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The glitzy launch provided a sneak peek into the forthcoming Bollywood musical, yet untitled, that will premiere in May this year and will also formally launch the venue. Spread over an area of six acres in Sector 29 of the millennium city, the venue was inaugurated by Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Bollywood starlets Isha Sharvani and Gauhar Khan set the stage on fire at the inauguration, gyrating to popular numbers like Raat Ke Dhai Baje ( Kaminey ), Dil Bole Hadippa 's title song and Bidi Jalai Le ( Omkara ) among others.

The star of the event, however, was Viveik Oberoi, who made a grand entry by jumping from the top of the auditorium Nautanki Mahal, with the help of a harness. Sharvani, Khan and Oberoi will star in the

musical being written by Javed Akhtar and to be set to music by Shankar- Ehsaan- Loy.

" I've always been into theatre.

Source: Mail Today By Prashant Singh and Faizan Haider GURGAON FINDS KEY TO A DREAM WORLD

Casually dressed men, women and children sunbathing on charpoys in front of terracotta and ochre-coloured mud and straw huts. The only sound one hears is the chirping of birds and the rustle of trees in the chilly December wind.

This is Surjivan! It's not a village in Rajasthan's hinterland, but a farmhouse near Sohna, 30 km from Delhi, which provides packaged tailor-made rural experience to urban Indians looking for a slice of village life.

An increasing number of Delhiites are travelling to scenic farmhouses in the countryside around Gurgaon and Faridabad, not just to unwind, but to familiarise their children with their `roots'. It has given a strong fillip to farm tourism in the NCR. "Ours is a purely rustic place, which exposes city dwellers to authentic village life--something most of them have never experienced. Many of my guests are top-notch professionals who come here and relax on charpoys while gazing at the stars," says Deven Srivastav, director, Surjivan.

The guests live in farmhouses and eat food prepared in chulhas.

For recreation, Surjivan organises activities such as tractor and bullockcart rides, rural games such as gillidanda, pitthu, lattoo kanchey, teerandazee, Rassa-kashi, etc. Besides this, the farm boasts of several medicinal, aromatic and mythological plants such as the Kalp Vriksh, and also engages its guests in cattle-feeding and cow milking activities.

Haryana Tourism launched the concept of farm tourism in 2004, when it persuaded some farm owners to open their gates to tourists. Today, there are 18 such farms in the NCR that provide rural experience packages to city slickers. Each farm has its own USP.

If Surjivan--which grows everything from wheat, gram and vegetables to pulses, oil and spices--prides itself on its rustic charm, Botanix, another famous farmhouse near Damdaa Lake in the area, describes itself as a biodiversity village. Spread across a whopping 40 acres, the farm offers its guests the options of staying in not just mud huts, but also in tents and igloos. But Botanix's real USP is its myriad theme gardens. There's a shrub garden, a fragrance garden, a rose garden, a herb garden, a butterfly garden, etc. It's orchidarium showcases rare species of carnivorous plants.

Manoj Sharma manoj.sharma@hindustantimes.com

Source: Hindustan Times By Manoj Sharma Back To The Roots: A Custom-Made Rustic Package

Mother Of All Auditoriums: The Kingdom Of Dreams Will host live performances every day, a fist in the country.

The theatre will have live performance every day, a first in the country.

Being built by the Great Indian Nautanki Company, the place will be called the Kingdom of Dreams. The giant auditorium is spread over nine acres and is coming up at Sector 29, Gurgaon at a cost of Rs 100 crore.

" This will be the first of its kind tourism and entertainment centre in India," an engineer associated with the project said.

" The media will be given a sneak preview of the auditorium in the last week of January. I won't like to comment on the project before that but this will be something which India has never seen before," Anumod Sharma, director of the Great Indian Nautanki Company.

The auditorium is likely to be unveiled in March. Sources said Amitabh Bachchan, Shankar Mahadevan and Karan Johar will be present at the opening ceremony, enthralling the audience with live performances.

Source: Mail Today Gurgaon Sets The Stage For A Dream Theatre

The objective of the festival is to promote Gurgaon as one of the world’s most modern and progressive townships and India’s foremost shopping destination.

