Category Archives: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Bareilly boy makes the right noise in B-wood

Arts, Culture & Entertainment
Manav Shrotriya, Bareilly-based sound designer and sounds-effect editor

Bareilly boy Manav Shrotriya, a sound designer, visual effects producer, sound effects editor who has worked for films like Babumoshai Bandookbaaz, Mubarakan, Mom, Saat Uchakkey, Guest In London, Aksar 2, Rocky Mental, Vicky Donor, Agent Vinod and Aashiqui 2 among several others, has carved a niche for himself in the Bollywood music industry.

Manav talks about his memories of Bareilly, his experience of working with Nawazuddin Siddiqui, upcoming projects and more.

‘Grown up being surrounded by music’

Manav, a resident of Prem Nagar and a pass-out from Hartmann College, says, “Since childhood, I had a liking for music; something which I have inherited from my mother, a classical tabla player and who used to sing for All India Radio. I was born and brought up in a family that was musically inclined and my interest in the field further prompted me to pursue a career in the same. I did a three-year course from School of Audio Engineering, Mumbai, and a specialisation in post-production and music production. After that, I also got a chance to work at a well-known studio in Mumbai as sound and mixing engineer. At this level, I developed a rapport with directors and producers and did my first commercial mainstream film -3G- A Killer Connection – with Neil Nitin Mukhesh.”

‘I miss roaming around cantonment’

Manav, who’s currently working as a post-production head at a studio in Mumbai, shares, “I used to perform with my band, Zero, comprising four to five friends at musical evenings at Bareilly hotels and St Methodist Church; it was a great learning experience. Back in Bareilly going for a bike ride with friends to Cantonment and Civil Lines, gorging on Civil Lines ka street food and mithai is something I really miss.”

‘Working with Nawaz was an enriching experience’

Sharing his experience of working with Nawazuddin in Babumoshai Bandookbaaz, Manav, says, “It was shot in Lucknow and several small places in UP like Maliabad, which I used to visit a lot during my childhood. I could give the right kind of sound for the film to create that feel. It took us four months for its sound post-production. The experience of working with Nawaz was quite enriching.”

He adds, “I’m currently working for a Hollywood film and a Hindi-Punjabi film Raja Abroadia. I’m also in talks for a project with Disha Patani next year.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Bareilly News / by Manyaekta Gugliani / BCCL / October 06th, 2017

City architect to design India’s highest airport

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy

Buddhist prayer wheels, colourful flags, scriptures and sculptures of monks will greet tourists at the new Leh airport which is being designed by one Australian and two Lucknow-based architects.

The highest commercial airport in the country, the revamped Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport, will open doors to those seeking serenity in Leh, soon.

The project has been initiated by the Airports Authority of India and involves three architecture consultants—Paul Mutton from Australia-based Guida Moseley Brown Architects and Vipul and Harsh Varshney from Lucknow-based Sthapati Associates. They have already started work on the airport.

The final designs have been submitted and approved and the Lucknow-based architects recently met the aviation minister in Delhi to take him through the project.

Keeping the philosophy of ancient Buddhist wisdom intertwined with modern ethos, the design closely incorporates Buddhist design elements in the structure.

According to the artist’s impressions shared with TOI, there are Bodhisattvas, mandalas and thangkas (spiritual symbols), Buddhist-Tibetan prayer wheels and prayer flags all around the airport’s interior and exterior. It has been designed to visually stimulate the tourist.

Whether it is the Himalayas- and Buddhist stupa-inspired pitch roof or the 30-foot-high prayer wheel sculpture and colourful Leh-styled giant Buddha, all elements beckon the tourist’s curiosity even before landing on the ground.

It is not just the facade and architecture that promise to wow the tourist, technology has been incorporated in such a way that the terminal is sustainable and environment friendly.

Placed at 3,256 metres above mean sea level, the airport terminal building has been planned across 16,500 square metres. While photo-voltaic cells for roof and external lighting will reduce 60% of electrical load, cavity walls will be built for thermal insulation. Besides, recycled water will be used for landscaping, and multi-function heat pump air-cooled chillers will produce chilled water all the year long. For other sanitary requirements, hot water will be produced with the same technology.

“The desert-like terrain and the harsh cold weather were two most important factors that had to be considered while designing the airport. They presented great difficulty as well, because the ambient temperature goes down to -16 degrees Celsius and freezes water. To prevent this, we had to use 45% of glycol water mixtures in the chillers of air conditioners,” says Vipul Varshney, founder of Sthapati Associates.

