Karnataka

"Bangalore is known especially for its beautiful parks, wide avenues, busy bazaars, and pleasant climate. It’s a thousand meters above sea level and usually feels somewhat cooler than most South Indian cities, even in midsummer. Most of the city is rather modern, especially around Kumpegowda Circle and along Gandhi Nagar and Chickpet streets. In fact, it’s the second most westernized city in India, next to Mumbai, with a population of more than 4,000,000. But not far away is the old part of town around Sri Narsimharaja Road, and farther south is where you can get a feel for the earlier culture of the area. The streets there are narrow and winding, and the older temples and cottage industries and historical landmarks are also there."

"It was somewhere between the interview with the Indian entrepreneur who wanted to do my taxes from Bangalore and the one who wanted to write my software from Bangalore, and the one who wanted to read my x-rays from Bangalore, and the one who wanted to trace my lost luggage from Bangalore...I was realizing that, while I had been sleeping, while I had been off covering the 9/11 wars, I had missed something really fundamental in this globalization story. I had lost the thread, and I found it in Bangalore."

"Bangalore is a brand the world identifies India with. It is also the single biggest reason why India has become such a hot investment destination."

"The city's main activity is Information technology and information technology-enabled services. Being the leading contributor to India's IT industry, it has been dubbed the Silicon Valley of India."

"A recent study also revealed that the rupee millionaire club in Karnataka's capital is the largest in India."

"Bengaluru also boasts of having the largest number of households with an annual income of Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million) or more."

"The road to paradise begins in Karnataka – and ends there. There is nowhere else to go. It is, as the poet says, cheluva Kannada Nadu. The word cheluva defies clear definition. It suggests beauty, grace, athomeness. In Karnataka, a graceful girl is a cheluve, one who is pleasing who radiates charm, contentment, peace. The state's theme song says: Udayavagali namma cheluva kannada nadu. May the lovely land of the Kannadigas arise. The people of Karnataka do not take their land – or themselves – for granted. The romantic in them always strives for the ideal and like all ideals, it is a movable feast. To say that the land is already beyond comparison is to invite comparison. To wish it to be is to live eternally in hope."

"To describe every particular duel or pagod, both for the number, and difficulty of the shapes, would be impossible. Take therefore only one that had escaped the fire and is therefore highly venerable. It was cut out of excellent black marble, the height of a man, the body of an ancient Greek hero, it had four heads, and as many hands, had not two been cut off; it was seated on an offertory in a broken pagod, a piece of admirable work and antiquity, exceeding, say they, Benares, the other noted university of the heathens. Who founded these, their annals or Sanscrit deliver not. But certainly time and the entry of Moors ruined them. ‘This, though a principal university, can boast of no Bodlean or Vatican, their libraries being old manuscripts of their own cabulas or mysteries understood only by the Brahmans."

"Media should look at actions and not allegations. Look at what all has happened in Karnataka. Bomb blasts, brutal murder of a daughter, attack on people doing bhajan-kirtan... During bomb blasts, the state govt tried its best to mislead people. In the murder of the daughter, the media is showing how the father is going around asking for justice. He is from the Congress party, but still he is not getting justice. If this is not appeasement, what is it? It is not polarisation to show that Congress has violated the Constitution and enacted laws providing reservation on the basis of religion. Our Constitution clearly prohibits reservations based on religion but the Congress govt in Karnataka reversed the law passed by BJP to provide reservation to OBCs and gave it to Muslims, classifying all Muslims as OBC. Even the National Commission for Backward Classes, a constitutional body, criticised this as against principles of ‘social justice’. The Congress govt in Telangana has recently said that it will replicate this move. This proves that Congress wants to reduce the reservation provided to SCs, STs and OBCs across the country and give it to minorities. What else can one expect from a party whose prime minister said that minorities have the first right on resources of this country?"

"Since the Congress came to power in Karnataka, the law and order situation in the state has been on a free-fall. The incident in Hubballi (the daylight murder of a sitting Congress corporator’s daughter) shook the country’s conscience. When the bereaved family sought action, the ruling Congress, yet again, preferred appeasement over justice. They do not value the lives of our daughters like Neha (Hiremath). All they care about is their vote bank."

