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The Hindu : Soon after doffing off khaki, Kiran Bedi donned black robes. Yes, the lady known for her fairness will be seen as a social adjudicator in a new Star Plus initiative called Aap Ki Kachehri. With an opinion on almost everything under the sun, Kiran turned up for the launch answering questions ranging from public service to her favourite colour with equal zeal.Kiran, who holds a law degree, says she wanted to remain in public life after voluntary retirement from the Indian Police Service, and practising law was an option. However, for now she has opted for a court set up in a studio. “It is not an attempt to be one up on the judiciary, but we all know how so many cases are pending in the courts. Even the judiciary has suggested alternate measures for arbitration.” Produced by Synergy Adlabs, Kiran’s court will take only those cases which are not sub-judice.Matter of faith“We won’t entertain criminal cases and both the parties should be willing to come to us. At the idea level, it is very much like the panchayat of yesteryear, where people had faith in an elderly gentleman to mediate in social issues. Over the years the communication has broken down in our society. Also we don’t have many role models around us.”The producers assure usthere won’t be any dramatic reconstruction of cases, as we generally see on news channels. “It should not be construed as a media trial, because both the parties should be willing before the process of mediation,” says Kiran. “I have been helping out people through my NGOs for years. Television will give it more visibility and reach.” Kiran expects mostly family problems and landlord-tenant disputes to come to her. “Nothing would be binding. There is no finality, and both the parties can take legal recourse if they are not satisfied with my decision.”For a television audience, particularly for…More

The Hindu : It’s okay to be a worrywart! Before both your eyebrows disappear into your hairline with surprise, let me add the rider: like all doses of emotions, worry, too, needs to be in small, manageable dosages.Everyone worries, that’s natural. The worries span a wide range from family, health and finances, to job, ageing parents and property.However, some take worry to peaks of anxiety, obsess over their problems. Some fall ill with worry. Some give in to panic disorders.The trick is to worry in small doses, worry for just a brief while and be in total control of yourself, all the while.This takes time but when it comes to your health, you need to make the time.Just set a time to worry. When thoughts of problems creep into your mind, unbidden, at various times of the day and when you are involved in doing other things (such as working, for example!), learn to block the worry immediately, and file it away for future reference.Set aside just 10-15 minutes every day, at a time that suits you, then take those worries off that mental shelf, stew over them for the stipulated time and seek solutions within yourself.Examine the logicExamine the logic of your worries. When looked at up close and personal, and more importantly, with a cold assessing eye, many worries will seem downright silly, born more out of habit than a real problem.Dispense with that kind of worry immediately. Do not worry about global warming with the same intensity of emotion that you reserve for your upcoming surgery.Put it all in proportion and nothing will seem insurmountable. Also, tell yourself that some problems cannot be solved; it is like trying to stop the tide. Just let go.Put your worries to the test. This is facing them, and facing them down.Confront the worries calmly, play out a worst case scenario; what actually happened, could it have been prevented,…More

The Hindu : “How did you get interested in science fiction?”“Because of Isaac Asimov.”“Who is your favourite Sci-Fi writer?”“Isaac Asimov.”“So why are you here?”“Because Isaac Asimov says you’re the greatest.”Of course, renowned science fiction writer Isaac Asimov had his own ways of showing this admiration, as when he chuckles over the identity of a letter writer with a pseudonym: “To be sure, the stamp on the letter is from Sri Lanka but the only person I know in Sri Lanka is a minor writer named Arthur C. Clarke, whom I don’t suppose anyone has ever heard of.”Maybe this passage was on the interlocutor’s mind too. For he laughs and says, “You know what, I think I’m going to enjoy our talk!”The year is 1991. I am in Colombo for the SAARC conference. How can I resist trying to meet the man whose imagination made him approximate to the ancient world’s definition of a writer as a prophet and visionary? In his own lifetime (1917-2008) he saw his ideas becoming the realities of science.His concept of communication satellites in geostationary orbits took form as the Clarke Belt, he inspired the invention of the World Wide Web, and his notion of a space elevator opened up new areas for experiment. An asteroid and spacecraft were named after the seer-writer. The death of this British-born, Sri Lankan resident spells the end of the era of the Sci-Fi trinity of Clarke, Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein.All three left their own legacies — but Clarke’s fantasia is marked by a certain mysticism. At its best, his writing is as lucent as his ideas.Everyone knows Clarke’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” from the StanleyKubrick Academy Award winner, but hard core Sci-Fi fans have long thrilled to the romance of “Across the Sea of Stars”, “Against the Fall of Night”, “A Fall of Moondust”, “Rendezvous with Rama”, and the eerie-ended “Nine Billion Names of God”. His…More

