Categories
People

In Remembrance: Puneet Sahalot

Shocked, it is the smallest word to say. Possibly all of the friends, family members, classmates, and anyone who has worked with him, or met him, or anyone who belongs to the IT industry of Udaipur, would be able to relate on what I am feeling, and what a loss this city has just witnessed.

Puneet Sahalot, is no more with us. He passed away in a road accident yesterday. I have known and seen him in action since more than a decade. Puneet has been a co-founder of UdaipurTimes, a news portal of Udaipur, and then, went on to become one of the most prominent names in WordPress, in the country and across the globe. To give you a perspective, around 30% of the world’s websites, including your own UdaipurBlog, run on WordPress, an open source project, and Puneet was a real pro in it. In fact, he has many contributions to the WordPress core!

An engineer by profession, he chose to follow his heart, worked extensively on WordPress, aced thesis framework development and with passage of time, founded ideabox creations, that went on to become one of the best tech product based startups from Udaipur. Ideabox is a leading company in India and beyond, known for their WordPress based product solutions. Their plugins have more than 1,00,000+ installs, which is a big feat. The journey is nothing short of extraordinary! There are multiple interviews, speeches and memoirs that rightly claim, about his passion towards coding since an early age, and how he spearheaded the WordPress community in Udaipur, so much so that a small city like Udaipur was able to host its own WordCamps since past many years! My personal favourite quirky memory of him however, is his poetic side, a blog by the handle ‘I am Ajeeb’. Only a select few who knew, know!

Perhaps everyone who knew him wanted to become like him. An inspiration to many, multi talented, kind hearted, knowledgeable, a great personality, and a smiling face, gone too soon! The admiration and respect you have gathered for yourself is unmatchable! Never ever thought I would be blogging on anything after ages, that too on you. Puneet, you will be missed by everyone.

Picture credits: @psahalot on Instagram

Categories
Events Photos

[Updated Photos] Sky Full of Lighters – 2013

“Prologue”

There was still some time left for the Deepawali week to come. Then suddenly Team UB’s inbox rang with a (kindof strange) message. It was from a person who couldn’t attend the event Sky Full of Lighters 2012, and was desperately eager to know if there was to be something just like the previous year so that they could enjoy with their families. And similarly, came in one mail after the other. As for us, we were astonished, for all we expected udaipurites that they would forget the event that took place last year. They remembered this event, and expected us to continue the same, made us proud right from that very moment. And with our heads held high, we now promised to give udaipurites not the same event, but a grander than expected, yet a peaceful, eco friendly and spectacular celebration at the Sky Full of Lighters 2013.

“A handful of people, a skyful of lighters”

It is the judgment day now. 2nd November 2013. Time: Something around 5 p.m. You could find few of our hardworking team members arranging the sky lanterns, other useful at Fatehsagar paal, on the road, at the overflow side, arranging the parking management, and yes even on the trees (We’re everywhere you see). After a rapid hard work of our diligent team members and volunteers, we were good to go within half an hour, but with few questions in minds, Can today evening stand high or at par on expectations of people against our own level of 2012? Will they care to gather? And many more of course. Within a few minutes, there were few people and families who were taking an interest in joining us for a trial run of 10 lanterns to check whether the wind speed and direction could not increase the fire and injure anyone.

“Grandeur speaks for itself”

It started getting dark, the perfect condition for us to light up the sky. Test run lanterns in the sky had already drawn a massive attention of udaipurites towards our location. And so we began with (Drumrolls please!) the Sky Full of Lighters 2013, powered by Techno India NJR, supported by Lakecity Honda, Astronomia Shoppee, Vinod Fast Food, Shailendra Sir & SK Jain Sir.

There were a lot of udaipurites, with their friends, families, few tourists who came to Udaipur the first time ever, few newly wedded couples, all in all, happy souls, who joined us in spreading the message of celebrating a “peaceful” and eco-friendly Deepawali, away from unnecessary ear bursting noise pollution and the choking air pollution (if that helps, even I’m a victim of air pollution borne diseases). And the message was strongly said out. About 500 sky lanterns took off to fill the skies of Udaipur with light, and without any unholy smoke, without any bursting noise, and without any rush. Yes, though there were a lot of udaipurites taking part in the event, the execution went on super smooth, thanks to the event coordinators and the people of Udaipur themselves. Udaipurites certainly enjoyed the event as well. Their numbers, the joy in their faces was clearly visible, and they will remember this event for life, that’s my guarantee.

