Winds of change

A churning in the education sector in 2012 has evoked a mixed response, says rakesh kumar

The year gone by will go down in the annals of education as remarkable for its landmark changes proposed, both in the lower as well as higher education. While 2012 ended with the introduction of four-year graduation programme in the Delhi University, drawing groans from students and teachers alike, the year was witness to battle lines drawn between government and IIT administrators over giving weightage to the Board marks in the entrance examination. Nursery school admission norms added its mite to the confusion as authorities kept parents on tenterhooks. Teachers resorted to hunger strike, joined by students, to mark their discontent over the changes. 

Winds of change
 The biggest change was led by the Delhi University, where the introduction of the semester system last year was followed by a decision to implement a four-year graduation programme. Notwithstanding a constant protest by a section of teachers, the switch-over will be in place from the next academic session. This year, another term came to the fore ~ Meta University. The concept was jointly adopted by Delhi University and Jamia Millia Islamia. As per this concept, a student can get the experience of studying in both the universities and would be awarded a joint degree. 
The Delhi University has also tried to break the conventional concept of teaching only in class rooms as the vice-chancellor of Delhi University advocated education beyond class room. Under this, the university organised two educational train trips for the students, one  touching places associated with Mahatma Gandhi in Gujarat, and the other to Jaisalmer. 

Entrance conundrum 
In a bid to reduce stress on engineering aspirants, former HRD minister Kapil Sibal decided to change the exam pattern of IIT-JEE (Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examination). Under this, in the year 2013, Class XII Board exam results (50 per cent weightage) would be taken into account along with a two-tier joint entrance examination ~ JEE-Main and JEE-Advanced. The ministry’s initiative appeared to target commercially run tutorial outfits that draw IIT aspirants in droves.
Medical entrance exam also witnessed a major change being proposed this year. In the academic year 2013-14, all the medical entrance exams would be merged into a single exam ~ National Eligibility Entrance Exam. A candidate will be eligible to take admission in MBBS only if he/she scores a minimum 50 per cent in this exam.
“It’s a good move to conduct single medical entrance exam. After its introduction, the form-filling procedure for the medical examination will be easier and also, it will save the money of those candidates who used to apply for the different medical colleges,” said Gajan Yadav, father of medical aspirants.  
Tiny tots
No change was noticed in the guidelines for nursery admission this year. It seemed like a rehash of the earlier points system. As per the new guidelines, schools have to reserve 25 per cent seats for economically weaker sections (EWS). For the remaining 75 per cent seats, schools have been given full autonomy as far as framing the admission criteria goes. Each school would be free to decide its own eligibility criteria, provided they conformed to the Right to Education (RTE) Act. “It is good that government has increased the upper age limit for the nursery admission. Earlier it was only three year and created many problems for those parents who missed the admission in the first chance. But this year, they have increased 11 months and 30 days more. It would be helpful for the parents like us,” said Sanjeev Gupta, a Shalimar Bagh-based teacher.    

Discontent over change
The changes introduced were, however, not warmly welcomed by the all sections of people. Many were against the changes citing that it would ruin the current education system. Following the change in the entrance exam, there was a month-long deadlock between the HRD ministry and the IITs over the proposed common entrance test (CET) for admission to centrally-funded engineering institutes that only came to an end with IITs and HRD agreeing to a compromise formula. At one point of time IIT-Kanpur and IIT-Delhi senates declared that they would conduct a separate entrance exam, if the proposed exam system was brought into effect. The same went for the Delhi University, when it opted for the Meta University concept. A group of teachers in the university was constantly opposing the move for the Meta University concept as well as four year graduation programme. To protest against the decision, Delhi University Teachers’ Association opted for a two-month-long hunger strike also. “The new four year degree programme will ruin our current education system. Because, the changes that have been proposed with the programme seems less students friendly,” said Amar Deo Sharma, president of DUTA.
“The initial phase of change has always been unacceptable. In that phase, due to the change we have to face problems. But it doesn’t mean that we should not go for the change because once we get used to it, everything gets fine,” said Dr Satish Kumar, a University official. 

