Journey Through The Lens

Human side of super star Rajinikanth

2009-11-15T00:35:00.000-08:00

These pictures you get to see the human side of the great Indian bus conductor turned super star Rajnikath is from the personnel collection of his close friend and co-worker Raj Bahadur who had worked as a bus driver.

Bahadur now lives a one room pad where the superstar frequents in disguise to meet him and stays with him during his Bangalore sojourns in the Chamrajpet area. Bahadur adds that his superstar is still the same old friend he was during their tenure as driver and conductor in the BTS (Bangalore Transport Service) now (BMTC), and their friendship as deepened even as Rajni kept growing from actor to super star of the south Indian cinemas.

Raj Bahadur says that his simplicity is evident when he come to see me we drink the same old rum, ask for egg laced delicacies from by sister who lives one floor below mine and more so when it is bed time he sleeps on the floor without any complaints. Bahadur also adds that how during their camaraderie days in the then (Bangalore Transport Service (BTS) now Bangalore Metro Transport Corporation (BMTC), Rajni used to practice during every short break he gets with his stylish stunts of throwing his cigarettes in air and trapping it with his mouth.

Bahadur goes on to say how this super star comes unnoticed to his home and adds that he comes in various film characters from beggar to a plumber into his home and leaves after staying with him for a day or two depending on his mood. He shared some of the things which his friend had shared with him during many of his stays and meetings with him after becoming an action star of the Indian cinema. One such incident Bahadur says was that Rajni was on a shoot in Rajasthan and the role demanded that he dresses up as a beggar, in between his shoot, Rajni decided to visit a temple close by since he is a strong believer in gods. On his way to the top of the mountain temple a lady dropped a rupee 10 into his palms thinking he was a beggar.

After paying his respects inside the temple Rajni on his way out when he was getting back into his SUV car, the same lady who gave him 10 rupees ran towards him and apologised for her part and asked for her note back with his autograph. Rajni refused and said I am sorry because this note is mine now and I am going to keep it for life and you need not be apologetic, since you have appreciated me, and left for his shoot after giving his autograph to her in another book. This Bahadur says his friend Rajni still cherishes as one of his best moments in life as an actor and still carries the rupees 10 in his purse as a remainder that all humans are equal.
For a man who started his job as a bus conductor with a monthly salary of rupees 30 , more than 25 years ago, to the present man who now gets paid rupees 30 crore per film and yet remain unmoved by all the money is a great feeling and more so since he is great friend, till death parts us, adds Bahadur with tears in his eyes, which he was unable to stop.

G R Adinarayanappa one of the fellow daily wage bus conductor who had got the appointment letter along with Tamil film superstar Rajnikanth in 1970.

That's not right, said Fred

2009-10-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

French artist arrives at Visual Arts Square to find nothing, except a bamboo log, waiting for him.

This story was done after I had reached the spot of the annual Bangalore Habba’s arts teaching and display at the St George’s square. I saw a lot of commotion as artists of great repute were dismayed at the pathetic conditions with no tools given to them to run the two day show, all this after the sponsors and the organizers had announced a big sum of more than 50 lakhs of rupees sanctioned to hold various cultural, performing arts and other mediums to promote the heritage to the youth. As usual the reporter assigned did not come to the spot on time and missed the whole action of a French artist who was very cheesed off with the person who invited him for the event.
The story was later narrated to the reporter who had come after a 5 hour long delay when everything was sorted out and the artists had started to work. Back in the office in (Bangalore Mirror) I narrated the whole incident to the Editor for which his reaction was ‘damn good story’, and summoned the reporter who was to cover the event and asked her what she saw in the event. The reporter’s reply was the show was great with no hic ups, to which the editor’s reaction was a pale look into the reporter’s face and asked me to narrate the whole incident of what I had seen and taken pictures them too. The reporter said that it was a small incident, to which the BM editor said you call this small, we invite a French artist and treat him in an utter shameful fashion when a whole load of money has been given to hold the event successfully. So finally it was decided that the reporter take my full version and adds inputs of the organizers reactions to the story to give a whole picture of the mud slinging in the annual ‘Bengaluru Habba’.

The Visual Arts Square at the Bangalore Habba got off to a colourful start on Sunday morning. The square, which showcased the talents of various artists, had many of them coming to Bangalore just for the occasion. But for one artist from France, the lack of proper arrangements at the event was just too much to handle, or even comprehend.
Fred Martin, an expert in making masks by way of putting an individual’s face into partially-wet plaster of paris, was in for rude shock when he landed at the venue. He alleged that despite his informing the organizers what his requirements were, nothing was organized properly and none of the material he needed could be found. As a result, he had to do everything himself.

To carry out his form of art – interactive installations – two primary things are required: plaster of paris and plywood frame. “The material should be at least 18 cm deep so that someone’s face can be put into it. The frame is required to hold the wet plaster of paris, keeping it within its very boundaries. But instead of the plywood frame, what they got me was a bamboo log from Bamboo Bazaar,” he added.
A lot of effort goes into preparing the material for the masks, he said. The plaster of paris is mixed with water, after which the artist has to make it soft by walking all over it-a really time-taking process. “I have not had my food since morning. Maybe I’ll get time to eat once I finish the clay work,” a visibly –upset Fred said at 3 pm. In the absence of the frames to carry out his work, he was down on his knees cutting the frames himself.

“I wanted plywood frames but you brought bamboo logs. Okay, I will manage with the bamboo log, but one is just not enough to set up the whole frame!” Fred could be heard saying angrily to the event managers around him.
“I informed them about my requirements the very day they approached me. All the material should have been here by 11:00 am. But nothing is in form yet,” he said, adding, “I bought six plaster of paris bags all by myself.”

‘NOBIG DEAL’

“It was starting problem… but now everything is under control. This event is a collective effort of the organizers as well as the artists. While other artists started working from last evening, Fred came only this morning… and so there were a few setting-up problems. But everything is fine now,” event coordinator Meena Vari said, when asked to comment on the matter.

OTHERWISE, A TREAT FOR THE SENSES

The visual arts square event, being held as part of the BEngalooru Habba, began at the St George’s Square (Minsk Square), Cubbon Park, on Sunday. Organized in association with the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, it is slated to go on till December 6.
The visual art square is a platform for artists presenting contemporary as well as innovative art forms. Posing a treat for the senses are an exiting and diverse array of interactive art stalls, showcasing unique forms of artwork by various forms of artwork by various artists. Some premier art institutions from the city, such as Chitrakala Parishat and Ken School of Art, are supporting the event.
Offering a wide range of art activities for people from all age groups, the interactive art stalls features tile & mask making techniques with Dwarka Nath of Rangayana, Mysore; recycled materials art with Amaresh; clay collaborative installations with Kiran Sahi and Roshan Sahi; paper art with Stephen from Vistar; live paintings with Satish and Rizwan; live animation with Lyos Roberts; Nature Speaks with Smitha Cariappa and on-th-spot portraits by art students. There are two art installations- creative accomplishments of the students of Srishti, and visual artists Ravindra Gutta and Jehangir Jani.

SWIM MEET

The Habba Swim meet was organized by ace swimmer Nisha Millet and the Indian Swimming Foundation at Bowring Institute, for participantsaged between seven and 16, on Sunday.
A number of sports celebraties such as Pankaj Advani, Ashish Ballal, Ashwini Nachappa, Shika Tandon, Rehan Poncha and Vimal Kumar, who have craved a niche for themselves at a young age, were present on the occasion.

Meet the cops'presiding deity

2009-09-18T01:28:00.000-07:00

This story was done with the crime reporter S M Shashi Prasad, during my stint with the Bangalore Mirror in 2007-08. We both were covering a routine media briefing by the Bangalore city police commissioner, when I noticed that a large number of policemen gathered outside a small makeshift room next to the file room at the commissionarate. I quickly got all the details myself and left the spot since I had to hurry inside for the media briefing. By the time the briefing was over the place where I had been earlier was also empty. I quickly briefed the reporter about the news and he agreed to get some official quotes for the story and we went ahead with the joint credit the next day.

A 50-year-old temple in police commissionerate premises shifted to new spot.

Old-timers in the city police commissioner's office (COP) narrate a tale of how a gardener unearthed an idol while digging in the premises around 50 years ago. He build a small temple at the spot after providential intervention - God appeared in his dream and mooted the idea!

Thus came up the Sri Muneshwara temple, which superstitious cops believe guards the main building. However, it was never maintained and was cleaned only during the rare poojas organized by the cops or the public. But matters changed when Seetharam Shastri, who took charge as reserve police head constable in the late 80's, decided to give the temple a makeover. "I cleaned up the temple surroundings which was littered with dead leaves. Since the past 19 years, it's my routine to perform pooja every morning and evening," said Shastri, now an RSI (reserve sub-inspector).

With the old commissionerate building giving way to a new one, the idol was relocated to a new spot in the COP premises on Wednesday. Though the engineers had promised to retain the temple at the existing spot, it had to be shifted due top some technical problem.
Around 40 families living in India and abroad visit the Muneshwara temple annually. "They visit the deity when they either buy a new vechicle or before marrige functions or when their children bag a good job," said Shastri.
Shastri uses the funds donated to maintain the temple. 'It's commendable that men in kahkhi are keeping alive such rel;igious traditions," said M K Veeresh, a frequent visitor to this temple.
The canteen in the COP supplies free prasad every Saturday when a special pooja is conducted.

WHEN PRAYERS BORE FRUIT

* A police officer in the rank of sub-inspector once prayed to the deity for his marriage to materialise. Presto! Within a month, he tied the knot.
* An unemployeed youth prayed to the deity for a job in the police department. His prayers were answered. After a long career, he retired as an SI. he visits the temple every year in gratitute.

