Deepika Padukone said to the media that she wanted to touch my body? Why? She should have talked to me! Do you want to touch my body? Mansoor Khan once told me, ‘Finally, we have some ugly faces becoming heroes.’ I told him, ‘Are you talking about Ajay Devgan?’ Jokes apart, I think Ajay and I are the two ugliest heroes around.
You want to see my muscles? Let me tell you, I have muscles in all the right places.I want to start an academy; I don’t want to sit on my money. I am not saying that I am doing social work. It’s just that I have principles in life. If that can change anything, I’ll feel as if I fulfilled the purpose of my life. Hopefully, by the end of it, I will be able to change many youngsters’ lives. T20 is not a gamble – it is sheer passion. I wanted to start from the sport that is popular – cricket – and use the profits to help develop other sports as well. If I go to a cricket match, it is because I like to watch sports. I also enjoy badminton, tennis, or for that matter, kanche. Main kanche bahut acche khelta tha! Why should I have tried for the Delhi team? In any case, I would not have been able to afford them. But then, don’t regionalise the game. It is, after all, about India. I am not a businessman. I have reached that juncture in my life where I can give something back to the youth.
I would like to provide the best infrastructure to the youth. I wanted to go to hockey matches, football matches. I don’t think I need any medium to promote my films. If not an actor, I would surely have been a sportsman. I used to play hockey and football in school and college. It was when I realised that I couldn’t be a sportsman that I came to Mumbai to be an actor. It’s strange that I am considered a youth icon. I believe that the youth likes me for the kind of person I am and not because I dance well or act well or look good. It’s been a 17-year-long career and they have seen the hard work I have put in. They see me and get motivated to go for the gold. Make your dreams come true, go to a town where nobody knows you and make a name for yourself there. (On smoking) Actually, people have more intelligence than you credit them with. I have also watched movies as a kid, but they never motivated me to copy them. Finally, what we do is what our heart tells us to do. There are very few people whom on screen characters can sway. Even in Don, I tell Kareena, ‘Don cigarette chodne ki koshish kar raha hai. It kills you...’ We want to convey the message subtly. Whenever I come to Delhi, people don’t say that he is drunk, vulgar and a smoker. Instead, they say that he is an educated, articulate and well-bred guy.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2772501,prtpage-1.cms
Sunday, February 17, 2008
We need schools for all our children
A few months ago I visited a school run by the Bangalore charity Parikrma, which offers a world-class English-language education for slum children. Interacting with the kids, who ranged in age from five-year-olds, who had just started schooling, to 16-and-17-year-olds about to take their board exams, provided no clue to their humble origins. One child spoke boldly of his plans to join the civil services. "Three years ago," Parikrma’s founder, Shukla Bose, whispered to me, "I found him selling newspapers at a traffic light."
The Parikrma model sets out to prove that the poorest and most disadvantaged of India’s children can, if given the education, match the best of our elite. But it is not just that Shukla takes in the poorest kids - only those whose families earn less than Rs 750 a month are eligible.
It is also that she recognises that education only succeeds if other factors work in its favour. Of what use is excellent teaching if the child is too hungry to concentrate or too undernourished for her brain to develop? So Parikrma provides all the kids with a full breakfast on arrival in the morning, a solid lunch at mid-day and a snack before they leave for home. What if they can’t afford to get to school from where their parents live? So, bus-passes are provided. But how can you expect poor kids to stay in school if their parents are ill at home and need their children’s help? So, Parikrma provides healthcare assistance to the entire family during the student’s years in school. And what good is a first-rate school education if the child does not have the resources or opportunities to go to college? So, Shukla has been busy fund-raising for full scholarships to send her first graduating class to university next year. Parikrma’s approach is impressive, its experience entirely positive, and the stories of its children heart-warming. Whereas, in Bangalore’s government schools, the drop-out rate by the eighth standard is as high as 72%, and the pass rate for the higher secondary exams 8%, Parikrma’s children, despite coming from poverty-stricken homes, all stay in school, and are expected to fare extremely well when the first group of them takes their board exams. What is more, to see the discipline in the smartly-uniformed children (uniforms also provided by Parikrma, of course), the intelligence shining through their scrubbed faces, the confidence in their questions to a visitor, and above all, the hope, is to see lives transformed, and futures built where there was only despair. Parikrma’s is not the only example of such educational endeavour.
