Category Archives: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Throws her weight around for causes

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Sports
Ashwini Ponnappa: Remember them who laid down their lives so that we can take breath in air of independence, a big salute to them....Happy Independence Day.
Ashwini Ponnappa: Remember them who laid down their lives so that we can take breath in air of independence, a big salute to them….Happy Independence Day.

Apart from concentrating on her game, Ashwini Ponappa is busy supporting various causes. Currently, she is lending her voice to the Voice of Stray Dogs, and also advocates the importance of teachers with Aksara Foundation with the same commitment and affection that she cares for stray dogs. “I have gained popularity and that helps me give some mileage to such organisations. I’m doing nothing, all the credit goes to them for their special work. I only throw my weight behind them,” says Ashwini, former world class shutler.

Ashwini says she cannot be more grateful to teachers, as she refers to Aksara Foundation’s social campaign for teachers. “Throughout my life, whoever has been my teacher in various aspects of my life has played a vast role in shaping the person I am today. Teachers are very underappreciated in the society and more needs to be done to recognise their importance.” An animal lover herself, Ashwini’s admits that her hectic schedule had her miss out on adopting a pet.

“But a couple of dogs made my parents’ house their home. So for all intents and purposes, they’re our dogs,” she says. A friend was following the Voice of Stray Dogs page on Facebook and she appreciated their work, so she too ‘liked’ the page. “They (Voice of Stray Dogs — VoSD) do amazing work here in Bengaluru and I want to do my bit to support them. They take care of the dogs until they’re completely healthy. I would love to go visit them in Bengaluru but I haven’t had the time yet.”

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Sports> Other Sports / DC / Vijay Anand / September 08th, 2014

Madikeri Dasara committee submits audit report

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Uncategorized

Committee had spent ` 91.31 L in 2013 Dasara

For the first time, Madikeri Dasara Committee has submitted the audit report of the expenditure of 2013 Dasara to the district administration. The State government has been giving funds to the committee to organise Dasara with grandeur, from last few years.

According to the audit report, the government had sanctioned Rs 75 lakh for organising the programme. The total expenditure during 10 days was Rs 91,31,711 which includes funds collected from general public. Dasara Utsav Committee Working President K M Ganesh told Deccan Herald that the report which has been audited by chartered accountants has been submitted to the district administration. “As we requested the chief minister to release additional fund this year, he has agreed to release an additional Rs 25 lakh. We will upload the expenditure of this year’s Dasara on the website – www.madikeridasara.com, which can be viewed by general public.

However, the government has imposed three terms and conditions while sanctioning the amount. They are, to use the money for the same purpose for which it has been sanctioned, to submit an utilisation certificate of the proper use of released fund and to follow the rules under Transparency Act, 1999 in collection of public fund.

Meanwhile, the district registration officer has reported the district administration stating that Madikeri City Dasara Committee has not renewed its registration since 18 years. The committee was registered on May 4, 1987. Though it is supposed to be renewed every year, it was last renewed in 1995-96.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> District / by Shrikanth Kallammanavar / Madikeri – DHNS , September 03rd, 2014

Pages from history : Musings on Victoria Gowramma

About Kodagu / Coorg, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All, World Opinion

By Prof. A.V. Narasimha Murthy, former Head, Department of Ancient History & Archaeology, University of Mysore

Victoria Gowramma is an enchanting but a perplexing name as it is a curious combination of western culture represented by Victoria and Hindu culture symbolised in Gowramma. In fact, an old fashioned and devoted Hindu woman with traditional virtues is referred to as Gowramma. Actually Gowri is Parvathy, the consort of Shiva. Slowly the name Gowramma is vanishing from Hindu household in preference to more modern names. However, that name still persists among the Kodavas.

