the Art and Architecture of the Tanjore Marathas for the Chennai chapter of the organisation on Wednesday, at Amethyst, a cafe and shop in Royapettah.

A few years before Shivaji’s visit, his half-brother Venkaji had made travelled to Tanjore to sort out a succession issue among the Nayak rulers. “Venkaji pitted one against the other and took charge of the kingdom, establishing the Tanjore Maratha dynasty in the south in 1676,” said Suresh, who completed his second PhD on the Marathas.

Several Maratha families also came to the south and settled in Tanjore, Vellore and Chennai. “Over the years, they developed their own culture and language, which is very different from the Mumbai Marathis,” he said. “Today’s Tanjore Marathis speak a dialect, which is completely different from Marathi.”

Suresh will also be releasing a book on the history of the Tanjore Marathas, a clan that had been ignored in most Indian history books. “They contributed to the art, architecture and culture of south India in a number of ways, but most of that is forgotten,” he said.

“They never destroyed an enemy’s building, but preserved and expanded them, always using the same material used in the existing structure,” said Suresh, citing the example of the Tanjore Big Temple in which the Marathas added a sub-shrine dedicated to Lord Nataraja.

“The Marathas ordinarily used brick to build their temples. But here they used stone for the sub-shrine because that was what was used in the rest of the temple. No one can tell the sub-shrine was added later.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by Kamini Mathai , TNN /  September 24th, 2014

Historian brings Dutch history in Chennai to life

About Chennai(Madras) / TamilNadu, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, World Opinion

Chennai :

The sombre surrounds of the Tamil Nadu Archives are at home with history, their halls accustomed to quiet scholarship. But on Tuesday afternoon, history leaped off the pages as Dr Bauke van der Pol, Dutch cultural anthropologist, introduced a full house to his recent book, The Dutch East India Company in India. His scholarship studies the trade links between the Netherlands and India, beginning with the 16th century and petering out in the 19th.

It was the archives’ first public address after four years, the institution being a vital resource for Dr Pol’s research. In fact it was the Dutch embassy that helped the state archives preserve and digitize its Dutch papers, which can be accessed on the website of the National Archives of Netherlands, albeit in Dutch.

Back in Egmore, Dr Pol’s presentation opened with a monogram of The United Dutch East India Company, whose acronym in Dutch (VOC) is said to be the oldest trademark of a multinational. Evidence of the trademark can be found across India, in the still-standing monuments of former Dutch settlements like Kochi, Chinsurah, Nagapattinam and Sadras. “India has a longer relationship with the Dutch than America does,” Dr Pol said.

The first Dutchman arrived in India in 1568, but trade ties were first established in 1604, when on November 11, Admiral Setven van der Hagen landed in Malabar to sign a defence and trade treaty with the Zamorin of Kozhikode. The Dutch East India Company had been established two years before this in 1602.

Although Madras was not a Dutch settlement, its neighbouring Pulicat was a stronghold; the best surviving evidence of this is the Dutch cemetery. “People presumed pirates were buried there because of the skull and skeleton carvings,” says Dr Pol, who had to enlighten people about the features of 18th century cemetery design.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by Joeanna Rebello Fernandes, TNN / November 12th, 2014

An evening pays tribute to maestro Madurai Mani Iyer

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Chennai :

Time was when the rickshaw-pullers in Mylapore would assemble for Madurai Mani Iyer’s concert, requesting their customers to wait until the event got over. Such was the verve with which Mani Iyer approached each raga in his natural and vibrant style. And that’s the reason why an evening to mark the 103rd birth anniversary of the veteran Carnatic vocalist turned out to be special on Sunday.

The event was organized by the members of the Madurai Mani Iyer Centenary Committee at PS High School, Mylapore. Music enthusiast V Vishnuramprasad played a rare collection of songs that the maestro had rendered at Anguvilas in Dindigul in February 1962 accompanied by his favorite mridangist Palani Subramaniam Pillai, the young Lalgudi Jayaraman on the violin and Alangudi Ramachandran on the ghatam.

The three-hour concert was recorded using an old tape-recorder. Apparently, it was not easy for Vishnuramprasad to collect that old record from Dindigul. “It took a long time to covert the tape-recorded version into MP3 format. But still, the quality is not that great. But this is a vintage collection and one of the best of Mani Iyer’s,” says Vishnuramprasad.

