236 items in this section. Displaying page 6 of 24
Instrument with a Human Tone
A family of musicians in the city of Mysore, in Karnataka, has a unique family heirloom — a beautiful 300-year-old veena. The veena is India’s most ancient Indian stringed instrument. Instrument with a Human Tone [Illustration by Shiju George] The veena is a poly chord instrument, that is, it is made of several strings. Each string produces a certain tone, which other strings cannot duplicate. Melody is produced when the strings are plucked....
Gems of Indian Literature
Excerpts from ‘Books Forever’ Written by Manoj Das Published by National Book Trust, New Delhi India’s literary past is indeed great. It’s a known fact that many of the parables of the Bible, the fables of Aesop of Greece, the folktales collected by the Grimm brothers of Germany and the tales retold by Hans Andersen of Denmark had their origin in India. We shall unravel together some of the gems of Indian literature like the Bhagavad Gita,The Upanishads, Vedas, Ramayana, and the Mahabharata in our subsequent articles....
AHA! Books: Arvind Gupta
An individual booklist is found to reflect the compiler’s own interests and biases. To that extent this booklist does not lay claim to any objectivity. It contains some extremely fine books on education, popular science, maths and children’s stories. Over the years, I have been actively involved in translating and popularising many of these books. At times we have been successful in bringing out low-cost, Indian reprints like for instance The UNESCO Source Book for Science in the Primary School, Publisher : National Book Trust, India....
Satyajit Ray
One of India’s most distinguished film directors Satyajit Ray, was born on May 2, 1921 in West Bengal. Ray’s films are of universal interest despite the fact that most of his films were made in Bengali. His films are essentially about those things that make up the human race – relationships, emotions, struggle, conflicts, joys and sorrows. Satyajit Ray, the master story teller, has left cinematic heritage that belongs as much to India as to the world....
Where did Coffee Originate?
The aroma of coffee beans was one of the earliest smells to intoxicate me as a child – such was its flamboyant richness. That, and the lush sight of frothy white milk becoming creamier as it mixed with the nut-brown coffee decoction, served in steel tumblers, was perfect happiness. It is a memory shared by many Indians living in the southern states, the main coffee growing as well as drinking regions in the country. The pleasure that the beverage gave was so intense that it never occurred to me that coffee could have originated anywhere but in India....
Borrowed Feathers Help
Haka and Phaka, the twin jackals were feeding on some juicy berries. They sat eating their berries with their mouths and paws quite blue with the juice. They were enjoying themselves thoroughly when they saw Mor, the peacock, strutting down the path hurriedly. The poor bird looked terrified! “Hey, what’s up Mor bhai? What’s the hurry?” Haka asked. Borrowed Feathers Help [(Story and illustrations first published in WWF India Quarterly Apr-Jun 1995)] “We peacocks are in great trouble Haka....
When Humans had Tails
A Saora folk tale from Orissa retold from ‘When the World was Young’, by Verrier Elwin. The book is a fascinating collection of folktales from the tribal peoples of India. Elwin was a pioneering anthropologist; he spent his entire life getting to know the ways of life of the tribal peoples. The Saora tribals of Orissa, in eastern India, believe that there was a time when humans had tails. Wherever they went, their tails swished along, sweeping the ground....
Holi in Fiji
March 19: Before it was Holi in India, phagua, as Holi is called by the Indo-Fijians, was already being celebrated. The Fiji Islands, in the Pacific Ocean, are six-and-a-half hours ahead of Indian time and the Indo-Fijians were already singing chautal, an oral tradition of celebration. For the community, memories of India go as far back as 120 years, when the first batch of Indians in colonial India, were taken to Fiji, also a British colony, as labour....
Holi – The Colour of Fun is Red, Blue, Green
Holi or the festival of colours, is celebrated with great enthusiasm in India, and by the Indian communities settled abroad. It is a time when the young and old alike, are in a mood to make merry. The most important aspect of this festival is its informal nature. Though a Hindu festival, it is played by Indians from all communities – especially in the metropolitan cities of India, where people from all over the country have come and settled....
Viswanathan Anand – The Lightning Kid
Whenever advertisers want a brainy sportstar to talk about their product, very often they think of one name – Viswanathan Anand. A world-class chess champion who was given the name of Lightning Kid because of the speed with which he played. But how are world class champions like Vishy born? For that, ask his mother Sushila. In 1974, when he was five, she first opened a chessboard and taught him the game. She was also his first opponent in the game....