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Onward to Amarnath
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Every year, in the
months of June, July and August, thousands of pilgrims brave difficult
terrain and inclement weather to catch a glimpse of the holy cave
where
Shiva grants darshan to the faithful in the form of a natural
ice-lingam. Rohit Kansal on the pilgrimage scheduled to begin
on June 11
HAVE you ever wondered
how an icy Shiv lingam gets naturally formed in the holy cave of
Amarnath or how the lingam waxes and wanes with the moon or how it
attains its full form and height on the night of the Shravan Purnima?
 Getting there
Tips
for the traveller
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City of angels
Sudha Jhunjhunwala
takes
us through the temples of Bangkok and acquaints us with history
of the
city
During
a recent trip to
Bangkok, I found much to admire and absorb its interesting history.
The Thais immigrated at the beginning of the first millennium from
southern China into the Chao Phraya river valley where they mingled
with the local Asiatic groups of Mon and Khmer.
The lesser-known
Aurangabad
K.J.S. Chatrath
ANY
mention of Aurangabad immediately conjures up visions of the Ajanta
and Ellora frescoes and sculptures. On a trip to Aurangabad, however,
I was pleasantly surprised to see a number of other interesting
monuments.
Antarctica
ice sheet
shrinking
Robert Lee Hotz
THE
ice sheets of Antarctica—the world’s largest reservoir of fresh
water—are shrinking faster than new snow can fall, scientists
reported recently in the first comprehensive satellite survey of the
entire continent.
Surfeit
of silliness
While many out-and-out comic
romps have clicked at the boxoffice, in the mad rush to cash in on the
mood of the market, quality has often been a casualty, writes Saibal
Chatterjee
Humour
pays. Hence comedy is one Bollywood genre that has kept the box office
buzzing of late. In the wake of the super success of Rajkumar
Virani’s Munnabhai M.B.B.S., a film that struck a fine
balance between hilarity and emotional depth, many out and out comic
romps have pulled the crowds in.
‘Don
could be remade on larger scale’
Lyricist Javed Akhtar
sees little point in remaking a "flawless film" like Sholay,
but tells
Subhash K. Jha that Don
can definitely stand a second making
You have reached a
pinnacle as a lyricist. Don’t you think you need to move upward?
If I start believing I
have written it all, it would be very pompous of me. Lyricists like
Shailendra and Sahir (Ludhianvi) who were my role models —have
achieved that pinnacle. They are mind-blowing. So are poets whom no
one remembers today like S.H. Bihari, Bharat Vyas, Pradeep and Raja
Mehndi Ali Khan.
Not
in the same class
The story chugs along and
even if one tries to shut off the elan of the original purveyor of the
role, there is not much to hold one’s attention.
Comparisons,
they say, are odious, but who can speak about Inspector Clouseau,
alias the Pink Panther, without alluding to Peter Sellers. The two
were synonymous, even more so than Sean Connery and James Bond. Then
I’m no great fan of Steve Martin, who has taken over the role.
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