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The Hindu : In the season of epics on the small screen, here comes the biggest of them all. After NDTV Imagine’s “Ramayan” Star Plus has announced that it is coming up with “Mahabharata”.Produced by Bobby Bedi, the series is directed by Chandra Prakash Dwivedi and Farrukh Dhondy is writing the screenplay.Bobby, who initially announced a film on “Mahabharata” with Bollywood biggies, says, “We are starting with a television series and will move on to animation, gaming and feature films. Two decades have passed when the B.R. Chopra’s ‘Mahabharata’ was telecast on Doordarshan. A whole generation has missed it. In the meantime technology has advanced by leaps and bounds giving us an opportunity to bring a realistic touch to the epic.”Yes, realistic is the key word here. Dwivedi, known for his outstanding, even if illegible for some, interpretation of Chankaya in the past, says, “We are not focussing on the calendar image of the gods. I want to bring alive the political, social and economic life of those times…what was the architecture like, how did they dress?”How about the fact the time frame would be prehistoric? “Still we have material which points out to certain things like rat skin being used to make clothes in those times.”Amardeep Behl, who is heading the design team says, “The attempt is to achieve a marriage between set design and graphic design.” The story board of promos looks sensational, but Dwivedi says the challenge would be to achieve it on a daily basis as “Television doesn’t allow you the budget and time.”Ranjit Kapoor, who is penning the dialogues, says: “The language won’t be formal but not casual either. No pitashri or matashri for sure.We can’t use Sanskrit which was used in those days, as we are addressing a generation which speaks Hinglish.” Ranjit, a filmmaker in his own right, says as a dialogue writer “Mahabharta” gives him freedom because most of the…More

The Hindu : Talk about a normal day in an urban Indian household, most will mention having bread as a convenient and natural choice for breakfast.Obviously the change has made many women thank bread for excluding her from the hassles of preparing a full-fledged breakfast on a busy morning.It is no longer surprising to find varieties of bread as part of the breakfast spread at a star hotel or the bakery around the corner doing brisk business. Moreover, there are enough patrons who find bread the most accessible, convenient and healthy option in their diet. Cities like Bangalore are finding a shift in stores selling breads.Well-maintained specialty outlets like the chain of Daily Breads have driven home the point that bread is a product that can be had in delicious options and can be viewed as one of the edible and appetising foods available.Reasoning her habit of consumption of bread daily at her home, Preethi Williams, homemaker and mother of three growing children says: “With crazy schedules in the mornings, it is difficult to prepare elaborate breakfasts. Bread is a healthy option, it is all the more better because you can add vegetables, salads, cheese and make it interesting even for children.”Lalitha Vishwanath, a soft skill trainer in her late 50s says, “I think it is the concept of convenience.“Food habits over the years have changed and it is no longer practical to stick on to traditional breakfast options like paranthas or rice items. We do accept that breads at our home are the only alternative as mornings are packed with eight lunch boxes to be sent out. Even if I had the time to prepare it, neither me nor my daughter-in-law would venture into it as we find bread ready to eat, and light on the stomach.”There is also the notion that traditional forms of food, particularly breakfast foods, were digested more easily by people earlier who…More

The Hindu : As children gear up with their water balloons and colours to celebrate the festival of Holi, Nick is presenting “Nick Holi Splash” contest presented by Boomer Splash.The contested, which started on March 3, will continue till March 21. Tune into Nick anytime of the day from Monday to Sunday and spot the Nick-toon who gets splashed for the day. Lucky winners with the right answer can win exciting Nick pichkaris and get ready to splash colour and squirt their friends with their very own Nick pichkari.Everyday, 10 lucky winners stand a chance to win the Nick pichkaries by participating in the Nick Holi Splash contest presented by Boomer Splash. To win these exciting prizes MNTL landline users have to call 1250111555, Airtel Landline users call 1250155, BSNL Landline, BSNL Mobile and MTNL Mobile users call 1255568, Airtel, BPL, Vodafone, Idea Mobile users call 5056882.You can also send an SMS by sending “N-I-C-K” followed by either A, B or C and your name to 56882. Log ontowww.nickindia.com….More

The Hindu : Fascinated as she is by the way fish is caught at the Chinese nets in Fort Kochi, sushi expert and food consultant Hiroko Shimbo says that fish hauled in nets is not right for sushi, the Japanese style of eating raw fish. A consultant with Japanese restaurants in America and Europe, author of two cookery books, ‘The Sushi Experience’ and ‘The Japanese Kitchen’, Hiroko says, “Japanese food is amazing because of sushi. You can find sushi in Russia too and it is coming to India.”The reason for the spurt in popularity of Japanese cuisine according to her is, “the Japanese way of cooking is very different from other cuisines. We don’t use much oil. The most popular way of cooking is grilling, boiling, braising or steaming. We don’t start with oil in a wok as for in a curry or as in Italian or Spanish food. So Japanese food is very light.”And the fish curries in India? “Here you have wonderful spices but we don’t have any. So when we eat fish we get the real taste of the fish, its flavour.”But the curry is special to Hiroko. Comparing it to a musical orchestra she says, “It’s a very clever way of cooking, almost like an orchestra playing where different notes combine in harmony.”But it’s the sushi that Hiroko is an authority on. And she explains. “The fish needs to be very fresh in sushi. The fisherman angles and brings the fish aboard gently. The fish is kept alive till middleman sell it to sushi chefs. There is a special way to kill the fish. It is killed in one stroke and another gash is made towards the tail. The fish is then plunged in water and allowed to bleed. After the bleeding is complete it is sent to the restaurant.” And she goes on to explain about the expertise needed by a sushi chef…More

