" A man's country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle."
-George William Curtis.
Issue-18-Year-2
In this issue: Down the memory lane-Tryst with destiny-Jawaharlal Nehru. Favourites Forever Mark Twain, Bill Durant. Poetry here & Now: Ram Sharma.Story: A. G. Athar.Kids'Corner: Story from the Panchtantra and a poem by James Reeves.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My Column
August is a month when India and Pakistan both celebrate their independence from the British Raj; a time for joy and celebrations. August is also a month when the monsoon is at it's full swing in this part of the Asian subcontinent. The parched earth is once again green and colourful with new shoots and flowers; a time for joy and celebrations even in nature. This month of Sawan in an Indian calendar is considered as the month of joy and resurgence; the month of Shiva; pilgrimage to his temples is specially auspicious to a Shiv-bhakt, they take the kanwars on their shoulders and walk hundreds of miles to perform his abhishekam (auspicious and ceremonial bath). Festivities of Rakhi, hina and jhoolas give this month an extra colourful and romantic atmosphere. Yet there is a hush of fear in India this Sawan . Many cities repeatedly resounding and shaking with repeated bomb-blasts are not safe enough for any kanwar, any jhoola or any pilgrimage be it Amarnath, Haridwar, Ujjain, Varanasi or Rameshwaram. Everybody is cautious because they don't know where and in which corner a bomb or an enenmy might be lurking!
Yet in spite of its internal wrangles India is not only marching on, leaving its mark on world policies ; economically and politically. Both England and the United States have joined hands with India in many business and peace ventures; specially those of climate control. They cannot ignore this growth and shift of power towards the east any longer. Let's see what a recent U.K. newspaper cutting pointed out;
' Recognising that "trade" and "takeovers" have become the buzzwords in UK-India relations in recent years, a key House of Commons committee wants the Labour government to forge a "special relationship" with India.
"We need to establish a relationship as special with India as the one we have enjoyed with the United States," the Business and Enterprise Committee said in a report titled 'Waking up to India: Developments in UK-India Economic Relations'.
All sorts of business opportunities are opening up for India and China . We are witnessing a reverse tide of migration. India is specially buzzing with opportunitities in the health and entertainment sectors. There is an air of confidence in India and among Indians. But we cannot sit on our laurels yet...the road to success is always long and windy and very hard also. Every step, as usual needs to be taken with special care! Take the month of Sawan only for that instance; how can we forget that if the joy of Monsoon is there; so is the slippery slush also!
Despite all it's internal and external hurdles India is still not only marching on but progressing well and with a proud and joyous heart Lekhni salutes this undying, non-surrendering, ever green spirit of India on it's 62nd Independence Day!
Midnight of the 14'th August 1947, a dawn long awaited for was about to spread its golden rays on our free nation.India's first prime minister Shri Jawahar Lal Nehru bursted out in a sppech which will be remembered both for its content & emotios by all his friends & foes alike. 61 year later Lekhni feels very proud and humble to recall this moving and inspiratuional speech word by word for its readers...it started with these meomorable words full of hope & duty ...
" Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.
At the dawn of history India started on her unending quest, and trackless centuries are filled with her striving and the grandeur of her success and her failures. Through good and ill fortune alike she has never lost sight of that quest or forgotten the ideals which gave her strength. We end today a period of ill fortune and India discovers herself again. The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?
That future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving so that we may fulfil the pledges we have so often taken and the one we shall take today. The service of India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over.
And so we have to labour and to work, and work hard, to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world, for all the nations and peoples are too closely knit together today for any one of them to imagine that it can live apart Peace has been said to be indivisible; so is freedom, so is prosperity now, and so also is disaster in this One World that can no longer be split into isolated fragments.
We have to build the noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell. The appointed day has come-the day appointed by destiny-and India stands forth again, after long slumber and struggle, awake, vital, free and independent. The past clings on to us still in some measure and we have to do much before we redeem the pledges we have so often taken. Yet the turning-point is past, and history begins anew for us, the history which we shall live and act and others will write about.
It is a fateful moment for us in India, A new star rises, the star of freedom in the East, a new hope comes into being, a vision long cherished materializes. May the star never set and that hope never be betrayed! We rejoice in that freedom,
The future beckons to us. Whither do we go and what shall be our endeavour? To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman.
