If you travel to Lucknow, it is possible that you will pass a forest known by the name of Naimish-aranya, the forest of King Nimi, on the banks of the river Gomti. This forest is where the stories of the eighteen Mahapuranas, and the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana were narrated by story-tellers to sages.
But who was Nimi, after whom the forest is named? Nimi was a great King who once invited the sage, Vashishtha, to conduct his yagna at this forest. However, Vashishtha was busy performing a yagna for Indra and could not make it on time. Nimi started performing his yagna with the help of another priest annoying Vashishtha, who cursed Nimi saying that his restless impatient spirit leave his mortal flesh. As a result, Nimi became an entity that was not bound by flesh and bone.
Since this happened before the time of his death, his spirit (jiva) did not travel to the kingdom of the dead. Instead, it got access to the divine world — the world without boundaries and hierarchies, the world without name or form, the world that defies time and space.
The kingdom, meanwhile, was left with no King, except the flesh and bones of Nimi. So, the rishis began to churn this lifeless casing of the King and from this churning, came a new life, a new King. He was called Mithi, meaning “born by churning.”
Mithi was also known as Janaka, which means “one who is his own father.” Nimi, his father, became known as Vaideha, the King without a body. So father and son had effectively the same body — abandoned by the father due to a rishi’s curse and occupied by the son, due to another rishi’s ritual.
Nimi’s spirit, however, wanted to return to his body, because he was not quite dead and yet could not be alive. He did know that the rishis had destroyed his mortal flesh and he wondered how he would return to the living world. Eventually, the Gods, feeling sorry for him, placed him in the blink of the eye. A blink of an eye is, therefore, called Nimi.
A blink exists and yet does not exist like the great Nimi. The oldest unit of time in India is the Nimisha, or Nimi, which is the blink of an eye.
Nimi’s son Janaka was a patron of Upanishads, dialogues of wise men that speak of the jiva and atma in great detail. He is also the father of Sita. His region of Mithila has its own literature and is popular in the Indo-Nepal border.
In Buddhism, Nimi is the King who retired as soon as his barber told him he had sprouted a grey hair. His descendants too, would follow this practice. Indra, King of paradise, sent his celestial chariot to fetch Nimi to heaven, but Nimi decided to first visit hell before going to heaven. And in that journey through many hells and many heavens, he learned about karma — how good things make us rise to higher realms and bad behaviour makes us fall to lower realms.
He shared this knowledge with the Gods and with his subjects. Thus, Nimi was clearly an ancient Indian King revered by Hindus and Buddhists associated with knowledge, packaged as stories that transforms material beings into spiritual beings.
by Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist devdutt@devdutt.com
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / December 12th, 2019
The great poet and critic of the arts was among the founders of the modern Urdu ghazal.
Firaq Gorakhpuri. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
August 28, 2019 marks the 123rd birth anniversary of the prominent writer, critic, poet and polymath Raghupati Sahay Firaq Gorakhpuri.
As if being a peer of Muhammad Iqbal, Yagana Changezi, Josh Malihabadi, Jigar Moradabadi, Munshi Premchand, Niaz Fatehpuri and Brij Narain Chakbast was not enough, Firaq shares his birthday with Goethe, the great German national figure. However, unlike Goethe, he has not become a household name in the subcontinent despite the fact that many of his contemporaries like Iqbal and Premchand continue to be celebrated incessantly. The former is the national poet of Pakistan and the latter even had a Google Doodle dedicated to him three years ago on his 136th birthday. No such luck for Firaq.
Firaq was one of the most prolific poets of his time. A professor of English at Allahabad University, he was an organic intellectual, infusing his work with sensuality. His 1936 article in defence of homosexual love and its depiction in the ghazal remains a classic, where he defiantly describes the depiction of homosexuality in poetry across time and cultures in the works of Sappho and Socrates, Saadi and Hafiz, Shakespeare and Whitman.
‘Listen,’ Firaq told “the respected Critic” in the article, ‘are you aware of Socrates’ autobiography, and his relationship with Alkibiades? Are you aware of Caesar’s love affairs? Do you know what Walter Pater has written about Winckelmann in his book The Renaissance or what Edward Carpenter has written in his books Friendship’s Garland, The Intermediate Sex and Civilization. Its Cause and Cure? What about the life of this esteemed author?
Sir, are you aware of Shakespeare’s Sonnets and their motives? Do you know of Walt Whitman and his poem ‘To a Boy’? Have you heard Sappho’s name? Do you know the meaning of lesbianism? Do you know of the refined and pure book called The Well of Loneliness? Do you know of D.H. Lawrence and his works? And of Middleton Murry’s Son of Woman? Do you condemn all these to fourteen years in jail? What punishment would you give Tennyson for writing ‘In Memoriam’ because recently some researchers have brought to light his homosexual feelings and statements?’
