Arts, Culture & Entertainment – Page 4

SD Burman’s abandoned palatial home in Bangladesh to be converted into cultural complex

Legendary musician and composer Sachin Dev Burman’s palatial home in Cumilla district of Bangladesh is all set to be transformed into a cultural complex, with the Sheikh Hasina government having sanctioned Taka 1.10 crore (Rs 86 lakh) for the project.

Dev Burman, born in 1906, spent the first 18 years of his life in this South Chartha village rajbari (palace) in Cumilla, said Golam Faruk, an advocate and a prolific writer who edited a 596-page book on the musician.

“His musical talent was honed under the supervision of his father, who was a sitarist. Dev Burman completed his schooling from Cumilla Zilla School and graduated from Victoria Government College in 1924,” Faruk, also a historian, said.

His father, a descendant of Tripura royal family, had moved to Cumilla to look after the princely estates.

The palace, where the music maestro was born and raised, was listed as a protected monument on Nov 30, 2017, officials in Bangladesh said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had visited Agartala to attend the convocation of Tripura University in 2012 and assured a delegation of writers and cultural activists there that the house would be preserved and converted into a cultural centre and museum, the officials said.

READ HERE | Tripura’s Pushpabanta Palace to be turned into museum celebrating royal history, Tagore links

In May 2017, Hasina had visited Cumilla to attend the 116th birth anniversary of poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, and laid the foundation stones of seven projects, one of which was for the ‘Sachin Dev Burman Cultural Complex’, they said.

Faruk pointed out that the palace was built on seven acres of land, but a major part of it was encroached upon, over the years, as it lay abandoned.

“Cumilla MP AKM Bahauddin Bahar, however, was able to vacate the land to a considerable extent with the help of the district administration,” he told PTI.

The MP, when approached, underlined that the government sanctioned Taka 1.10 crore for building the complex.

The district collector of Cumilla, Md Kamrul Hasan, said the administration was waiting to hand over the house to the archaeology department, have completed all repair work.

“The restoration work was completed long ago. Since the site is yet to be taken over by the archaeology department, the district administration is still looking after it. Two staff members of the district administration and the archaeology department are currently taking care of the house,” he told PTI.

Faruk, also a ‘mukti joddha’ (freedom fighter), said, “Many geniuses, including renowned Bengali poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, had visited Dev Burman’s house and played music with him.”

An official said on the condition of anonymity that the abandoned house was used as a military warehouse during the Pakistan regime.

After the warehouse was removed, part of the house was converted into a poultry farm, and since then, the place was known as ‘Cumilla poultry farm’, he said.

“Former cultural affairs minister and theatre personality Asaduzzaman Nur had earlier announced that a complex would be built around the house with a floating stage in the pond. A music library was also part of the plan. The poultry farm will have to be done away with,” he added.

Dev Burman, popularly known as ‘sachin karta’, lived in Cumilla until 1924, said Faruk.

“He left for Kolkata that year to pursue higher education and then later to Mumbai in 1944. Those of the Dev Burman family, who lived in the Cumilla house, migrated to India after 1947,” Faruk added.

Dev Burman’s first major breakthrough in Mumbai came in 1947 with ‘Do Bhai’.

He went on to compose music for several epic Hindi films including ‘Pyaasa’, ‘Kagaaz ke Phool’, ‘Guide’, ‘Abhimaan’ and ‘Mili’.

He also sang songs in semi-classical and folk styles of Bengal.

The maestro was conferred Padma Shri in 1969 for his contribution to music.

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Fearless woman warrior of Telangana Peasants’ Armed Struggle remembered

Rich tributes were paid to Chakali Ilamma, the brave warrior of the historic Telangana Peasants’ Armed Struggle (1946-51) on the occasion of her 127th birth anniversary at various places in the old undivided Karimnagar district on Monday.

Karimnagar Zilla Parishad chairperson K. Vijaya, Collector R. V. Karnan and a host of elected representatives of the local bodies and officials garlanded the statue of Ilamma on the Collectorate Road in Karimnagar.

People from various walks of life paid floral tributes to the fearless warrior, who spearheaded a valiant armed struggle against feudal oppression and exploitation in the erstwhile Hyderabad State during the autocratic Nizam rule.

