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The 1976 SSLC batch of Basel Mission High School, Dharwad held its third successive annual get-together on 12 February at Tekfarm Retreat eco village on the outskirts of Dharwad. The evening was fun filled with the coming together of old classmates, pals and friends for life after a gap of more than four decades! Although six of them didn’t turn up in spite of confirming to join, it was no hindrance for the 14 members to rejoice the occasion like never before. Perhaps the small numbers helped the participants for better, close and intimate interactions with one another. Celebrations begin at lunch time: According to formal announcement on the WhatsApp group the reunion was scheduled after 6 PM onwards. However, a mini luncheon party came handy to the five who could make it earlier to the venue. Sanjay Kulkarni, Gajanan Kamat, Edwin D’souza from the twin Hubballi - Dharwad cities, Narayan G Sabhahit (Nani) and myself from Bengaluru also took part in the same at a nearby hotel. Pranayam

In the passing away of Rudrappa Veerappa Mokashi, former Chairman of the Malaprabha Cooperative Sugar Factory based at Mugat Khan (MK) Hubli) in Belagavi district adjoining Maharashtra and a leader of the state Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS), the state and more so the peasant community has lost a visionary ahead of his times. He breathed his last on 20 December 2021 in Belagavi. He was 86. Rudrappa Mokashi A rich person by heart: Although RV Mokashi hailed from a wealthy farmer’s family since the beginning, he never behaved like the present neo-rich. About half a century ago, there used to be just a handful of well to do people in the rural areas. These days, you can find any number of rich people in terms of material wealth, but to know whether they also possess a generous mindset and a large heart is like opening a Pandora box! On the other hand, RV Mokashi was a great personality with a magnanimous heart in unbelievable proportions to all those who came in touch. An honest, c

Ramanna Suri, a renowned veteran artist of several accomplishments to his credit has bagged the prestigious ‘Chitra Shilpi DV Halabhavi Memorial National Award’ for 2021. The Dharwad based DV Halabhavi Memorial National Trust under the aegis of the Government of Karnataka has chosen R Suri for the coveted award for lifetime achievements. The national memorial Trust also has a practice of recognizing talented artists from across the country with ‘Kuncha Kalashree’ and ‘Yuva Kuncha Kalashree’ awards annually. Ramanna Suri DV Halabhavi happens to be a household name in the North Karnataka region for imparting art education through his ‘School of Art’. Probably thousands of talents blossomed through his art school over several decades. However, after his demise, functioning became a challenge. After facing an adverse situation for a period, it was later handed over to the Mysuru based JSS Group of Institutions. Hence, now it is renamed as JSS-School of Art and is functioning on a bigger ca

Basavaraj Somappa Bommai's elevation to the coveted Chief Minister's position, apart from giving a surprising shock to many within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) and elsewhere has also given rise to eyebrows to many an onlooker. image source: The Federal News No doubt the high command's pick was a big drubbing to the detractors of BS Yediyurappa, former chief minister. Probably, the pressure on the central leadership was such that there's no other way rather than zeroing in on a successor from the Lingayat community itself. The pontiffs' belonging to several sub-sects of the Veerashiva-Lingayat community, to which BS Yediyurappa belongs to came to the streets in favour of the latter. Initially, they pleaded for the continuation of BSY for the remaining two years tenure. But when it became evident that such hopes are over, they put forth a vociferous demand for choosing a successor from the same community and that too from Panchamshaali Lingayats'. BSY D