Sunday, February 20, 2022

Lights, Camera & Bollywood!

 On May 3, 1913, the Father of Indian Cinema, Dadasaheb Phalke released the first film made in the country, Raja Harishchandra. As was the case with the advent of several modern inventions like the telegraph and railway, courtesy the English rulers, Cinematography too made its debut in India quite early, just about two decades since the motion pictures were invented in the West.

 

Those were the days of the British imperialism and Indian cinema too was stifled in its nascent years amidst the rise of nationalism. But even in those formative years filmmakers such as Sohrab Modi (Pukar and Sikander) picked up mythological and historical stories to awaken the masses and spread the spirit of nationalism.

In the 1943 film Kismet, regarded as the first super hit film that catapulted Ashok Kumar to stardom, lyricist Kavi Pradeep penned the song “Door hatho aye duniya walon Hindustan hamara hai”; the song escaped the scissors under the strict British censorship perhaps with references to the words Germany and Japan amidst the 2nd World War, but its underlying meaning coming close on the heels of the 1942 Quit India movement was not lost. Shortly Kavi Pradeep went underground to avoid an arrest warrant.

This article is written by a writer associated with Digiparagon.com.

Sunday, February 6, 2022

India’s Melody Queen Lata Mangeshkar Passes Away

Legendary Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar passed away at a hospital in India’s western Mumbai city on Sunday (Feb 6, 2022) at the age of 92.

She died of multiple organ failure.

“It is with profound grief that we announce the sad demise of Lata Mangeshkar at 8:12 AM. She has died because of multi-organ failure after more than 28 days of hospitalisation post Covid-19,” said the doctor at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital where Mangeshkar was receiving the treatment.

The Bharat Ratna awardee was admitted to the hospital last month after being diagnosed with pneumonia and coronavirus.

Condolences Poured In:

Tributes have poured in from all sections of the society for the legendary singer. The Bharat Ratna recipient has sung over 30,000 songs in her more than seven decades of career.

“I am anguished beyond words. The kind and caring Lata Didi has left us. She leaves a void in our nation that cannot be filled. The coming generations will remember her as a stalwart of Indian culture, whose melodious voice had an unparalleled ability to mesmerise people” Indian PM Narendra Modi tweeted.

“India has lost our nightingale. Cinema and music will never be the same again. Lataji your immense body of work and your iconic voice will be unparalleled forever” wrote Mammootty, Indian actor, producer and distributor.


Green Tea is Healthy

Green tea is one of the widely consumed beverages in the world. It is often touted as a superfood owing to its multiple health benefits. Health benefits of the green tea are many, including protective effects against cancer. This reputation rests primarily on the fact that green tea is a rich source of polyphenols, which provide much of the colour and aroma of tea.

 

There is no denying of the fact that green tea is healthy. Research at Tufts University indicates that EGCG in green tea, like other catechins, activate fat-burning genes in the abdomen to speed weight loss by 77 percent. Research also reveals that EGCG is also helpful in lowering the risk of Alzheimer’s dementia, many digestive cancers and cardiovascular diseases.

 

According to a report published in the research journal Obesity, green tea consumption slows weight gain by 45 percent. The study was conducted by researchers from the Pennsylvania State University.

 

Health Benefits of the Green Tea:

Below are the major health benefits of green tea:

Improves brain function:

Caffeine is one of the active key ingredients of green tea that may help boost brain function. Research has consistently shown that caffeine can improve various aspects of brain function, including mood, vigilance, reaction time, and memory.

Increases fat burning:

According to some medicinal research, green tea can increase fat burning and boost metabolic rate. In one study involving 10 healthy men, taking green tea extract increased the number of calories burned by 4%. In another involving 12 healthy men, green tea extract increased fat oxidation by 17%, compared with those taking a placebo.

Lower the risk of some cancers:

Green tea is an excellent source of powerful antioxidants. Research has linked green tea compounds with a reduced risk of cancer.

Protects the brain from ageing:

The bioactive compounds in green tea can have various protective effects on the brain. They may reduce the risk of dementia, a common neurodegenerative disorder in older adults.

May reduce bad breath:

The catechins in green tea may inhibit the growth of bacteria in the mouth, reducing the risk of bad breath.

 

From the above discussion, we can say that the green tea is healthy. This article is written by a person associated with digiparagon.