The Hindu : When Johnny Depp did a Namaste at an awards show, we thought it was a spill over from his Capt Jack Sparrow avatar — Sparrow must have sailed on the Indian Ocean and doing various piratical deeds. Then bad boy Colin Farrell did a Namaste on “The Tonight Show”. With Nicholas Cage also favouring the Namaste at a press conference, are we seeing a trend here?Derived from Sanskrit and meaning I salute you, Namaste has become more than just a formal style of greeting. Native to India and Nepal, the word will not suffice unless coupled with the typical gesture of joining one’s palms.Classy greetingBe it on a flight with the airhostess welcoming you with this formal Indian greeting or on a glossy travel brochure with a Namaste welcoming you to some place of historical significance, the gesture is at once evocative and welcoming.Abhimannue Sreekishan, a business management student says: “The gesture is deeply symbolic as the folding of palms implies ‘I acknowledge the divinity in you,’ therefore, Namaste is of great significance and must not be done away with, no matter how advanced we are.”Ryan Julius, a marketing executive feels that “the word and the gesture are unique to our culture and it is important that we retain identities such as these.”American student in the city, Andrea Hamilton comments, “One of the most fascinating things about India is the way people greet each other. I remember the first time I was at an NGO that works with slum dwellers, the way they greeted me with the traditional Namaste made me feel welcome and accepted. There’s so much respect and honour that exudes from the word itself.”There are, however, quite a few who think that saying ‘Namaste’ is outdated and that handshakes and air kisses have replaced the age old Indian salutation, at least in cosmopolitan areas.Up in the airSays businessman Dhyanesh Somnath: “People do…More

The Hindu : Muscles suffer during strenuous exercise. Walking the line between tough exercise and muscle-shredding insanity is not easy.However, if your urine looks dark brown after a workout, trust me, you’ve gone too far.Dark brown urine in this case represents muscle protein leaked into blood; the underlying condition is rhabdomyolysis, which can lead to acute renal failure. Apart from dark urine, athletes typically present with muscle weakness, tenderness, and swelling.Unaccustomed exercise in untrained bodies (think army recruits on a five-mile run in the hot sun) is a classic risk factor.The gym is all too often a rhabdomyolysis zone.The newcomer who goes for a “burn” by jacking on more and more weights, the gym rats who go for the local weight-lifting record, and well trained athletes with more power than sense, can all suffer this condition.Even Olympic athletes on the edge of human endurance are vulnerable: one study found evidence of rhabdomyolysis in more than half the runners in a marathon.Hot, humid conditions aside, not drinking enough water, using diuretics, anti-cholinergic drugs or amphetamines, anti-perspirant sprays and heat-trapping clothes make muscle damage more likely during severe exercise.Watch outEven kicking a water-soaked or heavier-than-usual soccer ball can cause the condition. Those with sickle-cell trait have a greater risk – especially when they exercise at high altitude.An athlete with the signs and symptoms of rhabdomyolysis should see a doctor immediately. It is dangerous to attempt home remedies.A patient might need dialysis, administration of intravenous fluids and careful monitoring of blood electrolyte levels –– all of which require a hospital setting.Prevention is really the best option. Muscle pain is an indicator of muscle damage, and one ignores it only at the peril of acute renal failure or worse.Forcing armed forces and police recruits to run a few miles during the selection process without judging whether their level of physical conditioning allows it is stupid and dangerous.Athletes must drink water at regular…More

