RIP YS Rajasekhar Reddy

“Ayana chanipoledu, makosam tappaka vastadu.” He is not dead, he will return for us.

On Thursday September 3, 2009, Andhra Pradesh's beloved Chief Minister, Dr. YS Rajasekhar Reddy, died in a helicopter crash that also tragically took the lives of his four companions: principal secretary, Dr P. Subramanyam, chief security officer, Mr A.C.S. Wesley, and two pilots, Group Captain S.K. Bhatia and Captain M.S. Reddy. The Chief Minister's body was found in the jungles of Nallamala forest. The government helicopter was reported to have taken off in inclement weather.

YSR Reddy was a politician for the people and an advocate for the poor. His passion was to transform Andhra Pradesh into a well developed state. He was a rising star who ascended from the bottom of the political ladder by his own efforts and merit, and by all accounts was set to become a giant in statewide if not national politics. Reports of the unprecedented grief and shock by the public over the Chief Minister's death is indeed astonishing and telling. Perhaps a sad foreshadowing of things to come, in 2004, YSR Reddy was quoted as saying: “I will not continue in politics after I complete 60 years.”

కౌముది ఆగస్ట్ 2009

Tollywood’s Changing: It's Getting Younger

Telugu films are changing with the times or shall we say with current demographics. According to The Times of India, 54 per cent of India's population is now under the age of 25, a fact that has caught the attention of Tollywood industry insiders bent on attracting younger audiences to view their films. If box office numbers are any indication, the trend doesn't seem likely to change anytime soon:

"Earlier only a couple of towns were considered A-centres in AP, but the list now encompasses Rajamundry, Tirupati, Nellore, Vijayawada, Kurnool and Guntur —ensuring more urban viewers. As more and more youth-centric films rake in big bucks at ticket-windows, Telugu filmmakers seem to be cashing in on the trend."

But can they compete with Bollywood offerings?

"Bollywood Steals T-town’s Show"

The Times of India reports that battle lines are being drawn between Bollywood and Tollywood, as an avalanche of big ticket Bollywood films at multiplexes have come at the expense of the local Telugu film industry.

According to industry insiders:

The policy of multiplex owners to allot more screens to Bollywood blockbusters could tilt the scales against Telugu films and is likely to dent their box-office collections. However, Krishnamurthy Kishen, head marketing of a leading multiplex chain clarifies that Bollywood and Tollywood films get equal weightage when it comes to assigning screens. He says, “We always try to strike a balance between regional and other films without riding on just one language hit.”

Airing a diametrically opposite view is Devaneni Prasad, director of another city-based multiplex, who claims that recent Telugu films haven’t really fared well. “With Telugu films not setting box-office afire, we’ll have more screens for Bollywood blockbusters. However, now Telugu producers have more choices with new multiplexes coming up,” he reasons. Ashish, honcho of a chain of multiplexes, rules out such worries. “We provide a level-playing field for all language filmmakers,” he assures.

TV9 Telugu Comes to Dish Network

Last week, Dish Network, a leader in international programming (offering 170 plus channels in over 28 languages), introduced TV9 Telugu, a 24-hour news channel which aims to enlighten and entertain and also connect the Telugu speaking community in the US. More than just a channel, TV9 Telugu promises to be "a sustained and determined effort to exemplify the human values and ethics of the Telugu-speaking people across the world, hoping to attain a better society."

Dish Network is proud to offer more Telugu programming than any other pay-TV provider,” said Chris Kuelling, vice president of International Programming for DISH Network...TV9 Telugu is the most viewed news channel in Telugu, featuring live news, current affairs and various entertainment shows, said Ramesh Annamreddy, managing partner and CEO of Sneha Media & Entertainment, widely regarded as among the pioneers of the Telugu Television in the US.

Click here for more information.

Source: Thaindian News and IANS

కౌముది జూలై 2009

కౌముది: జూన్ 2009

కౌముది: మే 2009

కౌముది: ఏప్రిల్ 2009

National Drama Festival to be held in Hyderabad

Starting on March 16, 2009 there will be a four-day multi-lingual national drama festival in Hyderabad. The festival will feature nine plays (originally in Telugu) by renowned playwright Sri D. Vizai Bhaskar translated into Bengali, Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Malayalam, Gujarati, Manipuri and Kannada:

Many feel that Telugu theatre is not on par with the theatre movement like Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Hindi, etc. where it is at its zenith. Though much has been done to elevate it in terms of script, music, dance, song and other embellishing ingredients, Telugu theatre suffers from lack of attractive histrionic presentations. It is also popularly felt that it is lagging behind in the field of Music, Sets and Light design and Aesthetics. There is no dearth of writers, actors, directors and musicians in Telugu. But the only thing to be supplemented to Telugu theatre is in terms of tuning Telugu drama on line with the latest performing skills. We felt that this could be achieved by a meaningful and purposeful exchange of ideas with the successful theatre movements like Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Hindi and other languages where theatre is at its zenith and hence this festival.

Click on the link above to read more.

