ChinmayC Blog

Reputed classical vocalist from Assam, Ragini Chakravarty has been conferred with the Maharashtra state level Kala-Shree Puraskar in a dignified ceremony held on Thursday, the 21st of August, 2014 in Sangli, Western Maharashtra. Shree Foundation Trust maintained by the Business Express group of Marathi newspapers and periodicals has been giving these annual awards for the last 19 years in different fields of Arts, Academic, Cooperative sector, Business, Administration—Society and Social activism. Ragini Chakravarty was chosen for the award in the Arts ( Kala ) category for her contribution to music and for her efforts to promote music in Assam and Maharashtra. The award was formally presented to Ragini by the Chief Guest of the ceremony, Dr. Ved Prakash Mishra, Chairman of Medical Council of India. The ceremony was presided over by eminent economist Dr. J F Patil. Seva Shree Awards were also presented to officials/officers/activists from various fields of activity for distinguished se...

All bullies do not have big bellies, but some big bellied ones are bullies. Such entities do not believe in the finer connotations of the phrase ‘throwing your weight around’; they literally ‘throw’ their weight around to their bullish benefits. You are likely to confront them anywhere, in every possible activity of life. In the school days you must remember some fat boys you have made fun of (not at all good behavior from you, of course), but there were indeed some others who intimidated you, threatened you and bullied you. In public transport you often curse if big bellied ones are around, even if they are not bullies. If they are you are in imminent danger of being dislocated. That day the queue at the famous temple was unending and almost unruly. Maybe it was one of the innumerable auspicious days. In India you are often compelled by social or religious or family bondage to visit particular temples on particular days and there you see millions of such ‘pious’ people who stop at no...

The family, particularly the Indian family, is supposedly the most closely-bound unit in terms of blood relations, in terms of proximity and in terms of unconditional love. In the joint family system, slowly dying even in India, there are tensions concerning the kitchen or concerning wives, husbands, brothers, in-laws and cousins. However, in all cases some people like drivers or domestic helps get into the thick of things. They understand the family moods, they know the underlying conflicts if any, have access to all the secrets and they are always conditioned to swim as per the waters. They are immensely capable of bringing a mere disagreement in the family into a shattering climax and can be a party to damaging relationships, sometimes irreparably. The members of the family in their effort to manage such ‘members’ often succumb to these third-party plays and the misplaced priorities catapult the happy family into an apparently insoluble crisis.   We will take examples describing...