MyVoice: Views of our readers 6th February 2023

Another grave loss for film industry

The Indian cinema has lost two stalwarts from South in one week. Both got recognition at national stage with their rich contributions. One is Dadasaheb Falke awardee K Viswanath, an ace Telugu movie director, who is well-known for making classic films with culture, tradition, arts and social message at the centre-stage. The other one is singer Vani Jayaram who sang 20,000 songs in 19 languages. Incidentally, she got national awards two times for her songs from the movies directed by K Viswanath i.e., from Sankarabharanam and Swathi Kiranam. The void created by their demise can never be replaced. May their souls rest in peace.

Dr DVG Sankararao, Vizianagaram

II

What a loss for the film world! Within 24 hours of the passing away of KV who shared society and its people's voice through his meaningful films, another "Vani" (voice) Vani Jayaram has joined the legendary filmmaker. Vani Jayaram was a low profile singer in the film world but created her own space even in Bollywood. It is tragic that she fell down from her bed with no one to take care of her. It is surprising that for reasons only known to her family she was allowed to live alone in the era when caregiver facilities were available which has turned her death as medico legal case leading to postmortem. May her soul rest in peace and let her voice continue to inspire singers from across the language.

N Nagarajan, Hyderabad

III

Her lilting voice has no match; even the music directors found it exceeding their expectations in delivery; as rightly said in the news, her song 'Bole re Papihara' in the film 'Guddi' will remain evergreen in the memories of music lovers of the country. Her versatility in singing in all Indian languages is simply astounding. The Padma Bhushan award conferred on her at the most appropriate time, that too when Vani Jayaram was alive. Her death in the aftermath of Lata Mangeshkar and Anuradha Poduval will leave a vacuum among music lovers.

K V Raghuram, Wayanad

IV

As aptly stated by Hans, another humongous loss hit the music world. After rendering her first number in Guddi, she got innumerable offers in Bollywood but unable to bear the jealous atmosphere prevalent there, she had to come back to south where she was adored like a queen of sweet songs. Her voice was chosen by many musicians such as MS Viswanathan, KV Mahadevan, Ilaya Raja, Madanmohan and others. She was rated as the best along with P Suseela, Janaki though intonations are different but sweetness remains the same flow. Fate had done it that she was issueless and lost her husband also. Her songs in Sankarabharanam, Swati Mutyam, Pooja, a few of a large lot are always etched in the hearts of lovers of music.

NSK Prasad, Hyderabad

V

Her repertoire was rich with songs sung in other languages too apart from Telugu. Her voice was light and she could sing effortlessly with ease. The song sung by her for the film 'Pooja' on Lord Rama moves me like perhaps many others. There are other songs like the ones sung in a romantic film "Seethakoka Chilukha" which remain etched in the minds of many Telugu film goers. Telugu film industry has lost two personalities one after the other in quick succession this February 23. This perhaps is an indication that times aren't good for the Telugu film industry on the whole. The industry should come up with a programme commemorating their achievements as a lasting and fitting tribute.

N R Raghuram, Hyderabad

VI

The film industry, especially Tollywood, is losing veteran artists in recent times. It is gloomy to hear the sorrowful and sudden demise of a renowned singer Vani Jayaram. A mellifluous singer, she started her singing career with a musical hit a Hindi song in Guddi in 1971 and thereafter never looked back as all her further ear catching and mind blowing numbers in Telugu and other eighteen languages were worshipped with pleasure by all music lovers. Late K Viswanath, who a few days back was laid to rest, made use of her voice in many of his films which brought her further fame and name. She was living alone in her apartment in Chennai as she was a nulliparous lady and also lost her husband five years ago. Recipient of several awards and rewards including Padma Bhushan, Vani Jairam has left for us many melodious and melancholic songs. 'Ennenno Janmala Bandham' between her 'Vani' (voice) and her admirers.

N Ramalakshmi, Secunderabad

Groundwater in B'luru outskirts contains high levels of radon

Bengaluru: Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science came together for a training programme on "Health in a Changing Climate: Empowering Health Professionals" and discovered that some areas on the outskirts of Bengaluru have groundwater with a high radon content that is utilised for drinking. Granites that are radioactive emit this radon. Long-term exposure to radon can increase the likelihood of acquiring lung cancer. Experts claim that uranium spontaneously decays into radon and radium through radioactive processes.

According to the researchers' initial findings, the level of radon is 50 to 100 times higher than the permissible limit of 11.1 Bq per litre. The study of radon in drinking water has received more attention as a result of this revelation. While uranium's presence affects the urinary tract and increases the risk of kidney cancer, radon's presence in the air and water damages lung tissues. The researchers realised that the uranium level might be high because radon is naturally produced from uranium. They discovered high uranium concentrations in groundwater in the Bengaluru outskirts including Chikkaballapur, Kolar, Chintamani, and Pavagada.

According to researchers, certain areas of the city's outskirts have uranium levels in water that are up to 8,000 micrograms per litre, exceeding the permissible limit of 60 micrograms per litre. It varies between 5,000 and 6,000 micrgrams per litre in Chikkaballapur, Kolar, and Chintamani. According to Srinivasan, "the amount of radon is being examined as it is a topic of concern."

If the area is properly ventilated, radon in the air shouldn't be a significant concern. According to Prof. R Srinivasan of the Divecha Centre for Climate Change (DCCC), IISc, it shouldn't start building up indoors.

While the presence of uranium affects the urinary tract and increases the risk of kidney cancer, the presence of radon damages lung tissues and causes lung cancer. Dr. H. Paramesh, Professor at DCCC and Consultant for the World Health Organization, also stated that preliminary research indicated Chikkaballapur to have uranium levels over 1,000, compared to the permissible values of 30–60 micrograms per litre. It's interesting that while some former Groundwater Board officials have researched the existence of radon in water, currently employed officials acknowledged that they had not pursued additional research on the subject.