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
Veteran Indian drag-flicker and former Olympian V.R. Raghunath from Kodagu has been appointed as the Hockey India Selection Committee Member.
Raghunath is one in a long line of illustrious hockey players from Kodagu, one of the nurseries of Indian hockey in the country. He made his first foray into the national side with the 2003 Sub-Junior Asia Cup in Dhaka, which India won.
Raghunath made headlines for the first time when he was drafted into the national side at the 2006 World Cup. Raghunath is a good drag flicker and has scored many beautiful goals for India at the crucial moments.
He played almost all the senior events in 2007 and 2008 and went on to play for a decade more. He got Arjuna in 2016 and retired from international hockey after the Rio Olympics.
Harbinder Singh is the Chairman of the Selection Committee (men) while Syed Ali is the Chairman of the Selection Committee (women). Mohammad Riaz, Dr. Dilip Tirkey, Dr. R.P. Singh, Rajnish Mishra, Sardar Singh, Joydeep Kaur, Asunta Lakra and Surinder Kaur are other members.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / March 16th, 2022
The Dry waste Collection Centre at Ponnampet Grama Panchayat, with collection from all the wards, became operational in January 2019. Pic courtesy: Clean Coorg Initiative
There is something about a hill vacation, travelling across narrow winding roads upwards, landscape dotted with lush green terrain, tantalising water streams, foggy foothills, chirping birds, the buzzing sounds of insects and clean air. But now, contrast this with unsightly scenes of rubbish by the roadside — styrofoam, plastic wrappers, bags and bottles, and more. The garbage keeps growing, competing with the hills, and becomes a monstrous man-made mountain in the midst of a landfill, laden with grotesque man-made objects that speak volumes about our use-and-throw culture and our complete lack of consideration for the environment.
Coorg, nestled in the Western Ghats, also known as the Scotland of India, and a popular tourist destination has, however, managed to make significant progress in fighting the waste menace. The town has demonstrated their commitment towards zero waste, with the closure of two landfills.
“Zero waste” is a concept that entails minimum or zero pollution to land, water and air due to solid waste management (SWM) practices and zero waste going to landfills. This initiative was a collaborative initiative by the volunteers of Clean Coorg Initiative, Hasiru Dala, the Gram Panchayat and the local government.
The 30-year old Ponnampet landfill as it stood in 2019. It would burn most of the time, the dump going down to nearly 40 feet./ Pic courtesy: Clean Coorg Initiative
How it all started
Alarmed that Coorg could soon degenerate into a dumping ground, in 2016, Prashanth Chinnappa, a local resident of Coorg brought several like-minded people together, to form ‘The Clean Coorg Initiative (CCI),’ a voluntary platform to promote a clean and healthy Coorg, with a core focus on promoting segregation of waste at source.
According to Pooja Uthappa, Volunteer at the Clean Coorg Initiative, “Waste is a relatively new phenomenon in this landscape. With rapid urbanisation, the quantum of garbage is also rapidly increasing. The other concern is around waste disposal practices. Dumping in one area or on the sides of the road and open air burning are common practices. Unfortunately some of the dumping areas are in the fringes of the forest areas, and the wild animals unknowingly consume them (the garbage dumped).”
Pooja also points out that Coorg residents depend primarily on groundwater; so when waste is dumped in open lands/ dumping grounds or landfills, it eventually contaminates water sources. But that’s not all. “Talakeveri, in Kodagu district, is considered the source of the river Cauvery and is an important lifeline for inhabitants in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu; incidents of indiscriminate garbage dumping adds to the problem downstream,” she says.
Pavan Aiyappa, Volunteer, CCI says, “We have a simple mission, which is to preserve the fragile ecology of Coorg for future generations, adopt sustainable initiatives, manage waste, promote responsible tourism, and preserve our natural resources”.
The group soon realised that clean up drives were a temporary solution, with no place for disposal of the litter collected, and that systemic changes were needed, along with on ground awareness. They started by undertaking a survey, observing practices, existing infrastructure and dumping spots. Savita Chengappa*, a volunteer from CCI, says, “We surveyed the entire stretch, till the Kerala border and we realised that we need somebody on the ground, who could go to the gram panchayat, create awareness and build capacities of the local team, using the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules 2016 framework. We also had to envision and plan the concept of stream-based processing of waste.”
