Sweat and Blood, sickle and plough...

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Today is May day...as we all know a day solely dediacted to workers emancipation... 

An evening dipped in the Bard's magic...

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They say that one should " love arts for the arts sake "...

Being very much true to the cliche ( with full respect meant to the thought..) lets wander in to the world of Elizabethan era's most talked about playwright, poet, actor, director etc.

Earning sobriquets as Bard of Avon after the place in United Kingdom where he lived, Stratford upon Avon, this man has to be studied inorder to understand Drama, performing arts and the very and many arts he was an embodiment of.

To drive home this point, Akshara Theatre located at 11-B, Baba Kharak Singh Marg with the landmark being the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi in collaboration with Eureka bookstore for kids took the pains of presenting to Delhites an interactive symposium which brings the Bard in the psyche of young people.

Akshara Theatre has a homely ambience with no elitist affair in the sense that there is no gaudy decorations inside the stage and only archlights above the spot where peformances are carried out and is a wooden floor with a balcony just at the background, facing the stage is the gallery for the audience.

The programme comprised of three seesions at the stipulated time that intellectualised and presented perspectives on the Bard which took off from 4 pm while the entertaintment segment kickstarted from 7 pm in the evening.

The auidience not only comprised of teachers, academicians or simply Shakespeare enthusiasts but also included students from CBSE ( Central Board of Secondary Education) with schools ranging as DPS ( Delhi Public School) Vasant Kunj to St. Columbus in Goldak Khana near Connaught Place.

The programme began with the graceful address of Madam Jalabala Vaidya an actress of the niche oriented English theatre in India who along with her playwright Husband, Mr. Gopal Sharman has put Akshara theatre into a league of its own.

Session one titled Revolutionary Shakespeare, highlighted Shakespeare's vision at the peak of his career and brught to the fore the universality and continued relevance of the Bard today with a interactive discussion  from theatre artists Arka Mukhopadhyay and Parnab Mukherji.

The highlight of this segment was Mr. Parnab's solo act play where he dwelled upon the fact that public places great figures in the annuls of history in a so-called " divine status" and this was brough out poignantly when he said continuously in his performance that " I will shoot you with a Shakespeare gun'' when the other imagined actor whom he was only giving the voice with the apparent fact being that such a referral( the Dialogue) is an apparent sign of anything giving a jolt long set traditions and thought process. 

The act was beautifully intervined with present day political and social situation of the country. 

Hereafter, the second session was democratic in the sense that it catered the Bard minus his exalted image to the new generation who are unfortunately not much akin to him, courtesy resource person from Publication houses specialising in children and other literature like Vatsala Kaul bannerji( Hachette India group of Publications), Reba Mukherji and Atiya Zaidi. Their discussion was not only limited to search Shakespeare's dramatic and literary genius but going one step ahead sharing their perceptions and imressions of the Bard's work in their lives. This was titled Sharing Shakespeare.

Tosham Acharya a final year fashion technolgy student from the JD institute of fashion design who hails from Karnataka gave audiences a treat of his dramatic enactment from Julius Ceasar 

Session Three was titled in a pop-culturish way...Shakespeare rocks..This segment comprised of Artistic director, Anirudh nair of Wide Aisle productions and Sangeeta Nag, a CBSE schoolteacher inputting the modes and nuances used by the Elizabethan Playwright in his times.

This segment was provided variety courtesy a creative interplay between teachers and students which was realised by a dramatic enactment from Julius Ceaser and the Merchant of Venice by the Learing Stage. To give in some details of this performance it was directed by  Stephen Marazzi with actors in the following order Zara Khan as (Portia), Abhinav Khetarpal as ( Shylock), Naval K. Grag as ( Gratiano), Joshua Katuka as ( Bassanio).

These enactments were given a generous dollop of music with Anam Panmei at the Violin, Vipin Sharma at the guitar. As no show is a reality without proper management so this programme had Ms. Ragini as the manager.

These were eneded by the 6 pm informal birthday celebrations on Shakespeare with delicious English fare served to invitees comprising of students, teachers, parents, enthusiasts, actors et al. This made the evening meaningful.

An hour later the other entertaintemnt followed with small enactments on Dreams and Nightmares by theatre personality Arka Mukhopadhyay and his students. This was complemented by ann excerpt from Julius Ceaser by Stephen Marazzi, then followed Sudhir Tandon's excerpt from the same iconic play.

