Creative Musings

Reading aloud is one of the most underrated educational, inspirational and fun activity of our times. Not only does the simple, sweet and natural act of reading aloud help in sharing and bonding between adults and children, it helps build vital skills for life, namely, skills of reading, comprehension, summarising, perception and the very obvious ones : vocabulary and punctuation. The world celebrated World Read Aloud Day ( WRAD ) on March 9 th organised by Litworld - a non -profit organization promoting literacy around the globe while America celebrated its beloved children books' author, Dr. Seuss's birthday on March 2 nd in the form of Read across Am erica Day; libraries held story telling sessions for its young patrons and lot of web publishers marked the days, week and the whole month of March with contests related to reading. One online content publisher, Helium. com invited its writers to share with readers and the world what they think are the benefits of reading a

This is an ode to one of the oldest traditional dresses to adorn the Indian sub continent...the humble kurta pyjama (कुरता प्यजमा) along with its variants; the salwar kameez (सलवार कमीज़)and the churidar कुरता (चुरीदार कुरता). I call it humble as it has never really been given its due unlike the Indian saree (सारी)which receives a lot attention word wide and is hailed as the sacred unstitched seven-yard clothing that seems to epitomize the Indian woman. In a week that saw Aishwarya Rai Bacchan adorning an elegant churidar kurta at an award ceremony in Mumbai, I try to showcase just why the churidar kurta/salwar kameez is one of the most under-rated garments ever and why me and my kurtis are simply inseparable! Why I love the Kurta Pyjama/ Salwar Kameez? The first reason is because I belong to Lucknow, the city of Nawabs and also the city of Chikankari -चिकनकारी (traditional hand-embroidery) which meant that I saw a lot of the kurta pyjamas and the salwar kameezes on both men

In a society which zealously protects its modesty and shies away from discussing the 'birds and the bees' openly; Indians ironically, grow up watching adverts of contraceptives and Family planning tips on Television. Every child can identify the sign of Nirodh (highly subsidised condoms promoted and distributed by NACO in India), sing to the tune of 'एक गोली' (referring to the one-a day birth control pill) and say 'हम दो, हमारे दो' (meaning a couple with two children) which later became 'hum दो, हमारे एक ( a happy couple with one child) even before he knows his multiplication tables. Indian Government in a tizzy over the population explosion used the only effective medium of television, to convey the all important message of birth control and family planning to its milions making a lasting impression with catchy slogans and eye catching adverts such as the ''jo bola wohi sikander -nirodh commercial'', as even those in slum dwellings who lack