Karnataka PUC Results on 15 April

The Department of Pre-University Education has announced that the results of the recently held PUC examinations (Higher Secondary or 12th Standard or PDC) will be declared on Monday (15 April) at 11.00 am.

The final exams for the II PUC (12th Standard) were held in March 2019. Since the successful candidates apply for various competitive examinations like NEET, KOMED(K), CET and other, the Karnataka PUC Board declares their results in April.

With that Colleges in Karnataka have a huge rush for admissions at the Under Graduate level.

Students can check their results online by logging into http://pue.kar.nic.in after 12:00 noon.

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The Least of These: The Graham Staines Story

Aneesh Daniel’s The Least of These: The Graham Staines Story is welcome film to any film-lover’s kitty.

The gruesome murder of the Australian leprosy worker and a missionary Graham Staines’ life and work, and above all his commitment to India and its poor are crux of te film

(photo courtesy: https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/feb/01/the-least-of-these-the-graham-staines-s/?entertainment-movies)

Yet, this film is niether religiouos nor pious. It is hard core narrative of passion – on the one side the passion for people, the lepers, the unwanted and the poor from India’s Orissa state. On the other hand, it is the story of blind passion  of the editor who is guilty of abandoning his leprosy father, and is now haunted by hatred for the Oz Missionary who has healed physically and spiritually. His father Sunder is not a convert; but still a practicing Hindu, who is dedicated to Staines. The editor wants to defame the Missionary and have him arrested.

Then, you have the journalist who wants to make his ends meet, but is caught up in the Modi-esque trap of  unemployed youth. He wants to publish some scoop with the wily editor, who gives him a camera to produce evidence against Graham Staines and his “forced conversions”, but just can’t find any.

Daniel does not make the film any melodramatic. It is a good narrative, full of character and values. The journalist does not give up his hunt for evidence; he lasts till the end; the missionary is an ordinary human being, madly in love with India’s poor. He does convert people to Christianity- those who willingly come forward. He is averse to giving money  or using any force; and that makes Bannergee (journalist)’s job difficult.

The film is no indictment of the myopic sangh parivar – though it deserves the condemnation for its crimes against humanity and its helpless groups. Here, everybody is a human being with weakness.

The film is topped by Graham Staines’ relict Gladys. She is a woman of strengh and a heart. And that is all!

I would love to watch this film again!

 

War in TV News Rooms & in Election Rallies

After the Feb. 14 attack on our CRPF convoy in Pulwama of Kashmir, the public domain is not the same, anymore.

The attack, claimed by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad, left 44 of our jawans dead, and many injured.

It is a dastardly act, to be condemned by everyone with some sense of humanity. No attack, no death, no killing is desirable.

Intelligence agencies have said that they had alerted the government of the possible attack on a CRPF convoy, and seemingly no action was taken to ensure the safety our jawan who fight for our safety. While I can’t speak about the role of people in this, I surely can’t keep quiet about the role of Indian news media.

Most of our news television and newspapers have come under severe attack by international media, academiciains, thinkers, and people with some brains, for its high-decibel campaign for a war against Pakistan.

The news media’s role is to work for peace, and not lobby for war. Our news media, espcially led by television news channels (also called NOISE-Dabbas) went to town with fake sentiments of patriotism and nationalism, while they themselves did not go out of the comforts of the AC studios. I wish all of them could go to the border area, and guard the border for a couple of months, and give a short break to our jawans,  to be with their friends and family.

Social media was worse – the boiling of sentiment looked as if the social media #bhakts (brainless bots with a political agenda) was already fighting across the border! But, of course, it is all “clictivism” or “forwards war” or “tweet war”. If wars were to be won over social media, there would be war everyday, and our shameless blind #bhakts would win it hands down!

Alas! None of the blind bhakts goes to the border to fight  a war or even to offer  a glass of water to our soldiers who are fighting. Worse, even journalists joined this blind call for the war and revenge and avenging and ‘badla’!

How TV anchors wrapped themselves in the tricolour and proudly cheered India’s latest aerial strike in Pakistan, unmindful of its consequences

Anti-Social Media and Predatory Behaviour of the Right Wing

Social media has been spoken of as the grass-root democracy. When the common man woman couldn’t find a voice on the legacy media, social media came as a savior of the ordinary people.

But over the last few years, the social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, blogs and other platforms have become vicious tools in the hands of the bling right-wing, Modi-worshippers to attack and abuse people of reason and sanity.

India’s finest TV journalist Barkha Dutta is a case of point. In the last four days, she has been hounded and abused and threatened and humiliated in the most uncivilised manner by the uncouth elements masquerading as pseudo-naitonals.

Disburbingly, the abusers’ Twitter handles show that many of them are followers of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Their phone calls to Barkha orginate from the ruling party BJP’s offices. And the ruling party, with plenty of “respect for women” (and the hollow slogan “Beti Bachao Beti Padao”; = save girl child, educate girl child) does absolutely nothing about it.

(The PM’s followers are notorious for abusing women and minorities; And the PM follows some of these most notorious fellows, back on Twitter!)

Barkha Dutt has been on the receiving end of these right wing fellows for a very long time because she has a daring journalistic past of questioning people in power, especially those involved in 2002 Gujarat carnage.

Now, some people have got hold of her private phone number and have shared it openly on social media, and a few criminals are sending her pornographic messages, making thousands of video calls, abusive messages, threat messages, rape-threats, and all that despicable stuff, unheard of in a civilised society.

Look at the language they use on public domain – such disgusting, pornographic, vulgar, uncivilised language. No civilised society can tolerate such language, let alone democratically elected, educated leaders.

It is disgusting.

And the ruling government led by BJP, its mascot Narendra Modi, and the party president Amit Shah are absolutely dumb about it.

