CREATIVE WORLD

The Echo of India Kolkata Wednesday May 23 , 2018 PAGE-10

Father and husbandbehind Girija Devi's

success: Documentary

China launches relay satellite to explore Moon's far side

Participants wait for the start of the Bun Festival parade at Cheung Chau island in Hong Kong, China ––REUTERS

KOLKATA, MAY 22 /--/ Eminent classical singer GirijaDevi had attributed her success to hard work and supportfrom the two most important men in her life, her fatherand husband, according to a documentary film. The film'Girija - A Lifetime in Music," made by vocalist DebapriyaAdhikary and sitarist Samanwaya Sarkar, portraying thelife and times of Girija Devi recently won the 65thNational Award for Best Film on Art and Culture. When itcame to performing in concerts, she did not go against thewishes of her businessman husband, Madhusudan Jain,and remained a family person committed to certainvalues, they said. "If she had to go for a concert for one dayand another concert was scheduled in two days time, shewas not allowed to stay there for more than one day. "Shehad to come back and go again. She never went againsther husband's words," Adhikary said.

Her husband used to organise concerts for her and thathelped her professionally, Adhikary said. Her father wasalso instrumental in Girija Devi taking lessons inclassical music from renowned singers since herchildhood, they said. A significant part of thedocumentary was shot in Benaras where she had spent aconsiderable part of her early age and includes rarefootage from her old concerts. Adhikary and Sarkarrecalled how she had lived music, embodied music in herlife and even described day to day chores in musicalterms. Fondly called 'Appaji' she was married at the ageof 15. Adhikary and Sarkar were disciples of the classicalsinger of the Seniya and Banaras gharanas, who helpedelevate the profile of thumri. In another tribute 'PranaamAppa', an art work with rare photographs launched sixmonths after the death of the vocalist on 24 October 2017,doyens of classical music - Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, PtBirju Maharaj, Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pt Jasraj, UlhasKesalkar to name a few - have come together to sharememories of the talented vocalist.

In his tribute, sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khanrecalled having made a request to the prime minister forconferring 'Bharat Ratna' on the 'Thumri Queen' andwished that it had happened in her lifetime. Khan pointedout Girija Devi happened to be the last of the doyensrepresenting the timeless legacy of 'thumri' singing andsaid it would be in the fitness of things to confer on her the'Bhrat Ratna', taking into account her contribution.Kathak virtuoso Pt Birju Maharaj said, he wold love to seeGirija Devi's home in Benaras turned into a museum toenable music lovers to visit the place. Hindustaniclassical vocalist Pt Jasraj said, "...She was a Dabanggayika, a bold artist. She had managed to make her markat a time when Benaras boasted highly acclaimed singerslike Badi Motibai, Rasollan Bai, Siddheswari Devi and soon. At a certain point no one was bigger than her inBenaras." Remembering he had first heard her on radio in1957-58, Pt Jasraj said, "In the 60s we became quitefriendly with each other, fight with each other overmusic." Hindustani classical vocalist Ulhas Kesalkarsaid, "I used to send many of my students to Girija Devi tobe trained in lighter musical forms such as 'thumri', 'kajri'and so on." The memoir has been conceptualised bySupriya Newar, an art lover. Recalling his meetings withthe classical singer West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi atthe memoir launch recently said, Girija Devi had equalcommand over 'bhajan' and other forms of classical musicapart from 'thumri'. (PTI)

