About Kiran Vaka
Kiran Vaka has a multi-cultural background, and has lived in India and America. His childhood was spent in the cities of Delhi and Bangalore, both of which differ culturally and linguistically. He came to America as a student, and lived on Long Island, NY before moving to Silicon Valley, CA.
Kiran speaks four languages - Telugu, English, Hindi and Japanese. He believes that his experiences have made him capable of being able to easily adapt to any place in the world. He also has a background in Computer Science, where he works on software development and project management, specializing in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. He was also the recipient of the DMI Innovator Award from Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley and NASA Ames in March 2010.
Latest Posts by Kiran Vaka
First International Telugu Meet Kick Off
October 1, 2011 by Kiran Vaka
The first international Telugu Internet conference began here last week. Unicode Consortium vice-president and Unicode Technical Committee Lisa Moore delivered the keynote address at the First International Telugu Internet Conference organised jointly by Andhra Pradesh Government, SiliconAndhra and Global Internet Forum for Telugu (GIFT).
Minister for Information Technology and Computers Ponnala Lakshmaiah said that Andhra Pradesh Government had become a permanent member of the Unicode Consortium. Attempts were being to develop six fonts to begin with. The Minister said that he would donate the Rs. 6 lakh needed for developing one font to be named after his family ‘Ponnala’. Principal Secretary for Information Technology and Computers Sanjay Jaju said that Andhra Pradesh Government was the only Government to become a full member of the Unicode Consortium. He said that the full membership would give the Government voting rights and a lot of space for Telugu language on the internet.
He said the Minister was the first to come forward to contribute for the development of a Telugu font. He said a unicode font for cellphone would also be developed soon.
Former Minister and honorary chairman of the conference Mandali Buddha Prasad said that internet was the only thing that could integrate the Telugus all over the world. Languages with smaller populations have made tremendous advances in the field of computers and internet. Andhra Pradesh Society for Knowledge of Networks CEO A. Amarnath Reddy said making Telugu more internet friendly would improve the chances of Telugu people getting better jobs.
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies faculty Peri Bhaskara Rao and University of Hyderabad faculty memberG. Uma maheswara Rao. TV 9 CEO Ravi Prakash spoke. Several language and computer experts are presenting papers in the three-day conference closing on Friday. Chief Minister N.Kiran Kumar Reddy is scheduled to address the delegates through the internet on the closing day for 15 minutes beginning at 9.30 a.m. local time.
Courtesy: The Hindu
Telugu Film ‘Vanaja’ Houseful at Locarno Festival
August 14, 2011 by Kiran Vaka
After travelling to 32 film festivals, Telugu film “Vanaja”, a tale of a 15-year-old girl’s dream of becoming a world class Kuchipudi dancer, was screened here Saturday and went houseful.
Director Rajneesh Domapalli says he may soon have it released in theatres in India. ”I made ‘Vanaja’ in 2005 as my master thesis at the Columbia University. My film had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival and in 2007 it won the best debut award at the Berlin Film Fest. I released the film in theatres in the US and South Africa and I will soon release it in India,” Domapalli told IANS.
Tsukiji Honganji (築地本願寺): An Indian-style Temple in Japan
August 29, 2010 by Kiran Vaka
Last December, a few days before Christmas, while I was planning the itinerary for my one-day stop in Tokyo, I knew I had to be extremely selective about the places to be visited within the few hours I had at my disposal. Apart from my friends’ suggestions of the regular tourist fare consisting of the traditional Asakusa, the geeky Akihabara, the glitzy Ginza and Roppongi, I had included University of Tokyo in the list. Finally, a few days before flying out, I picked up one of the numerous travel books on Japan during a regular stop at the Borders in Sunnyvale..nonchalantly flipping through it’s pages, landed on the page talking about Tsukiji – the famous Fish Market in Tokyo. I had little time to see a fish market within my tightly packed schedule..but one thing in that book caught my attention. It was the Tsukiji Honganji – the only Indian-style Buddhist Temple in Japan – situated in Tsukiji, and not far from this famous market. I knew I could not miss this.
It was close to 5pm by the time I made it to Tsukiji Hoganji that day. The metro was overflowing with people returning from work (i guess the salarymen were probably heading towards drinking bars rather than home).
Locating the temple after exiting from the subway station was not the easiest thing, but ‘Sumimasen..Tsukiji Honganji wa doko desho ka?’ (Excuse me..which way is Tsukiji Hongaji?) helped me get to the place. Once within the premises, it was evident that the complex was endowed with an amount of space quite atypical of the crowded Tokyo. And yes, the structure had a distinctly Hindu architecture, the design of the stone exterior combining Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic architectural styles in a complex manner.
Tsukiji Honganji is a branch of Nishi Honganji Temple in Kyoto; ‘Hongan’ means the ‘long-cherished wish’. ‘Tsukiji’ comes from the kanji characters meaning “reclaimed land” . The temple symbolizes the Indian source of Japanese Buddhism.
