Category Archives: Amazing Feats

Amin Jaffer’s new chapter in Paris

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Books (incl.Biographies - w.e.f.01 jan 2018 ), Business & Economy, Events, Exhibitions, Conferences (wef. Nov 18th, 2021), Leaders, NRI's / PIO's, Travel & Tourism, World Opinion, , , , , , , , , , ,

Kigali, RWANDA / Paris, FRANCE :

Amin Jaffer in his library dining room, standing in front of Yuntao Zhang’s painting of Cellini’s Medusa | Photo Credit: Architectural Digest / Antonio Martinelli

The Rwanda-born Indian curator, who has made the French capital his home, on the Al Thani collection’s first museum, his new book, and the importance of private collections

Writer, curator, collaborator, colonial furniture specialist: Amin Jaffer wears his titles effortlessly. And in the last couple of years, he’s added another one — that of Paris denizen — after he uprooted his English life of 25 years to move into a hôtel particulier (a grand townhouse) on Quai Voltaire along the Seine.

The move made sense. An “éminence grise of the international art world”, as an Architectural Digest article calls him (Jaffer is on the cover of the magazine’s 10th anniversary issue this month), he was “spending a lot of time in Venice, and the commute to London was becoming taxing”. But more importantly, his newest project, a private museum for the Al Thani Collection, is in the city, at Place de la Concorde’s Hôtel de la Marine.

“Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani was looking for a more permanent place to house the treasures of his collection,” says Jaffer, recalling how at the time, the French government body Centre des Monuments Nationaux was thinking of converting the former storage space for royal tapestries at the Hôtel — a four-year, €132 million restoration project. “They proposed that the Al Thani Collection could exhibit its masterpieces there.” With a 20-year agreement in place, acquiring a Parisian pin code thus gave him a twofold advantage, both with work and keeping up his continental way of life. (The last few weeks alone have seen Jaffer travel to Seville and Carmona in Spain and Parma and Venice in Italy.)

The Al Thani Collection at Hôtel de la Marine | Photo Credit: Marc Domage

Polaroid and a passion for art

The view of the Louvre from his third floor flat definitely tipped the scales in its favour. (The photos he shares on his Instagram, @aminjaffer_curator, are proof enough.) And the fact that Vivant Denon, the first director of the museum, had once been a resident in the 17th century building. Moreover, as he explains in an email that he squeezes in between flights, he’s always had a special connection with the Louvre. As a six-year-old, he had visited the museum with his mum, spending an entire day exploring its rooms, a Polaroid camera clutched tightly in his hands. He still has the photographs. “The adrenalin rush of seeing a great work of art inspired me then — as it does now,” he says, adding how by the time he turned 10 he had visited most of the major museums in Europe. “Other seminal moments include an early visit to the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and a trip to Rome to see the Vatican collections.”

The courtyard at L’Hôtel de Beuvron with its Rococo fountain | Photo Credit: @aminjaffer_curato

But he nearly missed his calling. Born into an Indian business family in Kigali, Rwanda, a career in art wasn’t an option growing up. His subjects in university were economics and commerce! That is, until he chose the history of French opera and French Renaissance châteaux as his first year electives and reignited his love affair with the arts.

Today, Jaffer, who is in his early 50s, is not only the chief curator of the Al Thani Collection, but also works with leading museums around the world in a “curatorial role, focussed on public projects, exhibition programming and producing catalogues”. His resume includes long stints at the V&A Museum in London as curator and as the International Director of Asian Art at Christie’s.

Amin Jaffer in his home office, sitting in front of a triptych by Reza Aramesh | Photo Credit: Architectural Digest / Antonio Martinelli

The perks of a private collection

“Born in central Africa, educated in Europe and America, I do feel something of a hybrid and I am drawn by works of art that are born from the encounter of two — or more — civilisations,” says Jaffer, who has recently “been fascinated by the fusion of Spanish and Amerindian culture, particularly in the domain of painting”. This ties in beautifully with the Al Thani Collection and its catalogue of more than 5,000 works of art drawn from across world civilisations.

It makes us wonder, how important are such private collections in the art world? “Pioneer collectors have vision and resources that compliment the public art offering,” he says, explaining how such collections play a significant role in the programming of national institutions. “Recent examples in Paris [besides the Al Thani Collection] includes the Bourse de Commerce and the Fondation Louis Vuitton. In India, Kiran Nadar has developed a programme of exhibitions around her collection that makes an essential contribution to the art scene,” adds the Indian art expert who played a key part in launching Christie’s first auction in Mumbai in 2013.

