EVEN when our experience tells us that there is no other way of expressing what goes through an artist’s mind at the time of creating a painting or a sculptor than colours and lines, we often end up coaxing the artist to express his work of art in words. Little realising that if he were trying to say something, which could have been expressed in words, he would have probably written it down as a poem or a story.

But, when it comes to the responsibility of carrying a report in the newspaper nobody wants anything to go wrong. Maybe what is needed is to bridge the gap between general public, the art and creative people. It can be done best through an art appreciation course. And when we are told that the Department of Fine Arts is going to introduce a short-term art appreciation course coming August, we heave a sign of relief. This is like a big step forward for the art movement in the city.

The seven-month course, as Prof Rajendra Bhandari, chairperson of the department hurriedly tells us, is designed to teach the aesthetics of painting, sculpture and architecture. “There will be 60 lectures of two-hour duration, which will be conducted after 5.30 p.m. The timing can accommodate professionals and non-professionals we well.”

The three-tier course will begin with a certificate course, which will eventually be upgraded into a diploma and degree course. And the most heartening fact is that the department will only be financing it. “In this region only the National Museum (University of Art History) gives out three-month certificate courses. Our course will comprise both the elements of fine art and theories,” says Prof Bhandari.

Though it is a little early to make a comment on the content of the course, the veterans of the art world hail it as a positive step. “The idea is excellent. A lot of people here are interested in art. Only few institutions in India offer art appreciation course. We can set an example in this direction,” says art historian B. N. Goswami.

Archana Shashtri, principal, Government College of Art, has a suggestion, “A good model of an already existing art appreciation course is that of M. S. University, Baroda. The curriculum ideally should have critical analysis and teach the nuances of curating, organising art evens, including the emerging trend of art along with management and marketing.”

What is the role of an appreciator? Answers artist Prem Singh, “Art appreciation is mainly how to approach a painting. An artist’s work is to make visible the invisible. An art appreciator’s role is to sharpen the sensibilities of the observer to get into the depth of the painting.”

A city, which is waking up to the option of art as an investment, a course in art appreciation is what we need to give the much-needed direction to both gallery owners and buyers. “Our knowledge on art is still quite shallow. Such a course will help us understand art. When it comes to art, there is either art or no art at all. There is never good or bad art,” says Amrit Boleria, art historian and municipal councillor.

And if you are interested in understanding the science of art, maybe it’s time to make a beeline at the department, because we are told, the seats are quite limited.

Espousing social causes is no longer celebrity domain. There are many little things you can do at home to make this world a better place

PLEASE switch off the computer, bulb and the fan when you leave the room. Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth… You have heard these instructions before and must be following them too. So, we aren’t even preaching it anymore. Because that’s not just enough! With so many issues and problems threatening the existence of the world, we need to espouse as many causes as we can. ‘I don’t have enough time’, ‘I don’t have enough money or the energy’ are the excuses that top your list. Yes, we know that too. We are not suggesting you leave your job, quit your family, turn hermit and go places on foot preaching. Just go ahead with your daily routine and make this a world a better place.

Friendship sites are witnessing the entry of a new group — 40+ lonely hearts in search of soulmates

The world is a little queer? People dating on Internet, irrespective of age. Middle-aged men back on the dating scene, frantically checking profiles of girls on Orkut. Just curiosity or are they looking for people they can be friends with? Lamented as 'lecherous uncles', the circumstances that bring these men into 'friend hunt' are not always pleasant — a widower mourning the loss of a spouse or a scorned divorcee with a broken heart.

Nevertheless, that does not deter them from living a life and checking profiles on various friendship sites. Sandeep Khosla, who is 47-year-old, is all for life and living every moment of it. "My heart is still beating and there is a lot of life to live. The society needs to understand and accept this fact that life does not end at 40. This is a new beginning. As much as I want to look different, I want to experience different things as well." Does this account for checking profiles on Orkut or clicking every second friendship site?

