Bhubaneswar, 20th September: hockey tournament “Biju Patnaik Rural Hockey Championship” was launched today at Kalinga stadium in Bhubaneswar. The tournament will operate under the aegis of ‘Dilip Tirkey Sports research and development Foundation’. The championship shall begin from November and continue till March 2017.
Vishal Kumar Dev, secretary, Sports and Youth Services Department, international sand artist Sudarsan Patnaik , India’s former hockey captain Padmashri Dilip Tirkey , ‘Prelude’ director Satyabrat Sanu Ratho , business leader Bramha Mishra and other dignitaries unveiled and launched the logo.
More than 1500 teams from rural areas in and around Odisha shall be participating in this event which should make it one the biggest sports tournament in the entire world.
Sri Ajit Pal, treasurer, Dilip Tirkey Sports research and development Foundation heartily welcomed the gathering. Managing trustee Dilip Tirkey Sports research and development Foundation Shri DilipTirkey gave focused on the unrecognized sports persons, in his speech. He said, “the talents, who can’t come to the forefront due to lack of proper training, finance and infrastructure don’t come to the foreground should be encouraged.
“Talents when given proper direction shall help strengthen our national team. Promoting it in the rural area will not only spread awareness but also help them move ahead in the field of hockey. Apart from identifying talents and training them, this movement shall help bring the previous glory that India had as a Hockey champion in the minds of people,” Tirkey added.
He further thanked Padmashri SudarsanPatnaik and Padmashri IgnaceTirkey (former India Hockey captain) for agreeing to be The Brand Ambassadors of the Championship.
Sri Vishal Dev expressed his happiness that such mega events taken across rural areas will actually bind our youth and motivates them for sports and other positive youth activities.
Internationally acclaimed sand artist Padmashri Sudarsan Pattnaik who has designed the logo was extremely happy to be a part of this grand initiative. “I shall be promoting this championship through all things artisticand hope to make this event popular across the globe. Our players are extremely talented. They just need the right push and promotion,” he said.
Renowned Odia actor and politician Akash Das Nayak turned 34 on September 17, 2016. Like the previous years, this time too he mixed charity with the celebration. Akash presently is a member of the legislative assembly of Odisha. This time he celebrated his birthday along with the elderly from Sai Krupa Old Age Home in Bhubaneswar.
As a token of love Akash took the elderly persons to Puri. All of them enjoyed in the sea beach and later visited the famous Jagannath temple of Puri. Some youths from social service group “We for You” helped coordinate the trip where around 45 elderly visited Puri.
“It’s a tradition. Every year, be it my birthday, Holi, Ganesh Puja or any other occasion, I come down to orphanages or old age homes. Celebrating with friends and relatives is what we generally do but I believe if I spare some time and come down here with my family and celebrate with them then that joy becomes manifold. My message to everyone is to make a little effort to come and visit them. These people here have spent almost an entire lifetime; spending time with them will enable us to know insights about life from the experiences they share. Their blessings are no less than a parent’s blessings.” After the holy darshan and a sumptuous lunch of “Abhada”, Akash also presented them gifts.
Although identity of Orissa is like a poor state in the national arena for a few cases like sale of the child etc. in the KBK districts, that is not the whole story. Come filmdom, the current film fraternity knows it well that no Bollywood film can be made at this time without the involvement of Oriya guys/girls. May it be acting, singing, direction or technology, contribution of Oriya people is most essential in contemporary Hindi Film Industry. Aum Prakash Mohapatra, youngest brother of awarded film director Sabyasachi Mohapatra is the first person to operate a professional jimmy jib crane in Bollywood. Hence, some people also call him the father of jimmy jib in India. Himanshu Guru chatted with him to register his journey in filmdom.
Aum initiates his journey as an assistant cinematographer through Halo in 1996 followed by Mani Ratnam’s Dil Se in 1998. In the mean while Bollywood gets introduced with latest camera equipment ‘Jimmy Jib’. About his early days Aum intimated, “While shooting a commercial for Centro car, Shah Rukh comes to know about the equipment from the Chinese crews and wants to purchase one. But problem was who would operate the crane. The star approached legendary cinematographer Santosh Shivan, who suggested my name. Accordingly I was sent to USA for short term training on Jib. When returned from there I started working in Hindi films as a jimmy jib operator.”
In a short while Aum became the most talked about name in the film units as all the big banner producers as well as the top celebrities depended on this young guy to operate the jib to take the amazing shots. And in this way he became the star technician. Today we have a number of Jimmy Jib operators, but still Aum enjoys the credit of being the top operator.
A jib is basically a crane with the camera attached on one end and a counterweight and the camera controls on the other. This crane permits the camera to be moved vertically, horizontally, or a combination of the two. A jib is often mounted on a huge tripod or similar support. Since the camera operator is often not able to use the camera's controls directly or look through the camera's viewfinder, a jib is often used in conjunction with a remote camera control for focus and zoom and with a portable video monitor. Some advance versions of the Jib is the mostly used equipment in Bollywood films these days.
