On Wednesday the nation woke up to Ramayan’s favourite Sita, Dipika Chiklia being quoted in a Hindi daily, “अगर मोदी सरकार को लगता है क‍ि 'रामायण' ने संस्‍कृति में योगदान द‍िया है तो हमें पद्म सम्मान से सम्‍मानित करें (if the Modi government feels that Ramayan has contributed to India culture then we should be honoured with the Padma award).”

On hearing this statement, there was a widespread hue and cry among the fans and well-wishers of the serial. A Union Minister on oath of anonymity observed, “I’ve never heard of an artiste lobbying for his or her own Padma award. Let the Government decide whom it wants to honour.”

In a startling twist to the controversy Dipika completely denied having lobbied for her own Padma. “I never said that I should be given the Padma award. People are twisting my words. The topic (of getting the Padma award) never came to me. It was directed at Arun Govil only. I was asked about the royalty from the latest telecast of Ramayan. And yes, I did say we should get royalty. It was Arunji who spoke about the Padma awards, and that too because he was asked about it,” says Dipika in an exclusive chat with me.

Also Read: World’s favourite television series, Ramayan, launches on StarPlus!

StarPlus, the country’s leading general entertainment channel StarPlus is entertaining viewers with the legendary show – Ramayan. Written, produced and directed by Ramanand Sagar, Ramayan, first aired in 1987 and acquired a cult status over the years. The show boasts of a talented ensemble comprising of Arun Govil as Lord Rama, Dipika Chikhlia Topiwala as Goddess Sita and Sunil Lahri as Lakshman. It also starred veteran actors Lalita Pawar as Manthara, Arvind Trivedi as Ravana and Dara Singh as Hanuman. Not many people are aware that the show’s maker Ramanand Sagar was destined to make this mythological saga into a classic rendition for television.

There is an interesting story that has been shared by Ramanand Sagar’s son Prem Sagar in the book that he has written on his father’s life - An Epic Life: Ramanand Sagar: From Barsaat to Ramayan. In 1942, when Ramanand was 25 years old a Kashmiri mystic, Pandit Nityanandji had predicted that Ramayan would be retold by Ramanand Sagar. In 1976, noted film producer, Mr Mohla, on observing Ramanand’s astrological chart, had said that Ramanand Sagar would cause a spiritual awakening globally through the medium of cinema. Going forward, Ramanand Sagar ensured that this vision turned into reality and the rest is history!

Ramayan created waves across the world with its soulful narrative. The divine tale of how good triumphs over evil gladdened hearts of every viewer. Streets would be deserted on Sunday mornings as people stayed glued to their television sets as Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan described the tale of Lord Ram in vivid detail.

ALSO READ: Ramayan’s Sita denies asking for Padma Award from government

Dipika Chikhlia rose to fame with her performance as Sita in Ramanand Sagar's show Ramayan. Owing to the lockdown the show is being aired on television for the viewing of the younger generation. Now, Dipika is once again going to be seen on screen as she will be playing Sarojini in her new film.

Dipika took to her social media handle to unveil the first look poster of the movie which is based on freedom fighter Sarojini Naidu. Dipika is seen posing in a thoughtful mode in the poster.

#sarojininaidu...1st look....poster pic.twitter.com/zN5hhdSJmX

— Dipika Chikhlia Topiwala (@ChikhliaDipika) May 7, 2020

Sarojini is directed by Akash Nayak and Dhiraj Mishra. The story has been written by Dhiraj Mishra and Yashomati Devi. The venture is produced by Kanu Bhai Patel under the Royal Film Media banner. Sarojini Naidu is a strong personality in India's freedom struggle and is known as the Nightingale of India.

This is the first full-length feature film on Sarojini Naidu that will show her political career.

