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Kingdom of Dreams!

Gurgaon, a hi-tech city in India is now home to a new international travel destination. Touted as India's answer to Sydney's Opera House, Paris's Moulin Rouge, Singapore's Esplanade and London's Broadway , Kingdom Of Dreams aims to become the ultimate live theatre and leisure hub in the world with the technological wizardry of modern era.

India’s first live entertainment spot, Kingdom Of Dreams exhibits a complex blend of India’s art, culture, heritage, craft, cuisine, and performing arts.

Sprawling across six acres of land and run by the Great Indian Nautanki Company, KOD has two theatres - Nautanki Mahal and Showshaa Theatre. Other highlights of the Kingdom are the cultural street named as Culture Gully and Patli Gully, a spiritual walkthrough adorned with numerous idols of Indian gods including a massive 110 feet long sleeping Buddha.

The design of Nautanki Mahal, the 846-seater state of the art theatre, mimics a grand Indian palace. Every bit of the outside wall is carved with Khajuraho-inspired exotic figurines and the windows are beautiful stained glass. Showshaa Theatre is a 250-seater, air-conditioned, dome-shaped amphitheatre. A grand and colourful drama porch with a maypole like tent roof and interactive seating is intended to showcase lavish productions of the ancient Indian epics.

Culture Gully is another boulevard spread across 90,000 square feet showcasing diversified architectural designs, iconic of several Indian states aimed to have street performances, artisans and handicraft stores. There will be theme restaurants and over 350 exotic food preparations by certified chefs from over 14 states of the country.

Credited to be the visionary behind Kingdom, Viraf Sarkari, one of the directors says, “I dreamt of building a world-class musical stage and the best theatre in the world, engulfed in the colossal grandeur of India. Nothing could have been better than the portrayal of an imposing palace, bringing to life the Indian traditional architecture.”

“The challenge was handed to us clubbed with an excellent hurdle on way,” discloses Kunal Kuwadekar, the architect behind the project from Naren Kuwadekar & Associates. “The company took on lease, an under-construction auditorium from the State government to develop the centre. The existing structure, which was not supposed to be totally dismantled, had to be doubled in length, breadth and height. Adjustments to site conditions were paramount. ”

Dilip Chhugera, the director of Sanderson India Group - the thematic architects of the project, told that more than 200 engineers, architects and workers toiled day and night for over one and a half year to complete the project. “Amalgamation of various architectural styles from across India was an uphill task. Styles inspired by palatial buildings and details like domes, jaalis (carved curtain), ornate columns, motifs were all recreated painstakingly,” says Dilip.

Roof & Façade Asia is a trade publication published from Singapore and circulated within a qualified readership in the building industry in Asia .

Visit to Haridwar Gateway to the Lord

The largest gathering of people in the world was scheduled in the country. What would it look like? I was both eager and anxious to witness the scene. This is how I finally landed in Haridwar, the city I have wanted to visit for years. Kumbh Fair 2010 became the ultimate driving force.

Once I made up my mind, I wasted no second in making a move to the holy city. I boarded a bus from New Delhi. The fight to grab a seat on the bus for the overnight journey amidst the huge mob wanting to reach Haridwar was a preview to the war ahead and to the challenge of not getting lost. More than 20,000 visitors got lost and were later found at this mammoth human fair. On entering Haridwar, I found myself either stepping on or being stepped on by someone. People, people everywhere, and even during the twilight hour! I soon realised that I should have visited here before to save myself from the large mob. Attending the fair on the last big day wasn’t a great idea either! Instead of witnessing 2.5 million people (on the first day of Maha Kumbh – January 14) taking a dip in the Ganges, I was witness to more than 15 million devotees. The rare planetary position at the time of Shahi Snan on April 14 occurred just once in 4,444 years and attracted this huge crowd to this holy town...