Firaq’s well-known ghazal on forbidden and furtive love begins thus:
‘Look in the mirror after our union, friend How your beauty has acquired a virgin innocence’
He grew up in a literary household and inherited the love of poetry from his father. The feeling of love for the nation and its people was a gift of the strict environment and intellectual training. He had also gone to jail in the Civil Disobedience Movement of 1918 but practical politics was not his field, neither did he ever dream of becoming a minister or ambassador. It was a small mercy, otherwise, Urdu literature would have been deprived of a great poet and critic of the arts.
Firaq was also a member of the Progressive Writers’ Association, a spirited anti-colonialist, and enjoyed the confidence of Nehru and other early Congress functionaries.
In the days when he started teaching, English literature was a compulsory subject at the BA level, therefore there was an abundance of students in the Department of English and they had to be divided into many sections. Sibte Hasan, an important Marxist thinker and activist of the subcontinent, and a student of Firaq in his college days, reminiscing about his teacher says that it was their good fortune to be in the section where professor Amarnath Jha taught English prose and Firaq taught poetry. The latter had just arrived from Sanatan Dharma College in Kanpur but his knowledge and personality soon captivated the students.
Sibte Hasan writes about the first day Firaq entered the class. He was about 37-38, of middle stature, knotted body, bookish face, round eyes, a head of thick black hair, wearing a toe-length shervani and tight-fitting trousers, this was Firaq. Hasan had seen him recite ghazals a couple of times but he was not the type of poet who would dominate a mushaira. He did not recite with rhythm like Jigar Moradabadi, Safi Lakhnavi and Sail Dehlavi but literally, and that too in a very awkward manner by rolling his eyes and moving his hands. His ghazals too were not of a traditional colour but were an invitation to reflect and think. A very elegant aesthetic taste was required to enjoy them.
The selection of English poetry in the textbook in those days included poems of eminent poets from Shakespeare to Thomas Hardy. When Firaq stood up to teach, he first narrated the circumstances of Palgrave, then said that such an excellent selection of English poems had not been done before. Though he had a complaint that Palgrave had ignored a poet like John Donne. He said that much Orientalism is reflected in the poetic sensibility of John Donne. It seems that some Indian lover is expressing love. For example, his verse:
‘I wonder, by my troth, what thou And I did till we loved’
Or his saying that: ‘For God’s sake, hold your tongue and let me love’
Then he recited similar Urdu verses. When the class ended, many students made their way to the library in search of the volume by Donne. Firaq knew well the skill of how to create literary taste in students.
Firaq’s life was entirely devoid of the ties of caste, the distinctions of colour and race and the rituals and restraints of religion and nation. He was a freedom-loving, enlightened and tolerant man. His personality was a mixture of our classical traditions and modern manner of thought and feeling. He had a complete grip over Urdu, Hindi, Farsi, Sanskrit and English. He had a very deep observation of ancient Indian, Greek and Iranian civilisations and he would own the high values, allusions metaphors and symbols with a very good style in his writings.
Firaq was a great lover of beauty and could not bear any sort of ugliness. So he used to say that: ‘Ugliness I cannot tolerate, even in Mahatma Gandhi.’ But by beauty, he did not imply the attraction of only the eye and cheek but the beauty of human personality; the beauty of those values and thoughts which adorn the self.
He thought slavery, oppression and injustice, the exploitation of man by man, obscurantism and narrow-mindedness and ignorance and poverty as the denial of self and detested them because according to him, these things make the individual and social personalities of man abhorrent, inferior and unpleasant, and mutilate his spirit. This is the reason that he always welcomed those movements which endeavour to change life and make it beautiful.
‘The sorrow of life the same, the cycle of universe the same That which does not change life, is that really life
Has everyone really lifted the burden of humanity That this calamity too came at the head of your lovers’
Firaq sang all his life embracing the sorrows of humans deprived of the beauty of life, and carrying the cross of empathy on his shoulders. This consciousness of sorrow was indeed his art. So he says that
‘My ghazals, are the mirror of my character friendsSeldom does one find in the world ones civilised by sorrow like myself’
This sorrow of life indeed has been touching the delicate chords of his thought and feeling.
‘Just like this Firaq spent his life Some spent in sorrow of the beloved, some in sorrow of the present
The earth trembled, the sky shook When the sorrow of the world was adopted by the sorrow of love’
Hasan writes of the occasions when Firaq would visit Lucknow every second or third month to broadcast a speech from the radio. News of his arrival would inevitably result in the city’s young progressive writers flocking to meet him. He would hold court while sitting on a bed, leaning against the pillow as the conversation flowed all around him.
