**** Just reposting this popular podcast from a year ago -- in case you’ve missed it earlier *****

I have already posted the script of my fake encounter with the fictional Shopping Subba Rao in an earlier post. Call this work crooked social commentary or comedy -- Kanaka Prasad and I were correct in thinking that Shopping Subbarao is going to strike a nerve. If the opportunity comes, I will explain the motivation behind this skit. But, as I mentioned in a reply to one of the comments, let me emphasize a couple of things here:

1. Not only Telugu people – a lot of 2nd generation and later Americans (regardless of race and ethnic background) do these things. Don’t you remember Claude Allen -- a senior official in the Bush administration, who had to resign due to shoplifting charges? His antics are also in this play.
2. As I said, there is some self criticism here. Just read between the lines.

There is nothing wrong in trying to better ourselves with some introspection. If I am hated for speaking the truth – so be it.

As requested by many, I am posting the audio podcast of this skit a bit earlier than usual.

Original broadcast date:  Aug 13 Friday, 2010

Audio language: Telugu

Related posts:

1. MMGL Podcast on Podcast Alley !
2. Podcast: About Tharanga Media
3. TORi Roadshow at Mogudu Audio Release Function 2 of 2

*** July 8, 2011 insert: Perhaps one of the most frequently visited ‘topics’ by TORi RJs is, “Which is better -- arranged marriage or love marriage?” Like everybody, I too have an opinion about it. However, I avoided discussing this topic on my shows. For, it is a complicated topic. My off-beat thinking gives less credence to heart and places more value on practical approach. I will leave the debate to youth, which claim to be an expert on this subject (joke, folks, joke) and leave you with these pensive thoughts about love in general. ***

February 14th is around the corner. We can’t escape hearing about it. I don’t know if Valentine’s Day is necessary for expressing and celebrating ‘love.’ Before we can even think of expressing love, don’t we have to understand what ‘love’ means in the first place? In this special, I tried to bring a philosophical view point on what it means by “love.” Whether you agree with my take  or not, after listening to this you might say, “Hmmm. That is interesting. ”

Lost in Desert: Here is the link to the poll I conducted as a part of this show. The poll essentially asks the following:

A couple and their 7 year old son are lost in the midst of a desert in mid summer. They are on foot. No water, no food and nary a person to help them. They continued their trek for two days with the hope of finding some food and help. As they begin losing their senses, the adults started blaming each other for their situation. The only thing kid is saying is “I am thirsty. I am hungry.” And he is refusing to walk along. They they found a bottle with one gulp of water and piece of bread good for one bite. The persons who don’t get that food and drink are expected to die.

How would you behave in this situation?

The results of the poll, is shown in part 2 of this post: What is Love (2 of 2)?

Broadcast date on TeluguOne Radio: 2009-02-13

Audio Language: Telugu

Link for smart phones and downloads: What is Love (1 of 2)?

Click on the play button to play in your browser:

Related posts:

1. Valentine’s Day: What is Love (2 of 2)?
2. Arranged vs. Love Marriage: Know Yourself First
3. Dark Secrets/Sweet Memories: Love Letters

This is a continuation to What is Love, Part 1. In this part I talked about about Celebrity crush. The poll mentioned in this podcast, Lost in Desert was taken by 170 people who were split evenly between males and females. Here is a summary of the poll.

.

What do you think of these results? Do they make sense to you?

————————

Broadcast date on TeluguOne Radio: 2009-02-13

Audio Language: Telugu

Link for smart phones and downloads: What is Love (2 of 2)?

Click on the play button to play in your browser:

Related posts:

1. Valentine’s Day: What is Love (1 of 2)?
2. Arranged vs. Love Marriage: Know Yourself First
3. Dark Secrets/Sweet Memories: Love Letters

*** This special about  Sri Ghantasala was broadcast four years ago as Fathers Day special. I am reposting this so as to bring it back to focus on the occasion of Fathers day on June 19, 2011 ***

This special tribute to Sri Ghantasala, the Maestro, was first aired on June 14, 2007 as Father’s Day special. In this episode I profiled Sri Ghantasala as a person and as an inspiration for youth. Later this episode was repeated twice, either in full as in part. Presented in this podcast is only the portion on Ghantasala. I consider this tribute to be one of the best shows I have ever done.