“Little credit rolls and thanksgiving”

We would like to thank all the volunteers and coordinators did everything they could to ensure the smooth execution of the event, Our sponsors Techno India NJR, Lakecity Honda, Astronomia Shoppee, Vinod Fast Food, Shailendra Sir & SK Jain Sir and best of it all, a big big thank you to our Collector of Udaipur – Mr. Ashutosh Pednekar & all the lovely udaipurites who joined us in great numbers and made this event a big success.

“Closing lines, yes they are necessary. Please go through”

For those who couldn’t make it this year, you have two things to do. Firstly, we are sharing the spectacular shots from the event below, do have a glance on them and take a moment to feel jealous. Secondly, you can note down our email id: info@udaipurblog.com, and write to us for the next year’s event as happened to us (discussed in the first paragraph) for this year. Not only this, you can write to us regarding any feedback, suggestion or comments you have for this event or any other work/action of UdaipurBlog.

For those who were there in the event, our email id remains the same. You can share your memorable clicks with us and we’ll share them with the world (For photography enthusiasts, Name credits won’t ever will be missed. We understand and appreciate creativity of every individual)

Last, but not the least, the entire team UdaipurBlog wishes you a very Happy Deepawali. Light as much lamps and candles as possible, stay away from hazardous crackers and adulterated sweets and other eatables. Celebrate the festival of light in an eco-friendly manner, stay safe and may you be blessed with lots of prosperity and happiness.

Photos By: Piyush Javeria

Diwali Celebrations - Sky Full of Lighters Diwali Celebrations - Sky Full of Lighters Diwali Celebrations - Sky Full of Lighters Diwali Celebrations - Sky Full of Lighters Diwali Celebrations - Sky Full of Lighters Diwali Celebrations - Sky Full of Lighters Diwali Celebrations - Sky Full of Lighters Diwali Celebrations - Sky Full of Lighters Diwali Celebrations - Sky Full of Lighters Diwali Celebrations - Sky Full of Lighters Diwali Celebrations - Sky Full of Lighters Diwali Celebrations - Sky Full of Lighters Diwali Celebrations - Sky Full of Lighters Diwali Celebrations - Sky Full of Lighters

Photos by : Sayantan Roy Choudhury

 

sky full of lighters udaipur 2 sky full of lighters udaipur 3 sky full of lighters udaipur 4 sky full of lighters udaipur 5 sky full of lighters udaipur 6 sky full of lighters udaipur 7 sky full of lighters udaipur 8 sky full of lighters udaipur 9 sky full of lighters udaipur 10 sky full of lighters udaipur 11 sky full of lighters udaipur 12 sky full of lighters udaipur 13 sky full of lighters udaipur 14 sky full of lighters udaipur 15 sky full of lighters udaipur 16 sky full of lighters udaipur 17 sky full of lighters udaipur 18 sky full of lighters udaipur 19 sky full of lighters udaipur 20 sky full of lighters udaipur 21 sky full of lighters udaipur 22 sky full of lighters udaipur 23 sky full of lighters udaipur 24 sky full of lighters udaipur 25 sky full of lighters udaipur 26 sky full of lighters udaipur 27 sky full of lighters udaipur 28 sky full of lighters udaipur 29 sky full of lighters udaipur 30 sky full of lighters udaipur 31 sky full of lighters udaipur 32 sky full of lighters udaipur 33 sky full of lighters udaipur

 

Photos By : Tara Chand

Lanterns UdaipurBlog Lanterns UdaipurBlog Lanterns UdaipurBlog Lanterns UdaipurBlog Lanterns UdaipurBlog Lanterns UdaipurBlog

 

Photos By : Hitesh Khubchandani

FS Picture 258 lighters

 

Photos by : Dimple Chundawat

 

Sky Lanterns Event Sky Lanterns Event

Photos by: Arpit Agarwal

 

Lanterns Arpit Agarwal Lanterns Arpit Agarwal

 

Photos By : Shubham Chauhan

photo 1 shubham 2 shubham1

 

Photos By: Gaurav Kumawat

gaurav 2 gaurav 3 gaurav 4 gaurav 5 gaurav 6 gaurav 7 gaurav 8 gaurav 9 gaurav 10 gaurav 11 gaurav 12 gaurav 13 gaurav sir 1

Photos By : Mujtaba R.G.