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Real heroes

IBN7 honoured 10 specially-abled Indian athletes, who participated in the 2012 London Paralympics and won a silver medal at the Games this year. rakesh kumar reports

Everything came to a halt for Amit Kumar, 27, when he met with an accident and was hospitalised for six months for a spinal cord injury. The only thing bothering him was that for the rest of his life, he would be spending on bed. But, Amit Kumar is thankful to his friend, who took him to the Paralympic Games in Bangalore in 2009. Since then, he never looked back and has become a state-level hockey player and won several medals in Paralympics games. This is not the story of Amit Kumar alone, there are several such examples, where  even after losing everything they didn’t give up. 
Take for instance, 21-year-old swimmer Sharath Gayakwad, who was born with a deformed left hand. He has won over 30 international and 40 national medals and is the first Indian swimmer to qualify for the Paralympics. 
To felicitate these heroes, IBN7 and Supertech, at their fourth edition of Super Idols, a unique set of awards that celebrate the strength of human spirit, and importance of will power and a never-say-die attitude, honoured 10 specially-abled Indian athletes who participated in the 2012 London Paralympics. India won a silver medal at the Games this year, its first ever in the high jump event. 
Bollywood superstar Salman Khan felicitated all the awardees with a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh each along with the special achiever, who received a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh. 
The 10 Super Idols who were honoured are Girisha H Nagarajegowda (Special Achievement Award), Jagseer Singh, Jaideep Deswal, Amit Kumar, Narender Ranbir, Farman Basha, Rajinder Singh Rahelu, Sachin Chaudhary, Naresh Kumar Sharma and Sharath Gayakwad. “The time has come to change the attitude of people towards the handicapped people. Because, we are not less than anyone. And the same applies for the differently abled persons too ~ they should not underestimate themselves,” suggested Arjuna awardee Naresh Kumar Sharma.  

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A day for a cause

A day for a cause

28 November 2012

Everybody should carve out a day from their busy schedule, leaving office, conference calls and emails behind just for the benefit of society, finds rakesh kumar

It was nothing short of a surprise for the students of Bal Sahyog, an NGO in the Capital that works with the under privileged, when over 100 employees of Deloitte, a leading services firm, paid them a visit last week. The corporate organisation engaged the children in a number of activities such as art and craft, dance and street-play to stimulate their minds as part of their social activity called Impact Day.  
The Deloitte professionals distributed gifts and chocolates besides prizes to the winning contestants among the underprivileged children. For the students, who are not used to getting such treatment that made them feel special, it would be one of the best days in their lives. “I participated in the drawing competition and I won chocolates as a gift. I am very happy and I think these people should daily come to our school and distribute prizes,” expressed a class III student, Raja. 
 As part of the Impact Day activities, organised in Delhi on Friday, Deloitte employees visited two NGOs, Pratham and Bal Sahayog. On this day, designated by the company, the employees do not work and instead engage in social activities. The employees voluntarily take up different causes related to education, environment conservation and upliftment of under privileged children in all over the country. In the Capital itself, 42 such projects had been addressed, company officials said. So far, in the last 10 years, Deloitte had spared 585,000 community hours, they added. 
However, their initiatives also pose a question whether one day would be sufficient to turn the lives of the underprivileged. Deloitte employees felt though a day would not make any difference to their plight, at least this could give them a much needed moral boost. “I know one day’s help is not going to change their whole life. But at least, we can help them to make a day memorable throughout the life,” said Kalpana Jain, senior director of Deloitte, India. “I think every organisation should take this initiative and carve out a day from their busy schedule to make an impact on their life. That is in any case more much more needed for them.”  

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Sleight of fate?

