Uncommon Ground – Lessons From Below
Microfinance rests on mutualism. This is very different from the individualism of free markets. Looking for models of financial prudence and sustainability? We don’t have to look very far. Tucked safely away from the scorching heat of the meltdown, at least so far, is the vastly distributed microfinance sector in India, which offers us fascinating […]
Uncommon Ground – Rediscovering Wonder
Most species are individually stupid but collectively smart. Humans are the opposite. It is remarkable what happens when you suspend judgement and disbelief for a while. You rediscover wonder. A little bit of this rediscovery happens every weekend in cinema halls across the country. But I was very lucky to have my own awakening of […]
Uncommon Ground – Davos discussions
Looking back at my notes on earlier WEFs, I have to say there has always been healthy debate in the corners about structural fault lines in globalized capitalism. On my way up from Zurich to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF), I marvelled again at how clear the road remains in spite of […]
Uncommon Ground – The Culture of Giving
It will be a pity if, just when the second wave of philanthropy was | taking root, it gets deracinated and scattered. In the jaw-dropping exposes about Satyam, there was only an occasional story about the impact on the social initiatives of the Raju family, such as the Byrraju Foundation, the declared goal of which […]
Uncommon Ground – A CULTURE OF ENOUGH
Recently, Arghyam, a foundation I have set up to fund initiatives in water and sanitation, needed to hire for a senior position. We put out an ad on a mainstream jobs site, in addition to using development sector channels. To our great surprise, we were absolutely flooded with enquiries. View PDF
UNCOMMON GROUND – Rohini Nilekani – Debuts 2 Jan 2009
UNCOMMON GROUND – Rohini Nilekani. A fortnightly column at the intersection of the corporate and social sectors, with personal experiences, observations and the many questions that arise about moving towards a more equitable India. Debuts 2 Jan 2009. View PDF
Talk at Seventh Anniversary of Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Environment and Development, Bangalore
This is a talk Rohini gave at the Seventh Anniversary of Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Environment and Development, Bangalore on 19th August, 2008. “Going forward, my job is to ensure that a lot of people know about the organizations I support, working for environmental issues, especially CISED, with its inter disciplinary approach. And to […]
One Common Issue – Two Uncommon Minds – Uncommon Ground
Writer and philanthropist, Rohini Nilekani anchors an electrifying episode of UNCOMMON GROUND, fuelling dialogue between industrialist Anand Mahindra and social activist Medha Patkar on the land rights issue that challenges India. View PDF
Philanthropy, old and new
Just societies cannot be built merely by the distribution of surplus wealth. With a plethora of the newly wealthy in India setting up trusts and foundations recently, it is a good time to reflect on the value of strategic philanthropy. When it comes to giving in …,dia, we have traditionally upheld that feeling of empathy […]
Moment Of Glory – Kittur Rani Chennamma awards
Akshara Foundation’s Rohini Nilekani and actress Jayamala are among those felicitated with the Kittur Rani Chennamma awards on Saturday. View PDF
Paying women their due on their day
Women’s role important, says Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Cyriac Joseph. Inaugurating Women’s Day celebrations jointly organised by Department of Women and Child Development and Karnataka Legal Services Authority, in Bangalore, Chief Justice Cyriac Joseph said women have important role in everybody’s life. Special awards for active Stree Shakti self help groups, Kitturu Chennamma awards […]
Moment Of Glory
Akshara Foundation’s Rohini Nilekani and actress Jayamala are among those felicitated with the Kittur Rani Chennamma awards on Saturday. View PDF
Women seek more power and a quota –
When the cry for equality for women reached the peak, one man sighed wistfully and said, “Viva la the difference”(Long live the difference).It was left to one’s imagination to ponder and decide what he was referring to. The city on Saturday celebrated International Women’s Day. with a rally, a walk and several functions to honour […]
Chennamma Award for Jayamala, Rohini Nilekani
Actor Jayamala Ramachandra and Rohini Nilekani are among those selected for the Kittur hennamma Award by the otate Government this year. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the Government has announced the best Stree Shakti (self-help groups) and Kittur Chennamma Award. View PDF
Woman – Marriage and Family – Kannada
Woman – Marriage and Family – Kannada. View PDF
The City of Giving