 

Mujju 1 Mujju 2 Mujju 3 mujju 4 mujju 5 mujju 6 mujju 7 mujju 8 mujju 9 mujju 10 mujju 11 mujju 12 mujju 13 mujju 14 mujju 15 mujju 16 mujju 17

 

Categories
Udaipur Speaks

[Udaipur Speaks] Anger arouses in Sector 5 Gayatri Nagar

This week in Udaipur Speaks column, the residents of Gayatri Nagar, Sector 5 share their problem and pain. Problem prevails on the issue of drainage and water pipeline service disturbance. The drainage system of Sec .5 Gayatri nagar has been constructed in the year 2007. And it was in a good condition. In views of the residents, the people of Gayatri Nagar did not have any trouble with the drainage system.

Gayatri nagar speaks (3)

In a conversation with the residents, they informed that last Sunday, i-e 19th of May 2013 the drainage system had been demolished by a contractor including the House Ramps and drinking water supply pipes for re-construction of the drainage system , which was not needed at all. The construction isn’t in even its minimal pace yet, and now they are not getting any drinking water from more than a week, and also are not able to take their vehicles on the road as the Ramps & water pipes are broken. Not only an issue for vehicles, this is causing too much inconvenience for the elderly people, as well as posing threat to kids of the colony.

Gayatri nagar speaks

It was also promised to us that a new water pipe line will be replaced by the old one as the latter is covered by the new drainage system under construction, which is also not fulfilled. Its very risky especially for kids and Aged persons to move over from the broken drainage system as the contractor has put weak temporary ramps over it.“, added another resident of the colony.

 Gayatri nagar speaks

The situation is really bad, and we just hope for an immediate action on it. People from other parts of the city can also share their problems, views and more they would like to share with the city under this column.

Categories
More

Contributing my Black Dot against Inhumanity

Black Dot against Inhumanity

…and I’m writing after long. I know today I am writing off the topic, off Udaipur, off parties and glamour, but on a purpose, on a serious note, on my heart’s cry, and on my conscience’s call. It had been a little time, when I logged in to my facebook account. The newspapers, television sets already had been yelling about it. Different channels, different voices, different opinions. Logging in to facebook took hardly a few seconds, and then I saw a new style of revolution.

I found few big dots, few medium, and small sized dots. To my amaze, almost my entire friend list had transformed into a black dot! Every dot was on purpose, representing a voice. Despite of the size of the dots, every voice, a strong and equally effective demand for punishment of the culprits. To this crowd of dots symbolizing protests, I contributed mine too. My contribution is a contribution of a photograph to facebook, a contribution of sympathy to the victim, a contribution to the voice against the culprits and the hideous crime, and a contribution to sharing the shame equally. Out of this grief, anger, pain, and shame, I thought to write. Everyone has been thinking the same, everyone has been talking the same, yet I decided to write. Words, though similar, I believe can create a wider impact, and that’s why I decided to write. But only question, write what? Against whom? And why? What I feel personally is that most of the social media users are not only literate, but also sensible. I might be wrong, and time to time incidents happen that say loudly that I am wrong. That’s why, I am using the phrase “most of”. That is, the majority of people who need to be taught, and/or punished haven’t been reached yet. I still decided to write something. Being shared the grief, pain, anger and shame; I wished to share my voice, and their voices via this platform. The social media has organised our voices for sure. But are they making an impact truly? Are they reaching the actual authority that they should? Or are they are limited by the boundaries of internet and social media by just getting tagged on someone else’s black dots, writing something, obtaining few good number of likes and comments over it? Answer is NO. Being a person seriously associated with online media, this is a statement against my job, my professional conscience, but truth prevails at its every fraction. An agitation has soared off the internet, but its impact is limited. Only a black symbol is a hint of our anger, and not our actual rage. Yes, we are boiling, but with one incident that just happened in the capital of the nation? Our agitation and anger also prevailed when we witnessed the Guwahati molestation case, I still remember to what extent media, facebook posts and tweets went viral. And soon it was a forgotten incident. There are many incidents that happen across the nation, in small cities and villages which are sometimes more brutal than the incident happened, but being from a smaller city, they fail to come into notice. We often come across small and tiny lettered headlines across newspapers which once informed a similar brutal deed with even a 11 month old girl. My request is, that the fight shall not be against the culprits of Delhi gang rape case only, but against culprits of entire nation, spread here and there, everywhere.

