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The Hindu :

Official apathy and public neglect could negate benefits of renovation at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium

PHOTO: MURALI KUMAR K.MAKEOVER WITHOUT MAINTENANCE That seems to be the bane of the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, which plays host to many prestigious sporting events

Procuring materials is often an easier task than maintaining a huge edifice. This statement could be a reality check on the state of affairs at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in the city.

With the State Government spending nearly Rs 3.80 crore on building a new synthetic surface for athletics, Bangalore managed to host the World IWAS games and the All-India Inter Railway Athletics competition recently.

However, the stadium has not been officially certified and handed to the State authorities. Moreover, many clubs and people from the general public also use the infrastructure available at the stadium.

Though there is no evidence to suggest that persistent use of the tracks would cause a great deal of wear and tear, it is the responsibility of those people who use themto ensure that these facilities last longer.

That message seems to be lost on the people who use the stadium. Drill sessions are conducted regularly on the long jump runway. It could result in the tear and peeling of the top layer, which would render the track unusable.

Drills conducted on starting blocks of the race tracks would also result in wear and tear of the track. It must be remembered that the long jump run-ways and the stretch of the first lane were the areas that were extensively damaged, before the renovation exercise began.

The Karnataka Athletic Association (KAA), the major beneficiary of the synthetic surface at the Stadium, has been lackadaisical in this entire affair.

The organisation has hosted many a national and international meets. In the process of hosting the world IWAS games, the KAA should have bought new equipments such as high jump and pole vault mats, instead…More

The Hindu :

Cyrus Broacha turns over a new leaf. Watch out for his novel Karl Aaj Aur Kal, which he wrote out, two pages a day

PHOTO: SANDEEP SAXENAON A COMIC DRIVE Cyrus Barocha

There are few persons in this country whose name evokes a smile. Cyrus Broacha belongs to this rare breed — people who can laugh at themselves. Reinventing himself from the MTV image, Cyrus has turned an author with “Karl Aaj Aur Kal”. His tone remains the same. With his kids crying in the background and Sri Lankan wickets falling in front, Cyrus tries to speak sense in a telephonic conversation.

“I have grown up enjoying writing, particularly on the walls of the bathroom. However, in the last few years my dalliance with writing was limited to two pages, which I used to write for my newspaper columns. So when Random House came up with this offer, I said I don’t have the patience to write a novel, but when they suggested writing two pages a day for 200 days I thought the idea could work. I salute my editors’ patience, because I can’t type on the computer. And my handwriting is like a six-year-old’s. But these guys have cracked the ‘The Da Vinci Code’!”

Cyrus believes the good thing about writing is you can be yourself. “As somebody who has worked in almost all the media — theatre to television — I can say with conviction that writing gives the greatest freedom. There is no producer to please, no director to listen to, no pressing deadlines to meet, and your work doesn’t depend on the arrival of actors and assistants.”

With freedom comes responsibility. “Writing ‘Bakra’ episodes is like Twenty-20; this is more like Test cricket. Wordplay alone doesn’t suffice. There has to be a convincing plot.” Reading a few pages suggests that the book has semi-autobiographical elements. Very much like Cyrus, Karl’s…More

The Hindu :

Filmmaker Karan Johar is back on television with Lift Kara De

He may not have had the best year-end news with “Kurbaan” failing at the box-office, but Karan Johar is frank enough to admit that “Paa” has been the delight of the year for him. “I think Amitabh Bachchan took acting to another level in ‘Paa’. That and the emergence of Ranbir Kapoor have been the highlights of this year,” he says.

Hopefully, he’ll have a lot to speak about himself in the new year. There’s loads of excitement in store for him as not just his Kajol-Shah Rukh Khan starrer “My Name Is Khan” will release in February, but it will also mark his return to television with “Lift Kara De”, a non-fiction show. Yash Raj Films (YRF) makes its television debut with this programme. Slotted for 20 weeks, the show will feature 20 super stars from Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, and Kajol to Kareena and Deepika alongside their biggest fans. The show, to be aired on Sony Entertainment Television, is one of the five being produced by Yash Raj Films Television (YRF TV), a subdivision of YRF that will provide content.