The topics expanded from horizon to horizon. ‘Matters of life and death’, ‘matters of the truth and purity of love’, ‘matters of perception and awareness’, ‘matters of the glance of love’, ‘matters of the desire of flight’, ‘matters of a lover’s secrets’, in fact there was no such topic of knowledge and wisdom and art and skill in which his mind ever failed to create novel points. To converse was his favourite pastime and he knew well how to create one matter from another. But like Goethe, he never found an Eckermann, nor some Boswell like Dr Johnson who would write down his conversations.
When Firaq arrived in Lucknow, the evening assembly was at the home of lawyer Mirza Jafar Husain. Once, Josh was also present and being the lamp of the evening was reciting his newly-composed rubaiyat (quatrains). Josh and Firaq were great friends. Both used to address each other as ‘tum.’ In fact, in the ecstasy of intoxication, Josh used to lovingly call Firaq ‘Abbe Farquva’. When Josh had recited 10-12 quatrains, Firaq could not contain himself. He said ‘Yaar, now stop this nonsense of four lines’. Josh replied, ‘Lala if you even say four such lines you will spit blood’. Everyone began to laugh and the matter subsided. On his way back, however, Firaq was unusually quiet.
The next day, the party assembled in the evening. When the round of wine began, Firaq took out a piece of paper from his pocket and addressing Josh said, ‘Abbe O ignorant Pathan of Malihabad, do listen carefully,’ and then he recited 10-12 quatrains which he had composed at some time during the day. Josh became stupefied hearing the quatrains. He rose and began kissing Firaq’s face. These are the circumstances of revelation of the quatrains of roop singhaar (appearance and adornment). These are quatrains where the singing body of a woman is speaking.
Firaq’s works appear in a number of anthologies, most published in the 1940s, the best known of which are Shola-e-Saaz (The Fire of Rhythm), published in 1945 and Shabnamistan (Land of Dew), published in 1947. His essays were compiled in a book titled Andaaze (Hunches). Firaq won the Jnanpith Award (India’s highest literary honour) in 1969 and remained the only Urdu poet Jnanpith awardee until Ali Sardar Jafri won it in 1997. Newcomers may have first encountered Firaq’s poetry through Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh’s rendition of ‘Bahut pehle se un qadmon ki aahat jaan lete hain’ (We recognise those footsteps from a long way off), which they sang in the 1976 album Unforgettables.
The following is one of Firaq’s ghazals, Sham-e-Gham (Sad Evening) that conjures a vivid sense of this remarkable poet:
‘On this sad evening let us talk of the beloved’s gaze Let us talk of secret things for my passion is ablaze
The beauty of those tossed curls and the tale of this sad night Till morning dawns, let us talk in such melancholic ways
In the silence of yearning, as hearts shatter, let us speak How does it break, the instrument that such melodies plays?
From the bars of my prison, I feel a faint hint of light Of my desire to spread my wings, let’s talk about that phase
The one who has transformed the nature of my love, Firaq Let’s talk of that Jesus-like lover who lights up my days’
According to Firaq, real poetry is the boundless sincerity of ‘practice of feeling’ and ecstasy which for him is the ‘first and final question of art’. He survived the fatal anguish of love thanks to this practice and sincerity. He acquainted Urdu poetry with a new musicality, new facet, and new language; presented a healthy and ‘healing’ image of the sorrow of love and the sorrow of life; granted a new ecstasy of empathy and good nature and a new manner of the purification and refinement of sexual feelings and gave a new consciousness of universal realities and the spirit to change them.
Firaq Gorakhpuri is one of the founders of the modern Urdu ghazal. The mood and environment of his ghazals, their diction, their sensory experiments and the manner of expression of these experiments are all separate from others but totally in harmony with the present age of Indian society and the demands of the spirit of the contemporary times.
His prose writings also have a similar situation. Although the lamp of his prose writings could not burn before his poetic renown, it is impossible to deny the reality that he is also the inventor of modern Urdu criticism. The relish with which he used to talk so sweetly, the same relish and sweetness were also to be found in his prose. His criticisms themselves were literary works of art and masterpieces of creative criticism. It would be relevant to end this piece with another revolutionary verse from the epicure of beauty:
‘Witness the pace of revolution, Firaq How slow, and how swift’
All the translations from Urdu are the writer’s own.
