On the question of 'Social Entrepreneurship'

Yesterday (11-May-2012) myself and a fellow start up entrepreneur and my good friend Ganesh Shankar checked out "Publics on social entrepreneurship" at the Bangalore campus of Indian institute for Human settlements (IIHS). 

Bangalore campus of the IIHS is situated at RMV extension overlooking the tranquil sankey tank. It is an ideal location for scholarly work and a brainstorm like the publics on social entrepreneurship. 

It was an informal setting and an open house to discuss and debate the whole idea of "Social entrepreneurship". The panelists were people of high repute and achievement who have built successful social ventures. It had A. Suryanarayan; COO of IIHS, Dilip Mehta ; advisor , NSRCEL at IIM Bangalore, Meena Vaidyanathan; Founder and CEO of Niti Consulting and Mr N.K.Ramakrishna; Ashoka fellow and the founder of Rang De. 

The gathering had about 15 people other than the IIHS staff. About half the participants were entrepreneurs (Or founders of NGOs) and the rest were either planning to start an enterprise or were people who had research interests. 

It was a two hour captive session where the discussions were on what exactly is social entrepreneurship, the challenges and opportunities in it, the values around enterprises, the difference between business and social enterprises and related topics. 

The gathering was pretty vocal and participative. A host of success and failure stories were shared and discussed. 

I am not going to go into the details of the discussion. But i will try to put my thoughts on this whole concept of social entrepreneurship or social business. 

Before i proceed, i must make a disclaimer that i am no expert in business or business writing. 

I have recently decided to write down my thoughts, views and experiences on and about business as i set up and grow my own business. So the blogs on entrepreneurship are in that direction. 

The most famous definition of an entrepreneur comes from Professor Peter Ferdinand Drucker who says "An Entrepreneur is one who creates wealth where it is not present". So irrespective of what prefix we use to a "venture", any venture be it a 'business venture' or a 'social venture', the venture must aim to create and sustain wealth at places where it is not present. 

The term "Social entrepreneurship" is a relatively new term. There is no good definition of it available in the mainstream academia. However, one definition largely used with this term is " A social venture is one which seeks to provide solutions to pressing social problems with a profit driven resource sustainable and resource renewable business model" . The aim of social venture is not "profit maximization" but "tangible positive impact" on social problems. 

Classic examples associated with "Social ventures" are 'Micro-finance' and 'rural electrification'. 

I do not like to distinguish between a "Business venture" and a "Social venture". At the end of the day it is a business. Any business has to survive and sustain. 

Having said that, Every business has a "Social impact". Be it a road side tea stall or a multi-billion dollar corporation or a 'so called' social business like a micro-finance institution. The distinction is essentially coming from the academia and the distinction is more 'academic' than 'real'.

I will try and substantiate ;

I will take two classic examples. Let us look at "Dr Reddy's laboratories limited". It is branded as a "Business venture" and is a public company continuously paying out good dividends to the share holders.  Let us then look at "SKS Microfinance" a classic example of a "Social venture" . 

SKS micro-finance was one of the most talked about Social business in the world. It was funded by Mr Vinod Khosla and Catamaran venture fund (Founded by N.R.Narayan Murthy). At one point it had a market capitalization of about 5000 crores. After its disastrous IPO, it came down to about 300 crores or so. In the process, they let down thousands of rural communities in the north eastern Andhra pradesh. Now 'micro-finance' is not a very welcomed term in Andhra pradesh (There are political reasons as well for this). 

Now SKS has shifted out of Hyderabad to Mumbai. 

On the other hand, Dr Reddy's laboratories have been manufacturing and supplying life sustaining drugs. The company must have saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Founded in the Mid 80's with 25 Lakh investment, it is not only paying out to its share holders but also achieving a great social goal. 

(I have met the great gentlemen Dr Reddy a few times. A man with very few words, he means only Business.) 

In my opinion, Dr Reddy's labs is achieving greater social goal and having a far greater positive social impact on the society that SKS. However, the latter is called "social venture" while the former is called a "business venture".

"Social entrepreneurship" is more an academic construct . Every business must be profit driven and produce dividends on the factors of production. Else it cannot survive. 'Social' or 'non-social', every venture must be run professionally by sound principles of entrepreneurship. 

There can be again little differences. For example an old age home run 'for profit' can be called a social business since it is addressing a social issue directly. 

One can take the example of a small organization educating slum children.  They may choose to charge a very low fees just enough for running the organization. That is a direct customer centric 'social venture'. 

As i said before, every business has a social impact. Take for example retail. Retail business has provided plenty of opportunity to the less educated folks. Plenty of employment is created in logistics and sales area. 

In my opinion, the most critical distinction if at all between a business venture and a social venture is that the latter focuses directly on the issues concerning the less privileged and try to solve the pressing problems of the society directly  by making less privileged as a the consumers as well as beneficiaries (Directly). 