Art of Giving: A philosophy of life

'Tetomadhu'premiere onjuvenile diabetesKOLKATA, MAY 22 /--/The premiere of short film“Tetomadhu” (BitterHoney) on juvenilediabetes and itsdebilitating impact onhealth, family and sociallife. The film directed bySanjay Das and presentedby Shubhangi Creationswas screened at the RotarySadan, Kolkata, in thepresence of doctors,academicians anddignitaries. On theoccasion, a culturalprogram was organized bymusical group Sargam inwhich all the participantsand artistes werethemselves diabeticpatients. A seminar ondiabetes was held in whicheminent medical advisors,Dr Nilanjan Mitra,urologist, Dr TathagataGhosh, Indira Maisnam,endocrinologist, DrKaushik Chatterjee,oncologist, Mr ShankarBanerjee, Director ofMedicity, and academicianMr Biswajoy Chatterjee,Vice Chancellor, UEM,Jaipur, participated. “Theshort film on juvenilediabetes is aimed atsensitizing the society,especially the parents, onhow to combat the menacethat is rapidly spreadingacross the globe and inIndia. Juvenile diabetescan rip apart families andadversely impactchildhood if propermedical steps are nottaken. There is a need forparents to be informed andact at the earliest,” saiddirector Sanjay Das, whohas also written the storyand script for the film.“I take this opportunity tothank Srei Internationalfor supporting the cause ofcreating awareness aboutjuvenile diabetes throughthis short film. I am alsogreatful to Medicity andApollo Gleneagles,Kolkata, for their support,”said, Sumana Das, Founderof Subhangi Creations.The film’s premiere wasfollowed by its onlinedebut in the social media.(EOIC)

Chris Evansalmost starredin 'Deadpool 2'LOS ANGELES, MAY 22 /--/ "Deadpool 2" writers RhettReese and Paul Wernickehave revealed "Avengers:Infinity War" star ChrisEvans almost appeared inthe Ryan Reynoldsheadlined film.The scribes, who havepenned the script withReynolds, said theyconsidered including Evansin the movie not as CaptainAmerica but as The HumanTorch from the "FantasticFour" in the Marvelfranchise. Before shooting tofame with MCU's "CaptainAmerica: The First Avenger"(2011) as Steve Rodgers,Evans had played the role ofJohnny Storm in 2005'spoorly-reviewed "FantasticFour". He reprised his role inits 2007 sequel "FantasticFour: The Rise of the SilverSurfer". Reese and Wernicksaid the initial drafts of thestory had plans to includeStorm in the X-Forceinterviews conducted in thefilm "Deadpool 2". "We nevergot that far (to ask Evans).Someone had the idea weactually did and we thoughtthat was better. "But wedefinitely had a lot more X-Force interviews withbizarre, random peoplecoming in to interview," thewriter duo told Uproxx.Evans had earlier hinted athis wish to move beyond theMarvel Cinematic Universeafter part two of "InfinityWar" comes out next year.(PTI)

MUMBAI, MAY 22 /--/ Tabu is the latest star to join thegrowing cast of Salman Khan-led "Bharat". The characterdetails are still under the wraps but director Ali AbbasZafar has promised that Tabu will play an important rolein the period drama, which also features PriyankaChopra, Disha Patani and Sunil Grover. "I've been a hugefan of Tabu's work and always wished to work with her.After several meetings with her, I'm happy it is finallyhappening with Bharat and am looking forward to theshoot," the 'Sultan' director said. The film, Salman andZafar's third together, is slated to release during Eid nextyear. 'Bharat', produced by Atul Agnihotri's Reel LifeProduction Pvt. Ltd and Bhushan Kumar's T-Series, willbe shot across locations in Abu Dhabi and Spain, besidesPunjab and Delhi in India. (PTI)

PROF. ACHYUTA SAMANTA

In a world that is so embroiledwith greed and corruption ‘simpleliving and high thinking’ has becomea virtue of the past. In thismaterialistic world, we all aspire formore- better and bigger houses,comforts and luxury- that onlymoney can buy. But most of us neverever think about the person on thestreet who is dying of hunger,because we have preferred to live bydenying others the materialprosperity that we would like to havefor us. Art of Giving is indispensablein such circumstances andmaterialistic living. Unlocking Artof Giving in all can create waves ofhappiness for self and for the society.Art of Giving is all about creatingunconditional and sustainableabundance of love, peace, happinessand contentment for others throughgestures of kindness and generosity.This epiphany inspired me to form anot-for-profit initiative forspreading, supporting andpromoting practice of the art ofgiving around the world from 17thMay 2013. The journey of Art ofGiving in my life started back from ayoung age when I sowed the seeds oflove and care as a child, despitehaving been pushed to the mire ofabject poverty due to the untimelydemise of my father. Throughout mychildhood, starting from the age of 5,I lent support to my mother and gaveher solace. I even shared my hard-earned wage with the hungry and theneedy village urchins. With a visionof a poverty free, hunger free andilliteracy free world and the missionto serve the society, I began investingevery penny of my meager earning

