How a blind man saw

How a blind man saw

Little did Sonali Kulkarni think it possible when she met Naseer Khan and Rohit Nayyar in Hotel Marriott in Mumbai that a movie with visually challenged Naseer Khan as a sharp-shooter. 'Shadow' produced by Naseer Khan himself, is the first time a blind person is playing the lead role of a person who can see.

If films are to be a grand spectacle, then this film promises to be so. The USP of this action thriller is that stunts like jumping from a car on fire, riding the jetski, shooting a man in an airplane and jumping into the sea with a jetski, ridding a horse, racing a car and bike in different sequence are performed by Naseer without the aid of a double.

Naseer Khan plays the lead role of Arjun Sherwat, a serial killer whom the police is not able to nab for six months. Sanjana (Sonali) is the cop who is entrusted with the task to capture The TV reporter Sheetal Pradhan (Hrishita Bhatt) who is in love with another reporter Rahul(Milind Soman) passes a report to the cops about the next target of Arjun Sherwat. Sajana shoots down Arjun, only to know in a short while that real the Arjun is still alive and kicking.

The movie is not just a motivator for visually challenged. “It should be a motivator for all those who are down in life” says Naseer. The movie is but an extension of the personal triumph of Naseer, who has

Naseer whose hometown is Kanpur , was born with cataract. Though being operated several times he could only regain 15 to 20 per cent sight of one eye. At the age of eight a house tutor was arranged for his basic education. Later he completely lost all eye sight, after dropping in and out of school several times. He learned to repair electronic goods,then went on to leather tanning business(and became one of the best known tanneries in Kanpur), became the first blind person to pass all the four Microsoft certification and stated Computer education centres(IIHT and Inset chains are owned by him), and later ventured into real estate, detergent, and cosmetic business.

Stepping into the Tinsel Town, he faced difficulties as all new-comers would. Besides, acting itself posed an unique challenge to him. Nasser says that it was almost impossible to keep his chin down while saying a dialogue. He used to tie a strap around his neck to keep the chin down while sleeping and he tried to practice it even when talking to people otherwise. The movie, half of which was shot in Thailand captures very beautiful locales; some very perilous locale for shooting. There is a particular water-fall scene and he walking amid several lions which would give even seasoned actors jitters. But Nasser managed it with ease. Sonali says it all through “trust” he places in others. According to her the reason for his success is his success is nothing but trust.

Siting along with his co-star Sonali Kulkarni and director Rohit Nayyar in the Gold Class lounge of Spice Cinema in Noida for the press conference of his film, he grabs the microphone as it is passed to him without fumbling for it. Director Rohit says that such was the energy while shooting for the film that many scenes were done in a single shots. “This gives the movie more natural feel”, he adds.

“Just before entering the conference room Naseer told that I am looking very beautiful today” quips Sonali.

Drought and variable rain to be heeded as climate change impact: World Bank report

A recent world bank report says, the drought or drought-like situation that prevails in India, points to the larger picture of climate change and India's efforts for adaptation. The low monsoon in the current kharif (summer crop) season, is but a wake-up call to the fact that India's farmers will be be one of the worst affected sections of climate change. India with its 57 per cent workforce engaged in agriculture and 20 per cent of the GDP attributable to agriculture, climate change impacts will adversely affect the growth of the country. The report, first of its kind in South-Asia looks at two drought prone regions in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra and one flood prone region in Orissa.

India which has extremely varied climatic and geographic conditions, droughts and floods are not uncommon; but what is alarming are its increasing frequencies. From 1900 to 1950 there were six droughts in India. But in the following 50 years there were twelve. In 21^st century alone we witnessed three droughts. 2009 could be the fourth year with the Indian Meteorological Department(IMD) probably declaring it a drought year if the monsoon withdraws by early September. Areas affected by by flood has also doubled in the last 50 years. Floods have occurred every year since 1980 and has substantially increased in 2003 due to which even some drought prone areas were affected.

The report predicts that in Andhra Pradesh a “moderate to harsh climate change scenario” will result in rise of temperature of 2.3 C to 3.4 C and a modest but erratic rainfall of 4% to 8%. This would means a a decline in farmer income by as much as 20 per cent. The worst affected will be kharif crops like rice and jowar. Whereas, in Maharashtra while the yield of jowar and millets will boost farmers incomes by 8% to 10%, the yield of sugarcane which is hugely subsidised, will decline by 30 per cent. A shift to less water-intensive crops will be a solution to this, the report suggests. The report predicts that in Orissa floods will increase dramatically, especially in the coastal regions, leading to decline in paddy yields by as much as 12 per cent.

The report says that there cannot be one solution to agricultural vows and it must be tailored for local conditions. In drought prone areas, climate change impacts should be countered with better water management, besides promotion of climate resilient agriculture, smart subsidies to promote environmentally suited crops and diversifying income by way of micro-credit or insurance to cover initial business risks. The study says “Greater attention must be given to hybrid approaches that emphasize the efficiency of groundwater use and increase the effectiveness of watershed activities to conserve soil moisture and harvest rainwater.” Grand projects for water conservation must be complemented with a people inclusive efforts. The report also says, in the flood-prone areas promoting rainfall-tolerant and shorter duration crops, more careful land-use planning and flood zoning and strengthening system to detect and forecast flood will be the way forward.