ALSO READ: Dipika Chikhlia reveals that people in small town think of her as Sita and touch her feet even today

Mayank Gandhi on ground at rural development projects

The Aam Admi Party (AAP) took the country by storm in 2012 and people believed they were looking at a new dawn. But "leaders are not what they seem like from far. When you go closer, you can see that they have feet of clay. What they project and what they actually are, are two different things", alleged Mayank Gandhi, former AAP leader and a founder member of the party, in an email interview, hours before his book AAP & Down: An Insider's Story of India's Most Controversial Party (Simon and Schuster India), co-authored by Shrey Shah, was released in the city yesterday.

At the book launch in Mumbai. Pic/Bipin Kokate 

Wake up, India
The tell-all was released to mark the third anniversary as the ruling party in Delhi. When we asked the Mumbai-based leader about his reasons for penning it, he said, "The primary purpose was to lay down the bare truth about what happened and how the country's citizens realised that democracy was more than just about voting during five-year elections. It is to also tell the youth who still harbour the hope of alternative politics coming from AAP that their dream is over."

In the book, besides Arvind Kejriwal and Anna Hazare, Gandhi focuses on those who worked behind the scene to shake the nation into consciousness. He elaborated, "As a young man, I had felt the pain of being betrayed when the Janata Party experiment failed, in which I had personally invested part of my life. I was insignificant then and inconsequential. Now, when the youth of the country are being betrayed all over again, I can feel their pain. And this time, I am not so inconsequential and would like to be a medium of letting the people know what happened and how."

A file photo of Arvind Kejriwal at an AAP rally in Delhi

Opportunity lost
Gandhi, who played a key role in AAP's formation, admits that writing the book was a tumultuous journey. From re-living the India Against Corruption (IAC) days to the crushing of dreams, "the only thought that came to my mind was the opportunity that we lost in transforming the nation". Gandhi believes that AAP failed because instead of maintaining the founding principles for which it received extraordinary support, the party decided to indulge in the three Cs — corruption, casteism and communalism — after it won Delhi by unprecedented margins. "This impatience and abandonment of ethics and morals was the biggest mistake it made," he said.

But despite losing focus, the IAC movement has given people the courage to assert themselves before authorities and politicians. "Counter hegemony has started appearing as people have understood the power of standing up to the wrongs," says the man who has decided to focus on development politics, and is now working for the development of rural India, starting with the Beed district in Maharashtra.

AAP & Down, which is a documentation of India's "second independence" struggle according to Gandhi, gives readers a chance to see how power changes man. "People who operate in the name of serving the poor, many a times are serving their personal ambitions and egos," the author said.

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Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag has stated the real inspiration behind his swashbuckling batting technique was 'Angad' -- a character in mythological epic 'Ramayan'.

Sehwag, who was known for his great hand-eye coordination with minimal footwork, on Sunday shared a picture of 'Angad' on Twitter and said: "So here is where I took my batting inspiration from. Pair hilana mushkil hi nahi, namumkin hai. #Angad Ji Rocks."

So here is where i took my batting inspiration from :)

Pair hilana mushkil hi nahi , namumkin hai . #Angad ji Rocks pic.twitter.com/iUBrDyRQUF

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) April 12, 2020

According to mythology, it is believed that Angad -- who was part of vanar sena which helped Lord Ram in rescuing his wife Sita from Lanka -- was sent as an emissary to the court of Ravan in order to avoid war.

However, Ravan declined the offer and then to break his ego, Angad challenged that if anyone present in the court would be able to lift his feet from the ground then Lord Ram would accept defeat and leave Lanka.

But it is believed that none of the warriors present in Ravan's court was able to lift Angad's feet.

Sehwag, who played 251 ODIs and 104 Tests for India, scored 8,273 and 8,586 runs respectively. In fact, he is the only Indian cricketer to hit two triple centuries in Test cricket.

The swashbuckling opener also played 19 T20Is for India in which he amassed a total of 394 runs.

