Happy Independence day.
 
Th below photo taken on August 15, 2010 at 9.40am at Hutatma circle. A freedom fighter is seeing looking at the Martyr's monument.

The Quintessence of Belgaum
by Ollie D. Oliveira
Generations of us have passed through its environs and tasted the lasting imprint of its ethos. Is there anyone, whether still living in the good place or relocated to other climes who can truly say that they bear the marks of their early formation from our Alma Mater and our home? Indeed, even those of us who, as boarders, considered this a home away from home?
Dictionaries define quintessence as the pure and concentrated essence of a substance, the most perfect embodiment of something but primordially the fifth essence or element, ether, besides air, fire, earth, and water that constitute the heavenly bodies. Generation after generation can testify to the ethos assimilated during our formative years in this lovely haven. The salubrious climate was also a great deciding factor in people relocating to our early “Hometown”. Belgaum has been a melting pot of so many different cultures and races and this has contributed to the ethos of Belgaumites.
Many of my generation and earlier will remember the Chinese vendors who used to cycle around Belgaum peddling their silks, brocades and miscellanea of particular interest to the ladies. They used to enter our parlours and unwrap their bolts with a flourish on our floors. Prominent among these was Tung Ming Kee who alone remained and later ran the Chinese Emporium on Church Street. Church Street also boasted so many one-of-a-kind individuals. I wonder how many remember the only Jew in town – Halley, the inveterate gambler whose favourite haunt was the Catholic Club on Picket Road.
Who can forget M. K. Swamy, baker & confectioner to generations of Belgaumites, right from the days of the Raj? There was Kukreja who ran the only sports shop in town, The British Sports, and old Mr. Noronha who ran the only Dairy Shop selling butter, cheese, etc., of which my father was particularly fond. Then there was old Mr. Vasudeo of Vasudeo & Sons, who were the Sole Agents for “The Times of India” and allied Bennett & Coleman publications, as also Mirajkar and Jawalkar our fancied tailors. There was The Green Shop owned by a Muslim (I don’t recall his name) who also owned the Billiard Saloon opposite and our Irani selling the usual chai, pastries, bun-maska, etc.
High Street (and its bylanes), of course, saw the same mix of castes and creeds which ultimately contributed to the richness of our upbringing. Right from Dr. Kamat at one end passing by Himalaya Ice Factory of the Barafwallas, Sikander and the Bandukwallas, the two cloth shops (collectively known as the Marwadis) the only Udipi restaurant on this street, the two barber shops, Novelty Book Stall (the belonging to Ismael, if my memory serves me right (but later bought by Oliver Fernandes), Tejmal Kothari, Purohit, Augustine the grocer, Kattaya the cobbler, Siddick’s cycle shop, the one Irani on High Street, with a generous sprinkling of Catholic homes ending at the gates of St. Joseph’s Convent with Goje Building. Here, we mustn’t forget the only Sikh in town, Grover, who also ran a grocery store, and whose son went on to become a Sub-Inspector in the Bombay Police.
The Parsi community was adequately present in Boyce & Co., Ruttonjee, Rex Theatre, the Kapadias and Davars, et al. The medical fraternity had the Sanjanas, and of course, their Dastoorji, Beevox Bhadha whose children have been and are very dear friends. There was also our friend Adi Patel and his sisters, the former a regular at the Billiard Saloon on Church Street. Some of you will also remember the only bhaiya, Pandey, a Sales Rep for Burmah Shell with a penchant for ballroom dancing often seen flitting around town in the only MG Convertible in town.
Besides the variety of inhabitants from various origins and cultures, there was a generous input from the Christian community. Goans, Marathas, Karwaris, Mangaloreans, while the Raj and the Railways contributed their share of Anglo-Indians. This rich mix contributed largely to our broad-minded approach to the human race in general and helped us all to put aside any vestige of bigotry or parochialism.
A great contributor to leveling our playing field was the sports and games in which we all participated, to a greater or lesser extent. The traditional sports of football, hockey, cricket, volleyball, basketball and athletics coupled with the more mundane pastimes as marbles, cowries, gilli-danda, seven tiles all contributed to the moral.
One cannot forget the scouting and the NCC which molded us into bodies irrespective of our origins, colour caste or creed. Right from the cubs and juniors to the Scout Masters and troop leaders to the seniors and officers, these activities molded us into men and women who could face the world and all its disparities with an equanimity born of facing and ignoring our racial differences.
While the Camp formed our immediate world, our schoolmates came from the city and its environs as well as from all over India and abroad, particularly Africa. So many of our schoolmates came from the City, Tilakwadi, Shahpur and Hindalga. Besides, there were boarders who came from Pune, Solapur, Kolhapur, Miraj, Sangli, Mumbai, Goa and even from abroad, principally Africa.
This article centres on the Camp which held our Alma Maters (St.Pauls & St.Joeshps) and hence, our world.
The City, Fort, Hindalga, Tilakwadi and Shahpur held their mix of castes and creeds. Hindus, Muslims, Jains, who hailed from various parts of India with a sprinkling of Christians. Boys and girls from these parts of Belgaum also contributed to the making of us men and boys with a unique formation of our attitudes and “world-view”. The absence of bias created a strange melting pot which really spelt out the unique blend that has made Belgaum; Belgaum.

