Hello FolksMoney speaks, this cliche might have been familiar to many a ear.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
a cut above the rest...
Pic: Academy Award winning costume designer, Bhanu Athaiya
Hello Folks
Arts is a vibrant field...performing arts have evolved over centuries regardless of time and space.
This vast arena has had many niche departments if we like to call them to its credit all along the way.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Eurasian extravaganza...
Good Day to all of you folks!
How is life?
Well Culture and heritage have been quintessentially human world's prime elements in carving out a meaningful significance from his history on this earth so far.
In contemporary times, we have special "beats" in Media organisations dedicated to this niche in Human life.
February 10th to the 11th of the same month, the National Capital of Delhi saw the events of meaning and significance in this regard.
It was the 45th Anniversary of the Russian Science and Culture Center ( RCSC) .
Having been invited by the president of the Russian Cultural Association, Madam Yelena for the Essay competition event on the theme, " Russia in my life ." Having finished it, was left to witness the motley of cultural offerings the center had in store for the invitees.
Officially Olympiads, seminars, Concerts, competition with participation of the language course of the center was what the brochure read.
One will be awed while being a part of the audience in the Concert Hall of the center which an hour ago was having the Russian Language history and nuances seminar for all the students of the language within no time had prepared itself to hold a culturally rich song from this Eurasian nation itself.
The songs were in a chorus like renderation with the Russian embassy participants pooling in to add authenticity to the lyrics coupled with the tantalising tune and rhythm with a veteran on the percussion.
This was followed by the Master Class practice. This is nothing but a public exercise of the language students at the center to refresh whatever they have all learnt. Essentially it was a Power Point Presentation with one of the exercises being the student to identify the territories of the nation with its National map projected atop the stage.
Interestingly the teacher for this programme was also giving the anglicized meaning of the terms and East in Russian means " Bocktok."
There also followed Russian Dance forms with three participants from the embassy. The performance was graced by folk music playing in the background. The Fourth and Fifth joins the performance at the middle with lyrics being added in the track at that juncture.
This was saved from being a simple performance when acrobatic moves by the performers were exhibited with one girl in the dance group displaying a move which was nothing short of exceptional.
What she displayed cannot be written even in graphic detatils; her whole upper body bending backwards and adding a sort of climax to the performance.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Vancouver 2010...
Pics: from top, the logo of the 2010 Winter Olympics at Vancouver, followed by the Mascots of the event.
Hello Folks
How is life?
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Surajkund Escapade...
Hello Folks
What's on?
Our group of Seniors( Audio Visual Communications and Master of Journalism) Batch had hit off for the Surajkund arts and Crafts fair @ Surajkund, Faridabad in Haryana.
Following are the snapshots from the fair.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
The Ghost who walks !
Pics: Scans of the first costumed comic book vigilante crime fighter, the Phantom created by Lee Falk
Hello Folks
What's on?
Colourful Collage of Arts and Culture
Surajkund, 10 Feb: Move aside plush malls! There are enough glitterati to be found here! This seemed to be the message at the annual Crafts fair at Surajkund;
Besides, the grandeur of the fair, the important part of the event to be taken note of is that, it provides a platform for solo artists and handicraftsmen to flourish in this cut-throat age of globalisation and its market forces.
Here tourists as well as fellow Indians throng in large numbers to either pick up the decorative items rubbed magic on to by the skillful hands of some craftsman or either be a part of the event.
The Artists here showed their skills on pastel or oil works with one stall from Maharashtra whose artist was from Bijapur, Karnataka even trying his hand at drawing the famed Gol-Gumbaz ( Round Dome) belonging to the Sultans of Bijapur many centuries ago.
The Rajasthan pavilion had local artists performing to their folk compositions. One wouldn't be surprised to hear the original renderation of “Nimbooda” (lemon) included in the soundtrack of the Bollywood movie “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam” by Musician Ismail Darbar.
The local dances brought the spirit of Rajasthan alive with veiled lady dancers gyrating and swiveling to the timeless music of this
There was the human interest element found in canvas artist Anjali’s tale of struggle. “I am from Haryana and the place doesn’t have much scope for fine arts even though I have a degree in this discipline, I was not getting a platform until this fair helped me” she said.
Besides the rich exhibition of the nation’s Crafts and Fabrics, the fair attained an enviable status with participants from the SAARC nations also pooling in with their local craft items. These included
The
The Egyptian stall was the product of the Government of India’s efforts to strengthen strategic ties between the two nations. The proprietor of this stall, Ahmed Shalabi had flown in the fare all the way from
The variety to this fair was added by artists dressed as mythological characters from Ramayana and other Hindu Mythology as the demon-king Ravana with his dramatically rendered dialogues. There was the Monkey-god Hanuman complete with his inseparable weapon-his mace.
