While there are a number of local playwrights and scripts, there are some plays that are staged quite often. Hyderabad Times finds out why.
The theatre scene in Hyderabad, no doubt, is burgeoning -right from English plays to regional ones, there seems to be no dearth of actors or directors in the city; in fact, new playwrights too are making a mark. But a casual glance at the plays being staged across the city will show that there are always a few that are staged quite often -like Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and The Chair; Anton Chekhov’s The Bear; or Vijay Tendulkar’s Marathi play adapted in Hindi, Hatt Teri Kismat. In fact, Dario Fo’s, The Open Couple staged by a Hyderabadi theatre group was even performed at a national theatre competition! But what is the main reason that so many theatre groups keep going back to classics again and again? “One main reason is that their works are very accessible. Plus, when they’re such established writers, you know that it’s good writing with a great storyline. And when the script is written well, 50% of the job for the director is done,” explains RK Shenoy from Dramanon.
Other theatre groups feel that staging plays of famous playwrights helps bring in the audience. “When we stage, say , a Shakespeare’s Hamlet, there are more number of people who come in to watch it as opposed to when we stage a totally new act,” feels Rammohan Holagundi of Nishumbita Theatre Group. And his belief was reinforced when they staged two Telugu plays on the same day. “One was Kukka, penned by Yendamuri Veerendranth, a famous novelist and the other was Khadga Shrusti, by Kandimalla Sambasivarao, a not-sowell-known author. For Kukka, the venue was packed. But since the audience didn’t know much about the second author, most of them left. That’s why we think it’s better if we stage plays of known, famous authors,” he says.
And of course, staging one play again and again also gives them the scope for developing and understanding the plays better. Says Saurabh Gharipurikar of Udaan Performing Arts, which stages Hindi adaptations of Marathi plays, “We usually choose to adapt Marathi plays because they have a strong social issues connect. We’ve staged Miya Biwi, the original play written by Yogesh Soman, about 28 times and Hatt Teri Kismat, a satire written by Vijay Tendulkar about 12 times. Since we’ve already performed quite a few times and are familiar with the lines and the story , it gives us more scope to explore the same and look at it from different angles. In short, we can develop the play better. And every time we stage a play , we get newer ideas.”
Thespian Shankar Melkote feels plays and adaptations too have changed with time. “Theatre isn’t a static form of art -it’s a rapid thing. So at one point, theatre of the absurd was popular genre of drama, not just in Hyderabad, but all over the world. And that was performed so many times by so many well-known groups. But later what became much popular was the comedy genre -from Noel Carl to Neil Simon. So I guess there’s no real reason a theatre group stages a certain famous play . When they decide to put up an act, they’re first looking at it from a resources point of view -how difficult it is, involving technicalities, sound, lighting, acting talent, will they be able to do justice etc. And only then do they take it forward. But usually , its comedy and farce that brings in the audience,” he says.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hyderabad / by Apuurva Sridharan, TNN / September 23rd, 2014
Mir Osman Ali Khan receives Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri at Begumpet airport. Responding to Shastri’s appeal, the Nizam donated 5000 kg of gold to the National Defence Fund
OF POWER AND POISON
British Residents in Hyderabad spoke of the mutual antipathy that apparently existed between the Nizam’s eldest wife Dulhan Pasha and her sons Prince Azam Jah and Prince Moazzam Jah.
The mother of the two Sahebzadas was keen to marry them to her nieces, described by the Resident, Lt. Col. T.H. Keyes, as “two half-starved little Hyderabadi girls”. She had even been involved in a public slanging match with the Nizam on the issue of her sons’ marriage, and was supposed by British officials to be not fond of her sons.
To illustrate the discord between the mother and sons, Keyes recalled what Prince Moazzam Jah used to reveal to his guests. The younger Sahebzada claimed that his mother wanted to become the regent on the Nizam’s death. “When someone takes the cue and asks how she could be regent when his brother and he are of age, he replies: ‘We won’t be here. Mother is always experimenting with poisons, and there are no cats left in King Kothi’.”
…The rumours of poisoning in 1932 also led to revival of allegations that Sir Salar Jung I had been poisoned by the Nizam’s zenana as he had been insisting on Mahbub Ali Pasha being sent to Europe for education.