"I have made five to six visits to Karnataka and after meeting people I have been able to understand the feeling of Karnataka. The feeling of the people of Karnataka is that he (Siddaramaiah) is not an AHINDA leader, but an Ahindu (anti-Hindu) leader."

"Karnataka Police has arrested @MumbaichaDon from Goa. We are in touch with his family and will ensure he gets all legal support. Congress has unleashed anarchy and is intolerant of dissent. But there won’t be another #Emergency in this country, ever."

"As the librarian A.J. Arberry recounted in The Library of the India Office: A Historical Sketch: But we almost forget our old friend, the tiger. Who has not seen and, what is more, heard him at the old India House? And who, having suffered under his unearthly sounds, can ever dismiss him from his memory? It seems that this horrid creature—we mean, of course the figure representing it—was found among the treasures of Tippoo Sultan when he fell at the siege of Seringapatam [sic] . . . these shrieks and growls [of the victim and tiger respectively] were the constant plague of the student, busy at work in the library of the old India House, when the Leadenhall Street public, unremittingly, it appears, were bent on keeping up the performance of this barbarous machine. No doubt that a number of perverse lections have crept into the editions of our oriental works through the shock which the tiger caused to the nerves of the readers taken unawares. Luckily he is now removed from the library; but what is also lucky, a kind of fate has deprived him of his handle, and stopped up, we are happy to think, some of his internal organs; or, as an ignorant visitor would say, he is out of repair; and we do sincerely hope that he will remain so, to be seen and to be admired, if necessary, but to be heard no more."

"It was later that I discovered that not a single book had been written in the modern times that covered the entire span of the Wodeyar history through the dimensions of political, social, economic and cultural history of the place and its contribution to the creation of a modern, progressive Karnataka. In the highly Delhi-centric view of Indian history, large swathes of the country remain underrepresented. But as Toni Morrison famously said, ‘If there’s a book that you want to read and it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.’ This was how, totally serendipitously, my childhood passion metamorphosed into my first book Splendours of Royal Mysore: The Untold Story of the Wodeyars in 2008."

"While people in Kerala felt affronted by the serial, opposition brewed even in Karnataka. A large part of Southern Karnataka, which was previously known as Mysore State before independence, was ruled by the Hindu monarchs of the Wodeyar dynasty. It was one of the longest reigning royal houses of India that maintained its hold over the region from 1399 when the dynasty was established, till 1947 when India won her freedom. There was only a brief forty year interregnum or an intermission period when their throne was usurped by Haidar Ali and his son Tipu Sultan. To boost the image of Tipu, the tele-serial portrayed the Mysore Royal Family in an extremely derisive manner. The ruler from whom Haidar usurped the throne, Immadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, was shown as an obese retard who was effete and danced along with the court dancer. His wife, the sagacious queen of Mysore whose efforts eventually won back the kingdom for her family, Lakshmi Ammanni, was portrayed as a cunning and conniving vamp of sorts. This upset several common folks in the state who still hold the Wodeyar family in great regard and reverence for all the progressive measures that they took,"

"A Roman Catholic French priest, Abbé Jean-Antoine Dubois, who came to India in 1792 and returned to France after thirty-two years, in 1823, also records the travails of the Christians of Canara. He mentions: When the late Tippoo Sultan sought to extend his own religious creed all over his dominions, and make by little and little all the inhabitants in Mysore converts to Islamism, he wished to begin this fanatical undertaking with the native Christians living in his country, at the most odious to him, on the score their religion. In consequence, in the year 1784, he gave secret orders to his officers in the different districts, to make the most diligent inquiries after the places where the Christians were to be found, and to cause the whole of them to be seized on the same day, and conducted under strong escorts to Seringapatam. This order was punctually carried into execution; very few of them escaped and I have it from good authority that the aggregated number of the persons seized in this manner, amounted to more than 60,000. Sometime after their arrival at Seringapatam, Tippoo ordered the whole to undergo the rites of circumcision, and be made converts to Mahometanism. The Christians were put together during the several days after the ceremony lasted . . . after the fall of the late Tippoo Sultan most of these apostates came back to be reconciled to their former religion, saying that their apostasy had only been external, and they always kept in their hearts the true faith in Christ. Almost 2000 of them fell in my way and nearly 20,000 returned to the Mangalore district, from whence they had been carried away, and rebuilt there their former places of worship."

