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The Hindu : y>

The Lalit introduces the Unified Holidays of India. Under this initiative, The Lalit offers four destinations at —The Lalit Grand Palace Srinagar, InterContinental The Lalit Goa Resort, The Lalit Laxmi Vilas Palace Udaipur and The Lalit Temple View Khajuraho — as part of its summer bonanza schemes. The offer is valid till September 2009. For reservations at all their hotels call 1800-11-77-11 (India Toll Free) or +91-11-4444 7474.

The packages offer a stay for a couple and two children under 12 with buffet breakfast, shared airport transfers and lunch and dinners at “special rates”.

The packages are priced at Rs. 12,000 per night at the Lalit Grand Palace, Rs. 6,500 a night at The Lalit Goa Resort, the Lalit Temple View Khajuraho, and Lalit Laxmi Palace Udaipur.

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The Hindu :

A striking neon green if you are splurging at Mother Earth

Photo: Murali Kumar K.Green sheen A host of eco-friendly products that rest easy on the conscience

As soon as you enter Mother Earth, there are two bins to the left — one to dispose your e-waste i.e. batteries, CDs and floppies and one to dispose tetra paks. On the right, there are composting mud pots of Daily Dump. And a huge sign above reads “Natural, fair, sustainable and sensible.” Neelam Chibber says, “Here is a store that has come at the right time, of recession. Customers can shop without feeling guilty.”

All the partners showcased under this store practice fair trade. “It is not just about being environmentally sustainable, but socially as well.” She points out a grave fact of India having 40 million rural artisans. And it is in this guise that Industree and Future Group have come together to present to customers India-made goods in the sectors of food, home and apparel.

The ground floor at Mother Earth stocks organic food and products of every kind — dals, wheat, flour, ragi, baby food, jams and preserves, tea and coffee, oils, juices, ildi mixes, spices and beauty products that are both healthy and eco-friendly. “We are constantly reinventing our customer-centric ways and trying to find out what the customer needs and wants.”

The second floor stocks apparel for men. From hand-blocked kurtas and printed shirts to t-shirts with eco-friendly messages. In handloom and linen, the clothes come in earth tones. There is maternity wear for women too.

Industree’s natural fibre furniture also finds space in the store where you’d just want to sink into the cushions and lean back. The third floor has more furniture — wooden too, and clothes for women in block-print, kalamkari and ajrak, handmade juttis and slippers, jewellery, home accessories, cutlery, linen, children’s decorations and more. So from tiny little…More

The Hindu :

The Tea County Luxury Hill Resort in Munnar is breathtakingly beautiful

I can’t wait to check into the room. Especially after what thegeneral manager of this luxury hill resort at the foothills of Anamudi had said.

“Normally, we have a longwaitlist. But, we’ve reserved for you the room where Amitabh Bachchan stayed for a month during the shooting of ‘Nishabd’!”

My imagination, during the rest of the journey from Madurai, hits a double six. Whatwill the room look like,did the superstar really stay there… all these thoughts crowd my mind as I land in the middle of drifting clouds with the sun rapidlydipping behind the hills. The cool tea-scented breeze has a heady effect.

I am taken up by the property’s beautiful location and the neat lay-out — Tea County Luxury Hill Resort, Munnar.Styled aftercolonial plantation bungalows, the aesthetic cottages and the hugelobby stand majestically atop a hill.

PHOTOS: BY AUTHORALMOST HEAVEN At this luxury resort

Everything looksspaciousand green from here and I am smitten by the view from this location at a height of 1,600 metres.

I am given the key to the A-1 suite.On one side, is a rose garden with 100 varieties of roses.At the back, alittle sit-out overlooks the green valley dotted with acres of tea plantations. The front has a pebbled pathway with two small, manicured lawns on either side.

General Manager Sujil Mathewsflips open a photo album.And there it is —a photo of my favourite actor posing in the very same spot that I am standing in.We inspect every corner of the suite withcuriosity.The lacecurtains, the silk bedspread, the velvet sofa set, the huge cane arm-chair,the ante room with an antique dressing table and a cupboard. Effortlessly, excitement takes over hunger and after a glass of hot lemon tea, we tuck ourselves in anddrift off.

This ultra-modern room really needs no description.Neither does the ambience of the decade-old property….More

The Hindu : y>

The ongoing General elections has seen an unprecedented campaign to ensure that youngsters and city dwellers, who usually record low voter turnouts are convinced to cast their votes. A plethora of ad campaigns, celebrity appeals have been put in place to enthuse young urban voters about the importance of the elections. Metroplus asked city residents about their take on this campaign and whether voting does make a difference. Most people felt that voting was very necessary and should be made a duty of every citizen above 18 years of age.

They felt that only by voting can one claim some accountability in the functioning of the government. They felt that honest people must be encouraged to be successful in politics replacing thugs and others with criminal antecedents, who use money power and divisive policies to win election after election. Each vote counts and only by everyone exercising their franchise could we become the change we want to be.

