The Lotus and the Swan, is a documentary film shot in the Digital format by Nirmal Chander, the acclaimed  film-maker.  It is on Sardar Gurcharan Singh who, after having started in pottery, simply to earn a living, discovered quite early in life, that it could become a medium of serious artistic expression like painting, sculpture and various branches of graphics. Nirmal Chander, also did sixty to seventy per cent of the camerawork- two others, namely the highly talented veteran Ranjan Palit  and K Nanda Kumar also did stints  behind the camera, a digital  Sony F S 5.  The beautiful visually consistent look that lent an emotional unity to the documentary, was achieved through subtle, painstaking colour correction. This 71-minute work on the life of an artist, who rose from becoming an artisan of ever- increasing competence to expressing his personality in clay with as much integrity as others working in other ‘officially’ recognised areas of visual expression gives the viewer an opportunity to enter his deceptively simple world.
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Sardar Gurcharan Singh
The director, who started his project in 2019, was hampered by the wholly unforeseeable appearance of the Covid Pandemic, and the absence of the artist; he had passed on at the age of 99 in 1995. Through sheer grit and intrinsic artistic intelligence, Chander managed to create a wholly satisfying portrait   of Sardar Gurcharan Singh, who, single-handed, raised pottery to a form of artistic expression, and that of a warm hearted, giving person who lived in the everyday world with simplicity and grace, giving freely of himself and his work to hundreds of students, over three generations and also people who came to him for material help.
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Pottery art by Sardar Gurcharan Singh
The making of the documentary involved enormous amounts of work during the research, the preparation period, identifying Gurcharan Singh’s work that was to be found all over India and also abroad, photographing them to satisfaction ,identifying and interviewing people connected with his work as well as his family,  going to Japan, where Gurcharan Singh studied  pottery  at the Higher  Technical School in Tokyo from !919 to 1922,  collecting archival material, mainly photos of the subject, alone and with others, apart from photographs of Delhi and Andretta, Tokyo. Nirmal Chander and Reena Mohan, his wife and co-editor of the film, through sheer persistence and faith in the work and backed by the consistent, generous support of Delhi Blue Pottery Trust, also the Producers of the venture got to make The Lotus and the Swan in an aesthetically satisfying way.
Gurcharan Singh’s life was a curious mixture of the ordinary and the extraordinary. He began by studying Geology, which,according to his son, Mansimran Singh, aka ‘Mini’, also a well- regarded potter/ceramist,’’led to his qualitative understanding of ores and minerals.’’ ( Prarthana Asija, conversation with Mansimran Singh) when studying in Tokyo he met fellow ceramists  Bernard Leach,Kenkichi Tomimoto, Shoji Hamada, Kanjiro Kawai, all of whom destined to make a name for themselves in their chosen metier. Gurcharan, also held his first exhibition, when in Tokyo. It was then, he began to be aware of the conflict between pottery being a source of livelihood and a form of self-expression.  He overcame these hurdles with humility, confidence and hard work, as if they were a given in this art called living.  The Lotus and the Swan expresses these aspects of his life effortlessly.
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He joined Ram Singh Kabuli, his father’s friend, in Delhi Potteries in 1919, learning to make bricks. It was there that pottery captured his imagination. Watching Pathan potters at work, particularly Abdullah, whom he respected and who remained an associate till late in life, well after Gurcharan Singh had started his own set up, Delhi Blue Pottery in 1952. It was this sense of loyalty and fair play towards the people who may have helped at crucial times in his life that earned him the love and respect of all those who worked with him or were his students. These aspects of his life as well as his generosity in sharing his hard-earned knowledge of pottery/ceramics with others for the larger cause of the art itself gave him an exceptional stature; Chander,  and co-editor of the work Reena Mohan, captured them with absolute ease.
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With most of the shooting done, it dawned upon the director and his co-producer that the film would acquire muscle and blood only after shooting some crucial sequences in Japan, covering his apprenticeship at the Higher Technical School in Tokyo and his auspicious beginning as an artisan-artist. Two important interviews with Prof. Yuko, an expert on the Mingai Movement, that gave  precedence to hand-made objects of everyday use, primarily in ceramics, created by ordinary amateurs (of talent) over those by  professionals having access to factories, and, another with Prof. Hashimoto, a professor of Letters,  give credence to Gurcharan Singh’s decision  to choose studio pottery over mass produced works, as the right one.
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On his return to India and work at Delhi Potteries, he was unhappy. It was difficult to just  earn his living, knowing that he could make beautiful objects as a studio potter. In Ambala, after  the Partition in 1947, he worked as  Superintendent of the Pottery Training Centre, thus ensuring a regular income. He retired in 1952, came back to Delhi after years with his mentor Abdullah to start Delhi Blue Pottery.  ‘’He used stoneware clay body and high temperature glazes, fired at 1300 degree centigrade in coal kilns. He supported himself by making glazed tiles and ceramic lattices which were bought by architects in Delhi.’’ (Indian Ceramic Art Foundation). A word about the blue colour that made him famous. Its origins were in Persian Blue, which came in three shades, the most sensual being the one that most resembled the colour of Lapiz- lazuli, a semi-precious stone used in jewellery. The Blue tone, he formulated to use in ceramic creations, became his visual signature, though, he also used other colours with flair in his very many creations. The lotus, an often seen motif in his work, came probably from his appreciation of its curving lines, Its arabesques. The curves of a swan in motion inspired him to add it as a motif to some of his creations.
The Japan shots of Tokyo Technical University, College of Liberal Arts, Osaka, Kanazawa,Nara Temple, and various street scenes are lovely to look at and add a nimbus to the story of Gurcharan Singh’s becoming the realised artist, modest, despite considerable achievement. The images of present- day Japan intercut with archival photographs, and some documents give a clear idea of how he evolved as a ceramic artist, how his sensibility was gradually shaped into understanding that a utilitarian calling like pottery could become an art form to be taken as seriously as painting, sculpture and drawing.
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The are very many people who talk on camera about Gurcharan Singh affectionately called ‘Daddyji’ since his association with Delhi Blue Pottery which began in 1952. This was probably because of his protective, fatherly personality. All his life, since his return to India in 1922, he had shown a distinct ability to bring like-minded people together to serve a common cause, that of Studio Pottery.   Those of whom felt at ease in his protective, nurturing presence, called him ‘Daddyji’ spontaneously.  There is a lot of talk about ‘Daddyji’ and his kindness and generosity as a teacher and many students like the well- regarded ceramic artist Deepali Daroze speak about the necessity he felt of passing hard-earned knowledge of the craft of pottery to aspiring potters.  He talked her into teaching more students at the studio -school than was possible due to a lack of manpower. Nobody could say ‘no’ to him because he led by personal example.
Chander manages quite a feat by marshalling a plethora of facts about Gurcharan Singh’s life, achievements; the honours he received including a Padma Shri from the Government of India, the appreciation of artists here and abroad; his struggles-the government suddenly in 1986, decided to take away a sizeable portion of the land allotted to him for his kiln and studio, on Ring Road, Delhi thus cramping his working space – into a compelling narrative. However, the spoken word does not dominate the film, because there are plenty of examples of the artists’ work judiciously juxtaposed and sensitively photographed to bring out their beauty. What remains in the memory, as a result, is this touching visual experience of a pioneering artist’s work and his life of struggle and fulfilment.
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The Lotus and the Swan, is a documentary film shot in the Digital format by Nirmal Chander, the acclaimed  film-maker. 

