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Showing posts from 2015

Oggu Katha - Oral Storytelling Theatrical Performance of Telangana

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Oggu Katha is a traditional folklore singing praising and narrating the stories of the Hindu God Mallana. Mallanna Katha which is performed by the Oggu Pujarulu (minstrels) to their patron community, the seven Kurumas / Gollas. Mallanna Katha is their caste myth, which narrates the exploits of Mallanna their caste hero. As the Mallanna Katha is narrated using a particular percussion instrument called as "Oggu" by "Oggu Pujarulu" it is popularly termed as Oggu Katha.  In other words, Oggu Katha is the style of narration, which belongs to a distinct genre with an admixture of song-speech-dance-sequence performed by 5 to 7 performers having a lead narrator within them. They also narrate stories on  Beerappa,  Yellamma, Pedaraasi Peddamma Katha. It is one of the well-known folk art forms of the Telangana region.  It originated among the Yadav & Kuruma Golla community, who devoted themselves to the singing of ballads in praise of Lord Siva. Oggu

Uncovering the Mask

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The above  article appeared in Bhavan's Journal August 2015  vol.62 no 2

Storytelling-Journey from Unknown to Known

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Glimpses of listening to various stories told by my paternal grandmother were perhaps one of the most beautiful days of my childhood. Most of the stories told by her would be connected to Sri Vaishava philosophy, mythology, and also some humorous stories based on her personal experiences encountered which she would very skillfully create into a story and tell. My journey of listening to the stories began then. I somehow liked to listen to a person's life experience-be good, bitter, challenging, adventurous, or an amusement kind, I enjoyed listening to them thoroughly. My favorite storytellers are vegetable sellers, a cobbler, flower sellers, maidservants-domestic workers, milkmen or milkmaids, masons, tailors, old women, and so on. Each one had something interesting to share. This helped me again, to understand the cultural aspects of various religions, caste, class, creed, and so on. My grandmother perhaps belonged to the earliest form of storytelling-

Indian Women Journey from kitchens to Key-boards

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When we talk about modernization- it is from social, political and economic point of view. The changing role of Indian women is also greatly influenced social, political and economic modernization. Women play an important role in shaping and developing industry, by extending their painstaking skills and instinctive talents. Indian women, though small in number when compared to Indian men, have established their competencies in the fields dominated by men for age (As per 2011 Census, there are 940 women for every 1000 men in India).   Starting in the 1980s, policy makers and governments taken into considerations to gender issues which was previously neglected or ignored. The led to the provocation of the ill-effects of the environment has on the health and well-being of women. Historically women in India were respected and the birth of a girl was widely accepted and mark the arrival of “Goddess Lakshmi” – the Goddess of wealth and riches. Women have bee

Life without Whatsapp? Whatsapp?? Whatsapp??? Whatsapp????

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Are you Whatsappocolic???? I was literally away from my blogpost. It really took along time to  get back to my blog post. Seriously, I am totally blank, can't think or form few sentences. Wonder why?  I am  a victim of    Whatsappocolic. WhatsApp Messenger is a cross-platform mobile messaging app which allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS. Whatsapp Messenger is available for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone and Nokia these phones can all message each other. Ever since phone apps like Whatsapp, Viber, and Facebook have become part and parcel of our life, We are now becoming slaves to them is the observation. It is an addiction, we are becoming “whatsappocolic” that has bordered humans in its ferocious web. And the more you invest in it, the more and more we are losing wisdom. Right from posting “Good morning” images “Tea-time” images, “Good night” images in a group which is circulated to all the members within the group. Then in