Here is your chance to VOTE for your favorite Belgaumite as the AllAboutBelgaum.com’s Belgaumite of the Year 2011

Now you can vote for your personal favorite and see him as this year person of the year 2011.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Rohan Konkane –The Skating champ for getting his name in to the Guinness book of World records for the farthest distance limbo skating under cars is 38.68 metres (126 ft 11 in).

R K Patil, CEO Vayavyalabs Belgaum- got his company USD 1 million of funding from IAN and helped Belgaum to come on the global semi conductor map.

Atish Jadhav – The specially abled child, for winning the Gold medal in 400 Mtrs Freestyle at the Special Olympics at Athens.

Sandeep Patil IPS, Superintendent of Police Belgaum: For his work in the city and reaching out to the people by programs such as Janata Darshan, being very strict on Matka lobby and maintaining law and order.

Voting ends on January 02, 2012 and results would be announced in the following week.

Event: AllAboutBelgaum.com’s Belgaumite of the Year Award 2011

Owner of the Event: AllAboutBelgaum.com [AAB]

Event management: Personnel from AAB or appointed/engaged by AAB, who are responsible for the conduct of the Event, includes the jury appointed by AAB.

Applicant:

• Any individual who has contributed significantly to the welfare of Belgaum in th year 2011.
  
  

• Any individual from Belgaum who’s achieved a significant feat in the year 2011.
  
  

• Any individual from Belgaum who’s brought laurels and fame to Belgaum in the year 2011.
  
  

• Any individual who has made Belgaum proud in the year 2011.
  
  

Contestants: Top 15 (if available) Applicants short listed after evaluation by the Initial Jury in Phase 1.

The Top 15 ((if available) will be announced by AAB on Allaboutbelgaum.com on 14th December. Further to this announcement, should the public of Belgaum feel they have names of outstanding achievers who they feel have made significant strides towards securing this award and are not in the initial list of contestants, their names along with their achievements may be sent on or before 14th December 2011 by email to uday@allaboutbelgaum.com

Nominees: Based on the emails received from the readers in the form of nominees that need to be awarded, all nominees achievements and profiles will be carefully evaluated by a hand picked jury chosen by AllAboutBelgaum.com. A filtered list of three-ten nominees chosen by the AAB jury will be put on AllAboutBelgaum.com on the 23st of December 2011 for publicvoting.

Winner: One Event Winner would be arrived at through evaluation by the Final Jury and by means of online voting by the public from 24st December 2011 to 02nd January 2011.

The Prize: The prize would be in form a certificate or a memento

Initial Jury: Group of persons selected by the Event management company & AAB who will evaluate the Applicants, Contestants and Nominees.

Final Jury: Group of persons selected by the Event management & AAB who will evaluate the Finalists.

Conditions: All the decisions taken by Allaboutbelgaum.com and its jury will be final and binding. 

Numerous people in Belgaum always complain that Belgaum has a great talent pool but there is nothing that attracts the talent pool to be retained.

AllAboutBelgaum.com since its inception has been raising issues as to why Belgaum is not coming up as a industrial friendly town.

We have now decided to take this forward with BELGAUM FORWARD, a new series in which the people who have worked in Belgaum and also those who are from Belgaum but work else-where feel the drawbacks and advantages are of Belgaum from their experiences.

To being with lest start with IT, information technology.

We asked the members of IT Belgaum,(a group is cluster of companies engaged in Information technology (IT) and IT enabled services (ITeS) which are based in Belgaum)

We asked all the members the below two questions:

Name 3 most important factors holding Belgaum back  from achieving a stature befitting its potential?

Name 3 things that need to be done to make Belgaum achieve spectacular growth/prosperity?

 All individuals have tried to analyse the current situation and made their points. Here we are not discussing on a language or a state but we are keeping forth the ideas of the entrepreneurs who are working in Belgaum  and what they feel will make this city a better place to work and grow.

Dr.Ameet Patil of Spundhan Labs

Name 3 most important factors holding Belgaum back  from achieving a stature befitting its potential?

Dr.Ameet Patil ———>
1. Bangalore sprang to success due the Govt. introducing several schemes to promote growth especially in IT sector. In Belgaum the Govt. does the opposite: in the name of IT promotion they try to sell expensive land with ZERO benefits to the buyers. If the Govt. sees the stagnant situation in Bangalore, applies its mind and introduces some great schemes in Belgaum, then I don’t see why Belgaum can’t get there?

2. Lack of belief in the local people that Belgaum also can be in the top league. More and more people migrate to Bangalore and else where. Why not make it big in Belgaum itself?

3. ZERO Infrastructure: pathetic service, there is IT park but no Internet facility. Ever heard of such a thing? No proper regular electricity supply. No good roads.

Name 3 things that need to be done to make Belgaum achieve spectacular growth/prosperity?

