Sheik Mabu Saheb, a renowned Nuzvid veena maker of Krishna district, has received the Best Artisan Award-2013 from the Andhra Pradesh Handicrafts Development Corporation Limited for his work – Veena with peacock design.

He bagged the award in the category of Veena Making in which artisans from Bobbili were also in the competition. Mr. Saheb had stolen the hearts of the jury members with his small size veena that produces vibrations and sound like any other professional-size veena. “The award is recognition to the art rather than an individual artiste. Despite having a great demand for veena from the world of Indian classical music, shortage of veena makers is still creating problems for the industry’s growth,” Mr. Saheb told The Hindu.

Handicrafts Department Assistant Director K.N. Murali Krishna said plans were afoot to use the services of Mr. Saheb in training youth in veena making and designing. In a guru-shishya parampara, Mr. Saheb learnt that art from his father Sheik Meera Saheb, one of the first generation veena makers alive. According to Mr. Mabu Saheb, there were only nine veena makers engaged in the profession, spreading the art.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by T. Appala Naida / Nuzvid – July 10th, 2014

Mumbai:

Veteran actress Shabana Azmi haslaunched a website dedicated to her poet father Kaifi Azmi. The audio-visual website hosts videos, poems, songs and gives an insight into the life of the late poet.

“Please check out official updated website of Kaifi Azmi,” Shabana posted on Twitter along with the link. Entitled as ‘Kaifi Azmi : A Rebellious Poet’, the website is divided into five sections — the legend, collection, tributes, Mijwan and press.

The legend section talks about the poet’s early life, achievements, his contribution to films and connection with Hyderabad.

The collection segment has the audio and video of all the famous ghazals, nazms and poems of him. ‘Mijwan’ throws light on Kaifi’s contribution to the tiny village in Azamgarh. It also shares many rare pictures of Shabana and her father.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Entertainment> Bollywood / PTI / July 16th, 2014

They were all living their sometimes magical, sometimes sad, and, at other times, quirky lives inside the pages of different books.

That was until Saturday evening, when ten of Vaikom Mohammed Basheer’s memorable female characters came together at the koothambalam inside Vyloppilly Samskrithi Bhavan to commemorate 20 years of the Beypore Sultan’s passing.

Soja Rajakumari, a solo docudrama directed by P.C. Hareesh, took back viewers to the time when they read each of those classics.

The first to arrive was Sainaba from Mucheetukalikkarante Makal, who engaged the audience in some friendly banter, at times touching upon even the rising prices.

The drama was so structured that the audience was very much a part all through, although things could have livened up a bit more had there been a glimmer of a response when the characters tried to involve them.

Bhargavikutti from Neelavelicham arrived in typical ghostly fashion, appearing first on a swing outside the koothambalam. If not for the posse of photographers around her, that would have been a bit more eerie. This being the 50th anniversary year of Bhargavi Nilayam, much of the drama’s time was put aside for Bhargavi, in sequences interspersed with songs and dialogues from the film.

Then there was a sequence between Suhara from Balyakalasakhi and Kunjipathumma fromNtuppuppakkoraanandarunnu. Kunjipathumma’s mother Kunjithachumma too peeked in for a minute. Pathumma from Pathummayude Aadu played out one of the famous conversations with her brother, the author himself, asking him to buy her ornaments.

Jameela Beevi from Poovanpazham took audience interaction to another level by actually distributing plantain to members of the crowd as she was exiting the stage.

Saramma from Pranayalekhanam remembered the classic love letter from Keshavan Nair while Devi from Kamukante Diary laid claim for being the writer’s true love.

The drama ended by reminding us of the pain of Narayani from Mathilukal.

Pooja K.Nair, a ninth grade student of Guruvayur Little Flower Convent High School, switched seamlessly from one character to the other and garnered the crowd’s applause.

The docudrama was staged by the Nataka Padana Kendram, Kozhikode.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by S. R. Parveen / Thiruvananthapuram – July 06th, 2014

Coimbatore , Tamil Nadu :

On Tuesday afternoon A Saleem is getting ready to collect the body of a septuagenarian man he has never met before, from the GH mortuary. He is working on getting the vehicle ready to perform his last rites at a burial ground nearby.

The 29-year-old is no priest, under-taker or mortuary van driver. He just believes that every dead person has the right to rest in peace and While most people probably believe the same, Saleem goes the extra mile to get ensures that dead people get a decent funeral. Saleem, through his organisation Jeevan Shanthy Trust, performs last rites for many unclaimed and unidentified bodies in the city every year. They have buried 154 bodies in the last 10 months.

About five to 10 people from the trust, formed seven years ago but registered two years ago, are at GH every day to collect bodies that are released after postmortems. “We always carry incense stick, candles and camphor, so that we can perform rights according to Hindu, Muslim and Christian customs before burying them,” says Saleem.

The bodies are usually buried at the Aathupaalam burial ground on Podanur Road. Saleem and the other members from the trust pool in money. for a garland and a white cloth to wrap the body.

“It is difficult to identify the religion of an unclaimed body, so unless there is some identification, we go with our instincts,” says another trust member.

The trust started this service seven years ago, when Saleem and his friends realised that bodies of relatives often become a burden for people from the economically weaker sections.

“There were so many people who would have come from Trichy, Tirupur, Pollachi, Erode and other places who could not afford to pay for final rites, A mortuary van would charge a daily wage labourer a rent of 10,000 which is not affordable, ” says Saleem. “Then at crematoriums and burial grounds too, people would demand money for every little thing,” he says. “It was painful to see poor people, who are also emotionally devastated, being fleeced,” he adds. “We also realised that a lot bodies rot in the mortuary for days with no one coming to claim them,” he said.

The trust now has 50 members which primarily s of Saleem’s college mates and friends. They do not raise funds from the public or any NGOs. “We pool in money for everything right from the vehicle, to the fuel for the vehicles, to cloth, garlands, candles and incense sticks,” says Saleem.

The trust has managed to buy two vehicles — a maruti van and an ambulance, to run their service.

The trust also transports a body from GH to their houses or villages km away, allowing the family to perform the last rites. “We initially pooled in money to buy a Maruti van to transport unidentified and unclaimed dead bodies to the burial ground,” says Saleem. “But we also use the vehicle to transport a poor man’s body to his village even if it is 500 km away, so his family can perform the last rites,” he adds. “Around six of us pool in 500 each, fill fuel for 3,000 and take the body,” he says.

They rescue destitute people from the streets and pavements and admit them to the hospital. “Many are abandoned by their families after they tested positive for HIV. So we admit them to the GH, get the necessary tests done, collect and administer their medication. We also provide them with clothesWe also give them a bath and a plate to collect their food,” says Saleem.

Their services are so well-known that 108 ambulance drivers and the police notify them in cases of unidentified bodies or destitute people they rescue.

“We help them by filing FIRs for unclaimed bodies so that it makes their job easier. We have also seen them adopt many abandoned and destitute people from the street and admit them to the hospital,” said a police constable posted at GH.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore / by Pratiksha Ramkumar, TNN / July 07th, 2014