Attached to stringsThe tales of Togalu gombe aata might be traditional but do not lack in drama and...
1
FICTION w The Broker John Grisham w The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown w Namesake Jumpha Lahiri w State of Fear Michael Crichton w Cloud At Last David Mitchell NON-FICTION w Maximum City Suketu Mehta w Bangalore - 20th Century Janaki Nair w Book of Secrets Deepak Chopra w The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari - Robin Sharma w Blink - Malcolm Gladwell REGIONAL 1 Apta Mitra - Kannada 2 Chandramukhi -Tamil 3 Nuv Vastante Nenodantana - Telugu HINDI 1 Lucky 2 Bewafaa 3 Kal Ho Naa Ho INDI POP/GHAZAL 1 Indian Idol 2 Rabbie 3 DJ Hot -Vol III INTERNATIONAL 1 Storyteller - Raghav 2 Introducing - Bombay Rockers 3 Best of Blues Courtesy: Premier, Music World 3 Sunday Vijay Times, Bangalore, 20 March 2005 Centrestage A split is beginning to emerge at the highest levels of the music industry. Earlier, some labels wanted to increase wholesale prices - thereby forc- ing up prices to the end user - in order to grab a greater share of revenues from inline music stores such as iTunes and Napster. Now, some sections of the industry have tentatively welcomed a suggestion that downloads be sold for as little as five cents each. However, the general counsel of the Canadian Recording Industry Association, Richard Pfohl, dis- missed the idea, saying that it would flout every IP law that Canada has passed. T hree works including a version of The Scream, by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, have been stolen from a hotel in south Norway. The thieves took a 1915 watercolour, Blue Dress, and two lithographs: a self-portrait, and a portrait of Swedish playwright and novelist August Strindberg. On August 22, gun- men stole a version of Munchs most famous mas- terpiece, The Scream, showing a terrified waif-like figure beneath a blood-red sky. The Scream has become a symbol of angst in a world scarred by hor- rors including the Holocaust, the atom bomb and ter- rorism. S hanghai, Chinas commercial capital, is starting to take on the chic of Paris, the sophistication of New York and the futuristic vibes of Tokyo. Shanghai has Xintiandi, a two-hectare (nine-acre) complex of hip restaurants, bars and shops in an open, elegant, low-rise style and is one of the first examples of China preserving its own architecture. Xintiandis houses are traditional shikumen (literally stone gate) built along narrow alleys. Xintiandi architects have spent the past seven years trying to preserve original materials like Shanghais unique grey bricks and art deco features such as 1920s lintels and columns. The group also hunted down the original drawings to replicate structures that had decayed beyond repair. Best-sellers C M Y K C M Y K C M Y K More Munch paintings stolen Shanghai facelift Split over online pricing A in’t she sweet? (Harper Collins, Pages: 400, Price: Rs 207) is an apt title for the book. The pro- tagonist of the story is Sugar Beth Carey. Brought up in a parish with a lavish lifestyle, Sugar Beth is the per- sonification of a perfect spoilt brat. Envied by her friends, especially by Winnie Davis who is now married to Sugar Beth’s dumped boyfreind Ryan. She no more enjoys the glorious attention that she once had. All that she now has are her friends and ene- mies whose life she has destroyed, waiting to take revenge. Colin Byne, a novelist was powerless before Beth destroyed his career, but now he owns all that she once owned. Through his imagination, Byne is all set to write a book describing the downfall of Sugar Beth. But heres the shock, Beth has completely changed. She is now a woman who cannot be taken for granted. Does Colin take his revenge or fall in love with her becomes the rest of the story. Set in Mississippi, Aint She Sweet, authored by Susan Elizabeth Phillip, is laced with love, hatred, romance and fun filled. There are umpteen incidents that prevent you from keeping the book down. Each character is developed in a way that the reader wants to know more about them. The character of Sugar Beth itself, portraying the hot and charming, seductive and ditch- all-guys kind of attitude is mind blowing. On the whole, the book is entertaining and is worth reading once. n M ISSOULA is a small closely knit town in Montand, USA. Here every- body knows everybody, or so they think... When Wyatt Dixon, former ruthless murderer is let out of prison because of a legal technicality, the prosecutor Billy Bob Holland and his wife, Temple Holland, must fight old demons that threaten to tear their marriage apart. Holland rides with a native American Red Indian, Johnny American Horse. But when Johnny gets dreams, he predicts the future and is caught packing a firearm that he says is to protect himself from the killers. He is vindicated when the attempted murder actually takes place, but neither the killers, nor their shadowy employers take into account the fact that the Great Earth Spirit would warn Johnny, with disastrous