On our media blog, sans serif, ARVIND SWAMINATHAN and RAMYA KRISHNAMURTHY report on the manner in which The Hindu has shown the door to Arakere Jayaram, the former chief of bureau of the paper in Bangalore.
Read the full story here: A surprising first at employee-friendly Hindu
churumuri 
Sad for Jayaram. Guess TOI style of ‘functioning’ is rubbing on its rivals too!
LikeLike
It was a surprise for me all these days how a Kannadiga is surviving in a Tamil Paper printed in English i.e., The Hindu, the Bangalore Edition. Nothing ‘right’ has been done since Ram tookover The Hindum, and Arakere Jayaram’s exit is one of those ‘left’ist jobs of Ram. Unfortunately, like all those English TV Channel reps in Bangalore, this Jayaram was not Jayaram’an’! With respect to Tamil fanatism Ram matches Karunanidhi, if not, Jayalalitha.
LikeLike
Sad indeed. Jayaram is a Talking encyclopedia on Old Mysore History. He was wasted in writing about Politics and inane hullabaloo. I wish he devotes his time to writing and publishing what he knows best. Who reads Ram’s Hindu in Karnataka any way?
LikeLike
This development explains a lot!
Recently, when B V Seetharam was arrested at Mangalore, later at Sagar for his criminal activities, The Hindu supported this criminal. Everyday 8 columns were dedicated for report in support of this criminal. One such 6 column article was penned by none other than Parvathi Menon.
Obviously Jayaram must have voiced his protest in this issue of blind support to a criminal in journalists guise!
It also proves a point that “The Hindu” of late is turning Anti Hindu.
LikeLike
Another (N) Ram-oji in the making?
LikeLike
Hello Raviraja, Chairman, Anti-BVSee Campaign
We are discussing here about the sad exit of Arakere Jayaram by the so called ’employee friendly’ newspaper The Hindu (read The Tamizhian)! We are here to discuss the idiosynchrosies of self styled leader of freedom of press NRam and the linguistic politics (read anti-Kannada) of Parvathi Menon etc.
You take any english newspaper worth its salt in Bangalore, they are flooded with Menons, Georges, Benjamins, Balrams, Narasimhans, Nambiars, Josephs, … all those names that are ending with ‘n’s. Few Kannadigas like Gundurao, Ramiah, Madan Mohan, Joshi, Prasad, Jayaram etc hardly survive in the suffocating Tamizh/Malayali environment in the English newsrooms of Bangalore. The same thing holds good for all english and hindi news channels. Some Jayramans, Basus would project anti-Kannada sentiments from Bangalore.
Sometimes I feel we need more of Narayana Gowdas of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike to trim down the autrocities of all these Tamizh/Malayali dominated english press/media.
LikeLike
Mr. Tegginamane Shivu, I am a journalist and wish to state that your observations smack of a highly parochial attitude; not to mention your sense of your being an inferior to people in power. How can you brand an entire community on the basis of the actions of a few black sheep?
If Tamils and Malayali’s have “dominated English press/media” as you say, then it is most likely due to their hard work and not mere chance. Your rantings are a reflection of why Kannadiga’s are poor performers in most fields. They know little else than to whine and point fingers at others. This is precisely why there aren’t any role models in the State barring a Rahul Dravid.
While on the one hand people in Bangalore, in particular, welcome IT and other industries (for their their foreign capital) they want nothing to do with the language or culture of the persons who contribute to their growth.
Please do not live under the false belief that Bangalore is what the Kannadiga’s have made it. If anything the multi-culturalism and cosmopolitanism has been the only reason for our City to be counted amongst the global cities.
It’s narrow-minded fellows like you who give a bad name to the City by shamelessly saying that you need more of the “Narayana Gowdas” etc.
Grow up.
LikeLike
Who create these role models(I admire Dravid, this is not directed at him!)?
Same ol’ prejudiced mainstream media who don’t know any models other than Narayana Murthy, Vijay Mallya and Mallika Sherawat!
We don’t need any more militant organisation to do OraTa for us, we just need saner, readable and decent newspaper which `The Hindu’ was once upon a time.
LikeLike
Jeevarathna asks “Who reads Ram’s Hindu in Karnataka any way?”. I do. Why? It has better national and Karnataka coverage. Compare state coverage in other papers such as ToI (does not exist) or DH with that of Hindu. Do DH or VT even publish a Kannada book review? Of course there are some issues with The Hindu. I don’t find enough opinion pages our issues. There is a clear leftist bias and editorials reflect that.
I don’t think Deccan Herald is fair in its coverage of state issues. I tried to get a letter published in DH in support of the de-anglicisation of Bangalore (which has been termed as a ‘name change ‘ in our media). It was never published. Not surprisingly DH published letters opposing the de-anglicisation by a ratio of 4-1. Just read the letters and opinions published in DH and tell me how many are in the interest of the state?
DH has a local market only and it is now abandoning its core base of readers. DH is also confused and is trying to emulate ToI in many ways.
LikeLike
To SaneVoice: You make no sense. You say “How can you brand an entire community on the basis of the actions of a few black sheep?” Then you say “Your rantings are a reflection of why Kannadiga’s are poor performers in most fields. They know little else than to whine and point fingers at others.” Aren’t you branding an entire community here? Talk about your narrow mindedness!!
You make a poor journalist by saying the only Rahul Dravid is a role model (why sportspersons should be role models is another discussion). How about Kumble? How about the past ‘heroes’ from our state? Try to learn a few things about the state and its people before making really dumb statements.
LikeLike
english news papers in bengalooru are used by tamil,malayam and hindi organizations to promote anti-kannada feelings amongst migrant population. look at the way the english newspapers reported cauvery issue,they behaved as mouthpieces of tamilnadu. any pro-kannada agitation is branded as hooliganism, but LTTE ACTIVISTS ARE PRAISED AS FREEDOM FIGHTERS BY HINDU.
ANY PERSON IN KARNATAKA WHO CAN CONSIDER RAHUL DRAVID AS SOURCE OF INSPIRATION AHEAD OF DR.RAJKUMAR, CNRRAO, RAJARAMANNA, H N NARASIMHAIAH, HAVANUR , KUVEMPU,GSS IS NOT IN GOOD MENTAL HEALTH
LikeLike
how naive to assume that this is the first time it is happening in the hindu!
LikeLike
Dear Mr (In)sane Voice,
I appreciate your concern, observation, deep study and fanatism (to Tamizhs and Malayalis).
You are a typical Bangalorean (settled from elsewhere) reaping the benefits of docile Kannadigas. Being a journo, I know how english journos are selected, the moment your names end with ‘n’ (as malayali or tamizhian) you are shortlisted. I know how horrifying accents you people have in english. But one thing I can appreciate is, you are always boss’s chelas, whoever it be, from communist to RSS. And you colour it as hardwork. The moment you enter, you have a Godfather (I mean linguistic father) to take care of.
The whole world, including the hapless Kannadigas know what kind of traitors you people are. You said it right, Bangalore has been spoilt (not prospered) by the entry of you people. You have made it a mini madras.
LikeLike
it is a good development. parvathi menon is not a lobbyist like arakere jayaram. the hindu n ram concieved and the hindu jaya’ram’ was delivering did not meet anywhere.
jayaram alias jai siaram wanted to turn hindu, a hindu paper.
the kind of people he recruited speaks of him.
parvathi menon definitely a good choice
-hinduondu
LikeLike
I second GR.
As far as the newspapers are concerned, there are certain issues that only the Hindu gives space & DEPTH to. But the Hindu really is a TN centric paper but more distressingly it plays psychological ops and the big brother game in very subtle ways.
Its swooning over the China’s giant strides, leaves me wondering if the Hindu is really the India Edition of the People’s Daily. Considering what they do to rural women who get pregnant a second time, and the stories of residents of by lanes of Shanghai and Beijing, and reality of the tall towers’ realty, the wanton discard for pollution control, the Hindu’s presentation is only a giant leap of faith. The Iyer lady who apparently feeds this ‘all things wonderful’ channel is resident in Beijing for a long time and one would imagine has now seen the country enough to make a fair analysis.
More to our concerns…
It failed to give any space to KA on the Kaveri issue. From letters to the editors to the editorials – according to the Hindu the only perspective on the tribunal was that it was ‘eminently implementable’. If we are to believe the Hindu, there is only ONE person who wrote to the Hindu against the tribunal’s award. When the fact is now clear that for more than a month now, day after day, people of different professional profiles have been continuously protesting against it. Are we to believe that not even a handful of these people wrote to the Hindu? Only some Mr. Akshoba from Mysore is seen to be writing mildly toned, highly uncritical, submitting protests. I have seen that name so many times now (Hindu and Frontline) that I am beginning to feel that he is really a plant. I have seen many strongly worded objections in the Hindu especially on issues that the Hindu does not care about or on issues. Even more dangerous is what it did to coverage of actual on ground protests.
