How to Photograph People - Portraits

Shooting People fall into two categories: portraits and candid. Either can be made with or without your subject's awareness and cooperation. However near or far your subject, however intimate or distant the gaze your camera casts, you always need to keep in mind the elements of composition and the technique that will best help you communicate what you are trying to say. Use the background to your advantage to make the whole picture filled with elements that bring graze and poise. The most common mistake made by photographers is that they are not physically close enough to their subjects. So don't be shy. If you approach people in the right way, they'll usually be happy to have their picture made. In total you have to make sure that the subject is comfortable with you so that you finally get the portraits you wanted of the subject. Always be on the lookout for those moments when a person's character shines though. If you have a formal portrait session with someone, make some frames of him while he straightens his tie or while she brushes her hair before the formal sitting. Walk back to the car with her and shoot her on the street, this will help you have a variety of formal portraits and candid pictures of the subject. The best place to shoot some of the good portraits is use the natural shadows of a tree shade, under a porch, or even better the room where most subjects feel comfortable in. The Shutter speed varies when one uses or not uses a strobe. If you are going to use a strobe it is better to bounce the light source so that the soft light is evenly distributed on the subject body and also the background.

Indoor Portraits
The normal Shutter speeds for indoor with Strobe:
Exposure: 1/125, Aperture f: 8

Without Strobe: (if the room is well lit)
Exposure: 1/15 or 30, Aperture f: 5.6 or 4

Outdoor Portraits

Exposure: 1/ 250, Aperture f: 11

All the above technical details are for ISO 400 ASA.

These pictures of Kris Gopalakrishnan the Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of Infosys were taken in his office during a exclusive chat with Bangalore Mirror on Tuesday 7th August 2007. Since i had to get some very good pictures of the CEO I had to make him feel comfortable before making sure that he would oblige my demands. And I used the strobe as a bounce light to give me the equal distribution of light.

These above pictures are the Portraits with the subject fully comfortable with the camera lens staring on the face.

The below pictures are the Candid Portraits of People with them not conscious of them being photographed.

These pictures of Kris Gopalkrishnan on the left was taken soon after I had entered his office and the one with the coffee cup was taken during the interview.

These candid portraits of renowned Vocalist Balamurali Krishna were pictured during his interactions with the media on the eve of his performance at the Ramnavami Ugadi Utsav in Bangalore on Tuesday 13th May 2008.

These informal candid portraits of former Miss India and Bollywood actress Neha Dupia was taken during her chat with the media at the launch of the Flying Cats air hostesses set up in Bangalore on Saturday 4th August 2007.

Imrana Mukhtar's Deadly Charm

This story was a sad one after a year of this being published, this same girl was bitten by a deadly cobra and she could not survive the poison gushing through her veins. Imrana was a very brave girl who could handle all kind of poisonous snakes with ease. But thanks to the frenzy media she had to loose her life a year after she held her first solo show in Bhopal on September 29th 2003. This story was published after she gave a special shoot for the Hindustan Times – Bhopal edition and the next year (in 2004) when she was going to hold her second solo show the fotog’s wanted her to hold three king cobra’s together and pose for her, when tragedy struck her. I was not part of the second show, and was very upset when i got the news of her sudden demise, and the undue hunger of the fotog’s which claimed an innocent, youngster’s life. This in a way was her last interview and hence I dedicate this space in memory to "IMRANA MUKTHAR" - the women snake charmer.

It’s difficult to say what is deadlier, her looks or her cobras. The 18-year-old Imrana Mukthar – one of the few women snake charmers in the country – carries both with equal ease. To top it all, she handles her venomous snakes as easily as her duties as an intern nurse at Anushri Nursing Home in Arera Colony here in Bhopal.
The deadliest of snakes dangle around her neck. She holds them as if it were a child’s play. Being related to snake charmers obviously did the trick for her. She took to the snake business some sic years ago and has come a long way, says her Ustad Hakim Babu Bhai. “She knows how to treat herself in case she gets bitten by any kind of snake,” he says with pride.
His understudy wasn’t so deft with deadly cobras to begin with. She used to be very scared of snakes, as any women would be. But after she saw her nine-year-old nephew play with snakes at her sister’s house, she mustered courage to handle non-poisonous snakes to begin with.

Imrana has put up a solo show at Aish Bagh Stadium encouraging the locals around the area to come and see her handle snakes with ease. She has put up this show with the help of her family members and says, “All the women should take a cue from me and not get afraid of reptiles.”
She plans to hold this show till October 2 and is very happy with the response she received on the first day itself. Imrana says that any snakebite can be cured. “Even a person bitten by a cobra or a padam nag can be saved if he/ she treats self within half hour of the bite,” she says.
She says that snakes have different levels of poison. For instance, a person can survive a ‘Karat’ bite for up to 24 hours and a viper bite up to six days. “So, there is no need to fear these docile reptiles,” she adds.
Snakes o no snakes, one thing is sure. She has gone a step ahead of most men who run away on seeing a snake. She hopes that more women from the City and the Country will follow her by taking care of the reptiles and not killing them.

How tight is security at BIAL?

The story was a dry run to show the security lapse which will man the BIAL when it starts operational fully. This story was discussed with K R Sreenivas the Resident Editor of the Bangalore Mirror, before going through the run. One other person who helped me in this dry run was Somashekar of the Business Line. I thank him for this dry run and for a great favor which we gave to the security to tighten their belts before the real opening of the Bengaluru International Airport.

A lighter, a match box and a stray dog … slipped through the security check during the trail run at the BIA on Friday, 7th March 2008.

It was a trial run for operational readiness among other things at the Bengaluru International Airport on Friday, 7th March 2008. for us, it was also time to test just how water tight the security at our spanking new airport in Devanahalli, which is all set to open on March 30, was. Is it as safe as it is swanky?
So we packed in a Barton and Gustier jack knife, two match boxes and a lighter – some in our pockets and some in the bag that holds our camera. Why did we do it? Since we were informed that despite it being a trial run, security was going to be high and the metal detectors et al were going to be used for security clearance just as it is done in HAL, we had to see for ourselves. Also, what better time to do a reality check!
Result: Our team managed to sneak in a match box, a lighter and even summoned up the courage to smoke inside the apron area as the air force and other trial run planes landed one after the other.

First came the baggage screening. The bag was screened by the CISF and the inspector in charge marked the bag. “Remove the jack knife and give it to me. Take it back on your way out,” he said. We gladly obliged. The match box and the lighter which were also in the bag got through easily.
Next came the body check. They found the match box in my pant pocket and I surrendered it. After that, we took our camera bags into the apron area where the high density fuel tanks and the planes would be parked after touch down. Then, we boarded a double decker bus from which we could take our pictures of the plane movement on the tarmac.
We waited for an appropriate time to shoot our smuggled goods (our editor needs proof!) even as we photographed the arrival of the first Kingfisher plane from Mumbai. Soon after the second one, a 12-seater owned by the Larsen & Toubro United, landed, there was a stray dog running through the apron area even as the jeep was maneuvering the plane tp the parking bay- much to the delight of the photographers and dismay of the CISF personnel manning the area.

This incident emboldened us and we fished out the match box, the cigarette lighter and took some pictures with the first Kingfisher plane in the backdrop. It was time to try out a smoke. A bit of dilly-dallying and we finally decided to light up. Kneeling inside the bus, we managed to smoke peacefully even as the gun-toting CISF personnel patrolled outside.
Four photographers shared the cigarette, but none of us took pictures of each other smoking in the apron area! Clearly the terror trail that runs through Karnataka is yet to make a significant impact in the BIAL airport security measures.

It looks so 'International'

This story which was published in the Bangalore Mirror in March 2008. This story was told me the previous evening itself by K R Sreenivas the RE of BM. He asked me if I could get this reality check story done during my visit to the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA). I agreed and the next day noted down all the points which were essential for the story.

