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The Hindu : Virtual mechanicCar and bike questions? We have the answersI use a Maruti 800 deluxe and Maruti Alto and want to buy another small car. I have short-listed the Chevrolet Spark, Wagon-R and Zen Estilo. I like the Spark. A new entrant, I am not sure how well it performs. My wife will use this car and she drives less than 40km per day. I want a car that will offer maximum comfort, driving pleasure and good performance.Surender PasupuletiThe Spark is a very good car for city use; the seats are a bit firm though. Alternatively, the new i-10 is a good choice as well. It is comfortable, spacious and relatively peppy and fuel efficient as well.I want to buy a SUV for less than Rs 12 lakh and am not interested in the Getaway. I also want to buy a luxury car costing between Rs. 15-30 lakh. My priorities are ground clearance, fuel economy and excellent after-sales service. I want to know the best SUV and luxury vehicle I can get for my budget. I do not mind extending my budget by Rs 10 lakh for the luxury car.PrashanthAt 12 lakhs, you don’t have much choice other than the Scorpio or the Safari. Both have undergone an engine upgrade. If you want space, it’s the Safari but the quality isn’t that great. If you want to drive in the city, then the Scorpio’s compact dimension make it a better bet. But if we had to choose, it would be the Scorpio 2.2. Ideal car to buy in the Rs. 15-30 lakh price range is the Passat. But if you want ground clearance, then an SUV would be a good idea. The CR-V makes a good case for itself; it’s got the ground clearance and drives like a car.I want to buy a small car and my budget is Rs 4-5 lakh. I am looking for…More

The Hindu : Barbeque Nation is celebrating New Year’s Eve with a buffet dinner on the terrace with a live performance by a band, unlimited beverages, cake and wine at Rs. 1499 with a ‘surprise gift’, ground and 1st floor dinner with cake is atRs. 600 without liquor. Barbeque Nation is at Plot-4005, 100 Feet Road Hall 2nd Stage, Indira Nagar. Call 32503344/32504455 and at No. 86, 1st cross, 1st block, ward no. 68, Koramangala.Polynation Food Lounge, the food court celebrates its 1st Anniversary with a four-day carnival of buffet spreads, gifts, and live bands. There’s a Kebab Fest on December 26 from noon to 3.30 p.m. for lunch and from 7 to 9 p.m. for dinner at Rs. 199 per head. Polynation Food Lounge is at Adarsh Opus, Lifestyle, 3rd Floor, W-76, Campbell Road, Austin Town.ITC Windsor’s pastry shop “Sweet Serenades” will be offering traditional Christmas fare till January 10 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.. New Year’s Eve will be celebrated at the Raj Pavilion and the Royal Afghan at Rs. 7,999 all inclusive per couple and Rs. 4499 all inclusive per person with a poolside dance floor with DJ Allano from Mumbai. There will be a New Year celebration on January 1 with brunch at the Raj Pavilion and a celebratory menu at Dakshin. There will be special offers for Sheraton Plus members, OWC and Dubliner card holders for bookings made by December 28. Call 22269898Taj Gateway is presenting a special Deli counter at the hotel lobby till January 2 with Xmas goodies like Christmas plum pudding, roast turkey with cranberry sauce, chocolates and more. For details call 66604545.Royal Orchid is celebrating the season with carol singing at the lobby from 9 to 10 p.m. with Christmas goodies at Pinxx. There will be a New Year’s Eve Ball on December 31 from 8 p.m. with beverages and drink, with tickets priced at Rs. 1,600 per…More

The Hindu : Some of Bollywood’s biggies have often raised a voice against filmmakers for not writing comedy roles for heroines.But those working in comedy films aren’t complaining. Katrina Kaif is a case in point. After two successful comedies “Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya” and “Partner” Katrina’s kitty has got some more spice with her third comedy movie – Anees Bazmee’s “Welcome”.“It doesn’t matter if I don’t play a comic role as such but I am a catalyst to the comedy that is dished out in the film. My character hence becomes very significant,” says Katrina.As Sanjana in “Welcome” she is the sister of a mobster played by Nana Patekar who is looking for a decent match for his sister. She chances upon a reputed doctor’s (Paresh Rawal) nephew Rajeev played by Akshay Kumar who is desperately looking for a girl from a respectable family to marry. And Nana also meets him and decides to marry off Sanjana to him. “But I happen to meet Akshay on a cruise elsewhere and we fall in love without knowing my brother’s plans,” she says.Still working on her Hindi, she now manages to write her dialogues in Hindi.“I make my own decisions as far as choosing roles is concerned. I am not born with good acting skills.I am learning on the job. Having learnt Kathak is proving to be of great help now.”Hard actShe still complaints about filmdom’s long working hours. “They work from eight in the morning till 10 at night.It gets very tiring and I often feel worn out. As it’s an everyday affair, it becomes a torture. I wish they had a work schedule of eight to six,” she sighs.And that’s why after shooting in London, Dubai and Mumbai, “in scorching heat for 98 days continuously” when the film was wrapped up, she felt relieved.She has made Mumbai her home and is completely at ease there. “Bollywood has also…More

