tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88326190531022399862024-03-13T07:58:54.571+05:30Mind speakNo holds barred. Just speaking my mind on issues that matter. Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-46125870616356750682023-05-09T23:57:00.006+05:302023-05-10T11:42:01.513+05:30Why I will vote NOTA?<p>It has been a couple of years since I last wrote something and what better time to write than at the time when the dance of democracy is in full swing in Karnataka. It is time for us to cast our votes and perform that one duty that is sacrosanct as citizens of this great Country. </p><p>I have had the privilege of voting across 4 assembly and 4 Central elections till date. I have never seen such a high pitched battled for an assembly election as is the case this time. I have been a loyal BJP voter ever sine I started voting. I have always had valid reasons to vote for the BJP and like most people I know, I have voted for the party more than the candidate but this time around, I will not be voting for the BJP. It is true that I don't need to justify my actions to anybody but I believe that it is time for me, the voter to hold the local BJP unit to task for misusing my vote and not representing my needs and aspirations. </p><p>We have an MLA who the people of his constituency have voted to power in the last 3 elections. The MLA and his core supporters haven't done anything to gain credibility amongst his electorate. They have played petty politics, played communities against each other, indulged in all sorts of Corruption and when it is election time, have made it look like the electorate has to vote for them if they want to be safe in their own homes and localities. </p><p>Why is the Onus on us the electorate to vote the BJP to power? What is with this blackmail of, "Vote for the Congress and see how you will be marginalised?". Well, I voted for the BJP all these years only because I thought that my interests will be protected. If the MLA and his supporters think that a particular community will be a threat to other communities, then what did they do about it all these years? If they were so serious, then how many illegal occupants from the banks of our Mother Kaveri have been evicted? Isn't it true that the MLA's pet development model, i.e real estate and the conversions of land has resulted in a lot more outsiders coming into Coorg which has also ensured that the community that they are asking us to be vary of has mushroomed multiple layouts across Kodagu. </p><p>The MLA has often been accused of being Anti- Kodava but till date the MLA or his supporters haven't once said anything to dismiss these allegations. Not once has the MLA addressed the electorate and spoken about his achievements and contribution to the Kodava community. Of course, most BJP workers and supporters agree that he might be anti- Kodava and has been playing one community against the other but in the same breath will also take credit for the setting up of Kodava Development Corporation and the granting of 7 acres to Kodava Samaja Bangalore. This I am sure is an effort of numerous individuals who have worked behind the scenes to make it happen and to credit the MLA for it is an insult to everybody else's hard work. </p><p>We had the Chief Minister of Assam coming in to canvas for a 3 time sitting MLA in a constituency that has unanimously voted for the BJP, a constituency where the electorate has voted for the party more than the individual. Hence the question is, why can't the MLA try winning the elections on his achievements. Is it because he really has no achievements to show? Of course, people will talk about the improvement in the quality of roads; but why is that an achievement. Isn't that the basic need of any place? </p><p>The MLA and his coterie haven't done anything to do justice to the work put in by the Prime Minister of the Country. Pet projects like Swach Bharath has been implemented in Kodagu only because of Citizen activism. Most Panchayats ruled by the BJP have not even implemented garbage collection, segregation or disposal mechanisms. And when common Citizens have tried doing something about it, these elected goons have tried everything in their power to discredit and frustrate their efforts. Isn't that an injustice to the efforts of the Pradhan Sevak? Is it enough to only speak and praise Modi without even doing anything to do justice to his vision? </p><p>What about the other needs of the electorate? Kodagu is the water provider to South India. Nature and its protection is a part of our cultural ethos but when people talk about saving the environment and thwarting illegal conversions or unplanned development projects, the MLA and his coterie indulge in mud slinging and calling people names like "Dongi Parisaravadhis" without once saying anything to the contrary or debunking the allegations of illegal conversions or unplanned development. The benefits of projects like the Gadgil report haven't even gone to the masses. Instead, they have indulged in fear mongering to scuttle these reports. Won't the people of the district benefit with some of these schemes. Why the hypocrisy?</p><p>What about the other needs of the people of the district? People of Kodagu are very adjusting. We are so used to living without electricity for days together in peak monsoon but don't we deserve uninterrupted power supply for 3 months in a year when we irrigate our plantations. Why can't we have scheduled power cuts so that people are able to plan their irrigation schedules better? Is this too much to ask for?</p><p>Man- Animal conflict has become worse over the last few years. What has the MLA done to address this issue? Locals worked to get rail barricades put up but to appease some part of his electorate, we have wide gaps in these barricades which has become a transit for wild animals to come into human settlements. Has the MLA worked with the forest department to fund long term solutions for these issues? If so, what are they? Why can't the BJP speak about these?</p><p>Almost every land owner in Coorg has a problem with their documentation. The harassment of revenue officials and the bribes one has to pay to get their paperwork done is an open secret. What has the MLA or the BJP done to find solutions for the mess that is the revenue department? They comfortably side track this issue by blaming server issues and saying that this change has to happen at the State level. But what have they done to find solutions for this issue. The fact is that the Taluk office doesn't even have seats for the common man to sit in. Is the eye sore of a building a big achievement of the MLA?</p><p>All Kodavas have a hatred towards Tipu. As ancestor worshippers, we of course will not let anybody insult the sacrifices of our ancestors but by simply harping on it and indulging in fear mongering of an existential crisis for Kodavas and Hindus is not going to fly all the time. Most people understand that we have a situation in Kodagu where our demographics has changed tremendously and where the original inhabitants of the land are becoming a minority. So, what is the solution? Is fear mongering to gain sympathy votes the solution to it?</p><p>The disgruntlement against the MLA amongst his electorate has been going on for more than a couple of years now but even then the BJP did not even pay heed to the voices of the people. Is it because the BJP understands that they have the loyalty of the people of the district and that we will vote for the party irrespective of the candidate? When will the aspirations of the people actually matter? When will we be represented instead of us representing the Candidate and the party? </p><p>Now the Congress has a dynamic Kodava as the candidate. He is an Alumni from the same College that I went to and has made a name for himself by his hard work. He has worked a lot in Kodagu over the last couple of years and has ensured that he supports the causes of the Kodavas and is present for the needs of the people of Kodagu. It is definitely not fair to target him because of the sins of the Father. Unfortunately, he also belongs to a party that most people don't trust. That being said, I also very strongly believe that we should vote for the candidate and not the party especially in a constituency like Virajpet, simply because this one seat will not change the fortunes of any political party in the State. </p><p>My vote was for the Congress until a couple of weeks back. As a fellow Kodava, the farce of attending a traditional festival at a temple in Kodagu and using the platform to canvas for votes didn't sit well with me. To make things worse, not waiting for the festivities in the temple to end and rushing out from the place was a sign of disrespect to the place and its people. Despite my personal apprehensions, the Congress candidate has made the right noises and deserves a chance to show his worth and debunk all the conspiracy theories that are being floated against him. Unfortunately, the Congress manifesto of vote bank appeasement doesn't give it any credibility. </p><p>However, I have decided that I will vote NOTA this time around. I don't want to vote for the BJP candidate but I am not entirely convinced about the Congress candidate or the Congress party either. I am traveling nearly 700 kms to cast my vote. People have accused me of wasting a vote by deciding to go for NOTA. I strongly believe that NOTA is not a waste of a vote, it is rather a valuable chance for us to show our disappointment with the candidates and their respective parties. Time that all of us realised that voting is our duty and not who we vote for. We don't have to compromise or choose the lesser of the 2 evils all the time. As a traditional BJP voter, I hope that this article along with the views of many disgruntled BJP voters from the constituency reaches the powers to be in the BJP. </p><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #101010; line-height: 37px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; text-align: left;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Voting is the expression of our commitment to ourselves, one another, this country and this world.- Sharon Salzberg<br /><br /></span></div></div>Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-42663521424846887512021-05-22T23:42:00.004+05:302021-05-26T09:10:54.249+05:30Where do we go from here?<div>The last couple of months have been some of the toughest months that most of us have faced in our entire lives. Just when we thought that life was about to come back to normal, the second wave turned everything upside down. This second wave has affected every one of us in some way or the other; some of us have lost our close and dear ones while some of us have seen family and friends battle this with all that they have got. And there are probably more amongst us who have seen the suffering and have volunteered to understand the situation and help others in need. I have also seen cousins and friends who have used their time to coordinate much needed help to those in need. From coordinating beds, to supply of oxygen cylinders and concentrators to getting medicines, people have stayed up well past the midnight hour to get things done. Infact, in most cases, it was strangers rising to the occasion and standing up for another fellow human being.</div><div><br /></div><div>A lot has been written about these known and unknown heroes and I am not going to dwell into that nor am I going to dwell into the collective failure of our Governance system. We have been witness to multiple view points both for and against the Governments both at the States and the Centre. And all of us are entitled to our opinions, and so I am not going to use this space to give my version of it. </div><div><br /></div><div>I have personally not done much to help during this second wave except for an odd phone call or two to coordinate for friends and family but staying in Coorg during this time has helped me introspect and look at this entire scenario from the outside. Infact, the most I have probably done during this lockdown is ranting on social media on the ill planned lockdown measures implemented by the powers that be, especially in Coorg. This lockdown has once again helped me introspect and look at things from a much needed holistic perspective. </div><div><br /></div><div>Over the last 4 years or so, we have been faced with one disaster after the other. 2018 and 2019 saw mother nature unleash its mayhem on us and then 2020 and 2021 has seen this Pandemic further turn our lives upside down and in all these cases ordinary citizens have come up to support another human being irrespective of the relationship they share with the other person. The disasters in Kodagu saw many people take a break from their regular jobs so as to devote time and money to help rebuild people's land and lives. Even during this pandemic, we have seen strangers helping each other to salvage a situation. And all of this shows that no matter what, humanity is still alive and when push comes to shove, we will always stand up for each other. </div><div><br /></div><div>I believe this is where the problem is. In this pandemic, a lot of us started talking about the dismal state of affairs of our healthcare infrastructure only because we were faced with a situation where it didn't matter if we had our fancy insurance or access to the best of hospitals; all of us had to be a part of the system to get a simple bed in a hospital. And now we are taking vaccines in the first place that we have access to and this is making us understand the dismal state of affairs of our health infrastructure in the Country; the only health infrastructure that majority of our fellow citizens have access to. </div><div><br /></div><div>For far too long, we have let our emotions and our humanity get the better of us. We have only been reacting to situations by jumping from one issue to the other. It's time for us to take a pause and look at this broken system and understand where we have gone wrong as Citizens; Why is the onus on us as ordinary Citizens to bear the brunt of the collapse of a system and support each other to make it work? When will the system do the work its supposed to be doing? </div><div><br /></div><div>Time and again, we have let the system get the better of us by ignoring and looking the other way in our daily lives. We have let the powers that be get away with their corrupt practices and milking of the system to their advantage because we stopped or rather never questioned the functioning of the system. And even if we did, we do it when it trends as a hashtag on social media and even there, all it takes for us to move from one issue to the other is for another hashtag to trend, thereby making us less relevant in the running of the system. </div><div><br /></div><div>We have been taught that the most important role that we play in the functioning of the democracy is our power to vote. Unfortunately, we also think our job as participants in the great dance of democracy ends with us exercising our right to vote. The truth is that voting gives us the right to question the system. The people that we vote to power are our representatives, they are supposed to be listening to us. Instead, we are made to look like fools governed by the most intelligent and well meaning people in the Country. The powers that be have used this against us by constantly hoodwinking us into believing that change will come. No matter which party is in power, the onus is always on the stupid common man to follow the system and be good model citizens. And if we have a problem with the system, we can try and petition our representatives and if that doesn't work, then we can always approach another pillar of democracy, our dear Judicial system. But is that all that we can do or should be doing?</div><div><br /></div><div>The problem is that the powers that be, our Political, bureaucratic and official class have created a system where we as common citizens have become irrelevant, unless of course we belong to the high and mighty class who have direct access to those in power. We have to follow all rules and regulations, pay our taxes on time, don't default on our loans, follow traffic rules and regulations and so on and so forth. We have become submissive to a system of arrogant officials who make it look like they are doing us a favour by doing their jobs. We end up paying bribes for the most irrelevant things; like registering our own properties that we have either bought with our own hard earned money or that has been passed on to us from generation to generation. Almost no business can run without paying bribes to officials at some level or the other so much so that almost everything we do feels like its illegitimate. As Citizens, we somehow seem to find ourselves bowing down to a system that we know is not right just because we don't want to get our hands dirty. Whereas the powers to be are constantly abusing this system to get their right of way and what do we do? Nothing!. We curse the system, crib about it but then live with it like we have no other choice. </div><div><br /></div><div>It is time for us to wake up. Let us not let the lives of those who died in this pandemic or those that lost their lives and livelihood during the natural disasters go in vain. It is time for us ordinary Citizens to take control over our destiny and that of our children. It is not enough if we just pay our taxes and follow all rules and regulations like good, honest citizens, We need to become more participative in our democracy. An MLA or an MP is not going to solve it for us. We need to get active at the local ground level. We need to question the system starting from the ward or the panchayat level. I strongly believe that we cannot change the system from a top- down approach, we can only do it if we start at the bottom. </div><div><br /></div><div>After 75 years of independence, the time has come for us to value and cherish the freedom that our ancestors fought for. And we can only do that if we stand up for each other and be counted. </div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""helvetica neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><i><b>Democracy is not a spectator sport, it's a participatory event. If we don't participate in it, it ceases to be a democracy- </b>MIchael Moore</i></span><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-62255631162057729152020-12-30T18:58:00.005+05:302020-12-30T21:23:56.631+05:30New year- New Dreams! <p>This year 2020 has been unlike any other. It has impacted every single person in the World one way or the other. Every one of us has been pushed out of our comfort zones and forced to do things just so that we can survive this tumultuous year. On some level, the pandemic has been a sort of intervention the World needed to get it's act right. Though some might argue that nothing much really has changed and that we continue to live the rat race, the truth is that it has definitely let us look at things from a different perspective. </p><p>The fact that a lot of people of my generation have been in Kodagu because of the pandemic has given a fresh impetus to the fight to save the cultural and ecological legacy of Kodagu. Traditional festivals have been celebrated with all its pomp and glory, practices that were long forgotten has seen a resurgence with the old and the young guiding and working with each other to make things happen. Some mandhus were reopened after a long time during this Puthari, Karano kodpa was held with all its glory despite fewer people attending it due to the pandemic, elected representatives stood up for the younger generation who walked up to the birth place of our mother, Kailpod was celebrated in individual houses and for once whatsApp forwards was about the significance of the festival and not just about pork and alcohol. On the ecological front, though one cannot deny that a lot of land has been converted in the recent past to make layouts; we have also seen volunteers and organisations taking part in afforestation drives or conducting random clean up drives in different parts of Kodagu and irresponsible citizens being pulled up for throwing garbage by alert citizens. While a lot of it has been in the works for quite some time, this pandemic has made the process a lot more inclusive than what it would have normally been. </p><p>There has been positives in the economic front as well. Be it artisanal coffee or nicely packaged bird eye chilli or products manufactured by women self help groups or home chefs with their bakes & pickles; all of them have started to get their share of the spotlight.</p><p>All of the above will not be much if we do not take control over our immediate surroundings. Gandhiji rightly said that the strength of India lies in its villages. As we end this dramatic year, we have a chance to take that control that we have always been talking about. As a new set of office bearers take over the Panchayats in each of our villages, it's time for us to let go of our egos, our political ideologies and work with our Panchayats to ensure that we protect, preserve and propagate the rich cultural and ecological legacy that our ancestors left behind for us. </p><p>We often complain of not being politically relevant as a district since we have only 2 MLA's and a Half MP but each of us belong to a Village or a town in Kodagu. These Panchayats are there because of us and not the other way around. Let us start participating in local governance and ensure that our Panchayats implement all schemes effectively. Let our elected representatives understand that we will not be taken for a ride anymore and that they can't play us against each other for their personal benefits. Instead, let us make our villages self reliant through the proper implementation of all schemes and programs; be it good roads, Swacch Bharath programs or power and water supply to name a few. Let the tourism policies be decided from the village level by the active involvement of the people of the village instead of big resorts and real estate mafia dictating terms on what should be done. Let the Panchayats be empowered enough to stand up for the citizens of the Village against man- Animal conflict or crop loss due to natural disasters or disastrous weather patterns or helping farmers get Minimum support price for their produce. </p><p>Let each of our Panchayats also show that they respect the land. Let offices and equipment be decorated on Kailpod, let Sankramana be a day for the Panchayats to show that they respect the land of Kaveriamme by keeping botthus all around the Panchayath and let the offices and surroundings be cleaned and painted before Puthari. In other words, let our Panchayats be a reflection of the original inhabitants of our land. After all, each of these festivals are about the land more than anything else. This coming year is an opportunity for us to take back control over Kodagu and it's needs and what better place to start it from than our own Villages. </p><p>The Prime Minister has been advocating for "Atmanirbhar Bharath" which is all about empowering us at the local level. Let us be "Vocal for Local" by ensuring that policies that affect Kodagu be decided by us from our Villages rather than vested interests dictating terms because of their political affiliation at the State level. Let the Government machinery from the District Administration to the Panchayat officials be under pressure to protect the interests of the original inhabitants of the land. </p><p>Let the year 2021 go down in history as a year where our ancestors are proud of all of us and the future generations talk about the year that saw Kodagu taking control over its destiny. </p><p><br /></p><p>"Tomorrow hopes that we have learnt something from yesterday"- John Wayne</p><p>Happy New year 2021. </p>Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-21156114982811963732020-06-12T17:35:00.002+05:302020-06-13T12:56:19.071+05:30Always Riggerous!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Since its inception, Rigger House as a company has let its work do the talking. The businesses that we bagged and the Clients that we have on our roster has been the result of one thing leading to another. We have always believed that we need to partner our Clients and vendors and this philosophy has helped us develop a bond with every single person or company that we have worked with. It has never been just the work for us, it has always been about nurturing a relationship by finding ways to support a partner or vendor better. It is this thinking that has helped us develop our new product, "Global" or made us support a vendor partner scale up to meet market demands.<br />
