Srinivas Padma: Personal Musings on Life, Growth, and Connections

By VALENTINE WILSON Hyderabad B. Manoj Kumar and Md Shaibaz Tumbi of St Peter’s High School broke Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli’s world record stand of 664 runs when they hammered triple hundreds and were involved in an unbroken opening partnership of 721 runs in the Hyderabad Cricket Association’s under-13 cricket league championship at the Parade Grounds on Wednesday. It was a massacre of the innocents as Manoj (320) and Shaibaz (324) went on a rampage sending the St Phillips High School bowlers to all parts of the ground to help their school register a massive 700-run victory. “I dedicate the triple hundred to Allah, my coaches, parents, brothers and sisters and particularly my driver Vijay Sharma, who sincerely drops and picks me up from practice everyday,” said Shaibaz, whose highest score had been 65 so far. Manoj said he was “thrilled to have broken my idol Sachin Tendulkar and elegant batsman Vinod Kambli’s record.” “I am ambitious but I did not think that I would get such ...

An exquisitely carved sandal sheath which held writing implements used by great poet Tikkanna Somayaji in the 12th century is still carefully preserved by his descendant Paturu Harihara Sarma. This is not just a precious artefact but also living proof of the classical status of Telugu, which the Andhra Pradesh government is lobbying hard for. It is believed that Tikkanna used this iron stylus (Gamtamu) to translate the great epic Mahabharata on a mandap in the banks of the Pennar river. Tikkanna, one of the trinity of poets who translated the Mahabharata, was born in Nellore in a Saivaite Brahmin family. He was known as Vikrama Simhapuri and lived in Paturu, a small village about 10 km from Nellore. It was at the Siddeswara Swamy temple in this village that the poet composed parts of his great epic. Though a Saivaite, Tikkanna’s poems give the clear message that Lord Siva and Lord Vishnu are the same. Unfortunately, no serious effort has been made by either the archeology department ...