InDepth

In the field of performing arts it is very important to carve out a niche, build an image and then live with it. It is a necessity to reap the benefits of a style, a charisma and a mannerism. Transformation will spell doom, so do not attempt it. Seldom do we see a performer break this kind of a norm. Even more seldom do we see a performer breaking it at regular intervals.  In an era when Socialism was at an all-time high and when hip-hop dancing and jaw-dropping beauty were prevalent all around there arrived a different man. The man was the scion of an illustrious family; therefore, he had all the avenues on hand to sail his way into the showbiz world. But, he decided to struggle and make a mark and finally become a legend. The legend has grown so much that the highest honor of Indian Cinema, the prestigious DadaSaheb Phalke award for this year is conferred to him. So, what went into the making of this legend by the name Shashi Kapoor? Let us find it! Born in Calcutta, the lit...

Before we get going with the "The World Cup That Is", meaning the World Cup of 2015, let us spend a word or two on "The World Cup That Were". To be honest with everybody, Cricket was never meant to be a Soccer, or a Tennis, or a Basketball. It was not designed to be a super-physical game in that sense. It was, however, meant to be classical. It was meant to be gentlemanly, perhaps not manly. It was perfectly alright to remain open-ended, for, the longest test match was played between March 3 to March 14 (South Africa Vs England, Durban 1939). Things started to turn anyway, but the flip of page took a lot of time. If there was any one thing that made the game more exciting than ever before, it was the introduction of 60 over One Day format. It was the good old seventies. It was a period when the youth had started to get more vibrant, across the globe. The islands of the Carribean and the islands of the Oceania had similar rhythms in their hearts. A rebel or two were...

Let us start from the very start! Let us start with the origin of a word called "Status Quo". Well, the origin is from the Latin language and the expression per se was happily added to English several decades ago. The meaning of this is - "State in which". In other words, it means keeping something in a state in which it must be kept.                                                    English, as a language, like most other popular languages, is vast and beautiful. English, as a communication tool is even more beautiful and attractive. Leave apart the tonal qualities of its words, or its clinical syntax, there are more to it when it comes to communicating in it. There are several absorbing, gripping and at the same time dignified aspects of it. Though present in many languages worldwide, its expanse consists of "phrasal verbs" and "idioms" constituted in a...

               Those days were really special. Those were the school days. [ "Those were the best days of my life!" ] We tried so many things! We crunched our minds. We committed stuff to our memory and vomited that same stuff onto the exam paper. We read history, geography. We did our PT (Phyical Training). We did our homework. We scampered through our classwork. Our handiwork was neat. Those paper-cuttings, those pasting, were properly done. Those paint-brushes, those pastels were nicely used. But, we were -- at least some of us were -- not so good at Mathematics at the start. There used to be "silly mistakes" like the "unforced errors", that would cost us two or three marks. Those paltry two or three would add up to become ten or twenty. Alas! Then the world around would simply shatter - that dreamworld made of three hundred and sixty five days. Marks below eighty is logically unacceptable - for, you have it in you or not, you must be a genuin...