Sunday, January 9, 2022

Soviet Union Thirty Years After Collapse: Gains And Losses

(By Saeed Naqvi) The collapse of the Soviet Union 30 years ago was a tragedy for half the world but frothed with possibilities for the other half which the West spilt, mistaking rampaging markets for democracy.

My memory of events three decades ago is of a personal nature because I was the only journalist who interviewed Mikhail Gorbachev, the man who, on a high wire act of historic reforms, lost control. Foreign Secretary, Romesh Bhandari would not obstruct my interview but he promised the media accompanying Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi to Moscow that “they would all stand around an arena while I did the interview.”

The choreography dictated the set. A circular boxing arena was created, ropes et al, in which four chairs were placed. Two for Gorbachev and his interpreter, one for the interviewer, but the fourth? Since Romesh Bhandari did not wish to be unpopular with the media accompanying the PM by allowing one journalist to steal a scoop. He, therefore, awarded the third chair to a notional representative for the rest of the media. Who could this be but the inimitable Russi Karanjia, the colourful editor of Blitz.

What Romesh did not realize is exactly what Andrei Gromyko, USSR’s longest serving Foreign Minister who stayed on for Gorbachev’s first year in office, immediately did. He peeped into the hall where the “rope-ring” had been set up. After concluding his talks with Rajiv Gandhi, Gorbachev would walk towards this arena.

Imagine the scene. Two interviewers looking at two empty chairs in the ring, and thirty journalists, craning their necks into the arena, clearing their throats and waiting for Gorbachev to take his seat. Gromyko, the old fox, was not going to allow the new Secretary General of the CPSU, in his very first outing with the media, to be exposed to a free for all press conference, a “tamasha”. Gromyko called it off.

My disappointment could not be measured and, for that reason, I persisted. I returned to Moscow the next year to interview Gorbachev, but that is another story. Before I close the Gorbachev segment for this column, a word on what was Gorbachev’s eventual vision for Soviet Russia was? “Something like the Scandinavian welfare state.” This was before neo con excesses during the fleeting unipolar moment and a rushed Murdochization of the media had disfigured much of the world, including Scandinavia.

The second image is of South Block, Ministry of External Affairs split down the middle on the goings on in Moscow. Arundhati (Chuku) Ghosh, that heavy smoking, clean hearted Brahmo, Joint Secretary for Africa, is in a state of anxiety. She is following events in Moscow – the coup, a tense moment for her. She is not clear what she wants, but her DNA demands a “liberal” system, not the Soviet Union. To her it does not matter if Boris Yeltsin replaces Gorbachev.

Round the corner from Chuku, in his room at the far end of the corridor, Foreign Secretary, Muchkund Dubey, a homespun Bihari intellectual, culturally as distinct from Chuku as chalk is from cheez, is on the line to his Ambassador in Moscow, Alfred Gonsalves. The two are classical status quoists. Having spent a lifetime writing position papers mindful of the two blocs, the imminent collapse of the Soviet Union is, for them, like having to walk on one leg.

This brings me to the third question: was the Indian Establishment ever emotionally embedded with the Soviet Union?

On the one hand C. Rajeswara Rao, longest serving General Secretary of the CPI, is shaking with rage at a reporter who asked him if the Soviet Union was collapsing.

“Sir (loaded with satire), not a pin in this world moves without the Soviet Union being involved.”

This touching faith in the Soviet Union was all pervasive among progressive writers and Urdu poets carted to Mumbai by an earlier General Secretary of CPI, P.C. Joshi.

“Kremlin ke minar jaage hue kharey hain.”

(The minarets of Kremlin beckon us.)

This was Javed Akhar’s father Jaan Nisar Akhtar, ecstatic about the Kremlin minarets. A fine ghazal writer like Majrooh Sultanpuri could not resist the pressure of his peers.

“Meri nigah mein hai arze Moscow, Majrooh,

Woh sarzameen ki sitarey jise salaam karein.”

(My eyes are set on Moscow, that blessed place where stars come down from heaven to shower their salutations.)

Poets, writers, painters, actors, film producers, college campuses, and coffee house regulars – a comprehensive segment, under the domain of Saraswati were largely, Left. Wealth was scoffed at. Gentlemen travelled by “tongas”; cars were for upstarts.

