Categories
People

Jamnalal Jethi | People from Udaipur You Should Know About

Our city – Udaipur is completely filled with beauty in and out. And this beauty is not reflected in just its history, culture and its places, but also in its people. There are some gem of the people belonging from Udaipur who, with their hard work and success, have not just made the city but the entire nation proud.

But sadly, with time we tend to forget the accomplishment of such people of the city. The series ‘People from Udaipur you should know about’ tends to glorify the journey of these famous and triumphant people from Udaipur who have become an epitome of success in their lives.

 

Jamnalal Jethi

Jethi community has been known for its wrestling business or better known as ‘Pehelwani’ since the city was under the regime of kings and queens. There are still many ‘Akhada’ in the city belonging to the Jethi community such as the one at Chandpole and Gangaur Ghat. But it looked like, that wasn’t something which Jamnalal had decided for himself.

Jamnalal Jethi was born in the year 1932 in Udaipur. Many people back then wanted a secured life and a safe future but Jamnalal had something else in his mind. Being born in a slave country, he always wanted to do something for his country. At a very young age, he became a part of the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh).

1947 was the year of independence for India but Goa was still seized by the Portuguese. This was the time when Jamnalal’s brother gave him a tea stall and suggested to earn his livelihood by the same. But the fire of independence and the feeling of patriotism made him sell this stall and with the little amount he got from it, he left for Goa in the year 1950 without informing anyone in his family and leaving his wife and 3 children behind. As a matter of fact, he was a mere 23-year-old boy when he took this crucial decision of his life.

He was the only one from Udaipur who participated in the Goa Liberation Movement. There were numerous challenges and hardships awaiting him there.

The rage rose up to such a level that the Portuguese started firing on all the agitators. During this while, Jamnalal also got hit by a bullet on his shoulder. While all of his co-agitators were taken to the crematorium, Jamnalal was taken to the hospital.

His family was completely unaware about the entire episode until he returned to Udaipur. He was welcomed by the citizens with utmost pride and honor at Jagdish Chowk. It was then that his family came to know about his whereabouts while he was missing.

Jamnalal Jethi awarded by the then Vice President of India, Bheru Singh Shekhawat

His dream got fulfilled in the year 1961 when Goa was liberated from the control of Portuguese.

On his return, he joined PWD and made his own house at Chandpole. His bravery and courage were even recognized by UIT which awarded him with a piece of land in Hiranmagri as a token of respect.

All the freedom fighters of Goa Andolan

On 16th September 2018, 85-year-old Jamnalal Jethi passed away and his last rites were performed with state honors in which many renowned personalities including the then Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria were present.

He left behind his two sons and a daughter and several stories for his grandchildren to cherish. ‘My grandfather was such a patriot that he named me after his country’ says Bharat Jethi, his only grandson.

People like Jamnalal Jethi turns out to be an inspiration to all the citizens of Udaipur. Leaving behind all the worldly pleasures, Jamnalal’s spirit and dedication to liberate his nation has been commendable.

Do you have any feedback regarding the article? Or have any story you want to share with us? Then drop a mail to me at

Juhee@udaipurblog.com

Categories
People

Brij Narayan | People from Udaipur You Should Know About

Our city – Udaipur is completely filled with beauty in and out. And this beauty is not reflected in just its history, culture and its places, but also in its people. There are some gem of the people belonging from Udaipur who, with their hard work and success, have not just made the city but the entire nation proud.

But sadly, with time we tend to forget the accomplishment of such people of the city. The series ‘People from Udaipur you should know about’ tends to glorify the journey of these famous and triumphant people from Udaipur who have become an epitome of success in their lives.

 

Brij Narayan

Brij Narayan is a renowned name in the field of Indian classical music. He is the eldest son and disciple of the world-acclaimed Sarangi maestro Pandit Ram Narayan. Born on 25 April 1952 in Udaipur, Brij Narayan was fascinated by the sound of Sarod right from his young age. He graduated from the University of Mumbai in 1972 after which he also worked on several movies while touring Africa, Europe, and America.