9999 once in Thousand years

2009-09-17T05:52:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken at home after my wife read in a Tamil newspaper that once in a thousand years one will get to see the 9th minute in the 9th hour on the 9th day, of the 9th month, in the 9th year of this century. Well I for one on the 9th day of the 9th month waited for the clock to tick the 9th minute on the 9th hour. It is not a great picture. But the Moment is timeless and will remain for another thousand years till someone updates this bog a thousand years from now.

Go electric!

2009-09-14T06:48:00.000-07:00

This story was written over a week’s time since I needed some pictures to co-relate with content. The theme of the story was very simple; when the present UPA government was busy hiking the oil and petrol prices by hefty margins I noticed a sudden spurge of e-bikes on the streets. This led me to a discussion with my BM Editor, and then we decided that we will run a story on the environmental aspect of the e-bike.

A battery-powered bike for the daily commute and a Nano for the weekend family outing. Is it the beginning of the end of two-wheelers as we know it?
It’s a combo the middle class will just not be able to resist: A Nano for the weekend family outing and an E-bike or E-scooter for the office commute. Call it collateral benefits, for prior to the launch of the world’s cheapest car, the conventional 100cc bike reigned supreme and even the concept of an alternatively powered two-wheeler provoked a smirk.
All that has changed following the Nano launch. But hold on, first a brief priemer for the uninitiated: An E-bike or E-scooter of high tensil steel –MIG welded Fork, with a heavy duty shock absorber and a hub motor with 240V BLDC geared drive. It can go at a speed of 25 kilometers with top speed of 45 kilometers per hour.
As those who have tried it on vouch, you get the feel of a real two-wheeler while also driving the very real advantages of a vehicle that is noise-free, free of exhaust and generally non-cumbersome. And finally, the real incentive is the price, which is Rs 15,000 – 20,000 for a basic model and up to Rs 28,000 for a enhanced one.
When we spoke to various middle class families who are current bowners of two wheelers, most of them were genuinely enthused about how a Nano and a E-bike would markedly improve the quality of their lives.

Sanjay Chanappa, who is into corporate merchandising, owns an E-bike and he vouches for its quality and ease of handling. “After 18 years of using a conventional bike, I took a risk and bought this one. Well, it has, in fact, gone beyond my expectations. It’s maneuverability is superb. Once I charge it I easily get upto 55-60 km which is fine inside a city. As for pillion riding, you can always accommodate one person, provided he or she is not grossly overweight,” he explained. “I opted for this bike because ultimately it’s economical and hassle free- no cops can stop me anymore, no spewing of exhaust fumes to the chagrin of those right behind me,” he added.
There is this Madhavan family. They had an emphatic and simple view about their new acquisition: “We will get rid of the two wheeler which we own at present, and go for the Nano for the weekend use of our family and the E-bike for daily office use.”
Arul Dass, another employee with a private company, said that the E-bike would decrease air pollution in Garden City. Vasanthi, an employee with the Central Government, explained that since he husband was unable to work, she would surely go in for the Nano and the E-Bike. As to what she would do with her TVS scooty, she replied that she would sell it off at the earliest at whatever good rate she got.
Mohan Kumar, an accounts officer, who ahs been using a two-wheeler for more than 30 years, said that he would purchase an E-bike first and the follow it up with a Nano. Why E-bike first? “My work is on the desk, I will need to travel only home to work and back. But the Nano will be used for our family weekends,” he said.
“The E-bike and the E-scooter sales have started to go up since the past two months,” said R Rajagopal, an owner and authorized stockist of various E-bike and E-scooters in the city. He also added that most of the E-bikes and E-scooters are being purchased by the youth and that it was an encouraging trend. “There is a huge number of enquiries every day but actual sales have to yet reach a significant level. The current price factor could be one constraint,” he explained.
Seven types of E-bikes and E-scooters are in the market and various two wheeler companies have entered this potential market for Gen-X. Various companies like TVS, Hero and Atlas have already started to flood the market with these E-bikes.

Some of the E-bike retail shop owners say that the vehicles are environment-friendly and gearless. What is more, you don’t need a driving licence. For safety, reflectors are provided in the front and rear, in addition to the bright headlight and an effective barking system. The motor power is cut off when both front and rear brakes are applied.
The design of the E-bike is simple and free of clutter. The bike can be used in three modes. You can use pedals-only, electric-only or ‘both’ to suit your riding comfort as well as journey requirement.
Speed is controlled using the throttle on your right hand grip. While climbing slopes or negotiating head winds, a combination of pedal and electric power is ideal.
Switches that control the horn button, front indicators and headlights are provided besides the left-hand grip of the handlebar.

CHARGE AWAY

*Lift saddle away from the back by pressing the release lever. Unlock the battery box by turning the key anti-clockwise (keyhole is located close to the seat tube). Disconnect and pull out battery box.
*Insert battery box and connect lock by turning the key clock-wise. Pull out the key.
*Put the charge plug into the charging point. Switch on power (220V AC). A red lamp lights up to indicate that the battery is charging. Flashing green lamp shows 1-2 hours more is needed to fully charge the battery. Remove the plug from the battery box socket when green lamp stops flashing and becomes steady.

DOS AND DON’TS

*Friction parts like the BB Axle, head fittings, chain and front hub may require occasional lubrication. For best results, it is advisable to take the E-bike to a service technician for cleaning and greasing at least once every six months, especially during the monsoon.
*It is important to fully understand the functioning of the E-bikes before your first ride. If you allow the bike to be used by someone else, please ensure that the user is familiar with the instructions in the manual.
*Should there be any fault in the electric system, it is best to take it to your authorized dealer for repair. Do not attempt to disassemble the bike on your own.
*Keep the tyers inflated to correct pressure for safety and comfort.
*While riding keep a safe distance between yourself and the vehicle ahead of you, wet road conditions may require longer braking distance.
*When parking, make sure the battery switch is turned off and the E-bike is in an up-right position.
*Never attempt reverse pedaling while waiting at traffic lights or similar situations in idle position.
*The battery should be fully charged before you take the first ride on your new E-bike.
*If your E-bike is not in regular use, the battery needs to be charged at least once a month to keep it ready and live.
*When accelerating, turn throttle gradually to pick up smoothly and protect the battery.
Keep the charger and battery pack away from water while charging. The chargers is intended for indoor use only.

World’s longest towel in Silicon City

2009-09-09T05:57:00.000-07:00

To catch a view of the world’s longest towel, head to Magrath Road in the city where it is it was on display at a home furnishing store till December 31, 200.
The terry towel, which is 100 per cent cotton, has entered the Limca Book of Records for its unique features. It is a staggering 419 meters long, 9 feet wide, and weighs 500 Kilograms.

This towel can scale the Qutab Minar aound five and a half times and is woven with the colours of the Indian tricolour, said Dipali Goenka, director of Welspun Retail Ltd. The towel’s thread count (carded) is 550 GSM.
The towel will also be displayed in Delhi during the Republic day celebrations in 2008. it has been made by tectile maker Welspun Retail Ltd.

Pujaris wash temple after suicide

2009-09-06T04:24:00.000-07:00

This story was done after I had got all the necessary material after visiting the spot for which the reporter could share a joint byline without budging himself from the environs of the office. In today’s newspaper journalism in India as taken a specific beating with most of the so called graduates in Mass Communication wriggling their way out from a story which requires field work. They prefer doing the desk job by getting the raw material or the full story from the net and worse still claiming that they have broken the story. One classic case was in Bangalore Mirror. This reporter who had given a story and since I surf the net for news had read about the same story. So I politely asked him as to how he got this story, he replied that he had broken it after two weeks of lobbying with his source. When I told him about the same story with two weeks before date line on the net, he quickly replied that he is the one who gave the story to them. ‘Funny’ I thought but he went on to add that half the material one gets to see on ‘Wikipedia’ was written by him. That was the pits of ‘lying’ and that too unashamedly. Well if you have reporters who are passing out with a genuine attitude problem of going to the field to do reportage, on the other hand you have editors who acknowledge this, but do not take any corrective steps. At this rate I fear that the near future for field reportage will no longer exists, and the ‘readers’ will be supplied with cooked up vegetables rather than street side chopped masala which he had missed on the News Television channels. I for one have given hundreds of my stories to such reporters who have no insight on the subject but yet claim that they do have.
Anyway here is the story which I was asked by my Editor in BM to share with a crime beat reporter.
Like this temple being washed away with the sinful sorrow of a suicide which happened within it’s premises, Newspaper Journalism too needs a few bold Editors who will take a corrective step on the daily reportage to keep the pitiful readers with on field reportage rather than desk top reportage.

Volunteers perform cleansing rituals through the day, keeping thousands of devotees waiting for darshan at Ulsoor’s Someshwara temple.

Thousands of eager devotees were shut out of the historical Someshwara temple in Ulsoor on Friday. They were greeted by a short notice that read: No darshan till 5 pm, inside, 15 devotees were hard at work cleansing the premises after a shocking suicide had sullied it that morning.
An unidentified man, aged around 60 years, killed himself, in a room inside the Someshwara Temple. He was found hanging in the room where the chariot bof the Lord is kept. It is believed that the unidentified man sneaked into the temple in the morning when the watchman had gone to wash his face leaving the main door open.
The incident came to light later in the morning. Interestingly, temple volunteers did not bother to wait for the temple management to act. They ‘cleansed’ the premises with water and performed homas and havans under the priest’s guidance throughout the day.
Devotees who visited the temple were shut out till 5 pm.

The Someshwara temple, a historical place receives at least 3,000 devotees every day; the figures exceed 4,000 on Mondays and Fridays.
Murgaraj, a security guard at the temple, was the first to see the body. “I opened the temple’s door at 4.45 am and was shocked to see somebody hanging. I immediately called the local police. They came and found a piece of bun and Rs 40 from the victim.”
The police are tracing the identity of the person. They are yet to find out the reason behind his extreme step and importantly, why he chose the temple premises for his last act. The body has been shifted to Bowring hospital, police said. A local resident and a volunteer at the temple, Vijay Kumar, told Bangalore Mirror that the temple was closed for devotees as the cleansing process was on till 4.30 pm. Nine different homas were performed were performed to remove the ‘impure air’ created by the suicide.
Confusion prevailed among devotees who were surprised to find the entry was bared till evening. A large number of devotees gathered in the evening to take part in the final homa and perform the pooja. “This is the first time something like this has happened. We pray for the departed soul’s peace,” a devotee said.

