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Conform or be
damned
Medieval mindsets
still govern attitudes towards women in private and public spheres.
The media glare following Geetika’s suicide and Fiza’s death shows
how women can be pushed to the edge by social pressure
Ratna Raman
When
Marissa Mayer took over as
CEO of Yahoo, the man who had been at the helm when darkness reigned
over Yahoo-sphere stepped down. Marissa’s baby, scheduled to arrive
in the next couple of months, has drawn attention to the conflict of
interests that Marissa will grapple with, namely, bonding with a
new-born baby versus heading a corporate entity seeking a turnaround.
However, Baby Mayer has nanny care in triplicate and doting daddy,
apart from material mom so all should bode well for the Mayer future. |
Women march and raise slogans during a protest against growing cases of sexual abuse in New Delhi |
Of
peace, love and boundaries
Anirudh Dhanda
The
entire sky was covered
with dark clouds. The morning was really cool. Any moment, the thirst
of Amritsar was to be quenched by the Rain God. The yet-to-come smell
of raindrops on dry soil and flaky walls of old houses made one glow
within. Finally, the Rain God seemed happy.
Gateway
to Mecca
Jeddah, the second largest
Saudi Arabian city after the capital Riyadh, amazes with its
cosmopolitanism
Niku Sidhu
Jeddah
is least likely to be on
the wish list of tourists worldwide. It is, however, the gateway for
those who would like to know and understand the Middle East better;
manifesting many a surprise as the layers unfold
Captain
Courageous
With India having won the ODI
series in Sri Lanka, Dhoni has silenced his detractors once again
M. S. Unnikrishnan
Mahender
Singh Dhoni has yet again
proved that he’s ‘captain courageous’ who deflects criticism of
his leadership by his deeds to silence his detractors. Before setting
out for the five-match One-Day International (ODI) series against Sri
Lanka, two of his ‘star’ colleagues — Virender Sehwag and Gautam
Gambhir — had openly questioned Dhoni’s captaincy, saying that he
was lucky enough to have always led a talented bunch, who collectively
contributed to make him the most successful Indian captain ever,
forgetting the fact that Dhoni’s captaincy skills played vital roles
when the chips were down.
The
beast of video virulence
Film promos, songs and
censored bold scenes — all have gone viral on the internet much to
the distress of Bollywood. Jackie Shroff's expletive-ridden video
clips floating in the cyber space, however, took things too far
Deepa Ranade
Remember
how young Neil Nitin
Mukesh foamed at his mouth when his Sudhir Mishra-directed
yet-to-release venture Tera Kya Hoga Johnny was suddenly made
freely available on the net? He even went on to accuse his director of
foul play (2011).
| Straw art |
Artists burn a 10 m high straw art installation of a phoenix during the recent 7th Straw — Land Art Festival in Osijek, East Croatia. Twenty artists made 20 art installations using 30 tons of straw. Photo: Reuters |
Rise
& rise of Ridley
Ridley Scott, whose recent
film Promethus was a pale shadow of his classic works, gave a
whole new thrust to the genre of science fiction
Ervell E. Menezes
One
never stops singing
praises of European cinema because it comes alive when dealing with
the fate and foibles of human nature as compared to Hollywood which
excels in escapist entertainment. It shifted gears, however, in the
mid-1960s to mid-1970s during the ‘Decade of Change’ when it
captured the changing nuances of human nature but went back to its old
self after that. Still, it has its breed of actors from Alfred
Hitchcock, Stanley Kramer, Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese and Ridley
Scott, to mention a few, even though Scott’s latest Prometheus
is a letdown.
HEALTH
capsules
No
evidence that sex spoils sport
The
Greeks believed athletes should avoid sex before sport, but
modern Olympians and scientists are torn over the merits of
in-competition coitus and whether abstinence enhances performance. For
years coaches and athletes have practiced abstinence the night or even
weeks before a big event, although all bets are off when the medal
ceremony is over — 1,50,000 condoms were handed out to the 10,500
athletes competing at the London Games.
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