It took nearly 90 minutes for the media entourage to reach the Bengaluru International for the Press Club to watch the first touch down of an aircraft at the new airport. Though the journey was a long one, the icing on the cake was the final flight trials conducted by BIAL in a near live environment which saw flights from Kingfisher, Deccan and the Indian Air Force touch down to spectacular landings.

Starting from the Press Club at 7.50 am on the Friday morning, the low traffic flow early in the morning did help. The special entry passes were checked at 9.35 am. Cameras were scanned and security check was completed in a flash for the 80 media persons taken there. The Kingfisher Airbus A320 plane from Mumbai landed at 9.55 am.
The ground staff and even the security guards at the apron area started cheering and clapping as the plane touched the tarmac. A few minutes before the plane appeared on the horizon, everyone went dead silent, watching the plane losing altitude as it approached the runway. Kingfisher Airline flight tested the international arrival process and entered the new airport through the boarding bridge.

It took another 10 minutes for the plane to be guided by the apron control jeeps to its parking bay. Halfway through to the parking bay, the plane was given a welcome shower by two panther special fire fighter trucks.
At 10.20 am, the second plane, a 12 seater Larsen and Turbo, touched ground. Then it was the turn of Indian Air Force’s heavy transporter to burn the tarmac. In quick succession, another Air Force plane and a Simplify Deccan plane touched ground around 10 minutes after 11 am. Passengers from the flight which took off from HAL airport, traveled in a spanking new airport bus and arrived at the terminal, as apart of the trail for the domestic arrival process. The final landing of the morning was another Air force plane.

Throughout the landings, dust bowls hovered around the runway and the apron area. As photographers clicked on in a frenzy, a stray dog which perhaps had VIP entrance ran across the apron area as the Larsen and Turbo plane was being led to the parking bay. As we came back towards the baggage claim area, sniffer dogs were resting after a not-too-hard morning’s work.
Suresh Bathija, a travel agent who was on the special first flight from Mumbai, said, “This airport is awesome. It is swankier and bigger than HAL airport. But my only problem is the distance my clients have to travel to the city. Otherwise this airport has the potential to become the best airport in the country. I wish we could have such a swanky airport in Mumbai.”

The kingfisher plane which landed first was also the first to take off from the new airport. But it took off only at 1.25 pm instead of the earlier announced 12 pm.
A passenger who arrived on the Deccan flight said that the airport looked spectacular from the air and on arrival, he was very impressed with the whole building. “It looks so international, the city needs this,” he said.
The journey back to the Press Club from the airport took exactly 2.35 hours. Close to 400 people participated in the trial run at the new airport.

Tip for Rain Photography

Most photographers prefer not to venture out in rain to get a perfect picture, all to keep their equipments safe. Well one should know that ‘rain photography’, is one of the best to get good images if exposed well.


I tried to catch the movement of the women as well as get the rain drops (top Left),
In the next picture I wanted to get some close up of the drops of water (top)
and in this 1991 photo taken on M G Road for Times of India showing the water drops on top a car bonnet (left).



In this picture taken in Bhopal during the tribal protest against the Digvijay Singh Government their was a downpour which was relenting to go, and I wanted to shoot a image to show only the umbrellas from a height. So I climbed this 12 floor residential building to get this image for the Hindustan Times - Bhopal Edition, which got a display of six columns on the front page.


TIP: Use the low lighting condition to your advantage and lessen the shutter speed using aperture priority mode. Always try and get a dark background, and use a zoom lens rather than a wide lens. The zoom lens will help you to capture the water droplets and also give the field of depth which is required for any good rain pictures.

Shutter Speed bracket: s 1/ 30 or s 1/60 Aperture bracket: f: 8 or f: 11


The family running in the rain was taken at f:8 with 1/60 of second (top left), the girl on the bike was at f:11 with 1/60 of a second and the last picture was taken at f:11 with a shutter speed of 1/15 of second.

Note: all the pictures were taken with a 70 -200 mm, f:2.8 lens.




http://epaper.dnaindia.com/dnabangalore/epapermain.aspx?queryed=7&eddate=7%2f25%2f2009

The link above is the page in DNA- Bangalore where the tips are given.

3,000 women tie ‘rakhis’ to their brothers in jail

This was one of my first stories for the Hindustan Times – Bhopal Edition, in August 2001. This piece happened when a fellow fotog in Bhopal told me during our daily morning discussion that the jail will be a good place to visit to witness and take unusual images of the Rakshabandhan celebrations. This triggered my inquisitiveness and I went along with him just to shoot pictures but only to end up with a good human interest story. The story was published in the Hindustan Times – Bhopal Live pages on the 12th of August 2001. I followed it up in 2002 too, with a similar theme but with a difference. The link to that story is given below.

http://shivselvan.blogspot.com/2009/06/love-binds-within-prison-walls.html

It was a rare happy moment for the central Jail inmates on the outskirts of the City today. And an air of festivity pervaded the environs of the jail. The occasion was the festival of Rakshabandhan.
More than 3,000 women from all over the State had lined up outside the gates with rakhis in hand and love for their brothers in their hearts. The social status of the brothers hardly seemed to have had any effect on their sisterly love.
A more emotional scene was inside the jail as love transcended religion and the Muslim inmates of the jail were tied rakhis by the sisters of Hindu inmates thus making it a unique celebration of communal harmony with in the four walls of the prison.
The scene was totally emotion-choked for the jail inmates as well as the jail authorities as they watched sisters weeping and hugging their brothers before performing the traditional ‘bhai pooja’, and tying the rakhis.
The jail authorities, like every year, had made arrangements for the visiting family members by laying down rows of mats for performing the traditional rakhi tying ritual, followed by a hearty home made meal. The walls of the jails were choc a bloc with color papers and banners, which were put up by the inmates to welcome their sisters on this annual occasion.
Inmates who had no visitors were moved with tears were rakhis were tied on their fellow inmates.
The women inmates were also given the opportunity to participate on the joyous occasion with rakhis given by the jail staff to tie to the visiting brothers. One of the women inmates said that she is very happy today to see her brother who did not visit her for the past three years.

Some of the male inmates wept with joy on seeing their young children, saying that they had a waited eagerly for one year to see their children’s growth.
Rampyare an inmate said that he was so happy on seeing his three-year-old daughter talk to him of various things that she had been doing along with her mother and grandfather back in the village.
Various lady visitors belonging to the Muslim community wept with joy on seeing the sisters and relatives of Hindu inmates tie rakhis of their husband’s wrists.
Visiting relatives were given 15 minutes to meet their brothers, with each batch of 50 being allowed at one time inside the jail premises, said the jailer Purshotam Somkuwar, adding that they had to be very careful that no untoward incident occurred.
This anxiety of the jail authorities to avoid any untoward incident went misplaced as many misdemeanors were farthest from the minds of inmates today. All they had in mind was to enjoy the 15 minutes to the maximum with their relatives.
After all the relatives had left their brothers back within the four walls of the prison the inmates were thoroughly being frisked, their tiffin boxes and other pooja items checked before being handed back to them.
For at last today the sisters had lined up the jail premises to see their brothers rather than the condemned criminals.

Mavalli Tiffin Rooms - MTR

These pictures below were taken by me during an special interview with Hemamalini Maiya - Chairman of the Mavalli Tiffin Room (MTR), during my stint with Bangalore Mirror in 2007-2008. The Interview was being done by an old colleague who had earlier worked with me during my stint with the Times of India - Bangalore edition from 1986 to 1993. So during the process of the interview I asked this charming lady who now runs the family run business if it was possible to shoot pictures of the place she obliged but quickly added that expect for the kitchen you shoot anywhere you want to. Since i had little time to shoot these images, I asked Maiya to sit in one of the rooms along with her customers in the backdrop so that I could get a good picture. After that I went about picturing the images which I needed for the paper the next morning.