Amidst the prevailing tension provided by the rat-race of urban life, where success is measured in terms of money and high rise buildings patrons of this fair were all smiles and this very fact added the overall colour to this event organized by the Haryana Tourism Board.
Long Live arts, Culture and Heritage
so long folks...
Friday, February 12, 2010
Russia in my Life
Hello Folks,
How is life?
How was the week?
Well maybe its time to reflect on the week gone by...
Nobody would like to hear about by personal developments but maybe this is an outlet for my emotional outpourings! To speak the truth, this week was quite hectic for me.
To begin with, last Saturday i watched an Italian Movie at The Italian Embassy Cultural Institute located in Chanakyapuri. I am blogging the review shortly.
This was followed by an excursion of 9 Students ( the Audio Visual department as well as the Print department where i belong) to Suarjkund, Faridabad in Haryana some 35 kms from my institute.
The very next day had an invitation from the President of the Russian Cultural Association, Yelena Madam at the Russian Science and Culture Center at FerozeShah road. I was also given the privilege of being made part of their official New Year Celebrations last year.
I attempted the Essay, the title of which ran as: " Russia in my life. "( am awaiting the results)
Russia is an enchanting land indeed...thanks to its timeless Folklore and Heritage. This strange snow clad nation has the tales of Rapunzel with her legendary long silky hair, the chivalry of Ivan in the renderations involving the Princess, Ludmila.
These run harmoniously with the Philosophical and Politico-analytical works of Leo Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, added to these the nation's own " Hans Christen Anderson " Nikolai Gogol and Alexander Pushkin.
The Nation keeps giving birth to luminaries like Vladimir Elich Lenin and so on.
My understanding of this " Eurasian " country is that it is a cauldron of different races and ethnic communities blossoming in harmony. This Nation has Cossacks, Turks, Tajikhs etc to its vitality.
Speaking of Cossacks, they are known to be a chivalrous race. I had first found their mention in Alfred Tennyson's poem, " Charge of the Light Brigade " while was in the 12th standard.
My Uncle( my mother's elder sister's Husband) was posted at Moscow in the All India Radio. He was an announcer there.
They had been living there some 10-12 years ago when USSR was in existence. I share a thing common with the Russia of that time.
I have learnt from my mother that we are the direct descendants of the Mystic Sufi Saint, Hazrath Yaqub-E-Charkhi ( Yaqub in English will be Jacob) whose shrine is at Dushanbe, Tajikistan, Central Asia.
My Mother is the second generation born in India and speaking with her had also learnt that after every one or two generations there is a Saint in our dynasty.
My aunt used to tell us ( me and my younger brother) about their stay at Moscow and other places around it. The Sturdiness and hardworking capacity of the Russian citizens she had encountered still are embedded in my memory.
I remember my Mother having mentioned about the craftsmanship of a Vinyl material school bag gifted to my younger brother by my aunt from Moscow.
I would like to give in some details: the flap open part of the bag had a push button which in turn had a shining graphic sticker embedded on it. The purpose of this little embellishment was that if light fell ( say of a vehicle's headlights) on the sticker, it would light up and help the rider or the driver spot the child carrying the bag.
My aunt used to say that toys manufactured in the nation were very sturdy. she also spoke of King Peter the Greats' relics and souvenirs in a museum full of his items.
She also mentioned that how skilfully The nation's leader Lenin's body was preserved inside a glass case with embalming done on the remains.
Thus study about a nation encompasses many things, its socio-economic-politico conditions and other aspects. The Nation is called " Eurasia " and the folklore,mores and folkways of Central Asia ( its former part) are well integrated in it.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Nuances of English Language
Pic: Mr. Manoj Mayankar speaking to students at the media training center, Niscort.
Hello Folks
What's up?
This Friday, the 5th of Feb Niscort had a visitor in the form of Mer. Manoj Mayankar, have just prepared a writeup on his lecture, here goes...
Importance of correct English diction in Indian Media
Niscort, 5 Feb: “English is one of the funniest and complex languages in the world.” clichéd Mr. Manoj Mayankar, guest speaker at the 104th World Around Programme here at Niscort media training institute.
The guest for the interactive session has had 21 years of association with the All India Radio ( AIR). Down these years he is also well versed with languages as Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Urdu as well as Hyderabadi.
Taking his cliché of English being complex and funny he stressed that in Popular culture the Hindi Movie, “Yaraana” (Friendship) is a classic example.