At the end of the day, there is no point "romanticizing" the idea of 'social entrepreneurship'. It is just another business model where the cash flows are diffidently structured and the customers are direct beneficiaries.  Having said that achieving 'scales' become critical for a real measurable social impact.  

If it is an entrepreneurial venture, it has to be grounded on the "reality" that it is profit driven and profitable and sustainable to the investor. 

The question of "Identity"

This blog is an extension of a small essay i wrote when i was asked to contribute for an article in the Deccan Herald . 

"Who am I?" Well , "Who am I?". Many generations of greats scholars have passed trying to answer this question. Many great men have devoted their lifetime in trying to know "Who they are" .

Mere mortals like me, though interested in knowing who we are in the overall scheme of things, do not have the ability or courage or the wisdom to dwell into the philosophical journey in trying to decipher the "True I". We more or less restrict ourselves to academic discussions or at best end the discussion with the famous dialogue of Dr Rajkumar in "Bhaktha Kumbara" which goes "ಬರುವಾಗ  ಬೆತ್ತಲೆ, ಹೋಗುವಾಗ ಬೆತ್ತಲೆ , ಬಂದು ಹೋಗುವ ನಡುವೆ ಬರೀ ಕತ್ತಲೆ", meaning, we come naked, we go naked, life is all darkness in the gap between birth and death. 

However, i am not going to write about the "philosophical I". 

One has different identities. We can identify ourselves by our nationality, our state, our religion, our caste, our sub caste, our sub sub caste etc etc. Each of these identities are used at different places depending upon the context of one's presence. Though each of these identities are used in isolation, many times they come into conflict with each other. 

Today's urban middle class young professionals like me do like to be identified outside the sphere of religion, community and caste. Though we respect these identities, we like to be more associated with our passions and our professions. 

Let me substantiate. Before i generalize,let me put myself in perspective ;

Earliest memory of me being identified with something worthwhile dates back to 2000-2001 when i was known as “E-mail Sunil”. Those were the years when i first became acquainted with internet, E-mail and the "copy-paste" digital world. There was no internet at home and the 20 rupees per hour browsing centre was frequented regularly.  I used to send E-mails to the then chief minister. S.M.Krishna . So in response to my e-mails, the BBMP authorities used to show up near my house and look for “E-mail sunil”. So this was the first real identity outside being “Brahmin", “Madhwa” etc etc.

Activist Me

Enthused by the e-mail and replies from the then chief minister, i started taking more interest in writing to civic authorities. It slowly took shape into little “activism”. So by about 2003-04, i was identified as being a “rebel” and sometimes “crazy”. 

These activism did bear fruition. Though not only by my effort, a little fishy government land worth about 50 crores which was just wasted ,undeveloped and "Up for grabs" for the real estate mafia, is today on records as a  "civic amenity" site. The files which had proposals to make the site into a park carried my name on it. Every contractor who came to work there could quickly connect to my name.  

When a part of the park had to be sacrificed temporarily to accommodate temporary housing for the nearby slum dwellers, the authorities did consult me, though they were not obliged to. However, i could not prevent the sacrifice of the part of the park. 

I have carried on my "Outspokenness". Throughout my academic life, this outspokenness earned me rich dividends. In college, i was known to be a rebel and a continuous questioner. So even there, i was identified as “Rebel”. 

Entrepreneur Me

These identities have stayed on. And i have started to enjoy these as identities. 

Further, because of  my profession, i am variously identified as “environmental  entrepreneur” , “social entrepreneur” etc. Though personally i think its too premature to put me in this league, these brandings are very inspiring and i am looking forward to being identified in this league.

Personally, i like to be identified as an Entrepreneur more than anything else. It is an identity that i have carved out for myself. This is an identity that i have earned with least influence of family and friends. It is kind of my unique identity.  

By hobby, i am a photographer. So the identity of a “photographer” strikes chord with your passion just like the identity of “Entrepreneur”. “A photographer” comes second in the priority.

“Unconventional” . Thanks to my little different ways of life ranging from running an unconventional business to making the management of malls play kannada songs,to writings to PM and CM , i am sometimes branded “Unconventional” or “Different”. In my opinion its an honour to be called “Unconventinal” and i completely relish it.

Though i have not achieved anything in the above mentioned identities, Identities and the tags associated with identities like "Entrepreneur", "Photographer", "Cyclist" etc gives one a sense of accomplishment. They are earned identities and one naturally takes more pride in that. 

Brahmin Me

Having said that, it does not mean that i do not acknowledge identities associated with my origin and caste. But these are "Received" identities and one does not have a direct role in acquisition of this identity. 

I cannot forget the Royal city of Mysore. Though “by accident”, “Mysore” as a surname gives me a royal feeling. A city associated with Heritage, art, music and good food. It is the city i am proud to be associated with.

