This artist sketches animals in extinct on canvas

 

 

Here is a government school teachers who is creating awareness among populace about the birds and animals which are in extinct, using canvas as the medium.  UG Mohan Kumar Aradhya, an artist and a science teacher at government school in Karthalu Village, KR Nagar Taluk is the person who has exhibited his paintings at Suchitra Art Gallery, Kalamandira.

He has done a study about some of the rare species in extinct and has sketched them on canvas. Under the theme “Survival and Extinction of animals’ (Pranigala Alivu Uliu) he has put on display painting of rare species of birds and animals, which include Pyrenean Ibex, Seal, western black rhinoceros, passenger pigeon, elephant bird, Quagga, Asian Cheetah, vulture, smooth coated otter (neeru nayi), etc.

Out of 40 odd paintings, about 25 paintings drews the attention of public towards the birds and animals which are in extinct. While, remaining paintings are related to the reason for global warming, how man kind has destroyed the forest and environment; what has to be done to protect the flora and fauna etc.    

Apart from exhibiting his paintings in the cities, he visits the nearby schools and make children aware of the birds and animals which are in extinct and how to conserve them.  Speaking to Express, he says, “Due to rapid urbanisation, deforestation and change in climate, we can lose all indigenous species of animals and birds. Its high time we have to protect the wildlife and forest. There is need of creating awareness among young minds about the conservation of birds and animals, so it helps in higher extent to protect the wildlife.’

C Ravishankar, Executive Director, Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, after inaugurating the day-long expo on Wednesday, said: “Exhibition the animals in extinct on account of Wildlife Week Celebrations is more relevant and meaningful. There is need of more such exhibition to create awareness among populace about conservation of wild animals and birds.”

M Chandrashekhar, a visitor said: “The paintings are eye opener for society. Due to over greed we have damaged the environment to higher extent. Youngsters should come together and raise voice for the protection of wild and plant more trees to combat global warming.” 

Young champs take a call to conserve bio-diversity

The youngsters who wanted to become engineer, doctor, architectures, are now finding more interest to be a ecologist, environmentalist, conservationists of nature and wild life, and serve in forest department. Thanks for the Youth Club activities of Sri  Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, which is turning a new leaf in the lives of young minds.   

Sujith, first year engineering student at NIE, who wanted to become engineer, expressed his desire to be a Forest Range Officer. He says, “After becoming Youth Club member the perspective towards looking towards nature and animals has changed. I have understood nothing is important than conservation of nature and environment. After observing about   behavior of wild animals, there is no fear towards wild. I have noticed even they get panic when we go close to them. By studying about animals and nature from last couple of weeks, I have decided to serve in forest department and take a call to protect wild.”  

Diya, student of Marimallappa High School says, “I wanted to become a doctor. But now am in conflict either to become  ecologist nor a doctor. Our visit to Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary and studying about the plants, nature of cactus, looking towards wide variety of bamboos were very impressive.  The love towards 'Mother Nature' has increased after joining youth club. Every student should become members of Youth Club, which gives a new dimension to our career.”  

“After joining youth club, the way I look towards the dogs has changed. Earlier, if anybody was throwing stones for dogs was walking silently. But now I raise voice and ask them to respect animals. I also ask them to be compassion towards street dogs and other pet animals. Study about herbivores and carnivores animals, wallowing, protection of habitat, study of butterflies, tranquilizing equipment, and other classes are very interesting," adds Rachitha of Rotary School. 

“Youth Club activities are very knowledgeable and full of fun.  Exposure trips to Bandipur National park, Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary, Bird Watching helps us lot to understand the nature of birds and animals. I have become environmental lover after attending the programme,” added Bilwanand of Pushkarni School.  

“There is lot of behavioral change after joining the youth club. We are educating family and friends how to treat animals kindly. Resource persons from different fields deliver talks, and share their experiences about conservation of forest. The talks on rain water harvesting, conservation of water, importance of trees, reasons for global warming, climate change and several other issues are helping us to bend ourselves and take a call for protection of  nature,” says the members of youth club.   

"Earlier Sundays, I used to waste time watching television. Now, I eagerly wait for Sundays to take part in the Youth Club activities. Due to over greed we are spoiling our nature and we are causing threat to animals and birds. Rapid growth of urbanisation, increase in pollution has become cause of worrisome. There is need of educating family and friends. We discuss about the Zoo activities in schools, which helps our classmates to understand the importance of nature," adds Bharath, Vag Bharathi Vidya Samsthe. 

 

"The curious, enthusiasm among children is mind blowing and are essential for budding conservation biologists.  The children are also educated about sustainable development, waste management, protection of lakes, water management, importance of rain water harvesting, urban landscaping, etc. The activities will be conducted for ten months on every Sundays,"  added Dr Manjunath, veterinary doctor of Zoo.  