This entire lot was marginal to the pro west establishment, big industrialists whose “proximity” to Gandhiji gave them an all pervasive influence. Before V. Shankar, ICS, could join Deputy Prime Minister, Vallabh Bhai Patel’s office, he had to be interviewed by Ghanshyam Das Birla, leading industrialist in whose house Gandhiji died.

Marwari owned newspapers which Indira Gandhi dubbed the “Jute Press” never posted a correspondent to Moscow even in days when the Indian Ambassador had direct access to the Central Committee. Instead, correspondents were posted to London and Washington where they had no access. A much valued qualification for these correspondents was their ability to arrange for vegetarian food without onions or garlic preferably from their own kitchen for families of proprietors.

The only Indian journalist in Moscow was the towering figure of Masood Ali Khan, a pathan to boot, representing the CPI organ, New Age. He had phenomenal access to the otherwise impenetrable Soviet system. He was a mandatory fixture for all visiting Indian journalists, diplomats, progressive writers. When the Soviet Union collapsed Masood fell into abject penury. His salary which the Soviet system had arranged through the Red Cross was stopped. He died on the box-sofa of his one room tenement close to a metro station. Beneath the cushion on the sofa, were lined hundreds of 78 rpm records of western classical music he had collected during better days at the BBC in London.


UP Tough For Modi But 2024 Demands Brand New Platform: Saeed Naqvi

Drawing room hopping in the capital, restricted as much by corona as by a singular absence of information on which lively political gup-shup can be sustained, came alive last week with Meghalaya Governor Satya Pal Malik’s public assault on the Prime Minister. Narendra Modi was “ghamandi” (arrogant), he said. This was not all. He quoted Amit Shah saying unflattering things about the Prime Minister’s mental balance. Malik has not yet been removed as Governor of Meghalaya. He clashed with Narendra Modi on the issue of farmers. Is that the reason why he is not being “touched” on the eve of state elections next month, particularly in UP.

Drawing room chatteratti are perking up. On political issues they are breaking out of the whispering mode; they are giving voice to speculations, even of infirm veracity. “Inside” sources are cited by the more unreliable. But when more than, say, four persons, unconnected with one another, begin to tot out the same figures, it is discreet to take note – 150 to 155 for the BJP in UP. The more adventurous speculators are bringing the figure down to 125. Why would the BJP ever accept this outcome in exchange for the 312 seats which it has at present in a House of 403?

Remember always Modi’s genius, his ability to transform a negative into a positive for himself. Look at the whodunit of his cavalcade stranded on a Punjab overbridge for 20 minutes. Had he travelled to his destination, he may have faced an almost absent audience. That is why he changed the route and ran into a traffic jam. This is the opposition narrative. His version is that he was deliberately exposed to danger. Temples have been mobilized for special prayers for the Prime Minister.

There is every likelihood of the Omicron virus peaking in February. Surely this will call for a strict adherence to Covid norms. Look how the virus galloped in Goa after the New Year eve jamboree. Can political rallies be permitted in these circumstances? Priyanka Gandhi has already jumped the gun – no rallies for two weeks. Is there a suggestion that elections can be postponed by making Omicron the excuse because the field reports are negative for the ruling party? Should this happen, would not the thousands of crores spent on advertising one infrastructure project after another go down the sump?

This invites the riposte: once the public has been made aware of the good works the government has done – in this case Yogi Adityanath – electoral advantage can be extracted within a reasonable period. This line of thinking ignores a fundamental reality: public memory is very short, shorter still in the time of google. This advertising blitz must be encashed immediately because otherwise there is nothing as dead as yesterday’s newspaper and nothing less persuasive than stale ads.

Ground reality is that the wind is not blowing in the BJP’s favour. The surge for Akhilesh Yadav is in reality a surge against the BJP. “Hubbe Ali kum; bughz e Muaviya zyada” which means “not for love of Ali but for hatred of Muaviya, Ali’s implacable enemy.” For a precise application of this aphorism the BJP will have to be broken up into its constituent parts. The surge in UP is against the Yogi. Modi is losing points largely by association with Yogi Adityanath.

The extent to which the BJP High Command has a say in UP, Yogi will be the fall guy either way. Victory in UP will be because of Modi’s tireless campaigning. Defeat will be placed at the Yogi’s door.

In other words, this could well be Yogi’s last term in Lucknow – so goes the drift of drawing room punditry. Those who claim to possess inside information talk of a tussle between the Yogi and High Command. Yogi is demanding 120 seats for his Hindu Yuva Vahini. He imagines this would give him leverage to dig his heels in should there be a move to replace him even in the event of a BJP victory.

