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Photo
Graphic
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| Sensitive
to socio-political tumult |
Artists sensitive
to socio-political tumult usually manage to highlight its casualties more
eloquently than others. Like photographer Sheba Chhachhi and writer/graphic
designer Sonia Jabbar who were so disturbed by the screams of Kashmir
that they wove together a dramatic photo-installation, displayed at the
India Habitat Centre in Delhi last week with support from women's forum
WISCOMP. The 41 photographs of Kashmiri women, taken by Chhachhi since
1994, were supplemented by quotes and text that rested on carved rihals
held by bricks. Blocking the tragic vignettes was a screen plastered with
paper cuttings-what the artists call "media noise" of the past
50 years. Hooped barbed wire ran between the linear rows as a cliched
but effective emblem of atrocity.
The photo-tales
themselves make you curl up. Rubeena, a Bengali woman married to a Kashmiri,
was raped by the soldiers from the ITBP camp; Benazir, a teenager from
Bandipore whose handsome father ("just like Rajesh Khanna")
was killed by the Mujahideen because he used to drink; Jameela, a 26-year-old
from Madangaon, justified the killing of her militant husband, but not
of the seven innocent men killed along with him. Says Jabbar: "The
exhibition gives space to the women of Kashmir whose voices have been
obscured by war ... voices which could prove to be the seeds for a solution
to the present crisis." Is anybody listening?
-Anshul
Avijit
Tea's
Company
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| Calcuttan
addiction, tea and adda |
A definite
Calcuttan addiction-tea and adda. When Taj Bengal organised a seven-day
tea festival last week, actor Tapas Paul reminisced about his first film,
former footballer P.K. Banerjee held forth on the benefits of lemon tea
and artist Shuvaprasanna was told his next work should have a steaming
cuppa on it. The event, "Taj and Dolly put the kettle on" was
organised by tea lover and entrepreneur Dolly Roy, who's keen on getting
Gen X-ers hooked on the beverage. "We should package it in a way
youngsters would like," she says. Maybe. Would you go for tea with
vodka, fruit juices or mocha chocolate?
-Labonita
Ghosh
Give
Us A Break, Ok?
Children
usually spend time playing hide-and-seek or football, right? Wrong. Youngsters
in Pune are experimenting with meditation to destress and improve concentration.
Like Vikram Erande, 11, who prefers meditation to watching TV. "I've
learnt to control anger," says Vikram who does breathing exercises
regularly. Explains Priyamvada Kulkarni of the Vyakti Vikas Kendra which
conducts classes for kids: "These days children are under a lot of
pressure to excel in all fields." About 10 schools in Pune offer
meditation options. Najma Hussain of the Dr (Mrs) Erin N. Nagarvala School
insists: "We have seen cases where children have become more disciplined
after meditating." Rashmi Karve enrolled her seven-year-old son Nishant
for a Vipassana course since he was very shy. Slowly, his confidence grew.
Says Dr Nirmala Ganala, a gynaecologist and coordinator for children's
Vipassana courses: "The aim is to help kids become focused individuals."
It's a crying shame, but it looks like those good old happy-go-lucky days
are over.
-Kanchan
Apte
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Is
the market right in backing cartelisation by cement companies, asks India
Today Associate Editor V. Shankar Aiyar in Au ContrAiyar 
