Category Archives: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Blissfully devoted to music

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

Kolkata, WEST BENGAL:

Ustad Jainul Abedin’s talent is indisputable but is yet toget his due.

The coveted “Sangeet Bharati” title was bestowed on Ustad Jainul Abedin, in a devotionally charged ambience at Sree Satyananda Devayatan on the final day of the 115th birth anniversary of Thakur Satayananda. “Sur-yoga is the easiest way to reach God,” was the philosophy of Thakur who groomed Archana Puri Maa, his spiritual daughter, to lead the way through her divine creativity in the arena of music and literature. She, as the beacon of the Devayatan, converted it as the haven of music where eminent musicians offer their music and receive blessings; Abedin being one of them who also encourages his disciples to begin their melodic journey with divine sanctions.

An ardent admirer of the young Ustad, Maa did the honours and listened to his melodious renderings that once again proved that he remains a devout devotee of his Ustad, the late Latafat Hussain Khan and his unalloyed Agra Gharana tradition replete with the elaborate alap. The latter’s intangible beauty, carefully avoided now by almost all Agra exponents, pulsates with piety in Abedin’s musically rich voice and lingering notes which have no trace of the gruff utterances associated with the gharana. All this makes the slow segment of his alap a real treat!

But Agra is far away from the modern abstract-ism a la Indore gharana. Conversely, it is incorrigibly tangible. Abedin’s warm persona unfurls petal by petal during his typically gharana-based “extrovert” style of handling the jod segment of the alap, the bol-baant (lyrics-based rhythmic divisions), the bol-banav (melodic improvisation of the lyrics), the bold and powerful taans, the varied patterns of rhythm-play, the saath-sangat (simultaneous improvisation) and sawal-jawab (dialogue) with the tabla and make his presentations remarkably charming.

Despite being blessed with all the virtues of a great musician, what keeps him under-rated and out of star-studded concert stages; so much so that at a recent all India congregation of Agra gharana representatives in Bhopal did not see him participating while many pedestrians found entry.

Abedin refuses to be despondent and gracefully accepts all as his “destiny”. His attitude reminds one of a sportsman’s spirit or a farmer’s resilience. Curiously, he is both! Born at Bashirhat, far away from Kolkata, he belongs to a family of well to do landlords; loves fishing and is passionate about cricket. Inspired by his latent talent, several eminent musicians groomed him. Hailed as a child prodigy, he started performing successfully in concerts and competitions since the early age of 9. He stood first at a talent search contest organised by the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in 1978.

This was destiny which saw him as one of SRA’s earliest scholars at the tender age of 11. Away from home rigorous taaleem in the true guru-shishya tradition from the legendary Ustad Latafat Hussain Khan, followed by training under Pandits Vijay Kichlu and Sunil Bose after the Ustad’s demise, ensured that he learn the true nuances of the Agra gharana gayaki. Growing up in an enviable musical atmosphere amidst some of the greatest luminaries of music world, Abedin also received invaluable guidance from Pandit K G Ginde and Vidushi Dipali Nag.

But destiny prolonged the usual change of voice of the starry-eyed young teen and there came a plateau in his ascending career which, due to the unprecedented success of SRA’s ‘first flush’, placed him in the second row. Though he featured in almost all the major festivals and various ITC Sammelans in India; toured Canada, USA and Bangladesh; successfully conducted workshops in India and various cities in Bangladesh, worked with the prefect’s department of his Alma Mater, the stigma of the ‘second best’ never left him; even if requests came solely for Jainul Abedin’s recitals, they would get spurned for mysterious reasons! When he started enjoying teaching, some of his brilliant disciples were placed under other ‘seniors’!

Destiny it is; especially because Abedin still remains a village-boy at heart and refuses to fight the system by maligning names of his ‘elders’or ‘friends’. Instead, he is blissfully devoted to his music, independently giving taaleem to innumerable students, giving concerts regularly and conducting successful workshops both in India and Bangladesh. He is also an examiner for Hindustani classical music of various universities. His social organisation “South Kolkata Music and Art Foundation” whose primary activities are to help aged musicians, is presently working on building an old-age home for distressed artistes. The divine blessings in the form of “Sangeet Bharati” will see him through ultimately, he knows!

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Friday Review / by Meena Banerjee / March 11th, 2016

Abou Ben Adhems at Kalamandira

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

Anekal, KARNATAKA / NEW DELHI :

Abou Ben Adhem is a poem by Leigh Hunt. Some may say it is old hat. But, for ever its philosophy is relevant; in truth in today’s world of war, strife and self-obsession among people.

