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Students create wall-size mural at Goregaon school

Renowned mosaic artist Kirstin Green guided students over 90 days to help create 26 x 12 feet wall mosaic mural.

The Oberoi International School (OIS), Goregaon, saw a fun and creatively rewarding project end recently, with the unveiling of a wall-size, 26 x 12 feet mosaic mural which was a ‘community effort’ in which students worked and some parents also got involved in. The mural was created over a period of 90 days starting from September this year. Students were guided on the project by renowned American mosaic artist Kirstin Green, who was the resident artist for the project.

Kirstin is also working with seven other school-based community projects in the US and South Africa. The mural work at OIS started under her guidance, where she taught students on working with ceramic material, stained glass, glue, blueprints, construction and working on overall artistic collaboration upon completion. The materials were hammered, structured, and placed randomly or were cut and smoothed for a structured layout.

“Each step of designing a mural requires forethought, dedication and an overall vision of the larger picture, while focus has to be on each and every piece of the puzzle. It was truly a pleasure to interact with the ever-enthusiastic students, and create something so beautiful,” she said. The completed mural portrays children of different nationalities holding hands, flags of countries, a tree, the Taj Mahal, an elephant, a peacock, a staircase and a lotus which is the central focus of the piece.

“The entire exercise is a unique experience for our students,” said Dr Vladimir Kuskovski, Head of OIS. “They not only learned new skills of the medium, but also teamwork. Some students have used their free time after school hours, as well as weekends, to work on the mosaic. Many other students may have not worked directly on the project, but they have come down to see the work and often brought their parents along, so this is indeed a community project,” he added.

The mural was unveiled yesterday by acclaimed sculptor Arzan Khambatta, who said that the mural was “one of the finest pieces of art I have come across at a school level; it is amazing to see students delivering a fine art piece with this professionalism and finishing.”

 

 

 

 

 

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Ghashiram Kotwal is 41 years old

A response to the rise of the Shiv Sena in the ’60s, controversial play celebrates 41 years of stage time.

The Marathi theatre scene of the 1960s and ’70s was known for its bold, contemporary and often brutal analyses of dominant social themes of the time. And one of the foremost writers and playwrights of the time was the late Vijay Tendulkar, who penned some of his masterpieces during this time, such as Shantata! Court Chalu Ahe, Gidhade and Ghashiram Kotwal.

This last celebrated 41 years of being on the Marathi stage on Sunday, December 16. Originally directed by Jabbar Patel, the play boasted some truly excellent music by the late Pandit Bhaskar Chandavarkar and choreography by Krishnadev Mulgund. The play is based on the life of Nana Phadnavis, who was a prominent minister in the court of Peshwas of Pune, and it talks about  men in power who give rise to certain ideologies to serve their purposes, and later destroy those ideologies when they become useless.

Reproduced below are late music director Bhaskar Chandavarkar’s thoughts on the play:

‘Ghashiram Kotwal was first staged in December 1972. Within a span of ten shows (a short period of some weeks) it became a controversial play. Vijay Tendulkar, the playwright, has already faced severe, some times violent opposition to his earlier plays. He was subjected to a humiliating  ‘manhunt’ because of Ghashiram. The controversy revolved around two points. The first was that he has misrepresented history and the other was that he had trivialised and defamed Nana Phadnavis.

Actually, the points were political. The play has, to this day, remained extremely relevant because of the measured political statement it makes about fascism. The a-historic legend or myth, around which the playwright weaves his plot, seems to surface in many parts of the world. Violence, political manipulations, and the nexus between crime, sex and power is what Vijay Tendulkar explores. The historians may not agree with the interpretation of history that the playwright visualises. But the
playwright asks if there is any objectively ‘true’ history? And do we learn from history at all?

Ghashiram Kotwal became a path breaker because of the form of presentation. ‘Dashavtari Khele’ a folk theatre form like the Tamasha, Lavani, Gavlan etc. that have found their way into the presentation. The play therefore becomes a musical. It is not a musical comedy that has been modeled on the American Broadway type. In an innovative way, the folk sensibilities and basic
political awareness have been woven together in a typically Indian setting.

Songs, dance and music have to shoulder responsibilities other than that of being merely entertaining numbers. They are here to bring out the strong feelings, the undercurrent of the social protest. If the establishment uses the established music as its political tool to perpetuate power, artists must use non-established forms of art to rebel and revolt. Ghashiram Kotwal thus becomes a political statement.

