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The Hindu : Tim Supple describes William Shakespeare as “a very intelligent man.” The 45-year-old opera and theatre director knows what he is talking about having worked with Kenneth Branagh and Dame Judi Dench in “Coriolanus” apart fromdirecting “Comedy of Errors” and “As You Like It”. He also helmed the well-received “Twelfth Night” on telly.In town with his multi-lingual version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Supple says: “Shakespeare was the very opposite of this Hollywood/Bollywood ideal of one love. It is not cynical, it is the truth. ‘Midsummer Night’s dream’ talks of the interchangeabilty of young love.”Supple goes on to say the forest represents our baser instincts and as we grow up and mature, “we put away our desires like a dream.” If you have ever wondered who the hero of the play is, then Supple says: “There is no hero in the strictest sense. But I would say Bottom is a heroic figure. He is the best written and most lovable. He goes on an extraordinary journey. He spends a night with the queen of fairies and returns a changed man. Even his name, Bottom, is the centre of the body and also the centre of the play. Also, when Bottom is transformed into an ass, as every Elizabethan knew, the donkey was emblematic of supreme sexual prowess.”Press him for who the most important person in the play is and Supple says: “Oberon and Titania are the head, Bottom is the gut, the lovers are the heart, the fairies are energy and rude mechanicals are the character. Now you tell me, which is the most important part of the body!”Supple says he chose “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” because “it expresses the essence of theatre. It is poised between humour and seriousness, ritual and reality, rich and poor. I wanted to do it for 25 years and when the British Council approached me to do a play in…More

The Hindu : When the fairies ripped the paper screens and descended on stage, shrieking and clicking sticks, it was what one would call “a money shot” in our celluloid-dominated age. The two-and-a-half hour long performance of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” was as electric as the best of Bollywood. Watching the morning show at Chowdiah Memorial Hall with school children walking to their seats in neat, orderly crocodiles, took the experience to a whole new level as the play swept everyone — young and old, cynical and romantic into its magic, mystic, frenetic, frantic world.One has to forget all preconceived notions. Fairies are not sparkly little creatures flying over hill and dale on shiny gossamer wings. They are lithe, sinuous spirits of the wood — shifting from playful to dangerous in the blink of an eye. The fact that the play is in several languages including English, Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam and Tamil does not hinder understanding at all as the action is perfectly in sync with the words.The sets and costumes by Sumant Jayakrishnan are jaw-droppingly beautiful. How do earth, paper, brilliant red sashes, ropes and poles combine to create visions of such beauty? There surely is magic in the air!The cast ably contribute to the glorious spectacle. The mythic and supernatural are toggled with the king of fairies, Oberon and Theseus played with rock star glamour by P. R. Jijoy while sensuous Archana Ramaswamy plays the fairy queen Titania as well as the captured Amazon queen Hippolyta.Ajay Kumar as master of revels Philostrate and the mischievous Puck trips lightly amongst the foolish mortals. He is at once naughty, lovable, dangerous, Machiavellian and polite to a fault. Joy Fernandes excels as Bottom.All theatre loversmust be thankful to the British Council for bringing this magnificent show to town.Director Tim Supple with his mind-altering vision ensures that you would look at the Bard with new eyes and especially see through…More

The Hindu : The season of cheer – Christmas and New Year – with parties, food and merry making, is a time when fitness and health concerns is the last priority for revellers. When all round the year people slog it out in gyms and fitness centres, come the festive season, their efforts turn futile because they can’t seem to hold back their appetite! And suddenly you find, men and women who’ve been battling obesity - and winning – sliding back.Weighty issuesWhile it is hard to resist that turkey, plum cake, chocolate fudge and other delights, people should be wary of what and how much they binge on. Fat and weight creep upon you like uninvited visitors. You feelyou are doing well and then one day the scale tips over and you wonder where all the extra weight came from. If that sounds familiar to you, then you’re a victim of your own negligence. In other words, you are oblivious to the effects of those so called delicacies. Holding back from treating your taste buds at the expense of the rest your body, can be especially difficult if you’re fighting the war of fat.But that’s not the case if you’re determined to shed those pounds like Mohsin. “I was over a 100 kilos and I’ve brought down my weight drastically over two years.During festive occasions, I make a conscious effort to keep my hunger pangs at bay. This way, I avoid piling on the pounds,” says a trim looking Mohsin.Another group of people for whom alarms start ringing around the festive season are people with cholesterol, heart problems or diabetes. For them, it is a vital issue.Says Sekhar, a diabetic: “Though I would love to cut loose and hog on my favourite food during times of celebration, my diabetes just doesn’t allow me to.” For people who are normally healthy, after a long season of merriment and feasting,…More