Hemamalini Maiya - Chairman of the Mavalli Tiffin Room (MTR)

The Mavalli Tiffin Rooms (MTR) that dishes up staple South Indian breakfast (tiffin) to thousands of people every day. MTR has literally millions of fans like me, just for the taste and cleanliness that the second best is not even close to it.
Mavalli Tiffin Rooms, is a 'pure' vegetarian cuisine, which has been the pride of Bangalore and more so for the southerners for over 83 years now. Situated on Lalbagh Road, and very close to the Lalbagh gardens, the doors of this small vegetarian restaurant always opens for serpentine queues of joggers, walkers and the regulars waiting for their breakfast of mouth watering delicious Idli's, Dosas, Uppittu and Kesari Baath and hot piping coffee.

A view from one room to another room (left), as a group enjoys privacy during their group lunch (right).

Housed in a small old building MTR does not have the ambiance and décor that today's restaurant have to attract customers. MTR, in fact does not need to attract customers as managing their customers have been a big task for the staff. People wait for a couple of hours on a typical Saturday or Sunday just to get a table although the restaurant has three floors to serve. The ground floor is primarily for those "On the Go" customers who would want to get a quick bite or just coffee and tea. The first floor is where you register and wait for your turn for them to call you when the table is ready. The dining area is mainly for families & ladies where the interiors, the lights and fixtures, fading black & white photographs donning the walls remind one of the pre independence era. The service and treatment rendered is commendable by the waiters, who typically wear a shirt and a dhoti folded in half. Even more commendable is that they do not accept a TIP.

The Uppama plate which is a specialty at the MTR (left), and the Poori - Sag which is another treat for breakfast and evening tiffin (right).

Starting as a small Brahmin's Café, MTR has always been one of the city's hottest eating spots. It has a reputation for savory food and high standards of hygiene and cleanliness. The greatest quality of MTR is their uncompromising Quality over the years. When price controls were imposed during the Emergency in 1975 MTR had to down their shutters not wanting to compromise on the quality over the price. MTR preferred to lose business rather than compromise on quality. This quality is maintained even today. In 1951, MTR was one of the first Indian restaurants to introduce steam sterilization, enhancing its reputation for cleanliness. MTR which has been a household name in Bangalore for over 80 years now has several products ranging from a variety of vegetarian snack foods and chips, soups, frozen foods, ready-to-eat meals, spices powders, pickles, vermicelli, and over 30 varieties of ice cream and ice cream cones.

The special Rava Iddly, with the mint leaf chuttni (left), and the delicious flat Jamun with the rass (right).

While a food junkie like me would endure anything for a breakfast at MTR, not to be missed is the five-course vegetarian meal at Rs.75.00. Starting with a glass of grape juice in a small silver "tumbler", they serve Dosas, chappathis, Curries, Bisibele Baath, Rice, Sweets like Obbattu with ghee on it and a lot more that keeps coming one after the other. One of the sweets available at MTR is the Chandrahara, which has no parallel. The Thali is served on a Silver Plate, which is continuously replenished by the waiters. MTR is probably the only place where the waiters literally force you to eat the food.

The combo picture showing the Poori, Jamun, Uppama, Rava Iddli which is a all famous tiffin at the Mavalli Tiffin Rooms (left).

MTR Foods Ltd., which is one of India's leading purveyors of packaged foods also exports canned foods, Ready to Eat Foods and spices to the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and other Asian countries. The latest addition to the MTR Group is the "Namma MTR" chain of Retail stores opened in Bangalore and Dubai showcasing their range of products and also offers variety of fast foods.

The MTR's Special Plain and Masala Dosa with the mint chuttni (left) and the full meal plate with all the different variety of vegetable preparations (right).

The Rava Idli, which is one of the favourite breakfast dishes of south India, was invented by MTR. The discovery channel featured MTR on their show when they did a special on Indian food specialties. MTR received the Rotary Award for its quality and hygiene and was also recognized as the best South Indian Tiffin restaurant.

Carving and shaping for Diwali

This piece along with the pictures were done in a two hour period after a advertisement which was to be filled in this space fell through and the RE asked me to quickly think of an Photo Medley. After a lot of thought I came about this idea since I see these clay workers toiling every day on my way to the office. So rushed to the place which a large number of this craftsmen community has named the ‘Prajapati’ in Bhopal on 22nd October, 2002. This was published the next day in the Hindustan Times – Bhopal Edition.

Giving final touches to the lamps (left), a lot of labour goes for the earthen look that wins clients aplenty (right).

Come October, the City market is flooded with earthen lamps and Lakshmi idols in myriad shapes and sizes. It’s during this season that the Prajapati community gets busy with mud and clay. This community which for generations has mastered the art of making Lakshmi idols and earthen lamps are small in number but enough to serve the City’s demands so much so that their clientele range from far flung cities throughout the state and elsewhere, too.
This community became popular in the early 20th century when Ram Prasad Gajapati Prajapati was awarded for Lakshmi idol carvings by the then ruler of Bhopal. More Prajapatis came to the City and started this handy job which lasts only for a couple of months or so.

Rekha Prajapati with her son Gajnand completing the colour work of the idols at their home in Nehru Nagar (left), Ram Dayal Prajapati takes his lamps for heating them under fire (right).

There are two different sects among them – one making the earthen lamps and the other that makes the Lakshmi Idols. The community is spread all over the City from Bairagarh to Mangalwara; from Arera Colony to Nehru Nagar.
What is unique about their idols? Sharp features, interesting color combination says Muni Prajapati, the granddaughter of Gajapati while the great grandson Uma Shankar Prajapati, who has a masters degree in science, says that for want of any good jobs he helps his mother during these months. He also added that the community has ventured into making Durga, Ganesh idols apart from the original Lakshmi idols and lamps.

Sunita Prajapati works on the Lakshmi idols (left), Uma Shankar, a masters degree holder, arranging the idols to help his mother (right).

The Lakshmi idols cost around Rs 15- 25 a piece while the lamps would cost between Rs 175 – 200 per thousand pieces. When Kailash Prajapati from Mangalwara was asked about the profitability of their vocation he insisted that if the buyers are happy during Diwali then they are happy, too. Gain or no gain, thanks to this community, the city definitely gains with several houses worshipping idols shaped by them and lit up with earthen lamps that have been their creations for several decades.

Naresh Prajapati adding colour to the idols (left), Muni Prajapati working at her house in Nehru Nagar (right).

Colourful Rakhis flood City markets

This story I got during my daily stroll to the new market area in the evenings in Bhopal. I was passing through the hordes of shops which were selling the variety of rakhi's that had hit the market in the month of August 2002. I had a look at some of them and asked them how mush these cost and then went back to the office to get my camera and shoot some pictures so that I could a write a small piece for the newspaper the very same night.

With the festival of Raksha Bandhan – celebrating sibling love- round the corner, the markets in the State capital are flooded with colourful rakhis catering to all tastes and age groups.
There are rakhis available for children, religious –minded, the modern and the trendy, the sober and the matured, not to mention even politically –inclined people, keeping in mind the forth-coming State Assembly elections.
The children can have a whale of time selecting the traditional bond of love as rakhis studded with Santa, Mickey, Donald ducks and the three witches props made of pencil scrapings and bead work are available. There are doll-studded rakhis, too.
The religious segment of the society can have a choice of rakhis studded with plaster idols of Lord Ganesh, Lakshmi and other gods and goddesses. These rakhis have colourful bands to give them a decent look.
To attract the youth, there are heart shaped rakhis, thin colourful threads interwoven into each other. For the elderly, the holy thread is available in simple and plain traditional forms in all colours.

The biggest attraction is the huge collection of ‘political rakhis’, which have been introduced this year keeping the Assembly elections in mind. They have made three designs, which have the photos of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and of Prime Minister AB Vajpayee and one which ha the party symbol of the BJP (Lotus) with party colours as the wristband.
A shopkeeper in the New Market area says the rakhi market has seen a transformation this year. He said unless new looks are introduced, people might not be attracted. The price of the rakhis ranges from Rs 2 to Rs 50 for the trendy ones, while the children rakhis have been priced as RS 20 to Rs 40 while the political ones have fixed price at Rs 20 irrespective of the party.