The presentation and staging will hopefully transcend the language barrier because, tragically, we still have Ghashiram-like situations happening all over the world.’

(Pictures courtesy Yaashee Entertainment)

 

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Tickets still available for Ind-Eng T20 match

The India-England T20 match is scheduled for December 22. The State Government has allowed the MCA to sell tickets online.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The Maharashtra State Government decided on December 13, after a request from the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), that tickets for the T20 match between India and England on Saturday, December 22, would be allowed online, provided certain conditions were followed. Tickets for the match are currently being sold through bookmyshow.com. The match is to be held at 7 pm.

While tickets in Block T L1, U L1 and V L1 in the Sachin Tendulkar stand have been sold out, as have tickets in the I L3, M L2, L L2, W L1, X L1, Y L1 (tickets priced at Rs 1,500 each) and L L1, K L1 and J L1 (tickets priced at Rs 300 each) from the North and Sunil Gavaskar stands have also been sold out. As per the booking site, tickets are still up for grabs in the Grand Stand, Block L4 (Rs 7,500) and in the Gavaskar Stand A L2, B L2, C L2, D L2, E L2 and F L2. Each person will get a maximum of two tickets only.

Online booking okay, but with riders

If you’re buying tickets online, remember these Government stipulations on online sale of tickets and check the ticket you purchase for these:

– The tickets must be printed in rolls serialised from A to Z, and starting from the number 1.

– All those booking tickets online must be notified of the ticket sale confirmation before the match.

– Each ticket must bear a unique bar code that will serve as a security check while entering Wankhede Stadium and passing through a metal detector.

– You are not allowed to make multiple purchases of tickets at different times. Even if you do, you will be given a maximum of two tickets at the venue on showing valid proofs.

(Picture courtesy cricket.yahoo.com. File picture, used for representational purpose only)

 

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Join the Army. Or at least, go cheer

Indian Army concludes ‘Vijay Diwas’ celebrations at Shivaji Park today. The three-day event commemorated Indian Army’s 1971 win over Pakistan.

If you’re looking for some inspiration and a big dose of patriotism, head to Shivaji Park today. At 11 am this morning, the Governor of Maharashtra, K Sankaranarayan, will inaugurate the Army Mela at Shivaji Park. The Mela is part of the Indian Army’s ‘Vijay Diwas’ celebration to commemorate India’s military victory over Pakistan in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. Around 1,500 Army personnel from across the State will participate in the Mela.

Lt General AK Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command, Major-General Rajesh Bawa, General Officer commanding, Mumbai Sub area and other eminent persons will be there at the Mela, too.

The Mela showcases the Army’s equipment and has leaflets and brochures to exhort the youth to join the Indian Army. Once you’ve had your fill of the Mela, you can head to the Gateway of India, Chowpatty and Radium Mall where military bands will be displayed. Plus, there’s going to be a motorcycle display, sky-diving, mallakhamb and aero-modelling display by NCC Cadets.

(Image used is a file picture)    

 

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Who will set these wrongs right?

RB Sreekumar, Godhra whistleblower, writes to the PM asking for probe into IAS and IPS officers’ actions during the carnage.
by Humra Quraishi

Come January, the names for the Padma Awards would be announced. I’m not too sure how the eventual winners are selected, but one underlying factor seems to be that high-flying, glamorous people always find a place on the lists.

What about the men and women who have tried to flow against the tide? Why don’t such individuals ever find a mention? Why don’t we honour men who have had the guts to take on the political mafia, and done it persistently, such as the first whistleblower cop of Gujarat, former DGP RB Sreekumar, who tried exposing his own chief minister Narendra Modi .

The 1971 batch IPS officer wrote an expose on December 6, in which he jotted down 50 misdeeds of the Modi Government. When I met him years ago, he’d categorically stated that if one sees skull caps or long flowing beards and burqas in a Modi-sponsored meet, then one mustn’t automatically assume that the wearers of these garments are Muslims. “RSS cadres are donning all this, putting up the façade of the typical ‘Muslim look’, to fool the masses that Muslims are tilting towards Modi and his men,” he’d said.

This is a very recent letter that Sreekumar has sent to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh:

‘Sub:- Request for study by LBS National Academy of Administration and SVP National Police Academy on the deviant acts of IAS and IPS officers during 2002 Gujarat riots.