I was re-reading D.N. Krishnayya’s book Kodagina Itihasa (History of Kodagu) in Kannada. It is a good book and reads like a novel but gives authentic history of Coorg. He has devoted many pages for sketching the life of Gowramma. In fact, C.P. Belliappa has made a special research on the charming lady and has written a book titled Victoria Gowramma: The Lost Princess of Coorg, which I have not been able to read unfortunately. Further he has taken the trouble in exploring and locating her cemetery at Brompton in South-West London. Thus Belliappa has given a new lease of life in history to this extraordinary Princess of Coorg and has added a new chapter to the history of Coorg. K.B. Ganapathy has also written about her in his book ‘The Cross and the Coorgs’ and its Kannada version Kodagina Mele Shilubeya Neralu. All these books are useful in understanding the personality of this Princess who passed away when she was just 23 years (1841-63).

Victoria Gowramma was the daughter of Kodagu King Chikka Veerarajendra Odeya, son and successor of King Lingarajendra. He was just 17 years when he became the king and due to bad company he became a cruel and autocratic king and people of Coorg cursed him to the maximum but were scared of him to raise their voice. Killing people when he did not like them or those who did not toe his line had become a daily affair without any mercy. A low class person by name Kunta Basava, who was looking after the Palace dogs rose to the position of a Dewan of the State and encouraged the King in all his atrocious acts. Added to it, he had a strong weakness for women and as soon as he saw a charming woman, he would get her into his harem. The British warned him but he ignored their advice. Finally he submitted himself to the British and became a prisoner in his Palace. He was first taken to Vellore and finally to Kashi where he was kept as a State prisoner. He requested the British government to permit him to take his dear daughter Gowramma with him to England and the British permitted him.

Thus Princess Gowramma went with her father and reached England in March 1852. The deposed King and Gowramma were given a rousing reception at London and Veerarajendra was actively participating in social life of London along with his daughter Gowramma. Suddenly he thought of her future after his own death and wrote a letter to Queen Victoria, requesting her to take Gowramma under her protection and convert her to Christianity and give proper education to her. The queen was very happy and Gowramma was converted to Christianity in Windsor Castle church by Canterbury Archbishop.

Queen Victoria became her guardian and gave her the name Victoria Gowramma. Chikka Veerarajendra was also present on that occasion and he expressed his gratefulness to the queen. The responsibility of her protection and education was entrusted to Major Drummond and his wife. As they did not look after her properly, she was sent to Lady Login and Sir John Login who were proficient in Hindustani. She was not encouraged to meet her father frequently and was allowed to meet him on special occasions only. Gowramma had forgotten Hindustani and Veerarajendra did not know English and hence the father and daughter talked to each other through a bilingual interpreter. Most of the time Veerarajendra was weeping whenever he met his daughter and thought that he was responsible for her plight under the British but it was too late. He became sick and when she came to meet him, he handed over a bag to her which contained a large number of precious stones and rich ornaments and asked her to wear them. Both of them cried.

Veerarajendra died in 1859 in London but Gowramma could not go to the funeral as she was living in White Island, far away from London.

His body was kept in Kansal Green Cemetery and after two years the body was brought to Calcutta through a ship. From there it was taken by road to Kashi and was buried there as per the rituals of Veerashaiva community and a tomb was built over it. The expenditure for all this was Rs. 2500 and the British government sanctioned this amount. When he died he had cash and valuables worth around rupees four lakhs and it was distributed among his relatives. Nothing was claimed by Gowramma as she was under the protection of the queen herself.

Gowramma was under the protection of Mrs. Drummond. The latter had two daughters who were active and were going to school. But Gowramma was always inactive and had no interest in learning. Hence she was being treated badly by the family. She felt that under the influence of Gowramma, her two daughters also may get spoilt and requested the queen to relieve her family from the responsibility of Gowramma. Then Gowramma was entrusted to another European woman by name Lady Login. She had a good knowledge of India, and also had the responsibility of looking after Dilip Singh. He was the first King to be converted to Christianity whereas Gowramma was the first woman to get converted.

As part of the ritual, the queen wanted her to go to Italy. The queen had sent an expensive diamond ear-ring and necklace of pearls and asked her to lead a life acceptable to God. Veerarajendra who was present on the occasion was happy at this gesture. Then Gowramma was taken to Italy (Vatican) by Lady Login and the new climate made her healthy and enthusiastic, regarding the royal life. Though some people tried to get her married to Dilip Singh, the latter did not agree as Gowramma did not come up to his expectations.