Magic is an art that cuts across all ages, classes and creeds. While it leaves some wide-eyed, skeptics term it a bag of tricks. But what about the magicians themselves? rakesh kumar steps into the world of magic
Be it a birthday party, a corporate gathering or a product launch, if a magician makes his presence the party spirit multiplies. As the magician waves his wand chanting “Abracadabra”, or “Gilli-gilli-choo”,while trotting out seemingly unbelievable feats, everyone is mesmerized. Whether it is children or adults, one is always fascinated by magic. If one grew up reading the feats of Mandrake the magician, today’s children are fans of Harry Potter.
India, the land of rope tricks, levitation or disappearing acts, among others, is not new to the art of magic. It has been around since time immemorial though as a performing art, it was the kings and the Mughalemperors who encouraged it. Magicians were once household names (see box: India’s magicians). Sadly, today they are reduced to street performers or at best show their skills in various fun-fairs or at events.
 
A dying art?What is more worrisome is that the art of magic, particularly the traditional Indian variety, is on a verge of extinction in the face of neglect by the government. “In comparison to other countries, India has very little respect for this art. And government too, has failed to do anything for the betterment of magician or to preserve the art. Therefore, the word of magic is disappearing from the main picture,” said magician AshokKharbanda,a well known personality in magic world and also a founder of Indian Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM), a registered society engaged in the uplift of the ancient Indian art of magic, at last month’s Magic Festival held at Delhi Haat.The festival gave Delhiitesa chance to get a first hand experience of these fading magic tricks. At the same time, the festival also provided a chance to peep inside the life of magicians. It posed a question: What is the future of these helpless magicians, who have been abandoned by both government as well as people? 
“Whenever our government needs us, they use us. Many a time they take us to perform at international culture shows to represent our country. At that time, they treat us well and provide us all the required facility. But after extracting work out of us they simply abandon us as if they don’t recognise us,” complained V Kumar, also a member of IBM. 
 
From palace to road If one were to dig a little into the past, one would realise that the condition of magicians was not like it is today. Though it has always existed in the country, the arrival of magic in India could truly be attributed to the Mughalperiod. During the tenure of Emperor Jahangir,the famous Indian rope trick was first performed in the palace. “When the rope trick was performed in front of the king, he couldn’t believe it. He was so thrilled with the tricks that he hired the magicians in his Durbar,”explained AshokKharbanda.
Since then magicians, like other artists, became part of the king’s palace. And their sole work was used to entertain the king, queen, guests and common people with their unbelievable tricks. On their part, it was duty of kings to provide for those artists.
However, the situation altered totally when monarchy ended. “The magicians became totally helpless. The British dethroned the kings and captured their palaces and other properties. Following this, there was nothing left for the magicians,” recounted Kumar. “Then, the magicians had to reluctantly take to the road to earn their bread and butter.” 
After Independence the magicians expected some improvement in their plight. “On the contrary, they had to face an even worse situation,” said Kumar. “The magicians continued to present their talents on roadside or in melas(fairs) only. That too was banned by the then government during the days of Punjab militancy.” The government gave the reason that people gathering to watch the roadside shows were an invitation for bomb blasts. Therefore, it was a tough time for the magicians to survive and many of them switched to other professions like driving auto, added Kumar. It was their plight that prompted magicians to collectively form an association in 1982, IMB,under the leadership of AshokKharbanda.
 
What magicians want  All that the magicians in India collectively ask for is to declare magic an art. By doing so they could get more respect and at the same time they would not have to pay a heavy entertainment tax. “In a bid to preserve this dying art, government needs to intervene immediately,” said SumitKharbanda,a well-known contemporary magician. “It is our request to government to declare magic an art, and not merely a source of entertainment. In this way we can acquire a good respect in society and also don’t have to pay a heavy entertainment tax.” Echoing the idea, another magician Jugnuopined, “By declaring magic an art, we can avoid not only the heavy tax but also avoid the heavy paper works that have been imposed by our government.”
Many magicians, who marked their presence at the Magic Festival organised by the Delhi government also seek people’s support for their magic. “We want people to give us support to revive this art form. At the same time, we also request youngsters of our country to choose magic as a career so that this art doesn’t die,” said AshokKharbanda.
 