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Cover story (Travel) for the American magazine DeshVidesh (May 2010). Desh-Videsh magazine, is widely circulated in the southeast US. Readers hail from Florida, Georgia, Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. The magazine reaches a varied audience of over 50,000 Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshi, and Indo-Caribbeans.

Rishikesh The way to the divine

Come here for spiritual sojourn, an adventurous retreat, or a visit to the lap of Mother Nature. A trip to Rishikesh manifests itself into an indomitable rejuvenation of the mind, body and soul. My own yearning to have an encounter with my inner self pulled me all the way up to experience the magic of this hilly town.

After enjoying being a part of the world’s largest gathering event – the Kumbh at Haridwar, my next obvious destination was Rishikesh. Not that I am on a Hindu pilgrimage trail, but I needed respite from the scorching heat and clamorous environs of Haridwar, which was host to 15 million people on the day of my visit. The huge gathering on Shahi Snan this year, the day said to bear planetary position that occurs just once in 4,444 years, had the sole intention of taking holy dips. My worn-out senses were seeking solace in deep meditation and yoga. What else other than Rishikesh could have been a better option than moving 16 miles ahead to reach the world capital of yoga?

TO READ THE COMPLETE STORY... CLICK HERE

Cover story (Travel) for the American magazine DeshVidesh (May 2010). Desh-Videsh magazine, is widely circulated in the southeast US. Readers hail from Florida, Georgia, Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. The magazine reaches a varied audience of over 50,000 Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshi, and Indo-Caribbeans.

Hospitable India

India, at one-tenth the cost of that in the US, looks forward to providing world-class medical services to ailing as well as beauty-conscious Americans.

Whether your heart longs to be cut open and reset or your hips crave a transplant, your face needs a cosmetic touch-up (so as not to look like an aunty) or your teeth want a dental implant for a beautiful smile and infectious laughter, be patient and remain a patient for as long as your turn to be treated doesn’t come. It is not that treatments are not available in the United States. It is just that doctors are few and hence too busy. Whenever you are finally healed of your problems, then comes along a bill – hefty enough to cause you a heart attack.
The one-word solution to all your worries is India - the country that offers world-class services at one-tenth the price of your US medical bills.

TO READ THE COMPLETE STORY... CLICK HERE

A la PAN, traders to get TIN card

KANPUR: Working on the lines of the income-tax department, the trade tax department will soon go in for codification similar to the PAN card. The department is going to issue TIN (trade tax identification number) card...

The prevailing system assigns a trade tax registration number for business within the state and another number as Central sales tax number. After the implementation of TIN system every registered trader will have a unique identification code which would be valid all over the country.

The 11-digit TIN code would be such that the city and state of registered establishment could be recognised from it. It would also act as a personal identity card. Officials say that the system would help in checking trade tax evasion and traders would find it quite helpful. With 60 per cent of total revenue of the state realised from trade tax, the new system is expected to grant another boom to collection.

The computer systems and software for the purpose of TIN allotment are all ready for the purpose at Kanpur and the connectivity with the Lucknow office, which is connected to Central office, has also been ensured.

Although the last date for implementation of the system is December 31, 2003, the Kanpur office of the trade tax department has set December 1, 2003, as its deadline.

"The process has already started and forms have been distributed to every registered party in the city. The departmental 'dak-men' have ensured receipt of form by every establishment. The total number of such establishments is approximately 32000 in the city. We are leaving no stone unturned to implement the system within our deadline," additional trade tax commissioner BP Shukla told Times News Network.

However, on checking the status with local traders, only 10 per cent reported having received the form.

A sales tax advocate disclosed that the officials were least interested in distributing the forms as they do not get 'anything' in return. Submission of forms has begun and allotment of TIN number would begin from November 15.
The above article appeared in The Times Of India

The Times of India (TOI) is an English-language broadsheet newspaper that is widely read throughout India. It has the largest circulation among all English-language newspapers in the world, across all formats (broadsheet, tabloid, compact, Berliner and online). It is owned and managed by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.

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