Author: The Metrognome

Categories
Film

Review: Dholki

A man who produces dholki notes with his bare hands? This film has an interesting story marred by boring execution.
by Ravi Shet

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Dholki, directed by Raju and Vishal Desai, is a comedy drama set in a village in Maharashtra. The film starts with a bhajan in a temple where villagers from different sections have come together. Lalya (Siddharth Jadhav) who has come with his mother (Jyoti Chandekar) is seen sleeping in the temple premises; however villagers rouse him. He prays to God and tells to forgive the villagers, since they have awakened him and God. Lalya is a lazy man, often referred to as ‘Kumbhakaran’ by the villagers; however he is also honest and straightforward. His mother tells the villagers that he has no job at hand, so she doesn’t mind if he sleeps all the time.

Wealthy Patil (Sayaji Shinde) of the village tries to get Lalya a job in the school. The head master of the school tells Lalya to produce his education certificate so that he can give him a job. While searching for the certificate at his home, he accidentally finds a dholki that belonged to his late father. Initially, he is puzzled to see the dholki, however he enjoys playing it. On hearing the sound, his mother intervenes and makes him promise never to touch it again.

 

After this, Lalya becomes aware of a special power in his hands – when he hits a surface, one can hear a dholki play in lavani style. On his mother’s advice, he starts practicing on the dholki for bhajans; however the moment his hands touch it, the dholki produces lavani notes. At this juncture, the good looking Lalibai (Manasi Naik) who owns a tamasha group is impressed by Lalya’s talent and gets him to join their shows.

The first half of the film is paced well, but the second half falls flat. Redeeming factors are the music by Tubby Parikh and cinematography by Rahul Jadhav. Siddharth Jadhav does an excellent job and carries the film on his shoulders. Other than these, there is little to recommend in this film.

(Picture courtesy www.marathidhamaal.com)

Categories
Hum log

The man who wants to make volunteering sexy

Shalabh Sahai, co-founder and director of iVolunteer, talks about starting the country’s first volunteer service enterprise and taking it places.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

For a country long grappling with a range of issues – from dire poverty to lack of water  and public toilets – it is astonishing to note that we have not yet given a serious thought to a basic idea: Helping with time and skill.

Today, NGOs work for the betterment of society in various parts of the country, and several Indians wish to help out many development projects. How to help is the key question, and many of us take the middle ground by donating money towards social causes. But what about actual, on-ground help?

This question led to the creation of iVolunteer, a platform that engages and connects skilled and passionate volunteers with the right social causes in India and abroad. Co-founded by Shalabh Sahai (39), iVolunteer today partners over 300 NGOs and several corporates, and is best known for its innovative models like Whiteboard, GYAN and Impact Projects suited to the skill-based volunteering context in India.

We spoke to Shalabh about starting iVolunteer and what people are actually signing up for when they take up volunteering for social causes. Excerpts from the interview:

Tell us about starting iVolunteer. Why did you feel the need for it?

iVolunteerI completed my MBA studies in Rural Management from IRMA, Gujarat, and constantly noticed that what was taught in management schools was very different from what actually happened on-ground. It was like we existed in two Indias, with nothing to reconcile the two. This was in 2000, when NGOs were working in silo, and when we founded iVolunteer at this time, we felt the need to break this pattern. Every social cause needs dedicated volunteers, change cannot happen with just NGO work on the ground.

Many people donate money to social causes, but this is an impersonal contribution. Volunteering involves donating one’s time and skill and is more personal. iVolunteer was started with the idea of matching passionate people’s skills and time with a suitable cause.

What were the initial days of starting iVolunteer like?

In a year of starting, we realised that there were many takers for the idea but not many on-ground conversions. The newer generation does not have a history of working with non-profits, so there was a big disconnect. We realised that we would have to handhold both the volunteers and the NGOs initially.

This was a time when the Internet was being accessed mostly from office, so we had a lot of working professionals making inquiries. There was a lot of skill and passion coming to the table, but these were people who didn’t have too much time to spare. We devised a training module to orient new volunteers.

Which causes are people most interested in?

