ಬೆಟ್ಟದ ಜೀವ (Man of the Hills) – A must watch movie

It was during my graduation when I read the book ಬೆಟ್ಟದ ಜೀವ (Bettada Jeeva) for the first time. The book is written by the eminent writer, thinker Dr K Shivaram Karanth.. This wonderful novel depicts the life of people living in the Western Ghats. Recently, P.Sheshadri renowned filmmaker and director, made a the movie based on this novel. Today I had a chance to see this film. The director did a justice to each every character in this movie.

The promo of the movie “Bettada Jeeva” -Courtesy Youtube

The movie takes you to the pre-independence time. An aged couple Gopalaiah (Dattanna) and Shankari (Rameshwari Verma) in a village near Western Ghats. They own a agriculture land and that is the only basis of their livelihood. They have a son who has been missing for a long time.Despite of all these problems, the couple were living in great valour. One day a young freedom fighter Shivaramayya (Suchendra Prasad) visits to take refuge in their house. Though his intension is take a day refuge, he likes the way couple treats him. Gopalaiah narrates how he has converted the thick forest into an agricultural land without disturbing the surrounding environment. It is inspiring to know that the couple despite being worried about their lost son and being lonely in the forest, have never lost interest in life.

No wonder the movie earned National Award for the Best Environmental Film this year. Every characters is perfectly fits in the movie. Daththathreya and Rameshwari Varma have done their best. The background scores and music is given by V Manohar and matches with all sequence of the movie. Gopalakrishna Pai’s dialogues adds life to the characters, The local language(Tulu) can be heard in between. The locale of filming is Kujugodu village near Kukke Subrahamanya. Falling in the edge of Western Ghats, it served as perfect location for this movie.

If you are environmentally conscious person, you definitely like the movie. The movies serves as inspiration to people who make conscious effort to save our ecological assets. It also teaches how we can lead our life without disturbing the ecological balance

Sunset at Bengaluru

Spreading golden shade on the clouds, the Sun saying good bye to Bengaluru.

Temples of Keladi and Ikkeri

This is second part of the Shimoga Trip. In this part I am writing about the fine temples of Keladi and Ikkeri. Keladi and Ikkeri were under the regime of Nayaka Dynasty. Nayakas of Keladi were an important ruling dynasty of post-medieval Karnataka, India. They initially started to rule as a feudatory of the Vijayanagar Empire. After the fall of the empire in 1565, they gained independence and ruled significant parts of Karnataka including Shimoga.

Art and Architecture

The temples were built in Dravida style of Architecture (a perfect blend of Kadamba, Hoysala and Vijayanagara). They used granite for the constructions. The Aghoreshwara temple at Ikkeri and the Rameshwara temple at Keladi are the best examples of the Nayakas’ art.

Aghoreshwara Temple

This magnificent temple is in Ikkeri, capital of the Keladi Nayakas situated 3 Kms from Sagara, Shimoga district. Ikkeri in Kannada means two streets. The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Aghoreswara means ”the lord of 14th night of the darker half of Hindu month of Bhadrapada” . This unique temple is built in using laterite material, which is abundantly found in this part of the world. The architecture of the temple is in blend of Hoysala and Vijayanagara style.

The statue of Nandi which is located in front of the temple is an example excellent work of sculpture. The Nandi resides in the Mantap which is decorated with artistic stone engravings. The temple is a huge structure with the three gates, one is the main gate at front, and other two are in the left and right side of the temple. The original deity of the temple which had 32 hands is revered as an innovative creation. The idol was destroyed during the attack of Sultans of Bijapur. Lamps and other damaged structures indicate that the idol was over 10 feet in height.Only the ornate pedestal on which the deity was placed remains now and a Shiva lingam has been erected on it. On the either side of the shrine, there are broken idols of various gods and goddesses. Beside the main temple, there is a shrine dedicated to Goddess Akilandeshwari. Both temple’s ceilings are adorned with intricate carvings.