"What has checking sites got to do with the age,” asks Ravinder, a hotelier. “Why is so much hullabaloo if you hear of or come across some middle- aged man checking Orkut profiles?" He adds candidly, "They have an equal right to do so, like all youngsters." Ravinder tells us that he is regular with Orkut and he has no qualms about it. "Many middle-aged men have the feeling that nobody will want them because of the baggage of a failed marriage they carry or their widowhood. But I don't look middle age as something when one can't make friends," adds Ravinder.

Forties is the new 20 for these men who don't mind having a good time on Orkut after work. And why not, didn't someone just said ‘what has Orkut surfing or making friends got to do with age’? On the other hand, 43-year- old Damanpreet has a specific reason for logging on to Orkut. And he proudly claims, "I have made a good number of friends through Orkut. All good and understanding girls," he winks. "My friends don't treat me like an 'uncle'. They are not even expecting me to look like 20. They understand and respect my age. I feel the mindset towards middle-aged men have changed. They are no longer looked down as despos or sexually starved, looking for a prey."   

Attitude towards middle-aged men has sure gone through a change. Maybe they have taken the pain to redefine their image. They have reinvented themselves with some new hairstyle, working out at the gym, and changing their wardrobe.

Chips in Harita Sharma, who is a regular visitor at Orkut, "This is a new trend, middle-aged men finding their way on Orkut profiles and the strange part is that they are being accepted.” She gleas, "Some don't even look 40. Most of them are aware of the fact that this is a young site and thus they have kind of prepared themselves for it." Adds Harita, who has three middle-aged men in her friend’s list, “These men are mature and have better understanding of life." 

This is completely understandable to an extent. Age, of course, has nothing to do with making friends. If this is true what is the whole hullabaloo about?

Before it gets you thinking, Simranpreet Chug, a marriage counsellor has a word of advice for these young 40-something guys, “You may try to fit into the circle of twenty-somethings, but these are not the people you are competiting against. There is nothing like facing life gracefully and accepting the fact you will never be 20 again." She elaborates, “Make sure what you want. If you are not looking for something serious, let the person you are chatting or talking to know this. In case you are looking for a fling, well, then the responsibility is yours."

jasmine@tribunemail. com 

We know, opposites attract. A good girl falls for a mean guy or vice versa. In the same league, a young girl falls for a man double her age. Haven’t you heard of Nikolas Sarkozy-Carla Bruni, Imran Khan-Jemima Goldsmith, Micheal Douglas-Catherine Zeta Jones. And what do they say, young pretty girls falling in love and eventually marrying these old (but sexy) men. But what is it about older men that they seem attract young women. Or for that matter why do women fall for old men? Is it security to date old men or they intellectually stimulating? Or is it the plain old school girl symptom? We find out.

Smiles Mansi Singh, a schoolteacher, “As a teenager I used to fancy old men. They have a charm of their own. My first crush was on my schoolteacher. Though he never taught us but somehow I felt attracted towards him.” She finds an echo in engineering student Tanvi Kapoor who tells us that most of her crushes were on older men. “It is not deliberate. I am open to the idea of dating boys my age but somehow they lack that X- factor,” she says.

Well, strange but girls do get fascinated to grown-up men. Scratch the surface and almost everyone will have a tale to share.

But what is it that attracts women to them? While some are attracted to their old charm others can’t describe it. As Gunjan Sharma, a college student says, “I find boys my age pretty immature. Old men stimulate me intellectually. Or you can say I feel attracted to them.” Any crush she would like to share? Gushes Gunjan, “Richard Gere tops the list and mind you it just goes on and on.”

As per psychologist Rajshree Sarda, girls find older men charming and stylish. “ They provide or promise to provide security. The idea of gratification that they offer entices young girls.” According to her, the theory that rebellious or aggressive natured girls fancy such men more is no good.

Given that the 40s is the new 20s, we are sure to hear and see more of such crushes!

They represent the true spirit of Ally McBeal, but minus her histrionics. Three empowered women — all set to change the face of the legal profession, or rather the image of women lawyers. Geeta Sharma, Madhu P. Singh and Harpreet Dhillon would have continued with their High Court practices in their respective fields, had they not been struck by the idea of setting an example, by standing together in this men-dominated field.

