Wednesday, 2 October 2019

The Victorious Sacred Games Trio at SALA Festival 2019


Oct 1, 2019 | San Francisco, CA


For the first time, Netflix India's Sacred Games is nominated for International Emmy Award 2019 in the Drama Category. The crime thriller is directed by Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane.

For the first time, the Victorious trio of Netflix Original series SACRED GAMES - Author Vikram Chandra, Scriptwriter Varun Grover, and Director Vikramaditya Motwane, will be on one panel at the South Asian Literature and Art Festival.

For the first time, Montalvo Arts Center and Art Forum SF in collaboration with UC Berkeley Institute of South Asian Studies brings to you one of the largest South Asian Literature & Art Festival (SALA) in the US.
SALA Festival will be held at the Montalvo Arts Canter, Saratoga from Oct 6 – 13, 2019 from Noon till 5 pm.

“Absolutely thrilled to be attending SALA this year. Am hoping to share my insights and process of writing SACRED GAMES and interacting with the fabulous and knowledgeable delegates of SALA”, says Varun Grover, Scriptwriter for Sacred Games with much enthusiasm.

Besides, the victorious trio, to name a few writers and poets lined up for SALA Festival includes Shanthi Sekaran, Minal Hazratwala, Athena Kashyap, Tanu Wakefield, Siddharth Dube, Raghu Karnad, Nayomi Munaweera, Mitali Perkin, Naheed Hasant Senzai and Moazzam Sheikh, contemporary artist Rekha Rodwittiya, art collector Dipti Mathur and Priyanka Mathew will be sharing their insights and expertise.

There is a special event on October 18th from 7:30 pm with critically acclaimed director Anurag Kashyap. Tickets are limited and for $25 only for this special event.

Witness an elaborate and enriching encounter with legendary actor, painter, and poet, Deepti Naval, in conversation with Prof Harsha Ram from UC Berkeley.

“Art Forum SF is a platform to have a dialogue for poets, artists, and writers that are part of the emergent world of the subcontinent. They are young, vibrant and poised to tell their stories that affect all globally but need to be heard. A young poet, an established writer, a nonfiction writer, a screenwriter, an iconic artist, all gather to talk about what inspires them.” said Mayuranki Almaula, one of the Founder member, BOD and Literary Segment Curator.

Moving from the conventional understanding of the diaspora culture, usually expressed through stereotypical tropes like nostalgia, roots, homeland/soil, memory, etc. The participants exemplify the assimilation and absorption of various local and global sources that have drip-irrigated their works, to help break the conventional and to explore further. The talks will be moderated by academicians from UC Berkeley Institute for South Asia Studies and experts from the respective fields and will provide the audience an opportunity to interact with the speakers.

"The South Asian Literature and Art Festival is a wonderful platform to showcase the rich and diverse ‘contemporary’ work coming from the South Asian diaspora. There is a plethora of award-winning work in both literature and art, which usually goes unnoticed but a festival like this provides you an opportunity to experience it and raises the profile of such work”, said Ambika Sahay with passion, Founder and Executive Director Art Forum SF.

On October 13th the SALA Festival closing event will showcase two documentary films, one is a short doc titled GuruCOOL, produced by Mettle Films and directed by an Indo-Canadian Director Sangita Iyer that looks at the Indian educators in the 21st-century education system. (India/Canada, 32 minutes, English). The grand finale is Sumantra Ghosal's KAIFINAMA, produced by Mijwan Welfare Society looks at the life and art of the Urdu progressive poet Kaifi Azmi. Kaifi Azmi was both a poet for social change as well as one of the foremost lyricists in the Hindi film industry. (India, 90 min, Hindi, Urdu with English subtitles). These films are programmed by Tushar Unadkat and are jointly presented by Art Forum SF and BASAFF (Bay Area South Asian Film Festival) at Serra Theatre 200 Serra Way #37, Milpitas CA 95035.

“The soft powers of the world - Art, Literature, Music, and Dance allows people to express themselves and how they view the world. SALA embodies these powers,” said Kiran Malhotra with conviction, BOD - Art Forum SF, Arts Curator - SALA 2019.

The festival aims to offer a unique experience not just for established professionals but also for emerging professionals and young minds. Along with the presentations and discussions, there will be children’s hands-on craft activities, writing programs, South Asian food stalls, art-related exhibitors, and dance performances, all to suit individuals of varying tastes, interests, and ages.

For more information about media & marketing opportunities and to interview the celebrities, please contact MUKTA Advertising at info@m-a.ca | 416.716.8582.