Major Images seen here have never been seen on the internet.
The Setting:
Meticulous planning and preparation went into the arrangement for various aspects of the Congress Session.
A huge area – stretching from Vaccine Depot to the Military Centre was cordoned off for the Congress and an enormous well dug. While the well was being dug a small boy named Harpanahalli fell in and died. Gangadharrao Deshpande who supervised all the work daily on horseback, dissuaded people from taking this as a bad omen and asked them to carry on with the work. Then the Army objected to the well on the grounds that the well would divert water from their Swimming pool (about half a mile away!) Gangadharrao assured them that the well would be filled in again after the Congress Session.


Finally the well named ‘Pampa Sarovar’ was ready. Built with rough granite, it had 10 arches for water to be drawn and sluiced to the end user points. The total cost of Pampa Sarovar came to Rs. 4,370 and 3 annas. The pipelines cost Rs. 9293 and 3 pies.
A flag railway station was constructed near the site of the Congress Session, which came to be called ‘Vijaya Nagara’, after the mighty empire of Hampi and the entrance gate, with an impressive height of 70 feet was designed as a ‘gopura’ from the same place.


Some seventeen thousand people from all corners of India – from Quetta in the West to Burma in the East, from Kashmir to Kerala descended upon this site and had to be fed and housed. It was graciously done, with volunteers catering to every comfort of all who attended.
Particularly impressive were the arrangements made by the Sanitation Committee to keep the site spotless. Brahmins rubbed shoulders with bhangis to clean the toilets with a smile.


For Gandhiji a small hut of bamboo and grass was built, by one Khemajirao Godse, at the cost of Rs. 350, which Gandhiji objected to, as being far too expensive for a simple man like him !


Gandhiji arrived six days before the Congress Session to forge unity between the ‘Swaraj’ faction and the ‘no-change’ faction.


On the 26th of December 1924, delegates were stunned by the massive Shamiana put up for the Congress Session. Spacious as a circus tent, it was rented for Rs. 5000/- (it was even insured against fire for Rs. 500/-) Gandhiji objected to the amount spent on its decoration ! He requested that the delegation fees be reduced from Rs. 10 to Rs. 1, which was done. Even after all this, the Belgaum Session, made a profit for the Congress of Rs. 773, of which Rs. 745 were deposited in P.U.C.C. Bank, Rs. 25/- kept for contingencies with the Secretary and Rs. 1/- kept with the Treasurer, N. V. Herekar, for petty expenses !






