Cutains of the 21st edition of the Kalaghoda Arts Festival (#KGAF2020) exhibition was wrung down last Sunday (Feb. 9). The event organised by the Kala Ghoda Association achieved what it set out to do; make typically inaccessible art reach the masses.
People in large to very large numbers thronged the venue and had a gem of a time. “People came in overwhelming numbers. Every venue was completely full. It has been one of the most successful editions of the festival,” said festival coordinator Nicole Mody.
What made the event more lovable to the audience were things like Irani cafe heritage walks, silly stand-up comedy shows, serious theatre, queer films, hip hop dance, children’s workshops and the kind of indoor and outdoor artworks that stopped many office-going Mumbaikars in their tracks. Besides, there were several stalls selling pieces of art, jewellery and of course food of different varities.
If one exhibit featuring a tightrope walker served as a metaphor for navigating modern life with all its pushes and pulls, an Ambassador car juxtaposed values of youth today with Gandhian values by shrouding itself in both denim and khadi.
Celeb-spotters too had their share of fun. Fans of Usha Uthup, for instance, got a rare glimpse into her fifty-year-long journey from nightclub singer to renowned Bollywood playback artist during her literature session in which Uthup discussed her recently-released Hindi biography.
As a matter of fact, from its crumbling chawls to sky reaching skyscrapers, all the varied spare parts that make up Mumbai found centre stage at various points in the festival.
While some intellectual sessions reminded one about the city’s past as a clutch of islands, others urged Mumbaikars to drink in its gothic and art deco glory before the metro starts looking like “Gurgaon by the bay.”
Talking about long-drawn cases in India, there are millions of them that are pending and awaiting justice. One of the historical case is Raj family of Sova bazaar that was a land case involving (Raja Radhakrishna Deb), a land case that is still pending in the Calcutta High Court. This case is pending for about 175 years that came to Court in the year 1833.
Off late, two long-drawn murder cases have been hogging the limelight for quite some time now. First is the Nirbhaya case that has been going on for eight long years (incident happened on December 16, 2012) while the second is the Sheena Bora murder case has been going on from 2015 when her murder case came to light.
Let’s take a look at both the murder cases in detail:
On December 16, 2012, Jyoti Singh, now nicknamed Nirbhaya and her friend Awindra Pratap Pandey got onto a private bus after watching a show of Life of Pi in South Delhi. The night out was supposed to be a fun break from Singh’s studies; she was a medical student who had aspirations of becoming a physiotherapist. Instead, the night turned out one when it was the last time she would ever venture outdoors again. Six men including the bus driver attacked Pandey before brutally beating and raping Singh for an hour, causing irreparable internal damage, before discarding her battered body on the side of the road.
“They tore my clothes and raped me in turns,” Jyoti had reportedly told the police. “They hit me with an iron rod and bit me on my entire body with their teeth. They took away all my belongings, my mobile phone, purse, credit card, debit card, watches, etc. Six people raped me in turns for nearly one hour in the moving bus.”
Two weeks later, Jyoti died. Pandey, though injured, survived.
Singh’s death and the subsequent investigation sparked massive protests and a worldwide conversation. Millions criticised India’s political and criminal justice systems and the country’s historic dismissal of sexual assault victims and survivors.
The second case is of Sheena Bora murder who was allegedly murdered by her mother Indrani Mukerjea and father Peter Mukerjea.
Seven years after the alleged murder of Sheena Bora, the doctor who had examined her skeleton and conducted the post-mortem told a Mumbai court that till date he has not been able to find the cause for her death. Sanjay Thakur, who is a doctor at BYL Nair hospital in Mumbai, had conducted the tests after the skeleton was dug out in 2012.
A witness in the court said that the doctor collected the samples of skin, teeth, hair and bones from the skeleton for the DNA tests. He kept the samples of bone and teeth in one jar and the samples of skin and hair in another. He then handed over the sealed jars to police as it is.
However, when advocate Sudeep Pasbola, appearing for the prime accused in the Sheena Bora murder case Indrani Mukerjea inquired Sanjay Thakur on why the cause of death could not be ascertained, he said that since the body was half burnt and decomposed when it was found, the cause of the death could not be ascertained.