Source: YouTube

The powerful musicality and adaptability of his father to a range of ‘Gharanas’ (musical styles) gave the opportunity to Brij Narayan to develop his own original style. As a matter of fact, Narayan hailed from a family with musical expertise with his Uncle, Chatur Lal being a Tabla player and father being a sarangi player.

Over his long career, Shri Brij Narayan performed in many esteemed music festivals in India as well as abroad including the celebration of the Munich Olympics; and in the University of Pennsylvania, USA. He composed music for many films and has many recordings to his credit including a collaboration with Zakir Hussain. He has also been featured as an artist in a film by Dinkar Rao named as Magic in Fingers for Films Division of India, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. In 1978, he played in a movie ‘Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki’ and composed music for the movie Bengali Night by Nicholas Klotz starring Hugh Grant.

Source: The Hindu

Awards and Recognition

Shri Brij Narayan has received many titles and awards for his contribution to Hindustani instrumental music which includes the President’s Gold Medal in All India Radio Music Competition (1967), the Dagar Gharana Award by the Mewar Foundation (1996), and the Marwar Sangeet Ratna Award (2012). He also received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Hindustani instrumental music – Sarod in the year 2015.


Currently, Narayan lives in Mumbai along with his family. His son Harsh Narayan plays sarangi since 1997. Narayan also works for Pt Ram Narayan Foundation in Mumbai which offers a scholarship to Sarangi students.

Do you have feedback regarding the article? Or have something to share of your own? Write to me at juhee@udaipurblog.com, we would love to feature your story.

Categories
People

Govind From Udaipur who Turned his Disability into Strength

In your entire life, did you ever come across a thought that ‘I won’t be able to do it’? If you have, then this article will definitely change your perception towards life.

The story revolves around a boy named Govind Kharol, who is 25-years-old, born in an ordinary family in Udaipur. Like every other kid, Govind was expected to join a school, find a job and spend his life in the human race we all are a part of. But as easy as it sounds to us, as challenging it was for Govind.

He was born with a differently abled body with no right arm and partially developed left arm with just two fingers which is the reason why these ordinary things turned out to be a challenge for him. As he grew up, he realized that he was different which lead him to a struggle to get admission in a regular school. The usual advice that he used to get from the authorities was that he should get admission to a special school where he could get ‘proper attention’. But this wasn’t enough to shake his confidence. And finally, at the age of 5, he got admission in a regular school.

Initially, he was very shy and kept to himself but being good at studies, he turned out to be a dear student to all the teachers.

One day some people from Shikshantar came to his school. Govind became quite fascinated with the way of creative learning they offered blended with interesting games. He then visited Shikshantar and the first question he was asked was “What is your dream? What do you want to be in your life?” The question left him clueless and acted as a turning point in his life as this was the first time when someone asked him a question like this.

Govind’s interest lied in filmmaking. After attending a few filmmaking workshops, he made his first film ‘Sher Ka Zukham’ with the Shikshantar team. His film was highly appreciated which motivated him to continue it as a profession.

In the phase of growing up, Govind faced numerous challenges. After crossing the hurdle of education, he applied for a job. At first, he got selected based on his resume but as soon as the recruiter saw him, the first statement that left his mouth was ‘You won’t be able to do it’. He tried to convince the recruiter to let him try for once, but he was asked to leave. The entire episode shattered him.

He decided to rejoin Shikshantar and pursue his filmmaking venture only to realize that this is what actually makes him happy. He bought his own laptop and a camera from his personal savings and also opened a studio which was a big achievement for him.

 

The sport that turned his disability into power

Since childhood, he had admired the sport of cycling. He used to see people his age could easily ride a cycle. For several times, the thought to learn bicycling crossed his mind but the question was how would he do it! It made him distressed to know that he couldn’t do a thing as ordinary as riding a bicycle. But somewhere in his mind, it made him more determined to learn it.

In the beginning, he was not able to apply brakes in his cycle and had to use his legs to stop it. He realized that he had to get it modified. He knocked the door of several shops in Udaipur who could help him with the modification. After numerous attempts, one of them modified his bicycle and placed the brakes near the front tyre of the cycle. This made it very easy for him to operate the bicycle and travel great distances without any hurdle. He used to go to distant places with his friends on the bicycle. It made him passionate about the sport.

