Author: The Metrognome

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Listen

Attend: Chamber music recital at the NCPA

The Arties Festival comes to Mumbai, with world renowned cellist Gauthier Herrmann and the finest chamber music played by young musicians.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Inaugurated in March 2008, the Arties Festival takes place every March and November as a result of a collaboration between the NCPA and cellist Gauthier Herrmann. This association brings to Mumbai the finest chamber music played by the finest young musicians, who are handpicked for the festival. The musicians have three things in common: they can all compare with the finest in Europe; they are all ready to play for a good cause; and they have an uncompromising love for India. Gauthier Hermann has been at the helm of the Arties festival for almost a decade and has brought several chamber music artistes to India in mulitple editions of the bi-yearly festival. Herrmann is also the cellist of the prize-winning Trio con Fuoco.

This year, the Arties Festival returns to Mumbai, but this time with a notable change! For the first time in 15 editions, majority of musicians are females. The festival presents Audrey Vigoureux, great pianist, teacher at the worldwide renown Haute Ecole de Musique in Geneva, Aude Giuliano (accordion) and Marie Chilemme (viola). Violinist Hugues Borsarello, returns to the festival after spending two years, working on the Mozart project. With Hugues, one of the festival highlights definitely will be the Mozart sonatas, as Borsarello has become one of the best Mozart specialists in the world.

Watch Gauthier Herrmann perform in Mumbai 2008:

 

The second highlight this year is the accordion, which will spring many surprises in the Arties mood, and a special mention goes to the performance of Schubert’s Trio No. 2 Op. 100, which is invariably one of the greatest masterpieces of chamber music. The group will play it for the first time for Mumbai audiences.

The recital is on today and tomorrow at the NCPA, Mumbai, at 7 pm.

Categories
Deal with it

‘People should want you around, not out’

Mumbai’s favourite son, Sachin Tendulkar, talks about life post-retirement, and why the second innings is as important as the first.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The debate over whether he is the greatest cricketer of all time may continue to rage for several more years, but there’s no disputing the class and humility of cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar.

The second innings is as important as the first one in life, cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar told the audience at the keynote session of the India Today Conclave. “When I was playing, all my energy and concentration was focussed on the game. My family, and my well-wishers, made sure I did not have to worry about the other aspects. And now that I am playing the second innings of my life post-retirement, I want to give something back to the society, and the people who have stood by me ever since the first day I went to Ramakant Achrekar sir’s nets at Shivaji Park in Dadar,” he said.

Dwelling on his fascination for the game, Tendulkar said he was in love with cricket right from age six. Sunil Gavaskar and Viv Richards were his childhood idols, but he said he was always his own man. “I wanted to bat like them, but I still always wanted to be Sachin Tendulkar,” he said.

Revealing how he realised he made the right call on retiring after the home series against West Indies in 2013, the legend said he had to play an exhibition game at Lord’s last July without getting any practice beforehand since it had rained. “When I was in there, my body told me that I had made the right decision to retire!” he said.

Tendulkar went on to exhort the audience to avoid shortcuts in life: “Try and be a good person. My father used to say that people should want you around. They should not want you out.”

 

Asked if he intended to play a long innings in politics now that he is a Rajya Sabha MP, Tendulkar said, “I won’t join politics. Once a sportsman, always a sportsman.”

“To me, cricket is team work and not about individuals. There are stages where the captain come into play and he will guide, take important decisions on the field but eventually the batsmen would have to go out and score runs and the bowlers have to land the ball in those areas,” Tendulkar said.

“I was dropped from captaincy after only 12 or 13 months in my first stint. That was a disappointment because you select the captain thinking that he is going to take the team forward and then if that stint is not long enough, then the success rate becomes zero. If you play four matches, you lose two, then you are 50 per cent successful, so on and so forth.

“My tenure was not long enough and it was a big disappointment for me to overcome,” Tendulkar revealed. He then cheered the audience by saying that he firmly believed that “India would win the 2015 World Cup. There is not a single box that the team has not ticked. We don’t give enough credit when the team does well. I give full credit to this team.”

