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‘Pahadi Topi’ wins hearts on Republic day parade

By
Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi
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Pahadi Topi by Soham

Dateline Mussoorie:  Republic Day celebrations are special throughout the country. Yet, the 73rd Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi held a special connect to Uttarakhand or should we say Mussoorie.

The cap donned by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi during the three-hour Republic Day Parade was first conceptualized and designed in Mussoorie. Be it an election gimmick or his love for the hill-state, this gesture of the Prime Minister has won the hearts of Uttarakhandi spread all over the globe.

Launched on 9th of November, 2017 on the occasion of Uttarakhand Divas in Mussoorie,  the cap has been designed by Sameer Shukla of Soham Himalayan Centre, Mussoorie and is popularly known as the ‘Brahmakamal Pahadi Topi.’

PM in a Pahadi Topi

The Brahmakamal motif denotes the auspicious Himalayan flower and the four colour stripes stand for human, nature, earth and sky. What makes it even more special is the fact that local tailors and artisans were looped in to bring this ‘Made in India’ product which has become a fashion rage.

From regional to national celebrities, those who have roots in Uttarakhand or have been associated with the hill-state have worn the ‘pahadi topi’ with pride. The young seem to have taken an instant liking to the head-gear and have made it a fashion statement.

 

Raman Shelly of Tuds.in tells me, “Ever since we put the picture of PM Modi wearing the ‘pahadi topi’ on our social media handle our organic searches for the headgear has increased tremendously. We have had a good number of orders now.”

In the past, the Uttarakhand Tableau at the Republic Day Parade won laurels for the hill-state for being adjudged the best tableau three times in a row but this time around, it is the ‘pahadi topi’ which wins our hearts, hands down.

For those who want to order ‘pahadi topi‘ do log in to: Tuds.in

The Mussoorie Notebook

By
Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi
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0

Dateline Mussoorie: If you ever visit the hill station of  Mussoorie and wonder what a good memento to take back home is, then ‘The Mussoorie Notebook’ would be your best bet.

This two hundred odd page labour of love has been made possible by two of Mussoorie admirers: Ashish Narayan Sharma and TK Manoj Kumar.  The vintage looking notebook contains interesting anecdotes and tit-bits about the history of the town spanning decades with over fifty hand-made sketches or illustrations that add more value to the notebook.

From sketches of a Langur or a mountain stream, to quaint buildings that still dot the hill-station the Mussoorie Notebook is on sale at the Charleville Bookstore & Cafe just outside the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy for Administration and also online on Amazon India.

TK Manoj Kumar is an old Mussoorie hand, having worked for five years (2003 to 2008) at the Administrative Academy. Smitten by the town, he took to his pen and ink to express his admiration for the hill station. The reader will find a collection of anecdotes, cameos and sketches of landmark buildings in town,  the hill station’s scenic landscape including interesting snippets of the town’s colonial past spanning centuries.

The idea behind this notebook (with regular lined pages) was for visitors who throng to Mussoorie to jot down their own memories and keep it as an archival diary. The production by the Binder Photo books gives it an antique look with oodles of old world charm. The notebook is published by the Mussoorie Book Cafe.

Of course with a little  more research there could have been many more interesting facts added as there is plenty more that can be included about the hill station. Hopefully the second edition will just get better with more tales from in and around town to accompany more sketches.

Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre, Uttarakhand bags coveted award

By
Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi
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0

Dateline Dehradun: In an Investiture Ceremony planned on January 23, 2022 in the Prime Minister’s Office, the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi will confer the prestigious Subhash Chandra Bose Rashtriya Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar upon Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre (DMMC), Uttarakhand.

Instituted by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to promote and recognise innovative and impactful work in the field of disaster risk reduction, it is for the first time that a state government organisation is being conferred this award. The award is being given under the ‘institutional category for the year 2000’ and carries a cash reward of Rs. 51lakh.

The award recognizes the innovative and quality research in the field of traditional disaster risk reduction practices of the people of hill-state and seismic safety environment together with capacity building of masons and engineers in earthquake safe construction. Search and rescue, first-aid at the grass-root level, producing innovative, entertaining, purposeful and impactful print and audio-visual awareness material in Hindi as well as Kumaoni and Garhwali are some of the steps taken by the DMMC Uttarakhand to further their cause.