Raza Naeem is a Pakistani social scientist, book critic and award-winning translator and dramatic reader currently based in Lahore, where he is also the President of the Progressive Writers Association. He can be reached at: razanaeem@hotmail.com
source: http://www.wire.in / The Wire / Home> Books / by Raza Naeem / August 28th, 2019
The centuries-old graves in Agra are still preserved by the cemetery committees for the European descendants who may want to visit the grave of their ancestors. However, this also means that Agra is now short of space in the cemeteries for Christians to bury their dead. In a bid to resolve this problem, the Agra Cemeteries Committee has taken a controversial decision which is not sitting well with most Christians living in the city.
Father Lazarus Moon, the chairman of the Agra Cemeteries Committee, said the committee passed a unanimous decision in which it was ruled that graves will be dug very deep in the cemeteries of Agra. (Photo: Krishanveer Singh Rawat)
Being one of the oldest cities of India where the Catholic Christian community established its roots in the early ages of European exploration of the Indian subcontinent, Agra has some of the oldest cemeteries in the country.
The centuries-old graves in Agra are still preserved by the cemetery committees for the European descendants who may want to visit the grave of their ancestors.
However, this also means that Agra is now short of space in the cemeteries for Christians to bury their dead. In a bid to resolve this problem, the Agra Cemeteries Committee has taken a controversial decision which is not sitting well with most Christians living in the city.
Father Lazarus Moon, the chairman of the Agra Cemeteries Committee, told India Today that the committee passed a unanimous decision in which it was ruled that graves will be dug very deep in the cemeteries of Agra.
Moon said that the coffins will be placed in tiers inside the graves, burying one dead of the family on top of another, thereby, conserving valuable space for other graves. This way, he said, the family will stay together even in death with their bodies separated by stone slabs.
Father Lazarus Moon said that this decision was taken to conserve and salvage space in the already congested cemeteries of Agra and it will give a respectful send off to the departed family members.
The committee has also decided to open the graves that have not seen any relatives visiting them in decades and that the space will also be used to bury new dead.
However, the committee will preserve the details of the grave that is being opened. This move will recover a lot of space in the cemeteries for the future generations of Christians.
Father Moon said that this decision will be announced in the Sunday prayer meetings in all churches of Agra so that the people understand the reasoning behind this decision.
Criticising this move, cleric Mufti Mudassar Khan Qadri said that this is desecration of ancestral graves.
Mufti Mudassar Khan Qadri said that Christians and Muslims are often referred to as the ‘Followers of the Book’, which meant that there was no need for changing religion for a Muslim to marry a Christian woman or vice-versa. However, this decision by the Christians to pile up the graves of their ancestors with dead bodies from the rest of the family is something that is hard to fathom.
source: http://www.indiatoday.in / India Today / Home> India / by Siraj Qureshi , Agra / July 26th, 2019
Four youths from Uttar Pradesh will represent India at the WorldSkills International Competition 2019 to be in Kazan, Russia from August 22 to 27.
Four UP youths at world skills meet
Four youths from Uttar Pradesh will represent India at the WorldSkills International Competition 2019 to be in Kazan, Russia from August 22 to 27. Govind Sonkar, Amit Yadav, Utkarsh Kumar and Saurabh Baghel will be part of the 48-member Indian contingent at the event that is also called the ‘Olympics for Skills’. Over 1,500 competitors from 60 countries will pit their skills at 55 skill contests at the event. Govind (21), of Kanpur, would be contesting as an auto-body painting technician. While Amit, from Sant Ravidasnagar, will be contesting in the concrete construction work category, Utkarsh (22), of Gorakhpur, would take part in hairdressing category.
Light & sound show to be back
The unique light and sound show, demonstrating the selfless sacrifice of the freedom fighters, is set to be revived after nearly a decade, on Independence Day. Back in the day, the show used to draw plenty to Residency, a group of buildings on the same premises which served as the residence of the British Resident General, who also had a seat in the court of the Nawab of Awadh. What’s more is that locals and visitors can now enjoy the show at a nominal I100. The show aims at taking viewers back to the Revolt of 1857 in a bid to make them aware how and, to what extent, the City of Nawabs contributed to the freedom struggle.
Wonder kid to sit for boards at age of 10
Rashtram Aditya Shri Krishna, an eight-year-old wonder boy from Lucknow, is ready to take his first high school examinations in 2021, at the age of 10 years. Even the UP Board has granted him special permission to take admission to Class 9 in one of its affiliated schools. Though the board’s standard rules allow a student to be at least 14 years of age to appear in Class 10 board exams, exceptions are made once in a while in some special cases. And Aditya, who will turn 9 on October 17, is one of them. As per his astrologer father Professor Pawan Kumar Acharya, Aditya has never been to a school.