They praised the inspiring leadership of Ilamma, who led the peasants’ armed struggle against the cruel feudal oppression with remarkable courage and grit.

In Hanamkonda, Panchayat Raj Minister E. Dayakar Rao, Government Chief Whip D. Vinay Bhaskar and others garlanded the statue of Ilamma at Hunter Road in the city.

Similar programmes were held in the old undivided Warangal, Khammam, Adilabad and other districts in honour of the legendary woman warrior.

Five GenNext Winners

Five winners of the INIFD presents GenNext talent discovery programme have been named, and they will display their collections at the upcoming FDCI X Lakme Fashion Week, which will take place in Mumbai from October 12-16.

One of the most well-known and reliable platforms in the market for aspiring designers, GenNext has already established more than 200 designers. Aseem Kapoor and Pooja Haldar (Aseem Kapoor), Ateev Anand (Re-), Somya Goyal (Somya Goyal), Arshna Raj (Stoique), and Ankur Verma have been named the champions for its 34th batch (TIL).

For the GenNext programme, entries were requested as in every season. An experienced panel comprised of Mehernaaz Dhondy (Editor-Grazia), Aparna Badlani (Creative Director-AZA), Sumati Mattu Head of Innovations, Lakme, Sabina Chopra GenNext Mentor, and Jaspreet Chandok Head of RISE Fashion & Lifestyle reviewed the collections of the shortlisted designers.

The INIFD presents GenNext programme has won praise for spotting and giving budding designers a chance to develop their abilities and gain prominence in the fashion business.

Announcing the latest batch of GenNext designers, Sumati Mattu, Head of Innovations, Lakme said, “Discovery of new Talent has been a key pillar of Lakme Fashion Week in partnership with FDCI. The Gen Next program is a testament to the platform’s longstanding commitment towards identifying, nurturing and promoting young designers who will define the face of tomorrow’s fashion. As we come back to Mumbai for the first time in two years & since the pandemic, we can’t wait to bring alive what the young GenNext designers showcase this season. As Lakme celebrates an iconic seven decades of reinventing beauty this year, we look forward to seeing the GenNext winners elevate and reimagine contemporary beauty looks inspired by Lakme’s trend-setting product statements.”

The INIFD presents GenNext programme has won praise for spotting and giving budding designers a chance to develop their abilities and gain prominence in the fashion business.

Shibasish Sarkar to head Producers Guild of India

Delighted to pass the baton on to the able hands of Shibasish: Siddharth Roy Kapur, the incumbent president of the Guild.

Film industry professional Shibasish Sarkar was unanimously elected as the president of the Producers Guild of India.

Sarkar was elected at the first meeting of the Guild’s newly constituted Guild Council of Management.

Siddharth Roy Kapur, the incumbent president of the Guild, said he is delighted to pass the baton to Sarkar.

“It has been a pleasure and an honour serving the production fraternity and I am delighted to pass the baton on to the able hands of Shibasish. I am sure he will do a stellar job and add further lustre to the Guild’s reputation of spearheading the industry’s interests,” Roy Kapur said in a statement.

Sarkar, who has close to three decades of corporate experience in handling multiple verticals across films, television, animation, gaming content and operations of digital & new media platforms, said he looks forward to building on what his predecessor has accomplished.

In his six years as Guild president, Siddharth has been a tireless, passionate and committed champion for our industry at a time of unprecedented challenges. I look forward to building on what he has accomplished and working alongside my colleagues to help address the challenges and build on the opportunities we have before us as an industry,” he said.

Sarkar is the chairman and CEO of International Media Acquisition Corp. He has also served as the Group CEO at Reliance Entertainment, a part of the Reliance ADA group and held senior positions at Viacom18, UTV Disney and Godrej Sara Lee.

Author-poet Meena Kandasamy wins the German PEN award

Born in 1984 in Chennai, Kandasamy is a feminist and anti-caste activist who has been vocal about the arrest of fellow writers like Varavara Rao and former Delhi University professor G.N Saibaba.

