Thursday, March 31, 2011

Let the Music Play

Who can stop the music?
No-one can stop the music!

Thus goes a song that had a lot of radio-play in the seventies and eighties, over the SLBC, and Musical Bandbox. The SLBC, is of course, the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, and 'Musical Bandbox was that very famous western music lunchtime slot on All India Radio, Calcutta.
The All Asia Service of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation has fizzled out, in the same way as Short Wave Radio stations have, all over the world. Since the introduction of FM, and the phasing out of SW receiver production, Short Wave music programmes have suufered, simply because you can't match FM radio quality.
AIR Calcutta B and the SLBC would receive an immense amount of requests from the Anglo-Indian community, the Goan community, and both these radio stations and their announcers were part of the family early morning and lunch-time rituals. In Delhi, what is now AIR FM Rainbow, used to receive a lot of requests from the North-eastern Student community. Whenever I'm in Delhi I never fail to tune in to AIR FM Rainbow, and I really enjoy the afternoon and late night shows.
It's a shame tha one cannot access AIR FM Rainbow in a radio-link via AIR patna, though AIR stations in Dehradun and elsewhere have linked with AIR FM Rrainbow to provide their listeners with a third AIR channel.
One can receive Radio SriLanka, the English Services of SLBC via the website on the internet.
The Pasar Bharati, or AIR website doesn't have such streaming links. If it did, a lot of fans of the Western Music Services of Al India Radio would keep in touch with AIR FM  Rainbow.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Queering Gandhi

Now this new book has queered the Gandhian pitch, eh? Methinks that the Gay 'community' should be highly displeased with all this media labelling of Gandhi as 'Gay'. 
Whatever his sexual orientation may have been, Gandhi couldn't be called 'Gay' by any stretch of imagination. Married men having an occsaional fling with another man is a well documented cultural aspect of any sexually segregated society, no matter how many 'prim and proper' people want to keep this fact well hidden under the carpet. Ask those of us who have been in the HIV/AIDS circuit for the past two decades. 
So what if Gandhi wrote 'love letters' to a man, so did Shakespere ... and a great many other famous people I am told. How does it matter?
 Of course, it will be interesting to see how all this new 'informantion' we have about Gandhi will impact the 'Gandhians' . Will they actually begin to  lift their heads from the sand and take a look around?

American author Joseph Lelyveld yesterday  dismissed claims his new book on Mahatma Gandhi alleged that India's independence leader was a racist bisexual who left his wife for a bodybuilder.


Indian newspapers (naturally) were 'outraged' by reviews in the United States and Britain of biography that focused on Gandhi's relationship with German-Jewish architect and amateur bodybuilder Hermann Kallenbach.

A quote: Joseph Lelyveld has written a ­generally admiring book about ­Mohandas Gandhi, the man credited with leading India to independence from Britain in 1947. Yet "Great Soul" also obligingly gives readers more than enough information to discern that he was a sexual weirdo, a political incompetent and a fanatical faddist—one who was often downright cruel to those around him. Gandhi was therefore the archetypal 20th-century progressive ­intellectual, professing his love for ­mankind as a concept while actually ­despising people as individuals. [here's the link to the full article]

The British Daily Mail ran the headline 'Gandhi 'left his wife to live with a male lover' new book claims", while the Daily Telegraph review said he had 'held racist views against South African blacks'.

Revisionist works on Mahatma Gandhi—the man, not the icon—have become pretty commonplace in recent years and many Indian readers won’t be particularly astonished to read that Gandhi, when it came to race rights, was far more concerned about Indians than he was about Africans.

I quote from Andrew Roberts piece in the Wall Steet Journal: For all his lifelong campaign for Swaraj ("self-rule"), India could have achieved it many years earlier if ­Gandhi had not continually abandoned his civil-disobedience campaigns just as they were beginning to be successful. With 300 million Indians ruled over by 0.1% of that number of Britons, the subcontinent could have ended the Raj with barely a shrug if it had been politically united. Yet Gandhi's uncanny ability to irritate and frustrate the leader of India's 90 million Muslims, Muhammad Ali Jinnah (whom he called "a maniac"), wrecked any hope of early independence. He equally alienated B.R. Ambedkar, who spoke for the country's 55 million Untouchables (the lowest caste of Hindus, whose very touch was thought to defile the four higher classes). Ambedkar pronounced Gandhi "devious and untrustworthy.