TONNES OF GOLD FOR WAR EFFORT
Mir Osman Ali Khan, Nizam VII, may have delayed his decision on merging Hyderabad State with the Indian Union after Britain left the country in August 1947, but he created a record when he responded to the call of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1965. The PM visited Hyderabad and requested the Nizam to contribute generously to the National Defence Fund, set up in the wake of the Indo-Chinese skirmish. Without a second thought, Mir Osman Ali announced that he would contribute five tonnes of gold to augment the war fund. In monetary terms, the Nizam’s contribution was about Rs 75 lakh, or about three-fourth of the annual Privy Purse he received from the Centre. In terms of today’s gold price in the international market, this donation translates to a whopping Rs 1,500 crore.
The Nizam’s donation of 5,000 kg of gold to the National Defence Fund in 1965 was the biggest ever contribution by any individual or organisation in India and remains unsurpassed till today.
However, known for his wit and frugality, Mir Osman Ali Khan did not hesitate to seek the return of the empty iron boxes once the gold coins and bars were offloaded in Delhi. “I am donating the gold and not the iron boxes. Do not forget to return them,” the Nizam told the officials even as his son-in-law and confidant Ali Pasha carried trays of gold coins from the Nazri Bagh Palace. The empty boxes were duly returned.
ALBERT ABID AND THE SILK SOCKS
Hyderabad’s history is full of fables about foreigners who gave Hyderabad a new meaning and purpose. Albert Abid Evans, a Jew from Armenia, gave Hyderabadis their first department store and a new name to an otherwise abandoned locality.
Abid’s, one of the busiest business centres of Hyderabad, owes its name to Albert Abid, who set up a shop that served the needs of Hyderabadis from needle to grains and stationery to clothes.
…As a valet of the Nizam, Abid looked after Mir Mahbub Ali Khan’s wardrobe, the biggest of its kind in the world. It is rumoured that Nizam VI did not like to repeat his silk socks and the enterprising Abid would put the used socks back in the packet they came in and recycle them while his trusting master kept paying for new socks! If rumours are to be believed Abid also helped himself to the rings from his ruler’s fingers when his ruler was in a stupor and promptly thanked the Nizam very profusely the next morning for gifting him the jewellery.
AN UNHAPPY PRINCESS
Niloufer Khanum Sultana, who was called the world’s most beautiful woman, was pained by the fact that she was unable to produce an heir and felt that she had failed in her duty as a princess. It was especially upsetting for her that her cousin Princess Durru Shehvar had given birth to two lovely boys, Prince Mukarram Jah and Prince Muffakham Jah.
On a particular occasion, when Princess Niloufer was in England in response to her mother’s distress call about her financial and social health, Prince Moazzam Jah decided to let everyone know that it was not he who was responsible for their childless marriage. He brought a lady of doubtful repute into his home, and was apparently able to demonstrate his virility. Princess Niloufer returned from England to learn of this treachery and never shared a room with her husband again.
Her husband’s betrayal was not the only fact that pained her. She also returned to find that her personal maid, of whom she was very fond, had died in childbirth. This moved her to open a hospital for children and women. The Niloufer Hospital is still a sought-after medical institution today.
This gesture of the childless princess earned her a place in the hearts of Hyderabadis.
BORN TO RULE
Prince Mukarram Jah had the best of education — Doon, Harrow, Cambridge and LSE. He also trained at the Sandhurst Military Academy in England. …During a visit to Hyderabad, his first wife Princess Esra said he was a bright young man when she married him but was overwhelmed by the fast-paced political developments at home.
In 1969, the Indira Gandhi government decided to discontinue the annual purse to descendants of former rulers of princely states, who numbered around 600. The land bank vanished with the Land Ceiling Act. Mukarram found himself at a complete loss when he lost his privy purse and was compelled to sell off his assets. He would dispose invaluable jewellery to meet his immediate needs without verifying the value of the gems he offered for sale. Not surprisingly, he was taken for a ride by everyone, while the list of those dependent on him kept expanding. This list had grown to include the legion of relatives (14,792), servants (14,000), grandfather’s concubines (42) and children (hundreds of them).
Despairing of the circumstances he found himself in after the demise of his grandfather, this last true blue Nizam protested, “I was taught to be a soldier, not an administrator.”
Given the title of the eighth Nizam and brought up as an imperial prince of the Ottoman Empire, he was not wrong when he once confessed, “I was born to rule. That was the only thing I was prepared for.” Some believe it was the burden of having to deal with so many trusts and their beneficiaries that caused Mukarram Jah to leave for Australia.
