A multi-talented journalist (1934 – 2020) Raju Bharatan was a multi-talented journalist and prolific writer on Indian cricket and Bollywood films and music. He retired as Assistant Editor of The Illustrated Weekly of India (after more than four decades) and was also with an Indian film weekly newspaper, Screen. Columnist for The Hindu and Sportstar, he also wrote a very popular column on film nostalgia for Mid-Day. Son of A.S. Bharatan, the first General Manager of PTI, Raju began his career as a sports journalist when he was a teenager, by commentating on radio for India’s tour of England back in…
Author: oiop
An entrepreneur, travel buff and foodie rolled into one, his friends have lovingly nicknamed him Foodieontrip! Bhooshan Kanani in conversation with A.Radhakrishnan. PCan you tell us a little about your work? I am a Marketing Strategy Consultant, running my very own Marketing & Advertising Studio named Augmenting Times. After a decade with top companies like Hyundai, Atlas Copco and Forbes Marshall, I finally decided to go solo, an enormous leap from being a client to a service provider. Being a Gujju, my love for marketing began thanks to our family business. Perhaps enjoying learning new methods and implementing new techniques…
Besides the many historical monuments that Delhi is famous for, the capital city of India now draws tourists to its organic market at the Sunder Nursery—the green hub, which is now a valuable part of Delhi’s urban heritage. Similar eco parks are also being developed in metro cities of India like Kolkata for people to have an interactive experience with nature. Text & Photographs : Manjira Majumdar February is one of the best times to visit Delhi. The bitter winter has bid adieu and the ‘lohri’ songs have been sung over bonfires. The temperatures start rising. The flowers are all…
The Renaissance man (1925-2020) Celebrated artist and sculptor Satish Gujral was born in Jhelum in the undivided Punjab state now a part of Pakistan on 25 December 1925. A penchant for the fine arts that he developed pretty early in life saw him pursue his education at the Mayo College of Arts, Lahore and thereafter at the prestigious Sir J J School of Arts in Bombay (now Mumbai). But he got an opportunity to hone his talent further after he landed a scholarship that enabled him to study at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. Apart from painting,…
Actor, writer and social activist (1928 -2019) Shaukat Kaifi, nee Shaukat Azmi was a veteran Indian theatre, film actor, writer and comrade and also a voice artiste for All India Radio (AIR). Shaukat, born into an upper class Shia family saw the celebrated progressive Urdu poet and later film lyricist, Kaifi Azmi for the first time at a mushaira in Hyderabad in 1947. Fascinated with his looks, voice and the beautiful poem, Aurat that he had recited, love blossomed and at a young age she married him. Passionate activists for social change and nation-building, they were leading lights of the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) and…
Supreme sacrifice of a soldier (1973 – 1999) Vikram was born on 24 October 1973 in a military family to Lt. Col. PKPV Panicker and Kalyani Panicker at Panniyankara, Kallai in Kozhikode district, Kerala. His early education was at the various Kendriya Vidyalaya schools where his father was posted. Vikram passed his XII class from KV, Faridkot in Punjab. He graduated in computer science in 1994 from NSS College, Ottapalam in Kerala. He was keen to join the Army right from his childhood and had joined the NCC in the college. He passed the “C” certificate examination of the NCC and…
Since the last week of March 2020, India has remained under siege due to the corona pandemic. How have the central and state governments dealt with this unprecedented situation? Dr. Rina Mukherji analyses. As far as the coronavirus pandemic in India is concerned – we could well quote Charles Dickens’ line from A Tale of Two Cities – It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. Indeed, ever since the coronavirus pandemic touched Indian shores, sometime around January, we have had a rollercoaster ride with infections multiplying in geometric progression by the day. Yet, it has…
For the first time in its history, Indian Railways did not run passenger trains on its birthday and train services across the country have come to a grinding halt since March 22. However, the railway workshops are manufacturing medical equipment and churning out few other innovations in the battle against Covid-19 pandemic, says Rajendra B. Aklekar. In 2020, as Indian Railways completed 167 years after its first run on April 16, 1853, it was for the first time that no passenger trains ran on it due to the lockdown following the Corona pandemic. Every year, April 16 is marked as…
G. Venkatesh pays a unique tribute to his late wife Varshita, a global Indian who he says was an epitome of generosity, compassion and devotion, true grit and resourcefulness. He has set up charitable funds under the aegis of different international non-governmental organisations and hospitals to keep her legacy alive. I feel honoured penning this piece about my dear departed wife, Varshita. She would have fought shy of publicity when alive, but ‘con su permiso’, which I hope I have now, I have to do this. She died fighting metastatic cancer a little after midnight on the 10 January 2020.…
Arts Based Therapy (ABT) is an effective method that can be used to heal children and adults with developmental defects or mental health issues, so that they can live in a more balanced and mindful way, writes Nisha Kopikar. This is Geeta. She has two children – Jigar and Shaurya. Jigar is a 14-year-old boy with multiple developmental defects – poor physical tone and impaired cognitive development. This means he can never live an independent life. Her younger son Shaurya who is ‘normal’, attends a regular school but also has to attend tuitions post-school because both parents are uneducated and…