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How a few youngsters are looking to heal Kashmir

A group of youths initiated ‘Project Pheran’, to help those devastated by Kashmir floods deal with the impending harsh winter.
by Mamta D | @silverlightgal on Twitter

The natural beauty of Jammu and Kashmir is known all over the world. Movies, books, songs, poetry – all of these have celebrated its charms and scenic landscapes.

But the Kashmir of today is vastly different. Following the floods that wrecked havoc in the region September 4, 2014 onwards, the valley has been a site of devastation. Villages have been washed away, homes submerged, lakhs of people rendered homeless and property worth hundreds of millions has been destroyed.

In the last month, rescue and relief efforts by various local and non-local groups have managed to save many a life in the flood-ravaged state. It will be a long time before the former glory of Kashmir is fully restored. What is of immediate concern now is the impending winter.

Hence, to combat the challenge of providing warmth to the flood-affected people, a group of enterprising youngsters have come forward and set up an initiative ‘Project Pheran/Project Warmth’. Through this project, they are collating funds from all over the country and abroad and providing needy persons with warm clothes, pherans (long cloak-like Kashmiri garments), blankets, coal and so on.

The group is quite small, comprising six persons who are not even based in the same city but who scattered across India. All of them are students of higher education in India and abroad, but their hearts and willpower are enormous and their conviction that they will make this project succeed is commendable. The group, which calls itself ‘Heal Kashmir’ connected through social media after the floods, is now a close-knit group and collaborates excellently.

The motley crew comprises Anup Achuthan, a senior finance professional based in Mumbai, Zayd Qureshi who takes care of on-ground distribution in Srinagar, Ruhan Naqash (from Chennai, Burhan Mir (Punjab & Haryana), Armish Riyaz (Punjab), Yasir Khan (Delhi, NCR) and Saqib Nazir (Bangalore) – they are the coordinators in various States across India, garnering funds and necessary materials.

The estimated initial expenses of the massive project is around Rs. 8 lakh using which they will  purchase the fabrics and get it stitched by local tailors who know the requirements of the region well. A textile factory in Sonipat has been identified which offers fabrics at concessional rates.

Says Anup, “We must do all we can to make sure people who survived the devastating floods do not succumb to the harsh winter due to lack of warm clothing and bedding.” He hopes that people of Mumbai will come forward with generous contributions to this project in monetary donations and kind. With lack of godowns and storage spaces, these student volunteers are storing the collections in their own apartments at the moment.

For Yasir, who is also the founder of J&K Disaster Helpline and Relief Organisation, it was a call for rescue that changed his fate. He and two other Kashmiri youths were working in their air-conditioned offices in Delhi when one of the team members, Iqbal Buchh, received a call from his friend who was stranded in his house due to rising flood waters. Yasir overheard the conversation and decided to call one Mr Singh to rescue the youth. After arranging for the youth’s rescue, Yasir had a brainwave – if he and his friends could manage to save one life, they could also try to save many more.

By then, phone lines on ground zero in Srinagar were almost dead, and network connections had fizzled out. Rescue operations had faced stumbling blocks at many areas. That’s when Yasir Khan, Iqbal and a third boy, Rouf Bhat, took two months unpaid leave from their jobs to start a helpline. The idea was to pave the way for smoother rescue operations.

“We started with a makeshift helpline in our apartments by posting our numbers on Facebook so that people could get in touch with us to rescue their families and friends. Within 10 days, we attended to over 45,000 calls, Whatsapp messages, and text messages. We were so engrossed in receiving and attending to rescue calls that we even forgot that our own families needed to be rescued. Fortunately, we soon learnt that our families were safe and sound,” recalls Yasir.

From rescue ops, the group has now progressed on their next mission – to provide warm clothes to the needy for the looming cold months.  As of today, J&K Disaster Helpline and Relief Organization is working in collaboration with Heal Kashmir for Project Pheran.

Armish says, “Mainly, we are collecting woollens, but if people donate other stuff, we accept that too. We have hired transport through a company in Delhi. They will deliver the materials to Srinagar by road. We are planning to put up collection centres in major colleges and universities across Punjab.” The team is hopeful of starting distribution by early November.

The team coordinator from Bangalore, Saqib, has been in touch with the Kashmiri diaspora in the city. Long before ‘Project Pheran’ started, he coordinated with various others to arrange for relief collection and dispatch to Srinagar.  With time, he became part of the Heal Kashmir team.

If you wish to support Project Pheran/Project Warmth, write to healkashmir14@gmail.com, or on Twitter @healkashmir, or Facebook: healkashmir.

