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The Hindu : SUDHINDR.A.B.

A day out of class? Yes, planting trees and spending time with the elderly…

Taking on responsibilities:And enjoying them too!

As part of their socially useful productive work (SUPW) activities, and also inspired by their Principal Jayarama Shetty’s words, the Std. X students of Bunt’s Sangha RNS Vidyaniketan visited an old age home. They also played a part in greening the city by planting saplings on the huge Bangalore University campus.

Enthusiasm

Notwithstanding a public holiday, the students set out to the Bangalore University campus to water the saplings, an activity organised by the Sapthami Trust. They were inspired by their principal’s words “how we choose to act today will ensure how we live tomorrow”. For they also believed it was impossible to create a better world without change that results from selfless service.

Students enthusiastically lent a hand in watering the plants and were appalled to see plants planted about 10 years ago on the verge of dying due to sheer negligence. They informed passers-by not to allow anyone to cut branches or leaves before the plants grew big. It was also a huge learning experience for them to see hardwood trees such as Sal, Mahogany, Sandal and Teak, which they knew only as names from their textbooks.

Reaching out

Later, they visited “Mussanje”, an old age home run by the Sapthami Trust. The students entertained the elderly by singing songs, playing games with them and also demonstrated the health benefits of some mudras. The students also made a donation from their pocket money. They served lunch to their “new friends”. And, when it was time to say goodbye, there were some emotional moments too. “It was a day well spent and it was so great to see smiles on those faces,” remarked a student.

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The Hindu :

French journalist Dominique Hoeltgen explores the paradoxes of Indian women in her book

Fascinated by Indian women The stars of her book are women making a difference to the country

Women of India from every strata of society fascinated French journalist Dominique Hoeltgen. That was the simple reason behind her book “Inde, la revolution par les femmes” (Indian Women; The Power of Change). “I met so many amazing women during the course of living for four years in Mumbai as a correspondent for ‘L’Expansion’ in India, that I had to put my stories into a book,” says the author. The research took her three years, and she wrote the book in a year. The book was released recently at Alliance Française . It was the paradoxes of Indian women which she found fascinating and foreign to her.

“India has so many powerful women at the top of the political arena and at the same time, their position is difficult.” She finds Indian society cruel to women, whether it’s with jobs or salaries or positions, there is no equality. “There is one rape every 30 minutes, women trafficking is rampant, baby girl foeticide, dowry deaths and untold cruelty to women.”

She goes on to explain that, “I am not a feminist but this paradox bothers me. I met bankers, lawyers, vendors, teachers, students, artists — any woman making a difference to the country. They are the stars of my book.”

Empowered

In reply to the question if there were any special women who stood out in the 200 she had interviewed, Dominique immediately cites Ela Bhat who is the founder of SEWA. “Ela is a power house . Her work is to empower women, especially the rag pickers of Mumbai who are struggling to have a better life. She has taught them to raise their voices and made them visible today. That was the first challenge Ela…More

The Hindu : y>P.K. Banerjee talks about the need to bring shuttle autos in the city

It is time that a system of shuttle autorickshaws and taxis are introduced in the city . I visit many big cities across the country and have found that this system of shuttle autorickshaws has been very successful. Under the scheme, certain autorickshaws and taxis are allotted certain fixed routes covering smaller distances and ply at regular intervals through the day. The driver can collect a number of passengers and collect a fixed amount from each passenger. .

This is of great help to passengers who live in smaller localities off the main arterial roads in the city.

It also serves as a major incentive for people to start using public transport. It will help auto drivers as they could generate larger amounts of money by carrying groups of people instead of depending on single passengers. It will enhance their income and would help reduce traffic in the city.

Do you have anything to say? About the state of the world, the city, your angst? Pen it stylishly and you might get it published. And dash off your piece with your photograph. Email it to bangmetro@gmail.com or post it to MetroPlus, The Hindu, 19 & 21, Bhagwan Mahaveer Road (Infantry Road), Bangalore 1.

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The Hindu :

Minissha Lamba turns Hyderabadi for Well Done Abba

Getting real Minissha Lamba learnt Dakhni for the role

Minissha Lamba has done her share of urban, glamorous roles before. But Shyam Benegal’s “Well Done Abba” is a whole new ballgame from “Bachna Ye Haseeno” and “Kidnap”. The film unfolds with the story of a driver (Bomman Irani) who avails leave from his employer in Mumbai, travels to Hyderabad to get his daughter married and returns to Mumbai after a prolonged absence and narrates the unexpected turn of events that kept him away.

Minissha plays the daughter, who hails from rural AP and speaks fluent Dakhni Urdu. A lot of preparation went into the role, shares Minissha. “The moment I arrived in Hyderabad last year for the shoot, I was surprised when my taxi driver spoke fluent English. I insisted that he speaks to me in Dakhni instead. The two-hour ride from the airport to the Film City was a chance for me to learn the words and the intonations,” she says. She recounts how everyone in the unit had special sessions and rehearsals to get the dialect right. “We had a dialogue coach on the sets.”

