COURTS

Court strictures on police on FIR
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 2
A city court today slapped the Delhi Police saying that not registering FIR is matter of practice of the police. The court said this while convicting an accused of dishonestly receiving a stolen TV set, despite the fact that the FIR concerning the theft of the TV set was registered after its recovery.

“Advantage cannot be given to the accused for bad investigation,” Metropolitan Magistrate A. K. Garg said while convicting Jaideep Kumar from whom the set was recovered. “It is a matter of practice that in most theft cases police did not record the complaint or lodge the FIR to keep the percentage of crime in their area at a low level. That didn’t mean that crime was not committed,” the court said. The accused had contended that he could not be held liable for having received stolen property, as there was no case regarding the theft of the TV set. As per the prosecution case, the accused was first arrested with the TV set and then the police went to the house of the complainant and recorded his statement. The court noted that it was an established position that no complaint regarding the theft of the TV set was registered prior to the recovery. Accused Jaideep was apprehended with the set at Madduban Chowk in North-West Delhi on April 20, 1992.

CULTURE

ARTSCAPE
Hail festive season!
Ravi Bhatia

IN a befitting tribute to the festival season and Devi Paksh, the Anant Art Gallery here is putting up an exhibition of paintings by some of the renowned artists of the country from October 8 to 28. Among the artists whose works will be on display at the exhibition are: Arup Das, Shyamal Dutta Ray, Neeraj Goswami, Sanjay Bhattacharya, Shuvaprasanna, Naina Kanodia, Yusuf Arrakal, Jayasri Burman, Chandra Bhattacharya, Subroto Gangopadhjaya and Gautam Basu. The exhibition is being curated by well-known art critic, Ratnottama Sengupta.

Kalpna: A phenomenon discovered

After having been confined to the four walls of the home for almost 35 years, the paintings of Kalpna Kumar – ‘Imagination and Beyond’, were finally put on display here for the first time thanks to the persistent pressure of friends.

Kalpna’s paintings, a total of 82, are said to be truly spectacular in their lines, form and colour. The exhibition was inaugurated by Dr Karan Singh over the weekend at the India Habitat Centre here.

With a tremendous range - birds, flowers, landscapes, lightning, images of rural India and much more — the paintings were categorised as Naturescape, Interpretation, Where Hope Abides, Wanderers, A Womann’s Quest, Serenity and Villagescape.

A homemaker, wife of a top nephrologist of the country and a mother of two, Kalpna has, with her maiden display, emerged as an outstanding artist.

Basically an introvert, Kalpna’s emotions have constantly been in a state of flux and what she could not express in words, she has said in her paintings. Each of her work is an expression of her emotions. In her own words, “Paintings are expressions”. Though she has had no professional training, she has been interested in painting since her childhood.

But it was only after her marriage that she seriously started painting. Among her favourite paintings are the two that she did immediately after her marriage.

Paintings that can be associated with cheerful and happy feelings are many, and are a reflection of her bubbly personality. These include - Fading Summer and Tibetan Monastry (in which minutest details of landscape are covered).

Commercial marketing or even putting up an exhibition had never been the motivating force for Kalpna. Even for this first exhibition, she had to be persuaded by her friends, well-wishers and her husband.

Now, Kalpna is both happy and sad. Happy, understandably, because her work has been appreciated widely and justifiably. But sad too, as she is parting with her paintings, her children of so many years that she had grown to love. On the opening itself ten of her paintings were sold.

Deeply pious

An exhibition of paintings by Dr (Miss) Raman Deep will be on display at the Punjabi Bhawan here from October 7 to 18. Raman has always been influenced by art on canvas. In fact, it has been her passion to express her feelings, especially those which she had developed by devotion to the words of the great saints of the country. Along with that, her love of nature has been an inspiration of her works. This is her second exhibition; the first was in 2001 at the Standard Chartered Bank here.

Dots and Pixels

According to the organisers, digital art is basically the synthesis where the role of the computer is merely that of a tool in the hands of the artist and synthesis is what the computer does best. Among the artists whose works are being exhibited are: Ranbir Kaleka, Akbar Padamsee, Baiju Parthan, Chintan Upadhayay, B. M. Kamath, Pooja Iranna, Jagnath Panda and Samit Das.

MUSIC ZONE
Small M’s big dream

EAGER for their offspring to achieve childhood stardom, many parents would go to any length to achieve their dream and in the process often scar the psyche of the child for life. Mercifully, there was no such pressure on the Mehndi brothers who were all natural born performers.

In fact, listening to the lilting voice of Harjeet Mehndi, one wonders why he is not a star yet. For almost a decade now, this Californian has believed that if he could only sound half as good as his famous older brother, Daler Mehndi, he would be able to achieve some thing.

Equally at ease with singing in Punjabi, Hindi, Gujarati, Bhojpuri and even Arabic, Harjeet has now cut his first disc recently. As far as the ability to sing in various languages he says that music knows no boundaries and in any case it is difficult to say no to a client’s request. It is precisely for this reason that he has performed all over the United States, Canada and Europe.

His soon-to-be released debut album, Nach Punjaban, is a compilation of highly charged rhythmical stormers - a unique mix of Punjabi folk and modern beats.

Sunidhi to storm Capital soon

A child prodigy, Sunidhi Chauhan now a teenage heartthrob is all set to invade the nation’s Capital. She will be performing live at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on November 8, along with her troupe on the occasion of the anniversary of Info Baron (IB), a monthly fashion magazine. According to Rajiv Tawakley, the publisher, this show would be a mother of all live shows held in the Capital.

Sunidhi has won many awards and has worked with some of the most well-known music directors, including A. R. Rehman and Anu Malik. She has won the Filmfare Award (2001) and R. D. Burman Award for the most promising new comer category.

Durga Kavach is a collection of special shlokas from the Markandey Purana and is part of the Durga Saptashti. No doubt, it is being marketed as a boon for the devotees during the Navratras.

Kavi Sammelan by Ram Lila committee
Our Correspondent

New Delhi, October 2
One of the oldest Ram Lila committees of this walled city, Shree Dharmik Lila committee organised a national level kavi sammelan which was inaugurated by the Central Sports Minister, Mr Vijay Goel, and presided over by the committee president, Mr Bansidhar Gupta.

According to the convenor of this committee, Mr Dinesh Mehra, “We are also going to release a booklet depicting the important scenes of Ram Lila during the regular shows.” The main attraction of this year’s Ram Lila is the 78-feet- high idol of Hanuman.

The oldest of Ram Lila Committees of trans-Yamuna and a part of the Gandhi Nagar Resident Welfare Association (Jan Shakti Vikas Samiti), Shree Dharmik Ram Lila Committee is also staging some short plays on various themes like dowry system, importance of education, bonded labour and pollution.

According to the samiti president, Mr Surendra Sharma, we are regularly organising processions on significant themes. This Ram Lila is believed to be most magnificent after Mathura’s.