[Updated: 2010-06-10: It is three years since I have done this show. Last week during the live show, Hunumantha Rao emailed me this:

Hello Mohan Gaaru

నేను చాల కాలం నుంచి మీ షో వింటున్నాను. నేను మీరు ప్లే చేసే పాటలు కన్నా మీ వ్యాఖానం వినడం కోసం తొరి వింటాను. మీరు గతం లో చేసిన  ఘంటసాల నివాళి ప్లే నాకు చాల ఇష్టం. నేను జీవితం లో  గతి తప్పుతున్నాను అని అనిపించినప్పుడు మీరు ఘంటసాల గురుచి చెప్పింది వింటాను. నాకు కొద్ది కాలం కిందట  alexandria   varginai లో job వచ్చింది. ఫస్ట్ జాబు
ఘంటసాల సాంగ్ ప్లే చెయ్యగలరు.

I was very touched by this feedback. I felt proud and happy. After all, in Ghantasala’s own words “An artist’s life is fulfilled when the art touches and makes a difference in people’s lives.” I am not an artist -- I just shed light on a great artist from a different angle. But the above e-mail made me feel like an artist myself. Thanks, Hanumantha Rao Garu!

First Broadcast on TeluguOne Radio: 2007-06-14, Updated 2010-05-10

Download/smart phones: Tribute to Sri Ghantasala

Related posts:

1. On Dec 3rd’s “Legends with TORi” – Ghantasala
2. Interview – Smt. Shyamala Ghantasala
3. MMG Interview: Smt. Ghantasala Savithri 2 of 2

I finally got a chance to post this year-old debate between Chakravarthy and me. Do free markets really exist? Listen to me duke it out with Chakravarthy Nalamotu, author of My Telugu Roots.

Original air date: April 16, 2010

Audio Language: Mostly Telugu

Related posts:

1. Free Markets: Do they Exist?
2. The Free Markets Have Spoken: Atlas Shrugged was, Well, Shrugged!
3. Free Markets, My Foot!

***** This is an old interview. On the eve of Pro Mulpuri’s reappearence on MMGL, I am bringing this to the top ****

Hope you caught Part 1 of this interview with Prof Rao. In this second part on Middle School education, the following issues/topics were addressed:

• What about summer camps?
• How to manage our tendency to force over indulgence?
• What about magnet schools?
• Pidakala Veta a comment on Rao’s old student -- Ram Gopal Varma
• Kids’ internet policy eMail and blog etiquette
• Impact of frequent moving, and how it affects kids’ education
• Leaving the college choice to kids

Rao garu answered calls from: Lakshmi, Gowri, Madhavi, Haritha, Surya, Sunil, and Durga

Originally broadcast on TeluguOne Radio on: 2010-02-06

Audio Language: Telugu

Related posts:

1. Professor Mulpuri on Middle School Education – Part 1 of 2
2. Talking Education, KG through Ph.D., with Professor Rao Mulpuri
3. Prof Mulpuri on MMGL: Primary Education in US 1 of 3

“Am I doing the right thing for my kid? What if I am wrong?” Have you ever second guessed yourself like this as a parent? Don’t worry, we are not alone. We all have done this. Second guessing ourselves about the kids is our second nature. All we can do is make informed decisions and hope that lead to prudent choices which will in turn make our kids’ lives better.

Professor Rao Mulpuri and I sat together to talk about the following issues related to  middle school education.

