Bellary is today mistaken for a backwater area. Some think it is Sonia Gandhi's birthplace. Some others believe that Sushma Swaraj went to school under a Bodhi tree there and emerged a Kannada bhasha visharad. Such rumours merely spread the impression that any Tom, Dick, Gandhi and Swaraj can descend upon Bellary in an election helicopter and claim proprietory rights over the district.
Actually Bellary is a treasurehouse shaped over the centuries by the best of empire builders, the greatest of conquerors, the bravest of warriors. The Mauryas put their stamp on it followed by the Satavahanas and the Pallavas, the Kadambas, the Badami Chalukyas and the Rashtrakutas. Then came the Kalyani Chalukyas, the Southern Kalachuryas, the Sevuna Yadavas and the Hoysalas, the Deccan Sultanates, the Marathas and the Mughals. Southern supremacy was re-established thereafter by Hyder Ali of Mysore.
What a splendid procession of cultures, customs, traditions and fashions! What a heritage! But have you noticed a glaring lacuna? From the Mauryas and Yadavas to the Chalukyas and the Hoysalas, everyone was there. But not the Reddys. The absence of such a heroic and ancient dynasty was a blot on the fair face of Bellary.
So God decided to step in for the second time. The first time was when the Rakshasa named Bella was working havoc in the region. Indra appeared and slayed the demon, thus giving Bella-ari its name. This time God did a double whammy. He put both the Kingdom of Bellary and the Kingdom of Kadapa under Reddy dynasties. After all, Kadapa and Anantapur were part of Bellary until the British separated them.
As the two Kingdoms restored Bellary-Kadapa unity, the earth yielded great wealth. The new Kingdoms together threw away inter-state boundary markers, cut roads through forests, and generally tore to pieces what modern Rakshasas called the laws of the land. To ensure efficiency Bellary annexed Karnataka as its hinterland and Kadapa annexed Andhra Pradesh as its satellite.
The two Kingdoms ignored political boundaries as well. The Kadapa dynasty wore Congress colours while the Bellary dynasty sported the BJP's colours. The colours were only for decorative effect. On the ground, they were one and the same, united in their determination to show the meaninglessness of party labels. They were so successful that they could tell their High Commands to go jump into the Yamuna.
Collaborative money-making cemented their unity. The Kadapa Congress dynasty gave 17,000 acres of land to the Bellary BJP dynasty to set up a steel plant costing Rs 26,000 crores. Look at those figures again and recall how that small-time company, Tatas, struggled to get 997 acres in Singur and finally opened in Ahmedabad with a paltry investment of Rs 2000 crores. Not a mouse stirred in Kadapa's 17,000 acres. In well-run Kingdoms mice are profoundly development conscious.
Now we can see how Bellary as a separate state can do wonders for India. It can fund all the steel mills in India and all the political parties in India and all elections in India. One source funding all parties will be great for unity. The Sovereign Republic of Bellary can do the same for the world. Imagine Pakistan and the Taliban and Israel and Hamas coming to Bellary for bail-out packages. Money will hold the world together. Money, the Ultimate Truth. Money, the Supreme High Command. Money, that answereth all things. Duddu-avasyamidham Sarvam.
(TJS George is a well-known journalist, columnist and author. He began his career in Bombay's Free Press Journal in 1950 and moved through the International Press Institute, The Searchlight and the Far Eastern Economic Review to become the founding editor of Asiaweek (Hong Kong). He is currently the Editorial Advisor of The New Indian Express.)
Source: India Syndicate
Mr. T. J. S. George writes on current issues boldly and his reviews are worth reading. I invite or rather challenge him to take on Commercial, Blessing broking Evangelists fleecing the believers, mostly poor, illiterate and ignorant on fraudulent and false claims of divine hands operating under their command. Some of these so called spiritual Evangelists if their wealth is openly assessed gains an entry into the Fortunes classification of world's moneyed class. Let him start with 'Heavenly Feast' called by the people as 'Heavenly Beast' or 'Jesus Calls' also known as the "Devil Calls' after going through their television soap shows. Would you believe that Jesus made it to the earth twice to talk one of the fraud Evangelists and in another case Jesus appointed him as a Prophet. Would you believe when a prophet with his closed eyes claim that he sees Jesus repairing the womb of an affected woman. While I laugh at these claims one should not ignore the fact that the Indian Television channels act as pimps in their money earning antics and the poor people lose their meager resources in joining their umpteen tricks in search of blessings in return for payment. Only people like T J S George can bring the fraudsters to book and he should not ignore this call to expose the dirty to save the innocents. May God's choicest blessings fall on him.
The owners of all mines are the political clouts,the depletion of forests ,the eco system is damaged still we do and speak to the out side world that we care for climatic changes.Great leaders and great fools both in the same side of coin.The speeches the actions are no where related to the action.Is the people so illatrate they can not understand the ethics.are the people with 50% literacy legitimate to decide on leader, are the fear psychosis that has allowed the leaders clout to dominate.The greedy has no limit they can even sell india to outsiders like the minerals that they sell out.The color of british india and independant india seems to be same side of coin.