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Over the years, we have developed a sort of camaraderie with most of our Clients, artists and other partners that has been built on honesty and integrity. We have spoken our minds when it mattered and given an honest opinion to both Clients and vendors. This has also helped us get honest feedback from each of our partners; some of which hurt us and made us question our approach while some made us happy and vindicated but all of this have helped us become better at what we do both at a professional and personal level.<br />
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This Pandemic created a lot of changes and with it came new challenges. We had to go back to the drawing board for answers for which we had no clue as to where to start from or where we were heading to. While talking to colleague, clients, friends, relatives or other partners, it helped us understand that everybody was fighting their own battle at their own levels, be it professionally or personally. It also meant a sea change in people's personal lives as well; schedules changed overnight, roles at home had to be reversed and the new normal wasn't so normal after all.<br />
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This sprouted the idea of talking to thought leaders from different walks of life to understand their views on how they have been dealing with the situation and what they think will emerge from it. Moreover, as an event and experiential company, since we are always talking to various people, be it Clients, vendors or partners to understand from them what's new and what's not or who did what and how they did it; we thought this will also be a good time to continue that exercise by sharing what we hear and know with others as well. For us, this is not just a business exercise but our way of telling people that we are here for each other and that we can always lean on each other to contribute to the larger good.<br />
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We wanted to do this at regular intervals as a collective and hence decided to name it 'Always Riggerous", in line with our identity. The first series focusing on the present pandemic is titled, "Riggerous Minds". The idea sprung up in the last week of March and we started approaching people from the second week of April. For the first series, we have approached a diverse set of people. We have not just approached people directly associated with our business but people from fields not concerned with our regular line of work. Some of who are very popular and some not so popular but big names and leaders in their chosen fields.<br />
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We start this series off with a very popular TV host who is responsible for changing the EDM and festival scene in the Country followed by a creative genius who creates masterpieces and awe inspiring experiences for the events and entertainment industry. From outside our immediate business associates, we also have a woman who decided to pursue her passion and is one of the only Indian women to have participated and completed in an Ironman event. All of us have our passions and one of us at Rigger House is big time into sky diving so much so that given a chance, our friend will probably leave everything to live that life. His mentor who is also a world recorder holder is one of the people that we have spoken to. We also have some of our Clients who we deeply admire and are inspired by to give us their views and thoughts. These partners have become our eyes, ears and minds in the market. They are our beacons to newer horizons. The backbone of any event management company is our vendor partners and we have spoken to leaders in this space as well to try to understand from them their struggles and aspirations especially during these troubles times.<br />
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We have not just asked relevant business related questions but also tried to make each person realise the small joys of life that we have taken for granted. This pandemic and the natural disasters of the last few years across the World has taught us that when it comes to dealing with the forces of nature, all our ideas, plans and contingencies will come to nought. No amount of economic or financial help will help us overcome these struggles and shortcomings without basic humanity and empathy.<br />
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As a company, we will look to partner to deliver World class experiences while always ensuring that we remain the best partners to everybody concerned. We hope that this initiative helps not just us but the audience to get a sneak peek into the thought process of these leaders while helping these leaders look at things from a different perspective.<br />
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We hope that this is the start for greater things to come!<br />
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<span style="background-color: #f5f8fa; color: #33475b; font-family: "avenirnext" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." – Helen Keller</span><br />
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Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-18784901362016437742020-05-22T00:09:00.000+05:302020-06-06T13:37:02.349+05:30The Silver Lining!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The last couple of months have been
a rude awakening for all of us. This Pandemic has made us re-look at our
priorities and our general approach to our personal and our professional lives.
The plans and forecasts that were being put into motion became redundant overnight.
From an industry standpoint, it seems like the Hospitality, aviation, and the
event services and entertainment industry has been the hardest hit due to this
crisis. Confirmed events got cancelled, bookings made in advance had to be
called off, work that was in progress had to be stopped and the skill sets that
we had harnessed and polished over the last years suddenly became useless. As
event managers, a saying that is often repeated is, "One is only as good
as their last event"; but in this case, even that isn’t good enough. </span><span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
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Of course, the first few days of the lockdown were a welcome relief from the
overworked, stressed lives that we all lead. However, once the reality of the
lockdown and its side effects hit us, it made us analyse and relook at our
business, our strengths, weaknesses, and the market in general and the mood
amongst our colleagues and friends. As event managers, we are trained to look
for solutions, to plan contingencies that will help us mitigate crisis that
might or might not emerge during an event. In this scenario, this contingency
was about our very survival. </span><span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
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They say every cloud has a silver lining and in our case, it was the perfect
time to use all our collective experiences to come out with a solution that
would not only help us survive the immediate crisis but also help us diversify
and create a possible revenue model for the future. While one team started
researching new technologies and engagement ideas; another team started
engaging with friends, clients, and partners to try and understand the effects
of the pandemic on each other's personal and professional lives, and what they
thought the future would look like. </span><span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
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This helped us give new lease of life to an idea that was left in cold storage.
The team at Rigger House has spent a large part of the last 2 months trying to
give this idea a new lease of life. Seth Godin, the American author remarked,
"Don't find customers for your products but find products for your
Customers." and it is this mantra that has helped us launch our new brand,
"GLOBAL" which is our foray into the virtual events space. At the
present moment, we have already started leveraging GLOBAL with our already
existing clients while also reaching out to clients and friends across
different industries to see how this product can add value to them. </span><span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
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The exercise of talking to all our friends, clients and partners from different
walks of life sprouted the idea of a video series, "Always Riggerous"
where we bring thought leaders to answer relevant questions and share their
mantras for sustainability and progress, in the form of a series of mini-episodes. The
first collective in this series is called "Riggerous Minds,"
through which we would like to understand the present market scenario and a
forecast on the possibilities or solutions that might emerge once we ride over
these difficult times. </span><span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
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We at Rigger House are bullish about the future</span><span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #181818; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">. We are using this time to research, learn and teach something
new to each other. The new product Global is the effort of everybody coming
together to create something new. The post-Covid World will see a lot of
changes with social distancing being the norm and expectations from venues and
events changing to suit this basic requirement. As event managers, we need to
be prepared for all eventualities and hence our team is also working with our
partners and vendors to look at various possible scenarios and the most viable
solutions to combat them. </span><span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #181818; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As a Company, we believe in Rudyard Kipling's
words from The Jungle Book, "</span><span lang="EN-IN" style="color: #181818; font-family: "inherit" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For the
strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the
Pack". We strongly believe that if we have to emerge stronger from this
crisis, then we must support and look out for each other, be it our colleagues,
partners, or our esteemed clients. </span><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-9370509937304968762020-05-04T01:42:00.001+05:302020-05-05T22:34:15.316+05:30The Land that protects also needs to be protected!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This Pandemic has affected all of us in more ways than that we can imagine. I am not here to talk about the scale of it, the loss of lives, the lack of medical facilities, the implementation of the lockdown, the plight of migrant workers or the economic mess that it has created. There is far too much content on it and I don't want to be another half- baked expert with an opinion at the tip of my finger. However, I am grateful for this Pandemic in a personal selfish sort of way as it has helped me look at things from a whole different perspective. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is probably the first article I have written sitting at my house in Coorg. Before this Pandemic, I could not even imagine spending more than a week in Coorg. All my visits to Coorg over the last 10 years or so has been very business like. I came home either for a weekend, a festival or for a social gathering. But this feels like summer holidays from back when I was in School. The only difference is that instead of home work, I now have some office work to complete; although the flip side is that we are not able to go visiting or having cousins, uncles and aunts coming home. This unplanned long break in Coorg is just what the Doctor ordered. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I am glad that I get to be in Coorg during this pandemic. Moreover, with a young toddler, I cannot even imagine sitting inside a flat in Bangalore. I am sure a lot of my brethren from Coorg feel the same as I do. I really feel grateful for the land that I come from. The house and the space to move around, fresh clean air, the smell of rain, the sound of birds and crickets chirping, the sight of Malabar squirrels jumping from one tree to the other or the fact that my little one got to spend time with her grand parents and experience a whole different life; I can go on and on about the small little things that has made it a joy to be in Coorg during the lockdown. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It is only when we hear about the hardships that one faces in the City or elsewhere during a lockdown that we understand the value of the place that we come from. This land offers us all that we need for a good decent way of life, Fresh water straight from the ground, jackfruit palya and curry to green leafy vegetables and bulbs, pumpkins and mushrooms and other fruits and vegetables, I got all of this and more in and around my house. And the icing on the cake so as to say, I don't even have to bother about waiting for the garbage pick- up every morning. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I am also grateful for the place that I come from because of the people that make up this place. Be it the officials or the traders or the common man, everybody has understood their responsibilities and played their roles to near perfection. Most common folks like us came out only when we were allowed to, covered our faces when we were out and supported each other to deal with the situation. The District administration of course has played a tremendous role in dealing with this situation. From closing down an entire village soon after one single case was detected to opening of essential services shops for only 3 days a week, the administration was on top of things always. The fact that they understood the situation and even created a level playing field for everybody by moving the markets to common open spaces and declaring the daily prices of commodities left little room for controversy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This being said, I hope all of us including the officials and the powers to be also look at the situation and be thankful that we are in a place like Coorg during this crisis. I hope the next time that they sign on the dotted line for a land conversion project, they think of the scenario now and imagine what a new layout would bring with it. It would be more people to manage, more areas to monitor and more civic and criminal issues to deal with. Let us for a moment imagine the situation if we had a railway line or 4 lane highways running through Coorg. We would have had more permanent outsiders because of such infrastructure. The Railway stations would bring with it the colonies to house officials, workers and their respective families, shops and hawkers plying their trade around these stations and a whole lot of civic infrastructure that would be needed to make this work. Instead, today our rivers, streams and tourist spots are actually clean and breathing again because of the lack of human influence and intervention at the moment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I know that a lot of what I have written above sounds romantic and the argument can be that I am a fool and do not understand the reality of actually living in Coorg. The point put out be will ideally be that the crop is bad, labour costs have increased, man animal conflict and the changing weather patterns have caused destruction and hardship and to top it all, the price for the produce is dismal. And if some had a home stay to supplement the income from the estate, then this pandemic has put a spanner in the works over there as well. Unfortunately, the powers to be instead of supporting the main income of the people which is agriculture and plantations and finding ways to support this sector will talk about fast tracking the so called development projects and increasing tourists inflow to supplement income. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We of course need tourism, but let us use this situation to define the type of tourism that Kodagu requires. To start with, a study to understand the carrying capacity of the district and then design tourism policies around it so that it helps in retaining the natural beauty of Coorg while helping local original inhabitants of the land benefit from it. Create better market opportunities for coffee, pepper and other plantation crops including oranges, avacados, jackfruit and other fruits and vegetables. Help people retain the land by looking at policies like the payment for ecological services that has been well elaborated in the Madhav Gadgil report. Encourage Paddy cultivation by offering minimum support price for paddy which will detest land conversion while helping improve the water table of the district on the whole. All these policies will not only benefit Coorg but also ensure the water and food security of the whole of South India. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Prime Minister while announcing the first lockdown said, "Jaan hai to Jahaan hai" and this message is so apt for Coorg. If we do not protect this land, then we are doomed! So let us be thankful for this land and work towards protecting it to benefit all of us. </span>We are in the Green zone today from a Pandemic and nature perspective and it is important that we do everything in our power to keep it like that. </div>
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Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-5055738061273991752019-05-02T23:05:00.000+05:302019-05-02T23:05:01.320+05:30Is a ban the best way to protect our Culture?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The recent decision of the Ammathi Kodava Samaj to ban
liquor at the Ganga Pooja or the Neeru Edupa ceremony has drawn mixed response
from Kodavas all across the World. While some have welcomed the ban, others
have opposed and ridiculed it. I and most people in my friends and family
circle are of the opinion that it is a ridiculous idea and one that should not
have been entertained in the first place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Committee is of the opinion that Alcohol in Ganga Poojas
spoils the sanctity of the Ceremony and is disrespectful to the bride and other
women and so we cannot serve Alcohol during the ceremony but can do it after
that. Because of a few stray incidents, some protectors of our culture have
decided that the best way to avoid such incidents is to ban alcohol during the
ceremony and serve alcohol after that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Alcohol, whether we like it or not is an intricate part of
our culture. Be it karana kodupo or meedhi beppo, no ceremony is complete
without alcohol being a part of it. And unlike most other communities, we do
not hide to have our drink. Since the time we were young kids, if a guest came
home closer to meal time, it was customary to serve alcohol before serving
food. Conversations at home in the evenings would be with the grand fathers and
Uncles holding a glass in their hand and we kids’ playing around. Of course,
the volumes in arguments increased after a few drinks but everybody knew their
place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There is no denying the fact that of late, there have been cases
where some people have gone overboard and made a mockery of the whole occasion.