Philanthropy is not just about donating money, it is about making an impact with your money, improving someone’s life, and Bangaloreans seem to understand this only too well. The Garden City aka Silicon Valley just earned itself a new sobriquet — the City of Giving. To be more precise, three of our citizens have earned […]
Water portal launched – www.indiawaterportal.org/kannada
The water portal, which is co-ordinated by Arghyam, a non profit trust headed by Rohini Nilekani, supplies information – in Kannada – on various aspects of water. It was formally launched by K Jairaj, Principal Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, here on Friday. Arghyam launched the portal in January this year, and intends […]
‘Water’shed policy to save valued resource
To sustain water assets in Karnataka’s rural areas, the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) department will draw up a new policy shortly. RDPR principal secretary K Jairaj on Friday announced the policy will be implemented from April. He was speaking at the launch of a water portal in Kannada, launched by India Water Portal […]
Kannada Portal for information on Water – www.indiawaterportal.org/kannada – Kannada
Kannada Portal for information on Water – www.indiawaterportal.org/kannada – Kannada View PDF
Broadcasting the excluded
A forum on mobile broadcasting threw up interesting ideas on how it can become a great medium of communication in remote areas. Addressing a gathering of more than 100 representatives from the government, NGOs, CBOs and Civil Society Organisations, key note speaker Rohini Nilekani said, “Discrimination and exclusion are the prime culprits that have handicapped […]
Launch of Water Portal – www.indiawaterportal.org/kannada – Kannada
Launch of Water Portal – www.indiawaterportal. org/kannada – Kannada Praaja Vaani. View PDF
Now, Mrs. Nilekani On TV
It is time for change. To business television junkies, Nandan Nilekani has been a familiar face. Be it talking about his company or pitching for Indian software skills, Nilekani is almost a brand ambassador for the industry. In the next, we will see another Nilekani take the centre stage. Nilekani’s wife Rohini will host a […]
Payments for Ecosystem Services
It is clearly time for a new social contract with the farmer and the tribal, if not as a moral imperative certainly as a strategic one. Two symbols come to mind immediately when we look at India as it is instead of through the aspirational prism of an India shining or poised. One: the disenfranchised […]
Watering A Change
It’s back to the grassroots for techies who are giving up their plum jobs for a noble cause — water conservation. The story of a young engineer from NASA, who gave up his high profile job to change the lives of villagers in India in the Bollywood blockbuster ‘Swades’ was motivating. But it was on […]
Many questions for the dinner table
Some key issues and dilemmas about food that the developed countries are beginning to ponder, and which the argumentative Indian can take to heart. How do we produce food? How do we distribute it? And how do we consume it? These are questions that are increasingly understood to be at the core of sustainable economies. […]
Save The Flow – Protect nature, conserve water
The Bangalore Film Society and fellow organisations have no hammer. Still, for four days in early June, they hammered out a warning, with cinema as their tool. The purpose: to generate awareness about the vital importance of water, its destructive capacity generate awareness about the vital importance of water, its destructive capacity. View PDF
Is Water the Next Oil?
Water is more vital for human life than oil – and environmentalists, corporations, communities and governments increasingly recognize its unequal distribution around the globe could lead to severe environmental degradation and intense conflicts in the years ahead. Anyone who cares about water should observe the management of oil during the past century and not repeat […]
Kelvinator GR8! Women Awards 2007
ohini Nilekani started as a writer. She worked as a journalist for several years writing for many for leading publications such as Sunday and India Today. Her first novel, a medical thriller called STILLBORN was published by Penguin Books. She is Founder-Chairperson, Pratham Books, a non-profit publishing house set up to create high quality, low […]
Breaking their shells
IN THE northern plains of Bihar, which are so used to being part of a flood economy that the railway stations have permanent stalls for flood relief personnel, we at Arghyam are supporting a small, yet bold, initiative in the districts of Madhubani, Sahara, Supaul and Khagaria. A small, but committed group of five NGOs […]
Modern Womanhood
Modern Womanhood – Rohini Nilekani, Chairman of Argyam and Akshara Foundation, Bangalore. Social Services. View PDF
GR8 Women Achievers Award 2007
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry Ladies Organisation In association with the Indian Television Academy – Gr8 Women Achievers Award 2007. View PDF
Femme De Force – DAUGHTER, WIFE. MOTHER – India Woman today is so much more than this.
