Dechamma Poonacha(Dechamma A.P) has won the Mrs Fitness Queen Title at Mrs UAE International by ‘Being Muskaan’, a leading UAE based brand launched by Meena Asrani, focused towards women empowerment.
The contest was held on June 26th at Radisson Red, Dubai Silicon Oasis and was open to all nationalities residing in UAE.
Mrs. Dechamma is currently a home maker. She is a former student of Rotary English Medium School Moodbidri and also was the student of the first batch.
She further continued her high school an PU education at Jain highschool and PU college Moodbidri.
She pursued her graduation at Sri Bhuvanendra College Karkala where she won Miss. Bhuvanendra in 1997 and Miss. Jaycee Kulyadi queen, Karlala in 1998.
She was born in Coorg but was raised in Moodbidri.
Doctors wanted: Fletcher Clinic’s Dr Poonacha Kanjithanda and practice manager, Maddie Ingall have two empty rooms despite growing demand for medical services. Picture: MARINA NEIL
A CRITICAL shortage of GPs could soon leave some Hunter towns “up the creek” without a doctor.
National modelling predicts there will be a shortfall of almost 11,500 GPs by 2032, but parts of the Hunter are already struggling – with Cessnock, Murrurundi, Scone, Denman, Merriwa, Muswellbrook and Singleton identified as being particularly vulnerable.
Most of the 404 practices in the Hunter and Central Coast are actively recruiting doctors already, as they grapple with an increasing workload, a retiring workforce, and fewer medical graduates pursuing a career in general practice.
The Hunter New England and Central Coast area has lost close to 100 GPs in the past few years. Unless the trajectory changes – and soon – the region’s Primary Health Network (PHN) says it will only get harder and more expensive to see a GP.
“Over time, it will reduce access for regular people in the community to see their local doctors,” PHN chief executive Richard Nankervis said.
“There will be an impact in terms of increases in waiting times, but also cost, and that’s a general trend that we’re already starting to see across various parts of the region.”
The most recent data the PHN could provide from 2020 shows one full time equivalent GP for every 1224 residents across the region.
But in areas like Dungog, that ratio jumped to more than 2900 people for every one doctor.
Mr Nankervis said there were about 1890 GPs in the region in 2018. It is now closer to 1800, and 239 of those are registrars.
Cessnock, Murrurundi, Scone, Denman, Merriwa, Muswellbrook and Singleton are among the Hunter areas the PHN has identified as being at risk of current or imminent closures.
But areas of high population growth – like Maitland and the Central Coast – are also under increasing pressure to meet the growing demand.
“It seems to be as bad as we have seen since the PHN began in 2015,” he said.
“We are worried about a whole range of towns, but we have probably got about 10 towns that are of greatest concern after a couple of years of population growth.”
Places like Wee Waa and Barraba only have one doctor at present. If those doctors retire, leave, or become unwell, residents will have to travel to access a GP until a replacement is found.
It comes as a Deloitte report forecasts demand for GP services will increase by almost 40 per cent by 2030.
But if the number of new GPs entering the market do not keep pace with the growing demand, there will be a shortfall of 9,298 full-time GPs – the equivalent of 25 per cent of the GP workforce – within eight years.
Since 2017, there has been a 30 per cent drop in medical graduates applying to do general practice.
“We are seeing a significant reduction in the number of medical students choosing general practice, and it is largely because more are choosing specialities, which are attractive because they are remunerated well, and often offer very good lifestyles for them and their families,” Mr Nankervis said.
The region’s practices say a “melting pot” of challenges, setbacks, and cuts have also contributed to this “crisis” and that there needs to be “carrots and sticks” to encourage more GPs to the industry – particularly in regional and rural areas.
Unsustainable: Hettie du Plessis, of Waratah Medical Services, will close her Central Coast practice next months due to rising costs and an inability to recruit GPs. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers
‘You can’t replace them’
Hettie du Plessis, of Waratah Medical Services at Morisset, Kanwal and Cooranbong, says she has been left with no choice but to close the Central Coast practice next month due to rising costs and an inability to recruit replacement doctors.
“At Morisset, I have lost four doctors, and at Cooranbong I’ve recently had one retire – and you just can’t replace them, it is a real struggle,” she said.
“That’s why I made the decision to bring the Kanwal doctors over here. Which is sad, because I have left people without doctors there, but financially, it just wasn’t sustainable to have two practices at half capacity.
“Someone said the other day that if you dropped 1000 GPs in NSW, you wouldn’t even know where they disappeared to, because we need so many. Everyone is struggling.”
Ms du Plessis said there were currently 600 GP positions available from the Central Coast to Singleton as most practices, like hers, sought to recruit more than one doctor.
About 100 practices are actively advertising for doctors on the PHN and Rural Doctors Network websites. But the PHN says many practices have “given up” advertising on those sites.
Ms du Plessis said recruitment agency fees can cost practices about $25,000. But the shortage of doctors in the region was just one part of the problem.
A 2018 change that re-classified Morisset as “metro” instead of “regional” meant her doctors took a 50 per cent cut on incentives to bulk bill.
“You get $39 for bulk billing, and if you are regional you’d get another $12 for the doctor to bulk bill,” she said. “Once we were changed from regional to metropolitan, that changed from $12 to $6.”
Her practices offer mixed billing – but being an entirely bulk billing practice was no longer sustainable to meet operational costs.
Locations in Australia with a shortage of medical practitioners are given Distribution Priority Area (DPA) status from the federal government. This allows international medical graduates working in these areas to be eligible for Medicare.
DPA status was recently returned to Morisset after heavy lobbying from three local medical centres in the South Lakes area.