Dress diktat for teachers
The principal Karamat Hussain Muslim Girls’ PG College in Lucknow recently asked teachers to come to the institution dressed in a “decent and appropriate” manner. The minority institution is affiliated to the University of Lucknow (LU). Earlier, the institution had put out a diktat, asking teachers to come in sarees. However, in the face of opposition from the staff and LU Associated College Teachers’ Association (LUACTA), the order was modified. College authorities claim the order came only after it was observed that new appointees were coming to college wearing outfits deemed unbecoming of teachers.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Nation / by Express News Service / August 09th, 2019
Bhumi Pednekar, who is shooting for Pati Patni Aur Woh in Lucknow, celebrated her birthday with family. The actress took to Instagram to share pictures from birthday celebration.
Bhumi Pednekar celebrates her birthday in Lucknow.
It’s a working birthday for Bhumi Pednekar. While the Saand Ki Aankh actress is in Lucknow for the shooting of Pati Patni Aur Woh, her family made sure to make her 30th birthday a memorable one. Her mother and sister flew down to Lucknow to be with the birthday girl on her big day, and the actress is more than happy for “such a great start to the day.”
Bhumi, who turns 30 today, took to Instagram to share pictures from her birthday celebration with family. She wrote, “Couldn’t have had a better start to the day as I grow a year older…with work and the ones I love. Thank you already for all the birthday love. @sumitrapednekar @samikshapednekar #swapnil #upi”
Talking about Bhumi’s birthday plans, a source earlier told DNA, “This year, Bhumi’s birthday was going to be even more special as she is turning 30. She always celebrates her big day with family and friends. It’s an annual ritual for her to throw a party. But, this won’t be possible as an important sequence needs to be filmed and the shoot falls on her birthday.”
Bhumi is currently shooting for Mudassar Aziz’s Pati Patni Aur Woh in Lucknow with Kartik Aaryan and Ananya Panday. The actress will be in Lucknow for a month-long schedule.
“Her mother and sister are travelling to Lucknow where they have planned a dinner after she wraps up her shoot. It will be a quiet, intimate do, as the family wants to spend the evening together because they won’t be able to see Bhumi for an entire month,” added the source.
Pati Patni Aur Woh is a remake of the 1978 hit of the same name and is touted to be a comical take on extra-marital affairs.
Kartik and Bhumi will essay the role of a married couple, while Ananya will play a secretary who turns their lives upside down.
Pati Patni Aur Woh is set to hit the screens on December 6.
source: http://www.indiatoday.in / India Today / Home> News> Movies> Celebrities / by India Today Web Desk / New Delhi – July 18th, 2019
Sufi-kathak dance form creator Manjari Chaturvedi has performed in 35 countries but it is the recognition that she gets in her own city Lucknow is what she cherishes the most.
Manjari Chaturvedi (HT Photo)
Sufi-kathak dance form creator Manjari Chaturvedi has performed in 35 countries but it is the recognition that she gets in her own city Lucknow is what she cherishes the most. “The feeling of being recognized in the city is very special. It is my own city. I did leave it for the pursuit of my goal but wherever I travelled I carried Lucknow with me.”
She was in Lucknow to kick-start the golden jubilee celebrations of Hoerner College, where she was a student once.
“I left the city in 2000 but people still don’t connect me with Delhi… they connect me with Awadh or Lucknow. Whatever I am today, the sensibilities that I have remain of this city. It all remained with me — Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb, zabaan ki tehzeeb, sangeet or nritya,” she says.
The visit is special in many ways. “It was after 30 years that I visited Hoerner College where I was admitted in Class I. Though I was very small, I still have a distinct memory about it. The world knows me as Manjari but before I was admitted to school I was known as Mona, which was my nickname. It was during the admission process, my father wrote my name Manjari. I remember it well as suddenly I got a new name,” she says.
All her kathak training, except ‘abhinay’ that she learnt in Chennai, has happened in Lucknow under guru Pt Arjun Mishra.
“It was very heartening to see a film on me. As an ode to me, they presented my style of Sufi-kathak to the songs that I dance on. They copied my outfits and gestures from my YouTube videos. It was a wonderful feeling. I have established my form of dance (Sufi-Kathak) in 20 years and have performed in 35 countries now. But getting recognition in my own city is very special,” she says.
Besides performing she is largely focusing on ‘The Courtesan Project’ for these unsung women. “We are working on these women performers as we have not given them their due! In history book we find males as performers and ustads/gurus, while females performers are largely mentioned as nautch girls. Bindadin Maharaj performed in the court of Wajid Ali Shah so did Malika Jahan. But we were taught biography of Maharajji and not of Malika Jahan.”
Manjari Chaturvedi was in Lucknow to kick-start the golden jubilee celebrations of Hoerner College, where she was a student once. ( HT Photo )
It all started with Zarina Begum, a ‘mirasin’ (a variant of courtesan), in Lucknow when they both (Manjari and Zarina Begum) performed together. It was thereafter that she realized the biases the society had towards courtesans.
