Madhu Mailankody: Setting Standards for Sports Presentation

By Abhishek N Bhat | coastaldigest.com
May 3, 2019

The advent of Star Sports into Kannada - a language which is already replete with nearly three dozen state-level television channels - has brought forth an accomplished anchorwoman, who can steal the hearts of television audience in Karnataka in general and sports enthusiasts in particular through her astute presentation amidst the hullaballoo of a bunch of sanctimonious and strident anchors cutting across the news and the entertainment channels.

Flashing a million dollar smile Madhu Mailankody was the first anchor to go live on air after the Walt Disney owned Star India recently launched the Star Sports 1 Kannada, said to be the country’s first and only dedicated Kannada sports channel.

The all-round ‘Sport Presenter’ is one of the very few female specialists in all forms of sports and games including cricket, football, badminton, kabaddi and volleyball in Karnataka. She is now often seen hosting various sports shows and programmes and interviewing sports legends on the channel. In spite of her acumen and insightfulness, the gorgeous girl’s humility and not so ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude has set new standards for anchoring and sports presentation in Kannada.

“How do you feel?” I drag her into a conversation on WhatsApp after watching her live on the television. “Working with legends of various sport and sharing work space with them... A good opportunity to interact with sports giants from across the world like Brian Lara, Brett Lee, Scott Styris, Anil Kumble, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Virendra Sehwag, Venkatesh Prasad…,” Madhu candidly responds before heading back to studio for shoot.

Madhu is a Mangalurean. Nay, a young Kasaragod Kannadiga woman, who even before entering the Star Sports had carved a niche in the hearts of Mangalureans through anchoring and hosting various events for past several years. Knowing that she is an out-spoken but publicity-shy woman who exudes genuine passion and commitment for her work, I obliquely pester her to tell me more about herself. She strikes me as a self-made woman, unburdened by all her God-gifted talents and achievements.

The desi girl’s lucid English, immaculate Kannada, chaste Hindi, friendly Malayalam and cordial Tulu coupled with an affable body language always make her stand out from the rest. Madhu’s multilingual and multicultural mastery makes her “an anchor sans borders” who can easily engage with diverse audience in almost all Indian states and beyond. She has won the applause of NRI audiences in Middle Eastern countries like United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman.

Madhu shares a close bond with the word ‘League’. She entered Star Sports in 2017 as an anchor for Indian Super League (ISL), the most premium football league of the country. In 2018-2019 she was an anchor for the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL). In 2018-2019 she was a host for the entire Premiere Badminton League (PBL). She has been the ground MC for Karnataka Premiere League (KPL) since 2015. She was the solo host for three seasons of Mangalore Premier League (MPL) and then went on to become the voice of Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium for over 35,000 spectators during Indian Premier League (IPL). She also played the role of an anchor during several international cricket tournaments. Earlier this year she was part of the Asia Federation Cup.

The secret behind the magnanimous Madhu’s lively personality lies at ‘Mailankody’ in the pristine village of Perdala off Badiyadka town in Kasaragod district, where she was born as the second and last daughter of Savithri G Bhat and M Ganapathi Bhat, who opted agriculture after completing his post-graduation at a juncture when millions of rural Indians quit agriculture and migrated to towns and cities. She was brought up in the same village before shifting to Namma Kudla for college education. An alumnus of St Agnes and St Aloysius, two of Mangaluru’s prestigious colleges, Madhu is a passionate traveler, who prefers to spend time with the nature than in shopping malls and restaurants. The father’s pet daughter turns herself into a volcano of self-confidence when she says, “I am purely an independent girl!”

Comments

PK Kudla
 - 
Sunday, 5 May 2019

Terribly gorgeous girl.  Nice photos. 

Richard Rego
 - 
Sunday, 5 May 2019

Well written. Hope Madhu Mailankody reaches great heights of success

Roshan Martis
 - 
Sunday, 5 May 2019

Wonderful article on a wonderful girl. Proud of you Madhu Mailankody. God bless.

Aron
 - 
Saturday, 4 May 2019

Nice piece of article on a nice girl. All the best Madhu

Nithin Mangalore
 - 
Saturday, 4 May 2019

Madhu Malankodi is quite familiar in Mangalore. Happy to see her scaling new heights. I liked the last line: “I am purely an independent girl”. You are practically a feminist. I must thank the writer Mr Abhishek N Bhat for the beautiful write up. 

Raveena M
 - 
Saturday, 4 May 2019

Wonderful woman. One should live life like this! I worked Madhu during an event in Mangalore years ago and received my first salary from her. 

