Kodagana Koli Nungitta

Couple of days back one of the best singer, composer who changed the outlook of Bhavageete(expressive poetry) and Janapada geete(folk songs) in the Kannada language passed away leaving behind many music lovers in Karnataka. It was a great loss to all of us. I am writing this article to remember the great icon who revolutionsed Bhavageete and Janapada geete.

I would rather call this man the saint singer, because his compositions for the writings of the saint philosopher Shishunala Sharif were so brilliant that it attracted a huge dancing crowd and his compositions added a shine to an already life filled poetry. Infact i was inspired to name this post after the title which simply became the second name for C Ashwath

Whenever i would listen to this song, i would always wonder what is the real meaning hidden in this song. The song starts with Kodagana Koli Nungitta, Nodava Thangi... which literally means the hen swalloed the monkey. At what period/era on this Earth would this be possible. The lyrics then continues saying Aadu aaneya nungi, Gode sunnava nungi... which literally means goat swalloed elephant and wall swalloed the lime water(used to paint the walls). What is Shishunala Sharif trying to communicate to the common people. After listening to the song again and again i unearthed what could be the real spirit, soul behind the poem. I will do a sincere effort here to give my commentary on the poem. Please comment on this article

Shishunala Shariefa lived in North Karnataka and so has used language/objects which are commonly seen in that part of the region. The poem starts with

Kodagana Koli nungitta, noddava thangi Kodagana Koli nungitta...

He says Oh sister, Hen has swallowed the Monkey. The poet starts of with a line that shows respect and dignity our motherland(India) has given to Women. He could have said Oh Brother! but instead has used the word sister to signify the role of women in imparting the right knowledge to the soceity. The hen being a bird literally cannot swallow the monkey but through this Shishunala says there are numerous things which we come across in our daily life which may look very small when looked at it physically but they have the ability to change an object which is bigger than them. As we get along the poem the real meaning behind such puzzled phrases becomes more clear. Then he says

Aadu Aaneya nungi, Gode sunnava nungi, Aadalu bandha patadadavala maddale nungita thangi.. Kodagana Koli nungitta..

The goat swalloed the elephant, the wall swallowed the paint, the drum swallowed the actor who came to enact a play. Paint being the protector of the wall, was swalloed by the wall. Without the drum the actor cannot enact his play, drum becomes a very important asset for an actor without which his profession becomes less attractive.

Ollu onakeya nungi, Kallu gutava nungi, Mellalu bandha mudhukiyannu nellu nungitta thangi.. Kodgana Koli nungitta...

Usually in north Karnataka in order to prepare chilli, turmeric etc powder there is a container made of stone called as Ollu. The material to be powdered is put into the container and then smashed by using a iron pole called as Onake. The iron pole is dropped again and again vertically on the material placed inside the stone container to powder it. So the iron pole swalloed the stone container means without the stone container the purpose of the iron pole is nothing. Similarly to grind rice, wheat flour there is a tool used. A stone slab circular in shape is placed on the floor. Above that another stone slab circular in shape and with the same diameter as the earlier one is placed. The slab on the top has a circular hole at the center where rice/wheat can be poured. There is a slot on the upper surface of the above slab where a wood stick is inserted. It is called as guta. The poet says the stone slabs swalloed the wooden stick. It means without the stone slab the wooden stick has no purpose there. Then he says the wheat swallowed the aged lady who had come to chew the food. This means an aged lady usually can't chew hard food because of the delicacy of the tooth. So wheat being a hard food becomes difficult to be chewed by the aged lady. We can see here the power of the language shishunala disha has used. It is very simple yet very powerful.

Hagga maggava nungi, Maggava lali nungi, Maggadoliruva annanannu maniyu nungitta thangi.. Kodagana koli nungitta...

Magga is a tool used to knit clothes/sarees. Lali is another tool used inside the Magga for knitting purpose. The poet says the rope swalloed the Magga, the magga swallowed the lali and the precious stone used inside the magga swallowed the person who does the knitting using the Magga. The poet depicts the inter dependency that exists between the objects. Without one of the them the person knitting the cloth will not be able to do anything. He is basically trying to say the importance of smaller things to our life even though they may seem to be of less importance because of their smaller size.

Gudda gaviyannu nungi, Gavi iruveya nungi, Govinda guruvina pada nannanu nungitta thangi.. Kodagana koli nungitta...

The poet with humility says his guru's (teacher's) feet swalloed him. Through this he offers his respects and also signifies that his life is inspired by the teachings of his teacher. It was his teacher who taught him what life is all about. The poet is offering his gratitude towards his teacher. He compares his teacher's feet swalloing him to a hill swalloing the cave in it. The cave swalloing the ant. He compares his teacher's feet to a hill and himself to an ant.

Shishunala sharifa has used very simple daily spoken words in his poem to communicate a very strong message to the reader's. Although after reading the poem in this article if you feel less interested then probably a music interleaved version by C Ashwath gives the shine to an already life filled poem. Enjoy the orginal song from the movie shishunala sharifa composed by C Ashwath and sung by Shimoga Subbana

Is Media misguiding us or Is Media getting misguided?