The Hindu : He has tried his hand at a lot of things but finally settled for what he loves the most. Aditya Jassi holds a private pilot’s license, has done his Masters in mass communication and has even worked for a television channel as a reporter. But all of this was only till he found his real calling in music. After being a part of rock bands since college days, the 24-year-old singer made his debut in mainstream Bollywood music with “Kitne Asoon Piye” from the just released Strangers.How this song came into the movie is a different story altogether. The song is actually part of the album by Aditya’s new band, Ni9ne, which he started along with Sachin Gupta who is also the music director of Strangers. “Frankly Bollywood was never on the cards. But when the Tips honcho heard the song he liked it and decided to have it in the film. We changed the arrangement of the song a bit though,” says Aditya, who has a contract signed with Tips.Late bloomerMusic may have been a part of his life, but Aditya discovered the singer in him only six years ago. “I started learning the guitar when I was 12 years old during my boarding school days at Welham Boys’, Dehradun, but I never thought I would sing. When I was doing my graduation at Dayal Singh College the band I used to play the guitar for was looking for a vocalist. After listening to whatever little I used to hum during our jamming session, the guys felt I should start singing. And that’s it, there was no looking back ever since,” recalls the Delhi boy.As if lady luck was meant to be with him always, he became part of the heavy duty rock band Oritus, as an acoustic guitarist, and picked upmany awards at the various college fests across the country. Their debut album,…More

The Hindu : Party in SingaporeSingapore Tourism Board (STB) is making sure party animals have more than enough to do this New Year’s. You can party at some of the world’s most iconic dance clubs: the famous Café Del Mar from Spain, British super dance club Ministry of Sound, the uber hip Barfly by Buddha Bar from Paris - all in one night and in one location, Singapore. Added to the mix are Singapore’s clubbing institution Zouk, and the newly opened mega entertainment complex St. James Power Station. New Year’s isn’t complete without the perfect countdown party. Catch one at the Marina Bay New Year’s Eve Countdown 07/08, with spectacular visual art installation on the bay, video dedications and display of fireworks. Sentosa’s hippest hangout, Siloso Beach is where you head for Asia’s grooviest celebration under the stars, where revelers can dance from dusk till dawn with a line up of DJs, non-stop music, pyrotechnics display and fringe entertainment.Or you could head to Clarke Quay Central Square for its annual countdown party - the OneMusicOneCountdown where four lanes will be given a unique transformation, dressing each one up in different music genres including Soul, Rock, Pop and Hip Hop. For more information, visitwww.visitsingapore.com/in….More

The Hindu : Vinmusiclub in association with Ramya Cultural Academy, will organise mega event in honour of the inimitable, evergreen star, Dev Anand. This 85-year-old star has been associated with the film industry for over 60 years now as actor, producer, writerand director. The event is first of its kind in the history of Karnataka. The event will showcase the contribution of Dev Anand with “Gaatha-rahe Mera Dil”, a musical journey with selected songs from his films with a full-fledged orchestra in support.The venue is Gayatri Vihar, Bangalore Palace, 6.30 p.m. Saturday, January 19, 2008. For details of the event, interested may contact S. Bali on 98457 48240 or email to balis@dataone orbali3591@yahoo.com orbali.iyer@gmail.com…More

The Hindu : Drive safe with the little oneSAFETY Few people in India are aware of child seats and how important they areIt is surprising to see so many cars on the road with a family inside and the child, usually, a baby or a kid that’s less than a decade-old, is seated in his or her mother’s lap. Most families do not realise the risk and danger they are putting their young children in by not providing them with the required seats. Imagine, if the driver had to suddenly brake hard? The mother would be flung forward and the child would get squashed between her and the dashboard. The seatbelt in a car, engineered to restrain you in the event of a crash, is designed for adults. While in many countries, child seats are mandatory, in India, many people aren’t even aware of the concept. Read on for a guide on child seats and how you can protect your child.For infantsInfants should always be given a rear-facing seat; this is because a rear-facing child seat will offer better protection for their back, neck and spine. In fact, make use of the child seat as soon as the baby gets out of the hospital. The baby should be in a rear facing seat till he or she weighs at least nine kilos. Keep your child in a rear-facing seat for as long as possible as this offers more protection than a forward-facing seat.The two types of seats you can get are infant-only seats and convertible seats. The infant-only seats can be used from birth to when the child weighs nine kilos. The convertible seats can be used as rear-facing seats for infants and then they can be converted into forward-facing seats when the child is older. The seats are best kept at the rear and never put a child seat in the front passenger seat especially when there…More

