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The Hindu : The RX100 and RD350 ruled the roost during the golden age of two-strokes in our country. There was no doubt that Yamaha was top dog – but somewhere, somehow, they floundered with the four-strokes. However, they have now taken the decision to goback to their roots, and the Gladiator Type SS and RS are the first step in that sporty direction.‘SS’ stands for ‘Stylish and Sporty’ and the ‘RS’ stands for ‘Racing Sports’. There isn’t much to differentiate the two except for their paint schemes, decals and the colour of the rear springs.The new Gladiator is instantly recognisable, due to the 28 changes Yamaha has made to it, but what hasn’t changed is the quality of the fit and finish; it still remains top notch. The front mudguard has been changed, as has the fairing, now with a vent in the centre, above the headlamp. The indicators have new clear lenses that have replaced the old Gladiator’s amber ones; the handlebar is flatter, encouraging the rider to lean forward, and the handle crown is redesigned. The muscular tank is complemented well by an engine cowl. The footpegs are made of aluminium now, and the attractive pillion footpegs snap into place with a very satisfying click. The brake pedal is redesigned, and the gearshift lever is truly sporty, now only a toe-shifter. The under-seat cowls look like they flow into one another thanks to the very well-executed decal job, and the seat is dimpled for extra grip during hard riding. Red springs on the dual rear shock absorbers connect the seat to a rectangular swingarm. The new Gladiator also has an exposed chain that requires minimal maintenance. On the right, the newly-designed muffler end-piece is inclined at a suitably sporty angle. Alloy wheels are now standard on the Gladiator. Unlike a run-of-the-mill 125, the Gladiator is a big bike and it shows the tank recesses accommodate…More

The Hindu : Corporal punishmentRegarding the article “To cane or not to cane” (MetroPlus, March 24), there is no doubt that corporal punishment should be banned. Severe punishment will leave children traumatised.Nirmala Narayanan(by e-mail)Truthfully yoursThis is with reference to the article “Be true, be you” by Anoop Bharadwaj. If I had to write something, it would be the exact same thing that Anoop has mentioned in his article.Divya Fernando(by e-mail)Perspective mattersI agree with Gayathri Bakthavasalu views (“On the Lookout”, MetroPlus, February 12) about the status of the people living in India and abroad. We need not worry about the behaviour of other people.But we can change our angle of vision and automatically our worries about others will vanish.Rtn.Dr.Er.N.K.D.Andavar(by e-mail)Generation gapAlthough I liked C.K. Meena’s article “Papa was a rolling stone” (City Lights, March 12), I felt she was romanticising the past. I’m one of those “20-somethings who think we are lucky”. It would be incorrect to make a blanket statement about us saying we are too structured, or that we had it very easy with our parents. I believe that we inherited this world from the elders, and that if we behave a certain way, it’s part choice and part in conformity with society’s norms. In these times one just can’t be a free bird till 25, chase the rainbow and then return to a family life, which pretty much was the case in the Seventies. If today an average middle class child does not start competing from the age of 10, she will not “make it”. We like listening to Dylan, we are deeply interested in politics, but we think we can do all this, and be all we want to be, while remaining bound by society’s shackles (which were forced on us, by the way). It is these 70’s rebels that now start teaching their kids Bharatanatyam and tabla at age three so that the resume…More

The Hindu : Virtual MechanicCar and bike questions? We have the answersI plan to buy a new car and my budget is Rs. 5 lakh. This is my first car and my priorities are front seat comfort (I am 175cm tall), reliability, fuel economy and low maintenance costs. My usage is approximately 700km per month, with equal time spent in the city and highway. Please suggest a suitable car.Kamalakannan ShanmugamYour budget permits you to get a premium hatchback. The Swift VXi (petrol) meets your requirements the best. There are diesel options for the same price but given the fact that you are doing only 700km a month, it will take years before you recover the higher premium you would pay for a diesel by way of lower running costs. The Swift’s front seats are extremely comfortable (but the back seat is quite cramped) and it is a proven vehicle with good reliability and decent fuel consumption. For highway use, the Swift has good overtaking and cruising ability and the ride is comfortable over long distances. Also, remember that Maruti good after-sales service.I am planning to buy my first car. I have short-listed the Maruti Alto LX but may stretch my budget for the Wagon R LX DUO. I will cover 800km per month. Which one is better in terms of mileage and maintenance? Should I consider any other model such as the Zen Estilo LX?Amitava RoyThe Wagon R is a better car than the Alto. So if you can, go ahead and get it. However for your usage, the benefit of LPG will not be that significant. We would advise you to stick to a regular petrol hatchback and there are lots of models to choose from. If you have your heart set on the Wagon R then go for the LXi which has power steering and the same price as the Duo LX (no power steering). The…More