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आज सुबह रामायण (Ramayana) टीवी पर आते ही सोशल मीडिया (Social Media) पर लोगों ने इसे देखते हुए तस्वीरें शेयर करनी शुरू कर दी हैं. ट्विटर (Twitter) पर #Ramayan नंबर 1 पर ट्रेंड करता दिखाई दिया.

रामायण (Ramayan) और महाभारत (Mahabharat) के बाद अब टीवी पर पुराने विज्ञापन (90s Advertisement) लौट आए हैं.

रामायण (Ramayan) का दौर एक बार फिर वापस आ गया. ऐसे में जानें जामवंत (Jamwant) का रोल निभाने वाले अभिनेता राजशेखर उपाध्याय (Rajshekhar Upadhyay) के बारे में.

रामायण की सीता (Sita) यानी एक्ट्रेस दीपिका चिखलिया (Deepika Chikhalia) ने उस दौर की कहानी बताई जब रामायण (Ramayan) का पहला एपिसोड शूट हुआ था.

रामायण (Ramayan) के लक्ष्मण (Laxman) यानी एक्टर सुनील लहरी (Actor Sunil Lahri) की पुरानी फोटोज (Old Photos) जबरदस्त वायरल हो रही हैं.

30 सालों में कितने बदल गए 'रामायण' (Ramayan) में लव-कुश (Luv-Kush) का किरदार निभाने वाले अभिनेता मयूरेश क्षेत्रमाडे (Mayuresh Kshetramade) और स्वप्निल जोशी (Swapnil Joshi).

रामायण (Ramayan) में भगवान राम के भाई 'भरत' (Bharat) का किरदार निभाने वाले अभिनेता संजय जोग (Sanjay Jog) के बारे में जानें कुछ अहम बातें.

रामायण (Ramayan) की सीता (Sita) यानी एक्ट्रेस दीपिका चिखलिया (Deepika Chikhalia) ने अहम सीन काटे जाने पर खुलकर नाराजगी जाहिर की है.

परशुराम जयंती (Parshuram Jayanti) के मौके पर देखिए 'रामायण' (Ramayan) में राम (Ram), लक्ष्मण (Laxman) और परशुराम (Parshuram) का संवाद.

रामायण (Ramayan) के निर्माता रामानंद सागर (Ramanand Sagar) और जामवंत (Jamwant) का किरदार निभा चुके एक्टर राजशेखर उपाध्याय (Rajshekhar Udadhyay) के बीच काफी अच्छी दोस्ती थी.

रामायण (Ramayan) के अहम सीन्स को काटे जाने के आरोपों के बीच अब लक्ष्मण (Laxman) का किरदार निभा चुके अभिनेता सुनील लहरी (Sunil Lahri) ने इस पर बात की है.

रामायण (Ramayan) ने दुनिया भर में फैंस बना लिए हैं और इसके साथ ही एक जबरदस्त विश्व रिकॉर्ड (World Record) भी स्थापित किया है.

दूरदर्शन (Doordarshan) ने ट्वीट के जरिए दर्शकों को धन्यवाद कहा है. इस ऐतिहासिक विश्व रिकॉर्ड के लिए कहीं न कहीं दूरदर्शन के दर्शक भी क्रेडिट के हकदार हैं.

रामायण (Ramayan) में भगवान राम (Lord Ram) का किरदार निभाने वाले अभिनेता अरुण गोविल (Arun Govil) ने कोरोना वायरस (Coronavirus) पर फैन (Fan) के सवाल पर दिलचस्प जवाब दिया.

रामायण (Ramayan) में रावण (Ravan) का किरदार निभाने वाले अभिनेता अरविंद त्रिवेदी (Arvind Trivedi) से जुड़ी कुछ अफवाहें चल रही थीं, जिन्हें लेकर परिवार ने जवाब दिया है.

रामायण (Ramayan) द्वारा दुनिया भर में बनाए रिकॉर्ड पर सवाल खड़े किए गए हैं.