Police inspector Vinod Bhagat, while in the witness box, said that he was present at the site when the skeletons were exhumed, however, no FIR was registered.
According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Sheena Bora, a resident of Guwahati was killed by her own mother Indrani Mukerjea in 2012. Indrani had allegedly killed and disposed off Sheena Bora’s body which was later found by a local villager on May 23, 2012. However in 2015, when Sheena Bora’s murder came to light, the skeletons were re-exhumed and examined all over again.
According to the CBI, the motive behind Sheena Bora’s killing was her demand for a flat in Mumbai. CBI chargesheet stated that Sheena Bora was blackmailing her mother.
While in the first case, even though the day of the hanging of the convicts was fixed for February 2 by the Supreme Court, but due to a last minute hindrance, the hangings were stalled. The second case has been going on as scheduled but in between Indrani fell ill and was admitted to the JJ Hospital. Then she lodged a complaint that the jail authorities were ill treating her. Meanwhile Peter Mukerjea has been granted bail. However, the court has stayed his release for a certain period in which the CBI could drag Mukerjea to the Supreme Court.
It is only in India I believe cases in Court take long time to be solved. While the convicts are fed and allowed to live long, the interest in the case is lost and it goes on lingering.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
MTNL was a goldmine once upon a time but bureaucracy and corruption killed this company which today is languishing in the doldrums. 18K employees opting for VRS literally means that the company is on the verge of closure. Communication is the key to path of progress and today hardly anybody uses the services of this company except for address proof. Government is responsible for the sorry state of MTNL today as it was badly managed inspite of having the top infrastructure as well as the required manpower.
However, MTNL still owns huge properties in prime locations of the country the value of which runs into billions. There is a fear the company may be sold to some business house which is close to the government for a penny. MTNL as a company should be closed down and it’s value should be monetized by sale of it’s properties. Closed Mills in Mumbai fetched their promoters billions of rupees in the real estate market and the same story can be exploited by the government when it comes to MTNL. The court should monitor MTNL sale so that there is no foul play.
S.N. Kabra
2Fire at chemical unit in Boisar
In yet another fire accident at a chemical factory in Boisar property worth lakhs of rupees was lost. While no casualties were reported in the blaze, two workers sustained injuries. The blast took place during mixing of few chemicals and the unit was gutted. It is one more case of serial fire in the state that is causing loss to property. The fire at Harshal Chemical alarmed employees of neighbouring factories causing panic.
Nikhil Akhilesh Krishnan
3Hang Nirbhaya rape convicts
The four convicts in the Nirbhaya rape and murder case Mukesh Kumar Singh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Kumar Sharma and Akshay Kumar Thakur should be hanged to death at the earliest so that men who keep treating women like sex objects may learn a lesson from this incident. It’s a shame that some men keep treating women like sex objects only to play with them. When will our men learn to treat women with dignity? Weren’t they born from a woman’s womb?
JubelD’Cruz
4Harnessing of solar power a right step by railways
The recent budget announcement to help railways tap solar energy extensively through various innovative schemes is welcome. Solar power generation on vacant unused lands will prove to be a game changer under the ambit of India’s National Solar Mission. The announcement comes at a right time when economies like India otherwise should be leading at the forefront to mitigate climate change and reduce carbon emissions. As complete electrification of entire railway network was announced recently by Hon’ble Railway Minister Piyush Goyal- the budget announcement to harness solar power along the railway network will only help Indian Railways to become a completely self-sufficient and a sustainable organization by 2030.
The other ministries and departments should now be at the forefront to take cue from the Railway Ministry to adopt sustainable solutions and rely on solar power to harness energy. National Solar Mission launched should extensively promote and create an awareness to tap solar energy across all levels. The positive step will help India become a sustainable and low-carbon emission nation atleast by 2030.
Varun Dambal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
The much awaited Ro Ro ship is going to arrive in Mumbai tomorrow though the service is expected to start by the end of this month or the first week of March. The Ro-Ro ship will provide service between Mumbai and Alibaug. The travelling time will be just 60 minutes which does not include the docking and undocking time. With this, the ship will save three hours time that it often takes. And the view that one will get will be much better for sure.