“We have a multi-approach to our project. We do theatrical performances with a dastango or narrator and we recreate their songs on stage and tell their stories and I perform. We do day-long seminar on them with music legends Pt Rajan-Sajan Mishra and Shubha Mudgal. I have myself done 70-odd shows on them.”
Digging the history, she says, “Today in the digital era of recordings and films, thumri, dadra, kathak and ghazal have flourished. Before that, 200-300 years back, these courtesans had kept it alive but no one gives them the credit. I too dance and perform. Today government gives artistes Padma Shri and other recognition. Sadly, these older performers are called nautch girls! So, their stories need to be told and we are doing the same. We need to change the history and give them respect,” she says.
“Some people tell me that you have brought ‘tawaifs’ in fashion…Tarun Tahiliani did a fashion show ‘An ode to courtesans’ along with me,” she says.
She has no association with films for now. “I am a dancer and not a film maker! If someone wants to make a film on them I can give them my research and details. I am writing two books which is based on my 10 years of research. Maybe someone gets interested some day.”
Her 7-year-old daughter is also learning dance but not kathak. “Nazo is learning ballet and enjoying it. So, let her learn the basics and then if she wants I am there to teach her. But she takes lot of pride in my work and that’s a good feeling,” she says.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Lucknow / by Deep Saxena, Hindustan Times – Lucknow / July 08th, 2019
The inaugural JSW Prize for Contemporary Craftsmanship, in association with AD, was awarded to Lucknow’s Kalhath Institute for embroidery
Photo caption: Maximiliano Modesti and Sangita Jindal at the Kalhath Institute in Lucknow. All photos courtesy Neville Sukhia
Hanging on the walls of the JSW office in Mumbai is a symbol of gratitude—a unique interpretation of a painting by French artist Anne Pesce.
But where Pesce’s medium is oil-on-canvas, this piece uses thread and glass beads to translate her abstract expressions of landscape into tangible reality. Its embroidered surface softly catches the light, and the textured shades of grey, white and pink make viewers stop for a second glance, then lean in closer to admire the dexterity that went into creating it.
The work was gifted by the Kalhath Institute as a gesture of thanks, from the recipients of the inaugural JSW Prize for Contemporary Craftsmanship, which was founded in 2018, at the AD Design Show in India.
It also signifies a turning point for the Lucknow-based institute, whose pursuit of embroidery education uncovered a new opportunity for craft production.
Photo caption: The facade and campus of the Kalhath Institute in Lucknow, which was founded by Modesti in 2016
Lucknow, Kalhath Institute: Serial Skiller
After over 20 years of working with karigars (craftsmen) and luxury houses, French-Italian craft entrepreneur Maximiliano Modesti realised that pride in one’s work was a big driver, and that formalising recognition was as important as addressing wages.
He founded Kalhath in 2016, and its mission has been to recognise, promote and sustain craft excellence. His approach to create an impact across craft is now through measured interventions. What this means is that engagements must be deep, long term and, to begin with, in smaller numbers.
Sangita Jindal confesses to being completely taken by her visit to the institute, housed in a heritage building in Lucknow: “The work of Kalhath was very inspiring to see first-hand. It is a unique institution and they are doing a commendable job.”
Photo caption: Embroiderers at the Kalhath Institute, Siraj Ali and Amir Khan, working on artist T Venkanna’s Holy Tree artwork
Fourteen karigars recently celebrated their convocation. The faculty had introduced them to a wide spectrum of skill-building engagements, including spatial perception, colour, costing and design.
They learnt through practical application, and the programme concluded with an art residency that had them co-creating artworks with artist T Venkanna.
Lucknow, Kalhath Institute: French Influences
But it all began with the initial experiment. The first artwork interpreted by the karigars during the initial stages of the programme was the Pesce piece.
Titled New York #14, karigars Mohammed Ishtiaque Ansari and Mohammed Tabriz Shaikh worked on it over a period of two months.
Modesti shares the reasoning behind this piece being chosen as the gift: “I wanted to acknowledge the kindness of Sangita’s award with the first-ever artwork we worked on at the institute. This work travelled to the AD Design Show as well.”
Visitors to the last year’s show might recall a young man, Ishtiyaque Ansari, working over an adda (a rectangular wooden frame), intently focused on transforming into three dimensions, Pesce’s two-dimensional work.
Photo caption: Embroiderers at the institute working on an artwork titled Incomplete Circle
Lucknow, Kalhath Institute: Bridging the Gap
Embroidered works of art are not new, but the opportunity lies in creating production facilities dedicated to, and experienced in, managing the expectations and the relationships between artists and karigars.
