Listen with Irfan

Recorded on 26 October, 2020, SNA, New Delhi

About Vijay Singh

Known for his wit and insuppressible will to fight against odds, Vijay Singh is a theatre activist. He is based in Delhi and works at Sangeet Natak Academy as a coordinator cultural events. Well versed in Punjabi he is also presenting news and programs in AIR, New Delhi. For more than 2 decades he is working for FM Gold as a Radio Jockey. As an actor he did many plays in and around Delhi. A well travelled cultural personality Vijay Singh has a deep understanding of human being and has a heart to empathize fellow human beings.

He has performed Manto's Shaheedsaaz as a solo performer many times across the nation.

One of his personal account can be heard here too.  

Followed by so many poems.

Recorded in 2001

Device: Magnetic Tape Recorder

Digitized: My digital station 2007

Poem 1: Sarnath Ki Ek Shaam

Poem 2: Ishwar Agar Maine Arbi mein Prarthana Ki

Recorded in New Delhi, 1994

Image courtesy Google

Recorded in New Delhi, 1994

Image courtesy junputh.com

Poem Aao followed by the speech.

Recorded in New Delhi, 1994

Image Google

Recorded in New Delhi, 1994

This Guftagoo was recorded on 13 March 2015 when Bhalchand Nemade came Delhi to receive Jnanpith Award.

Bhalchandra Vanaji Nemade (born 1938) is an Indian Marathi language writer, poet, critic and linguistic scholar. Beginning with his debut novel Kosala, Nemade brought new dimensions to the world of Marathi literature. This was followed by a tetralogy consisting of novels Bidhar, Hool, Jareela and Jhool. In 2013, Nemade published his magnum opus titled Hindu: Jagnyachi Samruddha Adgal (Marathi: हिंदू: जगण्याची समृद्ध अडगळ) which is regarded as his masterpiece. Nemade is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award as well as the Jnanapith Award, the highest literary honour in India. In 2013, he was awarded the Padma Shri.

Photo Design Arcade

Manohar Shyam Joshi (9 August 1933 – 30 March 2006) was a Hindi writer, journalist and scriptwriter, most well known as the writer of Indian television's first soap opera, Hum Log (1984) and his early hits Buniyaad (1987), Kakkaji Kahin, a political satire and Kyaap, a novel which won him the Sahitya Akademi Award

Manohar Shyam Joshi was also known for his novels which have dealt with topics ranging from love, in Kasap, described as one of the greatest love stories in Hindi, to devastating political satire like Netaji Kahin.

He was a prominent post-modernist authors in modern Hindi literature, as amiably demonstrated by his cult novel Kuru kuru Swaahaa and his novella Hariya Hercules ki Hairaani and Hamzad . He was awarded the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in 2005 for Hindi, for his novel Kyap, an allegory of modern India, known for its sensitive portrayal of the Kumaoni traditions of his home state of Uttarakhand.

Photo courtesy Google

Recorded on 17 December, 2003, New Delhi

Senior journalist Ashok Chaudhary is a noted cultural activist too. In his student life he was an integral part of students protest and constructive activism. He lives in Gorakhpur and a regular visitor to the Lokrang, Fazilnagar, Kushinagar. 

In 2016 he sang this ghazal Rafta Rafta Nazarbandi ka jadu Ghat-ta jaye hai of Gorakh Pandey when the second night cultural programs were about to take off.

रफ़्ता-रफ़्ता नज़रबंदी का ज़ादू घटता जाए है

Recorded on 6 May 2016

Produced by Irfan

Representational Image from Ashok Chaudhary's facebook wall.

Wall writing and wall paintings for the purposes of political, religious or commercial advertising has a long history. People working in this field usually get unnoticed. Very less has been thought and talked about their profession's intricacies. In the changing environment of digital advertising and advancement in printing technology these painters either losing their jobs or being underpaid and exploited by the agencies who hire them for the job.

Living under tremendous uncertainties what a wall painter thinks, here is a taxi driver's first person account who started wall painting in his early teens in and around Delhi.

Photos related to this podcast can be seen here Ajay Kumar Verma | A sign board painter (sunoguno.blogspot.com)

Recorded on 19 March 2015

Guest: Ajay Verma

Interviewer: Irfan