But Ms du Plessis said even with DPA status, it still takes about a year to recruit a doctor from overseas due to red tape, paperwork, and having to jump through various “hoops”.
The doctor shortage meant demand was high – and their cancellation list was long – but they deliberately kept some on-the-day appointments available for patients who needed to see a GP urgently.
She said it was infuriating to have about 20 “no shows” at her practices most days – with no courtesy calls to cancel – as those spots could be given to those on the cancellation list.
Ms du Plessis and Maddie Ingall, the practice manager at Fletcher Clinic, both said the growing demands on GP services meant educating patients to book in for prescription-renewal appointments as soon as the “last repeat” sticker appeared on their script from the pharmacy had become a necessity.
Missed it by that much
Dr Poonacha Kanjithanda has spent the past two years trying to recruit a doctor to his practice.
He bought the Fletcher Clinic in 2019, and after a year their books were full.
“We couldn’t offer same day appointments, and people were getting angry and upset,” Dr Kanjithanda said.
For 18 months, the practice advertised through the primary health network, spent thousands advertising on Seek. At one point they had 21 recruitment agencies searching for suitable candidates while offering a $20,000 sign-on bonus.
The clinic came close to recruiting a GP a couple of times – but because those doctors were overseas-trained, they needed to work in a Distribution Priority Area.
Fletcher just missed out on meeting the criteria by “one point”, as it shares a catchment area with Newcastle. This means Fletcher has the same classification as Sydney’s CBD.
They applied for an exemption; wrote to local politicians. But ultimately, they still have two vacant rooms. Clinic staff hope the new federal Labor government delivers on its promise to restore DPA status to the region’s practices.
Practice manager Maddie Ingall said she understood that Fletcher was not in the same boat as places like the Northern Territory, but nor was it like Sydney’s CBD.
“There has to be some leeway in areas like Fletcher that are building up fast,” she said.
“From 2016 to 2019 there was 7000-odd new residents in Fletcher alone. Where are they meant to go if we only have 2.5 full time equivalent doctors and no one is taking new patients?”
Dr Kanjithanda said it should never have come to this “extreme shortage” of GPs. But now he would like to see some reform with long term solutions.
The current training pathway gives medical students more exposure to hospital roles than general practice, and becoming a GP was not seen as lucrative.
“A lot of GPs will be retiring soon,” he said. “Medicare rebates are not keeping up – so the pressures are building up while income is going down. Students see someone who started at the same time as me driving a Porsche versus me driving a Toyota – and they would prefer to drive the Porsche.
“But it’s not just money… GPs have some lifestyle benefits that the students haven’t been exposed to, because they only come in as medical students in third and fifth year to sit in on consults.”
He said having enough GPs was vital, as they kept people out of the hospital system but could also recognise when someone needed emergency hospital care.
“For each person presenting to the ED who actually occupies a bed, they spend about $1000 for that patient,” he said. “The government could save so much money by just funding general practice a bit better, and making sure we have the right amount of trainee doctors.”
Carrots and sticks
The Hunter New England Central Coast Primary Health Network recently offered bush GP and registrar grants in a bid to help rural areas recruit doctors.
It covered recruitment costs to help entice GPs to practices in Quirindi, Narrabri, Taree, Wee Waa, Glen Innes and Tamworth, and registrars to Moree, Gunnedah and Inverell.
Dr Simon Holliday, a GP and addiction physician in Taree, said these grants were “good” and helpful – but they were only one piece of the puzzle.
“There’s an enormous amount of costs involved in recruiting and in relocating doctors to rural areas,” he said.
It could take years for the “small handful” of overseas-based doctors interested in working in rural areas to go through Australia’s approval process. But competition was so fierce for international medical graduates too, who also needed adequate support to get settled, that it was not always financially viable or a long-term solution.
“I think we do have to ask ourselves as a nation, as a health system – why is it that we’re relying on medical conscription of international medical graduates to supply health care in the bush?” Dr Holliday said.
“I think the process we’ve been seeing over the last decade will just continue… And unless we get some coordination and some vision to solve this, I think we’re up the creek.”
source: http://www.singletonargus.com / The Singleton Argus / Home / by Anita Beaumont / June 27th, 2022
In this rare iteration of the DownBeat Blindfold Test, all three musicians were asked to comment on selections consisting entirely of trio music. (Photo: David Crow)
Seeing a colorful press photo of Rudresh Mahanthappa and his bandmates adorned in masks, tights and capes might lead one to believe that they are the comic book-like heroes from which the trio’s name is derived. But the alto saxophonist has been clear: He is paying homage to his own musical heroes — Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins and Lee Konitz, for starters. Rollins and Konitz virtually trademarked the chord-less trio format embraced by Mahanthappa and his rhythm section players, both of whom work regularly in other highly regarded trios: bassist François Moutin with pianist Jean-Michel Pilc, and drummer Rudy Royston with guitarist Bill Frisell.
In this rare iteration of the DownBeat Blindfold Test, all three musicians were asked to comment on selections consisting entirely of trio music. It was Mahanthappa’s second Blindfold Test, and the first for Royston and Moutin. The following article originally ran in two installments in DownBeat’s May 2022 and June 2022 issues.
ORNETTE COLEMAN
“Dawn” (At The Golden Circle Stockholm, Blue Note, 1966) Coleman, alto saxophone; David Izenzon, bass; Charles Moffett, drums.
Rudresh Mahanthappa: That’s Ornette Coleman, At The Golden Circle, with David Izenzon and Charles Moffett. This is on Blue Note, not Atlantic, I believe. When I was at Berklee in the ’90s, I wanted to do a recital of all Ornette Coleman music. It had a horrible name — it was called “Ornette, or Not.” We ended up doing a ballad called “Dawn” — this is it? There it is, I hear the melody now. 5 stars.