Emotions, the Karan way

Given the bond he shares with the Chopras, Karan is naturally upbeat, and no amount of probing about the reported rift between the families evokes any reaction. “We had never gone our separate ways, so this is no reconciliation. Yash Raj Films has been a big part of my life. It has been my family, my home and my training ground. I have been a student of the Yash Raj school of cinema. With ‘Lift Kara De’, we can promise dollops of entertainment. And, there will be loads of emotion; the show is all heart and soul. I can’t tell you to what lengths fans can go to please their star!” he says.

The show began with…More

The Hindu : y>Don’t dig too deep into your pockets this New Year eve to celebrate. NEETI SARKAR gathers tips for recession-busting party time

MAKE DO HAPPILY With a disco at home and friends for DJs

For many of us, 2009 hasbeen a year of pink slips,unemployment, and evendepression. But it is at theend of one year and at the beginningof another when our dampenedspirits are revived.

And then, of course, there isrevelry all around despite it. Sohow do you join the party? Althoughthe economic situationis looking up, people are stillthinking twice about whether tosplurge or not on a New Yearparty.

For such souls, recessionbustingparties are advisable.

Alister Gomez, a senior financialanalyst says: “The best wayto party economically would beto organise an in-house partywhere only a set of close friendsneed to be invited. One couldeither rent a movie and watch itwith friends or play some goodmusic and have fun playing agame of Ace or poker.”

Anaika Jaiswal, a journalismstudent thinks: “At New Yearparties, people tend to blow upa lot of money on the drinks.So, if one is throwing a party athome, he should stick to theBYOB (bring your own booze)principle.”

Potluck’s the way

According to Rani Mathew, ahousewife, “Organising a potluckdinner is a good idea especiallywhen you have decided toparty with married friends andtheir families. The expenses involvedare not much nor is thetime spent on planning andpreparing.”

Arranging for a DJ is yetanother thing party hostswould worry about, consideringthey would demand a hefty pay.But Vishak Singhania, a lawstudent seems to have his partyplans figured out. He says:”Since I’m calling only closefriends, one of my friends, wholikes DJ-ing, will handle all themusic. It won’t be a tedious jobbecause we all have similartastes in music.”

“Card invitations can be expensive.You could send outinvitations either through textmessages, phone calls or on oneof the social networking sites,”suggests Taruni Das of EventAffair.

Taruni adds: “The most importantthing is to hire and notto purchase – whether it is thecrockery or the…More

The Hindu : y>

The team from Mahila Seva Samaj Higher Secondary School which won the girl’s volleyball title in the Silver Jubilee Volleyball Tournament conducted by Sri Vidya Mandir School

The team from Vijaya Bank that won the State ‘A’ division and Association Cup basketball tournaments

The boy’s team from the Mahila Seva Samaj School that won the Vidya Vardhaka Sangha Inter-School Volleyball Tournament

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The Hindu : y>

AGE NO BARRIER The 60-year-old is set to welcome the New Year with a Bharatanatya recital

Danseuse Deva Nahata, at the age of 60, will give a Bharatanataya performance. A student of K.M. Raman, she started learning dance only at the age of 38.

Though passionate about the art form, she began to learn it only in 1987. She then took a 13 year sabbatical from dance to pursue music and is back with a Bharatanatya recital again. Apart from being a dancer, Deve Nahata is also a painter, singer, poet and philosopher. The performance is on January 1, at 6 p.m., at the Chowdiah Memorial Hall.

For more information, call Harish on 9844006736.

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The Hindu : y>Now, a nano paint coating product to protect your vehicle

Car care products are becoming increasingly popular with Indian car owners partly due to the boost that they give to resale prices. To cater to this market, Sonax has recently launched its Premium Class Nano Paint Coating product, which is aimed at the DIY market. According to the company, this product uses a hybrid formula that can protect car paintwork for upto nine months and was developed after several years of experience in the use of nanotechnology. It does not contain hard wax, instead using a layer of modified fluorocarbon nanoparticles that are as hard as glass.

Sonax was introduced by Methods Automotive with a limited range of products and currently offers shampoos, polishes, interior cleaners, protectors and tyre care products.

