Kallola

Deccan Herald. Sunday Herald, Cover Story. 29 Jan 2012 ~ http://www.deccanherald.com/content/222707/theme-dream.html I can watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins another ten times and be ready for more. But like my son, you might say, “ewww you’re such a guuuurl”, so no surprise there. Only, my husband still enjoys Star Wars, Iron Man and Voyager and will go to any re-release of them. My son and I would join him, as would thousands of others around the world, who filled up cinema halls to full capacity for similar fantasy movies like Finding Nemo, Enchanted, Twilight and apna Ra One.  And how many of you, with children at home, have accidentally tripped over a sabremobile or strongarm detached from a form-changing ‘Transformer’? For novices, these are fabulous toys of various built-in superheroes ‘cum’ robots ‘cum’ supersonic vehicles ‘cum’ long range weapons – virtually indestructible man-machines that can be transformed from one mode to the other depending on the ...

Emirates Parent Plus. May 2010. At the end of her first day in grade-I at a local school in China, Ma Xiuxian thanked her teacher and five year-old classmates. A front-bencher, Ma, promised to study hard and contribute to the country. She is 102 years old. Starting work in a cotton mill at 13, she was married at 18 and has produced nine children, seven of whom she has seen through to university. One would think Ma’s contribution to the country was complete many times over but there seems to be more in her arsenal; and she’s not beginning to hold back now. For the family, she sold much of her jewellery. For herself, she caressed a dream. That dream has now come true. This is not something many of us can even comprehend. But ingest this: Ma Xiuxian, at 102, is not just one of the eldest living people on earth, she is its oldest formal student – a first grader with 12 more years of schooling to complete. Her reasons, whatever they might be, can only inspire. In April 2010, a ver...