 The Session:
The Belgaum Session of the Indian National Congress saw the coming together of a cluster of personalities who helped steer the freedom struggle and have left a mark on our country. Besides Mahatma Gandhi, there were stalwarts like Motilal and Jawaharlal Nehru, Lala Lajpatrai and Rajagopalachari, Drs. Annie Besant and Sarojini Naidu, Chittaranjandas and Pandit Madan Mohan Malalviya, Saifuddin Kichalu and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Mohd. Ali & Maulana Shaukat Ali, Rajendra Prasad, Vallabhai Patel, Rangaswamy Iyengar and so many others.


The chemistry between these leaders was intense; the atmosphere was electric, the enthusiasm was awesome.
Contd....
Matter by Nitin Khot 

People love Belgaum and Belgaumites are loved by all. Many of the younger lot who are working in metros often get bored with the metro life and always want to come back to their home town, but this is not always possible as the work, the boss dont always give one time.
In USA, we have the Indian's meeting on Sunday's and we have various associations and in the same manner in Indian cities as well we have small groups of people coming together who are from one city.
In Bangalore, there are many (must be in thousands) from Belgaum district making a living in the city. A similar group of people from Belgaum district who work in various fields decided to meet every year once and go for a ride together from Bangalore in the second week of August as a part of friendship day celebrations.
This year, 14 members on sever bikes all got ready to keep this friendship knot tied a but tighter and decided to ride to Jog Falls.
They left on August 6, 2010 from Bangalore and returned on August 9.
The group enjoyed their journey and also helped in some social work like getting a accident hit car on the road back so that it could be carried away.
Rain, cold did not hamper at all, the young blood was soaring high and these bikers were riding all the way. One more bike joined them in Shimoga.
These bikers have a solid message behind them, as they want more people from Belgaum district to join them in their next years trip. Interested people could mailmaddy25bgm@gmail.com for more details.

Belgaum is a land of rich human resources, it is called the Poor mans hill station. People throng this city to get education as far of places like the North east, no need to tell south east Asian countries as well. To cover one more Star of Belgaum who has scaled great heights after he returned from Germany with his parents to make a fresh start here in Belgaum.
Technologist, businessman, consultant, writer, actor, musician, family man, community catalyst... He has many, many descriptions;
I am talking about Atul Chitnis is an Indian consulting technologist known for his work in the fields of data networks, internet and intranets, Linux and Free and Open Source Software and mobile computing in India. He is also the founder of FOSS.IN (formerly Linux Bangalore), one of Asia's largest FOSS conferences. He is currently on the management board of Geodesic Ltd as Chief Products Officer, where the company's MD is again a Belgaumite Kiran Kulkarni.
Born in Berlin, Germany in 1962, to his German mother Monika and G G Chitnis, he completed his primary schooling there, before migrating to Belgaum in 1972. He completed his secondary schooling at the Belgaum Military School (1972-78), his PUC from GSS college (1978-81) and graduated in Mechanical engineering from the Gogte Institute of Technology in 1985.
After working for a while in Mumbai, Atul settled down in Bangalore in 1986, where he continues to live with his family.
Atul has worked extensively to promote Linux and Free and Open Source Software. As Consulting Editor for PCQuest from 1996 to 2002, he was responsible for the PCQuest Linux Initiative, a successful effort to introduce FOSS and Linux to readers of the popular magazine.
Working with the FOSS community (most prominently the Bangalore Linux User Group that he had helped create in 1998), seminars and articles, he encouraged people to try out and use FOSS technologies. He also encouraged the FOSS community to participate in large technology events such as Bangalore IT.COM. The exposure from these events gained the community more visibility and credibility in industry and government.
In 2001, Chitnis, along with a group of like-minded friends, created and ran the Linux Bangalore series of FOSS community driven conferences. Now known as FOSS.IN, the conference has become one of Asia's largest annual FOSS events.
His father G G Chitnis was doing good in Germany but the urge to return to India and get into the manufacture of hydraulics became stronger and stronger, more so with the birth of Atul and Arun, whom their parents wanted to raise in an Indian environment. In 1969, Atul's father returned to India after almost eighteen years in Europe. In 1972, Atul's mother, Atul and his brother Arun followed him to settle in India.
After his graduation Atul worked for a while with CompuTact, a Bombay-based firm involved in the development of software for business houses. In late 1986, he moved to Bangalore, and operated as a freelance programmer and consultant until 1989, when he helped found A.R.B.Constellation, a company involved with the development of software for the Indian domestic market.
In the period between 1989 and 1994, he was involved in various projects - including the first communication software developed in India, and was chief programmer for the award winning communications host system - CyberNet.
Today, he specializes in Corporate computing strategies and the identification of appropriate technologies.
Atul married his college sweetheart, Shubha, in 1987, and they have one daughter – Geetanjali.
He enjoys writing a lot, especially "humanized" technology articles that not only describe a concept, but also give it a practical base. His articles have appeared in various publications, including some of India's leading technology journals such as PC Quest and DataQuest. He is especially known for his articles related to data communication and the Internet, as well as Linux -- an Operating System. He is also a much sought-after public speaker. He enjoys stripping technology of its mystique and making it comprehensible to laymen.
He can speak, read and write in English and German, am an amateur musician and am a voracious reader of both printed and online material. He enjoys reading, especially science fiction, which naturally means that Issac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke rank very high with me.