François Moutin: I don’t know of anything else that David Izenzon did, but he’s a monster bass player.
JERRY BERGONZI TRIO
“Have You Met Miss Jones” (Lost In The Shuffle, Double-Time, 1998) Bergonzi, tenor saxophone; Dan Wall, organ; Adam Nussbaum, drums.
Mahanthappa: It sounds like Steve Grossman when he was in his Sonny Rollins phase. It has a Jerry Bergonzi vibe to it, too. It’s not Dan Wall, is it? Adam Nussbaum? Jerry is great. For better or for worse, Grossman, Brecker, Jerry Bergonzi, even George Garzone, to some extent Dave Liebman — these guys were like the kings of this post-Coltrane [sound]. I think Grossman was the forefather of all those guys, including Michael Brecker. Steve was playing like that when he was only 19 years old with Elvin Jones.
Moutin: There’s one lick in there that could have been you on tenor, Rudresh.
Mahanthappa: It’s the same source material, just up a fifth. I tried playing tenor in high school; I sounded terrible on tenor.
Rudy Royston: Adam Nussbaum is on! I like all the energy, rhythm, big fat sound … not like that “clean” stuff that was going on at that time.
Moutin:I’ve played with him half a dozen times, and every time, it was an incredible experience.
Royston: He’s a cat who believes in the drums leading the band, the drums leading the vibe. He came to UNC when I was there. He said, “You should be able to tell what the tune is from what I’m playing.” You could hear it in his rhythms and how he was defining stuff around the melody. He’s still a bad cat.
Mahanthappa: 5, shall we go 5 stars on that?
Moutin: Yeah.
Royston: Everyone was killing on that.
MELISSA ALDANA & CRASH TRIO
“Turning” (Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio, Concord, 2014) Aldana, tenor saxophone, Pablo Menares, bass; Francisco Mela, drums.
Royston: Is that Melissa Aldana? The thing I love about Melissa is how she uses space. She’s never in a rush. She always waits, and then she does that thing where she starts low, I don’t know what it is [sings the line]. And the way she uses … falsetto?
Mahanthappa: Altissimo. I like Melissa a lot, I don’t know her playing real well. One of the things that’s hard for me to realize is that there’s a whole generation of folks that were influenced by people our age. Melissa told me a story about how into Mark Turner she was, and how he gave her a seven-hour lesson once.
Royston: That’s a great trio. I saw them at Dizzy’s. They were a good trio.
Moutin: Good composition, too.
Mahanthappa: 5 stars.
CHRIS SPEED TRIO
“Arrival High” (Platinum On Tap, Intakt, 2017) Speed, saxophone; Dave King, drums; Chris Tordini, bass.
Moutin: Triplicate?
Mahanthappa: No, it doesn’t sound anything like that. It kind of reminds me of Bill McHenry. Is it George Garzone? It definitely sounds like it could be someone of our generation. It could be Rasmus Lee, or it could be …
Moutin: Donny McCaslin?
Mahanthappa: No, it can’t be, that’s not Donny’s sound. Or guys that I went to Berklee with, like Matt Renzi … all these cats that played all that modern shit, but with harder reeds and a darker sound, as opposed to Donny. It was almost like a reaction to Michael Brecker, “We’re going to go dark!”
Royston: I know this drummer, man.
Mahanthappa: It could be Chris Speed, too. Is this the trio with Dave King? There you go. Chris was a little older than me, but he was still in Boston when I was in school, but he was hanging out, playing his ass off. 5 stars. Chris is a bad motherfucker and more people should know who he is.
Royston: I knew that it was [Dave King on drums], but I just couldn’t put my finger on that sound. Big tom sounds, and you can hear all that facility with the rim shots and the bells. You can hear all that stuff in the Bad Plus.
… To be continued in the June 2022 issue of DownBeat. Same Hero Trio time. Same Blindfold Test space!
Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Hero Trio (Part 2, June 2022)
Previously on The Blindfold Test: Our three heroes, led as always by the indubitable alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, and ably assisted by his sideman sidekicks François Moutin and Rudy Royston, added to their legerdemain with a perfect four-for-four on last month’s treacherous playlist, a feat they accomplished even while blindfolded (figuratively speaking). After easily nailing the mysterious Ornette Coleman and killers Jerry Bergonzi and Melissa Aldana, a bit of high drama occurred as their last unknown audio assailant proved elusive until Mahanthappa deduced the culprit to be Chris Speed at the 11th hour. But this month, new and more dangerous challenges lie ahead. Can our heroes pull of a perfect score, or will they succumb to the weight expectations they’ve already set? Read on to find out!
Rudresh Mahanthappa: Sounds like Arnett Cobb. It’s not rough enough to be Turrentine.
Rudy Royston: Sounds like Turrentine right there.
François Moutin: It’s not Turrentine?
Mahanthappa: It’s so of another generation. It reminds me of Houston Person records, or even Lockjaw. But I could also see Seamus Blake totally playing like this, and doing it convincingly, and sounding like an old cat. I could see Josh Redman playing like this too. But I’m stumped.
Moutin: It’s not Ron Carter, is it? There’s something in the sound … I don’t know.
[afterwards]
Mahanthappa: I would have never gotten that.
Moutin: You tricked us.
Mahanthappa: Branford definitely has his own sound, but then he can kind of inhabit all these other things, historically.
Royston: “Tain” came to my mind with that ride cymbal, but I was like, “I don’t think so.” I needed to hear a “Tain”-ism.
Moutin: 5 stars.