Yes, everyone is shocked after hearing about the incident; women worried, and their parents, a lot more. A wave of mixed emotions, all negative has hit almost every Indian. We have been writing, sharing, shouting, protesting. Candle marches, silent rallies, loud slogans, everything in action, everything in against. But against what? The government? System? People? Laws? Courruption? Or entire country? Being an Indian blood, we do complain. Even I do. But only complains and hoping never yield fruitful amendments against whatever we have been complaining about. Steps need to be taken. Reforms need to be made. In a male dominated patriarchal society, boys have always been getting more priority than the girls since childhood. Incidents of Female foeticide and female infanticide give a better proof to my statement. I feel ashamed to be a part of the society where we worship a goddess, and almost every abusive slang contains the words of “mother” and “sister” in it. Our issues begin with women empowerment and we end up with songs or characters like “Munni, Sheila, Chameli” and what not. On weekends, to my regular visits to FatehSagar, I find young girls merrily walking or driving by, and pairs of gleaming eyes staring them, at minimum to begin with. Sometimes comments, sometimes even few guys are the next on list that start following. So, I keep asking myself, is laughing out loud a crime? Or being smart or roaming freely at public places a crime? And everywhere it’s the same scene. I can guess if a small city like Udaipur is so affected, Delhi is of course a greater story to deal with. Being proud citizen of the country, it is our most generous expectation and right to get safety and protection. Constitution ensures it, but I never feel it. Only reason is the catastrophic affairs that continuously happen around us. Not to forget the student murder case that took place few days back. Once the system is strict enough, crime rates can be curbed easily instead of the victims which is actually happening in today’s hour. Education is only way to salvation, and only literacy can’t be achieved. Discrimination needs to be stopped, pervert minds need to be transformed, communications need to be made stronger. Endless points on the task list, but starting with one at least will help rather than discussing each and every one of them.

Being survived the so called dooms’ day, its a fair judgement that humans are alive but humanity has certainly died even few days before it. We are day by day getting more detailed info on the incident that happened, and day by day being ashamed for what we witnessed. This is the time to bring a change in ourselves. Let us be better humans, be more understanding. Towards our family, our kiths and kins, our fellow colleagues, seniors, subordinates, all around. The online words and series of candle marches might not bring a rise in processing speed and honesty level in the bureaucrats who are in the law making and justice imparting processes, but might nicely spread the message of acting as humans which we are forgetting in our day to day life. I did deviate from the topic quite a lot of time, but I wish to make sure, words of all my fellow countrymen is out via my pen, that the society is from us, we ourselves being responsible and sensible is a beginning of a positive transformation. Despite the series of endless pain the victim has suffered, her reply to all the questions were, “I want to live.” If she can silently raise her voice against the crime in such a severe situation, why can’t our loud voices and furnace wraths bring a difference? Let our voices not only remain series of black dots on facebook, let them not faint like previous incidents. Keeping our voices raised demanding the punishment of the culprits, I would like to conclude with three words, in every optimistically possible way: “YES, WE CAN!”

Categories
News

Pacific Students become the first ever team from Rajasthan to bag the AIMA-SMG 2012 National Trophy

Grand moment of success achieved by the impassioned efforts and manifold ambitions of students from Udaipur. Breathtaking performance by the students of Pacific Institute of Management in 16th AIMA SMG 2012. For the first time in the history of Rajasthan , Pacific University was the only team to be selected  from the state to compete in the Nationals of AIMA Student Management Games 2012. Not only this, They also bagged the first position and were entitled with the crown of National Champions. The MBA students of Pacific University did a great job in achieving success for their college as well as Udaipur. The semi-final and final round of the competition was held at Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu on 31st Oct and 1st Nov respectively.

Pacific SMG 2012
It’s a proud moment for Udaipurites when tremendous efforts of our students have brought laurels for the state. Going over the facts, the All India Management Association (AIMA) organised Student Management Games 2012 in which 272 teams from all over the country participated, where Pacific College topped the competition, defeating many big players across the nation, closely chased by Nirma University, Gujarat, that stood as the 1st Runner up in the competition. The winning team comprised of Sonali Mehta, Sheeba Parveen, Sidhanshu Bikaneria, and Deepesh Bokadia. They were awarded with the prestigious national championship trophy, a cash prize of Rs. 80,000, a paid holiday package to Uttarakhand, along with lots of gift hampers.

Pacific SMG 2012
In Student Management Games (SMG 2012), an artificial environment is provided to the contestants in which they have to deal with a real business situation and manage it keeping in mind all the tits and bits of a company. Thus, it helps in grooming the managerial skills, team work and leadership qualities of an individual. The maximum profit yielding company was evaluated using a software called Chanakya, and was declared the winner.

Team UdaipurBlog wishes all the very best to the winning team.

