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The Hindu : SUDHINDR A B

As a part of The Hindu NIE programme two schools in the city put up cultural shows to mark their Annual day.

The unique musical drama with ‘Ganga’ as its theme was a feast to the eyes.

FEAST TO THE EYE: Annual yay celebrations

The much awaited annual event for children — school day, was conducted in many schools that are part of The Hindu’s NIE programme, recently. Sri Vani Education Centre, Hanumavana, celebrated its annual day “Ilidu Baa Thaye Ilidu Baa” at Ravindra Kala Kshetra, while Capitol Public School, J. P. Nagar, held its 4th annual day “Sambhrama” at MLR Convention Centre.

Save life

The students of Sri Vani depicted the journey of the holy Ganga from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal at the cultural extravaganza, which left the audience spell bound. The unique musical drama with ‘Ganga’ as its theme was a feast to the eyes.

One could see the chaste Ganga at Kailasa, experience the visit to many pilgrimage centres like Benaras, Haridwar, and feel proud about sons like Subhash Chandra Bose, Ustad Bismillah Khan, Rabindranath Tagore, of the alluvial soil, the brave kings who ruled, the enlightened Buddha, culture and tradition of the places all along to the polluted waters of Ganga.

The audience was thrilled as they got the feel of this great life-giving river. Children rocked the show with gorgeous costumes and enacted the journey with grace, authenticity and enthusiasm. The curtains came down with the message “Save Ganga, Save water, Save life.”

At “Sambhrama”, the annual day of Capitol Public School, children from Stds I to X participated. Students who had excelled in various curricular and extra curricular activities during the academic year were given prizes. Lilly House bagged the co-curricular championship, while Rose House received the overall championship trophy. J. Sachin Singh, Std IX was given the Smt. Kamala Memorial Award for the academic year.

Drama…More

The Hindu : y>

There have been films about blood diamonds, smuggling, human slavery and the drug trade. However, the tale of the interlinking of these activities and how it impacts the planet, political situations and individuals is seldom discussed.

“Dark Trade” talks about the grim underbelly of globalisation and is a tale of how burgeoning illicit trade has increasingly dangerous political consequences, money laundering, massive corruption and subversion of many a government and political systems.

Catch the action on Best of 2009 – “Ilicit-the Dark Trade” only on Natgeo on Thursday at 9 p.m.

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The Hindu :

Mridula Koshy’s debut novel has just bagged the Shakti Bhatt Memorial First Book Prize

LIFE TALES Mridula Koshy

Tall and , extremely well-preserved for a 40-year-old mother of three…Mridula Koshy’s, debut book ‘If It was Sweet’ is the winner of this year’s Shakti Bhatt Memorial First Book Prize. A clutch of 17 stories constitute ‘If It was Sweet’, published this past May by Tranquebar Press.

Marginal community — life that more often fails to break into a book leaf, particularly pre-Aravind Adiga, forms the spine of her yarns.

Delhi is the canvas with a western city or two hanging in a bubble in some pages. Her actors are, among others, a koodawallah, a servant girl, a married woman finding love in a lesbian relationship, yet another picking a lover much younger to her by the Ganga….

Delhi being the city of her birth and early childhood, she is not surprised that it has found its way into her tales. “Though my siblings could get over the city, I somehow couldn’t.” If the city is the base of some of her stories, class is the plinth of almost all.

Class has always concerned her, she underlines. “My mother loved to share a story about me from when I was three or four.” We had a maid named Shanta and apparently one day I asked my mother whether Shanta’s children would grow up to be Shantas,” she recalls. As a mother, she says, “I now get to hear such searching questions from my children. All kids ask such questions to figure out the world.” However much we try to explain things to children, “they still ask, but why?”

While living in the U.S. — for about two decades — she continued to get her ‘but why’ moment. Because racism laces almost every aspect of American life, she states. “When I wanted to take up science during my senior class,…More

The Hindu :

As Ashok Amritraj completes 100 films in Hollywood, a function is being organised in honour of his ‘extraordinary achievement’

In the 1960s, he would ride along the streets of Nungambakkam in cowboy outfits pretending to be one of the Magnificent Seven. Today, life has come full circle. The Chennai boy who grew up drooling over Westerns is today one of the biggest film producers in the West! Ashok Amritraj will be honoured today for his ‘extraordinary achievement’ of making 100 films in Hollywood at a function jointly organised by the United States Consulate General, Chennai, and Hyde Park Entertainment, Hollywood. The tennis player-turned-film maker with reserves of quiet steeliness speaks about his 30-year journey in the world’s biggest dream factory. Excerpts:

THREE DECADES in Hollywood… it’s been a fantastic journey. The first 10 years were rather slow. It took me a while to break in. But the 20 years that followed rolled by so fast. It feels like yesterday that we shot for “Double Impact”! And recently, my 100 {+t} {+h} film “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li” hit the screens. It’s been a satisfying innings for me. I’ve been able to make both critically and financially rewarding films. It’s also been terrific knowing many great people. Some Hollywood greats I grew up watching and admiring are now good friends.