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The Hindu :

Seema Biswas is queen of the screen when it comes to decoding complex roles

The stage is her soul. Here, Seema Biswas is the faultless foil to Satish Kaushik’s salesman Ramlal. As the diffident Ganga, she toes Ramlal’s line, soaking in his anger as ardently as she did it in their first performance.

As the rehearsal of “Salesman Ramlal” gathers vigour and stretches on, Seema, in between her scenes, untangles her beginnings in theatre. Her link to theatre began with watching her mother on stage as a child in Assam. “She used to put me to bed, and then go for performances. I would hear the car starting and wake up screaming. My father would then take me to the show.” Seema, then aged four, saw her mother perform — often tragic roles. Music and dance were part of childhood, but she soon knew: “I wanted to be like mom on stage.”

An introvert

A loner and an introvert, Seema kept her dreams to herself, till she took part in a local play. “I was not sure if I would be able to handle it. But on the first day itself I was very comfortable,” she says.

That led to a three-month workshop organised by the National School of Drama, which culminated in a play where her performance was appreciated. It set her heart firmly on theatre. She recollects travelling with her mother in the train from Nalbari to give her NSD exams. “The train was 19 hours late, and I spent time studying.”

But the route to NSD had heartaches in store. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was beyond the means of many families to have two children studying out of town.

As her brother was set to go away, the family decided to keep Seema at home, until a last-minute intervention from her parents’ friends saw her take the train to Delhi.

Ever since, theatre…More

The Hindu :

Clutchless with a T-Matic gearbox, the TVS Jive is a modern commuter bike

As a manufacturer, TVS clearly wants to make a difference to two-wheeler riders, giving them something special and also delivering a better experience. So here comes the Jive, a modern commuter bike which is also a clutch-less motorcycle. How handy is it in the real world?

The Jive is a modern-looking commuter bike that follows a black theme for its front forks, smart alloy wheels, engine, silencer, rear suspension and matt-finish grab rail. A sleek, bright headlight and small bikini fairing give the motorcycle a purposeful look. Its twin-pod instruments are clearly legible, even on the move, and include a speedometer, fuel gauge as well as gear indicator. The handlebar-mounted mirrors are TVS-typical, firmly mounted on tall stalks and offer good rear view vision. While the Jive’s palm grips are adequate, its comprehensive switchgear also includes a pass-light.

The muscular fuel tank provides sufficient support to a rider’s thighs but a staid chrome filler cap looks dated and out of place on this bike. The white stitching on the seat lends a smart touch. TVS has managed to fit in the utility of a storage bay under the Jive’s seat. The Jive silencer’s upswept design seems sporty, but is marred by an unsightly chrome heat shield. The motorcycle gets neatly sculpted side and tail-fairing bits with trendy graphics and also a handsome tail light. Paint sheen, fit and finish and overall quality are all satisfactory on the Jive.

The Jive comes with a 109.7cc, single-cylinder, four-stroke and air-cooled engine. Operating two valves, this carburetted unit develops peak power of 8.4bhp at 7500rpm, with the max torque of 0.8kgm made at 5500rpm.

Engine bore and stroke measure 53.5mm x 48.8mm. While the Jive’s engine is otherwise similar to those used by most Indian bikes, its piece de resistance is TVS’s T-Matic twin-clutch system….More

The Hindu : y>

The Central Cottage Industries Emporium (CCIE) carpet exhibition is on at their premises on M.G. Road. The exhibition features an exclusive collection of tribal and herbal carpets. The exhibition is on till December 31. It offers woollen carpets, silk on cotton carpets, silk on silk carpets; herbal washed dhurries and kalamkari dhurries. Exhibits from Jaipur, Kashmir, Amritsar and Uttar Pradesh are on display. Tribal carpet making is believed to have originated in the Caucasian region near the Black Sea over 2000 years ago. The art form came to reflect the culture, customs, practices, art and talent of the nomadic tribes.

As part of the exhibition, CCIE is providing a great deal of information about carpets, including the history, process, uniqueness of carpet traditions and its importance in various cultures. It is also creating awareness about the care of carpets and the precautions that can be taken to prolong the life of carpets.

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