Sankranthi- the harvest festival at Mysore

MYSORE: For Mysoreans, preparations for Sankranti, the festival of harvest, started as early as a week ago. Elders at home prepared largely served and exchanged 'ellu-bella', a mixture of white sesame seeds, fried groundnut, finely-cut copra and jaggery. Married women, young women and girls come together to prepare the special mixture.

Anasuya Muralidhar, a resident of Yadavagiri here, started preparations a fortnight ago. "Preparation needs a lot of patience. Jaggery and coconut have to be cut in same size. With none to help me in this, I started working on the mixture a fortnight ago," she added.

On the eve of Sankranti, women mop the verandah and drew huge rangoli designs in front of their houses -- a sign of welcoming the festival. MBA student Bhavana Basavraju said that they cleaned and decorated their house for the festival.

On the D-Day, girls visit their near and dear ones, offering 'ellu-bella' along with sugar cane, banana and 'skkare achchu' (sugar candies) in a tray. The candies are either prepared at home or bought from shops.

Kusuma Shankar said that they, while they were young, used to visit every house in the street in groups to offer ellu-bella. "My younger sister continues to do so. But I visit only relatives and friends now."

In areas like KG Koppal, where majority of milkmen reside, cows are decorated for the occasion. The practice of making cows cross pyre is still followed in this area.

FLOWERS, FRUITS PINCH POCKETS

Sankranti, also being shoppers' favourite, results in good business for traders. The rise in the prices of fruits, flowers and other articles has not dampened the Mysoreans' festive spirit. Traders made brisk business since morning at Devaraja Market on Sunday. People were seen bargaining over the rates of groundnut, flowers, banana and sakkare achchu.

Veena Satyanarayana from Hebbal, who had come with her husband for shopping, paid Rs 50 each for full two stalks of sugarcane and 1kg banana. She said: "I was busy and could not prepare ellu-bella. Now the vendors have increased the prices. I don't want to compromise with festivities."

Some shops sold ellu-bella mixture while others sold sugar candies, ellu, bella, groundnut and other grams in separate packets.

Manjunath, a flower vendor, said that this is the time for them to make money. The prices of flowers and fruits have doubled when compared with any other day. For four cubit length of flower is being sold for anywhere between Rs 50 and Rs 60.

Nagendra Kumar, an employee at revenue department, said the festival cannot go well without flowers and fruits. "We are forced to buy them," he added.

Poster collection speaks volume about yesteryear plays

MYSORE: A rare collection posters on world theatre is being exhibited at Bahuroopi national theatre festival. Rangayana's first director B V Karanth had collected hundreds of theatre posters from across the world, of which 100 are being displayed at the Bahuroopi venue.

The collection includes Shakespeare's play 'Hamlet' staged at theatre studio in Waraszawa in Poland, 'The voysay inheritance' directed by Harley Gramble Barker at Triumph Theater production, Girish Karnad's 'Hayavadana' staged at Deutsches national Theatre Weimar in Germany, 'Much ado about nothing' by Aldowych theatre, Edward Albee directed 'Wer hat angst vor Virginia Woolf' and the like.

Rangayana artist Manjunath Belkere, an admirer of Karant's collection, told TOI: "They speak about the history of world theatre. The vision and thoughts of directors can be seen. Posters explained the story of plays."

The other posters cover Prithvi theatre's Prithvi Festival-1990, 'Atoms of time' staged at Royal National theatre of Great Britain, 'Measure for measure' staged at Royal Shakespeare Theater in Stratford in 1983, Akka national-level women's theatre festival, 'Vagarth' world poetry festival, 'Expression women's cultural fetsival' at Prithvi theatre and those on plays staged by National School of Drama and Rangayana.

Rangayana artiste H K Dwarakanath said that the collection helps theatre students get an insight into the field. "Karanth collected these posters when he attended theatre festivals across the country. He even asked his friends to get some from the festivals that they attended," he added.

This apart, there is a collection of photographs of plays staged by Rangayana artistes when the theatre repertory started in late '80s. Photographs of 'Ragasaraga', a special orchestra of Rangayana which used non-instruments like stones, glass, boxes and plates to produce different sounds, are also on display.

So one can get to see the photographs of plays 'Kindari jogi', 'Govina haadu' and 'Kamsale'. A unique exhibit is the rare photograph of 'Bhoomigeetha', a play staged at one of the stages in Rangayana. The stage has now been named after the play.

INLAY: Mysore's traditional handicraft work at Bahuroopi

MYSORE: The Bahuroopi national theatre festival has on display a variety of handicrafts and art work from across the country for art lovers. Miniature bronze, metal idols, wood works and paintings have been drawing the attention of visitors and art lovers alike.

Amid the bustle of the festival and the exhibition, a woman is seen working with wood at a stall is almost unnoticed. With a 'bow' machine in her hand, she is seen designing and drawing images and patterns on rose wood. The woman, an artist, is Vasantha N K and she is involved in "inlay work", Mysore's traditional intricate wood work.

Speaking about the traditional work, she says: "This intricate work involves many stages. The work starts with a detailed sketch of the product having dimensions and scales. The next step is to design and draw images on rose wood. The paper is placed on rose wood and cut into designs by carpentry using an instrument called bow. The motifs to be inlaid are carefully hand cut to shape. Areas where motifs have to be inlaid on rosewood are scooped out. Motifs are inlaid and fixed and wood is then smoothened with sandpaper and polished."