The Lotus and the Swan - A Television Documentary on Gurcharan Singh by Nirmal Chander

In a sense, a return to skill of the past, after an age of conceptual based art, as it happened with art in the Occident and subsequently in the Orient, was inevitable.Back in 1979, Italian art critic and curator Achille Bonito Oliva wrote an introduction for an exhibition he organized in the town of Genazzano, (a town and commune in the Metropolitan City of Rome). Titled Le Stanze (The Rooms), the show gathered a small group of young painters whose practices seemed to have revived the Expressionist painting at a time when Conceptual art ruled art tendencies to its full potential. In order to describe their work, Oliva coined the term Transavanguardia, or trans-avant-garde, announcing the beginning of an international phenomenon which took place in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, and became one of the most influential movements of Post-war Italian art along with Arte Povera.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/image_011_3d442ba8c6.jpg" alt="image-011.jpg"> Francesco-Clemente at the Rubin Museum, Gallery View“In many ways Transavanguardia became a way of dissolving the linear demarcations of the art movement and resorting to a move freer way of moving back and forth, refereeing to history as well as addressing the hysteria of the ‘new’ –the here and now,” says Oliva who is visiting India and curating the exhibition, The Grand Italian Vision, from the Farnesina Collection. The exhibition that is currently on display at the Bikaner House in New Delhi, features a handpicked selection of 70 pieces of painting, sculpture and photographs and even a few small sized ‘installations’ of handmade objects.“In my belief, art is a massage for the atrophied muscles of collective sensibility,” says Oliva. Put very eruditely by Oliva it is best described as the ‘freedom to move forward but also move back in time and reference the past. It is thematic rather than linear’. This ties in with the Indian approach which looks at time as cyclical rather than linear and hence things recur but in a different way each time. We see this in art, and more so in India and Asia where the reference to the past is a constant where many of the Modern artists talk of the aesthetics of the Rajastjani, Persian and Mughal miniatures, the Warli painting, the Madhubani and the Kalighat Pats in the same breath as they embrace the Modern and what is now called the Contemporary.However before we address the commonality between Indian and Italian art we need to better acquaint ourselves with the Transavanguardia movement. To revisit the movement and its impact on art history, we have to go back to the 1980s. At the Venice Biennale, of that time, five prominent artists were showing under the Transavanguardia movement, that Oliva curated, and they stood out—their artworks drew attention for their diverse styles and common vision. They relied on strong narratives, painters Francesco Clemente, Enzo Cucchi, Sandro Chia, Mimmo Paladino and Nicola De Maria—the artists re-created a strongly expressive language which oozed in vibrant colour, the depth of space, the passage of time and the freedom of technique.“The conceptual art movement was dominated by artists from the United States and the Transavanguardia movement brought the focus back to art that celebrated the act of creating with one’s hands of painting, and sculpture,” says Oliva.That 1980s exhibition at the Venice Biennale, gave these individuals an opportunity to compete for a place on the international art market, dominated by significant figures and tendencies from. The paintings they produced offered a variety of personal interpretations of these notions: from Sandro Chia and his influence by Futurism and even Mannerism, the many materials of Enzo Cucchi, such as ceramics, wood, neon and steel, the almost childish quality of works by Nicola De Maria, Mimmo Paladino’s ‘totemic canvases’ and, of course, Francesco Clemente’s ‘haunting portraits’. <img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/image_000_150x150_01a7ee3c28.jpg" alt="image-000-150x150.jpg">Disco Solare, 1989-90, Bronze Sculpture, Arnaldo Pomodoro<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/image_002_150x150_98b8540d09.jpg" alt="image-002-150x150.jpg"> Photograph of Achille Bonito Oliva at The Grand Italian Vision, Bikaner House, New Delhi<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/image_003_150x150_b257393b9e.jpg" alt="image-003-150x150.jpg">Opera Obliqua, 1997, Photography and Silkscreen printed on Panel, Gino De Dominics<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/image_007_150x150_dbfc005d58.jpg" alt="image-007-150x150.jpg">Gallery View of the exhibition ‘The Grand Italian Vision’: showcasing the Italian Transavanguardia movement<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/image_008_150x150_9dfeeb655d.jpg" alt="image-008-150x150.jpg">Gallery View of the exhibition ‘The Grand Italian Vision’: showcasing the Italian Transavanguardia movement<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/image_009_150x150_1bd5521c5d.jpg" alt="image-009-150x150.jpg">Gallery View of the exhibition ‘The Grand Italian Vision’: showcasing the Italian Transavanguardia movement<i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:300;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:center;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Image Courtesy: Georgina Maddox&nbsp;Interestingly Clemente, an Italian contemporary artist lived at various times in Italy, India and New York City. Some of his work is influenced by the traditional art and culture of India. He has worked in various artistic media including drawing, fresco, graphics, mosaic, oils and sculpture.Born and raised in the farm lands of Morro d’Alba, province of Ancona, the artist Enzo Cucchi was an autodidactic (self-taught) painter. He was lauded in his early years even though he was more interested in poetry. He frequently visited poet Mino De Angelis, who was in charge of the magazine Tau.The impact of Achille Bonito Oliva and his Transavanguardia Movement went beyond the borders of Italy, touching upon the borders of the US, Germany and even India. The Transavanguardia’s ‘quest to revive the potential of painting’ by drawing inspiration from the history of art itself, as well as classical mythology, popular culture and national symbolism, it went beyond Italy’s border along with Francesco Clemente. His works became a seminal part of Neo-Expressionism, further influencing the production of fellow creatives like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Jonathan Borofsky, David Salle and Julian Schnabel.’Interestingly the exhibit entitled Francesco Clemente: Inspired by India, at the Ruben Museum in New York, displayed in 2014, was well received and showcased Clemente’s massive drawings with elements of installing the work to emulate a ‘Hindu temple’. The exhibition constituted a public space (like the main courtyard of a temple) marked by deep purple — occupied by the five huge drawings. There were four smaller meditative “niche” (grihas) spaces — filled here by sculptures. And finally, the “inner sanctum,” (the grabagriha) held 16 exquisite watercolor pieces and a portfolio of profoundly erotic watercolors, based on the erotic sculptures in Orissa (Odisha), India. Even more remarkable is the fact that the drawings, were made in collaboration with local artisans in Madras (Chennai) in the 1980’s. They include gouache on sheets of handmade paper, bound together by cotton strips to form billboard-sized drawings. The treatment to the paint is flat and the perspective is not of a western nature rather it emulates local pop and filmic poster art of the times.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/image_013_9313776342.jpg" alt="image-013.jpg"> Michelangelo Pistoletto, Venus of the Rags, Installation, 1967<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/image_014_150x150_9d9ed27143.jpg" alt="image-014-150x150.jpg">Michelangelo Pistoletto, Man with Yellow Pants, Paperwork, 1964<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/image_015_150x150_d699816de7.jpg" alt="image-015-150x150.jpg"> Michelangelo Pistoletto, with Disegnando il Terzo Paradiso, 2011<em style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:center;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Image Courtesy: Google Arts and CultureWhile each of these works by Clemente is interesting one cannot help but observe the dark humor of one of the image of the paintings. Here two nude male figures—one slightly lighter skin toned (clearly from the Occident) to the other (clearly Asian) examine each other by pointing at their orifices and body parts. It contains both a sense of innocence and a wicked bit of humor in it. We are told that Clemente was occupied with human orifice as receptacles of stimuli. He was also fascinated by aspects of Indians that he deemed as ‘mysterious, erotic, and spiritual’.The themes and titles — Sun, Moon, Hunger, Two Painters, and Four Corners — reflect Clemente’s identification with many aspects of ‘traditional Indian painting’ combined with his own contemporary ‘Western angst’.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/image_001_e1686816469444_ce5f842fcf.jpg" alt="image-001-e1686816469444.jpg">Mediterraneo, 1990-95, four black and white photographs, Mimmo Jodice Image: Georgina Maddox&nbsp;Returning to Oliva’s current exhibition, at Bikaner House in New Delhi, one sees that works belonging to the earlier period are more in tune with reviving the sensibilities of Neo-Expressionism, paying ‘tribute almost’ to doyens like Heri Matisse, Picasso and even quoting from the classical art of the Italian Renaissance. One however notices that works belonging to a later period, (from the late 1990s to the early 2000s), there is a greater conscious sense of the global and of Asian nature; from the colours to the shape and forms. To summarize what Oliva is getting at through his curated exhibition, Transavanguardia addresses the fact that it is no longer possible to slot art into capsules of time and geography but it acknowledges that art is a product of the past, present and the future and hence it includes a mix of all these elements.“Transavanguardia, invites society to share and to live together. All these movements represent a mosaic and this collection reflects that many things exist together and they are all equally important. It’s an invitation to peace.” says Oliva. Given the times that we live in, this value of art acquires political value. “It is no longer just art and it is a moment in world geo-politics,” he concludes.Bibliographic Reference: &nbsp;<ol style="list-style-type:decimal;"><li>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/transavanguardia-italian-movement"> &nbsp; &nbsp;Transavanguardia – The Progressive Movement of the Italian Modern Scene | Widewalls</a></li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;font-weight:500;line-height:1.8;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;"><a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://hyperallergic.com/151612/francesco-clemente-in-india/">Francesco Clemente in India (hyperallergic.com)</a></li></ol>&nbsp;

