16 items in this section. Displaying page 1 of 2
Who or What is a Gladiator?
It all started in ancient Rome. The most brutal sport that has ever existed in the history of the world was the fights between gladiators. The ‘sport’ traces its roots to the custom among the Etruscan people, a civilisation in Italy that existed before the Roman civilisation. At the death of the master of the house, servants would duel to the death for the right to follow their owners in death and provide help and company....
Why do We Cup Our Hands When We Shout?
“Go on Sanjay, go on,” we shouted. It was the annual sports meet in our school and the 100 metres sprint was on. The White House runner Deepak was giving our Blue House sprinter, Sanjay, tough competition. As the sprinters neared the finishing line, and the shouts turned into screams, I noticed something remarkable. Everyone had cupped their hands around their mouths while shouting. The gesture caught my attention. I had seen that kind of a hand movement in plays and folk dances....
Boomerang: From Weapon to Fun
This goes back a long time. The aborigines, or the original inhabitants of Australia, needed an effective weapon to hunt animals and birds for food. When they looked around, their eyes rested on wood, which was so easily available. They made banana-shaped weapons of hard wood, with a curve on top and a flat bottom. That made each leg act like an aircraft wing. They held it from one end over their shoulders and threw it hard and straight with such force that even animals could be killed....
How do Human Cannonballs Fly?
Even been to a circus where they featured a human cannonball? A person enters a huge cannon and when the fuse is lit, he comes shooting out with a bang, flying in the air before landing on a net! My god! I thought that was the most horrifying thing I had ever seen. What a crazy thing to do. How does he do it without being blown to pieces, I would wonder. How do Human Cannonballs Fly?...
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?...
Keep Hope Alive
First prize winner of Spin-A-Tale contest It was destiny that bound us. Jamie, the black kid whose mum worked for us and me, Kevin the kid, whose mother employed Jamie’s mum. When I saw him first he was just this skinny kid walking around with his head drooping down to his feet. I asked him if he went to school but I got no answer. Keep Hope Alive [Illustration by Shinod A.P.] I assumed that he was just shy, so I went about my own work while he just sort of kept staring at anything....
Bungee
Standing on the edge of a platform looking 150 feet straight down at the river below I thought to myself, how did I get roped into this mess? Do I really want to go ahead with this foolishness? Shouldn’t I be back with my feet firmly planted on the ground? I was standing on the platform of a 100-ft high bridge. My fingers tightly holding the rails in a death grip. I was about to do a bungee jump because I had boasted to Himakar, my cousin, I could do anything he could....
Badminton champs in the spotlight
Hyderabad Hurricane – Saina Nehwal No, this is not a spelling mistake. We are not writing about Sania Mirza and her achievements in tennis. In this piece we are writing about the latest sensation on the badminton courts, Saina Nehwal. In 2006, Saina became the first Indian woman to win a badminton tournament with a four-star rating. Ranked 86 in the world, she defeated Julia Xian Pei Wong of Malaysia who was ranked number 4 in the tournament....
Indian women squash all opposition!
Squash all opposition, Joshna At 19, Joshna Chinappa of Chennai became the first Indian girl to win the prestigious junior title of the British Open Squash Championship. She won the indoor racquet game title in August 2005. She also became the first sportsperson to be adopted by the Mittal Champions Trust – a trust started by steel tycoon L.N. Mittal to sponsor and encourage champions at the right time so that their talent can flower....
Olympic Swim Against the Tide
September 23: Twelve-year-old Fatima Abdeljamid is creating waves at the Sydney Olympics and for all the right reasons. She is one of two Bahraini nationals and among the very few from the Middle East nations to compete in the Olympics. Fatima, a swimmer, and Myriam al-Hili, an athlete, have been invited to the Sydney Olympics by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It is a gesture that is meant to encourage Muslim women from Islamic nations to take part in the Games....
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