The festival will introduce the best shopping deals from a wide range of brands. It will showcase handloom and handicrafts of Haryana and promote cuisines from around the world.

This will be a prelude to the shopping festival to be held during the Commonwealth Games 2010. “ It will start on February 24 with a grand ceremony,” Rajendra Kataria, deputy commissioner of Gurgaon said.

The Devi Art Foundation has been established with the aim of facilitating the viewership of creative expression and artistic practice that exist in the Indian sub-continent. It hopes to serve as a platform for young artists whose works have an experimental edge to them, as well as older artists whose practice continues to investigate new territories.

The Foundation's Education and Outreach programme is geared towards creating opportunities for the engaging with contemporary Indian art, through guided tours, lectures, and informal set-ups that encourage questions and dialogue.

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Showing over 65 works of art, by over 20 artists, the exhibition hopes to extensively examine contemporary Indian art today and invites you to be a part of this exploration.

Exhibition runs till May 03 May 2009

Venue:
Sirpur House,
Plot no. 39, Sector 44,
Behind Epicentre (Apparel House)
Gurgaon 122002

Timing:
11 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Days:
Tuesday- Sunday
Closed on Mondays

UTStarcom MD Vijay Yadav with int'l renowned artist Vandana Shourie and winners of painting competition

Vandana Shourie, artist of int'l fame, was judge at painting competition in Gurgaon by UTStarcom in aid of Concern India

UTStarcom held a painting competition for kids over the November 23rd weekend to support Concern India Foundation. The competition was held at The Fox Amphitheater, Vatika First India Place, Gurgaon. Elaborating about the competition, Mr. Vijay Yadav, Managing Director - South Asia, UTStarcom, said, "As responsible part of the society, we have associated with Concern India Foundation to help them raise funds for helping the underprivileged people. Kids between 5 and 12 years participated in this competition to create a more colorful vision of their world. We had chosen generic themes with which kids of every age-group could relate to -- glory of nature, a holiday, and travel to the moon."

Said Ms. Anita Dhillon, Manager - resource mobilization, Concern India Foundation, "We help to raise funds for about 150 smaller NGOs and projects all over India working on education, healthcare and community development. Through them, Concern India has touched the lives of several lakhs of underprivileged people so far."

Ms. Vandana Shourie, internationally renowned artist, was the judge at the competition. She recently held an art exhibition in Muscat. She has several international patrons including the Sultan of Oman.

Four high-level conferences ie the Defence and National Security Leadership Summit (DNS) - Nov 6; NECE Conference - Nov 7; and the BSEC Conference and MSI Conference - Nov 8, will also be held alongside the exhibition.

Speakers at the conferences include Shri Prakash Jaiswal, Minister of State for Home Affairs; Shri A.P.V.N. Sarma, Secretary of Shipping; Air Marshal S.C. Mukul, CIDS; Lt Gen P.C. Katoch, DG Information Systems; Mr K.P.S. Gill, Former DG, Punjab Police; John Garstka, Network Centric Warfare (NCW) Thought Leader; Col C.T. Mayer, DoD, US Army; Vivek Lall, Country Head, Boeing; and other senior officials.

"Indesec will provide a platform for the meeting of minds of users, buyers, think tanks and solution providers within the realm of homeland defence and security," says Air Marshal Bhojwani, member of the Indesec Advisory Board.

"Till now we used to design and build customised mini-theatres for individual clients. But as trends are changing, we are started getting bulk orders from big and small developers to build similar theatres for their hiend homes. Currently we have orders to build about 300 mini-theatres for Omaxe, DLF, Unitech, Emmar MGF and other builders in Delhi NCR region", said Himanshu Kumar, managing director of the Delhi-based firm that has already built 180 mini-theatres for high-profile clients.

"Though a relatively new concept in India, the market for mini-theatres is growing by 40% annually. Today people also have enough disposable incomes. Looking at the rising number of people wishing to replicate the "theatre-experience" in their homes, we are targeting a five-fold increase in our revenue by 2009-10", he added. The demand for minitheatres can be gauged from the fact that HKMT has been booked till October 2009. "We can build only 4-5 theatres in a week", he said.