Career in magic Today, magic is limited to roadside and performances in fairs but few realize it has a reach beyond that. Even now people are filled with negative attitude towards this art that has a potential for numerous opportunities. In several countries, magic is seen as a career opportunity to produce a performing artist. In India, which has a rich tradition of this art form, performers are treated little better than street performers.
Corporate companies have opened up some avenues for magicians, the performers concede. “These days, there are many corporate companies hiring magicians on a salary basis. Their task is to perform on the various occasions like product launch, corporate gatherings and birthday parties, to entertain people,” said SumitKharbanda.He also explained that apart from entertaining people, the magicians also turned out to be a very helpful to popularise new launches and product. “For instance, if any magician launches a new product with his tricks, that product has a recall value in the minds of people for a longer duration.” 
Apart from this there is a good demand for magicians in foreign markets. Therefore, to spread the magic and to train new magicians, a number of magic schools have come up in the country.

Different tricksIndian rope trick, mango trees trick, Hindu basket tricks and coin tricks are some of the repertoire that were developed in India and the rest of the world either follows them or has developed upon them. “These are some of the tricks that many foreigners learnt from India. Many of them have improved upon these same tricks with the help of good technology,” said Tulsi magician, who is a master in coin tricks. “But still people of our country give preference to foreigners. But we are not less than them at any point. In comparison to India, we get better respect in foreign countries.” 
 Eric Leclerc,a well-known magician of Canada, who performed at the Delhi Haat,said he was very much impressed with the Indian magicians. “India has always been a land of great magicians. I have learnt many tricks from Indians magicians. The most impressive one, I like in India is their rope trick.” There are certain tricks that Indians too adopted from abroad such as handkerchief trick, rabbit box trick and sparrow trick.
The bullet catch is a conjuring illusion in which a magician appears to catch a bullet fired directly at them—oftenin their mouth, sometimes in their hand or caught with other items such as a dinner plate. The bullet catch may also be referred to as the bullet trick, or occasionally the gun trick.

Reality or magic The word magic is derived from the Latin word “magi”. It is believed that the purpose of practicing magic is to entertain, cheat in games, or create deception and illusions. “Magic is nothing but a deception of mind, what we have to create in the mind of people,” explains SumitKharbanda.
Sharing the same view, Tulsisaid “Magic is an illusion and source of entertainment. While performing, we have to create an environment so that we can amuse people. We have to take care of minute details like lights, music, costumes, presentation and art of speech. If anything fails to work so does our magic.”
Canada-based Eric Leclercemphasised on practice, saying, “Magic comes only after a lot of practice. The more you practice the more you amuse people. Apart from costumes, the most important thing is equipment. Without these equipmentswe can’t perform even a single trick.”

India’s magiciansThere were several magicians who were household names. Their feats were much talked about and they were accorded celebrity status. PC Sorcar(senior and junior), for instance, gained lots of popularity not just in India but worldwide. Both Sorcarswere masters of vanishing acts. Sorcarjunior vanished Taj Mahal for two minutes. He also made the Indore-Amritsar Express disappear in front of a huge audience.
Among the top Indian magicians currently are VazahakunnamNeelakandam Namboothiriand ProfKBhagyanath.