“A Brahmin”. Why not?. Nothing wrong to be identified with your caste as long as you do not disrespect other castes. Being born and raised in a little orthodox family, The Brahmanical systems and practices have been a part of day to day living. I may not approve of some of the brahmanical dogmatic believes and practices but that does not mean that i do not want to be identified as a “Brahmin” . It gives me certain happiness to be associated with the cult of Vedas, Upanishads and host of literature dealing with wisdom.

Identity is a function of “reach”. We have various identities and different sets of people look at us through a different lens. Of course in the midst of best photographers, you like to be identified as one. Among the writers, you like to be identified as one of them.

Photographer Me

In my case, i am identified as a Brahmin, more preciously a Madhwa Brahmin (A sub caste of Brahmin). By profession, i am an entrepreneur. By hobby i am a cyclist and a photographer and sometimes a blogger. Evolution of social media has buttressed these identities. There is no clear distinction between these identities and there cannot be one as well. It is with the target group that you identify yourself.

Moving to the question of caste and community, two threads are observed in general. Particularly with the evolution if Social media, one set of people want to highlight their identity vis-a-vis their community and other set of people want to cover their identity vis-a-vis their community.

Cyclist Me

For example we have a Brahmin group, A madhwa Brahmin group, A madhwa Brahmin group belonging to uttaradhi matha (A sub group of Madhwa Brahmins) on Facebook. This is the level of distinction to which people want to associate themselves. There are hundreds of such groups of various sub sub sets of Brahmins on facebook. Many many people want to be identified precisely where they think/know they belong. There are two strong reasons for this. Most importantly, the pride they associate with being “Just there”. Second, with globalization and dwindling barriers on just about everything, one wants to be unique and have a very clear community identity.  There is a perceived “insecurity” among people. “Being in an In-group” gives an individual that extra comfort and security.  This is precisely why we see a lot of people take pride in being in a “certain group” on facebook.  At no time in history, so much updates and information about rituals, mathas, the swamijis reached so many people so easily.

The second set of people do not care much about their identity vis-a-vis their community. These people see community as a barrier for free flow of ideas and people.  They want to be identified as “more progressive among the progressive” though taking pride in identifying yourself with a certain community does not necessarily make you “non-progressive”.

In the overall scheme of things, in the context of community, nothing greatly has changed. Endogamy is still pretty much practiced everywhere in India. We have community matrimonial websites. There are only sporadic dilutions but we pretty much still live in a closed society. 


(PS: Views are purely personal)

A Paradise called "Ranganathittu"

Grey Pelican

On the last week of March, i had been to my mother's native village for its annual festival, locally called Jaatre. The photographs taken during the festival got wide viewership and appreciation among my maternal aunts and cousins. On demand, i had to get a few snaps printed for distribution among my aunts. 

Snowy Egret

So i went to G.K.Vale to get a few snaps printed. People working at G.K.Vale Jayanagar are very warm people. Since i am a frequent visitor there, almost everyone who works there know me by face. 

I ordered prints of a few snaps. I was told that it will be ready in 30 minutes. I was contemplating about buying a 200 or 300 mm (focal length) lens. I had asked my cousin Pavan in Singapore to find out the costs there. Quickly, i messaged pavan for an update. To my surprise, i learnt that the lens were costlier in Singapore. 

So i went around G.K.Vale store and asked for a lens catalogue.  I was shown a 55-200 mm lens. Since i knew the guy there, he let me take it out and shoot a few snaps outside. I was very impressed by the lens. I asked for a 300mm lens. He did not have an open piece of that. So i took the box piece, studied it and instantaneously decided to buy it. Fifteen minutes ago, i had no idea of buying a new lens. After the lens, i had to buy a bag to carry the lens. 

By this time, my photo prints arrived. The lady in the store (Latha) remarked ; had they delayed delivering the photographs by another 30 minutes, i would have brought a new camera itself. 

I cycled back home with my new toy, a 55-300 mm Nikon lens. 

Exited by the new toy, i started wondering how and where to experiment it. I first thought of shooting the moon but realized that i had given the tripod to a friend. From nowhere the thought of Ranganthittu flashed to my mind. Ranganathittu is about 135 Kms from Bangalore on the Bangalore-Mysore highway.I asked my cousin sham pavman if he wanted to join me for some "Bird watching" on the Sunday and he said "I will be ready with the car". 
My native place is Mysore and i have been living in Bangalore for almost 29 years now. I must have made innumerable trips to Mysore. But unfortunately, i had never been to Ranganathittu which is on the way to Mysore.

Cattle egret

I "Googled" and i found out that it was not the ideal time to go to Ranganathittu. The Internet gyaan said that the best time is between May  and October. However, we decided we will go ahead. It was a good decision. Ranganathittu turned out to be a paradise. Intuition always works !!.


Sham Pavman was on the dot at 0515 hours on Sunday, the 15 April 2012. We drove on the uttarahalli road to join Mysore Road. We had our breakfast at Kamat Lokruchi (Coffee was surprisingly bad). We drove from there straight to Ranganathittu bird sanctuary.  Memories of the many bike rides to Mysore flashed across my mind as sham pavaman cruised along in his Fiat Punto along the highway passing Channapattina, Maddhur and Mandya. 