But this new rule is only going to make things worse. The whole neeru edupo
ceremony is going to be for formality sake and will kill the fun in the occasion.
A wedding is a celebration of 2 families coming together. The Neeru edupo is
one occasion where the families get to know each other. The Neeru edupo
ceremony is already diluted with most men and women not preferring to wear traditional
clothes for the occasion and with this rule, the actual neeru edupo will have
less than 10 people and the drinking after that will be just another party. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Moreover, this rule is going to make us look like every
other community that equates alcohol with bad behavior. I am not saying that we
have to encourage drinking of alcohol. But let us not fall into this moral
policing business. We are dwindling as a Community and occasions such as the
neeru edupo ceremony bring the community together. Instead of banning alcohol,
let us find a way to regulate the ceremony. Restrict the time for the ceremony
to not more than 3 hours and do not let people carry alcohol near the bride and
dance with a glass in their hand. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We are better than this. We do not need a ban to protect our
culture. We are not going to teach our kids anything by purifying our customs to
suit a brahminical narrative. The Kodava Samajas need to stop being hypocrites.
They are not helping to protect our culture by this ban. They are in fact
diluting it. Instead of this ban, let the Samajas encourage families conducting
weddings to ensure that all guests turn up in our traditional clothes. Let the
Samajas impart cultural education in Schools, build better infrastructure.
There are other ways to raise funds than impose a fine on people. Let us not take
the fun out of weddings and ceremonies which is what makes our Community
special. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-66823897547074913892018-05-05T00:49:00.001+05:302018-05-05T01:44:54.710+05:30The Vote that Counts!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In less than a week from now, Karnataka goes to polls to elect the next Government to power. In Kodagu, the election has captured the imagination of all sections of Society especially with candidates from most parties not being sure of their nominations until the very last minute. Politics has become the favourite topic of discussion at all social gatherings so much so that it has put bad prices for coffee and pepper to the background for the moment. </div>
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Almost all parties seem to be fighting this election based on the charisma and capabilities of their National leaders. The common ground cutting across party lines seems to be about voting right for the greater good of the Country. However, as a voter, I must say that I am disappointed that not one of the candidates for the 2 seats in Kodagu has shown any inclination to fight the elections on local issues or even sat down with the electorate to understand and prepare a manifesto that reflects the needs and aspirations of their electorate. The electorate is again being hoodwinked into "voting responsibly" for the betterment of the Country but at the cost of their land and future. </div>
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The issues that we face in Coorg are many; Large scale Deforestation, sand mafia, timber mafia, illegal land conversions, Linear development projects such as railways and highways under the garb of development, exploitative tourism etc are sounding the death knell of this district. Culturally too, the way of life of the Kodavas and other indigenous communities of Kodagu are being threatened by divisive appeasement politics. Added to this, the district is besieged with the total lack of proper medical facilities and public infrastructure, very bad internet connectivity etc. Yet, our Politicians are busy indulging in petty politics at the cost of the future of the district and its people. </div>
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It saddens me to see that no politician worth his salt has spoken out on these issues or tried to address them on their own free will. Our Politicians have only spoken about these issues when they have been pushed against the wall or when they have been called to address a gathering, They have used people and these issues to create a platform for themselves without doing anything to address the actual issue or taking up the matter with their political masters. Unfortunately, Kodagu is faced with a problem of a dearth of good leaders. Petty politics and the greed for money and power have made our politicians blind to the actual reality.<br />
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For a long time, it was generally believed that the Kodavas or rather the people of Kodagu are just arm chair activists and just cannot come together. However, the last one year has seen a tremendous change in Kodagu. The protests against the proposed railway line and highways in Kodagu and the recent huge gathering in Mysore showed that people are not going to take things lying down. People from all sections of Society are starting to question the powers to be and I would like to believe that this is the first step towards ensuring that we protect our interests.<br />
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Whatever change that is taking place in Kodagu is happening despite the system. Voluntary Citizen initiatives is what is starting to create and drive the change. Be it cleaning campaigns, installations of dustbins and segregation or questioning illegal activities or even going to court or meeting bureaucrats and Government representatives to oppose projects that threaten the fragile ecological balance of the district, it is the assertiveness of a few like minded individuals that is driving that change.<br />
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It is true that we the people of Kodagu have been indifferent to what has been happening around us. As long as one was not directly affected, it did not matter to a lot of us. Even today, we seem to continue on the same lines. However, I must say that the times, they sure are changing. Today, we seem to be connecting back to our roots and thanks to social media, the acts of a few good men and women is inspiring others to get their hands dirty. And this inspiration is what we need to sow the seeds of that big change that we are looking at. </div>
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We need to accept the fact that with just 2 MLA seats, we do not matter to the fortunes of any political party in the State. But every single vote of ours matters to the 2 MLA's who will represent us. We are not in a position today to choose a leader that is worthy of representing us. But we definitely are in a position today to ensure that we will be taken seriously in the future.</div>
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Hence, no matter which party we support or what our ideology at the moment is, we need to ensure that we go out and VOTE. OUR TIME IS NOW!</div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">If people don't vote, everything stays the same. You can protest until the sky turns yellow or the moon turns blue, and it's not going to change anything if you don't vote- </span></i><i><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Dolores Huerta (</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">American labor leader and civil rights activist)</span></b></i></div>
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Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-39169128134420825752017-09-02T01:48:00.000+05:302017-09-02T16:11:04.888+05:30Let us look at the bigger Picture.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This year will probably go down in History as a landmark year for Coorg and its people. The people of the district are starting to discuss issues that we have been trying to brush under the carpet for the longest time. From arm chair activism, we are moving to a situation where we are starting to walk the talk.<br />
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I have personally been a part of 2 protests in the last 3 months, the first held at Madikeri in the first week of June and the second held at Kutta on the 26th of August 2017. The Kutta protests is especially significant as it helped bring the conversation on development vs environment out in the open.<br />
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The time has come for us to start a dialogue in understanding the development that Coorg as a district needs. Of course, all of us who are advocating against unplanned developmental activities have a responsibility of looking at the whole situation holistically and ensuring that legitimate land owners do not feel threatened. It is imperative that the fight against unplanned development activities also calls on the Government and the powers to be to protect interests of planters and original land owners of Coorg who have been cultivating land for the past few generations. There needs to be a sustained dialogue at the village level, where both sides talk to each other and understand the actual situation especially considering the fact that vested interests have fed people misinformation as information resulting in a hatred against people advocating for the regulation and stopping of unplanned development activities. I am not going into the merits of the ESZ or what the rules actually mean for that needs to be done at the ground level and not in an article. I am no legal or environmental expert to give my two bits.<br />
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However, that being said, I believe it is time for us to start putting things in perspective when it comes to the argument on development vs environment. It is important that we understand and take responsibility for the legacy that we are going to leave behind for our future generations. The Kutta protests saw some really strong views emerging with those supporting the protests being made to look like people who are anti- development and working against the interests of the future generations. The fight against unplanned development activities is not to deprive people of the land of a livelihood nor is it about benefiting people outside the district to have a good life at the costs of the inhabitants of the land as is made out to be. We need to understand that the greatest strength of this land of ours is in its natural heritage.<br />
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Development for a fragile landscape like Coorg needs to be defined by understanding the basic needs of the people of the land. In today's day and age, connectivity is important and nobody can say no to development. But this development needs to be defined by the people of the land for our own benefit. Of course, we need better roads connecting the nook and corner of the district. But surely, we do not need a 4 lane highway to achieve that. Nor do we need a train that will do more harm than good. Will these development solve the man animal conflict that seems to be increasing every day. Elephants today for example are going into places that we did not even imagine that they would venture into. And is it because we have somehow increased our green cover or is it because stupid policies have eroded our Forests of its natural greenery?<br />
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I only wish that the people who are calling for so called development talk about the things that actually matter. Like better internet facility where our Children and adults in very village in the district have access to information; better medical facilities in the Villages where every PHC has basic medicine and good doctors. None off these people have called out the Hospitals for not storing anti- venom considering the habitat that we live in. I find this hypocrisy appalling. If the development that these people are considering is to ape our unplanned cities like Bangalore, then we might as well live in Bangalore.<br />
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If we need development, then we need to talk about bettering our agricultural practices and access to modern machinery and markets. In the last couple of years we have slowly seen smaller boutique brands like Flying Squirrel, River side, Black Baza, Papakuchi and others emerging from Coorg. I would like to imagine a situation 10 years from now where we have many more such brands emerging from Coorg marketing home grown products. Do we not have the potential to have pepper or honey brands from Coorg? I only wish the vision grows to better our land without losing its greenery. Tourism that is more class than mass, where regulations ensure that the tourist operators make profits and the tourists come back to see the beauty of the place for what it is instead of what it used to be.<br />
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I find it amusing that the very people that are expected to uphold the interests of the Community seem to be indulging in a slander campaign with the sole intention of discrediting a certain group of people to satisfy their egos. If these organisations really cared, then they will stop being glorified event managers managing real estate space and actually start working for the betterment of the land and the community. How many trees have these organisations planted? Do these real estate spaces have a plan to mitigate garbage menace and ensure a clean green venue status? If they are for holistic development, then these organisations and real estate spaces should ban plastic in their premises for a start and start composting their waste. Isn't that modern development? If these organisations want to work for the greater good of the community, how many classes have they conducted in the leading Schools of Coorg in educating our Children on our culture and land. We only talk about how we are losing our culture and don't seem to be doing anything about it.<br />
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A lot of our so called leaders in Coorg have let their egos get the better of them. They have gotten so used to being put on a pedestal that they have somehow come to an impression that they know better than everybody else. And if they get irritated with somebody or some organisation, then all they have to do is run a slander campaign to discredit the other person. I believe that they would only do it if the other person has somehow managed to push a few buttons. I wish we get leaders who understand the pulse of their electorate and work for the the greater good of the electorate. Leaders who join and support the cause instead of being invited to join a cause. Leaders who understand the need to protect the land and its people.<br />
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The fight to save the Greenery of Coorg is not to convert the whole of Coorg into a forest. The fight is to protect what the land has been offering us without asking any questions of us. Have we ever considered as to how lucky we are to have got this on a platter? We of course love to go into nostalgia and talk about the good days of the past where nature provided us in abundance. From Baimbale to the Kummus to the koille meenu to madhu thoppu (maddu puttu), we took it for granted that we are always going to get it. What are we going to show our Children tomorrow? I cannot for the life of me imagine going to a supermarket to buy these things or showing our Children tomorrow all of this in pictures.<br />
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The responsibility is ours to protect and preserve what little we have left. As Kaveriamma's children, it is our basic duty to protect our devarakadus, streams and rivers that our ancestors left behind for us. And to make sure that the Children of tomorrow get to see and enjoy all of this and more.<br />
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Now I have a weapon to clean and some belting to be done. Happy Kailpod! And may our ancestors put some sense into all our heads.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">This land, this water, this air, this planet - this is our legacy to our young- Paul Tsongas</span><br />
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Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-11923765051998146502017-03-13T01:36:00.002+05:302017-03-13T12:43:52.907+05:30The Power to make a Change!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We are three months into the year and from the story unfolding so far, looks like 2017 is going to be the year of the the people. A year where the electorate will stand up to ask for their rights and ensure that their elected representatives deliver on their aspirations. The Jallikattu movement and the fight against the steel flyover have shown that people power is real and active and that the powers to be cannot hoodwink the people anymore and think they can get away with it. Technology has ensured that everybody has access to information at the swipe of a finger. </div>
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This being the case, it is sad to see an educated well informed community and District accepting everything that is thrown at us without even raising an eyebrow. Kodagu is besieged with a lot of problems, most of which is our own doing. However, our big fat chest thumping egos has only helped us brush things under the carpet without taking any of the things head on. I have been harping on the need for us to start a dialogue and raise awareness on ground. From marrying outside the community, to selling property, to the advantages and perils of tourism or the beauty of Coorg and the Culture, everybody in Coorg has an opinion on every single one of these issues. But when it comes to doing something about it, the very same people are always seen walking away rather than confronting the issue. </div>
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This does not mean that there is no change happening on ground, People are starting to get together to address various evils plaguing our Society. From controlling garbage menace to advocating against unplanned developmental activities, small groups of people comprising people of all age groups and genders are starting to spring up across Kodagu in trying to address these issues. However, we seem to be really slacking in being able to get these various groups on to one single platform. </div>
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For the longest time, I have heard my parents and elders talk about their childhood and the joys of running around in clean green Kodagu. Any family get together invariably turns to a flashback session with anecdotes on their childhood adventures. My own childhood was filled with all our cousins coming together and spending time in tanks or streams or just going for a walk into the estate or playing hide and seek in the forest next to our property. Sadly, I cannot for the life of me imagine my nieces or nephews or my kids tomorrow doing it for we have become self sustaining nuclear families busy with our lives. Also, you never know what you might run into. Even though we have always lived right next to the Forest, we did not even imagine running into an elephant during the day. Times have changed and we need to change with it and there is no doubt in that. But what about those things that we can control. </div>
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Today, we have been handed a lifeline and an opportunity to correct the wrongs and start fresh. The ESA is much needed for Coorg and one which will help us get Kodagu back to its past glory, But our elected representatives and other politicians seem to be hell bent on creating panic by spreading false information. The ESA notification does not target the planters or the original inhabitants of Coorg as it is made out to be. Instead, it protects the interests of the planters and the original inhabitants of Coorg from further destruction. Nobody in Coorg has even understood the whole report but have been mislead into believing that it is bad for us,<br />
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Kodagu is facing its worst drought in decades. Our rivers, streams and ponds are running dry. Elephant menace is spreading with man animal conflict springing up in newer areas everyday, The ESA is the answer to addressing and tackling these problems. It coming into existence will not stop us from shade lopping or using chemical fertilizers or for that matter building a house inside the estate, Of course, it affects those who were indulging in exploiting our Natural resources for commercial purposes. And hence our politicians cutting across political lines have all come together to oppose this as it will put a stop to all their illegal activities, be it sand or stone quarrying, land conversion for resorts, layouts or cutting of trees for so called development activities.<br />
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The time has come for all of us to come together and get our hands dirty in helping us protect and preserve whatever little is left of Coorg, We might not agree or like those environmentalists who are fighting the cause at the moment. But how will they know that some of their views are wrong, if we do not make an effort to join the cause and express our views. I do not want to sit for a drink in a few years from now and sound exactly like my Dad's generation is sounding now. </div>