Abou Ben Adhem wakes up from his deep, peaceful sleep and sees an angel writing in a book. What are you writing?, asks Abou Ben Adhem.

The angel says, “The names of those who love the Lord.”

“And is mine one?, asks Abou

“Nay, no so,” says the Angel

Then Abou, humbly says, “I pray thee, then, write me as one that loves his fellow men.”

The Angel writes so and vanishes.

The next night, the angel appears again and shows the names whom God had blessed. And lo! Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest. This, even though Abou Ben Adhem, instead of saying “he loved the Lord” he had said he “loved his fellow men.” It simply means in this world it is more important to love fellow men rather than merely loving God. We all know what is happening in West Asia as a result of loving God too much and fellow men less.

Last evening, I was witness to a number of Abou Ben Adhems on the vast stage of Kalamandira. The occasion was the first award presentation to those who have “Loved their fellow men,” to use the words of Abou Ben Adhem, by the partners of city’s Ganesh Beedi Works under the auspices of their Charitable Trusts in the name of their parents M. Govinda Rao and D. Ramabai. It is known as Ramaagovinda Puraskar-2016.

Yesterday, I was caught in a web struggling to decide to which of the three programmes I was invited I must go — one wedding, a dinner at Palace in connection with MRC election and the function at Kalamandira. I decided on Kalamandira and happier for that. A memorable awards function indeed, made more memorable by the cultural event ‘Miracle on Wheels’ a performance by the specially-abled youngsters on wheelchairs par excellence.

There was yoga on wheels, Dashavathara on wheels, Bhagavad Gita on wheels and more. Performing with clock-work precision, timing of movement well synchronised as they criss-crossed the stage while the audience wowed wonder-struck. The accompanying music and song, mostly verses from Hindu Mythology, held the audience spellbound.

Dr. Syed Salauddin Pasha
Dr. Syed Salauddin Pasha

The innovator-choreographer of this extraordinary show by the specially-abled performers was Dr. Syed Salauddin Pasha, a Kannadiga from Anekal near Bengaluru, now settled in Delhi. I learn he is a follower of Sufism. No wonder he came on the stage wearing a dhoti and a white manila bush coat, crimson nama glowing vertically on his broad forehead. He looked younger for his fifty years. But for his name you wouldn’t know he is a Muslim.

It was revealed by himself that as a student he was given a Quran by his parents and sent to school but he would go to his Brahmin friend’s house and return as Pasha Iyer ! From what he spoke from the stage it was clear that he has mastered both Islamic studies, Hindu Mythology and religion. He was so eloquent in chanting the sacred verses the audience applauded him with clapping ever so often.

Star of Mysore had published about his achievements on Saturday, 19th March, 2016. If Karnataka Government has not recognised him with a Rajyotsava Award or some other award, he indeed deserves one because he is a Kannadiga who speaks impeccable Kannada with ease and eloquence and wants to shift to Bengaluru for good for love of his roots.

Be that as it may, I must conclude this column by appreciating two anecdotes one of the awardees, Sanskrit scholar Lakshmisha Tolpadi, narrated to underscore two values of idealism in our lives:

There was a guest who had come to the house at lunch time but there was no rice ready to cook. There was paddy, though. The housewife, being alone in the house and believing in the ideal ‘Athithi Devo Bhava’ (Guest is Divinity incarnate) requested the guest to wait till she cooked food.

She then starts pounding the paddy. Realising that the clinking sound of her bangles in her hands would betray her pounding of the paddy which would make the guest know that she was taking extra trouble, she quietly removes all the bangles, makes rice out of paddy, cooks food and serves the guest.

Moral: Let not others know the trouble you take or trauma you undergo while helping others. Never say ‘I suffered so much to help you.’ Such help is no help; just craving for appreciation or sympathy. It makes the beneficiary disgusted with himself for being the cause for another’s inconvenience and makes one guilty of troubling others.

Another anecdote relates to one Pakru, an old, poor nonagenarian, known for his knowledge of Tulu Language, a dialect in Dakshina Kannada. Once one Venkataraju, a research scholar collecting Tulu words and vocabulary, went to see Pakru in order to write an article in the newspaper. Venkataraju took a photograph of Pakru using flash. Pakru innocently asked Venkataraju, “What are you doing? What is that flash of light?’’