We were at Ranganthittu at about 0800 hours. We set up our cameras and wandered around for a while searching for "Birds". Soon we were joined by another photography entusiast Mihir Baxi, a resident of Mumbai and an avid traveler and photographer. We roamed along the periphery of the lake without much luck with the birds. We could see quite a few painted storks at a distance. But it was elusive from our camera. We then climbed up the elevated view point to try our luck. Though , still unlucky with the birds, we could spot a few crocodiles lazying around. 


We then decided to take a boat ride in the lake. Three of us managed to squeeze into the boat with many others. I was sitting on the edge with a back pack. Mihir took a strategic position putting his legs on either side of the wooden seat. Well aware of the 70 odd crocodiles in the lake, sitting on the edge, i set my camera to the right settings. I put the camera to the continuous shoot mode (burst mode), set the right aperture and shutter speed. It was a bright clear day and exposure was not an issue. 

Painted Stork

Our Boatman Lokesh set the boat afloat and it cruised ahead in the almost stagnant waters. Little ahead, even before we could notice the squeaking sound of the oars , we could hear the chirp and sounds of the pelicans and storks. Shutterbug in me was just overwhelmed to see so many birds with such bright colours hovering above my head. They were moving fast. I had to focus properly and shoot. 
I was shooting fast moving subjects for the first time. I quickly rechecked the settings and started shooting as if there was no tomorrow. Lokesh, Sham and Mihir were just as excited. All of us were pointing some or the other exciting bird to the rest of us. Thousands of shutters opened and closed within minutes. I was still sitting on the edge of the boat (I was the heaviest in the camp). Lokesh, looking at my excitement , advised me to get down and make myself comfortable in the available space. It was a good advice. I am just an amateur swimmer and was in no mood to confront the crocodile :).


The boat ride was just for 15 minutes. Though we could see many beautiful and huge birds, we were hungry for more.The shutterbugs in us was urging for more. So we decided to engage the services of Lokesh exclusively for three of us. Lokesh was very kind and he accepted. He agreed to take only three of us in a boat for 30 minutes all along the lake. 

Pied Kingfisher

So we started again. This time, each of us got a separate seat and just the right position we wanted. However, the pelicans and storks did not slow down for us. So here we were, three enthusiasts and a great boatman. This time lokesh took us in a different direction. Apart from flying birds we could see birds nesting, birds feeding their children and the open billed storks fetching material for the nest. Hundreds of shutters opened and closed in minutes. 
It was an absolute treat for the nature lover in us. We could spot the spoon billed stork, The snowy egret, the Asian egret, the grey pelican, the white pelican, the Asian open billed stork, the cattle egret, the Brahminy kite, the Black cormorant, the black headed ibis, the black egret and many others. The painted storks were in plenty. We could capture them  flying, landing, fetching water and drinking water.
But the prize catch was the "Pied Kingfisher". Our boatman lokesh was also excited seeing the pied kingfisher. The elusive kingfisher generously posed for the photographs.  

We sailed around appreciating the beauty of nature and the creativity of the creator. We were overwhelmed by the volume of such beautiful creatures and the proximity at which we could see them. 

It was then time for retreat. We sailed back talking to lokesh about the birds, its habitat etc. Lokesh was generous  in sharing his experience. But for lokesh, we would have missed a fascinating journey into the world of birds. 

Open Billed Stork

After about half an hour of journey into the wonderful world of birds, we reached the banks of the lake. Still awestruck, we exchanged our cameras. After a quick round of appreciation of photographs, we headed towards the cafeteria. Over a cup of juice and masala dosa, we saw the photographs in the small LCD display of our cameras. By that time Mihir had sent us Facebook friend request. 

Black Cormorant

After bidding good bye to Mihir, myself and Sham started from Ranganathittu towards Kokkare bellur. Kokkare Bellur is about 13 kms off the highway in the Malvalli taluk of Mandya district. 
Though this was my first visit to Ranganathittu, i had been to kokkare bellur quite a few times. I have invariably touched kokkare bellur on each of my bike trips to Mysore/Coorg. 
Like always, Kokkare bellur did not disappoint us. There were hundreds of painted storks soaking in the sun. We could find some pelicans and a few Brahminy kites. By now, we had almost run out of memory in our cameras. However we managed to take a few pictures of the Kite and the Pelican. 

Black Egret

It was almost 1400 hours and we were terribly hungry. So the Next stop was "Shivalli". It is one of the famous restaurants on the Bangalore-Mysore highway. Like me, many of my friends who have traveled with me on this road are fans of hotel Shivalli (Earlier called Shivalli MTR). It was started by by childhood friend Girish(I was a child when he was doing his engineering in BMSCE. He used to stay in the hostel below our house in Basavanagudi). So each time i meet Girish at Shivalli, it is a nostalgic trip to my childhood days. 
We met Girish at Shivalli. He accompanied us for lunch. After the awesome "Ginger juice", we headed towards Bangalore. I took a much needed nap while Sham zipped through the highway. We were back home by 1630 hours. 

