Story Telling @ IHC New Delhi

For more information and future prorgammes click on the link below

http://www.rangshala.com/theatreevents.htm

Delh:Unspoken Sories (without impositions & interpretations)

This weekend will see a rare display of art at Academy of Fine Arts & Literature by Sudhir Pillai. Sudhir captures the nuances of real life in a very simplisitc style that makes no attempt to impose an external structure, or to interpret the situation with preconceived notions.

The end result is an art that can be interpreted by everyone. So do not worry if you have never been to one. You are in for a surprise.

Date: April 25-29 (opening at 6pm on April 25th)
Place: Academy of Fine Arts & Literature; 4/6 Sri Fort Institutional
Area, New Delhi.
Contact: sudhirpill@gmail.com

Mashaal presents Sanchay

Mashaal brings to you Sanchay. Sanchay (meaning 'Collection' in Hindi) is a new initiative by Mashaal which aims to showcase on stage, a few short pieces of theatrical performances, different from one another in content & presentation, but united by a common theme.


Theme : Sapne

Language : Hindi
Date & Time : 27th July, 7:30 p.m.
Location : CFD (Centre for Film and Drama)
Duration : 60-70 minutes
Entry : Rs. 75
For bookings contact: +91 9739803104 or mailmashaal@gmail.com

About The Theme

The theme for this "Sanchay" is 'Sapne' (Dreams). Every human on Earth nurtures a dream during the waking hours and everyone is amused, frightened, flabbergasted by the dreams they see with their eyes shut. Both kinds of dreams play important roles in our lives. What happens when your dreams are shattered? What kind of crazy, weird, more-realistic-than-real dreams do you see when asleep? The things you wanted from life, the dreams that you had seen, have you realized them? Have they changed? Were they forced to change? Did you give them up? There are a million questions. We could spend all our lives asking them, and receive answers to only a few. And yet, Dreams continue to be as necessary and as intriguing as ever.

Good Honking Bad Honking!

-by Anup Tiwari Saturday, July 05, 2008

(This story has originally appeared at MSN India website)
http://content.msn.co.in/Contribute/Others/UCStory7481.htm
Suddenly everyone is saying that honking is bad. Initially it was just my expat friends. As I write this I am reminded of a former colleague from London. We were driving together and I honked having to negotiate a blind curve. She remarked," I know how to become a millionaire in India". I did not quiet understand and looked at her for more. " I just need to start a car horn business", she said with a wink.

Now it is almost everyone. There was this big no-honk campaign in Mumbai cheer led by 'the AB', himself, around the launch of his film- Bhootnath. The Delhi administration was though not impressed and said that Delhi's traffic was a different animal that did not need a similar campaign. But that is a different story of indifference reserved for a different day.

Coming back to honking. Yes, honking is bad. Especially, when it is needless and continuous.Not the single beep gentle variety. More so when it is a pressure horn.

But wait, there is a good honking too. Don't slaughter me for that expression. Read on.

I was in Lucknow being driven around the city by a friend of mine. He had then newly bought the erstwhile Matiz. A hot new launch around that time. I am sure many of us can go back in our minds and recall it vividly.

Now this friend of mine was a polite non-honker. At one of the narrow zones near Hazaratganj, he had no option but to overtake this slow moving tempo. He did it, but in the process scratched his car. Both the drivers pulled to the side. The tempo driver stepped out and said in his fully rustic dialect, "What sir, you are driving such a luxury car and being miser about honking."

Well that is good honking for you. The type that will guaranty that your car goes scratch free.

There is more. Picture this. You are on a red light. Slowly you have taken a start like a cricket fielder and are almost at the verge of crossing. You are at a point where you cannot see the colour of the signal. What do you pray for? I know I pray for the honk to signal that light is green. The first honk and you know it is accelerator time.

Another one at the traffic signal. Have you ever been lucky to be at the head of the waiting traffic? I don't know why but when I am at the head of the pack, my mind and eyes tend to rove. Suddenly I am not there. Then somewhere from behind comes this god send honk. I am pulled out of my reverie. It is driving time again. I don't know how I could have ever done without this music to the ears. I would have never ever hit on my smart (?) collage of ideas.

But wait don't let me make non-honkers turn honkers. The idea is to stop bad honking but keep on doing good honking.

An Evening of Lilting Music- Neeta delights

It was a pleasure to attend "Gulistan", an evening of enchanting melodies and divine rythms by Neeta Soorma at Gurgaon's new cultural hub Epicenter.

Neeta is a disciple of Smt. Savita Devi and an ‘A’ grade artiste of the All India Radio, Delhi in Vocal Light Classical music as well as in the Ghazals category.

A distinguished dilettante of music and an accomplished vocalist, she did not disappoint.The renditions were in the Poorab-ang, that is the Benaras style of Thumri, Dadra, Kajri, Chaiti and Bhajan.

Accompanying Neeta on stage were Ustad Ghulam Sabir on the Sarangi, Ustad Ballu Khan Warsi on the Harmonium, Ustad Salim on the Tabla, and Shri Razak Ali on the Tanpura.

Neeta began the evening with a famous Thumri—Basuriyaa ab nahi bajao shyam…
In this thumri, the words nahi bajao were presented in various shades of emotions; from request to cajole, pleading to mild anger. Even though in the literal sense, Radha is asking Lord Krishna not to play his murli, inside her heart, she wants him to go on and on.

Thumri as the music lovers would know is a song of love, romance, passion, longing. Essentially an amorous mood of music, it came into prominence in the later half of the 19th century. The moods range from romance to apathy, from frolic to forbidden, from free-spirited to spiritual.

"Thumri is like an abstract art of expression and improvisation, like a bouquet where you have different types of flowers but each asthetically blending. Thumri is like a painting where you use different colours and strokes to create a beautiful work of art. Poorab-ang Thumri is deeply influenced by brijbhasha and the gayaki derives its spiritual inspiration from the bhakti cult, which probably explains the repeated themes of love and separation of Radha and Krishna", Neeta told right2review.com

Thumri was followed by a Dadra just as a Chota Khayal follows a Bada Khayal or a Vilambit Khayal. Dadra is one of the immensely popular styles owing to its arresting spell. Neeta’s next spell in the form of a dadra, Souten Ghan Na Ja... is a traditional composition, extremely popular with music lovers for over a 100 years.

Neeta dedicated dadra in the loving memory of Ma Siddheshwari Devi. This being one of her rarest gems. Tarpe Bin Balam Mora Jiya… surely delighted the listeners.

Neeta added from the stage, "This one is a surprise for my Guru. The practice that we follow prior to any event is that we sit together and decide on the kind of compositions that are to be presented. However, as I wanted this to be a surprise I didn’t disclose this particular one to her. I only hope that she along with all of you will also enjoy this one". Rooth Gayeele Saniyaan Hamaar… was rendered in a way that would have really done her Guru proud.

Neeta concluded the evening with a Sufiana Kalaam kafi, a poetic expression with a blend of mysticism.

Towards the end the listeners were informed by the MC, “The purpose of music, considered in relation to God, is to arouse the longing for God, and passionate love for Him, and to produce states in which God reveals Himself and His favours, which are beyond description and known only by experience. These states are called ecstasy.”

But we can say the same for all the renditions of the evening- ecstatic!