The taming of the beast within

NOW that we are close to the new millennium, thinkers, philosophers, scholars and ideologists are trying to find out means to make the 21st century world a better place to live in —a world not stalked by violence and aggression, but made livable by the cherished values of non-violence, love and peace. That is something healthy to look forward to. Since aggression and violence are not intrinsic to human nature, as some social-psychologists and anthropologists contend, it is possible to change the present crime graph. But then, the proverbial question looms large: "Who will bell the cat?" By Usha Bande

• The beauty of Barcelona, by Mohinder Singh
• Rising to a challenge, says Anja Ludwig
• The heart has its reasons, by Ruskin Bond
• Two sides of life, by Mangu Ram Gupta
• Educating gifted students the fast-track way, by Khushwinder Dhillon
• Myriad emotions and the mind's mystique, by Abhilaksh Likhi
• Poster painters fading away, asks Dinesh Rathod
• Writing in a land away from home, by Baldev Singh Dhaliwal

• Interview: "Best photographers have a real heart for the land," Helen Veret tells Kuldip Dhiman
• A soldier's diary: Wearing strategic blinkers, by K. S. Bajwa
• Laugh lines: She is more than a woman..., by Amrita Dhingra
• Your option: A quality called courage, by Taru Bahl
• Time off: Secrets along the Silk Route, by Manohar Malgonkar
• Heritage: Alwar: Steeped in history, writes Arun Gaur
• Garden life: Carrying your plants carefully, by Satish Narula
• Fitness: Achieve your target heart rate, by Anup Deb Nath
• Film and TV: Hindustani clocks a century, by Mukesh Khosla
• Bollywood bhelpuri: Urmila on tenterhooks, by Madhur Mittal