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I would humbly request all the Kodava Samajas, the various groups advocating various reforms in Coorg to come together for this cause. Imagine, being proud Kodavas without a Kodagu that we can relate to. What is the use of a Samaja then if we cannot work towards protecting our land? Our culture, language is dying, the only thing that we can hold on to dear is our land and it is time we do something about it. Let us forget our egos, our disagreements and hatred for each other and come together for the greater good of our future. We might be losing our language, diluting our Culture with new age practices and all this needs to be addressed. But what good is it trying to solve any of these issues if we do not have a place called HOME. </div>
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I just turned 33 and am planning to start a family soon. I want my kids tomorrow to see a Kodagu that I saw and enjoyed and I believe that it is my responsibility to make sure it happens. I don't want to look back at today 30 years from now and regret the fact that we had a chance to change the status quo and did not do anything about it. We have a duty to our forefathers and our future generations to preserve and protect our land. </div>
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Spread the word and galvanise support, Our time is now!</div>
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Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-41111371492346522652016-09-09T14:58:00.001+05:302016-09-09T21:06:54.114+05:30Namma Cauvery? The Hypocrisy!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It is that time of the year again when History repeats itself and our Dear Mother, River Cauvery is the cynosure of all eyes. Unfortunately, this History seems to be repeating itself so often that there seems to be no end remedy in sight. The past week has seen protests erupt across Karnataka against the Supreme Court decision on the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.<br />
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I am not going into the merits of the case for that is for our Legal teams to argue and Courts to decide. I find this whole exercise of protests and Bandhs a hogwash for I firmly believe that nobody actually wants to find a solution to the problem. If we have rains, then nobody talks about the excess water at our disposal for we really have no solution to using excess water, do we? It is only when the rain Gods fail that we actually realise the gravity of the situation. From accusing the State Government to not appointing the right legal luminaries and not being assertive to accusing Tamil Nadu of being greedy and demanding excess water, we have all the right excuses to make our case but the sad part is that the crux of the whole issue get washed underneath it all.<br />
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River Cauvery, or Kaveri Mathe or Kaveriamma as people would like to call it is definitely a true provider to the people of a large part of South India; while it is the source of water for farmers to till their lands or for others to quench their thirst, it also the biggest provider to people from all walks of life to grab the limelight. From Politicians trying to wrestle power from one another to so called patriotic organisations pushed into the oblivion, the River gives all of them a chance to grab their pound of flesh in their quest for power.<br />
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A lot of the individuals and organisations that have called for the Bandh against the release of water are hypocrites. For far too long, these people have used Kannada Pride and Cauvery to further their personal ambitions. Almost everybody from the Political, social and Entertainment fields have joined the chorus against the release of water. The bottom line is that Cauvery is an issue that has maximum benefits for everybody provided you join the bandwagon. Everybody is going to get air time and regional news channels, always desperate for content are going to use the issue and these people to garner maximum TRPS.<br />
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My problem with these hypocrites is this, you cannot save the river by picking and choosing issues. The popular slogan this time around seems to be "Kaveri Nammadhu". Its ironic that they say it with so much pride when all they have done is abuse what they call theirs. Wearing and flying the red and yellow and burning effigies of people is not going to get more water; nor is attacking people of Tamil Nadu by accusing them of being greedy going to get water. It is good to see so many people bringing regular life to a stand still to put their point across. But the sad part is that almost all of them have been hoodwinked by our Politicians, Bureaucrats, Businessmen and other vested interests for far too long. All of them are talking about not having enough water for irrigation and drinking water purposes but do not care as to where the actual source of the water is. The truth is that nobody really cares to find out the reasons behind deficient rainfall and water flow and our dear media will not enlighten people with the truth for that will not benefit anybody. I will not be surprised if a lot of them think that KRS is the source of the River. <br />
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The primary catchment area of the Cauvery, Coorg has been abused by all these vested interests including local representatives. Kodagu seems to be one of the favourite destination for people from all walks of life. From being a favourite destination of the Film Industry with its scenic spots to holiday makers looking for a getaway for the weekend, Coorg provides for everybody just like River Cauvery does. It provides for the timber mafia who are hand in glove with the politicians to fell as many trees as they want as it does for the Sand mafia to transport all the sand they need. People looking for a place to buy, just need to contact somebody from the land mafia and you will have a place in either a converted wet land or a villa property for the right price. This is the reason why all these pro- Cauvery activists who are making a hue and cry over the issue at the moment are hypocrites.<br />
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Where were these activists when locals in Kodagu were protesting against the high tension power line project? The same State Government crying foul over the Supreme Court decision today slapped sedition charges against the locals protesting against the power line project. The media covered it at a glance and the politicians made these local activists look like jokers who are against development. It is very easy to dismiss these activists as those with their own vested interest and against development. Yes, they have their vested interest which is a love for the land. Sadly, a lot of such activism for a larger good cause gets lost in this garb of development.<br />
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Of course, Coorg needs development and tourism. We need better roads, better infrastructure, Hospitals, Schools, Colleges and grounds. But this development needs to be a sustainable one. Unfortunately, the powers to be equate development to be that of building railway lines, 4 lane roads, high end layouts or resorts. Instead, what we actually need is development that will benefit the locals without damaging the environment. Why can't the development be about improving the infrastructure? The district had nearly 7 Olympians in the contingent to Rio this year. So, the development can be about improving sports infrastructure in every part of the District or getting mobile and internet connectivity to every nook and corner or roads with markings and reflectors to name a few. These jokers that we would like to call our representatives have no such vision and we people have our heads so far in our backsides that we will not do anything about it except write about it in a blog like what I am doing at the moment.<br />
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If the Government of Karnataka along with the other Politicians cared so much for Cauvery, then why doesn't the State Government declare Kaveri Sankramana as a State Holiday for starters. If you do not celebrate "Namma Kaveri Mathe", then what is the use of calling her "NAMMADHU". Our Politicians instead want to be the ones in the front row at Talacauvery on Sankramana or they will make their presence felt on Sankramana by distributing Food to devotees and then making a case for them to build a centre and a guest house in Talacauvery which will definitely not help in improving water capacity of the river. I sometimes wonder if the larger idea is to take control over Cauvery by sidelining the people of Kodagu. <br />
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These unplanned activities are the reason for the Cauvery to be in the news for all the wrong reasons and as people of the land that is Kaveriamma's, it is time for us to pull up our socks. None of these red and yellow flag lovers will ever come to help save the catchment area, Kodagu. We need to assert ourselves and make sure that we preserve, protect and nurture the river and our land for our future survival if not for anything else. As I write this article, I am hoping that people in Coorg have better sense than support a bandh that serves no purpose.<br />
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There are a lot of things that we need to do but that is for another day. For starters, do not let any politician or organisation to attend Sankramana at Talacauvery. Please support all local organisations working towards protecting the catchment area. If you do not agree with them, then tell them where they are wrong. The time has come for us to act.<br />
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I am also hoping that this article provokes people to either agree with me or infuriate people to atleast show me the middle finger.<br />
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Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-20749831243858564682016-06-10T12:17:00.000+05:302016-06-11T10:30:11.693+05:30Wake up and Smell the Coffee!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It has been nearly a year now since my last article. I had ended it with the words of <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18.48px;">Jane Goodall, "</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18.48px;">Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don't believe is right". And right now. I don't think anything is right when it comes to my hometown, Kodagu. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18.48px;">Two issues have grabbed the attention of the people of Coorg in the last couple of months. And both these issues actually affect the very identity of Kodagu as we know it. One is the proposed railway line which affects the environment and the other is the Court order against certain traditional practices. And both these issues have got dramatically different reactions. While the former has garnered a lot of attention online with people of all ages using different means to raise awareness, the latter has sadly been brushed under the carpet almost as a sort of acceptance. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18.48px;">We fortunately have learnt a lesson after the failure of the campaign against the Power Line project. This coupled with the awareness on the need to protect the environment has ensured that people from all walks of life are now supporting the various groups involved in the fight against the railway line. It is heartening to see the communication centered around Mother Cauvery and I believe that this has helped garner widespread support from all over the World. However, all the online campaigning will not help much if we do not see some action on ground, And by action, I do not mean violence. I mean galvanizing enough forces on ground to cripple normal life. For until and unless we get people to come and support these causes on ground, we will not be able to make much of an impact. The Railway Minister has reacted to the campaign and has tweeted that he will look into it. But what is he going to look at when our elected representatives have not even given a single statement either supporting or opposing the project. Why do we even call these people our representatives if they are not going to understand and stand by the pulse of their electorate? </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.48px;">I am no saint nor do I think I have the answers to all the problems plaguing us. But I believe that if we do not start speaking about it, we will only fall deeper into the pit that we have dug ourselves into. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.48px;">I blame us, the people for we have brought this upon ourselves. We are a society that thrives on arm chair activism. Almost anybody and everybody in or from Coorg has an opinion on anything and everything. We criticise every single thing around us but when it comes to taking a stand publicly or going for a protest, we somehow have no time for any of it. So while we comfortably share and write about issues on social media platforms, the time has come for us to hold a mirror and look long and hard at ourselves and see the truth for once in our lives. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">The campaign against the Railway Line started to make waves after the "Toast to Cauvery" initiative where one holds a glass of water and raise a toast to Cauvery. It is a brilliant campaign and helped strike a chord with friends from outside Coorg especially in cities or places that depend on the river. However, while it is nice to think innovative for a campaign, it is time to ask ourselves if we really hold the river in the same esteem that our forefathers did before us. How many of us Kodavas have gone to Talacavery in the recent past? How many of us celebrate Kaveri Sankramana in the true spirit of the Festival? I for one went to Cauvery after nearly three years because I had to go and barely make it home to Coorg for Kaveri Sankramana. We have become tourists to our own practices and places of </span></span><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">identity. And that is the hypocrisy. We say it is ours but don't show it. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">I love the fact that our Culture is very different from a large part of the Country, but while we have opened up and become liberal; we somehow seem to be </span></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.48px;">identifying</span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18.48px;"> ourselves to be that of pork eating guzzlers with a short fuse. </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">Of course, it is all about individual choices. I truly respect the fact that each individual has the liberty and freedom to make choices that they think is right. For that matter, I do not like the Kodava Samaj or any other body to tell me what makes me a Kodava. But a time has come for us to feel the need to preserve what is left of us being an </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">indigenous</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.48px;"> community. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">These practices are what makes us who we are. The past three odd months has seen authorities clamp down on centuries old practices to implement a Court order. A Court order that most of us did not know about until it was implemented. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">The said Court order banned animal sacrifice in places of worship in Coorg. Every temple Festival this year saw a huge contingent of Police around the premises making sure that no animal sacrifice took place. So much so that people wee intimidated and hurt that they were not allowed to practice what they truly believed in. I have an issue with this attitude of the Courts and the system in general where individual rights and practices have no voice. The whole media is going to town about Freedom of Speech and so on but what about my rights. There are some people who will argue that animal sacrifice is cruel and we need to have more humanity and stop this but that change if at all needs to come from inside the Community and not by the high hand of the law. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">So will they then go on and tell us that we cannot offer Karana to our ancestors? Today, it is about animal sacrifice, tomorrow it will be about our rights to own guns and day after our right to our land and it will only continue to get worse. Our language and a lot of our traditional practices are already dying a slow death. </span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18.48px;">As a society, we have always been open to adapting and moving with the times but of late, we seem to be adapting better to those things that dilute our practices. </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">As an </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">indigenous</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.48px;"> population, we need to </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18.48px;">preserve whatever little is left of our place and our Culture. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">Of course, everybody has a right to go to Court but </span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">It baffles me that we somehow seem to miss all that concerns us, especially in the legal or </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18.48px;">political</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18.48px;"> fields. The need of the hour is</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18.48px;"> a body, a think thank of the young and the old that brings the various organisations in Coorg under one platform. A body that is not just a committee of power and prestige but a body of individuals from all walks of life that helps the various groups get maximum traction for each of its causes. </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">Judicial overreach and </span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">unnecessary judicial activism needs to be curtailed. </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">Every single one of us needs to get our hands dirty or at least support those who are willing to get their hands dirty. We need an organisation that will work with the Officials and against the Officials, from solving individual problems to regulating tourism and land laws</span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18.48px;">. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18.48px;">It is time for us to be assertive and take control over our lives before we get run over and don't even realise what hit us.. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18.48px;">So its time to wake up and smell the Coffee!!........ </span></div>
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Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-55516355416344423672015-06-12T15:50:00.001+05:302015-06-13T10:25:36.216+05:30Time to signal the start of a new Era!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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article for nearly a month now but have just not been able to put my thoughts
into words. It's too vast a subject to be put into one article. I had written
an article more than a year back venting my frustration on the state of affairs
in Coorg (</span><a href="http://mach-chewed.blogspot.in/2014/01/is-it-only-me.html"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">http://mach-chewed.blogspot.in/2014/01/is-it-only-me.html</span></a><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">). </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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While that was about venting my frustration, I would like to believe that this
is about trying to start a discussion on the way forward for the Kodavas and
the present district of Coorg. As responsible individuals, I believe that it is
important that we start a conversation now, rather than sit down for a drink 5
years later and regret that we had a chance to correct the course but did not
do anything about it.</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Coorg that are working on various causes and as much as one hates them or loves
them, one cannot agree that they are trying to make a difference. The
organisations might not be getting the support from the general public due to a
whole lot of issues, be it lack of credibility of certain members or the lack
of knowledge on the part of the public. However, one cannot deny that these
organisations have tried to highlight issues, bring it out in the public domain
and have pulled up the establishment whenever possible. The death knell of most
of these struggles has been the indifferent attitude of the Public. We Kodavas
in particular are brilliant arm chair activists. We have an opinion on anything
and everything, but when it comes to going for a protest or just joining a
protest for symbolic reasons, we somehow get busy. It is time to change that
attitude.</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The criticism of my brethren aside, the biggest let down in Coorg has been that
of our Political leadership. Our so called leaders cutting across party lines
have failed the district of Kodagu and its people. Of course, we are a
politically irrelevant district in terms of numbers with just 2 MLA seats and a
half MP seat which is really not going to be of an impact to the fortunes of
any political party.</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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This being said, one cannot deny that the District has been very consistent in
its voting pattern. There is no doubt that Kodagu is a BJP loving District. The
Congress and the not so relevant JD(S) have almost been pushed to the side-line.