At Hôtel de la Marine | Photo Credit: Marc Domage

On board with digital

Jaffer’s personal collection is equally varied. A triptych by Iranian photographer Raza Aramesh, of Afghan refugees sitting in the Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors, takes pride of place in his home office, while a painting of Italian sculptor Benvenuto Cellini’s Medusa by Chinese contemporary artist Yuntao Zhang hangs in the library dining room. Elsewhere, Qing period armchairs, Louis XVI commodes, and Bouke De Vries’ Memory Jars are tucked into corners and under tables. “My most recent passions are French 18th century silver and hardstones from late Antiquity, especially objects in porphyry. I am learning more about Symbolist painting, too,” he says.

His days of confinement (as the French called the lockdown) helped broaden his base. When not watching life on the river, he was visiting digital museums and “researching parallel institutions” around the world. “What’s certain,” he says, “is that technology will play a greater role in the way we enjoy works of art — whether through the presence of more immersive, digitally-led exhibitions [such as the RMN Grand Palais’ immersive Venice show opening in autumn] or the sharing of information about works of art through digital platforms [like the one for the Palazzo Pilotta collection in Parma, which he experienced last weekend].” Does this mean he’s also on board with NFTs? “Of course, the phenomenon interests me,” he says, “but I do not yet have sufficient expertise to comment on anything in this new domain.”

The Al Thani Collection | Photo Credit: Marc Domage

Left Bank to the Concorde

For now, he’s back at his home at L’Hôtel de Beuvron, listening to Wagner and Mahler, and updating his Instagram. V&A’s new exhibition, Fashioning masculinities — on the male dress and its influences — has caught his eye, though he admits his personal wardrobe is rather formulaic. Tailored clothes in a limited palette of colours is the ‘uniform’, accented by pocket squares and ties that reflect the season or his mood. “Cufflinks are a weakness,” he shares, “and the best ones are by [Indian jeweller] Viren Bhagat, without doubt.”

Even as Jaffer immerses himself in life on the Left Bank, work at the museum is keeping up its momentum. “Some substantial pieces have been added to the collection in the past two years, which reflect the diversity of interests [of Sheikh Al Thani]. These will be shared with the public through displays at the Hôtel de la Marine,” he concludes.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Art / by Surya Praphulla Kumar / March 19th, 2022

Farman Ali, the last of the great chefs

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Leaders, Travel & Tourism, World Opinion, , , , , , , , , ,

Lucknow, U.P. / NEW DELHI / Bengaluru, KARNATAKA:

At Falak in Bengaluru, a custodian of the old Urdu-speaking culture and culinary traditions brings storytelling to the table

While the lights of Dubai-esque skyscrapers speak of a new Bangalore and its ambition, the salubrious weather on the terrace is a testament to an old city — pleasant and genteel, never mind traffic, chaos or climate change!

This convergence of the old and the new is a theme, as I sit down to a meal at Falak, the new restaurant at Leela Bhartiya City. The meal is to flow like a quintessential 19th century Lucknowi dastaan (story), hyperbolic and stylised, to mimic the oral storytelling tradition, dastaan-e-goi.

In my bookcase, I have a copy of Tilism-i-Hoshruba, the truly first Indo-Islamic romance epic, an extension of the dastans of Amir Hamza, of the Persian tradition, albeit in translation. When it was first published, in a serialised form, between 1881-93, by the iconic Naval Kishore Press in Lucknow, it marked an important moment for the Urdu-speaking-and listening audience of northern India, long familiar with the Persian romance tradition — with fantasy, adventure and the implausible built in. But I turn to Hamza, to also dive into the inherent syncreticism on the pages, as the mores of a Persian world collide and merge with those of local Braj Bhasha-speaking cultures of the Indo-Gangetic plain.

Finding nuanced Avadhi in Bengaluru

It’s a surprise to find a restaurant referencing this art form, to present Lucknowi (as also other Mughalai) dishes. Used to so much pastiche when it comes to Avadhi, the detailing in the menu is also unexpected. The food that arrives confirms that this perhaps is one of the most nuanced Avadhi/Mughalai restaurant opening in recent times — here in Bengaluru, rather implausibly, rather than Delhi, Mumbai or even London! Everything falls into place, however, when Farman Ali, all of 70, a chef who cooks behind the fiery range and sigri himself, and presides over the kitchens of Falak, makes his appearance.

When he hears about of my own Lucknowi antecedents, Ali abandons the idea of narrating food lore. With an extreme politeness that marks old Nawabi etiquette, he asks me, “ Ab aap ko kya dastan sunaye? [what possible tales can I tell you?].” And bursts into poetry, instead!

The rest of the evening goes by with the chef dropping verses from Daag or Ghalib or the other few who made 19th century Delhi one of the most literary cities in the world, even if we have forgotten that genre of poetry of lament created almost exactly at the time as Shelley, Wordsworth and the Romantics.