Education and children. In Mumbai, there were many inquiries for children’s education. People expressed a desire to teach for 2 or 3 hours on a Saturday. But we ask each potential volunteer: are you actually willing to volunteer your time every Saturday? What about social commitments? Many people rethink their initial plan after a while. But there are many others who volunteer their skills. When working with an NGO that works with children, for example, we had a volunteer with an IT background develop an app that helps track counsellor attendance. Or another could help with administrative work. There are many areas in volunteering, you just have to pick the one that matches your skill and passion.

Why would anyone go through iVolunteer when looking for volunteers?

Because we match volunteer interests to community needs and we help strategise the volunteering effort. We are able to align volunteers across geographies, skills and time availability. This saves time and cost for corporates and NGOs looking for dedicated volunteers.

Where is iVolunteer currently?

After 14 years, we have now devised different models of volunteering – short term, long term and overseas. iVolunteer sends about 40 to 50 Indian volunteers volunteer overseasevery year to such areas as Nigeria, Mongolia, East Timor, South Africa…they work in the areas of health, HIV/AIDS, NGO management, education, etc. for a little over 1 year. Over 300 Indians have already been a part of this activity.

Then we have India Fellow, a youth social leadership programme. People under 28 years of age work for 13 months in development projects in a rural or urban setting that takes them away from home. This helps them learn about society in a different context.

We also started JobsForGood, which is a platform to get full time talent in the development world.

Why did you start iVolunteer Awards?

Over 14 years of building connections in the country made us realise that nobody recognises the value of volunteering. Even when people like you and I volunteer, we do it secretly because we feel shy talking about it. This mindset needs to change – we must bring volunteering out in the open and celebrate its spirit. The iVolunteer Awards are a way of recognising excellence and best practices in volunteering today, so that a roadmap can be created and others will be inspired as well.

My aim is to make volunteering sexy, because it won’t sell till then. We need to wake up and realise how important volunteering one’s skills and time is to our development story.

 

Categories
Do

How light influences your home

It’s not enough for the home to be beautiful, it needs sufficient light as well. Here’s how you can light up.
by Reyna Mathur

Many people do up their homes beautifully, sparing no expense on furniture and fittings. And then they fix ordinary tube lights and bulbs on the walls, killing off the beauty of the house in one stroke. You cannot leave the lighting of the house for last – light design is a discipline in architecture and interior design, and the fitting of lighting appliances in your home cannot be an afterthought.

People hardly ever give a thought to light as an element. It is available in both natural and artificial form, and it is up to a good designer to harness its power and beauty after studying the layout of the house. If not done right, your house can result in dim passages, over-lit bedrooms, dark entrance foyers, and dank bathrooms. Knowing which light is required for which space, and what sort of light design will get the best out of your home, is crucial.

If you haven’t thought about this subject before, let us offer you a handy guide:

Sunlight is key. Science dictates that sunlight kills a host of bacteria, clears the air and enhances our mood. The absence of sunlight acts on our mood directly – ever wondered why you feel a little gloomy during the rains, when there are cloudy grey skies? Hence, your home must receive an ample share of sunlight every day. Sitting in a patch of early morning sunlight will give you the required amount of Vitamin D for your body, and as the morning progresses, sunlight will purify your surroundings. Homes not receiving direct sunlight have a distinct disadvantage in this sense. Even if the light is piercing, don’t shut it out entirely from your home with heavy drapes. Expose your home to at least two hours of sunlight.

Which directions do your rooms face? However, direct sunlight can force you to beat a hasty retreat, especially if you’re at work in the kitchen or working on the computer in your bedroom. Architectural principles dictate that sunlight should enter directly in the living room and kitchen area, and also possibly in the toilet and bathroom, to reap all its natural benefits. But the bedroom spaces must be free of direct sunlight, because it can disturb sleeping patterns. When buying a new house, study the directions on a compass. Your bedroom should face the North direction, while the living room and other spaces may face the South. North lighting is the best – it is subdued, so you don’t need to shut the drapes on it. Those looking for studio space must insist on the light coming from the North direction, because it is the best for painting and comparing colours.

The right bulbs and lights. To save money, people opt for white tube lights all over the house. While this is a matter of personal preference, interior designers will tell you that the white light associated with a tube light or ‘cold’ halogen bulb is to be used in the kitchen and bathroom spaces only, not in the living spaces such as the living room and bedroom. In these living spaces, diffused yellow light is the best, because we spend most of our time in these spaces so the lighting conditions should be ideal. You can install yellow CFLs in the home if you are looking for a cost-effective, long term alternative to the usual light bulbs.

