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The Hindu : y>

I am in the market for a midsizer in the Rs. 7 lakh -11 lakh range. It should be a family car, fuel efficient, have quality interiors and strongly built. I test drove the i20, Jazz and City and liked the Hondas. However, I am unable to choose. Though my heart is set on the Jazz, I am worried about its resale value. The City costs nearly Rs 1.5 lakh more, and is more powerful but has lower fuel efficiency. I won’t need the power of the City as my new car would be used more in the city. I already own a Civic, which I use for long drives. Is the Jazz a good buy at its price?

Vishal

The Jazz is an excellent car but is overpriced, which is why it is not selling in large numbers. Because of a lack of demand, the resale value is unlikely to be strong. If you keen on the Jazz, then go for it as you will enjoy the car’s spacious, well-engineered interiors. However, be prepared to take a knock when you go to sell it. At present, there is a Rs. 40,000 discount on the Jazz.

The high running cost of petrol has prompted me to look for a diesel hatch to sustain my monthly run of 2,500km. I have a budget of Rs. 4.5 lakh to buy a car but recently I came across a friend’s 14-month-old Palio Stile Multijet which has clocked 26,000km, and comes with all service history, extended warranty till 2011. It is also well-maintained. The car impressed me with its build quality, rear seat space and the boot is large. However, pickup and driveability in traffic is slow. I plan to keep the car for four years. How do you rate the Palio Multijet since the Punto, Swift and Indica Vista have the same engines?

Dinesh M

A used Palio can be…More

The Hindu :

Pouroosh, grandson of P.C. Sorcar, makes his solo debut

Water trick Pouroosh on stage

A bracadabra, gili-gili-gili, hocus-focus, Indrajaal,” says P.C. Sorcar Master and whoosh! the milk which he pours from a vessel into a paper cone disappears. He smiles at the appreciative crowd. He asks ‘you want more?’ and the crowd fills the auditorium with thunderous applause. Offstage P.C. Sorcar Master or Pouroosh is quite a fun-loving young man like his dad. He learnt the tricks of magic right from his childhood and he loved to practise his conjuring tricks with his school friends. “My friends love it and I used those tricks to confuse them. My parents would always remind me not to misuse magic for selfish motives,” explains Pouroosh.

Grandson of P.C. Sorcar, Pouroosh is the only male member of his family after his father, P.C. Sorcar Young to carry on the legacy. “My sisters also practised magic but now I am the only member performing in various cities. Dad is mostly taking care of the magic school and is also concentrating on the proposed magic university. And my mom as usual is supporting my dad,” he says.

Explaining what constitutes magic. Pouroosh says, “Magic is made of three parts, Conjuring, illusion or creating illusions and stunts or risky illusions. While on stage it is the first and second part I perform, I do risky illusions too. Of them my fire escape stunt followed by the water stunt was much talked about,” he says.

But this 20 something is not just a magician; he equally loves to act and plays several musical instruments. “At times I play the keyboard, sometimes the drums but I am mostly a trained vocalist and had also formed a band which played the rock music of the 80’s. Like music, magic is also an entertaining profession. Magic should not be used to harm anyone. In West Bengal,…More

The Hindu : ASHISH MASIH

Striking looks, inside and out, and tough build quality make the Beat a wise choice, says Ashish Masih

In a market, overloaded with small cars, it’s difficult to stand out in a crowd. But Chevrolet’s all-new Beat is different. It’s a replacement for the Spark in international markets, but will be sold alongside it here. Its striking looks are sure to draw plenty of buyers, but can it take on Hyundai i10 and Maruti Swift? Some might argue that the Beat’s front looks disproportionately larger than the rest of the car, there’s no getting away from the fact that the latest Chevrolet is a striking design. The massive, split Chevy grille, huge headlights, high bonnet and deep chin look fresh. The rear is quite distinctive too with the retro-looking twin circular rear lamp clusters and a split lower bumper. The Beat’s interior also has a sharp-edged design that includes the motorbike-style instrument pod. The neat centre console shows that plenty of thought has gone into it. The cabin looks good and feels solid. The switches and buttons operate with a meaty feel and the nicely textured plastics are among the best we have seen in a small car.

Cubbyholes abound and the small niche (for your mobile) just behind the steering wheel is a deft touch. The highlight though is easily the funky looking instrument gauges.

There’s a conventional-looking speedometer and the silver LCD display for the rpm, odometer, fuel gauge and clock, which light up in blue, look really cool. But there’s an issue here. With rising revs, the revcounter’s scale goes from big to small; it should have been the other way around. The dash is a bit high-set and the lack of seat height adjust could pose a problem for short drivers.