The design incorporates the capacity of five aerobridges, Zen landscaping (for dry climate), intricately engraved wooden pagodas and a cluster of eight stupas at the entrance, introducing the passengers to Buddha’s land.

Recounting the experience of designing the project, Varshney says, “Because of site contours and assuring minimum carbon footprint, the whole building has been designed in different levels to minimize cutting and filling of land.

The height difference between the main approach road and the runway was almost 10 meters. This is why four levels with four lounges and two separate security check areas have been designed so that passengers don’t feel any gradient difference.”

The difficulty of approach and climatic constraints propelled the design to be simple yet colourful, using pre-manufactured material to the maximum which will be assembled at the site. The use of glass and other destructible construction materials has been minimized so that airport functioning is not hindered due to their unavailability, owing to difficulty in ferrying material from the main land. The typical vernacular artefacts and landscaping will be produced by local craftsmen.

The current terminal is capable of handling 250 peak-hour domestic passengers with annual handling of 0.2 million people. Its own recorded traffic witnessed a rise of 14.6% passengers in the past five years.

“This called for expansion and revamping of the current saturated terminal to meet increased traffic demands,” she adds.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News / by Yusra Husain / TNN / October 08th, 2017

‘Weather helped us in Guinness record attempt to keep diyas alight’

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, World Opinion

Ayodhya :

There was an unusual flicker emanating from the banks of Saryu river on Wednesday. Lined up coherently on the ghats of Ram ki Paidi, around 2 lakh oil lamps shimmered on the steps leading to the holy river as renditions of ‘Hey Ram’ bhajan played out from gigantic speakers.

It was with this that the state government attempted a Guinness World Record to light up 1.71 lakh diyas for at least five minutes continuously amid thundering cheers of residents and tourists present in the temple town.

Having aligned beautifully around 2 lakh diyas filled with over 10,000 litres of oil, 2 lakh cotton buds and around 25kg of camphor, the target was to break the previously held record by Dera Saccha Sauda that had lit up 1,50,009 diyas. Wednesday’s Deepotsav was claimed to be bigger and brighter.

“We were able to keep alight 1,87,213 diyas, as was counted by the team from Guinness records. The official letter after verification of the same will be handed over to us in the next five days,” said Prof Manoj Dixit, vice chancellor of Avadh Faizabad University who with the local populace and the tourism department had attempted the feat.

“The weather was favourable to us with no breeze; that helped us through and through. If all goes well, we will make this a Diwali tradition in Ayodhya now to be followed every year,” added Prof Dixit.

Around 3,000 volunteers, mostly students, helped set up the diyas neatly on the ghats, that later served as the perfect background for people’s Diwali festivities, with reflection of the many temples on the ghats showing in Saryu’s shining waters.

The occasion was followed by innumerable photographs being taken etching for people a memory of the historically unique moment.

Following this, a laser show recreating the Ramayana succinctly followed. A huge white screen showed scenes from the life of Lord Ram in laser light, leaving all enthralled.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News / Yusra Husain / TNN / October 19th, 2017

Varanasi man makes fourth Guinness record

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, World Opinion
Varanasi man makes fourth Guinness record. TNN | Oct 19, 2017, 14:25 IST. DM Yogeshwar Ram Mishra handed over the certificate to Jagsdeesh Pillai

Varanasi :

Jagsdeesh Pillai, a former employee of Banaras Hindu University, brought a Diwali gift to the city in form of Guinness record. It is his 4th successful entry in the Guinness Book of World records for a theme based on ‘Make in India’ by creating the largest envelop with waste paper.

The district magistrate Yogeshwar Ram Mishra released the certificate at a function held on October 19. Pillai created the envelop of 25-mt (83.80 feet) in length and 14.40-mt (47-23 feet) in width using the waste paper from industrial estate.

According to him, earlier this record was in the name of Ajmal Khan Tibbiya from College of Aligarh Muslim University in the size length 17.86 meter (58 feet) and width 13.10 meter (42 feet). He had attempt for this record for the first time on June 21, 2016 on Yoga day, but unfortunately, because of breaking some rules of Guinness authorities while attempting the record, it was disqualified that time. In his second attempt he successfully made the record.

Earier, he had made three successful records. His first record was connected with Digital India by making an animation movie within a shortest time by breaking a Canadian’s record in November 2012. His second record was on the largest photo awareness campaign “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” breaking a record of Maharashtra in November 2016. Besides, he also broke the record of China by creating the longest line of post cards to spread awareness about Indian Flag in June 2017.

