Few musicians, let alone children, would attempt to play dozens of classical ragas in one sitting. Angshuman Sarkar from Nadia, West Bengal, has done it on the santoor, a hammered string instrument of Indian classical music. According to India Book of Records, he set the record for “Maximum Gats of Indian Classical Ragas Played on…
You ask any parent of a toddler about their child’s attention span, and you probably won’t get a definite answer. One moment, the child is playing happily with a toy; the next, they have abandoned it. They may ask you to build blocks with them, only to have their attention diverted by a plane passing…
Green is the most common coat among tree-dwelling snakes, and for good reason. Bright and olive greens blend with leaves, while browns and greys match bark and dry twigs. The green vine snake, found in parts of India and Southeast Asia, is long, thin and leaf-green, with a pointed snout that looks like a tendril….
In 1992, two people began collecting waste across the township with a cycle rickshaw. More than three decades later, the small initiative ‘Auroville’ has grown into an 11-member team, mostly women, that collects and sorts hundreds of kilograms of waste every day. The team says its work keeps nearly 80% of the collected material away…
Photo courtesy: Instagram/Riyana Suree A postgraduate degree, a talent for dance and the determination to build a career did not make things easier for Riyana Suree. When the transgender woman approached private companies looking for a job, her qualifications were not enough to protect her from rejection. Even people who initially showed interest in learning…
Every time we think about “saffron,” the first place that comes to mind is Kashmir. For centuries, the purple crocus fields of Pampore, often called the saffron bowl of Kashmir, have produced the country’s most prized spice.The top variety, Mongra, is the highest quality. In 2020, Kashmir saffron received a Geographical Indication (GI) tag, which…
A promotion does not always have to come with a bigger salary to feel rewarding. For some employees, being given a prestigious designation, having an impressive title on their business card or being recognised as someone important at work may hold considerable appeal. While a salary increase offers a tangible financial benefit, a job title…
If you love the fresh, woodsy smell of pine but not the harsh chemicals in many store-bought cleaners, there’s a lovely, old-fashioned fix. All you need is a handful of pine needles and a bottle of white vinegar, the one simple ingredient that does the rest. The needles give the vinegar a clean, forest-fresh scent…
Meet Pooja Patel, the plank girl At a time when fitness is becoming an important part of people’s lives, a 23-year-old woman from Surat has achieved something that demands extraordinary mental as well as physical strength. Meet Patel Pooja Smit Kumar who held herself in a plank position with an additional 80 kg resting on…
A baby is as precious as a gemstone, a little treasure who brings a new kind of sparkle into their parents’ lives. And just like these stones, each child has a charm of their own. From the deep red of a ruby to the cool green of jade, gemstones have long been admired for their…