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Mumbai boys give mallkhamb an Agra spin

Two Mumbai boys recently gave an enthralling mallkhamb demonstration in Agra, with the stunning Taj Mahal serving as the backdrop.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

It is a sport that traces its origins to ancient Maratha history, but today, there are very few active practitioners for it. Mallkhamb is not just difficult to practice, it takes an optimum level of fitness to practice it. But it is also the father of all workouts – just practicing mallkhamb can give a full body workout like nothing else can, since it combines a variety of exercises.

In Mumbai, Uday Deshpande’s Shree Samarth Vyayam Mandir at Shivaji Park, Dadar, is doing much to not just keep mallkhamb alive, but also to gain acceptance among the younger generations. Every year, students of the academy participate in mallkhamb competitions around the country and the world, and come out tops.

The academy has now added another feather in its cap – two of its star performers put up a mallkhamb demonstration in Agra, with the Taj Mahal as a backdrop. Said Deshpande, “Shantanu Lohar and Manik Paul performed exceptionally well. Shantanu is a three-time National mallkhamb champion, and Manik is an aerial acrobat.” The boys performed their act as part of Jashn-e-Taj, a programme organised by the Rotary Club of Agra, Tourism Guild of Agra and Agra Vikas Manch.

The programme was choreographed by noted choreographer Sudarshan Chakravorty of Kolkata. The programme theme was ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’.

(Pictures courtesy Shree Samarth Vyayam Mandir)

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Mumbai artist to be part of international art jury

Organised by World Citizens Artists, the art and music competition features Prakash Bal Joshi as one of its jury members.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

prakash bal joshiPrakash Bal Joshi goes from strength to strength every year. The Mulund-based artist of international repute is set to be a jury member on an international art and music competition ‘World Citizen Artists Competition’ in London later this year. Prior to this, in June this year, he was assigned responsibility as an Ethics Advisor and Ambassador by the World Citizen Artists – an artists’ initiative by a Paris-based artist community to raise awareness about global issues through art.

“It is a worldwide art movement in partnership with London-based Belgravia Gallery and the Playing for Change Foundation,” he said. The competition will see entries from around the world on the theme ‘Peace’, and it is an excellent opportunity for both upcoming and feted artists from South East Asia to showcase their works at the noted Gallery. Belgravia Gallery has a rich history, and houses the works of Picasso, Prince of Wales, Andy Warhol, Matisse and Nelson Mandela.

“For the visual art section, there are three jurists on the panel – Valerie Van Lee from Paris, another from the UK, who is the Gallery’s curator, and I,” Joshi said. “I am happy to be associated with the contest  as a jury member as it would be a unique experience to work at the international level and interact with curators from other countries and understand conceptualisation of ideas in visual forms by artists from all over the world. The theme ‘Peace’ is very relevant today as the world is facing the worst kinds of violence in many parts of the world.”

He added that while judging the art works, the jury members would apply “very strict and scientific methods”, with marks awarded for theme, visualisation, method, innovation, and style. “Marks from three different juries will be taken together to shortlist submissions for awards,” he explained. 

Artists and musicians must send their entries to http://wwww.wcacompetition.com latest by November 16, 2014. Winners’ names will be declared by December 5, 2014.

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Is this India’s first ‘green’ film?

How do you make sure your film makes a different statement than any other film? You take the eco-friendly route!
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

It is not enough to make a film – huge marketing budgets, presence of mega stars and a variety of publicity gimmicks all effectively bury small Indian films.

So what does a new filmmaker and his team do? They take a different route, and create a “100 per cent eco-friendly and green film”.

Pocket Gangsters Vikram M Shah (1)Says Vikram M Shah (in pic on left), producer of the upcoming film Pocket Gangsters, “We adopted various green practices like reducing or eliminating the use of plastic during the pre-production, shooting and post-production, reducing power and electricity consumption, eliminating the use of fossil fuels, using hybrid sources of power including solar energy, eliminating the use of non eco-friendly paints, products and items during set construction, using only eco-friendly products and adopting several other procedures and practices like shutting down air-conditioners when not required to reduce the ecological footprint of our film.”

The makers claim that their film is India’s first one-take, one-shot and uncut film. A gangster thriller, the film is centred around the subject of kidnapping, and will mark the comeback of actor Raghuvir Yadav.

Adds director Hemant Nilim Das, “For a debutante director to create a ripple in the market, you need a unique selling point for the film. Either you work with A-list actors or you work on an A-grade concept. For me, making a full-length feature film that is more than two hours long in one long single continuous shot was not only a challenge as a film-maker but also, a first time endeavour for the entire lot of independent directors. I chose a story line that could be conceptualised and executed as an uncut, one-shot movie.”