But as a consistent BJP voter for the longest time, I am disappointed and let
down by my elected representatives. The recent protest against the High Tension
Power line is a case in example. The BJP leadership in Kodagu has let vested
interests reign instead of listening to the pulse of its people. What is the
use of having elected representatives if they do not reflect the aspirations of
its people?</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Of Course, we might not have had a case legally and the struggle might have
started late, or the Courts might have ruled against the protesters, or the BJP
leadership might not have seen eye to eye with those leading the struggle but
can the BJP leadership deny the fact that a vast majority of its constituents
were against the power line. If so, should we continue voting for the BJP which
has definitely failed its people? Every party leader will have to toe their
party line but that does not mean that they fail the people who have elected
them to power. Would this have happened in a place like Mandya?</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Here we are going gung ho about Mr. Modi and the strong leadership at the
Centre but does this mean that we forget what is necessary for us. I just wish
the BJP leaders with a Kodava majority understand this. The struggle against
the power line should have been headed by the elected representatives; instead
the BJP showed that its dislike for organisations like the Kaveri Sene and
others was bigger than the issue. A simple act of supporting the protesters,
meeting them on ground and taking them along to meet the relevant people would
have won more accolades and helped the BJP push the other organisations to the side-lines.
The BJP leadership needs to understand that while they have to follow the Party
Diktat, they can do so with a simple Mantra, "Think Globally, Act
Locally". This does not absolve the representatives of the ruling party in
the State from not acting for the interests of the people of Kodagu. Why didn't
the Congress leaders stand-up and protest against the power line? Instead, their
leaders prefer to show their assertiveness by interfering in settling Family
feuds. </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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But more than everything else, all our Politicians cutting across party lines
and organisations chase vested interests and lose connect with the people. Most
leaders in the district somehow seem to think that they have to follow the same
old rhetoric, i.e. minority appeasement, opposing one view simply because you
are from a different political party etc. If there is any place that needs it
political leaders to rise above politics, it is Coorg, Not one political party
in Coorg can take credit for its development. Coorg has developed because of
its people</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Ideally, the situation is ripe for a Kodagu based political party. A party that
reflects the aspirations of its people, a party that has holistic development as its
nerve centre; A party that balances culture and economic development. Will it
work is another question altogether. At this moment, we we need to start
representation from the local level, village panchayats, Co-operative society
and the Zilla panchayat; A force that every political party needs to appease to
win a MLA/ MP election. We need to become a force to reckon with.</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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But for all of this to even remotely change to start making a difference, we
the people of Coorg need to somehow make an economic impact. While we become
politically relevant, we also need to start becoming self - sufficient
economically. The original inhabitants of Coorg need to start gaining control
over land as a first resort. It has started slowly with people of interest
coming together and their efforts need to be supported and appreciated. But
individuals also need to be responsible. While it is an individual’s right to
sell his or her property, it is also one's responsibility to sell wisely. It is
no use twirling one's mush and claiming to be a true Kodava while selling one's
property to somebody from outside the Community for a few extra bucks. It is
time for us to start putting the money back to our Homeland and re- gaining
control over our lands.</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Tourism is a big Industry and is definitely helping lift the economy of the
District, It has given a lot of people an alternate income. But responsibility
needs to start at home. We need to find legal and other ways to regulate
tourism and maintain the cultural and ecological sanctity of the place.</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Before I finish, the other
big point is the total lack of PR activity around Coorg. There are so many
events taking place in Coorg that need National if not International publicity.
Sadly, except for a few articles in the South Indian editions of newspapers and
tabloids, none of these events get coverage in the National press. A few
Lifestyle shows have managed to capture a few traits/ attributes of Coorg
though a lot of them have been done with such bad research that it makes me
cringe. The Power line project got a decent amount of publicity due to social
media activism especially because of some well-known celebrities sharing and
speaking about the protests. It’s disappointing to note that the World's
biggest Hockey tournament does not get featured in any main stream Media
Channel besides the local vernacular channels. There are some stalwarts from
Coorg who have made a mark for themselves in various fields. Besides, there are
people from Coorg who are in key positions in various verticals of Media. It’s
time to use their popularity to highlight and promote issues. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br />
I do not have an answer to any of the issues; I just wanted to use this
platform to start a discussion with a hope that I as a young Citizen of Coorg
make an effort to leave a legacy behind for the future inhabitants of this
great land. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br />
I would like to end with the words of Jane Goodall, "<span style="background: white;">Change happens by listening and then starting a
dialogue with the people who are doing something you don't believe is
right"</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-84559989445497924042015-01-24T15:44:00.002+05:302015-01-27T11:02:31.909+05:30EDM- What has it done?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
India today is at the forefront of the ever growing EDM scene in the World. The last few years have seen the best of International stars descending down to the Country to entertain Fans across all age groups. From Club Gigs to concerts to Festivals, almost all the big names have played across these platforms with some artists making India a must stop destination as a part of their yearly tour calendar. Bangalore with its varied and knowledgeable music listening culture has been fortunate to listen to almost all the acts that has visited India.<br />
<br />
I have been fortunate to have been a part of this Bubble as an organiser most times and as an audience on some of the occasions. This is not an article that is going to give my insight into the scene and the Business of it; rather this is an article where I am at my Hypocritical best.<br />
<br />
The Growth of EDM has been such that it has nearly replaced Rock & Roll at the moment. The last couple of gigs that I have done has left more questions than answers in my head. Hence, this article more than anything else is just an introspection of those thoughts.<br />
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These according to me are the problems affecting the EDM Industry and the Live Music scene on the whole<br />
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<b><u>Promoters and the Glamour:</u></b><br />
EDM has grown so fast and big in such a short span of time without even the Foundations being set well. While Rock and Roll in India took more than 20 years of building up with promoters working for a few years to get an Artists down, today, thanks to the internet, the average listener gets to listen to the latest tracks on the same day as the rest of the World. From 10 year olds to 35 year olds, the EDM market has encompassed people across age groups. This coupled with the fact, that it is comparatively cheaper to host an EDM gig has made a promoter of every person with a little money and a few contacts. The want of promoters to push a gig was actually nice when it was restricted to Clubs.<br />
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But with big acts starting to tour, the scene had to get bigger which meant big acts, big Crowds, big Production etc. This made some bigger fish want a piece of the action, So people with hardly any experience in the Live Events/ Music space made a beeline for the scene. And sadly, the established players just wanted to cover their backsides and recover their monies; where as the new age Promoters wanted to be a part of it for the glamour. Some of these Promoters were not even involved with the Club scene earlier and hence had no clue on how the business ran except for a few connections and pockets that ran deep. They were willing to pay premium for everything and anything as long as their names and logos stood out. Their Social networking pages were about them mixing with the whose who of the Industry and this made a few other hundred people wanting to be a part of the scene. Little did they know, that the Glamour dies out, the day you enter the Industry. A lot of such new age promoters are already missing from the scene but have left a mark that the rest of us are trying to recover from. Eg: The huge costs that one has to pay for permissions for starters<br />
<br />
<b><u>The Stupid Guest List</u></b><br />
Perhaps, EDM's biggest contribution to the Economy has been the birth of Clubs in the Country. From a few Bars & Clubs about 10 years back, we now have a club at every Corner. This ensured that every Club had to have a full house to make any decent Money. And they in turn had to depend upon the Promoters to get the Crowd in. So, more people at a Club, more money for everybody involved,<br />
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However, even this changed when the big brands started getting involved and Club Gigs turned into Concert spaces. The Big brands that got these Artists down, obviously want maximum crowds at their gigs and hence have to use local promoters to sell tickets and get in crowds. With a big act every week, the average listener has no money to attend all the gigs. So, it basically boils down to the rapport that the average listener enjoys with the Promoter.<br />
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This huge rat race where every promoter is competing with the other in terms of attendance has made Guests lists an inevitable part of every Club Night. Today, we have Local artists promoting their nights on their Facebook page with that hurried last minute announcement on the day of the show, "Hurry. call now to have your name on that limited Guest List". The same Artist will go back to his Facebook page and announce that it was a stellar of a gig and the Crowd was off the hook. I really wonder as to how many of that stellar Crowd actually paid to get in.<br />
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The logic in most cases is to fill the Clubs and make money on the Bar which is the ideal solution for a Bar or a Club but the fact that this has carried on to the Live Music space is where the problem is or rather where the Hypocrisy starts.<br />
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I don't remember the last time I bought a ticket or paid to enter a Club, Concert or a Festival. I thought I was alone but then figured that almost all my counterparts are on the same boat as me. It has gotten to a stage where its normal to be on the Guest list. And if one like me is either an Event Manager, Artist, Sponsor, promoter or a relative of somebody amongst these, then you just shouldn't pay to enter a gig because its our God Given right to get free entry. It's a shame that one has to pay when one belongs to either of these categories. Now with everybody friends with everybody,we have a unique situation where almost everybody at an event has come in free.<br />
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More often than not, the conversations after a gig gets very interesting. You will have the organisers/ promoters rave about how they were 7000 pax in the house when a person whose designed the place will know that there couldn't have been more than 5000 pax. And once everybody has left, you will hear the same promoter say that it was a bad gig and that there were so many people on the Guest list that they didn't make money off the entry. And this is where the Hypocrisy starts. At the very next gig done by somebody else, you will see the same Cry Baby walking in with a few Friends of his through the Guest List. We have created a scene that we want to nurture but where we do not respect the Artist or the Organiser. A scenario where we will not pay to attend a gig, PERIOD!. The last I probably bought a ticket for myself was for Aerosmith and that was some 8 years back. So if my Math is right, there is an entire Generation that does not know what it is to pay a ticket; for most of them, their first live experience was an EDM Concert. The time when the Guest List was Born!<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><u>The VIP who does not Pay</u></b><br />
The people on the Guest list are slightly better off. They just want to get in free for they just don't want to spend on entry but will blow a lot more at the Bar and I can live with that. <b><i>(Yes, I'm a hypocrite. I usually have about 15 of my closest Family and Friends on the Guest list by hook or crook).</i></b><br />
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The biggest problem as I see it is the VIP. In Most cases, the VIP area is a specially demarcated zone for Sponsors, Organisers and some "very special people". Slightly elevated from the rest of the crowd, this zone definitely gives a person a sense of accomplishment and a chance to look down at the lesser Mortals. Drinks and Food at this zone is free of cost and comes with all the luxury possible. The VIP is an aspirational zone. So much so that some people are insulted when they don't get into the VIP zone for it makes them look normal which is not acceptable.<br />
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So if an Organiser needs Sponsors, he has to make space in the VIP zone for them. And if he needs permissions, then he needs to keep aside all the VIP tickets and a few of the normal tickets. The VIP is a rather unique species. He will come in a fancy car, wear fancy clothes but cannot afford to spend Rs. 3000/- on a ticket or buy a drink for Rs. 300/- at the Bar. And worse than that is the fact that while at the VIP, one shouldn't dance like there is no tomorrow. That is for the Crowd at the General area, In the VIP, one usually has to have a twitch on their nostril and have their heads above the ceiling. I can come up with a very nice full form for VIP in Tamil but will refrain myself from doing it. <b><i>(Any Guesses?)</i></b><br />
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So essentially, an organiser ends up spending money on the Artist, production, permission and on the Stupid VIP who will not pay for entry or spend money at the bar.<br />
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In other words, the Organiser/Promoter needs to be a Samaritan willing to please everybody by getting an Artist down and then making sure that everybody is satisfied and hopefully at the end of it make some money<br />
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<b><u>Conclusion:</u></b><br />
The EDM bubble is here to stay but its time the stakeholders stop and take a hard look at the Industry. It is no use having stellar acts on one's Company profile if we continue digging a hole that we might never get out of.<br />
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My wish list is to see an EDM gig where the production is top notch, where the Artist is a big name, with a VIP zone that has butler service and the works but where every single person has paid for their entry. For if we do not do it now, then we have probably sounded the death knell for the Live Music Industry in India.<br />
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However, I still don't know if I am going to pay for my next gig but I do know that I will make an effort to pay and make people understand the importance of paying to attend a live event.<br />
<br />
From,<br />
The Hypocrite<br />
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Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-88400781137567285592014-08-29T21:37:00.001+05:302015-10-30T23:16:36.589+05:30A state gone dry!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The last week or so has seen numerous jokes on the Govt. of Kerala's decision to put an end to the so called Alcohol abuse in Kerala. There have been numerous debates on both Malayalam and National News Channels on the pros and cons of the Ban and each side has had their own way of looking at the larger picture. While some individuals welcomed the move saying that alcohol abuse is bad and the state should not look at economical gains in curbing a social evil, some others were of the opinion that it is not good for the thriving tourism industry in the State. And then there have been those who have questioned the wisdom of a ban in order to curb a social evil.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">That the State Government headed by the Chief Minister took this decision only for political reasons is a known fact. The desire to occupy the moral high ground and not lose base is what prompted the Chief Minister to score a point against his arch rivals in the Congress is no big secret. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In a state that prides itself a the most literate state in the Country, I am baffled that the Government thinks that prohibition is the answer to the problem. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My problem with the ban as a Non- Keralite living in Kerala is not so much as the ban itself, it is rather with the Govt's approach in addressing the issue.</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> If the state is really serious about tackling this issue, then, why don't they introduce measures that will curb alcohol abuse, </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">For eg: Drinking permit cards for every citizen based on pre-set guidelines. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I believe that there is a big wide line between moderate drinking and alcohol abuse. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> If the state is really serious, then drug abuse is a big problem especially amongst teenagers but the Govt, and the police establishment prefer to criminalise the user instead of stopping the supply chain. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If bans are going to be the answer in solving or addressing issues, I am afraid that the Congress has just sown the seeds in giving a license to the so called guardians of Indian Culture to implement their version of a moral code of ethics which a lot of right wing thinkers associated with the ruling party at the centre seem to be advocating in some form or the other. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I would be joking if I said that I don't like my drink. But I can think for myself and if my Parents and my teachers have taught me anything, it is the confidence to make my own decision. I cannot accept the state making a decision for me. I cannot and will not accept the state taking away MY ABILITY TO THINK. And this is my problem with my Mallu friends, for most of them, even though they do not agree to the ban, prefer to remain silent and instead have already started devising ways of working around the ban</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. We are a educated lot and what is Freedom if it does not give a person to make his or her own lifestyle choices. Unfortunately, its soon going to be a crime to have a drink in Kerala. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And so, I cannot live in a place where I cannot spend my hard earned money and socialise the way I want to.. Anyway, its a Friday night and time for me to hit the bottle with a vengeance. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And remember.........</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><i>In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria” - Benjamin Franklin</i></b></span></span></div>