So much that he went on a journey of 1700 km from Udaipur to Bangalore all alone. It all began is December 2017 when for the first time he was going to travel such a huge distance that too away from his family, his parents. The news of the cycle journey came as a shock to his family and relatives. Everyone resisted him to go on this expedition of his. But on 5th December 2017, just when he was about to leave, his friends and family gathered outside his house to bid him goodbye.

This passion of his’ raised several questions in people’s mind. They used to ask him ‘why do you do this? How do you do this? Don’t you get scared?’

But to all these questions he had just one answer that  ‘If I get scared this time, then I won’t be able to do anything, ever’.

After this expedition, there was no looking back for him. In August 2018, he went for another cycling trip from Manali to KhardungLa. KhardungLa is considered to be the world’s highest Motorable pass. The route of this trip is 550 km long but is at an altitude of 18000 ft. which makes it very difficult. ‘Some paths were very narrow and difficult for me’ he says but in the end his passion didn’t let him quit and the most challenging 11-day journey came to an end with lots of learnings and memories for him to cherish.

 

When Camera became his friend

Govind says that he had a peculiar interest in photography. He used to shoot some videos and photos from his mobile phone wherever he used to go. After some time he thought that it was the time to move on to the next level of photography which was the camera.

He narrates the story of his first camera experience. He says ‘the first time I held a camera, I thought that I won’t be able to operate it. I met several filmmakers in Shikshantar. They taught me multiple things about an angle, shot, and frame in a camera. It further generated my interest in filmmaking. In this way, I learned to edit, and filmmaking.

Govind is popular by the name ‘Bindaas’ as his personality. Every Sunday morning, a group of around 15-17 cyclists comes together along with ‘Bindas Govind’ to share the passion for cycling. This group is known as ‘Bindaas cyclists’.

Govind is a perfect example of passion and dedication. If you are determined to do something, nothing can ever stop you.

Did you like the article or have feedback on the same? Then share with us in the comment section below or write to me at juhee@udaipurblog.com
Categories
People

Aindrita Ray | People from Udaipur You Should Know About

Our city – Udaipur is completely filled with beauty in and out. And this beauty is not reflected in just its history, culture and its places, but also in its people. There are some gem of the people belonging from Udaipur who, with their hard work and success, have not just made the city but the entire nation proud.

But sadly, with time we tend to forget the accomplishment of such people of the city. The series ‘People from Udaipur you should know about’ tends to glorify the journey of these famous and triumphant people from Udaipur who have become an epitome of success in their lives.

Source: CircleOfBollywood

Aindrita Ray

Aindrita Ray is an Indian Film actress appearing majorly in Kannada films. She was born in Udaipur as the youngest daughter in a Bengali family. She spent her entire childhood here and later moved to Mumbai. Her father Mr. A.K. Ray being a prosthodontist in the Indian Air Force had to move to one place to another along with his family. After some time, they finally settled in Bangalore.

Source: NewsKarnataka

Along with her studies, she did part-time modeling and also appeared in many advertisements back then which paved her way into the film industry. She began doing Kannada films and worked in a few short films as well.

 

Acting career

Ray made her acting debut in 2007, starring Meravanige and after that, there was no looking back for her. She appeared in several successful films after that establishing herself as a leading contemporary Kannada actress. Before that, in the year 2006, she was also seen in the movie Jackpot.

Source: picsboxindia

Notable works

In the year 2009, Aindrita Ray appeared in Vaayuputra along with Chiranjeevi Sarja. After that, she made a brief appearance in the successful film Love Guru. She got her biggest break in the film Junglee followed by her most successful film Manasaare where she was appreciated by the public for her role of a mentally challenged girl. The movie made her win many awards and accolades for her role including Suvarna Award for Best Actress and a nomination for Filmfare Awards.

