Tributes for showman at film fest
The news of legendary actor Shashi Kapoor’s demise came when the city’s film aficionados were half way through the Patna Film Festival. They hurried to pay tributes to the icon by screening one of his movies — the 1986 political thriller New Delhi Times — and held a discussion on his contributions to cinema.
The three-day event christened Pratirodh Ka Cinema (Cinema of Resistance) drew more crowds than in the previous eight years. One of the films screened at the festival was Tamil filmmaker Divya Bharti’s Kakkoos, which deals with the issue of manual scavenging.
Wedding boost for organ donation
The wedding of Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi’s elder son was a unique affair in many ways. Modi, dedicated to the cause of organ donation for many years, wanted people attending the ceremony to sign pledges for donating their organs. The wedding venue had banners and pamphlets urging people to do the same.
There was even a special stall to provide help. The effort was not wasted. During the three-hour wedding, as many as 150 people filled up forms pledging to donate their organs. Besides, 350 people signed pledges to get married or organise the weddings of their children or kin without taking dowry.
Growing craze for home tutors
Most parents of school-going children in Patna seem unhappy with the education provided at the city’s schools, including many well-known institutions. They also believe that most coaching centres fail to deliver what they promise in advertisements. So, there is now a craze for hiring home tutors for students of middle and high schools.
Dozens of agencies offering home tutors have cropped up in the past few months and they are advertising themselves aggressively. University students and many who became graduates recently have started earning neat sums by providing home tuition. Their average monthly fees range from Rs 4,000 to Rs 8,000. So concerned are some parents that they provide home tuition to their children even though they attend coaching centres after schools. That, unfortunately, leaves little time for the young minds to relax.
Exhibition on Laila-Majnu love story
The legendary love story of Laila and Majnu is an integral part of the folklore in north India. But how many have seen the original manuscript of the 16th-century poem that made the star-crossed lovers’ story spread far and wide? A week-long exhibition to be held on December 8 at the central library of Patna University will let visitors see the Arabic manuscript for the first time.
The exhibition, being organised as part of PU’s centenary celebrations, will display a wide range of rare manuscripts and documents. Among them will be some works from Mughal emperor Akbar’s period, several Sanskrit and Maithili texts written on palm leaves centuries ago and rare coins.