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The Hindu : SUBHA J RAO

Want to chill? Take a spa break. Just the thing to relax and rejuvenate you

What are you looking at?

Do you just want to take a break from routine and indulge in a massage and other things relaxing, or go the whole hog and pamper every inch of your body?Make an informed choice

Don’t go by just advertisements. Go online and seek reviews from those who’ve been there.

Check out the photographs and descriptions of the facilities offered.* * *

Package deal

A luxurious spa break costs a lot. Read up on what facilities form part of your package so that you can experience them all.

Revel in silence

This is a time to allow the mind to take a break from the humdrum of regular life. And, time to leave that pesky cell phone behind.

* * *Remember

To book for treatments beforehand. It’s usually first-come, first served.

Leisure is the keyword. Don’t rush through a spa vacation.

Spas might have lots of activities on offer. When signing up, space your activities so that you have time to enjoy everything you choose.

If you suffer from any medical condition, inform the spa beforehand, so that they can work the treatment around that.

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The Hindu : y>

In “The Power of Ten” (MetroPlus, May 21, 2009), a story about the new ten-rupee coins, a person was quoted as saying that the coins were so attractive that people were selling them for Rs. 15 outside the Reserve Bank of India building.

We have received a phone call from the RBI in Bangalore about this. In this connection, we wish to clarify that the story was done out of Hyderabad and so the quote does not refer to Bangalore at all.

Moreover, the quote does not in any way suggest or was intended to suggest that the RBI or its representatives were involved in such a sale. It was only meant to express that people found the new coins attractive enough to pay more for them.

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The Hindu : y>Travelocity’s interactive tool allows you to customise your holiday

Travel company, Travelocity, has launched ExploreKaro.com, an interactive tool that offers travellers a host of travel ideas with the flexibility to plan travel to suit individual preferences, convenience and budget.

ExploreKaro guides people through options of destinations, their rankings, activities on offer, budgets, ideal seasons to visit, and a host of travel-related information.

The site also offers a full suite of online travel choices, giving consumers control over their travel planning, and the convenience of online bookings and payment.It offers instant online bookings with dynamic packaging of all travel-related services.The dynamic packaging allows customers to build their own package — they can choose destinations, flights and hotels from over 500 airline options and several thousand hotels.

Travelocity has launched the Short Breaks Browser, which caters to those looking for short breaks.

For details, log on towww.travelocity.co.in

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The Hindu :

An exclusive range of hand-crafted saris sourced from across the country is available at Fabindia’s first standalone sari store in Bangalore

Yards of delight In fine weaves

A melange of colours greet you at the newly-opened Fabindia sari store. All neatly arranged in comfy corners, you have the classy off-whites, earthy colours, indigos and greens vying for attention.

Saris in subtle tones, fine fabric and intricate craftsmanship make this collection unique. No over-the-top colours, no jazzy embellishments and no synthetics. All the saris are hand-crafted, hand-woven and hand-printed.

“You won’t find even a single piece of synthetic yarn anywhere in the collection,” the person in-charge at the store insists.

Fabindia has classified its collection of saris into three broad categories — Revival, Traditional, and Contemporary — and you will find them all at the new store.

Traditional cotton and silk weaves and contemporary printing define the contemporary collection. So, there are bold combinations — blue and vermilion, blue with a patch of green; traditional floral motifs give way to geometric motifs in the form of triangles and woven circle designs.

There is a mix of fabrics too, for instance — fine tussar with a rougher version to get unusual textures, cottons with exotic weaves on borders, bold patterns on Maheshwari cotton, Kota cotton with gold zari borders, Jamdani weaves on silk tussar, silk cotton and tussar with sequin work woven inside the sari, to name a few. Check out the different shades of indigo in this collection.

“The objective is to promote sari wearing and promote it as a corporate garment,” she adds. The Revival collection is an attempt to revive languishing printing and weaving methods that are in danger of dying out.

There is a mix of the South and the North.Natural dyes

The focus is on Koraput saris, woven by the tribals of Madhya Pradesh. The natural dye for the saris is extracted from the aal tree…More

The Hindu :

Soha Ali Khan will host a reality game show Godrej Khelo Jeeto

Photo: Murali Kumar K.DUBUT MOMENTS Soha Ali Khan plays host

This graduate from the London School of Economics couldn’t fit into a “nine-to-five job of accounts and numbers”. So, she jumped into films and made a considerable place for herself “because of genes”, as she puts it.