The team also wanted to build on the success of Dry Waste Collection Centres (DWCCs) in Bengaluru, and wanted to understand the workings of the same in a rural set-up. Aparna, another active volunteer with CCI, says, “For us, all these were still theoretical and we needed to put these concepts into practice.”
Partnerships and initiatives
The group then decided to collaborate with the government and other organisations and approached Hasiru Dala, a social impact organisation working with waste pickers to assist with onground implementation and solutions.
Nalini Shekar, Co-founder Hasiru Dala, says, “Initially we were happy to support the group with necessary IEC and training, but soon realised that Coorg has a unique challenge, given its terrain. It has a large tourist footfall and considering the floating population, it is challenging to ensure that information and education programmes reach all of them. Secondly, while collection happens, there is no recycling industry in the area. Thirdly, there are limited workers in the solid waste management space, as most workers are employed in the coffee estates, agriculture and the tourism industry.” But given their expertise in dry waste management, it appeared that a system could indeed be put in place.
Pooja says, “Our first priority was capacity building for the municipal workers, the ASHA workers, the Self Help Groups (SHGs) and the officers, towards implementation of decentralised waste management. The training included the concepts of segregation of waste at source, the management of DWCCs, roles and responsibilities of officers, management of reject waste. For the general public, the sessions focussed on responsible disposal of waste through segregation at source.”
She shares that the group also conducted several outreach programmes like clean up drives, cycling awareness, sustainable menstruation and reached out to schools. CCI volunteers, in partnership with Wasteless Auroville, introduced a subject titled ‘Garbology’ as part of the school curriculum in Deviah memorial Preparatory School, Bittangala. Their outreach programme touched more than 800 government school children and teachers.**
CCI also hosted a Parivarthana Mela, to showcase sustainable lifestyle practices. This included composting workshops.
Awareness programmes were held in several schools in the region. Pic courtesy: Clean Coorg Initiative
Besides working on door-to-door awareness programmes, the team reached out to shopkeepers and explained the system of fines for non compliance. Pooja acknowledges the contribution of Kodava Koota from the United States of America, for supporting the outreach programmes.
Closing the landfills
The group then went on to streamline and simplify the waste collection process and a Dry Waste Collection Centre was set up. Puttaraju, Panchayat Development Officer ( PDO), Ponnampet who worked towards the closure of Ponnampet landfill shares, “After CCI and Hasiru Dala’s intervention, we felt the need for a decentralised set up and a DWCC. We zeroed in on the location and approached the Zilla Panchayat for permissions. They were very supportive and passed a resolution for the construction of the DWCC.”
Hasiru Dala team also came up with a simple manual bailing system, which was then given to different GPs and this ensured that low value and multilayer waste could be sent for co-processing. Aparna, Volunteer CCI adds, “This process, then led to the natural question, do we really need dumping grounds or landfills?”
Aiyappa adds, “The rationale was much more than aesthetic beauty. We were also concerned about groundwater contamination and leachate from landfills, but also, given that the landfill was 30 years old and the waste was going about 30 feet down, we were also worried about landfill fires.”
The team then approached the GP, who in turn took to the implementation of the Karnataka Plastic Ban. The Panchayat passed a resolution on the plastic ban and introduced the “bring your own bag” concept, drawing in from the 2Bin1Bag concept and imposition of fines for littering, Aiyappa shares that thereafter, they went about methodically working with the GP to close the landfill in two areas, Ponnampet Taluk and Karmadu, Virajpete Taluk.
Hasiru Dala introduced Manual Baler to some of the Gram Panchayats in South Coorg, to pack the non-valuable materials through this and save money in transportation. Pic courtesy: Clean Coorg Initiative
Stiff penalties for violation
Niren Nannaiah, President, Karmadu Gram Panchayat, adds,“We had various meetings on the need for closure of the landfill. We have cordoned off the area with a metal sheet, installed CCTV cameras and put up a board notifying the penalty for dumping garbage in and around the place. We decided that it was futile to impose nominal fines of a hundred or couple of hundred rupees, so we fixed it at Rs 5000. We have penalised a few people. But that’s not all, we have also issued notifications on the need to use reusables or fibre cutlery at all events, especially marriages and functions.”