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Behind the paintings

In her first solo exhibition, Mumbai based artist Tina Chandroji places deities in shops selling items of daily use
“Roaming around the Indian markets one can find numerous catchy sights that make you want to preserve that moment,” said Mumbai based artist Tina Chandroji while briefing about one of her oil paintings. In her art collection, Chandroji is inspired by the Indian bazaars and chose to design different household shops on the cards such as flower stall, bakery shop, vegetables stall, groceries and liquor shops. But the centerpiece in each of these shops is a deity, often flanked by photo frames of dead and living ancestors of the shopkeeper.
“I chose to design these shops because these are the very common place. Everyone pays a frequent visit to the shops but the details always remain unnoticed by them and they never pay much heed to them,”
explained the artist.
Chandroji’s paintings depict a lot of serene images of deities from various stories from religious texts. She had chosen a different God for different paintings. For instance, in a vegetable shop she designed
Lord Krishna; in a bakery shop she designed Jesus; in an antique’s shop she took verses from the holy Quran; and in wine store she preferred to design Lord Venkateswara.
“As per our culture, it is believed that God helps everyone run their business. Therefore, you would find a picture of God in every shop. At the same time alongside you can find their ancestors’ pictures too.
Because in our culture our ancestors are considered equal to God,” said the artist.
Since childhood Tina Chandroji had a love for art that led her to JJ School, from where she completed her bachelors in Fine Arts. Later, after graduation, she worked as an assistant art director under Nitin Desai. But her inclination towards painting never faded and to follow her love for it, she is now working as an artist since 2008.
“I have been interested in creative work since my childhood days. During those days I used to do lots of drawings. Later on I opted for directing as it is also a creativity work. But my first preference will be painting only,” said, Tina Chandroji, whose painting collection was on display at Lalit Kala Akademi in New Delhi and inaugurated by Keshav Malik.
Appreciating the work of Tina Candroji, Keshav Malik said after inaugurating the exhibition, “Tina remains faithful to the feel of India, to its genius of decorating the most common place of objects.”
Rakesh Kumar

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Elephant catwalk

During Holi, the lands of kings and queens came alive with the elephant festival, recounts Rakesh Kumar
On the day of Dulhendi, when the whole country was eagerly waiting for Holi, the pink city Jaipur was geared up to witness a unique fashion show– of elephants. Though it may sound strange it is true in the land of kings and queens, Jaipur. Over 90 elephants were decorated in different colours and themes by their mahouts (caretakers of elephant) to participate in the elephant festival.
“It is an annual festival, where all the elephants in the city compete with each other to get best decorated elephant shield,” informed Bina Kak, the forest and tourism minister of Rajasthan. The festival began with traditional sounding of drums followed by a procession of elephants decorated like brides with jewellery and other ornaments from trunk to tail. The catwalk was witnessed by 10,000 visitors. The best dressed elephant was given an award.
“Rajasthan has always been a state of royalty. Therefore, not only in Rajasthan but in the whole India elephant-ride was once considered a luxurious ride fit for kings, royal family and nobles. So, in order to stick to our culture we (Jaipur tourism) organise this festival a day before Holi, or Dulhendi, every year,” said Uday Pal Singh, ex-tourism officer of Rajasthan.
This year the festival was organised at the Rambagh Polo Ground in Jaipur and inaugurated by the tourism minister Bina Kak by beating the traditional drums. “The craze for this festival is growing year on year. Earlier we organised it in Chaugan ground of Jaipur. But, seeing the multiplying numbers of tourists and overwhelming response from visitors, we have organised it in the polo ground instead of Chaugan ground as it is bigger,” said Bina Kak.

