Destination Infinity's Blog, page 62

One Asia Project: Oneness through Cultural Exchanges

Message from Wang Xin Xin, a Taiwanese artist, for the One Asia Project:

One Asia Project

The ONE ASIA project started in Auroville, India, in 2010 with the aim of presenting Asia’s cultural richness and profound spirituality to the world via Cultural exchanges among artists from Asian countries.

Since 2010, a number of musicians, dancers, poets, visual artists, tea ceremony masters, martial artists, Sufi & Zen practitioners and flower-arrangement artists from different Asian countries have participated in the ONE ASIA project.

We aspire to bring together more of these artistes practicing traditional culture in order to co-create, with their input, a new and conscious diversity. We hope to share our findings with a world of increasing chaos that awaits a strong foundation for a brighter, truer future for humanity.” – Jyoti Naoki Eri, Auroville/Japan.

I met Jyoti Naoki Eri, the Founder-Director of One Asia Project, in a recent seminar at the Lalit Kala Academy – part of the Auroville in Chennai festival.

Jyoti Naoki Eri is Japanese by birth and was brought up in an artistic family in Kyoto/Tokyo during his formative years. ‘Jyoti’ in his name, as you may have noticed, is an Indian name which he kept for himself (long before he even came to India) due to the respect and admiration he had for the Indian culture.

In 2005, when Jyoti Naoki Eri came on a trip to India, he came to know about Auroville and was impressed so much with the concept of an integrated township that he decided to settle down there as a permanent member.

In 2010 the team decided to coordinate the first One Asia Project in Auroville. Subsequently, One Asia Projects were held in Delhi in 2012, Taipei in 2014, and (hopefully) Kyoto in 2016. Artists from various fields/countries across Asia were invited and given a platform to perform and exhibit their skills and crafts to the world.

There is also collaboration between artists from different Asian countries. For example, this video shot during the One Asia 2014 shows how Taiwanese and Indian artists come together to create soulful music. I think this is an excellent effort and hope that One Asia project will continue the cultural exchange/collaboration, and get a wider reach with support from people all over.

Website (for further details): One Asia Project.

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Published on March 31, 2015 07:01

#Song of the Week: Pesadhe Parvaigal Veesadhe (Thirudan Police)

‘Pesadhe parvaigal veesadhe‘ is a wonderful song from the Tamil movie Thirudan Police. This song has been sung by Hariharasudhan and Pooja, and the music has been composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja (back in form?). This is a melodious song with beautiful voice, beautiful music and soothing beats that will appeal to you easily. Go listen

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Published on March 31, 2015 06:58

‘I’ Tamil Movie Review

I think I need to blame myself for watching this movie without reading a review or asking anyone’s opinion. But kudos to the Director (Shankar) for making me sit in the theater for 3 hours to watch a movie that has such a simple (shall we say, almost non-existent) storyline!

Only if the director had given at least 1% of the importance that he gave for every other technical aspect, to the main story, this movie might have been better. Simply making a grand movie spending crores, bringing Arnold Schwarzenegger for audio release, and other such gimmicks cannot compensate for the basic flaw in the foundation (lack of story).

I don’t even want to get into the cardboard characters, et. all. But I want to mention that the ‘feel’ this movie gives by disfiguring people’s bodies can be, at the least, termed ghastly. (‘Not in good taste’ might have been better term, but it’s too sweet.) I go to a movie theater to relax and unwind, that too on a Sunday morning, and I don’t want to see all horror-like stuff!

If you are a person who loves horror/ghastly images/gory things happening to people, etc. (or) if you love to see a high budget movie with a lot of technical improvisations, you can disregard this review and happily see the movie. This movie might also appeal to the fans of Director Bala, I guess

But I should mention that this movie left me in bad taste. On the top of it there was no credible storyline, which is the primary thing I look for in a movie. This is only my verdict, and I accept that others might feel differently. This song, thankfully, was like an oasis in a dry desert

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Published on March 31, 2015 06:56

Guindy National Park, Chennai: Reserve Forest in the City!

Guindy National Park is a protected Reserve Forest right in the heart of Chennai. The main gate of this park is in a small lane next to the popular tourist destination: Guindy Snake park and Zoo, after IIT-M and Cancer Institute campus gates (from Adyar). Since this is a protected forest, and our group decided to go for a trek (better word is walk), I thought why not join? After all it will be an excellent change from the concrete urban jungle around us!

Even though it is a reserve forest, don’t go there expecting to see tigers, panthers, elephants, or giraffes roaming all around you. Also, don’t expect to get lost in a thick cover of trees and struggle to find your route back. All that is not going to happen here! There are flattened routes on which we could walk and the staff members come along with you so that you don’t get lost! Just kidding. They came with us to explain and guide us throughout our 2.5 hour walk. (We could have come back sooner, but some photographers in our group were looking for ‘perfect angles’. So the delay.)

All along the way, I found gentle surprises like the ones shown in the above photos. I found some interesting flowers too:

There were a few observation points.

