YETI The mighty Himalayan man, is a myth now. Tibet as a free nation and the existence of Tibetans as the rightful people of Tibet is being made into a myth by the Chinese government. YETI is a symbol of hope for all Tibetans, praying to become the Mighty Himalayan Spiritual Nation once again. It’s the story of Tibetans born in India, living a dream of going back to their free country one day.
YETI is a non-profit, collaborative film project that will be released online on 8th august 2008 when the Olympic Games start in Beijing. YETI shows you how Tibetans look at the Olympic Games in Beijing as their best chance in 49 years, when the international media is closely following the happenings in Communist China where the human rights situation is at its worst. It’s a provoking visual documentary on Tibet, Tibetans and the worst possible steps they might resort to, such as self sacrificing monks blowing themselves up just for the sake of freedom and peace
YETI is a creative collaborate of various media-activists and professionals from around the world that features well known Tibet expert and the Dalai Lama’s close associate Professor Robert Thurman a the well known poet and activist Tenzin Tsundue along with other voices
Musical contributions from the popular singer/songwriter Namgyal Lhamo from Holland and a background score composed by Arnav Srivastava /Namgyal Lhamo have greatly enhanced the soundtrack. The story of the Yeti has captured the imagination the Himalayan people since before any foreigner laid eyes on the forbidden land of Tibet or the Sherpa kingdoms around Mount Everest in the land of ice and snow where the Yeti is fabled to reside. YETI is a non-profit, resource oriented project that will release online, all contributors to YETI have been working as volunteers. Without the support of so many talents from around the world this project would not have been possible. Film Yeti Crew / Arnav Srivastava / Namgyal Lhamo have greatly enhanced the soundtrack.
The story of the Yeti has captured the imagination the Himalayan people since before any foreigner laid eyes on the forbidden land of Tibet or the Sherpa kingdoms around Mount Everest in the land of ice and snow where the Yeti is fabled to reside.
Because YETI is a non-profit, resource oriented project that will release online, all contributors to YETI have been working as volunteers. Without the support of so many talents from around the world this project would not have been possible.
The film will be available to watch online as the Olympic ceremony starts in Beijing. You can download the movie in different file sizes depending on your internet connection speed from www.filmyeti.com
Madras saw an extraordinary change on 18th of May 2008.
A rock shows by Junkyard Groove, this was not a change but the way they performed definitely was.
Junkyard Groove is an all time favourite of a lot of people in Madras and all around India it self and I can go all the way to saying that they also have tons of fans in Dubai as well.
They have great stage presence and fun is just something that comes so naturally to them! Their songs always leave people thinking or feeling at ease or hyper and happy. Both are not bad options to go along with.
Also, Junkyard Groove is a band where they get along so well with each other that if Ameeth sang a random tune the rest of the band would jam along with it and voila! A new song springs up. Which is what happened on the 18th at Speed, a club in Madras, where they performed.
The show was called ‘back to the basics’ and it was just that. The ambiance was that of a relaxed jam session not a full on rock show where you could barely see them high up on a stage. Though there was a lot of setting up that took place at the end of it, the band interacted with their audience and every once in awhile got fed beer and shots! That’s how chilled out the whole show was. It was fantastic to be able to just listen to music and feel very cozy. Now that is definitely a different feeling to have at a rock show, but that’s what it was and everyone enjoyed it.
To keep the comedic tradition going, the band, to add to the night sang a cover of the well-known hip-hop group, Pussy Cat Dolls. Yes, they sang ‘don’t you wish your girlfriend was hot like me’ and believe it or not, they made it work. At first the whole crowd laughed but when they realized the band was serious about it, they went mum and just watched as the hip-hop number was turned into a blues-y one.
They sang a lot of covers that got the audience in the mood for some music and then sang a few of their earlier numbers. An ‘on the spur of the moment’ decision was made and Sruthi Hasan also joined the band to sing a number or two.
Next up was a song where Ameeth and a friend of his (who played the harmonica) sang a number they had practiced only that afternoon, the number was called “it’s all gone”. It was a nice slow number that got the crowd swaying and soon enough singing along with them. This was the number that began with Ameeth but ended up with the whole band joining in and adding their flavour to it.
