Animals understand what real friendship is

Animals with big brains such as elephants, horses, killer whales and some primates have close platonic friendships, according to the New Scientist. The friendships are not sexual, and are formed by animals in stable, community groups.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27608051

Lauding a girl child's achievement

A 13-year-old Indian tribal schoolgirl has become the youngest girl to climb Mount Everest. Malavath Poorna wants to be a role model for tribal children. She says,"For a tribal like me, opportunities are very rare and I was looking for one opportunity where I could prove my calibre."

She did and how!

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-27599570

I disappeared but I've never felt so alive

No text message, no tweet, no facebook post...indeed no instant communication...

A lone blonde woman, 26-years old, wrapped in a sarong, leads four camels and a little dog across one of the most uninhabitable environments on Earth - a nine-month expedition across the Australian outback.

In 1977, Robyn Davidson trekked 2,700 kilometers from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean, armed with little more than a map and a rifle, in a landscape which had destroyed many a hardened explorer before her.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/22/showbiz/the-desert-woman/index.html?hpt=hp_c5

Holocaust defiance

When Adolf Hitler's troops marched into Czechoslovakia, the Jews found themselves on the Nazi hit list. Nicholas Winton, a young British stockbroker, went to Prague and moved by the plight of the children, came back and organized the rescue of the children. He saved 669 children. He hardly spoke of what he had done. Winton, who just turned 105, has managed to reunite with some of those children - now grown up and with children of their own.

http://amanpour.blogs.cnn.com/2014/05/22/an-extraordinary-story-of-holocaust-defiance/?hpt=hp_bn9

Another girl battling all odds to get an education

Malala shot at while coming back from school

Nigerian girls abducted from school

And here is another girl determined to get an education - Phung

Phung, whose full name is Dao Ngoc Phung, is from an impoverished and landless family. Room to Read is helping her get an education and today, 16-year-old Phung is ranked near the top of her 11th-grade class of 191. She sets her alarm for 3:30 each morning, reviews her homework and then commutes an hour each way to school. She washes her only school uniform — a white dress — in a bucket each evening and hopes it will dry overnight.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/22/opinion/kristof-this-smart-girl-says-thank-you.html?hp&rref=opinion

One of the world's most remote regions

Possibly the world's last Shangri-La

The haunting Sichuan-Tibet Highway

China is trying hard to increase the number of visitors to this beautiful place. But for now, the area remains largely untouched and a reminder of the Tibet that once was.

http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20140417-the-haunting-sichuan-tibet-highway/2

Raimundo Arruda Sobrinho, the homeless poet

He's been living for decades on a roadway median in Sao Paulo, Brazil, he calls "The Island." No matter his circumstances are dire, he writes each day with diligence and passion. His dream: to share his work with the world.

http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=4895

I am utterly charmed by Jose Mujica

Jose Mujica is often referred to as the world’s “poorest” president. He himself, though, doesn't think he is poor. He says, “Poor are the people who need a lot – Seneca said that."
“I do not need much to live. I live in the same way I used to live when I wasn’t a president and in the same neighborhood, in my same house, and in the same way. And I am a republican” – small ‘r,’" he adds.

http://amanpour.blogs.cnn.com/2014/05/12/worlds-poorest-president-i-do-not-need-much-to-live/?hpt=hp_bn9

Kochi and Bob Marley

An unlikely combination? Not really. Revolutionary Telegu poet and Maoist ideologue Varavara Rao speaking at the inauguration of the sixth edition of 'Music and Resistance: Remembering Bob Marley' at Fort Kochi.

This annual program brings together writers, artistes, activists, students and the general public. Rao says the role of cultural activists, poets, writers and singers is that they 'should be the voice of the voiceless. That is the lesson we can learn from Bob Marley.'

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/music-event-seeks-to-strike-a-chord-with-the-oppressed/article5997806.ece

Two amazing entrepreneurs

G Rajendran, 72, founder of GRT Jewellers started his career as a gold appraiser in a bank. His mother encouraged him to start a small gold retail store using the knowledge he had gained advising people on gold loans. From a showroom which measured less than 500 sq.ft. in 1964, GRT is today a household name in the jewellery business.

Their mantra: Service to customer, more value for money in terms of quality, and designs are what are important.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/men-with-the-golden-touch/article5979766.ece


P. Rajagopal, 66, is the man behind the Saravan Bhavan chain of vegetarian restaurants. According to his competitor, restaurateur Manoharan who runs the Murugan Idli chain, Rajagopal 'brought prestige to the vegetarian business.'

