Challenging the citadel of priesthood
V. Radhika
AT an age when her contemporaries are content mollycoddling their grandchildren, sexagenarian Pushpalata Dharmadhikari wishes she could pack more hours into a day.

If only there was a messiah in all of us
Suverchala Kashyap
STILL swaggering under the impact of a killer quake that spelt havoc a year ago, Gujarat recently witnessed a death dance of the worst kind, in the aftermath of the Godhra inferno. Mindless violence—that seemed to show no sign of abating for more than a month—is still rearing its mean head in the most unlikely of places.

Cell phone not really a sell-out
Mohinder Singh
SINCE two months I’ve joined the ranks of cell phone owners. Not that I wanted one or paid for it. Our son from the USA was here at a time when both our phones weren’t working; cable theft, the telephone people said, with restoration to take another week. Straightway our son drove downtown and brought back a cell phone.

Those who laugh, last
I.M. Soni
LAUGHTER is not merely a smile that has burst, it is much more. Often termed as an "internal massage," laughter has many other plus points as well. Laughter reveals our sense of humour, prevents others from laughing at us; smoothens human relationships; facilitates interaction during work, prolongs life and, above all, acts as a free medicine.

Devdas: Legendary love story
Dharam Pal
SANJAY Leela Bhansali’s Rs 30-crore magnum opus Devdas is undoubtedly the year’s most eagerly awaited film. In which Shah Rukh Khan plays Devdas, Aishwarya Rai plays Paaro and Madhuri Dixit is Chandramukhi. Devdas’ music rights have been purchased at a whopping Rs 12 crore by Universal Music.

Travails of a midget
Thakur Paramjit narrates the story of a Punjabi girl afflicted by dwarfism who is combating her complexes and surviving in the world of ‘big’ people in the USA.

Half Note
Inspired to create
Jawahar Wattal
A successful soundtrack has always been an integral part of the success of any Hindi movie, and so it comes as no surprise that, as the mainstay of the Indian music Industry, Bollywood film music has generated lots of money for various music companies. Name and fame has followed closely and hit numbers have made fortunes for many individuals as well.