• Is education better in India, or USA?
• Fostering creativity
• Extra curricular activities
• Middle school foundation. Basic math and science profession
• To Kumon or not to Kumon
• Vocabulary development
• Importance of physical education
• What about sex education in schools?
• After school activities?
• Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and other non-school activities

No right or wrong answer. Rao garu and I have some opinions for you to CONSIDER. Hope you like our little chat (in Part 2 of this interview, Rao garu answered caller’s questions)

Audio language: Telugu

Related posts:

1. Professor Mulpuri on Middle School Education – Part 2 of 2
2. Talking Education, KG through Ph.D., with Professor Rao Mulpuri
3. Prof Mulpuri on MMGL: Primary Education in US 1 of 3

A coherent arrangement of words for abstract, but cogent thoughts is what touches us. It doesn’t matter if the central idea is about life and love; or death and sorrow -- the language can still touch our hearts. That is the power of language -- possibly any language. The language for romance and love, some say, is Urudu. For me, it is Telugu. The beauty of Telugu language can be seen, heard and felt in written and spoken words and verses.

How does it feel like to be in love? For that matter what is love? Is love a tangible thing or an abstract idea? Is love merely a self reinforcing feeling where liking and/or attraction become strong and turned into something inexplicable, and therefore you love? I don’t know the answer to that,  but I do know this for sure: love is beyond simple physical attraction. Whatever may be its final manifestation, love germinates from an inexplicable liking to an idea, a thought about the person it is targeted at. It doesn’t matter if that person is real or simply fictional (raakumaari leka raakumaarudu).

When I was about 18, I loved somebody. That somebody is a work of fiction. To be more precise, she is a dead character in a novel. I am sure it is not just me. The words the author used to describe her thoughts made many teenage boys of my generation to fall in love with an “idea” called Ramya.

If your husband is in his 40s, and if he is (or was) in the habit of reading Telugu fiction, ask him if he read Yandamuri’s vennello aadapilla when he was a teenager. If he did, ask him how he liked Ramya’s character. Most men probably won’t be able to express or won’t admit it, but I can speak for many of them: they loved (the idea and mind of) Ramya.

This podcast is my rendering of Ramya’s last letter. Listen to the podcast and rediscover your love for Telugu language. And then: get back into the habit of reading more in Telugu.

Broadcast date on TeluguOne Radio: 2007-10-05

Audio Language: Telugu

Related posts:

1. An Anonymous Broken Heart’s Pain
2. Interview With Yandamuri Veerendranath
3. A Phone, A Pal, and A Story – Part3

I am fully aware that Dr. C. Narayana Reddy is now in favor of dividing Andhra Pradesh. However, in what he wrote in the song “Telugu Jaathi Manadi…” and in his definition of a generic a Telugu person, lies the true spirit of my belief. I am posting this (with CNR audio) as a complement to Chakravarthy’s take on “Who we are as Telugu People.” Thia photo was a screen capture from the video interview in which he rendered the following limerick.

ఎవడయ్య ఎవడు వాడు?

శాతవాహనుల వంశాన పుట్టినవాడు
కాకతీయుల పోతుగడ్దన మెట్టినవాడు
పల్లెలోనే కాదు ఢిల్లి లో సైతమ్ము
పెద్దగద్దెలనేలి పేరుకెక్కినవాడు
ఎవడయ్య ఎవడు వాడు?
ఇంకెవడయ్య తెలుగువాడు!

పంచకట్టుటలో ప్రపంచాన మొనగాడు
కండువాలేనిదే గడప దాటనివాడు
పంచభక్ష్యాలు తన కంచాన వడ్డించ
గోంగూర కోసమై గుటకలేసేవాడు
ఎవడయ్య ఎవడు వాడు?
ఇంకెవడయ్య తెలుగువాడు!

నేల నల్దిశల డేరాలు నాటినవాడు
అన్ని మూసలలోన అట్టె ఒదిగినవాడు
ఏదేశమేగినా, ఎందు కాలిడినా
ఆవకాయ వియోగమసలె సైపని వాడు
తిక్కరేగిందంటే  డొక్క చీల్చేవాడు
చిక్కులెరుగనివాడు, చిత్తాన పసివాడు
ఎవడయ్య ఎవడు వాడు?
ఇంకెవడయ్య తెలుగువాడు!

It is irrelevant on what side of the separate Telangana issue you are on. Enjoy this classic (audio attached). I will make the full interview available at a later date.