Rameshwara Temple

The temple is popularly known as Keladi Rameshwara Temple. The shrine has three deities, Devi Parvathi, Lord Rameshwara and Lord Veerabhadra. The temple was built by Chowdappa Nayaka. The temple is in dravidian style of architecture influenced by Kadamba and Hoysala style. The roofs and pillars of the temple is made out of carved wood.

The stone sculpture of Ganda Berunda on the ceiling of the Veerabhadra temple is exquisite.(It is used as logo for Karnataka Road Transport Corp. KSRTC)

It is a depiction of a two-headed garuda (a mythical bird) holding lions with its beak and elephants with its claws. This dwajasthambam is said to be erected during the regime of Keladi Chennamma. Temple has a museum in which many ancient artefacts are carefully preserved. It has the collection of rare artifacts like swords, combs, manuscripts, coins and brass idols.

I also visited small village called Varadahalli. Its where Shree Shridar Swamiji attained the Moksha or Nirvana (Divine bliss). The place is 6 km from Sagar. Its been said that this divine place in Western ghats was the chosen place of Maharshi Agastya and Veda Vyas to do Sadhana thousands of years ago.

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The journey was incomplete as there was time constraint. I had only two days of time to visit Shimoga. Anyways there is always ‘next time’ to explore more places.

Sigandooru… In the backwaters of Sharavati

Whenever we hear about the word ‘backwaters’… the only state of India which come into the mind is Kerala…. undoubtedly Kerala is home to the most beautiful backwaters on the planet. Last month (Dec2010) I visited the place called Signadooru… a small village in the backwaters of the river Sharavati (Linganamakki reservoir).

The trip was an unplanned. My relatives went to attend a marriage function at Sagar, a beautiful place in the Shimog district. Since the next two days are weekend they planned to explore near by places. So I got the invitation to join the group. I managed to get a bus from Mangalore to Shimog on Firday night.

The Bus Service to Sagar

Only two buses are there from Mangalor. A private company Gajanana Transport will run daily two buses to Sagar. The bus timings are as follows

Bus Name	Timings
Durgamba Travels	21:30 hrs
Gajanana Travells	22:30 hrs

Buses will reach Sagar at around 3:30 hrs and 4:30hrs respectively. The capital city Bangalore is well connected with Sagar many Government (KSRTC) and Private buses have their daily trips. From Bangalore the Sagar is approximately 350 kms

The journey…

We started from Sagar at around 07:00 hrs. As we had our private vehicle, we choose the Avinahalli and Ambaragodlu route to reach Holebagilu. The are belongs to Sharavati Reserve Forest. Although it is a reserved forest one can see human inhabitation on the way to Holebagilu. This is the place where the backwater starts. The is called as backwater because of a huge dam constructed across the river Sharavati at Linganamakki. Karnataka’s half of the electricity demand is satisfied by this dam. The stored water of the dam penetrates into the wast areas of land. According to a local people more than 100 big villages, submerged during the construction of this reservoir. I have read and heard the pain that were undergone by the people in this part of the world during the construction of this dam. Before the reservoir this was the route which connects Sagar and Nittur (NINASAM, a cultural organization dedicated to the growth of drama, films and publishing). The best part was the journey in the Barge. Only during the barge journey one can feel the vastness of the reservoir.

Devi Chaudamma Temple at Sigandur

Singandur, the place is located in the other side of the reservoir. Devi Chudeshwari Temple is located in this place. The temple is dedicated to Devi Chaudamma. Its been believed that on wearing of the brass tag which is available in this temple will protect house and the belongings from the thief. During Sankrathi (January) Jatra (festival) is celebrated in this temple.

Top 5 Scams of 2010

I would like to start this post by quoting a line of Mr.Prashant Agrawal of Wall Street Journal. “India’s biggest growth industry isn’t outsourcing, pharmaceuticals or auto manufacturing – I believe it’s political corruption.” How true the quote is… I am not going to talk about how it can be curbed because many people already voiced about this. I am just going to list some of the major or top Scams of 2010 India.

