In a recent hearing aid distribution drive, recently conducted by JOSH Foundation, six technologically advanced hearing aids were distributed to underprivileged kids. An initiative by eminent ENT specialist Dr. Jayant Gandhi and Audiologist-Speech Therapist Devangi Dalal, JOSH Foundation has distributed over 1000 hearing aids to kids in need! Devangi Dalal said, “Hearing impairment among the underprivileged is an epidemic that our foundation is keen to eliminate. Each digital hearing aid costs over Rs. 60,000. I’m glad we are able to help these children. I urge you to support us in our drive to eliminate hearing loss among the youth.”

Ample Missiion's Adivasi Welfare Mission

Team Ample Missiion, a NGO involved in philanthropic work, had recently organised a health outreach programme for tribal women in one of the Adivasi villages located in Aarey Colony, Mumbai. To improve the lives of one of the most impoverished sections of our society, they distributed first-aid kits, sanitary pads and soaps to the residents. They also conducted a hand-wash awareness session, a basic necessity that is often overlooked. “There is an urgent need for more such health initiatives for the tribal population, including a regular health check-up camp. In the coming months, we will look into the same,” expressed Dr.Aneel Kashi Murarka - Founder, Ample Missiion. Check out the adjacent pictures! 

Dr. Aneel Kashi Murarka & Team Ample Missiion distribute milk to the needy on Maha Shivaratri

On the occasion Maha Shivaratri, team Ample Missiion, that is into a lot of philanthropic work, distributed flavoured milk bottles to the needy in the areas of Goregaon & Malad in Mumbai. “Every year, during Maha Shivaratri, so many litres of milk is offered to the Gods in our country. We, at Ample Missiion, thought the better of it. We wanted to help the people who are deprived. And their expression of gratitude was priceless! We all felt so blessed,” shared Dr.Aneel Kashi Murarka, Founder – Ample Missiion.

SCARFACE… HIGHLIGHTING THE LIVING DEATH OF ACID ATTACK VICTIMS

As you take a walkthrough of the Press Club, you see ‘scarred faces’ screaming out at you from their frozen frames, from Shirish Shete’s frames in his show titled ‘Scarface’. A veteran media photographer, who has been with the Press Trust of India for over two decades now, Shirish Shete has been dedicatedly shooting acid victim survivors for over half a decade.

India records the highest cases of acid attacks in the world with the worst conviction rates. As is often the case with other crimes against wome

n, acid attacks victims are treated with official apathy and societal indifference. The victims are usually women aged between fourteen and thirty-five, and the attacks often the result of rejection of a marriage proposal or sexual advances; unable to bring enough dowry; for bearing a female child; for professional rivalry; for as petty a thing as having cooked a bad meal, so on and so forth. Often at times, men are also not spared from acid attacks.

The Press Club, overcrowded with enthusiasts, citizens and lensmen, remained silent as Shirish Shete spoke of the system being as much a mute spectator. “I have been shooting this project for over half a decade. And it is still unfinished. It began in Delhi, when I met these survivors and got entwined in their lives and then my documentation work began. Whenever I used to meet the victims, they used to tell me their stories, and there was a point where I had to tell them to stop because I couldn’t bear to hear them continue, the stories were so bad.”

The Chief Guests for the occasion were philanthropist Dr. Aneel Kashi Murarka who graced the evening with a group of acid attack survivors, supported by his organization Ample Missiion and Megha Patil, Ex Vice Chairperson of Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal, Govt. of Maharashtra, Ex Member of State & Central Govt. Committee on Equal Remuneration For Women & Governing Council Member of Maharashtra United Nations Association.

“Nobody even wants to be next to them. These stories are not stories people want to hear. A photograph speaks a thousand words and with the right caption or accompanying the right story, it sensitizes society and raises questions. As a photojournalist, I’d be happy to have contributed in anyway whatsoever,” concluded Shirsh Shete.

On the occasion, the cover of Tezaab Tales, a coffee table book that highlights the alkaline truth behind the acid attack victims' lives. The photo documentary is by Shirish Shete, the text by Anusha Srinivasan Iyer and is being published by philanthropist Dr. Aneel Kashi Murarka of Ample Missiion.  

Shirish Shete, who is currently designated as the Chief Photographer with The Press Trust of India, has earlier worked with The Indian Express and Mid-Day, contributed to various magazines like Femina and Debonair among others; has travelled extensively around the globe with the Indian PM Narendra Modi, former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam, former Indian PM Manmohan Singh on their work tours and has previously exhibited in various galleries across India. 