Now, seeing several actors making television a medium to remain popular, she has followed suit. You will soon find Soha Ali Khan hosting a reality game show “Godrej Khelo Jeeto Jiyo”. It will be aired on Star Plus from June 29, 7.30 p.m., Monday to Friday.Attractive prize

Soha will gain more popularity for two reasons; one, the game has a grand prize — a fully furnished house for the winner, which will attract eyeballs — and two, she was heavily into debates and elocution competitions in school and college. So, a live audience and impromptu chat should not be problem for her.

The participants will be allowed to team up with a relative or a friend to play a series of innovative games that require knowledge of current affairs, mythology and, of course, general awareness. One can participate in the show by purchasing a Godrej product, and sending an SMS, mentioning the value and barcode of the product.Movies ahead

While anchoring, Soha “wore high heels” and “kept a smile” on her face on mom’s advice.

A debut on television doesn’t mean Soha has no films on hand. She will be seen in an action thriller “Accident” with Shiney Ahuja and “Tum Mile” with Emraan Hashmi. And she will soon debut in an English film with her mother.

ISHITA MEHTA

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The Hindu : y>Women head some of the key positions in the country, but the 33 per cent reservation still hangs fire. Is the rise of Indian women mere tokenism or is it empowerment? MetroPluspans the debate

Photo: K.R DeepakUnder cover Women don’t resort to this merely to shield themselves from pollution, but also from oglers

The commander in chief of the Indian Armed Forces happens to be a woman, the president of the party that’s heading the government is a woman, a woman heads the largest private bank, the chief minister of the most populous state in India happens to be a woman, now Jagjivan Ram’s daughter Meira Kumar chairs the discussions in Lok Sabha. So, have women finally come on top?

“Yes this development is for real and is no tokenism. Who are the godfathers for Jayalalitha or Mamata Banerjee or even Sonia Gandhi? Nobody,” says Santha John, who heads an advertising firm.

“Some candidates might do justice to the posts. Like Meira Kumar. She comes from a family with a strong political background and is well educated. But it is too early to decide if women are empowered in the true sense. Most of these posts appear to be decorative, where the women candidates are made to appear like puppets. If the 33 per cent reservations come into force we will know how powerful these posts are and where women stand in society,” says former actor Roja, of the Telugu Desam Party.

“I don’t think the progress that women have made in politics is sheer tokenism. Let’s not be pessimistic and shoot it down. Every little bit helps. Women will bring in new perspectives into their roles. Of course, it will take time for things to trickle down. Like Barack Obama often says, change does not happen overnight,” says Anjum Babukhan, who heads a private school.

Between these three views is the reality of Indian women. While…More

The Hindu :

History Rocks III

Various

Sony, Rs. 399

That sudden urge of entering a Utopian sanctuary. Getting the feel of an ideal society, the perfect world where nothing can go wrong. The politics, the laws and even the music. Standing at the threshold of the immaculate — what pushes you towards such an experience is a 40-minute compilation album, in which almost every track has spent at least a few weeks on top of the charts and each band has been a part of the royal guard of rock ’n’ roll. Just look at it this way — even if you try, how can you go wrong with a compilation that features 80’s rock monsters like Aerosmith and Quiet Riot, instrumentalists by the name of Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, southern rockers like Santana , shock rocker and heavy metal pioneers such as Alice Cooper and well, Black Sabbath.

The tangy album opener “Walk This Way”, a collaboration between a certain Run DMC and Aerosmith reminds you of a time when glam metal was the main bread earner of the rock ’n’ roll family. You feel like grooving to the pre-planned screams of Steven Tyler while Joe Perry belts out a few chords. What follows is the pacey “Turbo Lover” by Judas Priest.

All you can think of is riding a huge bike with your headphones on and being a bit cranky about your relationship. Alice Cooper’s all time hit “Poison”, the following track, is catchy, rhythmic,and an unforgettable chorus “Your poison running through my veins.”

