ONE cannot think of a Scotsman without thinking of a man in a kilt playing a bagpipe. But bagpipes are not found in Scotland alone — there are different types of bagpipes in Europe like the Biniou of France, Pijpzak of the Netherlands, Dudelsack of Germany and the Bock of Austria. Some experts say that bagpipes originated from the Middle Eastern snake-charming flute. Legend has it that bagpipes roused the Scots into siding with the Frenchled Jacobite uprising against the British in the Battle of Culloden (1748). When the British won, they executed the bagpiper for his role in egging…
Author: oiop
THE bilby, a rabbit-like animal with long ears, is known for its great ability to dig. The pock-marked arid landscapes of Central Australia stand testimony to its burrowing activities. The bilby is a nocturnal animal. To have a comfortable place to rest during the day, it digs a number of burrows with its powerful forelimbs and long claws. The burrows, which may vary in number from 10 to 12, wind to lengths of almost three metres each. After digging them, the bilby inspects all of them before choosing one to rest in, the following day. The animal also digs holes…
Was Mahatma Gandhi, who helmed India’s freedom struggle, an introvert? He was certainly no swashbuckling hero, says Akul Tripathi, but a leader who drew from his quiet and restrained personality to patiently wear down his opponents. In this manner, he scripted India’s massive freedom struggle. Friendly and shy. These are blanket concepts that we have learnt to identify with and categorise others into, ever since we started understanding the world around us. As vocabulary and the need for euphemism dawned upon us, these got replaced by the technical terminologies of introvert and extrovert – sometimes without requisite understanding of them.…
For such a staggeringly influential and iconic person of our country, Indian cinema really hasn’t done justice to Gandhi. He may have been openly opposed to cinema, but should that have stopped us from depicting the myriad facets of this diminutive man’s colossal personality? Akul Tripalthi tries to understand this inexplicable lacuna. Today, 58 years after his death, what are the visuals that hit our mind when we hear the name Gandhi? How is it that we picture him? That very familiar figure with round spectacles and a smiling face at peace with himself and the world, clad in a…
There are very few genuine Gandhians alive today. One of them is Gour Hari Das who lives in Mumbai and is the subject of a fictionalised feature film made by Ananth Mahadevan, who has shown Das’s 32-year long struggle to get his proof of participation in the freedom struggle, the tamra patra. Actor Vinay Pathak plays Das in the film. Shoma A. Chatterji talks to the director and the actor and comes away with a clear picture of the humble and noble man Gour Hari Das is. More than six decades have passed since Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination in January 1948.…
HIRA lived at the foot of the hill on which the Raigad fort stood. She delivered milk to the fort every morning and evening. One day, she lingered to watch the colourful Kojagiri festival being celebrated. Suddenly, a gong sounded and guards began to close the massive fort gates. “Stop!” shouted Hira, rushing towards the gates. But it was too late. The gates had closed and the soldiers refused to open them. “I must return home to my child,” pleaded Hira. “He and his grandmother are waiting for me!” “Once closed, the gates are not to be opened — these…
Here I am, sitting at the gymnastics ground waiting for my son to finish his session. Its pretty dark, the officials having switched on only bare minimum lights. There’s no breeze. The high rises are more than a stone’s throw away, and nothing is fathomable about the life that’s inside there… The air resounds with shouts and shrieks of glee, and wasted efforts and of course, the master’s whistles. Try and peer as hard as I may, I cannot recognise my son. It’s a sea of orange and black out there, each kid an integral part of the wave. They…
We have always assumed that children, logically and naturally need to spend all of their childhood years going to school, where they are groomed to grow up to be competent adults. We have assumed that it has been proven by someone, somewhere, that absence of schooling or alternative ways of thinking about education have been tested and they have failed. We have assumed that if children become educated through their own play and exploration, without adult direction or prodding, they may not accomplish as much as they would have if exposed to a standard setting of education, called “school”. Which…
The Lindau Nobel Laureate meetings this year was attended by several young Indian researchers and scientists, as well as Kailash Satyarthi, the Nobel winner from India. The participation of Indian scientists was facilitated by Mr. R.K. Sharma, Scientist-E (Director), International Cooperation Division, Department of Science & Technology (DST), India. Mr. Sharma is responsible for the formulation and implementation of bilateral schemes and programmers for collaborative research between India and partner countries. The countries he currently handles are Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Austria, China, Vietnam, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Anuradha Sharma who attended the conference, conducted this interview with him: What is…
Imagine this- you are at a presentation. You are the star of the show and everyone focuses on you as you stand up, smooth your pants and walk to the podium. That is when you feel your legs giving away, the usual pang of pain starts as a small pin prick and radiates around your lower abdomen. You grit your teeth and hold your breath remembering your Lamaze ball…breathe in and breathe out. Or was it Kegel? Tighten, loosen. As you struggle inwardly hoping against hope that your placenta just shuts down, you put up your dazzling 100 watt smile.…