Churumuri

Churumuri.com is an Indian blog published by Krishna Prasad (Journalist). In May 2008, NDTV News called it "one of India's most popular blogs" that "takes a bash at just about everything."[1] In October 2011, The New York Times, India, included Churumuri in its reading list.[2]

Frequently skeptical or contrarian, Churumuri offers commentary about current events in politics,[3] business, cricket, media, and it celebrates nostalgia

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. 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.[4]

The name

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. The tagline swalpa sihi, swalpa spicy is Kannada for "a little sweet, a little spicy."

Notability

Churumuri has made news a few times.[4] The blog's campaign[5] to secure governmental recognition for the writer R.K. Narayan 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[6] of Karnataka, T.N. Chaturvedi.

Churumuri's discussion of an Art of Living Foundation seminar was one of its most viewed posts, as was its discussion of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw's funeral.

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 The Hindu in Bangalore.

The blog debated Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist and the squash ball controversy [7] and was mentioned in a sample of bloggers' reactions to N. R. Narayana Murthy's remarks about the national anthem.

Regular contributors

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, 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.

References

External links