Modi’s eyes are primarily set on the 2024 General Elections. Towards that goal UP is an irreplaceable staging post. Win or lose in UP, can the BJP ever go into a national election without hardening the Hindutva already in play.

The hard Hindutva, relentless minority bashing, scared voters into believing they were on God’s side because it flowed straight into the global torrents of Islamophobia during the post 9/11 war on terror. A miraculous coincidence has gone totally unnoticed by the global media. Modi was sent to Ahmedabad to replace Keshubhai Patel. He took charge on October 7 as Chief Minister. October 7 turned out to be the date of choice for the Pentagon to launch the war on terror, with Afghanistan as the target.

TV sets world over were saturated with fireworks on Afghanistan. Geraldo Rivera of Fox News was brandishing a gun on camera. “I shall shoot Osama if I see him.” Hysterical Islamophobia was enveloping the world. It was in that mood of global bigotry that Modi’s Hindutva was given shape. Hindutva had tailwinds of global Islamophobia behind it.

Circumstances today are exactly the opposite of what they were when Modi embarked on blood curdling Hindutva. Not only is there no Rivera flourishing a gun in front of the camera to finish Osama bin Laden and his cohorts, the Mujahideen have since mutated into Taleban. Today Taleban are the rulers in Kabul. Sooner or later a photograph will appear of Modi and a Taleban, even a Pakistan leader in some international conference on Afghanistan. Global and regional development are not conducive to a hard line. Hindutva by itself is politically useless. You don’t win elections on beef and love Jehad. Communalism has to be tied to nationalism to yield political results. In other words Balakot and Kashmir are required to stir up the cauldron. That string to Modi’s bow may loosen further as 2024 approaches.

Covid: Deadly Omicron should not be called mild, warns WHO

 The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned against describing the Omicron variant as mild, saying it is killing people across the world.

Recent studies suggest that Omicron is less likely to make people seriously ill than previous Covid variants.

But the record number of people catching it has left health systems under severe pressure, said WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

On Monday, the US recorded more than one million Covid cases in 24 hours.

The WHO - the UN's health agency - said the number of global cases has increased by 71% in the last week, and in the Americas by 100%. It said that among severe cases worldwide, 90% were unvaccinated.

"While Omicron does appear to be less severe compared to Delta, especially in those vaccinated, it does not mean it should be categorised as mild," Dr Tedros told a press conference on Thursday.


"Just like previous variants, Omicron is hospitalising people and it is killing people.

"In fact, the tsunami of cases is so huge and quick, that it is overwhelming health systems around the world."

Omicron is highly contagious and can infect people even if they are fully vaccinated. However, vaccines are still pivotal as they help protect against severe diseases that could put you in hospital.


On Thursday, the UK reported 179,756 cases and 231 Covid-related deaths. A number of hospitals have declared "critical" incidents due to staff absence and rising pressures due to Covid.

Elsewhere, hospital numbers are also rising. France's health minister Olivier Veran warned this week that January would be tough for hospitals.

He added that Omicron patients were taking up "conventional" beds in hospitals while Delta was putting a strain on ICU departments. France on Thursday reported 261,000 cases.


Saturday, January 8, 2022

Is Naseer Right? That Hyderabad More ‘Cultured’ Than Lucknow?

(By Saeed Naqvi) I don’t know when the interview was done but I saw it on YouTube last week. Naseeruddin Shah dismissed Lucknow as a centre of culture and praised Hyderabad sky-high by comparison. Naseer’s right but there’s a reason why Lucknow lost out in the culture stakes with both Hyderabad and Lahore. Both cities were around, their “culture” intact, till 1947. Lucknow had begun to “die” in 1857, after the British exiled Nawab Wajid Ali Shah to Metiabruz near Kolkata in late 1856, triggering 1857’s Great Uprising.

Lucknow, however, retained its premier slot for the institution of the “ulema”, plural for “alim” which derives from “ilm”, or knowledge with theology as the main expertise. With Maulana Kalbe Sadiq’s death at the age of 83 last month, the curtain finally fell on the institution of a long line of Lucknow’s “ulema”.