Apart from the elephant show, there were many other features like Gair Dance, Matka Race, Chakri Dance, Tug-of-war (Indian vs Foreign), Kachhi Ghodi, Kalbeliya dance, Chang Dhap, Braj Ki Holi, Bum Rasia and Tribal Dance among others that kept people spellbound. This festival attracts not just Indians but also foreigners. “I learnt about this unique festival from one of my Indian friends in London. Therefore, I preferred this time to visit India,” said Thomos, who came from London for this festival only and got impressed by the decoration of elephants.
On the other hand Kolkata based businessman, Sandeep Vaharia, thought one could catch a glimpse of the entire culture of Rajasthan in this festival. He said, “Though I belong to Rajasthan and am a frequent visitor of Jaipur, this is my first chance to be here. I am amazed to see the festival. It seems that whole culture of the state is here like Chakri Dance, Langa Gayan, Tribal Dance and others.”
Among winners in various categories was Champakali who won the elephant decoration competition. Shanti came second and Rani third. While Laxmi was given a special prize because of her jeans apparel.
More than 10,000 people, including a fair number of foreigners thronged the festival and took part in different competition. A tug-of-war was held between Indian tourists and foreigners, which Indians won both rounds. In the Matka Race, Kenny Jurat from Australia won the first round while Round 2 of the same match was won by Kartik Parmer of Singapore. “How can we lose against foreigners on our own land,” said Sakshi a house maker, who was with the Indian side in the tug-of-war. Marcel, from Holland, said, “Though we lost the game we enjoyed it a lot.”

Visitors in the festival did not let go even a single chance to play Holi. Tourists mounted on elephant back sprinkled colours on each other. “It was more interesting than what I heard about it. It gave me a royal feeling, when I was sitting on the back of an elephant and playing Holi. It is going to be one of the best Holi in my life,” said 23-year-old Poonam Pasi from Delhi, who wants to visit again. The festival ended with gulal fireworks and the band recitals.
 It was not only spectacular procession of elephants and cultural events that drew tourists from all over the world. Tripathi, a businessman from Kanpur was at the elephant festival just to check out how a warm state like Rajasthan, where water is scarce, maintained so many elephants. “Earlier I was surprised when I heard about an elephant festival in Rajasthan. Because it is the home of camels, I wondered how come a festival of elephants. Now I would like to appreciate the efforts of the Jaipur Tourist department because of the way they have maintained so many elephants here.”

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Child’s right

In a day-long seminar by SOS Children’s Villages of India participants discussed a child’s right to a family  
   What could be a more ideal time to discuss about a child’s rights to a family when abandoned baby Falak is still struggling for her life? Even if she survives there is no knowing what her fate would be. On the other end of the spectrum is the case of the Indian couple in Norway, whose children were taken away by the country’s childcare agency alleging “improper care”. In order to understand the current scenario of alternative care for children living without parental care in India, SOS Children’s Villages of India organised a day-long national seminar on A Child’s Right to a Family. 
Both parents and foster homes or care givers have a responsibility towards the well-being of a child, said Chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Shantha Sinha, inaugurating the seminar. With a child unable to raise its voice against any abuse, it is the responsibility taken by a family, group, school or institution that needs to be properly implemented, she added. 
In a study titled India-National Child Vulnerability Situation Analysis Report (2008) done by SOS to assess the situation of orphan and vulnerable children in the country it was found that at present India has approximately 422 million children. Nationally, 83 per cent of them are below 18 years and live with both their parents, 11 per cent live with their mothers, 2 per cent live with their fathers and the remaining 4 per cent live with neither parent. The proportion of children who have experienced death of both parents increases with age and stands at 10 per cent for children aged 15-17 years. The child population below 18 years constitutes more than 41 per cent of the total population for the year 2001. 
“As the country is developing, both socially as well as economically, the needs of parentless children are constantly changing,” said Rakesh Jinsi, secretary general, SOS Children’s Villages of India. “While at the time of independence, children largely needed care, due to loss of families, these needs have changed to additional situations such as abandonment, war, terrorism, urbanisation, new health challenges like cancer, HIV etc. Such children will need different types of care customised to suit their specific situations. Thus our entire focus should be on continuously improving the quality of care provided through these alternative methods.” 
The seminar was attended by representatives of civil society organisations, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the ministry of women and child Development among others. 
Rakesh Kumar

