Monthly Archives: November 2017

This Lucknow businessman arranges marriage for poor girls

Lucknow :

A businessman, president of Daliganj Vyapar Mandal(Daliganj Traders Federation) but the identity of Daliganj resident Manish Gupta is much more than that.

Manish has been organizing mass wedding ceremonies for several years.

Here, girls who come from poor families get married in typical band-baja-barat style.

Manish has four sisters. In his struggling days, he sold even detergent powder in weekly market. He knows how difficult it was to arrange marriages of his sisters. So when his financial condition improved he decided to help in the marriages of poor girls.

He tied up with Daliganj Vyapar Mandal to get support in implementing his idea.

He also founded SarvSamaj Nirdhan Kanya Kalyan Samitia in which and only 5 couples got married. He also arranged wedding a ceremony in Ramdheen Lawn near IT Crossroad on November 2 in which 21 girls got married.

Manish told that he arranges marriage only after mutual consent of both the families. There is also a condition according to which groom will have to gift jewellery worth 30 thousand rupees to his bride.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Cities / by Navbharat Times / November 30th, 2017

Agra university plans uplift of ‘men of metal’

The long neglected nomadic ironsmiths or ‘gadiya lohar’ in the Taj city can now hope for a better life, courtesy Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar University, which is planning to bring them into the mainstream of society.

The university is working on a pilot project for their rehabilitation through various government schemes and is also planning to arrange for education of children belonging to this deprived community.(HT Photo)

The long neglected nomadic ironsmiths or ‘gadiya lohar’ in the Taj city can now hope for a better life, courtesy Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar University, which is planning to bring them into the mainstream of society through skill development programmes, apart from giving them access to housing and education.

These ‘gadiya lohar’ or ‘loh-pita’ (blacksmiths), who move from place to place in search of livelihood, are said to have a historical past and it is said their ancestors chose this nomadic lifestyle of their own volition. Earlier, they fashioned swords and javelins but with changing times, they now make axes, kitchen ware and iron tools. But the community still adheres to the old life style and can be found on the pavements during transit.

Ironically, while most other tribes have progressed, this community still languishes at the bottom.

The university is working on a pilot project for their rehabilitation through various government schemes and is also planning to arrange for education of children belonging to this deprived community. Through the project it aims to address problems like illiteracy, low income generation and use of obsolete technology in economic activities .

“We will begin by preparing a pilot project and conduct a survey about the status of these deprived families who live a nomadic life and settle on the road side while moving from one city to another. They work hard with their obsolete instruments to make iron tools and are yet to join the mainstream of society,” said Dr Girija Shankar, spokesperson of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar University.

The university’s attention was drawn towards these iron smiths during preparations for its convocation scheduled in December, because a number of such ironsmiths are stationed along the outer wall of the university campus in Khandari, which encloses the venue for the convocation.

A close look at their plight gave the varsity administration the idea to work towards their uplift.

“We are working on possible measures which include education for children of these iron smiths, who can be part of the Modern School run by the university. They can be given access to various government schemes, including housing and their skill can be used as skill development initiative of the university. Various departments and faculties in the varsity can play an active role in this initiative,” said Dr Girija Shankar.

“Dr Arvind Dixit, vice chancellor of Dr BR Ambedkar University, is relying on departments, particularly those of sociology and social science, conducting courses like MSW (Master of Social Works) for taking up the cause as social responsibility of the university,” he said.

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Cities> Lucknow / by Hemendra Chaturvedi, Hindustan Times,Agra / November 28th, 2017

Samsung Innovation Awards 2017 held at IIT-Kanpur to recognize young innovators with path-breaking ideas

New Delhi [India] (ANI-NewsVoir):

Samsung India conducted the 7th edition of the annual Samsung Innovation Awards at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur in association with Entrepreneurship Cell.

Samsung Innovation Awards aim to recognize and reward innovations that have the potential to revolutionize everyday living and enable students to take their ideas to the next level.

The first prize went to the team that included Kshitij Jaggi, Kumar Shivang and Rishabh Sahu who worked on a peer to peer financial transaction app using Blockchain technology in a distributed environment. The vision of the team is to enable financial inclusion of chit fund subscribers with Circle, a mobile ?rst solution for organisers to easily manage the members, bringing in transparency in the whole process and creating credit history for all Indians.

Insomniatec, comprising students Kaustubh Mundra and Sankalp Rastogi, won the second prize for proposing a project that uses an infra-red camera coupled with computer vision technology to detect drowsiness in a vehicle driver while in motion and provides in-time alerts.