C Ravi Shankar, Executive Director of Zoo, who was also a member of Youth Club during his school days, going down the memory lane said,: "Earlier we were listening to resource persons, sitting beneath under a tree.  I came to know about the plants, birds only after I joined the youth club. Its sure the activities helps the young mind to understand about conservation of flora and fauna, and changes the perspective of people looking towards wild. India is a diverse country, and there is need of drawing attention of youngsters towards conservation of nature." 

"Youth Club", an unique conservation education programme of Myusru Zoo started in 1993. The aim of the Youth Club is to develop leadership qualities among the youth to spread the message of wildlife protection and environmental conservation.  In the last 25 years, about 1500 students (between 12-18 years) have underwent training under the programme.  About 60 students will be selected every year for Youth Club activities. There are instances, the youngsters after undergoing treatment are serving  in forest departments, and most of them have turned zoo volunteers. 

The children will be given hands on experience with scientific reasons related to conservation of nature., and acquaint knowledge about the captive management, wild life conservation, road ecology, revolution of zoo, and zoo activities like feeding animals, study of animal behavior, interaction with keepers and visitors, understanding the components of bio-diversity, recycling of waste into resource, how change in life style helps to conserve environment, also sensitizing young minds towards environmental issues, and implanting green initiatives. 

 

This illustration helps young minds to understand the botany better

 ‘Crow Quill dip-nib: Icing with Indian Ink’, an unique exhibition précising scientific diagrams displayed at Regional Museum of Natural History, Mysuru is receiving good response from the students.  

Illustrator A Shashikala,  an retired professor, Department of Zoology, Sarada Vilas College, Mysuru, has displayed about 120 illustrations at the Museum. She has drawn all kinds of animals, birds, microscopic structures observing through microscope and has displayed them. 

The works have been displayed under two categories -  Arthropoda (joined leg animals) and Gymnosperm. The diagrams also include Hirudinaria Granulosa observation diagram. These diagrams along with a bottle specimen or a microscopic slide will give information for students, which is essential in learning and presentation of practical record, theory paper, project work, dissertation, theses etc. 

Through the expo, Shashikala  wants to make students aware that drawing diagrams are very easy, and helps them to score good marks. Shashikala  was instrumental in drawing India Ink Diagrams in school text books, Pre-university text books, publications on botany and zoology, research papers, thesis, dissertation, etc. 

Arthropoda diagrams featured in the book Sandhipaadigalu and Anaavruthabeejasasyagalu (Gymnosperm) diagrams depicting naked seed producing plants are on display at the exhibition. Preserved bottle specimens arranged side by side the illustrations makes the exhibition a complete  learning experience and is a must visit for every life science student to have a practical experience. 

She  has mastered other forms of art too like oil painting, photography, chalk carving, craft work, music (vocal and veena). She has rendered songs for valour, patriotism, environment, safety, conservation, health awareness, devotion and social awareness.     

Going down the memory lane, 68-year-old Shashikala says, earlier diagrams were drawn, whereas now with advancement of technology drawing illustrations has come down. “Nowadays students don’t like to draw diagrams, as they think it is difficult to draw diagrams. There are instance students don’t opt for biology as they can’t get medical seat easily in merit. Drawing is nothing but, playing with lines and dots.”

“Diagrams play an important role in the study of biology. If student’s practice diagram they can easily score 50 per cent marks in examination. Drawing will be easy, if the perception of shape, structure and technical aspects are learnt. I have a teaching experience of more than 30 years and was instrumental in motivating students to draw a neat, correct practical record with precise labeling.  I have used ‘India Ink diagrams" for innumerable scientific publication. In every aspect diagrams are very important,” she adds. 

“By having a look towards diagrams, the students can develop a passion towards diagrams. The display of microscopic structures of plants, insects and animals are very beneficial for students.  This Crow Quill art was akin to our ancestors penning the scriptures without a pen. There is a need to preserve this rich history,  and handover for next generation. In all, the display will motivate students to improve their drawing skill,” adds Manoj Kumar, an art teacher at a private school.  

An initiative to keep Mysuru Clean: Autos in Mysuru have been fitted with a eco-friendly bag

Thanks for the members of Swachh Bharath vertical of Young Indians (Yi), an integral part of confederation of Indian Industries (CII), who are on a mission to keep the city clean and are fitting eco-friendly cloth bags to autos to ensure the waste is not littered on the roads.

This "Auto Bins" which aptly fits next to the auto meter is designed for disposal of dry waste like chocolate, biscuit papers, chocolate wrappers, small papers and dry fruit peels, with a message to “Keep Mysuru Clean" . With this, passengers have to dump the waste in the bag, and the driver disposes them later.

