YOUNG AT HEART: It’s time to catch up on the eve of World Elder’s Day. Photo: Pradeep Tewari

The Indian connection
Hollywood superstar Julia Roberts, who shot parts of her film Eat, Pray Love in India, is reportedly planning to adopt a child from the country. The Pretty Woman star already has three children — twins Hazel and Finn and Henry with her cameraman husband Danny Moder. The 42-year-old, who recently announced that she has become a practicing Hindu, is keen to add to her family.


Julia Roberts

Side Lanes
When great oaks fall
It was a normal morning in a middle class home. Ma was busy supervising the household chores and looking after her infant daughters. Mr Martin, officer-in-charge (husband of Dr Martin from the Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, walked in to announce, "Gandy's been shot!" The way he pronounced the name made everyone look up, without comprehending the significance of his words. When comprehension dawned, there were ashen faces and a stony silence. He added, "He was Christ without a crown. Today, he has his cross!" Words of infinite wisdom from a man who had worked and lived in India and whose life spanned two periods…pre-and post-colonial rule. It seemed as if after years of turmoil, chaos, killing and friction between opposing sides, not much more could go wrong. Yet it did: Bapu was gone on the whim of a man who thought differently.

Heat is on
The home appliances major Remson and Rallison group has launched a new range of energy efficient German Glass Line technology geysers with a shock proof body in the market to brave the upcoming winters and other heating appliances.

Paint your dreams
Akzo Nobel, the maker of Dulux paints has launched a consumer promotion around the 'Colours of the World' collection of its flagship luxury emulsion brand, Velvet Touch. The Velvet Touch 'Colors of the World' collection is a range of 6 different colour palettes inspired from 6 of the most beautiful destinations in the world. Consumers buying a can of this collection stand a chance to travel to one of these beautiful destinations.

Objet D’ART
Music to the eye
Pablo Picasso painted Girl with a Mandolin between 1908-12 and acquainted us with his Cubism. Raja Ravi Verma often complemented his female forms with a musical instrument to bring out that feminine affect. Paresh Maity did a complete series called Shapes in Symphony using folk instruments as a major element. Closer home, Hardev Singh, the man who conceived the Government Museum and Art Gallery-10 along with MS Randhawa and Mulk Raj Anand during the 1960s, and currently the resident artist of Punjabi University, Patiala, has recently come out with 31 paintings on 31 ragas. Now what is it about music that inspires an artist to capture it on canvas?

A date with ‘Raju the Guide’
It was 3 Idiots, a film inspired by Chetan Bhagat's book Five Point Someone that re-kindled the interest of the young people in the relationship of the written word and its visual translation on celluloid. However, Pooja Dadwal chose to look at a novel and a film of yesteryear for her Masters dissertation in Mass Communication from Panjab University. The novel was none other than RK Narayan's classic, The Guide, written in 1958 and set in the author's imagined town of Malgudi. “I considered various novels but it was The Guide that I found most inspiring. I first read the book and then went onto film and found both fascinating in their distinct ways,” says Pooja.

A mix of traditions
Stray cattle, an animal in the center of the road wouldn’t care for anyone, people passing, honking, screeching, traffic coming to a halt. Not many would actually pause to observe the parody of life reflected in the incident. “The animal just wouldn’t care while the people passing by would be staring and snarling at each other,” observes artist Bhoop Singh. This and much more form the subject of his paintings at a workshop in Kalagram. He adds, “I’ve been here for 15 days now and have made three paintings using oil on canvas, today is the last day of workshop and I’ve been working on similar subjects for some time now but the experience here is different since there’s that art culture and atmosphere.” Back to his subjects and the first painting depicts folk dancers of Punjab, men doing Bhangra with women in the background. “I tried bringing about a rhythm in their figures and the colours that I used are sober and bright. I tried giving a texture to the canvas,” adds the MDU faculty.
Bhoop Singh

You’ve got mail
Come Sunday and Delhiites will have a rare insight into the personal letters that legendary poet Mirza Ghalib wrote to his friends, disciples, relatives and even government authorities. Ghalib Ke Khat by Delhi-based Pierrot's Troupe is unique in the sense that it does not feature the Urdu poet reading or writing his letters.