Black headed ibis 

It was a very memorable warm summer Sunday on the banks of river cauvery. We had spent half a day in a different world of colourful flying creatures. 
Shutterbugs in us had a very satisfying, rather a thrilling day. I was thrilled when i saw the snaps on the computer. 
It was just a perfect Sunday. 


Before i sign off, the next encounter with the world of animals will be at Kabini in the early weeks of June. 


Some pictures of the trip are here

Beauty is in Presence not in Possession

Last year, just before summer , i brought a Jasmine sapling (ಮೂರು ಸುತ್ತಿನ ಮಲ್ಲಿಗೆ)  from Lalbagh (Bangalore) and planted it in my garden. It was a small sapling, and by summer, few jasmine buds started appearing on it. Excited by seeing the buds, i brought another sapling from a local nursery and planted it during summer. Within a few days jasmine buds started appearing on that as well. 

Since both were small saplings, not many flowers blossomed last year. However, we could see a few flowers in them throughout the summer of 2011. 

Outside the house, on the side of the road, i have planted Nerium (ಕಣಗಳು) , Hibiscus (ದಾಸವಾಳ) and Champak (ಸಂಪಿಗೆ) plants. Nerium was planted long back while the Hibiscus and Champak were planted just last year. While Hibiscus and Nerium have grown well and flowers have started to blossom, the champak has not grown well. The road side cattle are not allowing the champak tree to grow. 

Nerium

Nerium, Champak and Hibiscus are relatively maintenance free. They grow in relatively less fertile soils. Champak tree grows tall while the nerium spreads fast. So they are good choices to plant on the road side. Champak flowers have a fantastic aroma. In fact , the fantastic fragrance of Champak flowers attract snakes. 


By early monsoon of last year, i decided to buy a new car (Ford Figo). Since the new car was wider than the previous car (Wagon R), i had to widen the drive way to accommodate the new car. I had two choices, one was to sacrifice the garden which apart from two jasmine saplings also had chrysanthemum (ಶಾವಂತಿಗೆ)  , hibiscus (ದಾಸವಾಳ ), Broccoli, Tulasi and few other flowering plants. The other choice was to sacrifice the grill and a portion of the extended portico to accommodate the car. Out of love for these plants (i had planted them), i decided to demolish the extended portico. It was an expensive decision. I had to repaint the front wall, fix an additional door for safety. But it was worth it. There was no point in harming those plants. 


Jasmine plants are more than an year old now. Its mid summer now and everyday morning, i can see many blossomed flowers on the plant. There will be at least three to four hibiscus flowers and quite a few nerium flowers on the plants outside the house. One feels happy to see these flowers early in the morning. (We could see many Nerium flowers in December-January season). 


But the sad part is, no one wants to see the beauty on the plant. No one wants to leave the beauty in peace and enjoy its presence. For a few morning walkers who pass in front of my house, their day starts by plucking the nerium and hibiscus flowers in front of my house. They not only pluck the flowers, they go to the extent of reaching far off flowers by bending the branches of the plant. They do not realize that they are harming the plant and damaging the branches which left otherwise would show up with more flowers in a few days. 


Inside the compound, my mother does not leave any jasmine flowers. By 7 :30 AM, all the flowers will be plucked. 


Is it just human attitude that we cannot see beauty as it is? Or are we so myopic that we are handicapped to appreciate beauty in its natural form. Why is there an urge to possess beauty. Agreed that the flowers will be used for worship (pooja).  But why should the flower be plucked and put at the feet of the lord in a closed hot room? That flower will dry up and fade away in a few hours which otherwise would have smiled on the plant for a at least a few more days. 


Is beauty only there to be possessed or competed for? Is it not there just to be enjoyed? What is beauty? What is the role of beauty? 


Beauty is grace of god. Grace is in presence not necessarily in possession. Possession is arresting beauty. Beauty must prevail and transcend beyond materialistic human urge for possession. 


I am signing off  by quoting Nobel laureate Rabindranath tagore ; 

"Love adorns itself; It seeks to prove inward joy by outward beauty" 

Hulisandra festival (ಜಾತ್ರೆ) after two decades

Doothraya and Kenchraya

Hulisandra is my mother's native village. It is a very small secluded village situated off state highway (SH) 19 in Turvekere taluk of Tumkur district of Karnataka. It is about 140 Kms from the city of Bangalore. One can reach Hulisandra by road via Tumkur and Gubbi or via Kunigal, Yediyur and turuvekere. By train, the closest railway station is Banasandra. Hulisandra is about 5 kms by road from the Banasandra railway station.