The people felt that with the entry of many youngsters into the political arena, the face of Indian politics will hopefully see a massive change for the better. We sample some responses

Youngsters must participate in the electoral process. Each vote counts and helps in choosing the best candidates. Criminal elements must be weeded out of the political system as soon as possible. That is the need of the hour.

Rahul. S

Wealth manager

Youth participation is needed in the electoral process. We are a young nation and I feel that participation of more youth in elections will shift the focus to actual issues facing the people, instead of the usual mudslinging.

Rahul. C

Wealth manager

Young blood is needed in politics. They must be more involved and must ensure that politics does not become the safe haven of thugs and scoundrels. We need more youth participation and must make efforts to make politics a clean game.

Parvati

Govt. official

Youngsters must be…More

The Hindu :

Watch Earth Day Special on NatGeo onApril 22

American photojournalist James Balog’s Extreme Ice Survey is definitely not the first rousing call to a world that is ignorant about the effects of global warming. But, thanks to the graphic manner in which it demonstrates how anthropogenic activities increase the Earth’s temperature, the Survey compels a fresh look at the issue.

With videos and time-lapse photography, the Survey shows the glaciers melting due to greenhouse gases. The images come from Greenland, Iceland, Alaska, British Columbia and the Rocky Mountain range via 27 time-lapse cameras, programmed to take pictures once every hour for three years. Viewers of National Geographic can watch this ‘unfolding Survey’ encapsulated in a programme called Extreme Ice, one in a series presented on April 22 as “Earth Day Special” (from 4 p.m. onwards)

The programmes are enriched by actor and environmentalist Edward Norton’s classy narrative style.

The five-programme series starts with “Seed Hunter”, in which Dr. Ken Street goes around the Middle East and Central Asia in search of the ‘genetic origins’ of crops that provide our staple food (example: bread).

Climate change is believed to have a dramatically bad effect on these crops; the good news is that in some places these crops still retain their genetic robustness. These healthy crops alone can withstand the harsh climatic conditions expected in the future.

“Strange Days on Planet Earth – Dirty Secrets” shows how natural water systems are despoiled because of anthropogenic excesses. While man suffers on account of this, it is the immediate inhabitants that are the hardest hit.

“Earth Report: State of the Planet” chronicles natural events in the last year — some evoke wonder and others alarm. On the “news list” are: The discovery of a primate (believed to have disappeared for 85 years) in Indonesia; how scientists came upon a freakish ant in the Amazonian forest; how it was discovered that the…More

The Hindu : y>

Sibling saga Jon and Kate Plus 8

Discovery Travel and Living presents “Jon and Kate Plus 8”, a real life series that follows the life of Gosselin family, consisting of parents Jon and Kate and their eight children — a set of fraternal twin girls and a set of sextuplets (three girls and three boys).

The show will air on weekdays at 2 p.m. and promises to take the viewers on a enthralling journey as the ambitious parents of an adorable bunch of eight battle all odds to make sure their brood has a normal and happy childhood.

As each episode follows the family through their daily lives, the show will attempt to capture every emotion of all the family members. If you have not had enough of the octomom on telly, you could tune into Discovery Travel and Living for some vicarious thrills.

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The Hindu :

Srinath Perur and Janani Ambikapathy read out interesting bits from their works

PHOTO: MURALI KUMAR K.ENGAGING A strong presence of the city

While Srinath Perurcaptivated with hisshort stories aboutBangalore, JananiAmbikapathy read her poemsat the recent Toto Funds theArts reading session atCrossword Bookstore. The24-year-old Janani, fromChennai read from severalpoems which were reminiscentof the place. Srinath Perur’sshort stories wereengaging and entertaining.

The 32-year-old software engineer has been putting together a string of short stories about Bangalore in the 80s. His first had the narrator who grew up in Bangalore in the 80s, moved to Delhi and returned to find that the city’s architecture and infrastructure has completely changed. Architectural angst peppers the stories set on the fictitious Crescent Road. Whether it is in the street dweller Huchappa’s case of protruding gates and extended compounds or a hotel with a debatable anglicised name.The details were captivating and the humour managed to pull down the self-importance of certain issues and its people. Some of his characters were vegetarian, high-caste and insisted on purity in all forms. But Srinath managed to capture them in such light vein, that you wonder if there was a sense of wryness. The focus on the debate of a hotel with an anglicised name or a local one, sent whoops of laughter on issue of old names versus new. Janani Ambikapathystudied creative writing at the University of East Anglia. From “Shine ECR” (East Coast Road), “Pamphlet”, “The Mathematician”, “Tabula Rasa” to “St. Thomas Mount”, her poems were short. One only wished she explained them in greater detail.

