News

The Hindu :

A presentation “Glimpses of India”, in which children from Stds.IV to XII highlighted the richness of 22 states marked the annual day celebrations of Jain International Residential School. Children in traditional attire presented folk songs and they also exhibited patriotic fervourr in a musical opera bringing to life on stage the Father of the Nation, Subhas Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh and other legendary figures.

The three-hour programme seemed to be over too soon, leaving behind the essence of the children’s artistic abilities.

An exhibition consisting of 50 stalls, where in the artistic as well as scientific skills of students were displayed, was also part of the celebrations.

INPUT BY SUDHINDR A.B.

<FONT …More

The Hindu : SUDHINDR. A.B.

Kids learn and have fun on graduation day.

All Colour and enthusiasm: Graduating.

The Montessori graduation ceremonies at schools that are part of The Hindu NIE programme are an upbeat affair filled with enthusiasm and energy.

At the Ryan International School, the ever growing smartness of the upcoming generation was evident.

The ceremony, complete with graduation gowns and caps brought proud smiles to the parents’ hearts as the young grads stood tall with their certificates, with a little one enthusiastically exclaiming:

“ I am so excited to go to Std.I, I’ve learnt table manners, to draw and colour, and play and sing and dance.” Surely, nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.Small steps

Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises, and the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little ‘extra’.

And these tiny tots were at their zaniest best, sashaying to foot tapping tunes. The afternoon session was welcomed with a bright sunflower dance.

The lessons one learns at kindergarten are the values we hold true in our journey through life.

These were the sentiments echoed by retired educational officer Joseph. Commissioner of Income Tax Swati Patil and MLA Munivenkata Reddy were also present.

At the National Public School, Rajajinagar the foot-tapping numbers presented by the tiny tots of the pre-primary section, had everyone singing along.

They put up a musical show spiced with puppetry and dance, a perfect way to learn and enjoy oneself.

It was the culmination of days of hard work, with every student participating and it truly brought out the talents of the children.

<FONT …More

The Hindu :

One may be in a quandary about who to vote for this election, but khadi definitely gets a clear majority

KHADI COOL The fabric of freedom, after a makeover, has emerged as a fabric of fashion

It is election time and politicians sporting khadi, the humble fabric of India, is commonplace. Those in the business of khadi are busy tailoring white kurta-pyjamas for politicians and their supporters eager to flaunt that immaculate look.

A crisp white khadi kurta-pyjama defines an Indian politician and so it is understandably the favourite attire of candidates and party workers. Endorsement of khadi by suave young crop of politics like Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia has given the much-needed boost to the apparel.

At a time when recession is crippling other businesses, the khadi industry seems to be doing a roaring business.Glamour quotient

Rahul Gandhi combines his khadi kurta-pyjama with a sleeveless black jacket. He wears them with quirky shoes or floaters rather than the customary Kolhapuris or mojris.

The debonair Jyotiraditya Scindia makes political appearances wearing well-cut khadi bandhgalas. A politician known for his articulate speeches, Omar Abdullah flaunts khadi not only in white but in all colours. The wide variety to choose from comes as a boon.

“We have a good collection of kurtas, shirts and T-shirts and there’s no reason why youngsters should not go ga-ga over the available range. Politicians wear khadi to be noticed and it also lends a touch of exclusivity,” says Prasad, a salesman in a khadi shop. Explaining why politicians prefer white khadi apparel in summer, he says the escalating temperatures during the day makes things difficult for contestants and their supporters during campaigns.

He, however, hastens to add that the demand for khadi clothes does not match the zeal for buying a Gandhi topi, once a popular headgear. “Maybe it has outlasted its utility,” he tries to reason out.

Whether it…More

The Hindu :

Now is the time to look at unusual careers and identify your niche

Photo: V. RajuOptimism the key Equip yourself for a better job

What is that in your hand? Hope it isn’t a pink slip. Are you being called to HR? Hope it isn’t bad news. Mmm… Company margins are in red, the downsizing whisper is now a loud buzz. Wedding plans are off, whopping EMIs loom big, andholidays have flown out of the window!

