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And filthy flows the Yamuna
 The Yamuna flows through the country’s most fertile region but it remains a victim of apathy and greed. Its water is full of biological and chemical wastes from agricultural fields, towns and cities it crosses in Haryana, UP and Delhi. At some
places it resembles nothing but a wide sewage disposal drain, reports Vibha Sharma
Agricultural, industrial and domestic waste has made the Yamuna the most polluted river in the world. People continue to defile the river.
— Photo by Mukesh Aggarwal
Way to go Dutch
Much of the credit for preserving the art and history of Chamba goes to Dr Jean Phillipe Vogel
of the Netherlands, says Kanwarjit Singh Kang
The
officials of Bhuri Singh
Museum in Chamba recently demanded from the Kern Institute in the
Netherlands a portrait photograph of Sanskrit scholar and
archaeologist, Dr Jean Phillipe Vogel, to be placed in the museum for
his contribution in preserving the heritage of Chamba.
Hunt for the Loch Ness Monster
Myth or reality? The mystery of the Loch Ness Monster, Nessie, has generated excitement and scepticism in equal measure.
Rachna Singh travels to Loch Ness to find out the truth about Nessie.
INTERVIEW
‘I’d
love to work with Rani’
Subhash K. Jha
The
inimitable
poet-on-celluloid and filmmaker Gulzar is gearing up to direct a film
after a long hiatus and would like to team up with Rani Mukerji in his
next project. "I’d love to work with her in my next film. I
know she won’t say no to me," said Gulzar who loved Rani’s
performance in Bunty Aur Babli.
King of the
jungle
The king cobra, which is known for its reasoning and intelligence, is a rare species
which is on the verge of extinction, writes T. S. N. Murthy
Known
as Hamadryad in popular
parlance, the king cobra is the star snake of the Indo-Malayan region
and certainly the most dangerous wild animal. It is ordinarily 12-14
feet long, with exceptional ones growing up to 18 feet and even more.
It is a slender, graceful serpent with a narrow head that looks
anything but poisonous. If not observed carefully, it may be passed
off as a rat snake.
Grin & beer it
A black bear in a
Chinese zoo has amazed zookeepers with its unusual taste for beer. But
what has left the people shocked is the 10-year-old bear’s wisdom of
stopping booze intake before it becomes drunk.
For art’s sake
Burning
out too fast
More and more high-achieving
couples are working hard and partying harder... burning out, reports Vimla
Patil
Burnout
has become the biggest
epidemic among young, upwardly-mobile men in metro India. Here is a
huge number of metro-sexual men who not only drive themselves to
achieve financial and personal success even as the hit the
mid-twenties, but also tie the knot with young women who are equally
qualified and share their zest to make it big in life before they have
reached their thirties.
Laddoos
for all occasions
Harikrishna Mahanti
The
query as to which is the
most popular sweet for a festival is likely to provoke verbal riots.
The 150-year-old rossogulla from Bengal, the 100-year-old sweet
mysorepak from the South, chikki from Maharashtra and
the multi-type barfis of Delhi are bound to stake their claims.
But if you have to go by its classic history, popular acceptance for
weddings and success in exams, laddoo is the most celebrated of
the mithais.
Bringing alive Binodini Dasi
Shoma A. Chatterji reviews three plays on the life of a versatile stage artiste who became the mistress of a wealthy man to save her theatre group from ruin
Truth
is indeed stranger than
fiction. So was the life of Binodini Dasi (1863-1941), a
prostitute-turned-actress who dominated the Kolkata stage for a little
more than a decade. She flowered into a versatile actress-star under
the able guidance of none other than Natasamrat Girish Chandra Ghosh
(1844-1912).
A matter of belief
Priyadarshan’s Bhool Bhulaiya revives questions on the eternal debate between science and superstition as presented in the mainstream Indian cinema.
Shoma A. Chatterji looks at similar films
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