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Parts of an ancient story

For Ali, I realise, this is not performance — though it is quite in sync with modern chefs expected to be performative as they spend time building brands ‘front of the house’. Instead, this is a way of life, a culture that has all but completely faded. As the meal progresses — the nihari (pepper-laced stew of old Delhi’s spice market, concocted, according to lore, to ward off cold and flu thought to emanate from the Yamuna canal in Chandni Chowk) being replaced by the qorma ( nihari evolved into the subtle Avadhi qorma, catering to aristocrats who thought it ill-mannered to be smelling of spices after a meal) being replaced by the ‘ balai’ka tukda for dessert (not dubbed ‘ shahi’ royal bread pudding here; balai being the correct term for clotted cream) — we talk not food but art.

One of the dishes served at Falak | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

“After 1857, so many artisans and poets fled Delhi for the Deccan,” says Ali. “Culture spreads like this.” He is right, of course. But the ghazal or qasidas aside, it’s also the biryani that has diffused. Farman Ali’s is the old Delhi/Lucknowi style (he grew up in old Delhi and still has a house there) where rice is cooked in stock, and the ‘ pulao’ is not the layered and overtly spiced dish that its Hyderabadi cousin is. Old ‘Nakhlauwallas’ — such as yours truly — contend there was no Avadhi biryani at all, before the restaurants took over, just many fanciful and well-documented pulaos such as the ‘ moti’ (pearls) or the ‘cuckoo’, served with fried onions and thin yoghurt, no chutney or gravy.

The man behind Jamavar

Ali worked in restaurants in Delhi and Dubai before being handpicked by The Leela’s Capt CP Krishnan Nair to create the food of Jamavar nationally, to cook and serve pan-Indian food. Based in Bengaluru, he curiously escaped much national attention, retiring just before the pandemic, but was called back by the owners of Bhartiya City, foodies themselves, to cook food closer to his roots.

If cuisine is an expression of a culture, at a particular point in history, its custodians and storytellers are as important as the taste of dishes.

In India, at this moment in time, it is perhaps important to look back on the custodians of the old Urdu-speaking cultures and their culinary expressions. What kind of a society produced these stylised dishes? Farman Ali, in many ways, is the last of the great chefs, many of whom were feted much more and earlier in their careers than him — such as Imtiaz Qureshi of ITC Hotels (and his family, such as son-in-law Ghulam Qureshi of Dumpukht), and chef Ghulam Rasool of Taj Hotels.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Food / by Anoothi Vishal / March 19th, 2022

Differently-abled Kerala girl dancing to a unique rhythm

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Women/Girls(since May26-2021), , , , ,

Kochi, KERALA :

Nazreen C J, who is hearing impaired, marvels art connoisseurs by transforming unheard tunes into elegant moves, reports  Anuja Susan Varghese.

Nazreen is also interested in painting and photography | A Sanesh

Ernakulam :

The differently-abled are often blessed with myriad capabilities. Heightened sensory powers and special skills, developed by some individuals over several years overcoming challenges, at times leave audiences spellbound.

Such is the tale of Nazreen CJ, hearing impaired from birth. The limitations, however, did not stop the Kochi resident — called Kukku fondly — from exploring art and travel, and from honing her many talents. An expert bharatanatyam dancer, her performance, syncing steps by sensing vibrations of the beat on the floor, is an amazing sight.

From Class V, Nazreen has practised dance to the rhythm of classical music, mastering not just bharatanatyam, but kathak and mohiniyattom as well.

“She was a bright child from the very beginning,” says Nazreen’s mother, Noorjahan Jani. “We realised she could not hear or speak only after she was two, and by then it was too late.”

One huge positive for Nazreen, now 22, was that she studied in a regular school, enabling her to understand conversations by lip-reading. 

“She learned to accept she was different from other children. Being part of the Kochi Kalabhavan, she received opportunities to perform in cultural events on various stages and also in television programmes,” Noorjahan points out. Family support is a pillar of strength for Nazreen, with her mother accompanying her to cultural events and competitions. 

“During her schooldays, we travelled to Mumbai, Chennai and Ranchi. Though she is very confident now about managing on her own, we are still reluctant to let her travel alone,” says Noorjahan. Realising her mother was talking about her adventurous dreams, Nazreen gestures to say that they worry needlessly.  

Her sister, Jasmine Anseer, says Nazreen did not have any special training method or additional assistance while learning classical dance.  “She would pick up the steps and the rhythm as shown by her dance teacher. She continues with the steps till the dance sequence ends.” Her mother also recalls bitter experiences, when Nazreen was denied opportunities due to her condition. “Some organisers fear she would make mistakes on stage. Such experiences hurt her the most, yet she didn’t back down. Whenever she received opportunities, she has made sure that she puts up excellent performances,” Noorjahan says.

The walls of their home are stacked with prizes, with Nazreen having excelled in other fields too, like drawing, painting and photography. She used to play badminton as well. Recently, she modelled for Seematti, one of Kerala’s leading textile brands. 

