Weight of a surname

A well-known family name can be a double-edged sword. While children of famous parents may sail on their achievements, the burden of expectations and the pressures of being a celebrity child are enormous. Nonika Singh checks out

THIS famous verse by Khalil Gibran has been hailed as the ultimate mantra to right parenting in the 21st century. But for most of us ordinary mortals, our children are an extension of our selves through whom we care or even try to live vicariously. Inadvertently, our unfulfilled dreams and desires infringe on their lives, often stifling them but at other times helping them blossom. Not chips off the same block

Tattoo talk
Besides being a fashion statement, tattoos are now fast becoming a preferred career option, says Sudeshna Sarkar
WHEN Lokesh Varma, son of an affluent Army family in New Delhi, announced he wanted to forswear his MBA degree and his job with a multinational company to become a tattoo artist, his parents were speechless with horror. "Tattoos were, then, thought to be something only sported by low-life bikers, goons and drug addicts," the 27-year-old, manning his tattoo stall at the Nepal Tattoo Convention, the first international tattoo convention held in Kathmandu recently, said.

Fabric that has changed fashion
Lycra is a fibre that you can weave with anything like nylon. It increases the life of a garment, says Hector Choksi
IN 1959, when Lycra was introduced by Du Pont Company, it was a super stretching spandex fibre. Today the name has turned into a generic term for all stretch fabrics, whether silk or cotton. Contrary to what people think, lycra is not nylon. It is a fibre that you can knit or weave with anything like nylon or viscose. Lycra increases the life of the garment by 10 times. In some countries, it is mandatory for the manufacturers to use lycra in the neck area of the T-shirts as it doesn’t loose shape.