conse- quences. When the local laboratory of the MNC Global Research is broken and burglarised, all suspicion rests on Johnny, who is an all out propagator of the National Environment. To make matters worse, Johnny is framed with the murder of an FBI agent who was sent to investigate crimes in the area. James Lee Burkes crime fiction, In the Moon of Red Ponies (Phoenix, Pages: 385, Price: Rs 251), is set in the barely tamed Wild Wild West, where everyone packs a firearm and the will to make it, yet he knows the restraint and makes up by indulging in the local sport - trout fishing! The plot moves slowly, yet is never boring, with beautiful insights into the minds and souls of a plethora of characters, with an end that characterises the Land of the brave and the free. n The land of the brave and the free Shes the toughest J ANET Ganguli was brought up in England and soon she became committed to serve the less fortunate. She grew up listening to stories about her grandfather who had spent 25 years in India during the British Raj. Trained as a nurse and a mid wife, she journeyed to India. She remained there for 10 years, working to improve health care in a small village in Bihar (now in Jharkand). Being from England, she realised this would not be an easy task. With absolutely no med- ical facilities, she felt like a handicap and had to fight the corrupt govern- ment officials. Under an Indian Sky (Penguin, Pages: 203, Price: Rs 250) gives an account of the lives of people in Bihar and their ignorance towards health. One gets to read about the portly money lender waiting to col- lect sacks of rice from the family even as the malnourished five-year- old Anil lies in death bed. Then there is the doctor who refuses to operate Lilmuni because he doubts if a Santhal can afford his fee. The spare and lucid narrative is a celebration of courage, love and determination. A good book to read. n An unflinching account of rural poverty C M Y K S HADOW puppetry is one of those ancient art forms that will probably not make it through modern times. Like the remnants of other tradi- tional forms of entertainment, leather puppets from our region will remain ancient relics confined to tourist or museum spaces unless theyre integrated into contemporary educational or art practice. Karnataka has its own tradition of leather puppetry, and it varies from region to region. Togalu gombe aata, as it is called, is traditionally performed by a community called the Killekyathas. The families of this community were nomadic and would, on invi- tation go to a village at harvest or festival time and perform puppet shows. It is still a belief that if the puppet show is performed, the place will get rain. Stories like Babruvahana, Ramayana, Kurukshetra, Airavana Mairavana etc are very popu- lar. Although most of the stories are classical, the con- tent of the puppet show caters to the tastes of all vil- lagers. Humour, crass jokes, and fighting are all part of the pack- age. Songs and music blend in with the tale being told; the music and singing are all done by the fam- ily themselves. Musical instru- ments like the tanige shruthi (tune box), and the pavali are used as accompaniments. Killekyatha means mischievous imp, and the community earns this name because of its ability to poke fun at people via their art. But the Killekayathas enjoy a special status in villages; theyre allowed to enter temples although they do not belong to the uppercaste and are revered because they safeguard this tradition. One of the most famous and talented of these puppeteers was the late Hombayya who with his family had performed not just across the country but abroad as well. The Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath in Bangalore has a vast collection of leather puppets from various provinces all over the state. Professor M S Nanjunda Rao, its founder and his colleagues have authored a book on the art. In Chitrakala Parishath, Janardhan Raju who used to assist Professor Nanjunda Rao in finding puppeteer families says that when they arranged a pup- pet show in his native village, it actually rained. A puppet show is no ordinary affair; it is an all night performance with music and drums. The tales that are being told might be tradi- tional but do not lack in drama and make for great entertainment. These leather puppets are visually stunning; on a light yellow surface of tempered leather complex profiles of charac- ters in action and fine costume are drawn. These stunning pup- pets with their complex composi- tions are works of art in themselves, but animated by their puppeteers and by light, sound and narrative, the experience could be completely absorbing. The Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Janapadaloka and the museum of crafts at Udupi have all done a con- siderable amount of work in collecting and document- ing leather puppets and identifying these families. But the number of families practicing the art is fast deplet- ing. Says T N Krishnamurthi, a lecturer of