So much for a “strong India”, ‘make in India’, ‘stand up India’ ‘skill India’, etc. hollow slogans. Is that progress and nationalism?

 

Cheap Discourse: BJP Leader’s Comment On Mayawati Creates Storm, Police Complaint Filed

How cheap, how uncultured can political discourse get? In the recent past we have seen a lot of it, especially after the right-wing BJP started its quest for power shamelessly. I am sure you can remember Narendra Modi’s crude commnets against Mrs Sonia Gandhi (attributing female dog motives to her) or J.M. Lyngoh (the then Chief Election Commissioner) while campaigning for power in Gujarat in 2002. 

Even since we have been hearing/ seeing many such crude commnets, muddying the political discourse, and making any civilised person hang their head in shame. On Saturday (19 Jan.2019), a female leader from the same right wing party attacked another woman from the rival Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP), who also belongs to the Scheduled Caste with the crudest language possible.

Now, it’s upto to you to read and discern:

A lawmaker of the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh has drawn severe criticism for her shocking comments targeting Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, who among other things, she said, “was a blot on womankind” having sold her “dignity for power”.

After daylong rap from various opposition leaders, Sadhana Singh issued a terse apology. But by then, the BSP had filed a complaint with the police and the women’s commission had pulled her up, saying they ….

(for more, please read:https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/huge-controversy-over-bjp-lawmaker-sadhana-singhs-offensive-comments-against-mayawati-1980322?pfrom=home-topscroll)

Pioneer of New Wave Indian Cinema is no more

30 Dec. For the world of illusions, the year ends on a dark note – the light that brightened the dark hall of cinema, has left us darker still. From the reality of physicality, he becomes a memory of aesthetic subtlety. Mrinal Sen, the pioneer who  heralded the New Wave Indian Cinema, is no more. At the ripe, mature age of 95, the doyen of Indian cinema blinked for the one last time.

For those of us who equated history of Indian cinema with Mrinal-da, Manik-da (Satyajit Ray), and Ritwick Ghatak, Mrinal-da was last of the Bengali triumvirate, the torch-bearer of good quality Indian cinema, who created and carried forward the legacy of the silver screen, and brought to it some sense of dignity and name at the international level. Beginning with his path-breaking Bhuvan Shome (1969), Mrinal-da ensured that Indian cinema was not lef to the merchants of copycat-Bollywood, rather showed that there was too much beyond the dark world of make-believe tinsel town.

Rest in peace, Mrinal-da! May your breath fill the Indian cinema with the passion you created that magic of aesthetic reality.

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https://www.ndtv.com/people/why-mrinal-sen-is-credited-with-pioneering-indias-new-wave-cinema-1970114?pfrom=home-featured

After a long break

22 Dec. It’s been unusually a long time. Never have I taken such a long break, should I say detox-break?

In October, we hosted a Creighton University team consisting of Krista, Rene and Finosh. It was my privilege to host them, and look into their well-being. They left on 2nd October, and I left for Nainital on 3rd October for a Refresher Course (RC) at Kumaun University, Nainital, in the northern hilly region of Nainital in Uttarkhand. It’s about 285-300 km (c. 180 km).

The most unprofessional university and its staff, I must say. The RC was to start on 02 Oct, and go on till 25 October, and that’s how it was advertised, and that’s what we opted for. But the pathetic organisation changed the dates to 8th October, without informing us; just a listtle information on the website (even though the participants were chosen much in advance.

Never mind, I got a week to relax in Delhi, besides catching up with dearer ones.

Nainital was unusually cold – my warm clothing was inadequate. We were treated like Kinder Garten kids – absolutely no freedom; had to be there in the classroom 15 before the useless director came in (though he had nothing to do with the course!)

We used to have lectures on Research Methods (I thought it would be advanced research, hence I opted for it, only to realise it was far from research, forget about “advanced”! The director had plenty of time to waste with us and clown, shamelessly (God! He was a teacher, a “professor”; just wonder how miserable the students would have been, and what would be the quality of students who graduated through his & his staff hands!

On my return, I spent another four days in Delhi and around; a wonderful time to relive those  missing moments! Grateful for the recharging of bonds.

After I returned to Bangalore, completed my valuation and then set off to Shelim/ Loliem in Goa, but just outside Karnataka border in Karwar. It was a lush green campus run by OCDs; the refreshing, lush green nature! After eight days, spent some time in Panjim, the  capital city of Goa. Attended the 49th International Film Festival of India, at Goa; this is the event I used to love. But no more – like many others who are deeply disillusioned by the government event conducted by a few disinterested people.

Be that as it may. I am back to regular academics at Joseph’s. Back to teachign semester – the process I love no ends. Now it’s a short Christmas vacation, and I am Mangalore. For two day. Nice to be back – to the cleaner, greener, more silent little city. And very nice catching up with my friends and acquaintances.

Karnataka PUC-II 2019 final exams announced

The Karnataka Pre-University Education Board (Higher Secondary or +2 or 12th standard) has tentatively announced that the PUC-II final exams will be held from 01 March  2019 to 18 March 2019. The board has also published the schedule of exams.

This is only a tentative schedule. If anyone has any objection to the schedule can write to the Board before 28 Nov. 2018, with their suggestions.

I

was at St Mary’s College Ramnee today as chief guest.

The students gave an impressive dance performance.

The talent and passion these little ones have is tremendous.

Dusserah in Nainital

Just

happened to take a walk along Mall Road to what’s the noise noise about.

A long queue of people following a Dusserah procession. In open vehicles were Ram and Laxman. There were servants. There were monkeys, servants of Ram. There were monsters.

Of course. Monsters had to walk. And then all the chorus of brass band.