About 500 autos have been fitted with these bins at pre-paid auto stand in suburban bus stand, railway station and the Zoo. Its one of the step by YI to keep the city clean and effort to get back clean city tag. Yi Mysuru plans to scale up this initiative in the second phase of their project with their motto "We can we will". 

With this, the young team Swachh Bharath headed by members Ghanshyam Murali, Sharath Kumar, Sachin Subramanian, Ravi Shankar and Akshara Kumar are contributing for the national mission of Swatchh Bharat Abhiyan.  

According to the members, “large number of tourists and localities prefer to commute in autos to reach their destinations. There are instances after eating popcorn, chocolates and other snacks they litter the waste on road. We hope the disposal of garbage while travelling in auto will now become efficient. The bag acts as a mini dustbin, and passengers can use them.”

Akshara Kumar, Member of Yi says,: “The city has 1.5 lakh autos, we want to launch this in phases and make sure each and every auto proudly has one and takes pride in contributing for Swachh Mysore. Once this project is finished, we hope to take this as a national project and want all the autos in India to have a bin, thus contributing to Swachh Bharath. We are happy with the good response from the auto drivers.”

Ghanshyam Murali, “We first started this project with an idea of launching car bins, but since Mysore is a tourist hub, and majority of the people travel in autos, we decided to do the auto bin project.  The auto bin project is one of our most innovative projects. Using eco-friendly cloth will make sure plastic is not used. The bin is easy to tie and can be tied anywhere in the auto. We are receiving a good response from auto drivers, who are very supportive.

Generates Employment  

“Mysore has been awarded the cleanest city in India, and has an influx of a high number of tourists round the year. We plan to maintain the city's cleanliness with innovative and eco-friendly projects. The bin made of cloth costs Rs 20. They can be washed timely and reused several times. The cloth bins will generate employment and helps to keep the road clean by avoiding littering,” adds Sachin Subramanian, another member.  

What citizens say..

"Some passengers eat bananas, cucumbers wrapped in newspaper and other snacks in the autos. Earlier, they were throwing the waste on roads, and now we ask them to dump in the bin. We are happy for becoming a part to educate people about cleanliness and keep the city clean,” says Santosh, an auto driver.  

“We are already facing water logging and floods problem when there will be heavy downpour. People should understand by littering garbage on roads, it gets accumulated in drains, and there will be no easy flow of water. Moreover keeping the city clean is our responsibility,” adds T Anand, another auto driver.

“There is lack of civic sense among people. We can find splitting, littering garbage on roads. Its an responsibility of every citizen to keep the city clean. By stopping the littering on roads, we can witness a big difference,” says C Rekha, citizen.

About Swachh Bharath

Swachh Bharath is a vertical in Young Indians concentrating on the city's and country's overall cleanliness and green revolution. The vision is to bring in consistent, useful and innovative methods to keep the city clean. 

St Philomena's Church, an tallest churche in Asia comes alive in pen refills !

The miniature sculpture of St Philomena's Church, one of the tallest churches in Asia has been created with used 2500 pen refills by miniature artist Sreenivasulu MR. To mark his 10^th anniversary in miniature arts, he has come out with the structure and he has taken 18 months to build the structure and has worked three hours per day after his office work.

His wish is to make all the famous landmarks around the world from used pen refills and setup a miniature museum in Bangalore or Mysore. Thereby, he wants to educate people on 3R principle- reduce, reuse and recycle of plastic materials and save our planet.

Sreenivasulu, an software engineer by profession, is an native of Dharmavaram in Andhra Pradesh, and has settled in Bangalore. He had a hobby of collecting used pen refills from friends from the age of 13. By the end of his PUC, he had collected almost 2000 pen refills of different brand.

It was a decade ago Sreenivasulu who was creating miniature houses from marriage invitations cards, thought of creating a miniature work using used pen refills. In 2007, the miniature structure creation of 'Eiffel Tower' from used pen refills was initiated. It took 8 months to make Eiffel Tower from 200 pen refills. Later, the splurge of the structures continued. Charminar, Big-Ben Clock, Taj Mahal, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Gateway of India, Seattle Space Needle, Sydney Harbor Bridge and the recent one St Philomena Church, Mysore, India all fell out from used pen refills. Now, he has built 9th landmark St Philomena Church.

“Each structure takes 3 to 6 months to construct and it depends on the complexity of the architecture. The toughest and longest days of work is taken for St Philomena Church. I have spent 18 months and 2500+ pen refills to build the structure. Ideally I take 3 hours per day to construct the structures after my office work,” adds Sreenivasulu who is also a classical dancer and makes sculptures from chalks and sand.

He has set a nation record and has been awarded 'India Book of Records' in the year 2012 for making miniature of Taj Mahal from 700 used pen refills. He has displayed his works at several exhibitions. He visit schools and colleges in his free time to educate students on environment pollution by plastic materials. As pat of 'Say No to Plastic' programme, he has setup refills collection boxes, which is the source of raw material to make miniature structures. He also teaches students on making models.