Art History at the Chitrakala Parishath, Weve documented and done our bit for preserving leather puppets at the Parishath by our museum. But to sustain these fami- lies monetarily is still a big question. And most of them are giving up their craft because of a lack of patronage. Youll find puppeteer families in Nagamangala in Mandya district, Biddi in Ramangara Taluk, and in villages bordering Andhra Pradesh. Andhra Pradeshs leather puppetry is called Bommalata and is quite established and well known. The Crafts Council and Crafts industry have been working with puppeteers to sell puppets at their melas and utsavs. At such a mela, you can buy small and big individual puppets, and even panels which tell traditional stories. n The tales of Togalu gombe aata might be traditional but do not lack in drama and hence, make for great entertainment. Rahima Majid reports C UPIDS broken arrow is an Indian production that was a medley of scenes from Henry Ibsens Doll House, August Strindbergs Froken Julie and Rabindranath Tagores Chitrangada, which payed tribute to the brilliant playwrights recently in Rangashankara, Bangalore. It also marked the Centennial year of Norways inde- pendence from Sweden and was jointly sponsored by the Embassies of the two countries to celebrate it with India. But setting aside the interna- tionalism of it all, the play brought to us three rebellious women protagonists who may well have been our con- temporaries. Womens libera- tion and their fight for an equal standing is not a nineties concept as most of the younger lot would like to believe. Changing social parameters is a con- tinuous process in the society and every gen- eration brings in its own perception of what they think is necessary. The most common folly is that every generation believes that they instigated the change. Prasannas latest experiment on stage introduced us to the original rebels. Henry Ibsen gave us Nora Helmer in his 1879 cre- ation The Doll House. His contemporary, August Strindberg called her Julie in Froken Julie in 1888 and Rabindranath Tagore pre- sented her as Chitra in 1892. As early as that! Nora is the wife of a prosperous gentleman Torvald Helmer and her marriage satisfies every pre- requisite set by society for a happy marriage. The sce- ne chosen depicted her decision to leave her husband and her marriage and the events that perpetuated it. Her transformation from the fragile and delicate beauty dressed in colours to the unrelenting and independent woman in black was powerfully dramatic. If Ibsen gave us the society dream in Nora, Strindberg gave us her anti-thesis in the seductive Julie. Here the protagonist is the daughter of a Count and wields her sexual prowess over men to dominate them. How- ever, her erotic encounter with her fathers footman Jean leaves us with a question. In the power struggle between a man and a woman, would sexual dominance ever be the defining trait of a woman without her apologising for it? Tagore on the other hand, took us back to the era of Mahabharata and introduced us to Chitrangada, the warrior princess. Having been brought up to compete with men in every endeavour that requires brute force, she discovers her feminine side through her heart. She falls in love with Arjuna who has taken a vow of celibacy for 12 years. With no confidence in her own attractions, she seeks the help of Manmatha and Vasantha to bless her with the allur- ing beauty that would bring her closer to him. Arjuna, being the man, takes fancy to beauty that is not hers. The princess is torn between the reality of her love and the deceit of her beauty and watches helplessly as Arjuna forsakes his honour to be with the lat- ter. However, in the end she refuses him because she is not the allure who he fell in love with. Though the plays were a combination of cultures from the West and India, they blend in well. There was a flavour of India in the first two plays where a diapered cupid was cleverly substi- tuted with the coloured hues of Yakshagana costumes for Manmatha and Vasantha. The costumes designed by Chandrashekar enhanced and subtly underlined the mood of the play. The casting was perfect. M C Anand and Veena Appiah as Yakshagana costume clad Manmatha and Vasantha were the perfect cultural balancers. Though Ashwini Bhat represented her fragile feminity through her performance, her discomfort with the lan- guage was evident. But it was Raza Hussain and Mallika Prasad who kept the audience enthralled. Technically speaking, the sets were uncluttered and sufficient and though not flawless, lighting by Dr Paresh was ample. As for Prasanna, we certainly ho- pe to see more of him as promised. n Prasannas latest experiment on stage is a sensitive exploration of three rebellious women protagonists of a forgotten era. Manasi P Kumar reports Bulls eye with the broken arrow Pics:Tanikachalam Attached to strings Attached to strings
Transcript of Attached to stringsThe tales of Togalu gombe aata might be traditional but do not lack in drama and...