Towards the end of the night, when everyone was getting nostalgic, they decided to sing the first song that they had learnt, ‘Leaving On A Jet Plane’. With smiles on their faces and a crowd that seemed like family, the whole club resounded with the lyrics of ‘Leaving On A Jet Plane’.
The Kalpavriksha campaign conceptualised by Isha Foundation and Phat Phish, is a determined effort to reach out and save our beautiful planet by simply planting trees.
Music in short has become a new lingua franca, something that brings people together and makes them interact and learn from each other.
Recently I had the luck of catching some amazing bands at Soul, a restaurant in Pune, where the launch of MySpace was going on. The bands were: Them Clones, Swarathma and the Raghu Dixit project.
I would also like to mention another musician named Rewben, from Manipur and his son Saka, who brought culture and music together in one. He played his traditional instruments and sang while his son, backed him up in vocals and percussion. It was very inspiring to see someone so close to his roots and used music to convey this feeling to everyone around. And of course I cannot forget the one thing that caught everyone’s eye, his son, who is six years old, played back up in a cool pair of shades! Talk about culturally diverse.
Them Clones, who had never played in Pune before were playing here unplugged, which is something they had done only very few times as otherwise they are a hard rock band. Starting off with I will say this, Them Clones have a very funky style with some heavy bass beats in the background that really made the crowd jump around and have a great time, “In the name of God” being one of the most memorable songs. They also played some recently written songs like “Zephyretta” and “sindrome” which completely spell bound the crowd with it’s slow rhythm on the keyboard and the fantastic voice of their lead singer, PD (Prithwish Dev), with the blue light shining down on him added to the whole ambience of the song along with backing vocals of the guitarist, Gucci (pronounced Gookie not the brand name). The song that made the difference and pulled the whole crowd in was “my life” which got us all on our feet and singing clapping and having a blast with the words “my life, my soul, my reason…” ringing in our ears.
Them Clones made a real impact, their style was very different from the other two bands but their effect the same! Hopefully we will be seeing more of these guys here in Pune, plugged and unplugged.
The next in line is Swarathma, in brightly coloured pants and afros and a great sense of humour, they captivated their crowd. This was also their first performance in Pune. The bassist, Jishnu was not your stereotypical bassist, who zoned out and just played, but got right into the whole performance and at times stole the show with his witty comments and jokes. Another band member no one will forget is the violinist, Sanjeev Nayak, who got the whole crowd stirred up with his crazy solos. The whole band while playing had one word stamped on them and that was FUN! I have never seen a band that could have as much fun as the guys of Swarathma. In between they got the crowd to sing along with them to their song “ee bhoomi”, which was sung in kanada about peace and love and kept the crowd on their toes. To add to their “fun-ness” they got the crowd to get up and move the chairs away so that jumping around became that much easier, one of their songs had the lead singer, Vasu, in a wooden horse hopping around the stage with a story in song form being spun to the crowd. Now what more can you ask for? Music, laughs and stories packed in one name: Swarathma.
The band that ended the night is the well-known band the Raghu Dixit project. I for one had never heard them play and as music fanatic when I heard this launch was happening I didn’t even think twice. When I asked a friend what the Raghu Dixit project was all about I got this: musicians in lungis! Lungis? Now as a proud south Indian I had seen many, many people in lungis and as a music lover I had seen and heard a lot of different types of music but musicians who performed in lungis?! I had to see that.As the band set up I saw that they were in fact in lungis and that they sang in kanada, being from Bangalore. Again, this was the first time they were performing in Pune. Once they began, you were completely mesmerized. The lead singer, Raghu Dixit himself, had a voice that was indescribable and he knew how to use it, all the songs had a story behind it and meaning. I don’t mean to go on like this, but this has to be said, he was like the piped piper. The crowd completely cut off everything around them and just listened to the music.