Now say it in neon upper case

2009-09-04T09:26:00.001-07:00

This story on election materials was done during my stint with the Bangalore Mirror in 2008. As I used to pass this whole sale election material shop on a daily routine on way to office and home, I had decided when the elections days closes in I would do the story. The story was published in the BM pages on January 5th, 2008.

Elections normally mean so much white noise, festoons, banners and posters, much of it in such garish colours. It is not only so much gibberish but creates a whole lot of garbage as well. Imagine then, an Indian election with no garbage.

If Jeswanth and Bharat Jain have their way, Indian elections could look very different in the near future. As dealers in wholesale election material, they dream of doing away with the litter that is the inevitable aftermath of a political meeting or rally in our city.
“I saw the lights on Brigade Road during Deepawali and I was inspired to do something like that for our elections as well. After all, elections are festivals of democracy and why not light up the festival?” says Jeswanth, a 35 year old second generation entrepreneur who has taken over his father’s election material business.

Flashing neon t-shirts and projection pens are two of the innovative products they plan to bring out in the forthcoming elections. With some R&D and a few trips to China to buy the relevant technology, they are getting set to change the concept of election propaganda material. “The challenge is to make these products affordable. This is possible only with mass production” says Bharat Jain, who runs the business with his brother jeswanth.
“We cannot focus on local candidates, as this will make mass production impossible. We will therefore focus on national candidates and party leaders. This will make it cost-effective and the product will be useful all over the country,” he adds. Hence, you can expect more of Sonia, Rahul, Mayawati, Advani and Vajpayee.

The Neon sign boards in the R&D stage (above left) the pen illumination (above right) Jeshwanth Jain (left) and some of the party t-shirts (above) .

The flashing neon t-shirts come with a small battery pack and were inspired by neon boards, which are commonly used for advertising these days. As the products are still in the R&D stage, the pricing has not yet been decided, they said. However, we will try to make the material the cheapest possible because we are aware of the Election Commission’s 10 percent cap on election material related expenses.
“The most common complaint from the common man is the fact that the election material maker our cities dirty. So we have to come up with ideas that do not need cleaning up. Instead of posters, banners and flyers, let’s use t-shirts and pens!” With flex banners, the use of paper posters has come down, with these t-shirts and pens, it will come down further.
About the EC, the brothers have plenty to say. “The EC’s mandate, “says Jeswanth, “is eating into the livelihood of a lot of small manufacturers. With the strict enforcement of the law, it is not the candidates who suffer, but the small people who form the chain of the election material production.”
The lady at the tailoring machine, the packers, the auto-drivers who transportsit, the people who put up the hoardings … it is a long process and affords livelihood to innumerable people. These are the people who will suffer if the cap on the election material expenses is enforced strictly, he says.
‘With election material, the voter gets to know who the candidate is, and what his symbol is. So election material is critical to the democratic process. We outsource our production to many NGO’s where women and poor people work. So the EC’s directive hits them hard. If 10 lags are put on a car, it only costs Rs 100. But the media and EC, make us the villains. For just Rs 10,000, we can make every village look festive. Election material is not really expensive,” he said.
Also, the EC’s directive, leads to inadvertent consequences like increasing invisible expenses like free liquor, trucking in people, etc. the EC should take note of this, Jeswanth contends.

IS THIS REALLY TRUE?

We decided to check with Abdul Jabbar of the Bhopal Gas Peedith Mahaila Udyog Sanghatan, and this is what he says: “Soon after the Bhopal gas tragedy, we took up the work of producing election material, and the survivors were very happy. However, for the last two elections, our workload has gone down. This has hit us badly.”

Jewel of the jail

2009-08-25T04:54:00.000-07:00

This was an exclusive one on one with the Inspector General of police Kiran Bedi during her stint at Tihar Jail as DG Prisons in Delhi. This interview turned out to be one hell of a luck since soon after my chat the next day she got a call from the Ramon Magsaysay Jury that she has been selected to receive the award by the end of the week. In all since she would be busy and have no time for interviews for other newspaper journos, who wanted to after the award announcement, was out of the question, till she got back from Philippines. So this chat for than three hours with her proved a plus for Deccan Herald and me. I was asked by the Sunday Herald's than editor that I write every single word I spoke to her since they were going to give me a full page with the Tihar jail story. This brightened my eyes and ears and I sat for two days in the Deccan Herald, New Delhi Bureau office, ensuring that I recollect every little aspect of my interaction with her.

The year 1984 seems to be a blessing in disguise for the Indian women. Shortly after the New Year revelry came the creaming; with the crowning of Sushmita Sen, as the queen of the universe. Now in the middle of the year is the icing of Asia’s most prestigious award, Ramon Magsaysay, in community services bestowed upon Kiran Bedi, Inspector –General of Delhi Prisons.
Kiran is the second of four girls born to a businessman from Amritsar. Her ancestors had fled to India from Peshawar during the partition. Born on June 9, 1949, she took to tennis at the age of nine when she was at Sacred Heart’s Convent High School. At that age itself she was taught to be independent by her father, an hard taskmaster. She completed Government College and an MA in Political Science. After her selection in the Indian Police Service, she did a course in law and a doctorate in narcotics.
It has been a long climb and no sweat lost. Attempting the Everest was not an easy task as she had to fight off the eagle eyed forces and also maintain her good PR with the press. The short-haired Punjabi lady with an ever helpful eye has always attracted controversies. In 1980, during an Akali demonstration which turned violent, she led the police force from the front brandishing her baton against the armed hordes. It did embarrass her senior officers bust was a dose of muscle in the arms of the front line cadres.
And as chief of traffic police, later, she was called ‘crane Bedi’ because she used cranes to two away offending vehicles. Earlier, as a daring officer she had killed a boy while firing at a fleeing gang of dacoits. This brought political vendetta, just like a medical college seat for her daughter from the Mizoram quota, where she had been posted. She had also faced the wrath of lawyers when one of them was handcuffed on her instructions.

The human in Kiran Bedi is evident as she goes about reforming convicts rather than negate them. While in the narcotics bureau she set up a watch squad along with neighboring countries to check drug trafficking. Asked about her reactions to the award, she replied, “I am thrilled … grateful. It is God’s grace.” It also saddens me because it was a massive combined effort, and the award is for me alone, she added. “Therefore now, I realize my responsibility is even greater … and am a ‘trustee’ who has to do more than before.
The joy on Kiran Bedi’s face was seen as she entered the jail, greeted by the inmates’ innocent eyes and their clapping of hands, accompanied by the beats of drums and melodious songs. She waves back to the inmates like a child would do after getting the ice cream for which she worked hard and joins them in the jig of bhangra added with a spice disco. “The award is for you all,” she screams as she picks up a child who welcomed her with a garland, and jumps in joy known only to her.
Being a woman or the second sex does not matter to her as she was always treated as a beta- a child- by her parents. “I must be the only woman heading a prison of this magnitude, and I am grateful to this community for this award,” she said. If not for the backing of my family I would not have even reached half of what I have achieved so far.
When her mother was contacted for her reaction, she said, “This is a victory for the Indian women and not for my daughter alone. I am proud to be her mother and as always honesty and hard work pays. I often visit Tihar ashram and not the jail. The last time I had been there was when a yagna was being performed in which Kiran sat in the hot sun for three or more hours and went through the rituals. Looking at than my eyes, without my being conscious, welled with tears.”
Kiran’s father, who is the main source of encouragement to her, pointed out, “I had worked for 50 years for this day. I have no son but my daughter has given me the pleasure of seeing to it all my dreams come true. The sky is the limit for the Indian woman.” Asked how she grew up he replied, “I have punished her so many times by making her stand in the sun for hours, and I think this hard effort has to be awarded at last. I would have been surprised if she had not got it.”
The most feared inmate of Tihar ashram, Charles Shobraj, commented that ‘It’s great, she worked hard for this. She deserved it and she’s got it.”
For the super cop it is a lot of money to handle now because the award also carries a cash prize of $ 50,000. “I have never worked for money all these years, and now suddenly I get so much I don’t know what to do with it. I think it will be channelised to help the needy.” Another six months to go for this year, and many more things to happen, the Indians will have to wait and see if more women from a country which has always treated women as second rate will spring up surprises. As one would say, only time will tell, not for the awards but for men to treat women as equals.

Freedom in the fortress

2009-08-24T08:36:00.000-07:00

This story of Delhi’s Tihar jail in my 2 decades of photojournalist career is the longest ever written. Another great thing about this story is since I had already interviewed Kiran Bedi a week before this story could appear had received the Ramon Magsaysay award for community service. So in a way this story was a double whammy for Deccan Herald as well as me, since Kiran Bedi was to arrive later and every newspaper was going to miss the story and her interview. Lady luck they say, well and truly this Lady Kiran Bedi’s luck was to be showered on me. This story got full page display with pictures on the Sunday Herald edition, on July 24, 1994.

Delhi’s Tihar Jail, where nearly 9,000 offenders are lodged, has been an educational experience for its diverse inmates. S Shiv Kumar spends sometime in the jail-cum-ashram and talks to the force behind the changes, Inspector General of Prisons Kiran Bedi, who won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for community service earlier this month.

