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Hidden persuaders
The consumer is the target of
aggressive selling by companies. In the age of growing brands and
products and shrinking attention spans, what are the factors that make
some ads click with consumers?
Vasudha Sahgal
 HOW
often have you caught yourself humming that catchy jingle and smiling
at the funny tagline in an ad? Quite often, if you go by the deluge of
advertisements — be it in print, electronic media or of course
online. It sure is an (m)ad, ad world! From
a spot on the radio to a 30-second television commercial and Internet
presence, advertising has indeed come a long way and is now
ubiquitous.
ARTS
Dance
sans borders
Indian classical dancers of
foreign origin have played a unique role in enriching arts of the
sub-continent. Performing with ease, these dancers have grasped the
complex language of Indian dances
Nonika Singh
FROM
across the seven shores they came, and surrendered themselves to
Indian classical dances. Born with sensibilities far removed from
Indian ethos, they have nevertheless danced their way into the hearts
of classical art connoisseurs. Today as they stand at the zenith of
glory, we wonder how these ambassadors of Indian culture got smitten
by all things classically Indian in the first place.
Fitness
good
health
Summer
sips
The choice of drinks in
summer can affect your body’s water balance. Some beverages
are ‘pick-me-ups’, while others like coffee and alcohol can
be dehydrating
Ishi Khosla
Beverages
are essential to stay hydrated in the summer heat. Whether these
are part of a meal or in between, a refreshing drink can help to
rejuvenate you just when you begin to wilt in high temperatures.
Just like choosing food, the choice of drinks can make the
difference between how you feel and how it affects your body’s
water balance.
In
safe waters
Ishi Khosla
WITH
summers and soaring temperatures, water-borne infections like typhoid,
cholera, hepatitis and diarrhoea are also on the rise. Besides general
hygiene and precautions in food, quality of water also needs to be
regulated. Around 4 billion cases of diarrhoea occur annually, of
which 88 per cent is attributable to unsafe water, inadequate
sanitation and hygiene (WHO).
Society
Deconstructing
the plot line
Are we a nation which is rule
bound with walls not written in law but with walls in the head?
Kudrat Kahlon
Katherine
Bigelow’s letter to Los Angeles Times in defence of
justifying torture methods in Zero Dark Thirty wrote:
"Those of us who work in the arts know that depiction is not
endorsement. If it was, no artist would be able to paint inhumane
practices, no author could write about them, and no filmmaker could
delve into the thorny subjects of our time."
Family
meal a ticket to good behaviour
a
family that eats together stays together and the children are more
stable and emotionally anchored. Families are being urged to switch
off television and their cell phones and enjoy a good converstion with
their kuids. that here is much more to a family eating together than
merely connecting with each other. So a family dinner is not only just
that.
TRAVEl
Frozen in
time
Pompeii gives a rare peep
into the lifestyle of the Romans in the first century of the last
millennium
Ranjita Biswas
THE
Last Days of Pompeii — a book read long back suddenly surfaces
from the recesses of memory as the bus leaves behind Naples and races
towards that unfortunate city of yore from Roman times. Edward
Bulwer-Lytton’s book, written in 1834, was a novel inhabited by
people of Pompeii flourishing under the benign gaze of Mount Vesuvius.
ENTERTAINMENT
When stars
shine on telly
Many Bollywood stars are game
for acting on television, something that was unheard of a few years
back
Surekha Kadapa-Bose
BIG
boys playing on TV. Yes, that's the breaking news if you noticed how
your favourite filmstars are so often seen on the telly. What was a
trickle earlier has become a flood of sorts with big stars vying with
TV actors to get their finger in the popularity pie — television.
An
actor ahead of his times
Balraj Sahni, whose birth
centenary fell on May 1, excelled in both commercial and offbeat
cinema
Nirupama Dutt
Shambhu
Mahato, a peasant
who owns less than two acres, has to migrate to Kolkata to earn money
to reclaim his tiny share of the good earth from the moneylender.
Working there as a rickshaw-puller, he saves paisa after paisa
to pay his debts but after the turmoil in the cruel city, he returns
to find out that the land is gone and a factory is being built there.
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