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Looking at the impact of ‘Transavanguardia’, an art Movement in Italy a nomenclature as demarcated by curator-historian Achille Bonito Oliva.

In a sense, a return to skill of the past, after an age of conceptual based art, as it happened with art in the Occident and subsequently in the Orient, was inevitable.

Transvanguardia: Moving Beyond Time And Geographies Through Art

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How many times have you been fixed, I mean put back together again, by a song, a film, a piece of art? As my team and I lurched from crisis to illness to crisis, I took my work-oppressed, battle-weary soul to the Kochi Muziris Biennale in Kerala. 

Au Revoir Biennale – To Be Resurrected By Art

It’s funny how I <a style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDjeGHmb3hc">interviewed</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">&nbsp; Vivan Sundaram only once, but I’ve been having conversations with him in my head ever since. It was the year 2011 and Vivan’s latest recycling of trash was on display at the Lalit Kala Academy in Delhi. The previous avatar, titled ‘Trash’, was in 2005 – a continuing theme, of taking used objects and turning them into something spectacular. This time around, it was re-christened ‘Gagawaka – Making Strange’ and on display were blow-up dolls and mannequins wearing recycled film from hospitals, red bras, paper cups and tampons. <img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/pasted_image_0_1_1_1024x576_371cfc06a4.png" alt="pasted-image-0-1-1-1024x576.png">Installation using tampons (left) I was stupid enough to gaze long and hard at the tampons, blink hard and ask, on camera, “And what is that?”Vivan laughed but said, ever so gently with no hint of condescension whatsoever, “Come on, you’re a woman, figure it out.”“Oh tampons,” I said, feeling like I should allow myself to be eaten by the nearest available mannequin.Ever since, I have been mesmerised by what I saw that day.The recycling, a deeply political act, was about many things as Vivan patiently explained.Garbage is what we put out each day, while looking past those who collect it. And we imagine that we stand on merit and that our being, where we are and those who take out our trash being where they are, has nothing to do with happenstance and the accident of birth and thousands of years of discrimination against garbage collectors or people assigned to one profession and forced to stay there. The recycling was to my mind, as I played back the stunning images and experience that Vivan created, about inverting our gaze about caste, about making discrimination trash and hoping to shock us gallery-goers out of our bigoted stupors.If you can take toxicity and make something beautiful out of it, you invert identity politics as well. You say a loud and proud `up yours’ to a world turned into a giant homogenous hate-filled hole.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/pasted_image_0_2_1_1024x576_bd974b27a4.png" alt="pasted-image-0-2-1-1024x576.png"> Installations in ‘Making Strange: Gagawaka + Postmortem’ All around us is the putrid smell of hate. Now it’s Umar Khalid as target, now Rahul Gandhi. Everyone falls down as our world collapses, to be swallowed whole by one large bigoted monster, the Great Dictator, the Holier than Holy, Epithet eating Hindutva establishment aka our government. Eating into our collective sanity, one day and person and politician at a time. I reacted with body and mind by relocating, away from Delhi, the place where I grew up and the only place I knew – Shamli in Uttar Pradesh, to set up an NGO and work on transformation in my own way.One of the communities we work with – the Dehwas, are a people formerly labelled criminals and then people who work largely in the garbage recycling business. I looked in fascination over the last few years as the Dehwas took apart watch parts and the rubber soles of chappals, scraps of cloth, metal, plastic and, in my mind, saw them magically transform into Vivan’s latest exhibits. A new Gagawaka, only in Shamli. The artistic transformation would cause a real transformation in the image of the Dehwas and become a talking point for the city of Shamli. `Vivan, please allow a few young artists inspired by your ideas and your politics to come and transform us, our minds, our world,’ I kept saying to myself in my loopy hallucinatory way, while not reaching out to him in real life at all. It was my private ongoing fantasy lived out through Vivan.The day I spent with him at the Sahitya Academy, where he had to educate me about tampons as well as jockeys was one where a part of me still lives. And will continue to, as I use it to create a different kind of transformation – that’s the power of one day, spent looking inside the universe of Vivan.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/image_2023_03_30_143430722_768x432_5217dd96c8.png" alt="image_2023-03-30_143430722-768x432.png"> Reavti Laul with Vivan Sundaram<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">As I watched the <a style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDjeGHmb3hc">video</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"> we made while I was a journalist at Tehelka, the `we’ includes the now famous and absolutely stunning filmmaker Shaunak Sen, who was filming the Vivan exhibition – it may even have been his idea in the first place. <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Shaunak went on to make Cities of Sleep,’ one way of looking at trash and transformation. And then the film everyone knows about is `All That Breathes,’ and if you have not seen it you absolutely must. A film where three young men living in the middle of piles of garbage, rescue kites that feed off the innards of the city of Delhi and together – people and kites, like Vivan Sundaram’s art, change our perspective of what is garbage and where beauty lies. I haven’t asked Shaunak this but I wonder now, whether a bit of Gagawaka lives on in him as it does in me.We need to `Make Strange,’ as Vivan puts it, when the normal is obscenely abnormal and when our rights, our voice, our dissent, our air is unbreathable. Vivan, thank you for your shit. I can’t think of a better way of saying it than that.<strong style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(33, 37, 41);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Subscribe to our channels on <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/THEAIDEM"><strong style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(33, 37, 41);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">YouTube</a><strong style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(33, 37, 41);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"> &amp; <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chat.whatsapp.com/ELqD1D1bImgAP6MrG8jskq"><strong style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(33, 37, 41);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">WhatsApp</a>

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It’s funny how I interviewed Vivan Sundaram only once, but I’ve been having conversations with him in my head ever since. It was the year 2011 and Vivan’s latest recycling of trash was on display at the Lalit Kala Academy in Delhi.