Don’t despair. The tried and tested way to meet job loss is to make it an opportunity. This is the time to do what you’ve always wanted to. Want ideas? The Indian Air Force recruited over 8,000 airmen and officers in the current year, up from 3,000 last year. Guess who’s applying? Over 100 IIT-ans. The IAF offers enormous opportunities to work on the latest technology in sensors, computers, radars and basic science, among other streams. The Army and Navy offer similar chances. Or, aim for the moon. Software engineers are applying for posts in ISRO after the success of Chandrayaan-1, a top official in the Department Of Science and Technology (DoST) has said.

During interviews, candidates have reportedly said that IT jobs weren’t professionally satisfying and that they wanted to be part of India’s great mission. After a gap of 10 years, BHEL has picked up 400 engineers from different IITs through campus placement, says B. Shankar, GM (Human Resource).The meltdown seems to have brought to the PSUs a part of their lost glamour.

Romy LeClaire Loran of FindtheRightSchool.com has a catalogue of recession-proof jobs. “Some employers may even woo you with incentives, good salaries and benefit packages. So, why not find a career where prospective employers practically come knocking at your door?” asks the website. So, on whose doors will jobs knock? Accountants, certainly. With an array of new businesses and ever-changing laws, accountants will be needed…More

The Hindu :

After retirement, Sourav Ganguly is raising a cheer

GOOD CHEER Entertainment quotient

Before this show, my only experience with dance was watching my wife practising for her classical dance performances,” says a rather shy Sourav Ganguly, who is judging “Knights and Angels”, a talent hunt for cheerleaders where the winners will get to cheer for Kolkata Knight Riders.

“It was Shah Rukh’s idea to promote the brand. I am not looking at the technique.” So how does he judge it? “I judge on the basis of whatever I see. If it looks entertaining, I give my positive vote. I am also looking into the fitness of the participants because it takes a lot of effort to keep the energy going for 40 overs.”

Does Donna give some tips on judging? “Not at all,” he sounds surprised. “She is in Kolkata and the show is being shot in Mumbai.” But do cheerleaders really make a difference to the performance of the players? “Naah! Don’t take it too seriously. They are just to raise the entertainment value of the format.” Meanwhile, in their own bid to raise the entertainment quotient, the producers have made him sing a Bangla song on the show. He agreed but said that if he failed on the pitch and the crowds reacted angrily he would get back to them!

ANUJ KUMAR

<FONT …More

The Hindu : y>

WHAT NEXT? Amruta Patki

Amruta Patki won the Miss India Earth title in 2006. She then represented India at the Miss Earth pageant and was adjudged the first runner up. Amruta too is keen to make a foray into the silver screen but unlike the others has landed her first filmassignment as a singer. It is a bilingual flick and she has lent her voice to the Telugu version of a song titled “Kaanta toh laga”.

“It wasn’t difficult getting the pronunciation right because I am a Marathi and a lot of Marathi and Telugu words are derived from Sanskrit, which I learnt in school and college,” she says. Amruta is a trained Indian classical singer . The offer came her way when music director Dharan was looking for a new and unique voice.But she maintains that acting remains her priority. Amruta says she has got offers to act in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films but refuses to divulge the details.“ I don’t want to restrict myself to any particular language. I want to be a puppet in the hands of the director and do as he says,” she adds.

PRIYADARSHINI PAITANDY

<FONT …More

The Hindu : y>Gul Panag wants to live life on her own terms. Anuj Kumar pens them down

Photo: Rajeev BhattBold and beautiful Gul Panang: ‘I watched Maachis during graduation and felt I might do a better job than Tabu’

Gul Panag is a non-conformist and loves to live by the tag. As one enters her room, she is busy peeling boiled eggs. “It is therapeutic! Try it.” One opted for peeling the life of a beautiful girl who prefers people notice her dialectic mind first. Upbeat about her latest film “Straight”, where she is playing the love interest of a homophobic, Gul says, “It is about a man who is confused about his sexual orientation. I know it is a Vinay Pathak film but I did it for I trust director Parvati Balagopalan. I have already done a film ‘Phir Zindagi’ with her. I play a girl-next-door.I have tried to keep her real.”

Gul says: “I was a national level debater in school and college and was national champion for two consecutive years. I come from a family of intellectuals. Every day at the dining table there was a debate.”