Indian author and poet Meena Kandasamy has been announced as this year’s recipient of the Hermann Kesten Prize by the PEN Centre in Germany’s Darmstadt. The Hermann Kesten Prize honours personalities who, in the spirit of the charter of the PEN association, stand up for the rights of persecuted authors and journalists.

Cornelia Zetzsche, Vice President of the German PEN Center, described Kandasamy as “a fearless fighter for democracy and human rights, for the free word and against the oppression of landless, minorities and Dalit in India; not a ‘Ms. Pleasant’, rather a ‘Ms. Militancy’,” referring to Kandasamy’s 2011 book of poems titled Ms Militancy.

Born in 1984 in Chennai, Kandasamy is a feminist and anti-caste activist whose work revolves around the issue of gender, caste, sexuality, patriarchy, and oppression by the Brahmanical system. Her novels have been shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the International Dylan Thomas Prize, the Jhalak Prize and the Hindu Lit Prize.

Kandasamy has been a vocal critic of the arrest of fellow writers like Varavara Rao and former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba.

Kodi Kaatha Kumaran, the man who held the flag aloft

A weaver from Tiruppur left his mark in the Freedom Movement’s history as the one who protected the Tricolour’s honour

Chennimalai Kumarasamy lived only for 27 years but carved a unique place for himself in the history of the Indian National Movement. He was born on October 4, 1904 to Nachimuthu Mudaliyar and Karupayi Ammal as the fourth of seven children in a family of weavers near Erode. He had to drop out of school after Class V because of his family situation.

At the age of 10, Kumarasamy moved to his maternal uncle’s house in Pallipalayam and started practising weaving to support his family. After two years, he returned to Chennimalai and started his own handloom business. The relentless struggle to earn money to support his family forced him to move to Tiruppur — today’s knitwear city, then the abode of cotton — in 1922, working in a cotton mill. Kumarasamy, thereafter, was fondly referred to as ‘Tiruppur’ Kumaran, a moniker that stuck with the young freedom fighter.

P.D. Sivanandham, a resident of Lingai Gounder Street, Tiruppur, whose father was the foster son of Kumaran and his wife Ramayi Ammal, recalls hearing a lot of stories about the freedom fighter from his grandmother. He recalled Ramayi Ammal, saying she was a 14-year-old when she married Kumaran, who was then 19.

It was in Tiruppur he began wearing khadi and the Gandhi cap. He would often recite the couplets from Tirukkural and verses of Thiruvasagam while at work. He worked tirelessly during the day to support his family and was dedicatedly involved in the activities of the Desabandhu Youth Association.

It was on March 19, 1925, during a meeting with Mahatma Gandhi for the first time at the house of freedom fighter Padmavathy Asher, that he became involved with the quest for freedom. From then, Kumaran became an ardent follower of Gandhi and his principles of Satyagraha. He developed a strong sense of belief in truth, morality, fearlessness and sacrifice.

When Gandhi took out the Dandi March in 1930 to break the Salt Law, Kumaran wanted to join the procession in the erstwhile Madras presidency, led by Rajaji (C. Rajagopalachari) in Vedaranyam. Following opposition from his parents, Kumaran went on a hunger strike for the whole day in Tiruppur as a mark of solidarity.

The fateful day

On January 4, 1932, Gandhi was arrested and imprisoned at Yerawada Central Jail in Pune after he announced the resumption of the Civil Disobedience Movement against the British government. Opposing this, the Desabandhu Youth Association, led by Kumaran, went for a peaceful procession starting from ‘Mangala Vilas’, the residence of a freedom fighter. They carried the Tricolour flag of the Nationalists along the banks of the Noyyal in Tiruppur on January 10, 1932.

When the nine-member procession crossed the police station, the police disrupted the peaceful march with a lathi charge and brutally assaulted them. The protesters did not give up and continued to raise slogans, hailing the National Movement and Gandhi. The police knocked them down in which Kumaran suffered severe injuries to his head.

However, Kumaran did not let go of the Nationalist flag, which was banned by the British, even during the brutal attack to protect its honour. He fell unconscious and was taken to the Tiruppur General Hospital, where the 27-year-old heroic satyagrahi died on January 11, 1932. Kumaran was revered as a true satyagrahi for holding the flag even during his death, for which he came to be known as ‘Kodi Kaatha Kumaran’ (the one who saved the flag).