Dr.Ameet Patil ———>

1. IT is the driver and has been the driver for growth in other industrial sectors. A good resourceful in-city or close to city IT park building (not simply land) with all the facilities: un-interrupted power, internet, telephone, etc. where companies get some subsidies to setup offices there is of great essence. Make the offer attractive and growth will happen.

2. People of Belgaum, the youth should plan on staying on in Belgaum and get things right. Its a struggle yes. But you do it now, later people will talk about you for what you did.

3. Industry and University/Colleges should have close tie-ups in Belgaum. Conduct conferences, seminars, encourage internships and give local companies priority for campus recruitment.

R K Patil, CEO Vayavyalabs

Name 3 most important factors holding Belgaum back from achieving a stature befitting its potential?

R K Patil ————->
1. Lack of a leadership team/members ( both at political level and business level) who can influence a spectrum of populace from this region

2. Local government body (Municipal council) which is always busy in fighting the language related problem

Name 3 things that need to be done to make Belgaum achieve spectacular growth/prosperity?

R K Patil ————-> 1. Let the elected members for once take a resolve to work in unity for bringing up Belgaum ( at least for one term of their duty!)

2. Local business leaders coming together to promote Belgaum as destination

3. A sincere effort by every Belgaumite to take pride in talking about Belgaum in any forum and doing their bit in promoting Belgaum in whatever way they can

Rajendra Pai, Freelance Consultant

Name 3 most important factors holding Belgaum back  from achieving a stature befitting its potential?

Rajendra Pai ———>Lack of support from State Govt for Industrial Development outside Bangalore

Name 3 things that need to be done to make Belgaum achieve spectacular growth/prosperity?

Rajendra Pai ———>Create awareness amongst laymen regarding the negative image created about the City due to language issues.

Lobby with State Govt/Central Govt to increase support for Industrial Development. Central Govt can help by setting up some big Public Sector units near Belgaum.

Building up Brand Belgaum by offering incentives to Investors (Who will do this? Corporation? They may not have the resources. State Govt? Goes back to point 2)

Kedar Betgeri, AavishkaarNeoteric Communications India Pvt Ltd

Name 3 most important factors holding Belgaum back  from achieving a stature befitting its potential?

Kedar Betgeri ————> Lack of long term futuristic planning, lack of planned initiatives, huge migration of talent to cities like Bangalore and Mumbai.

Name 3 things that need to be done to make Belgaum achieve spectacular growth/prosperity?

Kedar Betgeri ————> Consistent electricity, more flights to Belgaum, and clear the border issue so either Maharashtra or Karnataka will support growth.

I wonder how to retain the culture, flavour of Belgaum intact and still make it … what do we want it to be like? Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune or California? because all these cities in the name of growth are losing their identity completely.

Rajesh Patil, dotCord USA.

Name 3 most important factors holding Belgaum back  from achieving a stature befitting its potential?

Rajesh Patil ———–> 1. Vision-less and Passionless leaders is the top most factor that’s holding Belgaum back. – We here fancy goals, but never seen achievable objectives that were defined.

2. Old Education System- The world has moved miles ahead, but our local schools and colleges that are run by people who are not exposed to the outside world.

3. No Good Infrastructure for Roads , Lights, communication etc- Another key factor is cleanliness if everybody keeps their community clean Belgaum will shine.

Name 3 things that need to be done to make Belgaum achieve spectacular growth/prosperity?

Rajesh Patil ———–> 1. Young and Dynamic Entrepreneurs should enter local politics like Belgaum Mayor and other posts

2. More training institutes that can compete or compliment current education system  to educate students in latest trends in Management, Leadership, Technology, Politics etc

3. Build a “Clean Committee” who will help clean the community and also enforce cleanliness to maintain it- Remove street pigs and dogs forever. Do not encourage sudden slums and work in groups to make it happen.

Madhav Karekar, Conqcore Solutions

Name 3 most important factors holding Belgaum back  from achieving a stature befitting its potential?

Madhav Karekar ———–> First , On going border dispute , linguistic problems created among people  by state as well as local public, No strong leadership to take up any issue to state govt or central govt. due to which Belgaum is losing projects to neighboring cities like Hubli, Dharwad,

Need People participation in development work,

Name 3 things that need to be done to make Belgaum achieve spectacular growth/prosperity?

Madhav Karekar ———–> - Need good leader who can take up priority basis pending projects like, IT park, Textile Park, SEZ, Transposrtation Infrastructure like Airport expansion , Train connectivity, Road development, Basic amenities in the CITY Road, Water & Electricity,  Setting up of IIT.

Belgaum has potential to be known as  Industrial HUb, Educational Hub now IT Hub .

I personally feel that if State govt take up the pending projects in priority basis, then Belgaum could become another metro city of INDIA.

Sandeep Hegde, dotCORD

Name 3 most important factors holding Belgaum back from achieving a stature befitting its potential? Sandeep Hegde ———- > Media coverage more on the border/language dispute which throughs a bad impression to a outside world about doing business in belgaum

Lack of political leadership

Lack of infrastructure, right from power to internet connection, roads to flights.