To Vivan And To Better Politics When We Need It Most

As the 27th IFFK kicks off, film lovers are in for a grand treat of 184 films from 70 countries. There is true global representation as films from literally every corner of the world are part of this year’s festival. Of these, 14 films are in the competition section, including 4 from India. For anyone attending a festival of such a big a scale there is bound to be confusion of which films one must watch. This is especially because many of them are yet to be screened outside the festival circuit and, therefore, very little information on them is available to the general public. There’s also the limitation of time as one can only watch so many films within a span of 8 days. To assist festival goers and cinephiles, here is a list of films that are the most awaited for various reasons and must not be missed. Some of these films have made big waves at major international film festivals and won coveted awards. Some of them are much awaited international and national premiers of films from regional and international filmmaking icons. Here, the list:1. Triangle of SadnessFrom Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund, Triangle of Sadness tells the story of a luxury cruise for the super rich sinking and its obscenely rich passengers trying to survive on an island. The film’s deep insights into the theme of class and wealth inequality along with its clever use of humour as a means to put forth criticism won it the prestigious Palm d’Or for best film at the Cannes Film festival 2022. The chances of one watching his film in an Indian theatre are rare. <img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Triangle_of_Sadness_ee06fa4d1c.jpeg" alt="Triangle-of-Sadness.jpeg"> Triangle of Sadness2. Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam/ A mid-day dreamDirected by the maverick Lijo Jose Pellissery, Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam has its international premier at this year’s IFFK. Starring the legendary actor and superstar Mammooty, the film has been highly anticipated by fans across India since its announcement due to it being the first collaboration between the two icons. This is also Mammooty’s return to IFFK in a very long time. Significantly, Mammooty is the producer of this film which has been nominated for the international competition section. The story is about a man who lives a double life. <img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Nanpakal_Nerathu_Mayakkam_f975dd68b6.jpeg" alt="Nanpakal-Nerathu-Mayakkam.jpeg"> Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam3. Decision to LeaveThe new film by the acclaimed Korean filmmaker Park Chan-Wook is a sensual love story. The plot follows a detective who goes to the mountains to investigate the death of a man and, in the process, falls in love with his mysterious wife. The film made waves at the 2022 Cannes Film festival and Park Chan-Wook received the award for the best director. From reports it is clear that Park is at the peak of his talent in this film and he has displayed many of his signature storytelling tools in it. <img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Decision_to_Leave_4ad9b94307.jpeg" alt="Decision-to-Leave.jpeg"> Decision to Leave4. AriyippuAriyippu is having its Indian premier at IFFK 2022. It is the latest film from Mahesh Narayanan, the acclaimed editor and director. Ariyippu had received rave reviews and responses from multiple international film festivals. It was nominated for the Golden Leopard award at Locarno Film festival. The film stars Kunchacko Boban and Divyaprabha. Since Ariyippu is going to be released on Netflix later this year, IFFK is a golden chance to catch it in a theatre. The film tells the story of how the life of a Malayali couple working in Delhi during the Covid pandemic is turned upside down by the release of a sensitive and manipulated video in the factory they work. <img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Ariyippu_3d42365a82.jpg" alt="Ariyippu.jpg"> Ariyippu5. Tori and LokitaTori and Lokita is the official opening film of IFFK 2022. It is directed by the Dardenne brothers. The film tells the story of two African immigrants in Belgium through Lokita and her younger brother Tori. It explores their emotional relationship and showcases the struggles and harsh realities of the life of immigrants in Europe. It was nominated for several awards, including the prestigious Palm d’Or and also took home the Cannes Film Festival’s special 75th anniversary award. <img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Tori_and_Lokita_716x1024_37551be7b6.jpg" alt="Tori-and-Lokita-716x1024.jpg"> Tori and Lokita6. AutobiographyPerhaps this is the most influential film to come out of Indonesia. Directed by the debutant Makbul Mubarak, Autobiography was premiered at the Venice Film festival. It also managed to win the prestigious FIPRESCI award. The film explores the theme of how power corrupts an individual. It tells the story of the relationship between a retired military general and a young boy who is his housekeeper. Their toxic relationship is symbolic of what has happened to the people of Indonesia under military dictatorship. The film is a drama and a thriller. <img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_12_2686f498ce.jpeg" alt="images-12.jpeg"> autobiography7. Boy from HeavenBoy from Heaven is written and directed by Tarik Saleh. It tells the story of Adam, the son of a fisherman, who accepts an offer to study at the prestigious Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the capital of Egypt. Shortly after his arrival in Cairo, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar suddenly dies and a power struggle ensues. The film was nominated to compete for the prestigious Palm d’Or and also won the best screenplay award and the Francois Chalaise award at Cannes Film festival. It is also Sweden’s official entry to the Oscars. <img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Boy_from_Heaven_7296e316ed.jpeg" alt="Boy-from-Heaven.jpeg"> Boy from Heaven8. AlcarrasThis Catalan language film by the Spanish director Carla Simon has been shot with non-professional actors. It won the Golden Bear Award for Best Film at the 2022 Berlin Film Festival. The film is also Spain’s official entry for this year’s Oscars in the Best International Film category. It has been screened in film festivals like San Sebastian and Sydney. The movie has been shot in Alcarez, Catalonia.It tells the story of the disappearance of an agricultural activist in a peach plantation. A powerful film, it deals with themes such as nature, politics and family. <img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Alcarras_691x1024_96b363bf9f.jpg" alt="Alcarras-691x1024.jpg"> Alcarras9. Both Sides of the BladeBoth Sides of the Blade (formerly known in English as Fire) is a 2022 French romantic drama film directed by Claire Denis, who wrote the screenplay with Christine Angot. The film is based on Angot’s 2018 novel Un tournant de la vie. It had its world premiere at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Bear and Claire Denis received the Silver Bear for Best Director. It tells the story of a married woman who gets involved in a love triangle. It explores themes such as love, emotional intimacy, and loyalty. <img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Both_Sides_of_the_Blade_706x1024_cafc921fdb.jpg" alt="Both-Sides-of-the-Blade-706x1024.jpg"> Both Sides of the Blade 10. VictimDirected by Michal Blasko, Victim is a Slovakian film. The events depicted in the film show how a single lie, arising out of a teenager’s embarrassment about the truth of the injuries he had sustained, can have unforeseen ramifications in the hands of xenophobic groups. This lie is woven into their constant hate propaganda against an outsider group. Victim is Slovakia’s official entry into the Oscars and explores themes that are globally relevant in the context of bigotry. <img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/MV_5_BM_2_Qz_YT_Zm_ZD_At_NG_Rh_ZC_00_ND_Fk_L_Thl_YT_Yt_N_Tgz_OG_Zk_Mj_Fk_M2_Y0_Xk_Ey_Xk_Fqc_Gde_QX_Vy_Mz_Iz_NDU_1_NTY_V1_725x1024_b5db300826.jpg" alt="MV5BM2QzYTZmZDAtNGRhZC00NDFkLThlYTYtNTgzOGZkMjFkM2Y0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMzIzNDU1NTY@._V1_-725x1024.jpg"><div class="gs" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;"><div class="" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;"><div class="ii gt" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;" id=":nn"><div class="a3s aiL " style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;" id=":v6"><div style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;" dir="auto"><div style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;" dir="auto">Subscribe to our channels on <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/THEAIDEM">YouTube</a> &amp; <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chat.whatsapp.com/ELqD1D1bImgAP6MrG8jskq">WhatsApp</a></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="mdp-liker-box after-content two-buttons style-border-fill row-right" style="--mdp-liker-bg-color-active:rgba(255, 33, 40, 1);--mdp-liker-bg-color-hover:rgba(255, 33, 40, 1);--mdp-liker-bg-color:rgba(255, 33, 40, 1);--mdp-liker-border:1px;--mdp-liker-radius:50px;--mdp-liker-text-color-active:rgba(255, 255, 255, 1);--mdp-liker-text-color-hover:rgba(255, 255, 255, 1);--mdp-liker-text-color:rgba(255, 33, 40, 1);box-sizing:border-box;font-size:initial;font-weight:initial;margin:0px;padding:0px;" id="mdp-liker-19959" data-memory="on"><div style="align-items:center;box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;margin:0px;padding:0px;"><div class="mdp-liker-description" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:medium;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;max-width:60%;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">&nbsp;</div></div></div> &nbsp;

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As the 27th IFFK kicks off, film lovers are in for a grand treat of 184 films from 70  countries. There is true global representation as films from literally every corner of the world are part of this year’s festival. Of these, 14 films are in the competition section, including  4 from India. 

