Gangubai Hanagal

As i read through the columns in the newspaper about the birthday celebration of the legendary vocalist Mrs. Gangubai Hanagal i was taken back to the days when i had visited Mrs. Gangubai's house with my friend to shoot a documentary about the musical journey of Mrs. Hanagal.....
Inspite of having high temperature she could manage to tell her stories for continous 2hrs.....
As stated by her,she started singing at the age of 8/9 yrs, her mother being her Guru.....
Though her mother was a Hindustani singer she shifted to Karnatic style just to teach the same for her daughter.......
Her mother had to be present for all her concerts......
But at the time of her mother's untimely death Mrs. Hanagal decided to quit singing completely but only to be coaxed by her husband later to resume her singing.......
Then it was her uncle who would accompany her for all her concerts.......
She travelled extensively to many Indian cities (E.g. Calcutta and Pune) which were considered to be very far during that time:)))))))))
And the renumeration that she got for singing would be lots....thats Rs.20 to Rs. 25!!!!!!!!!
At later times she used to walk bare foot everyday for about 15 kms to reach her Guru's place which is called Kundgol (15 mins from Hubli)........
At present this place is well known for its yearly music programmes from musicians all over India which goes on continously (day and night without any break) for 2 days........
She even has a museum at her house comprising of all the musical notes, instruments and ofcourse her awards......
Though her daughter's death 3 yrs ago gave her a big blow, she hasn't quit singing even now.......
And that's what makes her a legend even at the age of 95 (turns this May)......

Roots of India

This is one of my favourite pictures (one of the good pictures i have taken till date or i think so!!!!!!!)

Breathtaking Agumbe Ghats

I had heard about Agumbe ghats from the time i was a child but i always 'thought' that there isn't anything great about that place.....
Don't know why i always felt that its just another place to drop by and there can't be anything interesting......
Many times i felt it would be something similar to Charmadi ghats which i used to pass by every month as i was studying somewhere near that area........
But all these thoughts were indeed proved wrong when i was travelling this time from Udupi to Shimoga.....
I still have its picture in mind so clearly that i can hardly get it out of mind for a few days.......
Wherever i could spread my eyes i could see only trees and trees and trees and nothing but trees......
Only on reaching at the 9th curve i could see the roads below and few buildings and that was possible because we had reached the highest point there!!!!!!!!(God knows how many feets above the ground:0)
I had again 'thought' that 9th curve was the higher most place but nooooooo there was still more to come.....
We totally passed 13 curves but ofcourse nothing was as beautiful and stunning as it looked from the 9th curve......
After passing all curves i realized that i had to breathe because all that time i was holding my breath without my knowledge......
Though am quite phobic about heights i could manage to look below (that's coz i was in the bus:))
But whatever it is i should admit that it's not a place to be missed out in one's life time.....
I now know why it's been labelled as "the Chirapunji of South India".....

"Very good to meet you"

"Very good to meet you shruthi".........
This is the remark which i got last week from one of the kids who had visited our institute........
So what's special about it?
Ofcourse just to read the message it looks very simple but these words were not actually verbalised by the kid but he showed it to me by pointing to the letters from the alphabet sheet he carried with him wherever he went........
Thats because the child is Autistic (a disorder wherein, though the child has the capacity to speak n comprehend what the others' are telling still he fails to carry out his speaking capacity.....i.e his receptive language is very good but not his expressive language)......
He can perfectly understand what am i telling him but even if he wants he cannot answer me because he autistic......
But the child is fortunate that he is residing in the United States and receiving excellent special education........
Am calling him fortunate 'coz not many children with the same problem in India get the same kind of training.......
And what more, his parents are extremly supportive (though i thought his father pushed him a little too hard) .......
After i tried so hard to talk to him and he didn't utter a word, i finally gave up......
But only to find him pointing towards the letters which read "Very good............"
That gave a satisfaction.........