Monthly Archives: May 2013

Brewed on this

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Coffee, Kodagu (Coorg)

The Kapi Trail, a joint effort by the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), Thomas Cook, Karnataka Ministry of Tourism and Coffee Board of India, is a unique tourism experience that allows travellers to experience coffee plantations of the South, in a different way.

Caffeine kick

“Our idea was to use the flavours of coffee and the whole coffee tourism experience as a trigger point to encourage people to explore South India,” says Rene Baumann, vice president, BIAL. “And since the airport brings in people from all over the world. This initiative would spotlight south India in a different way,” Baumann explains.

The big picture

The trail offers packages that cover Bangalore, Mysore, Coorg and Chickamagalur. One can learn about the history of coffee and the processing of the bean; engage with the local culture, traditions and cuisine or stay in ancestral homes and plantations. For the sporty holiday maker, there are scenic mountain treks and cycling tours.

Culture vultures can opt for heritage walks with visits to ancient temples and palaces – the 18 m tall Gomateswara statue, the largest monolithic in Asia at Sravanbelgola, to the only Hoysala temple still active at Belur. Wild life buffs are definitely spoiled for choice. They can get a taste of the wilderness via jeep safaris or visit The Tholpetty and Bhadra sanctuaries in the region. The Tholpetty forest, part of the Nagarhole wildlife sanctuary, is also a tiger reserve. One can go on a guided forest trek or understand where your bean really comes from, with a visit to a plantation pulp house and drying yard.

The Namdroling monastery in Bylakuppe, Coorg and the coffee museum in Chickmangalur are also worth a visit.

Packages start at `26,400 upwards.

Details: bangaloreairport.com; kaapi.trail@in.thomascook.com

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express Features – Hyderabad / May 02nd, 2013

Priyanka, Kulkarni win

Records, All, Sports

Belgaum’s Manoj B Kulkarni and Kodagu’s Priyanka Narayan claimed the boys’ and girls’ titles respectively in the State under-11 championship held at the Sri Siddivinayaka Residential School in Kundapur.

Manoj scored 8.5 points out of the possible nine while Priyanka scored 6.5 points out of seven to be crowned champs.

Results (final round): Boys: Aditya B Kalyani (6.5) drew Manoj B Kulkarni (8.5); Shreyash A Kulkarni (7) drew Shaunak Geetprasad (6.5); Rishab Banthiya (5.5) lt to Adithya Joshua D’Silva (7); Chandan AS (5.5) lt to Shreyas Pavan (6.5); Avi Jaiswal (6) bt Niranjan Rajeev (5); Chaithanya Ganesh (6) bt Mihir Shettigar (5); Siddharth Beedu (5.5) drew Partithosh Ramesh (5.5); Sishir B (6) bt Chandramouli Koushik SB (5); Akash Somasundaram (5) lt to Varun V Navali (6); Dhanush MD (5.5) bt Atharva Abhijit Barve (4.5).

Girls: Ashwija Bharanya (4.5) lt to Priyanka Narayan (6.5); Prachi Bharti (6) bt Diya James (5); Khushi M Hombal (5) bt Varshitha SP (4.5); Anusha T (4) lt to Ojasi Gopikrishna (5); Ananya R Patel (4) lt to Shridevi Kote (5); Yashaswika IV (4) lt to Prathvika JR (4.5); Chrisel Anthea Fernandes (3.5) lt to Nagasshree Aaraga (4); Aditi B Rao (3) lt to Chaithra R Rao (4); Bhoomika K (4) bt Panchami Sarpangala (3); Vidisha V Bhat (4) bt Manya Hegde (3).

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Sports / Bangalore, DHNS – April 30th, 2013

Decoding California

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg

The Silicon Valley, a rough triangle that stretches from San Francisco and Oakland in the north to San Jose in the south, could be mistaken for an extension of an Indian city.

From streets with names such as Gurudwara Road to Indian restaurants and even a store named The Love Of Ganesha, the area is home to thousands of Indians, many of them techies. And first-time filmmaker Rucha Humnabadkar, who has assisted Nagesh Kukunoor on his films Hyderabad Blues (1998), Rockford (1999) and Bollywood Calling (2003), is looking to capture the journey of these people in her new film, For Here Or To Go?
“It’s the story of every Indian who comes to the Bay Area with dreams of making it big,” says Rucha. The script is written by Rishi Bhilawadikar, who is actor Atul Kulkarni’s nephew, and is based on posts from his blog, Stuff Desis Like. “I met Rishi about a year ago and we got talking about this script that he’d written. I was interested in making the film right off the bat,” she says.