IFFK 2022: Top 10 Films You Should Not Miss

The Lotus and the Swan, is a documentary film shot in the Digital format by Nirmal Chander, the acclaimed  film-maker.  

The Lotus and the Swan – A Television Documentary on Gurcharan Singh by Nirmal Chander

<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">This is a compilation of various audio-visual and text articles on a legend of Indian contemporary art, Vivan Sundaram, who passed away on March 29, 2023. A brilliant artist, creator, and public intellectual who made his art and life speak for the marginalised sections of society. In this Cover Story consisting of many components, The AIDEM explores the life and work of Vivan Sundaram. The following are part of this Cover Story package.<ul style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:20px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:20px;orphans:2;padding:0px 0px 0px 20px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;">Social Activist and Writer Teesta Setalvad remembers her long association with Vivan Sundaram. Watch <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theaidem.com/teesta-remembers-vivan/">here</a>.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;">Artist and Kochi Biennale Foundation President Bose Krishnamachari reflects on the consistent people-oriented politics and the innovative creativity in Vivan Sundaram’s art. Watch <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theaidem.com/vivan-sundaram-was-peoples-artist-bose-krishnamacharis-tribute/">here</a>.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;">Renowned art critic M Ramachandran writes on the historic relevance of Vivan Sundaram in Indian art. Read <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theaidem.com/the-artist-who-lived-for-art-vivan-sundaram/">here</a>.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;">Renowned painter, writer and art critic Ajayakumar analyses Vivan Sundaram’s work. Read <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theaidem.com/sculptor-photographer-painter-vivan-sundaram-and-post-modern-arts/">here</a>.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;">Journalist and Author Revati Laul on the importance of reviving Vivan Sundaram’s political perspectives in contemporary times. Read <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theaidem.com/artist-vivan-sundarams-life-seen-amidst-contemporary-politics/">here</a>.</li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;">The PAMA Institute for the Advancement of Transdisciplinary Archaeological Sciences pays tribute to Vivan Sundaram. Watch <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://theaidem.com/vivan-sundaram-the-black-gold-days/">here</a>.</li></ul>

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This is a compilation of various audio-visual and text articles on a legend of Indian contemporary art, Vivan Sundaram, who passed away on March 29, 2023.

Vivan Sundaram: The AIDEM Cover Story

<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Football fans, music lovers and people everywhere can join the beat and get closer to the greatest football show on Earth with the launch of the first-ever FIFA World Cup™ Official Soundtrack. FIFA Sound, which combines the universal languages of music and football, has spearheaded the launch of the soundtrack. Official Soundtrack is packed full of uplifting anthems, showcasing the brightest international artists and diverse musical genres, setting the tone for a truly global celebration. From the electric collaboration of Nicki Minaj, Maluma and Myriam Fares for Tukoh Taka, the first-ever Official FIFA Fan Festival™ Anthem, to Dreamers, BTS star Jung Kook’s inspirational song that lit up the Opening Ceremony, the tracks mirror the worldwide excitement surrounding the spirit of the World Cup.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Listen to the Official FIFA World Cup 2022 soundtracks using links below:<ul style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:20px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:20px;orphans:2;padding:0px 0px 0px 20px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;"><a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://music.amazon.com/albums/B0BNVF7MV8?marketplaceId=A3K6Y4MI8GDYMT&amp;musicTerritory=IN&amp;ref=dm_sh_WCOeidb3RtZC8sP69eMvMRnNk">Amazon Music</a></li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;"><a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/fifa-world-cup-qatar-2022-official-soundtrack/1657557311?at=11laLe&amp;ct=LFV_852822db3a385c1debf6bfe56c570400&amp;itsct=catchall_p1&amp;itscg=30440&amp;ls=1">Apple Music</a></li><li style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:17px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.8;list-style:disc;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right:0px;margin-top:0px;padding:0px;"><a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://open.spotify.com/album/5qgUwE4mhus7MiHbOIiNps?si=LOGx_1viSeyiFTs7vf1LLw">Spotify</a></li></ul><hr><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Subscribe to our channels on <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/THEAIDEM">YouTube</a> &amp; <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chat.whatsapp.com/ELqD1D1bImgAP6MrG8jskq">WhatsApp</a>

FIFA-TRACKS-min.png

Football fans, music lovers and people everywhere can join the beat and get closer to the greatest football show on Earth with the launch of the first-ever FIFA World Cup™ Official Soundtrack. 