Sharing more about the prestigious award, Dr. Piyoosh Rautela, Executive Director DMMC who will be receiving the award in New Delhi states, “Basically this is the only award that recognises disaster management work in the country. Both amount wise and prestige wise this award is very encouraging and a pat on our back. The money will be utilised for furthering the cause of disaster management in Uttarakhand.”

DMMC, Uttarakhand is the only institution in the nation to have produced a Censor Board certified film that was successfully released commercially in over two hundred multiplexes across the nation on December 11, 2015. The movie, The Silent Heroes, revolves around thirteen real-life hearing impaired with pertinent issues such as empowerment, social inclusion and disaster preparedness brought to the forefront.

Snowfall eludes Mussoorie

By
Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi
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0
Pic Courtesy: Pramod Kapoor

Dateline Mussoorie: For the past three weeks, the Snow God has been playing hide and seek when it comes to snowfall in the Queen of Hills Mussoorie. While towns like Dhanolti, Kanatal abutting the hill-station remain covered under a mantle of snow since last week.

Over the weekend, hordes of tourists descended upon their favourite destination to witness the magic of the season’s first snowfall in the areas surrounding Mussoorie. Of course the crowds overflowed into town  and almost brought the hill station to a grinding halt.

Pic Courtesy: Pramod Kapoor

For teashop and Maggi point owners, the business prospects were good. The sudden fall in temperature meant a good tourist turn out especially for those along Dehradun-Mussoorie road and enroute to Dhanolti and Kanatal. Suakholi some five kilometers from Mussoorie saw maximum footfall.  Pundirji of Pundir Dhaba at Suakholi was a busy man. His sales of Maggi, piping hot vegetarian thalis, paranthas followed by umpteen cups of tea had kept business rolling. He says ‘It is a welcome change. Snowfall means good business.’

According to the Met Department icy winter’s march across Uttarakhand seems to have some respite in sight, “There could be snowfall at an altitude of 2500 mtrs and above. Light and moderate rainfall is predicted in the low-lying hills and the plains over the next 24 hours. The weather will clear up from tomorrow onwards for a week or so.”

Since the end of December, the hill-station has witnessed sub- zero temperatures, rain, hail and sleet and a dusting of snow off and on but the elusive season’s first snowfall seems to play hide and seek as of now, keeping residents and tourists wondering.

Ringing in 2022 at 2,005 meters

By
Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi
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0

Dateline Mussoorie: At 2,005 meters the spirit of Christmas is in the air. Shops, hotels, restaurants are decked up in Christmas colours of red, green and gold making it a visual delight for local residents and tourists.

At the Welcomhotel by ITC Hotels The Savoy Mussoorie, a fifteen feet Christmas tree adds to the grandeur of the hotel. “Marking the beginning of the festive season many celebrations are lined up to bid farewell to 2021 and welcome 2022 on a happy note,” says General Manager WelcomeHotel The Savoy, Gautam Valli, further adding, “While Shivaay and Cardamom music bands will perform at The Savoy Mussoorie on the 25th of December, DJ Sumaya and Rudhaari will ring in 2022 with their music.”

Christmas at Welcomhotel by ITC Hotels The Savoy Mussoorie,

Back-to-back celebrations begin with the Landour Mela on the 25th-26thof December around the Upper Chakkar from Chardukan to Lal Tibba via Sister Bazaar. The annual Winterline Carnival scheduled from the 27th-29th of December along the Mall road was postponed last evening seeing the recent rise in Covid infected numbers.

The administration is ensuring that the events over the festive week are stream-lined with less traffic snarls along with Covid appropriate behaviour being followed strictly,  SHO Mussoorie, Girishchand  Sharma reiterates, “Extra force of hundred police men will be on duty from tonight until the 2nd of January. Bottleneck such as Picture Palace, Landour, Library entry-points will have extra force to ensure that there is not much congestion orelse traffic will be diverted. We have a task force in place that will ensure that Covid protocol such as masks, social distancing task are followed to the tee.”

President of Uttarakhand Hotel Association, Sandeep Sahni speaks for all those associated with the hotel industry in the hill-state when he says,  “things were looking very promising until the end of November, but ever since the Omicron variant made it appearance in India, bookings have been considerably low. As of today, there is an average of 50%-60%  booking across the state.”