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Comic relief

Manga author Yukichi Yamamatsu’s autobiographical depiction talks about his experiences in India in trying to promote his book   
The year 2004 may well be termed one of the worst years for Manga author Yukichi Yamamatsu. He paid a visit to India, having never before left Japan, armed with little money, knowing less English, no sigmoid colon, and absolutely no idea of what to expect. The only dream he had was to popularise Manga, or Japanese adult comics, in India in Hindi. But his journey of India turned disastrous when six months down the line he failed to sell even a single book. Unfortunately, he had to fly back to Japan. But he was not among those who give up easily. Therefore, goes his tale, he penned down his entire experience of India in a book titled Stupid Guy Goes to India.
“That time India didn’t have any comics. That fascinated me in India. Therefore, I thought why can’t I sell these books in India too. But when I landed here I tried to sell it. But then I wondered why I couldn’t make even a single Samurai Manga in India. I felt disheartened and stupid. I flew back to Japan. Later on I planned to pen down all of my good or bad experiences of India. So I came up with this book,” said, the author, Yukichi Yamamatsu, who still does not know English.
Stupid Guy Goes to India, which was launched at Yodakin Bookstore in Haus Khas village, is a comic book based on the true experience of Yukich’s adventures in India such as playing marbles, searching for bathrooms, betting on horses, visiting a brothel and his madcap mission to sell Hindi translations of Samurai Manga on the mean streets of the nation’s Capital. “When I landed in India I had to face many difficulties. The first thing was a language barrier and other one was to rent a house. These were the major problems that I had to face during my stay at India,” recalled the author.
During his stay in India, the author learnt lots about India. In his book, he does not pull any punches. For instance, he does not hesitate to mention that Indians lie a lot and never complete their task on time. But at the same time the author also calls Indian people very helpful. “Once when I was coming from the railway station to Chandini Chowk I hired an auto. When I got down then the auto driver was asking double or triple money. Then I started negotiating with him but he took no time to shout at me. Hearing all this fuss a few people gathered there. And they took my side. So since that day I understood that Indians are very helpful,” said the author. 
The book is an autobiographic narration and was earlier published in Japanese in 2008. Later on it was translated into English by Kumar Sivasubramanian to woo the Indian readers.

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Form Goa to Delhi

Sixteen Goa based artists showcased their creativity at the NIV art gallery in Delhi

Sorrow, brutality, dire straits and sex dominated the works of Goa-based artist Kedar Dhondu. The question then comes up as to who would be interested in buying these art pieces to decorate their homes as they are full of brutality like dying people and blood shedding. Maybe no one, but people are drawn to the paintings, which were on show at the NIV Art Gallery in the Capital last week, and forced to rethink about them.
Though his works contain brutality and sexuality, the way it was depicted certainly caught one’s attention and prompted one to take home a painting. “I took at the theme of ugliness and pain because everybody experiences pain in his life once in a while. Therefore, you can find suffering in my work. Anyone can connect with my work and feel the same sorrow,” explained Dhondu.
The exhibition, titled Goa Reloaded, was at display between 21 January and 22 February at the NIV Art Gallery in Neb Sarai. As the NIV Art Gallery is basically known for providing a platform to budding talents, this time too 16 artists from Goa presented the show. “This time there were 16 artists from Goa. But the thing which they bring with themselves is their culture. Goa is among those cities, which has the most influence of western culture. Thus, you can notice it in their work as well. Many have portrayed Jesus Christ and Mother Mary as well as pubs, beer bar, dancing girls and much more,” said Mathew, the owner of the gallery. “But one more difference is in their work. They have used minimum numbers of colours. They were to stick to black, white and grey only.”
Not all the work of these artists has an influence of European culture. There is also an impact of their own regional cultures. Some have canvas on cardboard, sublime aspects of a philosophical life, life of a common man and woman of Goa. And the list goes on.
In one of the portrayals, acrylic on paper, titled Mining Boom or Cruse, Ramdas Gadekar depicted the life of miners. Through his art Gadekar tried to find out the other side of greenery and how development is costing our environment. “During childhood, I used to go to my village. That time it had lots of greenery. But now I can’t find it because of mining. At the same time I depicted the other side of the nature unlike other artist who prefer greenery,” said the artist Ramdas Gadekar.
The opening of the art exhibition witnessed the playback singer/pop artist Remo Fernandes along with Shaistah Thapar and Sanjay Srivastava, chief secretatry, government of Goa, and also the renowned installation artist Subodh Kerkar.