Aum has many Bollywood blockbusters to his credit like Mohabattein, My Name Is Khan, The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey, Veer-Zaara, The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Ashoka, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Khakee, Paanch, Chandni Chowk to China, Bluffmaster!, Tare Zamin Par etc. as Jimmy Jib operator. He is also the DOP of Oriya films like Jai Jagannath, Salabudha.
Aum said, “I feel myself lucky enough for what I am now in Bollywood. I’ve worked with all the top-notch actors starting from Amitabh Bachan to Shah Rukh Khan. I have also travelled a number of countries and now enjoying stardom as a celebrity technician in Bollywood. But my heart always remains in my birth soil and I am proud to announce that I am an Oriya. I love ‘pakhal’ (Watered rice) and think that whatever I have achieved is due to blessings of God and the good wishes of Orissa”.
G. Nageshwari is a young girl from Bhubaneswar, who has got opportunity to showcase her Odishi dance aptitude, not only in the country, but has also performed in far countries like Japan and Malaysia. Trained under the tutelage of Guru Sri Gajendra Kumar Panda, Nageshwari (21) belongs to the Guru late Debaprasad Das gharana (style) of Odishi dance. Born to Annapurna and Janardhan Rao, the youngster is educated ‘Alankara Poorna’ in Odishi dance. She completed her High School education from the Government Girls’ High School in Unit I and then did her +2 from Kamala Nehru Women’s College. She completed her graduation in commerce from the Rama Devi Women’s University. She has completed post graduation in Odishi dance from All India Gandharvya University, Pune (study centre in Orissa).
Nageshwari started dancing too early when she was in Class III. Her elder sister Jyotirekha taught her steps for a folk number ‘Chaka Janha Kede Jhilimili’, which she danced in the school competition and got a prize. Then she performed in a public show in Balasore and there was no looking back.
Revealing about her strength in Odishi dance the youngster said, “I am proficient in ‘Lakhyasindura’, ‘Guru Brahma’, ‘Ganga Taranga’ of ‘Mangalacharana’, ‘Chhota sthayi and bada sthayi of sthayi, ‘Kalabati’, ‘Basanta’ and ‘Khirabani’ of ‘Pallavi’, ‘Jagabatara’, ‘Astasambhu’, ‘Shibastakam’, ‘Kede Chhatra’ and ‘Mana Uddharana’ of ‘Abhinaya’.” Mangalacharana, Sthayi, Pallavi, Abhinaya and Mokhya are the main phases of a complete Odishi recital.
We can see a number of dancer statues in the temple walls. Do these statues inspire an Odishi dancer? Nageswari replied, “We find ‘mardala’, ‘parswa mardala’, ‘alasa,’, ‘aaina’ and ‘abhimani’ type of female dancers in these statues. There is lot to learn from the positions of these statues.”
Nageshwari’s style of dance is called ‘TRIDHARA’. About the name she said, “since the style comprises of Odishi, Sambalpuri folk and tribal dance, it is called ‘Tridhara’. ‘Chaukapada’ is often used in this style.”
Does Odishi dance have any special and luring thing, which differentiates it from other classical dance? Nageshwari said, “You can find ‘tahia’, a fascinating head gear, only in Odishi. No other dance includes this. One can see tahia worn by Lord Jagannath in His head during the car festival.”
Nageshwari performed in a number of popular festivals including in - Khajuraho Dance Festival, Konark Dance Festival, Mukteswar Dance Festival, Puri beach festival, Baliyatra and Indian dance festival in Chennai. So far she has performed in front of dignitaries like Chief Minister Naveen Pattanik, Gajapati Maharaja Sri Divyasingh Dev, Governor of Orissa Sri Murlidhar Chandra Kant Bhandare, President of India Sri Pranab Mukherjee. She also assisted Guru Gajendra Panda in many national and international workshops. She also received the Balashree Scholarship from Govt. of India.
Asked to reveal the most interesting moment of her dancer life Nageshwari said, “In Tokyo, our group was going to perform in an open air auditorium when it started raining. We were planning to cancel the show when we saw that the audience is waiting for us drenched in water. Without delay we started dancing even if it was raining. It was a lifetime memoir for me.”
The dancer has also an embarrassing incident to her credit. She said, “I was performing in Malaysia when I found that my ‘Bengapatia’ (the gear worn on the waist) was unhooked. Within some seconds I came out of the stage, pinned it up and again I was in the performance. In this choreography I was not just a group dancer, but I was playing an important character and so could not be absent. Moved by my immediate action a woman presented me a garland of flowers. I don’t know the name of this flower but I was intimated that it was the most costly flower of their country and costs Rs. 2000/- in Indian Currency.”
Nageshwari’s top inspirer is legendary Odishi dancer Sanjukta Panigrahi. None of her parents were dancers.
The other side of Nageshwari is that she also is a national level Kho-kho player. She represented her school nationally when she was in Class VIII. “I am also a social worker at mind. I love to help people. And I love chicken biriani and watered rice,” she added.
However, the young dancer is sad about the fact that Odishi is not appreciated that much in the state. She said, “While we get admiration oversees for our dance, people in the state seem hardly interested for it. I was dancing in Adivasi mela when I found that the audience started to quit the gallery. It really hurts.”
Nageshwari’s mantra is ‘Love dance and promote Odishi”.