Categories
Photos

[Pictures] The Grandeur of Durga Puja 2012

The Navratri began on 16th Oct 2012, and so began days of joy, dance, music, pleasure and above all, devotion. Every state was outperformed by the charm of Gujarati art of celebrating, with the Garba/Dandiya Raas. Soon, 6th day of the Navratri fell on 20th October, and as many of you all might know, the Bengali community begin their celebration of the year long awaited festival. In Udaipur, this occasion is being celebrated from more than 5 decades by the people from Bengali community who are proud residents of this wonderful City of Lakes.

Like every other year, this year too, there were celebrations at different places in Udaipur. UdaipurBlog.com brings you pictures from the 4 day celebrations of Durga Puja that ended on Vijaya Dashmi. Beginning with the bodhan, to routine rituals, “pushpanjali”, “balidaan”, “sandhi-puja”, and the famous “Dhunichi” dance and Sindur Play, the celebration concluded with immersion of the deity idols into water bodies. For a detailed info on the traditions and how the idols are made ‘Eco Frendly’ as well as fit for immersion into water bodies, I suggest you to read the post below

Link: Shree Shree Durga Puja: Traditions Penned by the initiators of Durga Puja in Udaipur

Photos By: Aniket John, Gaurav Bhattacharya, Prasun Bannerjee

Durga Puja 2012
Bindu Bhawan
Durga Puja 2012
Bang Bhawan
Durga Puja 2012
Hiran Magri
Durga Puja 2012
Town Hall
Durga Puja 2012
Sindur Khela

Durga Puja 2012

Durga Puja 2012

Durga Puja 2012

Durga Puja 2012

Durga Puja 2012

Durga Puja 2012

Durga Puja 2012
Visarjan
Categories
News

Udaipur Based startup C2CConnect launches Online and Offline Grooming and recruitment service for Fresher graduates

Indian IT industry needs 2 lakh fresher in next two years. Every year lakhs of graduates pass out from colleges, however only 18 % are employable. Despite having such a huge demand of fresher candidates are still unemployable. C2C connect has initiated program to make student employable through grooming program and take candidate closer to their dream job.

C2CConnect a Udaipur based educational start up is launching its beta version of online and offline grooming and recruitment services for engineering graduates in Rajasthan. IT companies have these criteria’s for selecting a potential candidate.

  • Aptitude test
  • Technical test
  • English Writing Test
  • Group Discussion
  • Technical Interview
  • HR interview

Each section is knock-out round. If a student is good in one area and not good in others student loses his dream job. C2CConnects grooms candidate for each round and test your performance continuously. At the end of successful course completion you could face challenges by any IT organization.

C2CConnect has its online system. When a student is enrolled with C2CConnect a pre assessment test is conducted where student is checked on all the parameter aptitude test, technical test, English writing, Group discussion, Technical interview and HR interview. A score is attached with the student profile and based on the score of each section, student is groomed. If a student is good in aptitude and not good in technical C2CConnect would focus more on improving technical skill for student.

Aptitude, technical and English test are conducted online on our website. Group discussion, Technical Interview and HR Interview assessment is done using video conferencing and offline at C2CConnect premises. A Score is updated with student profiles after each assessment cycle Students can check their progress continuously and find which areas they are weak and which areas they are strong.

To Groom students on technical front C2CConnect has corporate simulation program where they teach basic of application development tools starting with agile tools TFS and JIRA. Students are put directly in the live project with their sister company Siddiwebs. A mentor is assigned to each student who grooms student on complete Software development life cycle. C2CConnect uses same practices which companies like Microsoft and Google follow for application development like working in small teams, understanding requirement, coding, testing, bug fixing then deployment.

C2Cconnect founders have more than 6 years of IT experience with companies like CSC, SAP and Advaiya in the senior position and executed projects in the latest technologies SharePoint, Windows azure, .Net, MVC.

C2CConnect has strong focus on recruitment. C2CConnect  has big and mid size companies associated with them. C2CConnect works closely with the employer and focus only on those technologies and skills which employer seeks.

The reason companies are hiring from C2C Connect.

  • Hiring a suitable fresher is big challenge for IT companies. Selection ratio is 40:4 which means out of 40 short listed candidates only 4 are selected.
  • Companies have to invest lots of money in selecting, grooming fresher on technology and corporate processes.
  • It takes at least 6 month for a fresher to be billable for a company
  • A fresher hired from C2C connect is win to win proposal for IT companies.
  • Companies save money and time and get ready to work professionals which are as good as 6- 12 month of experienced IT professional.

