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Urvashi and Guru’s ‘Doob Gaye is a romantic treat

By
Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi
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Dateline Dehradun: Uttarakhand’s Urvashi Rautela’s song video ‘Doob Gaye’ with renowned Punjabi singer Guru Randhawa is a visual-treat for their combined fans as far as snippets shared on social media show.

Since 2014, Urvashi has been exploring the world of music videos making a niche for herself. With the likes of ‘Teri Load Ve’, ‘Woh Chaand Kaha Se Laogi’, and ‘Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi Si’ under her belt, ‘Doob Gaye‘ a special romantic music video has been shot in picturesque Goa.

A still from Doob Gaye shared on social media

The song has been penned by Jaani, music by B.Praak and choreographed by Remo D’souza. Excited about her latest venture, beautiful and talented Urvashi Rautela has been sharing stills and clips from the shoot. From wearing a pink salmon corset dress on one to another one in a black-flowing dress twinning with her co-star Guru Randhawa with the picturesque azure sea in the backdrop has everyone asking for more.

Urvashi recently uploaded an adorable video on Instagram showcasing her make-up skills on the singer Guru Randhawa. Being the gentleman that Guru is, he is seen happily obliging Urvashi in the short clip. Both the stars are seen goofing around and their fans can’t seem to get enough of their endearing act.

Talking to Newspost from Dubai, Guru Radhawa had this to say, “Doob Gaye is close to my heart. It was magical shooting in scenic Goa. It was a delight working for T-series under the guidance of Bhushan sir. The entire has put in a lot of hard work and we can only hope that our fans enjoy this romantic number as much as we enjoyed shooting for it.“

Soothing and romantic from the look of it, the video seems to be the perfect recipe of being a hit romantic number that will definitely resound with their fans.

Uttarakhad Chardham Yatra 2021 postponed due to pandemic

By
Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi
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0

Dateline Dehradun: Due to the pandemic, the 2021 world famous Chardham Yatra has been postponed. Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat stated that the shrines would open on the pre-decided auspicious dates by Rawals and Pujaris, minus pilgrims. Badrinath MLA Mahendra Bhatt tweeted the same early today morning. The portals of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath are set to open in the second week of May.  The Sikh pilgrimage site of Hemkund had earlier postponed its opening in lieu of the pandemic.

Last year too, due to Covid-19 Chardham Yatra was stalled and subsequently opened on July 1, 2020. To make the most of Chardham pilgrimage this year, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat had stated, “Chardham of Uttarakhand is the center of our faith.”  The entire State machinery, post the Mahakumbh was working on war footing, to facilitate the pilgrimage with adequate arrangement for drinking water, sanitation, sign-age along with other basic facilities enroute.

Tirath Singh Rawat had laid stress on arranging water ATMs and  water tankers on travel routes. Posting of cardiologists in Kedarnath and Yamunotri along with oxygen cylinders, ICUs and ventilators. Installation of streetlights along the Hemkund route. Commercial vehicles on yatra route to ply with fitness-certificate, fixed rate list for vehicles and hotels along the pilgrimage route. The Chief Minister and his team of officials were leaving no stone-unturned to ensure that all falls into place before May.

Chardham Yatra is one of the major sources of income for a State that thrives on spiritual tourism. This time around with the Mahakumbh in April followed by the Chardham pilgrimage in May, the State was looking at a rapid increase in devotees making their way to ‘Devbhoomi,’ but all that had to be postponed due to the pandemic.

Chardham Opening dates:

Yamunotri : 14th May

Gangotri : 14th May

Kedarnath: 17th May

Badrinath : 18th May

Off-the-beaten-track temples:

Rudranath: 17th May

Madmaheshwar: 24th May

Hemkund Sahib: Postponed

Three hundred eighty eight and more crowdfund a Landour hospital

By
Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi
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0

Dateline Mussoorie: In a single step lie the beginnings of a thousand journeys. In this instance, it was a WhatsApp from the Sub Divisional Magistrate, Mussoorie. Milaap was doing a fundraiser for the Landour Community Hospital, Mussoorie. A couple of calls later, I managed to verify the contents of the fundraiser with its creator, Binu Thomas, a well-wisher and shared it with those whom I knew would help.

Pix courtesy: Mark Windsor

And lo and behold, a few hours later, help started trickling in. Anyone with a Landour connect came together to give back to the community, from its residents to an overwhelming response from the Woodstock alumni, here and overseas. The initiative has been funded by a spectrum of donors, ranging from those who had been to the hospital and also for those for whom it remains the first and last option.