We have hard work ahead. There is no resting for any one of us till we redeem our pledge in full, till we make all the people of India what destiny intended them to be. We are citizens of a great country on the verge of bold advance, and we have to live up to that high standard. All of us, to whatever religion we may belong, are equally the children of India with equal rights, privileges and obligations. We cannot encourage communalism or narrow-mindedness, for no nation can be great whose people are narrow in thought or in action.
To the nations and peoples of the world send greetings and pledge ourselves to cooperate with them in furthering peace, freedom and democracy. And to India, our much-loved motherland, the ancient, the eternal and the ever-new, we pay our reverent homage and we bind ourselves afresh to her service.
This is India! The land of dreams and romance, of fabulous wealth and fabulous poverty, of splendour and rags, of palaces and hovels, of famine and pestilence, of genii and giants and Aladin lamps, of tigers and elephants, the cobra and the jungle, the country of a hundred nations and a hundred toungues, of a thousand religions and two million gods, cradle of human race, birthplace of human speech, mother of history, grandmother of legend, great-grandmother of tradition, whose yesterdays bear date with the mouldering antiquities of the rest of the nations- the one sole country under the sun that is endowed with an imperishable interest for alien persons, for lettered and ignorant, wise and fool, rich and poor, bond and free, the one land that all man desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for all the shows of all the rest of the globe combined. Even now, after a lapse of a year, the delirium of those days in Bombay has not left me and I hope it never will.
Mark Twain
American author (1835-1920)
India
India was the motherland of our race, and Sanskrit the mother of Europe's languages; she was the mother of our philosophy; mother, through the Arabs, of much of our mathematics; mother, through the Buddha, of the ideals embodied in Christianity; mother, through the village community, of self government and democracy. Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all. Perhaps in return for conquest, arrogance and spoilation, India will teach us the tolerance and gentleness of mature mind, the quiet content of the unaquisite soul, the calm of the understanding spirit, and a unifying, a pacifying love for all living things.
I walked past the Indian picket. It was about noon. No one was in sight. Perhaps they were fast asleep or relaxing. They could not imagine that any mother's son would dare cross the border in broad daylight. Bathed in sweat, I raced like a train. My brother's face danced before my eyes. The messenger had said that his condition was critical. In that habitation on the Neelam River bank, he could call no one his own.
I lived on the other bank and bore the stamp of India on my brow while he, right across the narrow river , had Pakistan carved on his. The messenger's words were, ' He only mutters your name in delirium.' How could I check myself after such news? After all it was a bond of blood.
I had reached the Athmuqam Bridge. His hut lay on the bank right ahead. It would take me just five minutes to get there. Like a thief , I stole a glance left and right, clenched my fists and darted across. Barely had I run a few steps when there was a loud shout---'Halt !' I stood, paralysed. I looked up and saw them ---two towering soldiers, rifles ready, stradling the bridge and heading my way.
They read the stamp on my brow and one of the two spoke, 'Indian!'
The other pronounced ' Arrest him.'
' No, no, sir , I am not an Indian. Neither am I a Pakistani. I am only a Kashmiri. Do you see sir, that log hut at Keran? That is my home. And you see that log hut on the other bank? That is where my brother lives. He is very ill and has no one but God to call his own over there. Please, sir, give me just half an hour--- I need only to ask him how he is, get him some medicine, a drink of water , may be.'
A rifle butt hit my neck and the earth shook under my feet. They dragged me to their bunker. More soldiers---they also read the tell-tale and declared, ' Indian. An enemy spy.' And then began the torture. I was told that I must confess straightaway that I was an Indian spy and an enemy of Pakistan.
What was I supposed to confess? That I was my brother's enemy?
I was taken to the headquarter, adjacent to my brother's hut. Again I pleaded with them. ' Please sir, my brother is in a hut next door. He is seriously ill, sir. Please let me go to him, hand cuffed as I am---just to ask him how he is.'
But they would not listen. They peeled of my nails, threw salt on the wounds and I fell unconscious. Next I found my brother lying alongside, gasping for breath, begging for water and I , menacled and bound in chains. No sign of water any where. The sharp point of a handcuff pierced my left arm and blood poured out. I cupped my right hand, collected the liquid and stretched it towards my brother to quench his thirst. The chains binding my hand did not let it reach his parched lips. At last, a desperate cry for water , a hiccup, and then the death rattle. I screamed---' It is all over, finished, the human mind, its thinking---which breaks God's kingdom into fragments and calls a brother his own brother's enemy.'
