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Sunday, December 7, 2003
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Spanning
a century of flight
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From the uncertain,
tentative 12-second flight over a few hundred feet at Kitty Hawk in
North Carolina, man soon propelled himself to fly around the world,
non-stop if required, or at speeds three times that of sound within
decades of that first defining moment, writes Pushpindar
Singh
December
17, 2003, which marks the centenary of man’s first heavier-than-air
flight, celebrates an event that has clearly given a new dimension to
the destiny of mankind. The ability to fly, in safe and sustained
manner, is perhaps the most significant influences of our time. |
Keeping our virasat alive
Humra Quraishi
After talking to SPIC MACAY’s
Kiran Seth for over an hour, I could tell myself: "The man seems
genuine and nice." In fact, it is surprising that though, I
have been covering New Delhi’s ‘cultural circuit’ for over two
decades, I had never really met Kiran Seth till recently.
Snake
charmers rear their heads
Derek Bose
More than 30 years after they
were banned in India, snake charmers are rearing their heads. Tired of
operating in secret, they have not only come out in the open, but are
determined to perpetuate the tradition inherited over generations
through their children.
Countess
with a mission
Ranjita Biswas
She
dug into the hot curry nonchalantly. She seemed completely at ease with
the crowd in the humid dining hall, mingling with doctors, researchers
and members from NGOs during the recent 4th International Conference on
Aids India organised by the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation,
Chennai.
Requiem
for a stream
Rooma Mehra
Every
summer I would start hearing the call of Chail from all the sweating
nooks and corners of burning Delhi. It was Sadhopul — our special
stream in Chail that beckoned me.
Hindi cinema's first-ever comedienne
Devinder Bir Kaur
Tun Tun. The name conjures up
the image of a roly-poly, funny woman. She was christened thus by none
other than Dilip Kumar. She was working with the thespian in her first
film Babul which had Nargis in the romantic lead.
Taking
comedy seriously
Avinash Kalla
His girth is too large. His
complexion too dark. His neck too short. He is pushing fifty. Crows'
feet mark his eyes, jowls hang loose. He is the living picture of a man
who has feasted on too much for too long without much restraint.
Capturing
New York’s underbelly
Ervell E. Menezes
What was it like to be living
in New York of the mid-19th century? The Big Apple wasn’t even an
apple then, just a three-horse town with warring gangs, corrupt
politicians and the law of the jungle, survival of the wiliest.
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