Name 3 things that need to be done to make Belgaum achieve spectacular growth/prosperity?

Sandeep Hegde ———- > Development of basic infrastructure and uninterrupted power supply

Better Leadership

Building Brand Belgaum so people could consider a being in Belgaum, working in Belgaum or may be starting up a business in Belgaum

Vinayak K. Talukar, Founder Ideaflask

Name 3 most important factors holding Belgaum back from achieving a stature befitting its potential?

Vinayak K. Talukar ———-> 1. Skilled labour: Majority of Belgaumites quit education after 10th or even earlier. Awareness has to be created amongst all communities about the importance of education.

2. Perspective about career: Majority of us Belgaumites do not venture into alternative careers. People either follow herd mentality or stick to the traditional business of the family. While that is not entirely harmful but that limits the amount of growth. People need to venture into more modern ways of doing business.How ever, this is the mentality of the people and it is very difficult to change. This will only evolve over a longer period of time, with the influence of the environment.

3. Ignore Politics and Government: Lets stop talking about our bad politicians and how the government is ignorant. Well, as a matter of fact, those are issues of concern, but they fall out of our influence.

Name 3 things that need to be done to make Belgaum achieve spectacular growth/prosperity?

Vinayak K. Talukar ———-> 1. Give it time: We should not hurry into creating a METRO. In-organic growth creates cities like Bangalore. We should make sure the development happens across all communities and not on a subset.

2. Training Institutes: Training institutes should be established that would cater to a wider variety of audience. Institutes should cater to diverse fields like Carpentry, Agriculture, Construction, etc… [ I am talking about private institutes here ]

3. Career Guidance Programs: There is a need to setup career guidance programs that would guide youth about the careers they can choose. After all Medical and Engineering are not the end of the world !!!

Purushottam Deshpande, HutGeeks

Name 3 most important factors holding Belgaum back from achieving a stature befitting its potential?

1. Belgaum is not yet prepared to take up that high stature

- Ask people and they would not want Belgaum to become like Bangalore or any other metro city
- To be in a high status, behave like one that includes how we deal social/political/economical affairs
- It will happen even if you don’t want it to. But we do not want to be called ourselves developed with no human values(linguistic, communal.. anything that disturbs the city’s peace).

2. Lack of genuine Mentors

- We lack mentors at colleges & schools. Mentors who know what is invention, talk about innovations and himself/herself getting involved.

- Mentors motivating students to go places is fine but also seed a thought of coming back to Belgaum to give back to the “roots”.

3. Lack of Vision by people towards success of Belgaum

How will Belgaum be recognized? What needs to be done? By when should we make this happen?

- The roadmap to success isn’t planned

4. Everyone wants to come back to Belgaum but everybody is waiting for the magic

- Even successful people are not ready to take the risks and not willing to move back to Belgaum

Name 3 things that need to be done to make Belgaum achieve spectacular growth/prosperity?

We need time, but we definitely need catalysts to fasten this process. Else we will have to wait for long-long period. Those catalysts can be-

1. Colleges & Schools can play a vital role in building the city’s pride

- Colleges need to promote internship activities & research programmes
- Engage students in Open-Source projects, the first lesson of giving back to the society
-  Avail infrastructure to students

2. Govt/Local leaders taking keen interest in city development by

- Working in close association with interest groups to have common vision and success roadmap
- Introducing schemes that motivate entrepreneurs to invest in Belgaum
OR

if that doesn’t happen

Interest Groups meet local leaders to requesting to take interest in city development

3. Preserve the thought of growth. Believe and act responsibly.

To be continued…..

By Swatee Jog
Robert Frost says ‘As near a paradise it can be’ while he describes the place in winter in his poem Winter Eden. One can very well imagine Belgaum in place of that paradise at this time of the year. Waking up to dry noses and finding your lips chapped and skin dry, you may very well exult …winter is here..Hurray!
Senior citizens reminisce of the days when mid – October heralded winter in Belgaum. But with monsoon prolonging its stay of late, it’s almost November when the usual nip in the air is replaced by the chill. Outcome the roasted groundnut pushcarts and the crowds at the tea stalls thickens with every sip.
Wardrobes are shuffled and sweaters, blankets, scarves and woolens are pulled out once again. Families with tiny kids stretch their necks to check out the latest designs of sweaters hung up at the Tibetan’s stall on Kadolkar galli near Kaveri and Ramdev Galli. Kirloskar road attracts the youth with a flash sale of cheap pull-overs, sweatshirts and the stuff. The corporation’s cleaning staff bunch up the dried leaves and twigs and light up a small bon-fire while they chat besides in small whispers. For once, this pollution is neglected for the smell of burning leaves feels nice. Similar fires can be seen near rickshaw stands when the rickshawwalas in sweater-gloves-scarf , covered in multiple layers of shirts scamper to avoid the chill in the early hours of the morning and after 10 at night.
It’s a sight to cherish when school kids walk merrily in bright red, navy or green sweaters that match their uniforms. Wake up to find droplets trickling from your parked car or bikes, a leftover of the fog of the dawn. The fog here is one phenomenon that drapes the city in an utterly romantic cover when even the mundane bullock cart becomes picture perfect and gets flashed in the newspapers because of the hazy background. On days when the chill worsens, one can even enjoy one’s own breath seen while you exhale. Many would remember pouting and breathing out the air in this chill to seem like smoking! The joy of witnessing your own breath is childishly magical.
Housewives turn to warmer stuff made of jaggery, no one stops you from having an extra glass of sugarcane juice, warm badam milk is gulped down joyously and Hanuman sweet mart is thronged for that delicacy. It’s a habit to check the temperatures in the newspapers and exclaim “Oh! My God…it was 10 degrees yesterday!” (city this season has already seen a low of 11.4 Deg Celsius) Belgaum’s winter is a bane only to those who have to wake up early and set out for work or school/colleges. Pulling yourself out of the warmth of the quilts feels like hell and Sunday mornings start well beyond 10 am. facilitating a warm brunch instead of the routine stuff. But this very winter brings tears to those suffering from asthma and susceptible to cough and cold. Whatever the price to pay, one waits in earnest anticipation for the mercury to dip and wish it lasts longer than the New Year!
It’s only in Belgaum where you can experience the magic of a hill station.

