Agus Dwi Santoso has a ruthless streak in him. The noted Indonesian badminton coach, who otherwise has a baby-faced charming look, comes from a school of thought that believes that a player should be ready to die – not quite literally – on court in the pursuit of excellence. Playing through pain is non-negotiable for … Read more
Memories of the COVID-19 pandemic are still fresh. The pandemic plunged the world into an unprecedented situation – lockdowns, clampdowns on global travel, disruptions of economic activity, mass migration of people and the deaths of millions. It did, however, have a silver lining – the quick development of a slew of vaccines against COVID-19 and … Read more
It is not difficult to find the house of Venkappa Ambaji Sugatekar, the veteran Gondhali artist. One has to get down at the Nava Nagar Bank Circle and ask for directions to the house of the Padma Shri awardee. The people of the area are very proud of ‘Gondaliger Yankappa’ living amidst them. A young … Read more
The Ginkgo has lived through ice ages and the breaking up of landmasses to create the world map we see today. | Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons On August 6, 1945, a nuclear bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, extinguishing all life-forms for several kilometres. The land was so utterly devastated that people … Read more
The Zilla Parishad School in Badampudi village, West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, usually filled with children’s laughter and lesson chants during the day, was eerily silent on February 13. The school courtyard, where students played and chased each other during recess, is littered with fallen leaves. The school was declared a holiday that Thursday and … Read more
From Chandra Sagara Convention Centre and Sindhoor Convention Centre in the south to the Sapthapadi Sapthagiri Palace and Sri Rajhans Convention Hall in the west, for decades, Bengaluru’s weddings were synonymous with Kalyana Mantapas in the heart of the city. These halls were compact and functional. But today, couples are stepping away from these local venues, … Read more
RSS volunteers at a rally in Chennai. | Photo Credit: Praveen P.K. Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar led the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) from 1940 until his death in 1973. With Golwalkar at the helm, the RSS spread its wings across the country. His book, ‘We or Our Nationhood Defined’, remained at the core of RSS ideology, … Read more
The Dubai-inspired collection features five grand pieces, each inspired by the region’s diverse aspects The dunes, mountains, architecture, water bodies, and razzmatazz of Dubai have found representation in a new form. These have been interpreted by couturier Gaurav Gupta in his quintessential style in a capsule collection that is a collaboration between him and Dubai … Read more
It is as though a festival is in progress on a patch of forest at the Periyanayakkanpalayam range. Scooters and cars are parked haphazardly along a stretch as families arrive in droves, children in tow. A young father leads his daughter through the crowd, while a mother walks briskly, hugging her baby to her chest. … Read more
For P. Srinivas Reddy, sugarcane is now just a memory. At 55, the farmer from Narayankhed in erstwhile Medak district of Telangana has adapted to the changing times, cultivating cotton and pulses on his 25-acre rainfed land. With groundwater depletion rendering irrigation impossible, he no longer battles the uncertainties that once came with sugarcane farming. … Read more