A movement called Sufi
Thanks to social networking sites, Sufi music has not been restricted to only Rumi and Bulleh Shah but has been taken up by a host of young and dedicated singers
An old folk singer with an acoustic guitar, spiked hair, pierced tongue, fair-looking youngster at the synthesizer and a modern yet all-covered beautiful girl...Twitter and Facebook are flooded with dedicated Sufi groups from Israel, Palestine, Turkey, Istanbul, and other Middle-East countries.

Woman on top
Reena Kaushal Dharamshaktu, the first Indian woman to ski to the South Pole, shares her ‘out of the world’ experience
Three cheers! One for women empowerment, two for adventure sports and the last for italicising India on the map of skiing. Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu has become the first Indian woman to ski to the South Pole. The details? She went for the first time as part of a team of seven women from six commonwealth countries and came back with countless memories. She shares exclusively with us over a telephonic interview the complexities and joys of being at an altitude of 2,835 meters.

Some nostalgia, some pain
Various alumni groups in the city are working hard to convert the habitual absentees
Alumni meets - there are two schools of thought; they either skip out or stick around, either miss it the most or just miss out. Why is it that some of the alumni's will always overlook a reunion while being in the same city? While others will check in from across the continent? That's the way it is. But what are they doing to convert the ones subscribing to 'let's leave it' philosophy?

Eve’s world
Girls, giggles & gossips sum up Guru Gobind Singh College for Women
There's something about a girl's college that tells you it's a girl's college, apart from the presence of only girls of course! The Kinetic Hondas and Honda Activas parked neatly in unending rows notwithstanding. There would be girls, giggles, gossip…Guru Gobind Singh College for Women-26 aptly fits in.
Photos: Parvesh Chauhan

A morning in Paris?

The fog, the trees and the replica of the Eiffel Tower create the magic of Paris in our own Leisure Valley. Photo: Reuters

Mecca of haute cuisine
Spain is set to have the world's first "gastronomic university", where students will have the opportunity to explore the science of taste in a state-of-the-art laboratory. Spain's most famous restaurateur Ferran Adria, the owner of El Bulli, will help student chefs master the craft of "molecular gastronomy". Pupils will also be encouraged to use scientific innovation to prepare the recipes of the future. British chef and the owner of Fat Duck Heston Blumenthal is also expected to be invited to the university as a guest lecturer.

Lessons beyond the class
‘JK Tyre Baja SAEIndia 2010’ is set to provide engineering students an opportunity to simulate real-world designs
The movie ‘3 Idiots’ conveyed the message that education needs to travel beyond the four walls of the classroom and translate into practicality.


Photo: Parvesh Chauhan

Melody maestros’ eve
A musical soiree — Aie Basant Bahaar — would feature young and versatile exponents of Hindustani classical music at the Randhawa auditorium today
Of all seasons, spring is a favourite with creative artistes as it stands for myriad moods of romance, ecstasy and festivity.

Designs that differ
A headgear made of cane and metal, finger nails in silver and copper, a lingerie of cane painted in golden and silver, broach made in the shape of an octopus… jewellery goes beyond the traditional necklace, rings, anklets, bangles and earrings. Experiment begins!


Photo: Parvesh Chauhan

Bebo all the way...

Kareena Kapoor after a performance at Max Stardust Awards 2010 at Bandra Kurla Complex Grounds, Mumbai. PTI Photo

Eye for art
Fine art students on Sunday created sand sculptures here to generate awareness among urban youth. Around 32 students from the Theni Melapettai Hindu Matriculation Higher Secondary School used three sculptures as a prop to depict three different messages aimed at preserving and practising fine arts as a subject.

Return of the yo yo
The yo-yo is set to become 2010's most popular toy with a 10-fold jump in sales over the past year, say retailers. The yo-yo, which gained widespread popularity during the decade following the 1929 Wall Street crash, is being lapped up again by parents turning to inexpensive toys for their children in the time of the recession.

Back to the roots
Punjab film industry is on the revival path, and the credit for this goes to Punjabi singer-turned actors. After the success of Gurdas Maan and Harbhajan Maan it's time for Mika to turn to acting, and his first acting initiative is visible with the release of new Punjabi film Mitti.

Bees saal baad
Salman returns to period drama with Veer
After playing a prince early in his career in portions of 1992 film Suryavanshi, macho star Salman Khan is returning to period drama in his latest venture Veer that releases Friday. Interestingly, the epic has been written by Salman 20 years ago and is an Eros International Media Ltd presentation and Vijay Galani Moviez production. "I had written the story 20 years ago, but at that time it wasn't possible to make the film. I thought now is the right time to make it, so I did... I showed the story to my father (noted writer Salim Khan) and the biggest fear was what is he going to say. But he said it's a good story," Salman said.