Author: The Metrognome

Categories
Event

Go for COFFI

Short Film festival invites entries from new filmmakers and film institutes; six prizes are up for grabs in three categories.
by The Diarist | thediarist@themetrognome.in

If you’ve made a short film and are looking for a good competition to enter it in, you just got lucky. Or, putting it in another way, if you’ve made a short film and are still readying it for competition, you’re cutting it extremely fine.

The Conference on Film Finance (COFFI) and Awards is giving you the chance to show your film to those who matter the most – filmmakers, producers, film investors and lenders – by bringing the Short Films Contest 2012. The finalists’ films will be screened at COFFI and the winning films will be screened at Shamiana Club. The Awards night is scheduled for December 18, 2012.

The competition has three categories – Short Films, Animated Films and Documentaries, all with a running duration of not more than 15 minutes. Last submission date is December 3, 2012, and if you’re a student submitting a film, your entry fee would be Rs 1,000. For others, the fee is Rs 1,500.

For more details on the competition, list of conference attendees and prizes for winners, log on to coffi@sixsigmafilms.com.

(Picture courtesy astro.temple.edu. Picture used for representational purpose only) 

 

Categories
Big story

Dhada Hospital remains open despite bandh

Shaheen Dhada’s uncle kept clinic open despite a total shutdown in Palghar. Meanwhile, cops and special security units maintained security.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

True to its word, the Shiv Sena enforced a total bandh in Palghar yesterday, to protest against the suspension of two senior police officials in the Facebook arrests case of two Palghar girls, Shaheen Dhada and her friend Rinu Srinivasan. However, despite a complete lockdown – shops, industrial units and other establishments were closed and transport was off the roads – Shaheen’s uncle, Dr Abdul Dhada, kept his clinic and medical dispensary open. Police personnel were posted outside the clinic to provide security all day.

After Shaheen was pulled up by the Shiv Sena for questioning the shutdown of Mumbai after the demise of Sena chief Bal Thackeray on November 17, 2012, a group of Shiv Sainiks had ransacked Dr Dhada’s clinic. Though the charges against the two girls have been all but dropped and 10 arrests have been made in connection with the vandalism at the clinic, no compensation has been given to Dr Dhada yet.

The rest of Palghar remained indoors, however. Heavy security was deployed all over the area and no untoward incidents were reported. The Shiv Sena yesterday reiterated its demand that the State revoke the two police officers’ suspension.

(Picture courtesy rediff.com)

 

 

 

Categories
Wellness

Truck drivers at most risk of AIDS

Low awareness, not knowing that they are carrying the virus results in them infecting at least five others, say doctors.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

It has been known for long that the most vulnerable-to-disease people in society are usually those who are out on the road for work. And when the disease is something as serious as HIV or AIDS, truck drivers are at the highest risk of infection.

The Mumbai-based Medscape India conducted an awareness interaction for truck drivers early this week, in which there were 75 participants. Says Dr Sunita Dube, Chairperson, Medscape India, “A large percentage of our truck drivers and their helpers are infected with AIDS and there is an urgent need to create awareness among this community to check the spread of the fatal disease. What we found was that most of the participants had only a faint idea of what the disease was, and how much at risk they were.”

Dr Rahul Mishra, HIV/ AIDS Consultant, Medscape India, adds, “As per our study, only two percent of them know the difference between the HIV and AIDS.” Medscape is currently running a ‘Zero AIDS among truck drivers’ initiative.

Dr Dube contends that the basic risk factor stems from truckers and their helpers having easy access to commercial sex workers. This, combined with the fact that several of them still do not use condoms, was leading to higher numbers of infection among this community. “There was a transporter who participated in the interaction, and who said that most truck drivers are not able to resist going to sex workers, because of long periods of abstinence,” Dr Dube says.