When told that he was taking his photograph for publishing in newspaper, Pakru innocently said, ‘‘Why photograph when I am here in your presence.”

This kind of innocence of the noble and a simple person, the modern man of education can’t understand, said Lakshmisha Tolpadi.

This incident reminded me of what my friend M.P. Prabhakaran in New York had written in his latest book, sent to me last week, titled ‘‘My Thirty-Day European Odyssey’’ about a similar situation.

Prabhakaran lands in Stockholm airport. He sees a larger-than-life picture on the wall of a statue of Birger Jarl, the founder of Stockholm. It had an imaginative, tourist-friendly caption: ‘Welcome to my hometown.’ Prabhakaran was not sure if he could take a photograph of it for security reasons and asks a fellow traveller, a local person, if he could take a photograph.

He asked: “How long are you going to be in Stockholm?”

“Three days,” said Prabhakaran.

“Then go to the City Hall one day. The statue of Birger Jarl you are seeing in this picture is there in front of the city hall. Instead of taking a photograph of a photograph of the statue, why not take a photograph of the statue itself?”

e-mail: kbg@starofmysore.com

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Abracadabra….Abracadabra… / by K. Ganapathy / March 30th, 2016

Muslim Women Personal Law Board Head Meets RSS Chief

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Leaders, ,

Lucknow, UTTAR PRADESH :

Lucknow :

In a significant development, All-India Muslim Women Personal Law Board president Shaista Ambar met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat here on Tuesday.

Ambar said she was present at a function in the Post-Graduate Institute area where Bhagwat was visiting. She sought an appointment with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief that was immediately granted.

“He was very gracious and in his address he spoke of nation building and character development,” she said.

Ambar also said she requested Bhagwat to visit the mosque which they have got constructed, and he readily agreed to do so.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Nation / by IANS / March 29th, 2016

Qazi to lead Ujjain Kumbh parade

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, ,
The Ujjain Simhastha in 2004. Picture by Raj Patidar
The Ujjain Simhastha in 2004. Picture by Raj Patidar

Ujjain, MADHYA PRADESH :

Bhopal :

When Ujjain city qazi Khaleel-ur-Rahman returned home from juma prayers yesterday afternoon, he was surprised to see a posse of visitors, mostly Hindu seers heading various akharas (monasteries).

Led by the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad head, Acharya Narendra Giri, the visitors asked Qazi Khaleel to lead the peshwai (procession) that marks the beginning of the month-long Simhastha, starting April 22 this year.

The Ujjain Simhastha is one of the four legs of the Kumbh Mela, each occurring by rotation every 12 years, the other three being the Kumbhs at Haridwar, Allahabad (Prayag) and Nashik.

The qazi – an arbiter for Muslims’ personal matters – said he was “overwhelmed” by the offer. He said he greatly valued the gesture at a time some people were following divisive agendas.

“This is the first time we have formally invited the shahr (city) qazi. The objective is to create goodwill and communal harmony,” Acharya Giri told The Telegraph.

He said that he and the other akhara heads had thought of personally visiting and inviting Qazi Khaleel to “send out a strong signal of communal harmony from the Simhastha”.

For the first time, the transgender community too has been given its own place at the Simhastha – amid resistance from the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, the apex body ofakharas.

The Ujjain administration has earmarked five acres of land where around one lakh transgender people would be put up during the Simhastha.

Transgender people from 22 states have formed the Kinnar Akhara for this purpose, said its convener, Rishi Ajay Das.

Traditionally, various akharas take out the peshwai about a fortnight before the Simhastha begins formally with a shahi snan (royal bath). The heads of dozens of akharas join the procession, sitting on silver thrones on elephants, while armed sadhus (ascetics) ride horses and camels.

They are followed by other hermits, monks, priests and devotees on foot while thousands line both sides of the streets. The procession ends at Ram Ghat on the banks of the river Kshipra, which turns holy during Simhastha.

The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government and the various akhara heads have agreed to hold three shahi snans during the Simhastha, on April 22, May 9 and May 21.

More than five crore pilgrims are expected to gather and take a dip in the river. The occasion is called Simhastha because of a rare, 12-yearly configuration of planets with the Sun entering the Aries sign and Jupiter in Leo (Simha).