Modesti’s view on the final product being classified as either a work of art or craft is telling: “It depends on who the artist is, and what kind of work they want to create.
For instance, there is no difference between a painting by Venkanna and his embroidered works: he is using embroidery as [a medium].
However, in the case of Pesce, it is a translation of her work. What is emerging is so different for each artist—and that is the great potential: It is not only one language, it is multiple ways of creating and translating work.”
Photo caption: A piece titled Fire being shown by Venkanna (left) and Zeeshan Ahmed, a member of faculty at the Kalhath Institute
That Pesce’s work is being translated into five editions almost undermines the understanding of each as a unique work that reveals the potential, and need, of new classifications between craft, art and design. It is perhaps in these new classifications that the future of craft lies.
The recipient of the second edition of the JSW Prize for Contemporary Craftsmanship will be announced at the AD Design Show 2019.
source: http://www.architecturaldigest.in / Architectural Digest / Home> Architecture & Design> Craftsmanship / by Malika Verma Kashyap / May 27th, 2019
The Allahabad Museum is requesting individuals and organisations to donate to it the letters, documents written by freedom fighters.
The Allahabad Museum (HT Photo)
Soon people will be able to get an insight into the lives of nation’s great freedom fighters through their own hand written accounts, letters and documents narrating their struggle and life during India’s freedom movement.
“Allahabad Museum is in the process of getting these documents from individuals, organisations and institutes from different parts of the country. The museum took the initiative after an appeal made by UP governor that people who possess some valuable documents, letters etc related to India’s freedom movement and freedom fighters should come forward to donate them to the Allahabad Museum,” said director of the museum Sunil Gupta.
“Following it, we received a well-preserved letter of freedom fighter Vishnu Sharan Dublish from KD Sharma, a resident of Meerut. He contacted us for proving the letter,” added Gupta.
Gupta claimed that Dublish wrote this letter on November 1, 1937 after he was released from the Andaman jail.
In the letter, Dublish had made an appeal to people to also treat Aman Singh Atre as a freedom fighter while highlighting his role in the freedom movement.
“We are also in discussion with Pune-based Tilak Foundation for providing hand written letter of another great freedom fighter Rajguru. A few days back, an artist donated us around 150 pictures of freedom fighters. Likewise, we have also made an appeal to some organisations and institutes to provide us some original documents on temporary basis,” he added.
The officials also informed that they were also in discussion with Savarkar Trust in Kalyan, Maharashtra for getting some letters of freedom fighter Veer Savarkar.
“We are still in the process of getting these valuable documents and letters related to India’s freedom movement. Once we get sufficient documents, they will be displayed in the new gallery being constructed at the cost of around Rs eight crore. The dates of displaying these items and other related decisions will be taken in the next meeting of Allahabad Museum,” said Gupta.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> India / by Smriti Malaviya , Hindustan Tiems, Prayagraj / April 01st, 2019
Photograph of the special 15 paise postal stamp, issued on September 01, 1961 in honour of the late V.N. Bhatkhande | Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives – PIBB
V.N. Bhatkhande’s extensive travels helped bridge North and South
One of the most fascinating structures in the Qaiserbagh area of Lucknow is the erstwhile Pari Khana, the building, which housed the numerous courtesans in the service of the Nawabs of Avadh. In its time it must have been home to much music and what is interesting is that it continues to do so even now, the Bhatkhande Music Institute Deemed University being headquartered here. And that institution has a story that bridges both the Hindustani and Carnatic systems.
Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande (1860-1936) remains a landmark figure in the world of Indian musicology. A resident of Bombay, he was trained in music while young and retained sufficient interest in it even after reaching adulthood, when he qualified in law and set up practice at the High Court of Bombay. Circumstances so arranged themselves that he could soon devote his entire energies to music, his wife and daughter passing away thereby freeing him of the necessity of earning for a family. It was then that he began to ponder over the fact that Hindustani Music did not have a structured curriculum of teaching and remained largely an oral tradition.
Bhatkhande travelled far and wide across North India, collecting information about the way music was taught in the various gharanas. He then moved South, coming to Madras in 1904. He had established contact with Thirumalayya Naidu, a local connoisseur. Having met up with Naidu at the Cosmopolitan Club, he attended a concert performance by Bangalore Nagarathnamma at a Sabha on Ramaswami Street, George Town. Bhatkhande’s account of her performance remains the only review of a concert by this redoubtable artiste.
