Mangalore: It was a programme worth attending. Town Hall in Mangalore was recently witness to a rare and unique event- in a way a battle of artistic and oratory skills. The organizers were Samskara Bharathi, to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, the great saint philosopher. The programme was aptly named ‘Chutuku-Chittara.’

The two personalities who were involved in this intense battle were well-known orator Hiremagalur Kannan and renowned artist Dr BKS Verma.  Just as Kannan began to speak, the same was represented through art by Verma on the canvas before him. It was a great sight to see the two masters battle each othe

The artiste first drew a sketch of Lord Ganesha and later continued the programme which ranged from talks on Shivaram Karanth, Baba Ramdev, Anna Hazare and even cricket. If some questions raised by Kannan were answered in art form by Verma, some of the pictures of Kannan were responded to by Kannan in his own style or oration.