On the outskirts of the capital is a small colony with huge walls, which are heavily –guarded. The inmates of this modern-day fortress are people from all parts of the world, from different religious back-grounds, herded together for a single reason: crime. Tihar jail is also the current address of a notorious person –perhaps the world’s most dreaded criminal, who masterminded the ‘great escape’ or jailbreak less than a decade ago, in 1986. Charles Sobhraj –nicknamed he ‘Cobra’ for his cold-blooded murders of bikini-clad women –has since lived in relative quite in Tihar jail.
But Tihar is no mere jail, as the princess of dacoits, Phoolan Devi declared. A free bird now, Phoolan declared after serving a decade long sentence that she enjoyed her imprisonment. She also learnt to read and write in Hindi, while in jail. “Now, I am an educated women and an independent member of society.
The jail is surrounded by two huge walls, with machinegun totting police of the Tamil Nadu Special Group perched atop, their eagle eyes scanning all directions. The jail is made up of four independent prisons – the largest one as been trifurcated since the escape of the ‘Cobra’. Each prison houses between 1000 and 2700 inmates. The inner walls of the prison are revealing, marked by the sayings of Mahatma Gandhi and various religious leaders.
The cell in which Phoolan Devi had served her sentence has now been turned into a library, with a range of volumes including novels, sci-fi, even real life dramas. Shanti, in her early 30s, is the ward leader here. “Every year, a person is elected by his or her fellow inmates to maintain inter-discipline.” The leader, in turn, appoints a few trusted aides to “keep an eye on the trouble makers.” But, what happens if the leader indulges in trouble? Well, the individual is then stripped of the post, and a new person is appointed, she explains.
Shanti, who has already served five years behind bars, is full praise for Inspector-General of Prisons Kiran Bedi (who took over two years ago). “It’s only now that he inmates are being treated as human beings. She is not only trying to educate us, but also giving us a second life....”
Inmates at Tihar follow strict rules similar to the army regimen, laid down by senior inmates, elected or appointed to form a panchayat. These people are constantly in touch with senior officers of the jail. They allot various projects to different prisons and wards, such as library management, sports, yoga, and the literacy drive.
Between 9am and 11am on weekdays, lessons are compulsory for Tihar residents. Among languages, they can choose between Urdu, Punjabi, French, Italian, Arabic, English and Hindi.
A Nigerian in her late 20s, Mrs Glory, was spotted teaching a class, with a book in her hand. She was arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic substances act in 1990. Glory, who teaches English, has for the past year been learning Italian and French during her leisure. Knowledge is important, she stresses. Once she is released, she plans to go to Europe and spend the rest of her life there. “If I know the basics first, life will be so much easier for me,” she adds.
At Tihar, inmates who give birth during imprisonment, or those who cannot live without their children, have nothing to worry about. All the women’s wards have a kindergarten attached, supervised by a teacher between 9am to 4pm. So the kids do not miss out on education, while remaining close to their parents.

Women Inmates at a daily class for learning Hindi and other subjects along with a recycling unit (top left), a male inmate learns French as a prison guard share a moment of fun with the kid of a inmate (top right), and the cell of Phoolan Devi, which is now converted into a Library (left).

Mrs Shrimati Papa, an inmate for three years, who recently gave birth to a daughter in her cell with the help of doctors from the prison clinic, said, “I thought that nobody would help me but the whole prison, including the prison staff, came forward to help me. They were seen rejoicing when I gave birth to Bharathi.” Pointing out to others, she says, “Without them, my daughter and I would not have lived to see this day.”
Bedi has taken a positive step by asking all Tihar inmates to apply for Open University programmes. About 2,000 of them have already applied; and 35 percent of them have passed at the very first attempt.
Deep Chand, in his late 40s, who has spend 13 years in Tihar so far, has passed the high school examinations and now applied for the university. “If not for the encouragement given to me by memsahib, I would not have given it a try,” he states.
Mrs. Sheila Abharam, in her late 30s, who passed the BA exam, is now learning computers. “With a diploma in my hand, I do not need to rely on my husband or other members of my family; I will be independent and self-sufficient.”
Tihar does not offer formal knowledge alone; it offer yoga and job work, too. One of its most popular courses in vipasana (a form of yoga); two months ago, more than 1,000 inmates participated when the discipline was taught. Now, the prison has vipasana training centre for the benefit of the inmates.
To a person not well versed in yoga, vipasana means nothing. Not so in the case of a inmate, who was born in London, brought up in Australia, and now lives in Hong Kong. “Well about this yoga is that it teaches a person to be patient, and to love everything that nature has to offer.” What does vipasana mean? It relates to when one lets the mind rest from all the happenings in the world, concentrating instead on a single leaf of a tree; that’s when one attains vipasana. “When I get out of these God-forsaken bars, I will go back to Hong Kong and set up a yoga centre – to help teenagers, hooked onto drugs, to take up this drug. Look at me now. Don’t I look fit? You want to know the reason why. Well, I am addicted to yoga; that’s why.”
‘No Smoking’ signboards are visible all around the premises. And the guards on duty follow their bidding religiously. When I spoke to a constable on duty, he said: “If I start smoking in front of the inmates, who are here to reform themselves, I will be tempting them, instead of helping them.”
The Tihar inmates are busy throughout the day, attending to tasks like making bread, converting waste into manure, and so on. The proceeds from these activities go to the prison welfare fund.
The inmates often use the huge library at their disposal, with constantly updated magazines and newspapers. “This helps the inmates to keep up with the outside world,” says Bedi. The library also contains legal books, to help the lawyers of the inmates to refer to material relevant to their cases.
The prison staff mingle with the inmate’s every evening, holding cricket, football or volleyball matches, which enable the inmates to take their minds off work and relax.
Mohammed Maqbal from Jammu and Kashmir, a TADA detainee, said of the prison” “I killed so many innocent people three years ago. But today, when the inmates show respect and love for me, it makes me feel bad for what I did before.” When he was arrested and send to Tihar, he assumed he would be treated badly by the police, only to find that he was wrong.
Tihar is unlikely to sop marching forward because there are still more surprises in store for its inmates. Bedi reveals that plans are afoot to get all prisons computerised, with the help of the National Information Centre. Besides, a cable network will soon enable inmates to get good entertainment.
I left after spending more than six hours inside Tihar, amidst quite and happy surroundings, where human beings are treated with respect. At the main entrance, on my way out, I happened to run into a passer-by, only to be rudely told: “Do you have no eyes?”
With a jolt, I was brought back to reality. I suddenly realised that I was outside the world of Tihar once more.

Rags to riches, thanks to Rajni

2009-08-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

This story of a simple man who has grown idolizing his reel hero’s actions in various blockbuster films was very moving when I got to know of it. So I wanted to meet this man who has grown in financial status as well as social echelon. Though he kept growing he had not forgotten his past and his old friends, which he continues to hold even today.

Taking a cue from his boss’s role in the film Annamalai (1992) V Harsha, President of Rajni Fans club at the Airport Road in the city, has transformed his personal life to align with that of Sivaji (2007).
For Harsha, Rajni flicks are not just any movies. They have taught him many lessons and inspired his tremendously.
Before attaining his current status, Harsha walked the streets of the city as adoor-to-door beedi and cigarette salesman. But the movie Annamali changed his fate forever. Success came to him gradually as he followed the principals of his on-screen ‘guru’.
Says Harsha, “The demolishing of various structures, the mannerisms, his attitude towards the depressed class and willingness to serve the needy people have moved me. Since then, I have been following his reel life values in my real life too. Today, all of my friends are like Rajni’s friends. All my cars have the same numbers as that of Rajni’s cars. I have even named my daughter Aishwarya, which is also the name of Rajni’s daughter.”
Each of Rajni’s movies has pushed him up the ladder of success. “When Basha was released in January 1995, I bought a small two-wheeler. Later I bought myself an even better two-wheeler after the release of Muthu in December 1995.

After the release of Arunachalam in 1997, I bought my first car. Later, during the release of Padeyappa in 1999, I bought another car. Today, I own a fleet of six cars. Couple of years ago when Chandramukhi was released, I got a Scorpio and now with Sivaji I am buying a Skoda” exalts Harsha.
The regular release of his boss’ films has provided him with enough time to implement the values of his icon as depicted on screen. “Following those methods and principals I have earned well and reached my present position. Now this is the right time to pay the master who changed my life.”
So far Harsha has spent more than Rs 50 Lakh for publicizing Rajni’s films in the city. Harsha has spent around Rs 4 to 5 lakh on every film. For Sivaji alone, Harsha has spent more than Rs 7 lakh. Sivaji’s release as he claims is like his daughter’s wedding. His club plans to arrange free tickets for women and children. Besides, he has also promised to give away free multiplex tickets to auto drivers, plumbers and other daily wage workers. All theaters which screen Sivaji in the city will get free buntings and flags from Harsha’s club.

Sivaji storms in - and wow!

2009-08-20T03:21:00.000-07:00

This story written along with the help of Niranjan for Bangalore Mirror, since I had a lot of other work to do that day. So I passed on all the data I had collected to him and he wrote the story for a joint credit.

Milk, cocnuts, a 120 ft poster … Rajni fans pull out all stops to welcome the boss

Reacting to Karnataka Rakshana Vedike’s comments over the release of Rajnikant starrer Sivaji published in Bangalore Mirror on Wednesday, Rajni fans in the city, nick-named Tamil Tigers, grunted and asked the vedike not to combine the issue with the much-debated Cauvery issue.
Expressing their ignorance about the guidelines issued by the Vedike for the release and publicity of the much-awaited Kollywood blockbuster, fans and the well- wishers of Rajni reiterated that they respect the state’s cause and will abide by the government’s stand.
Guna, President of the Murphy Town Rajnikant Fans Association said, “We too are Kannadigas and respect the state’s cause. Sivaji is purely an entertainment issue and it does not have any relation to Cauvery to the language issue.”
Despite the furore and dbate over the issue, Guna and his friends have put up a 120 feet banner near Murphy Town fish market pug marked with stills from the film.