For all current updates, artist bios, tickets and other literary and art exhibits, please visit: www.artforumsf.org




Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @artforumsf
#SALA2019 #artforumsf #SALAfestival #kaifinama #sacredgames

By Journalist Shikha Sharma



Sunday, 7 July 2019

ShikhaSpeaks.com: HIS EXCELLENCY ARIEL ANDRADE GALINDO AMBASSADOR OF...

ShikhaSpeaks.com: HIS EXCELLENCY ARIEL ANDRADE GALINDO AMBASSADOR OF...: H.E. ARIEL ANDRADE GALINDO Ariel Andrade Galindo assumed the post of Ambassador of El Salvador in India on June 1, 2018, pre...

HIS EXCELLENCY ARIEL ANDRADE GALINDO AMBASSADOR OF A VERY BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY EL SALVADOR IN INDIA


H.E. ARIEL ANDRADE GALINDO



Ariel Andrade Galindo assumed the post of Ambassador of El Salvador in India on June 1, 2018, presenting credentials to the Honourable President of India, Shri. Ram Nath Kovind, on July 11. He is also concurrently accredited as Ambassador to Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Maldives, with residence in New Delhi. Previously, he held several high level posts at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of El Salvador: Chief of Cabinet of former Minister Hugo Martínez, Director General for Foreign Policy, Director General for Planning, Institutional Development and Quality (twice) and Transparency Officer. Amb. Andrade is a career diplomat. He holds a Master's Degree in Business Administration from the Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas and is a candidate for Master's Degree in Social Sciences from the same university. He also holds a degree in International Relations from the Universidad de El Salvador. He was born in 1975 in San Salvador and is the father of three children.


H.E. ARIEL ANDRADE GALINDO WITH JOURNALIST SHIKHA SHARMA

INDIA- EL SALVADOR FRIENDSHIP 

BY SHIKHA SHARMA

ShikhaSpeaks.com: RETD. MAJOR GENERAL GD BAKSHI A GREAT SOLDIER, MOT...

ShikhaSpeaks.com: RETD. MAJOR GENERAL GD BAKSHI A GREAT SOLDIER, MOT...: MAJOR GENERAL GD BAKSHI Maj Gen (Dr) GD Bakshi, SM, VSM(retd) is a combat veteran of many skirmishes on the LC and Counter-Terroris...

RETD. MAJOR GENERAL GD BAKSHI A GREAT SOLDIER, MOTIVATOR, INSPIRATION AND A TREMENDOUS POET AND A WRITER......


MAJOR GENERAL GD BAKSHI

Maj Gen (Dr) GD Bakshi, SM, VSM(retd) is a combat veteran of many skirmishes on the LC and Counter-Terrorist operations in J&K and Punjab. He commanded his battalion in active operations in Kargil and was awarded the Vishist  Seva Medal. Later he commanded a brigade in Counter-Terrorist operations in the very rugged mountains of Kishtwar and was awarded the Sena Medal for his distinguished services. He subsequently commanded the reputed Romeo Force during intensive Counter-Terrorist operations in the Rajouri-Punch Districts of J&K in the wake of Op Sarp Vinash and succeeded in pacifying the area. He has served two tenures at the highly prestigious Directorate General of Military Operations (during Op Pawan and Op Vijay) and was the first BGS (IW) at HQ Northern Command where he dealt with Information Warfare and Psychological Operations. He is a prolific writer on matters military and non-military and has published 35 books and over 200 papers in many prestigious research journals. His articles have also been published in various National Newspapers. He taught at the Indian Military Academy Dehradun and the Prestigious Defence Services Staff College at Wellington for three years each. He taught at the   National Defense College at New Delhi for two years and retired from this prestigious assignment in Jun08.   He holds a Masters degree in Defence Science and an M Phil in Strategic Studies from the University of Madras. He   completed his Ph.D. from the same University on” Limited Wars in South Asia”. He is an Associate member of the IDSA and a Distinguished fellow of the Centre for Air Power Studies. He had served as the Deputy Director Research at the Vivekananda International Foundation.  He was Senior Advisor Security with the Reliance Industries Ltd for  five years( 2012- 17).

RETD. MAJOR GENERAL GD BAKSHI


His books include, “Afghanistan-the First Fault line War,”  “War in the 21st Century”, “The Indian Art of War” “The Paradox of Pakistan”, “The Rise of Indian Military Power: Evolution of an Indian Strategic Culture” and “Limited Wars in South Asia.” He appears regularly on all major TV News channels on the subjects of Terrorism and National Security. He also lectures regularly at the Army War College, National Police Academy, IAS Academy Mussoorie and the College of Defense Management and is regularly invited for Corporate talks on leadership and motivation.  He was recently invited to the Warwick University at UK for a Panel Discussion on ‘Indo-Pak Relations’.