Year 2010 bought a series of scams and scandals that shook the nation. The magnitude is mind-boggling. According to the Indian government’s Comptroller and Auditor General, the Indian exchequer has lost anywhere between $22 billion and $45 billion in the most sizable of the three current scandals.

Here is the List. I am not going into to it, neither I am going to specify how much money is mishandled. I am just defining the scams.

1 The 2G spectrum:

The 2G spectrum licenses were illegally undercharged and sold to telecom companies at considerably low rates than the market. Later the same spectrum was sold at high prices to companies based in India and abroad.

2.Multi-crore UP food grain scam

A huge stock of food grains which was to be distributed under the ‘Antyodya Annapurna Yojana’ and mid-day meal scheme was allegedly smuggled out of the sate (Uttar Pradesh) and also out of he nation, to Nepal and Bangladesh and other nations and sold in retail market.

3. Adarsh Society Scam

In Mumbai’s Colaba area, a plot of 3800 square meters, was given to a private housing society. The land belonged to army and was given in the name of Kargil war heroes and war widows. While it was being given away to the private housing society, no army officers objected to it. This whole scam was unearthed in the year 2010 and it came to be known to us as the Adarsh Society Scam.

4 LIC Housing Society Scam

The bank officials allegedly colluded with the firm to sanction large scale corporate loans to private financial services company, overriding mandatory conditions for such approvals along with other irregularities.

5 CWG scam

The biggest sports event India has hosted ever, the Commonwealth Games 2010 were crowded among controversies as soon the date for the event started approaching. CWG was all mired up in scandals from last minute completion of the work to collapsing of the footbridge at the JNU stadium. It was stated that Suresh Kalmadi-led Organising Committee gave construction contracts to all the inefficient construction companies and made huge illegal profits.

The Month of September 1752 A.D.

This is the right month to add this post in my blog…. Have you ever seen the month September of 1752 ?…. You may say that… ‘what a silly question this man is asking?’ and if you ask me the question…‘what so special about the month September of 1752…?’ My answer would be … Yes it is a special month of year 1752. If you look into the calendar of the year 1752 and concentrate on the month September, you find that some days are missing in that month.

I got these strange phenomena, while reading the complete manual of ‘date’ command in Linux… If you are working in Unix, please try this out. At $ prompt, type: cal 9 1752 – Surprised???? Why the year 1752 is like this …? A month with whole of eleven days missing. This was the time England shifted from Roman Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar, and the king of England ordered those 11 days to be wiped off the face of the month of September of 1752. (What couldn’t a King do in those days?!) And yes, the workers worked for 11 days less, but got paid for the entire 30 days. And that’s how “Paid Leave” was born. Hail the King!!!

Fact about ‘April First’ as Fools Day

Before that April is the first Month of the year. Even then people didn’t agree to use the Roman Julian Calendar and celebrated 1st April as a New Year then the King announced that, those who celebrate April as the New Year are fools… (thats why it is April fools day)

Interesting fact isn’t it?

MPI Claims – 8 Indian states poorer than Africa’s 26 poorest

The new measure called MPI (Multidimensional Poverty Index) developed by Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) with the United Nation Development Programme’s (UNDP) support claimed that acute poverty prevails in eight Indian states. The measure revels that eight Indian states – Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, UP and West Bengal are poorer than 26 poorest African countries combined.

The creators of the MPI said that it gives a multidimensional picture of people living in poverty and is expected to help target development resources more effectively. The measure reveals the nature and extent of poverty at different levels: from household up to regional, national and international level. This new multidimensional approach has been adapted for national use in Mexico, and is now being considered by Chile and Colombia. The MPI assesses a range of critical factors or ‘deprivations’ at the household level: from education to health outcomes to assets and services, these factors provide a fuller portrait of acute poverty than simple income measures, according to OPHI and UNDP.