The Hindu : At the end of a hectic day at office, Rakesh sits by the window of his living room of his house on the fourth floor. A nightscape blotches into his god’s-eye-view. The lights glint off on the smoggy tapestry.The skeletal silhouettes of buildings and hills trace the space, weave, and hang across like gossamer fibres. It’s all hushed except for an occasional bark or train whistle in the distance.The gentle breeze caresses him. Above, the vastness, stars, the moon. “Just sitting here and soaking up the space and the delicious vibes,” the executive in a multi-national company almost mutters adding, “nature in her various moods exudes warmth and affectionate vibes. It’s for us to feel them. When I sit here, not consciously making an effort to think, great ideas flit across my mind. Moreover, this is my sweet spot of security. In this mind-boggling flux of people, events, technologies and what not, we need to have a cosy feeling of being secure, anchored to our roots.”Congenial warmthYou go to a party, a college whoopee or a friend’s house, you feel the unknown, unfathomable vibes – vibes that make you happy, sad or irritable. It’s a feel. We always interact with our surroundings whether we know it or not. People and places exude vibes that launch a lasting friendship, or turn an existing one off-kilter.Vibes in workplace can have effects that can mess with one’s mind.“I sometimes feel edgy and anxious for no apparent reason,” says Avinash, who works for a glitzy corporate office. In his office where every talk and every gesture revolves around monthly targets and performance, ‘nerviness cuts through the room like a knife.’ Added to this, the very place feels impersonal, “not really connecting with each other, rowing my own boat my own way. You find people and their vibes influencing you in unknown ways,” he adds.Being out of wavelength – of…More

The Hindu : Saluting abilityFour achievers were felicitated at the CavinKare Ability AwardsIt need not be a star-studded affair to make an event a success. The recent CavinKare ability awards proved it.It was an evening to salute and acknowledge the exemplary service ofdisabled persons.Four awards were given away to felicitate disabled persons on their achievements.The ability awardforeminence, 2008, was givento Madhukar Vishvanath Shiordhonkar from Madhya Pradesh.He is one of the first qualified visually impaired physio-therapists and has set up several associations and federations for the rehabilitation and empowerment of thevisually impaired.The ability mastery award was presented to three people – Shivani Gupta, Veena Mehta Verma from New Delhi and Jagdeep Singh Dangi from Madhya Pradesh.Winners allVeena is one of the first blind women to be offered an HR executive’s job at the National Thermal Power Corporation, Shivaniis a qualified architect and Dangi claims to have invented the first Hindi-English Internet browser.The awards have been given in the past five years for ‘looking beyond disabilities and breaking barriers together.’The mood for the evening was set by a scintillating performance by Shobhana,national award winning actor and Bharatanatyam dancer who danced with visually impaired artistes from Bangalore.Renowned actor and director, Revathy who is also a social activist hosted the award ceremony. The jury comprised of wide range of social leaders.SHWETA JAIN…More

The Hindu : ZZ Top was built around guitarist Billy Gibbons, whose career began with the popular Southwestern band Moving Sidewalks. They opened a gig one night for Jimi Hendricks and he later mentioned Gibbons on “The Tonight Show” as one of America’s best young guitarists. After the breakup of The Moving Sidewalks, Gibbons and manager/ producer Bill Ham recruited Frank Beard and Dusty Hill from a Dallas band, American Blues.Their debut compilation called First Album was released in 1970. This was followed up by extensive touring, that led to building a national following in the U.S., which eventually made all the band’s albums go gold or platinum. A year-long tour in 1976, dubbed the Worldwide Texas Tour, was one of the largest-grossing road trips in rock at that time. They sold over a million tickets.A well-earned break was taken by the outfit for the next three years until 1979s Deguello. Though ZZ Top’s only major hit singles were Tres Hombres’ La Grange and Fandango’s Tush, their albums consistently made the Top 40.With the release of their 1983 album Eliminator, ZZ Top made a quantum leap from best-kept secret to amazing stardom. Owed mainly to some smartly directed videos for songs such as “Gimme All Your Lovin”, “Sharp Dressed Man”, “Legs” and “TV Dinners”. Gibbons and Hill, with their long beards, became MTV icons, as did the cherry red 1933 Ford coupe (restored by Gibbons) that gave the album its name and which the band drove in the videos. This exposure brought a whole new audience into their ambit that began buying the band’s material, and the Eliminator selling some 10 million copies.It remained on the charts for over three and a half years. “Legs” introduced a pulsating synthesizer beat into ZZ Top’s crunching blues-rock riffs. At the peak of its success, ZZ Top still remembered its roots and launched a fundraising drive to erect a Delta Blues…More