Translation Trends for Classical Telugu Literature

Obtaining classical language status for Telugu is one thing but getting people to actually read Telugu literature amid the popularity of English language texts is another. The Times of India describes this translation trend as "grim". Sporadic to begin with, Telugu literary works are mainly translated into English rather than other native Indian languages:

M Sridhar, a Telugu translator and professor of English in the University says, "Given a choice, people would prefer reading Adiga or Chomsky novels rather than Chaya Devi or Raavi Shastry. “Texts and literature sourced from English are still perceived as windows to the world." Most other Indian languages face a similar situation,” he added. (Times of India)

కౌముది: మార్చ్ 2009

ఎంసిఎక్స్ స్టాక్ ఎక్స్ఛేంజి

MCX SX launches Telugu website

ఎంసిఎక్స్ స్టాక్ ఎక్స్ఛేంజి (ఎంసిఎక్స్—ఎస్ఎక్స్) దిగుమతిదారులు, ఎగుమతిదారులు, పెట్టుబడిదారులు, కార్పోరేషన్లు మరియు బ్యాంకులు వారి ద్రవ్య ప్రమాదావకాశాలను తక్కవ ధరలో మరియు గొప్యత పారదర్శకతతో మరియు భద్రతతో హెడ్జ్ చేయుటకు వీలు కల్పిస్తుంది. పెద్ద సంఖ్యలే బ్యాంకులు, కార్పోరేటే మరియు బ్రోకరేజ్ హౌస్లు వారి ట్రేడింగు సభ్యులుగా, ఉండడం వలన ఎంసిఎక్స్—ఎస్ఎక్స్ ఆశించిన ప్రమాణాలలో లిక్విడిటీ మరియు డెప్తును అన్ని వర్గాలు వాడకందార్లకు ఎక్కువగా అందజేస్తుంది. ఇంకా, ఎంసిఎక్స్—ఎస్ఎక్స్ అన్ని వ్యవహారాలకు పూచీకర్తగా ఉంటూ ప్రతీవాది వలన కలుగు ఇబ్బందుల నుండి తొలగిస్తు అన్ని వ్యవహారాలకు భద్రతను కలిపిస్తుంది. పెద్ద వాడకందార్లకే కాకుండా, ఎంసిఎక్స్—ఎస్ఎక్స్ చిన్న మరియు మధ్య తరహా వ్యాపారస్థులకు (ఎస్ఎంఈ లకు) మరియు భారతీయ నివాసులకు, ద్రవ్య మార్పిడి మార్కెట్ ను అందుబాటులోకి తెస్తూ ఇదివరకంతగా లభించని ధరనిర్ణయించే సామర్థ్యానికి పెంపొందించి ప్రయోజనము చేకూరుస్తుంది.

కౌముది : ఫిబ్రవరి 2009

సంక్రాంతి శుభాకాంక్షలు

సంక్రాంతి శుభాకాంక్షలు

Koumudi: January 2009

నూతన సంవత్సర శుభాకాంక్షలు

నూతన సంవత్సర శుభాకాంక్షలు
2009

Wish you all Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year

Christmas Greetings

2008

Christmas Shubhakaankshalu

క్రి స్ మ స్ సుభాకాంక్షలు

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

AP Junction

We received a comment from "Telugufriends" informing us about AP Junction, an online community of united Telugu speaking people worldwide. The site's mission is an attempt to:

bring all the Telugu speaking people living in every nook and corner of the globe on one platform to create unity, togetherness, a sense of belonging and instill the pride of our Telugu language and matchless culture in all our minds to suit the growing clout of the digital world.

Looks promising. Check it out!

The Rebuild India Mission

In the wake of the Mumbai tragedy, "The Rebuild India Mission" recently implemented a survey to: "question and provide solutions to national issues. Lets present our thoughts on how we would want the nation to look like. Lets get together and initiate the 'Rebuild India' mission."


The online survey (now completed) attracted over 500 responses and was based on: "the suggestions and opinions collected from bloggers who possess a sound knowledge of the Indian administrative system. These bloggers include prominent business personalities, administrative experts, media professionals, socialists, socialites..."

Visit their site to review their analysis of the results.

Via Indiblogger.

KOUMUDI: December 2008

Mumbai

image: Boston.com


image: NDTV.com

North to South, East to West, we're all Mumbaikers. Our heartfelt prayers and good wishes go out to that lovely city.

Koumudi: November 2008

World's most expensive saree

How often have you come across a Rs. 40 lakh ($100,000) silk saree?

"Chennai Silks, a textile unit has come up with one of its kind and it is seeking an unmistakable entry into the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most unique and expensive saree. The exceptionally stunning saree is meticulously woven with 12 precious stones and metals to depict 11 of Raja Ravi Verma's popular paintings. Explicitly projected is 'Lady Musicians', one of the painter's very famous works that displays women belonging to diverse cultural backgrounds. Besides, the border of the saree pictures 10 other paintings of the artist that pays tribute to 20th century artist. The best part of the saree being that the women in the paintings are intricately hand-woven and beautified with jewels of gold, diamond, platinum, silver, ruby, emerald, yellow sapphire, sapphire, cat's eye, topaz, pearl and corals.Already in the Limca Book of Records, this 40 lakh saree will be the first silk saree that required the use of 7,440 jacquard hooks and 66,794 cards during the weaving process. Moreover, a group of consummate workers took nearly 4,680 hours ." (via TTB)

Koumudi: October 2008

Harshi Makes Chapatis

Actually, she makes and eats chapatis at the same time and manages to look incredibly cute, as well. Bravo Harshi!

Koumudi, September 2008 Issue

Telugu Movie Actor Chiranjeevi Announcing the New Party

"I have no rivals in politics. My enemies are poverty and backwardness. I will pursue positive politics focused on the poor," the popular hero said.

While dodging ticklish issues like separate Telangana statehood demand and Naxalism, Chiranjeevi said his party will take a collective decisions on such "sensitive issues".

The party's name and agenda would be unveiled at the party's maiden public meeting in the temple town of Tirupati on August 26, coinciding with Mother Teresa's birth anniversary.

Koumudi August 2008

TelMore

TelMore is a computational morphological generator for Telugu nouns and verbs. The linguistic tool was created by Madhavi Ganapathiraju and Lori Levin (professors from Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, PA). You can download version 1 of TelMore via the link above.

Click here for an academic paper by the creators themselves which describes the tool and reasoning behind it.