Around a week after the tribunal award, when the protests were still in the media attention, as it became clear that there was a significant cut back on Bangalore’s supply based on some 1991 statistics, the Hindu immediately ran several pieces on water conservation in the Bangalore ‘news’ section. Articles like you should turn off your tap, not wash utensils and cars with running water, flush carefully. If were reading a paper in print, I would have flushed it down the toilet. Don’t get me wrong, these were excellent opinion/educational pieces, but one expects to read these in the supplements. By no stretch of imagination could one label these pieces as the day’s news. Of course, these articles took space from articles that could potentially give voice to what the protestors were saying back then.
Recently there was a CII KA meet where in prospects of aero industry in KA were analyzed. The Hindu’s KA lead page did not even carry coverage of that event. It was hidden in some random ‘regional page’ that could only be reached through search engines. When the entire country itself is trying to establish an aero industry one would assume that this was a significant news item. This industry would be employ people from the entire country and pay more taxes to the center than to the state. But the Hindu found it ‘regional’ and worse, NOT even fit to be accorded the normal visibility that other news items get. (Every other ‘news’ portal carried it.)
It has not reviewed aavaraNa so far. Worse, in the preview list to the actual top 10 books list, week after week this is not even mentioned, when, if you follow the preview that book has been the top seller. Whether they agree with the ideas of the book or not, one expects an honest approach. There are other psyops that I see in katcheri, nataka, litt and other cultural activities. But those will be inflammatory.
Basically, the Hindu has exploited its good name to play a lot of subversive games in pushing propaganda. For Hindu KA is not a focus point. It is just a market that falls in its area of influence. Add 3&1 (moorumatthondu) pages of local content and sell as local – forget focus, perspective, nativity.
I yearn for a KV Subbanna-esque ‘bring the world to Karnataka’ newspaper. Apolitical, Deep, Local, Wide.
LikeLike
All the abovementioned comments explain why the Karanataka media scene is hjiacked by “outsiders”-as described by T.Shivu, doyen of Kannada uprising.
We simply can not come together, we keep fighting amongst each other, just to be heard…only to make way for some “outsider”
If T. Shivu wanted he had all the opportunities ahead of him…could have even become the editor of a newspaper…but he chooses to write hate mails in blogs!
LikeLike
I just wanted to know, whether all these Tamizh and Malayali Journos working for English newspapers in Karnataka, have studied from Oxford and Cambridge. Can you show one T&M Journo who can speak proper english without the accents of their mother tongue? This is a high drama they play to support nepotism. Unfortunately right from the Mysore Maharaja Days, the DGPs and Diwans were imported from Tamilnadu (then Madras). Because Maharaja thought Tamizhs speak better English, but they were actually his chamchas. As have seen in the past decade how Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha shift their alliance from Congress to BJP and back to hold the power. They dine with Sangh Parivar and wine with Communists and have other activities with congress. Surprisingly journos of tamizh kind are no better than Karunanidhis and Jayalalithas. Thats how they are making a killing in Karnataka.
God save Kannadigas from these Englsh Journos with Tamizh and Malayalam affiliations!
LikeLike
Anna Ravi
You mix up issues. Its you who started hate mails, not me. You are spitting venom against BVSee for the last one week, for no reasons. And you turned your guns on Arakere, imagining that he supported BVSee. This is like Kettle calling Coal Black.
With regard to your high esteem (and wishes) on my competence to be an Editor, I must be thankful to you. That day is sooner, with or without blogs and your mails.
LikeLike
** OFF Topic ****
I am sorry couldnt hold my Laugh and pardon no offense .
It looks like one is waiting for the other to Post .Lets talk about kavery ..:)
LikeLike
kumaaraswamy is coming up with a kannada T V CHANNEL, which will be first private channel by kannadigaa— we wish that a kannadiga media baron will emerge who is ready to take on L BOARD ENGLISH JOURNALISTS OF TOI, HINDU ETC.
LikeLike
tarle subba sir,
i am dismayed by the likes of TS,Dr.ramesh.They are so naive.Why cant you lead a movement for kannada regeneration with like minded persons.
Karnataka regeneration cannot be a single point anti-tamil agenda.Of course,tamil hegemony has to be resisted with all resources at one’s command.
Only learned people,like you, can guide common people on a national movement which respects the rights of minorities and at the same time avert the disaster karnataka is facing.
DISCLAIMER: The following comments are not intended against any community.
parvathi menon,janaki nair(she also lives in bangalore) are rootless leftists who write for the “Hindu”.They have contempt for karnataka.These mallus are disestranged from their own milieu dominated by ezhavas/christians.They hate kannadigas,who have a liberal humanist tradition rooted in our traditions.
n.ram,despite his tall secular claims,represents a streak of tamil iyengar tradition,which is notorious for its bigotry and blindness to the cultural achievements of others,yet whose avarice to appropriate chosen elements from other cultures is unmatched.
For instance,n.ram’s love for r.k.narayan’s work is well publicized.yet it co-exists with adulation for tamil chauvinism and contempt for kannada sentiments.
The only thing that can be said in his defence is that there is a big threat to national unity in TN from the DMK/PMK.Therefore these elements have to be humoured/appeased given the distinct identity that tamil language has always had.Tamils have perfected the fine art of blackmailing the centre.And karnataka is the sacrificial goat at the altar of indian unity.
BTW,n.ram is staunchly anti-LTTE.
LikeLike
Air Deccan is setting up a hangar in madras for maintainnance of aircraft,because of space constraints in bangalore.Kingfisher sells million cases of beer everday in TN.These are karnataka businessmen with interests in madras.Cofee Day has many outlets in madras.
So karnataka has to play a very nuanced game,which requires vision.Which means educated persons.
LikeLike
Mr. GR, I prefaced it saying Ram’s Hindu. I myself was a regular reader till the advent of Ram. If Hindu had good local content (for a Mysorean), it was because it always had local correspondents like Mr.Bharat and his father ( i have forgotten his name) who wrote Mysore centric articles regularly. It was because of Mr. Ramiah and Mr. Jayaram it sustained its flavor. But under Ram it is losing its sheen.
Mr. T.Shivu, your comments on Maharaja and his Diwan’s are not borne out of facts. From 1881, only Mr. Ranagacharlu, Mr. Seshadri Iyer can be classified as Tamils. Both were outstanding Diwans and both served in Mysore for reasonable time before becoming Diwans.
It is interesting to quote what Sir C.P.Ramaswamy Iyer has to say about the Cauvery water agreements ( In today’s surcharged atmosphere no one will agree with him):
“I can speak with some authority on the magnitude of Seshadri Iyer’s achievement because it devolved on me later to conduct negotiations on behalf of the Madras Government with the Government of Dewan Bannerji in Mysore for initiating the Mettur scheme. It was then that i had occasion to peruse some of the masterly way in which he safeguarded the interests of Mysore in regard to the utilization of the cauvery waters and obtained an easy victory in 1892 by his advocacy over the legitimate but badly argued case of Madras. The cauvery agreement of 1892 was a triumphant vindication of Seshadri Iyer’s tact and powers of reasoning.”‘
…………… It was Seshadri Iyer’s vision and farsightedness which made Mysore a pioneer in Hydro Electric development. This scheme alone should entitle Seshadri Iyer to claim the position among the three or four makers of Modern India…..
Though the publications by the Government of India, under the series Builders of Modern India featured both Mr.Ranagacharlu and Seshadri Iyer, Government of Karnataka seems to be oblivious to their contributions. One of the former CM called Cauvery power project as a contribution of Sir MV and when it was pointed out that he was wrong, he promptly seems to have stopped the proposed Centenary celebrations of the project. Ironically though Sivanasamudra power station is named after Seshadri Iyer, it actually comes under an organization named after Sir.MV !
For the record Mysore got it’s power on Sept 26, 1908. Hope some one will remember to celebrate the occasion.
It is also a fact that, even at that time there was an agitation called Mysore for Mysorean! But then it becomes a long story. Suffice it say that it took a long time for another Tamilians to become a Diwan – albeit for a brief period. Arcot Ramaswamy Mudaliar was the last of the Diwans, but if M.A.Sreenivasan had succeeded, would you have called him a Kannadiga or Tamilian ?
LikeLike
Jeevarathna Sir, Adbutha vaadha nimma mahithi ..neeve yaake blog theribardgu .
adbidhe devru
LikeLike
Dear Jeevarathna. Very well written with good facts. Bharath’s father was ‘Cheemu’ (Srinivasan). More than Srinivasan, it was his father who laid excellent foundation for Hindu in Mysore, taking care of both reporting and paper distribution. It was an effort of three generations – Krishnaswamy Iyengar, Cheemu and Bharath which gave a solid base for Hindu in Mysore.
As you have correctly said the honour of establishing South-east Asia’s first power generating station at Shivasamudram goes to Sir Seshadri Iyer. It was built just five years after the invention of the electric bulb!
I do not know why my friends have forgotten stalwards in Karnataka’s recent journalism like V.N.Subba Rao and our own KP heading Vijaya Times.