The last time i went to Hulisandra was in 2006. It was a casual visit with parents. However, the last time i saw the village's annual festival, locally called jaatre (ಜಾತ್ರೆ) was in the year 1992 or 1993.

I do not have much memory about Hulisandra or my maternal grandparents. Since i was born and raised in Bangalore, i do not even remember going to Hulisandra for more than 2 or 3 times. Also,my maternal grandparents left the village long long back. So there were hardly any opportunities for me to go there. 

For the last few years, in an effort to reconnect with the native, my maternal aunts have decided to participate every year in the village's annual festival, Jaatre (ಜಾತ್ರೆ). They are participating by feeding the gathering (ಅನ್ನದಾನ ) on the first day of the festival. This is done every year in remembrance of my maternal grandfather. 

So for the last few years, my aunts and cousins have been going to the village for the festival. I was never interested in joining them. 

My only memory of the festival (Jaatre) was that of the Chama dancing aggressively and people walking on the Konda (Hot coal). I think i was  9 or 10 years old when i saw the jaatre for the first time. I clearly remember that i was very scared after seeing the Chamas.  

It was only a few days back that i was reminded of the jaatre again. My cousin Aravind called me to ask if i would be interested in joining them to the jaatre this year. Since there was a shortage of transport as well, i could take my car so that all of us (Aunts and cousins) could travel comfortably. Since i am always looking for an opportunity to get out of this polluted city, i readily accepted the invitation. 

This year the jaatre was scheduled between 27 and 29 of March. Since our family's Annadana (feeding) programme was on the first day, we decided to go there on the 27. My aunts left in the morning in Arvind's car to make necessary arrangements. 

Myself, Aravind and another cousin of mine Karthik left home at 8:00 PM. We were joined by one of Karthik's friends Shibha. 

Since we were running late, another set of cousins Adithya, Anjali, Ashok and my maternal grandmother left an hour before us. 

We took the road via tumkur and Gubbi. Since we were hungry, we stopped at the cafe coffee day near tumkur for some snacks. We left Tumkur by 9:30 PM and we were at Hulisandra by 11:00 PM.

Route to Hulisandra from Tumkur

View Larger Map

Goddess Lakshmi at Hulisandra 

The main deity of the place is goddess "Lakshmi". For some strange reason, the goddess is called "ಕೊಲ್ಹಾಪುರದ ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ " , That is Lakshmi of Kolhapur. Kolhapur is more than 500 Kms from Hulisandra. So there is no plausible story on how the goddess is named after Kolhapur Lakshmi. However, one story told by the locals is that many many years back, a lady was spotted near the lake in this village. On inquiry of who she was, she told the villagers that she is the Lakshmi of Kolhapur and that she would be staying in the village henceforth.

The festival had not yet started by the time we reached there. The first day's festival is called "Konda" (ಕೊಂಡ). Konda is a layer of hot coal freshly made by burning firewood. Devotees walk barefoot on it. It is customary for the Basava (bull) to take the first walk, followed by the Kalashagithi (young girl who carries the kalasha). Finally the devotees walk on the Konda. The second day is called "Teru"(ತೇರು). This is the procession of God in a manually drawn chariot on the streets of the village. In the morning, the Brahmins pull the chariot and in the night, the other castes pull the chariot. The third day is called "Bai beega"(ಬಾಯಿ ಬೀಗ ). Here people who have made wishes (ಹರಿಕೆ ) will lock their mouth with a pin in case their wishes are granted. This is an old absurd practice. I was told that this is being stopped now. But still some dogmatic groups are involved in this practice. The last day is called "Madalakki"(ಮಡಲಕ್ಕಿ) where people dressed like gods visit individual houses and receive the offerings made to them. 

We went there for only the first day. The first days's festivities starts at 11:30 in the night and goes up to 4 AM. Konda is the last activity which starts at about 3 AM and finishes by 4 AM. Before the Konda , the Uthsava moorthi (Idols of goddess Lakshmi and Ranganatha) is taken on procession on the streets of the village. Each idol is carried by four people. Anybody can carry this. My cousins Aravind and Adithya carried it for about an hour.   

My aunts asked me to carry it as well but i did not. 

Dootharaya 

From 11:30 in the night to about 2:00 AM, the god is taken in procession on the streets of the village (There are only three streets). The procession is accompanied by a set of drums, the kalashagithi (The young girl, yet to mature , who carries the kalasha), the hogala battaru (A man who keeps praising the goddess at regular intervals) and the Chamas.   Chamas are two people dressed in a tribal attire believed to be sons of goddess Lakshmi. They are called "Doothraya"(ದೂಥರಾಯ) and "Kencharaya"(ಕೆಂಚರಾಯ). Doothraya wears the brown mask while Kenchraya wears the red mask. They dance to the beat of the drum in front of the goddess for almost 3 hours. 

On demand, the people who carry the goddess Lakshmi on their shoulders visit individual houses in the village. The chamas and the drums accompany them. It is a tradition that the Kalashagithi visits the house followed by the chamas and then the goddess. 