Nithin B S, PDO Karmadu, says the closure of the Karmadu landfill involved several stages: first sensitising people, then streamlining collection, seeking support of the elected representatives, passing resolutions and issuing the necessary notifications. But the most important was the imposition of fines.
The cordoned-off Karmadu landfill area. Pic courtesy: Clean Coorg Initiative.
We also made an announcement in the neighbouring gram panchayat that no dumping will be entertained, but they are free to drop segregated waste at our processing or dry waste centre. We spent about three lakh rupees in setting up the entire system, apart from separate investments in the installation of the CCTV camera,” said Nithin B S.
Finally an order was passed to close the landfill. The next question was, what do we do with the landfill site? The team then worked with the GP and proposed a design for a public park.
Mr. Suraj Ajiikutiria, SBM, Virajpet and Ponnampet Taluk, says, “ In order to actualise the vision of Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, we will need to close dumping sites in all 104 villages, plan for decentralised infrastructure and streamline collection just like we did in these Taluks.”
The most important takeaway from these experiences in Coorg is the need for a coming together of all stakeholders and a model that is both socially and environmentally inclusive, and which enables us to proudly proclaim, ‘landfills have no business.’
[The author wishes to acknowledge the contribution of Nirmala Shekar, Beula Anthony, Ramya K and Rohini Malur, for this article. ]
source: http://www.citizenmatters.in / Citizen Matters / Home> Waste Management / by Pinky Chandran / March 16th, 2022
The BJP government in Karnataka launched the Revenue Documents at Your Doorstep programme. Karnataka’s Chief Minister, Basavaraj Bommai while speaking at an event in Chikkaballapur said that it was a pity that people were made to run from pillar to post to get basic documents like the caste certificate and RTC. Revenue Minister, R Ashok formulated this novel programme to end the plight of the poor, he also said.
Bommai also said that the most significant work done by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi is that he created awareness among the people about their rights.
This dream programme of Bommai and Ashok was also launched in Kodagu district, where it has always been a nightmare to get property documents done. The programme attended by Kodagu MLA, K G Bopaiah and MLC, Suja Kushalappa was launched at Kavadi Village, Karmad Panchayat, Ammathi Hobli, Virajpet Taluk.
While launching the programme the BJP government assured that the revenue documents will be handed over at doorstep of the respective owners. The event was attended by the Tahsildar, Revenue Inspector and Revenue Department officials also.
Bopaiah, while speaking at the event said that this programme has been launched keeping the plight of the citizens in mind. They no longer have to run from office to office and waste time at revenue department offices. We have taken interest in delivering documents at your doorstep, he also said.
Documents such as the RTC, Income and Birth Certificates and Caste Certificates, survey maps will be delivered at your doorstep, Bopaiah also said. He explained that an application with 22 point checklist will be provided and the owners of the land will have to fill it up, following which the revenue department official will collect it at your doorstep. The MLA also assured that the corrections in the documents will be done at the earliest. There is no longer a need to stand in queues and run from pillar to post and office to office, he also added.
He said that the main issue that people were facing is the deletion of the pattedara’s (family head) name from the RTC (pauthi khatha). This new programme will ease out that process also, he assured.
Bopaiah however added that this programme is not an election gimmick, but has been introduced only with the view of easing the pain of and helping the people of the state.
MLC, Suja Kushalappa speaking at the event said that this is one of the best measures taken by any government in recent times. He said that the Revenue Documents at Your Doorstep programme is like a balm for the people who have been facing pain all these years.
Kushalappa assured that this programme would be a complete success and generations to come will thank the BJP government for this novel gesture. He said that he would ensure that the programme is a complete success and would personally oversee it in case anyone faces any difficulty.
source: http://www.oneindia.com / OneIndia / Home> News> Bengaluru / by OneIndia Correspondent / March 14th, 2022
After being deferred in January, the eighth edition of the Karnataka Bird Festival will be held in Madikeri from April 8-10, 2022.