"Most of the 300 odd theatres that we are building are for apartments and villas costing Rs 5 crore and above in Ludhiana, Gurgaon and Delhi NCR region", he said adding that the company would be charging between Rs 6-12 lakh for a theatre from the builders. Most of these theatres will be between 300-400 square feet in size.

HKMT is building mini-theatres 110 units of hi-end apartments which are being built by Omaxe at Ludhiana. "We are also building mini-theatres for some of the smaller builders in the NCR regions where they will be located in the basement of designer bungalows. Apart from this , we are building demo-theatres for DLF's sales pavilions in 23 different cities", Kumar remarked.

The Fuschia Tree would be announcing its entry into the art world on Wednesday by creating a unique mélange of stylishly conceptualised artistic variety in its very first art and décor show titled Mint Green. The show would be on from September 24 to October 8 at The Attic at Regal Building in Connaught Place here and can also be viewed simultaneously on www.thefuschiatree.com.

Says Chanda Chaudhary Barrai, director, The Fuschia Tree, "International trends suggest that Mint Green is the next colour of the season and, therefore, we bring a heady blend of classical, contemporary and cutting edge art and décor elements with international sensibility. By combining the diversity and integrity of art and design, we aim to bring forth enormous creative energy which is unique and irreplaceable in nature. This exhibition fuses the old and the new and crosses over to a new dimension where Indian and international art from Russia, Peru, Botswana, Africa, Pakistan and Thailand, a few to name, will be showcased in a single space."

Since Mint Green is the hottest colour of décor worldwide, the forthcoming exhibition showcases selected 40 artworks from across the globe...all in varying hues of the colour `green'. And the best part is one can exchange the artwork with another as the season or style changes, with a 100 per cent authenticity and resale assurance guarantee!

'Women Writing' coincides with the 50th year celebration of Lekhika Sangh, a consortium of Indian women writers.

Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari will inaugurate the fair on Saturday, which will continue till September 7.

With 299 participants, compared to 224 last year, from India and six other countries, the annual book fair organised by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) in collaboration with Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP) is only getting bigger "Last year, there were half a million visitors, a larger number is expected this year," organisers said.

ITPO Chairman and Managing Director Dr Sheela Bhide told a media conference here on Wednesday, "Publishers are aware they get more exposure hence the increase in numbers." "In fact, the response is so overwhelming, we are into expansion in big way From next year, the Delhi Book Fair will go to other Indian cities too; under the name 'India Book Fair' starting with Mumbai," Bhide said.

Recently, ON the eve of World Music Day on June 20, Austrian Cultural Forum in association with Spandan Communications and Chandigarh Tourism organised an enthralling musical evening by Austrian Band Nim Sofyan - a multicultural and interdisciplinary jazz group. A rare jugalbandi was also seen during the concert with the band and Indian classical musicians Sanjeev Shankar (shehnai) and Anand Shankar (tabla). On this occasion Gudrun Hardiman -- Pollross (director, Austrian Cultural Forum), Anshuman Pandey (director, Spandan Communications), Munish Bahal (deputy director, Austrian Cultural Forum), Kamal Modi and many others were also present there.

This was for the first time this year that a musical evening was orgranised during the World Music Day celebration in Delhi NCR. Unity in diversity through God's direct gift to the mankind - music, is quite evidently reflected in the compositions of this exceptional band.

Austria often termed as the 'land of music' has generated a broad contribution to various forms of art, most notably among them music. Austria has been the birthplace of many famous composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, Anton Bruckner, Johann Strauss Sr., Johann Strauss Jr and Gustav Mahler as well as members of the Second Viennese School such as Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern and Alban Berg and conductors like Felix Weingartner, Clemens Krauss, and Herbert von Karajan, are just a few who have enriched Austrian cultural life. The Vienna Boys' Choir and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra are celebrated organisations. Music in all its format and facets still continues to enjoy a special place in present day Austria.

The magic of Fluxus is at present visible at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) which has put together the "Fluxus In Germany From 1962-1994, A Long Story With Many Knots". Presented in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut and Max Mueller Bhavan, the exhibition displays more than 300 original works like books, posters, invitation cards, music scores, graphic works, rare films, prints, photographs and installations.

