mythily ramachandran

MYTHILY RAMACHANDRAN, Contributing writer
CHENNAI, India -- Poonam Devi, a mahila sakhi (female farmer) from Muzaffarpur, in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, is feeling relaxed. Her maize cobs have been plucked, dried and marketed, along with the potatoes she grew alongside the crop, and her mung beans will soon be ready for harvesting.
For Poonam, farming has been a successful career. But she is far from typical among India's millions of female farmers, whose struggles to overcome cultural...

Payal Kapadia's 'All We Imagine as Light' tale of 3 health care workers wins Grand Prix
CHENNAI -- Growing up in Mumbai, movie director Payal Kapadia was keenly interested in women who had come from other parts of India to make their way in the metropolis.
"I have always wanted to make a film about the difficulties of neg...

CHENNAI -- It is often said that a daughter's first hero is her father. In the Oscar-nominated documentary "To Kill a Tiger" (2022), 13-year-old Kiran's father Ranjit faces down official pressure and death threats to seek justice after his daughter is gang raped after attending a wedding in her Indian village.
The film, directed by the Indian-born Canadian moviemaker Nisha Pahuja, is the third India-related documentary in three years to be nominated for an Academy Award in the documentary fea...

In South Asia, Lata Mangeshkar needs no introduction. The Indian singer, who died last year aged 92, was famous for her voice, which once prompted the American-born British celebrity violinist Yehudi Menuhin to remark: "How I wish my violin could sing like you!"
Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, was moved to tears by her rendition of the song "Ai Mere Watan Ke Logon (O People of My Country)." In neighboring Pakistan, the left-wing poet Habib Jalib claimed that Mangeshkar's songs...

When brothers Nadeem Shehzad and Muhammad Saud brought home an injured kite in 2003 and nursed it to health, they had no inkling that their act of compassion was paving the road to finding their life purpose. Over the next two decades and despite financial constraints, cramped space in their home, and a lack of knowledge in treating birds, the brothers persisted in the noble work to rescue over 26,900 birds. And, are still counting.
Catapulting them into unbelievable realms of glory and fame ...

“In Ayurveda, one does not count calories instead we commit to a philosophy and a way of life,” says Gita Ramesh, Managing Director of Kairali Ayurvedic Group- a pioneer in Ayurveda treatments in India. “Eating is considered a mindful meditative experience.”
Rooted in India, Ayurveda is the oldest scientific medicinal system and takes a holistic view of health. According to Ayurveda, every individual is a combination of the fundamental elements of Nature- water, earth, fire, air, and ether. T...

The voluntary surrender of 111 illegal and country-made guns on September 30, 2022, in Hosur forest division of Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu was the culmination of a drive initiated by the Tamil Nadu Forest department.
The campaign was conducted to ensure the protection of elephants who begin their annual migration during September to March from neighbouring Karnataka through Hosur and onward into Andhra Pradesh.
Village heads urge authorities to distribute torch lights to protect from ...

The voluntary surrender of 111 illegal and country-made guns on September 30, 2022, in Hosur forest division of Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu was the culmination of a drive initiated by the Tamil Nadu Forest department.
The campaign was conducted to ensure the protection of elephants who begin their annual migration during September to March from neighbouring Karnataka through Hosur and onward into Andhra Pradesh.
Village heads urge authorities to distribute torch lights to protect from ...

The Indian thali with its wide assortment of delicacies in small bowls inevitably has your lips smacking. A thali is tailored depending on which part of the country you are dining in and according to the cuisine dominating the region.
Food writer and columnist, Nandita Iyer’s new book titled, The Great Indian Thali lays a delectable spread of recipes-as varied as the country’s topography. Showcasing the culinary tapestry of India, this ‘thali’ has ‘monje haakh’ (kohlrabi stew) from Kashmir sh...

Being face-to-face with John Kennedy Vinod Raj, better known by his stage name Vikram, is just euphoria. You search for traces of Ambi and Remo in Anniyan as scenes from Sethu and Pithamagan flash through your mind. A boyish smile lights up his face as the Anniyan star speaks about his latest films — Raavan in Hindi and Raavanan in Tamil — in the office of Madras Talkies in Chennai.
To be given an opportunity to act in a Mani Ratnam film is a wish come true. But what happens when the legend o...