One of the projects, Muskan Solid Waste, consisting Hari Shankar and co-founder Mewa Lal found a special mention at the awards. This is a start-up that converts organic waste into high yielding compost. The technique used reduces time for composting and produces more efficient manure compared to artificial fertilizers.

The awards were presented by Dr. Aloknath De, Chief Technology Officer, Samsung R&D Institute, India Bangalore (SRI-B). The winners were given cash prizes worth Rs. 2.5 lakh while the five finalists received merit recognition from Samsung.

Samsung Innovation Awards 2017 saw an overwhelming response, with eight teams getting an opportunity to present their ideas to the jury comprising Dr. Aloknath De from SRI-B and professors from IIT-Kanpur – Dr. Amitabha Bandyopadhyay from the Department of Biological Sciences & Bioengineering (BSBE), Prof. Sandeep Shukla from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Kanpur.

Samsung R&D Institute Bangalore will engage with the award winners to further develop their innovations.

“Through the platform of Samsung Innovation Awards, we want to encourage students to work on innovative ideas in evolving areas of artificial intelligence, computer vision and IOT. When we see diverse and quality projects in these emerging technology areas, we can sense the pulse of our youth. Novelty of ideas, comprehensiveness in execution and impact of solution are yardsticks in selecting the winners. Samsung has been supporting deep-tech innovation at large and this year’s event in IIT-Kanpur is one such initiative,” said Dr. Aloknath De, Chief Technology Officer, Samsung R&D Institute, India – Bangalore.

Cutting-edge innovations were showcased at the competition. The innovative product ideas and solutions presented this year ranged from a cloud-based healthcare data management system to an intelligence platform for law enforcement and defence agencies.

“Innovation and entrepreneurship ought to become an integral part of institutions of academic and higher technical learnings. We must quickly transform into an innovation driven society where young minds understand societal needs, carve out opportunities and take calculated risks to become job creators and leaders. We are happy that corporates such as Samsung are coming forward to help us create the desired ecosystem at IIT Kanpur,” said Sameer Khandekar, Associate Dean, Innovation and Incubation, IIT Kanpur.

The 2017 edition of the Samsung Innovation Awards was initiated at IIT-Kanpur campus six months ago through an open entry process, where students submitted their innovative ideas. The shortlisting process was led by professors from IIT-Kanpur and researchers from SRI-B, who also selected the eight finalists.

The final teams presented their ideas to the jury at the IIT-Kanpur campus. The winning project was selected based on the degree of innovation, feasibility, usability, relevance and overall impact on masses.

Conceptualised in 2011, the Samsung Innovation Awards seek to support and encourage young talent who have an innovative approach and look to improvise different systems and processes. Further, it aims to develop indigenous products and services for fulfilling mass needs thereby transforming lives and creating sustainable solutions for the benefit of the society at large.

Over the years, Samsung Innovation Awards have become one of the most eagerly awaited ideation contests at IIT’s due to enthusiastic participation from the student community.

The first edition was conducted at IIT Delhi and since then Samsung Innovation Awards have been held at other major IITs. The last edition in 2016 was held at IIT Bombay and had witnessed great interest and enthusiasm from students. Samsung continues to provide the next generation of Indian innovators and entrepreneurs an avenue to showcase and advance their engineering skill sets. (ANI-NewsVoir)

source: http://www.aninews.in / ANI / Home / November 16th, 2017

Singer Yatharth Ratnum nominated for MTV EMA 2017

Mumbai :

The Stage season 1 winner Yatharth Ratnum has been nominated for MTV EMA 2017 in London as Best Indian Act.

The singer exclaimed, “This is really amazing as I got nominated for my first single Continents. It’s cool because I am nominated against real heavyweights like Nucleya, Raja Kumari, Hard Kaur and Parekh and Singh.”

The singer is all excited that he is hearing wishes and messages from all the sides on being nominated. He said. “Everyone is sending me a message saying we voted 100 times as multiple voting is allowed. It’s a good feeling for me to be there.”

Talking about his success he said, “The Stage was a much-needed show as there are so many artistes in this country and they are craving to tell their story. The Stage gave me the platform where I was able to tell my story. I come from Varanasi and to me to do western music or English music is a big deal. Stage changed my life around, gave me so much and now I get to work with top people in the industry. I really feel fortunate to be the winner of the show.”