One hopes that the hullabaloo over the sexuality angle, however, doesn’t get the book banned here. We’d rather like the chance to read it ourselves.


Monday, March 28, 2011

Bihar Pride?

On the heels of the 'glorious' celebration of Bihar Day, comes the news that 'irate' citizens at Bhagalpur  torched Mozhidpur power station and vandalised Vikramshila Express at Bhagalpur railway station to 'protest' the acute power crisis in the city on Saturday.
Evidently, these 'protests' are instigated by local politicians and goons. You set fire to a power station, damaging equipment and property to protest power shortage? How the blazes is power going to be restored if you, 'proud Biharis' shoot yourselves in the foot by burning down your own power sub-station, causing loss of property, and putting a hole in your own government's pocket?
What sort of 'patriotism' or'sub-nationalism' is an act of venting your 'anger' on a train at a railway station? Over the past few days, I have met several Biharis who called the State day celebrations a 'joke' and a waste of government money. 
The city witnessed several incidents in which peeved residents torched public vehicles, I read. Normal life was completely disrupted after residents, which included a sizeable number of women and children, blocked roads in every locality since last evening. They vent their ire by burning tyres, squatting on the roads and blocking them with household items to protest the power crisis.
What happened to non-violent, positive protests, or is all this Gandhian stuff just manufactured history?
 Is this the kind of  violent and destructive 'protest' that goes with the hype 'Proud Bihar', 'Hamara Bihar', 'Bihar land of Buddha', Bihar from where Gandhiji launched his satyagraha movement?

ON THE OTHER HAND
People living in the capital of Bihar (Patna) are fortunate to receive almost 20 hours of electricity a day. In Bhagalpur, the situation is grim. According to BSEB sources, of the total requirement of 60MW, Bhagalpur has been receiving only 1-7MW for the past one-and-a-half months.
The power crisis has hampered operations in the silk industry. JLNMC Hospital superintendent Binod Prasad expressed serious concern over the ongoing power crisis. “Due to the horrible situation, we have decided to close the hospital because patients have become the worst sufferers,” he said.
It's only after the  town went ballistic that the state government has 'ordered' that 30 MW per day should be provided to Bhagalpur.
So the message is: if you want the Bihar Government to act, then cause a riot, destroy public property, endanger lives?

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Kilkari Kidfest

Bihar's 99th State day has been celebrated with an enthusiasm like never before, and it was interesting to see various organisations synchronize activities to make the week interesting and enjoyable.

Kilkari, the Bihar Bal Bhawan has organised three days of children's theatre. This is the first 'national' festival of drama for children. There were theatre and puppet groups from different states, as well as children's groups performing.

It has been a fascinating experience with a good response from adults, teenagers and of course, from the kids who watched the plays.

Congratulations and best wishes to Jyoti Parihar and the Kilkari staff, who constantly come up with innovative interventions and activities for kids, especially those in government schools.

Queer rights are not 'new' rights

On March 22, at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Colombia delivered a Joint Statement during General Debate (Agenda Item 8 - Follow-up and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Program of Action) that called on States to end violence, criminal sanctions and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and urged the Human Rights Council to address these important human rights issues. The statement was delivered on behalf of a broad grouping of 85 States from all regions of the world.


The statement enjoyed the support of the largest group of countries to-date, on the topic of sexual orientation, gender identity and human rights. It builds on a similar statement delivered by Norway at the Human Rights Council in 2006 (on behalf of 54 States), and a joint statement delivered by Argentina at the General Assembly in 2008 (on behalf of 66 States). It is clear that every time these issues are addressed there is measurable increase in state support.

An intervention delivered by Nigeria on behalf of the African Group, still reaffirmed the critical point that “laws that criminalize sexual orientation should be expunged”. South Africa, a signatory to the State joint statement, emphasized in a separate intervention, that sexual orientation is not a new issue for that country, and called for an inter-governmental process to ensure open dialogue on the issue.