The Bhatkhande Institute Deemed University
It was, however, his subsequent interactions with other names deep down South that had a greater impact on him. He travelled to Ramanathapuram to meet ‘Poochi’ Srinivasa Iyengar. He came to know that Subbarama Dikshitar had just then published his Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini and went to Ettayapuram to see him. In Madras, he met Thiruvottiyur Tyagier and Tachur Singaracharya among others. The interactions were not altogether as fruitful as Bhatkhande would have wished, language being a great barrier. In his daily jottings, published later by the Indira Gandhi University at Khairagarh, as Meri Dakshin Bharat Ki Sangeet Yatra (My Musical Journey in Southern India), Bhatkhande noted that while all the musicians he met came across as great and saintly personalities, they were unable to explain to him much of what they practised.
He did manage to obtain valuable manuscripts — the Chaturdandi Prakasika of Venkatamakhin and the Svaramelakalanidhi of Ramamatya. These, and the observations he had made while touring North India, along with other manuscripts, helped him classify Hindustani ragas under a system of ten, which is rather like the melakartas of the Carnatic style. He wrote extensively on Hindustani music and his four-volume Hindustani Sangeet Paddhathi is even today the standard text for the North Indian style of classical music. Bhatkhande also began organising All India Music Conferences, which focused on Hindustani Music.
In this he was greatly supported by Rai Umanath Bali, a prominent Taluqdar of Avadh. It was the latter’s dearest wish that a college for Hindustani Music be established in Lucknow while Bhatkhande preferred Delhi for its location. The two argued over it for nearly a decade before the latter was finally won over in 1922. The fourth All India Music Conference was held in Lucknow in 1924 and a resolution was passed for the setting up of a music college in that city. The music-loving Nawab of Rampur threw his weight behind the setting up of the institution. This became reality in 1926, with syllabus fashioned by Bhatkhande. The All India College of Hindustani Music was inaugurated at the Pari Khana by Sir William Sinclair Marris, the then Governor of the United Provinces. Six months later, the college was named after him.
Rather interestingly, this was to have an impact in Madras. It was in 1927 that the All India Congress Session was held here with a music conference being held in parallel. That saw the birth of the Music Academy with one of its mandates being the setting up of a Teachers’ College of Music, “on the lines of the Marris College.” The Queen Mary’s College, which had offered music as an elective course with no theory classes for over a decade, began to offer a two-year intermediate course from 1927. Two years later, the Music College in Chidambaram, now a part of the Annamalai University began functioning. That institution too borrowed from the Marris College pattern.
It was only in 1948 that the Marris College changed its name to give credit where it was due — becoming the Bhatkhande Institute. This scholar, intrepid traveller and seeker deserved his name being preserved for posterity. In 2000, the Institute became a deemed university.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> In Search of Music> Music / by Sriram V / March 29th, 2019
For Neha Singh, MA Fine Arts student from Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi, art is a miraculous alternative medicine for a speedy recovery and better receptivity for patients.
Neha Singh
Kochi :
“Won’t it be beautiful to see a landscape when you are admitted in a hospital, rather than white walls and plain curtains,” asks Neha Singh, who was in the city recently as part of her internship project to learn about Raja Ravi Varma paintings. For Neha Singh, MA Fine Arts student from Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi, art is a miraculous alternative medicine for a speedy recovery and better receptivity for patients.
Neha had spent time at the Kowdiar Palace to learn about the paintings of Raja Ravi Varma during which won appreciation from Gauri Parvathy Bhai, member of the erstwhile royal family of Travancore, for her artwork and contributions. During her stay in Thiruvananthapuram, she visited hospitals including the Santhwana Hospital at Ambalamukku to spread messages on the therapeutic effect of art.
She believes in the pursuit of innovation with the intention of developing her own potential as well as nourishing the talents of children. The idea of healing through art struck her while thinking of an idea to help people physically or psychologically with her talent. According to her, art therapy is not just about exposing patients to artwork, but also involving themselves in the process.
“In art therapy patients are encouraged to create paintings and craft works. Though art cannot be termed as an alternative to medicine, it can assist to make the patient receptive, thereby making the treatment procedure much easier,” says Neha.
She often visits children in hospitals and gifts them her paintings. “Mostly children tend to panic more while in the hospital. As an artist, my presence with my paintings and spending time with them has shown remarkable happiness on their faces. Undoubtedly, a patient is more receptive to the treatment and cures faster while they are relaxed,” said Neha.
Neha is a multi-talented personality and a two time World Records holder. In 2017, she made a World Record by creating the map of India with more than 16 lakh glass beads. In September 2018, she was back in the headlines after making another World Record by creating a Hanuman Chalisa with more than 38,417 fingertip impressions in a 449 feet cloth which has entered in Eurasia World Records.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Kochi / by Steena Das / Express News Service / March 06th, 2019