Royston: I didn’t know Branford could do that. Branford was getting a lot of lip back then, going to Sting’s band, and all the jazz cats were like, “Oh, man!”
Moutin: Makes me realize how much Ron Carter borrowed [from] Milt Hinton.
Mahanthappa: I’m a little embarrassed; Branford and I just hung out last week.
ANNA WEBBER
“Forgotten Best” (Idiom, Independent Release, 2021) Webber, tenor saxophone; Matt Mitchell, piano; John Hollenbeck, drums.
Mahanthappa: It’s killing, whoever it is.
Moutin: European?
Mahanthappa: Sounds like Anna Webber, kind of? With Matt Mitchell and John Hollenbeck? Anna’s ridiculous, she can do anything. 5 stars, 5½! I had Anna come and speak to my advance improv class last semester. She was amazing. She’s actually kind of codified and demystified “free improvisation.” She had this beautiful list of all these techniques to work on. Imagine Jamey Aebersold’s scale syllabus, but it was techniques and strategies for free improv. It was literally just one sheet of paper, and it was a lifetime of stuff to work on.
Moutin: Matt Mitchell is amazing.
Mahanthappa: Matt was in Bird Calls. He was practicing [his piano etudes] in sound checks for every gig we did.
Royston: He did those every day when we were in Dave Douglas’ band. You just knew it was going to come [mimics atonal piano sounds]. I used to try to play with him to figure out [the time].
JEFF BALLARD TRIO
“Western Wren (A Bird Call)” “Mivakpola” (Times Take, Okeh, 2014) Ballard, drums; Miguel Zenón, alto saxophone; Lionel Loueke, guitar.
Moutin: It’s killing. I don’t know what it is, but it’s great!
Mahanthappa: That’s insane. I can’t even …
Royston: And that wasn’t Jeff on drums? Jeff Ballard?
[afterwards]
Mahanthappa: I never would have guessed that.
Moutin: I should have guessed that.
Royston: I thought that was Jeff, because you can hear that staccato style. When Jeff plays, he plays “off” the drums. Everything is precise and staccato.
Mahanthappa: Oh, god, Matt sounds amazing. That sounds great. I don’t know Josh’s playing well enough to recognize it, to tell you the truth. But he always sounds great.
Royston: Hutch man, wow. We’re friends. He came to Denver when I was in high school. He was playing with Roy [Hargrove’s] band. We had this jam session in Diane Reeves’ basement. I was trying to play all this “Tain” stuff. Roy was there. Then, Hutch comes in, he’s got the flu. He has this big bomber coat on, he sits on my drums and my cymbals and he just [gestures a seriously minimal ride pattern]. I wanted to leave after that. That was a lesson learned right there. I went upstairs and ate some of Diane Reeves’ cooking. DB
The “Blindfold Test” is a listening test that challenges the featured artist to discuss and identify the music and musicians who performed on selected recordings. The artist is then asked to rate each tune using a 5-star system. No information is given to the artist prior to the test.
source: http://www.downbeat.com / Down Beat / Home> News / by Gary Fukushima / June 14th, 2022
Having studied at AIISH Mysuru, Dr. Bopanna Ballachanda becomes the first Indian-American to occupy the top post.
Dr. Bopanna Ballachanda is a Professor (Adjunct) at Texas Tech Health Sciences and Chief Audiology Officer at National Hearing and Balance centres in Albuquerque, New Mexico. With more than 30 years of experience, he is now the President-Elect of the American Academy of Audiology (AAA) and he will have a three-year term from October 1, 2022.
Hailing from Kodagu and coming from a humble background, he did his B.Sc. in Speech and Hearing from the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH – 1970 batch), then under the University of Mysore. By becoming the first person of colour to head AAA, Dr. Bopanna has become a role model for many.
Star of Mysore caught up with Dr. Bopanna, who was on a short visit to Mysuru and spoke to him about his role in AAA, Mysuru memories and his family. Excerpts:
Star of Mysore (SOM): You have a three-year term and how do you propose to take forward the programmes of American Academy of Audiology (AAA)?
Dr. Bopanna Ballachanda: The American Academy of Audiology is the world’s largest professional organisation of, by and for audiologists. It is committed to advancing the science, practice and accessibility of hearing and balanced healthcare for our patients.
I am humbled and honoured to be elected by the members as the President-Elect and later the President of AAA. My role is to understand the issues and address them when I take charge. These opportunities and challenges vary from year to year. However, the Academy has set goals and agenda to further the profession and help audiologists achieve their highest potential.
SOM: You are the first Indian-American to occupy the top post of AAA. This is no mean feat and you studied at AIISH Mysuru. Do you have any fond memories of Mysuru?
Dr. Bopanna Ballachanda: I do have a lot of fond memories of Mysuru. Back then Mysuru was a quaint town with excellent opportunities for scholarly work, today too I hope it’s the same. I still cherish my time in Mysuru when I used to meet friends at the corner of crossroads (Somberi Katte) and talk for hours. I also fondly remember the joy I felt riding my bicycle to the Institute from home. So Mysuru and my time in Mysuru is very much in my thoughts.
SOM: Audiology is a relatively lesser-known profession or a field of expertise in India. Do you think there is a lack of awareness? If so, what should be done to popularise it?
Dr. Bopanna Ballachanda: You are absolutely correct. Audiology is lesser known. However, the field of audiology has been in existence in India for a long time. Based on my research, I see an apathy for hearing loss and corrective measures to overcome communication problems. Hearing loss and its impact are not well-acknowledged and hearing loss and its impact on humans need to be made aware.