3,000 WIVES?
In June 1936, the India Office received a letter from one Irene Cowen from Sheffield, asking how many wives the Nizam had and how many children. “A Hyderabadi had given a lecture on the Nizam’s government and in that had mentioned that the Nizam had over 3,000 wives, but he did not know the exact number, and had described him as having ‘a good many children’,” she wrote. …The Foreign Office sent Miss Cowen this reply: “The statement made by your lecturer is, on (the) face of it, incredible. Nor is any record of the kind suggested maintained in this office.”
The Nizam, however, did have over 100 women in his zenana and was even accused of kidnapping some. As for his progeny, it is claimed that Osman Ali Pasha sired over 147 children. A more modest estimate puts this figure at 28 daughters and 44 sons. However, like most stories about the Nizam, this claim is often exaggerated.
According to his daughter Basheerunissa Begum, it was impossible even for the family to keep track of everyone in the palace as each wife of the Nizam and her children had separate living quarters within the palace and had numbered badges to help the palace guards keep track of their security and identity.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Lifestyle> Offbeat / DC Correspondent / June 01st, 2014
ART FOR HOME The salt-glazed ceramic functional art piece on display – rain cloud plates. Photos: Special Arrangement
Aarti Vir takes a break from sculptures to put together an exhibition of functional ceramics
2014 would probably be remembered, apart from political reasons, as the year that Hyderabad faced prolonged summer. Artist Aarti Vir took a cue from the general longing for rain clouds when she was firing a lot for functional ceramics. She came up with ‘rain cloud plates’ that bear small rain clouds and a few droplets of water on an ash grey surface.
These rain cloud plates are among the functional ceramic art pieces now on display at the Minaaz Art Gallery. On display and sale are small and large tumblers, mugs, bowls, lidded dishes and vases that Aarti made over two firings in July and August.
Aarti is more an artist than a potter and her salt glazed sculptures have taken various forms and textures while giving shape to her thoughts, responding to the world around her over the years. Occasionally though, she has been firing utility ceramics at her kiln on orders. This is her first exhibition of functional art.
Day-to-day items take a new dimension in Aarti’s hands. There’s a subtle play of colours and patterns on each tumbler and mug. Blue-tinged bowls are aptly called ‘ocean bowls’ and the earthy, reddish brown plates ‘red earth plates’, with the colours resulting from the use of glaze.
Small table bowls with fine line etchings have been inspired by the lines on paddy fields. There are long stem vases and the curious amoeba-shaped pod vases. “I came across tree pods during my walks at one of the parks in the city,” says Aarti, talking about the inspiration for these vases.
Though Aarti’s mainstay is sculpture, she looks forward to doing more functional art. “Maybe I wouldn’t do it in such a straightforward way. I like to hand build each piece than mechanically throw it on the potter’s wheel and do 10 or 20 mugs,” she says.
Functional ceramics by Aarti Vir is on display at Minaaz Art Gallery, Road no.10 Jubilee Hills, till September 23. Prices begin at Rs. 450.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Events / by Sangeetha Devi Dundoo / Hyderabad – September 16th, 2014
Maintaining her rich vein of form in the current season, Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her partner Cara Black successfully defended their Tokyo Open title. Photo: AFP/ File
Tokyo:
Maintaining her rich vein of form in the current season, Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Zimbabwean partner Cara Black today bagged the women’s doubles title at the WTA Toray Pacific Open with a 6-2 7-5 victory over Spain’s Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro.
With the win, Sania and Cara have successfully defended their Tokyo Open title, which is a USD 1 million event.
For Sania, it will be icing on the cake after her US Open mixed doubles triumph with Brazilian partner Bruno Soares. She would now spearhead the nation’s challenge at the Incheon Asian Games in what will be a depleted tennis contingent in the absence of Leander Paes, Rohan Bopanna and Somdev Devvarman.
Sania, will either pair with left-handed Divij Sharan or big-serving Saketh Myneni in the mixed doubles event, where India have a genuine chance of winning a medal.
In the final today, Sania-Cara pair took just an hour and 15 minutes to dispose off the Spanish challenge as their opponents were no match for them. The Indo-Zimbabwean pair had a greater percentage (73%) of points won on first serve while they broke their opponents seven times in the match.
