Not Many Takers For Yakshagana

Anika Sharma finds out why this traditional folk art is dying a slow death in Karnataka

It’s an art form combining vigorous dance, glittering costumes and distinct music with a distinct form of style and rhythm. Yakshagana plays are a stylistic blend of Sanskrit shlokas, refined choreography and ancient texts from the epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The result is an ethereal atmosphere on stage.

However, this traditional art form of South India, popularly known as opera in western eyes and Aataa in Kannada and Tulu, is dying a slow death. Considered as a living tradition and originally called Bayalatha, Yakshagana, popular in coastal areas of Uttara Kannada and Dakshina Kannada, is losing its earthly folk character. Youngsters today are unaware of this rare and beautiful art.

According to Srinivas Sansthan, secretary, Karnataka Kala Darshini, Yakshagana is declining in popularity because there’s no awareness among the younger generation. “This art form should become a part of school and college curriculum, and should be properly presented. Youngsters will show appreciation and interest only if they understand the history and origin of Yakshagana,” says Srinivas. Yakshagana should be conducted in accordance with natya shastras and with dialogues and mythological scripts. “There should be discussions and seminars on this art form to attract the young. Children need practical lessons. It’s important to teach them this form of story-telling,” he adds.

However, Ganapathi S Hegde, a painter and photographer who has depicted this art form in his works, says: “For me, Yakshagana is a harmony of dance, acting, facial expressions and singing. I am inspired by it. But, now I feel there is an immense cultural difference and a generation gap. There is a lack of awareness among people, but my aim is to promote Yakshagana through my paintings and pictures,” says Hegde.

Srinivas, who has been running a Yakshagana academy for the last 15 years in Bangalore, says, “Many people, mainly school students and housewives from coastal areas, come for our classes at our institute but for most it remains only a hobby. Only 10-15 persons out of 500 from our academy have taken it up professionally. The government is doing very little to promote this art. It should give recognition to artists, promote Yakshagana the way it’s promoting sports and the tourism sector.’’

He adds, “It should lend us support, monetarily and by felicitating artists with some kind of state awards. The government did give us the platform of Janapada Jatre (a festival of folk arts) and World Tourism Day to showcase our talent, but we need more recognition. It should not only be promoting Yakshagana, but should also promote other folk arts like Teerukoothu, Tamasha, etc,” says Srinivas.

He believes Yakshagana can be used to create awareness about social issues. “The government should provide lowbudget stages in every nook and corner of the city so that artists can entertain and educate people through Yakshagana. We conduct various social awareness programmes on HIV/AIDS, women empowerment, national and communal harmony. The authorities should do something to recognise the artist along with the art form. It should also grant funds for Yakshagana troupes,” he says.

Yakshagana needs revival and maybe promoting children’s Yakshagana troupes can help revive it at the grassroots level.

FOLKLORE:

• It was started in the 11th century during the Vaishnava Bhakti Movement and is popular in Uttara Kannada, Shimoga, Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Kasaragod district of Kerala
• Famous Yakshagana poet adapted the Ramayana to Yakshagana in 1600
• There are two variants of Yakshagana —- badagutittu (a shorter and more modern form) and Tenkutittu (less exuberant costumes and accompanied by a Kerala maddalam)
• Also used in puppetry. There were some 30 string puppet troupes between 1910 and 1915

Karnataka: A state without enough power
10 April 2007, Tuesday

One of the biggest problems in India is the lack of adequate electricity. Karnataka is yet another state which is witnessing electricity woes that are hampering its overall growth. It’s time the government considered alternate energy sources.

KARNATAKA IS DOING much to attract investments, but is there the infrastructure to sustain all investments? One of the biggest problems here is the of lack of adequate electricity. Every now and then you hear of IT giants wanting to move to Hyderabad or even Himachal Pradesh, their prime complaint being lack of power. Power is being misused and stolen; never mind what noises the political bigwigs make.

The State needs 105 Mega Units (MU) per month, but it gets only 80 MU, inclusive of purchases from the Central Power Grid. It is in talks with the Central Government to buy 300 MU for consumption till April. Availability of water in hydel reservoirs has also dropped. The water level in Sharavathy Valley, which is the mainstay of hydel power supply in the State, has also gone down. The demand for electricity this year, has reached to 17,400 MW, resulting in a deficit of about 5500 MW during peak hours. Last year, almost 1100 MW was taken from the Central Government, but it is not possible to ask the Centre every time you have a deficit. Load shedding, therefore, has become inevitable in the State in both rural and urban areas.

Power theft is not something new. It has been around for years, but has been kept well under wraps by all those who line their pockets, cleverly couched in the category of “transmission and distribution losses” along with power leakage.

The farmers suffer the most, load-shedding in rural areas going up to more than six hours a day. Urbanites are slightly luckier, but they have to deal with frequent power cuts too. Bangalore is known as the Silicon Valley of India, but its growth is being curtailed by power shortages. This would have an adverse effect on Karnataka’s economy.

The Union Ministry of Power is planning Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPP) in seven areas by July 2007. Karwar in Karnataka is one of the areas. It is also taking other initiatives to set up merchant power plants by private developers. But, all this can be successful only if the issue of power theft is tackled effectively by the government. It is unacceptable for a country that aspires to be a superpower to lose some 30 per cent of the electricity it generates, under the head of transmission and distribution losses.

