Sphoorthi Theatre

In  Mariam Thimma Sagar-MTS Colony, Karwar Road Hubli, Karnataka, during Sravana maasa, Smt. Chhhaya Sunkad mami and other Marathi-speaking mamis (that's how we addressed all regardless of caste, creed, or religion) would wear beautiful Nauvari Maharashtrian sarees, nath-nose pins, jewelry, and chuda-hair tied in a bun. In addition to singing, they would execute what could be described as "kind acrobatics" by twirling, twisting waists, holding hands, and frog-leaping.  The Indian months of July and August, known as Shravana or Sravan Masa, are auspicious times. Married ladies, in particular, practice a ceremony known as Mangala Gouri Vrat. However, Maharashtra is unlike the other Indian states in its unique take on the Mangala Gouri vrataa. One of the best Vrats, or fasts, is the Shravan Mangala Gauri Vrat, also known as Mangala Gauri puja. Married and single women in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and a handful of other states and communities in Maharashtra observ...

I had my schooling at  Kendriya Vidyalaya-No 1, Hubli. Hubli is a town in Northern Karnataka which comes under Dharwad District. Dharwad is quite famous for Literary and music. Famous Hindustani Musicians like Sri Bhimasen Joshi, Smt. Gangubhai Hanagal, Sri  Mallikarjun Mansoor, D.R.Bendre, Girish Karnard and myself all belong to Dharwad. Dharwad also famous for sweet called "Pedha" and also known as educational centre. Hubli is a business center. Well, back to school days. Co -Curricular Activity - CCA period was held every Friday with lots of competitions conducted like Recitation of English/ Hindi /Sanskrit Poems, Storytelling, Shlokas, and so on. The condition would be that no poems from the school textbook were allowed in  the recitation competition. Though the competition was open for all, not many would participate-they would say they are stuck by "stage fear"!!!!!  It would my mother's job to search for good poems, sto...

Drama was a colloquial word in usage for long time synonyms to Natak or Natakam . Today, one comes across  the world Theatre a lot and sounds better to use. However, many find it unacceptable to use interchangeably both Drama and Theatre . Born in an orthodox conservative Iyengar Brahmin family in 1936 Shri. T. Rangarajan was exposed to religious and spiritual readings, Shloka recitation, listening to Ramayana, Mahabharatha and Thiruppavai upanyasam  discourses from younger days.  His mother  Rajammal fondly called by all as ‘Chitti’, use to tell short funny stories  with proverbs and Tamil language saying  based. So, from the beginning he was open to  more of listening skill “Shravana”. As most of the discourses were oral in nature, this helped in developing listening skill. As always, his emphasis on youngsters to listen and develop this skill well. As he grew older, he developed an inclination towards reading rich script...