Chief Secy - meets his nemesis in sports

This story I got to know through a good IAS officer friend in Bhopal. He called me to tell that the Chief Secretary along with some of some of the Principal Secretary will visit the Bhadbhada area to have some fun and also enjoy their weekend so that before the new government is sworn in they will be prepared to go to work with their minds fresh. So I quickly took a bath and left for the place only to be greeted by them and asking me if I too wanted to join them in their fun. Yes I did but not with out my journalistic cap on. So after the end of the day and with some special pictures stored in my Nikon D-100 camera I went back to the office in the evening after the fun with some of the top IAS of the state of Madhya Pradesh and narrated the whole story to the RE. He asked me to quickly file the story since it made a nice read for our readers.

With the elections just round the bend and political class busy with its constituents on the festival of lights, bureaucrats – often considered dour and colourless folks – got some breathing space, turned out in style and celebrated Deepawali in fine fashion.
Chief Secretary A V Singh was in the lead, treading the rough terrain on Kerwa reservoir road and going speed –boating in the brimming waters near Bhadbhada. But he met his comeuppance in Housing Commissioner Raghav Chandra when it came to kite flying of a bureaucratic kind.
Sporty Government officials of different departments made the Deepawali crackers and fireworks passé. It was some good ol’ fashioned outing near the woods for them this Deepawali.
Two teams vied for top honours. One led by top bureaucrat A V Singh and the other by State IAS Association secretary Raghav Chandra. The officials of the Sports and Tourism departments were in close quarters.
Reels of kite-strings – the sharp manjha that is used in kite contests – were brought out for the fierce competition. Chandra, who confessed to having flown one after a gap of 30 years, was immediately transported back in the past.

“It feels great flying kites once again. I feel much younger doing so,” he confessed, perhaps reminiscing about his kite –flying days of the youth. The Chief Secretary, a little laid back to suit the mood of a perfect weekend on a beautiful winter afternoon, let his team fly his kite.
But he was fiercely competitive, egging on the teammates to snap the line of Chandra’s kite. Chandra soon regained the touch of the old, maneuvering the kite with some skill and panache.
Soon, the line of his boss’s kite was snipped and it went adrift. As ecstatic Chandra called for his teammates to grab the Chief Secretary’s kite and the manjha.
Later he said that if the State Government permitted, he would like to hold a kite flying competition for the rural folks shortly thus enabling the best kite flyers of the country to be produced from the State.
The Sunday sojourn was organized by the State wing of the National Adventure Foundation & Tirupati Adventure Club. After the kite-flying, the Chief Secretary went off for a speed –boating near Bhadbhada gates accompanied by Principal Secretary, Tourism, K T Chacko.

Graffitie unchecked despite EC ban

This story I had written without the thought that it would make to the front page of the Hindustan Times – Bhopal edition. When I was riding back after submitting the forms for the issue of election commission passes to cover the Madhya Pradesh elections in 2002 on 17th October, I happened to see the walls all over the city defaced with the political parties trying to get the better space on someone else’s walls by promoting and prompting the voters to cast their vote to their respective party. This I thought had been banned by the Central election commission and the State EC too. But the rules were being opulently flouted by the political parties and their candidates. So I came back to the office and asked my RE if I could go ahead and write the story, to which he readily obliged and guided me how to go about it.

Political parties may not have announced candidates for the forthcoming State Assembly elections but graffiti by their likely contestants has begun in right earnest. And this is happening despite clear guidelines of the Election Commission against graffiti for electioneering.
On the arrival of Samajwadi Party chief Mulyam Singh Yadav, party workers too to large-scale graffiti in the old city areas. And when they were removed at the behest of District Collector Anurag Jain, film actor Raza Murad in this typical style chided him for being partisan during Yadav’s rally.
“You can not rub off Mulyam Singh’s name from the hearts of the people. You can only scrub off our slogans from the walls but so it with the Congress slogans as well”, he said.
He seems to be right here. Slogans are being scrubbed off the walls but supporters of the Congress leaders like MLA from Bhopal (South) P C Sharma are writing new slogans seeking vote for the Congress after congratulating people on Diwali.
In the entire stretch from Roshanpura to Priyadarshani Park and beyond, three blocks of slogans – congratulating people on the Deepawali, seeking support for P C Sharma and then appealing for vote to the Congress – abound on both sides of the road. And is has happened in the past week even after Jain convened a meeting of all political parties and took an undertaking from them to desist from graffiti.
While talking to the Hindustan Times, Jain said that it has not been brought to his notice. But if graffiti is done on private property without the consent of the owner, he might well lodge an FIR with the police and prompt action would be taken. If walls of public property were defaced this way, he would take suo moto action.
Here lies the catch. Most of the buildings on this stretch are residential complexes with no single owner and public properties like offices and parks. On the other side of the road are shanties. In both cases, an FIR seems improbable though no consent was sought from anyone.
Jain said that in the case of private property action could only be taken when there is an FIR. “The Defacement of Property Act does not come into effect at the time of elections alone. Graffiti by anyone without consent of the owner is punishable in any case. But after model code of conduct came into effect, it has become my responsibility to ensure that there is no graffiti on public places and without consent of the owner private property is also not defaced”, he said.
He further informed that a decision was taken at the all=party meeting not to write fresh slogans on the walls and rub off all the slogans already written throughout the City.
“The Samajwadi Party workers had violated the rule during the visit of their party chief but slogans written then were immediately removed”, he said.
Jain said that a team of seven persons has been deputed at each of the police station areas to rub off the slogans and the process would pick up after the Prime Minister’s visit on Sunday.

The picture which shook MP State Congress Party

This picture taken by me on 9th April 2002, took the then ruling Congress party by storm and gave the much needed imputes to the main opposition in the state of Madhya Pradesh the Bharatiya Janata Party. Government School children from various poverty and drought struck villages from Madhya Pradesh State had been sitting right from 9 in the morning on the street leading to the Chief Minister Raja Digvijay Singh’s official residence in Bhopal.
Since I had gone there to cover the protest by the children sitting on the pavements in the noon, I asked a couple of policemen standing on guard if the Chief Minister had gone home for his lunch and afternoon siesta, they replied that he has left his office and was heading home. So even I waited for the Chief Minister, thinking that he would meet these children on his way home.
The motorcade of the Chief Minister Digvijay Singh came first ringing the shrieking siren that the Raja is following them shortly. I got ready with a wide angle lens and saw the Raja’s car approach the squatting children, so I quickly took some three frames, while the most of the fotog’s present there ran behind his car thinking he would stop and step out. But instead the car kept going and in a flash he had entered his home gates which were quickly shut behind him by the alert cops on duty. The whole number of fotog’s had missed a good picture. This same picture was xeroxed the next day by the BJP youth wing as they protested the apathy shown by Raja Digvijay Singh on these starving children, who had braved the summer heat waiting for him to hear their pleas.

The Caption: Chief Minister Digvijay Singh seeing, from his car, a sit-in by school children from various villages on Tuesday demanding that the State Government implement the free mid-day meal scheme ordered by the Supreme Court.

Aryans pen next album in - Bhopal

This story too was given to me by my good friend Ritu Raj Mate who called and said that Aryans who are a rage in the world of Hindi pop music were in town and sheltering in one of his friends resorts. I quickly asked him to check out from them if I could come to meet for which they readily obliged. Though I do not know much about Hindi music, Sadasivan and DJ Naraain helped me to understand it thorughly. The half an hour time frame meant for me turned into a two hour chat with them on the 13th of March 2004 during my stint with the Hindustan Times in Bhopal. They even told me how this was their third visit to Bhopal to pen their albums and on how they find the city very quite and romantic and that's why they love to visit the city of lakes to pen their albums.