FICTION
w The BrokerJohn Grisham
w The Da Vinci CodeDan Brown
w NamesakeJumpha Lahiri
w State of Fear Michael Crichton
w Cloud At Last David Mitchell
NON-FICTION
w Maximum CitySuketu Mehta
w Bangalore - 20th CenturyJanaki Nair
w Book of Secrets Deepak Chopra
w The Monk Who Sold HisFerrari - Robin Sharma
w Blink - Malcolm Gladwell
REGIONAL
1 Apta Mitra - Kannada2 Chandramukhi -Tamil3 Nuv Vastante Nenodantana
- Telugu
HINDI
1 Lucky2 Bewafaa3 Kal Ho Naa Ho
INDI POP/GHAZAL
1 Indian Idol2 Rabbie3 DJ Hot -Vol III
INTERNATIONAL
1 Storyteller - Raghav2 Introducing - Bombay
Rockers3 Best of Blues
Courtesy: Premier, Music World
3Sunday Vijay Times, Bangalore, 20 March 2005Centrestage
Asplit is beginning to emerge at the highest levelsof the music industry. Earlier, some labels
wanted to increase wholesale prices - thereby forc-ing up prices to the end user - in order to grab agreater share of revenues from inline music storessuch as iTunes and Napster. Now, some sections ofthe industry have tentatively welcomed a suggestionthat downloads be sold for as little as five centseach. However, the general counsel of the CanadianRecording Industry Association, Richard Pfohl, dis-missed the idea, saying that it would flout every IPlaw that Canada has passed.
Three works including a version of TThhee SSccrreeaamm,, byNorwegian painter Edvard Munch, have been
stolen from a hotel in south Norway. The thieves tooka 1915 watercolour, BBlluuee DDrreessss, and two lithographs:a self-portrait, and a portrait of Swedish playwrightand novelist August Strindberg. On August 22, gun-men stole a version of Munch�s most famous mas-terpiece, TThhee SSccrreeaamm, showing a terrified waif-likefigure beneath a blood-red sky. TThhee SSccrreeaamm hasbecome a symbol of angst in a world scarred by hor-rors including the Holocaust, the atom bomb and ter-rorism.
Shanghai, China�s commercial capital, is startingto take on the chic of Paris, the sophistication of
New York and the futuristic vibes of Tokyo. Shanghaihas Xintiandi, a two-hectare (nine-acre) complex ofhip restaurants, bars and shops in an open, elegant,low-rise style and is one of the first examples ofChina preserving its own architecture. Xintiandi�shouses are traditional shikumen (literally �stonegate�) built along narrow alleys. Xintiandi architectshave spent the past seven years trying to preserveoriginal materials like Shanghai�s unique grey bricksand art deco features such as 1920s lintels andcolumns. The group also hunted down the originaldrawings to replicate structures that had decayedbeyond repair.
Best-sellers
CMYK
CMYK
CMYK
MMoorree MMuunncchh ppaaiinnttiinnggss ssttoolleenn
SShhaanngghhaaii ffaacceelliifftt
SSpplliitt oovveerr oonnlliinnee pprriicciinngg
Ain't she sweet? (Harper Collins,Pages: 400, Price: Rs 207) is anapt title for the book. The pro-
tagonist of the story is Sugar BethCarey. Brought up in a parish with alavish lifestyle, Sugar Beth is the per-sonification of a perfect spoilt brat.Envied by her friends, especially byWinnie Davis who is now married toSugar Beth's dumped boyfreindRyan.