Earlier in this 16th session of the Human Rights Council, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay, had stated to the Council:

We are not trying to create new or special rights. We are simply trying to address the challenges that prevent millions of people from enjoying the same human rights as their fellow human beings just because they happen to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.”

A group of 19 National Human Rights Institutions, including those from Korea, Senegal and South Africa, also delivered a strong statement on the importance of condemning human rights abuses based on sexual orientation and gender identity. These institutions are important for addressing the human rights violations – including investigating complaints, reviewing laws and policies, holding national inquiries and public education – to better protect and promote the rights of LGBTI people.

The Joint Statement supports what UN human rights bodies have repeatedly expressed: that no one should face rights violations because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. Since the UN Human Rights Committee’s landmark decision in 1994, affirming that sexual orientation is a protected ground against discrimination, United Nations experts have repeatedly acted against abuses that target LGBT people, including killings, torture, rape, violence, disappearances, and discrimination in many areas of life.

Signatories to the Human Rights Council joint statement include: Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Central African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Holi Kids

Kids and Holi: none of the images below are my work. I salute those intrepid photographers who brave paint bombs, and water jets, and enamel paint, exposing themselves and their cameras to a lot of er... colour. I merely am a vehicle to bring you some of the images that I wish I had the courage to take. So enjoy!

Colour me cute: kids at a playschool celebrate holi

Beautiful pose, such a careful portriat that the sparkle is missing

Now here's a slice of life, straight from the streets



Saturday, March 19, 2011

HOLI MEN

Ah! Just some amazing photographs to share the unadulterated spirit of Bhangfest 2011

Cannabis is legal for cultural purposes, and hey, I'm not complaining.

Holy Smoke! It's time to take a toke

What the BIT Patna Boys did last summer: used mud-packs

Psychadellic celebration, mind blowing!


Shankara: the pot smoker in the sky and Shankar, slightly pot-bellied

Bhang barse: too much of a good time
Let your hair down this festival of colours, but be good please
[and if you can't be good, be very, very careful!]

Snail Mail

Indiapost may have had a glorious past, but it has an ignominous present and a bleak future.
The Patliputra Post Office -[pincode 800013] and its delivery system is inefficient, and unethical to boot.
Speed Post : delivery to any part of the country within 24 or 36 hours, isn't that what they say.
A packet was booked at Ethiraj Salai Post Office and given an elaborate tracking code ET068067884IN.
The time 16:22 :18 on 11th March 20011
7 days later here's what we found on  tracking the packet
article bagged and sent to   Chennai Office at 16:52:32
bagged opened at Chennai Office 19:15 :59 and sent to Patna via Mumbai at 20:03:04
On 13th March, the article was despatched from Mumbai to Patna through IT3571, scheduled departure 13th March at 11:40:00 hours.
On 17th March... no further details.
On 18th March, Destination post office says, we have no idea... it's not our problem!
Speed Post Centre Bihar circle: Mr O P Singh's mobile number  9430935498 appears constantly switched off, and the office number 2230082 ... well, it's never picked up it seems.

JAI HO! India continues to shine...

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Want to make films?

Pioneers Production Company (PCC) are calling for applications to
produce independent feature films under the “Alternative Films”
project that is funded by the European Union in cooperation with Jordan
Enterprise Development Project.
Applicants are to have written a story
or a novel that can be produced for cinema or a script that needs
development.

Interested applicants are to send their project or suggestion to the
mailing address below.

The deadline for application is on the 15th of April 2011.

Mailing address:
Pioneers Production Company (PPC)
P.O. Box 940480 Amman 11194 Jordan

For more information please send an email to: ppc@go.com.jo

Want to Study film-making?

Call for applications and admission: Netherlands Film and Television Academy
The Netherlands Film and Television Academy (NFTA) is one of the
leading international schools for professional training in film and
quality television. The NFTA offers a 4-year, fulltime BA in eight
fields of specialization in film and as of 2009, the Academy also
offers a master's programme in Film, fully taught in English.

In co-operation with the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, the NFTA also
offers a two years Master in Composing for Film.

Rules for application:
· Applicants should complete an application form, accompanied
by several enclosures, including examples of previous work. Candidates
will be assessed in terms of the quality of their work, their motivation, research and development plan and professionalism.

