A braveheart’s inspiring journey

Journey of Captain Shantaram Lokhande that started from ‘Ghodegaon Kolona’ village near Pulgaon may soon reach a ‘golden’ destination if the Captain’s brave act of saving a drowning passanger’s life gets him Presidential recognition.

Captain Shantaram Lokhande

IT WAS quite a windy afternoon in mid June. Conditions in the Bay of Bengal were tough for sailing, especially for a merchant ship. But sailors are trained for such conditions. Rather, they enjoy sailing in challeging situations. Most of the times, the sea allows them to reach coast with a moderate experience of adventure. But, sometimes, it throws bigger challenges.

Motor Vessel ‘Swaraj Dweep’ of Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) was on her way to Andaman from Chennai when a passager came shouting to the bridge that a person has jumped into the sea. High alert was announced and the ship was called for emergency station. Captain Shantaram Lokhande was Master of the ship. As is the culture of Navy that each person and belongings on the ship are the responsibility of the Master; he immediately rushed to the bridge and ordered to turn the vessel to reverse course in search of the missing person. Life buoys, life jackets were thrown at him. Finally, he was holed with the life buoy and was pulled with the heaving line. He was picked up through gangway and was taken to ship’s hospital for first aid.
All this happened within a span of few minutes. The person who monitored the entire operation was Captain Lokhande, our a young man from Vidarbha, who hails from a small village near Pulgaon in Wardha district. After the brave act of rescuing a passager, he is receiving appreciation from one and all. However, for Captain Lokhande, it was just a part of his duty.

“He believes that he has done nothing great. When we talked after the incident, he was as cool as he always is,” said his wife Maya, who lives in Revati Nagar, Nagpur, with their school-going sons Kamod and Mitul. As captain is still on the ship, Lokhande family has kept the grand celebration of his bravery waiting. However, SCI authorities have alredy started preparing for the same - in a different way.
S Hajara, Chairman and Managing Director of SCI, has sent a special letter of appreciation to Captain Lokhande. ‘It demands a great bit of valour and courage to complete such a difficult task in midst of heavy weather. Your exemplary act has set an example for everyone in SCI and you have made us feel proud,’ the CMD says in the letter. It is very likely that Captain Lokhande’s name may be forwarded for the President’s honour.

Apart from his bravery, journey of Captain Lokhande’s life is also inspiring, especially for the young enthusiasts. Hailing from a poor farmer’s family, Shantaram, eldest in four siblings, completed his education combating adverse situations. As a young post graduate in Electronics, he decided to join SCI. He wanted to earn money to get rid of his poverty that had troubled him all his life.

SCI recruits all crews (deck, engine, saloon and GP rating) directly on its main fleet. Apart from a first class in academics, candidate have to be physically fit as per Merchant Shipping Rules.

Shantaram joined as a cadet and later became chief officer and finally a captain. He has served on three ships -- Sagar Sampada, Sagar Kanya, Hrushikesh before joining Swaraj Dweep. The Captain believes that there are ample opportunities for Vidarbha youths if they try some unconventional career options. He is quite keen to impart career guidance to youths.

Cutting of the same article that appeared in The Hitavada's Sunday, October 7 CityLine Edition

Nagpur-Chicago-Nagpur

Journey of Nagpur girl Gauri Jog whose dance school is teaching much more than just dance to youngsters of Chicago

Gauri Jog (Left) with her dancer daughter Isha during a Kathak performance.

LIVING in Chicago, America for two decades, might have given her the cool American accent, but at heart Gauri Jog is Nagpurian to the core. Be it her love for dancing and propagating the very elegant Indian dance form far and wide or her chaste Nagpuri Marathi, Gauri exudes her love for her city and country. ]

With 'The Hitavada', I called on the Nagpur girl, who runs a leading dance school in Chicago, and has hundreds of students of difference ethnicities learning various Indian dance forms, folk dances and Bollywood numbers from her. Her journey as a dancer is indeed inspiring for many young dance enthusiasts.

"I started dancing perhaps before I started talking," Gauri says, recalling days when she literally dragged her father Bharat Kale to a classical dance school of Guru Madan Pande, where she learned basics of Kathak. Unlike other young girls, who give up their hobbies for studies, Gauri pursued dance seriously along with academics. She completed her post graduation in food science along with 'Visharad' degree in Kathak and graduate degree in Education. This made her a certified teacher.

"After getting married to IT professional Nitin Jog, I got an opportunity to live in many Indian cities where I kept performing on amateur-level. However, dance school concept came into reality only when we shifted to Chicago," says Gauri. She started 'Indian Dance School', a no-profit activity.