THE NEXT STEP is to bring countries together. “Street Dancing” is the first of Hyde Park’s cross-cultural projects in partnership with Imagenation Abu Dhabi and Media Development Authority, Singapore. A story that revolves around an Indian boy and a Canadian girl blends dance styles and cultures and travels from Singapore to New York. A portion will be shot in Mumbai too.

A.R. RAHMAN’S MUSIC is a highlight of “Street Dancing” that will have about half-a-dozen numbers. Dave Stewart (think Eurythmics) is the other composer. It’s a terrific combination.

UPCOMING FILMS include “Dead of Night”…More

The Hindu : SANGEETHA DEVI DUNDOO

2009 saw 80s style statements make a comeback, in classy avatars. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo tracks the trend and finds what will hold good in 2010

2009 was a year when different style statements worked. The ethnic half sari of yore returned with a designer touch, international must-haves like leggings and treggings (trouser leggings, for the uninitiated) came in, got moulded to the Indian way of dressing, pleated dresses and tunics continued to rule and balloon dresses simply vanished.

The fashion industry felt the ripples of recession, in varying degrees. “Recession has had a stabilising effect on prices of designer garments. Prices were escalating without a corresponding increase in quality. Designers had to bring in quality control and prices had to become realistic. A dress priced upwards of Rs. 60 to 70,000 or a lakh doesn’t make sense to me,” says designer Anand Kabra.

An enterprising few came out with ‘recession-proof clothing’, enabling you to mix and match different pieces to make the garments more functional. Classic cuts and silhouettes that have passed the test of time ruled as buyers played safe.

The mark of the 80s, say city-based designers, was unmistakable both in Indian and western wear. “The 80s were synonymous with the rock, mish-mash look. 2009 saw elements of 80s style being picked up in classy, sophisticated form,” says designer Kedar Maddula.

Leggings, treggings and peg trousers: The calf-length legging of 2007/08 was still around, but the ankle-length ones leggings were predominant. Leggings doubled up as churidhar bottoms for ethnic wear (Deepika Padukone made the flouncy kurta and legging combination popular in “Love Aaj Kal”) or were teamed up with long tops on campuses. The black leggings apart, there were brighter ones in gold and silver shades. Then came the trouser leggings in denim and leather variations, lending themselves to be teamed up with fitted tops or shirt tunics. Designer Ishita…More

The Hindu :

Mithun Chakraborty is guiding youngsters in Dance India Dance

“I have maintained a low profile throughout my career but have always done things in my own unique way, be it dancing or dressing up. On the dance floor I had my own unique steps and often had to lead my choreographer. Similarly, way back in the 1970s when I teamed a muffler with a formal coat, people were shocked. Now it is the done thing,” says Mithun Chakraborty going down memory lane.

Now seen on television as a grandmaster for the second time in Zee TV’s “Dance India Dance”show, Mithun is clearly enjoying his new stint.

“It is my third innings in the industry and I am enjoying it the most. Now I am in a position to pick and choose and also guide the youngsters. I get respect for free. For instance, in “Dance India Dance” I try to assess individual skills of the contestants. Though only one guy will win the show, the experience will stand all the others in good stead in future.”

Mithun, who had hits like “Suraksha”, “Pyar Jhukta Nahin” and “Disco Dancer” in his first innings, is still busy with films; his third innings with films like “Guru”, “Chandni Chowk to China” and “Dil Diya Hai” is enough proof of his versatility and his love for acting and the industry. Often elusive with the media, he says: “If you see people on television you get the feeling that everyone is very good, but this is not reality. My fans know me and love me the way I am. I don’t want to lie to my fans. My fan following is intact. They only like to see me in movies, which I am still doing for them.”

S.M. AAMIR

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The Hindu :

Part 3 of the five-part series Fibroids: what every woman should know

T anmayee has tried to get pregnant for a year. When she went for investigations, she was found to have a large fibroid on the uterine wall. Does she really require surgery to conceive?

Tanisha has been married for six months. When she went for confirmation of pregnancy, she was surprised to find that she had a fibroid. She and her husband were devastated when her obstetrician told her to abort the baby. “You may miscarry or you will have complications in pregnancy,” she was told.

Actually, Tanisha does not need to abort the pregnancy just because she has a fibroid.

Fibroids and fertility

Up to 20 to 30 per cent of women in the child-bearing age group will have fibroids. In spite of this high incidence of fibroids, there is not much evidence that they contribute significantly to infertility. A scientific study showed that only sub-mucous fibroids had a negative impact on fertility.

Sub-mucous fibroids are fibroids that lie very close to the inner lining of the uterus or actually inside the uterine cavity. When a large uterine fibroid pushes against the uterine cavity, causing a change in the shape of the uterine cavity, it may lead to infertility.

A good quality ultrasound scan will be able to define the position of the fibroid. A 3-D ultrasound is particularly useful in this situation. When the sub-mucous fibroid is lying inside the cavity, it can be removed by hysteroscopy.

In this procedure, a lighted scope is inserted through the vagina into the cervix (mouth of the uterus) and the uterine cavity is entered without any surgical cut. The fibroid is removed and the normal shape of the uterine cavity is restored.

Even very large fibroids may not have any effect on fertility. On the other hand, when a large fibroid is removed by surgery, it may be hazardous…More