She no more enjoys the gloriousattention that she once had. All that
she now has are her friends and ene-mies whose life she has destroyed,waiting to take revenge. Colin Byne,a novelist was powerless before Bethdestroyed his career, but now heowns all that she once owned.
Through his imagination, Byne isall set to write a book describing thedownfall of Sugar Beth. But here�sthe shock, Beth has completelychanged. She is now a woman whocannot be taken for granted. DoesColin take his revenge or fall in love
with her becomes the rest of thestory.
Set in Mississippi, Aint She Sweet,authored by Susan Elizabeth Phillip,is laced with love, hatred, romanceand fun filled. There are umpteenincidents that prevent you fromkeeping the book down.
Each character is developed in away that the reader wants to knowmore about them. The character ofSugar Beth itself, portraying the hotand charming, seductive and �ditch-all-guys� kind of attitude is mindblowing. On the whole, the book isentertaining and is worth readingonce. n
MISSOULA is a small closely knit town in Montand, USA. Here every-body knows everybody, or so they think... When Wyatt Dixon, formerruthless murderer is let out of prison because of a legal technicality,
the prosecutor Billy Bob Holland and his wife, Temple Holland, must fight olddemons that threaten to tear their marriage apart.
Holland rides with a native American Red Indian, Johnny American Horse.But when Johnny gets �dreams�, he predicts the future and is caught packing afirearm that he says is to protect himself from the killers. He is vindicatedwhen the attempted murder actually takes place, but neither the killers, northeir shadowy employers take into account the fact that the �Great Earth Spirit�would warn Johnny, with disastrous conse-quences.
When the local laboratory of the MNC GlobalResearch is broken and burglarised, all suspicionrests on Johnny, who is an all out propagator of the�National Environment�. To make matters worse,Johnny is framed with the murder of an FBI agentwho was sent to investigate crimes in the area.
James Lee Burke�s crime fiction, In the Moon ofRed Ponies (Phoenix, Pages: 385, Price: Rs 251), isset in the barely tamed Wild Wild West, whereeveryone packs a firearm and the will to make it,yet he knows the restraint and makes up byindulging in the local sport - trout fishing! The plotmoves slowly, yet is never boring, with beautifulinsights into the minds and souls of a plethora ofcharacters, with an end that characterises theLand of the brave and the free. n
The land of the brave and the free
She�s the toughest
JANET Ganguli was brought upin England and soon shebecame committed to serve the
less fortunate. She grew up listeningto stories about her grandfatherwho had spent 25 years in Indiaduring the British Raj. Trained as anurse and a mid wife, she journeyedto India. She remained there for 10years, working to improve healthcare in a small village in Bihar (now
in Jharkand). Being from England,she realised this would not be aneasy task. With absolutely no med-ical facilities, she felt like a handicapand had to fight the corrupt govern-ment officials.
Under an Indian Sky (Penguin,Pages: 203, Price: Rs 250) gives anaccount of the lives of people inBihar and their ignorance towardshealth. One gets to read about the
portly money lender waiting to col-lect sacks of rice from the familyeven as the malnourished five-year-old Anil lies in death bed. Thenthere is the doctor who refuses tooperate Lilmuni because he doubtsif a Santhal can afford his fee.
The spare and lucid narrative is acelebration of courage, love anddetermination. A good book toread. n
An unflinching account of rural poverty
CMYK
SHADOW puppetry is one of those ancient artforms that will probably not make it throughmodern times. Like the remnants of other tradi-
tional forms of entertainment, leather puppets fromour region will remain ancient relics confined totourist or museum spaces unless they�re integratedinto contemporary educational or art practice.