(Picture courtesy www.punjabupdate.com)

Categories
Event

Security, rights and civil liberties for women

The US Consulate General, Mumbai, is hosting a panel discussion by women working in security, this evening at Mumbai Central.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Women’s safety, security and the safeguarding of their fundamental rights are all being frequently discussed all over the world currently, given the fact that several incidents that go against these rights are taking place globally.

The US Consulate General, Mumbai, is shining a spotlight on these issues this evening with a panel discussion on ‘Women security in India: Understanding your legal and civil rights’. The talk is being hosted as part of the month-long Women’s History Month being celebrated in the United States, and will be facilitated by writer and activist Aarefa Johari.

Panelists for the talk include Tiffany Williams, acclaimed human trafficking and labour rights specialist for the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), Audrey D’Mello, Programme Director at Majlis, Insia Dariwala, writer, director and child sexual abuse activist, and Shalini Sharma, police inspector with the Mumbai Police.

Be there early to get a seat, and RSVP your presence to MumbaiPublicAffairs@state.gov with your name, contact details and name of your company or education institution.

The talk will be held YMCA International House and Programme Centre, 18, YMCA Road, Mumbai Central, from 5 pm to 7 pm.

Categories
Enough said

Urdu for the soul

A recent study proves that reading Urdu and Urdu couplets could aid brain development, even help in staving off dementia.
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

Will our politics never settle down? Are we condemned to be in a constant state of flux? Going by what is happening in Delhi and Kashmir, one would have to agree that things are not going well for the country. One trend to emerge from all of this is the new ‘fashion’ of politicians going on retreats, either to introspect or to get back their health. So while Rahul Gandhi ‘retreated’ to introspect on the future of the Congress party, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal decided to get away from the capital to help settle his blood sugar levels. Every day we are entertained with pictures of him in the media, either practicing yoga or some natural remedy for his cough and cold, so at least it seems he is getting what he signed up for.

Arvind’s battle with diabetes will be a much simpler one, I’m afraid, than the battle of facing what is happening in the AAP at the moment. Brewing revolt, too many ambitious party members and a host of information leaks are plaguing the AAP. While Delhi watches in suspense about development unfolding every day, there is another battle brewing in Jammu and Kashmir, where opportunism recently joined hands and came to power. Till last autumn, I noticed that the saffron brigade was flourishing only in the Pampore region of the Kashmir Valley, but now it seems to be spreading everywhere. The BJP has not been able to grab any plum ministries in the State Government, but the RSS has now got an opportunity to spread its network. Don’t be surprised if, within a year, you hear of RSS shakhas and RSS-run schools spring up in the Kashmir Valley. The saffron will go much beyond Pampore from now on.

Moving on from these mind-boggling developments to some mind-clearing ones.

A recent study by the Lucknow-based Centre for Biomedical Researches (CBMR) reveals that Urdu can save our brains. Published in a recent edition of the international journal, ‘Neuroscience Letters’, the study states that reading the Urdu script and Urdu couplets helps in brain development. It is a detailed report that outlines how reading Urdu couplets and reciting them helps in controlling emotions, cope with stress and even delay dementia. It is also helpful for children with learning disabilities.

This means that reading Urdu could have large implications for one’s mental faculties. What’s more, Urdu couplets are steeped in passing and romance, so reading them is doubly enjoyable!

I would go as far as suggesting that Urdu be introduced as one of the prime languages in our primary schools, however, I am also aware of how this sentiment will be attacked with communal propaganda. But why see Urdu as a language of the Musalmaans of this country? Let State Governments introduce it in schools as a pilot project and let every child, irrespective of religion, learn to read it. There is nothing religious about Urdu, just as there is nothing religious about any language. Urdu derives many of its words and phrases from different languages such as Hindi, Braj, Persian, Sanskrit and Arabic. In that sense, it is a connecting language – and in today’s times, don’t we all need that connection with each other?