Don’t think that the blackbuck in the above photo is a brave and enterprising one, as it is standing on a rock and posing for me. It is a statue! Here’s the view from above the observation point:

It seems this ground (partially shown in the above photo) was used as a Polo ground during the British period. There were some deer and one jackal far away, but since my camera’s battery died at this point I don’t have any photos of real animals to show you. But, but, but . . . I managed to click one animal anyway

Here’s one more (but artificial) animal: Giant ant eater ~

The Govt. Superintend (or Warden) who came with us kept talking to us on various topics throughout the walk. It was good to meet passionate individuals who are eager to engage with the public in a Govt. maintained facility.

If you want to visit this premises, it is mandatory to take prior permission by submitting a letter (to the officials in this premises) stating the date, reason of your visit and the number of people who’d accompany you. It may take a week or so to get the permission letter – so plan your trip in advance. We went at 6:30 AM and returned by 9:30 AM on a Sunday.

Interesting place to visit for a change

Organized by: Chennai Photographers Meetup Group.

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Published on March 23, 2015 10:39

Kingsman: The Secret Service (Movie Review)

Kingsman: The Secret Service is an English movie released in 2014. I caught up with this movie in Escape @ Express Avenue mall. This is a spy action comedy movie, although the comedy is relatively sublime. This is one of the good entertaining movies I have seen in the recent times. Highly recommended!

There is a ‘private’ secret intelligence agency that seeks to save the world in areas where Govt. intelligence agencies have failed. The Hero’s father is a member of that elite agency and is killed in the beginning of the movie. His friend, and a fellow Kingsman, recruits the Hero once he grows up. I don’t see why that 15 year gap is required – no one seems to have aged during that period!

The first half of the movie is about how/whether the Hero passes the tough job interview. The second half of the movie is about how the Hero and the remaining members (2) of the Kingsman group save the world from the villain, who determines that humans are the virus of this world, and the best way to rid the world off this virus (and prevent global warming, etc.) is to kill all humans except an elite few – including himself.

The movie is very interesting from the start till the end. Although the action scenes are totally unrealistic, they are surely entertaining. The concept used to kill people en-masse is unique, and the surprises thrown throughout the movie work. It’s refreshing to listen to British accent: The English seem to have a knack of making excellent spy movies, alright!

All in all, this is an excellent movie – save all those violent scenes – to enjoy with your family. I am sure you’ll like it too, go ahead and see

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Published on March 23, 2015 10:32

Some pics @ Auto Circuit, Phoenix Mall, Chennai

So I went to the Phoenix Mall, Chennai and what do I find there? Auto Circuit Car & Bike show ’15! I used the opportunity to click some pics of those beautiful cars and bikes displayed there. Here are some:

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Published on March 23, 2015 10:27

#Song of the Week: Isai meeti… (Isai)

Isai meeti… is a song from the Tamil movie Isai. Imagine director SJ Suryah directing a movie called ‘Isai’ and composing the music himself. That’s exactly what has happened, and look what a gem of a song we’ve got! Chinmayi’s voice is too good, but the composition of the song is also too good – don’t you think? Super song SJ Suryah has a bright future as a music director

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Published on March 23, 2015 10:26

My Autobiography: My Most Memorable Day #together

As far as I remember, the day I got my Tenth Standard board exam results has been the most memorable day in my life, until now. Not that I value it as much as I remember it in the frenzy of those youthful days, but if I have to pick one memorable day in my life it will be that day.

In most middle class families, especially in Chennai, there is no achievement bigger than academic achievement. At that age, although it feels strange now, I too believed in that *all encompassing* mantra – Academic Excellence.

To add to my convictions, I studied in a school where 38 out of 40 students would score above 80%. The remaining two will not be far behind! So there was always this fierce competition among ourselves, especially during the Board Exam years.

Even before Tenth Standard, I always took academics seriously. Although I had never got a first rank (except once in UKG!), I was mostly one among the Top 10 ranks. This might surprise some of my friends who know me from later on!

I started studying the tenth standard syllabus right from the ninth standard annual holidays. In the first mid-term exam, I got the fourth rank in my class and I got the highest marks in both science and maths, my focus subjects for the year.

I missed Centum in maths by one mark, that too because of a simple addition mistake. Just imagine: Getting 100% in maths was my dream from a very young age. Unlike others, I was not upset at missing it, but was actually happy that I was able to get so close.

I think my rank dropped a bit in the subsequent exams and even touched 14 in one of the revision exams, but I was inspired enough and backed it with solid preparation. I remember we were shifting to a new house during my board exam study holidays, but I was sent to my grandmothers home so that my studies will not be disrupted! Actually, I had finished studying everything by then, and only had to revise, but still . . .

And then came the board exams. We had to (for the first time) go to a different school and write the exam there. All the exams went as per expectations, but maths, my favorite exam, threw up a shocker of a question paper! I mean, when you are going into an examination hoping to get a Centum, and you don’t even understand a few questions, just think how you’d feel! Fortunately, the tough question paper was compensated by lenient correction.

Then came holidays and I read most of the Michael Creighton, Sidney Sheldon and Jeffery Archers books during that time. And then came the day of the *much anticipated* results. They had struck all our marks on the notice board and I hurried to the school once I got to know about it.

