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The Hindu : y>

Take a chill pill At the Zuri hotels

The Zuri Hotels and resorts have launched attractive summer packages at The Zuri – Varca White sands resorts and casino and The Retreat by Zuri. The offer is valid for three days and four nights for a couple.

The summer packages at Zuri are valid from April 10 to September 10. The room rates at the Varca White sands resorts and casino range from Rs.19,999 to Rs. 31,999. and includes accommodation for three nights and four days for a couple, centrally air conditioned rooms, in-room safes and data ports, airport and railway station / hotel transfers by air conditioned coaches, buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner and many other facilities. It also provides a fee of Rs.1,100 per head for children between six to twelve years of age.

The package at the Retreat at Zuri is priced at Rs.15,000 for a suite. For more information, call Zuri White Sands at (0832) 2727272 and the Retreat on (0832) 6697272 .

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The Hindu :

Karti Chidambaram feels that the presence of professional administrators is the key to the betterment of Indian sport

Emerging sport Karti Chidambaram (below) feels bowling has huge potential, which needs to be tapped

I n a world filled with double- speak, an area in which most sports administrators are quite adept, Karti Chidambaram with his refreshing candour comes across as a surprise package.

The son of Union Home Minister, P. Chidambaram, he is the president of the Ten Pin Bowling Federation of India and vice president of the All Indian Tennis Association.

The energetic sports official, who was himself a tennis player was in Bangalore recently to attend the annual general body meeting of the Bowling Federation.

He spoke on many issues facing Indian sports in general and bowling and tennis in particular. He contends, “Everybody should be held accountable, if you want Indian sports to achieve success.”

He talked about the need for a professional approach by sport administrators. “As the head of the Bowling federation, I have a clear set of goals. My target is to ensure that bowlers bring home medals in 2014 Asian Games. If I am not able to perform and achieve the objectives, I do not have the right to continue any more. The reins must be given to a better man, who can deliver those results,” says Karti.

Karti was harsh on the tendency to blame the government for all the ills that ails Indian sports. “The Government has many other responsibilities to fulfil. In many cases such as the Commonwealth Games, crores of rupees have been set aside for infrastructure and training by the Government. If the organisers and players cannot deliver, the Government cannot be held responsible.”

He contends, “We have to be objective and realistic about our goals. Such mental conditioning will come about only when we have professionals at the helm in Indian sports, who are…More

The Hindu :

Grit and determination is the key to endurance sport, says triathlete Anu Vaidhyanathan

PHOTO: P.V. SIVAKUMARHARD WORK WORKS Triathlete Anu Vaidhyanathan

I s swimming 1.9 km, following it up with a 90-km bike ride; and rounding it off with a 21.2-km run, all in 12 hours, impossible? Apparently, not for triathlete Anu Vaidhyanathan. She has finished at the top in the aforementioned day-long half Ironman; the 18-hour Ironman (3.8 km swimming, 180-km bike ride and 42.2-km running); and the three-day Ultraman (10-km swimming, 430-km bike ride and 84.4-km running — the endurance challenge), at various triathlons around the world. The 29-year-old Anu says: “I’ve been running, biking and swimming systematically since I was 18, though not at the State or national level.” She began to train for the Ironman after she returned home to Bangalore in 2005 (she did her undergraduation in Computer Engineering from Purdue and her masters in North Carolina, and worked for IBM, Austin, for a while). She also runs PatNMarks — an Intellectual Property Rights Consultancy.

“When in Chennai, I would get up at 3 a.m. and ride my bike from Chennai to Puducherry and back, or Chennai to Mysore, week after week. Running was fine. ” In Bangalore, she would do a five-km loop around the Ulsoor Lake. “The swimming was probably the real wall I hit. None of the pools are heated; and most of them are not clean. But then, once you think too much about something, you don’t do it.”

And, the secret behind her stamina? “Hard work — many people lose that fizzle beyond a point. And, of course, diet. Right after a run, your stomach is too upset to eat and chew, so fluids such as smoothies and juices are the best bet.”

On her own

“The concept of women in endurance sport is just catching on. This is not recreational running. For instance, for training…More

The Hindu : y>Five plays have been shortlisted for The Hindu MetroPlus Playwright Award 2010, which carries a prize of Rs. 1 lakh for the best unpublished and unperformed script. We received 80 valid entries from all over the country. The panel of judges long-listed 10 plays, of which these five made the shortlist. Here is a snapshot of the five playwrights and their submissions. Detailed interviews with each of the five will be carried in MetroPlus over the next few days. The winner will be announced before the end of the month.

Music as monologue

Mining memory and stringing reminiscences against the backdrop of small-time North India

“An Arrangement of Shoes” by Abhishek Majumdar

I t’s hard to believe, but 29-year-old Abhishek Majumdar actually wrote this play on a bus, travelling from Madrid to Prague, on a holiday sponsored by a theatre workshop he was attending! And then, spent some good time in London trying to read his scrawling. A long monologue, it is in the evocative voice of 28-year-old Rukhsar, who tries to construe the various “arrangements” in life’s unfolding. The story of her motley family — including a twin sister obsessed with stealing shoes —weaves in and out of life in a small-town Railway colony, communal implications of seemingly-insignificant events, the distant echoes of the Gulf War, death and cinema, growing up and ageing, all in an engaging narrative.

