Soorya Festival

The Soorya Festival, which holds the record forthe longest arts and music festival, is going on in Trivandrum. This year, the festival will last111 days. More than 1,500 artistes from across the country are expected to perform during this festival. Film buffs and lovers of the artswould be treated to a potpourri of films, videos,painting, dance and music, plays, religious discourses, chamber concerts, elocution and poetry and story telling over the course of thefestival.The dance and music festival will take off with a concert by K.J. Yesudas on October 1. The 10-day event will feature Odissi, Bharathanatyam,Carnatic music, Kathak, fusion and danceballet by Padma Subramaniam, RajendraGangani, Lakshmi Gopalaswamy, Neyveli Santhanagopalam and Sanjay Subramaniam.Besides being the longest festival, Soorya willalso set a new record of sorts this year. It willbe for the 33rd consecutive year that vocalistYesudas and danseuse Padma Subramaniam will be participating in the Soorya festival.The festival will end on January 10, 2011, witha stage show titled ‘Dwayam’.The festival is organized by ‘Soorya Stage and FilmSociety’ founded by Soorya Krishnamoorthy.Mr Krishnamoorthy was a scientist, workingwith VSSC. He resigned his job to pursue hisinterests in Arts and went on to create historyin the field of arts.It is really amazing to know that whileconducting the world’s longest arts and musicfestival for the past 35 years, Soorya is still a non profit making, non commercial, voluntary organisation with no office building or paidstaff anywhere in the world

MY VISIT TO A DARGAH

It was a bright Sunday morning in Sriharikota & I found myself twisting and turning in my bed, shielding my eyes from the morning sun. It was only ten past eight, but my stomach was already growling . As I toddled off to the canteen, I found my friends excitedly talking about a Dargah nearby at place called Venad, about A. R. Rahman & his sojourns to this place.

It was my turn to get excited. My plan for the day was perspicuous in an instant. Visit to the Dargah became top priority. I learned from our seasoned SHAR drivers that Venad is a one hour drive from Sriharikota. We, a team of three set off to discover the place with a faith and anxiety never experienced before.

It was our maiden visit to a Dargah. Many people are unaware that a Dargah is the grave of a revered Sufi Saint. Sufism, the religion the saint preached & practiced is interesting. Sufism on contrary to Islam, emphasizes on mysticism wherein people believe that it is possible to achieve the highest state of enlightenment in this life itself.

This Dargah is frequented by A. R. Rahman once a year during the ‘Urs’ festival. The Dargah is patronized by the music maestro, who funds for the infrastructure as well as the festivals held there. Interestingly, these Dargah’s are considered the breeding grounds for music genres such as the ‘Qawwali’ & ‘Kafi’, widely believed to be the inspiration behind songs like ‘Khwaja mere Khwaja’ in the movie ‘Jodhaa Akbar’.

On reaching the Dargah, we were welcomed by a Sufi priest, a man with a green turban, an overflowing beard & a long golden stick adorned with peacock feathers. After the reception the priest soon set off to perform his regular rituals where in he blesses the devotees in return for local produce of grains & corn. As the devotees sat in for the prayer, we went around to have a look at a rather long Dargah. It was decorated with precious clothes in green and yellow with a tree at one end and a fence thereafter. A large array of padlocks across the fence caught our attention. Later, the priest explained that these padlocks are put up by devotees as protection against ‘jinnats’ and would be removed soon after they found solution for their adversities.

This Dargah has an interesting legend. It is said that the Sufi saint visited this place in 1414 A.D. with his sister, to preach Sufism across the shores of Andhra. The Sufi saint was lovingly called Baba by the villagers. The legend has that one day, the Baba told a group of children playing nearby to bury him in a pit that he had dug by himself. The children after doing so, were extremely worried and informed the elders. The elders immediately started digging for the Baba, only to find him moving deeper and deeper into the pit. As the elders dug up to the tree still situated in the Dargah, they heard a voice from above instructing them to leave the Baba alone. It is still believed that the Baba is alive and answers prayers of his devotees.

The Dargah seemed so calm and quiet, far from the din of the city that it brought an immediate tranquility to our mind. Even today the Dargah stands as an aide-mem’oire preaching oneness to all who visit here. It was noon by the time we bid adieu to this place.

close to the heavens

This fleeeting moment revealing the Kanchenjunga in its full glory was captured in the early morning through the hotel window from Darjeeling.

The clouds obscure the mountains, the mountains stop the wind and the wind move the clouds. Eternal and relentless, there seemed to be a complex interplay of forces of nature, unfolding before the photographer’s eyes.

COMMON WEALTH GAMES

History

Common Wealth Games (CWG), formerly known as British Empire Games, were first held in 1930

in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Since 1978 they are known as Commonwealth Games. The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) has 71 member nations and territories called Commonwealth Games Associations (CGAs) which include India. The three core values of CWG movement are Humanity, Equality and Destiny.