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Where sun and sand meet

On his recent visit to Delhi, Robert Desvaux, Chairman of Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, shared the reason for Mauritius leading the way in containing ecological damage 

Be it actors, politicians or social workers, hardly any celebrity in the world has given a miss to a visit to Mauritius. A country small enough to be described as a dot in the ocean, it attracts tourists by the droves. It’s not surprising as this is a country where nature has bestowed the best of sunlight, the best colours of sea, the best colours of earth and the second best fresh air in the world.
Realising the importance of its heritage, Mauritius is geared up to cash in on the opportunity. “Tourists are increasing day by day in Mauritius. But still our target is to reach up to 100,000 tourists in the coming years. We are now only 50,000,” said Robert Desvaux, chairman of Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority.
Desvaux, who was on a visit to Delhi recently for the promotion of Mauritius tourism also reasoned why Mauritius had become a catwalk for celebrities. “Our islands are very large. Therefore, you can find
private beaches in the front of every hotel. In Mauritius many cultures reside together like Indian, Chinese, Portuguese and African.
Because of a mix of many cultures you can also find many international dishes like Chinese, American and Indian,” said Desvaux. “We provide many adventurers sports too. We give an option to choose from under water sports, on water sports, on ground sports to in sky sports.”
Asked why this beautiful group of islands has the highest rate of returning tourists Desvaux explained, “We have near about 40 per cent tourists who are returning tourists. There are numerous reasons behind
it, like hospitality, hotels beaches and services. At the same time we have maintained our environment very well. And whatever we promise prior to visit we deliver the same. Therefore, every tourist wants to
visit Mauritius again and again. Our tourism also contributes 10 per cent to our GDP.”
Expanding further on how the country managed to sustain the environment despite the high tourist footfall, particularly in comparison to other tourists destinations, Desvaux informed, “Everyone
knows that we are among those countries that have sustained their resources well. We believe in renewable energy and a decision not to pollute. We don’t even throw the leftover of the sugar cane in sea. We make it into ethanol, that is equivalent to petrol.”

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This article has been reproduced here : Rakesh Kumar

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‘Delhi is the best’

Television actor talks about his struggle, Delhi and latest show 

A known face of television today, Karan V Grover, can never forget his struggling days. After running from pillar to post for almost three years, he could finally create a niche for himself in the industry. “I had to knock the doors of many directors, filmmakers and television producers. Finally in 2004, I debuted as a VJ on screen,” said the actor on his recent trip to the Capital. He was here to promote his recent serial Yaha Main Ghar Ghar Kheli, currently on air on Zee TV.
Grover was born in Dehradun and later moved to Mumbai in search of work. But it is the city of Delhi that impressed him most. “Delhi has become one of the fastest growing cities in the world. I wish Mumbai had a similar kind of infrastructure,” he said. Prod him further and the shy actor discloses another likeable aspect of the city. “I like Delhi’s girls. I wish I had more time to spend here amid such lovely girls,” he said.
On why he took a U-turn to acting from being a trainee chemical engineer, he said, engineering was never his choice. “I was a bright student. My parents wanted me to pursue this course and become an engineer. So, I took it up. But I later realised that it was not my interest. I tried my luck in acting and clinched it well.” Asked about the most challenging role in his eight-year-old career, he
said it would be the one in Yaha Main Ghar Ghar Kheli. “Being a quadriplegic is even difficult to imagine. I had to push against the wall to perform this role. Now I can better understand how life must be for differently-abled people,” he concluded.

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This article has been reproduced here : Rakesh Kumar

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