· The programme takes two years (120 EC); although students may spend three years in completing their studies.
· Eight copies of the application form and all enclosures have been submitted to the Netherlands Film and Television Academy mailing address found below.

· Applications for the entrance examination for the Master’s  Degree Programme in Film can be accepted solely in Dutch or English and must be sent to: info@masterflm.nl stating  ‘application Master Film’ + your name in the subject line.

· The application should comprise: the completed and printed form, CV, reasons for applying for a place in the Master’s Degree Programme in Film.
· Other documents to be sent along with the application are the following:


· A research and development plan, which the applicant  wishes to pursue during the Master’s
Programme.
· Portfolio: Enclose a relevant selection of your work, including reviews if available.
· A letter of recommendation + CV and the name and address of your referee
· Two original passport photographs and two copies of your passport
· Two copies of your most advanced certificate of education.

Mailing address:
Netherlands Film and Television Academy (NFTA)
Master’s Degree Programme in Film (NFTA)
Markenplein 1
1011 MV Amsterdam
The Netherlands

The deadline for application is on Friday 15 April 2011.

For more information please visit the following website: www.masterflm.nl

Or send an email to: info@masterflm.nl

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Short waves begin to fade

Technology expands and engulfs the world around us, and amidst the new applications of radio waves, and the internet, the 'most powerful and cheapest medium in the wirld' is fading away.

As government spending patterns change, the rural poor in India are going to be left even more information poor. Already short wave radios are hard to find in the market. radio companies seem to have simply stopped manufacturing them.

Now with the impending curtailing of the Hindi services of the BBc, lakhs of listeners in the Hindi heartland will be deprived of their daily dose of creadible, reality based, BBC programming.
While Radio may survive in another form... but how will radio serve its primary purpose - empowering and enlightening the unwashed masses...?
Read on for more:
BBC HINDI ki Kahani

BBC Hindi: Someone still loves you!


Thankfully, The BBC Hindi radio service has won a temporary reprieve after a lakhs of people wrote in to offer support and to appeal to the BBC to keep the service on air. The campaign was supported by writers such as Arundhati Roy, Vikram Seth and broadcaster Sir Mark Tully.

A listener from Bihar actually said, ‘I have five cows. I will gladly sell one of them and send the money to the BBC so that it continues its MW service.’ However, the BBC charter prohibits the service from accepting donations.

The BBC World Service says it has been approached by a number of commercial parties about alternative funding.

It has now agreed to keep a one hour evening broadcast in Hindi for another year while it explores these options.

That’s a bit sad, because evening broadcasts tend to be overshadowed by television. Lots of people usually listen to the early morning BBC half hour broadcast at 6:30 am

Campaigners said BBC Hindi broadcasts, which were scheduled to end on 31 March, have 10 million listeners, many of them in rural areas.

Launched in May 1940 in the midst of World War II and the freedom struggle, the BBC Hindi service was religiously followed by generations of listeners, who considered it the most credible source of news. Listeners still remember that the BBC Hindi was the first to announce Indira Gandhi's assassination to both India and the world, even before the government broadcasters made the announcement. Reports suggest that even Maoists in the isolated jungles of eastern India tune in for the BBC Hindi.

However, from an estimated listener base of 30 million a decade ago, the BBC Hindi has seen its audience decline to just over nine million today, hit by the poor reception of short and medium wave radio and the rising popularity of television and FM.

“We are considering the option of some radio programming on the website as well,” said BBC Hindi Editor Amit Baruah. Of course, we can listen to BBC over the internet, but how many people actually have internet connections at home. How many students and young people can afford this? BBC on internet is little consolation for the vast majority of rural listeners who are the real audience and the biggest fans of the BBC.

The BBC would jump at the chance to set up an FM channel of its own, to continue providing radio services in the same way as it is doing in several other countries where short and medium wave services are being cut.

India is the only South Asian nation that does not allow private FM news channels. In fact, the BBC launched its preliminary FM initiative, providing entertainment and non-news content to partner channels reaching 52 cities, in the hope that the government would soon agree to allow news content as well.