SHE IS THE FORCE THAT’S INSPIRING THE NATION AND THE WORLD. The woman you see here is Rohini Nilekani, wife of Infosys CEO, Nandan Nilekani. But more important, she is a woman with strong beliefs about how one can “give back to the society in small measure what one receives in such abundance”. A former […]
They read better today
More than 95 per cent of 69,800 children in government schools can read better today; 45,000 children who could not read before can now read without any hitch. The 45-day accelerated reading programme, conducted jointly by Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Akshara Foundation across primary classes in over 1,400 government schools in Bangalore, has done wonders […]
Akshara’s Karnataka Learning Partnership a runaway success
95 per cent hit on improving reading skills. THE Karnataka Learning Partnership, a public-private initiative by Akshara foundation and the Education Department, Government of Karnataka and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, on Thursday presented the findings of its reading programme conducted across 1309 government primary schools in Bangalore. View PDF
Prajaa Vaani – Kannada
Prajaa Vaani – Kannada View PDF
eenaadu.net – Vasundhara – Telugu
eenaadu.net – Vasundhara – Telugu View PDF
Planning for cities of the future
ALL ACROSS the cities of India, citizens grapple every day with the multifold outcomes of rapid change and increasing crowds. We complain, we sigh, and sometimes we express our rage. Yet, in our hearts, each one of us holds some vision for the city in which we have tried to make our home. Surely we […]
Learning the Art of Giving
For Rohini Nilekani, making the money was the easy part. The Bangalore-based wife of Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani, Rohini owns 1.67% of the Indian outsourcing company, and her personal fortune soared to about $300 million along with the meteoric rise of its stock. She calls her windfall “a quite frightening amount of money.” And as […]
Praja Vaani – Kannada
Praja Vaani – Kannada View PDF
Akshara Foundation presented Rotary award – Kannada
Foundation chairperson Rohini Nilekani accepts the award. Ms. Nilekani said the foundation, as part of the Pratham Network, believed in giving underprivileged children the opportunity to learn and thereby empower them to take advantage of several more opportunities available for the educated. View PDF
Achievers – Rohini Nilekani – Kannada
Achievers – Rohini Nilekani – Kannada View PDF
Better Halves – Giving Money
Better Halves – Giving Money. View PDF
Save Water: Calling Newspapers/ Magazines – Kannada
Call to Save Water – Kannada View PDF
Making a difference
In the non-profit sector, we are often asked questions about outlays and outcomes. Funding agencies, government, the media and our partners demand to know what exactly we have achieved. Gone are the days when you could claim to wipe the brows of the sick, feed the hungry and shelter the homeless. These are ‘band-aid’ solutions. […]
Some basic lessons needed
Hurray! The outlay for education has been increased by 31.5 per cent. The government loves to play the ‘daatha’ (donor), but the ground reality rests with God. First of all, what does this mean in terms of GDP deployment? The FM has also proposed to start five lakh classrooms. Excellent, considering many of our children […]
Opportunity to raise people’s mind
I passionately believe that we need a public library system that is on par with the best in the world, and is accessible to all. I have not met any Indian who has not returned from the US, glowing with praise for the public library system there. I myself think most of my real education […]
Making the system respond
t’s been a good year in Bangalore and Karnataka for primary education. The Right to Education Bill will soon become law and the state is gearing up to put mechanisms and resources into place to get the last child into school. The numbers of children enrolling into class one, has shown continuous improvement. Some infrastructure […]
Answer is blowin’ in the wind – Today, the situation is such that even the mighty Cauvery is not enough to slake the thirst of this city.
