Homecoming
Thursday dopahar proved lucky for a few telly viewers, for, they found Gurpreet Singh aka Rudra of Saarthi knocking at the door. Part of a promotional event, viewers got to meet the fun-loving guy behind Rudra. "Rudra is a positive character whose mission is to take his mother’s revenge," says Gurpreet, making it clear that he’ll talk only about Rudra and not Sujal, his debut character in Kahiin To Hoga. Back to Rudra. "The character will spring up surprises in the coming months," he says.

New releases
A little emotion, a little fun
Taare Zameen Par
Director: Aamir Khan
Starring: Aamir Khan, Darsheel Safary, Tanay Cheda, Tisca Chopra, Vipin Sharma
TAARE ... is a film about the travails an eight-year-old boy undergoes in his family. Ishaan Awasthi (Darsheel) is a happy and carefree boy who loves all good things that have been created by god. He likes to paint, loves dogs, kites, etc, and has no time at all for the homework and examination routine boys of his age have to face!Ishaan detests being in the classroom and the studies reflect his dislike.

Youth Speak
Femicide: Heinous crime
Added to the long list of things, Punjab is notorious for is the fact that we have female foeticide-elimination of unnecessary girls even before her origin. I realise my state, which was an epitome of prosperity, joy and laughter is sinking into a state of physical and mental despair thanks to the dubious distinction of having worst sex ratio.

Little Interview
Going strong
Of late, Bollywood has witnessed an inflow of quite a few talented artistes into its fold. One such young actress is Tisca Chopra, who has displayed her talent in Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki, Astitva, Sarkar and producer Mona Merchant’s show Main Hoon Na on Star News. Television helped Tisca to reinvent and Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki brought this young actress directly into limelight.

SIDELANES
A season of giving & sharing
I JUST received a letter of thanks and greetings from Father Francis who heads Don Bosco, Sutgatti, at Hubli. Don Bosco institutions all over the world do a magnificent job, not only with teaching and vocational guidance, but also empowerment of the underprivileged. They try to make people stand on their own feet instead of living off handouts. Nuns, too, run similar institutions for women.

Brewing pleasure
Love for caffeine is growing in the city, and taking our addiction further is a coffee shop that opened last Friday. Java Daves in Sector 10 claims to be the first to bring to the city (and even the country) coffee from Java Daves, USA’s popular brand. Their rich flavours and recipes are courtesy the brand too.

Way above us
The moment he stepped down from the train on Wednesday night, the city station saw surprising-shocking looks, shoving-pushing and more. For, one and all were excited to catch a glimpse of the Ram Lal Sindhia. The man from Ballia, UP, stands at a whopping eight feet!

Painter to the core
90 & painting: Rattan looks back at the years gone by
It comes as a double bonanza for art lovers as Baldev Raj Rattan gives us a guided tour of his solo exhibition ‘Retrospective (1942 – 2007) of Paintings’ at the Government Museum and Art Gallery-10. For, through his paintings we not only get to see what places we are familiar with used to look once upon a time, but also get to learn the story behind each frame.

Rising Star
Music man
The talented musician now plans to groom singers in foreign lands
Seldom it happens that a man is blessed with the astute wisdom of a composer, singer, musician and an academician at the same time. However, these traits coalesce in ample measure in the persona of young engineer Raman Kant, a Chandigarh-based maestro. A sought after music composer, Raman had scored music for many Punjabi, Hindi and Haryanvi albums such as Dost Mera Dil, Doli, Karle Tu Pyar, while five albums and two Pakistani Punjabi films are in the offing.

Song of Silence
Her first book Woman of the Elements was born out of pain. After all, re-starting one’s life at 35, with memories of a violent marriage and two children to support — one child with a special need — is a struggle not too many of us are not capable of enduring. But Rashmi Anand did all she could do as a woman of substance, without sounding bitter or cynical. In fact, in that book she celebrated womanpower, she celebrated herself! In her words, “Life is still a struggle, emotionally sometimes and financially at most times and in many other ways, but no problem detracts from the amount I have received and receive everyday.” 

For the lord
Author Janaky Sharma holds Lord Krishna as the Supreme Being
Srimad Bhagawata, the greatest of Vyasa’s compositions, hails Lord Vishnu as the Supreme Being. But Janaky Sharma refuses to believe that. So what does she do? Delve into an extensive research and come up with enough facts to prove that her favourite deity Lord Krishna is supreme among all the 10 avtaars of Lord Vishnu.

BIG PICTURE

CHAK DE PUNJAB: Sporting fervour pervades the entire region and villages are no exception. A Khuda Jassu opener hits out as her younger brother cheers on. — Photo by Pradeep Tewari

Aamir calling
Calling all children, it’s your chance to get Ram Shankar Nikumbh aka Aamir Khan, the teacher of Taare Zameen Par to answer all your questions. A dream talkathon — Meet & Greet, organised by BIG 92.7 FM on December 25 invites the city kids to celebrate Christmas with Aamir.

It’s snowing fun!
If you love snuggling in the quilt and sipping into piping soup, then, this is not for you. The ice games at Funcity are for the adventurous whose adrenalin pumps up with falling temperature. Beginning this Thursday, one can enjoy the snow right here, without travelling uphill.

For girls’ sake

• Health tip of the day

• TAROT TALK
  What the cards say today...
  P. KHURRANA