A lot of things make up a band, that night the Raghu Dixit project made that prominent. Everyone worked in sync but still stood out as individuals. Their guitarist, Vijay Joseph, had a style that was easy going. His solos were hypnotic and got people staring, he made it look like child’s play. The drummer, Siva, was outstanding as he played percussion all on his own accompanied by two extra tom toms and was also the only one not wearing a lungi.The song that had the crowd zoning out was “Ambar” This was one song that put a smile on everyone’s face and want to just “be”. Apart from this song, they played their very first song “Hey Bhagwan”, a song describing how people often make mistakes and how God still gives us that second chance to make up for our mistakes. Another song that had a lot of meaning was “Khidki”.
At the end of the show, they jammed with Rewben and his son Saka, singing about roots and how nothing can keep on growing without have a strong set of roots to keep you steady.
At the end of the night, I don’t think anyone was in the mood to leave after such a fantastic show. Apart from just the music, it was also the lighting and ambiance that added that extra ingredient to the whole show keeping everyone in a mood to enjoy the music even more.
I can say this, the show was something else, everyone who missed it really missed out on something. Luckily for you guys all these bands have their music up on MySpace, though it won’t be as great as seeing them live and living it up on stage, at least you’ll get a bit of what we all got.
Shimla: To impress upon the government and policy makers the urgent need to address their issues, about 5,000 single women from Himachal, will undertake a three-day pad yatra (march) from Arki to Shimla, starting April 1.
This march is being undertaken to draw the government’s attention to the demands of the Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan (ENSS) and to sensitise the government to evolve a rights-based policy for single women. Rather than patronage, ENSS demands a state policy framed on principles of inclusion for single women across the state of Himachal Pradesh.
According to Subhash Mendhapurkar of SUTRA, a Jagjit Nagar (near Kasauli) based NGO, ” more than 3,800 women from six districts of Himachal have already enrolled for the pad yatra and we are sure of achieving our target of 5,000 women.”
All of the enrolled women will gather in Arki (Mandi) on March 31, 2008 and start walking to Shimla on April 1and reach Vidhan Sabha, Shimla on April 3, 2008 afternoon to present the Memorandum to state Chief Minister, Prem Kumar Dhumal.
To know more about this campaign and to support these women please visit
It has just been a month that Iron Maiden rocked India and we all were definitely desperate for more. And now, is the time for the biggest international Rock Festival India has ever seen. The Rock in India Festival, featuring Megadeth, Machine Head, Pentagram, Millenium, Thermal and a Quarter, MotherJane, Junkyard Groove, Prestorika and Casino Blues is strictly for those ready for a mayhem. Scheduled to happen on the 14th of March at Palace grounds, Bangalore, is a headbanger’s paradise!
Rolling Stone ROAD 2 ROCK is a journey to this festival with all rockers on board travelling 1800 kms to and fro together, sharing the same spirit. The 32 hours experience will be filled with screening of documentaries on music/bands, music videos and animation films to make your trip as rocking as you can imagine!
The Urban Typhoon workshop is a multicultural, multidisciplinary and multimedia experiment in participatory design. It is organized by the residents of Koliwada and a global collective of researchers and activists.
Architects, urban planners, designers, artists, anthropologists sociologists, photographers, media artists, activists and other creative people from India and abroad are invited to Koliwada for a week to brainstorm together with the residents on the future of Koliwada, Dharavi, at a time when the city is experiencing dramatic urban transformations.
The workshop will produce creative urban designs for the future of Koliwada as well as a multimedia testimony to the unique spirit of this community. The workshop itself will be a joyous and participatory takeover of the neighbourhood. It combines the city’s historic spirit of activism with the celebratory, independent and culturally dynamic traditions that the Kolis of Mumbai have always demonstrated. The plan builds on these impulses in the best traditions of a festive exchange with visitors, guests, strangers and locals of all shades and hues.
Bring Your Own Film Festival (BYOFF) is an annual event held during February every year on Puri beach. To call it just a film festival is to limit its unique magical quality. It’s a festival without hierarchy, competition, juries and awards where not only filmmakers but also artists from other fields like music, theatre, painting, sculpture, dance, literature and photography are encouraged to participate and show their work.
In short, BYOFF can be best described as an informal and intimate gathering of artists with films in the backdrop where screenings go on early into the morning hours- first, inside makeshift tents and then in the open air after sun down.