Originally broadcast on TeluguOne Radio in March 2008

Audio language: Telugu

Related posts:

1. Sri Medasani Mohan on Mohana Muralee GaanaLahari 2 of 2
2. MMGL Interview with Padmabhushan Smt. P. Susheelamma 1 of 2
3. MMGL Interview with Padmabhushan Smt. P Susheelamma 2 of 2

With this rendering of “Naa Telugu” from his book Telugu Vedam, Sri Jonnavithula Ramalingeswara Rao got TORi audiences spell-bound . In this podcast Jonnavittula sings about the greatness of Telugu spoken in various regions of Andhra Pradesh.

In UttaraAndhra version, he elicits the influ5ence of great people of UttaraAndhra (Gurajaada, Gidugu RamaMurthy, SriSri, Kodi Rama Murthy, Alluri etc) on the language. If you are from Bobbili, you have to listen to the way he brings the roar of the Bobbili pride.

In the Telangana version, he narrates the greatness of places in the region and its influence on the language. Raayalaseema’s great sons -- Annamaya and Uyyaalavaada, and the sweet dish bobbattu and the poetic swirls in Tungabhadra river get a delightful mention.

If you have already listened to it, you will listen to it again and again.

If you haven’t yet listened to it, why are you still reading?

Broadcast on TeluguOne Radio: April 2010

Audio Language: Telugu

Related posts:

1. “Who are We as Telugu People?” Nalamotu Chakravarthy (1 of 3)
2. Congress and TDP Stand on T-issue
3. MMGL 2010-01-15 Discussing Telangana with the Right Tone 2 of 2

We all know the classic tale: “The Emperor’s New Clothes” (Danish: Kejserens nye Klæder) it is a short tale by Hans Christian Andersen about two weavers who promise an Emperor a new suit of clothes invisible to those unfit for their positions or incompetent. When the Emperor parades before his subjects in his new clothes, a child cries out, “But he isn’t wearing anything at all!” The tale has been translated into over a hundred languages. Peasants didn’t see the clothes, but dared not say anything for fear of persecution by the king. The child didn’t have that baggage.

Ah.. Crowd behavior. If there is anything predictable in this world, that is the crow behavior.

Some of you may know Asch Conformity experiments, which were a series of studies published in the 1950s that demonstrated the power of conformity in groups. These are also known as the “Asch Paradigm“. Why bore you with a lot of writing when you can watch what it is in this YouTube clip.

If you are a Gulute, and if it feels like you know of this behavior through a classic tale. You are right. You heard this behavior through a short story in Panchatantram: Brahmin and his Black Goat. The podcast is my rendering of this short story and its application by the Republican party during the past administration. I have colorful language to describe the shenanegans of the Democrats as well. I will save it for some other time.

Podcast: Brahmin and his black goat.

Broadcast date: January 2008

Audio language: Telugu

Related posts:

1. Do Baby Wordsworth DVDs Help Your Baby Talk?
2. A Phone, A Pal, and A Story – Part 8
3. A Letter from Somebody I “Loved” (For Yandamuri Fans)

Recall my interview with Nalamotu Chakravarthy about our ‘glorious Telugu roots?’ Well, this is a follow-up to that.

Chakravarthy Nalamotu’s recent post, “Why I sell my book?” got my attention. Two noteworthy things that speak a lot about the title of his post:

1. Some people have the gall to ask him that question;
2. What speaks volumes about this is the pathetic lack of interest in such an important topic which shows in the volume of sales

I will get back to Chakravarthy’s rant about ‘free-markets’ later. In the mean time, I have a lot to say about this utter lack of interest in facts and figures, from a well researched source. Contrast that to how many talking heads are spewing garbage on TV and websites purely with emotions; hate-filled free literature; and gossip as their sole basis.

As soon as I read his note, I posted a comment with some disgust. I had so much to say that it took me nearly one day to compile, write, record, write more and edit this, what I call, an passionate and organic outburst.  It was quite a challenge to condense my thoughts to a 15 min ‘speech,’ which some might call ‘a lecture.’ Whatever you want to call it, I promise you -- it will not be boring.