The Hindu : IT sensationalism?Software professionals and BPO employees are always in the news – if it’s the rape and murder of BPO employee Pratibha in 2005 or the recent murder of Rinku Sachdeva, a banker, by her husband, Amit Budhiraja, a software engineer who thencommitted suicide. People have expounded the fact it is because of the fast-paced lifestyles IT professionals lead. Fast-paced in the sense of a lack of strong family support and friend network, which push these highly-stressed, lonely and frustrated youngsters to taking desperate steps. There is, however, a school of thought that feels the murder and suicide were not committed in a fit of anger and depression, but that it was well-planned and thought out, as there was a detailed suicide note left behind. Software professionals and MNC employees have always come under the scanner for a supposed lack of ethics.While some people say that it is unfair that software professionals have been severely scrutinised in extreme cases, others feel that it is a general trend of the changing times where marriages and relationships break up before they even began.There are others who feel this is just a stray incident and speculation should not blow things out of proportion.Yes, I do think that the murder and suicide is a sign of the times. In situations where things get desperate and out of hand, people do resort to drastic measures. Many people in the city are from other places, and there is a lack of a strong support system.VinodSalespersonThis is definitely a one-off incident that has been over-hyped. It is because of the level of competition in our fast-paced lives that strong personal relationships are lacking. But we should not resort to murder and suicide. We are putting others in a position of danger.MeenaStudentWe need to be careful in how we deal with our relationships. There was an obvious lack of maturity in that extreme…More

The Hindu : HomeTown the home making/home improvement store from Home Solutions Retail, a part of the Future Group will be conducting a ‘What makes your home special?’, reality contest’ in the city on March 28 at the store.The reality contest is your chance to win the grand prize of a home makeover worth Rs. 54,000 from HomeTown.You can also participate in a contest where the preliminary round is based on simple questions on ‘What makes your home special’ and get a chance to win a Rs. 1,000 gift voucher . The short listed contestants will then be asked to choose their favourite mock rooms at HomeTown and the answer that matches or comes closest to that of the judges panel will move ahead to participate in the reality contest.On March 28 at HomeTown, five couples will be selected to compete in the actual makeover reality contest. They will decorate a room at HomeTown each in a stipulated time with home décor and furnishing material from HomeTown.The best decorated room will be adjudged by a celebrity and the grand prize will be given away on spot.Contestants can also participate in the contest by listening to Radio city and answering the questions. HomeTown is open from 11.30 a.m. to 9.30 p.m. and is at Vanshree Tower, Outer Ring Road, Marathahalli, next to Innovative Multiplex theatre. Call 25236622 or 66621122….More

The Hindu : Did you know?Widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers of his time, Germany’s Oliver Kahn will play his last match at the Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata later this year. He is expected to bid goodbye to professional football when his team Bayern Munich takes on Mohun Bagan in front of an estimated 1,20,000 football lovers of Kolkata.After observing several young cricketers in various cities in India, former India coach Greg Chappell said that the weight of the bat that most youngsters were using was having a negative impact. “The tendency among the youngsters to use heavier bats makes them bottom-handed. This makes them push the ball rather than hit it,” said Chappell.Famed long distance runner Haile Gebreselassie has said that he will not run in the marathon event at the Beijing Olympic Games because of the pollution at the venue. The Ethiopian world champion who suffers from asthmahas decided to run only in the 10,000 metres.England footballer Frank Lampard belongs to a family of well known football players. His father was a good player while his uncle Harry Redknapp is also a former West Ham United player and currently manages Premiership side Portsmouth. Lampard’s cousin, Jamie Redknapp, played for the England team….More