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Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-66923338673541377132014-01-29T09:11:00.000+05:302014-01-29T11:27:46.926+05:30The baby is 3 years Old.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In a little less than 3 days from now, the 3rd edition of India's authentic camp out music festival will kick off at a brand new venue with a brand new feel. After being an integral part of the team behind Storm for the first 2 editions, I am left to watching it as any other person with the only Storm activity restricted to sharing and retweeting posts on the Festival on social networking platforms.<br />
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I have been writing this article for 3 days now and I have no clue as to where to start from. I wanted to write about the experience of creating this baby with the rest of the crazy set of people that have been a part of it for the last couple of years but Visakh and Sunil have already done a brilliant job with it (Storm Story on <a href="http://ww.stormfestivalindia.com/">ww.stormfestivalindia.com</a>)<br />
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Storm for me has truly been a festival of Friends; a festival put together by passionate individuals, some of who are not even from the Events Industry. I got a call the other day from a Friend who said, "Bro, I wish you were here" and that got me thinking, what was it that made Storm so special for all of us. Simply put, It was a way of life. Almost the entire team for the 1st edition was a team of novices. We just had 5 people who were experienced campaigners in the Industry. The rest of us, were at the most 3 years old in the industry. Some were into their first jobs and hadn't even been to a proper concert, forget a Festival. But what we had, was a vision, how would you want it to be? Everyone of the experienced campaigners in the team had their own baggage but they were willing to listen and listen they did. Every single one of those decisions in the first year was a democratic process so much so that, we could have given the AAP a run for their money.<br />
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Imagine working in a team where every single person wanted to prove a point. A digital team that realised that they had the perfect platform to announce their arrival to the World. They still continue to support Storm Festival and treat it as their own even today. If there was one thing that was talked about in the first year more than the experience at the Festival, it was the communication and interaction on social networking platforms. I still remember how each one of us scrutinized the answers to all those posts on FB and Twitter when we decided to postpone the Festival. While some fans were upset and angry and even calling us fly by night operators, all we did was answer to each and every one of them. I don't think we chose the easier way out and deleted any comment. I remember one of us actually called a former big boss contestant and spoke to her. That person actually landed up at the Festival and had a blast. <br />
<br />
The team at LSE was even better. The entire ticketing and camp allotment for the first 2 years were handled by 2 girls who were fresh out of college and on their first jobs. On one side, they had to deal with the enormous responsibility of handling the most important part of the Festival, revenue and happy customers and on the other side, they had to deal with the bullets fired from the bosses. The only reprieve was the smoking sessions where we could bitch all we wanted and then get back to the grind. While on one side, there were customers, we had artists on the other side and these were people that you had to really take care of. Of Course, the artists were probably the best that you could deal with, While they were particular of what they wanted, we just had to tell them that this is what you get and that was it. This entire facilitation was handled by another person who was also fresh out of College. I don't think anybody else cried as much as she did during the run up to the Festival.<br />
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Storm was announced to the World at the first Submerge Supernova. While, the first draft of the logo was worked on, it was fine tuned and perfected with inputs from every person worth his salt and the entire responsibility of all the creative till today, is solely on one person. One of the most straight forward no- nonsense person I have met in my life. If there was and is a person that still believes in the Festival, I guess it is him. He was the one person who put all of us including the bosses in their places. I still think some of us are scared to say the wrong things to him for he will definitely tell you what you don't want to hear.<br />
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There are a couple of other guys from LSE that sadly will never get the limelight they deserve and the best part, they don;t even expect it. Imagine a guy who sends his wife and kid to their hometown simply because he has to be at Storm and has no time. Or a person who has come to Storm as a volunteer for the past 3 years only because he loves the damn festival.<br />
<br />
This festival was definitely built on passion and a dream. The friends who were simply there all the time because they saw you put in the hard work. A businessman with his own establishment who closed his shop for 4 days and got his almost octogenarian father along to Storm Fields and the poor old man was actually sitting at the coupon booth the first year (that he is a Sindhi is a different issue altogether). The lady who spent more time at LSE than at her own home to help friends but also ended up getting all the shouting and emotional outbursts. The other friend who simply said, "Brother, you do what you do what you have to do and we will see the rest". Or the forever ready young lad who only told you those things that were not right with the whole set up but but stood by you and also got along his friends to help with the Festival. I remember the first year, we did not even bother with Artist travel and stay beyond a point simply because we didn't have to. There is an endless list of people that have helped with the Festival and they did not really do it for monetary gains or to have their names mentioned even once during the last 2 years They simply did it because they believed in somebody else's vision. The people of Napoklu who inspite of it being the only time of the year when they make their money (coffee season), taking a week off to be at Stormfields from dawn till dusk. They did not have to do it but they did it because they felt responsible for some reason or the other. The Father of the organizers who worked harder than anybody else at the Festival. For 6 months every year, he dedicated himself to Stormfield even with driving into Stormfields with a broken leg to finish work.<br />
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I really don;t know how we managed to conduct 2 years of the Festival without any real corporate or sponsorship backing. There were court cases by pseudo social activists, authorities who knew they had a once in a lifetime opportunity to use their power and look up at rules that they themselves did not know existed. But yet, the Festival ran for 2 years and is taking off in less than 2 days from now <i style="font-weight: bold;">(I know I started with 3 days left, that's how long its taken me to be politically right). </i>The truth is that for some reason and I am still trying to figure it out, the Festival has this unique ability to draw people to it not as audiences alone but as people willing to bend their backs for the Festival. I can go and on about people who come to Storm because they want to be there, like the General Manager of a leading 5 star property in Maharashtra who came to help with the bar and even helped carry crates of liquor. Or the person who came on his bike to help out with the Festival and had to give it for a proper service after that <b><i>(I rode his bike more than him at the Festival)</i></b><br />
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I know I missed out on some very important people but they will understand. They do get the limelight every once in a while but the people mentioned here are the Underdogs just like The Festival is... These unsung Heroes have given their heart and soul to the Festival and the old order has made way for some new ones who will also be experiencing the stress and the frustration of being a part of it. And to the new ones, don't fret, look at the bigger picture, you are creating something, ENJOY IT!!.. <br />
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I will be lying if I said that I don't miss being there but sometimes you have to let go. The baby is almost 3 and good to walk alone.<br />
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So, as an audience if you still haven't bought your tickets, well, you will not get passes like other times. for one, pay for the experience and two, <i style="font-weight: bold;">I AM NOT AT THE BOX OFFICE THIS YEAR TO HAND OVER A WRIST BAND SECRETLY ...</i><br />
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Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-21885738741628756122014-01-07T23:42:00.001+05:302014-01-07T23:42:24.129+05:30Is it only me?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I will be turning 30 in a couple of months from now and as I am getting older, there is this frustration that is building up in me on the state of affairs in Coorg. Its been 7 months since I moved to the neighbouring state of Kerala and besides the guilt of not making it home often enough (3 trips in 7 months is not something to be proud of). While some might say that I have no right to comment since I do not live in Coorg nor have I in any way contributed to any major cause even if it is monetary and hence I should not be a hypocrite. Well, that is my home and no matter where I am or what I do, my roots are right where it has always been. <div>
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This article is an attempt to put my side of the story and understand from my Coorg brethren if I am alone in my thoughts or if I am thinking what everybody else is thinking but not saying it out loud besides a conversation over a drink or two. </div>
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The past couple of years has seen some significant developments in terms of the Govt. of Karnataka's so called initiatives in development activities in Coorg. I must say I am baffled that we are accepting everything being thrown at us in the name of making us an inclusive part of the state. The 80th All India Karnataka Sahitya Sammelana that took off in Coorg today is a plain and straight mockery of us Kodavas. How else would one explain the arrogance of the Government machinery in organising a Sammelana in a district that has largely been ignored in terms of basic infrastructure development?. Why should we normal Kodavas even put up with this kind of an arrogance when we do not even get our due or rather return of investment on taxes that we pay to the Government. I agree that Coorg/ Kodagu is an integral part of the State of Karnataka and besides the fight for our rights through organisations like the CNC, the Coorg Wildlife Society etc, there has never been a conversation on the actual state of affairs in Coorg. On one side, we have the lack of basic infrastructure and on the other side, the loss of our traditions and Cultural heritage. </div>
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Basic infrastructural development that is a minimum requisite is sadly the last thing on our Govt.'s development agenda. The Hunsur Gonikoppal road has been in shambles since time immemorial so much so that people drive on this stretch simply because they do not have a choice. Its been nearly a year since we were promised that the road will be ready and sadly the stretch is as bad or worse at the moment. On one side, we have tourists coming in thousands to Coorg thereby creating an alternate means of an income to everybody concerned. And instead of developing this, we today have a scenario where money is being spent on activities that has no bearing on out lives whatsoever. </div>
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The Gonikoppal Dasara had a budget that does not help anybody besides some quick money for the organisers. This Sahitya sammelana is another example of making money from a social cause (if that is what it is). If the Govt. or our very own elected representatives are so interested in developing the Culture of Coorg, then why isn't some money allocated to Kodava Culture itself. for example, I for one have never seen a "kolu mandu" on Puthari and I can say it is true for most of our generation. Is there any money been spent on preserving traditonal practices and art forms of Coorg. God forbid a day where we have a DJ dropping a valaga tune at a Ganga pooja simply because we do not have a valaga team. With most of us living outside, we do not even have time to make it for our very own festivals and we actually only have 4 of them of any significance (Kailpod, Kaveri Sankramana, Karana and Puthari). So, while a large part of the blame is because of our indifferent attitude;we are playing right into the hands of the politicians who would like nothing than cutting us down to size and snatching away our land and culture from us and thereby our very existence. </div>
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There is a lot more that I can write home about and pent my frustration. But today it is about acceptance of who we are and where we would like to see ourselves 50 years from now. It is upto my generation to walk the talk and preserve whatever we have left. Agreed that we are a cosmopolitan and urbane,educated, liberal Community. We are global and exposed and we need to be pragmatic in accepting that we cannot expect all of us to marry into our own community. In layman terms, we are "modern". But nobody can deny that we are facing a crisis that we better accept and try to rectify before we are walked over in our own land because of our ignorance and indifferent attitude. </div>
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Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-77178039037027311732013-04-10T13:17:00.001+05:302013-04-10T13:17:37.129+05:30Are we doing justice?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The event and entertainment industry has undergone a sea change in the last couple of years and I have been privileged to be a part of that change. There has perhaps never been a better time for the music industry in India. The advent of cable television and more importantly the access to the internet has exposed the average Indian to different genres of Music. The average listener today can listen to their favourite artists at the press of a button. Indian classical artists have in fact been performing the world over for the last 50 years or so but the new boom has helped independent Indian artists find themselves a new platform; also giving them a chance to perform with their idols on the same stage and some have even had international tours. Some have waited more than 20 years to reap the benefits while some have reached that stage in 2 to 3 years. From traditional players to non-traditional players, everybody worth their salt, now has a stake in the events industry. Is it a good or a bad thing? Well, time will tell but whichever way I look at it, this is how it needs to be? If you think you have it, then go for it!<br />
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Everyday, music festivals are mushrooming all over the country and across various genres. From a sunburn, Rock in India or a One tree Music festival until about 6 years ago, we have now reached a stage where there are music festivals every other month and that too in places that we did not even imagine until it happened. Who would have thought that a music festival in places like Pune, or Coorg or Kasaul will have premium Indian and International artists performing? And most of these festivals are promoted by new age players with passion driving them more than monetary benefits.<br />
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Perhaps the biggest gainer in terms of genre has been the EDM scene? The last 3 months have seen the top artists in the World perform in India to sold out shows. A lot of people have worked tirelessly over the last few years and have raised the platform year after year to make India a must visit destination for these artists. While one cannot take it away from the promoters and the event managers and everybody else concerned, one must not forget that none of this would have happened without the support and the enthusiasm of the paying public.<br />