As per a leading tabloid, the Ro-Ro car ship can carry up to 180 cars and 500 passengers at a time. Coming to its ticket price, it is learnt that a ticket will be priced between Rs1,000 and Rs.1500 for four wheelers depending upon their size while passengers will be charged Rs.235.
This initiative will not only reduce road traffic and fuel consumption, but will also bring down pollution in the city. Reportedly, over 20 lakh passengers travel between the Gateway and Mandwa annually.
The RO-RO service was the brainchild of the Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari. He made the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) complete the infrastructure on the Mumbai side while the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) completed the work at the other end. Though the infrastructure was ready more than a year ago, the project was stuck in some legal issues. As states like Goa and Karnataka have Ro-Ro services, Gadkari wanted the service to be available in Mumbai. For this, he acquired the land from the MbPT at Ferry Wharf to create a terminal.
It is reported that the state government and the Centre spent nearly Rs 150 crores on the terminal and the breakwater in Mandwa to make water transport possible during the monsoon season.
The expiry of 25-year-old woman lecturer while undergoing treatment at a hospital in the city has raised queries about woman security in the State. The woman Ankita Pisudde, resident of Hinganghat town in Wardha was in a critical condition after sustaining 35 to 40 per cent “grade III” burns on February 3 when she was set on fire allegedly by one Vikesh Nagrale while she was on way to her college. She was undergoing treatment at the Orange City Hospital & Research Centre located around 75 km from Wardha.
Senior Advocate Abha Singh said, “According to me, violent crimes against women are on the rise as no one fears the law and also, there is poor conviction rate. The criminal don’t know that breaking the law can have a strong repercussion that is why now people are emboldened in such acts. Also in India, if a woman says no to his advances then the man is not ready to accept it and is ready to kill her.”
When asked whether she( Ankita Pisudde) will get justice, she said, “She will get justice but final punishment will be decided at a later date because of poor conviction rate.”
“Doctors at the hospital declared her dead at 6.55 am today,” Hinganghat’s police inspector Satyaveer Bandiwar said. The woman sustained deep burn injuries on scalp, face, right upper limb, left hand, upper back, neck and eyes along with severe inhalational injuries, the hospital said in a medical bulletin on Monday. She died of septicemic shock after suffering from deep dermal burns along with severe inhalational injuries, respiratory distress and related complications.
Activist Trupti Desai said, “I think the government should follow the rule introduced by the Andhra Pradesh government apropos the Disha bill and the accused will get punishment within 6 months. Then only will the justice be served.”
Around 4 am on Monday, her oxygen levels fell down in spite of having a ventilator support coupled with decreasing urine output and reduction in blood pressure, the hospital said. As part of immediate resuscitation measures, medicines were escalated to maintain the blood pressure and all feasible steps were taken to improve the oxygen levels in the blood but the patient remained “extremely critical”, it said. “Around 6.30 am, she had bradycardia and in spite of prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the patient could not be revived and was declared dead at 6.55 am,” it said. The victim a postgraduate in Botany was completing her B Ed degree.
Advocate Vibin Nair said, “It is very disturbing to hear what happened with the young lecturer. My prayers are with her family. The law will take its own course on the perpetrator. A fast track court must be set-up immediately and the perpetrator should be brought to justice to the woman at the earliest. It can be easily said that the remedy of bail although available won’t be of much help to the perpetrator. Capital punishment will also be looked upon by the Hon’ble Court as the act will fall under the rarest of rare criminal acts.”
During her treatment, she underwent tracheostomy (creating an opening in neck to place a tube into the windpipe to allow air to enter the lungs), burn dressings, debridement and escharotomies, the hospital informed. Debridement is a medical procedure to remove dead, damaged or infected tissues while escharotomy is a surgical procedure used to treat full-thickness (third-degree) circumferential burns. The doctors had earlier stated that oxygen level in her blood had decreased alarmingly. The blood pressure too was fluctuating drastically.
Advocate Asim Sarode said, “We always see justice in the form of punishment and that become very incident centric if we talk about justice. Overall, we should consider that there are some problems in the system that we need to cure. And talking about the justice then definitely the accused will get punishment but we cannot decide the time period because the court has to follow the process.”