To honour Kumaran’s contributions, a memorial was opened adjacent to the entrance gate of the Tiruppur railway station in 1957, during the centenary year of freedom struggle. The Information and Public Relations Department maintains the memorial that houses a bust and a monument of Kumaran. Photographs of freedom fighters from Tiruppur are also exhibited at the memorial.

As a tribute, the Government of India released a postal stamp in 2004, on the occasion of his 100th birth anniversary. A memorial pillar stands at the place where Kumaran was beaten by the British police.

As India gears up to celebrate the 75th year of Independence, N. Nirmal Raj, nephew of Sivanandham, appeals to the Union government to give Kumaran’s name to the Tiruppur Railway Station on the same lines as Vanchi Maniyachi Junction, remembering the Indian revolutionary Vanchinathan.

Kerala-based Jesudas Puthamana makes 13 kinds of personalised Japanese kitchen knives

Hankotsu, usuba, nakiri… Jesudas Puthumana of Chendamangalam, Kerala, makes 13 kinds of personalised Japanese kitchen knives

Nirvana 2019, the house Jesudas Puthmana built on Valiya Pazhampilly Thuruth — one of the tiny islands that dot the Periyar and make up Chendamangalam, Kochi — looks especially Marquezian on a rain-drenched day.

Fashioned in such a way that it seems like an extension of the scenery, it is a labour of love, and a passion project, for which he drew the plan, sourced the material, designed the floor tiles and even calculated the angle of the sun’s shade on the roof. He built a wood-fired masonry oven for its kitchen, where he bakes pizza, bread, cake and naan. Jesudas also makes artisanal Japanese kitchen knives under Urukk Blades.

He brings out five handmade knives, in different stages of completion, and lovingly explains each. For use in the kitchen and by chefs, the knives are personalised with the name stamped on one side of the blade and a unique serial number on the other. Japanese kitchen knives are varied, each with a different purpose, for example, usuba, a traditional knife used for vegetables and intricate cutting, hankotsu, a boning knife, nakiri, a vegetable cleaver for up and down chopping. Jesudas makes 13 types of knives, with a choice of four finishes and three types of wood handles.

Meat cleavers to bread blades

Since March 2022, when he started, he has delivered 45 knives, to a clientele that includes chefs Thomas Zachariah of The Locavore, Hussain Shahzad of The Bombay Canteen, and Avin Thaliath, co-founder and director, Lavonne Academy of Baking Science and Pastry Arts.

“I want my knives to be used, and chefs who understand a good knife because it is their primary tool,” says the 44-year-old mechanical engineer. The Serbian meat cleaver among the Japanese kitchen knives proves he is up for a challenge. Next, he plans to make a bread knife for a Mumbai-based baker by adapting a serrated type of Japanese kitchen knife.

He forges, sharpens and polishes knives out of Ultra High Carbon (UHC) steel also known as tool steel for the same reason as he built his house and its wood-fired oven — “the feeling of making something from zero, to build something out of scratch.” Or, if he were to be ‘arrogant’, he jokes, “because I can!”

If he were to pinpoint what piqued his interest in swords/knives, he pegs it on a documentary on Japanese Katana swords. While working for a construction company in Dubai, with access to a workshop, he made a couple of knives on a whim.

Steeped in geometry

However, a visit to a blacksmith in Palakkad, in early 2022, to get knives custom-made revived his interest. “The blacksmith had an order of Japanese-style knives, which he was making while I was there. It got me curious enough to go back to Kochi and spend a month on homework for the types, design, and drawings of the first set of knives. On the next visit, I made the three knives.” Reference material for the blacksmith was some photographs; at the end of the stay, he carried home what he saw and learnt.

While locally-made knives are forged from High Carbon steel, “the geometry or shapes are random, these are made as per the blacksmith. Japanese knives have a continuous tradition where each knife’s geometry has evolved to specific usage because of which knives with specific names and functions exist.”

Jesudas put that knowledge to use in March this year when he finally decided to take the plunge, encouraged by the response to his first three knives. “I did nothing else but work on them.” The knives can be ordered on his socials, via Facebook or Instagram.