Therafter an excerpt of the fantasy drama the Tempest was performed by Anirudh Nair of Wide Aisle productions, this was supported by an excerpt from Birnham Van that is Raghuvir Sahay's Hindi adaptation of Macbeth that was done justice by Baanee Sharad, Tosham Acharya and Mahant.

As the evening grew the performances too with an excerpt from Romeo and Juliet where the scenes run as  the Star crossed lovers are shown meeting for the first time under a moonlit night near Juliet's balcony to juliet's end by consumption of the poison.  This excerpt was done justice by Anirudh Nair as Romeo and English theatre artist Shona Benson as Juliet.

The performances were given the intellectual quotient by a histrionic and nuance filled excerpt from hamlet performed by Akshara theatre's Gopal Sharman as well as the bard's sonnets being read out by none other than the garcious lady herself, Jalabala Vaidya.

Children add colur and variety to any show and this was eveident when the audiences were enthralled by a fairy tale like performance of the MidSummer's Night Dream with lead characters as Oberon bing played by Dhruv Shetty , Krish Barua as Puck followed by Yashna Shetty as Titania, Jyoti Sharma as the chief fairy. This performance was ably complemented by a host of child artists.

Personalities are there in every passage of history whose pesonal achievements go on to inspire generations and Shakespeare inevitably is that personality. he through his works have down the annuls of modern human progress have become only universal and profound.

Defintely this evening at the Akshara theatre dserves a thumbs up for its endeavours in highlighting the Bard's life and works

 

World book and copyright Day

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Bardolatory...

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Time to ponder for the planet...

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Get Educated...

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first rain kisses mother earth

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Muslim Marriage Law and Sania Mirza issue

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Jihad Striving for Peace by Sadia Dehlvi

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How has been the weekends?

Everytime time there is a bomb blast in the Arab world or South Asia or the 1st world West or Europe,  so-called xenophiilic eviedence is directed towards the suspect of such acts being Muslims, this is the case more especially after the 9/11 terror strikes at the Twin towers and the Pentagon of the United  states. The world has been witness to either a self-styled so - called Islamic miltant faction being levelled the charges of such a strike or either that faction, that outfit, that cult, that ideologically militant oriented organisation accepting the charges of murder, Extortion, kidnapping, Maiming, Mutiliation, Hijackings, Suicide bombings the bottomline being holding the very essence of Humanity at stake.

If we broaden our perspective, psyche, mindset and thought processes that we use or seem to use so much in other developments, issues we will come to a natural conclusion that no faith in this world propagates terror, mayhem, chaos and a state of anarchy.

Amidst such blurring of lines and natural xenophobic attitude from the world over directed against Islam, a lst of the faiths originating from the contuning Jewish traditions which Muslim's immediate neighbour the Christians have recieved via Jesus Christ whom Muslims refer to as a great Prophet, just before Prophet Mohammad, much needs to be said and done.

One of the greatest controversises created, artificial or out of the intellectual ignorance of masses and non-muslims the world over is of the term Jihad. It is amusing to see that how media reports and uses the term.They refer to people self-styled champions of Islam waging irrelevant, insane, mindless Holy War( known as Crusades in Christianity) against their perpetrators. Such a word is Jihadi or Jihadist wheraeas in Islamic connotation such a word is not to be found anywhere. Jihad has been mentioned 41 times in the Holy Quran ( all the three semitic faith Judaism, christainity and Islam are called children of the book with the leaders, messiahs, messengers and the Prophets Of God the Almighty being endowed with one of them) but no other connotation is there in this sacred book of Muslims that says of jihad as a military offensive confrontation or waging a war that is directed aginst disbelievers for that matter.

Jihad came into existence in the faithe in the following way and for that one has to have a deeper study of terms, phrases, coined in that particular era the Socio-historic-economic background of that term's origin and then intellectualise, disseminate views-labelled to be opinionated, biased or liberal or simply a result of comparative study of different faiths tenets, edicts and doctrines.

Jihad's meaning is struggle and one now will be faced with question as to struggle aginst whom-struggle against oneself, one's inner evils, one's shortcomings pat comes the reply.

