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Campaign for peace
Chandigarh, June 19 Two years back, as a response to growing violence against humankind and nature, this Gandhian campaign promoting the ‘culture of peace, nonviolence and tolerance’, was launched by Srijan Peace Education Centre, Yuvsatta. Since then, many peace clubs have been formed in the various educational institutions to strengthen the message of ‘live and let live’. Dedicating the campaign for peace-town Solan to the observance of 100 years of Gandhiji’s Satyagraha, Dr B.S. Panwar, Director of the institute, said the objectives of the campaign were promotion of interpersonal dialogue and human warmth; orientation of students, teachers, members of the family, various sections of the society like doctors, business communities etc. Elaborating on the peace-city campaign, Mr Parmod Sharma, coordinator, Yuvsatta, said the goal of the campaign was promotion of ‘peace-volunteering’ in the community. He said now the time had come to expand the concept of peace-cities to every nook and corner of the country, so that conflicts could be prevented through non-violent means and India could evolve as per Gandhiji’s dreams. He also informed about a similar campaign for peace-district Belgaum in Karnatka. Forty students from Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust and CASPLAN, New Delhi, would be working with local youth and students of KTS Public School, Solan, for a week, to develop and promote the campaign for peace-town Solan.
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Awareness camp on environment
Chandigarh, June 19 Ms Renu Gandhi, programme in charge, while interacting with the villagers, said Indian women were rich in thoughts and they could help society by controlling pollution through planting herbal plants in their kitchen gardens. Dr Avnish Jolly of the Servant of Peoples Society explained the concept of personal hygiene and herbal therapy to control malaria and diarrhoea through use of tulsi leaves in day-to-day life. He asked villagers to put kerosene in water pits to control water-borne diseases. He also demonstrated how to prepare oral dehydration powder at home and how this could help in controlling diarrhoea. Mr Surinder Yadav, research scholar of the Department of Botany, Panjab University, discussed the concept of environment relating to water, air and earth. Ms Kamlesh Sharma, sarpanch, Khuda
Lahora, and Ms Manju, a member of the panchayat, gave an assurance with regard to the formation of self-help groups in their village to control environment
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A Jugalbandi of melody and harmony
Chandigarh, June 19 This, in a nutshell, is also the essence of their music for the group reflects influences as diverse and varied as the regions they come from--France, Algeria, Guinea and even India-and are creating sounds that are speckled, complex and yet, elegantly harmonious. In the city for a performance at the Tagore Theatre last evening at the behest of Alliance Française de Chandigarh and the French Embassy as part of the Fete de la Musique-World Music Day-celebrations, 'Jugalbandi's' fluid notes are an eclectic melange of music underlined by the group's inherent love and deep respect for their unique resonances as a whole. They are a motley bundle-Frenchman Richard Bernet on the sarod and Essraj, who found his calling in Indian classical music way back in 1970 when he heard Ustad Ali Akbar Khan play and even founded a group called the Nataraj XT "producing electronic sounds with traditional notes", Rico, the trumpeter with a penchant for jazz and eastern music who also doubles as a visual artist creating artistic installations, percussionist and Algerian Hamid Gribi who also plays with a Japanese percussion band, lead vocalist and the only woman in the group Sayon Bamba Camara from Guinea, electro-experimental bass guitarist and composer Laurent Pernice and tabla artist Nabankur Bhattacharya, the Indian in the group, who teaches music in two institutes in France and one in Switzerland. The group, formed three years ago by Richard and Rico when they met at a radio show in Marseilles where they all live, believe they are "lucky to be linked together, bridging our music." The sound is a unique blend of "world music" as Richard refers to it, music very popular in Europe and America and readily finding its feet in India. "At our first concert in Trivandrum, we thought people would leave mid-way, but the initial 300 people who came to listen to us, turned into 500, by the end of the concert," smiles Richard. "I told my friends, if Indians appreciate this music, the whole world will," puts in Nabankur who believes that they are sending the message of "love, peace and happiness" through their music. Indeed as Sayom explains it, "Melody and harmony are one all over the world, irrespective of the forms its takes." Instrumental, interspersed with Sayom's reverberating voice which echoes her West African traditions, sometimes knitted together by different ragas like the Bhairavi or the Desh which Rico admits is "more difficult than jazz". |