His mantra: Serve the best - tasty and cheap food, freshly made every day.

With his profits turning, he didn't forget his workers. He expanded their benefits: free health care, housing stipends, a marriage fund for their daughters. The company looks after them well, and so they too give of their best to their Annachi, elder brother; they give him their unswerving loyalty.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/05/11/magazine/masala-dosa-to-die-for.html?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits&_r=0&referrer=

Chicken casserole to chicken casserolla

Filmmaker Gurinder Chadha likes her food and what goes into it...

She shares her 'food' experiences here:

http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/Food/no-crossover-in-the-kitchen/article5985720.ece?homepage=true

Living the communal life

There is a growing demographic entering shared-living accommodations. Whatever be the reason - divorce, not enough money for a place of their own, students on a budget....maybe companionship... these alternate-living arrangements are on the rise.

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20140505-living-the-communal-life

All the President’s men

President Pranab Mukherjee, who has a penchant for history and a razor-sharp memory, reminisced with the ADCs at the first-of-its-kind reunion of ADCs hosted by the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday.

They are a storehouse of history.

Rear Admiral (Retd.) Kirpal Singh’s earliest memory of his days as the Aides-de-Camp (ADC) to India’s first Governor-General C. Rajagopalachari is being a witness to the long hours that Sardar Patel and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru spent discussing the country’s future.

Both the leaders were known to have often disagreed, but never disrespected each other.

And look at our political calibre today.....how low we have fallen....

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/all-the-presidents-men-ex-aidesdecamp-reunite-at-rashtrapati-bhavan/article5979886.ece?homepage=true

The village of widows

Devli Bhanigram is called the “village of widows” after the flash floods struck Kedarnath area last year.

There is full acceptance of their plight because these women believe that this is what god scripted for them. And yet, these are not the stereotype widows. There is grief, but there is also a sense of purpose. Their full focus is on their children - they want to educate their children in the hope that the future will be brighter. And they are striving to that end...

http://www.hindustantimes.com/elections2014/state-of-the-states/village-of-widows-overcomes-tragedy-to-vote-for-a-new-beginning/article1-1215820.aspx

Fashion fades. Style is eternal

The return of rock's women of the 70s.

Debbie Harry, Chrissie Hynde and Pattie Smith have endured because they were unwilling or unable to accept the stereotypes of pop.

Christian Joy, a stylist, says, "Nowadays it's all about fashion – who's wearing Chanel, who's wearing Gucci. Back then, those girls weren't going out and buying fashion. They had a style that almost doesn't exist any more."

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/may/03/women-rock-stars-1970s-style-is-eternal

The common Nightingale has the best birdsong

Research highlighted on International Dawn Chorus Day, suggests that the common nightingale is top of the feathered crooners because of the composition of its brain.

The nightingale's vocal range has far more notes than any other species.

Researchers at the University of Bath and Cornell say that 'it is possible to draw parallels between the ways in which the bird brains have developed to learn complex songs and the way human brains have evolved to allow language.'

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/may/04/nightingale-best-birdsong-brain-research

Meeting after 78 years

Longest-separated twins find each other...

Ann Hunt, a 78-year-old, had no idea she had a sibling at all until last year. Now she and twin Elizabeth Hamel have met for the first time since they were babies.

And it was Ann's youngest daughter, Samantha Stacey who helped bring this about.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27188642

A charmer if there ever was one

And a role model too!

With his white hair, tweed jacket, a pince-nez and sharp wit, he's clearly a sophisticated man of the world.

Francesco Maglia is also one of Italy's most exclusive umbrella makers -- and looks every inch the craftsman.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/08/travel/milan-umbrella-maker/index.html?hpt=hp_bn5

Superheroes and children

Fascination with superheroes can benefit a child in many ways, including boosting his self-confidence and making him feel powerful. Cynthia Falardeau of Vero Beach, Florida, encouraged her son, Wyatt, to explore superheroes for years, because of the way they changed her childhood for the better. She says, "I think he is learning that everyone is capable of being extraordinary."

What better lesson can we give a child than that?

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/28/living/irpt-kids-superheroes/index.html?hpt=hp_bn8

How many of us dream of a life filled with adventure?

This Austrian couple Daniela Reibnegger and Christian Benke are actually living it.

http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/travel/free-fearless-and-loving-it/article5962733.ece?homepage=true