The show, which transports you to another world, will be on at the NGMA till June 4. The artistes on show include Joseph Beuys, John Cage, Ben Patterson, Nam June Paik, Dieter Roth, Wolf Vostell, Daniel Spoerri and others.

The first Fluxus Festival was held In 1962 at the Wiesbaden City Museum in Germany. George Maciunas, a Lithuanian artiste trained in New York, conceptualised a series of concerts under the title Fluxus International Festival of Most Recent Music. Ever since, the term `Fluxus', has been used for concerts and events, manifestos and editions, that have been held or published mainly in Europe, the United States and Japan.

The expo, which will run till May 5, aims to showcase the booming agri-horticulture processed food and food grain milling and processing sectors this year. A large number of national and multi-national companies apart from various government organisations and public sector undertakings would participate in the expo.

The participants would showcase new technologies and machines in the field of food grain milling and processing and packaging along with other allied sectors.

The festival opens with Bagher Bacha, a non-feature film in Bengali directed by Bishnu Dev Halder, a former student of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata. The opening film of the feature film section is Ore Kadal (Malayalam), directed by Shyamaprasad.

The synopses, schedule and all other details of the films are available on the website: www.iffi.nic.in Entry to all film shows is free and passes will be available at Siri Fort Auditorium counters from May 2-9, 2008 on 'first come first serve' basis. The Indian Panorama is one of the most important sections of the International Film Festival of India as it represents the diversity of Indian cinema. The section was first organised in the year 1978. Since then the section has been a regular feature of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

In keeping with the setting of the opera, the crew also comprises musicians and performers from India, Sri Lanka and France. The `cross cultural' experiment seems to have paid off, and Delhiites are privy to a musical extravaganza of the world's most popular opera, which was staged in Paris for the first time in 1875. The story revolves around the beautiful and reckless Carmen, whose volatile life is ended by a rejected lover.

Elsa Levy, who plays the role of Carmen, dressed in a ghagra-choli and bindi, says ``I'm very happy to be among the first opera singers to come to India, where you have great singers and artistes. You don't need me among them.'' On the adaptation of Carmen for an Indian audience, she adds, ``It was easy for me to adapt because the Indian choreography in the opera is not far from Flamenco. Also, the initial music is Indian but the rest is the Georges Bizet music from the original opera.''

Echoing this view, Panton, says, ``It's a mirror between Indian and Spanish cultures.
There's a vitality of colour--Spanish Rom/Dom gypsies cavorting with Kathak dancers, children playing Holi and a distant echo of the flamenco. Also, the character Escamillo, who is an acclaimed bull-fighter in the original story of the opera, has become a famous Bollywood actor.

About performing in Delhi, Levy says she would love to come back here as ``the people of Delhi are down to earth, nice and warm.''

Around 60 Indian and Sri Lankan singers, seven dancers and 20 French artistes, including an orchestra from Paris and the lead performers, have come together for the Indian premiere being held in Delhi on April 18, 19 and 20. The Neemrana Music Foundation is supporting the event.

The music and dance production titled `YOU' is a part of the 60th anniversary celebrations of Israel's independence.

Three Israeli artistes -- Ido Tadmor (dancer & choreographer), Ohad Hitman (pianist) and Michal Amdorsky (dancer & singer) will perform.

This event will take you on an enchanting and immensely mesmerizing trip across India and also get you to meet Kaleh and Agar Magar from Kaleh and the Singsong Castle & The Famous Smile.

An eminent author and a specialist in Natural history, Ranjit Lal will launch the books!

• Date: 15th March 2008
• Venue: Epicentre, Amphitheatre
• Apparel house, sector 44, gurgaon
• Time: 10.30 am to 12.00 pm

On the first day Ragini Rainu presented 3 qalams of 'Bulle Shah' `Ranjha Jogiya...', `Ghungat Chuk...' and `Oth Challe...' followed by bhajans `Mero Mann...' (Meera) and `Ras Gagan Ghufa...' (Kabir). The Sufi Diva was at her best and it was the sheer magic of her brilliant performance that left people singing to tunes.