A long route to justice

By
newspost
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images of the damage

Dateline Rishikesh: For close to two years now, Inder Jit Singh one of the pioneers of the adventure tourism industry in India and also white-water rafting on the Ganges has been running from pillar to post to be heard.

On the fateful night of 27th – 28th July, 2020, heavy rains led to the walls of the Taj Rishikesh (M/s Darrameks hotels and developers Pvt Ltd) to collapse which is at Singthali village. The rubble cascaded onto Singh’s abutting land. A cascade of huge rocks, debris, concrete, angle irons destroyed a swathe of pristine fields where Singh had plans to start an apiary and a butterfly park.

After eighteen months of effort, in August, 2021 I.J. Singh was able to register a formal complaint with the police.

On 20th of November of 2021 the CJM of Narendra Nagar, Tehri passed an order calling for a thorough investigation by the police, directing SHO, Muni-ki-Reti to depute an inspector level officer to investigate multiple areas of malfeasance by the management of the said management.

It was only through numberless, letters, meetings and communications made from July 2020 that a NCR was registered. The hon’ble court directed the police concerned to investigate the matter u/s 155(2) Cr. P. C. and record the statement of Inder Jit Singh under section 161 Cr. P. C. SHO, Muni ki Reti Mr. Bhandari assures us, “An Investigation Officer has recorded the statement of the complainant and we will be carrying out a thorough investigation as per the court directives.”

While the powerful quibble, the dreams of Inder Jit Singh to create a butterfly park of international standards lies under a carpet of rubble and dust while he awaits justice to prevail.

Sumit Purohit brings home three Filmfare Awards, 2021

By
Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi
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0

Dateline Mumbai: Sumit Purohit, Uttarakhand’s son adds another feather (three in this case) to his home-state. At the recently held Filmfare Awards ceremony in Mumbai, Sumit was felicitated for his artistic and technical excellence in three coveted categories: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Dialogues and Best Editing.

Simple, humble and full of humility Sumit Purohit has his roots in Srinagar, Garhwal. It is here that he was born and raised before the  young talent moved to MS University Baroda for his graduation in Fine Arts.

With an in-born flare to write and perform on stage, Sumit was an entertainer even in school. Growing up, little changed as he showcased his talent even in Baroda with a theatre group that performed multiple plays.

Polishing his passion for the written word as well as the stage helped him to understand the art of storytelling even better. “Filmmaking was the next logical step so I started my stint armed with my handycam shooting short documentaries and films even while in college,” Sumit tells me over WhatsApp messages.

 

Post his graduation from Baroda, Sumit moved to Mumbai. Inching closer to his dream of making a mark in the film industry. Over the years he worked on multiple projects donning the hat of an assistant director, writer, editor and director learning all the nuances of the industry.

Today his body of work has grown phenomenally, from Nandu Ka Raja/Nandu’s King a Feature Film released in 2006 where he worked as an Assistant director and writer to ‘I Woke Up One Morning & Found Myself Famous’ a short documentary filmed in 2010 for which he was the  editor and director. Sumit’s feature film as a writer was launched in 2015 entitled ‘Bangistan’ followed by ‘Inside Edge’ web-series in  2017 scripted by him.  ‘Scam 1992 : The Harshad Mehta Story’ web-series in 2020, ‘Foot Fairy’, a feature film  in 2020.  ‘Vakeel Babu’ a short film is due to release soon along with his upcoming feature documentary in its final stages of production called ‘Charlie Champion.’

For Sumit home remains Uttarakhand as his parents live in Dehradun. Followed closely on social media by young entrepreneurs and fans from his hill-state who look up to Sumit, he  says, “you need not try to emulate anyone to be successful. Take your time to discover what your real passion is and pursue it honestly,” he adds, “The actual success is in being able to do something in life that makes you happy.”

Mussoorie clean-up drive on International Mountain Day

By
newspost
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0

Dateline Mussoorie: Students from the Eco-club of Mussoorie Girls Inter College, supported by Mussoorie Municipality, Keen, Hilldaari and The Fun Brentwood carried out a mega clean-up drive on the occasion of International Mountain Day in Mussoorie today.

From early morning till late afternoon over six hundred kilograms of dry-waste was collected in the clean-up drive implemented by Hilldaari Nestle’ India project along with Stree Mukti Sanghatana and their technical partner Recity Network.