Kingfisher Red boss Vijay Mallaya made a statement in Delhi, that he has applied for clearances for the Bangalore-Belgaum-Mumbai route and Bangalore- Mysore route.
The concessions announced by the state government would indeed be key factors for his airline to launch services for these destinations.
55-seat ATR on these routes.
Kingfisher Red, which was earlier flying to Belgaum from Bangalore, suspended its operations over a year ago citing poor demand.
This will bring some cheer to sky filers from Belgaum.
Source: Deccan Herald

Reliance Footprint – the footwear arm of Reliance Retail Group, which is eying major expansion is all ready to open its store on Kirloskar Road (Next to Camp Purohit).
Reliance Footprint is the destination for footwear for the entire family for every conceivable occasion. Since the format is positioning itself as a ‘destination for footwear’, the company is looking at providing products for special needs such as for diabetic patients, who require soft soles, he said.
Reliance Footprint is also launching an in-house brand ‘Tender Sole’, which will be available in stores soon.
Reliance Footprint offers a wide variety of footwear and other consumer commodities including handbags and accessories together with a line-up of international brands from America and Europe. Reliance Footprint offers a troupe of various categories like casuals, formals, casual sports, comfort wear, kids wear and home wear. Reliance Footprint also engages in selling private labels and is also coming up with specially crafted footwear for people with foot deformities. Reliance Footprint is aiming at a share of about 10-12 percent in the entire footwear industry in a time span of a few years.

Bad news at Amboli is coming, yesterday afternoon a small landslide happened at the main water falls at Amboli in which one person was killed and 4 others injured.
The deceased identified as Vishwantah Konnur of Ramdurg aged 21 was bathing when a few stones tumbled on him and he was injured along with a few others.
He was admitted to the local hospital where he was advised to to be taken to Belgaum civil hospital.

