236 items in this section. Displaying page 10 of 24
Francoise's Dolls
“I did not see the face of my child: I passed into unconsciousness after her birth. My neighbours told me she was beautiful. My mother and the nurse buried her alive. I did not even hear her cry." A doll depicts a girl child and the words alongside it, movingly tells the tale of a new mother’s anguish at the brutal killing of her baby girl. The doll has been made by Belgian-born Francoise Bosteels, who made India her home over 25 years ago....
Ali Sardar Jafri
He was a poet who spoke out for the poor. He was also one who truly believed that India and Pakistan could be friends, if the countries tried hard enough. From the time he was arrested for writing against British rule in India, to when he climbed onto the famous Lahore “peace” bus with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee last year, Ali Sardar Jafri spent his entire working-writing life speaking out for what he believed in....
The Earth Drum
Imagine a pit covered with the skin of an ox. The hairy surface is on top and the hairy tail of the ox is still connected to the animal hide or skin. The cover is nailed to the ground at several places. And the ox tail becomes the drum stick. This is not a fantasy drum. It seems this was one of the earliest ways our ancestors in India made drums. It was called the bhoomi dundubhi or the earth drum....
Snake People
The Snakes Around Us Written by Zai and Rom Whitaker Illustrations by Shekar Dattatri Published by National Book Trust, New Delhi This fascinating book gives us glimpses of the lives of the Irula tribals of Tamil Nadu, who are great snake catchers. The authors, who run a snake park in south India, have worked with these “snake people” for over a decade, and talk about their snake-catching abilities. They also talk about “snake people” in other parts of the world, who are great names in the world of research on snakes....
Punch and Spar: Way to go, Mary!
Where: north-eastern state of Manipur, India September 12, 2007 : Mary who? Twenty-five-year-old M.C Mary Kom from Manipur has won the world women’s boxing championship not once, not twice but thrice in the 46 kilogram category. (Boxers of similar body weight compete in a category.) Mary won the three titles consecutively or in three straight years. She won her titles in Turkey in 2004, in Russia in 2005 and in Delhi in 2007. How many of us know of the achievements of this powerhouse of punches who comes from a remote village in the northeastern state of Manipur?...
The changing face of childhood dreams
Dreams – the word itself, sounds so fascinating. Everyone has different dreams. Dreams are actually our aspirations. Dreams are of different types. Some dreams, like touching the sun, are impossible. Some are extremely silly. When I was five and was asked about what I wanted to be, I used to say: “to grow up”, as if anyone could stop that! As we grow and learn about great achievers, we all secretly want to emulate them…...
The Day it Rained Fish
August 12: Last weekend saw some ‘fishy’ happenings across the world. In Britain, for example, it rained fish. The Day it Rained Fish [Illustration by Shiju George] It happened in Great Yarmouth, a fishing port in Norfolk. Residents found a shower of dead but still fresh fish called sprats raining down on them. “I thought at first I might have had something wrong with my eyes. The whole of my backyard seemed to be covered in little slivers,” said a resident to ‘The Times of India’, which carried a report....
Gandhi's School is Dying
Where: Wardha district in the western state of Maharashtra, India October 6 : Every year, October 2 is observed as Gandhi Jayanti in India. Both children and adults look forward to this day, but not to commemorate the birth of ‘the greatest Indian since the Buddha, as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi has been called. It is more to enjoy the national holiday that falls on this day. To most people Gandhi Jayanti is more like a history lesson they learnt by rote in school....
Hockey Heroines
Where: India September 12, 2007 : I must confess that I got interested in the Indian women’s hockey team after watching the film Chak De! India . But unlike many friends who kept talking about the bright actors in the film thinking they were actually discussing the game of hockey, I did some reading up on the hockey team. To tell you the truth it was as captivating, if not more, than the film. Since this is a news item, let me give you the ‘hard’ news first....
Honey, what about it?
Where: the eastern state of Orissa,India July 19: Banjipali village stands on a hill surrounded by forest. It is a very small village, with about 150 people. They are mostly poor tribals from the Binjhal community. For years they have suffered from a water shortage and from the fact that it is very easy for the world to forget about small villages tucked away in some forest. So they decided to take matters in their hands and came up with a very sweet idea....