The object was to get a ventilator, a first in the hill station, for a cost of eleven lakh fifty thousand rupees. This as well as other medical equipment needed in the difficult times of the present pandemic. As I write, the fundraiser has now crossed twenty-seven lakh donated by over three hundred people. All this has come together in a span of seventy-two hours after being shared within the community. “It is the sense of ‘Us.’ ‘Our’s, the community. We have been in Landour for the past six years and we already feel an indispensable part of the community here,” quips Binu Thomas who has been overwhelmed by the response to her fundraiser.

Dr. Ms. EJ Robinson started this hospital in 1931 along with Mr Allen Parker, the architect of the hospital building and also the then Principal of Woodstock School.

For the past eight decades the hospital has been an inseparable part of the community. It has served one and all. From ex-school students to elderly citizens, they have all been through LCH (Landour Community Hospital) at one point of time and left with an indelible effect enough for them to dip into their purses and make generous donations from two digits to even six.

The Landour Community Hospital came into being by the efforts of well-meaning missionaries eighty years ago. Today it provides services that would put to shame even the few posh hospitals. Many a timely interventions here has saved lives.

As luck would have it, few years ago, a philanthropist, had anonymously without plaques or drumbeats, quietly renovated the ageing hospital. And that is where you will find everyone on the hillside and abating villages heading to when someone is unwell.

Meanwhile, the Landour Community Hospital has perfected the art of doing so much with so little with a dedicated community standing strong behind it!

Postponing celebrations in times of Covid-19

By
Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi
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0

Dateline Mussoorie: All was going as planned. Venue booked. Date and time fixed. Menu set! Bridal finery finalised. Advance payments made. Wedding invitations gone.

Dr. Gunjan Bahuguna was set to marry Dr. Vijay Gairola on the 26th of April in Dehradun. Then like a tsunami, the second wave of Covid19 broadsided us all.

Without batting an eyelid, this simple, unassuming family took a call by sending off WhatsApp messages to announce that they had pushed the date of the wedding to when the situation was less alarming, a decision supported by everyone, from friends to family to invitees.

“It was tough call to take! It had to be done! For the wellbeing of our friends and guests come first,’ Meera Bahuguna, the mother-of-the-bride to be, tells us.

Talking to Newspost, Dr. Gunjan Bahuguna says, “Since December 2020 we had been planning for our wedding. We have already made an advance payment of rupees five lakhs to-date, but all that is inconsequential.” She happily interjects, “Postponement of our wedding is probably the best decision of my life. I would not like to risk anyone’s life for the sake of getting married.”

In the midst of the second wave of the pandemic we have seen and heard of could-not-care-less attitude in political rallies and the Kumbh Mela. Co-existing side-by-side are those that put aside family functions like weddings and celebratory parties. The writing is on the wall is there for those willing to read. And the message that comes through is loud and clear: ‘Avoid crowds!’ And that could well become the most powerful weapon to defeat this deadly scourge.

We sometimes underestimate the influence of little decisions, but their ripples can be extraordinary, and this young couple sure deserves all the plaudits and blessings for standing up for something they believed in.

Pehal: Homemade meals for those in home isolation

By
Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi
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0

Dateline Mussoorie: Taking cue from Samaritans across the country, a handful of Mussoorie residents have come up with the idea of making simple yet wholesome homemade vegetarian meals for those living in home isolation due to Covid-19.

The piping-hot lunch and dinner meal will consist of one green vegetable, daal, rice and roti made available at the doorstep of those in home isolation. All that one needs to do is call on any of the below given numbers by 11:00 a.m., share their contact details, address and requirement (number of meals required) and freshly cooked home-made food, through contactless delivery, will be delivered at their doorstep, anywhere in Mussoorie, free of cost.

With Covid cases reaching almost two hundred across Mussoorie and most of them in home isolation, this timely help for those in need, is a welcome step lauded by one and all. Rajat Kapoor one of the volunteers for Pehal, tells us, “It was a voluntary effort by us. We know that isolated families of those affected by Covid 19 are struggling to fend basic necessities for themselves let alone cook meals at home. It is a conscious effort.” Another volunteer Rajat Aggarwal, further adds, “We have come across few individuals who were arranging food and groceries for themselves and their families, but since they were isolated and unable to move out due to Covid 19, a need was seen to help such individuals, students, elderly and families who had nowhere else to go.”

Since its inception, Pehal has had a few orders come in and the initiative that began with a close knit of seven like-minded residents of Mussoorie is open to the idea of having more volunteers on board, as Sandeep Sahni puts it, “More hands are always welcome, more people might also come up with newer ideas on what else we can do.”

For now Pehal will be distributing free meals until 5th of May and if need be, would continue to do so after that as well.

HRIDA_greenliving: Helping in times of Covid-19

By
Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi
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0

Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.

: Desmond Tutu

Dateline Mussoorie: Words of Desmond Tutu ring true in times of Covid-19 when people from all walks of life are coming forward to give back to the community. In that ever-growing list we add HRIDA_greenliving a Mussoorie based NGO.

