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Sailor Rajesh Choudhary, 36, who hails from Bihar and took to the sport while representing the EMESA in regattas in Hyderabad has established himself as one of the best sailors in the country now. Fellow competitors who sometimes call him “Chou Sir” have great respect for his understanding of winds and weather.

Cricketer Matthew Hayden went through a traumatic experience once when sailing a boat near North Stradbroke Island. The boat capsized and he and his two companions (one of whom was fellow Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds) had to swim more than a kilometre to reach safety.

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The Hindu :

Kirron Kher returns to television with India Has Got Talent

Photo: Sandeep SaxenaStyle and substance Kirron Kher

She is the new resident mother in Hindi cinema.“I believe the self-effacing types were long gone,” says Kirron Kher. “Film characters evolve with the changes in the society, and the role of mothers has undergone a tremendous changein the world we live in,” explains Kirron, who has reflected that change from “Devdas” to “Dostana”.

However, she takes umbrage if you fit her only in the bracket of celluloid mother. “That way Shah Rukh has only been playing a son through out his career.” Remind her that actors are put in that bracket if they largely appear in scripts where the entire focus is on the son or the daughter, and she says: “I would prefer if you call it a supporting role.”

New role

Kirron returns to television with “India Has Got Talent” as part of the jury. Still remembered for her pricking questions put with characteristic poise in “Purushshetra”, Kirron says: “I accepted the offer because I liked the concept, and Colors is one channel that has some meaningful shows. In ‘India…’ anybody who has talent will get his or her proverbial 15 seconds of fame, which I believe almost every Indian is looking for these days. Now, even mothers want to have a share of their children’s fame. It used to be the American way of life, but we are fast reaching there.”

Kirron says the concept is different, in that, it will not focus only on singers. “We have classical dancers, folk dancers, boys on roller skates, baazigars, trapeze artistes…In the Kolkata auditions, I was impressed by the Chhau dancers…these are talented people who’ve been out of national television for a long time.”

The challenge is to make your act interesting in the given two minutes. “And there is no age bar. In the U.K version…More

The Hindu :

Cue sports The proposal to locate the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India in Bangalore will prove to be a shot in the arm for the game

Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.Right on cue S. Balasubramaniam, vice-president of the BSFI

For some time now Bangalore has been the Mecca of cue sports in India. The recent move to headquarter the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI) in this City is believed to be a shot in the arm.

It was way back in 2000-01 when Mohan Sinha was the president of the BSFI that the seeds of shifting the administrative set-up to Bangalore were mooted.Many activities

With a bevy of activities like the Billiards and Snooker nationals, Pool nationals and Asian Snooker happening at the Karnataka State Billiards Association (KSBA) premises, the demand was justified. At the time the proposal was stalled as Karnataka was considered “new to the federation”.

In the following election, the activities trickled out of the president P.N. Roy’s office in Kolkata. “It made sense since the secretary (R. Kapoor) too hailed from Kolkata,” said S. Balasubramaniam, vice- president of the BSFI and former KSBA president, who along with the then secretary Subhahu Desai, made sure that KSBA remained a hospitable and lively association.

“The seeds we sowed then are bearing fruits today. The current set of office bearers in KSBA are doing a fantastic job, as well. There is lots of developmental work happening not only with state-of-the-art infrastructure that is taking shape with a Rs. 13 crore project and also initiatives with promotional programmes in school and colleges” said Bala, as he is fondly called.

“With the renovation and modernisation work in progress, the BSFI is presently functioning from a room in the KSBA and will shortly be shifted to the new administrative office. But the official registration of the office will happen only after the 2010 elections in…More

The Hindu : y>The traditional Indian drape gets a new spin with tailored saris and half-and-half saris, discovers SANGEETHA DEVI DUNDOO

In vogue Reha Sukheja in a half-and-half hand-painted kalamkarisari with threadwork and Kutch embroidery designed by Sashikant Naidu and Mamata Reddy

The charm of the whole six yards lies in its unstructured, drape-friendly nature. What if you just don’t know how to drape a sari and yet want to flaunt one? Time is a constraint here and your ever-dependable mom is not going to be around to help you in a crisis. The readymade sari or tailored sari comes to the rescue.

This innovation lets you ‘wear’ a sari within seconds. The sari is stitched with the skirt (taking your waist measurements into consideration); the pleats are neatly structured and the pallu too comes with stitched pleats. Wearing (not draping) a sari cannot be more simple! Designers and stores in the city are now catering to requests for tailored saris from expatriates and youngsters who haven’t yet mastered the art of draping.

The tailored sari has been doing the rounds abroad and in select pockets in cities like Chennai and Mumbai for sometime now. “Young women in the age group of 18 to 22, making their transition from half-saris to saris request such tailored saris,” says Mamata Reddy, who specialises in kalamkari saris. “Some of them want tailored saris for weddings. The tailored saris are done in two styles — one that gives the look of a traditional sari and the other is called a ghagra sari. There are no pleats here and the skirt, styled like a ghagra, is fastened to the pallu,” she adds.

Boutiques and sari stores too have begun tailoring saris to keep young customers trickling in. An upscale boutique has expatriates and NRIs requesting for tailored saris. “They select the sari and we tailor it for them at an additional cost of Rs….More

The Hindu : y>

Experience different aspects of Japanese culture in Bangalore at the Japan Habba ’09. The day-long cultural extravanganza will be held on May 31 at the Jnana Jyothi Auditorium, Central College Campus, Palace Road from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The event will be organised by the Consulate of Japan, Bangalore University, The Japan Foundation, Bangalore Nihongo Kyooshi-kai and the Koyo group.