“She is a very different person when on stage. It won’t be apparent to anyone she can’t hear the music. Be it ramp walk or western dance, she nails them with elan. During solo performances, we just have to ensure one of us is there off-stage to alert her when the song starts and is about to end,” says Jasmine.

When asked about her ambition, Nazreen joyously nods and gestures she wants to become a wildlife photographer.  Nazreen did her BSc in maths at the St Teresa’s College, and is now busy with programmes and photography sessions.

“Due to Covid, things were dull for a while. But life is now back on track,” says Jani C S, Nazreen’s father, beaming with pride. And Nazreen gestures, looking forward to the shows lined up.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Anuja Susan Varghese / Express News Service / March 20th, 2022

The story of the Indian hockey great who died too young

Amazing Feats, Leaders, Sports, World Opinion, , , , , , , , , , ,

BRITISH INDIA :

SM Jaffar was one of India’s finest hockey players in an era when the country reached near invincibility in the sport.

In the warm southern California summer of 1932, a group of young and colourfully-dressed athletes caught the attention of the residents of the Olympic host city. Angeleños, as the residents of Los Angeles were called at that time, had been expecting to see exotic looking foreigners, but even so, it would have been hard for many of them to not take a second look at turbaned Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus from faraway India.

Accounts from diaries from the 1930s suggest that one 20-year-old with his trademark moustache and turban caught the attention of both athletes and fans. This hockey player from Shergarh, in what was then the Montgomery district of western Punjab, was one of the rising stars of the Indian hockey team: Sayed Mohammed Jaffar Shah (SM Jaffar), who played the left-out (forward) position.

Like his teammates, who undertook the 42-day journey by ship from Colombo to California, SM Jaffar could have easily been distracted by the attractions that Hollywood offered, but his focus on the hockey was unwavering. “This charming athlete from India, this sheikh from the deserts of Montgomery, this man who carried with him something of an atmosphere of vast extensive plains and cornfields and open air wherever he went, attracted many admirers,” writer Syed Ahmed Shah, better known as Patras Bokhari, wrote in an essay in the 1930s. “But this stranger with a manly moustache had the modesty of a village virgin that was both fascinating and forbidding.” SM Jaffar was Bokhari’s student at the Government College in Lahore.

Jaffar had a reputation of being a disciplinarian to the core. He even eschewed coffee, as his only attempt at drinking the beverage resulted in the loss of an entire night of sleep. “Myriads were the temptations in the way of a young man so far away from his mother and his father and his friends and dear ones at home,” Jaffar was quoted as saying by Bokhari.

The hockey player, who was a hawking and hunting enthusiast and a regular patron of Amritsar’s hawk sellers, chose to spend his free time in Los Angeles visiting the zoo and the city’s lion farm.

It was a foregone conclusion that the Indian team, which won the gold medal in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, would crush the only two opponents – the Unites States and Japan. Like the ongoing Tokyo Olympics, which have lost their sheen because of the global pandemic, the Los Angeles games had reduced participation on account of the Great Depression. Only 37 nations participated in the 1932 Olympics, compared to 46 in Amsterdam four years earlier. The Indian team, divided by groupism between Anglo-Indians and others (the captaincy went to Lal Shah Bokhari), beat the United States 24-1 and Japan 11-1 to win the gold.

“I have had the privilege of seeing many cuttings from American newspapers and I can say without the least fear of contradiction that no other player was more popular, more skilful and more highly praised than Jaffar, with perhaps the solitary exception of Dhyan Chand,” Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah, who was Jaffar’s teacher at Lahore’s Aitchison College, wrote in 1937.

Shah, who would later become the principal of the prestigious Lahore institution, added, “…and what was true at Los Angeles, was equally true at the time of the Olympic Games in Berlin.”

Dhyan Chand runs away with the ball in an Olympic contest. Credit: Wikimedia Commons [Public Domain]

Road To Berlin

After returning to Lahore, Jaffar immersed himself in his studies. He completed his degree and was appointed Extra Assistant Commissioner of Lahore and even took the Indian Police Competitive Examination. His hockey career also continued to flourish. By 1936, he was the captain of the Punjab hockey team at the inter-provincial hockey tournament in Calcutta.

The tournament, won by host Bengal, was used as a selection criterion for the 1936 Berlin Olympics. In a country which had several strong hockey sides such as Bengal, Bombay, Bhopal and Manavdar, just two players from Punjab were selected – Jaffar and Gurcharan Singh. Despite a request from the hockey authorities, the Indian Army initially refused to grant superstar Ali Iqtidar Shah Dara leave to play for the national side.

When it was time to select the captain of the Indian team, there were three candidates: Dhyan Chand, Jaffar and Manavdar’s MN Masood. “The IHF [Indian Hockey Federation] met at Delhi sometime in April to select the captain and officials of the tour,” Dhyan Chand wrote in his 1952 autobiography. “For the office of the captain, three names were put up – Jaffar, MN Masood and myself. Jaffar subsequently withdrew in my favour.”

