Latest news with #NariShaktiPuraskar
Hans India
12-07-2025
- General
- Hans India
Prasanna Sree honoured with Mandela Inspire Award
Rajamahendravaram: AdikaviNannaya University Vice-Chancellor Prof Sattupati Prasanna Sree has been conferred with the prestigious Nelson Mandela Inspire Award for the year 2025. The award was presented to her virtually in recognition of her unwavering commitment to inspiring positive change, courageous leadership, and dedication that echoes the enduring legacy of global icon Nelson Mandela. The honour was conferred by Famous People India World Organisation, acknowledging her remarkable contributions in the fields of linguistics and education, which have received wide acclaim at both national and international levels. Previously, she was the recipient of the Nari Shakti Puraskar by the Government of India in 2022, and the Vanishing Alphabets Project Award in 2024.
The Hindu
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
50 years of Kerala's first women only Kathakali troupe, the Tripunithura Vanitha Kathakali Sangham
On a particularly muggy afternoon in June, six women, aged between 50 and 60, embark on a trip down memory lane. The memories meander through the time — some from when they were schoolgirls, then college girls, and now, grown women, with life happening along the way. The ambience in the cool, dimly lit dining room of Deepthi Palace in Tripunithura livens up with the laughter of the women, all members of the Tripunithura Vanitha Kathakali Sangham. Formed in May-June 1975, this year marks the 50th anniversary of Kerala's first women's only Kathakali troupe. The first and senior most member of the troupe, Radhika Varma, recalls how her father, KTR Varma, a Kathakali aficionado, mooted the idea, which was supported by Radhika's guru, Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair. Although women were performing Kathakali then, it was not mainstream yet. 'Our families were Kathakali aficionados, and we performed with their encouragement. All credit goes to Krishnan ashan for his support, that meant a lot to a young girl like me,' says Radhika, who was in her early teens at the time. The condition set was that everyone involved would be women. Except the make-up and costume which were done by men, it was a women-run show. The manager of the troupe was Sathi Varma. Her daughter, Suma Varma, continues to be an active member of the troupe. Although the group comprised many women from Tripunithura, it also had members from other places such as North Paravur, Irinjalakuda, Poonjar, and Pattambi. Jayasree Raveendran who used to travel from Pattambi to Ernakulam for the performances says, 'It was not easy. But I did it, because I wanted to be a part of this and I loved what we were doing. We were assigned roles based on our potential. Sathi ammayi had a say in it,' adds Jayasree, who essayed male characters. After the troupe's first performance of Kalyanasaugandhikam at Tripunithura, in 1975, by Radhika Varma, Sreemathi Antarjanam, Radhika Ajayan, Shailaja Varma, Vrinda Varma and Meera Narayanan, there was no looking back. They were invited across the country and have more than 2,000 shows. The troupe was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2017. Trained by stalwarts Although the women were part of one troupe, they did not train under one guru. Their teachers include Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair, RLV Damodara Pisharody, FACT Padmanabhan, Cherthala Thankappa Panikkar and Kalamandalam Keshavan Poduval. Not all the initial members of the troupe are still part of it, while some left (due to personal reasons) for good, a few others returned. While initially the troupe had 20-odd members, today it has more than twice the number and many young dancers. 'There are so many girls learning Kathakali, I was joking the other day that it will become like Kuchipudi!' says Suma, laughing. One gets a strong sense of the camaraderie as one listens to their conversation about Kathakali, the nuances of aniyara — chutti (make up) and costumes, the progress and changes they experience on stage and in the green room. Those of us used to watching women devote themselves to the performing arts today, may not comprehend the significance of what these women achieved all those years ago. For some perspective, it was as late as 2021-22 when Kerala Kalamandalam accepted the first batch of women pupils while RLV College of Music and Fine Arts took in their first women students (for Kathakali) in 2017. Kerala Kalamandalam did, however, invite the troupe to perform some time in the late 1990s. It was another two decades before women were admitted as students. Women had, however, been learning Kathakali for decades before under the tutelage of gurus outside the hallowed walls of these organisations. In the 1970s when the troupe started performing, there were a handful of women practitioners like Chavara Parukutty Amma and Kottarakkara Ganga. Though, at the time, they were not old enough to grasp the enormity of what they were doing, today, in retrospect, they understand what it means — that they opened the door for women to take up Kathakali not just as young women but later in life too. 'See, at that time we did not think we were making a difference or anything. We just enjoyed what we were doing,' says Tara Varma. She shares, rather gleefully, how she performed on stage while four months pregnant. 'Imagine that? There I was in full Kathakali gear, on stage!' 'You are amused now! Nelliyode ashan [Nelliyode Vasudevan Namboodiri] was so shocked and worried!' says Radhika. 'Yes, I remember and he took such good care of me like only a mother would,' Tara replies. Nuggets of memory These little nuggets of memories keep popping in, 'During Nalan's soliloquy [Nalacharitham Randam Divasam], Damayanthi lies down, resting her head on his lap. This one time I fell asleep, because there was nothing much to do. I was literally poked awake by Kumari Ammayi (Kumari Varma, one of the singers),' Suma reminisces. Another time when they performed the same play at Vellinezhi, Palakkad, Radhika Varma ensured that Suma did not sleep. 'Radhika chechi started pinching me, and I murmured that I was awake. The audience there sits literally two feet away from the 'stage' . They could hear me murmuring in protest and they started saying 'Damayanthi is making noises'!' Because they were in school and college, Kathakali could not be an excuse to lag in studies. 'That was not an option. Kathakali or not, sleep deprived or not, we got home very early in the morning… there could be no excuse to miss college or school,' adds Suma. Stories about their experiences pepper the conversations. It is fascinating listening in on them talk about their take on manodharma while portraying characters, the differences between the styles of Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair and Kalamandalam Gopi. A safe space for women Renjini Suresh, who joined the troupe in 1989, performs with the troupe and independently also; she talks about the change in attitudes towards women artists both in the green room and outside. She is the daughter of Kathakali artist Kalamandalam Karunakaran, and runs her own Kathakali school. She dismisses suggestions that Kathakali is not for women, 'I disagree with that opinion, it is extremely limiting… there is no role that is physically impossible for a woman to essay. And it is a safe space for women.' The next generation is taking its place as artists, Geeta Varma and Renjini's daughters — Archa Gouri Varma and Kamya — are following in their footsteps and making a name for themselves in the troupes. What the Kathakali Sangham did for the women was not just limited to the stage, it shaped the women they are today. It gave them exposure to new places and experiences, and to an extent, financial independence. When they started it was not a political statement, it still is not but they were able to make space for women aspiring to be Kathakali artists. Today they understand that they made space for the women who followed, they may have fewer stages today because there are more women on the Kathakali stage, but they celebrate the fact.