For filmmakers, it has been an alternative platform ever since its first edition in the year 2004. The idea is to have a festival away from the oppressive atmosphere of bureaucratic control of big cities and where just about anybody - with or without films - could participate. The participants of BYOFF themselves are the volunteers and the organizers of its future editions. And the mood of the festival is that of a no holds barred carnival where the sea and its sand provide the right ambience to lift the spirits of every one present. Yeah, for five days and five nights.The venue is ‘Pink House Hotel & Restaurant’ off Chakrateerth Road in Puri, in ORISSA, housed in an old bungalow constructed way back in 1937 with a fenced off private stretch of beach. One can watch films or just relax in one of the shacks to contemplate the blue waters of the sea. For the sea is never as bluer as it is in February. No wonder, the Lonely Planet guide describes it as the ‘beachiest of them all…’ The address of the venue is Pink House Hotel & Restaurant, Chakrateerth Road, Puri. TEL. 91- 6752 – 222253 Puri is well connected by train to Delhi and Kolkata with weekly trains to Okha (Gujarat), Patna and Guwahati. Bhubaneswar, which is just 60 kilometres from Puri is directly connected to Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kerala. Participants not coming directly to Puri are advised to get down at Bhubaneswar and then board a bus (the railway station is close to Cuttack-Puri Road) or hire a taxi. The approximate taxi fare is Rs 500-600. Buses are available from early hours of the morning to 9 O’ Clock in the evening. For enquiries and registrations log onto :http://www.byofilmfestival.com
Three days! Three stages! 60 bands! Original music! The largest music festival India has ever seen.
Eastwind is the first ever music festival to promote contemporary original music of bands in the country and more importantly, a festival that is driven by the musicians themselves.
Performing Artistes:
Advaita (Delhi)
Anal Funk (Mumbai)
Anterior (United Kingdom)
Artistes Unlimited (Delhi)
Avial (Trivandrum)
Bandish (Delhi)
Baja Gaja (Nepal)
Barefaced Liar (Delhi)
Blend (Delhi)
Bhayanak Mauth (Mumbai)
Boomarang (Aizawl)
Cassini’s Division (Kolkata)
Caesar’s Palace (Bangalore)
Chromosome Eye (Mumbai)
Cyanide (Delhi)
Demonic Resurrection (Mumbai)
Detonation (Netherlands)
Dhruv Ghanekar and the Ranjit Barot Project (Mumbai)
Dream Out Loud (Mumbai)
Evergreen (Kochi)
Feedback (Delhi)
Five Little Indians (Kolkata)
Galeej Gurus (Bangalore)
Groove Suppa (Mumbai)
HFT (Delhi)
Half Step Down (Delhi)
Helgas Fun Castle (Mumbai)
Hypnosis (Delhi)
Indian Ocean (Delhi)
Jalebee Cartel (Delhi)
Junkyard Groove (Chennai)
Karsh Kale (United States)
Kryptos (Bangalore)
Leni Stern Band (United States)
Level 9 (Delhi)
Levitikus (Delhi)
Little Babooshka’s Grind (Chennai)
Midival Punditz (Delhi)
Medusa (Mumbai)
Menwhopause (Delhi)
Motherjane (Kochi)
Mohit Chauhan (Delhi)
Mrigya (Delhi)
Myndsnare (Bangalore)
Oidua (Delhi)
Parikrama (Delhi)
Pentagram (Mumbai)
Pink Noise (Kolkata)
Raghu Dixit Project (Bangalore)
Sajid Akbar Band (Delhi)
Scribe (Mumbai)
Shaair and Funk (Mumbai)
Skinny Alley (Kolkata)
Something Relevant (Mumbai)
Soulmate (Shillong)
Span (Kolkata)
Split (Mumbai)
Them Clones (Delhi)
Thermal And A Quarter (Bangalore)
The Superfuzz (Delhi)
Venue: NSIC Grounds, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase III,
New Delhi Dates: 22nd, 23rd and 24th February, 2008 Time: 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Tickets:
Daily tickets : Rs.200/-
Season tickets : Rs.500/-