Relay

Queen’s Baton Relay is a very important tradition of CWG. It started in 1958 in Cardiff, Wales. The relay starts with a ceremony at Buckingham Palace where Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II hands over the baton with her message to the players to the first relay runner and relay ends at the opening ceremony of the games. This time competitions will be held in seventeen sports.

Logo

The logo of the Delhi CWG is inspired by the chakra symbol of freedom, unity and power. The upward spiral depicts India’s growth into proud and vibrant nation powered by the coming together of her over a billion people. The tagline “Come out and Play” as an invitation to all to let go of themselves and participate in the Games to the best of their abilities, in the true spirit of the Games.

Mascot

Shera, the Games mascot represents the modern Indian. He as an achiever with a positive attitude, a global citizen but justifiably proud of nation’s ancient heritage, a fierce competitor but with integrity and honesty. Shera as also a ‘large-hearted gentlemen’ who loves making friends.

New in 2010

• Wrestling is returning to the games after a gap of eight years with 64 medals.
• Archery will be held only 2nd time in the history of CWG where India can hope much because of her last performances at different events. 24 medals will be at stake.
• Tennis is making its debut in the CWG. There are 5 golds at stake in this competition.

India’s Chances

In Badminton World No 2 Saina Nehwal has raised a lot of hopes with Chetan Anand and P.Kashyap are medal prospects in men’s section. In squash India has good chance of bagging a medal or two with S.Ghospal in good form and young Deepika doing well in the women’s section. Table tennis was a big surprise in Melbourne where Sharat A Kamal emerged as champion.

Indirect Benefits

It is always a matter of debates “Whether a developing country can afford the expenditure for such mega event”. The truth is that it usually only when a mega event comes around that any city gets its sporting and civic infrastructure upgraded. It has been the case in many other cities, ranging from Barcelona to Atlanta to Sydney and Athens and latest being Beijing. Melbourne (2006) and before that Manchester (2002) and Kuala Lumpur benefited a great deal from Commonwealth Games, as did Asian Games host Doha(2006), Busan, Korea (2002), Bangkok (1998).

There is no denying that mega events cause great deal of discomfort when facilities are built, and cost overruns can have an impact on local economy. But we also have to see other side of coin. 1982 Asian Games brought about four new flyovers, three new five star hotels besides the Siri Fort Sports Complex and Asian Games Village, and above all, Colour TV, we can hope similarly 2010 Commonwealth Games will bring with it many positives. It is all about how we are seeing the things.

Take this as an opportunity to show the world that we are on the right track of Vision 2020. Let’s come together and cheer all our sports persons participating in this mega event and make them fill that we are with them.

My Prayer for you

I said a prayer for you today...

I know God must have heard

I could feel the answer in my heart,

Even though he didn’t speak any word...

I didn’t ask for wealth or fame,

I know it will not last...

What I asked Him was to send,

Treasures of a far more lasting kind...

I asked that he’d be with you always,

to grant you Health and Blessings...

I asked Him to show you the Right path always...

I asked Him for good friends to share your way...

I asked Him to help you to spread Peace and Happiness...

I asked Him to protect you from all Evils...

I asked for Happiness for you in,

all the Great and Small things you do...

I asked Him to keep you Safe,

also your Dear ones...

But, it was for His Love and Care

I prayed for you most of all...

Journey to the valley of silence

It was a trip planned at very short notice (as always) when we decided to go to silent valley. Though the name “Silent Valley” was quite familiar to me, courtesy media hype regarding the proposed controversial hydro electric project, all my efforts to visit the place in the past went in vain due to some reason or the other. It took a call from my cousin, asking me about my plans for the weekend, to arouse my silent valley spirits again and I told him to be ready for a trip next day to the valley and even poked two of my uncles for the trip. We could arrange a reservation at the Forest Inspection Bungalow (IB) at Mukkali as we got relevant information from the internet.

After lunch from my home at Cochin, we four (my two uncles, cousin and I) set off to Silent Valley. Along the much improved NH43 (than when I traveled last) we reached Palakkad by 4 PM and after refreshments continued our journey through NH 213 to Mannarkkad. From Mannarkkad Junction we took the road towards right leading to Mukkali. We reached Mukkali at 6 PM, checked into our room reserved in the Mukkali Forest IB. It was quite

surprising to meet a large group from ISAC, Astro Physics Group with their family at IB who were taking rest after a visit to the core area of the forest for the day. All of us had a quite refreshing bath in the river Bhavani flowing near

the IB and had dinner from the local tea shop. The night at Mukkali IB was filled with music of the river flowing near the bungalow and occasional songs of birds and cicada!!