He shows Excel sheets of the knives he has made so far, he has the specs down to the measurements and weight of each knife. He works with a couple of local smithies near his house, hours working with blacksmiths forging and hammering UHC steel blanks into knives. Although he does not work continuously, each knife is more than 15 hours of work.

The handles — rosewood, beech and olive — are made by an artisanal carpenter. The other processes are done by hand in his workspace at home hand wrought by Jesudas: sharpened on a whetstone and polished in his workspace at home. Customisation requests include dominant hand preference, he charges a small amount for some requests. He has, however, not been asked for customisation for a particular hand.

Focus on functionality

Gyuto, santoku and bunka are all-purpose knives suitable for a variety of functions — cutting/chopping meat, seafood, and vegetables. The most popular of the lot is gyuto, which accounts for 30% of orders. “Japanese knives have evolved over centuries, and the nuances of knife edge geometry have been streamlined perfectly. The edge geometry differs from conventional Western knives as most of these have a single bevel (sloping surface or edge) and a steeper bevel angle. UHC steel can maintain such steep and thin edges.” While designing the logo, he tapped in on the artist in him. Although in Malayalam, the font, style and colours have a distinctly Japanese vibe.

Listening to him talk about metallurgy and steel, its origin in South India and how it was taken from here to other parts of the world, one gets the sense of where his interest lies. He jokes about wanting to make urukk steel or Wootz Damascus (Damascus Steel) from iron ore, “People will think I am crazy!” For now, he wants to keep it to forging knives.

The prices of the knives range from ₹4000 to ₹10,000, @urukkblades on Instagram

PM Modi releases Namibian cheetahs at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park

When cheetahs run again in Kuno National Park, the grassland ecosystem will be restored, biodiversity will increase further, the Prime Minister said

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on September 17, released a coalition of cheetahs into the Kuno National Park, in Madhya Pradesh.

Eight Cheetahs — five of which are female — were flown from Windhoek, Namibia to Gwalior, followed by a helicopter ride to the grasslands of Kuno Palpur.

The cheetahs were brought in wooden crates and will be released in a specially designed enclosure where they will live for a month and begin a lifetime of acclimatisation to Indian prey and forest conditions.

Mr. Modi, in a televised address, said it could be “months” before ordinary citizens could visit Kuno to spot the animals. “They have now come as guests and it will take some time before they can be used to living in India,” he said.

The cheetah are radio-collared and their movements will be tracked. Each animal has their dedicated tracking team. There is also a team of wildlife scientists, biologists and Laurie Marker, a renowned zoologist and founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund which has worked on restoring the species in Africa.

The introduction of the cheetah in India is being done under Project Cheetah which, according to the Environment Ministry, is the first time a large carnivorous species has been moved across continents for establishing a new population.

“Decades ago, the age-old link of biodiversity that was broken and became extinct, today we have a chance to restore it,” said Mr. Modi, adding “Today the cheetah has returned to the soil of India.”

He remarked that even though cheetahs had become extinct from India in 1952, no meaningful effort was made to rehabilitate them for the past seven decades.

The process to bring cheetahs into India spans several decades including an ingenious proposal in 2005 by the CSIR — Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, to clone an Asiatic cheetah. This came to naught after Iran, where the species was extant but dwindling, refused to share an animal.

In 2010, the Environment Ministry put together a plan recommending locations in India suitable for the cheetah and for sourcing cheetahs from Africa. This however brought legal problems as conservationists challenged estimates by the Wildlife Institute of India, an autonomous government body, of the suitability of Indian sanctuaries for the animal. Kuno Palpur, one of the recommended sites, was originally intended as a second home for the Asiatic lions in Gir, but which the Gujarat government has opposed despite a Supreme Court order directing the transfer.

In 2012, the Supreme Court stayed the Environment Ministry project to bring African cheetahs to Kuno.

In 2017, the National Tiger Conservation Authority revived the proposal and appealed to the Supreme Court to “clarify its order”. The Supreme Court in 2020 removed its bar on importing the cheetah and allowed it in on an experimental basis and this paved the way for the first batch of cheetahs.

