Prime South: Tidings From The Southern States

Named after the legendary queen of Nizam Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah, Bhagmati has anair-conditioned restaurant on the main deck while the top deck has a stage where theculture aficionados can enjoy a play or a dance programme. The entry fee for a one-hourtour of the lake costs Rs 50 for adults and Rs 30 for children during the day. At night,prices double to Rs 100 for adults and Rs 60 for children. The launch can also be bookedfor two hours every day between 11 am to 1 pm and from 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm for Rs 4,000.The rate, of course, doubles during the night between 8.30 pm to 11 pm. As always, thecruise has also become popular with the filmi crowd. Rates for a seven-hour shoot for thebig screen has been fixed at Rs 15,000 and for TV serials it’s Rs 4,000 pertwo-and-a-half hours.

Many have fallen for Bhagmati’s charms. "The city looks so beautiful from thelake," says N. Satyavathi, a software engineer, who keeps bringing her only kid backfor rides.

To down the main road of Rajiv Rahadari near Tumukunta, about 20 km from the Secunderabadrailway station, and step into the big gate that stares back at you. That’sAlankrita, best described as Andhra’s new gateway to the ethnic world. Alankrita is ahappening heritage resort and corporate retreat that takes one away from the hustle andbustle of the city. In the urban landscape, increasingly sporting glass and cementstructures, it is refreshing to see buildings made the traditional way using pillars andtiles. A brainchild of Dr D.S. Deendayal, Alankrita transports you to a bygone era."It is pleasingly different from the concrete jungles," says Dr Deendayal. Mostof the artefacts used to beautify the resort were bought by Deendayal himself and are apart of his personal collection. The place is ideal for meditation and discourse and yoga.For self-introspection, there is a temple thrown in as well. Alankrita also has its touchof the banal—a sprawling mandap for marriages and conference halls for corporatehouses, besides a multi-cuisine restaurant.

Few establishments in Thiruvananthapuram offer the executive-style comforts thatjet-lagged businessmen look forward to. Now the Muthoot Plaza, the first five-starbusiness hotel in Thiruvananthapuram, hopes to usher in a new era in hospitality for theharried executive class. Located at the city-centre, the hotel boasts "Turn of theMillennium Exteriors" in its lobbies and guest rooms. It has another bigplus—the top brass of the state tourism department are actively promoting the hotel,by word of mouth as well as frequency of visits. And that can surely help.

Cities in India have been eternally struggling with the problem of street dogs—youput away ten street dogs and a week later another ten will replace them. Bangalore hasfound a solution in abc (Animal Birth Control). Launched in October last year, this is ajoint effort between animal welfare organisations and the City Corporation. Says SangeethaLakshminarayanan of Krupa, a 24-hour helpline for animals: "who recommends abc forSouth Asian countries because of our peculiar physical environment that is different fromthe developed countries." abc stops street dogs from multiplying and makes them lessaggressive during mating season. Since life expectancy of a street dog is only 4 to 5years, this leads to a gradual reduction in the street dog population. A few months ago,Krupa started a 24-hour helpline with the help of the Bangalore City Corporation and theHimalaya Drug Company. The helpline counsels callers on abc, undertakes treatment ofsick/injured animals and networks with other animal welfare organisations. So, if you seeany animal—bovine, feline, canine, reptile—in distress, call Krupa, 080-2224541,or visit www.lovinganimals.com.

Koothu-p-pattarai, a theatre group in Chennai, has been trying to revive the dying folkart form of Theru-Koothu (street theatre) since 1977. Last week, for the firsttime, it got a troop from Thanjavur—Karambai Aravaan Kalabali Nadaga Mandaram—toperform in Chennai. Led by an old but energetic K.M. Rajangam, the group gave a day-longperformance at Alliance Francaise interspersed with discussions with urban dance andtheatre personalities such as Anitha Rathnam, Karaikudi Subramanian, Prof Ramanujan and C.Ravindran. The Karambai group, unlike koothu groups from North Arcot district, are notfull-time professionals. They perform only once a year and it is a deeply religiousaffair.

Interestingly, they perform only Aravaan Kalabali, a full-length exposition ofa remote incident in Mahabharatha—the sacrifice of Aravaan, one of Arjuna’s sonsin order to ensure victory in the Kurukshetra war. What was unique was the actors playingthe important roles of Krishna and Kali feeling "possessed" every now and then;they had to be physically restrained when possessed, such is the emotion invested in acharacter. But sorry, no roles for women in this show.

As if one were not enough, Asianet Communications Limited has launched a second Malayalamchannel. This one, however, overtly and consciously targets the non-resident Malayalis.Called Asianet Global, the round-the-clock channel is being pitched as a more seriouscounterpart to the existing entertainment channel. The content aims to be"hard-hitting, investigative, crisp", according to the company press release andis meant for the serious, high-minded viewer. For the ordinary souls, the so-called"masses", there will be the usual fare of talk shows and the rest. The newchannel is expected to tap Gulf-based Malayalis’ nostalgia for God’s OwnCountry. Hope that translates into some committed viewership as well.

For singles in India’s silicon city Bangalore, a chatmate or soulmate is now just aphone call away. A new dating voice-mail service was started in the city a while ago. Itcomes at an affordable tariff and with built-in checks to shake off rogue wooers. Startedby Vivekananda Desai, a 35-year-old environment engineer, the voice mail offers fivecategories of services: Casual, activity-related, soulmate search, telechat and a singlessection. Desai chose to launch the service in Bangalore because it has "lots ofsingles looking for partners." All users, however, are screened beforehand through anaptitude and personality test by a psychiatrist before they get to leave messages on thedating service.

Paes and Bhupati are not the only players who have done India proud on the tennis circuit.Harry ‘Boniface’ Prabhu was India’s lone entry in the 2001 Japan OpenWheelchair Tennis Championship, but he made sure he did not return empty handed. He wonthe QAD (quadriplegic) B, and is now practicing for the US Open (October 2001). "Ifeel good about my performance and am determined to become the number one player in theworld," he said after his successful trip to Japan. At 28, Prabhu has many firsts tohis credit. He is the first Indian to win a medal at an International ParaOlympic Gamesand the first Indian wheelchair tennis player to reach the finals of the US Open andAustralian Open Grand Slam. He also won the Sydney International Wheelchair Open in 1999.Prabhu was afflicted by a crippling disease when he was just three and is paralysed fromthe hip. He got the name ‘Boniface’ because he shares his birthday with a saint.   

Sachin Tendulkar might have given a ‘lame’ excuse to avoid playing the one-daytri-series in Sri Lanka but he was in Chennai on a whirlwind though hush-hush visit.Sachin was in the city for a photo shoot with high-profile fashion photographer AtulKasbekar. With the Chepauk stadium as backdrop, the shoot was reportedly for theendorsement of a new car from the Fiat stable. The media was kept away but the local ChildRelief and You got wind of Sachin’s presence in town. It didn’t take muchconvincing to get Sachin to spend an hour with the cry kids. The Little Master always playfor a good cause.