In all the crises that have overtaken the city, one that looms grey and large is the effect of excess ram. Overflowing lakes, tanks and drains have almost made us forget that other and worse crisis that often affects the city – water scarcity. When rainfall is inadequate, the water supply dries up alarmingly. And […]
It is strange that after 5 7 years we have not managed to create an emergency access number such as 911 In the US
SPEEDING to somewhere. Suddenly… .Craaaashhhhhh! Imagine if you were cruising happily along a segregated highway on an arterial road in Bangalore. Imagine if you were knocked down by a truck rumbling along on the wrong side of the road. I know of two cases that played out like that scenario. The ones who died were […]
At Ashvasan it’s future perfect
WORLD Elders Day came and went as a feeble reminder that even though India as a whole is getting younger, senior citizens are growing rapidly in absolute numbers. Yet others, such as the ever-elegant 77-year-old Lalita Ubhayaker, are busy knitting safety nets for their less fortunate peers. Ashvasan Foundation, set up more than a decade […]
It’s elementary, education matters
Across sectors, parents want to educate their wards, at great cost to themselves. Can India Inc engineer, or partner in a revolution to elevate our performance in elementary education? APPARENTLY, Indians have begun to believe in themselves. We all think we belong to a country with a future. For 50 years we were not quite […]
Imagine there was no illiteracy
Countries in the West have autonomous school boards that report to citizens and encourage participatory practices. Sure they have their share of problems, but at least these problems are aired and responses are required to be made. Let me start with Akshara Foundation, with which I am most familiar. Since early 2000, we have had […]
New indignation, new alignment
Sometimes, it seems as though much of the world is trying to crowd into Bangalore. Hold that thought. At almost seven million, our population in this city is already more than the population of new-age countries such as Ireland, and almost half of that of Chile.
Do cities have DO cities have a self image? Does Bangalore think of itself the way others see it?
Over the past three years, I have had occasion to travel around the world, attending conferences and meeting thought leaders in different countries. Maybe 1 should not be surprised, but I always am, when many of the people I talk to are keenly aware of Bangalore. Primarily of course, they see it as the software […]
Campaign Read India: Get Them Glued To Books, Happily
ON International Literacy Day, it is time to do some stock-taking. And statistics do not console when it comes to the continuing high rate of school dropouts and the inability of even 50 percent of children going to government schools to read fluently. But the picture is not entirely bleak. In Bangalore, the Akshara Foundation […]
The ‘Why Why Girl’ launched –
The Vice- Captain of the Indian cricket team, Rahul Dravid, on Monday released the noted writer Ma- hashveta Devi’s book, “The Why Why Girl”, under the Read India Movement aimed at bringing down the number of illiterate children. The book has been brought out by Pratham, of which the Bangtilore-based Akshara Foundation is a member. […]
BANGALORE FAST FORWARD – Knowledge City
Bangalore is a Happening City. We’ve heard it so many times. But what does that mean? Did the people of Magadha say it was a happening city? Or the citizens of Awadh? Or nearer in time, did Bombayites think their city was happening? And did this actually start getting said because the city in some […]
North-South Hatthira Bandaaga (Kannada)
North-South Hatthira Bandaaga (Kannada). Prajaa Vaani. View PDF
Nirmaadane (Kannada)
Nirmaadane (Kannada). Prajaa Vaani. View PDF
Premier Book Shop
Does everyone in Bangalore know how to get to Premier Book Shop? Of course not. You have to get to M.G.Road and then find platform Nine and Three Fourths! Clearly, you have to be a wizard to actually shop at Premier. At a very special lunch at the warm home of Ramchandra Guha and Sujata […]
The Journey to yoga class – Iyengar Yoga classes
For the past two and a half years, 1 have regularly attended Iyengar Yoga classes in Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India. I practice under the guidance of Yogacharya Shri H.S.Arun, a long time student of “Guruji” BKS Iyengar. The class is about seven kilometers away from my home. I travel by car, and am […]
Shikshanakke Number 1 Priority Sigabeku (Kannada)
Shikshanakke Number 1 Priority Sigabeku (Kannada). Rohini Nilekani. View PDF
From darkness unto light – Akshara foundation has initiated 20,000 slum children into education by integrating private, voluntary and government sectors.
