Tuitions, treadmills and timepass
Rushing the kids to tuitions. Waiting for hours to drive them back. From taking walks to working away in gyms or on laptops, parents have devised ways to pass this in-between time
It’s hard being a teenager, and harder being their parents. With a competitive culture, parents today believe in giving their wards a headstart over their peers. No wonder, the preparations for the ‘battle ahead’ begin early. This run-to-the-top phenomenon witnesses parents painstakingly planning their child’s life, right from his first day at school up to his college graduation, ferrying them from one coaching class to another.

Roomies with views
They share a hostel room but not their mother tongue or cuisine. Well, the regional diversity among roommates isn’t all about clashing and cribbing, say our campus inmates
What happens when someone from the Land of Five Rivers is asked to share a room with someone from God’s Own Country? What would happen if you were from desert land Jaipur and were asked to share space with an inhabitant of Cherrapunji!

Blend it like Bolly brides
It’s unconventional colours and film-inspired fashion that’re dominating the local bridal scene
The concept of trousseau has changed over the years. Today, the bride is as much concerned what will she wear before the wedding day, as much on the D-day and then on her honeymoon. In fact, even the concept of beauty has changed. It is no longer stereotyped fair, black-eyed, long-haired models who are walking the ramp showcase designer bridal wear.

Ready to Chamko as director
After Nandita Das, avant-garde actress Deepti Naval has turned director. Her directorial debut has a rather poetic title — Do Paise Ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane Ki Baarish and she has signed on her close friend Manisha Koirala as the heroine. But this is not the first time she had directorial plans. She had earlier thought of a film with Madhuri Dikshit playing the lead role. “The main lead for that didn’t work out. Madhuri got busy with the Yashraj Films’ Aaja Nachle. And she asked me to come and shoot the film in the US. But since that script required me to shoot in Himachal Pradesh, I decided to put it aside for now,” Deepti said.

Aaj ka Arjun
Arjun Rampal, who plays a Kolkatan filmmaker in Rituparno Ghosh’s The Last Lear, says he travelled incognito around the city in trams and buses to get into the skin of his character. Rampal said he was so moved by the storyline that he literally became Siddharth, the filmmaker, during the making of the movie. “I was so touched by the storyline that even before Ghosh finished narrating the script I agreed to do the film. To get into the skin of my character — a Kolkatan filmmaker acquainted with the vibe of the city — I came here a few days before the shooting started. I wore a bandana so that no one could recognise me and travelled across the city in trams and buses and took photographs,” said Arjun who wowed audiences with his performance in Rock On and Om Shanti Om.

Stage of transition
The modernisation vs heritage issue is taking a toll on the character of the city, laments Vikramaditya Prakash, who’s taken up his late father Aditya Prakash’s cause
The last time we met Vikramaditya Prakash, professor of architecture at the University of Washington, Seattle, at his father Aditya Prakash’s house in Sector 8, the atmosphere was light and the mood was jovial. Because, the talk centered on the influence his architect father had on him and his career choice. 

TWIN trouble
Fuming neighbours of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen at their quiet West Village block have complained that the twins have robbed the neighbourhood of its peacefulness. Residents on West 13th Street are irritated by the tiny twins’ ‘military presence,’ and called the fashionistas “two spoiled brats” who “change the character of the neighborhood” by posting security guards outside. “They are disruptive, intrusive and totally disrespectful,” a neighbour said.

Meals McHurry
A dash for the first lecture. Hardly any time for breakfast. Paranthewali gali isn’t for them. So, here’re some rush-hour recipes that students rustle up, writes Jasmine Singh
Munish opens his dreamy eyes. Looks around, and his gaze falls on the clock hung on the wall. “Oh, God. Five minutes to nine. Can’t miss my first lecture again. My teacher will kill me.’

Voice concern
Speak up and reach out, is the wisdom handed to us down the ages. But do we speak up? We know what to say but cannot do it when asked to speak in public. Presentations and interviews are unavoidable nightmares for most of us. Business, social, and personal success depends upon a person’s ability to communicate effectively about what he is, what he desires, and what he believes in. But the fear of public speaking gets in the way.

Talent shows, at a click
It’s the age of talent shows. And some of the tricity’s young netizens are tapping the Internet to the hilt to show their talent to the world
Just as a click of the mouse makes the world unfold before you, another click, in turn, can make the world get familiar with you. From quite some time now, Internet has been providing us information about almost everything, from people who make a difference to the world, to places to various events, and now it can also put across important things about ‘you,’ that too as per your command. 

Return of the Terminator
Hollywood actor-turned-California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is reportedly set to reprise his most famous role as an indestructible cyborg in the new Terminator movie.

Tale piece
Beyonce & burgers
Beyonce has revealed that although she loves junk food, she has managed to win the battle against her greasy cravings. And giving up fatty burgers and chips has provided the 27-year-old with a body to admire.

Deadly donors
What do former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra have in common? Both have pledged to donate their organs for transplantation when they die.