In Christinaity there are the seven sins which are dreaded to be the manifestation of satan or belonging to the wrong path, these include gluttony, pride, envy, jealousy, greed, lust and adultery etc.  These are referred to as nafs in Islam and one who has come near to controlling that nafs or has also overcome the nafs is a follower of God and an exemplary, ideal human being whom Allah( the term used for the Almighty in Islam) also likes and showers his blessings on to.

just to clarify things, wrong notions regarding the essence of Islam i am presenting to you folks a write up on this Sunday's ( April 18th) special supllement the Speaking Tree which disseminates information, sources, matter relating to various faiths and religions of the world and the present feature is on Jihad and its relevant connotation by Sadia Delhvi, a columnist and writer in the Times of India and convenor of Sufi gatherings( a branch and part of Islam which brought to the world the dedication and connectedness towards God in the form of music, arts, culture, poetry etc and giving to the South Asian region a unique identity of saints coming over from far off lands of central asia, borders of Iran and Afghanistan, Iraq as well as directly from these nations themselves with the most unique thing about thse saints being the preachings, teachings and championing of compassion, universal brotherhood, peace, tolerance and other values which in turn is evident from the thousands and thousands of Muslims as well as non-muslims thronging their shrines either at Ajmer, India of Sulltan-ul-Hind, Hazrath khwaja gareeb Nawaaz Moinudeen Chisti).

Here goes the feature...

The Greater Calling

The Quran embraces all aspects of life, setting the guiding principles of family, civil and criminal law, writes...Sadia Dehlvi

I often encounter people holding biased views on passages relating to Jihad in the quran. It is not surprising. The understanding of spirtual narratives has been deeply injured by militants distorting scriptures to perpetrate heinous crimes .

Islamic tradition believes that Jesus recieved pure love, Moses the law and Prophet Mohammad, a combination of both in the final message in the form of the Quran. Similar to world constitutions that aim for justice, equality and freedom, the Quran embraces all aspects of life, setting the guiding principles of family, civil and criminal law.

One meaning of Islam is peace, a permanently desired state with all that exists. Islam classifies jihad which means "to strive" into Jihad-e-asghar, the less important otward battle against injustices, and Jihad-e-akbar, the larger battle aginst the nafs, the worst impulses in the self. This internal Jihad is changing one's own resistance to Truth, and the other is confronting forces in the world that are resisting Truth.

Religion is about creating a balance in our lives. When people submit to evil and it becomes the principle they live by, their internal imbalance becomes a source of danger.

To ensure peace and security, such forces have to be isolated or destroyed. The verses sanctioning a miltary Jihad were revealed to the Prophet after 13 years of passive resistance to the injustices and oppression of muslims in Makkah. War was allowed only between armies on battlefields. The prophet stressed that as an armed struggle, jihad could not be pursued for economic gain, personal honour or the propagation of narrow nationalism.

Laying down battle rules, The Prophet said: " do not kill women, children or non-combatants and do not kill old people or religious people." The Prophet specifically mentioned priests, nuns, and rabbis who serve God in seclusion. He forbade the mutilating the bodies, the cutting down of trees and the poisdoning of wells of enemies. He prohibited the burning of houses and cornfields, and the killing of livestock-except when compelled to eat them. The Prophet established an exemplary code of conduct for prisoners of war. Prophet Mohammad said " Mercy is not taken out of anyone but the damned." The quran urges not to let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just.

While returning from the battle of Badr, the first armed conflict, Prophet Mohammad defined the two faces of Jihad: " We are returning from the lesser holy war to the greater holy war against ourselves ." On another occasion, he said: " The most excellent Jihad is to speak up for the truth, ( for what is right and just) in the face of a tyrannical authority."

The message of Islam is essentially the message of compassion, the greater Jihad being to become activators and ambassadors of the Divine Message, adorning ourselves with Allah's primary attributes of mercy and compassion. It is the common platform on which humanity should stand. This needs egotism out of the way and requires knowledge of oneself. Stressing upon the importance of this elf-realisation, Prophet Mohammad said, " One who knows himself knows God."

Islam holds individuals responsible for all of God's bounties, especially the gift of human life. Robbing another of the gift of life is a grave sin, the killing of one compared to the killing of entire humanity. Allah ordains: " If anyone kills a person-unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land-it would be as if he kills the whole people:and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people." (5:32). The root of true Jihad is not selfish desire, but ways of bringing about goodness around you. Prophet Mohammad said, " Die before you die," signifyingan emptying of the self for the sake of God, for in the presence of the Lord, there is no room for more than one "I", that is the "I" of Divinity. The lovers of God live for Him and die for Him.