SMALL drops in an ocean. This is how the people at Akshara describe their efforts. Ali this despite the fact that 20,000 children in slums around Bangalore have already been initiated into the world of letters by this foundation through its educational programme. View PDF
MONOPOLY ON IDEAS
More an explorer than a strategist, the Net-economy woman is teaching business how to do the job. These are snapshots of four women from Bangalore, perhaps the fastest evolving city in India. I have chosen them because I like to believe these women are part of our mentor capital. 1 like to believe that we need to know […]
Keeping The Romance Alive
What is the price of fame? Incessant travel, for one. Constant tension over the fickle media, for another. Smiling all the time in public, posing for photos with strangers, suffering autograph hunters, being surrounded, squeezed out of breathing space. Does all this bother A. Hariharan, the south Indian singer who’s made it big in the […]
A Face In The Crowd – Usha Kini
She has dared to be different in a staid world. Usha Kini, a producer on DD Bangalore, firmly believes that television can make a difference to our lives. View PDF
The journey through Cyberspace
The whole world opens up as India hooks up to the information highway. f you are using the phrase, ‘International Information Superhighway’ and thinking how erudite you sound, forget it. It’s already a no-no, a cliche, a has-been of a catch phrase. How, you blink, did that happen, when you had hardly begun to understand […]
MAD about Madhuri – The making of a phenomenon
Ten years ago, they would never have dared to make their feelings public. Today, however, Farooq Abdullah, T.N. Seshan, Orissa’s poet laureate Sitakanta Mohapatra and, of course, M.F. Husain can get away with publicly declaring their adoration of her. After all, what’s so special about these people? Everyone is in love with Madhuri Dixit. View […]
Shackling a demon – Doctors Of International repute at the global seminar on epilepsy
Epilepsy is no longer the demon it used to be. At the end of a century which saw dramatic improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of this very common human ailment, epileptologists are downplaying epilepsy as a very manageable condition. This was one of the most reassuring meassages that came through at an international seminar […]
Checks and Balances – Making Transportation Systems Accountable
In its present form, the consumer protection act does not allow recourse to consumer courts for instances such as these. But if the consumer awakening implies that providers of a service/amenity or product must be accountable for quality to its consumers or purchasers, then surely there is scope to widen the purview of COPRA. View […]
Checks and Balances – Making Transportation Systems Accountable
The Indian consumer movement will come of age only when it is generally accepted that both providers and consumers of a good or service are reciprocally accountable. View PDF
Who’s Winning This War – With the increasing use -and abuse- of antibiotics, bacteria are learning to fight back against the deadly drugs
It is unfair to blame the GP alone for increasing antibiotic resistance. Patients should be educated against self- medication. View PDF
Keys For Mindscapes –
The rough edges of psychiatric rehabilitation are continuously being chipped away and this can be to everyone’s benefit, observes Rohini Nilekani. View PDF
When they’re 64 – Today’s parents are not sure they will get their children’s support in their old age
have two children, but they have not been brought into this world with the hope that they will look after me when I grow old.” Name: Monica Thapar. Age: 36 years. Family status: Divorced. Job: Works for INTACH. Residence: Delhi. View PDF
Shake hands and make up
Chief minister Ramakrishna Hegde and the dissidents, led by H. D. Deve Gowda, have called a truce. But, given the belligerence of both sides, how long will it last? WHh deliberate cunning chief minister R.K. Hegde tried to reduce the serious matter of dissidence to a simple issue of discipline. But it is not likely […]
A hi-tech spinoff – ISRO
The Indian Space Research Organisation has begun to transfer advanced technology to the commercial sector. t is a high-profile, hi-tech organisation packed with some of the finest scientific and technical minds in the country. In keeping with its glamorous profile, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has a generous budget (Rs 300 crores in 1987). […]
The old resignation routine
R. K. Hegde wins a small victory against the dissidents and pulls his favourite ‘resignation’ stunt again. If 28 March had been the day of the dissidents in Karnataka, 3 July unexpectedly belonged to the loyalists. In March, the Janata rebels had nearly spiked the elections of the party candidates to the Rajya Sabha. View […]
Hegde’s nemesis
H.D. Deve Gowda has none of Ramakrishna Hegde’s charm, but his dissidence has finished off the Karnataka chief minister’s national ambitions. View PDF
Buy one, rent one – Kinectic Honda
Early bird customers o f Kinetic Honda have a unique facility: a scooter on rent from any dealer anywhere in the country. Early this year. Kinetic Honda Motor Ltd, the Japanese collaboration headquartered in Pune, began a scheme called the Founders’ Club, for all those custorhers who purchased Kinetic Honda scooters (current Bangalore price Rs […]
The Loan Messiah – Janardhana Poojari
Despite the barrage of criticism from within and without the party, Union minister of state for finance Janardhan Poojary’s loan melas continue to win him immense popularity. View PDF
Hegde Scores again – The CM’s nominee is appointed state Janata president
Karnataka chief minister Ramakrishna Hegde’s bad patch may finally be over. The “unanimous election” of his nominee, M.P. Prakash, as the new Karnataka Pradesh Janata Party president on 5 October has proved the chief minister’s supremacy in the state unit in spite of the challenge from a vocal dissident group. View PDF
Lok Ayukta: Watchdog?