Then Gowramma came to England along with Lady Login. The latter wanted to be relieved of the responsibility of Gowramma and she was put under the care of Lady Katharine Harcourt. But the latter put Gowramma under a Junior Governess and Gowramma did not like that. Then she was put under the care of Sir James Wirhog. At that time Colonel Campbell used to visit her house. He was a young widower and showed great interest in Gowramma. They were married and they had a female child who was given the name Edith Victoria Gowramma. Campbell and Gowramma enjoyed fairly good life, visited many places and took part in royal festivals and parties. The queen was very happy and ordered that there should be no deficiency in providing funds and amenities to Campbell and Gowramma. Thus everything looked wonderful to the couple.

Gradually her tuberculosis was becoming severe. Queen Victoria made all arrangements to get her the best medical help. But the medicines did not help and finally she died in 1864 (March 30) when she was just 23 years. As per the desire of the queen her body was buried in Brampton Cemetery in London and an epitaph was carved on the marble stone as follows:

“Sacred to the memory of Princess Victoria Gowramma, daughter of ex-Raja of Coorg, the beloved wife of Lt. Colonel Campbell. Born in India, July 4th 1841, she was brought early in life to England, baptised into the Christian faith under the immediate care and protection of queen Victoria who stood sponsor to her. She died on 30th March 1864.”

After her death, her daughter married Captain Yardley and had a son who died in a road accident. Thus ended the family of Victoria Gowramma. Now she has entered the pages of history, the ultimate of everyone including kings, queens and princesses. But there is something melancholic in her life which makes us to have a soft corner for her. That is the greatness of Victoria Gowramma.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / August 30th, 2014

‘Shooting The Madras Song was a fantastic experience’

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg
Yasmin at Kalakshetra / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
Yasmin at Kalakshetra / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu

Yasmin Ponnappa of Aaranya Kaandam fame talks about her experiences while filming the latest song of the city that has gone viral

Her performance in the critically acclaimed Tamil film Aaranya Kaandam made people sit up and take notice. And now, model-actress Yasmin Ponnappa is back with The Madras Song, a four-and-a-half-minute video that chronicles the experiences of a young girl visiting Madras for the first time.

Yasmin / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
Yasmin / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu

The natural abandon with which she prances around the city’s streets have had youngsters gushing about her. Tell her that, and she says, “It was meant to be natural. When we started filming, we were particular that it should not be like an act, but capture spontaneity.”

She might be from Bangalore, but it is namma Madras that Yasmin loves. “I still can’t get myself to call it Chennai,” she smiles. “I prefer Madras. I have a lot of wonderful friends here, and the camaraderie among everyone in the city is just fantastic.”
TheMadrasSongKF02sept2014
That’s exactly what The Madras Song team wanted to portray in its latest video. “Whatever Vijay (director Vijay Prabhakaran) depicted in the storyboard was exactly expressed in the video. His brief to me before we started shoot was simple — enjoy Madras like you would. I did that. I guess it’s the natural celebration of the city that people like,” she says.

It’s not just the city’s sights and sounds that the song, sung by Nenjukule singer Shakthisree Gopalan, celebrates, but also some famous personalities. Celebrities such as Viswanathan Anand, Crazy Mohan and Sudha Ragunathan feature in the video. Ask Yasmin about it, and she says, “The selfie is a rage now and we wanted to capture that. Shooting selfies with Chennai’s celebrities was a fantastic experience. And, playing chess with Anand was something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.”

Yasmin / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
Yasmin / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu

The actress loves the serenity and culturally charged atmosphere in Kalakshetra, one of her favourite places. “The place is so beautiful,” she says, “There are three kinds of prayers there, and just hearing them is so uplifting. Madras always celebrates its culture and Kalakshetra is proof of that.”

On the film front, she’s still waiting for an interesting project to come up. “There have been scripts, yes, but none as interesting as Aaranya Kaandam. I don’t believe in doing films just for the heck of it. I’m glad that after a powerful role in Aaranya Kaandam, The Madras Song has come up.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Srinivasa Ramanujam / August 21st, 2014

Seeking to preserve Kodagu’s ainmanes

About Kodagu / Coorg, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All

AinmanesKODAGU31aug2014

The much-awaited book on ‘Ainmanes of Kodagu’ (ancestral homes), authored by researcher-couple Boverianda Chinnappa and Nanjamma Chinnappa has hit the stands.

