'Devlok with Devdutt Pattanaik'- A Talk Show on Indian Mythology on Epic Channel

This is a talk show on Epic Channel where 'they bring Indian mythology to our home', as the tagline of the show truly says.

The anchor is Himanshi Chaudhury and the expert is Devdutt Pattanaik, who is known to all through his writings in various subjects. In any book shop we find his books now a days. He is writing in this field for many years now.

Each day they take one or more topic from Indian Mythology and discuss about it along with some related topics.

I like the programme because of its content. These days, one or more mythological serials can be found very easily on almost every channel of the television but a discussion on such topics are quite uncommon. This show deals mainly with information, analysis and symbolism of various mythological topics, without going much into the devotional aspect, (which is often the main focus of normal spiritual/ religious channels). In this way, this show is slightly different from them. I feel, The element of spirituality is not the focus of the show. Devdutt Pattanaik talks about real world around us.

Sometime I feel a more detailed explanation was needed and do not agree completely with the views presented in the show but that can happen in the case of any other show also, as many times in our life we all have our own different interpretations of the same event. And sometime I learn something new from the show or get a new angle of a certain incident.

This show deserves praise because of its unique content, that is, discussion on such topics. 


I came to know just recently that this is Season 2 of this programme, they also had it last year. As the vidoes are not available on YouTube, Epic Channel has come up with the published book with the same title of the show, which covers the content of Season 1 of this programme.

Good work by Epic Channel. Looking forward to more such programnes in future.

Cappadocia: Turkey

Recently Travel XP channel aired a programme 'Bliss' on Cappadocia area of Turkey. It is a hilly place, having the colour white in the hills and land, which has made it so unique. 

I was amazed to see the natural beauty of the place! It is so so different from other places! Because of its colour as well as its structure of the city on the hilly area. As if they have converted the caves into rooms and stay there. 


The lifestyle of the people of that area are so basic that we realise that to lead a peaceful life we actually do not need many items. Without all the extra/ artificial objects, the place retains its basic natural flavour. 

                                  

They have this 'Balloon Trip' to see the whole area from the sky, which is so memorable! 


Really a nice place to visit or at least to know about :)

Thanks to Travel XP for letting us know about this unique place.

(Pictures taken from the internet. Credit goes to the original uploaders. Used only for the purpose of appreciation.)

Olympic Games, Rio 2016

Olympic 2016 just completed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Enjoyed all the Live Telecast in the 4 channels of Star Sports. Indeed the coverage was great! And throughout the whole day, they aired repeat/ highlights and many more programmes on Olympic, so that the audience do not miss anything interesting which has happened in all those arenas. Any time of the day we just needed to switch on the TV and surf those 4 channels to know what has happened in the previous day. Also they have this Hindi commentary on channel 2, which is very helpful in understanding any new sports. Some of the commentators were Ravikant Singh and Nirmala Kotnis. The programme 'Rise' was also good, anchored by Kamal Sidhu. The 'Pre Show' programme, everyday before the starting of the day's events as well as all the discussions during breaks or before/ after the match/ any competition (about all types of games- hockey, gymnastics, badminton and so on)- were also very good. These programmes also came in both Hindi and English on channel 3 and 2 respectively. Star sports has done very very good job in covering the Olympics.

I also enjoyed the 'Daily Report' programme on Olympic which was aired on FM Gold at 7 am each day for half an hour. They gave the details of interesting events, analysis about the matches and also many information about the Olympics. Everyday morning I waited for the programme after the completion of RamCharitManas which comes from 6:50 to 7 am. The anchors/ reporters were Shivendra Chaturvedi, Anupam Pathak, B Shiv Kumar and many more.

Kolkata Doordarshan also aired special Programme named- 'Olympic Ek Nojore', everyday at 3 pm, which was also good. I watched the programme daily after taking lunch.

And yes, the name without which this writing will be incomplete is ‘Times of India’. Each day they had these columns named- 'Indians in Fray', where the names of our participants plus their sports along with the timing were there. Also they had this column named -'Worldwatch' where remaining interesting sports and their timing were covered. This list has been very helpful each day in deciding when to watch out for a particular match.

These are the programmes I enjoyed during Olympics or the things which I read. Now coming to the performances, a lot has already been written about it. Enjoyed all the performances and felt motivated too. Need another post for it. So maybe sometime later :)

With best wishes for success in future.

Celebrating Nachiketa Chakraborty's Birthday on 'Good Morning Aakash' on 1.9.16

The era of 90's Bengali music was dominated by three stalwarts mainly- Suman Chattopadhyay, Nachiketa Chakraborty and Anjan Dutta. We grew up listening to their songs around us in functions and in tape recorder/ cassettes. All the three composers were so unique in their approach, style, and  addressed different issues of the society.