Kencharaya 

The chamas dance vigorously for almost three hours. It requires a lot of energy to do that. Earlier, i was told that only two people (One for Dootharaya and the other for Kencharaya) dance for the entire duration. However, of late it has become a practice to change midway. 

The last time i saw the chama was way back in 1992 or 1993. I was very scared of their looks. They were dancing very vigorously with weapons in the hand. Back then, the atmosphere was intense and the gathering was huge. 
However, this time all that was missing. The percussion which accompanied the procession was pretty lousy.The energy levels of the chamas were not really high. However it was good to see them again after almost two decades. 

After the procession on the streets, there will be a small break when the drummers and the chamas take a breather for about 10 minutes. In the break, a bull (Basava) is decorated with flowers and drums, locally called "Nagari". From here, the Basava leads the procession all the way till the temple. Two drums are tied on either side of the Bull. Two strong men take charge on beating this drum till the end of the day. Once in a way ,hands are changed. Me and my cousins tried our hand at beating the drum for about 20 minutes cumulatively. 

Basava 

The last hour before the "Konda" has relatively high energy levels. Two additional drums are added. A group of women carrying flowers and lamps on their head join the procession. They are either the women of the village or of neighboring villages. So now the convoy is lead by the bull, followed by the Kalashagithi, the Chamas, The goddess and the women with lamps on their head. It is a colourful sight. 

The convoy reaches the Konda by 3:00 AM. After the rituals associated with the konda is completed by the local priest, the bull takes the first walk. The bull is followed by the Kalashagithhi. Since, the Kalashagitthi is a young girl, few people just carry her so that her feet does not touch the hot coal. The Kalashagitthi is followed by the Chamas, the goddess (People carrying on their shoulders), the women with lamps on their heads. Finally the konda is thrown open for the general public. 

There is no compulsion and any desiring individual can walk on it. Roughly 50 percent of the crowd dare walking on that. None of us except my cousin Aravind dared walking on that.

Sunrise near Gubbi

The festivities end by about 4:00 AM. We headed back to our cars by 3:45 AM walking in the pitch dark mud roads of Hulisandra. We took a nap in the car till 5:30 AM. We started back to Bangalore by 5:45 AM. After a round of sunrise photography at Gubbi and a coffee break at Tumkur , we reached Bangalore by 9 :30 AM. 

Though i have personal reservations on some of the practices followed in these regions, from academic perspective, it is good to see and understand these cultures and practices. It was nice to visit a village after two decades equipped with a good camera and more importantly equipped with a better mindset of appreciating people, cultures, practices, tribes and places. 

Some pictures of the trip are here

Navavrindavana Darshana

Normally i refrain from writing about religion and my views on it. Religion is a matter of very personal opinion and practice. In my opinion there is nothing like an "Absolute religion" or the "greatest religion".

Even here, though the title of the blog has a reference to religion, i am not writing about my religious views about the places we visited during our trip. This blog is just about the travel experience.


Onward Route
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Last week, myself and couple of my friends, Kiran Rao and Sameer set out for a pilgrimage to Mantralaya. En route we decided to visit Hampi and few temples around it. None of us had seen Hampi in spite of staying in Karnataka for about 28 years. We thought it is a matter of shame that being born and raised in karnataka, we have not seen Hampi. So it was a good chance to visit Hampi since it is on the way to Mantralaya.
Our initial schedule was to leave Bangalore on 6 of March and get back on 7 of March. But due to some unavoidable reasons we had to reschedule the trip to 9 and 10 of march.

River Tungabhadra near Hospet

I got up at 2:30 AM on Thursday,  9 of March. After my bath and prayers (ಸ್ನಾನ , ಸಂದ್ಯಾವಂದನೆ),  i left home at 4 AM hoping to pick up Sameer at 4:15 AM. Sameer stays in Rajajinagar which is about 14 Kms from my place. Thanks to "Metro" work and some diversions on the ring road, i managed to reach his house at 4:30 AM. From there we headed towards Kiran rao's house, picked him up at about 4:40 AM and headed towards Hampi.


We reached Hampi at about 11 AM. We then walked (trekked) upto the Yantrodharaka pranadevaru's (Hanuman) temple located on the Anjaneyadri hills at Hampi.  The Hanuman idol here is installed by Sri Vyasaraja theertharu (The rajaguru of the Vijayanagara empire). After the darshana of Pranadevaru, we headed back to Hospet for lunch. We had our lunch (theertha prasada) at the uttaradhi matha in hospet. The food at the matha was delicious. Since it was holi that day,the menu had some festival delicacies like Holige and paysa. The whole city had people playing with colours. 