Working with Shyam Benegal shattered Minissha’s stereotyped image of a village girl. She holds forth with enthusiasm about her character, “This no-nonsense girl has grown up on her own and her chacha and chachi have done a gloriously bad job of bringing her up.”

Having got acquainted with the Hyderabadi dialect, Minissha is all praise for it: “It’s easy on the ears and lyrical.”

Minissha accompanied the team when the film was screened at the Dubai International Film Festival and came away charmed. “It was fabulous. Since the audience were primarily Hindi-speaking, the humour and the essence were not lost in translation,” she says.

She is glad the long wait for “Well Done Abba”’s release is over.

“It was prudent to wait. A…More

The Hindu :

A romantic at heart, Gautam Menon is the filmmaker of the moment

Gautham Vasudev Menon

The response to Gautham Vasudev Menon’s bi-lingual “Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaya” (“Ye Maya Chesave” in Telugu) is overwhelming, and the filmmaker feels humbled. The icing on the cake was veteran director K. Balachander showering accolades and rating him among the best south Indian film-makers over the decades.

For Gautham, the real success lies beyond the box office. His Facebook account and blog are filled with comments. “People have had a personal connect with the film. Like in the film, someone has thrown a phone in anger, another has scaled the wall or has had a similar confrontation with parents…,” he says.

“VTV” can be dismissed as just another feel-good love story where religion and age difference (the heroine is two years older than the hero) play a role, but the narrative and treatment set the film apart. Says Gautham: “The first line I wrote was, ‘Of all the women in the world, why did I fall in love with Jessy?’ I explored further and developed the character of the heroine. I’ve seen inconsistent women such as Jessy and men such as Karthik in real life.”

Love, actuallyA still from Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaya

Gautham played safe and pitched the film as a simple love story to curtail expectations. “It’s actually an intense love story with a dark line running through. In Tamil, since I was producing it, I took the risk and had a realistic ending.” In fact, ‘a dark line running through’ has been common in his films “Kaakha Kaakha”, “Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu” and “Vaaranam Aayiram”. Gautham shrugs: “It’s not intentional.” But, in all his films, he likes having leading women, whose characters are effortlessly powerful. Gautham’s penchant for music and good visuals render a magical quality to his films. He credits the visual poetry of “VTV” to cinematographer Manoj Paramahamsa. Even…More

The Hindu : y>

Temple designs The collection is a fusion of ancient and contemporary jewellery

Kirtilals, a gold jewellery retailer and manufacturer has launched a new variety of exclusive traditional temple collection jewellery on the occasion of Ugadi.

The collection is available at showroom located at No. 4, Neeladhri Plaza, Richmond Circle. The collection is priced from Rs. 15,000 onwards and is available at stores till first week of April.

The collection is handcrafted by traditional artisans and is based on the accumulation of research and studies on the grandeur of temple jewellery from ancient texts. It is a fusion of ancient and contemporary jewellery designs.

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The Hindu : y>Youngsters today have their eyes set on high marks for a purpose – the grand reward of a car or a 3G phone on the other side of the exam, writes NEETI SARKAR

PHOTO: SAMPATH KUMAR G.P.DANGLING THE CARROT A car is what youngsters may be aiming for rather than a good education

At a time when teenagers aregearing up for their boardexams, parents invariablyresort to using external rewardsto get their kids to study.Those were the days when thesemotivators were limited to a fewhundred rupee notes, a treat at athree-star hotel or probably atrip to a neighbouring State, butthe times they are a’ changingand people change with thetimes.

Today’s teenager has hefty demandseven before the commencementof the board exams.From touch-screen phones andIMacs to muscle cars and visits toshopping paradises around theglobe, youngsters sure know howto strike the best deals and parentsknow how to get their wayaround their children who hankerfor tangible rewards.

Karun Menon, a 15-year-oldsays: “My parents have promisedto get me a bike if I score an 80per cent. I get an iTouch as well ifI manage to get a 90.” His classmate,Tania D’Souza, who is interestedin photography, can’twait to get her very own SLRcamera.

Pooja Trivedi, an 18-year-oldCommerce student is lookingforward to the end of May already.”The thought of drivingaround town in my own car isreason enough to slog until I’mdone with the exams. To ensure Igive the board exams my bestshot, my parents have alreadybooked a car for me,” sheexplains.

So does anyone actually studyto do well or to get into a goodcollege anymore? Is intrinsic satisfactiona thing of the past? Dokids burn the midnight oil onlyfor tangible rewards?