State minister Bhupinder Singh said that Chouhan had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address a spiritual gathering during the Simhastha.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta, India / Front Page> Nation> Story / by Rasheed Kidwai / Sunday – March 27th, 2016

Life and times of Iqbal

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Leaders, World Opinion, , , , , , ,
A scene from Sir Iqbal.
A scene from Sir Iqbal.

M. Sayeed Alam’s “Sir Iqbal” will be staged in the Capital this Sunday

The most sung poet and perhaps the most sung song in India “Saare Jahan Se Accha” written by Allama Muhammad Iqbal is all set to ignite the imagination of theatre lovers in Delhi. Playwright and directors, M. Sayeed Alam and Danish Iqbal’s spring time production ‘Sir Iqbal’ is a biographical work on the life, times and scholarship of Allama Iqbal who continues to be misunderstood in India but is celebrated in Pakistan as the man who came up with the idea of a separate nation for Muslims.

“Iqbal’s love for India which clearly comes through in the poem ‘Saare Jahan Se Accha’ and yet his choice of living in Islamic Pakistan over a secular India is in itself a study in contrast, a paradox that has pushed him far away from public memory in India. Iqbal died in 1938 much before the idea of Pakistan even took shape. Doctored history, misapprehensions about Allama being a fanatical Muslim who chose to live in a Muslim dominated undivided India needs to be closely looked into. My play is an effort to demystify Iqbal and clear some perceptions about the great poet, philosopher and politician and above all a humanist who has given India its most enduring patriotic poem yet remains forgotten in the country,” said Alam in the midst of rehearsals for the play which opens to public on March 20 at Sri Ram Centre.

“From what I have read about Iqbal’s political philosophy, he never demanded a separate home for Muslims outside India. Iqbal’s formulations somehow suited the supporters of Pakistan and they hailed him as the ideological father of the country – something that many Indians came to detest and therefore Iqbal remains forgotten whereas his poem as a song is sung everyday in schools all over the country. Our play brings out this dichotomy,” said Alam.

“Sir Iqbal” had first premiered in Kolkata in November last year to much critical acclaim. The one and half hour play with a 15-member cast will see Alam himself essay the role of Iqbal. The play is centred around the poet and philosopher’s life. In the play, Iqbal’s story is narrated by his trusted servant Ali Baksh who enjoyed Iqbal’s confidence and had witnessed many events in his life. Set in British India in the backdrop of the first half of the 20th Century, ‘Sir Iqbal’ will mirror the socio-political churnings during Allama’s times till his death in 1938 in undivided India. The play will perhaps set some records straight and clear many perceptions about Iqbal, who for many Indians still remains an enigma.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Anasuya Basu / March 18th, 2016

At Sufi meet, Modi lauds Islam as a religion of peace

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Prime Minister being welcomed by AIUMB founder-president Syed Mohammad Ashraf Kichuachwi at the inaugural ceremony of the World Sufi Forum in New Delhi on Thursday. / The Hindu
Prime Minister being welcomed by AIUMB founder-president Syed Mohammad Ashraf Kichuachwi at the inaugural ceremony of the World Sufi Forum in New Delhi on Thursday. / The Hindu

The Prime Minister quotes from Koran and makes a strong pitch against terrorism.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that all Indian communities were an integral part of India, making a pitch for pluralism and diversity.

Mr. Modi was addressing delegates of a global Sufi meet here at a time when shrill statements from many within the BJP and the Sangh Parivar have created controversies in the past few months.

Rejecting terrorism, Mr. Modi hailed Islam as a religion of peace, citing the Koran and also paying rich tributes to the eclecticism of the Sufi tradition.

“Welcome to a people with an abiding belief in Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, the world is one family,” Mr. Modi said. Mr. Modi said leaders like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad chose not to side with the idea of division based on religion after Independence.

“This is the spirit of India. This is the strength of our nation,” he said. “All our people, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists, the micro-minority of Parsis, believers, non-believers, are an integral part of India.”

He sought to draw a parallel between these values and his own policies, saying, “The values of harmony, welfare, compassion and love for human beings are the foundation of a just society. That is the principle behind my creed of Sab Ka Saath, Sab Ka Vikas.”

The Prime Minister made a strong pitch against terrorism, underlining that “terrorism divides and destroys us”. “Indeed, when terrorism and extremism have become the most destructive force of our times, the message of Sufism has global relevance,” he said.

“Sufism is a celebration of diversity and pluralism, expressed in the words of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, that every people has its own path of truth, beliefs and focus of reverence. These words reflect the divine message of the Holy Prophet that there is no compulsion in religion; and also that to every people, we have appointed ways of worship which they observe,” Mr. Modi said amid applause.