The woman’s parents and uncle were kept informed about her deteriorating health condition and death, the hospital said, adding that the body was later handed over to police for postmortem and other formalities. After the woman’s condition deteriorated, the hospital informed about her critical status to Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, Wardha Guardian Minister Sunil Kedar, Nagpur Divisional Commissioner Sanjeev Kumar, Police Commissioner Bhushan Kumar Upadhyay, Wardha Collector Vivek Bhimanwar and Wardha Superintendent of Police Basavraj Teli.
According to the police report, the accused poured petrol on the woman’s face and set her on fire. However, a passerby doused the fire and rushed the woman to a nearby hospital. Nagrale, who was arrested soon after the incident, and the woman were friends till two years ago when she severed ties with him due to his “irrational behaviour”. After not getting any response from her, Nagrale committed the crime in a fit of rage. Nagrale is a married man and has a seven-month-old son. He works in a private firm at Balharshah. He had even tried to commit suicide last year.
According to the deceased cousin Shubham Pisudde, Nagrale had been harassing her for the last many years despite repeated warnings. Her marriage (engagement) was broken last year due to Nagrale.
Around 7,000 people, including members of political parties, women and college students, marched from Nanduri Chowk to Ambedkar Square in Wardha town, demanding a fast- tracked trial and death penalty for the accused. A few demonstrators also demanded that the accused be “handed over to the public for ten minutes”. Residents of Hinganghat town and neighbouring areas also called for a shut-down.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray asked the police to ensure that the accused was convicted. Thackeray took a serious note of the incident, a statement from his office said, adding that expenses of the woman’s treatment would be borne from the Chief Minister’s Medical Assistance Fund. The Maharashtra State Commission for Women on directed the Wardha Superintendent of Police to submit a report on the incident.
The state government on Tuesday flew Navi Mumbai-based National Burns Centre director Sunil Keswani to Nagpur to supervise the woman’s treatment.
The accused has been booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 326-A (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by use of acid, etc) and sent in police custody.
Leaders expressed their grief over this incident
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said, “The incident is so barbaric that words are not enough to describe it. I will plead to everyone to have patience. The suspects will be punished soon. This government will take strict action.”
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said, “I have spoken to the public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam to ensure that the verdict is out at the earliest and the victim is given justice. We will provide assistance to the family in every possible way and one of the family members will be provided a government job.”
NCP leader Supriya Sule said, “Saddened to hear that the Hinganghat victim lost her life earlier this morning. This case will be heard in Fast Track Court and State Government will ensure that justice is done. My heartfelt condolences with her family. May she rest in peace.”
State Housing Minister Dr Jitendra Awhad said, “This incident is an insult to the progressive state of Maharashtra. Injustice has been meted against the victim in a state where Jijamata, Ramabai were born. This not a defeat of woman but the defeat of culture and tradition of Maharashtra.”
Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil said, “Citizens are venting their anger over the shocking incident happened in Hinganghat. The government and judiciary will take strict action against the accused. People should remain calm and cooperate with the government.”
Maharashtra Social Justice Minister Dhananjay Munde said, “Cruelty has no place in Maharashtra. The government is working towards providing justice to the victim and her family. Through this incident we need to think about where progressive Maharashtra is heading.”
In the era of equality, nothing much has changed. Women/girls are molested, raped and burned alive by their male counterparts. In a way, nothing much has changed for the daughters of India. In our country of an estimated 20 million commercial sex workers, 16 million women and girls are victims of sex trafficking according to non-government organisations working in India. Most of the poor girls are pushed into the sex trade by family members to counter poverty. The father literally bargains for perks while letting go his daughter in an agent’s hand. Once the girls were gone, families rarely find out what had happened to them and had no further communication at all. Researchers have found 78 per cent of girls sold for commercial sexual exploitation were from West Bengal. Official data in 2019 showed that West Bengal accounted for about a fifth of India’s 5,466 cases of human trafficking with the state both a source and a transit location for women and children trafficked into the sex trade. Reports of human trafficking in India rose 25 per cent in 2015 compared to that of the previous year with more than 40 per cent of cases involving children being bought, sold and exploited as slaves, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.