The Hindu : Piling up plasticBhama S. fumes over the indiscriminate use of plastic in our supermarkets, even to tuck away a few lemonsThe environmental hazards created by the commonly used plastic bags are enormous. From sewage and drainage lines getting clogged and creating floods in big cities, to choking and strangling wildlife in oceans and rivers, the ubiquitous plastic bags do everything to destroy the environment. They decrease the productivity of the arable land because they do not rot or turn into compost.Plastic takes more than 1,000 years to degrade! Recycling plastic bags is difficult and expensive and only one per cent of the plastic bags were recycled (according to a recent study in the United States).When polythene-packing materials are burnt at temperatures, which are too low, they release toxic gases like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and other substances, which are harmful to human beings (can cause cancer) and contribute to global warming.Many countries such as Australia, Ireland, Bangladesh, France and Germany have brought about rules to reduce the number of plastic carry bags, such as taxes and charges on plastic bags, encouraging cloth bags, etc.Here in our rapidly expanding city, new supermarket chains that sell fresh fruit and vegetables have sprung up, and it is appalling to note that customers are required to use a thin plastic bag for every single fruit or vegetable they buy.This increases the use of plastic many-fold and is totally unnecessary. Just enter one of these elite stores and you see a sorry spectacle — people mindlessly tearing plastic covers off the roll even for a cucumber and plastic strewn all over the floor.All vegetable vendors on the streets nowadays keep a supply of plastic carry bags, and generously give you one even if you buy a couple of lemons or a bunch of coriander leaves.Gone are the good old days when a string of flowers is wrapped in a bit…More

The Hindu : In his poem “When You Close Your Eyes”, celebrated artist-writer K.G. Subramanyan speaks of phantom streaks of ghostly red and green, figures in noisy fancy dressed on empty stage, dancing dreams with dragon masks, and bodies of ballet girls with lathe-turned limbs.In Odd Encounter, he spots a boy and a girl on either side of a road which is “badly split into strips of sun and shadow”, almost like day and night.“He stands in the shadow on one side of the road / She is framed in a spot of light on the opposite.”They see each other, “but stay across the road, sticking to where they are / The distance is what ties them, nearness may keep them far.” There is hope though. “Some day in the time to come, when the light covers both sides / or the deepening shadows will sink all difference, / the crossing may be easy. And they may make the choice.” Mani-da, as Subramanyan is fondly referred to, is known to bring a lyrical narrative to his paintings.Cavorting couples, crowing cocks, jumping cats, hanging fishes, flying angels, combating deities and a curious tapestry of human faces form captivating congregations in his multi-layered work.There are many pieces of exhilarated restlessness and contrasting recitation in Mani-da’s latest suite of paintings.Put together by Seagull Foundation for the Arts, Kolkata, The Magic of Making , a travelling exhibition (December 2007 – April 2008 / Calcutta, Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi) comprises more than 100 engaging pieces of imagery by the senior artist, who is also a distinguished art educationist, scholar, and art historian.Among the recurrent metaphors of Mani-da’s paintings are crammed rooms, “where you could sit / And watch the world around and slowly draw / Your inner phantoms out from the dimly lit / Tunnels in mind.”The intriguing structure of his paintings leads the viewer to grasp slices of interior spaces as…More

The Hindu : As the Wills Lifestyle Fashion Week approaches, models become the centre of attraction. Even as an airline security guard, a policeman and a farmer join the Gladrags Mega Model Manhunt contest, seasoned professional Maureen Wadia, who knows a thing or two about the modelling and fashion world, has a word of caution for all wannabe models. “A model’s career span is limited to two to three years only, and a model should have a regular job to fall back on”.According to Maureen, people get swayed by the glamour of modelling. “Endorsements are taken away by the celebrities, and the money is made by them”. Contrary to the prevalent perception, not all models make a killing and only top notch ones stay in the limelight for a good duration of time.Maureen should know as she was the one who introduced the likes of John Abraham, Aishwarya Rai and Meher Jesia to the contest. .Talking of Gladrags Manhunt contest, she claims, “Ours is probably the only unisex contest in the world.”She adds, “I tell youngsters you are blessed with two things, first your parents who gave birth to you, and secondly a good education and health. Good looks are an added feature. To be handsome is not enough. One should have the intelligence to fulfil ones dreams and ambitions.”A workaholic herself, Maureen works for almost 15 hours a day and prays to get two more hours. According to her, “I like to work with the youngsters and give them a motherly feeling.”From far and wideAt the contest 50 participants were short listed out of the 2,000 applicants from the North Zone. The models include, students and established professionals from New York to Nagaland and Vancouver to Kashmir.The selected candidates from all the zones will be trained and groomed personally by Maureen at the Gladrags Modelling and Career Academy in Mumbai. “They are directed beyond their expectations, because…More