Setting the record straight-2

Normally I laugh at my own superstitious belief that 13 is a unlucky number. I speak from experience. Once in Chennai I stood in sweltering heat in a long queue. Tony Richardson’s Tom Jones,- and I was so keen to see it that I was in my place five hours before the show. While cooling [...]

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birdwatching for the beginners-3: grey heron

latin name Ardea cinerea Family Bitterns and herons (Ardeidae) Overview Grey herons are unmistakeable: tall, with long legs, a long beak and grey, black and white feathering. They can stand with their neck stretched out, looking for food, or hunched down with their neck bent over their chest. Where to see them Around any kind [...]

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lily pads with gold fishes-water color

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Bird-watching for the beginners-sandwich tern

Latin name Sterna sandvicensis Family Terns (Sternidae) Overview The Sandwich tern is a very white tern, with a black cap on its head, a long black bill with a yellow tip and short black legs. In flight it shows grey wedges on its wings tips and it has a short forked tail. In the UK, [...]

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The Myth of Midas for the modern times

Young Midas even as the heir apparent loved wealth. The idea of making wealth make more wealth appealed to his rational mind. Anticipating all that wealth coming to him one day he made all the vassals of his father give him unlimited credit. They willingly obliged him and waited for the young prince come to [...]

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birdwatching for beginners-ruff

male birds have plumage that earlier went into women’s collar Hence the name. It is also known as kemphaan.(Dutch) Philomachus pugnax Family Sandpipers and allies (Scolopacidae) Overview The ruff is a medium-sized wading bird. It has a long neck, a small head, a rather short slightly droopy bill and medium-long orange or reddish leg. In [...]

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Setting the Record Straight

My mother took one look at me at birth and told my pop,’Here is Tom Cruise for you.’ Before he agreed to name me Tom Cruise he wondered, ‘I hope he can also act as he.’ Yes I acted as good as he till time came for me to find a job. It was Mission [...]

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A Fable: the Angel who Drew Pictures

The Angel Who Drew Pictures © Angel Gamaliel once flew in the direction of Cairo and saw the great throng that weaved through the busy market place. ‘There must be some matter of great import and require my careful attention,’ thought the angel. So he zoomed straight into the north-west minaret of the Mosque of [...]

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Syyed Qutb-thumbnail sketch

Syyed Qutb (1906- 1966) He is regarded as the father of modern fundamentalism and described by his (Arab) biographer as “the most famous personality of the Muslim world in the second half of the 20th century”. Born in Egypt and his stay in the USA clarified his Islam roots,- and for all his anarcho-Islamic position, [...]

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A Pair of Red Crowned Cranes-2

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