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Official Soundtrack is Out

<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_71_bb7419cc16.jpeg" alt="images-71.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_71_bb7419cc16.jpeg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_images_71_bb7419cc16.jpeg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">The eminent Hindustani (North Indian Classical) vocalist, Ustad Rashid Khan, passed away yesterday at the very young age of 55. He was suffering from prostate cancer and died of complications. His death is yet another reminder of the specter of cancer that hangs over all of us.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Indeed, cancer is, as Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee put it, the emperor of all maladies. We don’t know enough to know how to prevent it, and any of us can be cruelly struck down by it at any time. Maybe such illnesses are needed to keep us humble. For, death is the only certainty in life, and none can tell when they will have to go.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);display:block;font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;height:auto;letter-spacing:normal;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;vertical-align:middle;white-space:normal;widows:2;width:720px;word-spacing:0px;" id="attachment_25933" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25933"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Screenshot_20240110_145954_Twitter_e1704880520781_a2854f266b.jpg" alt="Screenshot_20240110_145954_Twitter-e1704880520781.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Screenshot_20240110_145954_Twitter_e1704880520781_a2854f266b.jpg 106w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Screenshot_20240110_145954_Twitter_e1704880520781_a2854f266b.jpg 338w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_Screenshot_20240110_145954_Twitter_e1704880520781_a2854f266b.jpg 507w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/large_Screenshot_20240110_145954_Twitter_e1704880520781_a2854f266b.jpg 675w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-25933">Ustad Rashid Khan receiving Padma Bhushan</figcaption></figure><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">As the immortal line in the Hindi movie “Anand” goes, “Babu Moshai, zindagi aur maut upar waale ke haath hai, Jahanpanah! Usey na toh aap badal sakte hai na main! Hum sab to rangmanch ki kathputliyan hai Jinki dor upar waale ki ungliyon mein bandhi hai Kab, kaun, kaise uthega, ye koi nahin bata sakta hai.”!<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">(Babu Moshai, Life and death are in the hands of God, the one above us. You cannot change it, nor can I. We are all puppets in the show, which are controlled by the fingers of the one above.)<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Nothing illustrates the truth of this statement than the suddenness with which cancer takes away people. But there is another line in the same movie that is also immortal: “Zindagi badi honi chahiye, lambi nahin.” Meaning, “Life should be large, not long.” And by this standard, Rashid Khan certainly lived large, though he may not have lived long.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/800px_Ustad_rashid_kan_bharat_bhavan_bhopal_6d038cc6b0.jpeg" alt="800px-Ustad_rashid_kan_bharat_bhavan_bhopal.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_800px_Ustad_rashid_kan_bharat_bhavan_bhopal_6d038cc6b0.jpeg 156w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_800px_Ustad_rashid_kan_bharat_bhavan_bhopal_6d038cc6b0.jpeg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_800px_Ustad_rashid_kan_bharat_bhavan_bhopal_6d038cc6b0.jpeg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">My first exposure to the Ustad was in 1993, when I heard a recording of his, of rag Yaman, on the India Archive Music label. He was just 24 at the time, and not yet an Ustad, and the recording was released a couple of years earlier, in 1991. I was simply blown away by his tayyari. Even though I have not heard that recording in years, I can never forget it, especially the drut cheez, which is etched in my mind – “Aao aao aao balma.” The tayyari on display was amazing.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Ustad Rashid Khan was the flag bearer of the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana (school) of Hindustani vocal music, having learned from his uncle, Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan, and from his grand-uncle, the Khalifa (head) of the gharana, Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan. With this kind of musical pedigree, and his inborn incredible talent, Rashid Khan quickly rose to become one of the foremost contemporary singers of Hindustani classical music.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);display:block;font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;height:auto;letter-spacing:normal;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;vertical-align:middle;white-space:normal;widows:2;width:740px;word-spacing:0px;" id="attachment_25932" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25932"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_72_183910c9e1.jpeg" alt="images-72.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_72_183910c9e1.jpeg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_images_72_183910c9e1.jpeg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-25932">Ustad Rashid Khan performing (on right)</figcaption></figure><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The great doyen of Hindustani vocal music, arguably the greatest vocalist of our times, the late Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, after listening to one of Rashid Khan’s inspired performances, said that the future of Hindustani music was safe in Rashid Khan’s hands. The comparisons to Bhimsen Joshi must certainly have inspired Rashid Khan. One just had to hear his absolutely brilliant rendition of the famous drut khayal in rag Multani, “nainan mein aan ban, kaunsi pari re,” and compare with with the definitive rendition by the great Bhimsen. It is an incandescent performance and tells you why Rashid Khan will be remembered as an all-time great.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);display:block;font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;height:auto;letter-spacing:normal;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;vertical-align:middle;white-space:normal;widows:2;width:771px;word-spacing:0px;" id="attachment_25938" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25938"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Bhimsen_Joshi_768x512_9472a0e893.jpg" alt="Bhimsen-Joshi-768x512.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Bhimsen_Joshi_768x512_9472a0e893.jpg 234w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Bhimsen_Joshi_768x512_9472a0e893.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_Bhimsen_Joshi_768x512_9472a0e893.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-25938">Pandit Bhimsen Joshi</figcaption></figure><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Rashid Khan excelled not only in the serious performance of Hindustani vocal, in the form known as khayal, but also in the light classical form known as Thumri. As with any performance of Rashid Khan, once you hear something by him, you never forget it. Such was the case with a thumri I heard decades ago, but still remember, in rag Kirwani, “Tore bina nahin chain, Brij ke nandlala.” The emotion he brings to the line “paiyyaan padhoon, binati karoon, daar gale maala” has to be heard to be believed.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Sadly, the Ustad is gone, but he leaves behind his son, Armaan Rashid Khan, who is himself a fine young musician. I recently had the opportunity to listen to him as I was preparing for a performance of rag puriya dhanashree, and listened to a fine rendition of “payaliya jhankar,” after listening to the same cheez, sung by his father. The tradition will live on.

images-71.jpeg

The eminent Hindustani (North Indian Classical) vocalist, Ustad Rashid Khan, passed away yesterday at the very young age of 55. He was suffering from prostate

Ustad Rashid Khan: Living Life Large

<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" dir="auto"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/25th_Feb_24_a_copy_770x470_aa2b396ee8.jpg" alt="25th-Feb-24-a-copy-770x470.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_25th_Feb_24_a_copy_770x470_aa2b396ee8.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_25th_Feb_24_a_copy_770x470_aa2b396ee8.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_25th_Feb_24_a_copy_770x470_aa2b396ee8.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">Receiving a query, as he so often was from all of us, he always chose to build his answer like a sand castle at the edge of a sea, shaping it smidgen by smidgen. Those words and gestures reflected a quintessential Kumar Shahani, as known to movie devotees across the world. Kumar did this without striving to compress any part of his thought into an incontrovertible finish, seeking, instead, the various forces around – whether they be an unexpected gust of wind, an unruly wave or our usually delayed perception of the perspectives he was proposing – to come to his aid.</div><figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);display:block;font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;height:auto;letter-spacing:normal;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;vertical-align:middle;white-space:normal;widows:2;width:396px;word-spacing:0px;" id="attachment_26709" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26709"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/unnamed_a6b4a34d3c.png" alt="unnamed.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_unnamed_a6b4a34d3c.png 233w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-26709">Kumar Shahani with actor Dhritiman Chatterjee.</figcaption></figure><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">He made us put our hands in the sand with him and add to his lines and contours, reassemble what might have collapsed, or what always brought the dimpled smile to his face. All this would lead to the start of a process constructing another fabulation to accompany his improvisation.<hr><blockquote style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(244, 244, 244);border-left-color:!important;border-left-width:0px;border-radius:10px;border-right-color:!important;border-right-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:23px !important 0px;orphans:2;overflow:hidden;padding:50px 50px 45px !important;position:relative;text-align:center;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;z-index:1;">Kumar Shahani (7 December 1940 – 25 February 2024) was an Indian film director and screenwriter, best known for his offbeat films such as&nbsp;Maya Darpan&nbsp;(1972),&nbsp;Tarang (1984),&nbsp;Khayal Gatha&nbsp;(1989) and&nbsp;Kasba (1990).Kumar Shahaji’s first feature—Maya Darpan&nbsp;-earned reputation as one of&nbsp;Indian cinema’s first formalist films. His dedication to formalism evoked comparisons from critics and film enthusiasts with filmmakers such as&nbsp;Pier Paolo Pasolini,&nbsp;Andrei Tarkovsky&nbsp;and&nbsp;Jacques Rivette. He was also known as a teacher and theorist of cinema, whose essays The Shock of Desire and Other Essays, comprising 51 essays, was published by Tulika Books in 2015.</blockquote><hr><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">It always seemed to me, whether we were in the class at FTII or on a shoot in Himachal or on one of our walks in Geneva when I invited him to come spend a couple of weeks with my students, that his attempt was to make his conjurations change as the light changes during the day. That is, inclined at dawn to resuscitate, at dusk it might bring languor, and the light descending hard atop at noon to propose a short lull.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);display:block;font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;height:auto;letter-spacing:normal;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;vertical-align:middle;white-space:normal;widows:2;width:340px;word-spacing:0px;" id="attachment_26715" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26715"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/movies_e1708844636903_52149e94ff.png" alt="movies-e1708844636903.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_movies_e1708844636903_52149e94ff.png 215w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-26715">Kumar Shahani Films</figcaption></figure><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">The changing light and its colors changes what we believe we saw a moment ago, changes our reveries, our desires. His conjuring of a past might have had its source in a river fecund with a possible nation and, before our eyes, steadily transformed into the ardour of a tarana. The present might emerge as a nude in blue suspended above or is it within the color red, the colors as much to redeem as to denounce us. And the future, perhaps a woman at a panel of windows that overlook distant mountains.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);display:block;font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;height:auto;letter-spacing:normal;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;vertical-align:middle;white-space:normal;widows:2;width:338px;word-spacing:0px;" id="attachment_26708" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26708"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/movies_e1708844585877_aa6808b244.png" alt="movies-e1708844585877.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_movies_e1708844585877_aa6808b244.png 213w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-26708">Kumar Shahani Films</figcaption></figure><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Kumar had a way of pausing the gesture of one of his hands in mid-air, the gesture neither a sign nor a signal, but a track, like that of an animal in mud, evoking a weight as well as a rhythm, a suggestion of a pattern, a life, a journey, a direction – all unsettled again as the gesture continued its dance. When one left him, one took along an experience of uncertainty that, somehow, was never debilitating. Instead, like a moment of caesura in a bandish, it offered innumerable directions. That, to me, was the finest gift he left to us. And so tenderly.