They have risen to the occasion and come forward to offer eco-friendly disposables for Covid positive patients living in home isolation across town and that too, all free of charge. These disposables include plates, bowls, cutlery, glasses, serving platters made of sugar bagasse (dry pulpy residue after the extraction of sugarcane juice), Areca palm leaves and birch wood, which are sustainable, biodegradable and compostable.

Under the given circumstances, patients in home isolation due to Covid-19 would commonly use either Plastic or Styrofoam disposables that are easily available in the market but both materials are undoubtedly toxic for the environment. HRIDA_greenliving on the other hand is giving consumers an eco-friendly option and that too free of cost.

Disposables by HRIDA_greenliving

The NGO is making sure that by doing so, another mountain of toxic trash is avoided in our town since we are already fighting mounds of onetime-use litter like disposable masks, gloves etc.

Isha Gupta Vaish, the lady behind the initiative tells us, “Home isolation is a big challenge for all the members of the family, the isolated ones as well as those taking care of them. The virus spread has to be controlled at any cost and one such way is to keep separate/disposable utensils for the affected ones.”

By stepping up the occasion, HRIDA_greenliving is doing their bit to ensure that what cannot be reduced, reused, recycled or composted is being replaced by something eco-friendly.

For those in need, contact: 9557248440 (m)

Mussoorie fights second Covid wave

By
Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi
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0

Dateline Mussoorie: Over the past three weeks there has been a steady rise in those infected by Covid-19 in Mussoorie. Officials have put the total count to hundred and sixty eight, out of which forty-seven are from one particular area in town, the others are spread across. There are six mini containment zones.

With a weekend and daily night curfew in place from 7:00 p.m., there is a day-curfew imposed in town where non-essential shops will close at 2:00 and essential shops will be open until 7:00 p.m.

The local administration is leaving no stone unturned to tackle the grim situation at hand. They have set up a 24×7 Control room number to assist those in need of any assistant related to Covid-19: home-isolation, check-up, medicines etc. Disinfection and sanitization drives are being carried out. By the 23rd of April we will have seven Vaccination Centers covering the length and breadth of Mussoorie. SDM Manish Singh updates us, “To-date six thousand people have been vaccinated in Mussoorie. Out of the total, a little over thousand have been administered both dozes. Those in home-isolation are being followed up with regular help and assistance. A control room is in place to take calls 24×7. People are being fined for not complying to Covid-19 SOP.”

Managing well with a team of thirty-three constables, one SHO, one SSI and two Sub-inspectors, SI Suraj Kandari tells us, “we have been making regular announcements regarding Covid-19 SOPS throughout the town. Enforcing masks and social distancing. We have put up two pickets: library and picture palace end to implement night curfew.”

Taking a cue from fellow hotelier,  Sandeep Sahni, President Uttarakhand Hotel Association promises, “ Taking lead from Four Points by Sheraton, Dehradun who has taken the initiative of providing free services of packed home-made food for Covid positive families in Dehradun who find it difficult to make food. We are working on implementing this initiative throughout the hill-state.” Since yesterday, MJ Residency Hotel and Zion Air Lounge, Dehradun have come aboard, taking this noble task further.

In such testing times, not depending on authorities alone but coming together as a community and doing our bit, could make all the difference in curtailing this growing pandemic.

Control Room: +91 (0) 135-2632681

Uttarakhand’s Sheetal & Yogesh Garbiyal create history atop Mt Annapurna

By
Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi
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0

Dateline Pithoragarh: Creating history. Pithoragarh’s Sheetal and Yogesh Garbiyal, Founder & President of ‘Climbing Beyond The Summits’ along with Pasang Sherpa successfully summited Mount Annapurna on 16th April, 2021 at 14:00 hours.

Putting in hours of high altitude training, the three-member team had been giving it their all to summit Mount Annapurna that stands tall at 8,091 meters in Nepal. It is also the world’s 10th highest mountain peak and amongst the most challenging.

The duo along with six other Indian members from Maharashtra successfully summited Mount Annapurna. The team included another young woman  mountaineer Priyanka Mohite from India. This is the first time that two Indian women i.e. Sheetal and Priyanka have set foot on the worlds 10th highest mountain peak.

In the past, both Sheetal and Yogesh Garbiyal have successfully climbed Mount Everest, Mount Kangchenjunga and have now added Mount Annapurna to their growing list of mountains summited in the past.

Now, back in their home-town of Pithoragarh, an elated Sheetal, who could also be the first Indian woman atop Annapurna, tells me, “It was dangerous and difficult. The mountain is sheer rock, but it was an amazing feeling to be on top of the mountain.It was a feeling like never before.“

This year a record breaking twenty-nine members from various countries successfully summited Mt Annapurna. Out of these twenty-nine members fourteen were women, a record breaking season in terms of the number of women climbers on this challenging peak.