Image used for representational purpose only. (Photo | Express)
Bengaluru :
After being deferred in January, the eighth edition of the Karnataka Bird Festival will be held in Madikeri from April 8-10, 2022.
The festival, organised by the Karnataka forest department and Karnataka Eco-Tourism Development Board, aims to draw attention of people to bird watching, spark interest among young wildlife enthusiasts, show people the bio-diversity of forests, and shift their focus from tiger-centric wildlife safari and tourism.
“Every year a different location, region, bio-diversity, and a different bird is focused upon to increase awareness and ensure better conservation measures.
This year, the mascot is Baza bird,” a forest department official said. Baza is a migratory bird from the eastern Himalayas, China and South East Asia. Forest officials of the region have reportedly sighted a couple of the birds now, in the onset of summer.
Kumar Pushkar, additional Principal Conservator of Forests and CEO of the Board told TNIE that the festival was postponed because of spike in Covid-19 cases. “We always wanted to host one is Kodagu because of its bio-diversity and the many species which can be sighted there. Baza was chosen because it is sighted in winters in this region.
There will be around six to seven different trails, which the deputy conservator of forest is finalising. The event will also cover Madikeri city, and will be inaugurated by forests minister Umesh V Katti,” he said. Experts from across the country will be brought to share their experience, knowledge.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Bosky Khanna, Express News Service / March 14th, 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
Two from Kodagu are trapped in Sumy city; they face food, water shortage
Two students from Kodagu are among 440-plus Indian students stranded in Sumy in war-hit eastern Ukraine, which is close to the Russian border.
Even as many Karnataka students were managing to run off from the cities under siege and reaching borders in western Ukraine for airlift, some students are finding it tough to move out, delaying their evacuation and increasing the anxiety levels of their parents.
Arjun Vasanth, a fourth-year medical student, who is still in Sumy, Ukraine. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The parents of Arjun Vasanth from Shanivarasanthe and Shreya Pradeep from Virajpet are extremely worried over their safety as their return is not happening though it’s been over a week since the Russian militia invaded Ukraine. Shortage of food and water has made the students’ life even more difficult. Going out to bring essentials is also dangerous amidst the shelling.
Arjun’s elder brother Raghavendra, who works in Mysuru, said his brother is now incommunicado with power outage in Sumy since last Thursday night. “He and others are facing serious difficulties and evacuation of these trapped students must be speeded up by engaging in talks with Russia since Sumy is close to the Russian border and they can be evacuated from the nearest airport in Russia,” a worried brother said.
Raghavendra said he spoke former Union Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, who was in New Delhi, and Manoj Rajan, Commissioner, Karnataka Disaster Management Authority, on the students’ plight in Sumy and sought their help for their airlift as going to western Ukraine amidst intense shelling and missile attacks was impossible for them. “How is it possible to travel 1,500 km with no proper transportation mode from Sumy to the Polish or Romanian borders,” he asked.
Shreya Pradeep is another student from Kodagu stranded in Sumy. His father Pradeep, who runs a shop at Betolli village in Virajpet, is making frantic calls to authorities for updates as he is disturbed over delay in evacuation.
“Good that our students are being evacuated but students stuck in other conflict zones also need to get help and support. These students have no food and water. They are in serious difficulty. Please help them get back home soon,” he pleaded.
Pradeep took an education loan to send Shreya, a first-year student in Sumy State University, to Ukraine.
“My daughter went to Ukraine as one of her seniors suggested that medical education is good there. She is today trapped in a war situation,” said Pradeep, who was told by Shreya that 438 Indian students are stranded in Sumy and all are together in a bunker.
“The Indian government must talk to Russian authorities as Sumy is close to Russia. The students could be moved to the Russian border for eventual airlift,” he suggested.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Mysuru – March 04th, 2022
The story of the coffee in India began in 1670, thanks to a Sufi named Bada Budan who was responsible for bringing it to the country.
Two hundred years after that, and with the intervention of British entrepreneurs, coffee was already becoming an important and commercial crop, planted in more than 40 estates, including the Nilgiris Biosphere.
This evolution led to the creation of The Coffee Board, an organization in charge of facilitating research, marketing, and distribution of coffee plants to the indigenous communities of the district. For a farmer, a day starts with a dark roasted coffee concoction mixed with jaggery.
