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The Hindu : Shark taleWhile the whole world believes that a great white shark’s eye is black in colour and that it is an emotionless and instinctive killer, Michael Rutzen is one of the few people who have got close enough to sharks to know that its eye colour is infact not black but turquoise blue. Featuring daring adventurer Michael Rutzen, Animal Planet will now present an action packed thriller show “Sharkman” – the man who has learnt to communicate with the world’s wildest predator: the great white shark.“Sharkman” narrates the account of the unbelievable proximity between Michael Rutzen and sharks, wherein some sharks return to him, time and again, out of curiosity, with some even allowing him to take a ride with them by holding their dorsal fins.Michael Rutzen is a South African diver who prefers his encounters with the great white sharks to be up close and personal. He began free diving with sharks in 1997, without the safety of a cage. Michael decided to leave his job and family on a daring quest – to change the public opinion to save these sharks before it’s too late.Michael believes that sharks are not mindless killers as we make them out to be; in fact they are far smarter and more sensitive than popularly believed. Catch this amazing human-shark tale on Animal Planet on January 9 and 10 at 8 p.m….More

The Hindu : We seem to live by the belief that there is only “One life to live,” so the little haiku, “You only live twice. Once when you are born and once when you look death in the face,” comes as a bit of surprise. And even more of a surprise is the fact that these lines appear in “You Only Live Twice,” written by Ian Fleming in a book about the adventures of a British spy with the code name of 007.Yes we are talking about James Bond, who since his debut on movie screens in 1962 has become a worldwide phenomenon all but overshadowing the 14 books —12 novels and two collections of short stories that Fleming wrote.James Bond in the novels was much a man of his times and so in keeping with his in synch ways, the character is better known from the medium of the moment, movies rather than the books.Says business management student, Abhimannue Srikishan: “The movies are more popular because they offer ‘more for less.’ This would mean audio-visual experience as opposed to mere text.”Photo: APIn print The name is Fleming, Ian FlemingValene Varela, another undergraduate student, concurs with this opinion but feels it is about time we did away with the stereotypical notion that books are outdated and that television is in.No clueShamefully, many “die hard fans” of the suave super spy admit to not even being aware of the existence of the novels on which the movies are based!Rakesh (name changed ), a P.R. executive and self acclaimed movie buff says: “People are concerned only with the outcome and not the origin,” and horror of horrors, “not too many care about such nitty gritties!”Evelyn Rajeshekar, a student of journalism, believes that the “James Bond movies sell better due to the excessive advertising and marketing.”The latest Bond film, “Casino Royale” starring the delicious dream boat, Daniel Craig, is very…More

The Hindu : Filmmaker Chandra Siddan realised that she had to tell her story. After making “Williamsburg Experiment” and “The Gift”, this Bangalore-born and raised, Toronto-based director decided to experiment on her own life’s history with “Remembrance of Things Present”.“Williamsburg Experiment” was about ‘art, money and value’ – an enquiry into the poverty of artists. She asks, “It was about why we artists get into this when there are so many hardships? Why do we produce valuable work, without it being valued?” The movie explored the negotiations made between artists, their works and the buyers. While on the other hand, “The Gift” was a “10-minute fiction film about ‘risky living’. It was about a world minus the economy of exchange – where people live without expectations.”But her latest film, “Remembrance of Things Present”, is an 80-minute autobiographical enquiry into her own personal reality. The film talks of her arranged marriage when she was barely 16. Even in a metropolis like Bangalore, where girls from middle-class families are educated, the horrors of patriarchy looms larger than ever.“People told me that I had an interesting story to tell so in a year I decided to make a film on it. It was a story worth telling.” Earlier, Chandra was embarrassed and ashamed of her past — she was wary of pitying looks. But in a few months, she packed her bags and came to the place she left behind 12 years ago.“It seems almost mythical — coming back after so long. I didn’t even recognize my own daughter, Smriti, at the airport.” She returned to India after such a long gap because it took her 12 years to settle down and be secure about her life.“For me, the film was about coming out of poverty — not about therapy. It was about coming to terms with my past.” It is not like Chandra has made peace with the injustice done…More