In the celluloid offering starring Amitabh Bachchan and Amjad Khan as friends, there is a slight misunderstanding as to why the pronunciation of the term “Go” is not “Goo” despite the letter “O” in it.
Stressing further he said that this language is open to interpretations and this is the very juncture where the problem arises. This is so for regional influences of speakers in different geographical location creeps in, he said.
“This is the accent problem,” he highlighted. It is seen that this further results in the speakers facing problems to communicate at a higher platform. Even people speaking what is called “Neutral English” are akin to this problem, he said.
Elaborating further on the topic, he construed that normally in interviews the purer variety of the language is spoken. He intelligently equated the medium to a structure when he seemed to propose that, “English as a language has a purity of hierarchy.”
His lecture went on to clear myths and cobwebs regarding the nuances of the medium with him adding that “there is no kamal (Lotus as pronounced and spelt in Hindi) ka “ka” in English.”
He highlighted that the problem with speakers is that not much care is taken note of the right sound for a word, a common case point at hand is how people pronounce the term “Education”, he suggests. Adding further to this he said Teeth play an important factor in pronunciation
He said that language is a different ballgame altogether and stated that “in the practical sense, it’s difficult to mathematically quantify purity of a language.” This seems to justify the use of audio-softwares for the language-learning packages available, he said.
To diminish anomalies’ the technique of sound forge is used with the end result being that the pronunciation and purity cannot be enhanced, but simultaneously the spelling can be checked with its implementation, he informed.
Taking the problematique to a practical level he showed to the students an analogical and hypothetical model which went on to explain the hierarchy of purity in the medium. He interestingly equated the pronunciation levels with purity of metals like Gold with the highest and correct level of diction earning the A+ category against a hallmark of 24 karat gold margin.
Speaking to engrossed to students who were much to the amusement of all were trying pronounce the correct version of words spelt by Mr. Mayankar, made him add that south of London residents takes proper note of its diction.
In terms of nuances creeping in a medium, he said the diction of the residents of places like Dadar and Borivili in
Much to the awe and speculation of the students, he took up the case of the pronunciation of the term “ Sorry” in the South of the nation, where he adds, the “O” of the word in hand is spelt softly with it making “ sorry ” akin to the term “so.”
He went on to add that one of the commonly found components of pronunciation is where the stress of the word is applied. He further added that more than social ramifications, it is the financial aspect behind one’s correct usage of the medium and applied diction.
Taking a cue from Popular Culture he reflected on Channel V’s spoof on English Language usage with the make-believe anchor, Lolla Kutty making people laugh in awe at her antics. He added that off-screen the actor doesn’t speak in such an accent but her histrionics make her speak so.
Speaking on the hierarchy module the guest speaker opined that B+ is a level where Mother Tongue Influence (MTI) gradually tapers away giving way to a certain level of clarity and neutral word structure. This can be due to a number of reasons which can be correction in the educational institutions, interaction, with peers, social grooming so on and so forth.
It is generally seen that most students in the country use B+ while speaking to their friends. In terms of language usage in Media, the baseline and the punchline in advertisements is of refined English.
He opined that in Human comprehension Purity signifies “Class” which emanates from an intrinsic desire of humans to exert class so shouldn’t it be the same while one speaks?
he reasons.
In course of this lecture he ignited many a nostalgia when he went on to mention about Pratap Sharma, who happens to be actress Tara Sharma’s father, adding that he was the most expensive voice with regard to voice over in advertisements aired during the DoorDarshan days.
It has been found that in electronic media, if one speaks about the sports commentary and that too with regard to Cricket in
In European and western media, he gave the example of Tim Sebastian, anchor of hard talk. Mr. Mayankar had a word of advice for aspirants thinking in terms of correcting their diction. According to the linguist, listening habits as well as practices like speaking, reading aloud coupled with writing which has a strange co-relation with thought processes and are akin to an X-ray, he suggested.
He also spoke about the newly crept “Americanism” in this language, the immediate examples of which will be the text messages or SMS as they are called. Speaking on the inculcation of correct diction he had a word of caution for the budding students, when he opined that “It is not a BPO or an I.T. Culture and wouldn’t necessarily come in three modules as claimed by the language packages.”
Speaking on new trends, he reportedly likened the suddenly crept Americanism in the B and B+ usage to “ a crow with peacock feathers.”
He allegedly stated that the current generation growing on packaged dictums and falsely guided notions of throwing attitude should understand and figure out where they stand which is why openness and humility will help them move out of their shells.
so long folks...
Keep loving life...
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
Birth of the dark dichotomy...
Pics: Comic book and art images of Bob-Kane created, DC Comics, Batman
Hello Folks
What's on?
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