Robusta and Arabica are the two types of coffee cultivated by farmers in The Nilgiris district. The coffee plantations grow at an elevation of 3500ft above sea level.
They are shade-grown and are intercropped with various crops like Silver Oak, Mango, Jackfruit, Millets, and Spices. The indigenous communities use traditional agricultural practices to grow and harvest coffee.
Bio-Organic inputs such as Panchakaaviya and Poochiverati, a concoction made by themselves are used in coffee cultivation. The producers use leaf litter as manure.
The harvest which is usually between November and March has seen a huge change recently due to varied rainfall, and it’s quite often hindered by Wild Boars and Elephants. Monkeys are also a huge problem for the villagers. The harvest is done usually by the family members who carefully strip the cherries which are then sorted and pulped manually.
Pulping in a few villages has been made easy by the coffee board by providing machines to help with the process.
There is also a provision at the Production Units of Aadhimalai where the community can use the pulping machine and the drying yard. The Coffee parchment is then dried on the rooftops and in the front yards of their houses and is roasted manually as need be.
The rest of the coffee is then sold to Aadhimalai which is an indigenous community-owned Producer Company.
The community farmers sell coffee in every possible form, be it Coffee Parchment, Cherries, Dried Cherries, or Green Beans. The average yield of Coffee in the community-owned farms would come to around 35 tons. A premium price is paid to the producers.
The coffee has a certification PGS (Participatory Guarantee System). The Keystone Foundation plays a big role in facilitating the PGS certification which is a peer review system. The coffee at Aadhimalai is then marketed through Last Forest Enterprises as Roasted Beans and Coffee Powder. However, most of the coffee is sold as parchment to other dealers.
These processes have enabled the farmer to get the best price in the market.
Aadhimalai Pazhangudiyinar Producer Company Ltd
Aadhimalai Pazhanagudiyinar Producer Company Limited (APPCL) has been initiated to anchor livelihoods of indigenous communities by encouraging traditional organic food farming, handicrafts, livestock rearing, sustainable harvest of forest produce, conservation of natural resources, thereby securing the well-being of the landscape, value addition of harvests and trading. It is a company completely owned by the indigenous communities, one of the first of its kind at a national level.
Last Forest Enterprises
Last Forest is a social enterprise that was incubated by Keystone in the year 2010. Through its operations, the company supports indigenous communities to sustain themselves by empowering their skill sets and bringing economic growth.
Keystone Foundation
Keystone Foundation works with the indigenous people and local communities as their primary stakeholders and extends to various aspects of socio-ecological development that are categorized under Community Wellbeing, Biodiversity Conservation, and People and Nature Collectives.
source: http://www.slowfood.com / Slow Food / Home / by Jestin Pauls / March 08th, 2022
The board that greeted us at the end of our 200km-odd journey from the heart of Bengaluru said School Estate. But that wasn’t our final destination, is what we realised soon. That would be School Thota, a division of School Estate, and a few hundred metres into the estate, we saw a smaller board directing us to it.
Thota roughly translates to garden in the local Kannada language. Of course, like many other places around India, there is a local language (not dialect) just for Coorg too. There are many further distinctions and groups within locals here, such as Kodavas, to which the family that owns School Thota belongs. Surely, there are many equally beautiful plantations and homestays in Coorg. But what caught our fancy on this particular drive of Volkswagen’s impressive new Taigun is the story of a German reverend who is associated with the early history of this place, including the reason why it ended up being called School Estate.
Georg Richter was the principal of a local Mercara High School. He was instrumental in mobilising local leaders in the field of education. Under his guidance, they came together and collected money to purchase around 350 acres of land for Rs 3000 back – a princely sum back in the 1860s. The aim was to fund the school with yield from the coffee and other plantations, hence the name School Estate. Since Richter was in charge, the house on the property also was built to his liking. While earlier it was only a makeshift place for the occasional visitors, the subsequent owners kept the core structure intact and built a seemingly European-style Indian home first for themselves and now extended to guests interested in soaking in nature and School Thota’s heritage.
