Reshammiya changs Ya Ali after protest

        New Delhi: Himesh Reshammiya has agreed to change the wordings of his song, 'Ya Ali', from his yet to be released film 'Aap Ka Suroor', considering the objections from Muslims. Reshammiya wrote to Zaheer Zaidi, leader of Shia community, "We will change the word 'Ya Ali' from the song", and also assured that the promos of the song would be taken off air soon. "You will have to bear for two to three days more as removal procedure (of song) from all channels take that much time," he wrote in the message. Earlier, Shia community had raised objections over the song complaining that the reference of the word 'Ya Ali' has hurt the sentiments of the community, and had demanding deletion of the word from the song, since Hazarat Ali is their community's revered Imam and also son-in law of Prophet Muhammad. The movie 'Aap Ka Suroor' will see the singer debuting as a hero and stars Mallika Sherawat.
- June 12, 2007

Pinjore: Heritage walk to popularise temple

        Pinjore (Haryana): The Indian National Trust for Architecture and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has organized a 'heritage walk' on Saturday. It will be held at the site of an ancient Bhimadevi temple, considered an architectural wonder of Mahabharata era, to raise awareness about the monument's significance and promote it as a major tourist attraction. The ancient temple, whose remains were unearthed at Haryana's Pinjore town in 1974 is dedicated to Bhima, one of the five Pandava brothers of Mahabharata,a ccording to historians. "This is a Panchayatana temple, Panchayatana temples have one central deity and all four deities on its for sides," said Aniruddha Joshi, an expert on historical monuments. INTACH had taken a Chandigarh arts college students and teachers to view the artistic richness of the excavations. "As INTACH people, we bring awareness. Many of its remains have been taken away from here, a museum is being set up now, the Government has sanctioned funds for it," said V. K. Kapoor of INTACH. Experts say, the engravings on the temple remains are akin to the sculptures found in Khajuraho temples in Madhya Pradesh, which were constructed between 950 and 1050 A.D.
- June 9, 2007

Puppet show: Focus on child marriage, dowry

        Durg (Chhatisgarh): The children of Bahmani village in Chattisgarh's Durg district have found a novel way to highlight the evils of dowry system and child marriage. A marriage of puppets was organised to which villagers were invited through printed wedding cards. The cards bore the name of Chhatisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh as the father of the groom and his predecessor Ajit Jogi as the bride's father. Villagers lent their support to the ceremony by participating in the baraat or groom's procession, which was led by a band. Anand Ram, a village boy, said: "Through this play, we are trying to awaken society about child marriages and dowry". The marriage was marked by elaborate rituals and traditional songs sung by women. Tila Sahu, a village school teacher, said the puppet show was chosen to keep the audience involved.
- June 5, 2007

Civic lessons through song, dance in Kolkata satires
by Ajitha Menon

       Kolkata: The youth here are concerned about Kolkata's poor civic sense. They catch the offenders and give them some civic lessons with song, dance and satires . They are a part of a popular radio station, and as part of their cleanliness drive, they are trying to create awareness among the people regarding the rules and regulations and its strict enforcement. Using the punch line 'bajao' to mean educating the people, the brigade carrying cameras and tags,catches defaulters, who violate traffic rules, spit on roads or urinate publicly and make them swear not to repeat it. "We believe that we should "bajao" people in a musical way and improve them. We can make them realise that Kolkata is their city and they should love it. So every time we saw someone fiddling on the roads, spitting, or a taxi driver refusing a customer, we reach with our brigade to bajao them," said Sangeet Shirodkar, a team member. Many offenders were dumbstruck when caught red-handed, but promised to mend their ways in future. "They are teaching every one how to cross roads, not to spit or urinate publicly. This is good," said Tridip Mitra, caught crossing a road on a green signal. Graffiti, spitting and urinating in public are common in the country, despite stringent laws against them, although critics say more public utilities should be built.
- June 2, 2007

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