Another interesting trend among many truck drivers is that they find the idea of using condoms either amusing or appalling. “Most of them are not even aware that they are carrying the disease, and if afflicted, they may go for check ups for such symptoms as persistent cough, for example. Since the disease goes undetected till the final stages, the problem of undetected cases is compounded because one trucker may account for five more undetected HIV and AIDS cases, from route to spread. Hence, there is a need for compulsory periodic testing of truck drivers for HIV and AIDS, apart from providing free condoms at petrol pumps and dhabas.

“But some of them were open to the idea of carrying a condom kit the way one would carry a first aid box. Even their wives are not much aware of AIDS and how it can spread through unprotected sex, because there is not much anti-AIDS advertising happening on TV or radio throughout the year – it happens only when December 1 (World AIDS Day) approaches.”

(Picture courtesy AP. Picture used for representational purpose only.) 

Categories
Do

How Crude!

These women debunk the idea of art being elitist, unreachable and beyond the realm of ordinary understanding through Crude Area.

It’s a small firm as of now – having started operations a month ago in Bandra – but Crude Area has already signed up 20 artists, some of them international names. So probably there is some truth in what they say: all it takes for a great idea to take off is some talent and a whole lot of sincerity.

Bindu Nair Maitra (in the featured image on the left), of the duo that started Crude Area – the other is Shweta Bhandari – as a platform for graphic art, artists and buyers from all over the world, spoke to The Metrognome about the whys and hows of starting the business. “The bingo moment for me (about starting Crude Area) came after I had placed a big order of lovely T-shirts on a famous American website, and over a month later, the order just never reached me. There was a problem at Customs, and though the site refunded my money, I was frustrated to know that merely being willing to pay for things was not enough – those things had to reach consumers, too.”

Bindu has worked in advertising,  and has always loved graphic art – this helps her curate work for the site, while Shweta handles business development. “We target urban professionals in the 25 to 40 age bracket, who are people wanting to do up their homes in ways that express who they were. It was such a simple idea – to bring contemporary graphic art to people at a reasonable price, to customise it as per their needs – and it slowly took shape. We started with art prints, but our future plans include designing iPhone cases, decals, and helping people ‘do up’ walls in their homes,” she says.

However, the focus is on showcasing contemporary Indian graphic art that has moved beyond the “Horn Ok Please category,” as Bindu puts it, and on work that is not kitschy or ‘exotic Indian art’. “Our work is representative of India today, and we provide art that people want for their homes. In a city like Mumbai, where so many people live in rented apartments and are not allowed to drill holes into their walls, we have art that can be stuck on walls.” The pricing is more than competitive, too – the smallest works cost Rs 1,750 and the largest prints are priced at Rs 9,000.

“We’re not offering fine art at all, just lovely contemporary graphic art that nobody else is offering in the country at the moment,” Bindu says. “Also, we’re looking for artists wanting to display their work. The artist has to sign up with us, send us high resolution images of their work, and we do the printing and shipping as per customers’ demand.” The company promises that the product will be delivered to your doorstep within seven days of placing the order; its operations currently include Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.

A major learning thus far for the duo has been that more Indian men than women are interested in purchasing quality art for their homes. “Also, we’re constantly reinventing – art is a very subjective thing for everybody, so we’re catering to different tastes all the time. There is so much talent waiting to be showcased, and so many people looking to purchase quality art at a great price. We fulfil the need for both,” Bindu says.

Browse, shop or simply check out graphic art at www.crudearea.com.

Categories
Patrakar types

Palghar for President!

We’re glad Palghar is on the map, and for putting us all in our places through an innocent Facebook post.
by Vrushali Lad | vrushali@themetrognome.in

I am a little baffled. Since when did political parties log on to Facebook? And if they have been logging on, are their FBs different from ours? I ask because if I see a post I dislike or disagree with, I ignore it or say what I didn’t like about it. Just last week somebody posted a picture of Lady Gaga that I did not need to see. But my FB did not whisper to me to go the police against my friend for hurting my sentiments (and my eyes). May be that’s why I don’t understand politics – my FB wall is very lame.

