I write this as I, along with all of India and the world, celebrate 20 years of Sachin Tendulkar. But I am here to talk of another champion, Tejaswini Naidu. I know the name won't ring a bell. Not your fault. Tejaswini is India's national champion in powerlifting. Like Sachin, she is also very consistent. The 26-year-old has held this title for the last fifteen years. Her last title came in Chandigarh this Independence Day.
'Gali' in Hindi means abuse. In Telugu, it means wind. To B S Yeddyurappa, Gali Janardhan Reddy and his two brothers have meant nothing less than an abusive Tsunami. These relatively new entrants in Karnataka's political theatre have also shown that they can outdo Deve Gowda and sons in their antics. They can give them a run for their money.
A month ago, I got a call from a man who identified himself as Pradeep. “Pehchana nahin kya Sir, main Pradeep bol raha hoon,'' he insisted with familiarity. Finally he said, “Main Kishenji bol raha hoon,'' and I exclaimed, “To aise boliye na.'' Post-Lalgarh, Kishenji alias Koteswara Rao was the name, voice and masked face of the Maoist movement.
Atheists of the world, here is conclusive proof that God exists. Last month, elaborate prayers were conducted in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh to pray to the Rain God. The towns in the district were facing an acute drinking water shortage and the people were very desperate.
It was a hot April afternoon deep inside the countryside of Pulivendula in Kadapa district. I was travelling with Y S Jaganmohan Reddy as he campaigned for himself for the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat and for dad YSR for Pulivendula assembly constituency. The YSR family, particularly Jagan's grandfather, the late Y S Raja Reddy, was said to have been a terror in these parts. So I was a little surprised to see so many youth fearlessly approach Jagan to tell him their problems. Some making a request, others demanding, angry.
“No chance the CM would have survived if his chopper hit Rudrakonda,” said a villager who was trekking along with me deep inside the Nallamalla forest to the Rudrakonda hillock, where the CM's chopper was reported to have crashlanded. Another forest official echoed his sentiment. “I hope you both don't have a black tongue,” I remarked as we navigated through difficult, inhospitable terrain.
"Your peti (interview in Tamil) with Vikram today will not be good, Saar." Making the prediction was Kalaipuli S. Dhanu. The veteran film producer was in Hyderabad to promote Mallanna, the Telugu verion of Tamil film Kanthaswamy, along with the lead cast Vikram and Shriya.
T S Sudhir is Resident Editor (South) and has been with NDTV since February 1995. He has reported extensively on politics, Naxalism, business, sports, entertainment and is one of the seniormost television journalists in the country today.
T S Sudhir is Resident Editor (South) and has been with NDTV since February 1995. He has reported extensively on politics, Naxalism, business, sports, entertainment and is one of the seniormost television journalists in the country today.
