Chennai Times

' The city of Chennai, erstwhile Madras, is all set to celebrate its 369th birthday on August 22, 2008. For, it was on this day in 1639 that a sliver of land where Fort St George is located, was handed over by the local Nayak rulers to the East India Company.' says a news item.  I get confused, I thought we have become Chennai now, why do we want to celebrate being Madras then? There is some nostalgia attached with the colonial past that it needs to be 'celebrated' at some point in time. we are not at all deprived for celebration in this city.   The traditional festivals from different parts of tamilnadu have all become part of the chennai culture.  every tamil daily sheet calender provides three different date, month and year. the hindu calender (even under this we have further divisions of tamil and telugu calender as telugus are a dominant community in tamilnadu), the muslim calender and the tamil tiruvalluvar calender apart from the Gregorian calender.  we have a u

Samanvaya News Room: 23rd Aug 2008: Memorial for Mosanabu Fukuoka : Organic Farmer Mosanabu Fukuoka of Japan is a major inspiration for organic farmers from all over the world. His 'One Straw Revolution' was one of the books on natural farming that has been read and re-read by many who have since then embarked on natural farming themselves. Fukuoka died at the age of 95 on 16th August 2008. A short memorial will be held in his honour at the Samanvaya office on saturday the 23rd evening between 4:30 and 6:00 p.m. Farmers, Friends and Fans of Fukuoka are invited for this gathering.

Documentary Film Festival at the Alliance Francaise this week. 1) film festival is open to all. 2) alliance auditorium is on 2nd floor (no lift). 3) abillioneyes.in/schedule08.html is the webpage. 4) a blurb on the films: JOURNEYS WITH KABIR: 4 films by Shabnam Virmani These films journey into contemporary spaces touched by the music and poetry of the 15th century mystic weaver-poet of north India, Kabir. We meet a diverse array of people - an urban folklorist, a street fruit seller, a social activist, a Dalit folk singer, a Zen Buddhist scholar, a neo-fascist cleric of a Kabir sect, a Muslim qawwal - each encounter offering a moment of insight into the poetry and its contemporary meanings. We glimpse not one but many Kabirs. Sometimes he beckons, sometimes he baffles, but always he pushes you to self-interrogate, to question the boundaries of your identity, nation, ideology, caste and religion- making these journeys unrelentingly inward even as they venture outward. The 4