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I remember going for an Aerosmith concert about 7 years back; I was in college and did not have money to go for the concert. A cousin of mine who was going for the concert gave me money for 2 premium tickets for my brother and I, each costing around Rs. 1800/-. We did not want to leave another cousin out, so we bought 3 normal tickets for the same price. The point I am making is that spending mentality has changed today, College kids are willing to spend around Rs, 2500/- for a show just to watch their favorite artist perform.<br />
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However, in between all this mayhem of getting artists down and putting up production spectacles, have we forgotten the real Hero, the paying public? I really think, we as event managers have forgotten the paying public! I understand that there are huge costs involved in putting up these shows and no matter how much passion drives somebody, nobody likes to empty their bank accounts at the cost of putting up a show. And with the recession, sponsors are not really willing to bear the mammoth costs. So, it really boils down to getting out the money that has been invested. And the one who has to bear the brunt is the paying public. And the best part about is that the audience today understands this and is willing to spend money on a good experience and this brings us to the moot question, is the experience only about seeing an artist perform with great production, sound and lights or is there something more to it!.<br />
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A recent incident has left a sour taste in my mouth and being on the other side of the fence in that particular incident has made me realise that for all the effort that we put into an event as event managers, we forget to <br />
think of the paying public. We have this thing in us that since we have been through a lot to put a project together, the audience better understand our predicament and adjust to all that we throw at them. I would say even that is alright for as long as you communicate the same with the public. In this day and age of social networking, it is very important that there is constant interaction with the audience.<br />
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As event managers/ promoters, we need to realise that we are moving to a stage where we are going to be increasingly dependent on the audience to be able to bring good artists down. Hence, the audience having a good experience is of paramount importance.<br />
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We are not far off from a day where an event will be wholly funded by the audience. Imagine a situation where the interested audiences pay the actual ticket price in installments right from the conceptualisation stage of the event itself, very similar to buying a flat where one gets to pay the actual amount in installments at the completion of every level of construction. But that will only happen as long as we create a conducive environment where the audiences start to believe in a brand/ promoter.........<br />
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Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-6930899640649184402012-03-20T12:17:00.006+05:302015-04-29T14:25:18.694+05:30Our obsession with numbers!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After nearly a year of waiting, the average Indian Cricket Fan has begun to breathe normally. Over the past year or so, there have been numerous opinions and discussions from the pundits, the not so pundits and almost anybody and everybody on how the landmark is affecting the game of probably the greatest cricketer of all times, the one normally associated as the God of Cricket in India. While some said that the milestone was affecting his game, a few others disagreed. But in the end, the God himself finally confessed that it was playing at the back of his mind for the past 1 year, and thereby made the average Cricket Fanatic understand that the God is Human after all. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">However, there is an Indian side to this pressure that the Little Master was facing. To start off with, the God is Indian first and Human later; he has his routes in a humble Middle class Indian family, a family which most of us normal people can relate to. Ever since we learnt to read and write, we have had to deal with typical middle class statistics and comparisons. And this has crept into every part of our life, be it in class rooms, playgrounds, news rooms, elections, family gatherings; we Indian can go about it all the time, even while discussing our physical attributes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Every thing in our day to day life has some form of a number associated to it. From personal experiences, I can relate to this Indian statistic at every step of my life. At school, its about the percentage of marks that you have scored, I remember when I first joined boarding School in the class 5, I got the 10th rank in the first mid term exam and that was my highest ever rank that I secured in my entire School Life. The first time, my parents were happy but the happiness came with a disclaimer, "Congrats my Son but you know you can do better; you just have to work a little harder". But that I did not surpass that rank ever is another matter altogether. Once the board exams came in, the days of the first class was out of the window, my generation was about topping the First class and achieving distinction. Most students today cannot even get a seat in a college of their choice if they do not score more than 90%. We are living in a society where society sets the parameters on happiness and satisfaction. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I for one thought that this whole pressure will wear off once I start working but it has actually turned out to be a Bethal that just doesn't seem to be getting off my back. Not bad enough I studied Law and then decided that it was not my thing and took upon a profession where most people initially thought I was arranging tables at weddings and corporate events. Today, they have seen my work but now its about the money being credited to my bank account and my bank balance and the comparison with an old classmate of mine and how he works lesser hours than me but earns a lot more. In a years time, it will probably be about getting married and settling down. It definitely is one vicious cycle and in a few years time, roles will change and my offspring will probably go through the same pressure that I went through.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This brings me back to the pressure on Tendulkar and his 100th century. The numbers game is a part of our culture and will continue to be. Tendulkar probably played a selfish innings just so that he reached the landmark and it must have been one of the factors for India to lose that particular match but it had to be done. An entire country was waiting for the landmark; mortals like us can just about manage the pressure from our families but imagine the expectations of an entire Country on your shoulders and carrying the burden for nearly a year and not able to achieve it. We might have lost back to back series in England and Australia at the cost of a particular milestone but that is the way we live. No matter how much we deny it and say we are different, this numbers mentality is in all of us; we might not apply the conventional traditional milestones to ourselves but we do set a certain yardstick in our way of life and that is the Indian Way of Life</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And the GOD IS INDIAN!!.. He has got a couple of years of cricket left and let him at this penultimate hour play it like that 16 year old teenager who hit Qadir for those mighty 6's. He has carried the burden of the nation for more than 16 years, its time to let him enjoy the game....</span></div>
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Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-88336853541647364202012-01-02T12:16:00.003+05:302012-03-03T15:13:00.413+05:30Who is Responsible?<div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">The image of Karnataka has taken a beating over the last couple of years. The "Nataka" in Karnataka seems to be getting worse or better for the Media who are getting far better air time than they could have even imagined a couple of years ago. No wonder then that there are numerous Kannada channels that have sprouted in the last couple of years. Each channel somehow seem to be inspired by a program that used to be popular on a popular channel a few years ago. From the programming to the diction to the voice over seem to be truly inspired by that particular program. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><br /></div><div><span ><span style="font-size: 100%;">Yesterday's incident in the City Civil court premises has definitely taken this to a whole new level. All news channels across all </span>demographics<span style="font-size: 100%;"> have been hell bent on blaming the Lawyer fraternity for the whole fiasco and they had me convinced that it was my Friends who were to blame. Fortunately I spoke to a good friend of mine and got to know the other half of the story and began to see the coverage in a whole new light.</span></span></div><div><span ><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span ><span style="font-size: 100%;">I am not writing this to condemn the Police </span>atrocities<span style="font-size: 100%;"> or defend the actions of the lawyers. I am instead glad that this happened. It was time that we mortal voting population actually understood the system and that this whole episode took place in a court complex actually gives me reason to celebrate.</span></span></div><div><span ><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span ><span style="font-size: 100%;">For a few years now, The Media has been the eyes of the law as they like to call themselves and fed us with filth that I would not have accepted left to myself. My friends in the legal community to a large extent have actually been endorsing the views put forth by these news channels and spoken about how people like me are far removed form actual reality. I would instead say that a lot of people have been clinging on to things that didn't need clinging on to. There is </span>in fact<span style="font-size: 100%;"> not one news channel in the country today that is not biased. Everybody has their own personal gains and if not for the remote in our homes, people like Arnab Goswami would have probably become a Dictator by now. </span></span></div><div><span ><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span ><span style="font-size: 100%;">The Authorities (Police etc), Media and the lawyers actually baffle me. To a large extent they are 2 sides of the same coin. And this is why I think so. I was impressed when the Media decided to go against the Govt. in power and actually showed 3 desperate Middle age Ministers watching porn in the Assembly and the same was carried all across the country. 3 weeks down the line, the Govt. is actually investigating the persons who brought this out and their friends in the Media has decided to play safe and I haven't seen one newspaper or a television channel condemning the Govt. and supporting their colleagues except for a stray article or a useless discussion on PRIME TIME TELEVISION. Its the same media that highlights a so called RAVE PARTY in a farm house and while one side gets the so called moral police to accompany them and then speaks about </span>demoralizing <span style="font-size: 100%;">standards of today's generation, the other side acts as the guardian of democracy and upholding the rights of a citizen to his fundamental rights. The truth is that the Media today is only after TRP 's. The Media in our country will do anything to stay afloat in their business. There was a huge support for Anna Hazare and the Media backed him all the way. Unfortunately for Anna and team the lack of a good PR agency did them in and the whole Janlokpal bill debate has become a bit of a joke. Of course, Anna's team has also messed up every step of the way is another matter altogether. If the Media is actually serious about its duty, they would have published the names of all those who have money stashed away abroad. Instead, they just make a huge hue and cry and think of new debates for </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; ">PRIME TIME TELEVISION. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; "><br /></span></div><div><span >Dear Lawyers, wake up, you are as much to blame as anybody else. To a large extent, you prefer to keep the authorities in your good books so that you get the best desired results for your client and there is nothing wrong in it for you have a job to do. However, it is the same attitude that has today put you in the spot that you are in and tomorrow will also put us in a similar position. You know the law better than all of us and yet you prefer the easier route to get things done. It is time to stop being nice and the whole goody two shoes attitude needs to go. </span></div><div><span >I for one feel its time that we are not used as pawns in a chess game sand actually get our due. I am the voter and the tax payer. the Govt. will not be in power without me and the authorities will not get their salary if not for the taxes I pay. And its time I get my due. </span></div><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><div><div><span ><span style="font-size: 16px; ">Nobody can justify violence when there are various other means to get the point across. </span>Though I personally feel that for somebody to take notice, violence is a necessary tool at times. India has seen it over the ages, The Quit India movement of 1857 was the first instance where the British actually decided that India needed a law and it was the Queens proclamation of 1858 that got the ball rolling towards actual governance in India. So, dear Lawyers The time to act is now. Let the Media and the Authorities understand that we will not be fed with bullshit anymore. Take this whole incident in your stride and uphold the sanctity of the profession that I would have loved to be a part of.</span></div><div><span ><br /></span></div><div><span >On a lighter note, if you need an activation plan to bring out your grievances, I am just a phone call away. </span></div></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div><div><span >Like Bob Marley says, </span></div><div><span >GET UP STAND UP, STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHT, </span></div><div><span >GET UP STAND UP, DON'T GIVE UP THE FIGHT!!!</span></div><div><span ><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span ><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div><span ><br /></span></div></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><br /></div>Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-13097561134794766332011-11-13T13:19:00.000+05:302015-04-29T14:25:41.407+05:30Hypocrisy of the so called Moral Police!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Since the beginning of time, there has always been those who have taken the path less trodden and made a difference to the World at large. These individuals be it a Gautham Buddha or a Gandhiji or a Martin Luther King questioned the normal way of life and inspired people to rise up above petty issues and address the larger issues plaguing society. They abolished certain practices, made people understand their roots and be proud of what they are while also understanding the need to move forward as a group, community or a Nation. In a way, they were Moral Police of a certain nature.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Today, it baffles me that in this day and age, we have people who think they have the Moral authority to impose their line of thinking on free minded individuals. There are a lot of such groups operating in this country and I would be lying if I said I do not support a few of them myself. I am an ardent supporter of organisations like the RSS for reasons that I don't have the time to justify at the moment. Ours is a democratic country and our constitution grantees us 7 fundamental rights like Freedom of Free speech, Religion and so on which means every individual has a right to express their views. Of course in a country like India where we value our traditions and culture, one has to compromise on a few wants to get along in society.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Growing up in the technology era, we are far more exposed to the world at large. I studied in a Christian school in Tamil Nadu since class 5, did my college in a Government college in Bangalore and have been exposed to a whole lot of situations and these situations and people around me have influenced me and my thinking and way of life and this has helped create my own individual identity. I listen to Western Music, have friends across all communities and religions, have woman friends who smoke and drink and no I don't think its demeaning for me to have a woman friend who does what I do. I belong to a community that is very tightly knit, where marrying outside the community is generally frowned upon though the family comes around it is another matter altogether. I understand as a community we have our compulsions but what I do not and don't want to understand is how can a few individuals dictate terms to an entire community and get away with it. I am no less a Coorg than anybody else. I go for my Guru Karana every year, put Kali at Kunde Namme and Bodu Namme, can dance a traditional Coorg dance like any other Coorg, touch every elders feet in the way it is to be done but of course I don't go around branding and bashing people that I am a Coorg and showing my big fat stupid ego.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now to get to the point, I want to attend a Music Festival in Coorg that was scheduled for the 10th and 11th of November 2011 but has now been postponed to the 20th and 21st of January 2012 due to an act of God. But it is surprising to see a few individuals or the so called Moral Police opposing it because apparently it will spoil the serenity of Coorg, affect plants and animals and in a way will destroy our culture. So, over the past week or so, I have been pondering on the merits of their claims and unfortunately all I can see is the total hypocrisy of the so called Moral Police. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I do agree in saying that in today's day and age, Coorg needs a few of these so called Moral Police to control and save Coorg from becoming just another filthy tourist spot. But where are these people when we actually need them for a cause. The lucrative Real estate market is already destroying the serene beauty of Coorg, a highly non regulated tourist industry has wreaked havoc and destroyed the serenity of some of the most pristine places in Coorg to an extent that one does not even feel like visiting places like Dubare and Abby falls anymore. These so called Moral Police pull up tourists if they misbehave but until today, I have not seen a single one of these organisations doing anything about regulating tourism. These places are still intact because of the locals of the area and not because of these Pseudo social activists. The Roads in Coorg are in a state where driving on these roads is next to impossible. And these Pseudos have done nothing about it except for a letter submitted to the Chief Minister which is more of a PR exercise for themselves and their organisation rather than actually addressing the present problems. I wish these organisations would actually bring life to a stand still by blocking the roads for a couple of days until work actually begins instead of blowing their trumpets and making money on the sly. Instead, they are worried about a bunch of peaceful music listening people having a good time. It makes me wonder if they they are jealous because of their insecurity of not being able to fit into the crowd. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I don't mind these guys around but not at the cost of my Freedom and right to live my life they way I want to do it. These Pseudos are not present when you need them but want to protest against a clean Music Festival organised by people from Coorg with the best of artists from across the Globe. And apparently are even taking credit for the event being postponed (Guess these Pseudos have a direct line with God). They probably fail to realize that this Festival will help in showcasing Coorg in a whole new avatar while also reminding people from and Outside Coorg the need to conserve and do our bit to prevent further erosion of the natural beauty of Coorg. I do understand reservations in terms of Noise pollution but to call the Festival as leading to your version of the Goa way is saying far too much and that too even before it has begun. Don't we have loud music playing late nights at our weddings with drunk people dancing?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, my dear Pseudo Social activists, let us be and do our thing. We care as much for a lot of issues as you do, if not more but unlike you Pseudos we do not look at monetary gains through these issues.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I rest my case with a poem from Robert Frost that will probably help you understand my point of view</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;">I shall be telling this with a sigh</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Somewhere ages and ages hence:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">I took the one less traveled by,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">And that has made all the difference.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span> </span></div>