I woke up with a start and saw tears flowing from the eyes of the mustachioed soldiers. They asked me to look out of the window and I saw it---my brother's shrouded body placed in a coffin.
' Let me go---let me see my brother's face---offer a last prayer for him---that's my brother, do you know? '
They said that they knew very well that the dead man was my brother but they could not let me participate in his burial rites. ' We are helpless,' they concluded.
'Seek permission from your officers, please,' I begged. ' They too are helpless,' they said. From the officers' officers then,' I pleaded. ' They too are helpless,' was the reply. Who is it that can help? Who has the power ?' I asked. That is something we do not know.'
Once upon a time, there was a king who kept a monkey as a pet. The monkey served the king in whatever way he could. He had a free run of the royal household because he was the king’s pet. One hot day the monkey sat fanning by the side of the sleeping king . He noticed a fly on the chest of the king and tried to swish it away. The fly would go away for the moment and come back again to sit on the king's chest.
The monkey could take it no longer and decided to teach the fly a lesson. He looked for a dagger to kill it and when he found it brought it down with all force on the fly. The fly flew away but the king died as result of the dagger blow delivered by the monkey.
Karataka said, “Therefore, the lesson is that a king who cares for his life should not have a fool as his servant.’
from the Tales Of Panchtantra
If pigs could fly
If pigs could fly, I'd fly a pig To foreign countries small and big- To Italy and Spain, To Austria, where cowbells ring, To Germany, where people sing- And then come home again.
I'd see the Ganges and the Nile; I'd visit Madagaskar's isle, And Persia and Peru. People would say they'd never seen So odd, so strange an air-machine As that on which I flew.
Why, everyone would raise a shout To see his trotters and his snout Come floating from the sky; And I would be a famous star Well known in countries near and far-
The Ramayana Exhibition at the British Library (16 May-14 September 2008)
In ancient India sage Valmiki told the story of prince Rama in the epic Ramayana in Sanskrit, consisting of 24000 verses. Hindus believe that Lord Rama lived in Treta Yuga, one of the four Yugas (aeons) namely Satya, Treta, Dwapara and Kali.
The Ramayana exhibition was formally opened on Thursday 15 May 2008 by Shriji Arvind Singh Mewar the Maharana of Udaipur. The Mewar Maharana family dynasty is over 1200 years old.
The Ramayana was a favourite subject for Rajsthani painters of 17th century. Illustrated Ramayana manuscripts were prepared between 1649-1653 for Rana Jagat Singh of Mewar in his court studio at Udaipur. Maharana Bhim Singh presented the manuscripts to Colonel James Tod, author of Annals and Antiquities of Rajsthan in 1820. The British Museum Library acquired the manuscripts in 1844.
The exhibition covers the story of prince Rama in 12 episodes starting from his boyhood, marriage, exile, search for his lost wife princess Sita, concluding with her recovery following the slaying of the demon king Ravana.
In the autumn of 2007 I was delighted to learn from the British Library that a Ramayana exhibition was planned for May - September 2008, thanks to the Chairman Sir Colin Lucas, his team and especially Jerry Losty, curator of the British Library and former head of Prints, Drawings and Photographs also at the British Library.
The exhibition is well worth a visit.
Dr Rishi Agarwal Executive Representative - Hindu Heritage Hindu Council UK
a solid Hindi play uncovers hollow success in a comic way
Seattle, WA May 26, 2008
Pratidhwani - a Seattle area based organization of South Asian performing artists - continues its exploration of modern Hindi plays with the first ever production of well known Hindi playwright Narendra Kohli's Gaare Ki Deevar (Mud Wall) anywhere outside India. The production is directed by Seattle local Agastya Kohli, who continues as the lead for Pratidhwani's Drama wing, to direct his 5th hindi play in Seattle area. Gaare ki Deevar is a comedy in Hindi that keeps the audience amused by its characters who surprise each other with their unprecedented reactions in some what unexpected circumstances. The play underlines the talent of wishful superior appearance that many people unknowingly adapt in a stature driven society. The play hilariously demonstrates how people would do anything to maintain the appearance of such hollow success. "This is a play that starts with a very ordinary incident in a very ordinary household, but with every passing moment, layers of lies and secrets are peeled off to reveal the reality of this family..." said Director Kohli - "... a reality, that is not limited to any country or segment of society, but something universal to all humanity, which we all must learn to recognize and correct."