"We don't teach for money. Our school does not just teach dance but inculcate values of respect for each other, hard work and positive attitude," says Gauri. Her students mostly comprise of third or fourth generations of Indians settled in USA. "These kids are very much eager to know about our culture. While teaching Kathak, I tell them about Indian mythology - Ramayana and Mahabharata. We present stories from our ancient literature. I have to explain them the references. This enriches their knowledge about our cultural heritage," Gauri states underlining the bigger initiative of her school. She also visits schools, colleges and conducts special lectures about Indian dance forms for foreign students.

"I work out innovative concepts and fusions in order to make them familiar with our dances," Gauri says pointing to an interesting picture in which students are performing Kathak with basketballs used as props. Her daughter Isha, also a versatile dancer, now helps her in conducting school activities. "Thanks to Isha, I got some free time to visit my hometown."

Sharing her future plan, Gauri said he would like to perform in India with Isha sharing stage with her. "In Nagpur, SCZCC will host our dance performance in December. I am looking forward to perform and my theme will be 'Nagpur-Chicago-Nagpur - a journey" - she signs off on an interesting note.

Cutting of the same article appeared in The Hitavada

Crafting a niche

‘Stagecraft’ has now become a synonym for English Theatre in Nagpur. But to reach to these heights, a lot was required from the group. And it poured a lot to turn theatre into a movement that is now finding ready acceptance among common theatre-lovers of Nagpur.

ENGLISH drama is not new to people of Nagpur. However, the following that it commands today is exceptional. Theatre-lovers get to see more than six plays a year — written, produced, directed and acted — all by Nagpur-based artistes. 


In fact, with 250 enthusiastic people — young and old— attached with an English theatre group; hundreds of school children learning nuances of English theatre in regular workshops; and thousands of fans making the show of each play capacity-packed, English Theatre has neatly crafted its way into hearts of Nagpurians like never before. ‘Stagecraft Theatre’ can solely claim the credit of bringing English drama so near, and making it so dear to the city. 


Established formally in 2003, the theatre movement finds its roots way back in 70s and 80s. Theatre Guru Vikash Khurana, founder president of ‘Stagecraft’ reveals an interesting journey of English theatre activity in Nagpur. “English Theatre exists in Nagpur since decades. While I was a primary students of SFS Boys’ School, I remember playing Cinderella, Snow White and other female characters in school plays,” recalls Khurana. 


Inter-school drama contests, Tata School Trophy, Jaycees Drama Festival, and many other festivals used to see English plays being staged by school teams. However, the activity was restricted only to convent school auditoriums. It was Vikash Khurana, who brought it out from the school’s cocoon and made it big. 
“After I returned to Nagpur from Mumbai after completing my graduation in commerce and having a small but very effective stint with Satyadev Dubey’s theatre group; I was eager to start some theatre activity in Nagpur.” Khurana recalls days of 1980s, “we used to stage one play annually at SFS Auditorium. The show used to be for select audience and we continued doing it for many years,” Khurana recalls. 

Vikash Khurana

After trying names like ‘Theatre Group’, ‘Theatre Unit’, ‘Players’, etc (in fact, a new name for every production), Khurana, finally, settled down with ‘Stagecraft Theatre’ in 2003. “New auditorium at St Charles Seminary opened with ‘Stagecraft’s first production ‘My Fair Lady’,” informed Khurana, his beaming smile implying that there has been no looking back. 


One after another, ‘Stagecraft’ kept producing fantastic plays. In 2006, a simplified form of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ became an instant hit making the group a talk of the town. 


“We realised that people preferred entertainment; but only entertainment is not enough. Quality, message, and value for money are all necessary. Nagpur took a little time to welcome English drama, but, when it did open its arms, it did so wholeheartedly,” says Khurana. 


Today, ‘Stagecraft’ is a full-time institution. It produces plays round the year promoting young actors with each production. It also holds workshops for youngsters. “We only demand time and inclination from acting enthusiasts. Training of English and acting is our responsibility”, says the Guru, who is all ready to educate young artistes. 


The recent ‘Summer Fiesta’ of ‘Stagecraft’ was a grand success where theatre groups of Marathi languages too joined hands. “English is our first love. But, we want entire theatre activity in Nagpur to grow. We never restricted ourselves to any particular language. We are ready to produce plays in all languages. The only emphasize being quality,” says Khurana. So while Stagecraft is entertaining people with various productions from old classics to new drama catering to all genre of the art, in process, also educating the audience, theatre lovers of Nagpur have lot to look forward to.