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French band enchants music lovers
Chandigarh, June 19 The programme commenced with an introductory instrumental music symbolic of the vedic chants and enunciation of ‘Om’ as Richard Bernet (sarod), Rico ( trumpet) Laurent Pernice ( base guitar) Hamid Garibi on Percussion recreated a serene ambience. Nabankur Bhatacharya joined them to present a theme based South African item ‘Kagalicko’. The introduction of ‘Ek tara’ and flute in the repertoire successfully recreated the pastoral ambience of Bengal as the versatile singing and dancing star Sayon Kamra rendered ‘Gopishondo’. However ‘Garam Masala’ proved too popular with the audience. It reflected the Indian classical forms of Sawal Jawab, Larant and the credential ‘Tihais’ immaculately executed by Rico on Trumpet and Bernet on Sarod on the Tabla syllables (Pedant) created by Bhatacharya on tabla. A piano like musical instrument called Sanja enabled the lead singer Ms Camara to display her versatility as a singer and dancer while presenting folk based kum kum. After the North African composition ‘Bismilah’ the troupe presented Indian ‘Vande Matram’ in an altogether exquisite form. The ensemble was at their best as they delved in the exposition of raga ‘Bhairavi’ and each artist reproduced the Jugalbandi on the respective instruments. Besides the compositions were based on mishar ragas with dominance of biaravi and tilak kamod. Ms Camara established an instant rapport with the audience and stole the limelight while the troupe was given a standing ovation by the audience for the brilliant performance. |
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‘Mehndi Waale Hath’ faces piracy crisis
Panchkula, June 19 The film had the musical score by Bollywood’s noted music director Amar Haldipur and was a prestigious presentation of Dalvinder Lidher following his earlier hit films like ‘Asan Nu Maan Watna Da’ and 'Yaran Naal Baharaan’ disclosed Iqbal Singh Dhillon, noted film maker. “To our dismay, an unknown company has floated a pirated MP3 titled as our film ‘Mehndi Waale Hath’, including all its songs with out our knowledge. It is virtually disastrous for our dream project,” said the dejected director. Since such a crime has been attempted for the first time in the history of Punjabi film-making, it has sent shock waves in the entire Punjabi music and film-producing fraternity. Seized with the gravity of the situation, especially the misdemeanors of those indulging in piracy, the leading Punjabi film personalities shared their grouse and viewpoint at a meeting held at the Chandigarh Press Club here today. Cine star Jaspal Bhatti solicited immediate intervention of the Punjab Government to check piracy and bring the culprits to the book for this daylight robbery. He was, however, apprehensive about the attitude and role of the authorities who apparently are not equipped with the potent laws to contain the piracy. Failing to restrain his wit, Bhatti, however, suggested all producers to get the ‘pirated music version’ of their films , released by any minister so to accord legitimacy to the crime and eliminate any confusion for the ultimate buyer and the producer. The original version could be released later if the producer survived the piracy attack, he quipped. Bhatti observed that due to flourishing piracy, all Punjabi singers and musicians were facing stringent financial crisis. Initiating the deliberations, Gaurav Trehan, director, Catrack music company, the authorised music producers for the film, reiterated that despite firm assurances, the Punjab Government has not enforced the ‘Goonda Act’ as promulgated in Tamil Nadu where 96 per cent of piracy had been controlled. Visibly upset over the unprecedented crime, Mr Trehan relented that though persons behind this piracy were known to them, they could not act in the absence of the adequate law. “We, the art-loving fraternity, leave it to the wisdom of the government. We will be left with no other alternative except to launch an agitation if proper action is not taken against the culprits,” he said. Meanwhile, the aggrieved producers had lodged a complaint with the Mohali police. |
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