About 10-12 cheetahs are expected to be brought into India every year and around 35 are believed to be necessary to create a sustainable population.

The success of this batch of animals will be the touchstone of India’s initiative to be home to four wildcats — the tiger, lion, leopard and cheetah.

Indian-Origin Artists Create Giant Mural Tribute To Queen In London

Two Indian-origin artists from west London are working on a giant mural of Queen Elizabeth II as a tribute to the late monarch who passed away aged 96 in Scotland last week.

Jignesh and Yash Patel have been working on the community project since the news of the 96-year-old Queen’s death broke on Thursday, which will be visible from a distance in the Hounslow area of west London.

An Indian Diaspora in UK (IDUK) group is supporting their project with an online fundraiser on the Go Fund Me website, which has already raised donations of over GBP 1,000.

“This artwork will not only give tribute to the Queen but also will be a piece of art that will be enjoyed by thousands of people across the UK for many years to come,” IDUK said.

“Jignesh and Yash Patel are renowned artists who have five Guinness World Records such as the world’s largest bubble wrap painting, which they created in the year 2021 by filling 200,000 bubbles to set a new world record. The duo is very active in various charity and community projects via their art,” the group said.

The mural is being created on a two-floored building in Kingsley Road area of Hounslow east as a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. The artists, who have also painted a large mural of Dutch impressionist artist Van Gogh in the area, said they have been wanting to cover their street with murals to uplift the area.

“It was only right that we show our tribute to Her Majesty the Queen with the one skill we are good at,” said Yash Patel.

He said the project has also brought together people of the local area and has been a “collective community effort” with the local councilors also on board.

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Gaja Capital Business Book Prize 2022: ‘How TTK Prestige Became a Billion Dollar Company’ among 10 nominees

Author Gita Piramal’s “Rahul Bajaj: An Extraordinary Life”, Mircea Raianu’s “Tata – The Global Corporation That Built Indian Capitalism” and Narotam Sekhsaria’s “The Ambuja Story” are among the 10 longlisted books for the fourth ‘Gaja Capital Business Book Prize’.

The longlist announced on Wednesday comprises books on “entrepreneurship, Indian family businesses, India’s digital tech revolution, important events in the Indian business landscape, economics and stories of personal success and failure covering the entire gamut of Indian business from independence to more recent, contemporary stories”, informed the organisers.

Other titles that made the cut include “Broke to Breakthrough: The Rise of India’s Largest Private Dairy Company” by Harish Damodaran, “Disrupt and Conquer: How TTK Prestige Became a Billion Dollar Company” by TT Jagannathan and Sandhya Mendonca, and “Harsh Realities: The Making of Marico” by Harsh Mariwala and Ram Charan.

“I’m confident the jury will curate an excellent reading list that should be on the bookshelves and desks of entrepreneurs, business owners and anyone interested in India’s growth potential.

I am especially hopeful that these interesting stories encourage young entrepreneurs to read and learn from the experience of others,” said Gopal Jain, co-founder and managing partner of Gaja Capital in a statement.

“As for writers, journalists, and entrepreneurs, this will continue to serve as a platform to share their stories and create a body of knowledge that others can leverage and build upon,” he added.

“The Struggle And The Promise: Restoring India’s Potential” by Naushad Forbes, “Xiaomi: How a Startup Disrupted the Market and Created a Cult Following” by Jayadevan PK, “Indomitable: A Working Woman’s Notes on Work, Life and Leadership” by Arundhati Bhattacharya, and “Maverick Effect: The Inside Story of India’s IT Revolution” by Harish Mehta are also in the contention for the coveted award.

The jury for the prize this year comprises stalwarts from the worlds of industry, investments, academia, public policy, and governance.

They will announce the shortlist in November 2022, and the winner in January 2023.

Instituted in 2019 to encourage Indian entrepreneurs, writers, and journalists to tell their stories for the world, the award offers prize money of Rs 15 lakh — making it the “biggest book prize” in the country to honour authors transforming the business ecosystem with their creativity.

Amrit Raj’s book “Indian Icon: A Cult Called Royal Enfield,” a gripping account of how a strong Indian brand became global, was the winner of the 2021 ‘Gaja Capital Business Book Prize’.

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