The Shanti Bhavan school in Tamil Nadu, run by the hugely impressive Abraham George - a former army officer who made his fortune in computers and is determined to give it back through his philanthropic George Foundation - also educates slum children to the highest standards, though it does so in a boarding-school format. ( The New York Times’ columnist Thomas L Friedman has written extensively of Shanti Bhavan in his book The World Is Flat .) I would not be surprised if readers write in to tell me of other charitable organisations trying to do similar work elsewhere in the country. Their methods and operating principles may vary, but the essential thing is this: they all realise that India is never going to be a great 21st century power if it doesn’t educate its young - all of them, not just the ones who can afford an education.
I am sure the government recognises this too, but it has neither the resources nor the ability to deliver quality education to all of India’s children. Education is a state subject in our federal constitution, so its quality varies widely, from Kerala’s 100% record in putting all children through school, to Bihar’s female literacy rate of 27%. Our state governments have not been able to enroll all children between the ages of five and ten in school, nor are they able to retain the ones they enroll - some drop out because their families can’t afford to keep them in school when they could be out to work in the fields or weaving rugs or making footballs, some because the teaching is so abysmal that they don’t learn anything at school anyway. The result is that more Indian kids have never seen the inside of a school than those of any other country in the world. And those who have may not see a teacher, since we hold the world record for teacher absenteeism, or be given the books and learning materials without which the educational experience is incomplete.
How on earth can we maintain our much-vaunted economic growth rates if we don’t produce enough educated Indians to claim the jobs that a 21st century economy offers? And how does the government expect to ever remedy the problem if it holds onto antiquated ideas about restricting educational opportunity to the non-profit sphere, when it is clear worldwide that the private sector is providing the best models for education? It is ironic that the man who bids fair to become the Bill Gates of schooling around the world is an Indian - Sunny Varkey, whose Global Education Management Systems already runs 65 for-profit schools across the Middle East, and who is the world’s biggest employer of British teachers outside Britain. But this Indian cannot open his GEMS schools in India, because our educational system won’t allow him to. That leaves us with a handful of excellent private and missionary schools, a large number of uneven (but mostly hopeless) government schools, millions of kids with no schooling at all - and the efforts of charities like Shanti Bhavan and Parikrma. I asked the Parikrma high school kids what they wanted to do in life. Sixteen opted for computer programming - a reflection of our era. One wanted to join the army, half a dozen the IAS, and one girl the CBI, "because I want to bring justice to our society." Our society needs justice - and it will only have it when we have enough schools to do justice to the potential of all our children.
By Shashi Tharoor
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2788535,prtpage-1.cms
The Parikrma model sets out to prove that the poorest and most disadvantaged of India’s children can, if given the education, match the best of our elite. But it is not just that Shukla takes in the poorest kids - only those whose families earn less than Rs 750 a month are eligible.
It is also that she recognises that education only succeeds if other factors work in its favour. Of what use is excellent teaching if the child is too hungry to concentrate or too undernourished for her brain to develop? So Parikrma provides all the kids with a full breakfast on arrival in the morning, a solid lunch at mid-day and a snack before they leave for home. What if they can’t afford to get to school from where their parents live? So, bus-passes are provided. But how can you expect poor kids to stay in school if their parents are ill at home and need their children’s help? So, Parikrma provides healthcare assistance to the entire family during the student’s years in school. And what good is a first-rate school education if the child does not have the resources or opportunities to go to college? So, Shukla has been busy fund-raising for full scholarships to send her first graduating class to university next year. Parikrma’s approach is impressive, its experience entirely positive, and the stories of its children heart-warming. Whereas, in Bangalore’s government schools, the drop-out rate by the eighth standard is as high as 72%, and the pass rate for the higher secondary exams 8%, Parikrma’s children, despite coming from poverty-stricken homes, all stay in school, and are expected to fare extremely well when the first group of them takes their board exams. What is more, to see the discipline in the smartly-uniformed children (uniforms also provided by Parikrma, of course), the intelligence shining through their scrubbed faces, the confidence in their questions to a visitor, and above all, the hope, is to see lives transformed, and futures built where there was only despair. Parikrma’s is not the only example of such educational endeavour.