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Kumar Shahani- The Tender Gesture

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<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_9_45ef5452cd.jpeg" alt="images-9.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_9_45ef5452cd.jpeg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_images_9_45ef5452cd.jpeg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">The following article is part of the Trailblazing Women of India series. A series presented by The AIDEM, exploring the lives and ideas of women who played a decisive role in shaping India’s social, political, and intellectual history.The AIDEM underscores the enduring contemporary relevance of revisiting the lives of these women leaders and the ideas they championed. Click <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:0.4s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://youtu.be/G_sxvcXO0tg">here</a> to watch the video.<hr>Picture this: It’s 1930. A 27-year-old woman stands before Mahatma Gandhi, telling him he’s making a historic mistake.Gandhi is planning the Salt March. His vision? Men march and women stand on street corners selling salt and singing songs.Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay says: No.“Women have stood shoulder to shoulder with men, building the Congress party. They deserve to march,” she insists.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:654px;" id="attachment_42087" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-42087"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Kamaladevi_Chattopadhyaya_Leading_a_Congress_march_in_the_early_1930s_a72f010da1.jpg" alt="Kamaladevi-Chattopadhyaya-Leading-a-Congress-march-in-the-early-1930s.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Kamaladevi_Chattopadhyaya_Leading_a_Congress_march_in_the_early_1930s_a72f010da1.jpg 102w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Kamaladevi_Chattopadhyaya_Leading_a_Congress_march_in_the_early_1930s_a72f010da1.jpg 327w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_Kamaladevi_Chattopadhyaya_Leading_a_Congress_march_in_the_early_1930s_a72f010da1.jpg 491w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-42087">Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya leading a Congress march in the early 1930s</figcaption></figure>Gandhi concedes. But she’s not finished. “Issue a formal call to action.”“Why?” Gandhi asks. “Don’t you know your sisters?”Her response? Pure political genius: “Because history will record that YOU called them to participate.”&nbsp;History did record it. Women marched beside Gandhi, breaking salt laws. Kamaladevi became one of the first women arrested for civil disobedience. She auctioned “freedom salt” at the Bombay Stock Exchange for Rs. 501. On January 26, 1930, she clung to the Indian tricolour during a scuffle with authorities, refusing to let go.Who was this woman bold enough to challenge Gandhi?Born in 1903 in Mangalore, married at fourteen, widowed at sixteen. She remarried—scandalous. She divorced—one of India’s first civil divorces. In 1926, encouraged by Margaret Cousins, she became the first woman to contest a legislative office, losing by just 55 votes. In 1927, she founded the All India Women’s Conference as its organizing secretary.In 1936, she became a founding member of the Congress Socialist Party, working alongside Jayaprakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia. Yet when we celebrate Indian socialism, we remember only the men.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:300px;" id="attachment_42084" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-42084"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Kamaladevi_Chattopadhyay_aa0f5dde3b.jpg" alt="Kamaladevi-Chattopadhyay.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Kamaladevi_Chattopadhyay_aa0f5dde3b.jpg 113w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-42084">Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay</figcaption></figure>Her ideas were revolutionary. She connected capitalism, imperialism, and women’s subjection: “This imperial capitalist system encourages endless wars and expects women to produce children who become soldiers.” She challenged glorified motherhood itself.In the 1930s—decades before global women’s liberation—she championed bodily autonomy and birth control. Not for population control, but for women’s choice. She traveled to America, worked with Margaret Sanger, and in 1951 established India’s first family planning commission centered on women’s autonomy.She championed what we now refer as feminist economics, preceding the Feminist Care Ethics Debate by decades. She documented sexual division of labor, wage discrimination, and systematic underpayment of women workers in industrial and agricultural sectors—when labor movements barely acknowledged women as workers.Interestingly, she refused the label “feminist,” understanding that in her hostile patriarchal environment, strategic pragmatism mattered. But her ideas? Profoundly feminist.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Kamaladevi_4_58727afc75.jpg" alt="Kamaladevi-4.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Kamaladevi_4_58727afc75.jpg 216w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Kamaladevi_4_58727afc75.jpg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">After Partition, heartbroken, she resettled 50,000 refugees from the North-West Frontier Province, helping create Faridabad—independent India’s crucial early industrial township. In 1948, she founded and led the Indian Cooperative Union for the rehabilitation of the refugees.Her greatest legacy? Reviving India’s dying crafts as economic empowerment. As chairperson of the All India Handicrafts Board for twenty years, she understood that handicrafts meant livelihoods for millions, grassroots democratic participation, and India’s answer to exploitative industrialization.Her institutions still stand: Indian National Theatre established in 1944, which later became National School of Drama, All India Handicrafts Board established in 1952, Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1953, Crafts Council of India in 1964, and Delhi’s Crafts Museum in 1967. She made Indian handicrafts a major export, serving as an Advisor to the World Craft Council and first President for the Asia-Pacific Region.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:555px;" id="attachment_42085" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-42085"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Leading_Their_Imperial_Highnesses_to_the_dias_60795d4aa2.jpg" alt="Leading-Their-Imperial-Highnesses-to-the-dias.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Leading_Their_Imperial_Highnesses_to_the_dias_60795d4aa2.jpg 216w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Leading_Their_Imperial_Highnesses_to_the_dias_60795d4aa2.jpg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-42085">Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya leading their Imperial Highnesses to the dias</figcaption></figure>From UNESCO Awards to the Padma Vibhushan, her legacy endures in every artisan earning a dignified living today.Kamaladevi died in 1988, but her question echoes: What does freedom mean without bodily autonomy, economic independence, and cultural sovereignty?As you explore her work—and I hope you will—ask yourself: What would Kamaladevi be fighting for today?<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G_sxvcXO0tg" title="Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay and the Idea of Cultural Sovereignty by Priyanka Jha | New Series | EP 02 " frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div></div></div>

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Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay: The Woman who taught Gandhi a Lesson

<div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">Shuruart Foundation has been using art to make education more joyful and effective since 2017. Does your child often draw the same thing again and again? Should parents be worried if this happens? In this episode of Child and Art: Myths &amp; Facts, we talk about why children repeat drawings and what it really tells us about their confidence and emotional growth. Learn how your positive feedback and encouragement can help your child express freely, think creatively, and build genuine self-confidence. Watch the video to learn more.</div></div>

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Same drawing again? Is that good or bad for your child’s growth?