By Swtaee Jog

A city suffers…and how! The blogosphere is abuzz with comments and remarks expressing disdain for the closure of Belgaum. Students are reluctant to leave campuses, for the academic years have just begun for many, businessmen lament the loss of earnings and the common man suffers at the politicians’ flat jingoism. Belgaum has been part of Karnataka since 1956 and a generation thereafter has only inherited friction ever since. Any kind of vandalism is unacceptable. However, with due respect for the democratic values of this country, one fails to understand how shutting a city down can resolve a problem or even be a mode of expressing contempt.

Democracy stands for rights with responsibility and not smug nationalism. If an Anna can exemplify how it is possible to bring a whole Government to fall in line with public demand, why can’t it be emulated elsewhere?

The world economy is treading a dangerous path with many a superpower losing its sheen and every nation under the perennial danger of a recession. We dream aloud of making India a superpower by 2020. No nation has ever gained superpower status by repeatedly putting a spanner in the wheels of progress. The common man is cheesed off with constant ‘bands’ and strikes. A whole working machine is unnecessarily clogged. Imagine the plight of tourists, the sick, students having exams, families having functions, businessmen with important meetings scheduled…

A small message to the politicians- we really want to work. Let us..please. Let us inherit a legacy of hard work, let us build an India that our generations will be proud of. Think big, think for the broader betterment of the country. Come out of petty mindsets. Resolve issues asap. Don’t use the common man to your own personal political benefits. Correct us if we’re wrong, guide us if we stray, change us if we stagnate, but dont break us…We really don’t like it!

P.S.

Politicians must be suggested some innovative means for condemning any incident

- Stop talking to each other for a year…better still…take maun vrat

- Wear T-shirts that say ‘ I am protesting against …………’

- Give ads on cable TV as scrolls

- Take a hammer, spanner and nails and repair what was destroyed

- Sing aloud Hum Honge kaamyaab

- Give a jaadu ki Jhappi to the vandals!

All roads are leading to the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida and we Belgaumites (few of the lucky ones will be watching it live) have a moment of pride as we have a strong Belgaum connection to the F1 GP being held this weekend.

The connection with Formula 1(F1) racing is that of TEAM SIDVIN INDIA(TSI) whose boss, Mohan Nagarajan is from Belgaum.

Mohan Nagrajan is the Chairman & Managing director of Sidvin Core-tech India Pvt. Ltd., a leading Engineering Service provider for Oil & Gas Industry, which introduced the First Indian team for the 2008 FIA World Rally Championship in the Production Class. Mohan studied in St. Xavier’s and later studied at RLS Belgaum.

Alice Powell 18-year-old was the only female racer among 20 international drivers to put the Formula 1,600 cars through their paces last month. She will be racing in India for the first time with Team Sidvin, who has also been running her current Formula Renault UK team-mate Jordan King in the Indian series. The Greater Noida leg takes place during the F1 weekend and is titled the ‘Delhi Championship with MRF’.

It will be the official support race for the inaugural F1 event and offers the winner a $100,000 prize purse.

Mohan Nagarajan, better known as the force behind Team Sidvin India, the country’s first Production World Rally Championship ( PWRC) team.
Nagarajan will be part of the safety commission formed by the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), its president Vicky Chandok confirmed on Thursday. The task of the FMSCI commission is to coordinate with medical and technical representatives apart from several Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) teams and oversee safety standards at the Delhi event.

Team Sidvin India, the motorsports division of Sidvin Core-tech (India), is the first Indian entry in the World Rally Championships. Being one of the fastest growing economies in the world and with a billion heartbeats contributing, it is time to celebrate the SPIRIT OF INDIA in international motorsports.