The second day belonged to Abhay Rustum Sopori, who first presented 'Aalap' and 'Jod' in 'Raga Rageshree Kaunce' in his characteristic style - Sopori Baaj, the creation of his father and Santoor King Pt. Bhajan Sopori. Abhay produced sonorous meends and majestic Gamak and Taan patterns together with various chandh patterns. This was followed by composition in Raga Rageshree. With his individualistic style of singing together with his instrumental rendition, he sang the composition `Phulwan ke mala...' and Tarana 'Dim Tana na na...' in Teentaal and Ektaal. He concluded his recital with a composition in Teentaal with his trademark lightning tempo 'Jhalla'.

The programme got enriched with the presence of Santoor Legend Pt. Bhajan Sopori, Aparna Sopori, Dr. Rafeeq Masoodi (Commissioner Secretary, J&K Akademi for Art, Culture and Languages), Ruchi Roy (President, Rotary Club, Gurgaon) and many others, who all enjoyed the performances of these two young artists.

On this occasion Pt. Bhajan Sopori said, to revive the Indian Classical Music between youths and other music lovers we have organised this concert in association with Old World Hospitality. According to Pt. Bhajan Sopori, till now due to lack of sources these kind of programmes were being orgranised at Delhi only but because of this newly build Art and Cultural Hub 'Epicentre' now people of Gurgaon can also enjoy the same in their own city. He further added "Epicentre" was launched this very month and we are happy to organise one of its inaugural music concerts, we received great response and hospitality from the people here and in near future we are planning to come up with more programmes.

Organisers see it as a golden opportunity for foreign manufacturers anddealers to explore the Indian pet market and interact with potential buyers. ``The exhibitors taking part in the three-day long fair are of two types -- business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C). The B2B ones will include Indian pet product manufacturers, foreign manufactures looking for Indian partners and Indian distributors. Meanwhile, the B2C exhibitors will be displaying products targeting the Indian middle-income pet lovers,'' said Linda Brady Hawke, convenor, IIPTF.

Products On Display
Steel: Anti-skid stainless steel bowls
Electronic: Dog/cat chaser that emits ultrasonic frequencies audible to pets to deter unfriendly dogs/cats
Pet healthcare: Anti-tick lice spray, lice powder, shampoo for ticks, lice & flea, furconditioning shampoo, soap cake, deodorant, smell remover, appetite stimulants, digestive tonics, herbal skin gels, calcium & phosphorus supplements, vaccines.
Herbals: Shampoos, protein supplement, calcium tonic, liver tonic, multi-vitamin tonic, mineral mixtures
Bird related: Breeder cages, cooling pads, exhaust fans, parrot stands
Leather: Collars, lashes, pet beds, muzzle, chokers, dog chew bones
Rodent related: Heavy hamster dishes
Designer products: Fancy fashion bags, designer pet beds, pet carrier
Dog chews: Dried pet snacks, leather dog chews, pressed bones, frozen and processed meat, hollow pipes
Pet wear: Knitted dog coats, T-shirts, mufflers, dog shoes and dog raincoats
Food: Dog/cat food, bird feed, cuttlefish bones, raw bone meals
Fish related: Aquariums, ornamental fish, fish feed, aqua-medicines, aquatic plants (Figures: Euromonitor International report)

ASI superintending archaeologist and Delhi circle head Dr DV Sharma told TOI: ``The building was made by DDA against ASI norms and later handed over to us some years ago after a Delhi High Court order. The structure is architecturally very impressive. Rather than tear down the building, we wanted to put it to best use and decided to dedicate the entire building to children as a heritage museum.'' The museum will cater to children from six to 18 years of age and help them ``bring alive their history lessons''.

It will house artefacts and antiquities recovered from historical sites all over the country and have on display rare findings by the ASI during their many excavation projects.

The building has been deserted since the ASI took possession of it in 2003. Now, repair work is on to convert it into a museum in a few months.

In the interim, the first official use ASI will make of the building, is next month when a conference on `Use of lime mortar in ancient times' will be organised by it. It will be attended by a number of eminent archaeologists and scholars.