<div class="post-featured-image" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px 0px 50px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">&nbsp;</div><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:undefined/undefined;" src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Wearing_My_Face_Before_a_Media_that_Has_the_Power_to_Make_and_Unmake_4_optimized_100_f65d7f55f3.png" alt="Wearing_My_Face_Before_a_Media_that_Has_the_Power_to_Make_and_Unmake_4_optimized_100.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Wearing_My_Face_Before_a_Media_that_Has_the_Power_to_Make_and_Unmake_4_optimized_100_f65d7f55f3.png 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Wearing_My_Face_Before_a_Media_that_Has_the_Power_to_Make_and_Unmake_4_optimized_100_f65d7f55f3.png 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"></figure><div class="post-featured-image" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px 0px 50px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">As advocates, our lives are consumed by briefs and arguments, leaving little room for leisure. For me, the finest pastime is research and writing, a legacy I proudly inherit from my late grandfather, Shri S.A.A. Rizvi, IAS (Retd.). He was a gold medallist and a remarkable scholar of his times. His example instilled in me the conviction that the pursuit of knowledge is not merely an adornment, but a discipline that enriches both profession and personality.</div><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">It was in this spirit that a casual exchange with my colleague Nadeem Murtaza at the High Court rekindled this passion. His query, whether I had ever heard of “Douglas” or “Kinnaird Hospital” of Lucknow was not a passing remark, but a spark that illuminated a forgotten chapter of Lucknow’s medical heritage. His mother, Zahida Auntie, had often spoken of it, pointing to the site near today’s Lari Cardiology Centre, where the geriatric and mental health departments of KGMU (King George Medical University) now stand. That conversation became the bridge between my inherited love for inquiry and the living memory of our city, compelling me to delve into archives and dissertations, and to uncover the remarkable story of a hospital that once stood shoulder to shoulder with Queen Mary and Lady Dufferin Hospitals in Lucknow.&nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:426px;" id="attachment_41918" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41918"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Kinnaird_Memorial_Hospital_1_1_1024x666_2b0c4cee0d.png" alt="Kinnaird-Memorial-Hospital-1-1-1024x666.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Kinnaird_Memorial_Hospital_1_1_1024x666_2b0c4cee0d.png 240w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Kinnaird_Memorial_Hospital_1_1_1024x666_2b0c4cee0d.png 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_Kinnaird_Memorial_Hospital_1_1_1024x666_2b0c4cee0d.png 750w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/large_Kinnaird_Memorial_Hospital_1_1_1024x666_2b0c4cee0d.png 1000w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-41918">Lady Kinnaird Memorial Hospital</figcaption></figure>The story begins in 1875, when Elizabeth Bielby, a nurse sent by the Zenana Mission Society, began her medical mission near Lucknow. Though beset by tragedy, her sister Alice died soon after arrival, and Bielby herself fell gravely ill, the mission still endured. By 1891, through the efforts of Dr. Grace Mackinnon, the Lady Kinnaird Memorial Hospital was established on government-granted land, named after Lady Kinnaird. She was a devout Presbyterian philanthropist remembered for founding the YWCA.&nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;margin:15px auto 10px;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:416px;" id="attachment_41915" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41915"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/CMS_CRL_IW_1899_08_0007_cropped1_7b434dba61.jpg" alt="CMS_CRL_IW_1899_08_0007-cropped1.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_CMS_CRL_IW_1899_08_0007_cropped1_7b434dba61.jpg 244w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-41915">England Zenana Missionary Society</figcaption></figure>In 1910, Dr. Ethel Douglas took charge, and for the next 36 years she transformed the institution, expanding facilities, raising standards, and establishing training protocols that led to the North India Board of Examiners and State Registration Councils. Her dedication earned her the Kaiser-i-Hind Medal in Gold in 1927, and government grants that enabled new wards and modern equipment. As Beth Bullock Spencer’s dissertation records, Douglas’s “extraordinary influence” kept the Lucknow hospital “overflowing,” even as she grappled with challenges ranging from reluctant purdah patients to the infamous monkey menace.“Even the veteran doctor Ethel Douglas struggled to find a solution to the monkey problem, for some of the local people regarded the monkeys as sacred; harming the monkeys was out of question. Douglas resorted to shouting and shaking her rifle at the monkeys, but with little effect.”Snakes, too, were a recurring hazard, and cultural beliefs often complicated medical practice. Patients observing purdah resisted operations, some postponed surgeries at the last minute deeming the hour “inauspicious,” while others consulted village elders who determinedhe hospital became a sanctuary for women’s health, normalizing dental extractions, eye surgeries, and maternity care in a city where traditional practices often prevailed.The British contribution to Lucknow’s health system was profound. Alongside Lady Kinnaird Memorial Hospital, the Lady Dufferin Hospital was established in 1889 under the Countess of Dufferin Fund to provide safe maternity care. Later, the Queen Mary’s Hospital arose in the early 20th century as a centre for women’s medical education. Together, these institutions marked the colonial effort to embed Western medicine into the city’s fabric, particularly for women and children. They were not merely hospitals but symbols of reform, philanthropy, and the gradual acceptance of modern medical practices in a society negotiating tradition and change.<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;margin:15px auto 10px;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:396px;" id="attachment_41916" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41916"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/Lady_Dufferin_Hospital_Virabijee_Katrak_Maternity_Wing_768x432_4cbd6e4487.jpg" alt="Lady_Dufferin_Hospital-_Virabijee_Katrak_Maternity_Wing-768x432.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_Lady_Dufferin_Hospital_Virabijee_Katrak_Maternity_Wing_768x432_4cbd6e4487.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_Lady_Dufferin_Hospital_Virabijee_Katrak_Maternity_Wing_768x432_4cbd6e4487.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_Lady_Dufferin_Hospital_Virabijee_Katrak_Maternity_Wing_768x432_4cbd6e4487.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-41916">Lady Dufferin Hospital, Lucknow</figcaption></figure>By 1965, however, Lady Kinnaird Memorial Hospital succumbed to financial constraints and closed its doors. In 1971, the site was absorbed into King George Medical College, now popularly known as KGMU, housing its neurosurgical and mental health departments. Today, its memory lingers only in archives and recollections, overshadowed by its contemporaries. Yet, its legacy remains unique – a Christian missionary hospital that combined philanthropy, medical progress, and social reform. A place where doctors braved not only disease but monkeys, snakes, and cultural resistance to bring care to the women of Lucknow. An institution that has produced some of the world’s finest medical professionals, researchers and administrators. The pictures of these alumni are featured below.&nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;margin:15px auto 10px;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:276px;" id="attachment_41910" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41910"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/download_4_26ce212e58.png" alt="download-4.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_download_4_26ce212e58.png 235w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-41910">Dr. BM Hedge – Alumni of KGMU</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;margin:15px auto 10px;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:293px;" id="attachment_41911" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41911"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/download_5_c239ac1c62.png" alt="download-5.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_download_5_c239ac1c62.png 245w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-41911">Dr. Sanduk Ruit – Alumni of KGMU</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption alignnone" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;margin:15px auto 10px;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:300px;" id="attachment_41912" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41912"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_1_d076bb83d3.png" alt="images-1.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_1_d076bb83d3.png 245w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-41912">Dr. Naresh Trehan – Alumni of KGMU</figcaption></figure><figure class="wp-caption alignnone" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;margin:15px auto 10px;max-width:100%;padding:0px;width:211px;" id="attachment_41913" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41913"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_1_1_300x300_b57c8c7015.png" alt="images-1-1-300x300.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_1_1_300x300_b57c8c7015.png 156w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-41913">Dr. Anil Kohli – Alumni of KGMU</figcaption></figure>As I reflect upon this heritage, I am convinced that Lucknow’s medical history is incomplete without acknowledging the forgotten jewel that was Lady Kinnaird Memorial Hospital. Its story is not merely of bricks and mortar, but of pioneering women doctors, missionary zeal, and the evolution of healthcare in colonial and post-colonial India. Remembering it is essential to preserving the dignity of our city’s cultural and medical legacy.</div></div>

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