“Watching new life sprout and grow is an incredible indescribable feeling. A young couple Nandu and Nidhi Singh based in Pune, run Nursery Live, a popular ecommerce one-stop-shop platform for all gardening related requirements. With a vision to create greener spaces and make the Earth a healthier place to live in, it has attracted in a short span, over 45 lakh active garden lovers and a Facebook following of over seven lakh users. Nidhi Singh, COO speaks passionately about all things green with A. Radhakrishnan. How old a concept is gardening? Where was the world’s first garden created? Gardening…
Author: shubhangi
Manjira Majumdar has an informal chat with Shantiniketan-based studio potter Lipi Biswas and finds a liberal spread of work of art. Finding the entire array of her work soothing, she marvels at her art hand-crafted and perfected in the kilns at the back of her studio. Lipi serving warm tea to guests in her studio Walking into the studio of potter Lipi Biswas is like walking into a space of meditative calm. The mellow sunshine filters through the green leaves outside and is reflected on an array of well sculpted pottery lining the studio shelves, and adorning the odd tables…
Defying the myth that biographical or autobiographical plays are no draws, Binodini Dasi, aka Noti Binodini is an exception. Plays on her life have been staged time and again because her life has more drama, twists and turns than a film script would have. An icon in the history of Bengali theatre, both for her talent and the sacrifices she made in the cause of theatre, Shoma A. Chatterji looks at this exceptional phenomenon. Sudipta Chakraborty portraying the title role of Noti Binodini in the play ‘Binodini Opera’ Isn`t it a bit strange that no proscenium to stage plays in…
Asserting that Yoga has the power to change lives, leads to a healthy body, a peaceful mind, a happy heart, and a liberated soul, Tuhina Banerjee elaborates on the global congregation at the International Yoga Festival 2023 in the spiritual climes of Rishikesh. People re-energized and soaked in the culture of the place, which was just right, she observes. Participants at the International Yoga Festival enter the Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh Introspection, connection with the self, transformation, solace and bliss — Most of the over 1,500 participants from around 90 countries came to feel an array of experience at…
Peerless Ayurvedic healer Dr Panniyampilly Krishnankutty Warrier, the famous Indian physician was born on 5 June 1921 in Kottakkal in Malappuram District of Kerala as the youngest of six children of Sreedharan Namboothiri and Kunthi Varasyar. He had his schooling at Raja’s High School, Kottakkal and Zamorin’s High School, Kozhikode. A nephew of Vaidya Ratnam P S Warrier who founded the Arya Vaidya Sala, he studied Ayurveda at the Arya Vaidya Pattasala under the tutelage of his reputed uncle. For a while a young Warrier plunged headlong into the freedom struggle and was associated with the communist movement in Manjeri…
A versatile actor In the quicksand called Hindi film industry, there are performers who never got the top billing but could carve out a niche by creating a distinct identity of their own. In the array stands one honourable mention: Satish Kaushik, whose humble beginning saw a trajectory that took him to the heights of many of his peers. Readers will recall a picture doing rounds in social media where he is seen getting down at the then Victoria Terminus of Mumbai station in search of a career in tinsel town. What remained constant from that moment till he breathed…
Hero of a safety mission Manoranjan Kumar was born in Jamshedpur district of Jharkhand. He did his schooling from wherever his father, Subedar Naveen Kumar was posted. Good in academics, he had scored 91% and 89% in class X, XII respectively. Keen to serve the armed forces like his father who was with the Armoured Corps, Manoranjan joined the Indian Navy after finishing his high school from Army Public School, Bareilly. He then underwent training in electronics engineering in Goa and Lonavala in Maharashtra. By 2014, he had been promoted to the rank of Lt Cdr and had been trained as a…
A little-known paradise, Dangs has a unique landscape with an ecosystem patently its own. Nestled among hills, populated with ethnic tribes and bestowed with related trappings, it showcases a culture that has a signature flavour to it. Nandini Rao sketches the native Dangis known for their various tribals, their colourful life, rituals, festivals folklore and customs and says they are a major tourist draw. Tribals dancing at a festival in the Dangs If there’s one word that aptly describes Dangs, a mesmerising region in the western Indian state of Gujarat, it’s pristine. It will be safe to say that Dangs…
Journalist with entrepreneurial vision Madhuriben Kotak was a senior journalist, photographer and co-founder, owner and editor of the ‘Chitralekha’ group of publications. She was a very soft-spoken but firm lady, with a majestic personality, and a legend who shaped and changed the journalism and entrepreneurial landscape of India. She was the unsung Gujarati career woman of 60s and 70s. Madhuriben had a unique place in my life as I was fortunate to contribute to her magazine and interact with her. I was able to carve my own identity in journalism thanks to her encouragement. To me she was ‘Madhuben’, a…
Bollywood’s loss, south’s gain Vani Jairam nee Kalaivani, was an Indian playback singer. Born into a musician family in Vellore in present day Tamil Nadu, she initially trained under Ranga Ramunaja Iyengar and later received formal Carnatic training under Kadalur Srinivas Iyengar, T. R. Balasubramanian and R. S. Mani. Graduating from Queen Mary’s College, Chennai, Vani joined the State Bank of India, Madras. After marriage in 1969, her husband T.S Jayaraman goaded her to train in Hindustani classical music under the tutelage of Ustad Abdul Rehman Khan of the Patiala gharana. Learning the nuances of thumri, ghazal and bhajan, she took up music professionally. The versatile singer sang in 19 Indian languages.…