The Hindu : For some of you, what ensues might seem to be yet another piece of writing stemming from “Taare Zameen Par”. The fact is, some issues need to be highlighted once too often. Learning Disability or LD has been discussed in the media, but ittook an Aamir Khan film to grab people’s attention.Like Lakshmi Ravindra, director of Saaburi multi disciplinary assessment clinic admits, “I’ve been working in this field for the last 15 years with my team, trying to create as much awareness as possible. A film could make the difference that we couldn’t. The film has made people wake up from their slumber.”Suruchi Bhargav, a special educator who equipped herself to teach children with LD after her son was diagnosed with the same, says, “Slow learning children can be born to intelligent, educated parents as well. The parents’ first reaction is ‘why me?’ ‘we both are academic hi-fliers. Our child cannot be dyslexic?’. Psychologist referals are frowned upon. Even today, they resist saying, ‘my child is not mad’.”Lack of awareness among parents and teachers, she says, hampers the progress of children with LD.“Even when parents identify the problem, teachers feel that the parent is coming up with excuses for the child’s lack of concentration. When both the teacher and the parent take longer to identify the problem, the damage is done. The child is coaxed, compared with others, resulting in loss of self esteem.” Suruchi says more than corporal punishment, psychological trauma can torment a child.Younger children with LD can be easily moulded. In some cases the older children find it tough to adapt and in certain cases, they themselves are resolved and cooperate better.She cites the case of a standard VIII student who was identified to be a slow learner only last year. What’s discomforting is that most schools do not have the mandatory special educator and a psychologist on board. Further, schools willing…More

The Hindu : Arunanshu Chowdhury’s recent paintings, ‘Probabilities of Occurring’ allude to images which come repeatedly to his mind reminding him of places he has visited. “The last couple of months have seen me travelling to several parts of the world,” he says. “No matter how diverse and adverse the cultures of the varied peoples are, the sensibilities and concerns are common.”Born in 1969 in W. Bengal, Arunanshu did BFA and MFA in painting from M S University, Baroda. Recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, Canada and Ravi Jain award, he has held several solo shows and participated in group shows in India and abroad. Adept in experimentation with several mediums such as oils, charcoal, collage, paper, acrylic, water colours and screen printing, the 38-year old artist is inspired by the happenings around his essentially urban surrounding.In his current exhibition, Arunanshu brings up some absorbing images under the series, Silent Witnesses. A vacant barber’s chair which has fallen alphabets (not hair!) at its foot; a partially hidden autorickshaw (in Mumbai?) set against lashing waves and concrete boulders; a Cambodian tuk-tuk seen against the background of several photographs of sufferers of a dictatorial regime; mirrors of different sizes hung on a peeling wall; shiny kitchen cutlery of varying shapes … all these become symbols and metaphors narrating many stories the artist wants to share.Another equally stimulating series, Heritage Tour Guide, straddles different venues and time periods. Here, sugarcane crushers, pushcarts selling cigarettes and paan, and mobile eateries stand silently and unattended in an undefined yet captivating landscape dotted with ancient forts and monuments.In many of Arunanshu’s works, the viewer is transported to a seemingly alien but surprisingly real world. Admittedly the artist uses his canvas as his sketchbook. His penchant to employ graffiti as integral to his paintings, and multi-layering of his canvas with subdued colours and tones enhance the suspense and feel of his work.The exhibition concludes…More

The Hindu : Green fingersDifferently-abled people have a thing or two to teach us, observes Nirmala Narayanan in admirationI’ve been visiting the annual garden fair organised by Association for People with Disability for the last few years. It’s so heart warming to see the aesthetically grown plants at the garden developed by people who are differently-abled.I am also the resident of the area where this garden is located. So I keep visiting this place not only during the annual fair but also frequently just to have an eye full of greenery. It’s quite amazing to see people with disabilities working in the garden, a task which requires good stamina. There are people who walk with sticks, some who are even seated in wheel-chairs going about their work. The Association trains such people in gardening and also find them placements in various places as garden maintainers or landscape designers and so on.The students are mostly from rural areas, but after a few months of training they reel out the botanical names of many plants with so much ease. Mind you, most of the plants grown here for sale are exotic varieties; many are not native to our country. The rise in the level of confidence in these people after their training period is remarkable. The smile, the laughter, the enthusiasm that one would find on their faces is something each one of us should see to learn a lesson or two on how to live life fully.Sundays being holidays, the students are allowed to go outside and I have seen some of them going around the colony and playing. The camaraderie that they share is worth mentioning for one might see a boy limping on one leg pushing his friend’s wheelchair while going around. The person who founded this association is also a differently-abled person.Probably being in a similar condition herself, she has understood well as to what would…More