Songs like “Karunai seivai” in Hamsadwani and “O jagadamba” in Anandhabhairavi featured in the concert, were introduced after giving final touches to the old version. Similarly, ‘Kapali’ in Mohanam followed by a grand Thaniavarthanam by mridangist Palani and ghatam maestro Alangudi shows how Mani Iyer treated his percussionists. “Palani Subramaniam Pillai was his favorite mridangist. He was an unsung hero. The Dindigul concert was the last one that Palani and Mani Iyer shared together. Palani died after a couple of months,” he says.

Mani Iyer was born to M S Ramaswamy Iyer and Subbulakshmi on October 25, 1912 in Madurai. Veteran vocalist T V Sankaranarayanan is his nephew.

R Suryaprakash, a Carnatic singer who follows the Mani Iyer style, says, “It was Iyer who popularized the avarohana (descending scale) style in Carnatic music. His experiments with ragas opened a new world in Carnatic music. And it is still respected,” he says.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / TNN / November 11th, 2014

Former child prodigy leads naval band to Kolkata

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Kolkata :

He claims that he only managed to chew on the harmonica that his father gifted him at the age of four. His father, however, believed that there was something in the way he played it. By the age of six, he was playing a piano and barely six year’s later, he was invited to the TeenMurti Auditorium in New Delhi to play the piano on the occasion of the bicentenary celebrations of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This child grew up to be Lt CdrSatish K Champion, principal conductor of the Navy’s Eastern Command Band that is presently in Kolkata.

“I am from Chennai but was born and brought up in Mumbai. My father was in the Navy as well. After starting with the piano, I passed a series of examinations under the aegis of the Royal School of Music, London. Even then, I had not planned a career in music but took up computers. This was when the two officers from the music wing of the Navy retired and they started looking for talent. I was selected,” Champion told TOI.

Joining was not even half of the job done. Over the next few months, he had to gain sufficient mastery over several musical instruments and had to pass several rounds of tests. After all, he was to be a conductor. Champion is also formally trained on the trumpet apart from the piano and has several musical compositions to his credit.

On Sunday evening, Champion and the members of his band mesmerized the audience at Lascar Memorial. The selection of tunes was done to suit the occasion. While numbers like Colonel Bogey (of Bridge on the River Kwai fame) got people clapping, many in the audience were tapping their feet during the Rock and Roll medley. The Xylophone solo ‘Tipy Toes’, composed by Champion was also a hit as was Henry L Kling’s composition ‘Piccolo Duet’.

On Monday, the band performed at the ICCR Auditorium. On Tuesday, it is scheduled to perform at the Tollygunge Club. This back to back schedule hasn’t been easy for the band.

“We are hardly getting any time to rehearse. After all, the selections will have to be different for every location. The compositions will depend on the audience and the ambience. We have to adapt to the changes at each location. However, I have full confidence in the members of the band and they are doing their best,” Champion added.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Jayanta Gupta, TNN / November 10th, 2014

Social scientist Pandian dead

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Leaders

He was one of the finest authorities on the Dravidian Movement

M.S.S. Pandian, an eminent social scientist who wrote extensively on the Dravidian Movement, south Indian politics, cinema, caste, identity and several other socially relevant issues, passed away after a sudden heart attack here on Monday.

Prof. Pandian, 53, was moved from his residence at the Jawaharlal Nehru University to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences where he was declared dead. He is survived by wife and daughter.

He was serving in the School of Social Sciences’ Centre for Historical Studies and his sudden death has put the entire department in shock.

“He was a very good guide and although I was not his direct student, he helped me a lot whenever I asked him to,” said Ambedkar, a student at the SSS.

Academics from other universities who admired his work also mourned his loss. “He was one of the finest authorities on the Dravidian Movement and his book on it was considered radical when it was first published. His writings on the history of contemporary South Indian politics, caste and identity, also gave a boost to Subaltern Studies, which mostly had North Indian and Bengal subjects,” said Prabhu Mohapatra, who is an Associate Professor in Delhi University’s History Department and also one of Prof. Pandian’s oldest friends.

He added that Prof. Pandian’s book, “The Image Trap – M G Ramachandran in Films and Politics,” on the Tamilian superstar and his tryst with politics is also considered one of leading authorities on this subject.

Prof. Pandian was earlier an Associate Professor in the Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai.

His publications in the best reputed academic publications were many and his research interests were Nationalism, Caste, Tamil cinema and Popular Culture, among others. He completed his Ph.D in Madras University in 1987.

Prof. Pandian has been writing for national newspapers and the ‘Economic and Political Weekly’ for several years and known for his incisive articles on Tamil Nadu and Dravidian politics in particular.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National / by S.N. Vijetha / New Delhi – November 11th, 2014