It is widely accepted that the 1936 Indian team was the greatest to ever take the field in the history of the sport. Two-time defending champions, they were the favourites to win the gold, but the German side was a formidable opponent.

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indianhistorypics

@IndiaHistorypic

1936 :: Indian Hockey Team That Won Gold Medal In Berlin Olympics .

In Final, India Defeated Germany 8-1

In Tournament India Scored 38 Goals , Dhyan Chand Scored 13 Goals and His Younger Brother Roop Singh Scored 9 Goals

9:49 PM – Aug 1, 2021

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Panic seized the Indian team when they lost a warm-up game to the Germans by a score of 4 to 1. Dhyan Chand and Jaffar requested the army to release Dara for the tournament, and the legend was flown in to Germany a day before the semi-final. Till that point, India had little trouble in the tournament, easily defeating Japan, Hungary and the United States. The champions then crushed France 10-0 in the semis.

The final between India and Germany was witnessed by 40,000 spectators , most of them cheering for the home side.

India had some supporters in the stand too, including members of the Baroda and Bhopal royal families as well as some Indians who lived on the continent. The clinical performance of the Indian team, which won 8-1, threw the theory of Aryan Supremacy to the bottom of the Spree River that runs through the centre of Berlin. In a match where Dhyan Chand scored three goals, Dara added two and Jaffar contributed to the tally with a solitary goal. India could have easily scored more, but Dhyan Chand decided to give the “rough” Germans a “lesson in ball control” and the Indian team toyed with their opponents, moving the ball around endlessly.

“During the tour, he was a very great asset to the team, both on and off the field, and was highly praised by the German press,” Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah wrote about Jaffar. “…He was Dhyan Chand’s right hand man and extremely useful in maintaining the morale of the team.”

The Olympic gold in hockey would stay in the subcontinent until 1972, with India winning gold in 1948, 1952, 1956 and 1964 and Pakistan doing so in 1960 and 1968.

A Tragic End

Unlike Olympic legends, Dhyan Chand and Ali Dara, SM Jaffar, who was at the peak of his athletic abilities in the mid-1930s, would not live to see the departure of the British from the subcontinent.

On the morning of March 21, 1937, Jaffar, an avid hunting enthusiast, went on a duck shoot with his friends on the banks of the Ravi River, near Lahore. The Olympian waded into the river to retrieve a duck that his dog was unable to get. Unknown to the party, the duck fell near a whirlpool in waist-deep water. Jaffar was sucked in, and his boots got caught in the reeds in the water. Despite being a skilled swimmer, he could not set himself free. The two-time Olympic gold medallist drowned in front of his friends in the Ravi. He was 25.

“It is too painful for me to recall here the incident of his most tragic death, which has deprived us of a brilliant ‘Old Boy’ of whom we were all unreservedly proud; no institution will mourn the death of Jaffar more than Aitchison College, of whose products he was the finest example,” Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah wrote.

SM Jaffar is remembered as an all-time hockey great in Pakistan. As a tribute to his contribution to hockey, Aitchison College constructed a hockey pavilion in 1939. The Ali Institute of Education in Lahore organises an annual hockey tournament in his name. In India, however, his name is known only among the diehard hockey fans of a much older and dying generation. Perhaps a celebration of the legacy of such common heroes of the subcontinent would act as a catalyst for better relations between the South Asian countries?

Ajay Kamalakaran is a writer and independent journalist, based in Mumbai. He is a Kalpalata Fellow for History & Heritage Writings for 2021.

source: http://www.scroll.in / Scroll.in / Home> Remembering History / by Ajay Kamalakaran / August 06th, 2021

Aster CMI hospital and IISc. to launch artificial intelligence lab in Bengaluru

Amazing Feats, Education, Inventions, Innovations (wef. Nov 30th, 2021), Karnataka (under research project), Leaders, NRI's / PIO's, Science & Technology, Useful / HEALTHCARE, World Opinion, , ,

KERALA / KARNATAKA/ UAE :

Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru | Photo Credit: The Hindu

The lab has been set up to build cutting edge AI products in the healthcare domain, and bridge the gap between clinical medicine and technology by training healthcare professionals in AI

To understand disease patterns and improve treatment outcomes using artificial intelligence (AI) tools, Aster CMI Hospital has joined hands with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) to launch an AI lab.

The lab has been set up to build cutting edge AI products in the healthcare domain, and bridge the gap between clinical medicine and technology by training healthcare professionals in AI.

The lab was launched by Azad Moopen, founder Chairman and Managing Director, Aster DM Healthcare; Lokesh B., Consultant Neurology at the hospital; and Phaneendra K Yalavarthy, Professor of Medical Imaging, Department of Computational and Data Sciences, IISc.

