Stamp Exhibition

www.coolstamps.com

http://home.scarlet.be/evan.belle/stamp

www.collectiblestampsgallery.com

Courtsey: Vivek Mehetre, Webjagat, Loksatta dated 11/02/2011

How is a physical archive still relevant in today's hyper-connected world?

How is a physical archive still relevant in today’s hyper-connected world?
Published: Wednesday, Feb 9, 2011, 2:27 IST Place: Mumbai Agency: DNA
It helps address the digital divide
With scarce archiving of women’s perspectives, every effort counts. An outfit such as ours is completely digital and has its own audience. But there is still a vast digital divide; there are voices that still struggle to find a place in cyberspace. So the SPARROW archive plays an important role. At the same time, I relate to their need to be financially independent. When you're trying to build an organisation, you need consistent funding.
Sapna Shahani, director, Women Aloud: Videoblogging for Empowerment (WAVE)
It rescues and preserves lost voices
CS Lakshmi started SPARROW at a time where it was not very common to have things dedicated to women. Instead of just archiving published material, she has rescued creative works by women that would otherwise be languishing in a cupboard somewhere.Despite the move towards digitisation, I believe some things have to be kept in the form they were created in. So there is definitely a place for real archiving. Just because it’s expensive, it shouldn’t be made redundant.
Chandita Mukherjee, director, Comet Media Foundation, NGO
It helps documents personal histories
I became involved with SPARROW when CS Lakshmi began documenting the lives of Indian women artistes. In their oral history workshops, a lot of spontaneous creation took place. I remember doing an improv dance and music session with the late Kathak dancer, Damayanti Joshi. I admire Lakshmi’s resolve in documenting the inner struggles of artists, instead of just seeking out celebrities. In that sense, SPARROW serves a great purpose in documenting cultural history.
Neela Bhagwat, Hindustani classical singer
It provides reliable information
I remember flipping through these little booklets SPARROW had published about Indian women in cinema history. I still have them in my collection. There’s something about the physicality of a book that is comforting to me. As a journalist, I use a combination of the internet and books for my research. The internet tends to be limited to excerpts and cross-references, but for in-depth knowledge about a subject, I prefer referring to books, where the likelihood of errors is far lower than on the internet.
Meenakshi Shedde, journalist
Source: DNA dated 09/02/2011

Preserve 'her story' before it's lost

Preserve ‘her story’ before it’s lost
Published: Wednesday, Feb 9, 2011, 1:23 IST By Uttarika Kumaran Place: Mumbai Agency: DNA
Why is it we all know that Jawaharlal Nehru was India’s first prime minister, but many would struggle to remember his sister, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit —the first Indian woman to hold a cabinet post and later became governor of Maharashtra? Or the fact that RK Laxman is considered India’s greatest cartoonist, while the name of Maya Kamath barely registers? And who would’ve thought something as frivolous as rangolis could give one a glimpse into the political and social concerns of the women who drew them?
The Sound and Picture Archive for Research On Women (SPARROW) library in a non-descript building in Dahisar (East), doesn’t claim to have the answers. But in an ostensibly pluralist world, where even bringing up the gender issue is increasingly being considered myopic, it definitely raises some interesting questions.
Taking flightSet up in 1988 by Dr CS Lakshmi, Dr Neera Desai and Dr Maithreyi Krishna Raj, all pioneering figures in the field of women’s studies in India, SPARROW was an unusual name for what was, back then, an unusual endeavour. “In most of our work, we were always looking for material currently found in SPARROW but usually absent in other archives and documentation centres,” says DR CS Lakshmi, director, SPARROW.
With funding from the Dutch organisation HIVOS in 1997, the ten-year grant period that followed were the most crucial years in the growth of the archive. Today, the archive stores 5,000 books in 11 Indian languages and countless more journals, journal articles and newspaper clippings covering all areas of history and culture related to women. SPARROW’s anchor project on oral history has produced video and audio recordings of a diverse set of women, from those involved in the freedom movement, practitioners of traditional systems of medicine, artists, writers and educationists.
Losing speedToday, the library that holds this veritable treasure house of women’s histories is called Dr Neera Desai Memorial Library, named after the late Dr Neera Desai who taught an entire generation of feminists to rise above abstractions and examine their own realities.
In this spirit, SPARROW has consistently organised exhibitions, writers’ camps and cultural festivals to take the archive out of the library and into public spaces. However, over the past two years, the absence of adequate funding has meant that such activities have considerably reduced. For now, SPARROW has been able to tide over the fund crunch via donations from individual donors as well as a Charity Art Raffle organised last year.
But the atmosphere at the SPARROW office, despite many leaving for better-paying jobs, remains upbeat. And although the immaculately kept library finds few visitors, except for researchers and stray students, the team, buried deep in newspapers, women’s magazines, audio tapes and transcripts, keeps the archiving mission going on full steam.
Malsawmi Jacob, a Mizo poet and writer, and currently editor at SPARROW, claims the best thing about her work is that it gives her a window into so many different lives. Speaking as an employee, however, Jacob admits times have been tough. “Several people have left since they haven’t had a rise in salary in the past four years. I myself have had to take up a part-time position here,” she says.
The sky’s the limit“The function of an archive is to retrieve marginal histories,” explains Dr Lakshmi. As a case in point, she talks of the 1998 SPARROW publication on Sakhubai, a tribal woman and member of Kashtakari Sanghatana, an organisation in Maharashtra that saves tribal communities from exploitation. She adds, “Sakhubai will never be part of any textbook. That’s why I strongly feel that if you want to change the education system, change the material that people can have access to.”
With this in mind, SPARROW has also taken up ‘Women in Science’, a project commissioned by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, to document the achievements of 20 Indian women scientists. “We will also publish a small booklet about these scientists, aimed at young girls who are on the verge of making a career choice,” says Dr Lakshmi.
However, SPARROW’s primary concern is to generate enough funds to become self-sufficient. “For an archive like ours, we need commerce. Otherwise we are project-dependent and at the mercy of funding agencies. If we have an adequate corpus, we won’t need to compromise,” says Dr Lakshmi.
Giving wings to SPARROWSPARROW recently launched A Sky to Fly, an initiative to find 2,000 supporters to contribute Rs2,500 annually for the next four years. This amount will translate into archival activities, publications, outreach projects and infrastructural expenses for SPARROW.
To donate, email sparrow1988@gmail.com or visit www.sparrowonline.org
Source: DNA dated 09/02/2011