Some of her other works are:

  • Mast Maja Maadi – Kannada film in the year 2008
  • Nooru Janmaku – Kannada film in the year 2010
  • Nannavanu – Kannada film in the year 2010
  • Veera Parampare – Kannada film in the year 2010 (Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Actress)
  • Paramathma – Kannada film in the year 2011 (Nominated for SIIMA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress)
  • Kaanchana – Kannada film in the year 2011
  • Bhajarangi – Kannada film in the year 2013 (Nominated for SIIMA Award for Best Actress, Filmfare Award for Best Actress)
  • Love in Hyderabad – Telugu film in the year 2013
  • Bachchan – Bengali in the year 2014
  • Niruttara – Kannada film in the year 2016 (Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress)
  • Coming Back – Hindi film in the year 2018 (Bollywood Debut)

Such a great talent from Udaipur has been gifted to the Indian Film industry. And we were completely unaware about it. We wish Aindrita a lot of successful movies in the upcoming years.

Do you have feedback regarding the article? Or have something to share of your own? Write to me at juhee@udaipurblog.com, we would love to feature your story.

Categories
People

Devi Lal Samar | People from Udaipur You Should Know About

Our city – Udaipur is completely filled with beauty in and out. And this beauty is not reflected in just its history, culture and its places, but also in its people. There are some gem of the people belonging from Udaipur who, with their hard work and success, have not just made the city but the entire nation proud.

But sadly, with time we tend to forget the accomplishment of such people of the city. The series ‘People from Udaipur you should know about’ tends to glorify the journey of these famous and triumphant people from Udaipur who have become an epitome of success in their lives.

 

Devi Lal Samar

Devilal Samar was born on 30th July 1911 in an Oswal family of Udaipur. He had a great interest in dance, theatre, puppetry and all the folk art forms of Rajasthan. For 10 years, he was a music, dance, and language teacher in Vidhya Bhawan school of Udaipur. After teaching in the school, he used to go to the nearby villages and spend his day amidst the artists residing there.

Folk dance and local art forms weren’t given much respect back then. The people who had acquired the art used to feel inferior of themselves. These people belonged to the lower castes and untouchables. Devilal wanted to build a platform for all such people who can showcase their talent and get respect and livelihood against it.

At the age of 42, he left his teaching profession and decided to spend his life in promoting the folk and local art forms. He determined to establish one organization that will give a boost to these abandoned people and their art forms. In the year 1952, he established Lok Kala Mandal in Udaipur.

Bhartiya Lok Kala Mandal

But his mission wasn’t accomplished yet. He made a list of all the renowned artists from nearby places who were not given the respect they deserved, collected them at one place, appealed to the government to provide them lands to live and conducted many functions and events that helped all these artists to live a life of respect with their heads held high. This act of him helped many such people to get jobs in radio, Television shows, theatre and even in education.

 

Beginning of Puppetry

During one of his tours in Rajasthan, he found an old man who had mortgaged his puppets to a businessman. With one puppet remaining with himself, he was begging on the street trying to entertain the wayfarer. It hurt Devi Lal to look at artists in such conditions. He gave 40 rupees from his pocket (back in that time) to the old man so that he can release all his puppets. It struck his mind that this art form needs Kala Mandal’s attention. From then on, Puppet shows and puppetry became a major part of Lok Kala Mandal. He also began the first puppet festival in the year 1952. Today, there’s a separate puppet theatre in Lok Kala Mandal where puppet shows are conducted at regular intervals.

Achievements and Notable Works

  • In the year 1968, Devilal Samar was awarded the civilian award ‘Padmashree’ for his excellent work in the field of art and culture by Indian Government.
  • The state government made him the director of Rajasthan Sangeet Natak Akademi in the year 1967.
  • In the year 1969, he was awarded the title of ‘Loknatyashree’ at Kalidas Akademi in Ujjain.
  • In his lifetime, he has published several Rajasthani theatre, puppetry and art books in Hindi some of which are Bhartiya Loknrtiya, Antarman, Lokrang, Rajasthan ka Lok Sangeet, Rajasthani Loknatya, Rajasthan ke Rawal, etc.
  • He established folk-theatre museum Bharatiya Lok Kala Mandal which escalated the importance of folk art and culture of Rajasthan.

Devilal has dedicated all his life to folk art, dance, music, folk drama, puppet and to give a life of respect to all the artists in the society.

Do you have a feedback regarding the article? Or have something to share of your own? Write to me at juhee@udaipurblog.com, we would love to feature your story.