The Hindu : Consumed by TVSOUND OFF! Young student Samatha K.V. is upset how we have turned blatant consumerists, thanks to televisionInvented by John Logie Baird in the year 1926, nobody thought that this small box would develop the capacity to overwhelm everyone, everyday. Radio which was popular then was also quickly taken over.Television has managed to steal into everyone’s living rooms. In some houses it has crept into bedrooms too. It draws everyone’s attention, gobbles up time and also creeps into their brains, lays the egg of consumerism, allowing it to hatch and multiply.Television is a highly loaded and manipulative device. Most people are unaware that the television is manipulating and shaping society according to the wishes of the advertisers or industries. The primary goal of television is to sell.Anyone who switches on a television set is bound to become a consumer. We have only two options with us: to be a consumer by watching television and to keep switching or swapping channels. Or simply switch off television. Though television is rarely forced on us, the irony is it always happens spontaneously and voluntarily.To shield children from television is quite an impossible and a foolish task. A recent survey shows that children see one hour of advertisements for every five hours of programmes. The whole concept of consumerism gets instilled right from childhood. This concept has trickled down toclassrooms, books, bags and pencil boxes too, with Tom & Jerry and Bugs Bunny characters ruling everyday products.The history of the development of television is intimately connected with the history of development of capitalism. Television has a way of invading minds and tries to convert everything into consumerism.Though radio did not die completely from the strong blow given by television it moved backstage. Today, radio is coming back, well equipped in advance to knock down television. People have been favouring radio, and is a warning signal for television.Advertising, it…More

The Hindu : FitnessOne has unveiled F1 @ HOME, an initiative which will enable people to pursue advanced health regimens from the comfort of their homes. From the latest in strength training and cardio equipment to life-changing fitness regimens, F1 @ HOME willinstall and maintain the fitness equipment at the residence of the users to ensure a great work-out experience.As part of the initiative personal fitness trainers and nutritionist services will also be provided to users to chart out bespoke fitness plans for them, ensuring an end-to-end fitness solution. Vivek Anand, MD FitnessOne said, “F1 @ HOME is our foray into ensuring that we take the importance of health and fitness to the doorsteps of every person without the frustrations of time and travel constraints – very pertinent issues in the current times.” Ajit Shetty, Fitness Director, FitnessOne said: “Our ongoing endeavour is to provide the best service to our users and FitnessOne @ HOME is an extension of that very vision. We provide unparalleled fitness expertise and that drives us to ensure maximum customer comfort and satisfaction; with FitnessOne@ HOME we aim to deliver the same.”FitnessOne @ HOME which is already available in the city, marks the beginning of personalised gyms at home in the metros. The fitness equipment begins at Rs. 24,500. Visitwww.fitnessoneclub.com…More