On 1st September this year, 'Aakash Bangla' in their daily programme- Good Morning Aakash, celebrated the birthday of one among these three- Nachiketa. Really enjoyed all the songs sung by Prasun Banerjee and his team. I was remembering school and college days while listening to those songs :). Back then, it was mainly a craze to listen to those songs which were popular among our friends, but now as I analysed deeper into the lyrics, I realised how true they are, how only Nachiketa could deliver such powerful message to the society through his song and with his unique attitude :). The same point was discussed in the programme also. 

Had a great time that day morning 7- 9. Cherishing the memory :)

The songs which Prasun Banerjee sang were-

Kuasha jokhon

Ontobiheen pothe chola e jibon

Tumi aashbe bole

Chor

Srabono ghonaaye

Nilanjana- 1

Jokhon shomoy thomke daraye

Briddhasram

It's a game

Some of the relatively new songs were also there, which I have never heard before like-

Daktaar

Pagla jogai

Khepa

It surprised me when I looked at the year Nachiketa released his first album ['cassette' , back then :) ]- 1993- 'Ei Besh Bhalo Aachhi'. 23 years have past! Couldn't believe at first :).  Time flies! Truly.

During the programme, the famous singer Haimanti Shukla called up and talked with the guest Prasun as well as with the anchor Mounita. Loved such a nice gesture by the veteran. It fills our heart with respect for such an affectionate elder :)

Thanks to Aakash Bangla for such an enjoyable programme which made the audience go down memory lane.

Lots of best wishes for future.

Hari Aum.


(Photo taken from internet. Credit goes to the uploader. Used only for the purpose of appreciation.)

'Ek Nayi Subah'- Programme on the Completion of Two Years by the NDA Govt

Dear Friends,

On Saturday, 28th May, 2016, NDA Govt led by Mr Narendra Modi celebrated its two year in power through a programme- 'Ek Nayi Subah'. It was organised beside India Gate. In the programme they talked about various issues, many Govt officials as well as volunteers/ members of NGOs- participated in the programme. I really liked the concept of the programme. It updated us about the various departments of the Govt, how they are performing, what are they aiming to achieve in the next few years and so on. They also took us Live to many parts of the country to show us some special happenings/ discussions. I liked this idea also. Thus they brought the whole nation, which is so varied in culture, on the same platform.

Eminent Doordarshan anchor Neelam Sharma and actor Madhavan were the main hosts in the beginning. Really liked the way Mr Amitabh Bachchan took part in the ‘Beti Bachao' - segment of the programme. Later Raveena Tandon, Uma Bharti and many more shared their opinion about various issues. I missed the later half of the programme and also the speech of the Prime Minister.

Overall it was a good attempt to bring the achievements of the govt in front of the public. If the process of working and the aim of the Govt is clear to the public, they will also feel like participating in the system. When the Govt is doing so much, public also gets motivated to contribute to the society, thus ultimately to the progress of the nation. The power of positivity attracts all, which is very much beneficial for our country.

This was the icon of the programme.

(Got it from the internet. Used for the sole purpose of appreciation. No personal profit intended)

They released a song-‘Mera desh badal raha hai/ Aagey badh raha hai’- 

with many videos on various subjects, on the occasion. 

One more song which I listened on the radio, also on the same theme- ‘Do varsho ka samay keh raha hai...’.

With lots of Best Wishes for the progress of the country.

Musical Programme with Adheer Gun on DD Bangla

DD Bangla has a musical programme named Shokal Shokal, which is aired every morning 7- 8:30 am. Last year, on 6^th Dec ‘15, there was a special guest. An old person, who was 82 years old. His name was Adeer Gun. He had such a nice personality! He seemed to be a very simple human being. In young age he got interested in the songs of S D Burman and started singing them. Throughout his whole life, he has sung only the songs of S D Burman.

In the live programme, he sang many songs, so fluently! He did not even used any notes for the lyrics! He only had a list containing the names of the songs. He has devoted his whole life in the practice of those songs, it was evident in his effortless way of singing. And when we consider his age, we become so astonished as how he had maintained his voice and breathing! We feel spontaneous respect for such a magnificent personality! An inspiration indeed! 

Everyone on the set was enjoying Adheer Gun's singing. Here is the picture of the artist playing the Tabla :)

Thanks to DD Bangla for such a memorable and a very very special programme :) 

Lots of Best Wishes to the noble person.

Jai Shri Krishna.