reaction of an audience:
Agastya once again treats the Seattlelites with an evening filled with humor, entertainment, and the portrayal of the complexities of the human mind in routine daily life events of ordinary characters. I will not get into the cast and crew, the lighting, the set-up, the acting, the delivery of dialogues, and the way amateurs and semi-professionals acted as one whole functional unit, because I am sure all of us have had lots of praiseworthy words for them. What struck me most was the powerful script with the right amount of humor, wisdom, and sagacity, not to mention the usage of “Shudhdh Hindi”, which made the play watching experience enriching and unique. The play beautifully portrays the idiosyncrasies of the human mind, the double standards we live in to fool ourselves more than others, as symbolized by the mud wall, the way “shaan-o-shaukat”, “biradariwaale”, and “izzat-aur-aabroo” takes precedence and clouts the judgment of right and wrong for a veteran like Praudh. It symbolizes that when the foundation of things are weak, one stranger can come home one evening and shake the foundations of what constitutes a family or a society. It is symbolic of the social mistrust in extant today, else Praudh wouldn’t brag about his affluence or the haveli, wouldn’t hide the secret of the mud wall, and Rajeev wouldn’t have a false degree from the university and have parties thrown in that honor. The story reminded me so much of the ones written during the times of Premchand, replete with their tongue and cheek humor, and mirroring hypocrisy, irony, the societal structure, and the complexities of the mind that develop with time. Everybody performed very well and seemed very natural in their roles. One of the many strengths was the usage of pure Hindi in the script. This not only set the right background for the society portrayal on stage, but also sent people like me (Who liked Hindi, but studied it till high school only) on a nostalgia trip. Overall, it was a well-meant effort to involve the localites in supporting art, culture, and the portrayal of everything that we associate with our roots and culture. Who would have thought that living in America, one would get to spend an evening getting to see what one has missed for years in the Hindi textbooks, and experience so much of what makes the Indian society. The entire unit’s effort in this deserves a large-scale applause. Will look forward to many such rewarding and enriching experiences in future.
The overall message was conveyed very well - just like Munna bhai made the audience reflect on the honesty principle - this play made me reflect and got me thinking on life's gaare ki deevar which we create - so definitely would say its a hit and very successful!!!
Palador Pictures and The Embassy of Sweden pay a tribute to Ingmar Bergman with "Remembering Bergman - A Retrospective" - A six-city, seven film festival tours the country - - Launch of Ingmar Bergman Collector's Edition 5 DVD box set - - Workshops on the maestro by documentary filmmaker and friend, Gunnar Bergdahl -
New Delhi, August 6, 2008: Palador Pictures, the undisputed leader in the World Cinema category in India with close to a 1,000 of the best and most awarded films in association with the Embassy of Sweden brings Remembering Bergman - A Retrospective, a tribute to Ingmar Bergman, Appendix:
Synopsis of Bergman Films (On Box Set as well as the DVD):
Wild Strawberries: Shaken by a foreboding dream, Professor Borg decides to drive, rather than fly to his felicitation function. His daughter-in-law accompanies him and makes no attempt to hide her dislike for his selfishness, despite his apparently amicable personality. On the way they give a ride to a young girl and her two suitors. These factors, and a visit to his mother, rekindle old memories and through sleep and waking dream, he becomes a spectator to his own past, through the wild strawberry patch of his youth.
Summer Interlude: On an idyllic summer vacation, Marie falls in love with Henrik. But a tragic accident cuts short Henrik's life. Ten years later, at the height of her career as a successful Opera dancer, Marie remembers the ways in which that tragic summer changes her forever. She realizes that first love never dies, but something dies with first love.
Music In Darkness: Rich and handsome Bengt loses hope after an accident leaves him blind. The darkness threatens his remaining impressions of sight, challenges his beliefs, and brings about a deafening silence. Even well intentioned relationships cause him self pity. Will Bengt drift away or will he find new music in his life? Bergman paints this man's fiery quest for sanity and survival with expressionist shades and challenges our convention of a gift we all take for granted, sight.