The Hindu : i-Pod, you pod, we all pod! What was Apple thinking when they created the i-Pod? Perhaps they had in mind a renaissance of that period in the Seventies when music junkies skate-boarded down the street with blaring stereo sets glued to their ears.What ever their intentions, they’ve certainly succeeded in inventing and marketing a device that’s a favourite from Hyderabad to Honolulu. They’ve also succeeded in creating a new world order of sorts – a generation of music junkies who are plugged-in, hooked and addicted to i-Pods!Jonathan Brainard, a sound engineer in the making says: “The i-Pod is Apple’s best invention ever! It can store tons and tons of music and videos, you don’t even have to think of a computer for that because this in itself is a computer dedicated to music.”The i-Pod has certain features that makes it the largest selling portable music device today.First, it is sizeable enough to snugly fit in either pocket or palm. One feature that users admire most in the higher i-Pod versions is the touch sensitive jog-dial that navigates you through myriads of multimedia.All this being said, it must be asked if the i-Pod is just another gizmo that youth want to posses to be ‘in sync’ with their generation or to be recognised among their peer groups.Most i-Podders say that these companions serve a higher purpose than that.“Music to me is a means of relaxation not only after a tiring day, but even while I’m working. So, having an i-Pod is really convenient because I have a whole menu of music variety laid out while I work,” reveals Vinay Abhishek, a young office-goer. With so much of music being listened to, one wonders how much of a beating the ear drums take.How much of this auditory intake is actually meaningful? The more pedantic lot might term most genres of music from the i-Pod generation as ‘rubbish’….More

The Hindu : Debutant actor Tushar Jalota would have never thought in his wildest dreams to come in front of the camera. But destiny had it otherwise. Having assisted the Bhatts in films like “Saaya”, “Murder”, “Zeher” and “Kalyug”, it came as a shock when Mahesh Bhatt suggested that Tushar play the lead in the camp’s next film, “Showbiz”.“We were working on the post production of ‘Kalyug’, when Mahesh Bhatt came up to me and said I should try my hand at acting. Since acting was never on my radar, I was very unsure about the offer. But then everyone convinced me. The script also needed a fresh face, as a winner of a reality show who has never been in the limelight before,” explains the 24-year-old.“You like me in the film or not, whichever way the credit or the blame goes to Bhatt sir,” he quips. Tushar joined Anupam Kher’s acting school to learn the art. “Frankly, I don’t think anyone can teach you how to act, as every person has a different way of expressing emotions. But such schools do help you in getting rid of inhibitions,” says the Mumbai born-bred.Despite the film’s fate, Tushar is sure he is not going behind the camera again. “I have moved on in life. Now that I have discovered my real interest, I will stick to acting.” The film is very close to his heart as he has been involved with the film right from the initial scripting to casting till post production.But that also meant no time to look out for new offers. “I just didn’t find time to breathe all this while. I did get a few calls from people who wanted me to read their scripts. I will do that soon,” he sums up.MANGALA RAMAMOORTHY…More

The Hindu : A singing paleontologist in space.” That’s what 12-year-old Tara L. Venkatesan told former President Abdul Kalam when he asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up.You see, Tara, granddaughter of another former President of India, R. Venkataraman, loves dinosaurs — she never leaves a library without at least five books on them — and she loves space — she couldn’t get enough of the space simulations at a recent NASA space camp.But the 12-year-old soprano’s first love was always Western classical music. “I was five years old when I heard an opera singer from Holland perform at a concert,” she recalls. “I pretty much knew I wanted to be an opera singer by the end of it.”And so it was that she began training under India’s leading soprano Situ Singh Beuhler at the age of seven, and more recently, under Gerald Wirth, artistic director of the 400-year-old Vienna Boy’s Choir, in addition to learning Indian classical from none other than Pandit Ravi Shankar.Several performances around the globe later, Tara still isn’t sure what exactly drew her to opera. “My grandfather always says I’m a total oddball since most children my age love Indian music,” she giggles.But she is certain that she wants to do charity, particularly help children who’ve been less fortunate than her, and she’s come up with the concept of ‘Music-4 Kids By Kids’. “There’s nothing more fun than children performing for other children. Why should we leave it all to the adults?”That’s what has brought Delhi-based Tara and her family to Chennai — her first charity concert held in aid of SOS Children’s Villages of India — Chatnath Homes for abandoned, destitute and orphaned children.“It took us a while to pick the songs because I wanted to sing everything I knew,” says Tara, laughing. But they finally decided on seven traditional Western classical compositions by the likes of Mozart…More