The indigenously-designed and developed low-cost implant is expected to be ready for commercial production in a year. A host of DRDO labs are involved in the project-NSTL, NMRL, Anurag, RCI and DIPAS, besides the Armed Forces Medical College and Andhra University.
An indigenously-designed and developed low-cost cochlear implant is expected to be ready for commercial production in a year with clinical trials set to begin in the next few months.
An application seeking permission for clinical trials has already been filed with the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on behalf of the Society for Biomedical Technology (SBMT) and clearance is expected in a couple of months, said V. Bhujanga Rao, Director-General (Naval Systems & Materials), Defence Research and Development Organisation.
A host of DRDO labs are involved in the project-NSTL, NMRL, Anurag, RCI and DIPAS, besides the Armed Forces Medical College and Andhra University.
Talking to The Hindu here on Wednesday, Dr. Bhujanga Rao, who is the chief designer and principal investigator of the project, said the cost of the indigenous implant named ‘Sravan’ would be between Rs.1 lakh and Rs.1.5 lakh as against an imported device that could be between Rs.7 lakh and Rs.8 lakh.
Cochlear implant, also called ‘bionic ear’, provides hearing perception to people suffering from profound hearing loss.
Bio-compatibility tests completed
With successful completion of bio-compatibility tests, he said multi-centric clinical trials across the country would be conducted for about six months to one year after receiving the nod from DCGI.
They include Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, Army Hospital Research and Referral Centre, Delhi, Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institution, Chennai and Apollo Hospital, Bengaluru. He said some private practitioners from Delhi and Bengaluru would also be involved in the trials.
He said the implant developed in India would be the world’s cheapest, without compromising on quality.
After the successful completion of clinical trials, the technology would be transferred to an Indore-based company for series production.
Technology can be shared
In case the volume becomes high, the technology could be given to more companies. He said nearly one million people in the country suffered from profound hearing loss, while every year 10,000 infants are born with the same problem.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Y. Mallikarjun / Hyderabad – September 17th, 2014
Rishikesh Reddy Kayathi of Oakridge International School has been declared a ‘World Topper in Mathematics’, in the Grade X International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) Examinations conducted by Cambridge University.
Toppers in IGCSE exam: report from Bangalore
Three Class X students of a private school in Bangalore have topped the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) examination held in June 2014 in three subjects at the national level. While Ami Mehta has secured the first rank in English, Uma Shekhawat topped in Entrepreneurship and Mahesh Bhide has stood first in Chemistry. They are students of Indus International School.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Education Plus / September 04th, 2014
IN HONOUR Shobha Gosa receives the Sadguru Gnananda Fellowship.
Honour for social entrepreneurs for their contribution to society
Why would Management professionals abandon promising careers or a wheel chair-bound individual serve the disabled through setting up their own NGOs? If heart did not rule head, social entrepreneurs would seldom be born. Fortunately, three such champions of change were identified by the Manava Seva Dharma Samvardhani (MSDS) and awarded the Sadguru Gnanananda Fellowship Program in the city last week.
Having met with a road accident Dilip Patro a software professional suddenly found himself wheel chair bound. This could hardly curtail his passion for reaching out to help others and in 2007 he set up The Ability People (TAP) an NGO that educates and supports rehabilitation of spinal cord injured persons (SCIP) at Vizag.
IN HONOUR Dilip Patro receives the Sadguru Gnananda Fellowship
Appointed as a representative under the National Trust, TAP provides mobility aids and appliances for various disabilities besides working with the police for road safety and promoting Right to Emergency Care in the critical ‘golden hour’ (the first one hour of an accident). The TAP website provides an All India Helpline and a toll free number within the state for easy access to citizens.
With a similar motive to serve the masses, Shobha Gosa, Founder, Young People for Life India based at Hyderabad was chosen for empowering youth from disadvantaged backgrounds with communication skills and behavioural management.
Her years as a Business Coach inspired her to focus on education and training of teenage girls gifting them leadership skills, cross cultural engagement, human rights etc.
The third awardee, Akshai Abraham an MBA from Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal founded Project KHEL in 2012 at Lucknow merging his interest in social work and sports in order to positively impact the lives of underprivileged children. KHEL being the acronym for Kids Holistic Education & Life skills his NGO playfully develops confidence, leadership, team work, trust and addresses important issues of health and sanitation through games. “Across the world sport is being applied to address development issues such as creating health awareness, promoting peace and gender equity,” said Abraham.