as soon as I started my professionalcareer. I invested all that I hadharvested from my enterprises forthe human community to receivelarger and larger harvests year afteryear. I founded the Kalinga Instituteof Industrial Technology University(KIIT) and Kalinga Institute ofSocial Sciences (KISS), a venturethat has the distinction of being theworld’s largest residential institutefor the tribal children and educatesmore than 40,000 poor tribal childrenstands to testify my vision of life andthe art of giving. All myachievements are due to the habit ofArt of Giving. Sharing everythingthat I own has become my passion. Itis not connected with materialwealth.

“One must be poor to know theluxury of giving”. For me,compassion is a two-way street. Forall the sorrow poverty and distress inthis world, there are unlimited waysof helping- for making a positivedifference. Every religion has been ateacher that upholds the art of givingand spreading happiness and peace,the things that have inspired mesomewhere during my struggles oflife to work on. Religiondisseminating material goods is justone form of generosity. One canalways extend an attitude ofgenerosity into one’s behavior. I hadalways wanted to work for the peopleand god has blessed me with thatpower and intention to do so.

Needless to say, charity is animportant tenet in very religion,because compassion is essential forspiritual life. In Indian scriptures,‘daan’ or charity occupies a veryprominent place. Every religionpreaches the same ideology of

philanthorphy, be it the Quran’s“sadaqa” or zakat. Buddhism’scharity to the needy; Jainism charityof offering food, saving lives ofothers in danger, distributingmedicine and spreading knowledge;Judaism’s Tzedakah meaning justiceor righteousness to denote charity;Christianity’s expression of charityas an essential component of faithand Zoroastrianism that considerspoverty and suffering as an afflictionof evil; hence it is the duty of everyindividual to fight this evil. I thoughtto share the magnanimity of a simpleconcept like Art of Giving with thepeople to spread peace andhappiness in the society since 2013. Ijoin the league of people like BenCarson when he advocates,“Happiness does not result fromwhat we get, but from what we give”.Let the “Art of Giving” as a value beinculcated in very heart because“We make living by what we get, butwe make a life by what we give”. Forthe last four years, Art of Givingcommunity consisting of our wellwishers and those inspired by it,celebrate 17 May as InternationalDay of Art of Giving. This year, thetheme is PyaarBhara Pack with themotto people's participation,People’s Contribution. It will becelebrated across 20,000 centersconsisting of more than 200 cities inIndia, 80 countries abroad and all thedistricts of Odisha. Join hands tocelebrate it with PyaarBhara Packand feed with love. Lets create a seachange by spreading message ofpeace and happiness transcendingborders, Castes, Creed, nationalityand become a string of pearlsstrengethened by the bonds ofhumanity. (EOIC)

Vir Das to dotwo more livestand-upcomedy showsfor NetflixMUMBAI, MAY 22 /--/After 'AbroadUnderstanding', Netflix hasordered two additional livestand-up comedy specialsfrom actor-comedian VirDas. 'AbroadUnderstanding' debuted onNetflix in April last yearand tackled nationalism,globalism, good food andbad politics in two crosscutperformances in New Yorkand New Delhi. The first ofthe two newly orderedspecials will be shot in SanFrancisco at the RegencyBallroom on July 14. "I loveworking with Netflix. Theyare spearheading comedyacross the world right now.Every major comic I lovewatching is innovating ontheir platform. I couldn't bemore excited to have a twospecial deal and I'mworking hard on getting theshow ready. "Lookingforward to shooting it in amainstream room withcomedy history to it.Abroad Understandingtook me to an audienceacross the world, I can'twait to see where this onetakes me," the actor said ina statement. (PTI)