To understand the concept of their Just Legal, which happens to be the only all-women legal firm in the city, we meet up with these three musketeers at their Sector 15 office.

“We wanted to start this firm, one because, women lawyers always play the second fiddle to their either spouse or father or brother in the legal profession, and second, there are not too many registered legal firms in the city,” says Geeta Sharma, who specialises in civil law.

Providing clean justice to people is what inspires Geeta to go on with her chosen profession. And the necessity to prove that women advocates are no less than their male counterparts drives her to work doubly hard. Madhu has been a practicing lawyer for the last 10 years and she has noticed how difficult it is for the women lawyers to procure work because most clients prefer their case to be taken up by a man.

“United we have better prospects. Working in a team always help,” says Madhu. “As a firm we are introducing the idea of helping the students to clear law entrance test as well as conducting workshops on the line of advocacy, skill development programmes for budding advocates. And of course, social work forms a very important part of the firm activities”. For all three are keen on giving something back to society.

“Money is not the sole motivation for us. Our aim is to assist those who are in need of help, irrespective of their sex and race,” says Harpreet Dhillon, the third partner from the firm.

So, what do they do in their free time? “Watch a lot of detective serials and crime-related shows”, they laugh. It helps us understand the mind of a criminal. There minds are the same no matter what race or region they belong to,” says Madhu.

As they vow to continue to derive strength from one another to deliver justice, we cannot help but admire the steel in their voice and resolution in their body language.

parbina@tribunemail. com

WHENEVER I travel, I end up observing things about people and places that will not find a place in any tourist guidebook. However, difference is the essence that makes this universe richer and more livable, perhaps.

Now that I am writing this piece from the soils of America, I feel as if my soul is trapped in two places. I think about Chandigarh and things that almost seem bizarre. I look at Texan trees and compare them to our blooming Gulmohars and find the western city devoid of flowering trees. I go to the grocery stores and find cauliflower the size of which will give a barrel inferiority complex and shudder. I seem to be at a loss when it comes to devising a menu – will it be paneer or tofu, salmon or spinach? I start reading nutrition information and put down packages after reading the amount of fat grams it contains. I buy organic milk, since it is pesticide and hormone free and wonder about the creamy Verka milk that the children drink in Chandigarh. How safe is it?

I see the beautiful neighbourhood – adorned with perfectly manicured lawns and elegant houses with brick fronts in pale shades of pink and brown. I walk around in the cool mornings while the fruitless Bradford pears sway in the breeze and find no one on the streets except me and think of the mornings in Sukhna Lake – familiar faces that I see and the familiar and annoying dogs that chase me.

Even driving is an insular experience – the cavernous driver’s seat in an intensely air-conditioned chamber is a singular experience of navigating the roads, merely based on road science and signs. No need to hurl abuse at other drivers and curse rickshawalas, no being stared at, no errant animals, no clipping and cutting off other drivers and feeling malicious jubilation. Driving is merely an exercise in road skills and not an interaction with the whole world.

There is order and peace – no wrong folks buzzing your doorbells early in the morning – no carwash guy knocking when you are having the best of morning dreams. No couriers offering sweaty pens for signature, no one carrying your grocery bags to the car and talking about his son’s admission to school, no sabziwalas bawling like a rogue elephant at 8 a.m.

But, then as Yan Martel wrote in the preface of his much-acclaimed Life of Pi – there is no place like India to cure restlessness, if that is what you are suffering from. My days here are calm and orderly and predictable. My life in Chandigarh is rushed and chaotic, full of laughter and exasperation, overflowing with human intervention and bother – heat and dust - and a terrific charge. Which one would you choose?

(This column appears weekly)

Haven’t heard of a Punjabi food festival in a long time. When Virsa, a newly opened Punjabi-cum-Baluchastani specialty restaurant in Phase 9 announces an Dhol Dhamaka Punjabi Food Festival, it is a palatable delight.