What baffles me even more, and this is very patronising of me, is that it took Palghar, Thane district, Maharashtra, to put the issue of Internet checks and balances on the map. Little old smug city girl me has always believed that the country’s biggest movements would always originate from Mumbai or the other metros. Not that I’m complaining, of course – Palghar’s young ones haven’t exactly been treated well by the police and the political parties, what with two of them already arrested for posting content against the Shiv Sena, and a third in trouble for dissing Raj Thackeray on Facebook.

If I was a Palghar kid with access to Facebook, I would open several accounts and slang out every political party I know, just to see what happens. No, I am not about to do it, because I am not a Palghar kid (see what I did there?) I think I know what would happen – if you think intolerance towards criticism of their party or its chiefs is strictly a Shiv Sena or MNS thing, you’ve got another think coming.

I am very proud of Palghar. Palghar and its youngsters have shown us the way. In this day and age, it is not a mean achievement to have a Twitter hashtag created after your name, or to have people outrage over your arrest as they sip their coffee in their air-conditioned offices. The day the two girls were arrested, somebody created a fake Shaheen Dhada account as well.

Sure, some ignorant ones are still asking, “Hey, where IS Palghar?”, but they’re also ‘liking’ others’ call for support, aren’t they? And whether we remain unsure of Palghar’s geographical location or not, aren’t we all secretly thrilled that we can now write and post things with some impunity about the Party That Must Not Be Named, because we can cite those two girls every time somebody threatens us with arrest? Of course, we can’t keep shouting, “Shaheen Dhada! Rinu Srinivasan!” while a mob ransacks our office or clinic, but at least we now have something to shout out in our defence.

My vote of thanks goes to Palghar. For giving us a worthy event to include in this year’s list of exciting events. For shaking us out of our slumber, induced by some weird idea that nobody outside Mumbai has access to social media. For proving that the Shiv Sena, wherever it may be, is a delightfully predictable political party. And for its two young girls, for innocently saying the things that we were thinking but did not have the courage to think out loud for so long.

P.S.: Where is Palghar?

Vrushali Lad is a freelance journalist who has spent several years pitching story ideas to reluctant editors. Once, she even got hired while doing so.

(Picture courtesy jaimaharashtranews.com)

Categories
Big story

Sena to keep Palghar closed

Protest against action against cops who arrested two Palghar girls for Facebook post. Transport, shops likely to remain shut today.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Yesterday, Superintendent of Police (Thane rural) Ravindra Shengaonkar and Senior Inspector Shrikant Pingle were suspended in the Palghar Facebook arrests case. After the arrest of Shaheen Dhada and Rinu Srinivasan (Shaheen had questioned the shutdown of Mumbai after the demise of Sena chief Bal Thackeray and Rinu had ‘liked’ the post), the Inspector General (Konkan range) Sukhwinder Singh prepared and submitted a report on the matter, and said that the three officers in the case had acted with impropriety.

However, despite the egg on its face still fresh, the Shiv Sena in Palghar is in no mood to back down in the matter – even though the case against the 10 Sena men accused of vandalising Shaheen’s uncle’s clinic will now be pursued with fresh intent – and has announced that there would be a bandh in Palghar to protest the action against the police officers. The Sena is also miffed with the fact that all charges against Shaheen and Rinu will be dropped.

Adding fuel to this fire, the Palghar Bar Association has also called for a strike to protest against the transfer of magistrate BR Bagade.

Bhushan Sankhe, Sena shakha pramukh in Palghar who filed the complaint against the girls, has told a city-based newspaper that “…the girls are the main culprits of the saga and are being let off too easily…we are against the transfer of the magistrate who remanded the girls to custody and the suspension of the police officers who arrested them. The government’s action is not justified.”

The Sena’s call for a bandh means that transport, educational institutions, offices and shops are likely to remain closed in Palghar today. This lockdown comes a little over 10 days after the shutdown of Mumbai following the demise of Bal Thackeray on November 17, 2012.

(Picture courtesy scmp.com) 

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