World’s highest ever clean-up Campaign

A team of Twenty Sherpas are planning to Clean up the World’s tallest Peak Mount Everest. They are not only planning to bring down thousands of kilograms of garbage, but also the corpse of the Climbers who lost their lives during their expeditions in the ‘Death Zone’.

According to estimates, there are nearly 120 tons of litter and 120 dead bodies on Mt. Everest. The climbers, either after conquering Mt. Everest or making an attempt to conquer it, leave behind their high-tech climbing equipment, plastics, food, tins, oxygen tanks, aluminum cans, clothes, glass, papers, tents especially in the vally. The Southeast Ridge, the most popular route has 6 base camp at the height of 17600 ft, has nearly 60 tons of trash since the first successful expedition.

A team of 20 Sherpa’s, will start the campaign on first of May from the South Col. Their target is to brig down nearly 3000 kilogram of trash, which consist of empty oxygen bottles, gas canisters, torn tents, ropes, and utensils. The team consist of experienced climbers and some of them has climbed the Everest several times.

“This is the first time we are cleaning at that height, the death zone. It is very difficult and dangerous,” said Sherpa, who has climbed Everest, the world’s tallest peak, seven times.

“The rubbish is creating problems for climbers … Some items of garbage are from Hillary’s time.”

The Nepalese government have recently tried to prevent dumping by withholding a $4,000 trash deposit from climbers who leave rubbish on the 29,028-foot peak. But there still a lot of waste up there from previous expeditions. Apart from that Eco Everest Expedition is holding its annual weigh and pay program at Everest Base Camp in an effort to keep the tallest mountain in the world free from trash. At the end of each day, everyone brings in all the trash they could find and weigh it. On the spot they get paid 100 rupees per kilogram.

PyCon India 2009

I was lucky enough to be the part of PyCon India 2009, a community conference by the Python developer community. The Conference was held on 26th and 27th September, 2009 at Indian Institute of Science (IISC) Bengaluru. I attended the conference with Nithin Kamath. In this post, I am going to share my experiences in the conference.

Day 1 , 26 September 2009

The day was started off with the registration and a introductory keynote by Mr. Prabhu Ramachandran, professor at the department of Aerospace engineering, IIT Bombay. In his talk, he spoke about his personal experiences using Python. (mainly in scientific computing). He also gave a introduction to Mayavi/TVTK tool, which is used for the interactive data analysis. The talk was impressive and stressed on the point that Python can be learned by anyone.. no programming knowledge is essential for it.

The second talk I attended was ‘Buildout for Development and Deployment’ by Baiju Muthukadan. The talk gave a knowledge on python-based build system for creating, assembling and deploying applications. The talk basically included a demo of deploying the application in the production environment, building applications using multiple software components with different configurations.. etc.

‘Waffle – A schema-less data storage on top of RDBMS’ was the third talk I attended, The talk was given by Mr Srinivasan R. The talk gave a introduction to the Project Waffel. Waffle is a project to create an open source implementation of Friendfeed’s “schema-less” storage system on top of a RDMBS using SQLAlchemy. This talk explained about the design, code and usage of waffle.

The forth talk was interesting, ‘Test Driven Development in Python’ by Mr Siddharta Govindaraj. The talk stressed on the practice of writing the test then write the code to pass the test. He also spoke about the Python Testing Framework (unittest, py.test and nose).

The fifth talk was on ‘Automated Testing of Web Applications’ by Sai Venkatakrishnan. The talk focused on the popular web application testing tools available in Python.Tools discussed in this talk include. Windmill, a cross browser and cross platform based testing framework. Twill, a headless browser testing tool which uses Mechanize to emulate a browser and known for its incredible speed. Pylot, a performance testing tool written in python to load and stress test web applications.

Three speakers, Lakshman Prasad,Chandrashekar Jayaraman,Thejaswi Puthraya gave a talk on ‘Django: A blessed webframework for perfectionists with deadlines’. A basic talk running through the features of the django web framework. The talk is concluded with live demo of how django site can be created in a minutes.

