Visakhapatnam :

Contrary to the belief that brunches, kitty parties and high tea keep them occupied while their husbands are out at sea for months together guarding the coastline, wives of Navy officers  are busy juggling their own careers with hectic personal and social lives. These group of over 10,000 women also do take out time for their ilk in order to uphold the tradition of Naval Wives’ Welfare Association (NWWA).

There are doctors, lecturers, journalists and IT professionals among wives of several Navy officers in the city. The president of NWWA and wife of Eastern Naval Command chief, Ragini Chopra , herself works with Jet Airways. Then there are daring women like commanding officer Captain Mahesh Singh’s wife Manita Singh, who runs Balwari School, an institution for the underprivileged, and also takes part in daredevil acts like jackstay during combat demos of war ships. “I enjoy moving from one Naval base to another as it’s exciting and offers new experiences. I would like my two children to also join the defence forces,” says Manita Singh.

Kaushalya Suresh, vice-president of NWWA, Kalinga Naval Station, Vizag, adds, “Once married to a Navy officer or sailor, one automatically becomes a member. Here, around 300 wives are active NWWA members and participate in all activities. The hierarchy depends on the husband’s corresponding position.”

NWWA members are used to a hectic life with their husbands usually getting transferred every two-three years. “Accommodation becomes a problem during transfers, and each time we have to start afresh,” says Kaushalya.

And in this on-going Navy Week celebrations, NWWA members have their hands full. At the Kalinga Naval Station, they are involved in over a dozen group activities. These include environment awareness activities through Prakriti group, while Ashirwad caters to the needs of senior citizens and Jagriti deals with educational needs of the underprivileged children. Sparsh or Outreach group reaches out to destitute women, orphans and the underprivileged among civilians in villages around the base.

Sakhi is a counselling group for NWWA members, Sahara on the other hand deals with empowerment and rehabilitation of Navy widows and Arogya addresses health issues, including health cards for all women and compulsory medical check-ups.

There’s also Sankalp, a centre for the spastic and differently-abled children and Pragati Udyogika to help set up cottage industries and empower women with skills, even as Tarangini showcases cultural talents of NWWA women and Shilpika looks after artistic endeavours that eventually find a place in the NWWA shop.

Lachmi Deb Roy, a lecturer and freelancer, feels NWWA offers the right platform for deep bonding and personal growth. “Though frequent transfers can be disturbing, it makes one more adaptable and the community spirit widens ones perspective, social network and boosts confidence. When my husband was away for two years in a foreign country, I single-handedly brought up my little son while managing my job. In such difficult times, bonding with NWWA members through picnics, parties, community service keeps us fully engaged,” she said.

Talking about upcoming activities such as medical camps in nearby villages and opening of NWWA store, NWWA president Ragini Chopra, concludes, “Life is hectic for the wives as well but it’s good to see so many Navy wives coming forward to actively participate in the works of NWWA. There’s a lot of talent that needs to be given the right exposure.”

source:  http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Visakhapatnam / TNN / November 29th, 2012

Nellore :

Devotees  thronged Nellore town on Tuesday to take part in the ‘Rottela Panduga’ as it is considered auspicious to visit the  Barah Shaheed dargah  on the day of gandhotsvam  (chandan mahotsav).

The town was packed with pilgrims who arrived from various parts of the country from early hours and the rush continued till late in the evening.

The chief of Kadapa Ameen Peer dargah Arifulla Hussaini formally launched the gandhotsavam in the early hours.

The dargah committee members brought gandham mixed in vessels in a specially decorated vehicle from Ameenia mosque in Kotamitta in the town around midnight. There was a minor stampede at the dargah as devotees jostled to receive the ‘gandham’ distributed by the dargah authorities.

Police who intervened resorted to mild lathi charge to control the situation. Pilgrims had a holy dip in the Swarnala Cheruvu, a local tank and started exchanging rotis to fulfill their wishes. There was a heavy rush for udyogam rotte (roti of job) and pelli rotte (roti of marriage) on the banks of the Swarnala Cheruvu. With people, irrespective of their religion taking part in the festivities, Nellore town virtually turned into a sea of humanity.

Although, the festivities began two days ago on the day of Muharram, the massive crowd turned up to take part in the event on Tuesday to take gandham from the dargah in addition to accept or leave roti in the tank waters.

District collector B Sridhar was one of the first visitors to the dargah and offer special prayers to the Barah Shaheed. He offered a chadar to the dargah. The entire municipal administration officials including commissioner TSR Anjaneyulu camped on the banks of the Swarnala Cheruvu to oversee the arrangements for the pilgrims for the past two days.

Municipal officials closely monitored the sanitation and drinking water supplies as thousands of devotees have been visiting the dargah since Monday. It took nearly 3-4 hours for darshan as all the queues were packed. SP Ramana Kumar and other senior police officials visited the dargah in the late hours of Monday and offered prayers.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Hyderabad  / TNN / November 28th, 2012

He is a qualified aeronautical engineer, and if it were not for Sekhar Kammula’s Life is Beautiful, Abijeet Duddala’s life would have taken off on a different tangent all together. Talking about his entry into films, Abijeet says, “I had finished college and wanted to take a year off. That was when I heard about Sekhar’s talent hunt and sent my application. I did not talk about it to anyone. In fact, my parents got to know that I was acting in the movie only after I got the contract and my friends  and well-wishers got to know after the movie was launched.”

Breaking eggs!
The pucca Hyderabadi that he is, Abijeet reveals that his family does have a Charminar connect. Giving insights as to what went into the making of Hyderabad’s famous landmark, he says, “The Charminar got its pale yellow colour because the plaster was made of a mixture of bhindi, egg yolk, ghee, gawar ka patta (a sticky, juicy plant) and seepi (sea shells) that was left to ferment in deep water pits, before being crushed and mixed again along with the lime mortar,” shares Abijeet. Ask him how he knows it and he says, “My forefathers moved to Hyderabad in the late 1500’s as construction labourers who worked on the monument. Their job was to break the eggs and mix the yolk in the construction mixture.”

A fitness freak
Well, Abijeet is an actor today, but he still does what his forefathers did — breaks eggs — albeit for completely different reasons. “I have about 12 egg whites in a day as a part of my zero fat diet. But would have nothing to do with the yolk though,” he says joking. And the actor seems to be in a real hurry to take his shirt off. “Oh, I always had this ripped look even before getting into films. I had to lose 10 kilos to get into the look of the typical boy next door for Sekhar’s film,” he says. Admitting that he is a fitness enthusiast, he says, “I  work out religiously for six days a week and I love it. As far as taking my shirt off goes, well, that might happen soon.”

Films in the pipeline
Abijeet, who is one-film old, says he has got some interesting films lined up. “I have got three films lined up. All I can say is that one is going to be a total commercial entertainer, the other a romantic comedy and another mainstream potboiler. They are all with debutant directors,” he explains.
The actor, who is keen on not getting typecast as the-boy-next-door, says, “Well I have a very massy side to me as well and would like to explore that on screen. In fact, I refused a lot of flicks that offered me typical good boy roles.”

Social side
Apart from films, Abijeet works for a city- based NGO that works to spread  awareness about traffic regulations and pedestrian safety. “It’s something I am very passionate about. We work in tandem with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation in identifying high traffic density areas and coming up with innovative solutions. We were instrumental in getting a pedestrian island constructed at Jubilee Hills check post recently. In fact, last year on New Year’s eve I was at Jubilee Hills check post regulating traffic!”

source:   http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> Entertainment> Regional> Telugu  / TNN / November 25th, 2012