The original Tsukiji Honganji Temple, with an Indian-style exterior, was built in 1617 near Asakusa, but was burnt down in a huge fire that swept through Edo (Tokyo) in 1657. The present one was designed by Chūta Ito of the University of Tokyo and built between 1931 and 1934.
After appreciating the exterior, it was time to see the Hon-dō (main hall of worship). This was similar, but larger in size than the Jōdo Shinshū Japanese temples I have seen in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Mountain View and San Jose. While the streets and metro stations of Tsukiji and Ginza areas outside were overflowing with people on the Monday evening, this place presented a peaceful contrast. Nevertheless, there was a continuous stream of people coming in.
Some of the people I observed among them:
- A young couple, who seemed to bring their newborn baby
- An elderly salaryman dressed immaculately and had a string of beads in his palm. He clasped his hands together and prayed. Had a very disciplined demeanor about him, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a President of some company or a high-ranking government official.
- A college-going student with a backpack and a punk hairstyle. He bowed before the diety for quite a few seconds.
- A male photographer in his 30s, with long hair tied in a pony tail and a moustache (uncommon there). After praying, he was busy photographing the interiors with his big SLR camera.
I spent a good 20 minutes there, observing, and taking a very brief respite from an extremely busy day, before heading to my next (and completely contrasting) destinations for that evening – Ginza and Roppongi Hills.
Narita-san Temple
August 4, 2010 by Kiran Vaka
(click for larger image)
[Captured against a symmetrical background in front of the 'Great Pagoda' (平和大塔) at Narita-san Temple (成田山新勝寺), Narita, Japan on 6th January 2010. I assume they were mother and daughter (in kimono).
(2010年1月6日に成田山新勝寺の平和大塔の前にこの写真を取りました。)]
Less than 12 hours before taking this picture, I was in India and less than 20 hours after, I was in California. The actual pagoda from the opposite direction can be seen HERE.
Telugu Professors do Homeland Proud
July 4, 2010 by Kiran Vaka
Telugu Film Industry pays tribute to lyricist Veturi
May 30, 2010 by Kiran Vaka
UGC Project in Telugu University
April 3, 2010 by Kiran Vaka
Mauritius – The Telugu Community in country – When differences no longer matter
March 19, 2010 by Kiran Vaka
Both Shyam and his wife, Jeshina were adamant that there is no difference, although he classifies himself as a Hindu and she as a Telugu . As it turned out, they are probably right. The major difference between the Telugus and the other Hindus is a linguistic one. The Telugus come from the state of Andra Pradesh where Telugu is spoken.
However, in Mauritius and nowhere else, it would seem, although all the Hindus come from India and are Hindus by faith, they tend to classify themselves according to their linguistic and cultural heritage rather than to their religion. So a Tamil may tell you he is not a Hindu but a Tamil. The Marathi is not a Hindu either but a Marathi. Each community has by and large tended to keep to itself and children are brought up conscious of the heavy weight of their ancestral culture. At school, this is enforced by the different classes children go to, each trying to learn her ancestral language and culture.
The sense of belonging to the community is confi rmed by Papaya Goorimoorthee, a lecturer at the MGI. Having been a Telugu teacher himself before he converted to teaching Indian music, particularly the ‘Mridanga’, he stresses the linguistic and cultural identity which differentiate the Telugu community from the other Hindu communities. ‘God cannot be associated with a language,’ he concedes, ‘but we have our differences. Our weddings are different in the sense that our women do not wear the sindhur (red powder worn in the hair to show that a woman is married) but wear the ‘cordon zon’ (a yellow thread collar) instead. Our ladies wear the pulloo (the ‘tail’ of a saree) on the right instead of the left and our cuisine, especially our cakes are different. There are some varieties of cakes which are typical of the Telugu community.’
However, of all the Hindu communities in Mauritius, the most open to others seems to be the Telugu community. Though, according to Papaya, marriages outside the community used to be rare, he thinks that things have changed a lot recently. But he can still tell a Telugu just by looking at one. Chandra Veeranah, a fast food merchant confi rms both the difference and the openness towards other communities. He also gives the example of the temple where we were, which was set up by Telugus but which is being used as a place of worship by other Hindus.
Is Ougadi a Hindu festival then? Contrary to what we have always believed, Ougadi is in fact the Hindu Lunar New Year and last Tuesday, the Hindu community celebrated the year 2067. However, in the Mauritian context, Ougadi has always been associated with the Telugus. The rest of the Hindus celebrate New Year on Sankrati, which, according to scholars, in fact marks the beginning of Uttarayana, the sun’s movement northward for a six-month period or the harvest season. Are the people attending the Ougadi celebrations at the temple mostly Hindus or Telgus? The doctor says Hindus, the lecturer and the merchant say they are mainly Telugus. Swami Partha Sarathi Andra, a Telugu who comes from Andra Pradesh, is happy to tell us that the people who come to that temple are 90% Hindus. A lesson in openness and integration.
Courtesy: AllAfrica