Steve Vai puts you in a state of trance in “The Blood and Tears”. You can literally feel the warmth of the guitar fading out into Joe Satriani’s “Satch Boogie”, another instrumental epic that is futuristic. It jumps onto a woman’s cry of love as Grace Slick and company take you on a trip to the psychedelic folk period of the…More

The Hindu : y>

The Public Relations Council of India (PRCI), Bangalore chapter, will host an essay competition for Daughter’s Day. It also coincides with the birth anniversary of astronaut Kalpana Chawla, on July 1.

The contest is open to students aged 14 to 20 years (Category One) and 20 to 23 years (Category Two), who are residents of Bangalore. The essay has to be 1,000 words long, in English, Kannada or Hindi, and sent by June 25. It can be hand-written or typed and sent via post/email. Entries should specify the complete name, college name and address, contact number and the mail ID. Entry is free.

The topics for students of category one are: “Vision of a daughter – her plans ahead,” “What I learnt from my mother/ father,” or “Only daughters can provide emotional security to parents”. For category two, the topics are “How women are portrayed in media and ads,” “Role models for modern-day women,” or “Career and family – responsible role of a woman.” Checkwww.prci.in for details.

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The Hindu :

A book reading of The Reader at Max Mueller Bhavan explored the conflicts in Germany’s post-war generation

Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.Discussing truth as it were (From right) Cheriyan Alexander, C.K. Meena, Srinath Perur, Arul Mani, and Avinash Kuduvalli

“Der Vorleser” (The Reader) by German professor of law and judge Bernhard Schlink, published in 1995, opens the pages to Germany’s post-war generation that had to deal with the burden of the Holocaust.

Max Mueller Bhavan and Toto Funds the Arts held a book reading and discussion with the discussants — Reader in the English Department, St. Joseph’s College Arul Mani and columnist C. K. Meena, and book-readers — Professor of English at St. Joseph’s College Cheriyan Alexander, writer Srinath Perur, and student Avinash Kuduvalli.

Director of Max Mueller Bhavan Evelyn Hust introduced the book, whose film version won actor Kate Winslet an Oscar..

This event came about as the first programme, after the inauguration of the library at Max Mueller.

Evelyn said that this was Schlink’s first departure from his novels of pure crime fiction.

Discussant Arul Mani commented that “The Reader” has led a strange and charming life ever since its publication. “The transition from illiteracy to literacy as depicted in Nazi guard Hanna Schmitz’s story to the accessibility of the book, which is difficult when it comes to German literature, the book covers the Third Reich, the separation of Germany into East and West Germany and finally, its reunification.”

He went on to say that the book deals with the post-war generation, which began asking questions. The passages read marked observations and personal memories of the relationship.

The conflict between condemnation and understanding the crimes was brought out by C.K. Meena.

The older woman that Michael Berg has his first relationship withreflects the relationship between the post-war generation and their parents.

The discussants brought out Hanna’s carrying out of the orders being a matter of indifference. Arul…More

The Hindu :

The Global Tree Cafe on St. Mark’s Road combines art with fine dining

A hint of art To complete the gourmet experience

Fine dining involves combining great food with superb ambience and an excellent service, which makes for an experience to remember. The Global Tree Café, a restaurant in the F and B group is making an attempt to alter the fine dining experience, by combining good food with art exhibitions and dance performances at the restaurant.

In an attempt to enhance the dining experience and jazz up the ambience a few notches, Global Tree Café is hosting painting exhibitions as part of it “Food For Thought” initiative, which is an attempt to provide new entertainment options. The series currently features “Swayam”, the artistic debut of journalist-painter Reema Moudgil at the “Art Wall”.

It comprises paintings inspired by fragments of divinity, serene images of ‘Man-God’ painted in contemporary styles.Loud colours combine well with calm portraits of ordinary people, and lend a divine aura. The paintings are on sale at the Global Tree Café for two weeks.

Artist Reema says the series is an attempt to claim lost pieces of the self, of claiming the invincibility of Shiva, the Shakti of Durga, the benevolence of Laxmi, the unblemished serenity of Buddha within onself. “I feel that divinity is not about symbols or fear of the unknown, but deals with creation.”

The exhibition was followed by a superb contemporary dance performance by Sowmya Jaganmurthy and Hema Sundari Velluri based on the same theme. The event was signed off with an exhaustive Thai buffet dinner that scored high on presentation and style.

NIKHIL VARMA

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