Pillai is the only person who holds a Guinness World Record entry from Varanasi. “Now I am planning to make next Guinness Book of World record on the subject of ‘Namami Gange’ and ‘Swachh Bharat,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Varanasi News / TNN / October 19th, 2017

Varanasi celebrates birth anniversary of Jhansi ki Rani Laxmi Bai

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, Travel

Varanasi:

To mark the 182nd birth anniversary of the warrior queen of Jhansi Laxmi Bai, a colourful procession was taken out at her birth place in Bhadaini locality on Wednesday. A function was held at Shri Goyanka Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya by by Maharani Laxmi Bai Nyas to celebrate the occasion.

Students from different schools took out the procession and performed a ‘Parikrama’ of the birth place of Rani Lakshmi Bai. The students of of Panini Kanya Mahavidyalaya recited ‘mangalacharan’ followed by a series of cultural events.

Speaking on the occasion V Shanta Kumari of Rashtra Sevika Samiti highlighted the bravery of Rani Laxmi Bai who struck terror in hearts of the British during 1857 war of Independence, and called upon girls to take inspiration from the life of warrior queen. The Trustee Rajendra Pratap Pandey said that the government should arrange ‘Akhand Jyoti’ and build a grand memorial of the queen at her birth place.

The district gazetteers of Varanasi record that in the city of Varanasi in 1835 was born to Moropant Tambe (a Maratha scholar) and his wife Bhagirathi a girl whom they named Manu Bai, and who later came to be known as Lakshmi Bai.

In 1844, she was married to Ganga Dhar, the king of Jhansi and, on his death in 1853, she herself became the ruler of Jhansi. She was destined to become one of the most famous personages who took active part against the British in the struggle for freedom in 1857. She lived in Varanasi for four years and, after the death of Peshwa Chimmaji Appa, Moropant Tambe along with his daughter returned to Peshwa Balaji Bajirao at Bithoor in 1839.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Varanasi News / by Binay Singh / October 18th, 2017

Doordarshan’s ‘Once More’ to highlight poetic richness of Lucknow

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Art and culture of Lucknow has earned a new patron in Lucknow Doordarshan.

After success of series on gallantry award winner soldiers, Doordarshan is ready with the series to boost art, poetry and literature with a reality show on city poetry named ‘Once More’.

Conceptualized by senior programme executive Atma Prakash Mishra, the show is all set to give desired respect to the city’s lost poetic culture. “Lucknow is ready with a series on city literary figures reciting their poems, ghazals, nazams, this is an effort to give an impetus to city’s Adab and culture. In the programme, both Hindi and Urdu poets would be participating,” said Atma Prakash Mishra while talking to Hindustan Times.

“In our culture, poets are seen as a guide, reflection of society who give new direction to everyone. The literature is the mirror in which the reality is seen, and this show gives great poets a sense of identification in society,” said Mishra.

Five episodes of ‘Once More’ were already shot a few days back said Mishra. “The sets of the programme are aesthetically designed according to the spirit of Lucknow. The set gives an idea about the richness of our poetry,” he said.

Poets like Mukul Mahan, Sonroopa Vishal, Dr Vishnu Saxena, Anwar Jalalpuri, Sarvesh Asthana, Hasan Qazmi, Dr Kamal Musaddi, Ranjjannaa Shekhar, Surya Kumar Pandey, Ram Prakash Bekhud, Naseeem Nikhal, Kaleem Qaiser, have recited their poetries in the programme.

Young upcoming poets will also be given a chance if they send their original poetry through mobile clips to the Doordarshan.

Atma Prakash Mishra said, “When I conceptualized the show I wanted to show Lucknowites what treasure in poetry they have in city. Not only the established poets would be shown in this show, but budding poets would be getting a chance to showcase their talent in the days to come. I hope this show brings out more talent.”

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Cities> Lucknow / by Anupam Srivastava, Hindustan Times,Lucknow / September 14th, 2017

Women to get 2 new birth control options today

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Science & Technology

Lucknow :

Contraceptive created by city-based Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) will get national launch when it is made available in government hospitals on World Population Day on Tuesday.

Earlier known as Saheli, the oral contraceptive has been renamed Chhaya and is a non-hormonal (no effect on hormonal milieu of the body) pill that will now be freely available in all government hospitals.

Another contraceptive, an injectable variant Antara will also be launched the same day by state minister for women, child and family welfare, Rita Bahuguna Joshi at Veerangana Avanti Bai hospital.