The Beat’s tall stance translates into more space. Headroom is particularly good, and there’s also enough legroom. In…More

The Hindu :

Polish filmmaker Ryszard Bugajski on making films that mirror life

Master touch Ryszard Bugajski

Looking at the nondescript man sipping coffee in the restaurant, it is difficult to imagine he made “Interrogation” (1981), defiantly critical of the State under the Soviet regime, hid the film’s print under snow and tarpaulin. When it was banned under martial law, he was forced to flee to Canada to escape persecution. Eight years later, it was nominated for the Golden Palm at Cannes, and won the Best Actress Award for Krystyna Janda.

Auteur Ryszard Bugajski was at the Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF) 2009 with “General Nil”, third in his trilogy headed by “Interrogation”. It profiles General Fieldorf, a hero of the Home Army, accepting death rather than turning informer for the repressive Stalinist regime in Poland. Training at the Polish Film Institute under Andrei Wajda, Bugajski has emerged as a voice speaking unpleasant and uncompromising truths.

What specifically attracted you to the story of General Fieldorf. Veterans of World War II picked me as the director for ‘General Nil’. I agreed reluctantly. I don’t want to be pigeonholed. In Poland, it’s difficult to escape history. Partitioned between many countries in the 18th century, there was no Poland for 150 years. After World War I, our brief freedom was destroyed by Nazi Germany and the Soviet take over. When the British ruled India, you could spot the tyrants. But in Poland, KGB agents looked just like us, even wore Polish uniforms. The occupation was hidden.

What makes you look at both sides — moral courage and the lack of it?

Every family in Poland has its victims. My father was an Auschwitz survivor. But, the traitors are also part of our own community. One of the judges in ‘General Nil’, who did not have the guts to stand up for his principles, was the father of a close friend of…More

The Hindu : y>

Animal kingdom Get a glimpse of exotic animals

National Geographic Channel takes you on a journey to meet Russia’s most amazing animals. The Russian Pacific coast is home to some of the rarest and most magnificent animals on earth. In a landscape dominated by forests and coasts, the world’s largest cat, the Amur Tiger roams the forests, while Asian Black Bears seek safety in the treetops. Lake Chanka is home to the Chinese soft-shelled turtle, and the region’s rivers serve as a hunting ground for the enormous Blakiston’s Fish Owl. Get a glimpse of these magnificent animals on Nat Geo today at 9 p.m.

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Watch former CIA agent, Robert Baer follow the trail of the suicide bomber cult as it spreads into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Using footage of actual suicide bomb attacks and featuring interviews with the families of suicide bombers, the relatives of victims and Israeli intelligence agents, Baer puts together the extraordinary story of the first Palestinian master bomber. Baer encounters some of the captured suicide bombers and the masterminds behind the attacks. Catch the show on Fox History today at 10 p.m.

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The Hindu : y>Does one compromise too much on freedom when one decides to buy or rent an apartment, wonders BINDU TOBBY

Photo: K. GopinathanA matter of perspective There are pros and cons about apartments as well as independent houses

If you are living in an apartment chances are that you have been part of association or colony meetings which clearly lay down restrictions ranging from no pets allowed, `centre-parking’ for two-wheelers and where you should hang your clothes and under-clothes due to aesthetic reasons.Chances also are that even ifyou fretted and fumed in thoseinfamous committee meetingsyou know majority would ruleover you even if you fiercely objected.”It is my home and I cando what I want!” soon replacesitself with “after all we are partof the larger community livinghere and so need to comply andfit in”.There are obviously morethoughts that plague us afterthat. Have we compromised toomuch of our freedom when wedecided to buy or rent an apartment?Is the security, safety andcommunity living in apartmentsreally leaning towards the plusor minus side? Would we be freeof these restrictions and rules ifwere indeed living in our ownindependent houses?”If apartments can put upsigns saying pets not allowed,the logic being that they arenoisy and messy then I wouldargue that they should also expresslystate that children arealso banned!,” says Priya Kilpady.”Of course looking after apet, exercising the animal arevery cumbersome when you livein an apartment, but the ownersare prepared and also experiencedwith the daily routinewith pets and so shouldn’t bediscriminated against!”Says Ajay Mathew, proprietorof Creator India, a constructionand interiors design company, “Iwould never recommend apartmentliving for any of myfriends. Besides slow appreciationof the asset as compared toa building in your own plot ofland, I have seen many apartmentsthat use poor quality ofmaterials in construction andthings like cracks and leaks areall bound to show up in a fewyears after one has invested!He adds, “It’s a false sense ofsecurity and even more absurdsense…More

The Hindu : y>Here are a few things that you can do to try and revive a dead engine

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There isn’t a worse way to start your day than being in a car that refuses to fire up. There are plenty of reasons why your car might not start. Here are some of them and the things you could do to avoid being stuck.