LikeLike
People seem to read Kannada Vs non-Kannada conflict in every possible event in Bangalore. The argument that only Malayalees and Tamilians are recruited in English newspapers in Bangalore is not supported by facts. It is just a coincidence that right now both DH and the Hindu have Malayalee editors. (The DH Malayalee editor is a little better than the Kannadiga editors who preceded him – Gundu Rao, Shrinivas Raju, Jaganmohan Reddy) Kannadigas dominate among journalists working for the Hindu at least in Bangalore, so is the case with the DH or the ToI. Take a count if you want. In any case what difference does it make when even Kannada journalists working for English newspapers knew precious little Kannada. That is besides the point. I have observed Jayaram at work for a long time. He may have enormous knowledge of old Mysore history which itself does not make him a good journalist. There was hardly any life on the pages of the Bangalore edition of the Hindu for a long time and Jayaram did precious little to alleviate it even as he actively lobbied for favours from the Government, including a Rajyotsava award. You cannot write history on newspages for ever but Jayaram wrote only historical reports and nothing else. Anyway, it is hard to see a good special report in the Bangalore edition of the Hindu. As Jayaram kept telephoning the powers-that-be from his newly refurbished office, his team of reporters had a field day filing half a report a day, often by making a phone call to a politician and writing columns and columns of what the politician blurted out. This for a long time has been the Hindu brand of special stories. Jayaram, like many other staffers in the Hindu, lived in a fool’s paradise thinking that the Hindu brand will sell no matter what they write and no matter the growing competition. Its reporters should be asked to take time off from engaging in transfer business (Minister Revanna once revealed a Hindu reporters name at a pressmeet inadvertently), vastu shaashtra (One of them was a vastu consultant for Karnataka politicians and does little journalims) and myriad other ‘hobbies.’ How rightly Deve Gowda said it all when he at a function organised by the Hindu told the audience that he only read the edit and oped pages and the national news in the Hindu. He knew too well that the Karnataka pages carried only crap. I have had no chance to see how things have changed after Parvathi took over. Let us watch Parvathi. She has just taken over. The Bangalore eidtion of the HIndu has to be saved now. Does not matter whether a Menon does it or our own Gowda or Patil does it.
LikeLike
JR,
thanks for that post.
It is very difficult to talk about these things without coloring the issues and people in the issue with linguistic tags. Reducing all Karnataka issues to kannada vs other is useless and ultimately, detrimental to KA’s case in the issue.
LikeLike
Dear All,
JR in particular,
The scholarship and brilliance of these Dewans were never in doubt. Also, it is a great reminder we need to keep our Kannada ‘jingoism’ within perspective–I agree and understand your viewpoint. There has been a lot of erosion in the quality of people who are writing today in our ‘own’ newspapers. The gratitude and the affection the old timers displayed to Kannadigas has been replaced by arrogance–particularly with some left-wing editors. I am sure I can speak for most of my fellow bloggers here, that that is the cause of resentment at their appalling lack of gratitude for the very people who have given them sustenance and an opportunity to serve the people of Karnataka.
If these editor types persist, then KRV will address that issue.
Thank you.
LikeLike
DB, gratitude is too strong a notion. understanding and an attempt to see things as we see – nammallobragi.
LikeLike
TS
Kanditha! Who is this editor? Yaarivanu athwa yaariwalu?
LikeLike
GR said:
>>DH has a local market only and it is now abandoning its core base of readers.
Very True. I am a Tamilian living in Bangalore. I used to read The Hindu but ditched it because of its Communist propaganda and it being the Indian edition of the People’s Daily (as tarleSubba has correctly pointed out above). Then I started reading the DH. (TOI being too obnoxious for my taste). But I am deeply disappointed with the way DH is turning out these days. Especially the Sunday Magazine. It is full of news about b-grade Bollywood stars. It has interviews of Hindi TV serial actors whereas Kannada movie stars or directors hardly get any attention. This is completely incomprehensible to me. Why should a paper read only by Karnataka people have more than necessary coverage of inane Bollywood stuff?
LikeLike
I see at least three comments, the owners of whom very well become editors of some english newspapers…why don`t they try? I agree with Raviraja Gowda on this count…at least Tegginamane Shivu should give it a serious try!!!
LikeLike
Mr. Jeevarathna: Your points are well taken. I still prefer to read The Hindu for the simple fact that it’s field reporting is more objective and broad compared all the other papers. I will agree with you, Tarle, Karnatakalover et al. to some extent on the opinion pages it carries. There should be some ideological balance.
** Off topic **
Interesting comment on “Mysore for Mysoreans movement”. Mysore brahmins were angry at tambrams who were brought in to serve at multiple levels in the Mysore state. The reservation system which the Nalvadi KR Wodeyar started (MV was opposed to it and tended his resignation) also sheds light on the social tensions of that time.
There is another reason for excessive english usage in old mysore areas. Diwans from outside certainly did not use Kannada at high levels. Jayachamaraja Wodeyar himself, as the first governor of Mysore state in 1956 delivered the speech in English!! No wonder Kannada has taken a back seat in administration ever since. I am not trying to belittle all the great achievements of Wodeyars here as they were among one of the most benevolent rulers of that time. We (probably most of India) still alienate large percentage of our people from direct participation in democracy by insisting on the use of english in administration.
LikeLike
I am surprised to read some scholarly comments that veered around Mr. Arakere Jairam and THE HINDU.
Disappointed and shocked by the perspectives projected I prefer to draw the contributors attention towards the less known area : Contrary to obserbvations majoroity of reporters with the hindu in Bangalore and elsewhere in te State are hadinaarane kannadigas. Some of them are singers, kannada poets, kannada novelists, painters and lavanikars.
Peple who jeer at the hindu without knowing its working culture and basics of perceptive and perspective journalism should first look into its coverage particularly secretarait, theatre, cinema, culture and literature and compare it with any english and kannada dailies and then comment
LikeLike
Read, Compare and discuss.
I agree with Shashi
LikeLike
sir,
speaking for myself i did say that the Hindu had depth and that there are certain topics that only The Hindu covers. More often than not I donot even see who has written the piece I’m interested in. For all I care it could be written by an alien.
As I see it, The Hindu is written to be read by people. By your argument are you suggesting that people should stop complaining and take what they get – only because The Hindu has great internal dynamics and adheres by perceptions and perspectives which increasingly are finding fewer and fewer takers?
My family continues to be a subscriber for over 25 years. At one time, we even had multiple subscriptions.
LikeLike
Dear Mr Tarle Subba
I wish you continue to have multiple subscriptions, and if you can pick up the whole print order of Bangalore Edition, heaven is not going to fall on our head. Its you choice, your liking, your’s whatnot.
I agree with you The Hindu has a depth, dug by Tamizh fanatism. The Hindu carries analyses with Tamizh interest at the backdrop. The Hindu is most respected newspaper, by all the Tamizhians on this earth (and other planets as well). The Hindu’s perspectives are the perceptions perceived by all the Tirus starting from Periyar to Tayanithi Maran and ofcourse Stalin. The Hindu generates lots of interests, if you are only a Tamizhian, and a true Tamizhian.
The only internal dynamics that churns The Hindu is the family feud between N Ram and N Ravi, otherwise its a typical high-class brahmin family enjoying Tair Sadu with Puliyogre.
LikeLike
Dear Aswhini,
> It is just a coincidence that right now both DH and the Hindu have Malayalee editors. (The DH Malayalee editor is a little better than the Kannadiga editors who preceded him – Gundu Rao, Shrinivas Raju, Jaganmohan Reddy)
IT IS NOT BY COINCIDENCE, IT IS BY DESIGN. IT IS BY SYSTEMATIC DISPLACEMENT OF GUNDU RAO, ARAKERE JAYARAM ETC., BY THE ANTI-KANNADA (READ PRO-TAMIZH AND PRO-MALAYALAM) MANAGEMENT/ EMPLOYEES OF DH AND HINDU. THE ‘BETTER’ FACTOR YOU HAVE OBSERVED WITH THE MALAYALI EDITORS IS ACTUALLY THE ‘BUTTER’ FACTOR. THEY ARE WELL KNOWN FROM TIME IMMEMORIAL FOR BUTTERING THEIR BOSSES.
> In any case what difference does it make when even Kannada journalists working for English newspapers knew precious little Kannada. That is besides the point.
DID YOU CONDUCT ANY KANNADA EXAMINATION FOR ALL THOSE KANNADA JOURNALISTS WORKING FOR ENGLISH NEWSPAPERS. YOU MUST HAVE GIVEN THEM TAMIZH OR MALAYALI EXAM PAPERS AND WRONGLY ASSESSED THEM. I SUGGEST YOU CAN CONDUCT ORAL EXAMINATION FOR ALL THE ENGLISH JOURNOS IN KARNATAKA (TO HAVE SOME FUN IN THE ACCENTS OF YOUR BELOVED TAMIZH AND MALAYALAM SPEAKERS) BEFORE CONDUCTING A WRITTEN EXAMINATION. THEN GIVE THOSE PAPERS FOR UNBIASED JOURNOS FOR VALUATION.
> As Jayaram kept telephoning the powers-that-be from his newly refurbished office, ……
> asked to take time off from engaging in transfer business (Minister Revanna once revealed a Hindu reporters name at a pressmeet inadvertently), vastu shaashtra (One of them was a vastu consultant for Karnataka politicians and does little journalims)
> How rightly Deve Gowda said it all when he at a function organised by the Hindu told the audience that he only read the edit and oped pages and the national news in the Hindu. He knew too well that the Karnataka pages carried only crap.