Actor Gulshan Devaiah, who was last seen in Hate Story (2012), is playing the lead character, a first-generation immigrant from Mumbai. “He is a loner who likes western culture. He wants success and goes to America in search of it,” says Gulshan. “However, he soon finds that he’s facing the age-old dilemma of migrants, where do I belong?” he adds. Although the actor hasn’t had a similar experience himself, he will be meeting techies in the States and hopes to draw inspiration from their lives.

The film, which goes on the floors by July, will be shot in the Bay Area and Mumbai. “It’ll be nice to have a wide release,” says Gulshan. “This is a story that needs to be told, especially with the spotlight on immigration reform right now,” says Rucha, referring to the Mark Zuckerberg-led initiative FWD.us (pronounced forward US).

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Movies> Entertainment> bollywood / by Sumedha Deo, Hindustan Times / Mumbai, April 30th, 2013

For these migratory tribals, livelihood, not voting, counts

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Coffee, Kodagu (Coorg)

Thousands of tribals in HD Kote and Hunsur haadis are likely to ignore the May 5 Assembly election as they have temporarily migrated to Kodagu and Wayanad to work in coffee estates. It is unlikely that they will come back to vote as there is a strong feeling that their exercising franchise has helped little in bettering their lives.

There are 115 haadis in H D Kote and about 30 in Hunsur with a total population of about 30,000.

The tribals here are predominantly agricultural labourers and with the region facing severe drought and agricultural activities still to resume, there is hardly any job on offer for them. Even forests are almost shut for them and they are hardly able to lay their hands on minor forest produce.

With no other choice, a majority of young and middle-aged men and women have left in search of greener pastures, leaving elderly parents at home to take care of their children. The tribals say that despite them casting their votes in successive elections, not much has changed in their lives. “Moreover, it’s a matter of bread and butter. We cannot give up a day’s wages and come just for the sake of voting,” said Raja from D B Kuppe haadi.

While many tribals have shifted their base to coffee estates as early as December and will return on May, those located on the borders of Kerala and Kodagu travel to their work places daily. Tribals are preferred for weeding and tree pruning as they are experts in it and get wages ranging from `150 to 300 daily.

Srikanth of the Tribal Joint Action Forum said that the tribals’ long-pending demands like title deeds for their cultivating lands, places of worship and graveyards, better health facilities and quality teachers who can bridge language barriers of their children among others are still to be met.

Most importantly, the poor tribes are upset over a series of attacks on fellow tribes by forest staff while collecting minor forest produce and over the problems they face in burying dead bodies. Graveyards of tribal clans are located inside forests and they have to brave deep trenches to carry dead bodies for burial. However, he feels that most tribals may not stay away from voting as they are conscious about voting rights and will find their way to polling booths if they have encouraging employers. Sources in the district administration said they are trying their level best to convince tribals to vote by holding talks with community leaders.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Vincent D’Souza – Mysore / April 30th, 2013

Case No 18/9 audio to be released on April 29

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg

The audio of upcoming movie Case No 18/9 which has Sindhu Lokanath, Niranjan Shetty and Shwetha Pandit in the lead roles, will be released on April 29.

(Sindhu Lokanath )
(Sindhu Lokanath )

The film is the remake of critically acclaimed Tamil movie, Vazhakku Enn 18/9. The Kannada version is directed by Mahesh Rao of Murali Meets Meera and Bhadra fame. Sindhu is essaying the role of a house maid in a teen crime thriller. There are six songs in the film scored by Arjun Janya. Recently, the film was in news for actress Harshika Poonacha doing a special number in the film.

Meanwhile, Sindhu’s last outing in Sandalwood Sa Re Ga Ma failed to live up to the expectations of the audience. The actress will be seen in varied roles in her upcoming movies — Nan Lifeali which has Anish in the lead, Jai Bajrang Bali opposite to Ajai Rao, Prachanda which has Yogesh in the lead and bilingual movie Coffee with my wife, which will mark her debut in Telugu industry.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Entertainment> Regional> Kannada / by Vinay Lokesh, TNN / April 28th, 2013