As we know that the two major inputs to the brain are vision and hearing. We are quick to correct vision problems but are reluctant or hesitant to correct or use hearing aids. Recent research has clearly shown that an untreated hearing loss has many impacts on communication, psychological well-being, and most of all deterioration in mental functions. Hearing loss does not only affect hearing but has broader consequences like memory loss etc. I don’t know the reasons why people cancel or postpone treatments. Being out of India, I have limited knowledge of the apathy or lack of motivation of the general public to deal with hearing problems.
SOM: AIISH is doing wonderful work in audiology and the institute has grown in leaps and bounds. Your comments on this.
Dr. Bopanna Ballachanda: AIISH is a great institute. I had the opportunity to visit the institute a few days back and I was stunned by the clinical facilities, research work, and innovative projects. I was humbled by the warm welcome extended by the Director, Dr. M. Pushpavathi. The Institute that I remember has changed a lot, and changed for the better. I am so proud to say that I graduated from this premier institution.
SOM: You are from Kodagu, a small district, how did you get to where you are now professionally?
Dr. Bopanna Ballachanda: Like many Indians in the 80s, I stepped foot in the USA with a dream. I was born to late Pulianda Kamakshi and late Ballachanda Belliappa. My dream began when I graduated with a B.Sc. degree from AIISH and a love for Wild West through John Wayne movies. On the way to the Wild West, I did a two-year stint as a specialist of Speech and Hearing at the Al Sabah Hospital in Kuwait, finally ending up at the University of Texas, Dallas, where I earned a Ph.D in Auditory Neuroscience, the study of hearing and the brain which at that time had not been explored very much.
SOM: Tell us about your initial days in the US.
Dr. Bopanna Ballachanda: I was recruited by Purdue University, Indiana, as an up-and-coming academician. While at Purdue I pioneered clinical procedures for practising audiologists, authored two books that are used as educational material in many audiology programmes and many professional/scientific articles that received acclaim in the hearing industry.
I returned to India after 10 years in the USA in 1990 and got married to Kambeyanda Naina Muthappa and then I moved to the University of New Mexico as an Associate Professor of Audiology.
SOM: Tell us how you got involved with American Academy of Audiology and the business side of audiology?
Dr. Bopanna Ballachanda: During my tenure at the University of New Mexico, I became actively involved with the American Academy of Audiology. I was the first foreign-born audiologist in the USA, the first Indian to be elected to the Board of Directors of the AAA, and served as President of the New Mexico Speech-Hearing Association and on the Senate of the University of New Mexico.
After seven more years of teaching at the University of New Mexico, I gave up a guaranteed job to venture into yet another phase in my life — clinical practice. With the help of my wife, who is a Chartered Accountant and entrepreneur, I opened my first clinic in July of 2003 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The first year was a challenge, but after that, by God’s grace, I’ve never had to look back. Another seven years later I had the opportunity to purchase a group of clinics in Arizona and Texas. My wife says seven is my magic number. I had 16 clinics in New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. My wife and I owned and ran the clinics together.
SOM: Tell us about your family and do you feel you achieved your American dream?
Dr. Bopanna Ballachanda: I have a wonderful son and a daughter, Tanek Ballachanda and Jyothi Ballachanda. Tanek is a mechanical engineer working for a space programme in Seattle, Washington State while Jyothi is studying to become a pastry chef.
Have I achieved my American dream? Life is a journey of fascinating dreams that evolve, I don’t think I’m even halfway there. It’s been a lot of hard work, and it was never about the money, but about pushing myself beyond. In that sense, I think I have a sense of fulfilment.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles> Top Stories / June 09th, 2022
Arriving in London during the late ’60s with just his guitar, Biddu Appaiah went on to become a globally renowned music producer who sold millions of records. Here’s his story.
What do the songs ‘Kung Fu Fighting’, ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’, ‘Disco Deewane’ and ‘Made in India’ have in common? Apart from selling millions of copies worldwide, these records serenaded audiences from Russia to Peru, and stood as pioneers of global disco and pop music from the Indian subcontinent. (Image courtesy Facebook/Biddu)
What also binds them is the fact that they were all produced by a man from Bengaluru who left for London in the Swinging Sixties to pursue his love for popular Western music.
It’s incredible that more people in India don’t know Biddu Appaiah and his remarkable contributions to music. A great deal of the pop music Indians listen to today can trace their roots to the songs he produced. It was his production chops that not only introduced the world to artists like Carl Douglas, Nazia Hassan, Alisha Chinai and Shaan, but also opened commercial avenues for other independent talent in India who didn’t require the backing or endorsement of the Hindi film industry (Bollywood) producers or already established cinestars.
The Hindi film industry fought to wrest control back from the music labels supporting independent artists, but the onset of the internet has revived that spirit of independence. Here’s the brief story of a man, music producer and composer who left India behind to follow his dreams, but found his way back to influence generations of artists.
Left: Biddu & Alisha China (Image: Instagram/Alisha Chinai), Right: At a book launch (Image: The Post Script Team/Creative Commons)
‘Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting’
Born on 8 February 1944 in Bengaluru, Biddu attended the Bishop Cottons Boys’ School. Growing up listening to pop music from the West on the popular radio station Radio Ceylon (of Sri Lanka), his major musical influences as a teenager were Elvis Presley, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Learning how to play the guitar, he eventually formed a band with his friend Ken Gnanakan called the Trojans at 16.
They would play in small clubs, weddings, private parties and bars across Bengaluru before graduating to gigs in other cities like Kolkata and Mumbai. As an English-speaking band, they made their name by largely playing cover versions of songs by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Trini Lopez, and other Western music stars of the day. However, once the group split up, Biddu briefly performed as the lone ‘Trojan’ before leaving for England in the late 1960s.