The Hindu : Video watchThis fortnight at indiaplaza.inHollywoodlandDirected by Allen CoulterCast: Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, Ben Affleck, Bob Hoskins, Robin TunneyScreenplay by Paul BernbaumDVD, Rs. 599Mysterious deaths in Hollywood seem to provide the perfect backdrop for successful films. Think of Roman Polanski’s mind-altering “China Town” or more recently there was Curtis Hanson’s “L. A. Confidential”. Crimein tinsel town is a chance to lay bare all the seediness under the glitz and the glamour.“Hollywoodland” (Hollywood was initially called Hollywoodland) is also set in the same timeframe — the Fifties, the same place, Los Angeles, and tells the story of the mysterious death of George Reeves, who played Superman on television.The movie actually tells two stories. One follows George Reeves from smooth operator to kept man to sulky bulky has-been who ends up with a bullet in his head on the night of June 16, 1959. The other story is of a dead beat private investigator, Louis Simo, who hopes to make money by stirring things up in Reeves’ death.The police put it down as suicide due to depression but Simo, who starts off talking about foul play to get his picture in the papers, realises things are not quite right.Reeves’ death is one of the great unsolved Hollywood mysteries and there are three theories floating about. One is that Reeves killed himself, the other that his fiancée shot him during an argument and the third is that movie moghul Eddie Mannix had him killed — Reeves was having an affair with his wife Toni.The movie, however, does not play as a whodunit and certainly not noir like “China Town”. It is plays more like a drama about, of all things, redemption, hope and second chances. Coulter’s vision of the golden era of Hollywood is not as bleak and desolate as Polanski’s or Hanson’s. It is a gentler look with all frames dealing with the Reeves side of the story…More

The Hindu : Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is a woody, perennial herb with fragrant, evergreen needle-like leaves. Member of the mint family Lamiaceae, rosemary is native to the Mediterranean region. One of the oldest recorded herbs in history,rosemary survives well in well-drained sandy and rocky soils.Medicinal usesRosemary has been found to be a stimulant and a mild analgesic, and used to treat headaches and poor circulation. (For a tonic against headaches, put some sprigs into a teapot; add hot water, strain and serve.)Rosemary can be used as a disinfectant, as a mouth wash and to treat fever or rheumatism. Externally it can be used in hair lotions; a few drops of rosemary oil massaged into the scalp, can revitalise hair.Used in this manner, it is supposed to prevent premature baldness.osemary is also said to check dandruff. Rosemary has an old reputation for improving memory, and has been used as a symbol for remembrance (during weddings, war commemorations and funerals) in Europe, probably as a result of this reputation.Rosemary and its constituents carnosol and ursolic acid have been shown to inhibit the growth of skin tumours and to provide a natural anti-oxidant protection against skin cancer and photo damage.The fresh and dried leaves are used frequently in traditional Mediterranean cuisine as a herb; they have a bitter, astringent taste, which complements oily foods, such as lamb and fish. A tisane can also be made from them. They are extensively used in cooking, and when burned gives off a distinct mustard smell, which can be used to flavour foods while barbequing. Rosemary also makes a refreshing summer drink.Though there are many varieties, Rosmarinis officinalis and R. officinalis prostratis are the two basic types. Rosmarinis officinalis commonly refers to the upright varieties of rosemary.R. officinalis prostratis refers to prostrate or creeping rosemary which, as its name suggests, tends to grow close to the ground.It is an ideal plant for rock gardens and…More

The Hindu : Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn whatever state I am in, therein to be content— Helen KellerEvery time I crossed the phone booth managed by a visually challenged girl, I was consumed by this overriding urge to ask her to narrate her thought flow. How does the waterfall look in her book? What does purple mean to her? Does she understand howa jolly green jelly quivers on the palm of a five-year-old? Does she know how the source of her income, the phone, looks like?Thousands of questions race across my mind… However, I never quite garnered the courage to go up to her, lest my questions should be politically incorrect, or worse, offend that chirpy soul.How are they taught?And, so this story was born. It seeks to answer two questions: one born out of curiosity, and the other out of concern. How are the visually challenged taught? How should we approach them?From experienceRahiman Chand Bhasha gradually, but totally, lost his vision when he was around five. The visuals he knows are confined to what he remembers from then. For instance, animals such as cat and dog, flowers such as rose and jasmine are all that he can give form to. An advocate based in Coimbatore, he says that after primary school, he joined a regular school in Andhra Pradesh, when Integrated Education (IED) was still in its infancy. Teachers would sit with special children after school hours, and teach them subjects such as maths and science, using embossed papers or cuttings. Most of the learning happened through touch and feel, he says.Premavathy Vijayan, Head, Department of Special Education, Avinashilingam University for Women, says that at the primary level, the focus is on language development, which is cultivated through incessant talking. Further, parents and teachers are counselled to teach them daily living activities such as eating, bathing, combing and dressing, and,…More