Veteran actorHemu Adhikaridies at 81MUMBAI, MAY 22 /--/Veteran film and theatreactor DrHemuAdhikaridied due to alung ailment at hisresidence in Dadar hereyesterday, family sourcessaid. He was 81.Adhikari,known for hiscameo in RajkumarHirani's "Lage RahoMunna Bhai" (2006),wassuffering from a lunginfection for the last one-and-a-half years. He actedin Sai Paranjpe's "Katha"and Marathi films like"Dhyaas Parya" and" H a r i s h c h a n d r a c h iFactory". His last riteswere performed last night,the sources said. The actoris survived by wife, twodaughters and a son.Noted Bollywood andMarathi film actor SonaliKulkarni expressed hercondolences on Adhikari'sdeath. "Sad to know thedemise of our dear friend,wonderful actor, sharpaudience, deep thinker,passionate reader and afearless, concernedcitizen..RIP Hemukakayou'll be missed #RIP,"Kulkarni tweeted. (PTI)

Moon and taking advantage ofthe lunar gravity, Zhang said. In aChinese folktale, magpies form abridge on the seventh night ofthe seventh month of the lunarcalendar to enable Zhi Nyu, aweaver girl who is the seventhdaughter of the Goddess ofHeaven, to meet her belovedhusband, cowherd Niu Lang. Thecouple were separated by theMilky Way. Chinese scientistsand engineers hope the Queqiaosatellite will form acommunication bridge betweencontrollers on the Earth and thefar side of the Moon where theChang'e-4 lunar probe isexpected to touch down later thisyear.

Today's launch was the 275thmission of the Long March rocketseries. Tidal forces of the Earthhave slowed the Moon's rotationto the point where the same sidealways faces the Earth, aphenomenon called tidallocking. The other face, most ofwhich is never visible from the

BEIJING, MAY 22 /--/ Chinasuccessfully launched a relaysatellite early today to set up acommunication link between theEarth and a planned Chineselunar exploration mission toexplore the Moon's mysteriousfar side. Named Queqiao , the400-kg satellite has a designedlife of three years. It was carriedby a Long March-4C rocket thatblasted off at 5:28 AM (localtime) from southwest China'sXichang Satellite Launch Center,the China National SpaceAdministration (CNSA) said."The launch is a key step forChina to realise its goal of beingthe first country to send a probeto soft-land on and rove the farside of the Moon," said ZhangLihua, manager of the relaysatellite project. About 25minutes after lift-off, the satelliteseparated from the rocket andentered an Earth-Moon transferorbit with the perigee at 200 kmsand the apogee at about 400,000kms. The solar panels and the

communication antennas wereunfolded. Queqiao is expected toenter a halo orbit around thesecond Lagrangianpoint of theEarth-Moon system, about455,000 kms from the Earth.

It will be the world's firstcommunication satelliteoperating in that orbit, state-runXinhua news agency reported.The satellite carries severalantennas. One, shaped like anumbrella with a diameter of fivemetre, is the largestcommunication antenna everused in deep space exploration,said Chen Lan, deputy chiefengineer of the Xi'an Branch ofthe China Academy of SpaceTechnology. The satellite couldstay in the halo orbit around theL2 point of the Earth-Moonsystem for a long time by usingrelatively little fuel, thanks tothe gravitational equilibrium atthat point. But the mission mustovercome many challenges,including multiple adjustmentsto its orbit and braking near the

Earth, is the far side or dark sideof the Moon, not because it'sdark, but because most of itremains unknown. With itsspecial environment andcomplex geological history, thefar side is a hot spot for scientificand space exploration. TheAitken Basin of the lunar southpole region on the far side hasbeen chosen as the landing sitefor Chang'e-4. The region isbelieved to have great researchpotential. However, landing androving require a relay satellite totransmit signals. The Chang'e-4mission will be morecomplicated than Chang'e-3,China's first soft landing on theMoon in 2013. "We designed anorbit around the Earth-Moon L2point where the relay satellitewill be able to 'see' both the Earthand the far side of the Moon," BaoWeimin, director of the Scienceand Technology Commission ofthe China Aerospace Scienceand Technology Corporationsaid. (PTI)

Tabu joins the ‘Bharat’