The book was written after extensive fieldwork in Kodagu district (Coorg) of Karnataka, to record for posterity the way of life that the culturally-rich ainmanes symbolise.

Speaking to The Hindu, P.T. Bopanna, journalist, who runs Kodagu’s first news portal www.coorgtourisminfo.com, said according to the researcher couple, the book is unique as it traces the origins and antiquity of the ancestral homes of all the native communities of Kodagu.

“It also describes the social and cultural significance of these ancestral homes, which are important elements of the rich heritage of the native communities of this area,” he said.

An ainmane has a verandah, with carved square wooden pillars tapering upwards and wooden seats between the pillars, ornately carved windows and door frames, and specific areas within the ainmane for the performance of rituals.

A ‘functional’ ainmane is where all the members of the okka (patrilineal clan) gather to celebrate important family rituals and ceremonies.

The book describes the ainmanes of the native communities in Kodagu (Coorg) and their socio-cultural significance.

Ainmanes are architectural symbols that bear testimony to the strength and vitality of the okkas of Kodagu.

According to the authors, the ainmanes that are still standing today account for only about 40 per cent of the original number that existed in Kodagu.

Many of them are dilapidated; others have been converted into simple homes. The Chinnappas expressed their apprehension that if this trend continues, these heritage buildings and the unique traditions, customs, festivals and rituals that are associated with them will probably vanish in the not too distant future. If they vanish, so will the heritage of the people, their way of life, they add.

The authors have said their aim is to raise awareness of the cultural significance of the ainmanes of Kodagu and encourage efforts to maintain and preserve these heritage buildings for generations to come.

The cover illustration for the book is by noted cartoonist, Nadikerianda Ponnappa.

The book has been published by Niyogi Books, Delhi. The work on the website www.ainmanes.com is in progress.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Karnataka / K. Jeevan Chinnappa / Bangalore – August 23rd, 2014

Kodagu Trees Are Source of Data for Researchers

Agriculture, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, All

Bangalore :

Three thousand trees in parts of Kodagu are helping forest ecology studies by providing experimental evidence for various research projects.

The trees are being studied to understand how they adapt to changes in rainfall, temperature and duration of the rainy season.

This data is part of a bigger project in which tree responses to changing climates are being measured to gauge how trees react to changing weather parameters.

The trees are on two 30-hectare sample plots set up by the Forest Department in collaboration with the French Institute of Pondicherry (FIP), in low-lying wet evergreen forests in Kadamakkal reserve forest.

“My colleagues and I have found that the amount of rainfall has decreased in the last 100 years and that is why there has been less growth of tree species,” said Dr B R Ramesh, faculty at French Institute of Pondicherry.

The researchers are measuring the girth of the trees using a stainless steel tape and a Vernier scale to record their growth patterns in different climatic conditions.

Their work also focuses on long-term ecological monitoring of forests, the use of new remote-sensing data and techniques to predict biomass and structure, modelling distribution of species and biodiversity and making databases with the available information.

“New research lines are also being developed that explore the effects of landscape change on ecosystem services and potential climate change impacts on forest vegetation,” Dr Ramesh added.

These experts have also explored the environmental and social impact of restitution of tree rights to coffee planters, the Western Ghats acting as a water sink and the loss of forest cover and the extent of biodiversity in the Ghats.

Dr Ramesh and his colleagues, Dr S Prasad and Dr Anupama K, have also developed an app called Biotik which can be used to identify 600 tree species in the Western Ghats.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Papiya Bhattacharya / August 19th, 2014

New Chiefs Appointed to Academies

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Leaders, Records, All, Uncategorized

Bangalore :

The Department of Kannada and Culture has appointed heads and members to various academies.

M S Murthy (Bangalore) has been appointed the Chairman of Karnataka Lalithakala Academy, B A Mohammed Hanif (Dakshina Kannada) is the new chairman of Karnataka Beary Sahitya Academy while Kolkada Girish (Madikeri) has been appointed as the Chairman of Arebhashe Samskruthi Sahitya Academy and Biddatanda S Thammaiah has been appointed the Chairman of Kodava Sahitya Academy.

