Govt wakes up to preserve rare elephant fossil
After years of neglect, government has finally woken up to preserve the rare elephant fossil discovered on 30th August 2000 at Galandhar, Pampore.
The government accorded sanction for the constitution of a Committee to suggest necessary measures for safety and preservation of Elephas nomadicus fossil and is presently lying at Jammu University
According to the order, the committee will be headed by Director Archives, Archeology and Museums J&K. The members include Prof G M Bhat of Department of Geology, University of Jammu, Dr Mohammed Ajmal Shah, Assistant Professor-cum-Curator, Centre of Central Asian Studies, University of Kashmir, Abdul Majid Bhat, retired Geologist/Civil Servant (Head centre for Himalayan Geology/Environment Protection Group, Kashmir). Furthermore, Mushtaq Ahmad Beigh I/C Assistant Director, Archives Archeology and Museums J&K shall assist the committee.
The terms of reference of the committee shall be to ensure safety and preservation of the discovered fossil, to ascertain the age of the fossil based on paleontological and archaeological studies, outcome/response of the international labs/bodies on the samples, of pre-historic stone tools, found with the fossil, sent by Jammu University and since Kashmir Triassic Fossil Park (Permian Triassic Era) at Guryul Ravine, Khonmoh, is coming up, relevance of the discovered fossil and stone tools as regards exhibition and preservation.
The committee shall be serviced by the Directorate of Archives, Archaeology & Museums, J&K and shall submit its recommendations by 15 October 2018.
Aadil Gurezi’s song ‘Dupte Nunem’ goes viral
Aadil Gurezi’s latest Kashmiri song ‘Dupte Nunem’ has become a huge hit on internet with Kashmiris both in the state and outside, loving the song.
The budding singer from Gurez, who currently is studying Environmental Sciences at Dehradun has elevated from whole new league with the single catchy song.
The song ‘Dupte Nunem’ is an old Kashmiri song sung by various artistes over a period of time but Aadil has modified it and added his own touch to the traditional track. The song first uploaded on YouTube on March 31, 2018, and has garnered over 1.5 million views so far on various youtube channels.
Aadil studied at SP College in the Valley and then moved to Dehradun for MSc. While still in Kashmir for his graduation, Aadil did various stage shows where he used to mimic various actors and sing songs.
Before ‘Dupte Nunem’, Aadil has also sung songs like ‘Chand’, ‘Rafta Rafta’ and ‘Na Samjhe Yeh Duniya’.
JKAACL organises Street Plays to raise social awareness
Jammu and Kashmir Academy of art culture and languages organised a series of street plays in Budgam during the week to raise awareness on various social issues.
The first play titled “Nashe Samajuk Noshur” was held on 4th September by Aftab Memorial Theatre at Govt Higher Secondary School Zuhama Chadoor and High School Sogam, Chadoora. The play garnered a large number of gathering and teachers appreciated the Theatre group for the play which tried to inculcate good values in students.
The second play was organised at Bus Stand Budgam. On the occasion a large number of people gathered to watch the show. The Academy has said that it will organise more such plays based on social issues.
Debut book of 14-year-old poet released
Till The Flow, the debut book of 14 year old writer Gowhar Mubarak was released this week during a function.
The book has been published by Lieper Publications Private Limited.
The Book was released by Tufail Ahmad Haji, Principal KIE Higher Secondary School, Srinagar and Mushtaq Barq, a renowned poet and translator. The book is available on all the e-book stores including Amazon and Shopclues.
Among the guests was also present Mumin Bhatt, CEO of the Magazine Captured Illusions.
“The compilation peeps into the metaphysical domains of life, love, relationships, friendship, truth, beauty and goodness with inspirational flow of thoughts that arrests the reader and puts him behind the bars of artistic excellence,” Tufail Ahmad Haji Principal of KIE Higher Secondary School said.”We are delighted to have such a talented child in our school who wrote a book at such a young age”
Presently, studying in 9th standard, Gowhar is known to his classmates as a brilliant student, who has acquired A+ grade in every examination.
“Besides impressive academic record, Gowhar is also an excellent debater and orator and had bagged several prizes in various inter and intra-college debate competitions,” said one of Gowhar’s classmates.
“This is just a beginning, I look forward to write more fiction and non-fiction, prose and poetry in the coming years”, Gowhar said.
The Signs by Fazil Illahi released
Writer and columnist Fazl illahi on Thursday released his book, “The Signs” at an impressive function held here at Gulshan Books, Nehru Park.
In his book Fazl illahi highlights the angst and pain of “Saleem”—the protagonist—grappling with ethical and teleological questions of life. Saleem keeps wading on the tracks of good and evil, vacillating until he stumbles on a mystic, who, during more than couple of meetings, transforms him, and makes him worthy to tap on the ‘signs’ in the universe. There are patches and traces of romance too in the plot where Saleem happens to meet Shahana, and their relationship is shown to deepen as the story advances.
“The novel highlights the bitter irony where it is mostly seen that honest people suffer and evil have their day,” said Fazl Illahi during an interview. “But truth must triumph in the end, if we want to make some teleological sense in this world. And most importantly this novel gives the message of love to me, to you, and to the east and the west. ‘Row love’ is the mystic’s message,” he adds with a smile.
“My book weaves the identity and the signs of Kashmir–the shikara, the heart shaped oar that our shikara wallas row with, the Wular–with the universal spiritual signs,” he concludes.
The author hails from Srinagar and teaches at Institute of Advanced Studies in Education, M.A. Road, Srinagar. He is presently working on a small book based on his collection of thoughts.
‘The Signs’ is also available on amazon, kindle, flipkart and bookstores in the valley.
Event held to encourage music of locals
Srinagar: One of India’s knows artists of the group Reggae & Dancehall, Taru Dalmia aka Delhi Sultanate and Samara Chopra aka Begum X, recently, in a collaboration with Indie label Azadi Records organised an event to seek out Kashmiri artists and musicians and to connect with them. It gave a platform to young artists, musicians, and poets from Kashmir to gather and share each other’s stories.
Media quoted Delhi Sultanate, “We are very keen to connect to artists, young people, singers who are talking about what is happening in their areas and in their countries…because the news, you cannot trust. In that situation, we need artists and poets to tell us what’s really going on.”
Elaborating on the lines, Begum X added, “‘Love letters’ is a New York gangster way of saying ‘bullets’. I wrote this after the pellet-gun firing as a reaction to the news.”
Speaking to the young artists among the audience, Delhi Sultanate spoke on the importance of music and poetry in narrating stories which are often missed or manipulated in the news.
He said, “News editors resigning. We have seen journalists being murdered. We have seen writers being murdered. There is an atmosphere of fear. It’s very important that we express ourselves freely. At least in art, culture, music and in poetry, there has to be freedom of expression.”
This is where reaching out to local artists becomes all the more important. In fact, Delhi-based music label Azadi Records has signed up a local rapper, Ahmer Javed in order to give local voices a platform to bring out their stories.
Speaking on the same, Uday Kapoor of Azadi Records said, “Stories coming from Kashmir lose their nuance even before they reach us. For that, a steady stream of artists – who may have differing opinions on the same issue but want to solve the same problems – is important.”
He added, “Hopefully, Kashmiri artists will get together to create their own platforms, bring their art, bring stories which form a nuanced narrative, for a better understanding of the situation.”