Art Patron Nisha JamVwal Presents Solo Show of Famed Artist Ritu Dhillon

Art Patron & High Priestess of Luxury Nisha JamVwal hosted the unveiling of Ritu Dhillon’s The Thinking Man at a grand art Champagne sundowner where Bombay’s glitterati including Zarine Khan, Suzanne Khan, Nisha JamVwal, Ritu Dhillon, Laila Khan, actor Sonu Walia, Nawaz Modi Singhania, Maya and Sunil Alagh, Brinda Miller, Aahna Miller, Consul General of USA in Mumbai Edgard D Kagan, Consul General of Israel in Mumbai Yaakov Finkelstein, Consul General of New Zealand in Mumbai Ralph Hays with wife Sonia Hays, Fitness Guru Mickey Mehta, Consul General of Canada Annie Dube, media baron Ashok Advani, Consul General Israel Yakov and Nurit Franklin, Richard Rothman and wife Tabu,  Designer Poonam Trivedi, Tanuj Garg, Sonu Walia, Ajoykant Ruia, Shashi Bansal, Dr. Mukesh Batra, Parvez and Roshni Damania, Architect Prem Nath, Shanti and Kasturi Chopra, Cyber Crime Chief Cop Brijesh Singh and Income Tax Officer Anjali Singh, Dr. Swati Pandey Director Film Institute were enthralled by the sparkling evening hosted by Nisha JamVwal, the artworks, the cuisine and floral decor at the prestigious Jehangir Art Gallery, Kala Ghoda. 

Nisha JamVwal, superbly popular with the city’s glitterati and an award-winning luxury consultant and interiors architect known for her penchant for motivating and inspiring women achievers and promoting brilliant talent averred, “Ritu is an artist for the thinking discerning lover of art. I am currently immersed in the journey of her ‘Thinking Man’ sometimes contemplative, sometimes disturbing, sometimes provocative. Ritu’s ‘Thinking man’ immersed me in his contemplations and took me away from my everyday life into his deeply questioning rumination about our sometimes disquieting world order. I am at once uplifted as I am unsettled by his reverie.”

Curated and hung by Jamwal and inaugurated by Zarine Khan, Suzanne Khan and Jamwal, Ritu Dhillon’s solo show was an instant hit, not just with the casual viewers, but also with renowned collectors and lovers of Art who stayed and enjoyed the soirée.

Said an understated Ritu Dhillon, “An exciting evening indeed! Where the viewer is able to make the story of the protagonist their own story - it is then that our communication is complete”

Perhaps the Jehangir Art Gallery hasn’t seen such a swish evening in a long time that Nisha JamVwal managed to conjure with her enigmatic persona, swish in her magnificent in a Ravage by Raj Shroff roseate summer georgette gown.  

Dia Mirza, Asif Bhamla & Swanand Kirkire at Bhamla Foundation's #HawaAaneDe Shoot

#HawaAaneDe - Bhamla Foundation &  Ministry of Environment's Anti Air Pollution Anthem Ahead of This World Environment Day

In a joint collaboration with the Ministry of Environment – Government of India, Bhamla Foundation, in association with Dia Mirza, the UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador for India, Asif Bhamla, through Bhamla Foundation, has curated a special anthem, to promote practices healthy for the environment, keeping in line with the UNO’s agenda environment health, at C'est La Vie, Bandra.

Air pollution, the ‘silent killer’ that claims thousands of lives daily, has become a growing concern world over. It is primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuel, thereby leading to emissions, finally leading to air pollution as we know it today. Pollution has been around us for decades and it consequences can prove to be deadly. We have been unable to contain the dastardly aftermath of the growing menace. According to the United Nations Organization (UNO), approximately 4.2 million people die prematurely, as a result of exposure to ambient air pollution. 

The #HawaAaneDe video was teased by Dia Mirza while she shot for it with Swanand Kirkire, who has penned for the multi-artiste featuring track. The anthem is written by National award-winning lyricist Swanand Kirkire. The song is set to voice by Shaan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shankar Mahadevan, Vishal Dadlani, Sunidhi Chauhan and Ayushmann Khurrana among others. The anthem is an Asif Bhamla led Bhamla Foundation initiative. 

“The members of the entertainment fraternity have come together with our Bhamla Foundation with a hope to make a lasting difference, so our sons and daughters can breathe air that won’t harm them. This is the time now, to make a difference, before the very air we breathe, kills us! And hence the initiative,” averred Asif Bhamla, President – Bhamla Foundation. 

Bhamla Foundation, in the previous year, created the #BeatPlasticPollution anthem on the lines of United Nation’s ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’ initiative. The trendy anthem based on the need to curb plastic usage as the name suggests, went viral on media, garnering a lot of traction. Bhamla Foundation, had earlier, also set the environment protection thought in motion through their sapling plantation drive.

More power to such initiatives!  

Rajkummar Rao, Asif Bhamla, Shaan & Saher Bhamla at the shoot of Bhamla Foundation's anti air pollution anthem #HawaAaneDe

After the widespread success of the #BeatPlasticPollution anthem, 'Tik Tik Plastic, actor Rajkummar Rao and singer Shaan along with Asif Bhamla and Saher Bhamla of Bhamla Foundation have come together at a studio in Andheri West for an anti air pollution anthem titled #HawaAaneDe. Rajkummar Rao and Shaan pledged their support to the cause of air pollution during the shoot of the song.

Check out the adjacent pictures!