Embarking on a journey to England in 1967, Biddu first made his way to the Middle East by climbing on a Haj ship in 1967 to Mecca before hitchhiking across the Middle East, where he performed multiple gigs.
In a 2020 interview with the Deccan Herald, he recalled, “I wanted to make it in the West. India in the 60s was a poor country; we were dancing with Russia instead of rocking with the West. I needed to get out of India as my interest was Western pop music; I was never into Bollywood. I left India and walked all the way to Beirut, singing there for six months until I saved enough moolah [money] to get to England.”
About his arrival in England, he once said in an interview with the BBC, “I didn’t really know too much about England or anything – I’d just come here on the chance of meeting the Beatles and doing some music. Everything that I did had this danceable flavour.”
To support his dreams of becoming a singer, he worked odd jobs, including one as a chef in London to save up enough money for studio time. He eventually cut a single, which impressed nobody and recalled “as an Indian in those days, they were happier to hire me as an accountant than as a singer”.
Realising that he wasn’t going to make it as a singer signed on a major record label, he instead decided to produce his own records, which, in the early days, didn’t generate much success. His first major success came in 1969, when he produced a song called ‘Smile for Me’ written by Barry and Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees and performed by a Japanese band called The Tigers.
Since members of the band couldn’t speak English at the time, Biddu taught them how to sing English songs phonetically, given his knowledge of the language and love for pop music. The song topped the charts in Japan, and its success was the breakthrough he needed in England.
Entering the 1970s, he was producing a variety of disco songs that received little airplay on radio, but found underground appreciation from fans in the north of England.
His first real moment of success and mass acclaim came when he began working with Jamaican-born musician Carl Douglas in 1972. As a 2020 Financial Times article recollects, “Douglas was recording ‘I Want to Give You My Everything’ (written by Larry Weiss), which they did in a few hours. There was little time left to record a B-side. Douglas proposed ‘Kung Fu Fighting’, which he had written after seeing youngsters doing mock-kung fu moves in the street. It was recorded in a couple of takes. Biddu added the ‘Hurgh! Hurgh!’ exclamations. The record company people heard it and instantly realised that the B-side was the hit. They were right — ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ became one of the biggest-selling singles of all time.”
From here, there was no looking back. Biddu would soon establish himself as an important producer in the UK soul and disco scenes in the 1970s, working with a variety of artists including Tina Charles and Jimmy James. The songs he produced made their way to the UK Singles Chart and Billboard 100, while he continued making his own critically acclaimed music with ‘The Biddu Orchestra’.
‘Aap Jaisa Koi’
Biddu was never truly interested in doing film soundtracks, according to his autobiography ‘Made in India: Adventures of a Lifetime’. But that changed when Feroz Khan, a renowned Hindi cinema actor and producer, came to London to meet him in 1979.
Feroz had heard his instrumental albums and wanted him to produce a song for a film he was making called ‘Qurbani’. They met at an apartment he was renting near Claridges Hotel in Mayfair, and what ensued would change Indian pop music forever.
The Bollywood actor’s sales pitch was pretty simple, even though Biddu admittedly knew little of Hindi films or music. Feroz said, “Listen, you and I come from Bangalore. We are both Bangalore boys.” Biddu observed that Feroz was using the “old boys from the hood routine”. Feroz would then go on to say, “Come on, do it for a friend. Your mama will be so pleased.”
Although Biddu initially agreed to take on the project, he was still not convinced, even though Feroz had gone out on a limb for him. Local music directors in Mumbai had threatened to organise a boycott of his film if he “used a foreigner” to make music for one of the songs. However, once Feroz agreed to Biddu’s wish to record the song in London and not use playback singers dominating the music charts in India, there was no looking back.
The next thing they had to do was find a singer in London who could sing in Hindi. That’s when Feroz Khan came up with the name of a young 15-year-old Pakistani girl living in London called Nazia Hassan. Feroz knew her parents well and convinced them to let their daughter sing one song for his film. A couple of days later Biddu met the young Nazia, her brother Zoheb and their parents at their apartment in Century Court opposite the famous Lord’s Cricket Ground.
After singing a verse and chorus from one of Biddu’s songs ‘Dance Little Lady’, Nazia got the gig and went on to record the timeless ‘Aap Jaisa Koi Meri Zindagi Mein Aaye’.
“Her voice did not have the piercing sharpness of most Asian singers. The pleasantness in her voice was around C3, from middle C to G4 — warm, expressive and nubile. It wasn’t a great voice. But it was different, and it was this that made the difference between using her and someone from the old school in India,” wrote Biddu in his autobiography.
After recording Nazia’s part, he went into Red Bus Studios and added some of his magic dust alongside his sound engineer Richard Dodd.
“I had a catchy introductory riff played on the sitar; I used the syn drums, which had never been used in a Hindi song before. The syn drum made a sound not unlike my name. It went ‘bidoo’ every time you hit it and I double-tracked Nazia’s voice to give it some oomph. Once again, I used a rhythm box with a Latin beat to give it a hip-swaying groove,” he wrote.
‘Made in India’
Suffice to say, the song became a raging hit in not just India, but around the world. Despite its massive success, Bollywood didn’t come calling immediately. Instead, about a year later, a representative from the London branch of HMV (later called SaReGaMa), one of India’s largest music companies, came to see him. The record executive expressed the company’s desire for Biddu to make an album with Nazia Hassan. This was the first non-film album the company was going to make. After much negotiation, which also included the payment of royalties to the artists involved, he got into the studio with Nazia and Zoheb to produce an Urdu album.