JOURNALIST SHIKHA SHARMA WITH RETD. MAJOR GENERAL GD BAKSHI AT HIS RESIDENCE


He was something of a turnaround specialist in difficult combat situations.

He is currently Editor Indian Military Review. In 2018 he was given the Madhya Pradesh Ratna award in Bhopal and his book of poems Dances with the Cranes was short listed for the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Award given by the Maitriya Foundation of the USA.

GENERAL GD BAKSHI PRESENTING HIS BOOK BOSE OR GANDHI TO JOURNALIST SHIKHA SHARMA



BY JOURNALIST SHIKHA SHARMA


ShikhaSpeaks.com: I FEEL EXTREMELY PROUD TO INTRODUCE INTERNATIONAL ...

ShikhaSpeaks.com: I FEEL EXTREMELY PROUD TO INTRODUCE INTERNATIONAL ...: Naaz Is a name she has given herself, Naaz means pride, born on December 31st 1984 in middle class family, where ideology of born tr...

I FEEL EXTREMELY PROUD TO INTRODUCE INTERNATIONAL CELEBRITY AIZYA NAAZ JOSHI A TRANSGENDER WHO WROTE HER OWN SUCCESS STORY AND IS A TRUE INSPIRATION TO THE WORLD......




Naaz Is a name she has given herself, Naaz means pride, born on December 31st 1984 in middle class family, where ideology of born trans child was not accepted, her parents disowned her, it was the love of her Muslim mother and grandmother that they decided to send her to their distant relatives in Mumbai. She grew up in loneliness, at the tender age of 7 she found herself washing dishes at the roadside dhaba in Malad, and at the same time started studying at the local school, her nightmare began when her cousin brother who was then 24 and she was 11, gang raped her multiple times, she was hospitalized and on death bed, it was the power of saying her no to the odds that kept her alive. Soon after she got discharged from hospital she met Shabnam, who showed her the doors of dance bar. She danced at night and studied in day, she ran away from her uncle's home to feel safe and secure.
Since childhood she was big fan of Bollywood diva Sridevi, in 1999 she met her cousin sister Viveka babajee who showed her way to fashion industry.she started doing back stage help, and finally landed at NIFT Delhi, this time Delhi had new plans for her, she was not welcomed at NIFT But often mocked by fellow gay students, Naaz found job at Ritu Kumar and then Ritu beri, but she had to quit the Jobs because men would often want to make physical contacts with her, and deep down scars of her rape were still there. She wanted a peaceful life, but then she heard that her twin brother demised, she contacted her uncle and got the number of her home, she came back to home but her parents had a condition that she will not tell her true identity to this world. She stayed them for a while, but this seemed to be a bird living in a golden cage. Naaz took over her brother's fashion business but it didn't do well. She eventually decided to sell herself, she wanted to go for sex re assignment surgery but it had to cost her a bomb. After selling herself for four years naaz started modelling in 2012 and she captured the eye of ace fashion photographer Rishi Taneja who captured her life in black and white series, a television channel and a news magazine took note of her, where this big channel decided to do story on naaz's life the other had put on their cover.


GORGEOUS AIZYA NAAZ JOSHI


But this was not the end, she still found difficulty in getting work in fashion industry, her clients from fashion industry who were her clients used to blackmail her on being a prostituting and asked her to pack her bags.

Stubborn Naaz decided to launch her own event company mihm in 2015 and started working on women empowerment, by now she has done 11 beauty pageants under her company. She also happens to be India's first trans cover model on Indian and international magazine, and she is recorded in India book of records and Limca book of records and in Asia book of records.

In 2016 end Naaz caught up with auto immune disease which is non curable it's unknown disease, the only option is to take off the spleen, as that disease has left her with splenomegaly, she is on constant supplements so that her blood cells don't go down.

In 2018, Naaz has adopted a baby girl and became youngest transmother in the country to a just 15 days old baby girl, sharanaya Joshi, who is miss infant universe 2019 also.

Naaz never knew she will be a beauty Queen one day, the crown she saw on head of Sushmita and Aishwarya will come her way too. In 2017 miss world diversity announced its first edition of online contest and she became the inaugural queen of miss world diversity. In the year 2018, she went for ms World Diversity in Dubai, she won again but Indian media did not give her what she was looking for. Now Naaz is going to Mauritius putting all her hard work and money that if she wins this time and competing with natural born women, her country media will support her and inspire others by her story.



LOVELY PHOTOSHOOT OF AIZYA NAAZ JOSHI



BY JOURNALIST SHIKHA SHARMA