TSI strongly believes in making the presence of our country felt at the pinnacle of motorsports and celebrate the true spirit of global competition. Our goal is also to transfer the experience, technology and knowledge to India to promote motorsports.

‘TEAM SIDVIN INDIA’ and has been involved in Rallying since the 80’s. Mohan’s passion for rallying was from the days when rallying used to be over 1000s of kilometers, where a driver and co-driver had to drive days and nights to cover the distance. Those were the days when helmets and sports shoes were the only protection a rally crew had. According to Mohan and his fellow rally mates from the 80’s they have seen destiny at close quarters many a times.

Mohan is an entrepreneur in his heart and is the force behind the success of Sidvin Core-Tech (India). He has pitched India’s engineering talent against the best in the world and has brought laurels for the company from across the world. In a short span of eight years Sidvin has moved from strength to strength and has established itself as a premier player in the world of Oil & Gas Engineering.  Sidvin holds ‘Values & Integrity’ as the most important factors in growth and stability.

All the best Team Sidvin!

by Swatee Jog

Movements such as the one we witnessed for the past 2 weeks reaffirm our faith in the parliamentary system of democracy and the power of the people. It is time we the people of Belgaum take a leaf out of the massive movement of Anna Hazare and fight for certain basic problems that our city faces.

With very little open spaces available, it was imperative that the city expanded on its outskirts. From Ganeshpur, Nanawadi, Krishi colony, Peeranwadi, the city has spread its tentacles far and wide. But where are the amenities required to sustain such an expansion? Many residential areas still lack basic infrastructure like drainage, drinking water supply, waste disposal and roads. The people of Belgaum are known to be extremely tolerant towards the lax attitude of the political leaders whose apathy towards the development of the city, has, over the years, resulted in Belgaum becoming a massive village. All rhetoric of it being a booming metro city falls flat with the lack of basic infrastructure. If demolishing habitats and widening roads is the limit for the politician’s idea of development, then we are still in the primitive stage. Can we, as citizens of a beautiful and developing city, not expect certain amenities that will boost development even further?

Roads- Most of us have had a hell-of-a-ride on the stretch that is supposed to be a widened road from Globe Cinema to Sanchayani Circle. If only that was to be. All cosmetic decoration done for the VKS disappeared when various departments dug out the roads with a vengeance and forgot to make amends for the same. Sometimes we feel the old narrow road was better. This road links half of the city to the Business District, and has the ill-fate of being the worst one in the city. Roads in other parts of the city also have a similar fate.

Railway gates- For years, Belgaum has suffered patiently waiting at railway gates and wasted lakhs of productive man hours just practicing being cool in times of urgency. Why cant the people get together and agitate for this one basic and urgent need- an overbridge at the First gate and Kapileshwar road ? Is it too much of an expectation? Not at all considering that it will not only save petrol, time and energy, it will also streamline traffic by avoiding jams.

 Water- we have access to water only 4 months of the year. Yes, since the supply is once in three days. This has been the case for the past many years. Every year, there is talk of desilting Rakaskop reservoir, but to no avail. The reservoir fills up within days and empties equally fast since it has become extremely shallow. Why cant the desilting be taken up in high summer while the city can be fed through the Hidkal waters?

 City Transport- It is so rudimentary, that sometimes we forget to remember that it even exists. Bad and narrow roads have resulted in the city bus service to become redundant. Ask ten people the number of their bus route and 7 of them won’t be able to tell for they have never accessed it of late. Owning a bike is far better than waiting long hours at far away bus stops. Had there been proper city transport service, the number of private vehicles would come down drastically. And then the ever troubling parking problem could have been handled efficiently.

Public Toilets- Conspicuous by their absence, public toilets are something Belgaum must feel ashamed of. The ones that are still there, are more pathetic stinking relics than functional.

 Auditorium- The Kumar Gandharva Rang Mandir would have been one ideal one, if only it would be centrally located or had regular bus service. Kannada Sahitya Bhavan serves more as an exhibition center and Kala Mandir has all but lost its sheen with even ambulances parked inside. Where are smaller halls, auditorium and theatres that can be utilized by deserving artistes? And when will Belgaum get a museum?

Waste disposal- The corporation banished the street-side trash bins with the intention that waste would be picked up from source. But neither has worked and the city roads are now flaunting the trash in the open ! One has to keep a tab on when the ‘Bell-cart’ arrives ( or whether it will…). In case it doesn’t, the citizens have to search for the nearest bin to dispose everyday waste. Have a look at Mahatma Phule Road, Kacheri Galli ( opp. Shakambari Temple), Market Yard, etc. where huge piles of all kinds of waste is dumped on the road and not picked up. In such a scenario, it’s a distant dream that biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste would be separately disposed.