Sadasivan and DJ Naraain – who have been rocking the country with their hit albums for some years now – are in the City of Lakes penning lyrics for their fifth album.
The duo is also working out a strategy for launching their fourth album – Hai Dil. Speaking to Hindustan Times, they talked of their long journey in the world of music.
The group plans to release “Hai Dil’ in April. The release will coincide with their tour of 16 cities across the country. They also plan to do a show in Bhopal in June.

In a span of two days the duo has penned lyrics for six songs. The album will have more of romantic songs. However, they will stick to Indian values and will not encourage any kind of vulgarity.
The duo has one more feather in their cap with IIT, Kanpur asking students to do a video project on the Aryans.
On doing remixes the duo said they will think about it only after they have launched eight to ten albums. But, they are quick to add that they will not like to remix anyone else’s albums.
Well remix or no remix the Aryans with one Dravidian in their team are all set to rock the country between April and July with their new album “Hai Dil’.

Power lesons your child will teach you

BESCOM spreads the message of saving power through school children.

This story was a sheer luck when I had gone to shoot some file images at the BESCOM (Bangalore Electricity Supply Company) office on the exhibition on how to save energy, for our Bangalore Mirror library purpose. As I entered the hall where the exhibits were on display a lady walked up to me and requested me if I would be kind enough to also cover their education programe for the school children. I obliged and spend some half hour during the special BESCOM session for the children and cam up with the story. When I reached office Niranjan Kaggere, the correspondent who cover the energy beat asked me if I have any story since he did not have any on 15th January 2008. I told him about the story I was going to write and he requested me if he could do the writing bit and we take a joint byline. I obliged with Niranjan since this was not our first joint story as we had written many before this. But sadly what is happened to today’s journalism is that the reporters have to be spoon fed by the photojournalist community who are on the field most of the time. Gone are the days when the reporter and the photojournalist worked ‘hand in glove’ situation. This is not a very good trend for journalism and may end up in favour of the ever active photojournalists who have been deprived of their dues.

Parents don’t be baffled if your children return from school one day and ask questions about the monthly spending on electricity in your home.
Their gyan comes from the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM).
For the last one month, Bescom has been imparting knowledge on power supply to the students. Specifically, the DSM Center (Distribution Efficiency and demand Side Management) at the Bescom’s corporate office takes students on a day long tour and conducts a workshop which explains how to save energy by using CFL’s (Compact Fluorescent Lamps).
Awareness programmes on energy conservation have been on in full swing. Unlike its earlier methods of creating awareness, this time the company has decided that children could be instrumental in bringing about a change. Hence the DSM center is organizing activities like exhibitions, workshops and lectures on methods to cut increased power consumption and the use of CFL bulbs.

According to senior officers, the programme will make children the instruments of change.
Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, Chethan D, coordinator of the DSM Center at Bescom, said, “Our concern is to educate all our stake holders, residents’ welfare association and school children. Over the years, there has been an increase in the annual load growth by six percent and there is no new generation for the time being except to manage efficiently with currently available power. This is one such method to create awareness among people.”
The center, which was inaugurated a month ago, is the brain child of KPTCL (Karnataka Power Transmission and Corporation Ltd) and all its five electricity supply companies envisages to focus on promoting energy-efficient devices and energy conservation. When asked about the financial grants and budget allocation for the programmes conducted through DSM centers, Chethan said, “Even though there is no separate funding for the programmes, the center being the joint venture of both the organizations, will make use of funds pooled in by both KPTCL and Bescoms.” Around 1,000 children and teachers in various batches have attended the programmes and the number might double during the days to come, according to Bescom officials.

Murali Krishnan, student of a private school who attended the workshop, said he would go back home and ask his parents to change their regular bulbs to CFL even if they cost a little more. Murali also added that he will explain in detail how the family can benefit and also that state electricity board from this small change of bulbs.
Another student, Preeti, said that at her home they have been using only incandescent bulbs and normal bulbs along with tube lights. “This workshop has taught me a lot and when I get back home after school, I will advice my parents on this and request them to change al the bulbs to CFL,” she added.
Students will also be taught about various gadgets, besides CFL’s that could cut the unnecessary consumption. Gadgets and accessories have also been displayed at the center. The center the first of its kind I the country, is not just working on its own but getting help from other prominent energy companies like ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Commission). “The ONGC has agreed to provide us with resources and help us in conducting lectures by sending is resource persons,” Chethan added.

Doctor at your doorstep!

This story was given after I happened to attend a media briefing on the portal that the Bangalore city doctors had launched. Though I was not in a position to write anything great and since the Bangalore Mirror was very city centric I had to dish out some piece with a lot of information for the benefit of the readers. The health sector is an important one and hence I gave it a shoot and wrote some four odd words which were fine tuned by Anil Nair, a good friend and Senior Editor of the Bangalore Mirror. This was published in the Bangalore Mirror on the 5th of February, 2008.

It is something that almost all of us have gone through: the anxiety resulting from a nascent ailment, the travails that precede its diagnosis and subsequent treatment, when we are literally clueless as to the right specialist to consult, or, having at last identified someone, the whole rigmarole of setting up an appointment etc. Now, all that could be just a mouse-click away.
A newly launched portal www.consulturdoctor.com has an area and category wise directory that lists all doctors in various parts of Bangalore and provides a thumbnail of their respective specialties.
“Currently we will be providing a comprehensive list of all doctors, hospitals and clinics in Bangalore, with specific information like address, phone numbers, specialization etc. in due course we will also venture into setting up proper appointments for clients for doctors of their choice,” said Manohar K S, president of the portal, which was launched on Monday and was inaugurated by Dr Prabakaran the Vice Chancellor of the Rajiv Gandhi University for Health Sciences.
The portal is run by a dedicated technical team working for Ur-identity, a web and graphic design company offering internet solutions for both business and NGO’s.
“Of course, we will first seek the concurrence of the doctors whose names we list. As such, it is good advertisement for them. As of now, we are doing it free of charge but once we enhance our services, we may consider subscriptions,” Manohar, who has relocated from the US and has contemplated, launching this portal since 2003, said.
The portal is not concerned with ailments alone. It focuses on the wellness issue too. The site offers expert tips on fitness, on how to fight stress and on generally having a proper attitude towards work and life. To this end it also provides addresses of health clubs, fitness centers and yoga schools in various localities. Apart from this the portal also has various in-depth articles and research papers related to myriad health issues.

Cadets to Slither down from flying chopper

This story was a repeat after I had written about four NCC cadets who would slither down a flying chopper in 2002. In 2003 too the NCC 9MP and Chhattisgarh) had selected four boys but his time around they had also selected three girls to slither down the flying chopper. This story was again given to me by my good friend Ritu Raj Mate.


In biting cold every morning, three girls and four boys selected from the NCC (MP and Chhattisgarh) unit can be spotted slithering down a wire pole near Bhadbhada dam like a skilled acrobat.
None of them in into any kind of aping a monkey. Nor are they practicing any kind of rope tricks. They are the few talented young kids of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) selected to slither down the rope from a moving helicopter in front of the Prime Minister on January 27 in New Delhi.
What is more significant this year is that the girls of the NCC have also been included in this event to celebrate Republic Day for the first time.
The girls- Swati Singh and Vandana Gupta (both from Jabalpur) and Padma Jagat from (Raipur) along with the four boys – Krishna Kumar (Jabalpur), and Harjyot Singh, Praveen Marscole and Deepak P (all from Bhopal) are excited about the practice. That is of course understandable.