 

   

First Indian woman to defeat a male in Mixed Martial Arts in a cage fight

Dr Komal fighting with Nikes Agarwal from Guardian Gym Germany  

at the Mixed Martial Arts Fight took place in Germany. 

This woman knocks out a man in one punch and slams him to the ground in one throw. Meet 35-year-old Dr Komal Rao, who has defeated a male opponent in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in a cage fight took place in YBN Germany in July 2017. With this, She has become the first woman in the world to defeat a male opponent in MMA.

Dr Komal, is the adopted daughter of Dr Seema Rao, India's first woman commando Trainer and Major Dr Deepak Rao, a Pioneer of Close Quarter Battle. Residents of Mumbai, the family had recently visited Mysuru and here are the excerpts from the interview:

Dr Komal began learning Jeet Kune Do (JKD), an form of martial arts from the tender age of 15. Today, she is one among the five female instructors in the world to get certified as a full instructor in Jeet Kune Do (JKD) by Richard Bustillo, an direct student of Bruce Lee. After her mother Dr Seema Rao, she is the second in the country to get certified.

Dr Komal has done her advanced training in JKD, under grand master Richard Bustillo. She runs a Mixed Martial Arts Fight Club 'Academy of Combat Fitness’ and conducts regular workshops and teaches Jeet Kune Do in Mumbai. She is also serving as an Deputy Director of an NGO Unarmed Commando Combat Academy. 

After undergoing training for 20 long years, she became a pro MMA fighter with her debut fight in Young Blood Night 9 and was slotted to fight Elke Beinwachs on June 2, 2017 in the 52 kg category. However, when Elke did not turn up for the fight, she agreed to fight Nikes Agarwal from Guardian Gym Germany in the 60kg category.




Dr Komal who won by submission in the second round using a rear naked choke, said: ‘I am the only Indian woman to have fought a male in an MMA cage fight. I have been ranked 22nd in the Pro MMA Women fighter in Germany and I feel proud about it. My next fight will be around next April at a pre-decided destination in Europe,  perhaps Poland  or maybe in Brazil.’

Sharing her experience before and after fight, she said: “Before the fight there was a lot of excitement and anticipation and little bit of apprehension. After the fight there was elation and a sense of accomplishment.”

Komal, a soft nature girl, spent her childhood with illness and poor constitution. To become strong physically and mentally, she decided to learn Jeet Kune Do under the guidance of her parents. She says: ‘I Am 35 and going strong. I run 5 kilo meters twice a week, and go to gum, and fight professionally in a mixed martial art cage.’

When questioned about what is required for a woman fight in a cage, she said: ‘A woman has to fight in a particular weight category. She has to shed her fatty weight to about 10 per cent of total.  She has to be extremely fit to last 15to 25 minutes inside the cage. For this she has to train for 5km run, lift weights, do cross training besides skill training. She has to train in boxing, muay thai,  grappling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. She should be very fit, flexible and condition every part of her body to take hits.’






Are women interested to learn MMA: “‘In our country good training facility do not exist and women generally do not want to take up hard core sport, as grievous injury like black eye, nose burst, and internal bleeds occur.” 


Talking about craze among people about MMA, she said: ‘Mixed martial arts is a world wide sport, however the first time Super Fight League (SFL) hosted it in India under patronage of Sanjay Dutt many years ago. Now almost every other youngster is aware of it, but there are hardly any women participants from India.’

Komal is the owner of India's No 1 Fight Club academy of Combat Fitness and also dealing with defence forces in modernisation of counter terror training. She is also Director of All India JKD Headquarters, Pro MMA Fighter. She has also acted in the movie Hathapayi an Indian MMA movie with name 'Kayra'.  She says: ‘As an MMA coach, my students have won medals at World Mixed Martial Arts Championship in Russia this year and am happy about it. The response to my JKD academy is very good, with good number of metro students joining  every month,  but generally they join for fitness and Bruce Lee's philosophy.’

Father Major Dr Deepak Rao said: ‘Komal was very weak,  thin and skinny in constitution, frail in health and timid in personality. Now after MMA she is strong confident and a woman of substance. She is one among the few women in the world to have fought a male in the pro MMA event. she is a fifth degree black belt under UCCA organisation and conducts seminars, workshop on JDK Philosophy.  We are proud of her as she is the first from country to defeat a male in a cage fight.'

Talking about her fight Mother Dr Seema Rao said: ‘Komal fought a male opponent heavier than her by 10kgs. The first round witnessed both opponents fighting each other with strikes,  with Komal being cautious and sizing the opponent.  In the second round Komal had understood her opponents weakness.  As he charged in she slipped her hand around his neck and choked him using a guillotine lock. The opponent started fading into unconsciousness and tapped just in time.  And a tap on the mat indicates submission and surrender. This occurred within 2 minutes of the second round.
 