THANKS FOR THIS PIECE. CAN I NAME IN THIS BLOG THE NAMES OF YOUR BELOVED TAMIZH/MALAYALI COLLEAGUES INDULGING IN TRANSFERS, SITES, VASTU CONSULTATION, EXTORTION IN YOUR MADRAS AND BANGALORE OFFICES?
FURTHER, YOU HAVE DROPPED THE NAMES OF REVANNA AND DEVEGOWDA. ARE YOU THE ONE WHO WAS READING ENGLISH NEWSPAPERS TO THEM IN THE MORNINGS AND TRANSLATE IMPORTANT NEWS? SINCE YOU HARDLY KNOW KARNATAKA, YOU SAY THOSE PAGES WERE SCRAP. YOU WISHED BANGALORE EDITION TO PROVIDE CHENNAI OR KOCHI SUPPLIMENTS!
> Let us watch Parvathi. She has just taken over. The Bangalore eidtion of the HIndu has to be saved now. Does not matter whether a Menon does it or our own Gowda or Patil does it.
YOU CAN PLEASE WATCH. BUT BEFORE WATCHING I ADVISE YOU TO REMOVE THE ANTI-KANNADA SPECTACLE YOU ARE WEARING. THEN YOU WOULD REALISE WHETHER GUNDU RAO, ARAKERE JAYARAM WERE BETTER THAN MENONS, NAMBOODIRIS ETC.
LikeLike
Dear friends,
thanks !
Gauri satya, thanks for enlightening about cheemu’s father’s contribution also.
GR,
Your mentioning about JCRW, just shows how wrong we can be at time in assessing the personalities.
Maharaja published under Jaya chamaraja wadiyar grantha mala great treatises in Kannada like Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, Classic work etc. These were written by great scholars under his personal supervision and distributed free to all the educational institutions free of cost. These were done after independence and at his personal expense. A colossal and monumental work of this magnitude was never attempted by any one earlier.
According to late H. Ganagadara Shastri,- Asthan Vidwan & Dharamadikari, he personally used to read the manuscript overnight and suggests corrections when ever necessary. To the extent once he was summoned in the middle of night on Shivaratri night to discuss the script !
Dr. T.V.Venkatachala Shastri , in his article – kannaDa sAhityakke oDeyara koDuge says:
jayacAmarAjEMdra graMtharatnamAleyannu AraMbhisi apAra dhanavyayadiMda Rug^vEda, upaniShattugaLu, purANagaLu mattu itara vaidika sAhityagraMthagaLannu anEkAnEka saMpuTagaLalli mUla mattu kannaDa tAtpar^yasahitavAgi nADina vidvAMsariMda bareyisi prakaTisiddAre. I kAr^ya amOghavAdudu, abhUtapUrvavAdudu. su.350 doDDa saMpuTagaLa 30,000 puTagaLalli haraDiruva vaidikasAhitya j~jAnasaMpattu. I mahAnubhAvarige kannaDigaru cirakRutaj~jarAgiruvaMte mADide.
LikeLike
Knowing DeveGowdru fairly well, …”How rightly Deve Gowda said it all when he at a function organized by the Hindu told the audience that he only read the edit and oped pages and the national news in the Hindu. He knew too well that the Karnataka pages carried only crap…”
I find it amusing if ole DeveGowdru can even read these opinion pieces! Much less understand them! Avaru, real ‘HMT’ “Hegal Mel Towel’ type Son-of-the-soil.
IMLO (In my lofty opinion)
Hindu has become China Daily. N Ram is directly under the control of Chinese Government. When I used to read Hindu many suns ago, it was mainly for sports. The rest of the news was written in a very banal, pedestrian style. For the same reason, I never liked RK Narayan–who reminds me of a truism from Ole Oscar Wilde–Mediocrities always prosper.
LikeLike
Mr Doddi Buddi
Sorry to comment on your lofty opinions.
Your last paragraph from ‘Hindu has ….. ‘ upto ‘…. mainly for sports’ is OK. But the sentences like ‘news written in a … pedistrian style’ and ‘For the same reason, I never liked RK Narayan ……’ are unfair. I am not too sure about The Hindu’s style of reporting, but RKN gained popularity only because of his simple and vivid style. And there is nothing wrong in reaching common people through such styles. If RKN had written in Shakespeare’s style, neither you would have understood anything, let alone lesser mortals like me. Have a heart while commenting on such Towering Personalities.
LikeLike
TS
On RKN
“Different strokes for different folks!”
I agree RKN style was simple and it was directed at simpletons! IMLO, that is good!
If you trawl this blog, I have consistently explained why I think so. Many readers do not agree with me. But that is OK.
Have you applied for your Malgudi Passport, yet?
Thanks!
LikeLike
Good piece again Jeevarathna
Another great contribution of JC Wodeyar was his compositions. MS chose one of them and sang in the UN. Wodeyar composed these songs himself with the guidance of some great musicans of those days.
Also, the Vedas, Puranas have not been attempted again by any one so far under one series of publications as JC Wodeyar did from his Palace publications. None of the JC Wodeyar publications are available today.
JC Wodeyar’s speech at Hampi on the historic occasion of the inauguration of the enlarged State was in Kannada, not in English. Majority of his English speeches have quotations from Sanskrit scriptures.
LikeLike
Yes gauri satya, MSS sang the composition “shiva shiva bhO” in rAga nAdanAmakriya !
LikeLike
JR and GS: Thanks for correcting me about JCW’s speech. As I said no disrespect for any wodeyars/diwans. In fact I am an indirect beneficiary of the benevolence of JCW (education)!! I remember reading about the first speech to mysore state assembly being in angla bhashe which was protested by many members of the assembly. It was published as part of Suvarna Karnataka series about ekikarana, use of kannada in admin etc. If that was non-factual, then no one corrected the paper that published it.
May be one day we will have enough resources to digitize all the historical and important govt records.
Enough digression, off topic discussions. Peace!!
LikeLike
Only after reading the postings in this section did i come to know that Nimhans is such a hi-teh hospital where all inpatiens suffering from delusion of persecution get a pc with broadband connection.
I am a Kannadiga, Kannnada speaking Kannadiga, having studied in Kannada medium and a regular reader of the Hindu (also)
In my opinion be it Arakere Jayaram, Jayaraman or Jayaram Menon (or Parvathi Memon or Arakere Parvathi) deserves to be sacked if
1) He or she does precious little to improve the edition in the face of stiff competition
2) He or she hobnobbs with politicians of all hues to get awards and possible nominations to public institutions
3) He or she Instigates a group of staffers against some colleagues when he or she found the goings tough.
My information is that the answer is yes to all the three questions in the case of Jayaram. Let the informed insiders discuss this instead of a Pallava-Chalukya conflict here.
As regards the quality of news coverage (I mean news and not culture, literature and religion), I as a reader found the Hindu insipid in its Karnataka coverage. Boring headlines, lenghty stories with ample repition, no pro-active reportage (of bad roads, corruption and so on), plenty of ‘he said’ kind of news and so on. In fact, in my memory, the last good special report the Hindu carried was way back in 1997 when a special correspondent called Vittal broke the the story of Government’s impending plans to denotify Cubbon Park! Will those from ‘Lower House’ and ‘Upper House’ discuss these issues please.
And finally to those who see discrimination against the Kannadigas in the Hidu: please be aware of the fact that most of the district correpondents of the Hindu are ex-Kannada journalists; some of the correspondents in Bangalore were also working for Kannada newspapers before they joined the Hindu (No other English daily has ever done this). Those who accuse the newspaper of discrimination are yet to come out with any supporting evidence except crying sour grapes
LikeLike
A journalist should be heard (through his writings) and not to be seen. That should be the motto of journo. But things are other way these days. You see a lot of downright poor journalism. During a photo session, a reporter used to avoid being photographed. Today, you see more of them in the pix, more so in their own newspapers!
LikeLike
PP , Nimge Pulitzer prashashthi katti yittidhe ….nomination kaLsanna
LikeLike
Gowri Sathya,
Just an update to you on the works of JC Wadiyar. I have had the fortune of talking to Mr. S. Krishnamurthy (retd. director of AIR and grandson of Mysore Vasudevachar – JC Wadiyar’s music teacher). According to him, all the compositions were sung by his highness and music composition for the lyrics was done by Vasudevachar. This was in turn put into English Music notations and given back to JC Wadiyar by Mr. Krishnamurthy who used to play on his piano. Remember, JC Wadiyar himself was an accomplished scholar in Western Music and was placed 3rd in the Exams held in UK.
As late as towards the end of last year, JC Wadiyar’s daughters happened to collect the mansucripts from Mr. Krishnamurthy and hopefully, sometime it will be published.
LikeLike
PP,
Thanks for the information.Hmmmmm.India is so complex.We cannot ignore these small bits of information.While we seek the larger picture.
