Events Covered and Reviews
3rd Indo Arab Cultural Festival 26th February to 7th March 2009, Abu Dhabi
3rd Indo Arab Cultural Festival organized by Kerala Social Centre Abu Dhabi started yesterday evening with a grand opening. The festival will be held from 26th February till 7th March 2009.
Excerpts of the inaugural function held on Thursday, 26th February 2009 at the Kerala Social Centre premises in Abu Dhabi
More videos and photo uploads follows:
Sri Sudhir Kumar Shetty giving his felicitation speech
Amrita TV Super Talent – Peter from Cochin on Mouth Organ
Amrita TV Super Talent – Peter from Cochin
http://www.youtube.com/get_player
Mr. Peter (Peter chettan as we can affectionately call him) was one of the contestants in the 2nd round of Amrita TVs Super Talent reality show. Opting to perform using a mouth organ, he did present an excellent effort considering his age, limited opportunities, and shows he has presented. At the end, he also proved that Talents could not be tied down, whatever be the circumstances, there will be an opportunity one fine day, somewhere destined for a talented artist who keeps on practising and nurturing his / her skills. I always call it “Playing in the mind” and this is one example of such a talent. Not worried about his exit, as he stated, and now that he has become one of the available SUPER TALENTS, may his creative skills improve with each opportunity he gets from now on. As one of the judge Sri Mukesh rightly said, this is also an opportunity for the instrument “Mouth Organ” to come into spot light once again and may this exhibition of talent and skill bring out many artists, irrespective of their age to learn, practise and promote this handy instrument.
Maha Shivarathri – the Universal Pati-Patni Day
Today is Maha Shivratri.
These days, we blindly follow several different types of days, for eg: Valentines day, mothers day, fathers day, friendship day, no-smoking day and the list goes on and on. When we look at it Shivarathri is the truly traditional family day or pati-patni day, as I term it. Because, from the ancient times, devoted wife’s pray and observe fast on this day for the well being of their husband and children and vice-versa, husband’s observe religious rituals and prayers like chanting Rudram and chamakam to give grace and prosperity to the well being of own family and the society.
There are many stories associated with Shivaratri and its origins.
One is about lord shiva drinking a poison and he held it in his throat by binding it with a snake. The throat became blue due to the poison (Thus Lord Shiva is also known as Neelakantha) and Shiva remained unharmed. In another story, it is said that the whole world was once facing destruction and the Goddess Parvati worshiped her husband Shiva to save it. Parvati named the night for the worship of Iswara by mortals Maha-Sivaratri, or the great night of Siva. After creation was complete, Parvati asked Shiva of which rituals pleased him the most. The Lord replied that the 14th night of the new moon, during the month of Maagha, is my most favourite day. It is known as Shivaratri. Parvati repeated these words to her friends, from whom the word spread over all creation. Another story is about a hunter. Lubdhaka, a poor tribal man and a devotee of Shiva, once went into the deep forests to collect firewood. At nightfall, he became lost and could not find his way home. In the darkness, Lubdhaka climbed a bel tree, and sought safety and shelter in its branches until dawn. All night, he could hear the growls of tigers and wild animals, and was too frightened to leave the tree. In order to keep himself awake, he plucked one leaf at a time from the tree and then dropped it, while chanting the name of Shiva. By sunrise, he had dropped thousands of leaves on to a Shiva lingam, which he had not seen in the darkness. Lubdhaka’s all-night worship pleased Shiva. By the grace of Shiva the tigers and wild animals went away, and Lubdhaka not only survived but was rewarded with ‘divine bliss’.
While most Hindu festivals are celebrated during the day, Mahashivratri is celebrated during the night and day that come just before the new moon. Each new moon is dedicated to Shiva, but Mahashivratri is especially important because it is the night when he danced the ‘Tandav’, his cosmic dance. It also celebrates the wedding of Shiva and Sati, the mother divine. Night represents evil, injustice, ignorance, sin, violence, and misfortune. Tradition says that Shiva, like his symbol the new moon, appeared in order to save the world from darkness and ignorance, before the world entered complete darkness. Those who observe the Mahashivratri fast only break their fast the next morning, and eat the prasad offered to Shiva. Young girls observe the fast and worship Shiva so that he may bless them with good husbands. They sing devotional songs in praise of the lord, and holy texts are chanted throughout the night. The pandits in the temples perform the puja according to the scriptures. This is done four times during the night.
Dedication:
On this auspicious day, I would like to dedicate to our global forum a painting named Shivasakthi. It is also a dedication to all the loving mother’s, wife’s and sisters and also to all our fellow brothers for keeping our tradition and values always high, wherever we are.
I would like to also add a few words about this painting. This is created purely using powerpoint tools and it was done as a result of a few minutes of quite time at a small temple near REC Chathamangalam, Calicut. On that particular monsoon evening (somewhere in 1995), it happened to be that there was no power in that area, and the darshan of the deity at the time during deeparadhana created an everlasting memory in my mind. The decoration of the Devi idol, simple and small, by the melshanti (priest) was simply superb. I added to it a similar devotion at another temple, which is Avittathur Mahadeva temple. And the result is this creation – Shivasakthi.
At both these places, the time available by the melshanthis to decorate the idols during the time the sanctum sanctorum closed for pooja, is barely 10 minutes or so. And imagine yourself the result when the doors are opened. It is the epitomisation of the ultimate sraddha, the dedication and devotion to provide us a blissful presence. Can you imagine them practising this art somewhere else? Or re-doing it, if a little more of water has been added to the chandan and kunkum or bhasmam they mix in order to create these decorations.!!