The government should also try and find a methodology to generate more electric units for consumption, like windfarming, alternate energy sources, setting up diesel power generating units and laying a gas grid etc. It will be better to harness wind energy and set up various mini and micro hydro-electric schemes for power generation, rather than focusing purely on conventional means of electricity generation. With the entire world turning away from traditional sources of power, it is about time Karnataka used its vast pool of scientific talent to find new means of satisfying the increasing hunger for power in the state.

Let the Cauvery flow, quietly
13 April 2007, Friday


Karnataka did get a low share in comparison to Tamilnadu after the Cauvery water Tribunal apportioned water between the two states besides Kerala and Pondicherry. The need of the hour right now is to act with discretion.


POLITICIANS WRINGING their hands over the Cauvery Tribunal’s award and the impetuous reactions from various sections of the society in Karnataka have only left the state in the grip of a fear of riots.

The state cabinet decided to appeal against the award it considers unfair, in comparison to what Tamilnadu has been awarded. Kerala and Pondicherry, the other two states that are also downstream beneficiaries of the water from Cauvery may well follow suit.

What will anyone gain from all this posturing except to prolong the agony and stall the progress in finding ways is to optimize the use of this diminishing resource that nature alone can allocate, no matter what mortals decree or wish? The only way to disregard this tribunal is by damning for having done injustice to farmers of the Cauvery River basin.

The Tribunal apportioned 270 tmcft of Cauvery water to Karnataka, while Tamil Nadu got the lion’s share of 470 tmcft. Earlier the Karnataka Government had pressed for its original demand for 465 tmcft of water to meet its irrigation and drinking water needs.

Karnataka needs 408 tmcft for irrigating 2.7 million acres of land, and 46 tmcft for drinking water purposes. What was promised was not delivered. However, the final award has clearly stated that the proportion of water shared between the states Tamil Nadu and Karnataka should be the same, as in a normal year.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi, who welcomed the Tribunal’s award, has asked the Cauvery Management Board to seek clear guidelines on the award. It is a direct slap on the face of Karnataka by the Karunanidhi Government, which clearly wants to show that it means business. When Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy was busy reshuffling his ministry, Karunanidhi was in the national capital, two days prior to the Cauvery verdict.

This is the time for Kumaraswamy to actually learn some real politics from Karunanidhi and maintain silence on this issue. What couldn’t be done for so long cannot be done now?

Attempting to undo what’s done, can only mean hurting the farmers for whom crocodile tears are no substitute to irrigate their field. People do accept the reality and get on with life, instead of destroying public property and wasting productive man-hours on futile ego trips of politics. Discretion is the better for this state and all the states as such.

Musharraf’s 4-point proposal: A durable solution?
11 April 2007, Wednesday

We have witnessed many ups and downs in the efforts of India and Pakistan to settle the issue of Kashmir. A new development in this direction comes from Gen. Musharraf in form of a four-point proposal, but this will only ruin the relations further.
THERE IS something quite revealing about General Musharraf’s four-point proposal for Kashmir. In his interview to a private news channel, General said if India is willing to remove its troops from the highly militarized Himalayan region, Pakistan will give up its claim for Kashmir.

But, this will only ruin and contaminate the relations between both the nations. By making such comments, General Musharraf is inviting trouble for Pakistan on the global arena. And, by relocating the troops from the Himalayan region to Punjab and Himachal Pradesh would offer more room for the Jehadis. It will provide them with easy access not only to Kashmir, but to other parts of India too. It will move the terror bracket close to the much-guarded political capital of India.

Musharraf’s new plan can be described as “unilateral concessions” to India by Pakistan. But, Kashmir has been a much-disputed issue between both the nations for 58 years, and now it is time to show flexibility over this vexed problem. Musharraf’s proposal can be discussed between the two neighbours only if they work together and fight divisive forces. Musharraf seems to be under tremendous pressure from the US, and by offering such peace-making concessions to India, he hopes to settle with a quick judgment on the Kashmir issue.

India and Pakistan have progressed in several areas of the composite dialogue, including the launch of a bus service between the divided parts of Kashmir, the Khokrapar-Munabao rail link, the reopening of consulates, easy visa process and confidence-building measures on nuclear issues. But, this has still not helped in resolving the Kashmir issue.

What could be a better solution? Is the Indian Prime Minister going to bat an eyelid on Musharraf’s proposal? Can’t say so.

The issue is complicated and it demands a strong peace dialogue between Foreign Ministries of both the countries. General’s proposal for Kashmir is just food for thought, and is only aimed at testing the public reaction. There is nothing concrete, new or substantial in his proposal. It is only to malign the Indian power.

Musharraf’s new proposal is only the repetition of the Katwari Plan that has been in the process of implementation for the last 10 years. The Katwari Plan only aims at “extricating” Kashmir Valley from India. Musharraf was sufficiently ambiguous in his proposal, and wants his domestic audience, especially the restive people of Pakistan occupied Kashmir to react. He wants to show the international community that he has kept his side of the bargain. However, there has to be a negotiation for settlement between both the nations, and the issue should be resolved in a sincere and purposeful manner. And, one can only hope that this time, both India and Pakistan will work together to find a solution.