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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‘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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