As I was following the news on the current scarcity of fertilizers in Karnataka, the above question arose in my mind. It was just twenty one days before B S Yediurappa took is oath as CM of Karnataka after the people of Karnataka gave BJP a clear mandate to form the government along with the independents. Although Yediurappa became the first CM to take oath in the name of the farmer, the recent scarcity of fertilizers for farmers in Karnataka has become a serious problem which is facing Yediurappa’s government.

After the JD(S) – BJP coalition government fell, the governor’s rule was brought in Karnataka. During this tenure only 11% of required fertilizer stock was sent to Karnataka [click here]. This scarcity of fertilizers did hit the farmers of the state as soon as the new government took its office. It started of with agitation by farmers in various districts of Karnataka. The issue became more serious when a farmer was shot dead at Haveri. The government sent a request letter to send more stocks of fertilizers to the state to solve the problem [click here].

Meanwhile the media has been printing headlines everyday about the death of farmers through out Karnataka. Well although 1 or 2 died because they had to pay huge amounts for the banks where they had borrowed loans (because of lack of considerable returns in their agriculture), the other farmers had died to family issues. The media in spite of knowing these reasons behind the death are projecting these deaths as an act of mismanagement by the state government. This seems to be an act by the media to create a bad image for the new government just to show that this government is inefficient to govern the state.

Media being a responsible medium to uphold the democracy of the country has to carefully analyze the issues and effects of the information they present. They should not indulge in writing articles that will disturb peace. They should also be neutral in their approach of presenting information rather than being biased towards political parties just for the sake of publicity or money. Although this is not the only time the media has misguided people but there are many such scenarios where media has indulged in such activity.

Some of the newspapers like Kesari and Maratha started by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak (July 23, 1856 - August 1, 1920), who was an Indian nationalist, social reformer and independence fighter, should be a inspiration for the present media. Their editorials gave a vivid picture of the people's sufferings and of actual happenings. Tilak used to say to his colleagues that the media should imagine that they are talking to a villager and not to a university student. They should be sure of each and every fact. He used to expect each word to be clear as day light. He made his newspaper a medium to make his dream of “Swaraj India” a reality.

Probably the present media should rethink about their role in the society and should work hard in making Vision-2020 possible rather than concentrating towards making their media a business just to make name and fame.

Are we killing democracy?

It has been 60 years since we got our independence. The political system of our country (Democracy) has bestowed its citizens with the right to form their government. Recently on May 10th 2008, polling went on in 89 constituencies across 11 southern districts of Karnataka in the first phase of the assembly elections. 55 percent of 17.3 million eligible voters voted and Bangalore recorded the lowest with just 40 percent turn out.

I have heard many answers given by people when you ask why you didn’t vote. “I wanted to teach them a lesson!”, “If I vote or not vote how does it matter?”, “I do not have my name in the voter’s list”, “I do not have id proof to do the voting”, “All the candidates are corrupt and are power mongers who give least importance to development, so why should I vote them?” and many more. Since 60 years, many governments have been formed and in the future, continue to get formed. But what has been the difference! Most of the cabinet ministers in the formed government do not have a healthy history or they do not have the vision to lead India. Who is responsible for this?

The unethical act of a party which failed to keep up to its promise of transferring power, brought the necessity of elections in Karnataka. The people of Karnataka were given the responsibility to elect a stable government which would successfully run for its complete term (5 years) concentrating more on development rather than political instability. Did we execute our responsibility? The voting statistics says it all. A couple of days back I was travelling in a bus. There was a conversation between 2 people, one who had casted his vote and the other who did not. The person who had voted made a strong statement “People who did not vote are like people who are dead!” It was indeed correct. We are living in our country, we want good facilities, and we have been given the responsibility to elect a government which would give us what we want, and at the end of the day it is the same we who will blame the government for not doing any work. Is it ethical on our part to put any such blame on the government when we have not voted?

The election commission had given the opportunity to add your name to the voter’s list. They had published the information in papers and news channels. Did we take it seriously to register our names in the voters list? No we were least bothered about it. Probably we even expected the election commission to come to our door steps begging to add our names. I think if there was a rule in the constitution saying that you would be given remuneration for the month only if you show the proof that you have voted then probably we would have taken that extra pain of registering our names and execute our right of voting!

I agree with many people saying “All the candidates are corrupt and are power mongers who give least importance to development, so why should we vote them?” but is that a solution to prevent corrupt candidates from being elected. We have the right to elect and not to elect a person. If you do not want to vote then register your voting right, but say that you are not interested in voting anyone. This would probably give you chance to prevent the corrupt candidate from being elected.

Are we trying to forget our responsibilities as citizens? Are we taking voting, elections and hence democracy lightly? Do we need stringent rules to wake us up and remind us of our duties?

We should feel proud that we are born in India, the land of culture and diversity. As Indians it is our responsibility and duty to work towards country’s progress. Don’t you think your vote is precious? If you had never felt that India is your home and electing its leader is your responsibility, then you must rethink about calling yourself an Indian. Let us all vote and make democracy live longer.