Respected Sir,

Kindly find enclosed a copy of my representation to H E The Governor of Gujarat State, praying for initiation of punitive departmental action against State Govt. officials, who acted as collaborators to the planners and perpetrators of anti-minority carnage in 2002.

1. The riots enacted in nearly 1/3rd of geography of Gujarat, had left about 1,500 citizens killed, thousands injured, besides total destruction of many symbols of Islamic culture of medieval times.

2. IAS and IPS officers administering areas of high intensity violence had allegedly became patrons, promoters and facilitators to the planners, organisers, ground level mobilisers and foot soldiers of mass crimes against the Muslim citizens. These functionaries had, during riots, unabashedly and covertly dismantled the legal, administrative and regulatory architecture designed by the Criminal Procedure Code, Police Acts, Gujarat Police Manual and the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), streamlined through numerous Govt. Orders. Many officers have indulged in competitive sycophancy to carry out the illegal hidden agenda of the ruling party for achieving Hindu communal consolidation to get electoral dividends.

The State Govt. had rewarded most of them with out-of-turn promotions, post retirement assignments etc.

3. The culpable role of the enablers to brigands, who indulged in extensive manslaughter, taken by officials, has thrown up serious questions about the efficiency, quality and impact of training imparted to them by the LBS National Academy of Administration and SVP National Police Academy. Most of IPS and IAS officers are exposed to several skill acquisition programmes in affluent foreign countries also.

4. So far, no in-depth study, analysis and examination of the causative factors responsible for a series of deviant acts by IAS and IPS officers of Gujarat State, during riots and subsequently, have been done with the objective of recasting of their training agenda for re-motivating officers to be in tune with their oath to the letter, spirit and ethos of the Constitution of India, as envisaged in the Preamble and Article 51(A) of the Constitution. Currently many officers brazenly do pursue the unholy goal of self centered careerism at the cost of the Rule of Law.

5. In this context, I humbly request you to task LBS National Academy of Administration and SVP National Police Academy for urgently conducting an in-house exercise of comprehensive study about failure of a section of bureaucracy and police in Gujarat since the riots in 2002. The Apex Court had opined that, in 2002, the officers acted like “Modern Neros”, (Zahira Sheikh v/s The State of Gujarat) which had not only actualised widespread violence but also resulted in subversion of the Criminal Justice System (CJS) to deny and delay justice delivery to riot victim survivors.’

(Picture courtesy thehindu.com)

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Schools play rugby at Bombay Gymkhana

Colaba Municipal School, Yashodham High School win in the U-17 Boys and Girls category. A pitch report of the event.

Rugby is still not played as often and as intensely as it should in the country, but Mumbai is taking things to the next level – its schools are competing and winning big.

Yesterday, the Rugby Association of Maharashtra (RAM) hosted the seventh edition of the Mumbai Inter-School Touch Rugby Championship 2012 at the Bombay Gymkhana Ground, under the auspices of the Western Indian Rugby Football Union (WIRFU). Over 50 teams participated from across Mumbai city and suburb schools. Both boys and girls in the Under-12, Under-14 & Under-17 age categories participated. Actor and rugby player Rahul Bose was the chief guest for the event.

The U-17 winners were Colaba Municipal School (boys) and Yashodham High School, Goregaon (girls), while the U-14 winners were Lokhandwala Foundation School, Kandivali (boys) and St Mary’s Convent High School, Mulund (girls). The U-12 boys winners’ cup was lifted by NM Joshi Municipal School.

Speaking on the occasion, Nasser Hussain, Secretary, Rugby Association of Maharashtra said, “We were pleased to see the enthusiasm, participation and eagerness in representatives from schools across Mumbai, suburban and Thane district to adopt and support the game. There is no dearth of talent in these areas, and today’s Championship asserted that the next breed of national players will come from here. As flag bearers of the sport, we are committed to nurture new talent and simultaneously increase awareness about Rugby as a noble sport.”

The first Mumbai Schools Touch Rugby Tournament was organised in 2006 at the Bombay Gymkhana grounds for Under-14 Boys and Under-16 Boys age categories. The main purpose of the school programme was the grassroots development of the sport and to target the youth. In 2010, with growing interest, popularity and enthusiasm for rugby, the tournament was sub-divided into the Mumbai City Schools, Mumbai Suburb Schools and Thane district categories.

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