There are many unsung heroes and these are a few among them. And it is also my way of tribute to the many who remain within the four walls of our own religious boundaries, who do not get to watch or listen to any of the niceties which we are blessed with.
No one has the patience these days, and to add ease to it, we have a wonderful creation called remote control. It makes things easy for our wandering minds to switch from one programme to another and to refrain from keeping focussed on one. We undergo severe rituals and follow procedures for many days and ultimately visit our favourite temples and the moment we are in front of the deity, we close our eyes and fall into deep prayers. At this moment, we go back to the old thoughts, photos etc, forgetting about the opportunity to meet the real lord who is in front of us in full – paadadi kesham. And we are pushed away for someone else to do his minutes or seconds of closed eye prayers. The moment you close your eyes, you forget your objectives. So, open your eyes, look at the realities, and react to it. As the prayer song “Geet nahi, Sur nahi, phir bhi mem gavoom”, in this spiritual sphere of mental peace and inner joy, the responsibility for success or failure is entirely one’s own.
God bless and have a great time blogging.
Ramesh Menon
23022009
Urgent Call for Action to Help the Children of Gaza
Dear Volunteer,
Dubai Cares is joining a united front of UAE-based relief and charitable organizations to pledge humanitarian assistance and mobilize the UAE community to help alleviate the suffering of children in Gaza. There are approximately 275,000 students of primary school age in Gaza and Dubai Cares is asking for your help to support them in this time of need.
Here’s how you can help. Dubai Cares is currently recruiting volunteers to help package 50,000 basic school kits and 50,000 hygiene kits for the Children of Gaza. Approximately 150 participants are needed each day for this event as we are aiming to assemble approximately 10,000 kits a day. We would be honored if you could join us.
Dubai Cares will supply all of the items required for the kits and we need your help to pack and prepare them for shipping to the children of Gaza.
Date: Wednesday, January 14 through January 20, 2009
Venue: DIFC (Emperor Hall)
Timing(s):
· Weekdays: 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
· Friday January 16, 2009: 2:00 -6:00 p.m.
· Saturday January 17, 2009: 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
You are welcome to join us anytime. Please bring your friends and family to the venue during our working hours and we will put you to work. You can also help us spread the word by forwarding this email to others who you believe may want to help. We will have snacks and beverages available.
Should you have any queries or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at Gaza@dubaicares.ae .
We hope you will be able to join with us to show solidarity for the children of Gaza.
Sincerely,
The Dubai Cares Team
Preeth – A challange is an opportunity
Welcome all,
I have been thinking of a suitable topic to start with my series of activities for Q4music for the year 2009. Youtube seems to have been non-accessible or blocked in this part of the world and so could not upload my regular music/performance/created videos. A few precious minutes of free time in the day to day life is very carefully utilised and relaxation, enjoyment and enhancement of knowledge automatically becomes an integral part of this daily routine. Super Talent reality show currently on in Amrita TV is one venue I visit in the evenings for this. Yesterday I happened to see three performances. Of which, one turned out to be outstanding.
Preeth, from Trivandrum, a student of Prof. Muthukad performed magic with miming capabilities. A young guy who has speech and hearing problem, turned out to be the star of the day. What a performance it turned out to be. Three minutes allotted time seemed to be more for him to express his talents when many others who are competing in the same show still ponder about the lack of available time. Excellent, amazing, captivating, and more I could add on. God bless this Super Talent contestant who proved yesterday that EVERY CHALLENGE IS AN OPPORTUNITY.
Let his performance be an inspiration to all those who are coming out to perform in this show and other shows about what they have and don’t in their hand and how they could improve it and present it to a presentable and appreciable form for the mass.
GOD bless him and may he conquer many more victories in the coming years.
A different musical experience
A different musical experience
KOCHI: He has been entertaining people with his rocking music for many years. DJ Savio, one of the hottest DJs in Kerala, is now reinventing his music. ‘Free Formation’ – a fusion of percussion and in-house music – will be a different musical experience for the clubbing crowd in the city. For the music programme ‘Savio Rocks Kerala’ DJ Savio and percussionist Carl will perform a jugalbandi at Rajeev Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Kadavanthra, on Saturday at 6.30 pm.
Free Formation, formed by Savio and Carl, is the first venture in Kerala to weave percussion and in-house music, which is popular in other metros across the country. Upbeat and power-packed music define Free Formation. “I always wanted to do something different and refreshing. There are bands in metros which mix percussion and in-house music. But usually they use slow numbers for mixing. Here we are using house and trance,” says DJ Savio.
To raise awareness among the public, the duo is planning to do street shows. “The support of the public is necessary. That is why we are doing the street shows,” says Savio.
Talent Share Year-End Fest 2008
Act now and SHARE your child’s creative talent to the world around. Send their works with the following details to team1dubai@gmail.com before 30th December 2008:
Name:
Date of Birth:
Class:
School:
Place:
Parents Name:
Contact Telephone No(s):
Contact address : e-mail
Contact Address by Post:
Talent Share Year-End Fest 2008
Act now and SHARE your child’s creative talent to the world around. Send their works with the following details to team1dubai@gmail.com before 30th December 2008:
Name:
Date of Birth:
Class:
School:
Place:
Parents Name:
Contact Telephone No(s):
Contact address : e-mail
Contact Address by Post:
ClicksandWrites 
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