Dead battery

Car batteries can lose their charge for more than a few reasons. Leaving the lights on has to be number one. If you crank the engine and nothing happens, it means that the battery doesn’t even have sufficient charge on it for a single start. Replace the battery and clean the battery connections to ensure good contact. If you can’t replace it at that time of day and still need to get your car going, then you will have to jump-start it.

Lights off

If your car’s battery is around three years old, then chances are that it will be at the fag end of its lifecycle. Such batteries take longer than usual to recharge. When you are starting your car, from the small parking lights to the air-conditioner, must be switched off to reduce the load on the battery.

Automatic choice

If your car comes with an automatic gearbox and refuses to crank up, chances are that it might be in some other mode than ‘P’. Press the brake and change into this mode if you have a problem. If your car has a manual gearbox, depress the clutch and start the engine. Some manufacturers such as Hyundai allow their cars to start when the clutch is depressed. This is a safety measure which ensures that you never start the car with the gear accidentally engaged, which could lead to the car jumping forward.

Bad ignition switch

If the starter is still silent, it may mean a faulty ignition switch. Turn the key to the…More

The Hindu :

The year 2009 ended leaving behind memories — more bad ones than good. Will 2010 be better for women?

A new beginningFresh hopes

The year has gone, after 12 testing months. And, we need a decade of change. Women were in the news, for bad, more than for good reasons. First, the good news. Three women — Shubhra Saxena, Sharandeep Kaur Brar and Kiran Kaushal — stood first, second and third in IAS examinations, from among 3.18 lakh candidates. The success is especially sweet for Sharandeep, daughter of a farmer in Punjab.

A big hurrah for the four women who received the Nobel Prizes — Elinor Ostrom became the first woman to win it for Economics; Elizabeth Blackburn and Carol Greider, along with Jack Szostak, won it for their work on chromosomes (Medicine); and Herta Mueller, who fought for free speech, bagged it for Literature.

Happy and gay we are that Article 377 got a clearer, unbiased look. This section in the Indian Penal Code criminalises sexual activity “against the order of nature”.

In July, the High Court of Delhi decriminalised same-sex behaviour between consenting adults. In short, at the end of an eight-year struggle, the activists got homo-sexuality legalised. It’s not the same as being an equal citizen, but it’s a good first step.

But, women lost out badly on the safety issue. Molestation and rape continue. Whether it was the sexual assault on the American at TISS, Mumbai; Russian tourist in Goa; 18-year-old British national in Palampur; minor and major girls in Delhi and Handwara; or the public attempt to disrobe a woman in Patna, sex offenders repeatedly captured space in print and audio-visual media. The response from officials has followed the script — “Women must learn to be safe”.

Women are, however, hitting back — remember the Mangalore pub incident? When goons of the group ‘Sri Ram Sene’ attacked girls in a pub in…More

The Hindu : y>A play on Isaac Newton will be staged from tomorrow

Brigade Hospitality and BLT together present the play “Small Infinities”. The play is based on the life and work of Sir Isaac Newton. Newton is the father of modern science, yet he was also an alchemist and believed he had unearthed textual revelations in the scriptures.

The play traces his obsession with finding the unity of god’s design through science, alchemy, the bible; and the human relationships he destroys in his quest. In the end he believes he has become the assassin of god and a failure. Written by Prof. Alan Broody of Massachusetts, the plays is directed by Prakash Belawadi.

The play will be staged at MLR Convention Centre, J.P. Nagar at 11.30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. between January 7 and 10.

Tickets can be bought on line at www.indianstage.in or contact Ranesh Kumar on 9880405439.

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The Hindu :

Here’s how to make gooseberry wine

Party timeSay cheers

With fresh and green gooseberries flooding the bazaars, one can make a number of tasty recipes with them. Rich in Vitamin C, gooseberry can be preserved in sugar or salt and taken daily in the diet. Gooseberry chutney and pickle are other common forms of using the berry. But this time, why not try something exotic with the humble gooseberry? Cheers to some gooseberry wine.

Ingredients

Gooseberries- One and a half kg

Sugar- One and a quarter kg

Water- 5 litres

Yeast- 1 tsp

Method

Wash gooseberries and soak them in water overnight. Remove from water and tie in a muslin cloth. Place them in 5 litres of water. Cover and boil for 30 minutes. Strain it. Take four cups of water from this and make sugar syrup. Remove the seeds from the gooseberry and put this (without the muslin cloth) in a jar. Pour sugar syrup, and balance of the boiled water. When it cools down to room temperature put yeast and cover the jar with a tight fitting lid, so that small flies may not get inside. Open it and stir with a wooden spoon once everyday. Do this for 21 days. After that strain it and keep it for another 21 days without opening it. Carefully strain the wine that is clear on top. Those who want colour can mix a little caramelized sugar syrup and bottle them.

LILY BABU JOSE

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