Next day morning we were ready to explore the core forest area of Silent Valley. Our ISAC friends had chosen a soft trek in the buffer area of the forest for the day. Since we couldn’t afford to miss the core area of renowned valley we preferred to hire a jeep and proceeded to the forest by 8.00 a.m. Our tour guide Nasser was quite talkative and kept pouring information about the valley and its history.The “Silent Valley” was referred so by the British,appropriate to the absence of cicada in the forest during early years when they explored the valley. The rain forest of the valley said to be dated back to 50 million years and is home for large number of endangered species including the Lion tailed Macaque and Nilgiri Tahr. The valley got the media attention when Pathrakadavu hydro electric project was sanctioned in the core area of the valley exploiting the water resources from Kunthi river. The project raised protests from the naturalists who finally succeeded forcing the government to set aside the project and declare the area as national park.

The 45 minutes long jeep journey from IB ended near the watch tower at the proposed dam site of the Pathrakadavu project. The watch tower offered a breath taking view of the Kunthi river also called the Sairandri. River at the proposed dam site is accessible by walk along a 2km long muddy path. An antique hanging bridge was in view at the dam site though entry to the bridge was prohibited. The river was muddy and a little wild since it was raining heavily for last 2 days.

After spending some time near river side wecame back to the watch tower. The museum operated by the forest department, provided essential information about the flora and fauna of valley and also about the geography of the

national park. By 2 p.m. we returned back to the IB with watchful eyes on the forest, eager to spot wild life. We were lucky enough to spot a troop of lion tailed macaques, monkeys, wild squirrels and birds.

With ever green memories and a handful of wonderful snaps in my camera, we bid adieu to the valley by 3pm after a late lunch from a local hotel with hope of revisiting the valley.

Rooms can be reserved at the Forest Inspection Bungalow of the Silent Valley by contacting the Wild life warden, Silent valley division in the address given below. A fax to the office of Wild life warden and a few phone calls for confirming the availability of the rooms to the Assistant wild life warden will be sufficient. Forest department also arranges a number of soft and hard core treks through the forests for those who are interested in walking through the forest.

The tribal colony of Attapady is nearby and those interested can have a visit to the colonies too. A number of private resorts also are functioning in the area for those who prefer it over the local shops and minimal stay at IB

Assistant Wildlife Warden,

Silent Valley National Park Range

Mukkali, Palakkad, Kerala, India

PIN: 678582

Tel: 04924 - 253225

Wildlife Warden,

Silent Valley Division

Mannarkkad, Palakkad, Kerala,

India

PIN: 678582

Tel: 04924 - 222056

Common wealth games … Glory or Shame?

This October, India is poised to hold the biggest sporting extravaganza so far to be held in the country. This 19th Common wealth game involving about 70 countries with 6000 sportspersons is arguably the third largest sports meet after Olympics and World cup football. It is the first time that the games are coming to India and second time in Asia (after 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). Though critics may claim that our country have more grave issues to attend than games, one must not forget that this is an ideal opportunity for us to show case the modern and developed India.

More often than not, the games have always been in the news for bad reasons, especially during last month or so. Financial irregularities have been the point of contention along with acute tardiness in the preparation of venues for

the games. Unfortunately our media, especially the visual style, is celebrating the issues and thus giving it a much

wider publicity than required.

Outside India nobody is bothered if it’s the Kalmadis’ or someone else. Rather the

whole world is eagerly watching whether India can pull this off. To give an idea about how the media reports are received abroad, according to my friend residing in Australia, public there are passing judgments that Indians

aren’t capable of holding games of this stature and are more interested in making money than games itself.

It’s vital that corruption of any form should be brought to the public. But too much hype about it, that too at this crucial juncture with only days to go for the games, is uncalled for. The people who are alleged to be corrupt, if found guilty, should be dealt seriously. But this could wait till the games are over. Instead our focus should be more on how best we can help our nation to gear up for the games. Main concern should be that most of the stadiums are still under construction. It’s high time that all of us in our own way do a bit and get the nation ready for the games. Here the media has a huge role to play; rather than playing out the corruption issue again and again it should shift the focus on the issues of under preparation – be it about venues, games village, roads, hospitals or anything related. This will keep the authorities as well as public informed about the pending issues. It may even inspire some of us to come forward and contribute in some way.

The problem of under preparedness was raised even back in 2009. If adequate actions were taken at that time things wouldn’t have been in such bad shape. Now that government have taken steps to tackle this issue by appointing 10 officers of the rank of Joint and Additional Secretaries to oversee the progress, hopefully, we will be ready in time for the event. Each of these officers is allocated a stadium and given the responsibility to ensure that the work completes in time for the games.

It’s already late, but better late than never. Let’s hope coming October 3 to 14, the world will witness the best ever commonwealth games till date and India rise in glory on the world stage.