To start with, you are treated to nimbu shikanji, aam panna or Amritsari lassi malaai de naal, for Rs 20 each. In the snacks section, pick from tandoori murga, tandoori bataer, tandoori machi, Amritsari macchhi or paneer tikka.

The main course consists of Amritsari vadian aloo, peepiwaale choley, punjabi kadi, rajma Amritsari and bharta.

Non-vegetarians can choose from murg lahiri, butter chicken, pooransingh da meat, sookha rahra meat. Finish off with thandi kheer, mango kulfi or pista kulfi falooda.

On till July 12

Jaane Tu ...
Watchable
It’s not a humdinger of a show. How on earth can a narrative revolving around a boy and a girl who are in love but are in a state of denial make for a riveting viewing, one may wonder. Agreed, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na is a routine story, but one presented in a contemporary manner. It is all about college fun and youngsters who are pranksters. Rotlu, Bombs, Shaleen, Jiggy, Jai and Aditi have a great zest for life and indulge in bubbly banter.

Jai, aka Rats (Imran Khan), is a pacifist whose late father, Amar Singh Rathod (Naseeruddin Shah in a delightful cameo), comes in his dreams and chastises him for not being an aggressive Rajput. Aditi (Genelia), nicknamed Meow for her catty ways, is the opposite of Jai. The two best buddies carry a torch for each other but pretend to be just good friends. They start matchmaking for each other, but gradually realise that they are in love. Standard Bollywood theme, one may say. But what stands out is director Abbas Tyrewala’s treatment, which is quite good. No melodrama, no shedding of tears, no mind-marauding action. Simple campus fun, some pranks and some buffoonery. The kind of stuff a large section of the audience can instantly relate to. And a major role in this regard is played by debutant Imran Khan (nephew of Aamir Khan) who immediately connects to the viewers with his charm and freshness. He acts with the confidence of a veteran and enlivens the proceedings with witty dialogues. The scene in which he scares the hell out of Arbaaz and Sohail by posing as the lover of an HIV-infected brunette is particularly hilarious.

After an ample show of hysterics in Mere Baap Pehle Aap, Genelia has come a long way and does not put you off with her mannerisms. However, she still needs to improve her diction. Raj Babbar’s son, Prateik Babbar, who also makes his debut plays Genelia’s brother and sparkles in his small role. Anooradha Patel, Jayant Kriplani, Ratna Pathak and Naseeruddin Shah also inject a dose of humour. A.R. Rehman’s music is hummable.

Love Story ...
Time pass
This movie should have been made in the year 2050, should have been short in length and should have been made in Mumbai. Unfortunately, Love Story 2050 is shot in 2008, is more than 3-hour-long and has been picturised largely in Australia. Only to launch another filmy son, Harman Baweja.

The sci-fi flick is about Karan (Harman) and Sana (Priyanka Chopra) who meet in Australia and fall in love. They dance in the rain, turn shoplifters and look like a match made in heaven. Suddenly, Sana dies in a road accident, leaving a heart-broken Karan pining for her. He turns to his raving and ranting Uncle Ya (Boman Irani) who has invented a time machine. Along with his deceased beloved’s kin and his uncle, Karan travels into the future in the time machine and lands in Mumbai in 2050. In the midst of flying cars, chatting Androids and red-haired Zeisha, who is a reincarnation of Sana. Even as the lovebirds are about to unite, devilish Dr Hoshi, who wants the time machine queers the pitch. A lot has been written about Harman looking, acting and dancing like Hrithik Roshan. More than style and appearance, it is the predictable premise, which lets Harman down. It is similar to Hollywood movie Time Machine. To be fair to the newcomer, he makes an attempt to rise above the script. His real test would be when he is asked to perform in a movie demanding a realistic portrayal.

Though there are a lot of special effects and some catchy numbers, the inordinate length retards the futuristic venture’s tempo.

Showing at: Batra, Fun Republic, DT Cinemas, PVR Cinema