In reading Islam as a religion of peace, the Prime Minister may, however, have broken with many Hindutva outfits that, academic studies have argued, have tended to highlight Islam as an “invader” in India.

The PM also saw the basic attributes of Sufism among Indian Muslims: “It is this spirit of Sufism, the love for their country and the pride in their nation that define the Muslims in India.”

“They are shaped by the values of the Islamic heritage of India. It upholds the highest ideals of Islam and has always rejected the forces of terrorism and extremism,” he said.

Underlining that Islam is a religion of peace, Mr. Modi said: “When we think of the 99 names of Allah, none stand for force and violence, and that the first two names denote compassionate and merciful. Allah is Rahman and Raheem.”

While asserting that the fight against terror was not a fight against any religion but one between humanism and inhumanity, he hit out at terror as a threat to religion itself. “Terrorists distort a religion whose cause they profess to support. They kill and destroy more in their own land and among their own people than they do elsewhere. Those who spread terror in the name of religion are anti-religious.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National /by Vikas Pathak / New Delhi – March 18th, 2016

Return of the prince

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Leaders, , ,

THEATRE Playwright Danish Iqbal tells SWATI DAFTUAR about “Dara Shikoh”, a play that takes a look at one of Mughal India’s great lost names.

The cerebral MughalA scene from the play; (left) Danish Iqbal
The cerebral MughalA scene from the play; (left) Danish Iqbal

It is 1653, and the siege of Kandahar is raging. Dara Shikoh sits in his tent at night, writing his treatise on comparative religion. His general, a veteran and a contemporary of his great grandfather, enters with the request to discuss battle strategy for the next day. Dara Shikoh explains that for him, the treatise is more important. He doesn’t ask the general to sit down, showing him this respect only later, when the general’s conversation takes an intellectual turn.

This is a scene from “Dara Shikoh”, the modern classic directed by M.S. Sathyu and written by Danish Iqbal, which encapsulates the play’s portrayal of the young Mughal prince and heir apparent to Shah Jahan. The play, being performed after three years, is once again being directed by the eminent director and stage designer and art director M.S. Sathyu and presented by Impressario Asia. After a recent show in Gurgaon’s Epicentre, it will be performed this Friday at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi.

The play, Iqbal believes, cannot be considered a revival. “It’s been performed on and off over the years. This time, it’s only got minor changes. It’s a little shorter now, and there are a few new scenes.”

It was ten years ago, in 2004, that Iqbal, who confesses that he only works on commission because he needs to know that the words he pens will be performed, was approached by K.K. Kohli of Impressario Asia, the play’s producer. It could easily have been action oriented, a harsh, blood and gore portrayal of a prince whose life ended brutally and violently, killed in a succession struggle by his own brother. Iqbal and Kohli, though, decided to go a different way. The Dara Shikoh that Iqbal has penned is a prince who respects intellect over privilege. He is an egoistical, liberal, peace loving man who ignored war and translated scriptures.

“Dara was, in my opinion, the greatest person in Mughal history. I think he was greater than Akbar too.” Iqbal, while researching his play, says that he was surprised to see that this giant had been ignored by history. In this play, he has been careful to highlight Dara to the maximum, not allowing Aurangzeb or Sufi Sarmad, Dara Shikoh’s mentor, to take the stage. “I was questioned about this, but I think that in the case of Aurangzeb, the fear of the invisible and unknown would be much greater. Plus I didn’t want Dara overshadowed in any way.”

The playwright also goes on to admit that he owes more than half his knowledge about writing and stage skills to Sathyu. “He’s a grand old man of Indian theatre. He has a terrific sense of aesthetics. He makes sketches of every scene before the performance, to work out how the stage characters, headgear, beards, dresses, everything would look. He’s a very meticulous person. It’s a pleasure working with him. His art work is tremendously beautiful.” Iqbal adds that while he has indeed provided the dialogues, characters and content of the play, they’ve been given shape by Sathyu.

The shape this play has taken seems strangely placed in the past and the present. For Iqbal, the play holds a sort of every day importance. “In the past 10 years the challenges to inclusiveness and coexistence have increased in a big way; people are more fanatic. And terrorism is a bigger threat than before. The play has actually become more relevant.” He terms Dara as the first prince who died for his ideals, and adds that “Dara Shikoh” is today’s play. “It is a metaphor. We discussed if this play, because of how it ends, was becoming too sad and tragic, but it was in his defeat and death that Dara’s principles emerged victorious. This is what we wanted the play to show.”

