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Sad part of playing a happy man
Robin Williams’ death
has once again brought the spotlight
on entertainers who bring
laughter into our lives but
struggle to beat the blues. They often
hide their misery
behind a veneer of gaiety
Aruti Nayar
 A
teenaged fan spontaneously burst out on getting the news of
Robin William’s death, "But he was so happy, so cheerful, he
made everyone laugh." She was voicing the popular sentiment:
Those who make us laugh are bound to be happy themselves. There is a
popular anecdote about a person who goes to a therapist and tells him
how he is feeling so sad and the world, to him, seems cruel and harsh.
The therapist tells him, to and go and see Ferrini, the clown's show,
since he was coming to town and "You will feel better."
"But I am Ferrini", says the man! It is not necessary that
the people who make us laugh do the same themselves.
’Art &
Soul
Portable
pilgrimages
A new book on Kaavads looks
at this timeless storytelling device with warmth, fascination as well
as a keen eye
B.N.Goswamy
In
that great text, the Bhagavadgita, there is a
description of an ‘imperishable tree’, which is said to have its
roots upward and its branches down: urdhvamulam-adhahshakham. The
text then moves, as a matter of course, in a philosophical direction,
and adds a little later, "The real form of this tree cannot be
perceived... no one can understand where it ends, where it begins, or
where its foundation is."
Broad
brush
FITNESS
This water is not
good for wellbeing
Water retention can lead to
swelling all over the body and weight gain. However, some foods can
prevent this
Water
retention in the body, medically referred to as oedema, is a
common problem. It leads to an even more severe problem – weight
gain. Often, we come across several people who complain of weight gain
due to water retention. It can be a major hindrance in the day-to-day
activity for sufferers.
You don’t always have to take a
bitter pill
A homoeopathic first-aid
box of some basic medicines can be beneficial as these medicines are
non-toxic and do not have any side effects
Dr Deepak Grover
Homoeopathic
is safe treatment as its medicines are in extremely diluted
quantities and there are no side effects. The non-toxicity of these
medicines makes these a good choice for treatment of children.
Everyone and every family should have homoeopathic self-care remedy
kit with vials of pellets in 30c potency at home. Self-care is
recommended for acute self-limiting conditions such as occasional
cold, simple headache, stomach ache, menstrual cramps, minor injuries
and emotional upsets. In such cases you can get quick relief from the
symptoms. Homoeopathic medicines are selected for treatment of
individual symptoms and their causes rather than disease itself. More
complicated, serious and acute emergencies such as infections with
fever and all chronic disorders required treatment under trained
homoeopathic practitioner.
SOCIETY
The evolution
of teaching methods
Moving from gurukuls to
classrooms to smartschools, imparting education has evolved with time
Vibha Sharma
India
has a rich educational heritage. Nalanda University was the
first educational institution where students from all over the world
flocked to. It can also claim to be one of those nations which has
experienced the whole wide spectrum of methodologies of imparting
education to students.
Travel
Once
upon a fort
Its architectural symmetry,
intricate in-laid patterns in stones, designed frames and arches
invest the Chitradurga fort with a bewitching look
Anand & Madhura Katti
People
travelling by road on National Highway 4 to Bangalore pass
through the city of Chitradurga in central Karnataka. If taking the
bypass, the city is hardly visible but one can’t miss the sight of
the magnificent rock fort on the rocky mountains, which runs alongside
the tropical city. The tour of the fort and remains of the city within
it make for a great sojourn.
Globetrotting:
Rocking robots
Entertainment
A
taste of Bollywood banquets
Food has featured in myriad
ways in Hindi cinema but, of late, food movies have come of age with
interesting experiments
Nirupama Dutt
Food,
food and more food has ever been at the heart of Indian films, and no
surprise this for India’s culture is essentially agrarian. The lead
was taken as early as 1946 with Dharti ke Lal (Sons of the Soil),
a poignant film on the Bengal famine. Many films in post-independent
India negotiated the issue of hunger or the provision of the basic
need. Since then food has featured in a myriad ways in Bollywood films
other than just for survival. There is food for fun, food for
courtship, food for love and food for the sheer pleasure of it. Indian
sweets like laddo, rasgula, jalebi and halwa have
featured in many films and film songs too. There is a sensuous song on
the favourite Indian savory called a samosa: "Jab tak
rahega samose meing aloo..." A yesteryear film song even had
a guy asking a girl out on Sunday with the promise of feeding her eggs
freshly laid by a hen!
Unforgettable
Robin
Robin Williams, who acted in
more than 50 movies, was a great mimic, irreverent and inventive. Here’s
a tribute to the great actor
Ervell E. Menezes
The
sad news of the death of a great actor Robin Williams and that
too at a comparatively young age of 63 came as a surprise. Only a day
later we read of the death of yesteryear icon Lauren Becall at the
ripe age of 89, she who paired with Humphrey Bogart in a number of
films, especially the unforgettable Casablanca.
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