Footfalls increase as Mumbai bookstores experiment

Footfalls increase as Mumbai bookstores experiment
Published: Friday, Feb 11, 2011, 3:28 IST By Humaira Ansari Place: Mumbai Agency: DNA
In the name of live events, one would typically associate bookstores with book launches and reading sessions.
The audience — an assorted concoction of society’s high-heeled, the literati and of course the quintessential book lovers. Few book browsers present at the venue would stick along. But that was then.
Picture this: It’s a Sunday morning and a bunch of gleeful kids are engrossed in making props — Akbar’s crown or a capseller’s hat, which they will later put to creative use while enacting famous childhood tales. An art-cum-story-telling workshop, only that the venue is not a conventional private art class. Walk into a Crossword Bookstore on a Sunday morning, and you’ll realise it’s a regular feature here.
The activity is part of Crossword Children’s Hour, something the bookstore started with its first store at Mahalaxmi, 14 years back. But what started as a mere story-telling session on a Sunday morning has now evolved into much more.
The result, a gamut of activities — colouring contest, extempore story narrations, singing, drama, fancy dress and dancing contests to festive workshops around Diwali and Christmas...you name it, and they have it all.
“Our target audience is essentially children between the ages of 4-12 years. Through these workshops we want to inculcate reading as a habit. We are sowing the seeds now, so we can reap its benefits 7-8 years down the line,” says Sivaraman Balakrishnan, manager marketing, Crossword Bookstores.
And since the stores are selling more than just books, read: toys, stationery, DVDs, there is a constant need to take on marketing initiatives to push sales in the respective categories.
“Landmark caters to not just books. We have large areas dedicated to toys, DVDs and games. Hence the promotional activities need to be balanced out,” says Lijin Thomas, head marketing, Landmark.
From Scrabble to Squap contests and Hot Wheels Racing to Lego Block Building Challenge — Landmark conducts periodic contests. Many of the events are organised to get the products off the shelves. And kid’s fare is a regular event every December. “Toy activation in a coordinated fashion started in 2008 and every year in the month of December sales go up by 25-30%,” Thomas adds.Besides tangible sales, these events also mean an increase in footfalls at the store. Children’s Hour at Crossword for instance has no registration fee, but the attendance for the Sunday sessions have increased by 30% last year alone.
Thomas also contends that the toy specific events are essentially hosted in a challenge or contest format because, “children like to experience certain toys rather than just seeing demos”.
It is of little surprise that when famed cartoon superstars, Spiderman or Dora visit the store, sales of stationery that includes these characters increases.
Moving outside the ambit of children-related activities, Oxford hosts a variety of non-children centric events as well. Panel discussions on social issues like LGBT and 26/11, theatre workshops, live music performances, tarot reading and occasional movie screenings etc, the store has ventured out to include a bouquet of events other than just readings.
Tathagata Chowdhary, a theatre producer, was looking for fresh actors for his play. And he chose Oxford (at Churchgate) as the venue to hold his theatre workshop. “The store is one place in town which is close to many colleges in the city. The crowd is young and there’s a lot of connect,” says Chowdhary who was happy with the response.
Earlier, Chowdhary had also organised a panel discussion on one of the longest running plays in the history of English theatre The Mousetrap based on Agatha Christie’s novel. And for people who see these events as a distraction; Chowdhary holds that these activities, be it at coffee shops or bookstores are value additions. “A person who reads Agatha is more than likely to attend a related discussion,” says he.
To each to his own. But for now, as bookstore shelves become all inclusive, and marketing minds dish out fun activities, customers aren’t complaining. Not just as yet.
Browsing books, how about a tarot reading?