Among the audience who will watch their well practiced feat would be President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani.
Apart from the cadets, their trainers too are eager about a good showing from their trainees. The entire NCC Directorate from Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh is keenly looking forward for Republic Day related event on January 27, 2004.
The team of seven cadets is put through a rigrous drill every morning by the Commandant, Brigadier Prabir Goswami, and Lt Colonel Yusuf. Ex-NCC cadet Ritu Raj Mate, an adventure sports trainer, also joins in the training.
Lt Col Yusuf says this will be for the first time that girl cadets would perform para-drop on a rope from a helicopter. “It’s going to be an exciting event,” he says, and adding that after they para-drop they would perform a war simulation to show the Prime Minister of the NCC could effectively be the Army’s second rank soldiers.
Brigadier Goswami, who had taken personal interest in the training, was seen asking the cadets as to how they felt after they finished their slithering down. The excited cadets replied, “Very good, Sir”.
The contingent will leave for New Delhi on December 29 where they will be given full-fledged training at the NCC camp. Lt Col Yusuf says that the next 25 days in Delhi will be crucial for these cadets who will have to slither down the rope from a moving helicopter.
They will be imparted training in how to attack the enemy after slithering down the rope with their weapons, adds Lt Col Yusuf.
For Mate this is the second consecutive year that he has been training the cadets in as many years of the event.
The cadets get tougher because he makes them climb up the wire pole and then slither down from a height of 60 to 70 meters, he says. He adds that this kind of training can be imparted only when one has already gone through such tough drills in his early stage of life.

Naga house Kunemece comes to town

This story was another special I wrote for the Hindustan Times, Bhopal edition, in the HT Bhopal live section on 15th July 2003. The Chakhesang tribe from Nagaland had come to the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS) to construct a home and bridge which they build in their thick dense rain forests back home on the foothills of the Himalayas. So when the director of the IGRMS called me to ask if I would be interested in covering them, I jumped in joy and told him I will be there in an half an hour and we will carry the story the same day before another newspaper gets a whiff of it. And so this story happened.

In the heart of the capital, the setting was typical. Dressed in colourful traditional tribal attire and adorning bead jewellery, a group of men and women – their features clearly oriental and their bearing purely tribal were busy performing a ritual under a several feet tall intricately carved wooden pillar.
Other such pillars, carved door and window panes and unusual decoration material such as stuffed animal heads, feathered staffs and beaded materials lay around. Anyone with an eye for the Indian heritage would easily identify the group as Naga tribals. So, had a Naga tribal settlement come up right in the midst of Bhopal?
It has, only if temporarily, on the premises of the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, as a group of Chakhesang Naga tribal have come here to install a traditional ‘Kunemece’ – a Chakhesang Richman house. The house is being installed at the open air tribal habitat gallery of the Manav Sangrahalaya and the ritual for the commencement of installation was held this afternoon.

A very interesting ritual unfolded as the ‘Cekanghitu’ – the base pillar of the Kunemece was installed over the premises. The head tribesman conducted the ritual and also made some sacrifices. This wooden carved pillar, which would be at the entrance of the house, is considered the mainstay of the construction. It is used as a watch pillar and also as a signpost marking a settlement.

The door of the house is another interesting feature. The base of the door has a carving of a devil-faced man with huge yawning mouth and the upper part includes carvings of six huge breasts. The man signifies the head of the house who protects the home and the upper part signifies the woman who provides the food security. The adornments of the house are the stuffed heads of the animals killed by the tribe members.


The Chakhesang Richman house would be installed within a week. The setting of the house would be made more attractive by a huge – true to life swinging Bamboo Bridge, also installed by the tribal members on the Sangrahalaya premises. So the next time you visit the Manav Sangrahalaya do not miss the Naga House with the bridge. It is sure to prove an unusual experience.

Greenpeace activists term Carbide site Toxic

This story was a very well display in the Bhopal live edition of the Hindustan Times on November 20, 2002. Since Vinutha who is working with the Greenpeace movement for years and who happened to be a good friend called and told me that they are planning to dig up various sites around the Union Carbide factory to find if they were toxic and if I would be interested in covering the whole operation itself. I readily agreed and went to the Union Carbide factory only to land up with another story to my credit.

More than 100 Greenpeace activists, under the banner of International campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB), descended on the gas tragedy town of Bhopal and signposted three solar evaporation ponds located approximately 400 meters to the north of the Union Carbide India Ltd today. Solar evaporation ponds are repositories of factory waste which had been created by the Union Carbide and the Madhya Pradesh had covered them up after the gas disaster. Greenpeace activists, however, are claiming the sites are still exhibiting dangerous levels of toxicity.
The activists today declared all the ponds near the Carbide factory “poisoned and needing the Dow clean up”. Their signboards and life-size hoardings were in English, Hindi and Urdu fro the benefit of residents living in the vicinity.
The activusts alleged UCIL, had routinely dumped waste from the factory into these three ponds and the 500 odd families near by were open to harmful toxic effluents and other volatile materials. They also said one of ponds, contained toxic waste is inundated with monsoon water, and is regularly used by children for swimming, and also supplies drinking water for cattle.
The activists said the UCIL had never tried to warn people about the toxicity in these sites.
The Greenpeace Research Lab had taken samples twice from these ponds and tested them in 1999 and 2002. The 1999 test had contained traces of dichlorobenzene and a number of aliphatic compounds while the tests taken in 2002 contained chlorinated benzene and aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons.
The samples and tests also revealed the toxic waste from the three ponds had alkylated benzenes, phthalate esters, phenol and molecular sulphur.
The activists demanded that the State and the Center take the cleaning up process or in another moth they will be forced to get it they own toxic cleaners to remove the chemical waste.
What is surprising is that when the State government spokesperson was asked about the toxic waste he nodded in agreement and also said that they were short of funds to get them cleaned. While the pollution control board said that they have written to the center seeking help to remove the toxic waste as early as possible.

For other stories on the Union Carbide and Bhopal Gas tragedy please see the below links
http://shivselvan.blogspot.com/2009/02/bhopal-yet-to-recover-photo-story.html
http://shivselvan.blogspot.com/2009/02/it-pays-to-be-truthful.html
http://shivselvan.blogspot.com/2009/02/survivors-tale.html

Tipu's Bangalore Summer Palace

For long I had wanted to visit the Tipu Sultan’s Bangalore summer palace just for sheer shooting them onto my camera. After a long wait I got the opportunity to go there as some of the treasures belong to the Sultan which was maintained by the Daria Daulat Bagh in Srirangapatna was being put on display for a week at the Bangalore summer palace. Since I could not shoot the pictures of the coins and other materials which were on display at Srirangapatna due to bad light, I had this double whammy luck riding on me to shoot those images which I could not at Srirangapatna and also get the images of the summer palace itself. I went there and ensure that had any fotog’s tummy fill of pictures out which some I have put on display below.

The entrance of the Tipu Sultan's Bangalore Summer Palace.

Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace in Bangalore is one of the few and best historical places in the garden city of Bangalore today. So, if you are planning for sightseeing in Bangalore, this palace is something that you can hardly afford to miss. The palace, now maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India, is situated amidst a picturesque garden that enhances the beauty of the old palace. The specialty of the garden lies in the fact that it was originally planted by none other than Tipu Sultan, himself.

The palace is very cool sue to the use of teak wood for roofing as well as the flooring.

Built between the years 1781 and 1791, Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace in Bangalore is similar to Daria Daulat, the other palace of Tipu that is situated in Srirangapatna. As the palace was special to the mighty son of Mysore, Tipu Sultan, he called it 'Rash-e-Jannat' which literally means the abode of happiness and the envy of heaven'. The name inscribed by him on the wooden banisters of the palace can be seen by the visitors even today.
Though a large part of the palace is preserved well, the eastern wing of Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace that housed the 'Zenana' or 'Harem' has been destroyed over the time. What exists today are the wonderfully cuspid rosewood arches that rise above the fluted stone pillars and the beautiful frescoes, painted elaborately on the ceilings and walls of the palace.
Although the palace was previously painted in the elaborate style of the Daria Daulat palace, now the arches and ceilings, made of expensive rosewood have been painted with dark-brown enamel paint. This gives the interior of the palace a rather sober look than warm. However, the delicate and serene white flowers painted on a warm brick-red background cover the walls like a bright carpet. Also the raised frieze of gold flowers and leaves on the plain white base of the borders are a feast to the eyes.

