Discovering the Past

Dr. Michael Petraglia is a Senior Research Fellow and the Co-Director of Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art & Culture, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford. He is also a Senior Research Fellow, Linacre College (Oxford) and a member of the Human Origins Program, Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Michael Petraglia talks on what it means to be an archaeologist, his work in India and also shares his opinion about the archaeological and cultural heritage of India.

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Categories: Interviews

Books Must Work for All Children

Radhika Menon is the Managing Editor of Tulika Publishers, an independent children’s publishing house based in Chennai. Tulika has produced over 200 titles, for the age group 0-16 years. They include picture books, bilingual books and folktales, contemporary fiction and non-fiction, and much more. Tulika publishes in English, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, and Bangla. She opens up on the inception of Tulika Publishers, the books they publish, the challenges they face, future plans of Tulika and her thoughts on the Indian children’s publishing industry.

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Categories: Interviews

It’s not about Children but about Parents!

Raksha Bharadia is the co-author of many titles in the Indian Chicken Soup Series including Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul, Teenage Soul and Romantic Soul. She has also authored ‘Me: A Handbook for Life’ and ‘Roots and Wings: A Handbook for Parents’ both published by Rupa. Raksha has also contributed many articles for Times of India, Femina and Gurlz. In an interview to me, she talks about her book on parenting, ‘Roots and Wings’ and some important aspects of childhood and parenting in today’s world.

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Categories: Interviews

Still a Long Way to Go

Kalpana Sharma is an independent journalist and columnist whose columns appear regularly in The Hindu’s Sunday Magazine, on The Hoot and Infochange India. Her columns are about developmental issues, women, the media and the environment, among others. Kalpana Sharma is also the author of ‘Rediscovering Dharavi: Stories from Asia’s largest slum’ published by Penguin in 2000. In this interview, she gets talking about the Indian society’s attitude towards girl children and social issues such as female foeticide. Excerpts.

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Categories: Interviews

Stop Taking Life Seriously!

Sidin Vadukut is the author of ‘Dork : The Incredible Adventures of Robert Einstein Varghese’ published by Penguin in 2010. ‘Dork’ is Sidin’s debut novel and presents a humourous account of life in the management consulting industry. Sidin did his engineering from NIT, Trichy and MBA from IIM-Ahmedabad. He is now managing editor with Livemint and writes the weekly column Cubiclenama. In a peppy interview, Sidin talks about himself, his writing and book, humour and much more.

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Categories: Interviews

My Idea Of Fun

Suchitra Karthik Kumar is a playback singer who has some of the best foot-tapping Tamil numbers of recent years to her credit. Suchitra is also a popular Radio Jockey and anchors a three-hour morning show on Hello FM 106.4 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Apart from singing and RJ-ing, she does dubbing as well. In a quick chat, she talks about what fun means to her and what she enjoys doing!

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Categories: Interviews

Gitanjali

I can’t have enough of writing about love. Just how many possibilities exist! The more I write about love, the deeper I seem to go down this abyss called human heart. Gitanjali is a first-person narrative of a woman about a beautiful memory from her past which she can never erase from her soul.

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Categories: Fiction

Moulding Beautiful Minds

Education and learning is an important aspect of the life of any individual. But what does it mean to children or adults with mental developmental disabilities? I spoke to the mothers of two special children – one diagnosed with Down’s syndrome and the other with autism, both at a very young age. Read on to know more about what teaching and learning has meant in the context of these children and what special education is all about.

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Categories: Features

Learn Music With Dedication

S. Sowmya is a popular and widely travelled Carnatic vocalist. She is a disciple of Sangita Kalanidhi Dr. S. Ramanathan as well as Smt. T. Muktha, of the legendary Brinda-Muktha duo. Sowmya is a double postgraduate (Master’s in Chemistry as well as Indian Music) and was a top-ranked scholar at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and the University of Madras. She discontinued her doctoral research program at IIT to concentrate on her music. S.Sowmya, talks about the qualities she expects in her students, what she has learnt from her revered Gurus and many more interesting aspects concerning music. Catch the conversation here.

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Categories: Interviews

Making Learning Fun with Stories

Geeta Ramanujam, a recipient of the Ashoka Fellowship, Washington, USA, is the Founder Trustee and Executive Director of Kathalaya Trust, a centre established with the intention of reviving the ancient art of storytelling and using it in schools as a cultural tool in education. Kathalaya does storytelling sessions and workshops for schools as well as empowerment programmes for teachers. Kathalaya’s Academy of Storytelling, which is affiliated to International Storytelling Centre, Jonesborough, Tennessee, USA, has two centers in India: one each in Bangalore and Chennai, and offers short-term and long-term certificate courses in storytelling. In this interview, she talks about how she began using stories as a teaching aid and why stories are very relevant in education and de-stressing.

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Categories: Interviews
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