The Karnataka Lok Ayukta, which has the power to try even the chief minister, is yet to make headway. The Lok Ayukta Bill was Karnataka chief minister Ramakrishna Hegde’s first specific indication of fighting corruption. The Bill which received the President’s assent in January 1985, was the only one among other Lok Ayukta bills which […]
Our Disgruntled Scientists
Despite Rajiv Gandhi’s emphasis on science and the need to enter the 21st century, the Indian scientific establishment is demoralised and directionless. What has gone wrong? View PDF
Hegde’s think tank – Four years ago, Ramakrishna Hegde, the chief minister of Karnataka, setup the Economic and Planning Council (EPC)
Four years ago, Ramakrishna Hegde, the chief minister of Karnataka, setup the Economic and Planning Council (EPC), a high-powered advisory body. How impressive has been this ‘”super cabinet’s” performance? What are its shortcomings? View PDF
Spare the green hills – Environmentalists oppose illegal granite quarrying
Environmentalism is struggling to come of age in the country, and Karnataka is probably ahead of most other states as awareness has spread to even the remotest parts of the state. The latest issue taken up by environmentalists in Karnataka is that of illegal granite quarrying, especially in the B.R. Hill ranges of Mysore. It […]
HUMOUR AND THE PRESIDENCY – A recent conference takes a serious look at how funny US presidents have always tried to be
Henry Kissinger, as us secretary of State, once asked his security guard what he would do if someone tried to kidnap him. “Don’t worry,’’ the guard replied, “we won’t let them take you alive.” View PDF
Women In India
Women in India share many of the problems that face their counterparts in the U.S., such as sexual harassment, lower wages, political exclusion, and physical violence which, at its worst, culminates in rape and even brideburning. In addition, however, most Indian women, and in fact many women all over the Third World, carry the double […]
Domestic Labour-at what cost
The average pay given to a Domestic Servant is Rs.30, merely half the cost of a cotton sari. On the rare occasion that they ask for a raise they are merely asked to quit. View PDF
Ramakrishna Hedge: The Opposition’s New Star
Over the last few months, Hegde has emerged as the Janata party’s most impressive leader. Can he replace Chandrashekhar? CONSIDER THESE FACTS. The Janata party is rapidly running out of leaders. Chandrashekhar, who once seemed like the obvious Prime Ministerin-waiting has seen his credibility disappear. View PDF
Bangalore: A metropolis Slowly Crumbles
A few years ago. Bangalore was the boom city o f the South. Now the boom has gone bust. Last summer, just about a year ago, Bangaloreans were basking in the warmth of yet another addition to the string of monikers the city has acquired. Bangalore — the boom city — then seemed an awesome […]
The Fractured Image
A few signs are showing that women are coming into their own in Indian cinema…. not very radically so, but at least differently from men. Hopefully, in a larger context, film festivals and discussions like the one presented by Vimochana, have their own role to play in fostering a climate for this social transformation. View […]
Who’s a Nuclear Threat
Recent assurances by Secretary of State George Shultz to the Indian government regarding U.S. supplying spare parts to the Tarapur nuclear plant have generated misdirected reaction in this country. Stripped of their politicization the facts are these: By virtue of a 1963 Indo-U.S. agreement, the U.S. has a contractual obligation to supply the Tarapur plant […]
The Come-To-Tea Committees
Ea r l ie r this year, those who followed the activities of Rajiv Gandhi when he came to the city, noticed that while for most of the time he remained in the shadow of his mother, he made one deviation. He agreed to attend a tea-party hosted in his honour by an organisation—hitherto unheard […]
Kalyug – An Art Film For The Masses
LIKE every other Shyam Benegal film, Kalyug, slated for release next month, has already received more than its fair share of media attention. The focus, however, seems to have been on the fact that the director has cast commercially established stars such as Rekha, Shashi Kapoor and Raj Babbar in its major roles. The criticism […]