Explaining the efforts invested in making such a big poster Guna said, “I have spent Rs 30,000 from my own pocket. It is our way of expressing our love for the star. Rajnikant is an international figure and efforts to ostracise him just for Tamil Nadu’s cause is unacceptable.”
V Harsha, President of Rajni Fans Club at Airport road said, “First we are all Indians, and then we are all Kannadigas and lastly, we are all Rajni fans. Even on the posters we have put names first in Kannada, then in English and only near the theatres are they in Tamil. Though we don’t know about the guidelines issued by Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, our friends have briefed us and we are ready to follow them.”
Solar Ramesh and Rajan from Ulsoor’s Rajnikant Fan Club organized a puja on Wednesday ahead of the film’s release. More than 100 coconuts were broken by Guna and his friends in honour of the actor in Murphy town and many packets of milk were poured on the giant –sized banner.
Inspired by the boss mannerisms and make-up is Sivaji, fans have also arranged a free haircut and shave drive on Friday. The association will also distribute more than 250kg of biriyani to the poor. Besides, the Rajnikant Fans Association at the Airport road has promised to arrange free tickets on the spot for the fans in multiplexes across the city.

THE HERO’S MANY ZEROES
With over Rs 100 crore being spent on the production Sivaji is easily one of the biggest movies produced in South Asia. It’s not just the budget that is mind-boggling. A whopping 1,000 prints have been ordered for distribution across India. More than 2,900 theaters have already been booked. Sivaji will see more than 12,000 shows everyday. Across the world, the film will be released in 23 countries simultaneously. It is expected to earn over Rs 500 crore in first 50 days. The producers have paid the actor Rs 40 crore. Rs 10 crore to director Shankar and Music Director A R Rahman. The fee is much more that what Jackie Chan gets, making Rajni the indisputable superstar of South Asia. The film is expected to run for three to four years! However, in Karnataka, Sivaji will play in 10 theaters only.

A Low key Rajni B'day

2009-08-17T23:37:00.000-07:00

The Padayappa Star has turned 58, and his fans are celebrating

With his recent release ‘Sivaji’ running successfully all over the country, the 58th birthday was a memorable one for the superstar Rajnikant on Wednesday. Fans across the city cut cakes and distributed sweets.

Fans in Murphy Town celebrated the birthday by cutting a 58 kg cake and distributing around 1,000 pieces of cakes to the poor and fans. Guna, an ardent fan of Rajni, said, “I have spent around Rs 18,000 for the celebration. Rajini’s film releasing day and his birthday has been a great day for celebration for us. Last year, we distributed around 1,000 plates of chicken briyani to the poor.
Rajan, another die hard fan, said, “I was waiting for this occasion ever since Sivaji’s release to celebrate the success of both the film and my ‘boss’.
We pray to the god to give him healthy life and keep giving scintillating films all through the year and entertaining his fans.”
Banners on the road side in Sivaji Nagar read, ‘Long live our Style Emperor’ an in many other areas, Rajni’s huge cutouts were displayed, carrying the flags of Karnataka and India. Besides, fans on Kamraj Road, Ulsoor, Cox Town, Frazer Town and Benson Town put up huge banners with posters from some of his super hit movies. Solar Ramesh, president of Rajni Fans Club in Ulsoor said, “this time we have put up only the banner and kept the celebration low profile.” Meantime, rumours of Rajnikant visiting the city kept media persons on their toes.

Here they only see the simple side of Rajni

2009-08-17T01:37:00.000-07:00

This Story was a bit too late and yet anyway Bangalore Mirror Editor K R Sreenivas asked me give the quotes of the people whom the superstar knew and was published on 18 June 2007 soon after the release of his yet another blockbuster 'Sivaji' - the Boss.
As recently as 20 days ago, Rajnikanth came to Hanumanthnagar in Bangalore, the place where he spend his childhood and youth, to visit his elder brother Sathyanaryan Rao. Selvan Shiv Kumar Spoke to the neighbors on Rajnikanth the man.

The home of Rajnikanth's elder brother Sathyanaryan Rao at 408, 2nd Cross, Hanumanthnagar. It was a small one-room place which has now been expanded to three floors, housing five families. Inset: The nameplate which is in Kannada.

Sundar (a Neighbour who has seen Rajni from his childhood): "He used to play gilli-danda with his friends on these streets. He was a hyperactive boy, always running around asking his friends to join him for a game." Right: Venkatraman (a friend of Rajni's elder brother Sathyanaryan Rao): "Rajni is very religious and down-to earth. He loves to talk on any subject. He came here 20 days ago.

Monish SM and Mayur (grandchildren of Sathyanarayan Rao): "Whenever our grand uncle visits us, he comes after 10 pm and leaves in an hour. He told us to study hard and do well. No,he dosen't play with us. He is too old for that."

Star of Bethlehem - Blooms in Silicon City

2009-08-16T07:59:00.000-07:00

The Star-of-Bethlehem scientifically known as Ornithogalum umbellatum from the Lily family (Liliaceae) is a very rare site to witness when it blooms. It usually blooms in the night and lasts for a week before drying out. In 2007 I had the good oppurtunity to photograph the flowers in full bloom after Swati Anand formerly with the Times of India called the Bangalore Mirror Resident Editor K Srinivas and informed him about the rare site. He in turn called me and I rushed to her guest home near Frazer Town after getting the excat details of her address. I spent about 2 hours before retiring back to my home. Below are the pictures taken on 16th June 2007 night.

This introduced perennial plant consists of a rosette of basal leaves spanning about 1' across. These linear leaves are about 6-12" long and ¼" across. They curve upward from the base and bend downward around the middle. There is often a white stripe in the middle of each leaf, which has smooth margins and parallel venation.
From the center of the rosette, there develops one or more flowering stalks about 6-9" tall. Each stalk terminates in a cyme-like raceme of white flowers. This raceme is rather short and spreading. The lower pedicels are 1-3" long, while the upper pedicels are somewhat shorter. Both the basal leaves and flowering stalks are hairless. Each flower is about 1" across when fully open, consisting of 6 white tepals, 6 stamens, and a single pistil. Each tepal is lanceolate-oblong; there is a green stripe along its outer side. A stamen has a yellow or light brown anther at its apex, and a white filament underneath. This filament is lanceolate or narrowly triangular in shape (tapering at the top), which is a distinctive characteristic for this species. The blooming period occurs during the late spring and lasts about 2 weeks. There is a pleasant floral scent. The flowers open during the morning and usually close by noon. Each flower is replaced by a 3-celled seed capsule containing several black seeds. The root system consists of a bulb about 1" long that is ovoid. This plant reproduces by its seeds and vegetative offsets (primarily the latter). It often forms dense colonies that can exclude other species during the spring.

The preference is full sun to light shade, moist to mesic conditions, and a fertile loam. Growth occurs during the spring; the foliage withers away by mid-summer. This plant has few problems with pests and disease; the waxy foliage resists contact herbicides.
The Star-of-Bethlehem naturalizes occasionally in southern, central, and NE Illinois, but it is less common in the NW area of the state (see Distribution Map). It is oftencultivated in flowerbeds, from which it occasionally escapes. Habitats include cemetery prairies, grassy meadows, sunny or semi-shaded banks of streams and drainage ditches, and miscellaneous waste areas. This species is usually found in degraded sites, although it can invade high quality natural habitats and displace native species of plants that bloom during the spring. The Star-of-Bethlehem is native to eastern Europe and parts of the Middle East; it was introduced into the United States as an ornamental plant.

The primary pollinators of the flowers are probably bees. The foliage and bulbs contain toxic alkaloids that can poison livestock. The cooked bulbs are reportedly edible to humans, although suitable caution should be exercised.
Comments: The Star-of-Bethlehem is a surprisingly aggressive little plant with attractive flowers. Key features include the spreading racemes of erect flowers, and the triangular or lanceolate filaments underneath the anthers. These filaments are erect and surround the pistil. Other members of the Lily family that are somewhat similar in appearance include the Allium spp. (Onions) and Nothoscordum bivalve (False Garlic). However, False Garlic and the various species of Onions have umbels of flowers and the filaments of their flowers are thread-like. Another cultivated plant, Ornithogalum nutans (Nodding Star-of-Bethlehem), rarely escapes into the wild. It has nodding flowers on elongated racemes and each of its filaments have a pair of small teeth at the apex. The pedicels of this latter species are usually ½" or less.

Second Edition - World 10K marathon 2009 through images

2009-08-10T08:36:00.001-07:00

These pictures were taken during the second edition of the World 10k Marathon which was held on the 31st of May 2009. As expected the citizens of the silicon city woke up and ran they did with passion and grit. The images below speak for themselves as a city of techies and world of corporate with the professional runners from the world over ran shoulder to shoulder to make yet another success of the sunfeast – procam event. They were more than 25,000 runners in second year, which ran for fun and fun they did have.

The huge crowd with a variety of age groups run together at the 2nd World 10k marathon in Bangalore on 31st may 2009.

The Serious Runners

The images of some of the serious runners who sweated it out but with a smile to complete the 10k marathon and make every Bangalorean feel proud of themselves. The passion, grit and the mood of competing is eveident from the images above.

The Fun Runners

Some of the runners who ran with fun and glamor.

Runners with a Social Message and Cultural Ethos.

All for Conservation of nature and ensuring a better environment for the future generation.

Do not purchase pirated DVD's but get to see the original ones.

Uplift of the underprivileged and ensuring that they give the knock out punch to poverty and hunger.

The show of cultural diversity with traditional attire ranging from Coorg to Kerala.

The Passion to run and to help the others is evident from this boy crippled with one arm pulling a wheel chair person for the finish in the handicap run.

Finally the Elite Men and Women run

The pack of Elite Men and Women run past the Silicon city's U B City towers on Kasturba Road.

Photo Finish Picture of World 10K

2009-08-10T00:02:00.001-07:00

The photo finish picture used in the passes (left) and the original picture which was taken by me at the first edition of the Sunfeast World 10k marathon (right).