Majumdar, too, seems fond of arrangements, albeit musical. He’s written the play in a flow of beats, rather than in rigid acts. The playwright-actor-director says: “My fundamental influence is music. As an actor, I break down scripts into music. Even in writing, I find it a useful way of looking at text, because music has an intrinsic logic.”

Abhishek, artistic director of Indian Ensemble, has performed in Bangalore, New Delhi, Chennai and London. His play “Harlesden High Street” won The Hindu MetroPlus Playwright Award in 2008. He holds…More

The Hindu :

Okay, women keep changing their handbags, and stock everything from chocolates and tissues to lipsticks and memorabilia in them. But there’s a reason to it

HANDY BAGS Bigger the better

J unkyard; warehouse; attic — call my handbag what you may, but I’m not alone. Many women lug around huge bags with supplies that could see them through in North Pole! Interestingly, men seem to manage comfortably with just a wallet, and the occasional briefcases and laptop bags. Oh, and even when it comes to wallets, men’s wallets are sleek and small, while women’s wallets are large and bulky, with many compartments and even a locking system. The ‘inseparable’ handbag is a phenomenon so peculiar to women that there’s a pseudo-science spun around it — bagology!

All about personality

A handbag is said to reveal a woman’s personality — utilitarian bag (practical), decorative (girly), light colour (soft), dark colour (strong willed), colour-co-ordinated (preoccupied with appearances)… And, not just the bag, how it is carried also says a lot about a woman’s personality — casual, easy-going, generous, possessive, guarded, cautious…

Splurging on bags

There are men who spend several lakh on their attire (think Zegna or Armani), but they do not seem to splurge on bags. On the other hand, women spend quite a bit on handbags, and keep changing them often too. Makes us wonder if it’s just wear and tear or the dictates of fashion. All these speculation apart, women’s penchant for handbags seemed to be linked to their role as caregivers. She likes to keep with her stuff she thinks her whole family might need when they are out together.

A sign of the times

But then, it could be a sign of the times too. My mother and other women of her generation never carried handbags when they were young. Now they do. Then again, there might just be a more practical explanation — women’s…More

The Hindu :

Try these all-time favourites

Crunchy bites At tea time

E verybody loves to sneak in a cookie anytime. They are most popular as a tea-time treat. Here’s how to make them.

Butter Fingers

Ingredients

Butter – 4 oz

(1 oz = 28.3 gm)

Caster sugar – 3.5 oz

Self-raising flour, sifted

– 5 oz

Chopped, mixed peel

– 1.5 oz

Glace cherries, chopped

– 1.5 oz

Caster sugar – 1 tbsp

A Swiss roll tin – 8” by 12”

Method

Beat the butter to a soft cream, and mix in the sugar and flour. Stir in the mixed peel and cherries. Turn the mixture into the Swiss roll tin and level with a knife. Bake in an oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 to 25 minutes. Take out; dust the surface with caster sugar. Leave it in the oven for three more minutes. Slice the butter fingers into 18 pieces, and leave them to cool.

Chocolate Fork Biscuits

Ingredients

Margarine – 4 oz

Caster sugar – 2 oz

Self-raising flour – 4 oz

Drinking chocolate powder

– 1 oz

Vanilla essence – 1 tsp

Method

Beat the margarine to a soft cream, and beat in with caster sugar. Sift the flour and drinking chocolate powder, and work them into the creamed mixture with vanilla essence.

Place a teaspoonful of the mixture on a greased baking tray. Using a fork dipped in cold water, pat out the biscuits into two-inch rounds. Bake at 170 degrees Celsius, for 10 to15 minutes. Let the biscuits firm up in the tray for a few minutes, and then remove them.

Shortbread Hearts

Ingredients

Plain flour – Three-fourth pounds. (1lb = 453.5 gm)

A pinch of salt

Butter – Half lb

Caster sugar – 4 oz

Method

Sift the flour into a basin with a pinch of salt and rub in the butter. When the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, add 2 oz of sugar and knead the mixture into a ball. Roll out to about quarter inches, and carve out heart-shaped pieces. Place the hearts on the baking trays and sprinkle…More

The Hindu :

A summit looking to create a sports revolution will be held in Mumbai next week

UNder one roof Udit Sheth

Mumbai would witness a mega sports summit, the first of its on March 24 and 25.

The organisers, SE TransStadia, claimed that the conference is aimed at creating a sports revolution in the country.

The company is headquartered in Mumbai and designs, operates, finances world class multi purpose stadiums across India.

Talking about the initiative, Udit Sheth, MD and CEO of TransStadia says “Sport has ceased to be a vocational activity and has emerged as a billion dollar industry. We aim at bringing together a potpourri of global and Indian sports celebrities and administrators, under one roof to come up with ideas to transform Indian sports.”

He adds, “There is tremendous change in the way we look at sports in India. It is on par with any other industry. Innovative sports development events such as the IPL have clearly put sports in a pole position. Unfortunately, Indian sports is divided and fragmented and lacks collective thinking. We need to chart a new path and aim to do that by bringing in the best of talent in sports administration, government, people connected to sports infrastructure and the media on a single platform,” says Sheth.

Prominent delegates who will be attending the summit include the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ashok Chavan, IOA president, Suresh Kalmadi, secretary general of CWG 2010, Lal Bhanot, sports champions such as Geeth Sethi, Viren Rasquinho, Prakash Padukone, Mathew Hayden, CEO’s of several MNCs and management board members of NBA team, San Antonio Spurs, English Premier League football teams etc.

K.A

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