Time to ‘Spring up’ Lucknow as Spring House Coworking Launches Its New Space in the City

Business & Economy

A community enabler with a more collaborative, innovative and state-of-the-art environment

One of India’s most diverse community enablers, Spring House has opened doors to its newest co-working space in the ‘City of Nawabs’ in collaboration with Design Factory India. This is Spring House’s second successful association with this premier experience design firm, the first being in Noida.

This coworking space is located in Gomti Nagar and comprises of 50 workstations. It offers amenities like high-speed internet, courier and printing services, housekeeping services, complimentary tea & coffee and access to conference rooms.

Sourabh Gupta, Founder of Design Factory India shares, “We are delighted to partner again with Spring House, one of India’s fastest growing network of co-working spaces. Spring House, Lucknow; is designed to complement the modern work force and portrays fine balance of well-designed layouts and essential features which will help Lucknowites manage their work with ease.”

As an integral part of their strategy to provide flexibility and choice around how people work, Spring House has expanded beyond NCR and entered a tier-2 city. Be it start-ups, SMEs, online professionals, freelancers or teams of large corporate houses; everyone can experience this preeminent one-stop ecosystem of the most connected professionals across various industries. After enabling communities across 9 locations with co-working spaces and business centres across Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida, Spring House is ready to launch in Lucknow. Their vision is to bridge the gap between entrepreneurs from Lucknow and the well-established startup ecosystem across Delhi NCR.

Speaking about the launch of the new workspace, Mukul Pasricha, Founder & CEO, Spring House said, “We are extremely dedicated to endorsing local growth. Once we started getting positive appreciation from tier-2 cities, it was indeed quintessential to make the move. We are currently one of the first few established co-working spaces that has opened in Lucknow with a fully managed centre. Lucknow has a large youth population and a community enabler like Spring House can motivate them to turn dreams into start-ups. We firmly believe that a tier-2 city is always just one startup away from putting them on the world map.”

source: http://www.bwdisrupt.businessworld.in / BW Disrupt / Home / by BW Online Bureau / March 14th, 2018

This Lucknow Woman Singlehandedly Took down 30 British Soldiers in 1857!

Amazing Feats, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, Travel, World Opinion

Hiding in a tree, she carefully took aim at the approaching British

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 against British rule saw some of the most ferocious battles fought across the nation. The soldiers were courageous and fought tooth and nail. While the revolt did not succeed, it went down in history as a righteous struggle.

Amongst all the illustrious freedom fighters, Uda Devi’s name stands out for leading one of the fiercest battles in Lucknow against the British.

Uda Devi hid in a tree, and took out more than 30 British soldiers without batting an eyelid.Representative image only. Image Courtesy:Wikimedia Commons

Born to a Dalit family in Awadh, Uttar Pradesh, Uda Devi at an early age, recognised the dissent the local people showed against the British Raj. She decided to contribute to the cause, and approached Begum Hazrat Mahal to seek help, in order to prepare for the battle against the British.

Begum Hazrat Mahal was kind and helped Uda Devi form a woman’s battalion, which the latter would lead herself. Thus, when Awadh was attacked by the British, Uda Devi and her husband became a vital part of the armed resistance.

The Battle in Sikandar Bagh

The Sikandar Bagh gate, where the battle took place.Image Courtesy: Wikipedia

In autumn 1857, north India was in a state of practical anarchy. A general revolt against the growing authority of the British East India Company consumed the cities of Delhi, Jhansi and Kanpur.

In Lucknow, a small British garrison clung stubbornly to life at the Residency (a collection of buildings) on the banks of the Gomti River.

Surrounded by rebels and bereft of adequate supplies, the small British contingent teetered on the edge of annihilation throughout the summer of 1857.

In November, General Colin Campbell broke through the enemy lines and managed to save the trapped garrison. This was the ‘Second Relief of Lucknow’, during which Campbell’s 93rd Highland Regiment advanced along the Southern bank of the Gomti, proceeding toward the Palace of Sikandar Bagh.