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Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-22920568904141777202011-07-03T15:17:00.000+05:302015-04-29T14:26:17.598+05:30Keep the Faith!!..<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The Hot Topic in this Cricket crazy Country until the next Test Match at Trent Bridge is going to be the World's Number one Test Teams debacle in the Iconic 2000th test match at the Home of Cricket, Lords. Every single Cricket Crazy Pundit in this Country is going to have a view on what went wrong with the Test.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Of Course, the debate is going to start off with the Dhoni's decision to Bowl after winning the toss, the bowling and fielding decisions that he took as Captain. Well, all of it played a part in a sub standard performance from the Best Test side in the World. Of Course, a few Die Hard Pundits will have some other reasons; which I would like to call excuses. Excuses like Zaheer Khan bowled less than 14 overs and so there was no teeth in the attack, the changes in the batting order in the batting order in the second Innings as Sachin and Gambhir missed a large part of the Match and some might even say that the pressure of the 100th century got to Sachin.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">All this said and done, India's performance in the entire Match was lackluster to say the least. A 400 test scalps Bowler struggled to even put pressure on the batsmen, forget taking wickets. The famed batting line up struggled to score more than 300 runs in each of the Innings. This considering tha fact that the English managed to score 269 runs after losing 5 wickets for 62 runs.</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">The thing that baffles me is a complete lack of the instinct that makes Dhoni the person that he is. Suresh Menon his blog on "cricket next"is of the opinion that Dhoni needs to reconnect with his old self. According to him, Dhonis's statistics of better winning percentage than most other successful Captains of the Modern era has become an albatross around his neck. We all now the Indian team has the goods to defeat any Test side in the world at the moment. We did win a test series in West Indies without Zak and Sachin. What the Indian team is missing is the Dhonism. Captain courageous needs to buckle up and lead from the front. There is no harm in resting the team's most experienced bowler, Harbhajan for the next test or playing without an unfit Zaheer.</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Its time for the attacking Dhoni to rediscover himself and be brave in taking decisions rather than going along with the flow of things. Hope that by the time the next test comes about, we will be able to take 20 wickets and score more than 300 runs in each innings. More than all this, win or lose, Its time for the No. 1 Test Team in the World to play like the No. 1 Test Team and not like the Rabbits that they so often were in Foreign conditions.......</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Dhoni, The God, the Wall and the Craftsmen will anyways play their part but what they need is for you to be you...</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Go for it!! The birth of the game of Cricket is for us to take!!...</span></span><br />
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Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-8621623826150261392011-01-11T14:25:00.000+05:302015-04-29T14:26:36.190+05:30Mr. Chief Minister. Why did I vote?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Dear Mr. Chief Minister,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I turned 18 about 9 years back and since then I have had the opportunity to vote thrice be it the General Elections or the Karnataka Assembly Elections. I being a relatively new voter and like most other voters in the country did not look at Election Manifestos to decide on who I was going to work. I voted for the party that I thought was best suited for the job at hand. And today, I am a terribly disappointed Citizen especially when I see the state of affairs in my honetown.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I have come to realise that there is no political party in the country that is truthful and Nationalistic. By Nationalistic, I mean a party that believes in development and with a decisive agenda that puts the country's interests before anything else be it internal or external policies. Instead, we are still stuck with Vote bank politics.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Developmental policies in India is based on the importance of a particular region. i.e. a region that enjoys a clout in terms of votes and seats. I unfortunately come from a district that has 2 assembly constituencies and shares the MP seat with the neighbouring district of Mysore. And in that aspect, they fortunes of a political party does not depend on my region. And so, development of this place is not on the priority of any political party.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Its is time that we get our acts together. We as a community have been indifferent to the situation around us. We crib about the roads, the lack of basic infrastructure, the indifferent approach of our representatives, the dying of our culture, the advent of outsiders coupled with the boom in real estate and the influx of tourists. Any wedding, any family function or get together; this is the topic of discussion on all most all occasions besides the coffee prices and labour problems. But, what have we done about it? The answer, NOTHING!!!...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Its time for us to pull up our socks and be heard. There are a lot of pressing issues in regards to Coorg and it will take more than an article to write home about. My grievances is with the basic infrastructure in the "Scotland of India".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Without doubt, Coorg is today one of the fastest growing tourism economies in Karnataka. From one Orange County 10 years back, we today have about 5 high end resorts with another 5 or more on the way. and of course the 200 or more home stays. Yet the roads are pathetic. In some cases, the road seems to be on the map but not on the ground. And this in spite of connectivity being the most important factor for any industry to develop. Unfortunately, the powers to be think otherwise. We do not even have a proper Hospital in the entire district and for any problems we have to rush to the nearest city.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mr. Chef Minister, now that you are going to be presenting the budget for 2011- 2012; kindly consider we not so important voters and give us what we deserve. We are not asking for a railway line as the Times of India article dated 23rd February 2011 suggested. We do not even need a railway line. Not bad enough, the real estate boom is already dwindling our Natural resources. We do not need a state sponsored catalyst to it. We are asking for good roads. Roads that prescribe to the standard set by your agencies and not few centimeters of tar as is presently being done.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are a lot of pressing issues that I would like to bring to your notice and that I will do, but first give us the basic stuff that we require...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Signed,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A Frustrated Voter!</span></div>
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Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-66090836784429284572010-03-18T15:03:00.000+05:302015-04-29T14:27:08.257+05:30Confused!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Bangalore, the cosmopolitan City today seems to be in a state of confusion. For a city that has always been looked upon as an outgoing city is today fighting to stay true to its name. The woes of the City has grown with the times, Disastrous Traffic situation, Loss of greenery due to Infrastructural development and of course the clamp on Nightlife in the Pub City of India.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are enough organisations working towards the development of the City in some form or the other but nobody is working towards preserving the most important aspect of Bangalore, Bangalore itself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I am not advocating for extended party hours or justifying as to why clubs and eateries need to be opened beyond the 11:30 deadline instead I am asking the Authorities to give me my Freedom to take a decision.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Moral policing by the so called saviors of our Society and backed by an Administration that strongly beleives that the best solution to any problem is to impose a restriction has robbed the very essence of Democracy. It is sad that a minority is actually making people accept their way of thinking. And here is why I think so;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ban on Dancing:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The dance bars had to close because they did not have the necessary licenses and they were increasingly becoming joints for the Flesh Trade. The ideal thing will be to legalise prostitution and this will help in controlling Child Trafficking and help authorities to maintain records and help in preventing STD's. Its not like its something that has crept into our society of late, It is the World's oldest Profession. But, this is beyond Individuals and will need a change in laws and require the coming together of the executive and the Judiciary.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, What did the Authorities in Bangalore do when the Dance Bars went to Court?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">They decided that instead of getting into a legal wrangle with the powerful Dance Bar owners who invariably have some sort of connection with the Underworld, lets just BAN DACING ALTOGETHER</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This aided by the fact that the so called upholders of our Culture, The Muthaliks and the likes think that is is their Birth Right to tell people as to how to lead an Indian way of Life that is morally acceptable. It makes me wonder if its just plain jealousy that makes them do the things that they do. For if they really researched on India's culture, they would realise that the Mujras was an Indian thing and was not something that the British brought in to our Society. It is true that we must not forget who we are but at the same time, India has survived as a Culture for so long only because of its ability to evolve and adapt to the Various influences and the changing times.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Problem is not the ban on Dance Bars but the ban on an Individual having a good time. Instead of Changing the laws to identify and differentiate between the various places of entertainment, the Administration decided that the best Solution is to put a Ban on dancing. it is even more appalling that this rule has come up in a City that had dancing since the 70's with joints like Blue Fox, Peacock and so on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And we have our Police Commissioner, a decorated Policeman who speaks about how the rules cannot be changed to suit a few thousands. My only request to Mr. Bidari is to help us from going backwards like the Middle Eatern Countries. look at Iran or Afghanistan and look at the state of "The Paris of the East" today. I only hope and pray that the Commisioner would not want to be remembered as a person who talibanised this city but instead as a person who let Bangalore be Bangalore.</span></div>
Of course we understand that the police have a big responsibility in their hands and that we have to prevent Crime and so on but banning dancing or asking people to go home by 11:30 pm in only creating rebels and encouraging Illegal parties which in turn the Media and you, the Administration labels a Rave and brands everybody as Drug Addicts.<br />
The people of this City are very co-operative and we can use this in a positive way. Lets make people take a oath that they will not drink and drive. We can have the Police working in tandem with the Drinking water holes to prevent people from Driving after drinking. Let people carry ID cards wherever they go so that people below the legal Age Group do not have access to Alcohol. I am sure the people of this city will be much obliged to follow these rules that let them enjoy their freedom while being responsible.<br />
People of Bangalore, wake up and be counted. Vote for your rights and fight for your rights. For those who are not from Bangalore and who face the wrath of the Locals a lot of the time, Please understand the place you have come to and adapt to it rather than make it the place you want it to be. We do not want Rakshanas here to direct us what to rakshishify................<br />
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I rest my case but hope that we stop cribbing and start acting!!!................</div>
Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8832619053102239986.post-67506315581302737482010-03-10T13:35:00.000+05:302015-04-29T14:26:52.721+05:30Is the National Sport dead?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">From being the first Non- European team to be a part of the International Hockey Federation and remaining unbeaten at the Olympics for 6 games in a row from 1928 till 1956 to the present state of Hockey, what went wrong?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The record speaks of a tremendous record until the 1980's, winners of 8 Olympic Golds, 1 silver and 2 bronze, 3 medals at the world cup with 1 in every position at the podium and the startling fact is that nearly 60% of these medals came before the 90's although we won the Gold at the Asian Games in Bangkok in 1998. The decline of India's hockey powers which started in the early 90's can be largely contributed to the change in playing conditions and surfaces.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Cricket frenzy in India started around the time the decline of Hockey started. The 1983 world cup and the subsequent win at the world series down under started a new cricket revolution while Hockey saw a decline</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The synthetic Hockey field came into being in the 1970's and the game has definitely changed since then but the powers that run the game in India have never looked beyond the National team for the development of the game. The differences between the administrators and the various State bodies has badly affected the infrastructure from reaching the masses.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A simple case in example is the situation of Hockey in Kodagu. A Hockey fraternity like Kodagu got its first Astro Turf Stadium only last year. This inspite of the known fact this tiny district has produced some of the stalwarts of Indian Hockey like BP Govinda, MM Somayya, AB Subbaiah and so on.It is said that more than 50 players have represented the National team in some form or the other. The worlds biggest hockey tournament, the inter family hockey festival had a participation of 225 teams last year (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodava_Hockey_Festival) last year. And yet, the access to infrastructure and exposure to tournaments is zero.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And this brings us back to the moot question, What is the problem or rather what is the solution? We need to bring corporates to get involved in the running of the game on a PPP model rather than just being employers. The PHL was a good model to increase popularity of the game, and this needs to be tweaked to make it more lucrative for investors and corporates similar to the IPL.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Its time we act to bring glory to our National Game for the powers that run the game in the Country will take a long time to realise this. Axing coaches and players is not the solution. The game needs to be nurtured at the grass root level if we have to return Indian Hockey back to its days of Glory..................</span></div>
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Machaiah Kalengadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11626618346539272382noreply@blogger.com0