The region was greatly influenced by Balgangadhar Tilak who visited Belgaum in 1906. Several leaders emerged here, including Gangadhar Rao Deshpande, Annu Guruji, Jivanrao Yalgi, Ramchandra Wadavi and Baburao Thakur.
During the swadeshi movement of 1905-08, Govindrao Yalgi was responsible for starting secret revolutionary associations. Belgaum was made headquarters of the State unit of Tilak’s Home Rule League.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak who gave the ‘cutting edge’ to the Indian National Congress, visited Belgaum in 1906 and met many like-minded individuals here – like Gangadharrao Deshpande, Kaka Kalelkar, et al. Tilak decided to hold a Conference in Belgaum to focus on pivotal issues of ‘Swarajya’.
Some elements who were opposed to Tilak tried to persuade Mahatma Gandhi not to attend this Conference, to which he had been personally invited by Kaka Kalelkar.
Getting to know of this opposition Gangadharrao Deshpande wrote an anguished letter to Gandhiji.
Gandhiji’s terse reply was on a small postcard – “Nothing but death can prevent me from going to Belgaum to attend the Conference”.
This was to be Gandhiji’s first visit to Belgaum – arriving, as he usually did by Third Class Compartment of a train on the 29th of April 1916.
Gandhiji worked hard, behind the scenes, to heal the split that had developed in the freedom movement after the 1907 Surat Congress Session. One Group had favoured lawful agitation, the other group in Swadeshi, a boycott of foreign goods, Swarajya, and more direct action. Tilak proposed a resolution that united both factions. Gandhiji spoke in favour of Tilak (on the 1st of May 1916) and an open split was averted.
A day earlier Gandhiji had spoken in Raviwar Peth (our main market) against untouchability.
In the 38th Congress Session at Kakinada which Mohammed Ali presided over, Gangadharrao Deshpande was elected Secretary along with Jawaharlal Nehru and Saifuddin Kichalu. Deshpande immediately proposed that the next session be held in the Karnatak Province. Mohd. Ali accepted the suggestion.
When the Mysore Raja – Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar backed out of hosting the Congress, Sadashivrao Karnad of Mangalore and Shrinivas Koujalgi of Bijapur staked the claims of their cities to host the Congress Session.
However, the fleeter footwork of Gangadharrao Deshpande of Belgaum won the day, by bringing in some merchants from Shahapur in Belgaum who were prepared to underwrite the expenses of the Congress to a tune of Rs. 30,000. That clinched the venue of the 39th Session of the Congress. This move was enough to convince Gandhiji and the senior leaders that Belgaum was indeed a Little Town with a Large Heart.


For a small town of 36,000 to attempt to host an All India Congress Session was an audacious move – something like a small country wishing to host the Olympics today.


But the 39th Congress Session at Belgaum in 1924 proved to be one of the most momentous sessions.
By Nitin Khot

On August 2, 2010 many news papers and I am quoting TOI here, in which Minister for large and medium industries, Murugesh Nirani was quoted saying that Mahindra and Mahindra and few other industries have expressed their willingness to establish their units at Dharwad.
The Hindu on same day, published this “While the Mahindra and Mahindra had agreed to set up their unit at Belgaum”
Mahindra and Mahindra company has the largest OEM from tractor engines to allied auto castings based in Belgaum. These components supplied by manufactures based in Belgaum and are direct standards of Mahindra QC standards, so Belgaum is a much obvious choice of Mahindra’s. Government of Karnataka should take interest in brining big names of foundry industries in proposed 500 acre foundry park near Machhe for international supplies, and give a support to local foundry industries to have joint venture for future entrepreneur developments in Belgaum , or else what is the use of establishing foundry cluster and including Belgaum for development of Automobile industry belt in Suvarna Karnataka industrial Policy.
From the news coverage it seems that the minister is not happy with the Mahindra unit being established in Belgaum and he is busy telling that even Mahindra is coming to Dharwad.
With inputs from Satish Kumar.

Here are the lucky winners of the Zaika and Subhash Photos Give away:
Winner of Zaika voucher of Rs.500
Fahim Bepari – beparifahim at gmail.com
Winner of a personalised Photo Mug is
Pallavi Dhotre
Congrats to the winners.

St.Pauls won the 31^st Royceton memorial cup today, they beat Marathi Vidya Niketan by 2 goals to nil.
It was jam packed hostel ground with excitement to its fullest. Young and old both were there to cheer their teams.

In spite of good rains and relief from power cuts for about 15 days, HESCOM is back with its routine load shedding of SIX hours in city and 12 hours in rural areas.
Load shedding is necessary as there are problems with the power production.
Belgaum is getting about 90 MW where it actually needs 120 MW.