Summer With Monika: Harry and Monika spend an innocent summer filled with uninhibited passions that leaves Monika pregnant. Harry struggles to give his family a good life but Monika's constant yearning for excitement, leaves her unfulfilled as a wife and mother. She forsakes them for an adventurous life. Left alone with their son, Harry treasures the memory of that summer, despite the pain it brings. This Naturalist film is Bergman's most sensual creation.
Through A Glass Darkly: In the first installment of what later became famous as the 'faith trilogy', Ingmar Bergman profiles a fragile family on the verge of disintegration. The focal point is schizophrenic Karin who believes she'll have a vision of god. Her father has been using her for his book, the husband has tried to commit suicide, and her brother makes sexual overtones to her even as she slips into the abyss of her madness. This film won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 1962.
Winter Light: The second part of Bergman's Faith Trilogy has a small town pastor Tomas go about his duties mechanically. While trying to help a troubled fisherman, his own crisis of faith comes to light and he realizes that he has nothing but uncertainty to offer. Bergman profiles man's hunger for faith in a world where the existence of God itself is in question.
The Silence: In the third installment of Ingmar Bergman's 'faith trilogy', two sisters - the sick, intellectual Ester and the promiscuous, pragmatic Anna - while travelling with Anna's son Johan, find themselves in a foreign town. Language prevents them from talking to townsfolk, and their own emotional barrier brings about a silence between them. Young Johan is their only connecting link in a film where Bergman offers a disturbing view of emotional isolation in a faithless world.
The Devil's Eye: A rare Bergman comedy, 'The Devil's Eye' shows his penchant for humour. Resurrected from hell by the Devil, the legendary lover Don Juan's job is to seduce an innocent 20 year old Britt-Marie and rob her of her virginity and belief in love. However, Marie proves to be strong and successfully resists Don Juan, whose fate is finally sealed when he ends up falling helplessly in love with her.
Intermezzo (An interview of Ingmar Bergman by Gunnar Bergdahl part of all the DVDs Above): One of the best known and most personal interviews of Bergman, it catches the master director speaking uninhibited about life, films and dreams... "Creativity is an extraordinary help against destructive demons," says Bergman in the interview. Interviewer Gunnar Bergdahl is a writer, film critic, festival curator and founder-editor of the Swedish cinema magazine 'Filmkonst'. This is his second Bergman interview. one of the greatest filmmakers of all times on his first death anniversary.
The Retrospective was inaugurated by the Ambassador of Sweden today with the unveiling of the Ingmar Bergman Collector's Edition 5 DVD Box Set and the announcement of the film festival.
The films which are available to audiences on the DVD Box Set are: 'Music in Darkness', 'Summer With Monika', 'Through a Glass Darkly', 'Winter Light' and 'The Silence', with 'Intermezzo' - a freewheeling interview with Ingmar Bergman - as a special feature. The festival will showcase, in addition to some of the films on the DVD box, 'Wild Strawberries', 'Summer Interlude' and 'Devil's Eye.'
Elaborating on the rationale behind the Bergman Retrospective, Gautam Shiknis, Founder and Managing Director, Palador Pictures said, "Ingmar Bergman's films have moved, inspired and influenced a host of filmmakers and audiences across the world. It is no wonder that he is often called the greatest cinematic artist ever. It is only just that the nation that makes the largest quantity of films in the world each year, should also get the best quality films from across the world. On the first death anniversary of Bergman, this festival and box set is this nation's tribute to the great master."
"Bergman is easily one of the best-known Swedes in the world and it is very heartening for me to be a part of the process to make sure that his work is accessible to his fans and film enthusiasts in India," said H.E. Lars-Olof Lindgren, Ambassador of Sweden to India. "What makes this Retrospective even more special for me, is the fact that we are all gathered to pay tribute to Mr Bergman, the man who has not just defined Swedish cinema for the world, but has contributed to shaping cinema as the world knows it too.''
Another high point of the Retrospective is the presence of Gunnar Bergdahl, Director of two documentaries made on Bergman - 'Intermezzo: Ingmar Bergman' and 'The Voices of Bergman' as well as a close friend of the filmmaker. Intermezzo will be screened for students of film and general public at workshops conducted by Mr Bergdahl in Delhi and Mumbai.
Remembering Berman, Mr Bergdahl added, "I'm happy to have had the opportunity to share some time with him. He might be gone now, but his passion for the possibilities and challenges of filmmaking will be inspiring for ever. In fact, I once asked, 'Mr Bergman, don't you ever tire of watching all these films?' He laughed and said, 'Filmmaking is an expanding universe. The more you look, the more you find!"