The voting line will be open until 11 November and the final result for Best Indian Act will be announced in London on 12 November.

source: http://www.radioandmusic.com / Radio and Music.com / Home> News / by RnM Team / October 17th, 2017

Miss West Bengal ’17 votes for cleanliness in her hometown

West Bengal: Miss West Bengal ’17 votes for cleanliness in her hometown | Agra News – Times of India

Agra:

During voting for civic body elections at ward no. 74 here on Wednesday, all eyes were on Shivankita Dixit, a 23-year-old who was crowned Miss West Bengal 2017, who turned up to vote.

Dixit, a resident of Manas Nagar, has been living with her aunt in Kolkata for a year, and had participated and won the contest in that state. She then auditioned for the Miss India contest in Mumbai. She returned to her hometown to vote for the civic body elections.

Wearing tiara on her head, Dixit told TOI, “My vote was for cleanliness. I want the winning candidate to give priority to creating garbage-free localities and clean roads. A clean environment is the first step to a healthy life.”

Apart from cleanliness issue, the local businessman Sanjay Dixit daughter said, “I’m not aware of Agra city, but in my locality, the residents are conservative. They don’t allow their daughters to go out and explore the world. My vote in civic body polls is also important because the mayoral candidate which I have voted for is expected toward empowerment of girls in the city.”

Shivankita Dixit completed her graduation from Dayalbagh University and is the first beautypageant winner from Agra.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Agra News / by Arvind Chauhan / TNN / November 23rd, 2017

Lucknow-born composer attempts weaving Chinese history, philosophy into a grand musical

Lucknow-born composer and conductor Vijay Upadhyaya is trying to capture the essence of Chinese history and philosophy into a grand musical composition.

Vijay Upadhyaya’s opera Chang’an Men tells the story of Chinese history and culture through music

In Chang’an Men, or The Gate of Eternal Peace, Lucknow-born composer and conductor Vijay Upadhyaya attempts what even Chinese musicians consider a daunting exercise: distilling the essence of Chinese history and philosophy into one grand musical composition.

Unveiled in Beijing on November 13 to a packed Beijing Concert Hall, Upadhyaya’s ambitious 80-minute symphony fuses Western and Chinese styles. It features an elaborate Western choral arrangement, several Chinese classical instruments and a southern Chinese folk singer.

It was an impressive debut, despite the fact that Upadhyaya had only a week with the China National Symphony Orchestra in Beijing. “This was the first time such a composition was commissioned by the government of China to a foreigner,” he said after the concert.

A naturalised Austrian who has lived in Vienna since 1987 and heads the music department at Vienna University, Upadhyaya has been visiting China regularly for a decade. Over the past two years, he has visited every six weeks to research Chinese history and philosophy, and it took him nearly a year to write the opera. “The opera basically tells the story of Chinese history and the roots of Chinese philosophy through music,” he explained as melodious sounds drifted through the grim, Soviet-style residential complex in north Beijing that forms the base for the China National Symphony Orchestra.

Upadhyaya says his hope for the symphony, which will be performed in Vienna next, “is to not only explain Chinese culture abroad but to their own people,” especially to the younger generation that’s forgotten its roots.

The first of the symphony’s four movements draws on the Lunyu, or Analects of Confucius, expressing the five traditional virtues of noble being, righteousness, proper conduct, wisdom and trustworthiness. A quintessentially Chinese piece, it ends with a sense of aggression that Upadhyaya says is meant to represent the chaos of the Warring States period and subsequent search for order that fuelled Confucian thought.

The second movement is inspired by the I Ching or Book of Change. It is slow and melodious, following the tones of language in the tradition of performances of old Chinese poetry. The ‘guzheng’-a stringed Chinese instrument-features prominently, played by musician Wei Ji of the China Central Conservatory of Music.

While this writer found the guzheng-heavy movement to be the most powerful one, Upadhyaya appears most passionate about the third movement. It features singer Cai Yayi performing Nanyin, a type of folk music from southeastern Fujian. “Nanyin is a dying art and she is one of few authentic artists trying to preserve it,” he says.

In India, Upadhyaya performed a similar orchestral arrangement using Tamil and Malayalam folk music, and plans to do so in Telugu and Kannada. He believes China is doing far more than India in promoting traditional culture and fast-fading folk arts. The Chinese government has invited him to be part of a “1,000 experts” programme to advise the government on promoting the arts and preserving traditions. “India and China are facing the same problem, and it’s not due to any political system but because of changes such as the media and globalisation. In India, it is being killed through Bollywood. Besides the Carnatic music tradition, there is the Hindustani music tradition but folk music is dead. The diversity is dying out.”