Modelling the siblings on another famous brother-sister duo in the United States called ‘The Carpenters’ they recorded the album ‘Disco Deewane’, which was a smash hit across the world with the record charting across 14 countries, including Brazil, where it went No.1. The record sold almost 100,000 copies on the day of its release, a remarkable feat for South Asian music artists in the West. Following ‘Disco Deewane’, they went onto work on three more albums including ‘Star/Boom Boom’ in 1982, ‘Young Tarang’ in 1984 and ‘Hotline’ in 1987.
Album cover of a pop and disco music classic (Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
Together, the brother-sister duo went on to sell 60 million records worldwide. During this period, he also made massive hit records for famous Japanese (Akina Nakamori), Chinese and Filipino pop stars as well, besides making a return to the UK music scene with house music records.
After spending about a decade making records with Nazia and Zoheb, he worked with Hindi vocalist Shwetta Shetty producing her 1993 album ‘Johnny Joker’.
But it was 1995 that Biddu really made his mark in India, composing and producing the legendary ‘Made in India’ album by Hindi pop and playback singer Alisha Chinai. The song and the music video that followed was one of the key avenues MTV chose to launch their channel in India.
Interestingly, some anecdotes even claim that the song was originally meant for Nazia on the vocals, but she apparently refused. Eventually the song fell on Alisha China’s lap and for the backup vocals, Biddu employed another young budding singer, Sophie Chaudhary.
opping the charts in India, the album sold over five million copies. In addition to Alisha Chinai, he kickstarted the pop music careers of artists like Shaan, his sister Sagarika Mukherjee and even famous playback singers Sonu Nigam and KS Chitra. A lot of the Indian pop music scene in the 1990s and early 2000s was marked by the records that Biddu produced.
There’s a lot more to his story. But what’s more important is that generations of people from literally all over the world have swayed their hips to his hit records. And this isn’t even an exaggeration. For a man from Bengaluru, who hitchhiked across the Middle East and landed up in London with his guitar, he sure made his mark on the world of music.
Federal officials say up to 23 million Americans may have developed long COVID health problems that last long after an initial infection.
Although research on long COVID is still in the early stages, there are already plenty of programs offering help.
Even simple things are big accomplishments for 71-year-old Rick Cannon, 18-months after he first got COVID-19.
“I remember being in the ER and then falling asleep. And that’s the last I remember till I woke up in middle November,” he said.
But it took another five months – until April 2021 – before Rick went home.
He was 121 pounds, couldn’t taste or smell, had stroke-like weakness on his left side, neuropathy and drop foot in both feet.
Dr. Mithra Maneyapanda of Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital says every patient in the Post-COVID program is different – some with one symptom, some with many.
“Brain fog, trouble with memory, word-finding difficulties. They can also have physical symptoms, whether it’s difficulty with weakness, fatigue – some patients are still displaying shortness of breath and chest pains,” he said.
Others have mood issues. Because the causes are still unknown, the treatment focuses on each symptom.
“They might see physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech language pathologists, psychologists…,” said Dr. Maneyapanda.
Rick’s drop foot was surgically fixed, so his recovery is finally gaining speed.
“I can walk six or seven minutes without getting exhausted,” he said. “I can go up the steps, down the steps. I can get in the shower.”
Physical therapists say hard work by patients here and at home is paying off.
“I just had somebody the other day that said, ‘ have felt like myself for the past four days’,” said Julie Biely, P.T.
Each patient like Rick is also helping expand Bryn Mawr Rehab’s knowledge, and that will help future patients.
“Once the science catches up, we’ll have more targeted treatments to offer,” said Dr. Maneyapanda.
source: http://www.6abc.com / abc- Action News / by Tamala Edwards / March 17th, 2022
Students are hoping for rehabilitation in India or admission in similar universities in European countries like Poland as a special case for Indian students
Uncertainty looms large over the fate of students who safely returned to India from Ukraine as some of them feel that continuing medical education in the war-ravaged country would be tougher, challenging and unreliable and parents may refuse to send them back in the present circumstances.
In Mysuru, Kodagu and Chamarajnagar, several students have returned safely and a few more are on their way. What has been bothering the returnees is “what next”.
Though discussions are ongoing in various circles on whether to permit the affected students to continue their education in Indian colleges, a clear picture on their future may emerge once all safely return to the country with the Centre’s ‘Operation Ganga’ in the final stages of evacuation in Ukraine.
“I’m worried about my future. I don’t know whether my parents will send me back to Ukraine if the situation returns to normal though it appears to be highly uncertain with Russian militia advancing. I am keeping my fingers crossed. I have put in three years and I was about to be promoted to fourth year. I am hopeful something will emerge as India will work out a solution in students’ interests,” said Likith, who returned from Kharkiv.
Like Likith, his friends and classmates in Kodagu and Mysuru are hoping that the medical colleges or universities in Europe may also consider admitting the affected students from Ukraine since the education system is almost similar in many European countries. In solidarity with Ukraine, the European institutions, as a special case, may admit the students, after fulfilling the formalities. Poland, Hungary and Slovakia and other countries may consider admission, they hope.
“I and my friends and I have decided to wait and watch the developments. We cannot say what happens in the days ahead. We are hoping that our interests will be protected,” said Likith, a student of Kharkiv National Medical University, who spent a harrowing time with eight others in a bunker in Kharkiv after the Russian invasion.
Sharukh M.Y., who returned to his hometown in Virajpet taluk in Kodagu on Sunday, is hoping that the government of India will come up with a plan to address the returnees’ plight.