Speaking like a true friend, guide and mentor, Yogesh says, “Though Annapurna is the most dangerous mountain in the world I always wondered why Indian women are not listed in this peak. It was a proud moment for India that an Indian woman unfurled the flag. And the country must be proud of Sheetal’s achievement.” The expedition was sponsored by The Hans Foundation & CBTS.

Indian Summiteers from India:

1. Dr Sumeet Mandale
2. Bhushan Harshe
3. Jitendra Gaware
4. Priyanka Mohite
5. Bhagwaan Chawle
6. Keval Kakka
7. Sheetal
8. Yogesh Garbiyal

If all goes as planned as a part of their high altitude exposure and training ‘Climbing Beyond The Summits’ will be flagging off its  maiden ‘All Women Expedition’ in September, this year to summit Bhagirathi II in Uttarakhand.

‘Saree Bank’ gifting more than just six-yards

By
Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi
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0

Dateline Dehradun: Red, yellow, green, blue or pink in silk, cotton or synthetic are bundles of used sarees which have been carefully washed, sanitized and gift-wrapped to make their way to their second rightful owner via a ‘Saree Bank.’

Over the past few weeks, the Governor of Uttarakhand Baby Rani Maurya has taken up a unique initiative of donating new or unused or usable saris to those who need them the most.

The initiative ‘Saree Bank’ picks up a dozen sarees from drop-off points at Dehradun, Noida and even Agra, the Governor’s hometown. The collection is then segregated, washed and sanitized before being handed-out to underprivileged women across the state of Uttarakhand.

‘Saree Bank’ not only captures the essence of universal sisterhood but it serves the dual purpose of strengthening the relationship between the privileged and under-privileged, the rural and the urban sections of our society.

Since its inception, the ‘Saree Bank’ has collected over four hundred sarees till date that have then made their way to the homes of those who can barely afford to buy one, let alone a few, on any given special occasion.

In her message, Governor Baby Rani Maurya urged women to come out in support of their fellow women and do their bit to empower them by being a part of this concept of gifting sarees.

“There are plenty of sarees we sometimes don’t wear, repeat or find them out of fashion. On the other hand, there is a strata of society who can’t afford to buy new ones,” says a generous donor.

Local NGO’s like Eco-Group have also taken up the task and donated whole-heartedly for the cause, promising to take it forward.

If you too have a saree that you would like to donate, do call on the below number for home collection from anywhere in Dehradun.

Donate @ 91- 70371 75770

Foothills, MTB Challenge, Dehradun on the 14th of April

By
Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi
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0

Dateline Dehradun: Celebrating the memory of cyclist Tanishk Chaudhary, Adventhrill will be organizing a mountain biking challenge on the 14th of April i.e. Tanishk’s birthday.

Tanishk, a young-budding mountain biking enthusiast from Dehradun, whose dream was to represent the state and the country in cycling, lost his life in a freak road accident while out doing what he enjoyed the most, cycling.

Cycling enthusiasts from across the country will come together to celebrate Tanishk’s memory on his 16th birthday and participate in the Foothills MTB Challenge on the 14th of April.

The race will be flagged off at 6 a.m. from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Upper Camp, Garhi Cantt and will end in Rukholi via Purukul and Kimadi. Col. Anil Gurung, Alok Chhetri, Sohan Singh Rawat, Harish Rawat are some of the cyclists who will be participating in the challenge.

All participants pledge to spread awareness about road safety, including India’s highest Adventure Sports Award winner and 2-time Special Service medal winner Colonel Ranvir Jamwal and Deputy Lieutenant of Nehru Mountaineering Institute Colonel Yogesh Dhumal.

Enerzel, Cycling Monk, Cafe Muse Art and Urban Trailblazer have come out in support of the event. Further more, to encourage local youth to take up mountain biking,  cycling couple Dr. Ruchi Sethi and Dr. Sanjay Sethi  have kept aside a cash prize of 20,000/- in the Junior Youth Category for boys and girls respectively.

Naresh Singh Nayal will be the Director of the MTB Challenge while Vinod Saklani and Manish Bhatt will be referees to judge the winners at the end of the race in Rukholi.

Vijay Pratap Singh, the Founder of Adventhrill, says, “Under a youth training program of Adventhrill, a campaign has been started in the memory of Tanishk Chaudhary for young cyclists. Under this programme, three cyclists from Adventhrill: Arjun Rathore, Avnish Rana and Nikhil Bisht have been chosen to represent Uttarakhand in the national team.”

Apurv Saklani, Shubendra Shahi, Kaushal Pandey, Subhash Rauthan, Sunil Mahala, Himanshu Anand, Kunal, Akshat all members of the Adventhrill executive team will be organizing this one-day cycling challenge.

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