Highlights
* Mixed Martial Arts is a sport where participants fight in a cage using kicking,  punching,  wrestling and ground attacks. MMA is a cold blooded brutal sport where victory is by knockout or submission due to cranking (twisting) of a joint or by locking the neck to unconsciousness.
* Jeet Kune Do (JKD) is an American Chinese  martial art founded by Bruce Lee along with philosophy of Zen and Taoism. This was the first mixed martial art of the world.
It is one of the most sought martial art in the world.  Its made of punching,  kicking,  grappling and ground fighting.  And in essence the first hybrid martial art.  Its very popular among adult metro men and women as it helps them in fitness and stress management.
* A cage fight is a fight inside a cage,  with 3 to 5 rounds of 5mins each with very thin lightly padded gloves where each strike will cause a cut and bleed. Two participants  are locked in a cage with refree and can't escape even if they want to. Victory is by submission  or Knock out.

Below is video link of her fight
https://youtu.be/5aUo0iHEFK8

Shooting stars: Teaching archery for visually challenged

A team member from Solanki’s camp teaching archery to a visually challenged man

MYSURU:  One by one, they stand in position, listen intently to the sound of bell, walk a few steps and shoot the arrow. Some of the archers squeal in delight when they are told they’ve hit the bull’s eye. Some want to go to the target board and feel the circle. A

DSD Solanki

nd when they do, this group of visually challenged archers senses a triumph of belief. It’s a belief instilled by DSD Solanki, the man behind this innovative project.

Having been in the field of adventure sports since his childhood, the 44-year-old has conducted more than a 100 archery camps. He began the camps as a recreational tool for youngsters. One day he thought if ordinary people with no skills in archery could wield the arrow and even excel in it, why not involve the visually challenged too. This motivated him to impart archery training for the visually challenged. Solanki discussed the idea with people working for the visually challenged and chalked out the techniques of teaching them archery. 

To his surprise, he found that the lack of sight wasn’t a big barrier for them as the visually challenged equipped themselves with skills that overcame this perceived handicap. “I found it was more interesting and easier to teach them to hone their skills in archery. They don’t have vision but their other sensory organs are strong and they concentrate better than those with sight,” he says. The group of visually challenged archers have it all in their mental map: the bow, arrow, position, sound of bell, wind speed, flags, rope and target.

The sound of the bell and the arrow is let off in perfect synchronicity. Going down the memory lane, Solanki recalls, “When I used to go on expeditions, it is mandatory that we keep the trekkers or mountaineers engaged in some activities. When we went to Chandertal expedition in Himachal Pradesh in 2005, we took the bow and arrow and explored the possibilities. It worked out better and since then we have kept it as recreational activity in our programmes.”

For the past couple of years he has been conducting competitions for orphans, visually challenged and destitute children in Mysuru, Bengaluru and Hassan. “We have been receiving good response,” says Solanki, whose repertory in adventure sports includes trekking, parasailing, gliding, skydiving, flying, rock climbing, kayaking, rafting, scuba diving. Solanki says the constant support from Rotary Mysore Midtown and Muniraju, a retired employee of the National Association of Blind, has helped him and his team impart the skills. The concentration, observations and passion of the blind are worth appreciating, he says. “We had lot of fun during the camp.

Though it was a unique experience, we wondered how we could hit the target without seeing. But Solanki sir motivated us describing how the champions go blindfolded and set records. This infused confidence in us and we took part in the archery camp,” adds Raghavendra, a visually challenged person. “My happiness knew no bounds when I hit the blue target. The camp was a different experience altogether and I can’t thank Solanki sir enough for giving us this opportunity,” says Soundarya.

Solanki, who is also honorary secretary for Tiger Adventure Foundation, visits various schools, colleges and teaches the young about archery, sometimes involving the parents too so that awareness about archery is created among public. Solanki and his team sources the bows from Korea, while the bamboo arrows are procured from Delhi. “Our aim is to expose them to archery. Whether the children want to take it up as a competitive sport is left to them,” he says. Lohit, an archer, says the experience has been worthwhile for the trainers too. Dr LP Ravi Kumar, Principal, Harvard School of Excellence, Hassan, says exposing the students to such activity helps them deal better with the challenges ahead.

Know how they aim the target  

At first, the visually challenged will be familiarised with the ground, where they are going to be roped in for the activity. Later, they will be briefed about the Archery and will be given to touch and feel the equipment like bow, arrow, bell.

They will be explained about the salient features for the target of the scores, and about target in white colour, Blue Colour, Yellow and Red circles. In final, distance will be measured from the bull’s eye to the shooting spot, which helps them to hit the target easily. 