Mohan Polamar, co-founder and Joint MD Palador Pictures said, "Bergman stormed into the World Cinema scene with two masterpieces in the same year, 1957. Such was the genius of this prolific director without whose name no discussion of cinema would ever be complete. It hurt us to know that masterpieces made by him and other great directors had never been available in this country to the masses. With this festival, I personally feel a sense of satisfaction about the number of people it is reaching out to across the country. When quality cinema as embodied by Bergman is widely seen and appreciated, quality cinema would end up being made as well."
Supporting this endeavour, of making world cinema accessible to the Indian audiences, are partners ICICI, iMint, Indiaplaza, Inox, People Magazine, Myntra and Bright Advertising in India, and The Swedish Institute and the Swedish Film Institute in Sweden.
About Ingmar Bergman Ingmar Bergman is unquestionably among the best known Swedes in the world. He is not only Sweden's foremost filmmaker of all time, but is generally regarded as one of the foremost figures in the entire history of the cinematic arts. In fact, Bergman is among a relatively small, exclusive group of filmmakers-a Fellini, an Antonioni, a Tarkovsky-whose family names rarely need to be accompanied by a given name: "Bergman" is a concept, a kind of "brand name" in itself.
With nine personal Oscar nominations and three of his films winning the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, Ingmar Bergman won every conceivable and coveted film award on the planet.
Festival Schedule:
Delhi - August 8-14 Kolkata - August 15-21 Chennai - August 22-28 Bangalore - August 29-September 4 Pune - September 5-11 Mumbai - September 12-18
About Palador: Palador began 4 years back as a movement to kick-start the tradition of great cinema in the Indian subcontinent. Today Palador has the largest collection of Foreign Language Cinema under one roof in Asia. Palador owns the most award winning films from the greatest directors the world has ever seen - from masters of yesteryears to today's: Kurosawa, Kieslowski, Godard, Bergman, Trauffaut, Kiarostami, Lynch etc. - to cinema in all genre: action, comedy, drama, documentary, short films etc. - to cinema from all movements: Italian Neo-Realism, French New Wave, Iranian New-Wave etc. But Palador is not just about the content. It's about programming them, to suit different needs of: TV Channels, Film Festivals, Corporates, Colleges, Clubs, Theatres etc. and of different media: DVD, TV, Internet, Theatre, Mobile etc. Palador was the first to focus on the short works of aspiring film makers, helping to popularize the concept and adoption of short film in the Indian media landscape. Palador is also the only in the world to program short films of aspiring as well as rare films of established film makers in the DVD movies of great directors. In short it is helping build a platform for freedom of expression for creators of good and great content in this nation.
For more about the festival, visit: HYPERLINK http://www.mypalador.com/festival ****************************************************************************************************
PRINCE, Madonna and Michael Jackson hit 50 this year - and our notions of what 50 means and ageing are being dramatically turned on our heads
Giant sheets of ice measuring over seven square miles have broken off the largest remaining ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic, in a development consistent with climate change predictions.
Officials said that the chunks of ice split off the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf off Ellesmere Island last week, forming two floating islands of 1.9 and 5.4 square miles. More could follow later this year, they warned.
It was the largest fracture of its kind since the nearby Ayles ice shelf - roughly the size of Manhattan at 25 square miles - broke away in 2005.
The shelf, which measures 170 square miles - larger than the Antarctic shelf which collapsed earlier this year - began to form over 4000 years ago, scientists believe. A crack was first spotted in 2002 and last spring a patrol of Canadian Rangers found the weakness had spread into an extensive network of cracks, some 40 metres wide and 11 miles long. The fracture-ridden section of ice was like a jigsaw puzzle, with the pieces held in place only by each other.
Formed by accumulating snow and freezing meltwater, ice shelves are large platforms of thick, ancient sea ice that float on the ocean’s surface. Ellesmere Island was onceentirely ringed by a single enormous ice shelf that broke into five in the early 1900s. Ward Hunt was the largest of those remnants.