MSDS, is a registered Public Charitable Trust that initiates social consciousness amongst people.
The Fellowship constitutes monthly monetary support for a period of one year, extendable on impact.
Their learning Centres for Social Initiative & Management are located at Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Coimbatore.
It’s the helping hand that truly serves the world and the world comes to those that serve selflessly!
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Padmini B. Patell / Hyderabad – September 15th, 2014
Rasool Khan. / -PHOTO: S. HARPAL SINGH / The Hindu
This former Sepoy of the Royal Indian Service Corps, did not join Netaji’s Army as he had taken an oath to be loyal to the outfit he served
Honour and loyalty are known to be the mark of a perfect soldier. And World War II veteran, Rasool Khan, a resident of Chanchalguda in Hyderabad, fits the bill notwithstanding his age at over 90 years.
This former Sepoy of the Royal Indian Service Corps, a British Army unit active in the Burmese front during WW II, had even denied himself the chance to enrol in Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army as he had taken an oath to be loyal to the outfit he served.
“We were excited when we got an offer to join Netaji’s force but were bound by our oath,” says the ex-soldier, referring to the days when feelers were sent to Indian personnel in the British Army in Burma to desert their units. “We came out of the War with honour,” he adds as he throws light on the crucial period in World history.
The veteran was talking to The Hindu after being honoured at the ex-servicemen rally, which he came to attend in Adilabad, on Sunday. However, he observes, “The uncertainty of those times was quite an experience.”
Born on September 9 1923, Rasool Khan had enrolled in the British outfit in Secunderabad in 1939 at the tender age of 16. He was trained in a military training facility in Allahabad before being shifted to the Burmese front in an anti-aircraft gunnery unit.
“We never got a chance to use the anti-aircraft guns during all the six years I served on the front. Life in the trenches and open jungles, however, taught me to be tough,” says the nonagenarian ex-solider, who has remained single.
The fast paced events associated with the country’s independence made people forget about WW II and its veterans, which had Rasool Khan live a life of virtual seclusion. “Humku koi bhi nai puchte the,” he says in a typical Hyderabadi accent as he talks about the condition of WW II veterans in the wake of independence.
Later in life nevertheless, the ex-soldier was given employment in the Army Supply Corps (Maintenance and Transport) at Ramagundam. He is thankful for the support given by the Army.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by S. Harpal Singh / Adilabad – September 15th, 2014
Balotsav children festival convener Vasireddy Ramesh Babu releasing the brochure at Kothagudem club in Khammam on Sunday | EXPRESS PHOTO
Khammam :
‘Balotsav’ children festival convener Vasireddy Ramesh Babu said that preparations have begun to conduct ‘Balotsav’ at a national level in Kothagudem from November 7 to 9.
He released the Balotsav brochure at Kothagudem club here on Sunday. He said that around 5,000 children are expected to participate in the festival during which competitions on 24 cultural events will be held .
Former minister Koneru Nageswara Rao and school children were also present at the event.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Telangana / by Express News Service / September 15th, 2014
The solar park will be set up under open offer to supply power to meet the state’s renewable power obligations
Enrich Energy, a Pune-based renewable energy firm, has announced setting up a 60 MW solar power plant in Telangana.
“The company has got the approval for setting up 60 MW solar power project under ‘Solar Park Concept’ in the newly formed state of Telangana,” Enrich Energy said in a statement.
The solar park will be set up under open offer to supply power to meet the state’s renewable power obligations.
“APTRANSCO (Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh) has issued a ‘Letter of Intent’ for setting up a 60 MW capacity solar park to Enrich Energy under the power purchase agreement at preferential tariff of Rs 6.49 per kWh (kilo-watt hour) as per the open offer,” the company said.
“We at Enrich Energy are committed towards developing the renewable energy sector in India and are happy to partner with the government of Telangana in their clean energy initiative,” Kanchal, Director, Enrich Energy said in the statement.
Enrich Energy has developed and commissioned the first turnkey private solar park of India in Maharashtra at a single location with an installed capacity of 40 MW.
The company has two ongoing projects of 25 MW and 50 MW in Maharashtra and Gujarat.
The company also provides innovative solutions for small retail investors for setting up private projects with the smallest 1 MW capacity.
source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> Companies> News / Press Trust of India / New Delhi – August 28th, 2014
