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Music Walk man!
There are miles to go before he sleeps. K G Padmanabha Rao walks miles to Thirumala, the abode of Lord Venketeshwara, all the way from Bangalore every year.
Mr Rao, whose hobby it is to walk long distances, has trekked to Mullainagiri, the highest peak in Karnataka, scaled Bababudangiri, Siddarabetta and also trekked through the thick forests of Muthodi, Yana and so on. His venture to Thirumala began in the year 1997, when as an answer to his prayers to Lord Venketeshwara, utility items worth 1.5 lakh that were stolen from his house were recovered within two days of his vow to take a ‘padayatra’ to Thirumala.
With this came the long walk. Covering a distance of 280 kms, in a span of seven days on his first visit, Padmanabaha Rao,a clerk at Canara Bank, NRI branch, has ever since then made this journey an annual event.
“ I feel one with nature when I go on this journey. I have only gained in every aspect, including lots of friends on the way, who look forward to my visit each year,” says Padmanabha Rao .
With a passion for adventure, He has also undertaken a pilgrimage from Subramanya and Dharmastala covering a distance of 72 kms by foot in 12 hours in the year 1992.
“These sacred missions have indeed made him a better human being,” says his wife Padmajyoti who is working with ISRO. “He has certainly gained a lot of patience,” She adds.
Completing the seventh visit recently, Padmanabha Rao is all rejuvenated to deal with life and is already planning his next trip.
Sindhu M
Letting his hair down
For N Velu, a resident of S K Garden in Bangalore it was a poverty stricken childhood. Even a single meal a day was hard to come. Abject poverty denied him an opportunity to attend school and gain formal education. However, these miseries did not deter his obsession to achieve something in life.
Velu decided to earn a name for himself by lifting weights - using his hair! Today all of 35 years, and with a successful stint as a tiles contractor, Velu is determined to turn his obsession into a record and find a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Velu has tried lifting up to 60 kgs with his hair and plans to lift more. “It hurts a lot but I am determined to achieve a record”, he says. What is the secret of the strength of hair which perhaps the hair-care industry would love to know? Well, Velu does not want to reveal much. All he says its an ayurvedic preparation which he applies regularly. Velu can be contacted at 25, S K Garden, 1st Cross, I Main Road, Bangalore- 560046. Phone: 3431200.
VK
Campaigning in style
Vintage cars were all lined up to zoom off in style on Saturday. To add impetus to the ongoing ‘Road safety campaign 2003’, the Bangalore City Traffic Police and the Vintage Car Rally Association joined hands to take up a small procession of sorts to encourage safe driving.
These old beauties carried placards displaying simple traffic regulations, which was aimed at educating the public. The rally took of from Cubbon park, travelled throughout the major streets in the city and finally assembled at the Brigade grounds.
The road safety message could not have been delivered in a better way, with the cars as old as 60 years and more adding to the flamboyance.
Pet dogs too carried messages round their neck along with the vintage car rally. With more than 6,000 people and more than 700 in the city alone getting killed in accidents last year, the traffic police hoped that at least a small percentage of change can be affected with these activities. Let us keep our fingers crossed.
Murali
Hope, eternally
There are many people who look to the new year with renewed hope and enthusiasm and want to forget the bad tidings of the year that went. Chief Minister S M Krishna definitely heads the list of the such people. With the Nagappa kidnap episode ending on a sour note and the Cauvery issue rocking the State yet again last year, 2002 certainly didn’t qualify as a good year for the CM.
He too, made no bones about why he would like to forget the year 2002. At the valedictory of the all-India Conference of Obstetrics and Gynaecology last week, the chief minister said, “I would certainly like to forget 2002 and look forward to 2003. Let us hope this year is better than what we saw in the last year.” We, the citizens, hope so too!
Rashmi
Tail-piece
Festivals, it is believed, foster communal harmony and bring people closer. Two such festivals are “literally” showing the way, at a time when communal hatred is increasing.
Ever noticed the words ‘Diwali’ and ‘Ramzan’ closely? You will be surprised to find ‘Ali’ in Diwali, a Hindu festival and ‘Ram’ in Ramzan, the holy month for Muslims. This is what a pamphlet on rehabilitation programmes in Gujarat, brought out by the NGO ActionAid, is trying to show. Seems like the divine force itself had the answers to communal amity. But will people see the true meaning of these festivals?
RR
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