August is a month when India and Pakistan both celebrate their independence from the British Raj; a time for joy and celebrations. August is also a month when the monsoon is at it's full swing in this part of the Asian subcontinent. The parched earth is once again green and colourful with new shoots and flowers; a time for joy and celebrations even in nature. This month of Sawan in an Indian calendar is considered as the month of joy and resurgence; the month of Shiva; pilgrimage to his temples is specially auspicious to a Shiv-bhakt, they take the kanwars on their shoulders and walk hundreds of miles to perform his abhishekam (auspicious and ceremonial bath). Festivities of Rakhi, hina and jhoolas give this month an extra colourful and romantic atmosphere. Yet there is a hush of fear in India this Sawan . Many cities repeatedly resounding and shaking with repeated bomb-blasts are not safe enough for any kanwar, any jhoola or any pilgrimage be it Amarnath, Haridwar, Ujjain, Varanasi or Rameshwaram. Everybody is cautious because they don't know where and in which corner a bomb or an enenmy might be lurking! 
Midnight of the 14'th August 1947, a dawn long awaited for was about to spread its golden rays on our free nation.India's first prime minister Shri Jawahar Lal Nehru bursted out in a sppech which will be remembered both for its content & emotios by all his friends & foes alike. 61 year later Lekhni feels very proud and humble to recall this moving and inspiratuional speech word by word for its readers...it started with these meomorable words full of hope & duty ...
" Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.
I walked past the Indian picket. It was about noon. No one was in sight. Perhaps they were fast asleep or relaxing. They could not imagine that any mother's son would dare cross the border in broad daylight. Bathed in sweat, I raced like a train. My brother's face danced before my eyes. The messenger had said that his condition was critical. In that habitation on the Neelam River bank, he could call no one his own.
'Seek permission from your officers, please,' I begged.
Once upon a time, there was a king who kept a monkey as a pet. The monkey served the king in whatever way he could. He had a free run of the royal household because he was the king’s pet. One hot day the monkey sat fanning by the side of the sleeping king . He noticed a fly on the chest of the king and tried to swish it away. The fly would go away for the moment and come back again to sit on the king's chest. 
Why, everyone would raise a shout
In ancient India sage Valmiki told the story of prince Rama in the epic Ramayana in Sanskrit, consisting of 24000 verses. Hindus believe that Lord Rama lived in Treta Yuga, one of the four Yugas (aeons) namely Satya, Treta, Dwapara and Kali. 
The Ramayana was a favourite subject for Rajsthani painters of 17th century. Illustrated Ramayana manuscripts were prepared between 1649-1653 for Rana Jagat Singh of Mewar in his court studio at Udaipur. Maharana Bhim Singh presented the manuscripts to Colonel James Tod, author of Annals and Antiquities of Rajsthan in 1820. The British Museum Library acquired the manuscripts in 1844. 
Pratidhwani - a Seattle area based organization of South Asian performing artists - continues its exploration of modern Hindi plays with the first ever production of well known Hindi playwright Narendra Kohli's Gaare Ki Deevar (Mud Wall) anywhere outside India. The production is directed by Seattle local Agastya Kohli, who continues as the lead for Pratidhwani's Drama wing, to direct his 5th hindi play in Seattle area. Gaare ki Deevar is a comedy in Hindi that keeps the audience amused by its characters who surprise each other with their unprecedented reactions in some what unexpected circumstances. The play underlines the talent of wishful superior appearance that many people unknowingly adapt in a stature driven society. The play hilariously demonstrates how people would do anything to maintain the appearance of such hollow success. "This is a play that starts with a very ordinary incident in a very ordinary household, but with every passing moment, layers of lies and secrets are peeled off to reveal the reality of this family..." said Director Kohli - "... a reality, that is not limited to any country or segment of society, but something universal to all humanity, which we all must learn to recognize and correct."
New Delhi, August 6, 2008: Palador Pictures, the undisputed leader in the World Cinema category in India with close to a 1,000 of the best and most awarded films in association with the Embassy of Sweden brings Remembering Bergman - A Retrospective, a tribute to Ingmar Bergman, 
PRINCE, Madonna and Michael Jackson hit 50 this year - and our notions of what 50 means and ageing are being dramatically turned on our heads
Giant sheets of ice measuring over seven square miles have broken off the largest remaining ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic, in a development consistent with climate change predictions. 
Formed by accumulating snow and freezing meltwater, ice shelves are large platforms of thick, ancient sea ice that float on the ocean’s surface. Ellesmere Island was onceentirely ringed by a single enormous ice shelf that broke into five in the early 1900s. Ward Hunt was the largest of those remnants. 