Aster CMI will work with Prof. Phaneendra K Yalavarthy and his team on ‘Development of Deep Learning Methods for Automated Tracking and Segmentation of Nerves in Ultrasound Images’.  

Sriram Ganapathy, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, IISc. has been collaborating on ‘Automatic Acute Stroke Symptom Detection Using Mobile Health Technologies’ and also on audio analytics in neurological disorders. Aster CMI believes that these initial projects have a direct impact on the current clinical practice in neurosciences.

At the launch, Dr Moopen said, “With the use of AI, doctors and medical providers will now be able to deliver more accurate diagnosis in the fastest possible time, which can aid the treatment journey. Also, AI would be a big leap towards predictive and proactive data analytics, which will improve preventive care recommendations for patients. We are glad to partner with IISc.”

Prof. Phaneendra K Yalavarthy, who has been instrumental in setting up the lab by providing the computational infrastructure and expertise, said, “AI-powered medical technologies have been rapidly evolving and have become powerful adjunct tools in clinical practice. The broad spectrum of digital medicine, especially to enable the 4P model of medicine (Predictive, Preventive, Personalised, and Participatory) involves natural collaboration between academic institutions and medical institutions.”

He said this artificial intelligence lab is a collaborative effort to develop these AI technologies in the hospital settings such that the translation to clinic will be seamless. “The initial focus of this collaborative lab will be in neurology and will later be expanded to other clinical specialities. We are thankful to Aster CMI for providing space to establish this lab in their hospital to enable co-development of some of these AI technologies for healthcare. This collaborative lab will enable the development of highly impactful research and technologies with a focus on translation to the bedside,” he said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Karnataka / by The Hindu Bureau / Bengaluru – March 19th, 2022

Ismail Optical: 90 Years Of Correcting Visions

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Karnataka (under research project), Leaders, , , , ,

Mysuru, KARNATAKA :

For 90 years, one optical store in our city has been framing and giving correct sight to Mysureans.

Ismail Optical and Co. on Sayyaji Rao Road, founded by Abubakar Ismail Sait and registered as A. Ismail & Bros on Feb. 16, 1932, was the first store selling optical devices, particularly spectacles with corrective lenses in city.

Speaking about how Ismail Optical Co. came into existence, Sadiq Sait, the present Proprietor and grandson of Abubakar, said that in the 18th century, a group of young entrepreneurs from Gujarat migrated to different parts of the country to try various business ventures and in South India they explored cities like Kochi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ooty and Madikeri, etc.

When the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore learnt about these entrepreneurs who were in Kodagu, he invited them to start their business in Mysore. One of these entrepreneurs, was Sadiq’s great grandfather Ismail Sait, who started a supermarket called ‘Ismail Stores’ in 1878 in Mysore.

The Maharaja had gifted Ismail Sait a building to set up his supermarket. In fact it was so large that the building had 11 doors! Even to this day, one can see a painting depicting Jumboo Savari procession with old Ismail Stores in the background displayed at Mysore Palace, says Sadiq.

Ismail Stores was located near Olympia Talkies, which was earlier known as Shivarampet. The supermarket sold a variety of items including spectacles which was one of its kind in those days. When K.R. Circle was being constructed, the supermarket was demolished and the Maharaja then provided another store nearby.

Ismail Sait’s son Abubakar Ismail Sait took over the supermarket business and then added a new exclusive optical store and registered it as A. Ismail & Bros in 1932. A receipt for goggles sold for Rs. 3 and 8 annas in 1934 is still preserved at the present store.

While the supermarket closed down, the optical store thrived. In 1971, the optical store was shifted to the present Devaraja Market building and this store was run by Sadiq’s father Gul Mohammed Sait, son of late Abubakar Ismail Sait. The store had already become famous by then for not only selling corrective lenses and frames but also for selling sunglasses to actors and film crew during film shootings.

Sadiq recalls his father selling sunglasses to actors Dr. Rajkumar, Dwarakish, Srinath, Amrish Puri, Jitendra, Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff and Prem Chopra. The store had also supplied spectacles to the members of the Mysore royal family during the regime of Krishnaraja Wadiyar and Chamaraja Wadiyar, he added.

Sadiq says, in the early days of the business, glasses and lenses were manufactured in their factory which was discontinued after 2005 as plastic lenses came to the market and the demand for glass lenses came down.

“Earlier there were no eye hospitals and only Ismail Optical was testing eyes. Employees of the Railway Department were being sent to the stores for eye testing. All was well untill the building caught fire in 1977 and the store was gutted. It was later renovated and by that time, many eye testing centres had come up,” Sadiq revealed.

Now, Ismail Optical & Co. has 12 branches across Mysuru City which are managed by Sadiq and his brothers. They have also expanded to Kodagu and have a branch at Gonikoppal.