“The difference,” he says, “is that the government of China has a programme to try and keep this alive. This is a major policy emphasis and in India we simply haven’t seen any such effort.” But music is not the only arena where he feels China’s authoritarian government is outperforming Indian democracy. It’s also doing better in the fight against pollution and gender inequality, he says. “Working in China for 10 years, I don’t believe in democracy anymore,” he said. “India and China started in the 1970s at the same point, and look at where China is today.”

He laments that political squabbles have thwarted more cultural exchanges between India and China. “There is a big acceptance and respect for Indian culture in China, but I find that India is too defensive about the whole thing. They see us as a similar culture, but there seems to be a lobby in India that is against China. Maybe there are political issues in Arunachal or Kashmir, but you can also look at the positive points, whether business or culture.”

Starting a joint India-China orchestra, he suggests, would be one small step in addressing the disharmony. But that, for now, remains an unfinished symphony.

source: http://www.indiatoday.intoday.in / India Today / Home> News> Magazine> Leisure / by Ananth Krishnan / November 14th, 2017

Sitara Devi—still twinkling on Kathak scene

New Delhi (UNI):

On Wednesday, Google marked the 97th birth anniversary of eminent Kathak dancer Sitara Devi with a colourful Doodle.

The online search engine paid tribute to the legendary dancer for her vibrant energy, awesome footwork, and exceptional ability to bring a story to life.

Such was Sitara Devi’s passion for Kathak that even at the ripe age of 94 in 2014, she performed “ada” and “tukras” while sitting in a chair at a Haridas Sangeet Sammelan festival. In between her performances, she took a pill for her heart problem all the while coaxing the audience to make demands of her. “It will make me happy if you demand some tukra or ada from me because all I want to do is dance, dance and dance,” she said.

It is no wonder then, that she was anointed “Nritya Samragini” (Empress of Dance) by none other than Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore after he watched her performance when she was just 16.

Sitara Devi’s exquisite footwork is unparalleled and her adas were legendary. She could at once be coquettish as in “sarakti jaye rukh se naqab ahista ahista” and within seconds be an adoring mother in “thumak chalat ramchandra’’.

The danseuse was born on November 8, 1920 in Calcutta (now Kolkata) around Diwali and named “Dhan Lakshmi”. She was fondly called “Dhanno”. But later, as she spread her wings she came to be known as Sitara Devi.

Soon the family moved to Varanasi. Her father, Sukhdev Maharaj, was a Sanskrit scholar and also a Kathak dancer and musician. He is considered a source of the Benares gharana of Kathak. Her mother Matsya Kumari was related to the royal family of Nepal.

Those were the days when dance was not considered respectable and the sound of `ghungroos’ was related to prostitutes. Thus, Sukhdev Maharaj was forced to move out their residence in Kabir Chaura in Varanasi.

However, Sitara Devi’s fame as a Kathak danseuse spread far and wide. When she was just 13, film maker and dance director Narendra Sharma invited her to Bombay (now Mumbai) to perform in a film. Thereafter she performed in several films including Arzoo, Aurat Ka Dil, Nagina, Phool, Hulchul, Roti and Mughl-e-Azam among others.

Sitara Devi’s closeness to the film industry led her into two marriages with film personalities. She married K Azif of Mughl-e-Azam fame and then Pakistani and Indian Film producer and director Nazir Ahmed Khan. Both the marriages ended in separation and Sitara Devi remained married to her art till the end.

She, however, is credited with introducing the famous Benares gharana of Kathak in the Bombay film industry. She trained top heroines of the day including Madhubala, and Mala Sinha in Kathak.

Sitara Devi performed all over the world including at the Royal Albert Hall, London (1967) and the Carnegie Hall, New York (1976) and worked tirelessly to popularise the dance form.

In a career spanning six decades she was bestowed the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and Padam Shri.

However, in 2002 she turned down Padam Bhushan saying she deserved the Bharat Ratna.

She said she did not grudge the award of Bharat Ratna to artistes like Ustad Bismillah Khan, Lata Mangeshkar and Pandit Ravi Shankar but she felt she deserved it as well.

The legendary artiste lives on in the hearts of her audiences, her numerous disciples and through her talented daughter Jayantimala Rishika, also a Kathak dancer.

Sitara Devi passed away on November 25, 2014.