According to Rani Mathew, amother of two teenagers, “Welive in an age where we quantifyeverything – from love to success.Also, when you know thereis a solution to your problem,you’re bound to use it to youradvantage. The truth is iPods andplay stations do work for the…More

The Hindu :

Fender to launch a guitar named after musician Ehsaan Noorani

Tuned in Ehsaan Noorani, Nikhil Murli and Chris Gill

Neighbours in Bandra, Ehsaan Noorani and Jasbeer Siingh have a topic to discuss over the fence. Jasbeer is a distributor for Fender guitars in India and Ehsaan, a self-confessed “Fenderholic”. The musician collects Fenders as he finds them suited for performances involving a broad spectrum of genres. “With a Fender, I can switch from a Bollywood song to Blues,” says Ehsaan, who was in Chennai recently for the launch of a line of Fenders that costs between Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 1,00,000, at Saptaswara Musicals.

Over-the-fence conversations between the Bandra neighbours gave birth to a project that has permanently linked Ehsaan’s name with Fender. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation is custom-making a guitar for him. Following delivery of the made-to-order Fender to Ehsaan, the Corporation will mass-produce and market the guitar as Ehsaan Noorani Squier.

Incorporating many features of the Fender Stratocaster, the guitar has a shape that will suit Ehsaan. He believes that unlike guitars designed with Westerners’ hands in mind; this one will suit any Indian guitarist. At Saptaswara Musicals, Ehsaan came face-to-face with the man designing the Ehsaan Noorani Squier, Chris Gill, who is marketing manager for Squier, at Fender.

Chris and Ehsaan go a long way and were meeting in person after 25 years. The two had studied together at the Arizona Musicians’ Institute and got along famously. Chris admits his eyes turned moist “when I saw Ehsaan today”.

PRINCE FREDERICK

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The Hindu : y>

DRIVE SAFE

Dogs with their skulls cracked open, puppies with grave spinal injuries and animals limping on three limbs, howling in agony — the injury unit at an animal shelter or hospital will terrify the bravest of visitors. The dogs are victims of accidents, many being hit-and-run cases, which means they lie on the road for several hours before someone called for help.

Some animal-friendly road rules:

Slow down — A majority of accidents could be prevented if the driver wasn’t speeding. We mistakenly assume that animals always get out of the way when we honk. However, they sometimes go into shock and their reflexes switch off. Hit the brakes. Take special care while reversing, in the dark or in narrow lanes (they lie with limbs outstretched onto the road). Going out for drinks? Nominate a group member to be the sober driver. If you’ve hit an animal, pick it up carefully (there could be fractures) and take it to the nearest veterinary hospital.

Says veterinarian Dr. S.V. Sujatha: “If the dog’s head is hit, brain damage could cause a coma and even after recovery, they might have seizures. For one dog, I had to completely reconstruct the leg. It has a permanent limp”. She observes that apart from physical repercussions, their temperament also changes. “I’ve noticed dogs chasing vehicles after these accidents as they’re afraid of getting hit again. Just the sound of a bike frightens them”.

Hero of the week

Our hero this week is Charlotte, a French national residing in Bangalore. She played guardian angel to a homeless puppy when she saw him being put in a sack, ready to be clubbed to death. She has begun vaccinations and de-worming for Lucky who is now looking for a home.

Know of a hero who has performed of an act of kindness to animals? Write to petpalsbangalore@gmail.com

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The Hindu :

Apart from keeping fit, exercising has many other benefits

CORE REASON The friendships that you make are far more purposeful

I have long known (though I’ve yet to give up trying) that it is almost impossible to motivate smokers to quit for good by regaling them with the health hazards of tobacco. And now I’ve been told by readers of last week’s column, “Even More Reasons to Get a Move On,” that repeated sermons on the health benefits of physical activity may get some folks started but are unlikely to keep them at it.

And it’s true that for many people, future health benefits may just be too abstract and speculative to overcome inertia and take up walking, running, swimming, cycling or working out in the gym. So here is a little secret. What really keeps us devoted exercisers going, even in the face of myriad obstacles, is much more tangible.

Vicki Van Horn, 62, of Rio Rancho, N.M., sent an e-mail message in response to my column: “There are other ancillary benefits, in addition to the obvious health benefits, to regular exercise. My husband (Thomas McAlister), at 77, visits the gym almost daily, where he has a huge coterie of gym buddies (many of whom also retired), with whom he shares books, magazines and conversation. I still work full time but make it to the gym about five times a week; usually it is a gym ‘date’ with him. We stride along on treadmills next to each other and talk about the day’s events while we watch Animal Planet!”

Michelle Segar, a motivational psychologist at the University of Michigan, said in an interview that what Van Horn described was no “ancillary” benefit. “Rather,” Segar said, “these are the core reasons that keep people going.”

The members of a walking group, which I joined (admittedly reluctantly) about 15 years ago, have become more than dear friends….More