Prints from Paris
With close to 100 titles to his credit, French children's author Yvan Pommaux has a penchant for animal and funny characters
Not very often does passion spill into a profession. But when it does, it shows. Take the case of the French author, Yvan Pommaux, whose initial fascination with drawings accidentally made him write comics for children. In India, on an invitation by ambassador of Delhi, he talks about his works, influences and the genre of comics. Photo by Pradeep Tewari

High on Heer
A chilly evening, cheering crowd and electrifying atmosphere. And, something more interesting than all these put together were on-duty cops dancing backstage. That's what happened when Kamal Heer took the stage. Dressed in his traditional kurta and chadra, the almond-eyed gabru merserised the audience at the PEC fest. At his live best, Heer once again proved why his shows are legendery, filling the air with energy and rhythm. Whether it was his Kianthewala or Yaad aaegi, every song left the audience asking for more.

Oh boy! beefcake’s big show
Men in the industry want to look desirable and for that, they are ready for lots of skin show
The leading ladies of Hindi filmdom are in for serious competition from none other than their male counterparts, with an ever increasing number of them shedding inhibitions and showing off chiseled torsos and butts.

John Abraham (right), Shah Rukh Khan (bottom left) and Ranbir Kapoor (right) lead the brigade of desirable men

Money hai to honey hai
British actress Sienna Miller has been dropped from Guy Ritchie's movie Sherlock Holmes after her ex-beau Jude Law was roped in to play Dr. Watson, the aide of the sleuth. Sources close to Miller say the actress was delighted to have been approached about a role alongside Robert Downey Junior as Sherlock Holmes, but Ritchie dropped her after Law decided to be Watson.

For actor Sienna Miller money is becoming a bit of a problem

In her defence
Padma Lakshmi's friends are rushing to the stunner's defence after it was reported that she was a gold digger. The New York Post's sources had earlier insinuated that the Top Chef host used former hubby Salman Rushdie for his fame. "She does live in the circle of rich, famous people so it would be natural that they are the ones she may date," said a pal. "But that does not make her a gold digger, just like actors who date other actors are not star [bleep]ers. She had an Italian talk show and two series on the Food Network, plus an award-winning cookbook from Miramax Books before she even met her ex-husband. She has had acting roles in two films and four miniseries.

Padma Lakshmi

Bhindi-chini bhaye bhaye
Chow mein with chettinad. By bringing Yo! China under its roof, Sundarams-26 aims to cater to the contrasting palates of Gen Y and Gen X 
It's a crazy world of whiff and tang, where more than flavour it's the cuisines that have made a name for themselves. And catering to the growing demand for multi-cuisine (read Chinese) eateries, Sundarams-26 has joined hands with Yo! China for a gastronomic blend of Southern and Chinese fare.

 — Photo by Pradeep Tewari

Stamped to precision 
After a prolonged lull, the art scene in the city is heating up once again. And it is the Government College of Art that takes the lead with the opening of two exhibitions by its students - one, the annual exhibition by the final year MFA students at the college gallery and the other, by five students from BFA, who recently went to Rajasthan on a study tour.

Photos by Pradeep Tewari

Sambhang Theatre Fest 
"Jeeney ke zamane mein toh sab jeete hain / Jo marr ke jiye jahaan mein naam uska hai.. " the Urdu couplet is a veritable salutation to the theatrical elegance of city thespian Parbhat Gupt whose aesthetic potential was yet to blossom. A hero of 25 plays and director of eight award-winning plays sacrificed his life in a heroic act while saving a child. Hailed as the pride of the PU Department of Indian Theatre, Parbhat, a gold medallist , had formed a group, Sambhang. His admirers especially his father Dr D.S. Gupt has kept his cherished memory alive through the propagation of theatre among youngsters, as resolved by Prabhat.

Talking films
Film expert A. F. Mathew's take on today’s scene 
A day-long-workshop on Cinema - Intrinsic to Indian Culture was organised at the Chitkara School of Mass Communications on Monday. Prof A. F. Mathew, an expert on post-modernism, ideology and films, was the principal speaker on the occasion. "The purpose of this workshop is to sensitise students about the issues that matter today," says Mathew.

Photo by Pradeep Tewari

Geek SPEAK
Core issue
In this computing world, the only parallel and running head to head are Intel and AMD and it's always being debated which one of these is better. Let's take a look behind the scenes and find out which company's processor is the best bet. To all those who are hardware enthusiasts at heart, the CPU performance matters the most, processors are the heart of a PC and influence all the other chips installed on a computer motherboard even if it is not being fully used, you should stick with good-quality gear as long as you want to keep your PC at the front of the performance curve. 

Coffee needs company
Apart from the studyrooms and boardrooms, gizmos are finding lots of space in cafes
If all that you need is soothing music and a steaming cuppa to make your grey matter click some brilliant ideas, then city cafes are the place to be in. Hooked to their laptops and at the same time in serious conversation with their friends, the ambience seems just perfect. So, does it mean that the need for a formal seating aear, a well-lit room and pindrop silence to make a presentation or for a brainstorming session is a thing of the past, something the youngsters have finally got over? It is, if the affirmative reply from the students and young entrepreneurs who team up in cafes to do some intellectual work is anything to go by.

star signs
Blog bol
Ask him about one thing that he is good at, besides acting and writing prescription, and the reply comes in a flash of a second, my friends call me a geek freak. "You have to believe this; I can virtually sit with my gizmos for the rest of my life. So much so, a laptop and my I-pod are the only things that I would like to carry if I am marooned on an island." And what would you do, with all the gizmos? "To begin with, blogging," says Manav, who shot to fame with Kyunki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi and is also doing a couple of Punjabi movies.

Manav Vij

Jama 101 comes loaded 
I-mate has launched Jama 101 — the one of the world's most compact pocket PC phones, a marvel of smarts with big touch screen, all housed in a stylish jet black finish. The Jama 101 is the little phone with a lot of pizzazz, a mini PC with a built in mobile, digital camera, and MP3 player. Supporting tri-band GSM/GPRS as well as Bluetooth, the Jama 101 is powered by a Samsung CPU at 300MHz that delivers a smooth multimedia experience. Its 2-mega pixel camera makes it a perfect multimedia companion.

Netaholics, beware!
Do you feel irritated after failing to access the Internet? Well, may be it's time to seek medical help as Internet addiction is now considered a clinical disorder rather than a bad habit, according to a new Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) diagnostic manual. The two major symptoms of IAD are lingering online for more than six hours a day and having adverse reactions from not being able to get online.