Karnataka Bandh

Bandh - Complete shut down!

The business, commerical establishments across the Karnataka state is being forcibly shut down by the ruling BJP government to protest against the governor's proposed disciplinary action!. Well, the complete shut down might sound absurd to the folks in the developed countries, it is a reality in India!. It is a mockery of the democratic setup we have!. The corrupt politicians don't realize the strain on the economy with a day's shut down. Millions of people depend on daily income, how do they survive? Also, what will happen to someone's planned birthday, wedding and other social events? Why should the normal citizen suffer for someone else's misdeeds?

It is time to enact a legislation (there might be one already!) to strictly ban any such 'bandh' across India.

Comedy festival: Kannada Nage Habba

A seven hour non stop kannada comedy show was organized recently in our neighbourhood. The event presented on stage, a number of popular kannada stand up comedians. While some of the artistes brought out new anectodes, most of them repeated their content. But the 3000-4000 strong crowd enjoyed every bit of the event. It was hilarious to watch Richard Louis pick out certain nuances of daily life for his story line. Most of the artistes performed along with their teams, music instruments included to add to the comedy delivery!

The event stood apart from the overall experience, everything from the seating, vehicle parking, policing and the eatery stalls were planned and setup very well. Kudos to the organizers for pulling in sponsors and doing a wonderful job.

The event reminded me of the 'HariKathe' events which we attended as kids. The narrator would tell mythological stories, in between injecting few songs and stirring the event with few funny anecdotes. The late Guru Rajulu Naidu was a famous Harikathe artiste and used to perform few times a year in the locality where we stayed, we never missed his show.