M Sadashiva Rao
 - 
Friday, 3 May 2019

A stupendous performance and achievement - By Madhu Mailankdy - hailing from a remote rural place - proving that it is one's talent, attitude and passion that makes or marks a person - one need not be City bread to be an achiever -  Congratulations and compliments to this simple girl from Perdala - who has carved a niche for herself in the arena of sports presentation

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News Network
July 17,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 17: Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Mayor, M Goutham Kumar on Friday called for an extension of lockdown in the city for one more week due to rise in the COVID-19 cases.

"It will be better if we get more time to tackle COVID-19 cases, we wish for the extension of lockdown for one more week. We have given the proposal to the government," said M Goutham Kumar, BBMP Mayor.

"After the number of cases increased in Bengaluru, BBMP started antigen test in containment and hotspot zones of Bengaluru to tackle the cases which have crossed 2,000 mark," he added.

Along with Mayor, BBMP Commissioner Anil Kumar has also proposed the state government to extend lockdown in Bengaluru for one more week.

"The number of cases in Bengaluru increasing in Bengaluru rapidly. BBMP has inaugurated more than 200 vehicles in Bengaluru for the use of the antigen test," said Anil Kumar, Commissioner BBMP.

According to the Union Health Ministry, there are 51,422 COVID-19 cases in the state.

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Charan Kumar | coastaldigest.com
June 24,2020

Bengaluru, June 24: City-based I Monetary Advisory (IMA), which duped thousands of families, mostly Muslims, in the name of halal investment, has become a bitter reality of "we were robbed by our own people". All the accused except its CEO Mohammad Mansoor Khan have been released on bail in this ponzi scam worth thousands of crores of rupees.

The scam has not only been investigated by SIT and CBI, but it has reverberated many times in the Assembly, corridors of power, and in the courts.

Around 80,000 investors are in trouble after the Monetary Advisory (IMA) scam came to light. Many investors have left this world, many families have split, many marriages have broken down and many have become unemployed, homeless, helpless and hapless. One of the senior IAS office, who had faced arrest in the scam, reportedly killed himself just a day ago.

It has been more than a year since this multi-billion scam came to light. But the affected families still do not see any ray of hope. The government, led by senior IAS officer Harsh Gupta, has set up a special competent authority to address investor grievances in the matter.

According to information provided by Harsh Gupta, investors have to be paid Rs 2,900 crore. But the value of the company's assets seized so far could be around Rs 450 crore. The process of auctioning the assets has not started yet. The authority has developed an online portal for submission of claim forms from investors. But the process of taking applications has not started yet. Syed Gulab, a social worker overseeing the case, says that after all the claim forms have been submitted, we will get a clear picture about the exact number of investors and the total amount of arrears. But this process may take a few more months to complete.

Senior journalist Maqbool Ahmed Siraj says that IMA has systematically deceived people in the name of halal investment through capital scheme. In 2006, Muhammad Mansoor Khan, a one-time small businessman, set up a company. He began to attract large number of investors by creating the greed for more profit among middle class and poor people.

By 2015, the company had received money from more than 12,000 investors and continued to pay monthly profits. By the time the company closed in 2019, 80,000 people had invested their hard-earned money here. In Bengaluru, the company expanded its reach by investing in two major gold showrooms, hospitals, schools, several medical stores, a publishing center, a supermarket, and real estate firm.

Mr Siraj says that Mansoor Khan and his team not only lured the poor and middle class to pursue their own interests but also created a favourable atmosphere for their so called business by winning the hearts of politicians, government officials, clerics, religious institutions and media.

Unsuspecting people invested their money in a bid to make more profit in less time. When the company stopped making profits and Mansoor Khan suddenly fled on June 9, 2019, the investors woke up the to the reality.

Apart from residents of Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka, people from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra other states also have invested their money.

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News Network
February 6,2020

Mangalore, Feb 6: The first Rashtriya Lok Adalat of 2020 will get started from Feb 8, A district judge has announced, adding that it is being organised by Karnataka Law Services Authority and Dakshina Kannada Law Services Authority.

Speaking to media on Wednesday evening, Justice Sathyanarayana Acharya Kandlur said, "4,820 cases were resolved through Lok Adalat last year. 618 cases have been registered so far to be decided under the Lok Adalat."

Familial, civil and revenue cases of cheque dishonour, financial extortion, cases related to telephone, electricity, water, land encroachment and acquisition, motor vehicle cases, labour issues and maintenance expenses will be decided in the Lok Adalat.

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