The Hindu : Long ago a businessman made lot of money. Before his last moments, he gave his son a box and asked him to open it before his (the son’s) final moments. The son too struck gold. Everything was fine for a long while. But as fate would have it, hestarted losing and finally became a pauper.He contemplated suicide and reached a bridge. He then remembered the box his father had given him. He opened the box containing a yellowing brittle slip of paper, with words: “This Too Will Pass” written in his father’s beautiful handwriting.With that wisdom, his misery vanished instantly and he was a different man. The post-it notes with messages refocus us in a sea of drift and forgetfulness. The message can be a piece of distilled wisdom of a lifetime, or a snap of prose that rises to the occasion or a snatch of a poem that sweetens the moment, or a symbol that invokes something that makes you are who you are.Taped to monitors and CPUs, stuck on walls and fridges, encased in frames and holders, the words speak in friendly voices, cheerleading us to the goal, lifting us out of bouts of despair, putting us through paces. “It’s about reminding yourself of what you want to achieve with your work,” says designer Ramesh K., who has a billboard stuck on the wall behind his computer, ‘Simple and Stark.’ “As soon as I lift my head, the message beams,” he adds.Among the posters of actors and actresses and WWF hunks in his stuffy room, Sridhar, an engineering grad, cello taped a message: ‘Finish the assignments.’They keep one on the ball, prodding one to achievable action without spreading oneself too thin over too many projects. Dinesh M, with a great interest in ad making, sticks large colourful cards containing words and pictures on walls of his room. When he comes into the room…More

The Hindu : United Arts Society, an organisation focused towards the education of arts to youngsters, brings a chance for children to be a part of a larger than life musical. It is a chance for one to make it to the professional theatre league with loads of fun and things to learn till you get there. The rehearsals and practices for the musical provides an excellent opportunity for children to explore their creativity, develop confidence and have a whole deal of fun in the journey to the stage at Chowdaiah in June.A musical theatre is a form of theatre combining music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance. The emotional content of the piece as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. This musical is a completely new perspective on the fairy tales of yester years with mystical characters like Sinbad, Ali Baba and Aladdin and of course the Genie. This is an opportunity for a child to not just live not just a story but a fairy tale, one that would make you feel very much your own.To participate, there will be auditions held on April 5 in Indiranagar. For further details call 9886455223/9986074986/ 9740080207. Visitwww.unitedartssociety.org…More

The Hindu : Navtej Singh Rehal and Thomas Sardorf, two of the unlikeliest names to be used in the same sentence, met through mutual friend and Scandinavian music producer Janus Barnewitz.The result was the formation of the Indo-Danish hip-hop duo Bombay Rockers who stormed the charts in late 2003 with the peppy and energetic “Ari Ari”. The single featuring Overseas, another hip-hop duo from Denmark with similar origins as Bombay Rockers, received a lot of airplay.Their unique hip-hop, rap sound with a dash of bhangra made them an instant hit amongst the hip-hop fans all around the world. After the massive success of “Ari Ari”, a studio album was the next step.“With Introducing we launched a whole new genre of music to the world audience,” says Navtej who is currently in India on a promotional tour for Overseas’ first studio album All or Nothing. Introducing included other popular hits like “Rock tha Party” and “Sexy Mama”, which were off the hook hip-hop tracks.Whole new genre“Well, we did what we had to with our first album. That’s how most of the music was made for Introducing. Impulsively. We do it our own way,” says Thomas. “The only thing that our sound enthuses is good vibrations, good times. We make our music to make our listeners happy. No sad stuff for us.”The huge success of Introducing put Bombay Rockers alongside the international music brigade. It was no longer making music for themselves; rather it was all about the fans. It was around this time that Navtej and Thomas hit a block.Penalties of fame“We couldn’t write a single track for six to seven months. Our brains were clogged. It was like our creative juice ran out and we had reached an abrupt stop,” Navtej recollects. “We felt it was time we stopped experimenting with our music and strictly adhere to what fans want,”Navtej adds.This led to their second studio album Crash…More

The Hindu : Giju John, born and brought up in Kerala, completed his bachelors in engineering and took off to the US to complete his masters. He had no idea that his life would change completely. After studies, he took up a job in California.But there was no connection with the arts “though I grew up studying Indian classical art from a young age,” says Giju, who is trained in Carnatic classical music and Bharatanatya. “My parents wanted me to be in the arts.My training helped me get a sense of rhythm and music. In college too I was into cultural activities,” he says.Being fond of Hindi and Tamil film songs, Giju always “dreamt of becoming a pop star. I did not know how to go about it and that was the toughest part. I saw salsa only when I moved to Florida. My first interaction with Salsa was at Club Miami. There was just so much energy and passion in the air that I had to learn it. There was so much sensuality and elegance in the way couples moved their bodies to the music, it was a rare mix of passion and social dancing,” explains Giju, who then took lessons in salsa.“Even at that time I was not ambitious. But just wanted to learn to dance out of curiosity,” he adds and says that his destiny changed when he met his instructors — John and Liz — the brains behind Salsamania. He was so good that they asked him to join the group. And that was the beginning of his life in the spotlight abroad. But he was still anonymous in his own land. That troubled Giju. He wanted to make a mark “on Indian soil”.The best way to do it was to release a music album with Hindi music mixed with Latin beats. And he also went ahead and made a video of his first…More