UNI GP RSA 1544

source: http://www.uniindia.com / United News of India / Home> Features / by Gargi Parsai / November 13th, 2017

Where tradition is the spice of business

If cameras had been commonly used in the early 19th century in Lucknow, the walls of this iconic shop would have been full of pictures ranging from Nawabi to British customers, claims Dheeraj Kumar Gupta, who sits at the counter at Mata Badal Pansari in Aminabad.

Set up in 1857, Madal Badal Pansari has neither lost on tradition nor customers. Known far and wide for selling hard-to-find ayurvedic medicines and other rare herbs, the shop has celebrity chefs such as Vikas Khanna and Sanjeev Kapoor as its regular clients.

“Khanna had also mentioned about our shop and spices he bought from us when he was interviewed by media during his recent visit to Lucknow,” says Dheeraj, the sixth generation of Mata Badal—the man who had set up the shop.

Dheeraj runs the 160-year-old store with his father.

Located in a lane in Aminabad—the market that sells everything from a needle to a sword—Mata Badal Pansari gets its name from the owner himself. When Mata Badal had set up the shop, the market was nothing but a huge park, says Dheeraj.

Both the Nawabs and the British were among the store’s regular customers. “Only if clicking pictures was as easy as it is today, we would have had the most interesting collage to display,” he adds.

As one walks into the store, the huge iron shutters at its entrance, high ceiling and the large storage space—it is rare to find such in a place like Aminabad—lend credence to its past.
“We get rare herbs from farmers in Darjeeling, Nepal, Goa and even abroad. We actually get ‘Multani mitti’ from Multan in Pakistan,” says Deepak.

Anyone who has ever lived in Lucknow would have heard of Mata Badal Pansari if not visited the shop.

Meetu Kumar, an HR professional settled in New Delhi, says, “Though I am from Unnao, my maternal grandmother in Lucknow would ensure that she always got henna for her hair from Mata Badal Pansari. I remember how my mother used to shop from them too for the best henna. Now, I get it whenever I land in Lucknow.”

Through all these years, the shop has not deviated from tradition. The interiors have not been changed and sales are only over the counter.

“We have customers visiting us from all parts of the country and even beyond. We have not thought of adopting online or other platforms to sell our products,” says Gupta. His younger brother, though a lawyer, makes it a point to participate in the family business too.

With its huge clientele, the shop caters to various famous personalities.

“Raj Bhawan has always bought herbs from us and so have most chief ministers. We have never tried or even thought of marketing the fact that we have sold herbs and medicines to famous people. To us, every customer is equally important,” says Gupta.

Mata Badal Pansari has never been into advertising. Its popularity and credibility have travelled far and wide mainly through word of mouth.

Swati Singh, a Lucknowite now settled in Bangalore, says she keeps a note of spices and herbs required in her kitchen in a diary but never buys them from just any store

“I have to get my spices from Mata Badal Pansari in Lucknow. Either I ask my brother to courier them to me or I buy them myself when I come to Lucknow,” she adds.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City News> Lucknow News / TNN / August 20th, 2017

Saurabh from AKG Engg College bags Chancellor’s Award at AKTU

Lucknow :

Saurabh Verma, a student of electronics and communication engineering from Ajay Kumar Garg Engineering College, Ghaziabad is the recipient of the Chancellor’s medal at APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University. The medal, awarded to the best performing student among all courses, will be given on AKTU’s 15th convocation slated on December 12.

AKTU on Tuesday also announced the medal awardees for its various courses.

In private colleges, in civil engineering, the topper is Anjali Tiwari. In computer science and engineering, Mohit Agarwal is the topper while in electrical engineering, Shivani Singh stands first. The topper in electronics and instrumentation engineering is Vaibhav Garg, in electronics and communication engineering is Saurabh Verma, in mechanical engineering is Anmol Agarwal, in textile engineering is Arunima Singh, in agriculture engineering is Anshuman Vatsa, in information technology is Aashruti Kaushik, and in chemical engineering is Komal Sharma.

In biotechnology, the highest scorer is Virendra Singh who has 86.2% marks. The bachelor of pharmacy (BPharm) course is topped by Harshita Gupta. The topper in bachelor of hotel management programme (BHMCT) is Rahul Sharma. Rahul Kumar Tomar has topped the bachelor of architecture (BArch) course while Vinita Juneja has emerged as topper in bachelor of fashion designing (BFAD). The MBA programme is topped by Laxmi Rajput.

The University also declared the list of medal winners in its five government colleges.