Fair warning: some of my comments may hit a lot of people personally. But the comments were aimed at everybody who is a Telugu. The title of this post gives you a good summary of what’s in the podcast: Your Telugu Roots are Just Fine. But, Your Branch is Rotten.

తెలుగులో చెప్పాలంటే, మీ తాతలు నేతులు తాగారు సరే. మీ మూతులు మాత్రం కంపు కొడుతున్నాయి.

Take a listen. If I sounded a bit disgusted, that’ s because I was!

Originally broadcast on TeluguOne Radio: 2010-04-09;

Soundbite Updated on: 2010-04-10

Audio language: Telugu

Related posts:

1. Do Free Markets Really Exist?
2. “Who are We as Telugu People?” Nalamotu Chakravarthy (2 of 3)
3. My Hat Tip to Chakravarthy

Divide-and-rule has been a time tested political strategy. Dividing the political opponents to win my be a clever political tactic, but dividing the public based on caste, religion, race and region is a despicable strategy. Pitting one citizen against other based on their origin or birth is not just wrong, but it should be a crime. We always have thermometers to measure the temperature of a patient with fever. Do we have a hate-meter to measure hatred in individuals? May be there isn’t. This caller, Lakshmi’s (real name and her place of residence were edited for her protection) gives you some measure of that hatred spread by the politicians. Ordinary people going about their lives are led to believe that they are being robbed by people from other parts of the country.

As I mentioned in the intermediate commentary, I do not take anything she said personal. I believe that she was led to believe that people from one region are “evil” (my word). Nor do I see anything wrong in wanting a separate Telangana state based on legitimate arguments. But I have a serious issue with hate and hate-mongers. I blame this level and intensity of hatred on the hate-mongers run-a mock in the name of a separate Telangana.

I beg all the moderates, especially those moderates who are seeking Telangana state not based on hate, but only based on peaceful arguments, to speak against the leadership of the movement who are are spreading hatred. Please stop this hate. After all, these extremist elements  who are claiming to represent the people of Telangana are bringing nothing but bad name to the people of Telangana.

There has been a very spirited response to this caller on the Jan 8, 2010 show. I will make those bit available for download later this week.

Before reacting to this audio bit, please listen to:

1. TeluguOne and MMGL Editorial Policy
2. Who is this Mohana Murali?

Original MMGL Broadcast date: Jan 8, 2010

Last edited for commentary inserts: Jan 10, 2010

Link for smart Phones: Caller Lakshmi on Telangana and Andhra

Post restored: Jan 17, 2010

Related posts:

1. Hyderabad Political Conferences, Andhra Maha Sabha and “Andhra”
2. Happy Independence Day, 2009-08-14 (restored)
3. Why Telugu Land is Called Andhra Pradesh? (Restored)

Prasad goes to a multiplex in Edison, NJ to file this live report on a blockbuster movie. He then gets restless about the host, Americans, America and Hollywood. Listen to his passionate defense of Tollywood movies, and Telugu people’s adoration of their stars. Do you know that Avatar’s main theme was copied from a Telugu TV?

Boadcast date TeluguOne Radio: 2010-02-12

Audio language: Telugu

Link for download/smart phones: Reporter Prasad Rips Avatar, Hollywood and American arrogance.

Related posts:

1. Reporting Live from Vijayawada
2. “Who are We as Telugu People?” Nalamotu Chakravarthy (3 of 3)
3. “Who are We as Telugu People?” Nalamotu Chakravarthy (1 of 3)

Broadcast on TeluguOne Radio on: 2010-02-05

Link for download/smart phones: Prasad Live from Vijayawada

Or, click on the play button below to listen in your browser.

Related posts:

1. MMGL Interview – Paruchuri Gopalakrishna 2 of 2
2. Is Avatar a Copy of a Telugu Movie?
3. MMGL 2010-01-15 Discussing Telangana with the Right Tone 2 of 2