Categories
People

Kanta Kumari Bhatnagar | People from Udaipur You Should Know About

Our city – Udaipur is completely filled with beauty in and out. And this beauty is not reflected in just its history, culture and its places, but also in its people. There is some gem of the people belonging from Udaipur who, with their hard work and success, have not just made the city but the entire nation proud.

But sadly, with time we tend to forget the accomplishment of such people of the city. The series ‘People from Udaipur you should know about’ tends to glorify the journey of these famous and triumphant people from Udaipur who have become an epitome of success in their lives.

Source: Wikipedia

Kanta Kumari Bhatnagar

Kanta Kumari Bhatnagar was born in the year 1930 in Udaipur. She was a judge as well as a human rights activist in India. She became a district and session judge at Jodhpur, Bhilwara, Ajmer, and Kota.

Apart from that, Kanta achieved many ‘firsts’ in her lifetime. She became Udaipur’s first lady Advocate, followed by being the first Lady Judge of Rajasthan in 1968. In the year 1992, Kanta became the first women to become a Chief Justice of the Madras High Court and served there for the whole year. Moreover, she became the first chairperson of the Rajasthan State Human Rights Commission in the year 2000.

At the age of 81, Kanta passed away due to a heart attack on 13 August 2011 in Udaipur.

Throughout her life, Kanta Kumari Bhatnagar has empowered many women out there and gave a very powerful message to the world, that if a woman makes her mind to do something, nothing can ever stop her.

Do you have a feedback regarding the article? Or have something to share of your own? Write to me at juhee@udaipurblog.com, we would love to feature your story.

Categories
People

Udaipur’s National Badminton player to make Badminton courts for underprivileged children

Some of us are lucky enough to chase our dreams and achieve our goals, whereas there are some with just as much talent, but not as privileged in terms of resources. Maybe, that’s what struck the mind of this young man from Udaipur when he decided to make the largest badminton academy in Rajasthan.

Vikramaditya Chaufla has been playing badminton since he was 11 years old. What started as a means to keep himself engaged during the evenings turned into his passion and this is what took him on a journey that is full of achievements and accolades. From being the winner of the West Zone Inter-University tournament in Surat to representing India in the World University Championship in S.Korea, Vikram is one of the only two players (With Ravi Raj Sharma) in the history of Rajasthan to achieve this feat (a record which still stands).

During this journey of his’, he was even offered a central government job but he ditched that only to come back to his own city to build a badminton academy that will specially focus on underprivileged children.

The construction of the court has already started and will be finished by February 2019. The entire project of the court is self-funded and built with the initial help of I.E.V.O. Once the academy is up and running, the training will be provided by Vikram himself and he would be accompanied by international coaches and senior players who have represented the country. Apart from a select lot of underprivileged children, who would be completely funded by Vikram and his team, other people who are interested in the sport would also be welcomed.

Vikram has a noble vision to develop a private institute comprising of a holistic sports infrastructure and supported by the best of coaches in the field as he says that are umpteen number of great players, not just in the city but also in the rural areas who are just in need of a proper sports infrastructure and the right training.

If you have any such story which you want to share with us, write to me at juhee@udaipurblog.com.

Categories
People

7 Types of People You Come Across in Udaipur

A city is like a movie which has a cast full of sad, mad, happy, angry people. Love them or hate them, one thing is for sure that you won’t be able to ignore them. And accept it or not, these are the elements that make the city interesting, isn’t it? It wouldn’t be wrong if I say that a city is made up of bricks and stones but it comes to life through its people.

And along with the Lakes, there are a bunch of some more things that make Udaipur intriguing and that is its people. Although, the number of mood swings every individual bear is countless there are some traits that we are either born with or acquire in our lifetime and that is what decides what type are we. So, here are the types of people that you are likely to find in the city. Whether you are a local or a tourist, you will not be spared by some of these characters.

‘Can you take a picture of me here’ type

7 Types of people you come across in Udaipur
Source: Preachart

The first and the most common category. In this category, people tend to get obsessed with clicking pictures everywhere, every time. This kind of people literally give efforts on getting all dressed up, choosing an elegant place and clicking a lot of pictures in every possible pose. Their Instagram or Facebook feed is full of fancy selfies, groupfies, pictures with Snapchat filters, Instagram filters and the list is endless. Every friend of this person is his personal photographer.