"James Scurry, the British prisoner in Srirangapatna, in his account mentions 30,000 unfortunate Malabar Christians who were marched off to the capital city. He recounts: The sufferings of these poor creatures were most excruciating . . . all who were fit to carry arms were circumcised, and forced into four battalions . . . when recovered [from circumcision], they were armed and drilled and ordered to Mysore, nine miles from the capital, but for what purpose we never could learn. Their daughters were many of them beautiful girls, and Tippoo was determined to have them for his seraglio; but this they refused; and Mysore was invested by his orders, and the four battalions were disarmed and brought prisoners to Seringapatam. This being done, the officers tied their hands behind them . . . their noses, ears, and upper lips were cut off; they were then mounted on asses, their faces towards the tail, and led through Patam [Srirangapatna], with a wretch before them proclaiming their crime. One fell from his beast, and expired on the spot through loss of blood. Such a mangled and bloody scene excited the compassion of numbers, and our hearts were ready to burst at the inhuman sight. It was reported that Tippoo relented in this case, and I rather think it is true as he never gave any further orders respecting their women. The twenty-six that survived were sent to his different arsenals, where, after the lapse of a few years, I saw several of them lingering out a most miserable existence."

"Tipu’s own account corroborates the Diocese’s record stated above on what fate befell the Christians of Mangalore. In the Tarikh-i-Khudadadi, Tipu writes: The port of Kurial [Mangalore] fell into our hands; on which occasion the odious proceedings of the accursed Padres becoming fully known to us, and causing our zeal for the faith to boil over, we instantly directed the Diwan of the Huzoor Kuchery to prepare a list of all houses occupied by the Christians, taking care not to omit a single habitation. The officers of the Kuchery, accordingly, employing the Mutsaddies [civil officers] of Sode, Nagar, Kurial etc. for this purpose, soon prepared and delivered to us a detailed report on the subject. After this, we caused an officer and some soldiers to be stationed in every place inhabited by the Christians, signifying to them, that, at the end of a certain time, they should receive further orders, which they were then to carry into full effect. These men and officers being all arrived at their respective posts, the following orders were transmitted to them, viz. ‘On such a day of the week and the month, and at the hour of the morning prayer, let all the Christians, whatever their number may be, together with their women and children, be made prisoners and dispatched to our presence.’ And on the sealed cover, on superscription, of each of these dispatches, we specified the week and the month on which it was to be opened and read. Accordingly our orders were everywhere opened at the same moment; and at the same hour (namely, that of morning prayer) were the whole of the Christians, male and female, without the exception of a single individual, to the number of sixty thousand, made prisoners and dispatched to our Presence; from whence we caused them, after furnishing them duly with provisions, to be conveyed, under proper guards, to Seringapatam; to the Talukdars of which place we sent orders, directing that (the said Christians) should be divided into Risalas, or corps, of five hundred men, and a person of reputable and upright character placed, as Risaldar, at the head of each. Of these Risalas, four (together with their women and children) were directed to be stationed at each of the following places, where they were duly fed and clothed, and ultimately admitted to the honour of Islamism; and the appellation of Ahmady was bestowed upon the collective body."

"The Imperial Gazetteer Volume XIV states: When in 1784, Tippu succeeded in driving the English out of Kanara, he was determined on both political and religious grounds to convert the native Christians of Kanara to Islam. After taking a secret census, he despatched troops who arrested 60,000 or according to other accounts 30,000 out of 80,000 Christians found. The churches were dismantled and every trace of the Christian religion disappeared. Except infirm women and children, the prisoners were marched under strong military escort to Seringapatam . . . the men were circumcised, the unmarried girls were carried as concubines and many of the married women were badly treated."