Last but not the least for the first day, ‘National Mission on Education through ICT & Python’ by Asokan Pichai and Prabhu Ramachandran. The talk focused on the adoption of Open Source Software in Science and Engineering Education and minimizing the use of commercial tools in Indian science and engineering education at the college level.

Day 2 , 27 September 2009

Second day, Mr. Keerthi Shankar Sekar gave a talk on ‘Python and .NET’, the talk was an introduction to IronPython – a Python interpreter for the Microsoft .NET platform. Mr Keethi gave a demo on setting up IronPython for application development and explained some of the major behind-the-scene differences between CPython and IronPython.

Next session, I was introduced to NLTK by G Jaganadh. NLTK is a Free and Open Source Python package for Natural Language Processing(NLP). The presentation talked about the introduction and demonstration features/functions in NLTK.

The PyCon-09 had some Lightning Talks by various people, to name some them, Mr Arun Ravindran, gave a talk on Pyglet-an object-oriented programming interface for developing games and other visually-rich applications for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Mr Dinesh – a social worker of NGO, gave a beautiful talk on how python (open source) can be used for the welfare of the society by developing softwares for the community.

To conclude the post, it was amazing to be the part of such a big conference. I got chance to meet the python programmers. The conference focused on sharing and pooling the knowledge of python among the developers. The conference was attended by good number of college students. It shows the popularity of Python among the college students. Finally the IIS’s environment is awesome…

How to speed-up the internet in Linux Mint

Few days after the installation of Linux Mint, I realized that the internet is not up to the mark in terms of speed. It is giving reasonable speed in WinXp. I am using BSNL NIC Card (CDMA 1x, which offers 144 k bps speed). A simple question irritating me…. ‘why net is slow in Mint? ‘ I stated to investigate in google and other technology blogs. Finally I found 2 reasons for this problem.

The Problem (Opportunity )

A] IPv6 is enabled in browser (Firefox) level and system level
Internet currently uses the IPv4.The gennext (Internet 2) are to use IPv6 (higher). IPv6 will solve many problems endemic to IPv4 (number of IP address, security, quality of service, etc.). Most of the current operating systems (Windows Vista, Linux …) are already perfectly capable of working in IPv6. IPv6 is “better” than IPv4, as both are available, then logical step to take is to firstly use IPv6. And that’s what most software does: They will first try to use IPv6 (if present in the operating system), then back to IPv4 if their application fails to use IPv6. (This additional process will sucks the time). This need to be disable in System level as well as Browser level

B] Firefox security Issue.
The second reason, is that the Firefox employs a technique to identify phishing sites. Firefox contacts Google.com for every http request and then it saves the results into ‘urlclassifier3.sqlite’ in your profile. If file grows more than 50MB, it leads to heavy drive thrashing and slow operation. (I am using Firefox 3)

Now the Solution Part

I] To disable the ‘IPv6′ in Firefox, try out the following steps

1. Open Firefox,
2. Type in the address bar: ‘about: config’
3. In the filter, type: ipv6. Find the variable network.dns.disableIPv6
4 Change value to true to disable IPv6 support in Firefox.

II] To disable the ‘IPv6′ in System level (Linux Mint), try out the following steps

1. Edit the file /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist using any of the text editor (I used Emacs)
sudo emacs -nw /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
2. Add at the end of file the line:
blacklist ipv6

III] To solve the thrashing problem I tried out the following steps

1. Open Firefox and go to ‘Preferences’ which could be in Tools menu or Edit Menu.
2. Open the ‘Security’ tab, you will find the 2 check box captioned in
a] “Tell me if the site I’m visiting is a suspected Attack site”
b] “Tell me if the site I’m visiting is a suspected forgery”
3. Turn off these two check boxes
4. Delete the following ‘sqlite’ frile from your profle using rm command.
rm .mozilla/firefox/*/urlclassifier3.sqlite
5. Restart the Firefox.

Now I cannot compare the net speed in WinXP and Mint. Both working fine for me