Coorg is one of the places that still rely on roads for its connections. The drive from Bengaluru to its centre, Madikeri, is a mix of choc-o-bloc metropolitan roads followed by a busy but reasonably fast Mysore highway that you leave after Srirangapatna for a more picturesque country road interspersed with short stretches of busy towns. It was a mix that helped the versatility of the Taigun shine through. Volkswagen offers this made-for-India SUV in two engine and three gearbox options. While we took what was on paper, the smaller 1.0-litre TSI (114bhp/178Nm) coupled with a six-speed torque converter gearbox revealed the variety of traffic and road conditions. One of the biggest clichés busted was it doesn’t tire under relentless highway driving. A frugal fuel consumption figure meant we could do the entire stretch without a fuel stop en route.
Coorg roads are typically narrow and twisty, and the agile Taigun seemed up for some confident driving. Patches of bad roads were dealt with ease, as the Taigun feels planted on the move, just like its bigger stablemates. The solid German connection is there to see.
Inside School Thota, we had many glimpses of the European connection too. Its current owners – the Aiyappa family, is led by 81-year-old Saraswathi, who runs the show along with her son Kushalappa. Together not only do they manage half of the School Estate (the other half bought by another local family a few generations ago) but also keep the homestay’s heritage intact.
“The doors of this homestay are the original ones,” said Saraswathi Amma. She also pointed out that they were much larger than the entrance door, which was an extension added to the School Thota structure after the Indian family took over. “Typically, Germans are taller, which explains the bigger doors. Moreover, for us, we bend or hunch a bit and enter the house. This is also about showing respect to the house, which is a temple of sorts for us,” she pointed out. Keeping tradition alive is one of the motives of such homestays around Coorg so that you can see many old artefacts and even furniture tastefully retained here. At School Thota, even a European-style fireplace reminds you of the kind of the early occupants of this structure.
Coorg is an extremely ecologically sensitive area, and its locals try hard to maintain the balance between earning from the soil and keeping it sustainable. Plantations are not only home to various kinds of flora and fauna but also the livelihood for many locals. Agriculture in today’s times can be challenging, but families running the show have tried to improvise and keep the fire going in their Indianised versions of the colonial way of life. A few have even managed to hold on to the original way of life, just like a Taigun does by keeping a Volkswagen badge’s core values intact in an SUV that’s completely at home in India. Its Volkswagen genes are unmistakably apparent despite being born and brought up in India.
It took a visit to this place to reiterate and experience this first hand. Lesson learnt by going back to school… auf wiedersehen.
Contributed by Girish Karkera, Consulting Editor – Times Auto · Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd.
Disclaimer: The article has been produced on behalf of Volkswagen by the Times Internet’s Spotlight team.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Spotlight / by Girish Karkera / March 10th, 2022
Telugu actress Rashmika Mandanna is making news since the time her last release Pushpa-The Rise became a blockbuster, breaking all records at the box office. The pretty lady is not only a great actress but also a fashionista, who loves wearing statement making clothes. While she has always inspired millennials in experimenting with clothes, her recent sari outing has left one and all impressed, as it revives an old tradition.
Kodava sari Rashmika picked up a midnight blue georgette sari by designer Nitika Gujral. The beautiful sari featured antique zardozi embroidery. She draped the sari in Coorgi Kodava style. What makes the gesture so special is the fact that Rashmika hails from the Kodava community and wore the drape as a tribute to her ancestors.
The price The dark blue drape is totally made in India and costs INR 77,500.
The accessories Styled by celebrity stylist Stacey Cardoz, Rashmika finished off her look with chunky oxidised jhumkas and rings.
She looked stunning We loved Rashmika’s gorgeous blue sari and think it could be your perfect pick for a friend’s wedding or the festive season.
What is a Kodava sari? It’s a special sari draping style followed by the Kodava community, which is a ethnolinguistic group from the region of Kodagu (Coorg) in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.
What makes it so special? The Kodava or Kodagu style of draping features pleats created in the rear, instead of the front. What makes this draping style rather different is the fact that the loose end of the sari is draped back-to-front over the right shoulder, and is pinned to the rest of the sari.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> E Times> News> Lifestyle> Fashion> Style Guide / by TimesofIndia.com / March 09th, 2022
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