Members Named

For Karnataka Lalithakala Academy, B L Chauhan, Mahalingappa, Prabhu Urs, B K Badigera, Vishweshwari Tiwari, Devarishi, C Chikkanna, Krishna Devadiga, T H Shanmukappa, Khasim I Kansavi, Sharanappa B H, Wajid Sajid, Vedamurthy, Bargur Markandeya and C Rajashekar have been appointed the members.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnatkaka / by Express News Service / August 14th, 2014

Natural pampering

About Kodagu / Coorg, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature

Coorg

The air smelled green. For someone from the city who is used to the smell of petrol fumes, garbage and fried food, inhaling this crisp, clean air was a real treat.

My drive on the winding roads of Coorg transported me to another world. I put my head out of the car to click away at the Kodava houses lining the roads, quaint churches and local shops. My photo sessions attracted some curious glances from local women. I had officially arrived for my weekend in the coffee district of Karnataka, and my stay at one of the most luxurious resorts in the region was about to begin. As the rains pelted the roof of my cottage at Tamara Coorg, a luxury resort situated in the picturesque confines of lush verdant coffee plantations, I opened my eyes to the breathtaking view, wishing I could wake up to this every day.

The mist kissed the foreheads of the silver oaks and the rosewoods, as I walked to the balcony with a hot mug of bella kapi. I sipped the aromatic yet comforting black coffee laced with cardamom and flavoured with jaggery, while listening to the symphony of cicadas and birdcalls. The fresh taste of coffee resurrected my soul and prepared me for the invigorating plantation walk that my hosts at the resort were kind enough to organise.

After being playfully warned about the leeches by the resort’s guide, I remained skeptical about the trek around the 170-acre Kabbinakad Estate, tucked inside the resort. “Don’t worry, madam, leeches will only suck out the bad blood, and you won’t even feel the pain. You know they are now being used for medical treatments in several parts of the world,” he said. Nevertheless, his scientific explanation failed to comfort me as I tied my shoe laces tight, determined not to have my blood sucked out. ‘Just enjoy the walk, and take in the natural beauty,’ I told myself.

Natural fortress

Built strategically around landscaped waterfalls and glistening streams, the resort is home to some rare species of flora and fauna. As we walked around the plantation, we had the electro-pop background score of gushing falls and cicadas follow us wherever we went. “Hey, but why can’t I smell the coffee?” I asked out of ignorance. “Well, you won’t smell coffee here. But you will see the beans in different stages of growth,” my well-informed guide explained. Arabica and Robusta, the two kinds of coffee plants, are grown at the estate, which is dotted with cardamom plants and pepper vines.

Handing me a bright green pod, the guide said, “Just bite into it and tell me what it is.” As I nibbled on the pod, suspiciously, waiting for some allergic reaction to pop out, a fragrant taste exploded my palate. “It’s cardamom, isn’t it?” I shouted excitedly. Finding my daily food ingredient in its freshest form left me hungry for more. By the end of the walk, I had savoured passion fruit right off a tree, watched in awe at the bitter lime tree pregnant with fresh fruits and beautiful wild mushrooms.

Bird-watchers too have something to look forward to at the resort, as one can find some rare avian species, including Malabar trogons, Nilgiri laughing-thrushes, great black woodpeckers, and Malabar whistling-thrushes (that are a part of the night-time orchestra). Apart from these, yellow-browed bulbuls, Pacific swallows, grasshopper warblers, orphean warblers and yellow-billed babblers can also be spotted.

Coffee kicks

After teasing the touch-me-nots, collecting some rudraksha berries and clicking away at the luscious red ginger flowers and pristine white coffee blossoms, it was time to call it a day. But the coffee lover in me was still to be satiated. And the best was yet to come. The resort definitely knows how to woo coffee addicts, and my experience at The Verandah at Tamara Coorg made me fall in love with the drink that half of the world kick-starts the day with. Right from handpicking the fresh beans, drying them, roasting them, sifting through them and grinding them, coffee-making is nothing short of an art form. And the experience of making my very own brew made me feel like an alchemist. And the secret to pure healthy brew is roasting and grinding your own beans.