Then why did she opt for something like Miss India contest? “I was a super active kid who used to excel in all the spheres. In those days, the contest was promoted as ‘looking for a woman of substance’. I asked my father and he said why not?”

At another level, Gul wanted the crown because of the Miss India joke going in her family. “Once I told my family that I want to become Miss India. After that everything that the rebel in me wanted, they would say I would get only after becoming Miss India.”

But she didn’t jump the Bollywood bandwagon immediately. “I got offers but those were times when one man armies were holding sway, where actresses were only sisters and mothers and the rest…More

The Hindu : y>Srabani Mukhopadhyay feels it is time Bollywood got realistic

Nargis, a legendary actress once criticised a renowned film director for making an attempt to “export Indian poverty” to the world. Bollywood films have unapologetically doled out the quick fix happiness mantra to all and sundry. Who canforget Nirupa Roy’s unforgettable role of the mother in “Deewar”? The onscreen mother is an epitome of numerous sacrifices and suffering. She always looks after the needs of her children, her family and the greater world around her. Her needs, personal space, self-fulfillment are completely ignored. Till today, very few filmmakers have succeeded in breaking this stereotype. This typecasting of roles, especially the gender-bias, exists to this day. The surface gloss has changed. In films today, mothers wear designer sarees, and do not weep endlessly, but remain cardboard figures, selfless epitome of virtue and piety.

Women in other roles don’t fare any better. Women-centric films never seem to rake in the moolah at the box-office. So, very few filmmakers dare to be different. Most heroines serve as mere arm candies to the macho hero, adding to a movie’s overall glamour quotient.

Earlier, heroines ran around trees with the heroes in hot pursuit. Today, the roles have reversed and heroines are busy chasing heroes across the skies or hillsin skimpy outfits.

These heroines are not coy in dresses or demeanour, but the changes are purely cosmetic. Scratch the surface and you find the same mindset. All their energy is toned to hook the rich guy next door and land themselves a husband. An occasional movie like “Dil Chahta Hai”, “Lagaan”, “Taare Zameen Par” does make an attempt to break the mould. They dare to be different and manage to be successful at the box-office. However, such films are very few and hard to come by. Bollywood masala with its attendant song-and-dance routine continues to mesmerise the entire sub-continent and the…More

The Hindu : y>

Action A.R. Rahman

A. R. Rahman is. Unbelievable as it may sound in the context of the shy Oscar winner, hip-hop singer Akon has managed to convince him to face the camera. Akon’s second video called ‘Beautiful’ from his new album ‘Freedom’ has Rahman apparently grooving with a bevy of beauties. It is supposed to have a mix of Indian and African music. We are waiting for this one!

<FONT …More

The Hindu :

This fortnight at indiaplaza.in

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)

Starring: Anna Popplewell, Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Tilda Swinton, William Moseley

Director: Andrew Adamson

Music: Harry Gregson-Williams

Cinematographer: Karl Walter Lindenlaub

Screenplay: Andrew Adamson, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely

Based on a book by C. S. Lewis

DVD, Rs. 599

The second instalment of “Chronicles of Narnia” based on C.S. Lewis’ beloved books is rather long at over two hours and it feels longer. This is perhaps not fair, as fans of the series might feel that the movie is mind-blowing and the rest of it. This reviewer felt that Peter Jackson’s “Return of the King” was not at all long at three hours and forty minutes! So it is all relative and since comparisons are odious, we will not say another word about the razor-sharp editing, the rousing battle scenes, the weird and wonderful creatures and the rock stars in the form of the slinky Viggo Mortensen in the “Lord of the Rings” movies!

“Prince Caspian” starts off with a woman delivering a child. And then there is the evil (you know he is evil by his indeterminate accent and his beetling brows) King Miraz who cryptically tells his lieutenant to do the needful. Cut to dishy-looking Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) being roused from bed by his faithful tutor and being told to run for his life.

The scene shifts to the Strand underground station in England. The date is July 12, 1941 and the four Pevensie children — Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) are off to school when all of sudden they are transported to Narnia. Things have changed in that magical land. It is been 1300 years since the children ruled the land and they have become a distant folk memory.

Narnia has been overrun by the Telmarines, ruled by King Miraz, who plans to execute his…More