Over the years, Sadiq says they have managed to constantly increase the choices for their customers. “Carl Zeiss glasses from Germany, Altan frames and Crooks lenses from England are imported. We deal with a variety of frames and lenses from across the globe so our customers have choices. We also have qualified and trained staff to repair these frames,” Sadiq said.

When asked about the common complaint about buying sunglasses — fakes, Sadiq says it is very difficult for a common man to differentiate and hence it is best to purchase such sunglasses from an authorised store or dealer and added with a smile, “may be like you get a second opinion from a doctor for health, you may need to get a second opinion about the authenticity of your glasses from an authorised dealer like us,” he said.

Ismail Optical still has eye testing and an in-house eye testing clinic. “Our mission is to provide quality vision to Mysureans and we hope to set up an eye hospital soon to help achieve a cataract-free  Mysuru,” says Sadiq.

Innovative – ‘Dial a Spex’

Ismail Optical has also been innovative in their service. In 2016, a unique service called ‘Dial a Spex’ was introduced where a customer could dial for an appointment with an eye specialist and a mobile van, with eye testing equipment and a doctor, would then reach the customer’s doorstep. Once the spectacle is ready, it would be delivered to the patient. This service turned out to be useful during the pandemic.

Awards

The Optical store has won many awards for being the best opticals in Mysuru. In 1996, it won an award for being the Best Optical Store in South India; Best Optical Store in Karnataka Award in 2003 and it bagged the Mysore Excellence Award — Excellent Opticians in Mysore in 2018.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / by S Kenneth Shishir / March 18th, 2022

On a roll: Differently-abled Kerala youth eyeing Mr Wheelchair India title

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, , , ,

Thiruvananthapuram, KERALA :

Despite having faced an accident that changed his life, this youngster’s dreams and will are soaring high.

On a roll: Differently-abled Kerala youth eyeing Mr Wheelchair India title- The New Indian Express

Kochi : 

For 23-year-old Nishan Nizar, the time in his hands is not enough to visit all his dream destinations, indulge in adventures and chase a million dreams. Nishan is a romantic when it comes to life.

His ideas about life took life in the face of adversity. Nishan was returning home on his bike when he met with an accident a few years back. He suffered a spinal cord injury and multiple leg fractures. After being in hospital and staying bedridden for a year, Nishan decided to go to a rehabilitation centre. After three months of training, Nishan was on his journey to becoming self-sufficient. Soon he started dreaming big, understanding himself and realising his dreams. “I look back at the incident as something that changed me in a positive way. I could learn about myself more, find out my potential that I wouldn’t have explored otherwise,” he says. 

A native of Thiruvananthapuram, Nishan resides at Kannammoola. He is presently gearing up for the Mr & Ms Wheelchair India contest where he is a finalist representing Kerala. Modelling is a passion he took to after he started using the wheelchair. “I used to do photoshoots before the accident, but never focused on modelling. One day, I chanced upon a modelling opportunity at a Banglore based company. I sent my application and got in,” says an excited Nishan. Having done ramp shows at three fashion events, Nishan says he enjoys his life as a professional model. 

But Nishan’s dreams don’t stop there. He is currently building a community along with his friend Aneesha that creates awareness about differently-abled people and works for their welfare.  Apart from modelling and social work, Nishan is also preparing to join an animation course. “I always loved creating art. I think it will be the right push for me,” says Nishan.

He says society needs to be more accepting of differently-abled people. “There is no need for sympathy. We just need to be accepted and treated as equals. But first, one needs to accept oneself. I could and that has helped me connect with my own strengths,” he says. Nishan dreams of joining the Paralympics. “I want to train in wheelchair badminton. I want to travel around the world, walk the ramps of Paris Fashion Week,” he gleams. His biggest dream is to build an NGO that aids people with physical disabilities and chronic illnesses. “I want to create an inclusive world where we wouldn’t look at people with disabilities as a problem to be fixed or eliminated, but as a beautiful expression of humanity. I will work to help others recognise this,” he says

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Aathira Haridas, Express News Service / March 03rd 2022

Stranded Telugus in Ukraine make desperate appeal for evacuation

Amazing Feats, Education, NRI's / PIO's, Ukraine Updates, Students (Feb. 2022), World Opinion, , , , , , , ,

Hyderabad, TELANGANA / INDIA / UKRAINE :

Indian students who are in Kyiv appeal for their evacuation.

Hyderabad: 

Cook food in the confines of house in the morning and take refuge in the nearby bunkers all through the day. This has become routine for several Telugu students who are caught in the war-torn Ukraine for the past a few days. Worst is the situation for students who are staying in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, which has been witnessing heavy bombardment from the Russian forces.