Mint
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Mint
SC mandates inclusive digital KYC process for persons with disabilities - ‘Right to digital access part of Article 21'
The Supreme Court on April 30 directed the revision of the digital Know-Your-Customer (KYC) norms to enable persons with facial disfiguration due to acid attacks or visual impairment to Access banking and e-governance services. Legal news website LiveLaw reported that Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan emphasised in the judgement, that the state has an obligation to design an inclusive digital ecosystem that is accessible to all, including marginalised and vulnerable persons. 'At this juncture, we wish to observe that in the contemporary era, where access to essential services, governance, education, health care and economic opportunities are increasingly mediated through digital platforms, the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution must be re-interpreted in light of these technological realities,' read the judgment authored by Justice Mahadevan as per LiveLaw. Article 21 of the Indian Constitution guarantees the fundamental right to life and personal liberty. The Court said that since many welfare schemes and government services are provided through online platforms, bridging the digital divide has become a necessity to ensure a dignified life. 'The digital divide, characterised by unequal access to digital infrastructure, skills and content, continues to perpetuate systematic exclusion not only of persons with disabilities but also of large sections of rural populations, senior citizens, economically weaker communities and linguistic minorities,' the court said. The Court directed that all government portals, learning platforms, financial technology services must be "universally accessible' to all vulnerable and marginalised sections. 'In such circumstances, the state's obligation under Article 21 read with Articles 14, 15 and 38 of the Constitution must encompass the responsibility to ensure that digital infrastructure, government portals, online learning platforms, and financial technologies are universally accessible, inclusive and responsive to the needs to all vulnerable marginalised populations,' it said. Holding that acid attack survivors and persons with visual impairment are entitled to the protection under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, the Court issued twenty directions to make the eKYC process accessible to them. The directions will be known once the judgment is uploaded. In the first petition, Pragya Prasun had sought the guidelines for an inclusive KYC process for acid attack survivors and persons with permanent eye damage. Prasun is an Indian activist who survived an acid attack and set up the Atijeevan Foundation. The organisation has supported more than 250 other survivors. In 2019, she received the Nari Shakti Puraskar from the Government of India for her work. In the petition, Prasun sought directions from Union government authorities for framing appropriate guidelines providing for alternative methods to conduct the Digital KYC/e-KYC process for acid attack survivors suffering from permanent eye disfigurement or eye burns, with the view to making the Digital KYC/e-KYC process more accessible and inclusive towards all disabled persons, particularly acid attack survivors. The petitioner prayed that the Centre clarifies the meaning and interpretation of 'Live Photograph' as mentioned in the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) – KYC Master Directions, 2016 for conducting the Digital KYC/e-KYC and suitable alternatives be framed for this 'live photograph' considering the challenges faced by acid attack survivors and those with permanent eye-disfigurement. In the second petition Amar Jain, who is visually impaired, raised the issue that he regularly suffers from various KYC formalities online due to a lack of accessible identification methods for conducting the KYC process digitally. KYC process involves taking a selfie, signing with pen and paper, putting a signature on screen using mouse, printing and rescanning or clicking photos of filled up form, extremely short duration of OTPs, etc which remains inaccessible for persons with disabilities. Therefore, it violates the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 and the Constitution of India, noted the petition. The petition seeks to ensure accessibility and reasonable accommodation in accessing financial, telecom services and government schemes by persons with disabilities specifically blindness/low vision. The Court issued notice in this writ petition on January 21 and tagged it with Pragya Prasun's petition currently being heard by the same bench. The right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution must be re-interpreted in light of these technological realities. Nipun Malhotra, Founder of Nipman Foundation and Lead, Disability Rights & Inclusion at the public policy firm The Quantam Hub (TQH) welcomed the Supreme Court order recognising these challenges and suggesting specific solutions.