A visit to Coorg will be incomplete without sampling the authentic Kodava cuisine that includes the famous pandi curry (pork curry) and koli barthad (chicken fried in spices). But for a vegetarian like me, it was best to tip-toe around the meaty dishes and stick to the green zone — lip-smacking mangye pajji (ripe mango curry), kadambuttus (rice dumplings), kumm curry (mushroom curry), akki rotis, banana fritters and sumptuous payasam.

Coorg is blessed with nature’s bounty. Apart from plantation tours, one can trek to the nearby Manje Motte view point, Pathi Pole Falls and Ballyaatre Ridge. For wildlife and history enthusiasts, this quaint hamlet has a lot to offer in the form of Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, Nagarhole National Park and Madikeri Fort. As the afternoon sun gave way to the golden light of dusk, dark clouds gradually invaded the sky. The rains pounded the earth with all their might, bringing to life every inch of the green surroundings. The perfect weather to cuddle up and read. Another day had come to an end in the land of the brave Kodava warriors, and I slept fitfully to the lullaby of noisy cicadas.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Supplements> Sunday Herald travel / by Arundhati Pattabhiraman / August 17th, 2014

Verbattle junior- zonal selection kicks off in Mangalore; 22 teams shortlisted

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg

Mangalore :

Around 60 teams participated in the Verbattle Junior Round at the zonal level selection of the Verbattle Junior as a part of Verbattle Debate Competition 2014 here on Friday out of which 22 teams have been shortlisted to go to the next level ‘Verbattle Junior-Skirmish’ which is to be held in Bangalore in the third week of August.

The participants belonged to the age group of 12-16 years studying in Std VIII to Std X. The 22 teams selected in the Mangalore zone included teams from Chikmagalur, Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Uttara Kannada, Udupi and Shimoga. The zonal level selection of Verbattle senior will take place on Saturday.

After a basic introduction to the rules and regulations of the Verbattle Junior round, Verbattle foundation Founder Deepak Thimaya announced the topics that were to be debated upon in the course of the event. Out of a list of 10 topic statements, some of the topics included – The current education system is not equipped to deal with intelligence, Politics has solutions to India’s problems and Schools are breeding grounds of negativity. The participant teams were given their final topics around 30 minutes before the debate session following which the teams underwent intense sessions of about an hour.

“Verbattle is a wonderful platform that improves one’s speaking skills. Initially I had problems in speaking fluently but participating in Verbattle Junior and reaching the semi-finals last year has given in me immense confidence in speaking and voicing out my opinions and hence I came back this year to participate and I am excited that our team got through to the next round and I’m also confident that our team will win,” said Suraj Kumar, one of the participants studying in Madhav Kripa High school.

The next round which is the Verbattle Junior -Skirmish will be held on August 19 in Bangalore. The semi-finals and finals for Verbattle Junior and Senior will be held on August 22, 2014. The final debates will be moderated by Deepak Thimaya and judged by some of the eminent personalities from the state.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Mangalore / Stanley Pinto, TNN / August 01st, 2014

The glass ceiling in diplomacy

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Leaders, Records, All

WOMEN OF THE WORLD: THE RISE OF THE FEMALE DIPLOMAT
Helen McCarthy
Bloomsbury, London, 2014
404 plus xii pages; Rs 595

This book’s core message is how the male-dominated world of British diplomacy gradually – and grudgingly – let professional women in. As an academic, the author scores on objectivity, but the reader may miss an intimacy of personal experience that an insider might have provided. The author’s reliance on documentary material, and absence of interviews with working diplomats, produces a disproportionate emphasis on history; the book is weak on the contemporary scene.