 Traffic management- the less said the better. Every few years, a new set of traffic lights are proudly erected and then are just forgotten within days. Try locating the rusting pillars at Goaves, at Bank of India Corner (shahapur) or even opp. Globe theatre! A new technique adopted by the Belgaum police is placing barricades in a haphazard way on major streets after 9 p.m. One fails to comprehend what purpose it serves except that vehicles dangerously meander through them inviting accidents.

Better connectivity to Pune- Bangalore- Mumbai- Goa- Belgaum folks have always failed to get proper railway facility to these places! The remotest place in Bengal or Bihar is well connected to the country, but not a bustling city like Belgaum which has everyday business with these cities. A lone Chennamma express is not enough to connect us with the state capital. And there are no trains of convenient times to mention that can link us with Pune and Mumbai.

All this leads us to keep asking the question ‘WHY’? Why not… Is it too much to expect from a government that flourishes on taxpayers’ money? Do we need to take up these causes the way Anna Hazare did or reel under these pitiable conditions perpetually? If we have the audacity of hope to dream big, we must also have the guile to demand highways for our dreams.

Do we always need an Anna Hazare to do it for us?

by Swatee Jog

It is a common concern expressed across the nation that today’s youth is a spent force. People rue the fact that in spite of having a vibrant youth power, we cannot leverage the same for nation building. The world over, it is the youth who have brought about any change. History testifies that many a revolution would have been a damp squib had it not been for the power lent by the youth of the nation. The past week has shown the world that India’s youth is a power to reckon with when it comes to issues close to their heart and those that affect their lives. The overwhelming response by Belgaum youth to Anna Hazare’s campaign for the Jan Lokpal Bill for the last few days has definitely made every citizen proud. When students barged into institutes shouting slogans and force shutting classes, it created a sore impression of the same old students’ tactics of avoiding classes. However, these very students, joining in from the streets like water from tributaries and forming one huge surge of strength on the main roads.

RPD Cross, Bogarves, Channamma Circle, Hutatma Chowk, there were people everywhere. Social networking sites were abuzz with the happenings on in the city and as rightly pointed out by Mr. Sameer Majli – “The logic of crowd magic often defies convention. Sometimes numbers need to be seen rather than just be there. It’s (an)exaggeration on some fronts but revolution demands a bit of overdoing things in order to attract sufficient focus. Not trying to justify the means but I guess, like I said, protests should also look like protests. Apparently they have had enough effect to make the Govt. think (of a ) plan and I guess that’s a beginning in itself…Work hard and none will notice, scream hard and you are ….Guess this is what is the way of the day for the present….”

For someone like us who have never witnessed the Pre-independence fervor, it was revisiting those golden days of nationalism, when the whole country had stood for a common cause. It is only in India that such peaceful protests are possible in spite of such massive numbers on the roads. Although many students were blissfully unaware of the difference between the Lokpal and the Jan Lokpal bill, although they thought Anna Hazare was fighting to end corruption, and although a lot of productive time was lost, it still made sense. For it showed how our future generations want clean and effective governance. It showed that they wanted positive change. And it also reaffirmed their faith in the power of peaceful persuasion, years after it was expounded by the Father of the Nation!

It is ray of hope that the youth understand the importance of and the nuisance caused by corruption since they face it at every corner in their lives. Driving license, Ration Card, Admissions, Loan Sanction, PDS, Traffic Police, you name it and it’s there. Watching students from close quarters, it made us think is this generation thinking that a bribe is a cure-all? But, no. If anyone has seen Belgaum erupt last week, the youth along with housewives, professionals, students, even the retired gentry joining in, it was amazing. All the nervous energy has been channelized into something that will have long standing repercussions in the nation’s history. And all this without troubling anybody, in a disciplined manner, with a glint of hope in their eyes. It made it amply clear that all the youth require is a guiding force and they will leave no stone unturned to support for a cause.

Only supporting a watchdog bill is not enough, not being part of the whole rot of giving and taking bribes, publicly reporting any instances and above all, knowing that corruption has never taken a nation forward, is the key to uphold this campaign. Watching a frail Anna Hazare speak with enthusiasm moistens our eyes but invigorates each Indian. The spirit of Anna Hazare’s campaign must live on to steer India as the No. 1 Superpower. That, and not just a bill, should be our ultimate motto.

All Photos courtesy Team Anna (Belgaum) a group of youth who started this Facebook page to get the youth of Belgaum together.

By Swatee Jog

Every city has a distinctive morning. The morning in Belgaum is steeped in the purifying scent of spirituality. It has a lazy but endearing feel to it. All of you who have had morning classes or those traveling for any purpose, must have witnessed the beautiful mornings of Belgaum. And every time one does, he/she has rediscovered the charm of Belgaum!

The crazy madness of the day is nowhere in sight at dawn as Belgaum folks go about their morning chores at a pace that would invite the envy of metro people. Here, we have the luxury of time, as we don’t have to rush to catch the 6.43 local or the need to leave home at 6 to travel miles and reach our offices since the city’s radius is barely 5-6 kms.