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Picture courtesy www.theguardian.com)

Categories
Wellness

Looking for a good doctor? Let this site help you

Run by three Mumbaikars, the website treatum.com helps doctors and patients connect instantly without either of them wasting any time.
by The Editors |editor@themetrognome.in

A good business model is seldom born out of complicated Powerpoint presentations or lengthy sales talks. It is often born out of a simple concept, which you can then refine into a workable enterprise.

Three Mumbai men and friends – Amol Sonavane, Ayub Siddiqui and Ravi Shet – met at a café and were merely discussing different areas in healthcare and IT, when they stumbled upon the perfect solution to an age-old conundrum: how can a person find the right doctor without going to several others or asking around for help? Out of this question came www.treatum.com, the site that the three founded in March 2014 and which is a platform for patients and doctors to find each other with minimum fuss and without wasting time. “If one wants a doctor in a certain area, for example, they can call up a phone-based service like Justdial or go on the Internet and launch a general search. The problem with this is, firstly, that you will receive the names of doctors in a wide geographical area. Secondly, the results are often what not you require – if you have a skin ailment, you can’t go to just any skin doctor. Getting the right doctor for your problem is difficult,” explains Ravi ShetRavi (in pic on left), speaking to The Metrognome.

How does it work?

All a user has to do is log on to the site and ask a question pertaining to his or her problem. “The site offers answers if you want to ask an expert. We also connect you to the right doctor after first understanding what you are looking to address. This saves the patient’s valuable time,” Ravi explains. He adds that many people are unsure of which kind of doctor they need, so they simply describe their problem to the site and get feedback. “At our end, we have over 70 doctors listed with us, in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane and Pune, so we find out the geographical location of the patient, details of his or her ailment, and then coordinate with the doctor. We don’t interfere in the patient-doctor interaction at all, nor does our business work on the principle of taking a commission from the doctor for every patient that comes through us,” he says.

He also explains that the patient’s query is also looked into to separate pranksters from genuine patients. “We also work only with doctors who have a good track record. Some background checks are also conducted on the doctors’ credentials, because we don’t want to have fraudulent doctors on our roster,” he says.

The site does not charge patients for asking information or eventually interacting with a doctor and taking treatment. “The site is completely free to use for patients, while we charge a small premium for doctors registering with us,” Ravi says.

Why doctors should tie up with the site

On the other end of the spectrum for this site are the medical professionals who register with them for a yearly fee. “Many doctors today don’t have their own website and may be listed with a phone search company. This means that their names will often be lost in the overall lists that these search companies have. Instead of this, we offer doctors a microsite that lists all their information, past successes, any photos or videos, all contact information, etc. We develop the content for the microsite ourselves and maintain the backend processes, too,” Ravi explains.

He claims that doctors and hospitals can register themselves with the site in just 60 seconds. “All the doctor has to do is click on the ‘Are you a Doctor?’ section to get started,” he explains. Depending on the package the doctor pays for, he or she may get a range of services from the site.

How patients can benefit further

Apart from the ease of finding a reliable doctor and getting an appointment with the site’s help, patients can also call up their helpline and speak to the staff to get accurate information. “We also offer patients attractive discounts on some services under the ‘Save your money on Treatments’ section where they can get the best deals on skin, hair, eye, and other treatments, and we don’t charge for these deals,” Ravi says.

He says the site has helped several patients already, and not just in Mumbai. “We had a query from Finland recently, and the patient received excellent treatment from our doctor in Mumbai. There have been queries from other places, too. Ultimately, our site runs on the basis of quick help and trust. We are not here to make money out of patients who are looking for urgent help,” he says, adding that patients appreciate the process of appointments being made for them and quick service.

(Featured image courtesy www.newindianexpress.com)

Categories
Autism

Slow down to speed up

Slowing down and taking stock of your emotions as the parent of an autism spectrum child will give you perspective.
Kamini Lakhaniby Kamini Lakhani | saiconnections01@gmail.com

Part 10 of the Autism Diaries – Take a step back and slow down to engage better.