LikeLike
Thanks Vinay for more input. When I interviewed Thitte Krishna Iyengar when his name was announced for the first Purandara award, he spoke with great admiration about JC Wodeyar as a composer. Wodeyar did the compositions himself and sang them before musicians like Vasudevachara, Thitte and others, who improved upon them wherever necessary. He did the same thing when he wrote his speeches on Indian philosophy to be delivered during his US visit and had them improved upon with the guidance of Prof. Yamunacharya and others.
LikeLike
GS
Thank you for defending JCW from a ‘sneak’ attack questioning his abilities!
LikeLike
KP neeve ondhu paper shuru maadi …navella support maadtheevi
LikeLike
I do not understand the logic behind praising JCW in this blog. We would like to know whether he was a good administrator as Maharaja of Mysore or the Governor of the Mysore State. Who cares whether his compositions are sung by MS are Thitte applauded him.
The main issue is the systematic Tamizhization of Karnataka and Tamizh autrocities against Kannadigas from time immemorial. Whether its British Rule or Congress Rule (of Golden Days under Nehru?) or Indira Rule or Janata Rule to BJP Rule or the Kichdi Rule (of the present kind) at the Centre, Tamizhs had their lion share, and all the time at the cost of poor Kannadigas. This is because great souls like Wodeyars of Mysore patronised Tamizhs. Later on Nijalingappa kind of people to garner the national status, succumbed to Kamaraj.
LikeLike
Mr.T.Shivu,
Mysore was considered as a Model State and Gandhiji called it as Rama Rajya. So one cannot understand your grouse in this regard. As for as JCRW he was at the helm of affairs when Independence was looming large on the Indian Horizon. He acceded to the wishes of the people and volunteered to give up his constitutionally guaranteed post of Raja Pramulh of mysore state ( part-B state), when Justice Fazl Ali commission interviewed him regarding reorganizations of the states on linguistic basis. If he became a Governor of the state later, then it was incidental and at the pleasure of the President. It is another matter, he felt stifled with the attitude of the some the karantaka politicians and shifted to Tamil Nadu and did not continue there also much longer.
Facts are sacrosanct and we are not trying to praise any one which they did not deserve. Any way we are only quoting from the records and stating what some well known personalities have already said on record.
It is only a blog, and if some of the persons are not happy with what we write then certainly we do not want to waste our time either.
Though this is not the place to write on what Vinay has stated , still it is hard to remain silent and not set the record straight.
Mr. Vinay, I do not know if you have heard Mr. Krishna Murthy’s own statement on AIR in this regard as a introductory remarks when he dircetd the transmission of all the 94 kRutis couple of years ago. You must have misunderstood Mr. Krishnamurthy when he helped JCRW when he as learning CM thro’ piano. Compositions came much later. Mr. Krishna Murthy would not have made such a statement.
Here is what he has said in an article:
… Jayachamaraja Wadiyar the last in the Wadiyar line to reign, was gem of many facets. He corresponded to the ideal of Philosopher King. Well versed in the Philosophy of the east, he was familiar with the best minds of Europe… His work Dattatreya was hailed the world over…
His compositions run the whole gamut of ragas: he not only exploited rare ragas, but improvised new ones… JCRW’s wide ranging scholarship in the theory of music was the despair of Vidwans in a way…
JCRW’s compositions have won high acclaim: some have raised them to the rank of Diskshitar’s composition.
Another most important thing was JCRW was a srividya upasaka and all the compositions have deep tantrik meanings and Vasudevacharya was not a srividya upasaka. All the compositions of JCRW are in Sanskrit and were composed in a very short period of 2 years between 1945 to 1947.
LikeLike
Thanks, Jeevarathna. I will cross-check with Mr. Krishnamurthy sometime in future and revert to you on this issue.
Regards
LikeLike
houdu, can you do that – play CM on piano? i would be very surprised if the answer is yes for the whole range.
LikeLike
Dr. Tiru Mu.Karunanidhi is a great administrator. Even at this age, he has the strength to rule one of the prominent states of the country. He has been able to get the water, power, railway projects, and industries to his state. He is good to his people. He has been trying his best to get whatever a common TN citizen desires.
He has great passion for the Tamil Literature, Music, Movies and any form of art too. His scripts for the movies of fame in Tamil are remembered by all the people of TN.
We can praise him too in this blog!
LikeLike
Mr. Subbu,
If you are a mysorean, Kindly visit Mysore Music academy, a cultural society run by Sister John Britto of Good Shepherd Convent and ask her this question, she may well give a demo !
Mr. Shivu,
Don’t get annoyed !
Well This is what Mr. M.Karunanidhi had to say on JCRW in 1975 :
In fact all the speeches made as the Governor of Madras, on formal occasions bore the imprint of deep study of the relevant subject and fresh thinking brought to bear on the subject. It is difficult to conceive of such a balanced personality and it is more difficult to think of an era in th future…
any problem with that !
LikeLike
JR,
thanks for that reference, will follow it up when in mysore. but for right now can you give me an answer.
can a piano be modified for that?
(am just a novice)
LikeLike
Karunanidhi’s words mean nothing.
LikeLike
Mr.Subbu,
I am afraid we will be blamed for digressing too much. Nevertheless, i owe an explanation. so be it. Even i am not an expert but will make an attempt.
There are 72 Ragas also know as mEla kartha rAgas. There are many equivalents of CM rAgas in HM system also. Piano is not modified to to play CM as you have said. One has to be proficient in both CM and WM systems to play CM on Piano.
There are rAgas like shankarabharana in CM which is very close to C-Major Scale in WM. As a matter of fact, JCRW has composed many of his compositions in all permutations and combinations of this rAga and its janya like hamsavinodhini etc.
It is also to be noted that in Mysore use of western music and notations was quite common in those days as Palace had both Carnatic and Western Bands and the musicians were provided with western notations of great CM compositions. Even the leading Vidwans like Veena Venkatagiriappa, Veene Doreswamy Iyengar and others ( Mr. Krishna Murthy included)were encouraged to learn Western Music and pass the exams conducted by Trinity School of Music, London. The late Yuvaraja was known to take a compilation of CM and HM compositions in notations along with him when he visited Europe to make the accompanying musicians entertain his foreign guests.
May be it is difficult to play all the rAgas on piano and may be a real connoisseur may not enjoy the piano recital. But in the case of JCWR he was fellow of the Trinity college of Music & Licentiate of the Guild Hall of Music, London by 1945 ( age: 26) and so it must have been natural for him to learn CM from that perspective.
LikeLike
Good pieces Jeevarathna. One should read the speeches delivered by JCW on several occasions. It shows his great scholarship.
We should not forget the historical fact that right from Krishnaraja Wodeyar III, the Mysore Maharajas suffered under the British who controlled Mysore from Madras. They were always partial towards Madras. That is the reason why we continue to suffeer even today under the Cauvery agreement. Even Sir MV was helpless. He had to abide their dictat and reduce the height of KRS dam.
Go back a little into the history of Mysore, KR Wodeyar III suffered hell under the British domination. The Britishers even did not allow KRW to adopt a child. During his last days the Maharaja ignored the dictat of the British and adopted Chamaraja Wodeyar. So also, in the appointment of Dewans, the Maharajas did not have a free hand. The Dewans were imposed by the Britishers from Chennai, from Purnaiah till Dewan Rangacharlu, including Seshadri Iyer. It was only after KRW, the Maharajas had some freedom to choose their own Dewans like Krishnamurthy, Madhavan Rao, MV and Mirza. So, there is no use blaming the Maharajas for this.
As regards Karnanidhi and the projects he is pushing through, he has all the Tamil Nadu men in the key posts in the Union Cabinet. All of them are quietly developing their State, sending major projects and schemes to their state. Manufacturing industries are also sent to Tamil Nadu, while Kumaraswamy-Yeddi co. in Karnataka are worried only about saving their seats iin the inevitable mid-term elections. We do not have even one leading MP in the Union Cabinet with a major portfolio. This is the sorry state of present Karnataka.
LikeLike
GS
Swalpa solutions kodi saar!
You are spot on with your comments and there is historical evidence to prove it. May be if you suggest a few steps we can take to solve the problem, some of the young minds visiting this forum will go away with a new resolve.
Thank you.
LikeLike
After reading the comments above, I would like to bring this discussion back to the relevant issue. N. Ram showed an extreme lack of professionalism by underhandedly bringing third parties into his conversation with A. Jayaram, a senior journalist of high caliber.
If anything, the events that transpired will, or at least should, lead to the demise of The Hindu. It was N. Ram’s own mistake to alienate a journalist in the prime of his career, regardless of his statehood. Before N. Ram’s arrival to The Hindu, Jayaram enjoyed the widespread respect of his colleagues.
A. Jayaram’s departure from the Hindu is in fact a blessing to many of us who look forward to his future scholarly endeavors. His extensive knowledge of Indian history, as well as his sophisticated political discourse, sets him apart from other journalists. He has dedicated many years of his life to an honest and straightforward approach to journalism. It is these qualities which have garnered the appreciation of his readers, and have made him highly deserving of the Rajyotsava and other such awards.
LikeLike
If I were to be a hardcore Tamizhian or a Tamizh sympathiser, even I would have showered choicest words in JCW praising!