“On February 23 at 3.30 am, we heard the first heavy explosion nearby our house that was deafening. The bombing was followed thereafter. Last night, an oil factory was bombed and fire could be seen from far of places. We are really scared for our lives. We are cooking in the house and staying in bunker,” says Sai Naik, a Warangal native who is staying in Kyiv with seven other students.

As the war-torn Ukraine announced martial law which includes curfew, all establishments have shut their shops. While some students had managed to stock-up, but needless to say, they do not last long.


“We bought groceries and other edibles for five days and we are already into the fourth day the food stock for one-day left. We have no idea what we will do now as all stores are closed since February 24.|

There is a shortage of water as well,” said Naik, who is a student of Bogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv.

Another student from Hyderabad, Gulam Ahmed Mohiuddin Salman who is currently taking shelter in Kyiv Medical University hostel said there were no responses from the Indian Embassy officials regarding their evacuation.

“There are 200 Indian students presently in the hostel basement. We are running short of groceries and other provisions. Given the situation with no transportation facility, it is impossible for us to travel to the Ukraine border which is 800 kms away from the hostel,” Salman said.

Naik, Salman and several other Indian students have made desperate appeals to the Indian government to at least transport them to the nearest border post.

Shoot at sight orders

“Shoot at sight orders was issued by the Ukraine government, so we cannot move out. We want the Indian government to help us reach the Ukraine border so that we can board a flight from neighbouring country,” Naik appealed.

source: http://www.telanganatoday.com / Telangana Today / Home / by Yuvraj Akula / February 27th, 2022

Muslim man jumps under moving train to rescue woman, Twitter reacts

Amazing Feats, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Transport, , , , , , ,

Bhopal, MADHYA PRADESH :

In a video of the incident, Mehboob can be seen holding the woman’s head down to prevent it from hitting anything protruding from the undercarriage.

Muslim man jumps under moving train to rescue woman fallen on tracks

Bhopal: 

In an act of tremendous courage a 37-year-old Muslim man jumped in front of a moving goods train to save a woman who had fallen on the railway track in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal, an official said on Saturday.

While the incident took place on February 5, a video of the occurrence went viral on social media on Friday, garnering praise from all quarters.

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The incident took place in Barkhedi around 8 pm on February 5, when Mohammed Mehboob, a carpenter, was walking near the scene after offering namaz.

A woman in her 20s carrying a backpack was crossing the railway track at the time when a goods train started approaching, said Shoaib Hashmi, a friend of Mehboob told PTI on Saturday.

The woman got scared and tripped on the tracks and could not get up and move away from the train’s path, he said.

When onlookers started shouting in panic, Mehboob acted on impulse and jumped on the track and ran up to the woman, dragged her to the middle of the trackbed, and kept her from lifting her head as the train passed over them, Hashmi said.

People kept cautioning the duo to stay down till at least 28 wagons on the train passed over them, he added.

After the near-death experience, the woman broke down in tears and hugged her father and brother who had not crossed the railway track with her at the time, Hashmi said.

In a video of the incident, Mehboob can be seen holding the woman’s head down to prevent it from hitting anything protruding from the undercarriage.

Ever since the video went viral on social media, people have been flocking Mehboob’s home in Ashok Vihar Bank Colony, Aishbag to congratulate him.

source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> News> India / by Syeda Faiza Kazim , the News Desk / February 12th, 2022

1,647 students receive degrees at Ramaiah university convocation

Amazing Feats, Education, Karnataka (under research project), Women/Girls(since May26-2021), , , , ,

Bengaluru, KARNATAKA :

28 students received the MS Ramaiah gold medals while an equal number received Venkatamma Ramaiah silver medals.

Seven students were awarded PhD, 453 students master’s and 1,187 students bachelor’s degrees.
(Photocaption) Gold and silver medallists Nidhi Santhosh, Dr.Aishwarya Swathi, Samreen Fathima, Bennett M Darshan, Kabita Kumari, Harshit Agarwal and Kavya C at the convocation of Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences on Monday
Credit: DH Photo/Prashanth H G

The sixth convocation of Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences took place here on Monday with as many as 1,647 students receiving degrees. 

Seven students were awarded PhD, 453 students master’s and 1,187 students bachelor’s degrees. Twenty-eight students received the MS Ramaiah gold medals while an equal number received Venkatamma Ramaiah silver medals. Eight research students received Gowramma Ramaiah silver medals for best-presented research theses. 

Anil D Sahasrabudhe, Chairperson, AICTE, presented the degrees to the students. “The main aim of education is to instil moral values and create selfless citizens who work for the welfare of the country. Students have the responsibility of creating an Atmanirbhar Bharat. They should also understand the National Education Policy and respond to the changing needs of development,” he said. 

University Chancellor M R Jayaram, Vice-Chancellor Prof Kuldeep Kumar Raina and Registrar Prof M Sai Baba were also present.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> City> Life in Bengaluru / DHNS, Bengaluru / March 15th, 2022