There are areas in Belgaum that still remind one of the dawn at such temple towns as Gokarna , in Uttar Kannada, where temple bells ring, every courtyard is decorated by lovely rangolis and the heavenly smell of dhoop and incense emanating from every household.

Belgaum is a temple town by daybreak. Have a look at the area surrounding Samadevi temple and also CBT with hordes of flower vendors crowding the premises, accompanied by newspaper vendors.

The steps of the Bombay Dyeing shop or the corner near Salgaonkars(Bogarves) is bustling with vendors sorting their newspapers and inserting supplements. If you’ve been to Shahapur during this time, Vitthaldev Galli is a paradise with freshly bathed men and women slowly pacing towards the temples, where bells keep ringing to the tune of melodious aartis and a strange but heavenly mix of aromas filling the air. The loud shrieks of “Maalwale”….by men on bicycles with a round flat cane fixture selling garlands of mogra, kunda and aboli have become synonymous with a Belgaum Morning! Buy an arms – length for a few rupees.

A morning in Camp. Photo: Vickram Purohit

Recent years have witnessed modern health trends seeping into Belgaum, Laughter Clubs being one of them. The first club started perhaps around a decade ago at the Shivaji Garden, where in the first few days while I strolled on the walkways, I just couldn’t resist my chuckles. But now we have gotten used to this pleasant start of the day, with loud peals of laughter filling up the Nath Pai garden. The corporation has even installed speaker systems that dole out Bhakti Sangeet every morning, much to my initial amusement! Every street corner has some person sitting on a makeshift stool selling packets of milk of various brands and huge trucks offloading their day’s supply of milk screeching at every corner right from 4 a.m.

Even today, Belgaum boasts of its homes sporting beautiful Rangolis made by the womenfolk, even if it means a small square right on the road, cleaned using a broom and meticulously sprinkled water, just enough to wet the area but not flood the same. Exchanging of pleasantries begins since then amongst the neighbours. You may spot kids standing at the door and rubbing their eyes, quite in awe of a new day and still reeling under the influence of sleep, just keeping company to their moms. Many houses still switch on the radios with the familiar voices of the newsreaders and the sweet songs on Vividhbharati or Akashwani Sangli Kendra giving a nice lift!

Shopkeepers slowly open their doors and the dusting – cleaning – sweeping regime begins. Vegetable vendors cart their wares on pushcarts while they follow briskly on foot behind. The retail vendors of veggies start sprinkling water on the day’s supply, in defense of the harsh sunrays that would be following. Roads are almost empty, except for the morning walkers in utility sneakers. It is quite a sight to see some women in their night gowns donning a sweater or sometimes pulling over a mismatched dupatta, and with walking shoes on, walking down the sparsely crowded roads! I still fail to understand how that dupatta or sweater morphs the nightwear into sportswear! Older men and women also sport Reeboks and Nikes and it’s such a lovely sight to watch these sprightly fellas huffing and puffing as they talk while they walk. If you are passing by Camp area in the early hours then one should see a lot of men going for the Namaz and also the Christian folk going to the church for the services. The Camp area in the mornings is always full of people walking and jogging. Camp is a paradise for the morning walkers and even Nanawadi area is another favorite along with Race course & Vaccine Depot also.

You must have spotted ladies in the garden who whine and nit-pick their daughters-in-law as they take rounds in the garden, much to the amusement of those following them. Pleasant aromas of fresh tadkas waft through many a window and the smell of breakfast whips up your appetite. Many gardens have vendors offering fresh fruit juices, coupled with those of Aamla, Jamun or Karela for the health conscious. A morning in Belgaum is incomplete without noticing the tiny tots in their red-blue-white uniforms waiting for their Rikshamamas, with school bags slumped over their backs and a water-bottle in tow. Bus stops witness a riot of colourful uniforms as crowds of students gather to catch their buses. As the rikshas vroom past the roads and the dads bring out their bikes to head to work, a new day begins. The hustle-bustle of the streets increases and the city wakes up to a boisterous start.

by Swatee Jog

Dear God,

We know you are very busy attending to the woes of people around the world and finding remedies for their prayers. Issues at Somalia and Ethiopia are more pressing and need your special attention. We know you need to reassure Americans that there won’t be another 9/11 (soon) and lift the spirits of the battered British who nurse a wound of the most brutal hacking scandal in recent times. But we are sure, you have a soft corner for us Belgaumites . Why else would you test us in such a way, if you never knew we had the grit to face any challenge! Our problems ( we know, some may even fume at this trivialization of disgust) are much more complicated than those that the UN faces (and ultimately sleeps over) everyday! Kindly ponder over our list and help us find solutions for the same.

Have you noticed the frenetic prayers of parents from Belgaum whose children routinely migrate to other cities for their livelihood? Lack of career options has forced them to, much to the chagrin of the resident natives in those cities. But we are helpless God. Please put up some massive projects around Belgaum so that our folks sleep in peace while we work in our home-town. And that will save them the lonely days while they uproot themselves from sprawling homes here and come to live in cramped flats in the big cities, losing their friends and identity and scarily peeping below from tiny balconies over the mad traffic below.