I have been doing tarot reading at Oxford for three years. The energy of the shop makes a lot of difference. And the candles and bright table cloth attracts many walk-in customers. The bookstore also ensures that the footfalls comprise educated people. My clientele includes bankers, corporates, government officials, students and home-makers. Over three yearsmany repeat clients have become my brand ambassadors. Earlier I used to operate from 5-8, now I am sitting there till 10pm. People like the idea that a tarot reader is sitting there and not running away the next day.They can always get back to me. Rajni Tandon, tarot reader at Oxford Bookstore
Stories, song, dance and more for kids...
We’ve been organising events around our new storybook series, The Adventures of Toto the Auto, at various Landmark stores and the kids have absolutely loved it. The bookstore is a great venue to connect with parents and engage the children in stories, songs, dance and drawing. We see the crowds growing with each subsequent event and now even have parents contacting us to do the same event for them at their kid’s birthday party.Preeti Vyas, CEO, FunOKPlease Publishing India
Story-telling with a difference
I think it’s very exciting to use alternate spaces and not stick to conventional ones. The story-telling workshops we hold at Crossword include reading, story-telling and story enacting. And the creative workshops use art and craft as a medium to hook the children. Though the various media —internet, gaming, television —are stimulating, there’s very little left to the imagination. It is important to inculcate the habit of reading in children. And the art story workshops at Crossword is one of the ways we try to generate and retain children’s interest in reading. Raell Padamsee, head, Academy for Creative Expression
Source: DNA dated 11/02/2011

Soon, watch lectures on your smart phone

Soon, watch lectures on your smart phone
Published: Thursday, Feb 10, 2011, 18:04 IST By Yogita Rao Place: Mumbai Agency: DNA
Attending lectures in the classroom or via videoconferencing will be a thing of the past.
Students can now watch lectures ‘live’ on their smart phones. Experts at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) have developed an automated application, which will allow students to watch lectures on their cellphones.
What distinguishes the application from other ones is the display. The application will allow students to focus on any part of the video with a clear resolution.
Called lec-to-mobile, the application has the potential to reform distance education programmes in the country. The application, developed by a professor and students of the electrical engineering department of the institute, will soon be patented. The project will be officially launched on a public domain in the days to come.
“Lec-to-mobile is completely automated. It allows students to download any lecture. It could be a lecture going on or an earlier one. The students will be able to ‘attend’ the lecture as per the required resolution. The cursor will automatically move on the writing board and will also zoom in and out whenever required. They will be able to experience a live classroom on their cellphones,” professor Subhasis Chaudhuri, the inventor of the application, told DNA.
At present, the application can be used on Android phones. However, it would soon be made available on windows application on cellphones as well. The beta version would be available for free initially, said Chaudhuri. “Distance education itself is a big sector now. Accessing lectures on the phone can help the sector in several ways,” he said.
Lec-to-mobile will offer lectures only by those professors who are willing to upload them. The application would also provide lectures by companies who are providers of such sessions.
“It is the same format used by television channels. The shows are created and developed by a production house and then are taken by the channels. Lecture companies or institutes can exploit the application in many ways,” Chaudhuri said.
“The idea is to make use of the limited amount of space that we have on cellphones,” explained Rangan Banerjee, dean, research and development, IIT-B.
“The team from the electrical engineering department has worked on the aspect of video resolution of the lectures. They are planning to put up the demo version on the public domain soon. The professor also has some patents on his name already.”
Source: DNA dated 10/02/2011