 

‘Dude! There’s this new food joint…’ type

7 Types of people you come across in Udaipur
Source: Pinterest

This person is the exclusive foodie and food critic of our group. Every outing of the entire group begins and ends at some street food stall, café, or restaurant because of him. Every new food item that arrives in Udaipur, be it potato tornado, conizza, or live Tawa ice cream, is first tasted and reviewed by him and then passed on to the rest of the group. His social networking is full of pictures of food and all that you think after seeing them is ‘Where the hell do they serve THIS in Udaipur?’

 

The ‘Wanderer of the city’

7 Types of people you come across in Udaipur
Source: thatoneadventurecouple

This is the ‘Eid ka chand’ of the gang because most of the times he is out traveling to different places in the country. And when he is in the city he turns out to be the one who discovers new places in Udaipur. It must have been one of such wanderers who would’ve discovered places like Badi hill, Pipliya, etc.

 

The ‘Angreji mem’

7 Types of people you come across in Udaipur
Source: TheStyleChair

The hotshot diva of the city. Don’t get confused by her dress up or accent, she is purely born and raised up in Udaipur. People in this category are usually bold, attractive and very popular. You can easily find too many people following her on her Instagram. While she tends to irritate and make some people jealous, others are too busy drooling over her.

 

‘I own a DSLR, hence, I am a photographer’ type

7 Types of people you come across in Udaipur
Source: Shutterstock

Although there are a lot of outstanding photographers out there who capture some mind-blowing images, there are some people whose DSLR is as useless as a glass hammer. They just buy these expensive cameras in the hype, try to imitate some renowned photographers and later on get tired with all the mess and leave the camera to rot in some corner.

 

‘The Richie Rich’ type

7 Types of people you come across in Udaipur
Source: Healthprep

Sit on the pal of Fatehsagar or Rani Road on a weekend eve and you will easily spot these people. These people are like ‘too rich to care’. They own different luxurious cars, bikes and possibly everything. They do not get tired of bragging their stuff and while you are in a restaurant or a café with them, do not worry about the bill because they are going to pay it whatsoever. Even, if you insist, which you honestly shouldn’t.

 

The ‘Show off’ type

7 Types of people you come across in Udaipur
Source: BBC.com

Quite contrary to the above category, these people brag about all the things they own and often the ones that they don’t. According to them, they have a direct connection to RBI which supplies money to them, hence they own huge bungalows with different luxurious cars with a chauffeur waiting for them. But make sure you do not ask them to see all this stuff because if you do, you will be listening to a list of impossible excuses for the next hour.

It becomes quite difficult sometimes to bear the tantrums of people but at the end of the day no one is perfect and we too have some of the irritating habits, right? And after all a friend is someone that handles all our frenzies and still love us unconditionally.

So? Does your friends’ group include any such people? Tag them and let them know that they have been featured here. If you have any feedback in mind regarding the article, share them with us in the comment section below or you can also write to me at juhee@udaipurblog.com.

Categories
Photos Places to Visit

Gandhi Shilp Mela: Art and Craft Fair in Udaipur

Gandhi Shilp Mela

The National Crafts Fair, also known as the GANDHI SHILP MELA started in Udaipur from 4th March and will continue till 13th March 2011 at Town Hall. The craftsmen and artisans from all over India have gathered in our city to show their extraordinary masterpieces as well as talent. This event is organised by Rural Non Farm Development Agency (RUDA). According to an estimate, this year the trade till date has exceeded Rs. 10.5 Lakhs. A huge overwhelming crowd is seen enjoying the fair.many items such as furniture, wooden items, show pieces, garments, accessories, etc can be seen at display and for sale.

Here are few glimpses of the Gandhi Shilp Mela.

Gandhi Shilp Mela

Gandhi Shilp Mela

Gandhi Shilp Mela

Gandhi Shilp Mela

Gandhi Shilp Mela

Gandhi Shilp Mela

Gandhi Shilp Mela

Gandhi Shilp Mela