The two contraceptives launched by the government sector will give women additional options, especially during their postpartum period and in the lactation stage.

Organising a programme for the launch at King George’s Medical University (KGMU) that will be held later in the day, Dr Vinita Das, head of the obstetrics and gynaecology department said, “There was huge demand for contraceptives in these two stages when women are highly vulnerable but can also be counselled. The rate of institutional deliveries and contraceptive acceptance has increased and the government has also changed its policy from permanent contraception to giving ideal space between children.”

Informing about the benefits of Antara and Chhaya, Das said, “Antara is a three-monthly injectable, safe and highly effective way for contraception in lactating mothers and fertility returns within six to eight months of stopping the injection. Chhaya, on the other hand, is the only non-hormonal contraceptive, to be taken initially twice weekly for three months and then once a week till contraception is desired and it can be stopped whenever a woman wants to conceive.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Kanpur News / TNN / July 12th, 2017

Man who kept Awadhi folk songs flowing

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

Holi khele Raghubira Awadh mein Holi khele Raghubira…

The folk song from Awadh made popular by Amitabh Bachchan would have been a lost treasure had it not been for the efforts of a musician who preserved the festive melody.

Ace classical vocalist, custodian of folk songs and composer Radha Ballabh Chaturvedi compiled notations for more than 3,000 folk songs of Uttar Pradesh. ‘Holi Khele’ was just one of those.

The music fraternity recently celebrated his birth centenary. As a tribute, his compositions were performed by singers.

Though Chaturvedi rose to fame after his efforts for conservation of local songs in Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Braj and Bundeli dialects, his instinct for classical music was inborn. After a bachelors degree in vocal music from Bhatkhande Music Institute in 1936, he dedicated his life to revival of dying folk songs and local compositions of remote places.

Music director Kewal Kumar, a student of Chaturvedi, recalls, “He used to visit remote villages of Uttar Pradesh and bring folk songs from there captured in his tape recorder. I have seen him during his sessions making notations and composing tunes. He used to record songs at Akashvani studios, making them immortal.”

Sunita Jhingran, a classical singer who counts herself among the fortunate ones who got a chance to learn music from Chaturvedi, said, “His book ‘Unchi Atariya Rang Bhari’ is a treasure trove of folk songs. He has gathered songs for all situations including Savan (monsoon), Chaiti (summmer), vivah (wedding), Holi and several others. His work in Thumri, Dadra, Khayal, and Dhrupad-Dhamar-Tappa is commendable.”

“He used to be invited to perform in the national capital for gatherings attended by senior politicians and that feeling of pride for us is indescribable,” adds Kumar.

Chaturvedi’s daughter Neelam says doing something in the field of music was her father’s childhood dream.

“At the age of 15, he left home in Moradabad and came to Lucknow to learn music. At that time, he used to work for various gharanas where he was trained in the basics of music.” Later in life, Chaturvedi also worked at Doordarshan.

Sangeet Natak Akademi had also dedicated its monthly magazine to the music doyen. The last edition was themed on Chaturvedi’s contribution to music. It was released as part of the celebrations.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News / by Vidita Chandra / TNN / May 07th, 2017

Revered ‘Parijaat’ to have its clones

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Nature, Records, All, Science & Technology

Lucknow :

Wishes have no end and a mythical wish-granting tree should never die. More so if the tree is worshipped as a deity and believed to have roots in the Mahabharata.

Barabanki’s revered Parijaat will now have it clones grown in the same campus where the tree has existed for hundreds of years, attracting devotees from all over, in Kintoor village of the district. The objective is to keep the legacy of the tree alive after it’s dead and gone. NBRI would prepare clones of the tree through cuttings and tissue culture.

At least three clone-trees would be planted around the mother tree.

Besides, NBRI would also do a molecular study to find out the place of origin of the Barabanki tree. Parijaat (Adansonia digitata) is an exotic tree, an African specie with peculiar features. It’s a matter of study from where it reached Barabanki.

Though there is no written account of the tree’s history, it is believed the tree has existed from the days of Pandavas. It is said to have come out of the ‘samudra manthan’ (churning of ocean) and brought to earth by Arjun from the garden of Indra for his mother Kunti. It’s said after Kunti offered Parijaat’s flowers to Lord Shiva that Pandavas won the battle of Mahabharat.

Since it’s the age of the tree that has always intrigued scientists and forest officers efforts would be made to know how old the tree is through carbon dating. “We will ask BSIP (Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleobotany) to study the age of the tree,” said senior principal scientist, NBRI, S K Tiwari.