In the recent past, a study led by the My Choices Foundation in partnership with major anti-trafficking groups across India found that the average age of girls being trafficked had fallen to the ages between 10 to 14 in recent years from 14-16 in the past. Fathers in rural India are the targets of a new campaign to stop traffickers trapping young girls into the sex trade as research showed the average age of girls forced into prostitution had dropped with some as young as eight. But a key finding was the role of fathers with researchers discovering that traffickers were convincing fathers to give away their daughters by promising to arrange a marriage without the need to pay a dowry to the boy’s family or a job in a metro city. Apart from selling or bartering daughters, large number of missing girls are mostly found in flesh trade especially from rural areas. Researchers also found that during work in the fields, parents were also unwilling to report a missing girl complaint to the police fearing stigma. A few months ago, there were two minor tribal girls of the same family aged 12 and 14 who went missing from Lemru village of Korba district. They were later rescued from 11 traffickers including three women.
The girls were raped by six ‘customers’ and were kept confined at a farmhouse. One of them was almost sold and she was supposed to be sent to another city for flesh trade. Girl trafficking is strengthening its roots in tribal dominated regions or in the rural villages where jobs and economy is big crises. On grounds of providing jobs in metro cities and also locally, girls get exploited. Last year, a 17-year-old girl was sold and pushed into flesh trade in Thane, Mumbai. She hailed from Bangladesh and was repeatedly raped by her friend’s acquaintance who promised her to marriage at her native place. In the same month, he sold her to agents (involved in trafficking) in Bangladesh who in-turn sold her to their counterparts in India. The girl was subsequently brought to Thane district; she was taken to customers at various places in Thane, Vashi in Navi Mumbai, Mumbai and Bangalore. These days even the social network is used for exploiting these girls. Since they are from villages, they are not educated. The agents take advantage of such situations. They create their FB profiles and even websites; they display their pictures inviting customers. These girls are exploited to the core and if they dare to oppose, they face cruel treatment. There is no one in their lives to fall back on. Trafficking of women from the state to metros has increased though the government has chosen a mystifying silence.
More than 60,000 girls between 12 and 15 years work as domestic workers in Delhi and Mumbai. One girl in every ten families is pushed into prostitution by middlemen who take them to cities with the promise of a job. The government should take steps to stop this violation of human rights. In a male-dominated society, women are not allowed to claim their rights. There is another example, the ‘Rajnat’ community of Rajasthan is struggling to give up prostitution, a profession it has practised for generations. But with no jobs on offer, even for educated members of the community, the girls have been forced to join dance bars in Mumbai. At least, it ensures a decent income and a better future for their children. The ‘rajnats’ or ‘nats’ were dancers and singers in the royal courts but were reduced to utter penury and took to prostitution with the decline of the feudal order. While most girls in the community were pushed into commercial sex, the men functioned as pimps and the tradition has continued. Though in most parts of the State, commercial sex work has been given up, there are pockets where some girls still follow the profession because even the educated men have no jobs and the situation has become even more difficult when it comes to girls. Even if the community want their daughters to be educated and live a respectable life but when they educate the girls, they do not get good grooms as the men are jobless and no one wants to have a matrimonial alliance with this particular community. Even if the community gives up commercial sex work altogether, there is no other option for survival. Each state of India is going through worst for girls; we need some drastic step towards the prevention of such practices. Just saying ‘Beti Bachao’ is not enough.
India is in denial of the fact that a majority of its women do not feel safe alone on the streets, at work, in markets, or at home, even though they have learned how to cope with this existential anxiety.
When I asked a young educated women in Delhi if they feels safe, most of them said no. And most of those who said yes had learned to modify their behaviours to feel safe, they don’t go out alone unnecessarily; come home at night before dark; get permission to go out; are always careful and alert; and they censor their speech, their clothes and their body posture including whether or not they look men in the eyes. Indian women are in a constant state of vigilance like a country on terrorist alert. Satish, a 52-year old banker told me: “For rape there is no fixed time: always be alert.” No democracy is a democracy when half its population lives in fear. India – and the rest of the world – would do well to make women’s safety and freedom central goals of democracy and development, and learn about the science of cultural change.