Music – Prabha Atre – Low-Key Virtuoso
Dr Prabha Atre, 45, vocalist, is a simple, unassuming person, not given to talking about herself. Watching her go about the modest Mahim flat, worrying about the carpenter not coming in, or the snacks being served right, it is difficult to imagine the same woman on stage at a concert—dignified, even a little aloof, and […]
Performance – A Musical Fair
IT was no different from other music festivals that Bombay is treated to during the peak music season, except that it was organised by Protima Bedi, and her Odissi Dance Centre students. And since Protima is a commercial password when it comes to all things cultural, the festival drew to its charmed circle, big names. […]
Zakir Hussain – The Tabla Maestro
About five years ago, Zakir Hussain, like all other talented tabla players, was known merely as an accompanist. Being the son of a world famous artiste, Ustad Alla Rakha, he had far more exposure than those with less exalted family connections, but he did not draw crowds for himself, as he does today. This star […]
A Perfect Pair – Vijaya And Farrokh Mehta
ARROKH MEHTA has just completed a full-house run of the play, A Streetcar Named Desire, where in his role as Mitch, he stole the show. His wife, Vijaya has just successfully launched a classical theatre production in Sanskrit, Abhigyan Shakuntal, which is amassing rave reviews from critics. Right now however both the Mehtas are going […]
Girish Karnad – Interview by Interview by AHMED RIZVI and NANDAN NILEKANI
After Basu Chatterjee’s ‘Swami’, Girish Karnad is much in demand as a ‘character actor’ in commercial Hindi cinema. But he first made his mark as a playwright (‘Tughlaq’, ‘Hayavadana’) and as one of the pioneers of the new cinema movement in Karnataka. Karnad maintains =his varied involvement in theatre and cinema— as a writer, an […]
Choas At The Kendra – DOORDARSHAN STRIKE
Bombay Doordarshan, that bureaucratic monolith, has now been in existence for just over eight years. Almost unremarked upon by the press so far for its gross ineptitude and mismanagement, it suddenly became the focus of attention early this month. The Doordarshan Programme Staff Union (Dpsu) announced their decision to begin a massive strike to express […]
Crime – Murder – A Bloody Affair
It seemed incredible that a murder could be committed in a building right on the main road of one of the City’s busiest areas—Chowpatty. But on November 12, ex-judge of the Bombay High Court S.M. Shah, 75, and his wife Dr Mira Shah, 61, were found in a pool of blood in their home in […]
Event Of The Fortnight – The Karnad Wedding
The event of the fortnight was the catch of the the year, Girish Karnad, tying the knot with his lady love of 10 years’ standing, Saraswathy Ganpathy. That the evening saw the big names amongst playwrights, film-makers, socialites, ad men, and models emerge from, their respective niches, speaks volumes for the bridegroom’s versatility. View PDF […]
The Making Of A Programme
Mo s t viewers of the Box are totally in the dark as to what goes into a programme. A peek behind the scenes reveals an astonishing sight—mismanagement, innovation, confusion and even flashes of genius. We chose ‘Parikrama’ as our prototype programme because of its popularity. (60 per cent of the audience watches ‘Parikrama’ regularly, […]
The Rise Of The Ghazal Singers
Ghazal singers have become the new cultural celebrities in India. They sing to packed houses, their programmes are very popular on television, and their records sell better than many Hindi film records. Why have they suddenly become so popular? ROHINI SOMAN investigates. View PDF
The New Generation: 1960-1980: Saeed Mirza
If you were to ask Saeed Mirza an awkward question, he would probably fling an even more tricky one at you. A very difficult man to corner, Mirza is the most vociferous spokesman on the Parallel Cinema movement in India, Compact, with a straight no-nonsense beard. Saeed Mirza, in his mid-thirties, is still an angry […]