It is also supported by Japanese Association of Bangalore and the Indo-Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Karnataka).

The Japan Habba ’09 will include Karaoke competition (Japanese/Indian and other songs), Screening of Oscar award winning Japanese movie “Samurai”; directed by Miyamoto Musashi, a Japanese tea ceremony and also provide the audience a chance to wear the Kimono among a host of other activities.

For more information, log on towww.bnk-india.com or call Hata on 9342297712.

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The Hindu :

Women who have quit or lost their jobs have discovered a new joy — being stay-at-home mothers

Photo: Rajeev BhattBONDING Making up for lost time by being there for life’s simple everyday moments

The first few days were awfully boring,” laughs Vasanthi, home after quitting her part-time job. “Mine was an 11 to 4 convenient job. I wondered if I’d made the right decision.” She began to nap in the afternoon; that bothered her even more. However, things changed in a couple of months. “Now I don’t want to go back to work!”

Women who have quit or lost their jobs have become stay-at-home moms. They, however, make it clear that it’s no leisure break. “‘Stay at home’ somehow implies sitting around twiddling the fingers. But, I work longer and harder now. Any mom will tell you that,” says Nita, who was a software professional, and lost her job.

“I took an extended maternity leave for a year in 2007,” says Suman, an architect. She rejoined the workforce in 2008 as a flexi-time consultant.Seven months into consulting, her project went on hold. She was given severance pay. “Initially, the change of pace was a little disturbing,” she confesses. “But with two active children, I had been on a juggling act. I was trying to do justice to my project and to being a mother. It was time to re-evaluate my career.”Seeing it as an opportunity

Whole-hearted approval to her new ‘Fulltime-Mom’ role comes from her two-year-old son. “Rithvik, who had reluctantly adjusted to day care, is thrilled about being at home and spending quality time with me,” says Suman. “Trisha, seven, can now participate in extra curriculars since I drive her around and help her. It is no longer a frantic pace of life.”

Job loss is a terrifying financial stab. But those who can ride out the reduced-income storm say it is a wonderful…More

The Hindu :

Author Ravi Shankar Etteth talks about putting together a historical thriller based on Subhas Chandra Bose’s last moments

Photo: S.SubramaniumMAKING GOOD STORIES Ravi Shankar Etteth

Like most things on the market today, novels fly out thick and fast from publishing houses. Among the better known Indian novelists writing in English, Ravi Shankar Etteth, though, is an exception. He has not served us a book a year since 2002 when his first novel, “The Tiger By The River”, came out. But now Penguin has released “The Gold Of Their Regrets”, a handy paperback, based on the mystery surrounding the last moments and death of Indian National Army leader Subhas Chandra Bose. Etteth says the book took a long time because he was “professionally very challenged”.Historical fiction

In between there was “The Village of Widows” in 2004. And even though at that time the author stated he didn’t have the discipline to put together a researched factual book, he has strayed perhaps into even more slippery territory with historical fiction.

“The historical I find fascinating, because my interest with India and World War II has always been strong — because of family ties,” he explains. During research on the topic he came across the story of an Indian battalion that had fought with Mussolini, and was completely taken aback. He also found out about an Indian battalion that had fought for Hitler.

“There is so much we don’t know. It’s not in history, and the media is not as deep as we’d like it to be,” says the veteran journalist and cartoonist, who, incidentally, shifted from political cartooning when he felt the media environment and Indian society were no longer suited for passionate political satire. “History is full of people. And people live in situations and die in situations. They make fascinating stories.”

Good stories are what good literature is all about, feels Etteth, who objects to…More

The Hindu :

Adam Gilchrist’s autobiography True Colours reveals lesser-known facts about him and his team

Photo: Arunangsu Roy ChowdhuryBehind the sheen Adam Gilchrist says it like it is

I tried everything, even getting up from the wrong side of the bed,” Adam Gilchrist stated after the qualifying stages of the first Indian Premier League (IPL) last year. The Deccan Chargers had finished at the bottom of the heap. While his Royal Challengers counterpart Rahul Dravid heaved a sigh of relief for not being stuck with the wooden spoon, Gilchrist, an integral part of the awe-inspiring Australian squad that clinched three World Cup crowns, was humility personified, handling the ignominy of defeat with humour.

This time round, he’s been rated the most valued player (MVP) of the league, but very few would know that Gilchrist, so used to the winning habit, had his share of setbacks. Only that he shook them off to emerge stronger, with honesty and fair play for trusted companions. He takes pains, however, to rid himself of the squeaky clean image in his autobiography, True Colours.

His life-story is fascinating; he gets candid about his own failings, without being patronising about flaws in others. Absent is the arrogance so often attributed to the Australian juggernaut which for over a decade conquered every challenge that came its way. Rich in anecdotes, he shares his days of struggle, the hard work, doubts about his delayed debut in Tests, calling it the Prince Charles phenomenon, where the royal’s wait to ascend the throne seems nowhere in sight!

A product of the Australian Cricket Academy in Adelaide, he narrates an incident about a late night drinking party. Director Rod Marsh thrust the boys into the swimming pool at 6 A.M. next morning to show the lads that alcohol and chlorine don’t mix! The string of flops in the fiercely contested Sheffield Shield competitions, now renamed the Pura Cup,…More