Some of the very valuable heritage used by Tipu Sultan on the special display at the Bangalore Summer Palace. These items are usually on display at the Daria Daulat Bagh at Srirangapatna near Mysore.

The Sword along with papers showing the history and time of Tipu Sultan on the special display at the Bangalore Summer Palace.

The museum hall which houses some of the heritage at the summer palace in Bangalore.

The hand written book of Tipu Sultan (left) and the jar he used to drink tea from (right).

The robe worn by Tipu Sultan when he died fighting the British army (left) and the bowl used by the Sultan himself (right) with typical markings of astrological and numerical predications.


The lock to the pistol used by Tipu (left top) the pistol itself (top right) and some of the various paisa (coins) releaseed by Tipu Sultan during his tenure as the ruler of Mysore Kingdom (left).

Fading Memories of Tipu

This story of the Srirangapatna Summer palace was got during my personal trip to Mysore and the nearby areas with my family. The moment I saw these paintings and roof of the summer palace in total neglect, immediately the idea struck me to write about it and on my way out to my luck the ASI curator of this summer palace bumped into me. I quickly asked him why these historical paintings are being maintained so shoddily, he replied that he had written a numerous times and the ASI Bangalore nor the Delhi office have got back on the restoration work. This ASI person than on helped me to get the whole story and also gave the letters written to the Bangalore circle with a CC to the Delhi office. Since Anshu Vaish (who was with the Madhya Pradesh government as cultural secretary during my tenure in Bhopal) was posted as the director of ASI in Delhi I wrote an email to her and got some kind of response to have the whole picture for the story in place. Though it did take me a month to finish the story, I was happy at the end as the ASI has started their restoration work and the ASI curator of the museum is a very happy person now. This appeared in the Bangalore Mirror's edition on the 15th July 2008.

Priceless paintings at former Srirangapatna ruler’s summer palace suffer from neglect and they need immediate attention

Daria Daulat Bagh, a structure built by the erstwhile ruler of Srirangapatna, Tipu Sultan, transports us back to history. The Bagh, situated on the banks of Cauvery River in Srirangapatna, treasures centuries-old paintings, engravings and arms that depict Tipu’s struggles against the British. The State of these collections are also a grim reminder of their fight against time and neglect.

The shoddy maintenance by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has resulted in the paint peeling off walls, ceilings and canvases. This teak wood structure, built in 1784, used to be Tipu’s summer palace. It stands on a raised platform at a height of 1.5 meters.
The murals on the corridors describe Tipu’s ordeals in the battlefield. Now, you can see some yellow patches that expose the walls behind –a result of scratching by visitors with their nails.

According to records, a palace built by Moghul Governor Dilavar Khan inspired Tipu to build this palace. A remarkable feature of the Bagh is the amount of wood used on the ceilings, walls, pillars, canopies and arches. While the outer walls are devoted to war scenes and portraits, the inner walls are lined with floral and geometric patterns.
Now, they are in an appalling condition as the paint has peeled off the wooden base.
The painting, “The stroming of ‘Srirangapattanam’, done by Sir Robert Ker Porter in 1800, depicts the capture of Srirangapatna, on May 4, 1799. It features several English officers, including General Baird, Sergeant Graham and Colonel Dunlop. But now, it has gaping holes.

The same painting shows Tipu’s soliders offering stiff resistance, with the walls of Tipu’s fort, minarets of the mosque and ‘gopura’ of the Ranganatha Swamy temple in the background. This painting too is in a bad shape and needs some restoration. When we spoke to the ASI officials at the museum, their reply was: “we too are saddened at the museum’s state of affairs; we have written several times to the ASI, Bangalore circle but there is no positive reply from it.”
When we wrote to Mrs Anshu Vaish, Director General of ASI, New Delhi, she asked ius to contact Dr S V P Halakatti, the superintending archaeologist of ASI’s Bangalore circle.
Mrs Vaish also said she has asked Dr Halakatti to reply to our queries. The latter, however, remained incommunicado.

Museum Masterpieces

A portrait of Tipu shows him wearing a turban, a striped shirt, a necklace and a belt adorned with precious stones to which is attached a sword. G F Cherry painted the portrait of Tipu as a prince adorns the wall. It was painted by John Zoffany in 1780.
Besides, there are 18 pencil sketches, including those of Tipu’s seven-sons – Sultan Fateh Haider, Abdul Khaliq, Maizuddin, Mohiuddin, Yasin Sahib, Sultan Sahib and Shukrullah. Also on display are the sketches of Mir Alam, minister of the Nizam, his son Mir Dauran, Krishna Raja Wodeyar III and his maternal uncle, Nandi Raja. These portrait sketches were drawn by Thomas Hickey, an English artist, between 1799 and 1801.
The museum showcases coins of various denominations, including the double paisa, paisa, half paisa, quarter paisa and one-eight paisa, issued by Tipu from different mints at Bangalore, Calicut, Chitradurg, Dindigul, Gooty and Srirangapatana. Medals made of sliver, copper and bronze, issued by the English to commemorate their victory over Tipu are also on show.

UK Minister, Gaur discuss projects

This special coverage of the visit of the then British Government’s Former Minister for Trade, Development and Consumer Affairs - jointly with DFID (Department for International Development) Gareth Thomas, who was also an British Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development was a very special one since I had the proud privilege to cover his one day visit to the Madhya Pradesh State in on October 6, 2004. I got this opportunity thanks to Ashim Chowla who was the then the Madhya Pradesh state in charge of the DFID (Department for International Development) of the British Government. He called me to say if I could help him in photographing the full visit of Gareth Thomas, for which readily I agreed and also informed the Resident Editor Askari H Zaidi that I will be going with the UK Minister and will also file the story too. The visit was very exciting in many ways since I got to shoot the minister up close and also got some very natural pictures of the minister who is a very soft spoken man and had a great sense of humor. At the end of the trip after boating at the upper lake the minister walked up to me and asked me to show the images I had taken and requested for a CD with the images to be send to him personally. This is was very flattering since I have taken many a foreign dignitaries visit to India but this one will always remain in my memory.

Ashim Chowla explains some of the old pictures of Bhopal to the Gareth Thomas at the DFID office in Bhopal (left), Gareth Thomas along with Debe Menzes and Ashim Chowla talk to some of the NGO reprensentatives at the DFID office (right).

The British Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development Gareth Thomas and Country Director Debe Menzes of the British High Commission today met Chief Minister Babulal Gaur here and discussed cooperation with the Madhya Pradesh Government in various sectors.
The international development department of the British Government has already provided assistance to the State in the education and health sectors.

Gareth Thomas being requested by the then Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Babulal Gaur not to stop from funding in the health and education sector from the state, at the hallway leding to the CM's conference room (left), as he holds meeting with Chief Secretary Vijay Singh (right).

In today’s meeting, the State Government proposed British assistance in the sectors of higher secondary education, mid-day meal, AIDS control, juvenile crimes, justice and police administration, public grievances redressal, rural grain bank, slums improvement and reforms in the power sector.
Chief Secretary Vijay Singh and Principal Secretaries of the Health, Home, Urban Welfare and Finance departments detailed the State proposals in the meeting.
Thomas and Menzess said that the past experiences of the British Government with the State Government have been good. They gave assurance that the British Government would soon take decision on the State proposals in the context of today’s discussion.

Gareth Thomas being welcomed by the villagers during his one hour visit, some of the villagers at the bore well.

Thomas, a young Member of Parliament (MP) in the Tony Blair Government is in his 30’s. He is part of the young set of ministers the Blair government has been projecting to its voters back in the UK.
Thomas also met the State Health Minister Gauri Shankar Shejwar and discussed various health projects the DFID can take up with the State Government.
Thomas then called on the Chief Secretary Vijay Singh. The two had a closed-door meeting with IAS officers and Principal Secretaries of various departments. Thomas then went to the chamber of Panchayat and Rural development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and from there the two left together for Beej Bhawan and jointly inaugurated an office.