The days that I test out hypotheses with my students (most of whom are on the Autism Spectrum), are the best days of my life. Maybe, it’s the challenge that they present to me, which I thrive on. I also know that I will leave school that day happier and wiser!

So a couple of weeks ago, I had a session with Rakesh, a 20-year-old, who is non vocal and very smart. It was difficult to get him to engage with me. I had to really slow down the ball play between us to get him to continue with his role. At one point, he left the framework and made himself comfortable on a chair. I tried to invite him back to the interaction, but I could see that he was tense and had started to peel the skin from his fingers! I went up to him and said, “Listen, you can trust me. I will not push you over the edge”. He looked up at me and smiled his naughty smile. Wonder of wonders, he got up without protest! ‘That was not difficult’, I thought to myself.

The session ended without further event and I moved onto my next session with a mother of a 15-year-old who is integrated in a regular school. This family has been practicing RDI for many years and have experienced the benefit of the program to a great extent. What presents more of a challenge is the ADHD that the youngster also displays. We started to talk about the videos submitted and the work the mother had done with him that week.

She made a remark that struck me. She said she knows her framework is successful when she gets a studying response from her son! That made a lot of sense. A studying response is the result of slowing down substantially so that you can be mentally engaged with somebody else. For a person whose mind and body work at a feverish pace (due to the ADHD), this spells a slowing down of all systems of the body, to create moments of connection with another person. How profound!

Fast forward one week down the line. I found myself calling a friend and asking her if she and I could plan a trip out of town for a day. I suggested that we drive out to Pune and meet up with anotherautism friend, spend the day amongst ourselves and then head back at night. My condition though, was that we would not talk about autism. Being a fellow mom, she understood and we both laughed about it.

I was feeling saturated and overwhelmed. I wanted time away from routine and my work, my family, basically everything. Of course, there is nothing wrong in wanting time out. I believe that everyone needs to spend time away from routine. When you’re away from a situation, you can see it more clearly.

But something was gnawing at me – this was different.

I had just finished with a tough term at school, I was overworked. Normally in situations like this, I look forward to spending time at home with family. Why was I trying to leave this time? Much as I tried to figure it out, I couldn’t quite get it. So, I tried to apply the advice that I give to parents facing overwhelming situations:

Face your emotions

Just experience what you are going through. Feel it deeply. If you are angry, just feel it without trying to change or rationalise the feeling. Spend some time alone.

Do not judge yourself

Be kind to yourself. Do not judge yourself for the feelings that you are experiencing. What you are facing as a parent is truly difficult. There is no need to feel guilty. Embrace yourself. Accept what you are going through.

Clear the clutter

Life moves at a frantic speed. What is truly important? You could get involved in a hundred things. But what is it that you really want? What is your most authentic role? What is it that ‘only you’ can do?

Somewhere along the line, we need to cut out things that are not that important and focus on what is really important. Prioritisation. Cut out the clutter. Simplify.

I quickly made a list of things that I needed to cut out.

After about an hour, I really felt much better. I messaged my friend saying that I did not feel the need to ‘get away’ anymore. Wow! I thought, ‘What works for my students, also works for me.’

Slow down…to speed up (a phrase that Dr Gutstein uses frequently).

See www.rdiconnect.com for more information about Relationship Development Intervention.

Being in a better frame of mind, I sit down to view Rakesh’s videos and type out his report. I see myself telling him, I’m not going to push you over the edge. He smiles his beautiful smile.

Is it because he knew that I was about to be pushed over the edge?

Have you experienced the effects of ‘slowing down’? Do you have questions about ASD? I would love to hear from you. Feel free to send me an email at saiconnections01@gmail.com.

Kamini Lakhani is the founder of SAI Connections. She is a Behaviour Analyst, an RDI (Relationship Development Intervention) Consultant, Supervisor and Trainer responsible for RDI professional training in India and the Middle East. She is the mother of an adult on the Autism Spectrum. She is also a member of Forum for Autism.

(Pictures courtesy www.we4autism.org, www.empowher.com. Images are used for representational purpose only)

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