ikOlam

I am a creature of moods. A way to express them through various creative avenues is to publish them in electronic forums. That is what I have been doing for more than fifteen years. First it was the India-Digest and then the Pulse of India where I published samples of inspirational poems (including a few of my own) from all the languages. Later it was the yahoo groups Chandassu and racchabanda. Afterward it was the online Telugu journal eemaaTa where I published many articles on metrics as well as a few of my poetry and one or two short stories. I am continuing to publish in these even now. They are mainly my forays into the world of metrical poetry and the intricacies of prosody and its relationship to music. Since the last one year, it is ikOlam where I am trying to give expression to my interests in symmetry through rangOli patterns. All these forums have one thing in common. They were all started by dedicated individuals who moonlight over the literary, cultural and artistic aspects that characterises India. Six years may be a short time in the life of an individual, but is quite an achievement for a network site. I have seen many nice sites come and go just like that. I donot regret over the demise of many. But the death of sites like dAsasAhitya, chelliyO chellaka (a site dedicated to classical Telugu dramas), a literary kannaDa site and a very good site that dwelt on the history of karNATik music is a great loss. I wish Mrs Lata and Mr Mani great success now and in the years to come. Happy birthday i-kOlam! Regards! - J K Mohana Rao Note: In the enclosed pattern, you may see the number six in red formed by the letters O and l of i-kOlam.