Blind Manjula said: ‘A bell will be hanged to the target board. Standing in shooting place we concentrate on the bell sound from which direction it is coming.  As we take step count prior to the shooting, it helps to aim the target. Though we miss few targets in beginning, we get an idea about the speed, and where we should aim. The programme organizers navigate to hit the target, which are helpful.’

 

‘We had lot of fun during the camp. Though it was a unique experience, we were feared how we can target without vision. Solanki motivated us informing how normal people go blind folded to set records, which infused self confidence and made us to take part in the archery camp,’ adds Raghavendra, another visually challenged person.

‘Participating in archery camps gives a different experience. By keenly observing the bell sounds we can easily reach the aim. We thank Solanki for conducting camps for visually challenged and the way he teaches is easily understandable. There was no bound for my happiness when I hit the blue circle. I touched the spot where my arrow had hit. It was a first time in the life we experience how archery will be, and no hopes in future we get an opportunity as the financial obligations is a big question mark,’ adds Soundarya, sharing her experience.   

Initially when we were aiming at the target it used to get deviated. We realized that if we aim at the outer circle then we hit the target, which is called the wind/velocity also has to be analyzed while aiming, adds Jyothi.

Bringing back the blooms

D N Srikanta Raje Urs with Bharathi Sridhar Raje Urs, vice president of Sri Jayachamaraja Ursu Education Trust, at Sri Vani Vilas Ursu Girls High School in Mysuru


He walks up to a plant and stops. He looks at it closely to confirm if it is a rare flowering plant.  “It would look beautiful growing on the roadside and on the hill in Mysuru,” he muses. He won’t rest until he gets the seeds and sows them in Mysuru. Outwardly there is nothing about him that would point to  the vast knowledge he has about rare flowers. He does his job quietly.
Seventy-four-year-old D N Srikanta Raje Urs, a trustee and joint secretary of Sri Jayachamaraja Urs Education Trust, is on a mission to recapture the flower power of Mysuru.

Tabebuia Chrysantha, Jacaranda, Cassia Nodosa, Mammea Suriga:  Bursts of these yellow, violet and pink blossoms used to dot the city’s landscape. These rare flowering plants are slowly becoming extinct and some have vanished, thanks to rapid urbanisation.

But Srikanta Raje Urs wants to make Mysuru bloom again. He seeds exotic flowering plants and ensures they grow into trees. What is unique about some of these flowers is that they bloom during Dasara.
He has been busy collecting seeds of these flowering trees from Lalbagh in Bengaluru and of ‘Flame of the Forest’ from Siddapur in Uttara Kannada for over a decade. He preserves and germinates them in the right environment taking utmost care. He sets aside two hours daily to germinate seeds and nurture  the saplings.
His mission doesn’t end there. He distributes the saplings to educational institutions and interested citizens free of cost, thereby motivating the public to grow flowering trees.

Over the past several years, Srikanta Raje Urs has studied about these exotic plants and has equipped himself with enough knowledge to create awareness among public about the need to conserve rare species of flowering trees.
“The seeds of these trees were earlier brought from several parts of the country. They are very hard and cannot be germinated easily. I discovered a technique by which 80 per cent of seeds can germinate within three days. The only thing is we have to nurture the trees for one rainy season and protect them from cattle,” he says.

Watering just once a week is enough while a mild pest control is needed. The lifespan of these trees is around 60 years and in some instances more than 100 years.
“Following urbanisation, we are losing the rare flowering trees of America, Colombia, Brazil, Thailand and Argentina. My desire is to plant trees along the roads approaching Mysuru, near Railway Line and also atop Chamundi Hill and in new layouts that are being developed.

We can further enhance the beauty of Mysuru with these flowering plants. This would also provide a great view if we see from atop Chamundi Hill,” he adds.

“My father D Nanjaraj Urs was a close associate of Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, the king of Mysuru. My father used to talk about Wadiyars’ initiative. This inspired me to grow uncommon trees. I feel happy, when people, students inquire about native of plants, or they suitable for our climatic condition, their characters,’ he adds.

Know who planted the saplings
Gustav Hermann Krumbiegel, who visited Baroda for landscaping, came to Mysuru State in 1908 to render his service. During the period, Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV entrusted him to plant the saplings of flowering trees. Nalwadi was very fond of nature and used to plant saplings of flowering and fruit bearing trees atop Chamundi hill and scatter seed during rain seasons.

Learning over that people in Mysuru are not much enthused about plants, compared to Bengaloreans, he decided to host flower shows and develop interest among populace about rare flowering plants. In Karnataka we can find rare trees only in Bengaluru, and couple of trees along Bengaluru-Mysuru Highway, and few in Mysuru.

Exclusive Nursery


An exclusive nursery is being developed inside Sri Vani Vilas Urs Girls High School to grow saplings. The progrmme is being patronised by Pramoda Devi Wadiyar. College students, staff, teachers are been engaged in Nursery, and the young minds are made aware of rare trees.