Vikram explains, “As a producer, this project was a real challenge for me, because we worked on an uncut, green film. For the film’s showing, we are contemplating doing away with physical or printed tickets and will try to only use e-Tickets or SMS coupons for entry. This has still to be worked out between the distributor and the theaters. Everything from the air-conditioning to the use of plastic cups or bottles was cut down wherever possible on the shoot. We even reduced the intensity of the lighting as much as possible for all indoor shoots and tried to use day light or sunlight where possible.” 

What do you think of this idea? Tell us in the comments section below.

 

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First commercial seaplane flight takes off from Mumbai

The Mumbai to Pawana dam flight is operated by MEHAIR in cooperation with the MTDC; multiple destinations are also being planned.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Today, August 25, 2014, the Maritime Energy Heli Air Services Pvt Ltd (MEHAIR) and Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) flagged off the first commercial seaplane flight from Mumbai to Pawana dam (in Lonavala). The seaplanes will eventually connect Mumbai with multiple state tourist destinations adjacent to four suitable water bodies, even though there are no runways at these destinations.

As of now, the flights from Mumbai to Pawana Dam are priced at Rs 2,999 per person, one way.

Speaking at the launch, Siddharth Verma, Co-Founder and Director, MEHAIR said, “It gives me great pleasure that the first seaplane service in the mainland of India is taking off from Mumbai. It is the first step towards covering India with a seaplane network over the next three to five years. I am sure Mumbaikars will find the service extremely useful and exciting and the service will become a vital cog in the tourism initiative of the State and both tourists as well as pilgrims will benefit from it given that its connecting tourist as well as religious centers.”

The service is expected to save a lot of travel time for users, given that the aircraft will take far lesser time to connect two points, as opposed to road or rail journeys. The MTDC has entered into an understanding with MEHAIR to launch the service in the State by extending its full support. Jagdish Patil, Managing Director, MTDC, said, “These services will boost tourism greatly. Seaplanes will turn vacation destinations into weekend destinations. The fatigue involved in reaching these destinations will also come down drastically.”      

The seaplane service is being launched in Maharashtra with Cessna 208 Amphibian aircraft (9 seater) and Cessna 206 Amphibian (4 seater). These two models can accommodate 9 to 4 passengers respectively. “This is a new and exciting mode of transport which will provide the last mile connectivity to those areas where there is no airport but are popular tourist destinations,” Verma added.

(Pictures courtesy MEHAIR)

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Mumbai Raj Bhavan wins first prize for energy conservation

The award was announced by the Maharashtra Energy Development Agency; Raj Bhavan won for its non conventional energy use efforts.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Raj Bhavan, Mumbai, the office and residence of Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan has won the first prize for energy conservation at the 9th State Level Energy Conservation Awards announced by the Maharashtra Energy Development Agency.

Banquet Hall as seen at nightThe award carrying a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh has been declared to Raj Bhavan in recognition of its efforts to promote the use of Non Conventional Energy and save conventional energy. This is second major recognition for the Raj Bhavan that was declared an ISO-certified organisation last year.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Medical College, Kalwa, was declared as the winner of the second prize while the Telephone Exchange Building, Bhandara and TAX building, CTO Compound, Nagpur, were jointly selected for the joint third prize in the category ‘Government Buildings’.

A Solar power plant with a capacity to generate 40 KW of power was commissioned in Raj Bhavan in March 2013 with financial assistance from the Union Ministry for New and Renewable Energy. Some of the important buildings in Raj Bhavan, street lights inside the Raj Bhavan complex, tube lights and fans in the Governor’s Secretariat have been powered by solar energy. During the last two years, Raj Bhavan has replaced conventional lights with LED lights. Old power-consuming air conditioners have been replaced by power-efficient VRV units, while water heaters have been replaced by solar water heaters. Raj Bhavan had also implemented an awareness campaign to save power.

According to Vasant Salunke, Comptroller of the Governor’s Households, the power consumption of Raj Bhavan was reduced by 1.35 lakh units which translates into a saving of Rs 14 lakh per annum.

Other energy-saving initiatives include reducing water pumping hours, using LED tube lights, street lights, garden lights and office lights, replacing power consuming ceiling fans by 5 star rated ceiling fans, using 5 star air conditioners in place of old ACs, using VRV AC plants in place of water cooled package AC plants, and replacing water heaters with solar water heaters.

(Pictures courtesy Raj Bhavan,Mumbai)

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