(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)
In a most inhuman gesture, nearly 30 stray dogs were poisoned to death at Morbe village in Panvel taluka in the last four days. Activists said that they suspect that the dogs were possibly given food mixed with poison. Animal welfare workers said most of the dogs died a “painful” death. One of them had recently given birth to five puppies.
Talking on the incident, activist Sunil Bhoir said, “We are very disturbed to see how healthy dogs have possibly been killed en masse. Many of them were taken care of by local tribal families staying close to the village water tank while others were adopted by other local residents in the village and adjoining Dwarka housing complex. We have given a written application to Panvel taluka police station on Saturday and have demanded that a post-mortem must be done.
This is not the solution to frequent stray dog bites happening everywhere. “Every gram panchayat must follow the Animal Birth Control programme by utilising funds to sterilise stray dogs and cats. Sterilisation is the only humane and legal way to control dog population,” said another animal welfare worker.
The Panvel taluka police sub-inspector Sanjay Chavan observed, “Various aspects of dog-killing, poisoning are being investigated.”
A 35-year-old man killed on Monday after his motorcycle was hit by a car carrying collegians in Palghar. According to a report, the incident took place in the morning at Boisar-Tarapur Road. The car was on was on its way to a college in Boisar when it crashed into the motorcycle near Kurgaon village.
After the crash the motorcyclist Kamlakar Vavare died on the spot. The car overturned due to impact injuring all five occupants. The injured people have been admitted to a nearby hospital for treatment.
A case under section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and provisions of Motor Vehicles Act has been registered however, no arrests have been made so far.
Over the years, we have moved a long way from writing on stones and leaves to now using computers, threatening traditional pen-and-paper writing practices like calligraphy. Calligraphy is the design and execution of lettering with a broad tip instrument, brush or other writing instruments.
It is quite imperative to note that one must follow some basic methods to write and possess best handwriting. Handwriting reflects your mind and number of old timers got their job just because their handwriting was too good. It is necessary to hold ones pen diagonally at a 30 to 60 degree angle. A calligraphy pen is not used quite the same way as a regular pen. Don’t twist the nib as you write and try to be patient while writing and not to scribble. Lead the nib backwards or sideways across the paper to get the best impression with your artistic mind. Apply light pressure and do not overwrite. Keep your lines parallel.
Typefaces are always telling us something. We receive information through typography. Type influences us, adds coloring to words, sets a mood and atmosphere, assists, teaches, scares us, brings us joy and inspires us. Typography is, foremost, an information medium. At the same time, it fulfills social functions and acts as an indicator of the age it belongs to. The contemporary world has its own rhythm, aesthetic and philosophy; while we are changing, everything is changing around us. In studying historical lettering in calligraphy, we can understand the character and potential of a writing instrument, and, as a result, we can manage its expressive means.
Handwriting is an art form. Just like painting, drawing and sketching, this art can be developed by individuals with some effort. The thrills of calligraphy are too many. Type design and calligraphy should be made main subjects in fine arts colleges rather than be offered as electives in your curriculum. Indian calligraphy is the Indian tradition of calligraphy. The art form has served multiple purposes since its inception in the second century BCE, including the duplication of religious texts and as a form of basic communication.
There was a bigger goal to this style of language than just to communicate with one another. There was no one true form of communication before this was created and calligraphy helped to guide community members to connect in more than one aspect of life, that was not just language. A rich heritage of calligraphy was embraced as this was a time before printing technology was accessible to Indian counties. This brought people closer together as they began to communicate in the same ways. While it may be used as an art form today, it was essential for communication before the 16th century. Mumbai-based master calligrapher Achyut Palav paints visuals with letters of the alphabet.
There are only easy methods. Practice goes behind the speed and finish of the strokes, be it on paper, umbrella or fabric. Ensure that the brush is clean and in good condition. There is no rule. Just go with the flow. Artist’s use of calligraphy has a sense of mystery. While we may not necessarily be able to read the text, the form and titles of the works is self explanatory but do leave room for one’s own experiences with conversation. Writing is not just a way of presenting thoughts and ideas; your own handwriting can also become an important design tool. Just how, though, do you conjure up expressive, creative results simply by putting pen to paper? If you find yourself asking that very question, you have come to the right place! Our aim is to show you how to lend more expression to your own handwriting and to show you both the theoretical and practical basics of calligraphy using edding calligraphy markers.
