Bengaluru in the Cultural Imaginary of Kannada – Rajendra Chenni (Day 1)
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Venue: Kote (Auditorium)
Some places, especially cities have the uncanny capability to occupy two levels of existence – The real and the more than real. They become cultural spaces and also contested sites for debating over several pre-occupations of a culture, Bengaluru has had a kaleidoscopic existence in the Kannada imaginary at different times as the site of colonization, modernity, Kannada sub-nationalism and more recently of globalization. There has also been a persistent attempt to see Bengaluru as the ‘other’. In the Kannada imaginary, Bengaluru is an over determined symbolic object. An attempt shall be made to revisit the Kannada literary texts to understand the many overlapping histories of Bengaluru embedded in them. Keruru Vasudevacharya, P. Lankesh, Vasudhendra, Uma Rao, Vastare, Girish Karnad are among the writers who shall be discussed in the masterclass
Rajendra Chenni: Academic, Writer, Researcher
Rajendra Chenni, formerly professor of English, Kuvempu University is presently Director, Manasa Centre for Cultural Studies, Shivamogga. Manasa Centre is a recently established unit of Manasa Trust and is devoted to higher research in literature, social sciences, psychology, and psychiatry.
Rajendra Chenni is an eminent bilingual writer, writing in both Kannada and English. He has authored 12 books in Kannada 4 in English including a novel. He has participated in over 200 seminars, workshops, and conferences at the national and international level.
His contribution to Kannada literature has been honoured with several awards. He has received the Karnataka Sahitya Academy Book Award twice and has also received the Academy’s Life Time Achievement Award. He has also received the prestigious G. S. Shivarudrappa Award and B. H. Sridhara Award, Vardhamana Udayanmukha Award. He has been a freelance writer contributing articles to The Hindu, Deccan Herald, The Indian Express and Frontline
Ecologically Responsible Bengalurean: An Oxymoron – Sharachchandra Lele (Day 1)
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Venue: Katte (Outdoor)
“Think Globally, Act Locally”
they say! We take pride in our individual local actions: not using bottled water, eating ragi and Navane Dosas, or composting our wet waste. Bengaluru’s citizen activists have also collectively rejuvenated lakes and protested against tree felling. But when we think globally, we see vast problems: warming summers, drying rivers, and ‘smogging’ north India. How do we think and link local actions to these global challenges? This masterclass will explore these links, raising questions about our idea of environmentalism, the nature of our environmental footprint, and how we can become ‘glocal’ citizens.
Sharachchandra Lele: Academic, Writer, Researcher
Sharachchandra Lele is a Distinguished Fellow in Environmental Policy & Governance at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE). Sharad’s research interests include conceptual issues in sustainable development and sustainability, and analyses of institutional, economic, ecological, and technological issues in forest, energy, and water resource management. He attempts to incorporate strong interdisciplinarity in his own research and teaching, which straddles ecology, economics, and political science.
Urban Life of Caste – Janaki Nair (Day 3)
Time: 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Venue: Katte (Outdoor)