Karnataka has its own tradition of leather puppetry,and it varies from region to region. Togalu gombeaata, as it is called, is traditionally performed by acommunity called the Killekyathas. The families ofthis community were nomadic and would, on invi-tation go to a village at harvest or festival timeand perform puppet shows. It is still a beliefthat if the puppet show is performed, the
place will get rain.Stories like
B a b r u v a h a n a ,R a m a y a n a ,K u r u k s h e t r a ,A i r a v a n a
Mairavana etcare very popu-
lar. Although most
of the stories areclassical, the con-tent of the puppetshow caters to thetastes of all vil-lagers. Humour,crass jokes, andfighting are all
part of the pack-age. Songs andmusic blend inwith the tale
being told; the music andsinging are all done by the fam-ily themselves. Musical instru-ments like the tanige shruthi (tunebox), and the pavali are used asaccompaniments.
Killekyatha means mischievous imp,and the community earns this namebecause of its ability to poke fun at people viatheir art. But the Killekayathas enjoy a specialstatus in villages; they�re allowed to enter templesalthough they do not belong to the uppercaste andare revered because they safeguard this tradition. One ofthe most famous and talented of these puppeteers wasthe late Hombayya who with his family had performednot just across the country but abroad as well.
The Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath in Bangalore hasa vast collection of leather puppets from various
provinces all over the state. Professor M S NanjundaRao, its founder and his colleagues have authored abook on the art. In Chitrakala Parishath, Janardhan Rajuwho used to assist Professor Nanjunda Rao in findingpuppeteer families says that when they arranged a pup-pet show in his native village, it actually rained.
A puppet show is no ordinary affair; it is an all nightperformance with music and drums. The tales that are
being told might be tradi-tional but do not lack in drama and make
for great entertainment. These leatherpuppets are visually stunning; on a
light yellow surface of temperedleather complex profiles of charac-
ters in action and fine costumeare drawn. These stunning pup-
pets with their complex composi-tions are works of art in themselves, but
animated by their puppeteers and by light, soundand narrative, the experience could be completelyabsorbing.
The Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Janapadalokaand the museum of crafts at Udupi have all done a con-siderable amount of work in collecting and document-ing leather puppets and identifying these families. Butthe number of families practicing the art is fast deplet-
ing. Says T N Krishnamurthi, a lecturer ofArt History at the Chitrakala Parishath,�We�ve documented and done our bit forpreserving leather puppets at the Parishathby our museum. But to sustain these fami-lies monetarily is still a big question. Andmost of them are giving up their craftbecause of a lack of patronage.�
You�ll find puppeteer families inNagamangala in Mandya district, Biddi inRamangara Taluk, and in villages borderingAndhra Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh�s leather
puppetry is called Bommalata and is quiteestablished and well known. The CraftsCouncil and Crafts industry have been
working with puppeteers to sell puppets attheir melas and utsavs. At such a mela, you canbuy small and big individual puppets, and evenpanels which tell traditional stories. n
TThhee ttaalleess ooff TTooggaalluu ggoommbbee aaaattaammiigghhtt bbee ttrraaddiittiioonnaall bbuutt ddoo nnoott llaacckk iinn
ddrraammaa aanndd hheennccee,, mmaakkee ffoorr ggrreeaatt eenntteerrttaaiinnmmeenntt..
RRaahhiimmaa MMaajjiidd rreeppoorrttss
�CUPID�S broken arrow� isan Indian productionthat was a medley of
scenes from Henry Ibsen�s DollHouse, August Strindberg�s FrokenJulie and Rabindranath Tagore�sChitrangada, which payed tributeto the brilliant playwrightsrecently in Rangashankara,Bangalore. It also marked theCentennial year of Norway�s inde-pendence from Sweden and wasjointly sponsored by theEmbassies of the two countries tocelebrate it with India.
But setting aside the interna-tionalism of it all, the playbrought to us three rebelliouswomen protagonists whomay well have been our con-temporaries. Women�s libera-tion and their fight for anequal standing is not anineties concept as most of theyounger lot would like to believe.
Changing social parameters is a con-tinuous process in the society and every gen-eration brings in its own perception of whatthey think is necessary. The most commonfolly is that every generation believes thatthey instigated the change.
