Hindi films have evolved over the last fifty to sixty years. Old Hindi films had lots of court scenes in which the real hero was the judge with his famous prop – the ‘hammer’. The heroine would faint in the witness-box (remember Suchitra Sen in ‘Mamta’?) and everyone would panic loudly. All that the judge […]
There are two men I’ve been absolutely crazy about since childhood. I must have seen them dozens of times and yet I don’t think I’ll ever get them out of my system. One of them is F-A-T (and CHO CHWEET!!) and the other is thin. They are my all-time favourite movie comedians, ‘Laurel and Hardy’. […]
Remember the good old days when eating a huge Birthday cake over two days, all by yourself, was not a cardinal sin? Why one cake? Fifty years ago, during the last trimester of my first pregnancy, I could polish off two over two to three days. Those fantastic days of childhood, when breakfast with bapaiji […]
Is there any form of life beyond our planet Earth? And if there is, are those forms, creatures and people, more advanced and evolved than us? A fascinating lecture on extra-terrestrial life was organised in the city of Pune some time ago by the ‘Inter City University Centre of Astrophysics’. The main speaker was the […]
It was the month of May, hot as hell and all Meherbai’s friends were abroad on vacation. “Marerey! Sorabji Shakespeare was so right about the middle of May being hot and stuffy when he wrote ‘Beware The Ides Of May!’”, she said. “Arreyrey! What ‘Gotala Ma Goss’ you are doing! It is ‘Beware the Ides of March’.” “March […]
My fashionable friend, Jeroo, can get pretty emotionally attached to certain items in her wardrobe even if she knows that she is not likely to wear them for the next twenty years. Hence it bugs her terribly when hubby Jhangoo tells her anything about her favourite pair of jeans. Last time was the limit when […]
Of all the seasons, the monsoon is the best, in spite of the flooded roads, railway tracks, traffic jams and telephone lines being ‘katti’ with you. It’s the most audible of all seasons with an entire gamut of ‘dhoom-dhadakas’ of thunder, savage winds lashing out at trees and making them sway like the ‘sega’ dancers […]
Apart from prayers, there are several ways of connecting with God, and spirituality is the highest form. Mystics call it the short-cut to God. Spirituality is anything that nurtures your inner-self (soul, atma, spirit, ruh, etc.) Religion is only one of the paths of spirituality. Singing (or hearing) bhajans or church-choirs is another path and […]
The world lost one of the most celebrated sports figures of the 20th century, the legendary Boxing Champ Muhammad Ali, on June 3, 2016. Ali, who passed away at the age of 74 in Arizona (USA), was known for displaying some of the most extraordinary boxing techniques. Ruby Lilaowala pays a tribute to this boxing […]
Coffee has come a long way since my childhood, when the beans would be roasted, put in a grinder and brewed to perfection. Today, we hear of instant noodles, instant sex (without love) and instant coffee. Like everything else in life, coffee has become complicated. Today, you do not ask just for a coffee. It […]
Magazines these days are filled with articles like ‘Ten short-cuts to happiness’. In Britain, newspapers are asking whether their nation is suffering from a ‘happiness-crisis’ quoting surveys to suggest that most Britons are grumpy, dissatisfied, depressed and unhappy. Several great philosophers since Aristotle have been searching for the secret of true happiness. Today, it’s simply […]