Guess what, I was second in my class and fourth in my school! Not even in my dreams did I expect such a result!! The euphoria that I experienced then remains unmatched until today. Of course, all my friends and family were congratulating me left, right, and center (#together), and I was in the limelight as the first rank holder didn’t come on that day and no one expected me to finish second!

Little did I know that these results were the lull before a great storm. And those stormy moments will teach me much more than these happier moments. But all that for later.

You could have a look at the Housing.com website if you want to rent, lease or buy houses in India.

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Published on March 14, 2015 10:11

Auroville in Chennai Seminar: Towards a Sustainable Future

If you are in Chennai tomorrow (Wednesday, 11th March, 2015) please consider attending the Auroville in Chennai seminar on to topic, “Towards a Sustainable Future for Our Cities” at The Music Academy, Royapettah, Chennai from 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM. I am sure it will be very informative, and is free to attend for everyone.

Here’s the invite:

And here’s the Schedule:

If you are not able to read the schedule in the image, here it is in text:

9:30 AM: Registration and Welcome (Registration by email is required, but a member of the organizing committee told me it should be OK to come to the premises directly, if you got this message late and have not registered).

10:00 – 10:20 AM: Opening – “What is Auroville?” by Frederick.

10:20 – 10:30 AM: Presentation on “Wasteless” by Ribhu.

10:30 – 10:40 AM: Presentation on “Social Entrepreneurship” by Gijs.

10:40 – 10:50 AM: Dental program in South India.

10:50 – 11:00 AM: Environmental education.

11:00 – 11:10 AM: Adyar Poonga.

11:10 – 11:20 AM: Q & A Session.

11:20 – 11:50 AM: Tea break.

11:50 – 12:00 AM: What is Auroville, a youngster perspective.

12:00 – 13:20 PM: Panel Discussion – Towards a Sustainable Future.

13:20 – 13:30 PM: Vote of Thanks.

I hope people in Chennai will utilize this opportunity and show up in big numbers. The organizers have come all the way from near Pondicherry and are presenting some of the great work they have been doing over the last few decades. In fact, I wanted to visit Auroville personally, but since they have come to Chennai, I am more than glad to attend this seminar and a few more exhibitions/events hosted over this month.

Here’s the Auroville in Chennai festival website and Facebook page for further information. (Since this is a month long event, do check out the links to see if there is any other event/exhibition you’d like to visit.)

Destination Infinity

PS: I was requested by a member of the organizing committee to spread the word and I wanted to help in whatever small way possible. Please help spread the word in your blogs/social networks, if possible. Thank you.

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Published on March 10, 2015 07:18

Sristi Village: Inclusive & Sustainable Living for Disabled People

Sristi village is a laudable initiative where socially conscious people are building an inclusive, self-sustaining, and eco-friendly village for people with intellectual disabilities, especially.

I went to the UnLtd. Tamil Nadu event held recently, hosted in conjunction with Auroville in Chennai festival, where Karthikeyan, the Managing Trustee of Sristi Foundation spoke with a lot of passion about his social project – Sristi Village, near Pondicherry, South India.

Karthikeyan told us that he spent 15 years in an orphanage where he grew up alongside many intellectually disabled kids. While normal kids were able to go to school, college, work, and eventually integrate into the mainstream society, intellectually disabled kids didn’t get such opportunities. Besides, even if they learned some skills, employers were reluctant to hire them.

Sristi Village seeks to provide a dignified life for disadvantaged people.

In 2014, they acquired 8.39 acres of cultivable land (thanks to donations) in Kunamangalam village, 30 KM from Pondy, where inmates undertake organic/traditional farming.
They have setup Sristi Special School, a school for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities where 10 kids from nearby villages have enrolled. It seems Karthikeyan has also setup a similar school in the orphanage he grew up.
They have setup a Sristi Vocational Training Center where inmates learn and make doormats, paper products, candles, incense sticks, greeting cards, etc.
They have built an eco-friendly hut using bamboo and mud within the farm where community members are currently living.
They have constructed an open well, and three farm ponds for rain water harvesting. A donor from US has donated a Solar Water pump which fetches water throughout the year without power lines/grid connection.
Among their future plans, they want to setup a Sristi Farm Academy to provide agri/farm-based training to disabled people, want to start a diary farm, exploring mushroom cultivation, etc. as it is possible for disabled persons to get involved in these revenue generating activities.

How We Can Help:

While they are trying to become self-sustainable by selling their products, etc. that may take some time. In the meanwhile, people can donate money (bank account details) or visit the community to volunteer by teaching skills like craft making, gardening, etc. People can also make videos & information brochures about their project. An eco-tourism initiative may begin shortly. More…

At the least, all of us can spread the word through word-of-mouth and social media, if you think this initiative is worth spreading.

Here’s their website: Sristi Village.

Destination Infinity

Disclaimer: I have not visited Sristi Village yet. All info here is based on the presentation on that day and what is mentioned on their website.

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Published on March 09, 2015 09:00