Prasanna�s latest experiment on stageintroduced us to the original rebels. HenryIbsen gave us Nora Helmer in his 1879 cre-ation The Doll House. His contemporary,August Strindberg called her Julie in FrokenJulie in 1888 and Rabindranath Tagore pre-sented her as Chitra in 1892. As early as that!
Nora is the wife of a prosperous gentlemanTorvald Helmerand her marriagesatisfies every pre-requisite set bysociety for a �happymarriage.� The sce-ne chosen depictedher decision toleave her husbandand her marriageand the events thatperpetuated it.
Her transformation from the fragile anddelicate beauty dressed in colours to theunrelenting and independent woman inblack was powerfully dramatic.
If Ibsen gave us the society dream in Nora,Strindberg gave us her anti-thesis in theseductive Julie. Here the protagonist is thedaughter of a Count and wields her sexualprowess over men to dominate them. How-ever, her erotic encounter with her father�sfootman Jean leaves us with a question. Inthe power struggle between a man and awoman, would sexual dominance ever bethe defining trait of a woman without herapologising for it?
Tagore on the other hand, took us back tothe era of Mahabharata and introduced usto Chitrangada, the warrior princess. Havingbeen brought up to compete with men inevery endeavour that requires brute force,she discovers her feminine side through herheart. She falls in love with Arjuna who hastaken a vow of celibacy for 12 years.
With no confidence in her ownattractions, she seeks the help
of Manmatha and Vasanthato bless her with the allur-
ing beauty that wouldbring her closer to him.Arjuna, being the man,takes fancy to beautythat is not hers. Theprincess is tornbetween the reality of
her love and the deceit ofher beauty and watches
helplessly as Arjuna forsakeshis honour to be with the lat-
ter. However, in the endshe refuses him
because she isnot the allurewho he fell inlove with.
Though theplays were a
combination ofcultures from the
West and India, theyblend in well. There was a
flavour of India in the first two playswhere a diapered cupid was cleverly substi-tuted with the coloured hues of Yakshaganacostumes for Manmatha and Vasantha. Thecostumes designed by Chandrashekarenhanced and subtly underlined the moodof the play.
The casting was perfect. M C Anand andVeena Appiah as Yakshagana costume cladManmatha and Vasantha were the perfectcultural balancers. Though Ashwini Bhatrepresented her fragile feminity through herperformance, her discomfort with the lan-guage was evident. But it was Raza Hussainand Mallika Prasad who kept the audienceenthralled.
Technically speaking, thesets were uncluttered andsufficient and though notflawless, lighting by DrParesh was ample. As forPrasanna, we certainly ho-pe to see more of him aspromised. n
PPrraassaannnnaa��ss llaatteesstt eexxppeerriimmeenntt oonn ssttaaggee iiss aasseennssiittiivvee eexxpplloorraattiioonn oofftthhrreeee rreebbeelllliioouuss wwoommeennpprroottaaggoonniissttss ooff aa ffoorrggootttteenn eerraa.. MMaannaassii PP KKuummaarr rreeppoorrttss
Bull�seye with thebroken arrow
Pics:Tanikachalam
Attached to stringsAttached to strings
![[2016] AATA 397 - Australian Taxation Office · [2016] AATA 397 Division TAXATION & COMMERCIAL DIVISION File Number(s) 2013/0287-0296; 2014/1853-1859 Re John Seymour FIRST APPLICANT](https://static.fdocuments.us/doc/165x107/5ba33f2309d3f2cc2e8db739/2016-aata-397-australian-taxation-office-2016-aata-397-division-taxation.jpg)
![1606601 (Refugee) [2016] AATA 4488 (14 September 2016)](https://static.fdocuments.us/doc/165x107/6266ea02d8ebe90ec5081f25/1606601-refugee-2016-aata-4488-14-september-2016.jpg)
![1313776 (Refugee) [2016] AATA 3430 (2 March 2016)](https://static.fdocuments.us/doc/165x107/616c369749575b0bd33dd806/1313776-refugee-2016-aata-3430-2-march-2016.jpg)