Here, the rebels fought desperately, after fortifying their position. A pitched battle ensued, leaving over 2000 rebels and soldiers dead, after a fierce hand-to-hand combat. It was during the battle that Uda Devi’s husband was killed. Enraged, the brave soldier decided to avenge his death.

On seeing the British army approach Sikandar Bagh, she climbed up a banyan tree, disguised as a man, and took aimed, killing 32 British soldiers.

Once the dust had settled, an officer noticed that many of the British casualties had bullet wounds that indicated a steep, downward trajectory.

The needle of suspicion naturally pointed to a sniper, who could be hidden in the nearby trees. British officers fired at a nearby pipal tree, and a rebel fell out of the tree, dead, her body riddled with bullet wounds. Upon investigation, it was found that the rebel was, in fact, Uda Devi.

The British were shocked when they realised the soldier was a woman. It is said that even British officers like Campbell bowed their heads over her dead body, in recognition of her bravery.

Uda Devi is indeed an inspiration, especially to women from non-dominant castes. Befittingly, on November 16th each year, the members of her Pasi caste gather at the site of her fall and celebrate her as a brave rebel, who defied all odds to take British lives, for a cause. It has been over a century since she was martyred, yet the memory of her sacrifice is kept alive by her community, which celebrates her unwavering and courageous spirit.

Uda Devi is also one of the inspirations behind an all-women battalion, of the Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary. The government is keen on recruiting women from OBC and Dalit communities in these battalions.

The women PAC battalions will help the government in crowd control, and during agitations where the participants are mostly women. The government is currently identifying land in Uttar Pradesh, where centres for training these women cops can be built.

The raising of women PAC battalions is an excellent step towards empowering the women from the weaker sections of society, and it is only fitting, that one of the units, derives its name from a ‘Dalit Veerangana’ like Uda Devi.

source: http://www.thebetterindia.com / The Better India / Home> Inspiration> Women / by Rayomand Engineer / March 01st, 2018

The holy men of Varanasi through a lens

Arts, Culture & Entertainment
Radhakrishna Ganeshan

Photo exhibition highlights the life and practices of the sadhus living in the oldest city of the country.

For three generations, Radhakrishna Ganeshan’s family, after moving from Tirunelveli, has lived in the holy city of Varanasi. Pursuing his passion for art and music, he graduated from the Banaras Hindu University in Applied Arts from the Faculty of Visual Arts in 1984 and later completed Masters degree in 1986.

Holding several diplomas in disciplines including painting, music, interior decoration, photography and computer designing from the oldest city, Mr. Ganeshan brings to the former French enclave the share of his world through ‘Sadhus of Banaras – Hidden Discovery of the City,’ a photo exhibition at Aurobindo Ashram Gallery on the beach road.

Growing up on the banks of Ganga river in Varanasi, which he calls ‘the city of subjects’, Mr. Ganeshan would be out every Sunday before dawn with his camera, walking through the lanes across 84 ghats in Varanasi to document the lives of sadhus. “In all these ghats, there are different sadhus. Their personalities, practices differ from each other and I am concerned that this heritage would be lost in the fast urbanisation of Varanasi. With industrialisation and tourism attracting thousands, I felt the need to preserve this heritage through photographs,” he says.

This exhibition is the first of his thematic exhibitions where he has tried to capture different moods of the sadhus whose lives are always shrouded in mystery and represents a world of detachment.

The exhibition gives a closer look at the mundane activities of sadhus, capturing the differences in their practices, identifying every sadhu including an aghori, a sanyasi marvadi, a shaiva sadhu, a vaishnava sadhu or a young sadhu with their uniqueness.

There are more than 60 portraits and photographs of sadhus at the photo exhibition organised by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts. The exhibition will be held for a week beginning from March 5.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Puducherry / by S. Senthalir / Puducherry – March 07th, 2018