The Hindu : A bluish black box arrives with a large glass crystal perched firmly on top. We curiously open the box and discover yummy homemade chocolates. An invitation for the opening of a new restaurant/coffee shop?It turns out to be an interior design firm, and its invitation card asserts, ‘We believe minimalism is a bummer’.There are events and there are events. If you want to draw the attention of people who matter, the invite has to stand apart from the clutter.A box of chocolates, a pouch of tea leaves or coffee beans, a pack of scented candles or incense sticks, a stained glass candle holder… throw in something for keepsakes.“The idea is to give people something that they can keep long after the event… something that can be a constant reminder of the event,” says event manager Archie Paranji.For instance, the launch of a restaurant saw three different invites for three sets of invitees since the launch was spread over three days. One set of cards were accompanied with a bottle of ajwain.A city magazine invited the who’s who for its third anniversary bash with a printed stained glass candle holder with blue and green colour theme. Incidentally, the décor for the party was in hues of green and blue.A store that stocks collections from Auroville, invited guests to have a dekko with a handmade paper invite accompanied with a pack of aromatic incense sticks.When Villeroy and Boch flew down a noted coffee cup reader, the invite aptly came with a pouch of aromatic coffee beans. A little bit of brainstorming and some ‘googling’ helps for innovative ideas.One of the latest in this line is the Ananda Spa at Ista. A copper canister befits the idea of a spa treatment with water that is therapeutic and contains essential minerals. “These canisters are used to serve water to the clients at the Ananda spa in Delhi and we…More

The Hindu : When Samyuktha was to get married in a traditional Indian ceremony in the U.S., the whole family was in a tizzy firming up travel plans to Chennai to go wedding shopping. Till, a chance encounter with a friend who shopped online for her trousseau at the e-store of a textile major back home gave them an idea.Intrigued, they followed her cue. Not only did they save on ticket costs, they were able to finish their shopping, give measurements for blouses, place orders for gold bangles and necklaces online, and pay for it all through credit card, all within a couple of hours.Online shopping has been a rage for quite some years now. Initially, only websites offered shopping options; now, retailers and manufacturers have jumped onto the bandwagon and are using their brand name to woo customers.Most stores started off cautiously, putting their products online, but not investing in a payment gateway. E-mail was the preferred mode of taking orders, and delivery was made once the cheque or DD came in. Now, payment gateways are common, and this has rendered the process easier.The Chennai Silks ( www.thechennaisilks.com) receives many enquiries from the U.S., U.K., Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka, and handles close to 20 orders a month, says S. Balamurugan, Assistant Manager, Information Technology, of the company. And, when one wants to simultaneously shop for jewellery, one can always check out the website of its sister concern, Sri Kumaran Thangamaligai ( www.sktm.in).Popular choicesThe jewellery store handles about 2,000 enquiries a day, of which at least 30 translate into sales. “We even get orders from Kenya, Brazil and Greece, and our popular items are earrings, rings, necklaces and bangles,” says R. Vijayakumar, e-com in-charge.Some of the orders that come from abroad are for gifts that have to be sent within the country. Any doubts about quality and safety are laid to rest by the brand name. And,…More

The Hindu : Does the name Gracy Singh ring a bell? Sure it does. It’s hard to forget the Gowri of “Lagaan” and Dr. Suman of “Munnabhai MBBS” despite fresh faces making their debut on screen every Friday. Talking of Gracy, the firstquestion that arises is why she went into oblivion after being part of hit films such as“Lagaan”, “Munnabhai” and “ Gangaajal”. Gracy has been asked this many a time before and she says with smile, “I haven’t disappeared. I was waiting for the right kind of films and some of the films I was shooting for got delayed. Frankly, I am happy with my career. I am here for the love of art and not to be part of the rat race.”Gracy has had her share of highs and lows trying to get a toehold in an industry, and 2008 does hold promise. Lined up for release are two Hindi films — “Aseema” and “Desh Drohi”, Kannada film “Meghaway Meghaway” and a Punjabi film. “If I can, I’d love to do a film in every Indian language. I’ve enjoyed working in Telugu films as well. “Santosham” with Nagarjuna was the most memorable of the lot,” she recalls.“Aseema” is based on a novel written by Shailaja Kumari Aparajita Mohanty. “The script has always been my priority and I cannot thumb down films that have strong content. ‘Aseema’ is just the kind of film that will put me back in the spotlight. Saying that the film is about a woman’s fight for identity might sound clichéd. I’d rather describe “Aseema” as an entertaining family drama,” she says. Following this is “Desh Drohi”, an action pot-boiler which will see Gracy act tough for the first time. “I’ve never done an action film before; I learnt to ride bikes, kickboxing and martial arts. I am neither a cop nor a con woman. I am a regular girl who lives in…More