To plant large number of flowering plants in and around the city, the trust is planning to raise 2000 saplings by the next rainy season. Already 400 saplings to Mysuru City Corporation in July to be planted in parks.

Student Vanitha said: “We had no idea Mysuru once housed such rare flowering plants. By engaging in nursery activities we came to know about we were nurturing exotic plants, which are in extinct. I am planning to grow a plant in my own backyard at my house. Planting flowering trees will increase the beauty of the city.’

Economist Teacher Siddappa said: ‘Srikanta Raje Urs is very passionate to raise flowering trees, and his initiatives has made us to realilse what we have missed. The exotic flowering plants has to be protected and people have to be educated about this rare plants.’

Bharathi Sridhar Raje Urs, Vice President of the Trust said: ‘Our efforts at creating tree wealth should be strengthened by the Corporation by maintaining the trees. To compensate the adverse effects of axing trees, Corporation should start an urban tree nursery. There are also suggestions from experts that Bonsai gardening be adopted to trees lining roads and avenues to further enhance the beauty. We request the MCC to envisage a plan to make Mysore more beautiful and cleaner.’
 

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The rare flowering trees in extinct at Mysuru  

Colvillea Racemosa native of Madagascar

These trees were planted during the reign of Maharaja Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar in Albert Victor Road along with Cassia Spectabilis bearing yellow flowers and spathodea bearing red colour flowers. The blooms of these trees coincided with Dasara festivals. These trees are found in St Philomena’s College of Mysuru. It is our ardent wish that if these plants are planted on the route of Dasara procession more glamour would be added to the state festival, says DN Srikanta Raje Urs. 

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 Jacaranda : Native of South America, Mexico, Central America

  In Mysuru these plants were found in stretches of Shashadri Iyer Road known as Dewans Road. There were found on either sides of the road, bearing beautiful shapes of blue flowers, a refreshing sight in the blooming season. As Dewan’s Road developing as commercial road these trees disappeared.  It is an avenue tree and called road side dream. We can sight this 

trees rarely in Mysuru. 

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 Cassia Fistula

Cassia Fistula (Kakke Gida) known as golden showers is a native of Indian Sub Continent. It is the national tree of Thailand and its flower is Thailand’s National Flower. This only tree is found in Butterfuly Park in Karnaji Lake. This tree as medicicinal values and used in natural therapy.


Tabebuia Chrysantha 

    
Tabebuia Chrysantha  originally from Colombia, Brazil and Bolavia are  known as Golden Trumpet or golden Tabebuia. These trees can be found in Jaladarshini (2), Mysuru Palace (2), Metropole (1) and Kuppanna Park (1).
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Tabebuia Avellaneda (Pink Trumpet Tree)

Tabebuia Avellanede tree with pink flowers are found in Manasagangotri campus and few areas in Mysuru. It is a small saturated tree with pink trumpet like flowers. 

Cassia nodosa is found in Lalbagh, Bengaluru. While, Cassia White is found in a house in Vontikoppal, Mysuru. Cassia Javanica bearing pink flowers was earlier found in KR hospital.

(Courtesy: Flowers Pics from Internet)

This Mysuru family all set to create ‘Dangal’

 

7-year-old lass in Rifah action packet enjoys the thrill of riding a quad bike in the open ground 

 

Taking a leaf out of the hit movie 'Dangal', here is a real life story of a young girl from Mysuru, whose father has sacrificed his life and earnings just to see her daughter become a Formula One car racer.  

 

Tajuddin, a resident of NR Mohalla, and a national-level car racer had dreamt of becoming a World Champion. But, he could not realize his dream due to lack of financial support and other commitments. Instead he decided to fulfill his dream through his two daughters.  

Tajuddin has trained his 7-year-old daughter Rifah Taskeen, a 2nd standard student of St Joseph School to drive not just a car but even a lorry and every kind of bike. He started training Rifah when she was just 3 years old. Over the past four years, she even learnt driving lorry, quad bike and bikes of different makes. Rifah who drives confidently and cautiously is so talented that she effortlessly perform car drifting and also drive the vehicle in reverse gear for more than 50 rounds.  

  

The family has completed the documentation process and has submitted the same for both Guinness World Records and Limca World Record. They hope the girl will enter the record books.  

 

Father builds quad bike   

 

Tajuddin has built a quad bike using spare parts from different vehicles, all from scratch. He has made use of parts from mopeds, engine from Kinetic Honda,  Chassis of  Suzuki Samurai, tyres of scooty Pep to build the vehicle. As he did not have any prior experience he had to face several challenges to  assemble the vehicle and took six months to build it.

