Rising from the dirt, for peace

Will the impending exchange of statues, bring in good relations? hopefully yes. Many times it is proved that real men have stones as heart and stones have life more than men. [ surely multi mayawathi statues have more life than the real one!] Two descendants of a common race have fought many a times on many issues like water, river, language, dominance, domicile etc. Hopefully Thiruvallur of the 1th century BC and Sarvajna of the 16Th century AD will bring them together.

The Chief Minister of Tamilnadu announced that he along with the Karnataka CM Yeddiruppa will unveil a statue of Thiruvalluvar on August 9Th, followed by an unveiling of Sarvajna statue in Chennai on August 13Th.

The proposal to install a statue of Thiruvallur opposite Tamil sangam in Ulsoor lake was given permit as early as 1968. [ cm-Nijilingappa]. But only by 1991, the Tamil Sangam could gather guts and money to install it. The then CM Bangarappa was to unveil the statue. But since many agitations by Kannada activists followed, the plan to unveil it was stalled even though the statue was installed. The statue is since then lying in the spot shrouded by a gunny bag. Being a disputed site the park remains unkempt and the statue is surrounded by litter, plastics and paper waste.

Even the announcement by chief minister BS Yeddyurappa to unveil the statue on August 9 has not brought any changes to the status of the park, where the statue of the poet stands."Since the case is pending before the court, we are not allowed to clear the place. We have been asked to guard the place. Until we get permission from the court or the government, we cannot do anything," said a police officer, who was guarding the statue.

M Meenakshi Sundaram, president, Bangalore Tamil Sangam, said the Sangam is making preparations to withdraw the case pending in the High Court to create a congenial atmosphere to unveil the statue.

"For the past 18 years, the statue has been covered by sack. We have to clean the statue and the park as well. We are waiting for the permission from the government and the court to clean up the area. We are planning to withdraw the case file in High Court. Once it is done, we will clear the place and make preparations for the function," [ DNA]

Meanwhile the statue of Sarvajna which is to be installed in ayanavaram as a quid for pro on August 13Th is lying in a car park!.KT Chikkanna, Joint Director of Department of Kannada and Culture, confirmed that the Sarvajna statue that is kept in the parking area of Kannada Bhavan is the same that will be unveiled in Chennai.

The reason for keeping the statue in the parking lot was the fact that it is a bare statue, explained a woman employee of Shilpakala Academy."It was earlier installed in front of our office. But women staff found it embarrassing to walk before the bare statue and thus it was moved to the parking lot," she said. But artists are upset. Mysore-based artist Pramodini Deshpande, who carved the statue, was shocked to hear about the sorry state of the statue. "I was told that it was to be kept in a godown and so I did not bother much about it, after delivering it," she said.[DNA]

While Thiruvalluvar is already in his place, except that it is unclean for 18 years, Sarvajna may have located his premises in an Ayanavaram park. Both will be cleaned now and the area will be cleansed beyond recognition as politicians are coming. And after unveiling, hope the human notice- The crows will surely do.

Meanwhile Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) has threatened that it will not allow the unveiling if Sarvajin statue is not put at a prominent place, whatever it means.