We know you have no time for entertainment, but we need our daily dose of music and Bollywood. Can you imagine God, the whole world has enjoyed the fruits of an FM station for years, but we still pray for one? So please don’t relegate this prayer into the date-barred bin, it is still valid for us.

God, do you know that our Corporators and men-in-power swear by the phrase ‘Road to Perdition’? They literally do, and make us traverse through the same every single day. Can you please grow us some wings, so that we are saved the agony of broken backbones and vehicles turning turtle in the potholes of these dreaded roads? We promise we will not crowd your skies but fly decently.

Do you know God, that time is supreme in today’s era? Oh! How will you? You have to follow no time, but we do. And don’t be surprised by the spurt in tension-induced heart problems, God. We are just waiting for the trains to pass on the crammed railway gates from times immemorial. As we make our way through the trespassing riders from the other end, we have missed classes and been late to work, but our bosses never buy our argument that an overbridge is all we need. They say even God cant help you with this one! Is it true God?

God, please, please make sense to the central and state governments to at last solve the border dispute. If Sudan can resolve its issues, if the Berlin wall can come down, if Srilanka can see peace, why can’t we?

We have many prayers God, but that will bore you. So we are submitting only a few of those. Kindly find time from your busy schedule and answer our prayers God. We will offer you a kilo of the best kunda if you do!

Thanking you in earnest anticipation

Belgaumites –in- tears

P.S. If you can’t trace us on the map, please use your heavenly GPRS, we lie sandwiched between three states and you may even hear our silent cries and sighs if you pay attention.

by Swatee Jog

The people of Belgaum are definitely affluent, but shy away from splurging on in -your- face extravaganzas. A quick recce of our suburbs gives you an idea of their affluence with numerous homes flaunting designer ware and almost every bungalow sporting a fancy sedan. But the more conservative of the lot exists in huge numbers, who prefer to just ‘Be-Rich’ than display their wealth. They’d rather invest in land, property or gold than flash fist-sized rocks on their fingers or drive snazzy cars and flaunt dapper suits. That’s why we just have about 3-4 BMWs and a couple of Audis, Fortuners and Mercs in Belgaum. Earning and spending like crazy has still not become part of their primal instincts. That’s why we still don’t have a major designer boutique (Rujula’s, Biba are minors compare to Satya Paul or even Hi-design).

What sets them apart from their big city counterparts is the social set up here where the height of displaying your wealth is the number of people you invite at your daughter’s wedding, not the decor or trousseau that accompanied it. Wealth here is still measured in the amount of gold ornaments that the wife wears than her designer wear. You can still spot the richest of the citizens here walking down the lane for a pan or to the temple, and no one actually notices them.

The really wealthy here may not know their Moet from the Pinot Noirs or the Cheddar from the Parmesan, and Muesli or Cavier may seem alien to their taste buds, but they surely know what type of sugarcane or Jowar will fetch the highest price at the local APMC yard.

Don’t be surprised to see a turbaned and mustachioed old hawk idling around chewing tobacco as his womenfolk go about picking the best of Dharmavarams and Pochampallis or Paithanis and stepping in only to pay in thick wads of notes drawn from under his yellowy vest. You can spot them around Ambica(Khade Bazar Shahapur), Aradhana (Maruti Galli), Karthika (Ganpat Galli), etc. sitting cross legged on the pavement. Or the simple looking shop- keeper coming up with a palatial house for his family.

The electronic stores have a different tale though. They witnessed crazy crowds initially and only the ones that are situated in the heart of the city made hay with the bulk of the sales coming from cheap mobiles and discs but the Bravias and i-pod shuffles lying almost unsold and one should not forget Bapat Galli, where one can get a hands on almost any make at dirt cheap prices.(of course all China & Delhi made)

Women never had their clothes so cheap and are huffing around even in the mornings in their sneakers and zardosis while doing their morning walks. Every TV, sofa and grinder now has something to cover itself and every door is adorned with a mat. Bedspreads are getting a major overhaul and kids are munching on crunchy snacks like crazy.

After the initial madness ebbed out, all the mega stores in the city are sporting a deserted look on the weekdays. Many will contest that this is the trend even in big cities where the weekend sales more than makes up for the empty aisles during the weekdays. But some people are surely adept at drawing the best from what’s available. Belgaumites chose to visit these stores only for the heck of an experience and only bought what was truly at discounted rates or branded stuff and steered clear of tempting on – the-spur- of- the- moment purchases.

So the neighborhood kirana stores , who’ve refurbished themselves, are brimming again, what with harried housewives needing a kilo of sugar here and half a kilo of semolina there, with ten grams of cardamom and a pint of oil on offer at the grocery shop and no one seems to be complaining. Try asking the same at the mega store and the very stern ‘ mad or what’ look will flash on the salesman’s visage. But it has definitely uncorked the demon in the discount format and customers are more than happy.

Read the earlier Part 1 here