It was a pleasant surprise for me during the second edition of the Sunfeast World 10K marathon organized by the procam international in the month of May 2009.
When my team members had applied for the media pass I was very pleased to see the picture taken by me in the previous edition of the women 10k marathon finish on the pass cover which elated me as a photojournalist. The next day I noticed that all the passes for the world 10k had the picture of this photo finish race where Elvan Abeylegesse and Grace Momanyi of Kenya ran neck to neck till touching the finish line. Since their was no photo finish camera’s in place the two judges took a close look at the picture which I had taken and came to a conclusion of awarding both the runners the first prize. One of the judges even told me later at the finish after he had, had a look at all the photographers finish picture that I had the best image to say that the two runners necks were seen together pushing at the same time at the finish line. I take this opportunity to thank the Procam International and Sunfeast team members for giving me this mammoth outreach.

Paul Kibii Tergat - World 10K Inagural run & fun

2009-08-06T01:08:00.000-07:00

These pictures of the great marathon runner were taken in Bangalore during the inaugural Sunfeast World 10k marathon in Bangalore in 2008. Paul was a nice gentleman and this was evident while he interacted with all and sundry during his five day stay in the silicon city.

Paul Kibii Tergat is regarded by many as one of the most astounding long distance runners of the last decade, along with his Ethiopian rival Haile Gebrselassie. World Marathon record holder Paul Tergat was born on 17 June 1969 in Kabarnet, Barango, Kenya. Before becoming an athlete Tergat used to be a basketball player and in 1992 his exceptional career began when he won the Kenyan Cross Country Championships title. However he had to miss the World Championships through injury.

Paul Kibii Tergat, addresses the media (left), as he tries his hands with a archers bow an arrow (top and left below).

Tergat has since won a record five consecutive IAAF World Cross Country titles from 1995 to 1999. On the track, Tergat won two World Championships (1997 and 1999) and two Olympic (1996 and 2000) silver medals at 10,000m on each occasion beaten by Haile Gebrselassie. Now concentrating on the marathon, Tergat is an accomplished track, cross country, and road runner. Tergat achieved one of his most wonderful victory on November 6, 2005, when he won his New York City Marathon debut in a thrilling sprint finish through Central Park, prevailing over defending champion Hendrick Ramaala 2h09'29",90 to 2h09'30",22.

Indian Hockey Player Dhanraj Pillai, Kenyan marathon runner Paul Kibii Tergat and actor Rahul Bose prepare Pasta at the Pasta party on the eve of Sunfeast World 10K Marathon in Bangalore on Saturday 17th May 2008 (top), as Paul Kibili Tergat, Anil Singh of Procom International and Ravi Naware at the Sunfeast Charity night of the World 10K Bangalore Marathon on Friday night (left).

Tergat also won two consecutive editions of the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 1999 and 2000. In September 2003, he ran a superb 2:04:55 to break the Marathon World record in Berlin. At the Athens Olympic Games, he made his first Olympic appearance at the marathon and finished tenth.

Paul Kibii Tergat during the marathon (circled in red) he pulled out after had a cramp (left).

Paul Tergat has been married to Monica for 13 years and has three children. He has been a goodwill ambassador for the World Food Programme of the United Nations : in January 2004 Tergat was named a UN World Food Programme (WFP) "Ambassador against hunger". When he was a child, Paul Tergat’s family was too impoverished to send him to school with food. Were it not for the World Food Program, which provided food at his school, he would never have gotten a full education.Tergat is also a member of the IAAF Athletes’ Commission.

Winning Pictures - World 10K Run

2009-08-02T07:05:00.000-07:00

The World 10K marathon is a very lucky event for me since I happened to be in the top three places in the 2 years of the Photo competition which was held for photojournalists across the country who came to cover the event. The nice feeling about it all is that Procam International and Sunfeast who organize this World mega event which they launched from 2008 is a bless in disguise for the city of youth and vibrantly old citizens. The city which was once called the pensioners paradise now wakes up early with people of all age wanting to be youthful and enterprising. The Procam International gives three awards for the best pictures published in print media of the event and for the second consecutive year I was awarded. In 2007 I got the second prize and in 2009 this June, I got the first prize. I have displayed the award winning entries by me and also take this opportunity to thank Procam International and Sunfeast for the using one of the photographs which I had taken in 2008 for the main ID Pass cards in 2009. Even after achieving the WHO award, UNICEF Award, International Photo Awards (IPA), and also getting various state level and National level awards in Photojournalism over the past 15 years, I rate these two awards highly since these are the first two for me in Sports category.

The Picture which got me the Second Award in the Sunfeast World 10K marathon inaugural edition in Bangalore in 2008. This picture was taken on Kasurba Road. What is very good in this picture is that I accidentally got Reeth Abraham in this frame.

This picture taken in 2009 May 31 got me the first prize in the second edition of the Sunfeast World 10K Marathon. Below I have written as to how I snapped the winning photograph which was published in the PIC ME UP Page of DNA - Bangalore Edition on June 16th, 2009.

How I snapped the prize-winning pic

The Sunfeast World 10K Marathon, organised by Procam, which was held on May 31, was a photographer's feast (pun intended). We turned out in large numbers; each of us having chosen our spot from where we hoped to get the best possible images for the next day's newspapers. I chose to stand on Kasturba Road as I had taken a picture last year of the runners forming a panting serpent.
That picture won me the second prize. This year, I opted not to move around too much.When the race began, I refused to get snap-happy, rather I waited for that enduring image. Photographing sport is an art in itself, since it requires a lot of concentration to get that split-second moment frozen in time. Now, back to the moment that fetched DNA the prize photograph at this year's World 10K edition. I was just about to pack up my camera and leave when I noticed a girl with her face colourfully painted, with trendy tattoos on her arms, and a peacock feather atop her charming tribal head gear dashing down the road at top speed to catch up with her friends. The lighting was superb, with the sun's rays cutting through the shady trees on Kasturba Road. The girl's attitude was one of single-minded determination, and she exuded the passion that comes with being part of a major sporting event. I quickly switched from my normal lens to a zoom lens and had only about 60 seconds to ensure that I got a decent frame of her sprinting down the
road.
Well, the rest is history. I also take this opportunity to congratulate my esteemed fellow fotogs, R Samuel and Syed Asif for bagging the second and third prize respectively.

ITC Foods, Marketing Head V L Rajesh and Dilip Jayaram, COO Of Procam International giving the First Prize certificate to me (top left), Me along with R Samuel of Deccan Chronicle and Syed Asif of Times of India who won the second and third prize respectively with the 'Winning Moments' picture board on display (top and left).

How to Photograph People - Portraits

2009-07-31T07:20:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-29T08:10:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-07-27T23:47:00.001-07:00

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'

2009-07-27T00:11:00.001-07:00

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

2009-07-24T07:58:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-23T23:58:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-20T08:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-20T04:45:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-19T07:04:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-19T04:43:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-14T05:17:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-13T08:17:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-13T00:06:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-12T05:18:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-12T04:04:00.001-07:00

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

2009-07-10T08:33:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-09T01:42:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-08T05:38:00.001-07:00

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

2009-07-07T01:21:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-02T05:22:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-02T00:51:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-01T23:12:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-01T01:07:00.000-07:00

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.”

Lighting the lamp of education

2009-06-29T00:59:00.000-07:00

This story is yet another generous gesture by my friend Ritu Raj Mate shown to me. He not only gave the story theme to me but also drive me to their house. That’s why I have always insisted this to my juniors where ever I have worked that have one person who knows the city and also the city’s people who can keep providing you stories from time to time. The trust factor is very important because one can be taken for a ride too, by means by the source trying to plant a story to nepotism him or whom he wants to be written about. So first one has to check the credentials of the subject on whom they are going to report about so that it matches that of your sources information. Well anyway after I visited this lady who was self funding her education programe for the underprivileged children, I knew that this story would make to the HT Bhopal Live paper of the Hindustann Times, Bhopal edition, on its own merit.

It’s a story of staunch social commitment as heart-warming as it is inspiring. Denied any Stat aid, a lady in the Madhya Pradesh State capital of Bhopal has been ploughing a lone furrow to shine the light of education on street urchins.
He own failure to make it as a doctor fired a strong desire in Mehraj Nadim to prepare slum kids to make it to the top professional league. She launched a primary school, Legion school in Koh-e-Fiza locality in n1997 to fulfill her dream.
And it’s not run-of the mill education either. Some of he charges have made it to the best schools of the State Capital on the strength of their academic performance. Take, for instance, Serish Iqbal, who was later admitted to the St Joseph’s Convent Girls School on Idgha Hills.
The teachers, all of whom comprise Muslim women, share the feeling that free access to education should be made the country’s policy in order to facilitate nation building.
The academic curriculum in her school in her school has some unique features. “Children are taught four languages – Hindi, English, Urdu and Sanskrit,” she says with obvious pride. “Verbal and written language skills are the key to a successful future,” she says.
Including the hands-on principal in Mehraj, the school has seven teachers; all paid a token sum of Rs 300-500 per month. ‘We’re here top extend a helping hand to Mehraj in her mission. Salary is only incidental,” says Faiza, one of her colleagues at Legion.
The journey for Mehraj and her school began on a humble note. “We had only four students to begin with,” she reminisces. But that was the least of her problems. The slum dwellers were reluctant to send their children to school. “They wanted the kids to start working early for extra income,” she says.
Untiring efforts to convince them was the first obstacle she overcame. Now, the school has on its roll over five-dozen children in different classes. For those in Class IV and V, basic computer training is mandatory.
Despite the wholesale effort, Mehraj is till handicapped by some odds. For one, cash for meeting the school expenses. “While the teachers have been gracious enough to work on paltry honorarium, there are other unavoidable expenses,” she says.
She has to provide them with free books and stationary. Then, there are shoes and uniforms for those children who come from the lowest strata even amongst the slum dwellers. “I have often taken money from my husband to meet the expenses,” the lady -on-a-mission says.
To her utter disappointment, the Government agencies haven’t been supportive enough. “My application for State Government aid has vanished without a trace. I’m still awaiting the Union HRD Ministry’s response to my letter,” she recalls.
The support from her husband, Syed Nadim-ul-Hasan is the best part of the Legion tale. He couldn’t have been more cooperative. “My parents have also chipped in from time to time,” she says, confident that as the school grows, so would the list of benefactors from the immediate family circle.