BBC Hindi has been beaming to India for 70 years

While the BBC continues to provide short-wave services in India in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Nepali, sources suggest that all short wave services will ultimately be shut down. Unless they are allowed to broadcast news on FM, The BBC radio's era in India may soon be over.

Can you imagine how self-centred the local print media are?



BBC Hindi, which has a huge following in rural Bihar, was slated to shut down by March 31, 2011, but did we see this anywhere as a major news item in our self-important English language newspapers?





The aftermath of the Tsumani

One of the most striking things about the aftermath of Japan’s huge tragedy- earthquake followed by Tsunami is this: there are no reports of looting, lawlessness, police having to protect property from gangs, and other negative anti-social behaviour.


Another striking thing is the report I heard over the BBC about people calmly standing in the streets of Tokyo and elsewhere, busy texting on facebook and twitter, while the world rocked about them.

Now, herein lies the seeds of a 600 page article… or two.

Japan remains ‘the Land of the Rising Sun’

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Yesterday Once More - Radio Ceylon

Do you remember “The Ladies of Calcutta, They steal your heart away, and after it is broken, you’ll say … nonny nonny nay?”

When was the last time you listened to Lobo singing, “I love you to want me” dedicated to Angeline Gracious of Jamalpur?

When was the last time you hummed along to Gentleman Jim as he sand “Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone?.

When was the last time you listened to The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation?

Well, I haven’t been in the mood to write a blog, partly because of the enormity of what’s happening in Japan, and mostly because I’ve discovered my childhood radio station, the one I grew up with, still playing “Yesterday Once more” loud and clear. And Justin Beiber can’t hold a candle to Donny Osmond, that’s what I discovered after I heard ‘Mother of Mine” played on the radio yesterday.

If you’re one of those who cut their milk teeth on ‘The Morning Show’ and miss ‘The Choice of the people’, I have a pleasant surprise  for you.

 Radio Ceylon - The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation is alive and well and can be heard on the Internet. For the past two days, my computer has willingly taken up the role of my dad's short-wave radio. I've hitched it to my old Akai sound system, and it sounds almost as good as a 1950's valve radio.
Here’s the link to the English Services of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation. Listen to SLBC Radio in real time on the internet.

It’s called Radio Sri Lanka.
So what’re you waiting for?  click on the link below, go to the SLBC home-page, click on ‘listen live to Radio Sri lanka’ and you’re in a TIME Machine to the summer of 69…. some great music from 6 in the morning to 11 in the night.
Interspersed with news, and yes, two hours of live BBC broadcasts as well!

SRI LANKA BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Friday, March 11, 2011

Radio Gaga: BBC Radio services shrink

BBC is ceasing its 648 kHz transmissions of World Service English language radio on 27 March, 2011.


Traditional airwaves are being looked upon as liabilities, and spending reviews around the globe are ensuring that Short wave and Medium wave broadcasts are slowly folding up.

A BBC release says, ” We have had to make some difficult decisions about the distribution of BBC World Service radio around the world, as a result of the Spending Review settlement that BBC World Service received at the end of 2010.

Closure of the 648 kHz service and medium wave frequencies to Russia, continues the process of withdrawing from direct broadcasts to Europe in response to a declining number of direct listeners.”

I discovered that one can get BBC services for a part of the broadcast day from the following FM stations in India

Chandigarh (Vivek FM) 90.4 FM

Siliguri ( Radio Misty) 94.3 FM

Kolkata ( Radio JU ) 90.4 FM

Radio is changing with the times, but it lives on!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Homecoming


Here I come again
With arms of lead
And lacerated feet.
Too many treadmills trod,
Too many burdens borne.
Too many mutilated milestones
Strewn across the bridle path.



Here I come again
With a limp in my stride
From chasing neon rainbows,
Seeking salvation in sandstorms,
Stretching out for tinsel stars
Painted on a plastic skyline.




Here I come again
Like salmon to the source –
To the circle of your arms
To the warmth of your smile
To the haven of your embrace.


Until a new moon rises
And waiting windmills call …


Frank Krishner 12 January 1994, Ranipul, Sikkim.




Note: Waiting windmills: reference to ‘tilting at windmills a la the Man of la Mancha , Don Quixote. Salmon to the source: salmon swim upstream, hundreds of miles to ‘home’ spawning season.