Hot and cool lights. Every lighting implement – whether natural or unnatural – has the element of ‘heat’ attached to it. Thus, white light associated with tube lights is ‘cooler’ than yellow light, because white light has no heat component. In contrast, yellow light emanating from the Sun or manmade light bulbs is ‘hot’ in nature, because close contact with it will make you experience heat (a big reason you can’t soak in the sunlight for very long). Ordinary tungsten filament light bulbs of 100W or more illumination are often used to provide heat in incubators, or to dry out a freshly painted wall and make the colour stick. If you are confused about which ones to opt for in your home, enlist the help of a knowledgeable interior designer to suggest options.

(Pictures courtesy www.foreignpixel.com. Image is used for representational purpose only)

Categories
grey space

How my son changed after marriage

…but for the better. A senior citizen recalls how her daughter-in-law easily found the missing part of her life’s puzzle.
by Rohini Durve

Everybody says that our children change after marriage. I agree. They learn responsibility, they manage their finances and they have to take care of their spouse. It is a challenging phase for any newly married person.

But far more challenging is the question of how to reconcile one’s previous life to the changed circumstances. The first issue is of helping to forge a harmonious relationship between one’s mother and one’s wife. This relationship is often a fragile one, because it is based on a constant power struggle between two women. However, it is possible to have a good relationship with one’s daughter-in-law as well.

I am lucky to have an affectionate daughter-in-law, who has never treated me with hostility. The hostile relationship in our house was actually the one my husband and I shared with our son, Dhruv.

Dhruv is a graphic designer who shuttles between many cities in India for his work. I must confess that I have never had an easy relationship with my only son. He has never been close to us, and ever since he was a teenager, he has had a better relationship with his friends than with his own parents. I don’t remember him telling us anything about his life, and when he announced that he wanted to marry Harshada, she was standing right next to him. I have never known what it is like to be friends with one’s child. I take it as my failure that I do not have a close bond with Dhruv.

But he changed after he got married. I think what made him realise that something was amiss in our relationship was an incident that happened two months after his wedding. Harshada was thinking of taking a sabbatical and sitting at home. She discussed this with me at length. When Dhruv saw her talking this over with me, he was puzzled. I later heard him remark to his wife, “Why are you telling mummy all this?”

“Because I want advice,” she replied.

“What does mummy know? She has never worked in her life!” Dhruv said.

“But she is older than us. She understands things better,” Harshada reasoned.

The same day, she took me shopping. We even stopped for coffee at a little cafe, which I had never done before. We got home late that evening, and had brought back two boxes of pizza for dinner. “Let’s not cook today,” Harshada grinned.

Dhruv had already reached home and was furious. “How long have you two been out?” he snapped. “I was hungry. And both your phones were unavailable.”

Now, I would have normally responded with an apology. But Harshada said, “If you were hungry, you should have gone to the kitchen and had a snack. Papa always has some farsan when he is hungry. He doesn’t shout for mummy to feed him. Are you special or something?”

I stared at her in awe. And at that moment both Dhruv and I realised one fact – I had always run around slaving for Dhruv. He had come to expect it from me; the moment he demanded something, I ran to help him. It was unthinkable for him to make even a cup of tea for himself. Harshada continued calmly, “Mummy has worked hard for you all her life. Now she deserves a break. You should not expect her to run after you from now on.”

Not only has Dhruv become quieter when he asks me for something, he also bought me a sari for my birthday this year. I was shocked: we have never exchanged presents at our house. I am sure it was Harshada’s idea. Last month, all of us went out for a movie and dinner. It was very awkward, because we hardly had anything to say to Dhruv. But we are opening up more and more, and I have Harshada to thank for it. She helped him realise how important it is to spend time with his parents. What I could not teach him, Harshada did.

I feel that I got a daughter in Harshada. She helped me meet my son.

‘Grey Space’ is a weekly column on senior citizen issues. If you have an anecdote or leagl information, or anything you feel is useful to senior citizens, caregives and the society at large, feel free to get it published in this space. Write to editor@themetrognome.in or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Themetrognome.in and we will publish your account.