Come R-Day, these boys will slither down flying chopper

2009-06-29T00:31:00.000-07:00

This story idea was given to me by my good friend in Bhopal Ritu Raj Mate, who was training these NCC cadets in slithering down from great heights as part of their preparations to use these practice jumps from a chopper at the 2003 Republic Day Parade at New Delhi. Four NCC Cadets were hand picked to do this dangerous but yet fun jump from a flying chopper in front of our President of India and The Prime Minister of India. Ritu Raj Mate who was himself a disciplined cadet during his younger days was given the charge to give them the basic training to get the scare of height from their minds first. When he invited me two weeks of the cadets onward journey to practice on their real jumps from a flying chopper, it was exciting and also great to have a word with the future defense personals. I thank Ritu again for giving me another wonderful story.

Every morning four boys can be spotted climbing down the rope from a high tension wire pole at Bhadbhada dam like an agile monkey. No, neither the boys are into some kind of monkey business nor practicing any rope trick, so to say. They are the four talented National Cadet Core (NCC) corps selected to slither down the rope from a moving helicopter at the Republic Day Parade in the National capital. The boys – Ravinder Rajput, Anup Karmakar, Phool Singh Netam and Sheshnaryan Namdev look pretty excited about the practice. That is of course, understandable. For, among the audience to watch their well-practiced feat will be the President of India A P J Abdul Kalam, the Vice President, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
If the boys are excited their trainers and supervisors are no less so. Entire NCC Directorate for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh is keenly looking forward to the R-day.
The four boys are put to a rigrous drill every morning by the commandant Brigadier Das Gupta (deputy DG MP & Chhattisgarh), Colonel R R Gadkary, Subedar D S Chouhan, Havildar H M Data Ram and Ex- NCC cadet Ritu Raj Mate.
Colonel R R Gadkary informed that this would be for the first time that the cadets would Para drop with rope from a helicopter. “It is going to be an excellent one.”
The contingent is leaving for New Delhi on December 29 where another 25 days will be more crucial training period for the boys.
The will start actual practice of slithering down the rope from a helicopter.
Ritu Raj Mate says that when he was a cadet he had had training in all sorts of adventure sports. He feels that the early training has stood him in good stead now that he is imparting training to these boys.

Children toil as world observes Anti-Child Labour Day

2009-06-28T08:47:00.000-07:00

This story was work over two days and was published on the eve of the Anti-Child Labour day, in the Hindustan Times, Bhopal edition in 2003. What I like about this story was I was able to free at least three children from their job and they were later admitted into a government run school by an NGO working for the welfare of the children in Bhopal.

Even as the whole world observed Anti Child Labour Day, 12-year-old Rashid toiled away in simmering afternoon heat to eke out a living by pushing a cart loaded with wood up a slope along with his father in the State capital’s walled city.
Like Rashid, there were hundreds of children who were seen doing all kinds of arduous jobs unaware that the world was observing a day to bring their childhood out of the clutches of drudgery and hard labour.
For Kamal, a daily wager at the sugar cane juice stall on Hamidia Road, it was sweating it out in the heat roiling his frail hands around ensuring that the last drop of cane juice drops into a vessel, while he gets paid a meager Rs 20 a day. Kamal contributes this amount to his mother’s kitty to keep the hearth warm.
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), there were an estimated 246 million child workers around the world aged between five and 17. One out of every two children aged between 6 and 14 has no access to primary education.
The ILO website also says that 14.4 per cent children in India, aged between 10 and 14, are engaged in labour.
But the statistics does not matter to 13-year old Amir Khan who helps his father at a road side show shop near the Lower Lake. If he does not help his father, his two brothers and a sister cannot go to school, he says.
Another 10-year old, selling locks at the bus stand says that he does not know the place of his birth and the names of his parents. He lives with a group of people who brought him up on the pavements of the Bus Stand.
Though India celebrates the Children’s Day on the birth anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, little is being done for them, as the number of child labourers grows every year.
If the trend of child labour is not curbed, India soon will have the largest population of child labourers in the next five years.

100 pahalwans fight it out

2009-06-26T07:08:00.000-07:00

This story was another treat because when I was roaming the streets of Bhopal in search of some stand alone visuals I saw an huge crowd entering a dingy alley surrounded by old broken buildings which had a small but sizeable ground to fit around thousand people. I quickly entered in and found to my luck that the traditional wrestling was on and they were fans across a spectrum of age group vociferously egging their pahalwans to get the gold for them. So after interacting with many people in the event which otherwise is not known to many except for those who have visited this venue over the years. This story was published in the Hindustan Times, Bhopal edition in 2003.

Ecstatic crowds cheered their guts out at the jam-packed Banne Pahalwan’s Akhada as the foremost pahalwans of the City of Nawabs wrestled in the mud in a surcharged atmosphere at the prestigious annual wrestling event held on Sunday.
The Akhada, which produced greats like Muhamad Ali Pahalwan was again enlivened on Sunday as scores of bouts of scintillating ‘kushti’, were witnessed in a thrilling atmosphere.
As the pahalwans flexed their muscles, roared and pounced upon their opponents with vengeance, the crowd enjoyed each and every moment of the scores of bouts of traditional kushtis.
No less than 100 wrestlers flexed their muscles at the competition, which brought back nostalgic memories of yore when ‘Kushti’ was the most popular of sports activities in Bhopal.

And when Vijay Pahalwan trounced Afsar Pahalwan in the end to emerge the winner the kushti loving Bhopalites became wild with joy. Even after the kushti ended, the audience howled on as if they were in a trance enjoying every second of the one hour drama in which pahalwans pinned their opponents with electrifying application of ‘daaon-pench’ and ‘paintra-baazi’.
As per the rules no bout could be extend beyond 10 minutes and pahalwans fought at a dazzling pace with many ‘kushtis’ ending within minutes.
Even there was no age bar. Loud cheers were heard with the end of each bout. No wonder the atmosphere was so charged that even after the event ended, the audience was craving for more.
Not only the winners were honored, the losers were also given trophies in this unique event.
‘All the participants are given trophies as that no one goes disheartened’, says Ayaz Pahalwan, the organizing secretary of the event.
Banne Pahalwan who organizes the event feels that the State Government is not bothered about promoting traditional wrestling.
‘It is the intrest of a few people which is keeping the even going through all these years’, he adds.

Saras Plane - Crash, takes three pilots lives

2009-06-26T01:23:00.001-07:00

The images taken by me of the Saras Plane during the Aero India show in February 2009, was short lived as it crashed within a month, along with three of the best pilots of the Indian Air Force. The plane which was still under experiment, plunged to its end on March 6th 2009. The images you see below of the accident site were taken by my team member Mohan Kumar B N and the video pictures were taken by an onlooker who happened to be at the right place at the right time.

SARAS AT THE AERO INDIA SHOW - FEB 11th to the 14th, 2009 at the Yelanka Airforce base in Bangalore.

These are the only few images I had taken during the India International Air Show. During the show I did not realize the importance of this plane and so I just took a few pictures as a matter of stock images. But after the Crash these images proved to be very lucky for our newspaper (DNA-Bangalore Edition), as we were able to compare the images pinpoint and tell our readers that it was the same plane which crashed.

D Srinivas captured these video images of the burning and mangled remains of the Saras plane which crashed on the outskirts Bidadi 30 kilometers away from Bangalore on Friday, 6th March 2009.

These moving images of the remains of the Saras Plane taken by my team mate Mohan Kumar B N showing the various moods of people as well the investigators trying to get some lead as to why the crash occurred. Some of the images show the charred remains of two of the three pilots and also of the inconsolable co-workers of the NAL who were handling the Saras Plane project.

Hisaab-kitaab days are up

2009-06-25T07:38:00.000-07:00

This story idea was given to me by a friend who was a businessman over dinner. He told me how the invasion of the computer has put to end an age old tradition of manual writing on the ‘Hisaab-Kitaab’ book. After learning more about the book which was facing extinction I went around the old Bhopal area to find out more about them and then after getting enough material spoke to my editor who asked then asked me to file the story during my stint with the Hindustan Times.

Diwali may still retain all its pristine glitter but the sale of the traditional account books “Hisaab-Kitaabs’ – the kind that have taken a nosedive, thanks to the invasion of information technology. These colourful books bound in red cloth with ‘kadhi’ strings cost between Rs 40 and RS 500.
Traditional businesses open new accounts on Diwali day and the old books are usually replaced with new ones. The book comes in various categories of accounts to be kept such as “Kaachada Hisaab-kitaab”, “Tibandi hisaab-kitaab”, “Choubandi hisaab-kitaab”, “Matabandi hisaab-kitaab”. The book itself is two to three feet long and about a foot wide with 150 to 500 pages of paper either white or pale yellow. These books are in demand during the Dhan Teras during the Diwali festivals.
According to Gore Lal Ramesh Kumar Jain, owner of the oldest (55years) “hisaab-kitaab” shop on the Marwari Road in the walled city, the sale of the book has dipped in the last five years by 25-30%, primarily because well-off businessmen have opted for computers to maintain their accounts.
The city has only three such shops and all of them are in the Chowk Area. According to Maulana Syed Saab of one such hisaab-kitaab shop, people used to come from Guna, Barailley, Sehore and even other states to buy the account books till about 10 years ago.
The hisaab-kitaab books used to be made in the City by the Jains till the 1980’s. But they left the business because of huge losses. Now the books come from two different cities, with the pages coming from Indore and the cover from Nagpur. The books are merely assembled here and sold.
The old order appears to be changing, yielding place to the new. Businessmen say though small traders and businessmen may continue with the tradition for some more time till the red-bound “hisaab-kitaabs” would slowly be replaced by the sleek and fast computers.