LikeLike
Why not praise Mr.Bangarappa for his Badminton and Yoga? SM Krishna was good at Tennis. Ramakrishna Hegde was known for his liking to Women and Wine. Gundurao for his swimming. And Devegowda for his (petty) politics. ……………
The list is endless from KC Reddy to Kumaraswamy, CMs of Karnataka have exhibited greatest talents, other than doing something good for the ‘sons of the soil’.
LikeLike
Is Tegginamane Shivu another Vaataal Nagaraj in the making?
LikeLike
M.G. Vaidya, RSS spokesman, writes:
I was surprised to read the report of my press conference in The Hindu on Dec. 17. At the very outset, I had said in my written statement that there was no Hindu-Muslim polarisation in Gujarat. In the next paragraph, I had added “If at all there was any polarisation, it can be said that the polarisation took place between one pole of nationalist forces, delineated by the ideology of Hindutva, that stands for appreciation of plurality, democratic values, justice for all and appeasement of none, and the other pole of Hindu-bashing perverse secularism, which feeds itself on pampering the fissiparous attitudes of religious minorities.” Before criticising or raising any questions on this assertion of mine, any unbiased reporter would have quoted my averment in full. On the contrary, your Correspondent put in my mouth, a few words of her choice which I did not utter.
`Hindu’, according to us has a cultural connotation. The word does not signify communalism, because Hindu is not just a community or a sect. Hindu does not signify obscurantism, sectarianism, or bigotry. Had it signified these traits, your paper would not have been titled “Hindu”. I am curious to know what does the title of your paper signify? Are you proud or ashamed of that title `Hindu’?
I was offering comments on the background of the Gujarat Assembly elections, I did not say that those who did not vote for the BJP were anti-nationalists. That word was the invention of your Correspondent, who did ask me as to the forces that were victorious in Jammu and Kashmir. I replied that I was speaking about the Gujarat elections only. About the question on Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, Sardar Patel, the Correspondent would and should admit that this question was not asked in the press conference. After the press conference when the question was put to me, I did not reply because some TV men were waiting for me for an interview in English.
In the times of Tilak, RSS was not in existence, so there was no question of his joining or appreciating the RSS. But let no one forget that it was the Lokmanya who started the public celebration of the Ganesh-festival. It was the Lokmanya who started the Shivaji festival also. In Mahatma Gandhi’s time also, the RSS was in its infancy. Dr. K.B. Hedgewar, founder of the RSS, was an ardent Congress worker and twice suffered incarceration in British jail. Even Mahatmaji talked about `Ram Rajya’. Did he mean a theocratic state by that term?
Dr. Hedgewar got disillusioned about the Congress when it took the cause of restoration of Khalifa in Turkey. This, you too will admit, undoubtedly was not a secular enterprise. It was out and out a communal demand, that resulted in the fierce atrocities on hapless Hindus especially in Malabar and the N.W.F.P. Besides, whether the Mahatma or Panditji or Sardar agreed or did not agree with the concept of cultural nationalism, the RSS has a right to have its own philosophy which can succinctly be called as Hindu Rashtra. We have been repeating umpteen times, that we make a distinction between the concept of “nation” and “state” and that we are not for a theocratic state.
A state, according to the concept of Hindu Rashtra, is and has to be secular because, the state deals with the mundane matters, and not spiritual, which are the domains of religion. In that very press conference, I said that the word “secular” in the preamble of the Constitution was inserted in the extraordinary circumstances of the infamous emergency in 1976. Was our state not secular before 1976? The secular character of our state is expressed in many Articles like 15, 16 and 19, etc. where it is unambiguously stated that the state shall not discriminate between its citizens on the basis of religion, language, sex, caste or creed. We emphatically assert that this is the core content of our idea of secularism to which we are committed.
But non-discrimination on the basis of religion is flouted in so many ways. Even after more than half a century of independence, we do not have a common law of marriage and divorce, because Muslims are opposed to it. We have Article 370 for J&K because the state has a majority Muslim population. We have an Article 30 (1-A) that gives a fundamental right to compensation for the property of the minority institutions which is denied to the majority community; and till the recent judgment of the Supreme Court, the minority communities had unfettered privilege to establish and administer their educational institutions, get government grants and impart religious instructions. This was denied to the majority community.
When Hindu institutions and organisations raise a voice against such discriminatory rules and practices they are condemned and abused as communal and anti-secular. This, in my statement, I had called as “Hindu bashing perverse secularism”. This was pitted against the Hindutva forces in Gujarat. This perverse secularism had prompted the Congress party to get Muslim clerics to issue an advertisement calling upon their religious fraternity to vote for the Congress and the Congress only. I repeat that in Gujarat the fight between the BJP and the Congress was between the Hindutva forces that stand for the equality of all faiths and religions and the forces of the perverse anti-Hindu secularism.
It is possible that you and your Correspondent do not agree to this proposition. As a good Hindu, I accept your right to disagree. My only plea is please be fair in your reporting. You have your whole editorial page to shower criticism on the RSS with or without justification.
LikeLike
On a different note, anyone know why some posts disappear from this blog, with no explanations?
LikeLike
JR,
thanks for that post. will follow it up.
btw what do you think music university coming up at UMYS music dept?
LikeLike
WE DEMAND KAVERY WATER
AND
KANNADA EXAMINATION FOR ALL THOSE KANNADA JOURNALISTS WORKING FOR ENGLISH AND KANNADA NEWSPAPERS
LikeLike
Those of you who think Jayaram is a great journalist are mistaken. He is an unabashed pro-RSS spokesperson, continously asking journalists he met if they were Brahmins. Jayaram’s exit is no loss to journalism. One more thing that no one else has drawn attention to: It was rumoured (I stress that again: RUMOURED) that Jayaram was lobbying for an MLC post with the BJP, which irked Ram. So what ensued what as an act of pre-emption where the communist Ram got his act together to oust a pro-BJP Jayaram.
But what should engage our attention is the way in which this was effected. The theatricals that surrounded Jayaram’s exit is deplorable. But then again, as I have posted earlier, how else would Ram get the message out that he is the boss?
And speaking about Mallu/Tamil domination in journalism, what T Shivu says is not widely off the mark. Sugandhi Ravindranathan and Parvati Menon are both Malyalees while Baba Prasad is not a Kannadiga. Like most Kannadigas, Kannada journalists are at the bottom of the heap or do entry level jobs. This is what explains The Hindu accommodating the highest number of Kannada journalists. There is something more than a coincidence when the top posts are all occupied by non-Kannadigas.
But then again, how much are we responsible for it? Deccan Herald, which is headed by non-Kannada speaking Kannadigas, has a penchant for Malayalee journos. At least Shanth Kumar, whose Shukradese is over, is once reported to have said in a newsroom meeting that Malyalees know better English than Kanndigas!!!!
LikeLike
Dwarakeesh,
I appreciate your comparison. Vatal is more accomodative than your Ram or TR Balu or even Dwarakeesh, in terms of linguistic harmony. Unfortunately journos (?) or comedians of Dwarakeesh kind think that Malayalees and Tamizhs make better english journos.
Gatekeeper,
Why Shantha Kumar, if you ask Tilak Kumar he would vouch Bangarappa knows better english than Ram (atleast). One thing is for sure, that whether its MNCs or Newspaper offices, Gatekeepers speak one language that is Tamizh. I can not expect an impartial judgement from a Gatekeeper while the so called well educated editors of Ram kind are selfish, self-centred to the core for Tamizh.
LikeLike
Gatekeeper
That one illuminating quote from the Kumars illustrates the collective wisdom of the powers running DH! I will not miss DH is bought up and later trashed by some rival group!
To be stupid is one thing, to be completely bereft of commonsense is serious. The Kumars can eff off to wherever they came from! I am sure Kannadigas won’t care much for them either–mutual respect as always…
LikeLike
Hi T Shivu,
I don’t know if all gatekeepers speak Tamil. But there are a lot of other dynamics at work as well. Before we trash The Hindu for its pro-Tamil (or anti-Kannada bias) let me give you this piece of information. Before Sugandhi kicked out Satyamurty as the city editor, the post was offered to a true-blue Kannada journalist from Mysore and he refused to take it (I really don’t doubt his wisdom on that decision). So it is not that The Hindu deliberately short-shrifts Kannadigas. What we have to remember is that The Hindu is a capitalist organization looking to increase its circulation. If a Kannada editor can do that for them over a Tamil editor, they don’t really care. But other things being equal they would rather have their own people at the helm of affairs.
This became clear when Sugandhi left Metro to become the City Editor. The post should have either gone to Bageshree or Deepa Ganesh (both Kannadigas), natural heirs in the line of succession. But Bageshree was taken out of the way by accommodating her on the bureau while Deepa Ganesh was offset by bringing in Mini Anthikad-Chibber to head Metro. I don’t know if Mini’s Malayalee background helped to stage this coup, but her stint at The Hindu, Hyderabad, and her proximity to Mukund, who is in charge of Metro, definitely did. Or may be it was a combination of all these things. So while the Tamil-Kannada cultural politics is definitely at work, what really determines things is the bottomline: profit.