(Picture courtesy www.youthkiawaaz.com. Image used for representational purpose only)

Categories
Deal with it

Let your eyes be part of the 1 million pledge

Campaign to raise awareness about eye donation kicks off all over India; will be held for a year from now.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Vision Sankara Eye Care Hospital has an ambitious plan: it has launched a year-long campaign, ‘Sign4Sight – Year of Million Miracles’, to mark a fortnight observing eye donation from August 25 to September 8. The eye care hospital aims to raise awareness about eye donation through its year-long campaign, and wants 1 million pledges at the end of it.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), corneal disease is the chief cause for vision loss and blindness. The National Programme for control of Blindness estimates that India has 20% of the global blind population. With about 1,20,000 blind people in the country, the yearly addition of 25,000 to 30,000 cases further tips the scale.

Dr Ashish Bacchav, Vision Sankara says, “In most cases, loss of sight can be corrected by eye donation through a surgical procedure of corneal transplantation. A person can gain vision only when a donor donates a healthy cornea. The corneal transplantation has high success rates of around 95%. Every pledge will give back the boon of eyesight to two individuals.”

Corneal blindness is an affliction due to a damage in the tissue covering the front of the eye, called cornea. The corneas should be removed preferably within an hour of death, but can be removed up to a maximum of 6 to 8 hours.

Mohammed P, a retired serviceman, had his zest for life replenished after his vision was restored post his corneal transplant surgery at the Sankara hospital in Coimbatore. He said, “I have nothing but blessings in my heart for the soul that has given me a second lease on life. As a serviceman I have always been very self reliant and optimistic, with my eyesight restored I can now begin to enjoy playing with my grandchildren and revel in the beauty that life has to offer.”

(Picture courtesy www.zeenews.com)

Categories
Guest writer

Why ‘Straight Outta Compton’ fails women

This successful film does not address hip hop musician Dr Dre’s dark past and his history of violence towards women.
by Beverley Lewis

Straight Outta Compton fails women at a time when 1 in 3 women across the globe face violence in their lifetime.

You don’t have to be a hip-hop aficionado to have watched or at least heard about Straight outta Compton, the film taking the world by storm. This box office winner tells the story about the struggle, rise and disbanding of the Los Angeles-based rap group N.W.A and its significance on popular culture, while paying homage to the spoils of ghetto life, coercion of women into prostitution, and gang rape.

But, one thing this film failed to do was tell the story of Dr. Dre’s history of violence against women. In almost all his tracks, he refers to women as “bitches”. Incidentally, Dre and Ice Cube are producers of the film. This omission sparked some outrage as to why Dre deliberately chose to leave out this big a chunk of his history.

Even since he made it big as a solo artist, Dre has been associated with the glamour and bling surrounding hip-hop, especially when statistics show that violent crimes against women are on the rise. After all, he did discover Eminem and went on to create Beats Electronics, which he then sold to Apple for a cool $3 billion. But, despite becoming a well-known producer and entrepreneur, he has been haunted by his shady past, particularly the brutal beating of rapper and TV host Dee Barnes at a record release party in 1991. “It ain’t no big thing – I just threw her through a door,” Dre said at the time of the incident. Yes, and he still continued to get rave reviews for his work and we went out and bought his records.

He was also violent towards his girlfriend, rapper Michel’le, who alleged that she needed plastic surgery after she was badly beaten by him.

Every year in India and around the world, thousands of women are raped, stabbed, shot, stalked, murdered and are victims of domestic violence, in crimes that are sometimes never even reported. And yet, we chose to ignore the violence and misogynist views associated with this particular genre of music and instead choose to only focus on the glitz and glamour surrounding hip-hop.

 

Music is a crucial factor of any culture and personally I could never live without it. We are constantly surrounded by music in our homes, cars and on our headphones. But can music really influence our behaviour and actions? Or does it simply provide background beats as we go about our daily lives? What about music with violent lyrics? Hip-hop is one genre, which often portrays women as lesser, submissive beings and if research conducted by the Journal of Applied Social Psychology is to be believed, male listeners are more likely to partake in violence against women after listening to degrading lyrics in rap music.

After the wide success of the movie, it reached the 100 million mark, Dre decided it time he issued an apology to the women he abused, via the New York Times. “I apologise to the women I’ve hurt. I deeply regret what I did and know that it has forever impacted all of our lives.”

If, like me, you’re wondering whether the success of the film prompted the apology or if he feels genuine remorse, well the jury is still out on that one.

(Picture courtesy www.forbes.com)

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