C2CConnect is coming up with its first pool campus for B tech and MCA fresher in Udaipur in December. Bringing companies for fresher require lots of effort.

This Pool campus is open for 2012 pass out and 2013 passing out for CS, IT, Mechanical and Electronic branches. Companies from streams IT, mechanical and Electronics would be visiting to pick up suitable candidates.

The biggest asset of any country is its human resources. Young Indian are the engines of growth for Indian economy. C2CConnect understand student’s potential and knows that each student is going to play important role in shaping Indian economy. C2CConnect is committed to connect fresh graduates with mainstream economy.

Web site : www.c2cconnect.com

Face book page : http://www.facebook.com/C2CConnect

Categories
Festivals

Shree Shree Durga Puja: Traditions Penned by the initiators of Durga Puja in Udaipur

About the Author: Mr. Anand Bhattacharya is an Advocate, and belongs to the successor generation of  late Shri Nripendralal Bhattacharya, who started the Durga Pooja ceremony in Udaipur in the year 1956 , at Bindu Bhawan, 49,Shastri Marg, Udaipur. Since then it is being celebrated there every year at the same place with spirits of great enthusiasm, zeal, and spirituality, and the culture is inherited by generations.

Durga Pooja | UdaipurBlog

Shree Shree Durga Pooja”, which is being celebrated during the Shukla Paksh of Bengali Kartik month every year, known as “Navratri” in the Hindi speaking area of the country, is not just a religious ceremony for the Bengalis. It is a religious-cum-social function and as the festival approaches, the heart of every Bengali is enveloped by the feeling of joy and pleasure. This is a time of the year, when all the new and major purchases are done, new books, new films, new songs, new designs of cloths etc. are released and Bengalis, specially those residing in Kolkata, often plan site seeing trips to various places, specially because the schools also remain closed for around fifteen days during this time. The business, especially for those dealing in consumer goods, is very brisk. Shops are flooded with fresh stock of consumer goods and the market is full of customers.

Normally the Pooja used to be celebrated, initially in Chaitra Month (i.e. around March-April) in the olden days. However, it is said that the Pooja during this time (September-October month) of the year, was started by Shree Raam during his fight with Ravan, when  he was not able to overcome the strength of Ravan. This Pooja is therefore also known as “Akaal Bodhan” [Akaal means – untimely and bodhan means – commencement]. It is also very interesting to note, that as per the belief, this Pooja was performed for Raam, by none other than Ravan himself, who was a Brahmin of the highest order, as there was no other able Brahmin available at the place where such Pooja was performed. This was done by Ravan, knowing fully well that the aim of this Pooja was for vanquishing him. This shows the depth of our culture, where duty is given priority over every other thing – even the life of the person.

Durga Puja Aarti | UdaipurBlog

As against the Navratri pooja, which starts from the first day of Shukla Paksh [ekum], the Durga Pooja as per Bengali system, starts from the sixth day or “Shashti”. There are two Puraans – Devi Puraan and Kalika Puraan – under one of which the Pooja is performed as per Bengali system.

Another very important fact which requires to be taken note of, is that the idol of Shree Shree Durga Mataji is made of completely natural (mostly bio-degradable) commodities. The basic structure or the body of the idols is made by straw being tied to bamboos by jute string (sutli). Over this structure of straw,  the first coat of mud, impregnated with chaff of rice, is applied. Addition of chaff, strengthens the binding quality of the mud. Once this first coat of mud gets dried up, the second and smooth coat of pure and closely sieved mud is applied, which gives the final shape and smoothness to the idols. Once this coat gets dried up, a primary coating of chalk is applied on the mud. After that coat dries up, natural water colors are applied thereon. These water colors are dissolved in the extract obtained by boiling tamarind seeds in water. That makes the colors permanent. After drying up of the colour , the whole idol is coated with a fine solution of sabudana [TROPICANA SEEDS] boiled and dissolved in water. This acts as a laminating film for the colours, and protects it from atmospheric effects like fading out etc.. The hairs are made of finely combed jute, and the black colour to the hairs is imparted by boiling the duly combed jute with Harde, Catechu (Kattha) and certain herbs. Nowadays of course readymade hairs are available. Thus the idol consists mostly of natural inputs. Therefore, this idol is more eco-friendly than the POP idols that are being made in other parts of the country. It may also be noted that except for the faces (which are also made of mud) whole of the idol is made by hand and dies are not used. This is a traditional art, and specialized by some families who are doing this work for generations. Luckily, as the number of poojas and requirement of idol is ever increasing, this art is not a dying art and actually new artists are getting added to this profession every year.