Crossing the Tungabhadra river

After the prasada at Uttaradhi matha, we set out for Navabrindavana near Anegundhi. There are two routes to get to navavrindavaha from Hospet. From hospet, one can reach anegundhi via Gangavathi and take a boat ride (ತೆಪ್ಪ) from there. The other route is to get to Hampi, from hampi to Kamalapura and get to Vijaya vittala temple. From Vijaya vittala temple, one can drive for about 2.5 Kms (If there are no rains). Then one has to walk for about half a Km to reach the banks of river Tungabhadra. One can take a boat ride from there to reach Navavrindavana. The former route via Anegundhi involves two boat rides while the latter involves only one. But getting a boat is little difficult.

Road to Navavrindavana 

We decided to take the latter route. We reached Vijaya vittala temple and started driving towards Navavrindavana. After a few hundred meters, the road got really bad but we continued to drive. After about a kilometer or so the road ended abruptly. We encountered a huge ditch. By this time the car chassis had already taken a few blows. It was just impossible to to cross the ditch and we were in no mood for further adventure. We tried backing up the car but it was near impossibility. The width of the so called road was just about same as that of the car.

Finally back  

So we were at a point with no road ahead and almost impossible to reverse or turn. So three of us got a little worried and started wondering what to do. I took a few steps back and found a slightly marshy patch of land. A vague thought crossed over my mind to maneuver the car over this small piece of land. So Sameer and kiran rao stood in front of the car and guided me with distances. The rear sensors and its bizarre beeps guided me on the rear side. The other problem was the slightly slippery land. But thank god, i somehow managed to turn the car with a few maneuvers. The last turn was barely a few millimeters away from touching the tree on my right side. The whole exercise took nearly 45 minutes and the car escaped unhurt.


I drove the car a little distance and parked it. We walked from there for about half a kM to the banks of river Tungabhadra. We dint find anybody there. After a while a man showed up there but he was not the boatman. He started shouting for the boatman on the other bank. But no one was at sight for good 15 minutes. Finally the boatman arrived . He crossed the river with his boat and took us inside. He took us to the other bank.


Again from there, the navavrindavana is about 400 metres. I walked barefoot (since i had no patience to put on the shoes) on the hot sand and rock to finally reach the Navavrindavana.

Navavrindavana 

Navavrindavana is the abode of 9 disciples of Sri Madhvacharya . It is a peaceful holy place on the banks of river Tungabhadra. It was late afternoon when we reached there after our "circus". It was still hot and the sun was twinkling on the tungabhadra river. Absolutely no one was there near the vrindavana. Since the Aradhane of sri Vyasaraja theerta was just a few days away, some temporary shelters were erected on the periphery of the vrindavanas.


There must be something about the place. The solitude and tranquility of the place was something special. Nice cool breeze was blowing across the river and there was strange calmness around (normally not associated with the Mathas). We spent about 30 minutes there and started the trek back to the river. Our boatman was waiting for us. On our return journey, we tasted the sweet waters of Tunabhadra constantly sterilized or rather purified by the hot sun blazing on it.

Vijaya Vittala temple, Hampi

It was almost 4 PM by the time we reached the Vijaya vittala temple. There was no way we could see Hampi. So we had to settle with the Vijaya vittala temple. We took a buggy ride to the temple. Vijaya vittla temple is a treat to any art lover. The magnificence of the place is just beyond words. So one can imagine the grandeur of the Vijayanagara empire during its heyday. We were totally consumed by the place. We spent two hours around the temple before the security people asked us to leave.


Vijaya vittala temple is a very small portion of Hampi. We could not see the entire Hampi. We decided that we will come back again with more time at our disposal so that we can spend quality time to appreciate the grandeur that Karnataka was.


We left for Mantralaya at about 6 PM from Hampi. Next round of our romance with bad roads started right away. Our lifeline "Google maps" showed us the road to Mantralaya. No doubt the road was present as per the map. But it was the road only on paper (rather phone). In reality there was no road there. The state highway connecting Hampi to Adoni via Bukkasagara, Kampli and siruguppa was just pathetic. There was hardly any patch of asphalt all the way till Adoni from Hampi. At certain sections, water had inundated low lying bridges. It was quite a task negotiating those roads.


Awful stretch of state highway. 
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One savior for me while negotiating those awful roads was the discussion i picked up with Sameer.   We discussed truth, God, lust and a host of other philosophical and metaphysical matters. It was a captivating discussion. Kiran Rao meanwhile had decided a nap would help during the discussion.


I was tired of driving by the time we reached Adoni. I handed over the keys to Kiran Rao and he drove till Mantralaya. We reached Mantralaya at 12 in the midnight having driven for more than 6 hours from Hampi.


The next day after the pada pooje to sri Guru Raghavendra,  we had multiple darshanas to sri Guru Raghavendra . Since the temple was not very crowded, we could easily get multiple darshanaas of sri Guru Raghavendra. 
After theertha prasada (Lunch) at Mantralaya, we left for Bangalore at about 1:30 PM. We hit the national highway soon near goothy. From there we just zipped through the awesome four lane highway to reach Bangalore by 8 PM. 


It was a very satisfying trip.


{Some photos of the trip are here}