LikeLike
Gatekeeper
You cannot explain away everything under ‘bottomline’ logic. The disturbing thing is why is it considered so normal that you can eff around with Kannada affairs? I think that is the crux of the question.
Reading your posts I get a feeling that more than competence, there are other things at work here…may be a round bottom of some comely editor? I don’t know I could be wrong here…or willing editor swallows superior’s ‘point-of-view ruler’ or something like that…or if the editor is a man, then it could very well be chummery in the name of buxxxxy!
Or it could just that the type setters and graphics artists speak Tamil–and it is better to have a Tamilian speak their lingo,,,whatever
LikeLike
Doddi Buddi,
Sure bottomline doesn’t explain everything. But it does explain a lot. I don’t know why people take liberties with Kannadigas. But I can address that question in The Hindu context. There is a serious crisis of Kannada journalists who can fill top positions in The Hindu’s Bangalore bureau. Now that is not a statement on the ability of Kannadigas. It is just that they are not present at the right place at the right time. Why aren’t they there? That is a different question altogether.
And those who qualify (such as the journalist from Mysore) are not willing to fill the post. Take The Hindu as it is right now: can you recommend at least one person who can step into Parvathi’s shoes if she decides to quit the post? Nobody that I know off.
LikeLike
Thank you, GK. Can any one confirm or deny this, please? I find this paucity of journalistic talent very disturbing!
LikeLike
A small correction GK!
It is not that right people not available at the right time, right people are driven out at the right time. The Hindu is no exception, if you happen to visit any central government organisation whether it is R&D or Telecom or Audit & Accts, Tamils encourage Tamils, at any cost. They scheme strategies to build hierarchy in such a way that, only Tamil after a Tamil succeed the chair.
One more interesting thing I have observed specially at Bangalore. When a Kannadiga is improving his positions, all the other language speaking people, whether it is Tamils, Telugus, Malayalees, Marathis, join together to pull him out of the race. Further, Kannadigas too join in displacing him.
Look at this. If there is Tamil building contractor, if the maison or the worker is a Kannadiga, he would (or forced to) speak to the contractor in Tamil. Even the otherway round, the Kannada contractor would start speaking to the Tamil maison or the worker in Tamil. Such is the strong bondage of Tamils. One can well see in the central, whether it is BJP rule or Janata Dal Rule or Congress Rule, its the Tamils who rule or armtwist the government, unscrupulously. For the sake of power, they bundle all their principles (if they have any) and grab it.
LikeLike
Hi Shivu,
I don’t know if I completely agree with you. I don’t think that the language bonding almost always work, though it might work at a lot of times.
When S.K. Ramoo (a Tamil) was removed as Chief of Bureau by Ram, the post naturally went to Jayaram. Ram could have easily put Parvati in that position. But it was felt that Jayaram was very capable and the management did try him out.
But Mr. Jayaram proved to be a dampner, trying to play petty politics and enjoying his new-found post while doing little by way of journalism. He held the post for almost two years. Can anyone enlighten me about one good story that he did during those two years? Lets stop speaking in abstract terms that he is a Walking Encyclopedia or whatever. But what about good stories, for which the organization pays you?
I still feel that Jayaram’s sense of Old Mysore and Banaglore history is phenomenal. He is also the best obituary writer as his sense of history always came in handy. But that is the only thing he did. He never went beyond that. Even as the chief of bureau he never did well as he could not get those under him to do good stories. Moreover, there was always the Brahmin politics.
So the issue is that Jayaram (and so, Kannada journalists) did get a chance. And such a pity that it was squandered. And now, which other Kannada journalist can we think of within The Hindu to fit that position?
LikeLike
I don’t know Sir, I am far off from The Hindu. May be you are right on the competence and capabilities of Arakere Jayaram.
Despite my sarcasms, you have been kind to me Mr Gate Keeper. I did learn a lot through your posts.
Keep the tempo going
LikeLike
TS, I’m afraid you are talking through your Mysooru Peta.
LikeLike
Aditya Pankhaja
Have no such groundless fears!
LikeLike
Hi Shivu,
Thanks for your reply. Neither am I a know all nor do I want to have the last laugh. But as a Kannadiga with a prominent English newspaper, I feel most of the tension that you talk about on a daily basis. I think this is why I can appreciate and relate to whatever you are saying. But the Kannada-Tamil conflict is not the whole picture, although its a major part of it. There are other things like caste politics, that seem to cut across the lingual divide. For instance, The Hindu will be more comfortable supporting a Kannada Hebbar Iyengar over a Tamil Iyer provided other things are equal.
But I have also seen how news organizations are bothered mostly about increasing their circulation, which is also The Hindu’s concern. They will do anything for it.
In terms of circulation, Times of India has always been The Hindu’s model. The Hindu launched Opportunities which is modeled on TOI’s ASCENT. Newspaper in Education, TOI’s brainchild, has also found favour with The Hindu’s circulation department. And if you look at The Hindu’s MetroPlus, it is so much aimed at providing a platform for PR people to get their stuff across. So what they don’t want the mainsheet to do they will have the MetroPlus do.
Reverting to the point I have always made: The Hindu rhetorically engages in liberalism while its newsroom is full of Brahmins, so much so that there is a joke in the Bangalore journalistic circle that The Hindu is a agrahara. The Hindu supports affirmative action but will not apply it to its own structure. Ram is the most liberal editor but you only have to speak to insiders to know what a patriarch he is. Do any of you know that you have to take the editor’s (Ram’s) permission if you want to go on leave for more than 10 days in The Hindu? It is also rumoured (I again stress: RUMOURED) that only the Editor and his cohorts can use the main entrance of The Hindu’s office in Chennai while the rest of the staff, including senior editorial staff, have to use the one on the side?
Let me keep more for later. But on a parting note, why isn’t there any discussion about Chandrakant’s ouster from The Hindu. Jayaram was not the only person asked to go. Chandrakant, a special correspondent, has also been shown the door. How come there is no discussion about it???
LikeLike
Dear GK,
This is one of your best posts, till you post a better than this later. Things are getting clearer now. More skeletons from the cupboard of The Hindu should be made visible.
N Ram is a confused soul. He has communistic outlook with deep rooted brahminism at heart. He tried to overtake Arun Shourie and Express through his (?) exposes of Bofors. At the end of the day circulation never raised beyond a limit.
Though The Hindu tried to copy the suppliments of TOI, the boring appearance of the mainsheets never appealed to the young readers.
Anyways, let us discuss more on The Hindu.
LikeLike
Hi Shivu,
The Hindu has reached a stage where it is bothered about circulation rather than anything else. This huge change happened after Ram took over the reigns of power from Malini Parthasarathy.
Although Malini was not the best of journalists, she definitely was not bothered about circulation. When all swamijis and seers in Karnataka led by Ravi Shankar decided to boycott The Hindu for its anti-Hindu stand, she did not give a damn. Can we ever expect such bravado from Ram?
But as soon as Ram took over, things drastically changed. The first thing was to revive the old guard. People such as the current readers editor, Narayanan, were rehabilitated. Vaidyanathan, an old hat who believes journalism is all about English and nothing else, was brought back from retirement and asked to help the Bangalore bureau churn better stories. Concomitantly, Jacob, who was with Frontline, was imported to The Hindu to take care of the Karnataka and Kerala edition.
This revival of the old guard changed things drastically. Firstly, the paper started giving more importance to English rather than good stories. Secondly, an antiquated brand of journalism was revived, which gave a lot of importance to “neutrality.” Now, everyone who has done journalism knows there is nothing like neutrality in journalism. But the values of neutrality and balance were used to kill stories that may embarass politicians or identify people by names. This trend is still present in The Hindu: while it feels extremely comfortable bashing globalization and imperialism, it rarely looks at the State politics and target politicians in flesh and blood.
Parallely, The Hindu, at least in the city pages, started turning its attention to issues of civic governance such as stray dogs, overflowing sewers and unkept parks while larger issues of governance were systematically ignored. This trend was purely emulated from Times of India. This also helped The Hindu to steer clear of politicians or corrupt officials.
Ram took advantage of the rapport many senior journalists of The Hindu had built with politicians. Many times, senior journalists of The Hindu, including Jayaram, were asked to liason for The Hindu with the government. And this did bear fruit.
And today, Jayaram has been completely foresaken. I wonder if Jayaram will be comfortable writing a book on how The Hindu used him while negotiating on various things with the State government. My belief is that he will never do it, simply because he was a beneficiary of such deals himself. So if he threatens to expose The Hindu, The Hindu will expose him. This explains why Jayaram, an otherwise firebrand journalist, has chosen not to protest his removal from The Hindu.
And on the Bofors: that is a thing of the past. The Hindu now does not have any problems with the Congress at the Centre as the CPI(M) is a part of the ruling coalition. For more details, read Harish Khare’s extremely sloppy piece, “Salutations to Sonia,” when she renounced the PM’s seat in favor of Manmohan Singh. Even an imbecile kid knew she was doing so to guarentee the post for her children. But Khare thought otherwise and The Hindu went ahead and published it. How lousy is that?????