“I am hoping that my university in Ukraine will start online classes at the earliest. It has told us it will update us by March 15. With the war on, everything appears uncertain. I’m in the sixth semester. I would have been promoted to fourth year but the crisis forced us to vacate. I am open to all options,” said Shah Rukh, who is a student of V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University in Kharkiv.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National >Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Myusru – March 07th, 2022
Fourth-year medical student says Poland, Hungary, Slovakia can admit students affected by the conflict
Unruffled over shelling at a distance in Kyiv amid the Russian forces’ approaching the capital, gritty Sinya V J from Ponnampet and fellow students came out of their bunker and walked about 12 km to reach the railway station to run off from the conflict zone as they realized it was a “do or die” situation.
“We had two options – either to stay back in the shelter or take the risk. We took the risk fully aware that missiles are being fired all over. Though it was dangerous, we walked praying for our safety and reached the station. Luckily, today I am in my country. I wish all students return home safely like me,” said Sinya, recalling her testing times in the war-hit country.
“If I had not taken the risk, my return could have been longer, keeping my family worried,” she added.
Sinya is a fourth-year medical student in Uzhhorod National University. Siniya could have been easily evacuated as Uzhhorod is in western Ukraine which shares its border with Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.
On February 24, Sinya was at Kyiv international airport to board a flight to Dubai to join her siblings for a vacation. She had no hint that she would have to undergo a lot of trauma as Russian forces attacked Ukraine the same day. “The flights got cancelled, I and other Indian students had to be moved to a shelter where I was put up for three days. We had to run for safety leaving our belongings at the airport,” she recalled.
On the fate of her medical education, Sinya says medical education appears uncertain in present Ukraine because of war. “I was told the students can take transfer to universities in Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. An academician from Hungary who was at the border told us about the option of taking transfer. If Ukraine is not possible again, the next best alternative is available since I don’t want to leave my studies midway as becoming a doctor is my biggest dream,” the 22-year-old girl told The Hindu.
To a question on why Ukraine is preferred for medical education, she says, “The education standards are good. Each batch has 15 students. There’s no pressure on students. Medical education has become possible for me despite being the daughter of a mechanic because there’s no donation in Ukraine. My relatives helped us mobilize resources for my education.”
Ukraine not just attracts Indian students but also those dreaming to become doctors from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nigeria and other nations. “Students from the UK also study. I had friends from London. The assessment is tough as the student has to qualify in an exam in the third year to study further. Overseas medical education is grossly misunderstood. I will return to my country with a medical degree and also clear the qualifying exam here,” a confident Sinya said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Karnataka / by Shankar Bennur / Mysuru – March 03rd, 2022
He hopes govt. will help her continue her medical education in India after return Akshita Akkamma, a medical student from Kudlur village near Kushalnagar in Kodagu, is safe and about to cross the Ukrainian border to get evacuated from the war-hit country. However, her parents back home in Kodagu are still nervous until she reaches her home.
Her father I.P. Ramesh, an agriculturist, said, “I don’t want to send my daughter back to Ukraine after her return. We had a tough time worried about her safety after the war broke out. Hearing about shelling and explosions in Kharkiv, we had sleepless nights. We were slightly relieved after she rang up to tell us she had reached Livv and boarded a bus to reach the border to fly back to India.”
Akshita is a second-year student at Kharkiv National Medical University. “I don’t want my daughter to go back as her safety is important for us. Therefore, I urge the Government of India to make arrangements for her study in the country in whichever college it is possible as my daughter has put in two years of her study in Ukraine,” Mr. Ramesh suggested.
The coffee grower added, “In an exceptional case, a provision can be made for students wishing to stay in India, to continue medical education. I don’t think this is unachievable.”
Mr. Ramesh said “Fellow student Naveen’s tragic death shocked us and our apprehensions went up further since my daughter was also in Kharkiv which was witnessing heavy bombardment. Ukrainians are said to be getting first priority and then the girl students for boarding trains,” said the girl’s father.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Mysuru – March 03rd, 2022
Amidst the blitzkrieg from the Russian military, three students from Kodagu managed to leave the conflict zones in Ukraine and safely returned to India much to the relief of their family members who were pleading for their safe evacuation ever since Russian forces invaded Ukraine.
Alisha Sayyad Ali, Siniya V.J. and M.P. Nirmala, who managed to reach the borders in available modes of transport from their respective cities, returned on Wednesday in the evacuation flights operated by the Indian government.
The girls’ return was confirmed to The Hindu by the Kodagu district administration, whose officials were in touch with the stranded students since the war broke out. A few of the students from Kodagu and Mysuru are said to have reached Poland and are waiting for their evacuation. All of them are safe.
Siniya, who landed in Bengaluru airport on Wednesday evening, was welcomed by her family members.
Jose, her uncle, said Siniya had to walk about 20 km from her shelter in Kyiv along with other students to the railway station to reach Livv. She was evacuated from Budapest in Hungary to New Delhi.
“Minutes before Siniya was supposed to board a flight to Dubai on February 24 from Kyiv to join her sister for a vacation, Russian forces attacked Ukraine and the flights got cancelled. She had to rush back to her accommodation in available means of transport for her safety. Her 40-kg baggage was stuck in Kyiv airport and she flew to India with only a few pairs of clothes as all her belongings are at the airport,” Mr. Jose said.
Alisha, a student of Ivan Francisco Medical University, has also returned.
M.P. Nirmala, a student of Bogomoleth National Medical University in Kyiv, was stranded at a school after the invasion. Her mother Rajani was praying for her early return, pleading with the authorities for her evacuation. Ms Rajani said, “My daughter landed in Delhi this morning and is on her way to Bengaluru.”
Karthik, brother of Likith, who was stranded in Kharkiv with eight others, said his brother and some of his friends have reached Poland. “It was tough for them to reach the borders but they managed and are now away from the conflict zone Kharkiv which is under siege. They are waiting for their turn to board the next evacuation flights,” he said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Mysuru – March 02nd, 2022
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