The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Reporter's Diary

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 14, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Reporter's Diary

THE VISIT of Union Ministers or politicians at the national level is eagerly awaited by the news-starved correspondents of upcountry newspapers and television channels. After all, stories on topics such as crisis in the Kannada film industry cannot be repeated often in Delhi newspapers or national TV channels.

Every such visit thus becomes a heaven-sent opportunity for these scribes. Often the press conferences give them enough news but the television crew are never content with just that. They need some "sound bytes" for their news clippings too. When the correspondents of TV channels hang around after a news conference, reporters from news agencies too are forced to do so.

* * *

FELICITATION FUNCTIONS are dime a dozen in the city. On Monday, there was one to honour K.H. Muniyappa on becoming a Union Minister. The Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, was present. Mr. Singh was in a hurry and wanted to deliver short speech and leave. But there was a problem, a singer brought in to perform at the function just would not stop.

First the singer sang some folk songs. Then he sang a `welcome song' praising Mr. Muniyappa. The song went somewhat like this: "Mr. Muniyappa is a hero for the poor and the oppressed. Mr. Muniyappa was born in a village in Kolar. Mr. Muniyappa overcame obstacles and went on to get an education

He is our saviour. Let Mr. Muniyappa always be successful... ." Finally, one of the organisers whispered something in the singer's ear. Then the man stopped.

* * *

A SUNDAY wedding can be a costly affair, even if the families of the bride and bridegroom keep it simple. And if three weddings are staged at the same venue to cut costs, it could spell a bigger trouble. The reason is simple: Well-dressed youth are on the prowl on Sundays to walk into these weddings uninvited. Courtesy demands that a guest is not asked his identity. Taking advantage of this custom, the famished "guests" enter the marriage choultries and walk out after a sumptuous meal. When two or more weddings are arranged, the problem becomes more complicated. The relatives are in no position to identify the guest as more than three parties are involved.

By K. Satyamurty, Divya Sreedharan and Rasheed Kappan

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