AYESHA MATTHAN

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The Hindu : y>N.R. Narayana Murthy’s “A Better India: A Better World” releases today. He talks to S. Bageshreeabout values, politics, bridging the rich-poor divide, and more…

Photo: K. Bhagya PrakashSIMPLE LIVING, HIGH THINKING N.R. Narayana Murthy

Infosys Mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy’s “A Better India: A Better World” is arriving on the scene at an interesting time. We are bang in the middle of the Lok Sabha elections, the results of which seems more unpredictable than ever before. Economic recession, on the other hand, is spreading a pall of gloom across sectors. The book, a compilation of speeches, is essentially saying “Yes, we can” with multiple riders: as long as we practice “compassionate capitalism”, believe in good governance, have responsible leadership, take the right course in public policies… and many more. Murthy, considered quite the patriarch of the Information Technology revolution in India, spoke to MetroPlus at the sprawling Infosys facility in Electronics City in Bangalore.

Excerpts from the interview:

Given your vast experience, wouldn’t an autobiography have been more interesting and inspirational?

I have desisted from an autobiography or the story of Infosys because that should be written after we are all dead. Then, it can be more objective and balanced. My autobiography cannot be de-linked from Infosys because this is what I have done for the last 28 years.

Is the timing of the book a coincidence?

My son has been persuading me for the last three years to publish all my speeches. It’s more co-incidental than planned…

But, the book may be useful in the sense that it is important for people to realise the role of values, leadership and the elites and powerful in making this country a better place. But, let’s remember that the book releases today, so there is not much time.

What do you mean by ‘elite and powerful’?

They are the intellectuals, rich and people who derive power either because they are leaders in the corporate…More

The Hindu :

The Athabasca glacier in Canada is full of cool tales

Photo: K. SrikrishnaSnow, snow everywhere Athabasca glacier

The Beatles ditty, “The Long and Winding Road” pops into my head as the minutes gobble up the distance. There is no sign of human habitation for miles on end. I’m on Highway 94 in Alberta, Canada, driving with the family to the Athabasca glacier in the Banff National Park.

Earlier that morning, we had flown into Calgary, the capital of Alberta, and headed into Banff, a charming town nestled in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. Ringed by mountains, the town, with its resplendent meadows, sparkling streams, abundant parks and trails, is our base.

The Athabasca glacier in the Columbia Icefields, between the towns of Banff and Jasper, is one of the most accessible glaciers in the world.

All along the highway, I see nothing but white-topped, pointed pine trees and frozen lakes on either side that remind me of a still life painting. The few lakes that are not fully frozen have an unusual blue-green colour and reflect the mountains that surround them. The road itself is clear — the snow has been neatly shovelled to either side by huge snow ploughs.

It’s nearing dusk when we get to the Columbia Icefields. The dim sunlight makes for fascinating shadow play on the ice and rocks.

For the first time, I appreciate that white is not one colour but so many different shades.

The parking lot is nearly full and the murmur of voices from the cafe above the visitors’ centre reminds me that I’d better hurry.

We trudge along slowly towards the Icefield Visitor Centre, careful not to slip on the snow, melting in some areas. “It’s a five-kmround trip to the Athabasca glacier,” the lady at the ticket counter informs us. “You’ll have to hop onto one of those snow coaches outside — you can’t miss them!” she…More

The Hindu : y>Perch brings to Bangalore two plays based on Basheer’s short stories

Tale the letter tells Play on words

Perch (Performers In Chennai) will present “Moonshine and Skytoffee”, and “Sangathi Arinhya!” (Have you heard!) at Ranga Shankara, from April 21 to 26.

Both plays are based on short stories by the critically-acclaimed Malayalam writer, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, which was revived for Basheer’s centenary year in 2008. . “Moonshine and Skytoffee”, an English play is based on two short stories of the writer — “Love Letter” (“Premalekhanam”, 1943) and “The Cardsharper’s Daughter” (“Muchcheettukaikkaarantaey Makal”, 1951). Apart from narrating two heart-warming love stories, this play touches upon social issues like dowry and religious conflict, tossed up with Basheer’s trademark humour and wit.

“Sangathi Arinhya!” (Have You Heard!), a play mostly in English (it also has some Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil), is an adventurous mix of seven short stories by Basheer. They are all different, but with a common vein of love, humour and pathos running through them. A connecting link in this heady concoction is the character of Basheer himself, who plays narrator, participant and witness in turn. “Moonshine & Skytoffee” will be staged on April 21, 22, and 25; “Sangathi Arinhya!” on April 23, 24, and 26. On weekdays, the shows will be at 7.30 p.m. and duringthe weekend it is at 3.30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. Tickets are priced at Rs. 100 on weekdays and Rs. 150 on weekends. Tickets are available at Ranga Shankara and Blossom Book Store.

Call Perch at 99451-08610 or 98456-02265.

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