Faith, they all believe in

2009-06-24T08:25:00.000-07:00

This story was done after a lot of roaming the streets of Shivajinagar and the Saint Mary’s Basilica church on the eve of Christmas in Bangalore in 2007. After I spoke to a lot of people selling them I was lucky to find a Hindu man decorating the crib of the church. After collecting the raw material I took the help of another co-worker Vaishalli Chandra to write since I had to file a load of pictures for the Christmas special which Bangalore Mirror was getting out.

Do you believe that commercialization takes out the fun from celebration? Think again. Look around and see how the air is filled with good cheer. There is a flighty, happy feeling floating every-where. Stalls selling decorations are copious, little trinkets to adorn the tree, mini Christmas trees, Santa caps, wreaths, candy sticks, lights, confetti….
One such stall in the busy Rusell market belongs to Jameel Jaans who has been selling decorations for over three decades. He started his business when Christmas was largely celebrated by the Christian community. While conflicts between the Arab and Christian worlds keep our leaders busy, Jameel has proposed selling Christmas toys to little George and his cousins, and Dasara toys to Govind and Krishna.
A thorough businessman, he also does a Santa once in a while by giving away decorations to Christian run-NGOs or selling his decorations at discounted rates for the needy. Jameel says, “The festival like any other is about sharing and caring, I just do my bit by helping bring a smile on a needy family’s face.”

And then there’s Mushtaq who has been selling decorations for the past twelve years. Clearly, it’s time for celebration whether it is Eid, Deepavali or Christmas. Every year, at St Mary’s Basilica a set of people decorate the crib. Most of them are non-Christians, Mohan who is part of this group is all set to visit Sabarimala this year. But he made it a point to be there in time to help decorate the crib. It just goes to show how festivals not just help families bond but also people from different communities.

People, today, need a reason to celebrate and it truly reflects in the spending pattern. Mushtaq says, ‘The sale of decorations has gone up by four to five per cent this year. There are people who buy bulk. With corporate coming into the city a lot of them have turned the festive spending around. Today, it is about being happy.’
And this festival breaks all barriers. It is indeed hard to escape the snow white bearded, red-nosed man who charms his way through the chimney.

Naxals Scout for Techies

2009-06-22T07:12:00.000-07:00

This story was given to me by Rituraj Mate who met Govindan Kutty the spokeperson for the Naxals a week before his arrest and asked me if I was interested in speaking to him too. I did a telephone interview with him and asked him to supply the document the naxals had prepared during their annual congress at an undisclosed location. After receiving the full document from Kutty, I asked my co-worker Niranjan Kaggere (who was very interested in doing this story with me), to read the document fully. After he had finished he was planning to do another angle for which I advised him to write that the Naxals are on the look for techies so that they could strengthen their hands and also get world attention on the click of a computer button. This story was discussed with K R Sreenivas the Resident Editor of Bangalore Mirror and then the final text was put to print on December 12, 2007.

Bangalore is one of the cities being targeted by naxals as a recruiting ground for tech-savvy urban comrades

Silicon city had better watch out. Its high tech an glitzy reputation of the country’s own home-grown terror movement. And it won’t be long before the red corridor along eastern India beats a path to Bangalore. Sources within the naxal movement said that a ‘tech’ overhaul of guerilla squads, with a focus on urban areas, is on the anvil.
It is not only techies whom the naxals aspire to rope in; they have ‘plans’ even for the medical fraternity. They party plans to grow networks of sympathizing doctors and hospitals where comrades can be treated. Speaking to Bangalore Mirror Govindan Kutty, a spokesman of the Communist Party (Maoists), said that despite recent setbacks, the movement would be reorganized and intensified.
Buttressing his remark are the ‘guidelines to guerrillas’ adopted at the party’s congress held recently at an undisclosed place, which talk of urban network in cities like Bangalore as a ‘back-up’ for guerrilla squads fighting in remote forest areas across the country.

Govindan Kutty with a friend during his service to the people in these pictures provided by him.

The pictures of the naxal carders during training with sophisticated weapons at undisclosed locations provided to me by Govindan Kutty.

Admitting that there has been a considerable setback in the party’s urbanization plans, Kutty philosophized, ‘setbacks, victories, defeats, up and downs have to be faced by any revolutionary movement.’
Almost echoing his statement the draft guidelines of the party mailed to this newspaper leaves one in no doubt about its urban agenda. ‘In the past 30 years, there has been a disregard towards the tasks of the urban movement. As per the ‘Policies of the Revolutionists’ findings of the ninth congress, the urban areas, with over 60 per cent of the gross domestic product and a huge population, have a growing role to play in the economy as well as in the revolution. It is, therefore, absolutely necessary to quickly correct the imbalance.’
The CPI (Maoists) guidelines focus on urban areas with a large working class. The guidelines urge naxal activists to reorient and reorganize urban outfits, and call for urban and working-class ‘specialization’ (read, representation) in high level party committees. Cities in the party’s cross hairs are Bangalore, Ahmedabad-Pune corridor, Delhi, Chennai and the Coimbatore-Erode belt.
In a detailed e-mail, Kutty said, ‘There is a perception that Maoists are against developmental activities. If we were against development. People would not have supported us. Without development, the country cannot progress. But the question is: development for whom? ‘For MNC’s or a handful of traitors who mortgage out country for a song, or for the majority of common people?’
According to the guidelines, ‘Technical help from the cities will in the form of repairs and maintenance of fighting, communication and other equipment of the guerrillas of the PLA, and preparing comrades with technical, electrical, electronic and other engineering skills to take up the challenges in forest and rural areas.’
In other words, the common man’s perception that the naxal movement is restricted to rural and forest areas of the country may no more be relevant. Cities like Bangalore will increasingly be beach-heads for the comrades’ power through the gun’ Agenda.

GUNS AND BRAINS
Urban comrades with good technical skills are the essence of the party and the revolution, according to the guidelines. The idea is to provide working-class leadership an technical support for the people’s war in rural areas and remote places. Unorganized sectors like textile and small scale units – labouring under poor working conditions – are seen as potential recruiting grounds. As the guidelines put it, ‘We must distribute ourselves very well in key industries and set up a strong base.”

VIRTUAL WAR
Naxals are furthering their agenda in cyber space too. They are banking on urban sympathizers with whose assistance they can track, counter and attack the ‘enemy’(read, the state) via the internet.

Clerics opt for E-cards this Christmas

2009-06-21T06:35:00.000-07:00

This story was given to me by Father John Neduncheril after he had read an E-card story written by me for the Hindustan Times, Bhopal edition, in 2002 during the Diwali celebrations. So I went to meet him the next day and found the story to interesting of how this year to save cost the sisters of various churches were sending e-cards rather than the traditional cards to their relatives and friends across the globe. After this story was carried in the paper he became a good friend and I got some very good stories later on from him and his fellow friends.

A Global phenomenon has finally caught up with the clerics of the City this Christmas. The Fathers and Sisters of various churches are using e-cards to greet their counterparts and relatives.
Take for example Sister Hakim who was busily penning her message on an e-card and downloading pictures of Santa Claus on the computer to send to other Sisters and relatives down South. Like Sister Hakim hundreds of other sisters all over the City are logging on to famous e-card sites everyday as the Christmas nears, sending out cards by the dozens to their near and dear ones and peer group members throughout the world.
The IT bug has bitten the entire cleric community in the City right from the Archbishop who himself uses a computer, says Father John Neduncherill, who is selecting an e-card to send to his fellow father in Kerala.

Father John of the St Thomas Church says that IT is very good and he has taken a head-start to promote it with in his schools and churches all over the country.
Various e-cards are available with flash mode and it is all very easy to handle, says Sister Hakim. Sister Sukrutha nods in agreement. “Well, I have send at least 35 varieties of cards to various sisters all over the world so far,” adds Sister Hakim with a smile.
Father John says that though he is quite new to the computer (last 6 months), he finds it just great and adds that by just a click of the finger he can get thousands of e-cards to chose from, something that cannot be done in card shops.
Well, e-cards for now have come to stay during the various religious festivals throughout the world over this year’s “Merry X-Mass” would be electronically wished and received.

Two men on a right (s) mission

2009-06-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

This story was by sheer chance when I was roaming the streets of Bhopal that I saw these two guys on the motorbike whizzing past me with a Karnataka registration in Madhya Pradesh during my stint with the Hindustan Times, Bhopal. I overtook them and asked them to stop to have a word, only to find that they were on an all India tour to spread the awareness on human rights. My story for December 8, 2001 was done.

Two bike riders from the silicon city of Bangalore have made it their mission to ride all the way to the National Human Rights office in New Delhi in an effort to raise awareness about human rights.
They would submit a memorandum to the NHRC chairman demanding social transformation for peace and development on the “World Human Rights Day” on December 10.
S V Giri Kumar and K R Shiva Kumar from the Peoples Movement for Human rights were on their way to Gwalior on Sunday, when they spoke to Hinduatn Times in Bhopal about the small but assertive movement they have begun.
They began their journey in Bangalore on December 5 and reached Bhopal at 12 on December 8. They would reach Gwalior tonight for the last leg of their five-day ride.
They feel their expedition would spread the knowledge of human rights among villagers so that they can approach the commission to exploit to the maximum. Shiva added they have had very good response at almost all the stops they have had so far.
Citing their experiences till Bhopal, they said students in almost all the villages have had no time to think about human rights violations in their respective villages as they were preoccupied with their studies. The working classes have little time to spare for such concerns, Giri Kumar said.
Asked about their ride through Madhya Pradesh so far, both replied with undisguised disgust that the State had few roads or street lights, not to speak of the near-absence of safety markers on the highways.
They hoped the State Government would do something about the roads and provide clean potable water to villagers.