Team of NBRI scientists including the director, Prof Sk Barik, visited the site of the tree on Friday. National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), a CSIR laboratory, has been treating the tree since February 2016 after forest department, that takes care of the tree, sought help from the laboratory.

Parijaat, said to be a wish-granting tree (kalpvriksha), draws devotees from far-off places all the year round. Due to sugary offerings made at the place, the tree was found infected with termites when NBRI visited the site in February last year. It also had fungal and bacterial infections.

NBRI had administered chemical treatment to the tree initially and recommended a microbial biopesticide (Bacillus based inoculants) to be applied on the trunk and leaves of the tree thrice in a year to keep it clean of infections. The institute also gave Bacillus packets to forest department.

“The base of the tree still seems affected and we have suggested ways to the forest department,” said the scientist. A medicated mud, mixed with fungicide and insecticide, would be put all around the tree upto one feet.

This would control degeneration from the bottom. While the aerial spray of disinfectants would continue to keep tree free of pests and fungi.

Besides, NBRI would also try to establish a link between the other age-old Parijaat trees reported in the state with that of Barabanki’ tree. “We got to know of old Parijaat trees in Basti and Sultanpur. Then these old trees are also present in NBRI campus and zoo. We will do molecular study to find out where the other trees have come from,” said the scientist.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News / by Neha Shukla / TNN / May 05th, 2017

Historians visit forgotten villages of 1857 uprising

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All

Meerut:

A team of historians on Sunday visited villages mentioned in a book authored in 1858 by Robert Henry Wallace Dunlop, a British civil servant who was the then collector of Meerut and who had accompanied the British forces to collect taxes and suppress the rebellion in Baghpat villages.

The team, as well as the villagers, claim that this was the first time in the past 160 years that historians visited these people whose ancestors had actively participated in the 1857 uprising for which they had to pay a heavy price later.

Now, these historians plan to elaborately document these villages’ contribution to the freedom struggle and ensure they get the tag of ‘kranti gram (revolutionary villages)’.

Bichpuri village is one of those mentioned in the book. Dunlop, in his book ‘Service and Adventure with the Khakee Ressalah’ mentions on page 97: ‘I then came to Goojar village of Bichpooree: this had taken an active part in all Sah Mull’s misdoings, and deserved destruction.’ Sah Mull or Shah Mull was the local chieftain of this region who led the expedition against British and was considered a king in this cluster of villages.

Bichpuri village is located 15 km from Baghpat city and is one of the most backward areas of the district with just 5-6 hours of power supply everyday. 82 year-old Radhey Shyam Gurjar, a resident of the village, said, “Our elders have seen the worst of days when their land was snatched by the British and later the tax collectors snatched whatever small earnings they had. This is the first time that someone has come to our village to enquire about our history.”

When the team of historians visited these villages, residents only had stories of pain and struggle narrated to them by their ancestors who lost all their land and properties for daring to take on the might of the East India Company.

Another such village, Nimbali, which figures in the book, doesn’t even have a primary health centre, forcing villagers to travel 12 km to Baghpat for treatment. Speaking to TOI, Pramod Singh, a resident of Nimbali village, said, “Our elders tell us that after the mutiny (of 1857) was crushed, all our land were given to a zamindar by the name of ‘Naresh Lala’, who belonged to Sonepat and, hence, all our ancestors became tillers from owners. They were also forced to pay heavy taxes. Three men from our villagers were also hanged during retribution.”

One of the visiting historians, K K Sharma, associate professor of the department of history at Multanimal P C College, Modinagar, told TOI, “A few weeks ago, we came to know about the book in which there was a mention of a few villages. We decided to visit these villagers in order to get an insight into their life and lifestyles these people were leading, and the situation they were in was indeed pathetic.”

Amit Pathak, author of 1857–Living History and fellow at Centre for Armed Forces Historical Research (CAFHR), said, “These are the people whose ancestors were the first in the country to initiated the freedom struggle. These people have have been forgotten. No one ever visited them, forget about providing them with the due recognition they deserve.”

“We will certainly take it up at the highest level to ensure overall development of this region,” Pathak said.

The visit coincided with the commemoration of the oath taken by Indian sepoys on Quran and the Ganga water, not to use the cartridges allegedly made of cow and pig fat. The oath was taken on April 23, 1857, that marked the beginning of the uprising which eventually came out in the open on May 10, 1857.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Meerut News / Sandeep Rai / TNN / April 24th, 2017