The writer convenes Sufi gatherings,

sadiafeedback@gmail.com   

 

 

At the refactory...

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Comic book giants...

Pics: from Top, the Logos of DC Comics followed by Marvel comics and last but not the last DC Comics Characters followed by the Marvel Comics Characters

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National Personifications...

Pics: from top, John Bull the national personification of the United Kingdom followed by Uncle Sam the national personification of the United States

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Come April...Come Tax freedom day

Pics: From top, Tax freedom day Graph depicting data the world over followed by a popular illustration on the special day of Tax Freedom

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You know what? April 9th is celebrated as Tax Freedom Day in the United States

and he made the law of the Land...

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Today is a significant day for Indians, Its the birthday of the father of our constitution, B R Ambedkar.

Wounds that are hard to heal...

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Today is a significant day for Indians...on this day April 13th, 1919...the Ghastly JallianWallah Bagh massacre took place...

Saluting National Street Theatre Day

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Life's a stage, isn't it with each of us having specific roles to play... 

Confessions of an Auto Ricshaw Wallah !

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Radiance, Positivity, Feel Good elements will always rule your lives...amen

How were the weekends...well mine were a little hectic with having to roam the whole of Kalkaji, New Delhi for the location of the store dealing in computers and laptops where i had gone to pick up my laptop for the assignments back at the institute were getting on my head ... am relieved now! 

Well yesterday while coming back to the Pragati Maidan metro station from Kalkaji on a Auto rickshaw i had some startling revelations from its driver.

The Driver Mr. Rakesh Shrama from whom i also exchanged the contact number for future reference and as a source said that auto rickshaws simply are at a loss while going for the fare as per meter standards but they are forced to increase their fares...

He simply did not go for government bashing but inputted that both the public as well as the administration are to be blamed..

I queried that what should be the solution to such disorder and chaos rampant in the traffic life of the city of hearts that Delhi is!

He said that there should be blue lines marked on one strip of the street that would be representing or standing for the vehicles as buses and other yellow lines for cars and other private vehicles coupled with red lines for motorcycles as well...

He added that Motorcycles are replacing bicycles on the street and because of the rash driving of the motorcyclists they meet with a probable accident..

Making the conversation enlightening... he went on to say that The corridor that the Shiela Dikshit government had innovated for the buses to ply on were not used...He said that the passengers are meant to stand at the margin or demarcated specific corridor's sides which serve as the bus stand but as they are used to stand in the earlier place, making old habits die hard!

In Such a situation the only ray of hope being the Chalaan or imposing of fine of both to the passengers and the bus driver should be imposed so that out of the fear of fine being imposed they will adhere to the norms...

He also said that the so-called rich people in plush vehicles should also be fined for flouting traffic rules not only a poor cart puller and a rickshaw puller and so on and so forth...

He also said that pedestrians should be fined for crossing the roads in a wrong manner causing nuisance to the  vehicles plying. Then accidents are cut that way, he went on to say...

He also said that pedestrians should be encouraged to use the subways and went on to add at this juncture: that there is no wrong with the pedestrians not using these alternate means for the subways have already got a bad name as to be frequented  by goons, chain snatchers, drunkards, rapists etc.

Drunk People should be fined immediately if he/she is causing a trouble in civic life...

He had this to say for this lot who seem to drink like a fish and lose all balance of mind in the process...

He said that the gates of the Subway entrance as well as exits should have a armed guard posted so that anti-social elements, hardened criminals shouldn't be encouraged to have their own way...

Thus the slur attached to the subways will be washed away...

The traffic law in a bottom line should be meant for all Indians

It was an interesting encounter..enlightening et al..

I from my side think if there is unison amongst the traffic or road transport bodies unions , Public Interest Litigation( PIL) filed in these regard so as to change the metro's traffic scenario and lots of newspaper and magazine reporting done on the issue a change is bound to come...

Folks what do you think of it, pour in your intelligence, inputs, views, opinions etc...we all nedd our fellow Indians help...

Satyameva Jayate

Read : Truth Shall Prevail

Safety for Public, Safety for the Nation...

Cheers to all

 

 

Print publishing and cyber competition in India

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