Bangalore Metblogs » bglr_meera

Bangalore Nagarathnamma

bglr_meera — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 16:59:45 +0000

Traditionally in the south, people were known by the name of their native village or town. I don’t think there are too many people known that way from Bangalore.

One exception is the great artist Nagarathnamma. who was a musician and dancer from the Devadasi tradition, who was well known in the early 20th century. Though originally from Mysore, she established herself from Bangalore in 1890′s and so became known as Bangalore Nagarathnamma. She was apparently the first artiste to pay income tax!

An ardent devotee of Saint Tyagaraja, she was responsible for building a temple at his Samadhi and organising the annual Bhramotsava. Nagarathnamma had a fascinating life, according to this profile on Sruti
“…a colorful personality, enormously capable and courageous, compassionate and witty… [she] never forgot the trauma of her childhood, the slights and humiliation and hardships she and her mother had to suffer, their valiant efforts to lift themselves out of a place society did not look upon with any kindness but never ceased to exploit, to a rightful place of honor and dignity. Once she was invited to a conference of Telugu and Sanskrit poets where a noted poet spoke admiringly of a translation of Andal’s Tiruppavai by one Muttu Palani whom he mistakenly referred to as a man. Nagarathnamma burst out laughing and chastised the great poet: “Shame on you! Despite all your learning, you do not know that Muttu Palani had the honor of being a devadasi, like me.”

She tirelessly championed the cause of women artists. Her will charges the executors “never to depart from the real spirit of principle and purpose underlying the celebration,” and forbids anyone from trying “to debar lady artists and singers including devadasis.”

Can you think of anybody else with Bangalore in their name?

Deepavali again?

bglr_meera — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 14:45:26 +0000

I have never liked noise making crackers, and started actively getting bugged with them when we got our dog, who becomes neurotic at the first blast of Deepavali. How do people enjoy the ear deafening bombs?!! Atleast the flowerpots and wheels look nice.
Here I was, just thinking, phew, Deepavali noise is over, and I hear loud explosions. Perhaps somebody had left over crackers from Deepavali…then I realised it is related to the India-Pakistan match today. Everytime India got a wicket, there would be a series of blasts.
We burst crackers during not just Deepavali, but for sundry other festivals or occasions – Ganesh Chaturti, New Year, when somebody dies and during every cricket match. We have become a cracker-happy country. No consideration to money, air, ears or poor dogs!

Quick Quiz on this Rajyotsava Day!

bglr_meera — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 10:08:53 +0000

1) In 1687, a Wodeyar Raja from Mysore paid 3 lakh rupees to a Mughal general. Why?

2) What’s in this picture?

3) Where did Neelamma Kadambi sing on November 2, 1955?

Nostalgic about the 90′s

bglr_meera — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 18:33:07 +0000

Those who moved to Bangalore a decade or so back feel a generation older than the newcomers. They even talk like that. “You know, those days Bangalore was not so crowded. No traffic at all, I could get to MG road in 10 minutes…. All these IT companies have contributed to the worsening situation…”
The city was quite nice during the last century! When I first landed in Bangalore, we stayed a week in Koramangala. It was a dark and lonely place. Really! Just one restaurant at the nearby BDA complex.
It felt so cool in summer, we wore sweaters in July. And the roads, they were so clean, I used to admire the BMP pourakarmikas doing a thorough job, early in the morning.

Some things are the same, the beautiful trees still cover the roads with flowers every spring. There are still lots of beautiful parks. Vendors on carts selling hot bhuttas or fresh vegetables…just that we don’t have the time to notice those anymore.