The Hindu : From “Ancient Promises” to “Rani” (her fourth novel), Jaishree Misra, the U.K-based writer, has come a long way. Her characterisation of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi — from the 13-year-old Manikarnika, whose wit, skill andacumen outshone that of her playmates Tantya and Nana, to the sensible, duteous ruler of Jhansi and wife to warm but weak-spirited Gangadhar — is sympathetic and engaging.Hailed as her most ambitious work so far, it is more a fictionalised biography of the Rani. Expectedly, there are hardly any wrinkles in Rani Lakshmibai’s character. But the author makes her human, sewing an unrequited, and impossible love story into the tale.Fiction fills the gaps in history, characters are fleshed out from the available documents, legends and history.“I wanted to try my hand at a historical novel. Rani Lakshmibai was an obvious choice,” admits the author, for whom the queen of Jhansi was no more than a cursory mention in history texts.As the grainy picture of the warrior queen, on a bounding horse, her sword raised to battle, became clearer in Jaishree’s head, she knew the Rani would throw in new challenges. “Sometimes I wondered if I should have gone in for a lesser-known figure. Everyone knows about Lakshmibai and they feel she belongs to them,” says Jaishree. “Further, she is a figure placed on a pedestal and that was a challenge,” she adds.Extensive researchPiecing together the tale of the Rani involved extensive research. Flipping through the archives in India and Britain, Jaishree recovered nuggets that helped her give the queen an identity beyond the battlefield.“There are just bits and pieces about her,” says Jaishree. Contrary to the popular image of an enraged Lakshmibai who “marched out and fought” the British, the author realised there was a significant time gap between the annexation of Jhansi and the queen’s foray into combat.“When we unveil the facts, we get to see the little shades,” says the…More

The Hindu : It’s a profession to die for and its called chocology. The person involved here not only becomes a scientist who “studies chocolates seriously” but also gets invited by people across the world to taste chocolates, give suggestions and talks about the “positive aspects” of these divine desserts that makes people of all ages go weak in their knees.Meet Paul Hebblethwaite, from UK, the only Professor of Chocology in the world! “Chocology is a platform on to which we bring in all the positive aspects of chocolates. I initiated the science for I believe there are many positive sides to a chocolate,” he insists. Paul is also the one who came up with the term chocology for he “wanted a funky name and it goes with the names of biology, psychology”.So what does it take to become a chocologist? “A sure appreciation of the product and to be able to understand the nutritional qualities of the product,” says Paul, whose association with chocolates dates back to the ’70s. He joined Cadbury Schweppes Foods Division in ’74 and became the research and development manager of the company. In 1988, he left this company to join Chivers-Hartley as general manager and then came back to Cadbury Schweppes in ’91 to become technical director and later the technical and buying director.Now as the group technical director of Cadbury Schweppes, Paul is responsible for global quality and environmental management. In 2003, he became the group science director with a global responsibility for the management of scientific and regulatory affairs. This role involves the management of current and emerging food issues, the influencing of scientific strategy and research in response to these issues and for working cross-functionally to exploit the opportunities identified for product and process innovation, explains the man who is promoting chocolates right now.“We’re not saying that chocolate is a health food. But when eaten in moderation it does…More

The Hindu : She slaps age-defying cream on her face, neck and hands, rubs firming and toning solution on cellulite, streaks her greying hair blond, gets plastic surgery and botox done, pumps it at the gym and buys clothes from the latest designer boutique. The new urban woman who is well past her 20s, could be in her 30s, 50s or 70s, is fashion-conscious and could have you guessing at her age. She could be married or single and working, a mother or grandmother – with a kid on one hip, bag on her shoulder and cell-phone in her palm – you really couldn’t tell.When she is in her teens she prances around in spaghettis and figure hugging low-waist jeans, and after that? Does she completely change her wardrobe once she gets married and has children? Does she conform to society – draping and covering herself because she has the family’s honour to keep and cannot ‘flash her sexuality’ around the place. Does she get embarrassed about her extra weight post-pregnancy and menopause and asks for only pastel and sober shades? Or does she, influenced by media and the fashion industry, run to beauty parlours, gymnasiums and designers to look like how Demi Moore or Shobhaa De with their knee tucks and liposuction who fit into clothes that are a size 8? But there is another school of thought that some women think that there is nothing wrong in looking and feeling good no matter how old you are.Designer Anu Nagappa feels that times are a changing. Her clients who age from 30 to 60 are dressing up more fashionably now. “Older women don’t wear teen clothes but definitely ask for classic designs and tend to tailor them rather than buy them from shops.” She continues, “What suits a teenager does not suit an older person as teenagers would ask for non-branded and low-priced clothes when it comes…More