Iqbal, a student of philosophy, has written a work that plays with many concepts and ideas that affect and influence human existence. Of death, a quote from the play says, “ Maut kya hai, maut hai fakth ek dehleez ”, which loosely translates to mean that death is ultimately the first step to a door between one chamber and the next. That death, ultimately, is nothing.

In a play packed with such layered, ambiguous dialogues, Iqbal confesses that it has become hard to cast the right actors for the roles. “It’s a great challenge. We don’t have very good actors, and especially young actors lack the capacity to understand the nuances of the play, absorb its ideas and translate them into emotions and gestures. This requires intellectuals of a certain calibre, and not all actors can deliver. Often, the average actor only sees the superficial meaning of a dialogue. To overcome this, we have conducted workshops with the actors, to explain the multilayered aspects of play.” Iqbal adds that there are hardly any professional actors hired for this season of the play. “They have their jobs, and (we have) amateur actors who wanted to be part of the production.”

He’s holding a book on Pataudi, and as a closing remark, adds that he’s working on another story that gives him the goose bumps, that of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. “Like Dara Shikoh, his story is also inspiring, and can reach people in manifold ways.”

Director M.S. Sathyu says, “We’ve only made minor changes in the play, and this time there is a new choreographer (Astha Dixit) and they’ve got trained Kathak dancers. The casting is always a problem, because this play requires a lot of Urdu and there are very few actors who can speak good Urdu. They can speak in Hindi and Punjabi but Urdu is a challenge.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> MetroPlus / by Swati Dastur / January 23rd, 2014

SJCE Wins ‘YUKTI’ Quiz Contest

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Science & Technology, , ,

ATMECE emerges runners-up

YuktiQuizMPOs15mar2016

Mysuru :

Builders’ Association of India (BAI), Mysuru, had organised an Inter-College quiz competition ‘YUKTI 2016, The Battle Of Brains…’ for the Civil Engineering and CTM students of various Engineering colleges of Mysuru, Mandya and Chamarajanagar districts.

The quiz was conducted by Shilpi, students’ wing of BAI, Mysuru, on Mar. 6 at MBCT premises, Mysuru. Five finalists were selected after the first round of written test among 18 teams.

There was a technical talk for the students on ‘Smart Cities – Spain Model’ by M.P. Manjunath Prasad, COO of Brigade Group, Benagaluru, on the same occasion. The technical talk also included short film on Building Technologies which ended with an interactive session.

After the Techtalk, the Quiz YUKTI 2016 continued for the finalists — NIE, MIT, SJCE (Civil), SJCE (CTM) and ATMECE.

An excellent Audio Visual final round was conducted by the Quiz Master S. Prakash, who is the Past Chairman of BAI, Mysuru and MD of Pramur Constructions.

Mohammad Zaidur Rehman and Bindushree of SJCE (Civil) emerged winners of YUKTI 2016. S. Supreeth and K.P. Meghana of ATMECE were declared Runners-Up.

A cash prize, mementoes and certificates, along with a trophy for the College, were given to both the teams. All the finalists were also given certificates.

BAI Mysuru Chairman M.S.Ramprasad, Hon. Sec. JVR Naidhruva, Shilpi Co-ordinators A.S Yoganarasimha and Ganapathy and others were present on the occasion.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of  Mysore / Home> General News / March 15th, 2016

Urdu Academy picks 4 names for Gaurav awards

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After pondering over it for long, Gujarat Urdu Sahitya Academy has announced Gaurav awards to poets and authors of Urdu language.

After pondering over it for long, Gujarat Urdu Sahitya Academy has announced Gaurav awards to poets and authors of Urdu language. Names of four persons have been announced and they have been conveyed individually about the academy’s decision. The awards are likely to be given in April.

According to sources, Urdu poet Shakil Azmi, academic and Congress leader Nisar Ansari, Palanpur-based poet Musafir Palanpuri and Surat-based poet and former Surat Municipal councillor Vaseem Malik have been nominated for academy award for different years.

The announcement has been received in literary circles with applause, but there are many who are not amused because some senior writers have been “sidelined” by the academy.