Gareth Thomas interacts with the State Government run school children while asking them as to what do they get to eat in their mid-day meal.


Gareth Thomas inspects a 'Anganwadi' home, before speaking to some of the workers of the DFID run aganwadi settlements and then leaves their home after being satisfied with the progress of their work by the all women team.


Later in the noon, Thomas was taken to village Bhiyapur near Bhimbetka to interact with women and children. He discussed with them the issues related to free mid-day meal scheme, water, education, an empowerment of women. He asked the villagers to give in the problems they face in their day-today life. Later, he spoke to children and asked them if they were happy with the meal they were being given.
He then moved on to an Anganwadi home to see and interact with the officers and women on the issues related health of women and children below the age of 5.



Gareth Thomas along with his team at the prehistoric rock paintings at Bhimbetka. Thomas spend a lot of time trying to understand more than thousand year old paintings before leaving back for Bhopal.





After spending more than an hour with the villagers and patiently hearing their problems, Thomas took time to visit the prehistoric rock paintings at Bhimbetka were he was deeply impressed by various paintings.
En route to the airport in the evening, Thomas went to the Boat Club at the Upper Lake to enjoy a ride on a pedal boat.




Gareth Thomas enjoys the pedal boat ride with his team members at the Upper lake before saying adieu to Bhopal as he walks past an push cart seller at the Boat Club.

Elephant rides for children begin at Van Vihar

During my stint for seven years in Bhopal, I had a few friends whom I could trust who also helped in me getting good stories for the newspaper. Ritu Raj Mate, Anil Mudgal, Ambreesh Mishra, Anup Datta, Manoj Batham, Vivek Pateria and Manish Mishra and Manish Choure. Apart from these named there are a few others too who helped me in getting some very good stories into the Hindustan Times, Bhopal edition on a regular basis. This is one such story which Ritu Raj Mate had given me May 2004.

Elephant rides have broken the confines of the National parks to come to the State capital. For Lakshmi, a 35 year-old elephant, and its mahout Govind Giri, it was a new experience today as the pachyderm carried children into the Van Vihar National Park for the first time in the city of lakes. This new programme, a joint venture by the Van Vihar National Park and Tirupati Adventure Travels is to encourage children below 14 years of age to get closer to wildlife on an elephant back.
The elephant had a hand, a heavy leg to be precise, in the Puja by breaking two coconuts. It then carried six children on its back trough the main gates to start the programme. Chief Secretary A V Singh took keen interest in the project and backed it to the hilt. The ride would cost Rs 150 per child and will carry the children from the Boat Club to the Greenwood Club gate where they would be given a lecture and shown a film on wildlife.
The director of Tirupati Adventure Travels, Ritu raj Mate, said that the idea came about after A V Singh wanted an educative programme on wildlife at the Van Vihar. The director of the Van Vihar, Chaudhary, was equally enthusiastic and the programme took off.
The Range Officer for Tourism at Van Vihar, Vinod Saxena, who was also present, will be in charge of the whole show of elephant rides. These rides are meant to improve the knowledge of children about wildlife and their habitat, said Mate.
He added that after six months when the elephants get used to the topography of the park, the officials of Van Vihar will earmark a route inside the woods on the hills of the park for the elephants to take children closer to the wild. With the addition of elephants, the Van Vihar will hopefully get the much needed face lift it has been waiting for and will attract more international tourists in the future.

One giant stride of sensitivity

Thanks to Anil Mudgal who runs Arushi and NGO for the welfare of the physically and mentally challenged children, that this great step taken by him and his team as helped thousands of them to attend school with respect from the capable children. This story was given to me by Anil when we met over for a cup of coffee where he explained the full idea and I told him the moment the Madhya Pradesh Government finishes printing them on the text books we will meet again and then write the story for the Hindustan Times. So after the text books for children had come to the open market with the printed matter on how to treat and behave with the physically and mentally challenged children in schools I went back to Arushi where I was a frequent visitor and got the whole picture for the below story in April, 2005.

This one little page in the school textbooks of the State will unfold a giant chapter in empowerment of physically and mentally challenged kids.
Advocacy for special children will take a giant stride with the flip of just one page listing their rights and ways to facilitate their integration into the academic mainstream that’s been added to the MP Text book Corporation’s books this year (2005-2006).
The first move of its kind anywhere in the country, the single page has a huge outreach. Of the 6.5 crore school textbooks for all the classes for the coming academic session, almost 35 percent will have this page, surpassing in scale anything that might have been tried before.
In the 2006-2007 sessions, all the textbooks will have the “Rights Page”.
Six years of continued lobbying with the State Government and MP Textbook Corporation by Bhopal based NGO Arushi that has been working for the visually & physically challenged, has finally bore fruit as School Education., Principal Secretary Anshu Vaish decided the time had come for the socially critical move.
Corporation MD SK Mishra responded immediately. Experts on issues concerning differently-abled kids chalked out a list of 17 dos and don’ts. These include tips like seating disabled kids in front row of a class, involving them with all the possible activities on mentally challenged kids, routine contact with the parents of such children.
If the kids are hearing-challenged, they should be able to see blackboards, teachers faces, lips and hands clearly, should wear heir hearing aids all the time and use of drawing aids for teaching.
For the visually challenged, use of Braille, apprising the kids with the school environment and utilities like drinking water and toilets and maintaining hurdle-free environment have been recommended.
For wheelchair bound kids, special low design of water taps, fountains and toilets and construction of ramps for wheelchair movement etc have been suggested. The instructions include treatment of children with speech-impairment and giving them a patient hearing. Teachers have been urged to tell other children not to make fun of the differently-abled children and be friendly with them.
Apart from all these points the page also asks the school to ensure that once a month a special class be held to teach the importance of the abled children on how to treat and behave with the physically and mentally challenged children.
And for Anil Mudgal and Arushi, this page was another feather in his cap as he has toiled very hard not only on this project but also various such others which give and sense of equality for the physically and mentally challenged.

SOS kids reciprocate love on Mother’s Day

On the eve of the Mother’s Day I wanted to do a story which will be away from the routine stuff which most reporters do. So during my previous visit to SOS I had learnt a lot about the adopted mother’s and their adopted children relationship at the SOS village itself, when one of the kids who was getting married. So I ventured back to the SOS village on the outskirts of Bhopal and met a few adopted mothers to file this different story, which had a new dimension to the motherhood. This story was published in the Hindustan Times, Bhopal edition, in 2003.

While the people in all corners of world celebrated Sunday as the Mother’s day in their own different ways, reaffirming their love and respect for motherhood, the 200-odd children at the SOS village of the City turned the day into a special occasion for their “adopted” mothers.
The SOS village is where motherhood assumes its highest form, as women take care of children not born to them but who are as dear to them as their own children.
Though 14 of the 16 mothers at the village were away, attending a workshop at Nainital in Uttar Pradesh, the children had a whale of time with two mothers and some ‘aunts’.
The children offered sweets and fruits to their ‘mothers’. They also had surprises in store for the 14 mothers when they return on May 13. “We have decided to enact a play and also give all our mothers special gifts,” said Amit, 13.
Kamala, a mother who has about 20 children under her care, said that she feels proud to have such a bunch of children and the way they take care of her. Narrating an incident, Kamala said that she once fell ill, the children took care of the house and the elder children ensured that all the juniors had their meals on time and took special care of them. “These are the times I specially feel very proud of them,” she said.
For Tessy Anthony, also a mother, this year’s Mother’s Day is very special one, as she has had an addition of 2 more children to her house. She said that I run a house with 25 children including the two new ones, and they all are a gem to me.
Well for these adopted mothers with their children at the SOS ‘Mother’s Day” will always remain special because for these children it this only love which they yearn for an ensure that they also give than love back in double fold on each “Mother’s Day.”