Happy writing!
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
1Why punish all if few are responsible for honking mischievously?
Mumbai Traffic police’s decision to install decibel-driven ‘punishment signal’ at 10 junctions across the city on an experiment basis is sans logic. Some mischievous driver with a lot of time at his disposal may honk non-stop for fun and why should others at the signal pay for his madness. Others in the traffic may have a lot of important work to attend and it would also create a traffic jam as some queues may even extend to the previous signal causing chaos and blocking traffic from all sides.
Punish those who honk and not all. It is like a teacher punishing the entire class for the mischief of one or two students. You actually don’t need to honk if traffic discipline is followed as a rule religiously. RTO should keep honking fines exorbitantly high to discourage people from honking. Mumbai is the commercial capital of the country and time is money for most. Doctors and other professionals have important job to attend and some could even be life saving. RTO should rethink on this proposal and only punish those who are responsible for breaking rules!
S.N.Kabra
2Kerala shows the way
The Kerala health ministry under the leadership of Health minister K K Shailaja has to be lauded for the exemplary and stupendous work done to contain the dangerous novel Coronavirus disease which made it’s entry into the state a few days ago with three patients under treatment in isolated wards of hospitals in Trichur, Alappuzha and Kasargod districts in the state. The minister who boldly led the medical team to encounter the deadly Nipah virus epidemic two years back is again back into action to fight yet another deadly virus epidemic now doing the rounds in China and other Asian nations.
Kerala’s preparedness and response to the Coronavirus has been so comprehensive and swift that other states have started to take it’s lessons and tactics to be implemented in their own.
The lesson that Kerala learnt from the Nipah outbreak two years ago , which claimed 17 lives, and the way in which the whole state overcame the epidemic is in itself an action packed story where every citizen of the state had a role to play. The health officials, the police, the panchayats, other local bodies, local health volunteers, politicians, the press and the commoner alerted and supported one another for the containment of Nipah and now the same is being repeated for the Coronavirus epidemic. There is a robust awareness campaign underway. Around 2,239 individuals are under surveillance for Coronavirus and 84 are in hospitals. A tracking system monitors everyone coming into the state from high-risk destinations and also those who have come into contact with suspected cases.
The five international airports in the state is alert to the core and the medical teams are ready 24×7 to trace, track, carry patients and doubtful cases for check up and treatment. The same awareness and tracking is done at seaports and railway stations. Passengers with symptoms are immediately shifted to hospitals. The biggest plus point is that ordinary citizens are also ever ready to help and support the authorities.
Medical professionals have been imparted special training to deal with emergencies. The healthcare facilities and awareness among the people in the state undoubtedly makes the situation sans panic. Awareness, confidence, grit and determination undoubtedly help to overcome such health crisis rather than getting succumbed to pressure, panic and phobia. Half the battle is won when there is no panic and pressure.
M Pradyu
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
Cutains of the 21st edition of the Kalaghoda Arts Festival (#KGAF2020) exhibition was wrung down last Sunday (Feb. 9). The event organised by the Kala Ghoda Association achieved what it set out to do; make typically inaccessible art reach the masses.
Talking about long-drawn cases in India, there are millions of them that are pending and awaiting justice. One of the historical case is Raj family of Sova bazaar that was a land case involving (Raja Radhakrishna Deb), a land case that is still pending in the Calcutta High Court. This case is pending for about 175 years that came to Court in the year 1833.
In a most inhuman gesture, nearly 30 stray dogs were poisoned to death at Morbe village in Panvel taluka in the last four days. Activists said that they suspect that the dogs were possibly given food mixed with poison. Animal welfare workers said most of the dogs died a “painful” death. One of them had recently given birth to five puppies.
A 35-year-old man killed on Monday after his motorcycle was hit by a car carrying collegians in Palghar. According to a report, the incident took place in the morning at Boisar-Tarapur Road. The car was on was on its way to a college in Boisar when it crashed into the motorcycle near Kurgaon village.
Over the years, we have moved a long way from writing on stones and leaves to now using computers, threatening traditional pen-and-paper writing practices like calligraphy. Calligraphy is the design and execution of lettering with a broad tip instrument, brush or other writing instruments.