108 items in this section. Displaying page 11 of 11
Dead Poet's society
October 28: Do any of these names make your heart sing a sonnet – Oliver Goldsmith, Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats, Byron? All of them are famous poets of England of long ago. But where has the poetry of these poets gone today? Is it only to be confined to a select few intellectuals, the older generation, and to the dusty cobwebbed shelves at home? Dead Poet’s society [Illustration by Sudheer Nath] Will the younger generation sweep aside the lyrics of Madonna and Michael Jackson and read classical English verses that are literally poetry-in-motion?...
The Empowered Woman of Nyala
September 23: For someone who has never travelled beyond the village, a trip to New York is something to be excited about. And it’s no different for Shakuntala Bai, of Nyala, in Rajasthan. She attended a two-day conference in New York organised by the Hunger Project and in the process met US President Bill Clinton too! Representing India, she spoke on “panchayati raj and the role of women”. The Hunger Project is a movement working to end hunger and poverty in India....
Say Cheese!
My nephew was six when he received the first whiff of a peachy odour, later identified to him as Parmesan cheese. A gift from a “foreign returned” relative, the cheese by the time it came home had got slightly rancid. But all the same, he gobbled it up with relish. There was never a dull moment thereafter and he started ferreting out large chunks of cheese and butter from sundry fridges without as much as a whey and what-for....
Bid your Name into a Bestseller
November 4: The publishing world has come full circle. At one point of time, authors would run from publisher to publisher trying to get his/her book published. Then it was the turn of the publishers to run after popular authors and pay them astronomical sums just to persuade them to write a bestseller. Now a new twist has been added to the tale: no, it’s not an unknown author paying to get his book published. This time readers will pay through their nose to be a character in tomorrow’s bestseller!...
How Did the Indian Postal Service Start?
Although methods of postal delivery varied from one country to another, it is believed that in India, Emperor Chandragupta Maurya who ruled the country between 321-297 BC, was the first to introduce a form of postal communication to dispatch confidential reports to distant posts in his empire. However, the first recorded mention in history is to be found in the writings of historian Ziadduin Barni. He mentions that Ala-ud-din Khilji of the Delhi Sultanate, who ruled Delhi over 700 years ago, organized a regular horse and foot runner service called harakuras in 1296 AD....
How does the Army Post Office System Work?
It’s the one thing every soldier away from home looks forward to: mail. So everyday it is ‘Hey, Mister Postman, look and see, if there is a letter for me’? For a solider in his outpost, the letter from a loved one is his most cherished and valued document, read and re-read a million times till the next one arrives. The soldiers in the Indian defence forces are from every nook and cranny of India – from Kashmir in the North to Kanyakumari in the South from Tawang in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in the East, to Porbandar in the State of Gujarat in the West....
How Did Advertising Start in India?
The first newspaper in India was brought out by an Englishman James Augustus Hickey in 1780 who was stationed at Calcutta. The paper was brought out on Saturdays and was first called the Calcutta General Advertiser or Hickey’s Bengal Gazette. Publishing a newspaper is an expensive business as Hickey realised to his cost. He was losing money faster than the newspapers came out of the printing press. To make ends meet, Hickey decided to take on advertisements or ads....
Which is the Oldest Church in India?
In 52 A.D. Thomas Didaemus, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ is believed to have landed at Musiris (Cranganore) in Kerala. He made his first converts both Jews and Hindus at Palayur a town now in Trichur district, Kerala. There he built a small church with an altar, which he consecrated. This is supposed to be the oldest church in India. St. Thomas later moved to the east coast. and settled in Madras (now Chennai) in 64 A....
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