Idol Making Process Durga Puja | UdaipurBlog

The format of the idol which is being worshipped during this Durga Pooja ceremony is known as “Mahishasur Mardini Roop” i.e. the roop or form, which Maa Durga adopted for vanquishing and ultimately killing “Mahishasur”, who was one of the most powerful asur (evil power) of all times. It is said that when “Mahishasur” became so powerful that even the Gods (Devtas] started getting tormented by him, all the Gods contributed their powers and created this “Mahishasur Mardini Roop” and in that form, duly fortified with the strength of various Gods, Maa Durga annihilated “Mahishasur”. This format of Maa Durga therefore is known as “Shakti Roop of Maa Durga” and in this roop, Maa Durga  has ten hands, each wielding a special weapon known as ayudh, which were contributed by various different Gods.

Alongwith the main idol of Maa Durga, riding a lion and seen as killing “Mahishasur”, there are other idols namely “Ganesh”,  “Maha Laxmi”, “Maha Saraswati” and ”Kartik”. Each of these idols are manifestations of certain virtues. Lord Ganesh is manifestation of wisdom, Maha Laxmi Ji is manifestation of wealth, Maha Saraswati Ji is manifestation of learning and Kartik Ji is the manifestation of administration/organization. If the whole idol is perceived with this viewpoint, it would very clearly covey the message that if one wants to overcome evil powers (whether external or internal) one would need to have integrated and concentrated physical power (Maa Durga herself); wisdom (Ganesh ji); financial resources (Maha Laxmi Ji); learning (Maha Saraswati ji) and administration/organization (Kartik Ji). This reasserts the position that this Pooja teaches a method by which any person can overcome the vices by augmenting his physical powers, wisdom, wealth, learning and administrative capacity.

Durga Idols | UdaipurBlog

The Pooja starts from Shashti (sixth day) and continues upto Dussera. It is said that on completion of the Pooja, Raam was able to win over and kill Ravan, and that is the reason why completion of the Shree Shree Durga Pooja coincides with the Ravan-Kumbhkarna-Meghnath effigy burning.

Bindu Bhawan Durga Puja | UdaipurBlog

The most important Pooja during the whole Durga Pooja ceremony is “Sandhi pooja”. This pooja is to be performed within a time of 48 minutes. These 48 minutes are carved out of “Ashtami tithi” and “Navami tithi” – 24 minutes from the end of Ashtami and 24 minutes from the beginning of Navami – these 48 minutes constitute Sandhi Pooja time. It is said that during this time “Mahishasur” was killed by Maa Durga, because “Mahishasur” had a boon that he will not be killed in any “tithi”. Sandhi Pooja therefore is of immense importance, because the whole purpose of vanquishing “Mahishasur” was achieved during this brief span on 48 minutes when there was no tithi in particular. The sandhi pooja is to be commenced, performed and completed within these 48 minutes, and there is every attempt to ensure that there is no lapse during this pooja.

Balidaan or sacrifice is a part of every days’ pooja. While sacrifice of goat or buffaloes used to be offered very commonly in the past, nowadays normally Balidaan of sugarcane, gourd (petha) and banana [jointly known as ‘bali’] is offered. However, still in some places sacrifice of goat is being offered. There are four balidaans during the Pooja – each after completion of the poojas of Saptami, Ashtami, Navami and of Sandhi Pooja. It is essential that the “Bali” is cut by one stroke of the weapon.

The Durga Pooja ceremony ends with immersion of the idol of Maa Durga in the water – in lakes, rivers, sea etc. . Since the idol is made of mostly bio-degradable items, it does not pollute the water resources. The immersion ceremony is followed by each greeting  the other and touching the feet of elders and obtaining their blessings. Eating of sweets is a part of each such ceremony!

Visarjan | UdaipurBlog

It is also considered by most of the Bengalis, specially ladies, that Maa Durga comes to the earth during this time, as a married daughter comes to visit her parents once in a year, and therefore everyone wants to offer the best offerings that he or she can, to Maa during this pooja. Similarly after immersion (visarjan) , ladies are quite sad and many weep when the idol of Maa Durga is taken away for visarjan. Therefore, it is again reiterated that this is not just a religious ceremony but a social festival in which everyone gets emotionally involved.  This probably is a time in the life of every Bengali, when every one tries to forget his woes and misfortunes and tries to be happy and enjoy the occasion. This festival is therefore an in-built aspect of the life of every Bengali and in whichever part of the world he may be during these days, he would always wish to be in the Pooja atmosphere, with his near and dear ones, at least during these few days. Probably Maa also comes down to the earth during this time – because God is nothing but a manifestation of the devotion that is contained in everyone’s heart !!!