Vasantha is involved in all stages of inlay work except the last stage of smoothening and polishing. It takes two hours to prepare this wood work. Five wood works of 24X36 cm length can be produced every day, she says.

There are two more stalls which sell the final polished inlay works. The famous designs include: a dancing pose of Radha-Krishna, dancing Ganesha, Krishna preaching Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna during Kurukshetra, Vishnu's Dashavatara, Gajalakshmi and other 3D images.

The price of these products range from Rs 300 to more than Rs 1000 depending on the design and length of inlay. Other typical articles made with inlay work are furniture, boxes, pen stands, bowls and panels.

Digital invasion takes palace photographers’ share away

MYSORE: The advent of digital technology may have reduced the burden of shutterbugs across the globe, but for photographers, who eke out a living by offering a picture-perfect moment to tourists visiting the Mysore Palace, this seems to have turned a bane. Once upon a time, when photographers were a rare breed, they were in great demand for taking photographs of people visiting the tourist spots. They used analogue camera to click photos, took the address of their customers and then posted the pictures.

Recalling the yesteryears, Sridhar Sheety, who has been working as a professional photographer on the Palace premises for the past three decades, says: "Years ago, we used to click pictures, run to the nearest studio to get the photo printed and give it to the visitors. Sometimes, the tourists would have left by then and many photos remained with us only."

With the introduction of technology, they shifted to Polaroid cameras and now, they use digital cameras. Digital technology has in fact eased the work of photographers. Main advantage is that photos can be given to the customers instantly, but now there are hardly any tourists who want to be clicked by a photographer. All the photographers have the same complaint. Most of the tourists carry with them modern gadgets like iphone, ipad and digital cameras and there is no need for them to depend on photographers. There are 15 photographers in Mysore Palace and they pay Rs 6,000 per year to the government to get the licence to take photos on the premises.

"Our business has been affected as 90% of tourists carry their own cameras or mobiles with high pixel camera," photographer Nanjundaswamy says. Echoing the same, photographer Jetty said: "Earlier, people were ready to be clicked but they were disappointed as we gave them photos very late. Now we are equipped to give photos within a few minutes, but they do not need our service."Unlike in the past, when they used to get 30-50 customers every day, now they manage to get 10 persons. They get good business only in summer and on weekends when the tourist inflow is more. Tourist Jaiwardhan feels they all have mobile phones and there is little need to be clicked by professional photographers.

Only work target matters to these women, not health

MYSORE: For Yasmeen Begum, the day starts with cooking. Later, she sits at a corner of her small house and starts preparing agarbattis.This 40-year-old learnt preparing agarbattis when she was just nine. The sole breadwinner has three children. Yasmeen prepares about 6,000 sticks a day and earns Rs 100. "I don't want my children to learn my profession. So I made them join school," she said.Most of the women at Ghousia Nagar here spend their day preparing agarbattis and rolling beedis. Some cook food only in the morning, and have it for both lunch and dinner. While some cook food only at night -- to be used for breakfast the next morning, while others bring it from hotels.

"If we cook food thrice, we cannot meet the targets. If we do, our income will be affected," explains Zaiyeda. Her routine starts from serving children the previous night food and sending them to school. She starts rolling beedis from 9am till her children return from school in the evening. "As I cannot cook, I give them pocket money to buy bread or bun for lunch," she adds. She retires to bed after reaching the target, around 1am. The routine of many women is similar to that of Yasmeen and Zaiyeda. They keep working even if they fall sick. So they do not want their daughters to learn their work.

"Patients suffering from diarrhoea frequently come to our hospital. Instead of eating stale food, they have to consume fresh food or else it will affect their and children's health," said V Chandrahas, cheif medical officer of Central Hospital.

Most of the children studying at Hilal School in Ghousia Nagar hail from such families. "Students cannot concentrate on studies. I have seen them playing in grounds at lunch time, instead of going home for lunch," says Amirullah Khan, headmaster of Hilal School. Many students discontinue their study after VIII Std to work. "Every year, we go from house to house and request parents to send drop-outs back to school," he adds.

Manasa to the rescue of mentally challenged women

MYSORE: Nisha (name changed), a rape victim found at Mysore railway station, was rescued by 'Manasa' years ago. After a year of nurturing and rehabilitation, she identified herself as a native of Jharkhand. She is now leading a happy married life in Jharkhand.

There are many other success stories like Nisha's. Manasa, a wing of Karuna Trust, not only aims at giving hope for the homeless, but also supports mentally challenged women who are neglected by the members of their family. This organization rescues and empowers them before making them self-reliant.

Manasa, started in 2006 off Lalithadripura Road, is the brainchild of Dr H Sudarshan. Till date, 245 homeless people from Mysore city and nearby places have been treated at Manasa. Mentally challenged women are first brought to Nirashrithara Parihara Kendra, where they are medically examined and are provided with medicines, therapy and psychiatric counseling.

 Project manager Dr C K Kantharaju said psychiatrists visit Manasa thrice a week. A resident psychiatrist and social worker will also be present there.

Women are given vocational training in craft-making, candle-making, greeting card-making, knitting, and making flower vase, hangers, broomsticks, embroidery and paper bags. The inmates are allowed to maintain kitchen garden inside the premises. Four social workers and three healthcare workers take care of 58 inmates. They involve them in group activities like discussion, prayers, cleaning and other activities.

The organization has helped 187 women reunite with their families spread across the country, and it continues to supply medicines to them. "At present, there are 58 women in Manasa," Kantharaju added.