Author: oiop

Architect and urban planner par excellence (1930-2015) Charles Correa, architect, urban planner and activist, credited with the creation of modern architecture in post-Independence India, was born on 1 September 1930 in Secunderabad, and passed away on 16 June 2015 in Mumbai.After higher studies at St. Xavier’s College, Bombay, he went on to study at the University of Michigan (1949 -53) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (1953–55). In 1958, he established his own Mumbai-based professional practice and went on to be conferred the Padma Shri in 1972, the Padma Vibhushan in 2006 and the 1984 Royal Gold Medal for…

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Intellectual warrior (1913-2000) General Kumarmangalam was born on 1 July 1913 in the family estate of Kumarmangalam near Thiruchengode in Salem district of Tamil Nadu. His father, P. Subburayam was a prosperous landlord, freedom fighter, Chief Minister of the Madras Presidency, a minister in the Nehru cabinet and Governor of Maharashtra. He had his early education at home and went to a prep school in United Kingdom at the age of 11 years. He did his secondary education at Eton College and joined the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. He was commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery in 1933, the…

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Humble and grounded visionary (1934–2015) Sister Nirmala, the nun chosen by Mother Teresa to carry on her legacy of service to the poor, the dying and the destitute, passed away on 23 June 2015 at the age of 81 in Kolkata. She had stepped down from the position of Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity in 2009 for reasons of health. Born Kusum Joshi on 23 July 1934 at Regmi Village, Syanja, Nepal, her family is believed to have later shifted to Doranda in Ranchi. She was the eldest of the ten children born into a Nepali Hindu Brahmin…

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It’s been a mixed bag from the current Modi government, where education reforms are concerned. The controversy over the Human Resources minister’s educational qualifications aside, there are some good proposals in the pipeline, avers P.M. Kamath. The BJP led NDA II (National Democratic Alliance II) government under Narendra Modi has established itself as a harbinger of much needed changes, since it came to power in May 2014. There is an excellent list of achievements directly under the Prime Minister (PM) in the area of foreign affairs, national security and defence. He has coined several attractive phrases in English as well…

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This is triumph over adversity, at its best. Meet Beno Zephine, India’s first blind Indian Foreign Service officer, who overcame her disability to shine at the civil service exams. Her parents were her source of strength and encouragement, says Meera Krishnankutty, who met Beno and came away completely impressed by the smiling confidence and determination of the young woman. TThe stage was set. The audience was all ears. The little girl took to the mike. Like a seasoned speaker, she began. She talked and talked. Without any pause or hesitation, she poured out all that she knew about Chachaji. She…

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The mangalsutra is quite the ubiquitous Hindu symbol of marriage in India. Across cultures and regions, married women wear it to denote their marital status. Only the design, texture and colour differ, explains Shoma A. Chatterji. In an age where the world is your oyster, and where cultural and ethnic schisms are getting increasingly blurred, it would be interesting to focus on the significance of a marriage symbol – the mangalsutra. This is a ritualistic symbol that gives a woman identification and recognition of her married state. In other words, a single girl or a widowed woman does not wear…

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The colossal work of the legendary Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande has finally been compiled into two CDs titled ‘Samarpan’ by Pandit Indudhar Nirody. The journey was arduous says Vithal C. Nadkarni, who was completely entranced by this seminal compilation. Recently, this writer was entranced by a fabulous Kadarpiya thumri in the raga Kafi sung by Pandit Indudhar Nirody. The Mysore-based 81-year old maestro had recorded it in a set of CDs appropriately called Samarpan (Dedication), a fine tribute to the legendary musicologist Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande. Samarpan is a truly monumental project that took six years and was entirely self-financed.…

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Our forests are full of little feathered warriors who are fighting a losing battle of survival against the onslaught of chemical pesticides. Shouldn’t we be concerned that these same chemicals can cause untold harm to humans too? “For whatever happens to the beast soon happens to man. All things are connected. – Chief Seattle of the Suquamish Tribe 1786-1866 Ilove trekking. And I love taking my own sweet time getting to places, rather than racing from one destination to another. En route, at tea shops and small villages, one picks up more information from locals about the lay of the…

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By keeping silent on the burning issues of the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is doing exactly what his party had accused the former premier Dr. Manmohan Singh of doing. So, one year down the line, how different is this government from the previous dispensation? The chest thumping by the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and the euphoria witnessed in the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) on the completion of one year in office dissipated faster than mist in the morning sun after the ruling party, the BJP, found itself in the midst of a series of scandals, one more devastating than…

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Not many of us are familiar with the dance form of Chhau, which belongs to the eastern region of India and is characterised by the mask and martial, stylised movements of the performer. Dr.Kanak Rele demystifies this art form and describes its special characteristics. The three forms known by the generic term ‘Chhau’ belong to the eastern area of India, spread over the three states of Orissa, Bihar and West Bengal. The term Chhau gets divided into three distinct art practices – Seraikela Chhau from Bihar, Purulia Chhau from West Bengal and Mayurbhanj Chhau from Orissa. This vast area from…

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