 

Rifah can now drive any power steering vehicle with ease and she enjoys the thrill of riding the vehicles. Rifah can complete 50 rounds driving in reverse. She has even participated in race competitions held at Mandya and Mysore. Extra seat, extra pedals are attached for lorries to make her feel comfortable.  

Give an opportunity  

 

“A boy in America has set a record at the age of 10 in racing by driving a normal car, which even can my daughter do it. She drives car (alto 800, swift, santro, scorpio, innova, lancer, goods vehicle like tata ace, bolero, eicher lorry, etc. There are no girls have created a world championship. In foreign countries talented children are encouraged and there is lot of scope for racing. We request government to give an opportunity to showcase our daughter talent at the the torch light parade to be held at Bannimantap during Dasara,” added Tajuddin .

Tajuddin had won more than 40 silver trophies, and has to his credit several prizes in racing. He has also worked as stunt artist in few films. His dreams is to train his daughter to drive a Ferrari vehicle when she reaches 17.  

She will be undergoing training in Bengaluru next month and is planning to take part in a major race event to be shortly held in Tamil Nadu. If she wins, she will be  representing India in Nationals and World Championship.   

My father is role model

Adventure enthusiast Rifah says: "My father is a role model for me and am blessed to have him in my life. He sits besides me and guides me. I love driving. It is a very thrilling experience to drive vehicles in reverse and my favourite is riding quad bike.I want to become a pilot in future and a world popular and famous rider. Am also passionate about Aero glider, and wish to undergo training at Aeromodelling Glider Center at Mangalore.

 

“We are proud of her. She is driving the vehicle since she was 3. We take all safety measures while driving and we allow her to practice only on vacant grounds,” adds Mother Bibi Fathima, a Urdu School Teacher.

 

Sister Shifa who has also learnt to ride gears vehicles said: ‘We are concentrating and committed only to make her world champion racer. For the past several years, he has left the job and has dedicated himself to train Rifah. Mother looks after the family. Our only dream is to make her world championship Racer.’

According to law, there is no permission to drive any vehicle on public way for the minors. Whereas, any age group of people can drive in their private place and its not a offense.

  

Wood art catches like fire

While yoga may be very popular among foreign tourists, there is another activity that fast becoming a favourite among them

 

Varis is a tourist from Arustralia, who has been visiting the city for the past two years. Unlike most
tourists who come to Mysuru for its Yoga, Varis is more interested to learn the traditional art of wood inlay works.

"Each time I come here I make sure I learn a little bit more about the art. I now know how to select the right kind of wood and the right colouring shades. If I have any doubts when I am not in the city I
call the masters here and get them cleared," he says.

Like Varis, many foreigners from Europe, Australia, Spain,  German, Switzerland, France, and several Parts of America are coming to Mysore attracted by the desire to learn the art. While most pursue wood inlay art as a hobby, there are quite a few who claim to want to take up wood inlay work
more seriously and even make it their profession.

Katt, another a tourist from UK says that the inlay works are very different from anything she has
done before and compared arranging the intricate patterns and designs to solving puzzles. "We can
give 3D effects or just emboss the designs. It requires lot of skills
and requires patience," she adds.

Catherine from Australia, points out that the art works can also be used using waste wood,
trimmed branches from trees. "I have learnt to create couple of small designs which makes me
feel very proud. The techniques and methods has to be followed meticulously,” he adds.
S Ashok Kumar, a local artisan who has been engaged in the work for many years says that the tourists pass on word about the art to their friends and acquaintances in
their respective countries.
"They  are very dedicated and are very keen to know about this rich culture and tradition. They also purchase the art works in large numbers," he says.

Good for business

The artisans find teaching to foreigners very lucrative. The demand for the art works is not so good in local market with local  citizens or domestic tourists hardly showing any interest to learn it.
There were more than 17,000 inlay artisans in the royal city before Independence and presently there
are hardly 3000.

Anand, another artisan, says: ‘There is not only a dearth of buyers for the art works, but the local
population is not interested to learn the art at all. Its sad that it's foreigners who are more keen in pursuing such works."

Woods for the art Some of most common wood used in the art are rose wood, silver wood, teak,
yellow teak, honne wood (Merbau), matti tree, ebony, jack fruit, tamarind tree,
silver matti, pathangadamara, and other varieties of wood.

From Persia to Mysuru
Wood Inlay is an ancient Persian technique art. Persian artist who came to India to do inlay works on the Taj Mahal in Agra spread across the country.  Mysuru was a separate state during
this time and the artisans who came here were encouraged by erstwhile Maharajas. During the period, inlay works on rosewood, and ivory became very common. Some of the works which can be seen in the palace even today, are testimony to the workmanship of the time.

Shaukat Ali, a famous inlay wood artist who received a National Award, simplifi ed this wood inlay work and created a huge market for artisans by making them cheaper. Before this,
inlay wood arts were very costly.