That this was largely a Shia institution is easily explained: the Nawabs of Awadh were Shia, which is where the patronage came from. This mustn’t detract from the fact that internationally known Sunni institutions like Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulema also flourished. There was considerable intellectual rapport between the sects. How else does one explain the masterly Muazna-e-Anis-o-Dabir, a comparative study of Anis and Dabir, written by one of Nadwa’s greatest scholars Shibli Nomani. Anis and Dabir were famous Marsia writers, a genre focused on the tragedy of Karbala, central to the observance of Muharram, not exclusively but primarily a Shia occasion.

Kalbe Sadiq came from a long line of “ulema”, theological scholars conversant with liberal traditions of which Sufism was another part. Saiyid Waris Shah, Pir of Dewa Sharief, 7 km from Lucknow, had a simple explanation for not going through the “namaz” rituals. “Where is the space to bow in supplication?” The implication was: “He is in me”.

During my schooldays, a phase of cultural bifurcation between school and home, the two towering “Alims” of Lucknow were Maulana Kalbe Hussain (alias Kabban Sahib), Kalbe Sadiq’s father, and Maulana Ali Naqi (Naqqan Sahib), both brilliant orators whose sermons were much valued at congregations called the “Majlis”, provided the speaker deftly brought in Karbala to clinch the argument.

Lucknow’s celebrated tapestry of manners found itself frayed even in this limited circle of theologians and their followers. A group, clearly not from among “Naqqan Sahib’s” followers, created what for Lucknow was a major scandal. The group accused the respected cleric of blasphemy and physically assaulted him.

Apparently, Naqqan Sahib had in his research spotted mention of water in Imam Hussain’s tent. Even a hint like this was anathema to a bunch of fanatics. The absence of water in Karbala’s torrid heat heightens Hussain’s tragedy. For that reason, even a suggestion of water in Karbala would soften the tragic effect. The truth, of course, is “Naqqan Sahib” had never said “water” was available. He simply cited sources hinting at such a possibility.

Worst was the treatment of poet Yaas Yagana Changezi, a contemporary of Jigar, Firaq and Josh. Yagana wrote: “Samajh mein kuch nahee ata,/ Parhey jaaney se kya hasil?/ Namazon mein hain kuch maaney,/ to pardesi zabaan kyon ho?”

In one of his “naats”, or religious songs, Yagana referred to Prophet Mohammad in less than reverent terms. He probably did not know that he had violated one of the unenforced codes: “Ba Khuda deewana baash-o/ Ba Mohammad hoshiyar.” (Take liberties with God, but be careful with Mohammad)

Dara Shikoh’s prime minister, Chandrabhan Brahman, broke the code brazenly: “Panja dar panja-e-Khuda daram/ Man che parwa e Mustafa daram.” (My hand is in the hand of God: Why should I worry about Mohammad?)

It reflects in the backward slide of a tolerant culture that Yagana did not go scot-free. His face was blackened and he was given a donkey ride through the old city.

The liberal streak in the “ulema” of Lucknow comes out in bold relief in an incident concerning Josh Malihabadi. His Marsia titled “Hussain and Revolution” became a cult poem even in devout circles. Josh became a popular invitee to various Imambaras of Lucknow, indeed across the country, including Hyderabad. He built up a reputation for Marsias, second only to the great Mir Anis. A group of orthodox Shias turned up at the residence of the great Alim of his age, Maulana Naasir ul Millat, armed with a complaint. Josh, devoted to liquor (he called it Kaaba e khaas o aam), should be banned from reciting Marsias from pulpits in “our sacred imambaras”.

After reading Josh’s Marsias, the Maulana invited the complainants and Josh. What happened next was dramatic. The maulana spread out his personal prayer mat for Josh and invited him to recite “Hussain and Inquilab”. The message from the maulana was straightforward: it would be wrong to occupy the pulpit inebriated.

This was the open mindedness Maulana Kalbe Sadiq inherited from the generations of “ulema”. From the 1990s he had pleaded: Even if the Muslims win the Ram Janmabhoomi land dispute, they should gift the land to the Hindus. “You will win their goodwill.” His point was that a Muslim can turn towards Ka’aba and say his prayers anywhere. “Ram is central to the Hindu ethos.” He initiated the joint Shia-Sunni namaz, allowing the Sunni cleric to take the lead.


He traced Muslim backwardness to a singular lack of education and dedicated his life to establishing non-sectarian institutions in every possible field. But he died a disappointed man because of the expanding communalism and a community trapped in the snare of selfish political leaders.