“It is young students like ours who can spread awareness and take back their experience back home. The children were very earnest about their job at hand. Not only did they collect the waste in bags but carried it to the road-head. It was a sincere approach by the young students to carry out the clean-up drive in the entire stretch of  area designated for the purpose,” says Masanti Dhanai, English lecturer, Mussoorie Girls Inter College.

The dry waste collected during the day  was transported to the dry-waste center situated on the Mussoorie bypass, IDH. Hilldaari team sensitised local citizens about their motto,  “collective change, collective responsibility – Hamaara Kooda, Hamaari Zimmedaari.”

Citizens were asked to handover their daily garbage to Paryavaran Mitra instead of dumping it in the open. They appraised those present about the hazardous impact of climate change on the geographical conditions of the mountains and how it was our collective responsibility to conserve, preserve and save of what remains of our fragile environment .

Over the past three years, 120 such lean-up drives have been conducted in which over six hundred and seven MT of garbage has been diverted from Mussoorie alone that would end up choking our environs thanks to the combined efforts of Mussoorie Municipality, Hilldaari, Keen and various organizations.

Uttarakhand mourn’s its brave son General Bipin Rawat

By
Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi
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0

Dateline Dehradun: Building material scattered around. Foundation pits gaping at the sky with labourers left speechless. Silver Heights, Jalvayu Vihar, some 15 kilometres from Dehradun was to be the retirement home of India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Bipin Rawat.

Just a week back CDS’s wife Madhulika Rawat was in Dehradun for the Bhoomi-Poojan of their home in Silver Heights. Sweets were distributed to labour as well as neighbours. All this has been replaced by a pall of gloom. Uttarakhand mourns the death of one of its own. India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Bipin Rawat, and his wife Madhulika Rawat were all set to return to their roots in the hill-state of Uttarakhand on retirement to finally drop anchor in Dehradun.

The foundation work to build his retirement home with earthquake-resistant technology was ongoing on their plot at Silver Heights when information of the tragic incident of CDS Bipin Rawat’s helicopter crash poured in.  Work at the construction site came to a halt as the tragic news trickled in and labourers and neighbours mourned the death of an exceptionally brilliant and brave officer and his wife.

Pauri plunged into grief when news of Gen. Bipin Rawat’s passing away trickled in. This was where he was born; this was where he had selected a piece of land in Sainj to build a home in the hills. Pauri, Sainj village was Gen. Bipin Rawat’s home in the hills. He and his family made it a point to make an annual visit to the village whenever work permitted.

Uttarakhand’s Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami announced a three-day state mourning following the chopper crash in Coonoor that led to the death of thirteen people including the CDS and his wife. The national flag with fly at half mast on government buildings and all official events involving entertainment stand cancelled in Gen. Bipin Rawat’s home state.

96th Foundation Course begins at LBSNAA, Mussoorie

By
Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi
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0

Dateline Mussoorie:  “When the going gets tough, the tough get going!” Keeping this dictum in mind, the largest batch since Independence, the 96th Foundation Course of All India Service Officers began on the 5th of December, 2021.

From the 5th of December 2021 to the 17nd of March, 2022 the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), in Happy Valley shall be a home away from home to four hundred and eighty-five Officer Trainees staying in Ganga, Kaveri, Mahanadi and Silver Oaks hostels.

Virtual session in progress

With all Covid protocols in place, on the 4th of December, the probationers were introduced to the history and legacy of the hill-station of Mussoorie through a two-hour slideshow presentation on ‘Mussoorie Down the Ages’ through a virtual session with author Professor Ganesh Saili.

The officer trainees entered the State of Uttarakhand with a Covid negative report and have been doubly vaccinated. For total safety a team of medical officers from AIIMS, Rishikesh and Kailash Hospital Dehradun carried out a comprehensive health checkup.

In tandem with regular classroom classes, regular health and fitness is being given equal importance. Over the next fifteen-weeks the Outdoor Section of LBSNAA will be providing a dedicated regime to all the trainees in their designated fitness zone to ensure that these young men and women maintain good health throughout the winter season.

A fitness App will be shared with the trainees to help in assessing their report, monitor their work output, calorie intake, sleep, hydration levels and overall activity, along with personalized advice on their physical activity.

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures and the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy has risen to the occasion.

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