Categories
News

2 Day National Workshop on Amateur Radio held in Techno NJR

A 2 day national workshop on Amateur Radio Communications & Computer networks in Education (NW-ARCCNE – 2012) was held in Techno India NJR Institute of Technology on 17th and 18th October, 2012.
This workshop was organized by Techno India NJR, Udaipur in association with National Institute of Amateur Radio (NIAR), Hyderabad and supported by IEEE (TINJRT) Computer Society Student Branch. The workshop was hosted by Miroslav Skoric, Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Serbia, who explained various aspects of Amateur Radio and Digital Network.

NW-ARCCNE | UdaipurBlog

The inaugural witnessed presence of guests like Miroslav Skoric, S. Ram Mohan, Director, NIAR, Rajveer Shekhawat, GM, Secure Meters, Mazher Hussain, Secretary, CSI Udaipur Chapter, and online presence of Dr. Sorel Reisman, past president, IEEE Computer Society. In the beginning, Mr. S. Ram Mohan gave a brief intro on Amateur Radio, informed about the advantages and how it had been of great help in recent past.
It was later taken over by Miroslav, where he took an in-depth session on Amateur Radio, setting it up, and gave a hands-on practical session of Amateur Radio transmission. The workshop successfully concluded with certificate distribution, and on a note to contribute more intelligence and efforts to the Global Amateur Radio Community.

Given below are few glimpses of the event held at Techno India NJR Institute of Technology.

(Click on images to enlarge)

NW-ARCCNE | UdaipurBlog

NW-ARCCNE | UdaipurBlog

NW-ARCCNE | UdaipurBlog

NW-ARCCNE | UdaipurBlog

NW-ARCCNE | UdaipurBlog

NW-ARCCNE | UdaipurBlog

NW-ARCCNE | UdaipurBlog

Categories
News

National Workshop NW-ARCCNE to be held in Techno NJR

The amateur radio is an old fine hobby from the days of inventing the Morse alphabet and implementing telegraphy. Since the second half of the 19th century, millions of volunteers learned new skills in communications – while attending the amateur radio courses and successfully passed examinations; got their first radio licenses and started transmitting signals to the spectrum. The electronics industry recognized the incoming “flood” of the new communicating enthusiasts, coming from all over the world and predicted them to be a good market very soon. Today we have a lot of opportunities to purchase sophisticated and computerized amateur radio “gadgets” – that include fascinating traditional and brand new communication modes.

Nw-ARCCNE 2012

To keep up pace with the new trends and spread word and knowledge about the Amateur Radio, Techno India NJR Institute of Technology, Udaipur is organizing National Workshop on Amateur Radio Communications and Computer Networks in Education (NW-ARCCNE) 2012 in association with National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad, IEEE Computer Society India Council and IEEE Education Society Delhi Chapter supported by TINJRIT IEEE Computer Society Student Branch on 17-18 October 2012.

Dr. Miroslav “Misko” Skoric, Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Serbia | UdaipurBlog

The workshop will be conducted by Dr. Miroslav “Misko” Skoric, Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Serbia. He has 20 years of experience in computer network administration and system maintenance and 20+ years of practice in the amateur radio. Skoric has been maintaining various types of amateur radio bulletin board systems with VHF/HF radio frequency and Internet inputs/outputs in the local amateur radio union and clubs-societies.

 

In a discussion with Piyush Javeria, Chair, NW-ARCCNE, he informed that the participants will be learning different aspects of the amateur radio fundamentals, such as:

  • What is the amateur radio, who are the radio amateurs, how to find and join them
  • What is needed to establish a simplest computer communication between two users
  • How to solve the problem of natural or artificial obstacle between two (or more) users
  • What are the advantages of communication with the amateur radio satellites
  • How to exchange an e-mail without an ISP connection or without a telephone
  • How to choose the proper modem, radio, antenna and computer
  • How to fight against potential amateur radio ‘pirates’ (hackers)
  • What regulatory changes are needed to establish more amateur computer networks
  • What topics and questions belong to the new suggested ADL licenses
  • How to make the local AMUNET and how to link it to a neighbouring one.

The last date to register for the same throughout India is 12th October 2012. More details can be found on the website: http://ieeecs.technonjr.org/nw-arccne