BETI IS THE WORD: Rajvinder and Jyotika with daughter Nuria. — Photo by Vicky Gharu	IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO: A students of Tender Heart, Sector 33, celebrate Lohri. Photo by Manoj Mahajan

Festival of FERTILITY
Our love for celebrations takes us over once more, on the festival of Lohri in the North, Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Makar Sankranti in UP, Bihar and Bengal, Magha Bihu in Assam, Tai Pongal in Kerala, all on the auspicious day of Makar Sankranti, marking the end of the coldest month of the year, Paush and announcing the beginning of the month of Magh.

Pride of Bengal
S.D. Sharma
It is indeed the aesthetic opulence of Indian classical music which has captivated the world and we the young generation of music practitioners owe it to our rich cultural heritage as also to the pioneers like Ravi Shanker, Ali Akbar Khan, Zakir Hussain and others for making it popular in the world,” says London-based young maestro Chiranjib Chakraborty.

Age of innocence 
Anuradha Shukla
Ek tha raja ek thi rani..dono… khatam kahani, is perhaps the fastest ending story in the world, which we often heard as our parents tried to rush us to bed. Stories meant much more than mere bedtime entertainment as a warring princess or a brave jungle boy became part of our sublime minds, transcending our world of imagination and transforming us into reality exclusively our own. Our story books were left far behind as Harry Potters invaded our world showing how much the children as well as adults love a superhero of the world of a child’s imagination feels Darshan Singh Asht who loves to write for children.

Shimmer and Shine  Smriti Sharma We Punjabis are known for our penchants for celebrating life. And when it comes to celebrations, fashion automatically follows suit. This time the occasion is Lohri. Though we might witness a more ‘urbanised’ Lohri these days, packed with a DJ belting out the latest Himmesh Reshmaiyya numbers and youngsters shaking a leg on a psychedelic dance floor, nonetheless the tradition of decking up, pampering oneself to look oh-so-perfect, particularly by the women, is still the toast of the festivities like their rural counterparts. THE LOHRI LOOK: Lakme presents the party look for this Lohri. — Photo by Vinay Malik

SIDE LANES
Golf in November
Joyshri Lobo
Golf is the flavour of the season and there is every reason to devote five hundred words to the game. Jeev is winning; Kahlon and Johl are in the news and our very own Irina is hitting the headlines. Lesser mortals have also decided to walk the course, perhaps with not so much success or satisfaction. But you cannot say that they are not playing their best shots or putting their putts into the tin.

BON APPETIT
Queen of the Leafy-greens
If you happen to listen in to any health related programme on TV or a radio channel, somewhere along the line, you’re bound to hear the opinion of one medical expert or the other, promoting the intake of fresh fruits and vegetables. Mentioned, almost at the top of the green, leafy vegetables category, will surely be spinach. Popeye, the sailor, had an affinity for this power-packed vegetable, getting stronger after consuming it.

COOL STUFF
Glam Guru
One of the top five finalists of the Miss India Contest, who walked away with Miss Perfect 10 and Miss Beautiful Hair, Meyhar Bhasin’s name needs no introduction. Her name also evokes memories of the only Indian Model who got the opportunity to model with Cindy Crawford as the first and only Revlon girl for India and Asia and is actively into compeering and choreography and also into T.V. programmes.

WORD PLAY
ELEVEN PLUS TWO
Harmeet Kaur
Almost every newspaper carries a word puzzle or word games where the readers are expected to make new words from a given jumble of letters. The ability to form new words (Anagrams) goes a long way to complete such puzzles.

• Health tip of the day