LikeLike
Chandrakanth was a honest and straight-forward journalist. He was also a very capable journalist. He could not digest the machiavellian machinations of the malyalee Parvathi Menon and her soul-mate and fellow malyalee Sugandhi Ravindranathan. Chandrakanth was responsible for making “Education Plus” supplement of “The Hindu’ a hit in the State. Since both Parvathi and Sugandhi saw a potential threat in Chandrakanth. They planned to sideline him by offering him a political beat, which Chandrakanth a jouranlist of almost three decades standing refused. He felt he had no other alternative given the fact that Parvathi is now the alter-ego of Ram, and Chandrakanth resigned. Any argument with Parvathi is an arguement with N. Ram. It is like the time of Emergency. An insult to Sanjay is an insult to me, Indira Gandhi had said. Now it is: An insult to Parvathi is an insult to N.Ram. Look at the extraordinary lengths Ram has gone to make the acension of Parvathi a smooth affair. Any one who he thought may come in the way of Parvathi has been thrown out or circumstances were created that they went out. A paper like The Hindu, which wrote against the public sacking of the then Foreign Secretary A.P. Venkateswaran now saw a strange spectacle in its office, where Ram phoned A. Jayaram and sacked him, letting Parvathi, Sugandhi and Baba Prasad hear the entire drama. What a shameful episode. But even here Ram was playing politics. This drama was staged by Ram to give a warning to Baba Prasad that he should dance to the tunes of Parvathi or else he too would go the way of Jayaram. That has succeeded. Baba Prasad is now a pale shadow of his earlier self. The message was also intended to all reporters. Now Parvathi is the queen of all she surveys.
Parvathi does not know to write or read Kannada. She cannot even speak Kannada. Contrast that with one of the earlier Chief of Bureau, S.K. Ramu, who insisted on speaking in Kannada with all the reporters, though he had a massive command over the English langauge. Even if anyone asked Ramu a question in English, his reply would be in Kannada. He always insisted on reporters speaking to him in Kannada. Ramu was also humiliated by N. Ram by demoting him in a strange manner.
Given these developments, it would be better if N. Ram enters politics along with Parvathi and Sugandhi. They would give most politicians a run for their money.
LikeLike
Gatekeeper,
You seem to be well informed, and you are articulate. But I don’t understand why you tend to bring the caste equation into all your arguments. Reading you, I feel like The Hindu’s management, indeed all of Bangalore, is a caste-obsessed dump. I don’t think that’s reality. In any case, how can Mr. Ram be a Brahmin and also a Communist at the same time? That’s absurd. To me, he was never a Brahmin (which is sad), but always a Communist (which is sadder). Brahmanatva is a goal that all of us should aspire for.
Please make your allegations with more evidence — how many applications did The Hindu receive January-March? How many of them were qualified to apply? How many of the qualified applicants were so-called Brahmins? How many in the shortlist were Brahmins? How many of those finally selected were Brahmins?
I want to see some intelligent reporting from you, since you make serious allegations and generalizations against an entire community — a community which is giving our society so much out of sheer personal achievement and no government or any other assistance. There is no analysis, or evidence, in your posts. There’s only, apparently, an anti-Brahmin agenda. That is why you fail to persuade me.
Are you venting a frustration against successful people? Are you making a scapegoat of the so-called Brahmins? Please introspect.
When I see more individuals of a particular community, and no evidence of casteism, I like to assume it is because those individuals were the best qualified among the applicants. When Yudhisthira was asked by Sri Krishna to point to someone evil at the fair, he told Krishna he couldn’t see anyone evil. On the other hand, Duryodhana could not see anyone who was NOBLE. It’s all about perception, my friend.
Goodsense,
Thanks for your informative comment. Ram does come across as a frustrated editor, but again, you are using “Malayalee” in a pejorative way — you are generalizing against an entire linguistic community because of the acts of two of its members. That’s a fallacy.
LikeLike
Goodsense perhaps you are not aware of the fact that Parvati has not worked in any newspaper in any capacity. She joined the Frontline as researcher and then rose in that magazine. She has little or no idea about the working of a newspaper or its journalists. I have been in journalism in Bangalore for nearly three decades and I have enough sources to know what is happening where. Assuming that A. Jayaram was not functioning well (this assumption is questionable), Was there no talent in the Banglore office of The Hindu, who could have been asked to take over. Why was it necessary to impose someone like Parvati, who has never worked in any newspaper, on the Bangalore Bureau. There were many senior reporters like Chandrakanth, Rajendran, and others. Ram has failed to explain the reason and rationale behind his choice of Parvati. A senior journalist who has risen through sheer dint of hard work and knows the workings of ‘The Hindu’ bureau and its reporters in the district, would have been a better choice. Such a person would have known the strengths and weaknesses of the newspaper, and could have plugged the loopholes. Instead choosing Parvati and then teaching her how to run a newspaper is an absurd way of doing things. I dont want to label any community. The Malyali community has contributed a lot for the progress of the country. But in case of Parvati, she has created a situation, where every important post was given to a person, who happens to be Malyali. This cannot be called a coincidence for the simple reason because these people were close to her and plotted with her to get plum posts for themselves. Gatekeeper, Mini Chibber, who heads Metro desk at Bangalore is a Malyali. You are right she superseded Deepa Ganesh. Sugandhi Ravindranath superseded a senior journalist Satyamurthy to become City Editor.
My sources in the Bangalore office tell me that Parvati and her team keep a hawk’s eye on every reporter and the reporter’s loyalty is constantly on test. He better be loyal to Parvati if he wants promotions or risk being asked to cover insignificant events. The other way to get into Parvati’s good books is to be a Leftist and flaunt your Leftist credentials. Anything positive said about BJP is a strict no-no. Some reporters now chirp what Parvati wants to hear, that way they are in her good books. The second phase of “anti-Parvati” elements (read senior reporters) is expected to start shortly. All the grey-haired senior reporters, who have served The Hindu for decades, are now on the chopping block. Their morale is already down. Only the pro-Parvati group (read reporters who swear full allegiance and brought in from newspapers like Deccan Herald) are smiling all the way to their banks. Those who are mere reporters in the Deccan Heralad are taken as principal and special reporters in The Hindu. But Parvati is least bothered about morale or consensus building. She wants total control. Everything in The Hindu is now centralised. All things have to move around her. Everything requires consent. Everyone knows that if they annoy Parvati, they would have to pay a heavy price because she derives her power directly from the Maha Vishnu of the Mount Road in Madras.
In every newspaper, the Desk is supreme. It was so in The Hindu also. But with appointment of Parvati, even the Desk is now subservient to her likes and dislikes about news reports. Consequently strange human interest stories which are neither ‘human’ nor having ‘interest’ in them or stories with a Leftist stance dominate The Hindu. The newspaper was better off under P. Ramaiah and S.K. Ramoo. Chandrakanth would have been an ideal choice for heading The Hindu as he was level-headed.
Now the reporters in Bangalore have to listen daily to Parvati’s lectures on what good journalism is? What is nose for news? What are the basic elements of journalism? What is news sense? What is copy-tasting and how it should be handled. Parvati has this belief that nobody in the office not even senior journalists knows about “real” and “hard hitting” journalism, or for that matter anything about journalism itself. That they should take lessons from her and listen to her lectures on journalism, this without working in any newspaper. The sad state of affairs in The Hindu shows how hash and merciless managements of newspapers can be.
LikeLike
So how is Parvathi Menon doing? How is the morale at The Hindu, Bangalore after she has taken over?
LikeLike
tarlesubba !
Following note is the extract in Star of Mysore dated 7-8-09, which will conclusively answer your queries about playing Carnatic classical music on piano:
A rare experience:
Mysore Music Association celebrated a belated birth anniversary of Sri Jayachamaraja Wadiyar on July 28 at Jaganmohan Palace auditorium, by organising a Jugalbandi of violin by G.J.R. Krishnan and yes, piano by Anil Srinivasan. The percussion side was in the care of B.S. Purushotham on the Khanjira.
It was opt to have organised a piano concert in memory of our late Maharaja, since he was an expert pianist, with a gold medal from Trinity College, London. Piano has a soothing tone complimenting the expectations of the connoisseurs on a quiet night. We, in this generation are not used to listening to Karnatak music on Piano. This left us with a dumb question mark, marveling at the adeptness of our last ruler, who used play Karnatak melodies on this instrument. Anil Srinivasan is probably the only one in our time, who could play both Karnatak and Western music on Piano. Krishnan being the son of illustrious Lalgudi Jayaraman is naturally a good player of violin. The combination of the two was undoubtedly an aural pleasure. The compositions chosen for this concert were perhaps based on the familiarity to make a common listener to comprehend the beauty of music. The conceptual beginning during this concert was with an Alapane in Ragas Simhendra Madhyama and Vasanta. Sri Maha Ganapathim of Jayachamaraja Wadiyar in Athana was a good selection both for playing as well as to pay a tribute to the Maharaja……
it is a matter of coincidence another story on the subject has appeared in Hindu dated 7-8-09 ! Read the link:
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/08/07/stories/2009080750850300.htm
LikeLike