This 400-page tome is fluffed up with an extended introduction on the evolution of the world of British diplomats from the late 19th century onwards, in which women were notable for their absence. But useful nuggets are thrown up. Who might imagine that as far back as 1893, most of the candidates recruited into the Foreign Office passed through a “crammer” called Coombes to prepare for entrance tests? It was the shortage of men during World War I that brought women into clerical-level diplomatic work in London, but few rose to executive positions. When in 1933 the Foreign Office asked embassies if women could handle diplomatic and consular work, most ambassadors were aghast. It was the Soviet Union that in 1924 appointed the world’s first female ambassador, Alexandra Kollontai, to Norway. The United States appointed its first female head of mission to Denmark in 1933 (that was a “legation”, headed by a “minister plenipotentiary”; such junior embassies, withered away after World War II, or WWII).

Two chapters (the fifth and the sixth) are devoted to the proceedings of a 1934 committee that examined and recommended against the entry of women in the diplomatic service. It took WWII to bring about real change in British mindsets. At the nine-week conference at San Francisco, five female delegates were among the participants, from Canada, China (KMT), Dominica, Uruguay and the United States; the United Nations Charter bears the signatures of four women.

The main narrative is sketched through the archival material that the historian author has tracked down after rigorous search through official papers, personal diaries, and letters and other sources. This produces fascinating pen portraits of strong characters, such as the Soviet ambassador Kollontai, fluent in 11 languages, who served in Norway, Sweden and Mexico; Dame Edith Lyttelton, the United Kingdom’s delegate to the League of Nations who argued in vain for women’s entry to the diplomatic service; and Freya Stark, a Briton who became an Arab affairs specialist in the 1930s, exploring little-known corners of Syria and the Arab peninsula, and during WWII worked with much verve in Cairo, Baghdad and Tehran. The few women that found diplomatic assignments, such as Nancy Lambton in Tehran, had to appear in academic gowns on formal occasions, since a diplomatic uniform – de rigueur in those days – did not exist for women.

It was as late as 1942 that Mary McGeachy became the first woman to be given diplomatic status, at the United Kingdom Embassy in Washington, D C. While other civil services had become accessible to women 20 years earlier, the ban on women in the service’s executive-level “A Branch” was lifted in 1946. This was preceded by a 1943 white paper that amalgamated the diplomatic and consular services, and a committee appointed in 1945 that recommended removal of the ban. But it came with two caveats: a marriage bar, and a “quota” of 10 per cent. Yet through the 1950s, women did not make up more than two per cent of the executive branch.

Presented through the eyes of female recruits, the final section of the book is fascinating, depicting the recruitment process (including the two-day “house party” where candidates that had passed the written tests were put through problem-solving and goal-achievement skills; how I wish such a process was used for the Indian Foreign Service, or the IFS). The Foreign Office was hugely behind the times in waiting till 1973 to remove the bar on marriage for female diplomats. Indian female diplomats confronted the same prejudice. They were required to resign on marriage; in the 1950s, we lost outstanding persons, such as Rama Mehta and Mira Sinha Bhattacharjea. This irrational rule was lifted in 1962 when Manorama and Hardev Bhalla, both in the IFS, married. In 1973, the United Kingdom appointed its first female high commissioner, but their first married female as ambassador emerged only in 1987. India appointed C B Muthamma (the first woman to join the IFS in 1949) as its professional female ambassador to Hungary in 1970.

The United Kingdom’s glass ceiling remains much worse for professional women than one may imagine. In 1995, the senior-most female diplomat, Pauline Neville-Jones, Foreign and Commonwealth Ofiice (FCO)’s political director, could not win the prize she sought – the Paris ambassadorship; that went to a male colleague six years her junior. She declined substitute assignments and joined a bank. Till date, a woman has not headed any of the United Kingdom’s top six missions, nor served as the FCO permanent under secretary. India has seen three female foreign secretaries since 2002, and ambassadors of both genders at virtually all its top posts.

The book evokes real issues that all foreign services face today: the old formula for wives of diplomats to immerse themselves in “housewifery and hospitality”, treating the embassy as an extended family, with roles assigned by status of their husbands, no longer works. The challenges faced by spouses taking up jobs while accompanying diplomats are all too common in all foreign ministries. One wishes the author had examined this further, looking also at practices in other countries.

The reviewer is a former diplomat, author and teacher
source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> Beyond Business> Books / by Krishna S. Rana / August 10th, 2014