Top three engineering students of each government autonomous college, across different engineering branches are in the medal list. The gold medal at Madam Mohan Malviya Engineering College, Gorakhpur, which is now MMM University of Technology, is won by Sheena Garg from civil engineering with Bhumika Sadhwani from the same department winning a silver medal. The bronze medal is won by Monika Bajpayee of electrical engineering.

At Lucknow’s Institute of Engineering and Technology, Rajat Kumar Singh, a chemical engineering student, who secured 86.76% is the recipient of gold medal.

The gold medalist at Kamla Nehru Institute of Technology, Sultanpur is Priya Sisodia, a student of electronics engineering who scored 87.66%.

At Bundelkhand Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jhansi, the gold medal winner is Manisha Agarwal (86.64%) from chemical engineering.

Shivani Gupta from Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, Kanpur’s chemical engineering has bagged the gold medal by scoring 87.32%.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News / by Isha Jain / TNN / November 21st, 2017

Kabir by the ghats: Mahindra Kabira Festival in Varanasi brings together finest musicians

Indian classical music’s finest and folk/fusion rock’s dependables came together along with speakers, authors and designers to draw from the wellspring of poet Saint Kabir

At the second edition of the Mahindra Kabira Festival in Varanasi last week, there was a connection between geography, history and art that few festivals in the country can claim to make successfully. Across two days, on November 11 and 12, Indian classical music’s finest and folk/fusion rock’s dependables came together along with speakers, authors and designers to draw from the wellspring of one of India’s near-mythical status poets, Saint Kabir.

As is the tradition in classical music festivals, including the Jodhpur RIFF, there were morning and evening sessions of performances across two days. You really haven’t experienced classical music in this kind of setting until you’ve heard santoor prodigy Kumar Sarang and tabla player Shrutisheel Uddhav render raag Bhairavi or veteran vocalist Rashmi Agarwal just as the mist over the Ganga river clears behind them and the sun comes into view. Kumar Sarang and Shrutisheel Uddhav share an excited smile as they perform, closing with added vocals from Kumar, using the Kabir couplet ‘Moko Kahan’.

What followed was a dastan-e-goi by Ankit Chadha, easily one of the best highlights for any music and non-music lover. This was where the festival’s main showcase of literature, music and culture came together with great modern relevancy, Chadha sitting and boldly talking about Kabir in a way that everyone understood, laughed and nodded in agreement to.

If Chadha had attained rockstar status by the end of his session, it was a sign of things to come on the music side of the festival. The Mahindra Kabira Festival had enlisted rockstars who knew their Kabir – Hindustani vocal veteran Shubha Mudgal (who closed proceedings on day one with stirring renditions of Kabir, including ‘Saheb Hain Rangrez’), master drummer Nathulal Solanki (world-renown for collaborating with everyone from Ben Walsh to Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, but every bit humble as he performed on day two) and of course, folk fusion rocker Kailash Kher’s Kailasa. The band who closed proceedings at the festival were received with roaring applause throughout and Kher, still a jokey humble guy, managed to bring out all the hits at their highest volume, something that may have irked some of the classical music listeners who’d stayed to check it out.

The headline sessions were interspersed with acts that would be great new discoveries for any crossover crowd that wasn’t averse to contemporary retellings. Among the strongest storytellers of Kabir (and Rahim) was singer-songwriter Harpreet, who played his heart out twice at the festival. Meanwhile, Mumbai-based fusion act Maati Baani became a new discovery for many, their friendly energy (and Varanasi-bred French clarinet/saxophone player Madhav’s impeccable skill) keeping the crowd at Assi Ghat interested.

Although Maati Baani too picked ‘Moko Kahan’, Bengaluru-based Bindumalini and Chennai-based Vedanth Bharadwaj (on day one, at the Chhota Nagpur ka Bageehca stage) were a little more even-tempered in their presentation, picking Kabir and Kumar Gandharv works with help from percussionist Ajay Tipanya. Day one’s evening session mood-setters where dependable voices such as the versatile Vishnu Mishra and Rajasthani vocalist Mahesha Ram, whose rustic yet hypnotic music had everyone clapping along.

In between, nuggets of Kabir – courtesy of celebrity designer Aabha Dalmia and writer Vinayak Sapre (who linked economics, commerce and Kabir’s poetry with mixed results)—were proof enough that here is literature and history that is striving to be current. It’ll be interesting to see how the festival curates more names influenced by Kabir. Perhaps that would be a true testament of the saint poet’s relevancy, as well as the festival.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Music / by Anurag Tagat / November 21st, 2017