Churumuri.com is an Indian blog published by Krishna Prasad.[1] In May 2008, NDTV News called it "one of India's most popular blogs" that "takes a bash at just about everything."[2] In October 2011, The New York Times, India, included Churumuri in its reading list.[3]
Frequently skeptical or contrarian, Churumuri offers commentary about current events in politics,[4] business, cricket,[5] media,[6] movies and music.[7] Churumuri employs participatory journalism,[8] and it celebrates nostalgia[9] and humour.[10]
Churumuri was launched on March 30, 2006, the day of Ugadi or Hindu New Year, as a forum to discuss "local history, local culture, local cuisine, local heroes, local industries, local people, local anything" related to the Mysore region.[11] Krishna Prasad intended it to "capture some of [the] quaint and endearing things of our culture." Since then, it has grown into discussing national issues.[12]
Since October 2008, Krishna Prasad has also edited the weekly newsmagazine Outlook published in New Delhi. Earlier from August 2006 to June 2007, he had edited the English-language daily Vijay Times (now defunct) in Bangalore.[13] From August to October 2007, Krishna Prasad traveled in the United States, lecturing on Indian journalism at Central Michigan University, Ball State University, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, and Penn State University.
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Churumuri is Kannada for puffed rice, but it is also the name of a Mysore street snack prepared with puffed rice, grated carrot, roasted peanuts, shredded onion, lemon juice and green chilli peppers, and sold for about five rupees (less than a U.S. dime) in cones of old newspaper.[14] The tagline swalpa sihi, swalpa spicy is Kannada for "a little sweet, a little spicy."
Churumuri has made news a few times.[12] The blog's campaign[15] to secure governmental recognition for the writer R.K. Narayan[16] in his home town in the centenary year of his birth drew the attention of the historian Ramachandra Guha and later found a mention in The Hindu Sunday Magazine by Narayan's biographer, N. Ram. Eventually the campaign reached the governor[17] of Karnataka, T.N. Chaturvedi.
Churumuri's discussion of an Art of Living Foundation seminar was one of its most viewed posts,[18] as was its discussion of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw's funeral.[19] An analysis[20] of the apology tendered by the editor-in-chief of The Hindu to Tata Motors drew a response[21] from Readers' Editor K. Narayanan.[22]
When the Vijaya Karnataka Group was purchased by the Times of India Group, the blog hosted a discussion with rumours, theories and intrigue surrounding the takeover. Some commentators seemed to be pseudonymous journalists working for either group.[23] Churumuri's reporting of the internecine war in Deccan Herald,[24] and the change of stewardship[25] of The Hindu in Bangalore attracted were popularity inflection points as well.
The blog debated Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist and the squash ball controversy [26] and was mentioned in a sample of bloggers' reactions to N. R. Narayana Murthy's remarks about the national anthem.[27]
Churumuri claimed to be the most visited blog in the world for two days in mid April of 2006[28] when it was among the first to cover[12][29] the death of thespian Dr. Rajkumar.
Churumuri posts the writings of many journalists who live in or were raised in Mysore.
Its writers include the late distinguished Mysore–based photojournalist T.S. Satyan,[30] Satyan's brother the photographer T.S. Nagarajan,[31] the author Sunaad Raghuram,[32] the former editor of Samachar (Mysore's first English eveninger, now defunct) Gouri Satya,[33] the corporate manager turned humourist E.R. Ramachandran, the syndicated news photographer Saggere Ramaswamy,[34] the corporate manager Arun S. Padaki, the journalist turned media professor Nikhil Moro,[35] the journalist turned Dell manager Chetan Krishnaswamy, and the humanities professor Prithvi Shobhi.
Among the most frequent contributors are Shashikumar Mullur, Arvind Swaminathan, Pritam Sengupta, Sharanya Kanvilkar, Palini R. Swamy, Prashant Krishnamurthy and Ramya Krishnamurthy.
Krishna Prasad also operates a media blog, Sans Serif,[36] and a food blog focused on southern Indian vegetarian cuisines, Kosambari.