One such person is Qayyum Kanwal Fatehpuri, a former member of the Academy in its early years. He has authored four poetry collections, besides having edited the Academy’s journal Sabarnama. He was also a close associate of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri. “The academy has overlooked senior writers like me for some unknown reason for a long time now,” said Fatehpuri whose first collection Sang-o-Gul was published in the early 1980s.

To him, it is hard to establish the credentials of some people who have been named for awards. “Something is seriously lacking in the functioning of the academy and something should be done if the credibility of its awards has to be saved,” said Fatehpuri, who had published an Urdu monthly magazine for some time.

Bhagyesh Jha, chairman of the Academy, said there was no favouritism or grudge at work in selection of persons selected for the awards. “Before announcing the names, we duly consult experts of the subject who suggest panels of names of likely winners, then these names are sent to the executive committee of the academy, which sends the names to the culture minister for final approval,” Jha said.

He said the names were worked out by a senior academic M G Bombaywala, who had been associated with the affairs of the academy for many years. “The names were discussed with him before the announcement,” Jha said. He said he had no information about several writers or their background. “The academy is ready to discuss issues and suggestions threadbare with persons in the know of things,” he said. He added that the criteria was that the candidate should have made contribution to Urdu literature.

Bombaywala said, “I have been suggesting names even before Jha became president. No one objected when other names were suggested and they got awards till 2010. There are better names than Qayyum Kanwal even at present, but still they have been left out for some reason. Let Kanwal go to the academy and present his case if he feels injustice has been done to him. Awards are not given by one’s age or to maulvis, but on literary merit.”

source: http://www.indianexpress.com /  The Indian Express / Home> Cities> Ahmedabad / by Tanvir A. Siddiqui / Ahmedabad / March 14th, 2016

On a mission to prevent suicides

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

SanaMPOs12mar2016

by S.N. Venkatnag Sobers

Majority of women in our country spend their lives within the four walls unaware about the outer world. For them, their family is their world. Though women put all efforts to cater to the need of their loved ones, yet there are incidents of them being harassed for dowry or other reasons. Only, few have braved the dare consequences to stand tall in the society and emerge as the role models for fellow women.

Here is a woman from Hyderabad who has been travelling across the country creating awareness against committing suicide and also motivating the youth fight depression.

Meet Sana Iqbal, a native of Hyderabad, who has been travelling across the country creating awareness against taking the extreme step. A mother of the seven-month-old son Mohammed Saqib Ali, Sana has taken up the initiative to prevent youth from ending their lives for trivial reasons. “It is important to address the youth and children in certain issues as they get very emotional and sensitive with matters closely related to them. It is very important for parents to spend quality time with their kids and talk to them as they feel depressed on not being given concentration they rightly deserve. When it comes to youth, they fall for the person who listens to them and sometimes get into relationships without knowing if the person is an ideal partners and later regret when the relationship turns sour. And that is when they get depressed and think of taking the extreme step,” says Sana.

Having covered 17,500 kms since November, 2015, on her Royal Enfield, Sana has covered 49 cities in North and Central part of the country. She has been visiting various colleges and giving special lectures on how to come out of depression and not to take the decision to ending lives. Talking about her decision to take up this initiative, Sana tells that she was also a victim of depression for 5 years and had spent many sleepless nights.

Having gone through the trauma, Sana, one fine day decided to break the shackles to come out depression by going on a bike ride and that is when she decided to go on a solo tour throughout the country on her motorbike creating awareness. Sana was in Mysuru recently where she addressed students at a few colleges before heading to Ooty. She expects to complete her solo tour during first week of June this year.

Being a lone woman travelling across the country, Sana has been received well by the people at places she has visited. For her, it has been a memorable journey so far as many people have come for her help at the times when her motorbike broke down. “There have been instances when my vehicle broke down in middle of the road and people came to my help without any expectation after they learnt about my mission. In fact many offered me free hospitality at her houses which motivated me to carry the message that India is a safe country for women,” adds Sana.

One look at her jacket and you will get to see the badges of various bikers clubs. But, one badge that Sana adores is the one presented to her by Civil Defence of Patiala in Punjab which has the National Emblem presented to her in recognition for her initiative. There was a time during the tour when Sana had to cut short her tour while in Delhi as her father-in-law fell seriously ill and she had to return to Hyderabad. Without giving a second thought she came back to Hyderabad but sadly her father-in-law passed away. She later continued with her tour. Sana, who has been away from her kid over the past few months is determined to reach her goal and motivate the youth. Hats off Sana!

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / March 12th, 2016