The Shanti Bhavan school in Tamil Nadu, run by the hugely impressive Abraham George - a former army officer who made his fortune in computers and is determined to give it back through his philanthropic George Foundation - also educates slum children to the highest standards, though it does so in a boarding-school format. ( The New York Times’ columnist Thomas L Friedman has written extensively of Shanti Bhavan in his book The World Is Flat .) I would not be surprised if readers write in to tell me of other charitable organisations trying to do similar work elsewhere in the country. Their methods and operating principles may vary, but the essential thing is this: they all realise that India is never going to be a great 21st century power if it doesn’t educate its young - all of them, not just the ones who can afford an education.
I am sure the government recognises this too, but it has neither the resources nor the ability to deliver quality education to all of India’s children. Education is a state subject in our federal constitution, so its quality varies widely, from Kerala’s 100% record in putting all children through school, to Bihar’s female literacy rate of 27%. Our state governments have not been able to enroll all children between the ages of five and ten in school, nor are they able to retain the ones they enroll - some drop out because their families can’t afford to keep them in school when they could be out to work in the fields or weaving rugs or making footballs, some because the teaching is so abysmal that they don’t learn anything at school anyway. The result is that more Indian kids have never seen the inside of a school than those of any other country in the world. And those who have may not see a teacher, since we hold the world record for teacher absenteeism, or be given the books and learning materials without which the educational experience is incomplete.
How on earth can we maintain our much-vaunted economic growth rates if we don’t produce enough educated Indians to claim the jobs that a 21st century economy offers? And how does the government expect to ever remedy the problem if it holds onto antiquated ideas about restricting educational opportunity to the non-profit sphere, when it is clear worldwide that the private sector is providing the best models for education? It is ironic that the man who bids fair to become the Bill Gates of schooling around the world is an Indian - Sunny Varkey, whose Global Education Management Systems already runs 65 for-profit schools across the Middle East, and who is the world’s biggest employer of British teachers outside Britain. But this Indian cannot open his GEMS schools in India, because our educational system won’t allow him to. That leaves us with a handful of excellent private and missionary schools, a large number of uneven (but mostly hopeless) government schools, millions of kids with no schooling at all - and the efforts of charities like Shanti Bhavan and Parikrma. I asked the Parikrma high school kids what they wanted to do in life. Sixteen opted for computer programming - a reflection of our era. One wanted to join the army, half a dozen the IAS, and one girl the CBI, "because I want to bring justice to our society." Our society needs justice - and it will only have it when we have enough schools to do justice to the potential of all our children.
By Shashi Tharoor
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2788535,prtpage-1.cms
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Feel like a fraud? At times, maybe you should
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Stare into a mirror long enough and it's hard not to wonder whether that's a mask staring back, and if so, who's really behind it.
A similar self-doubt can cloud a public identity as well, especially for anyone who has just stepped into a new role. College graduate. New mother. Medical doctor. Even, for that matter, presidential nominee.
Presidents and parents, after all, are expected to make crucial decisions on a dime. Doctors are being asked to save lives, and graduate students to know how Aristotle's conception of virtue differed from Aquinas's conception of — uh-oh.
Who's kidding whom?
Social psychologists have studied what they call the impostor phenomenon since at least the 1970s, when a pair of therapists at Georgia State University used the phrase to describe the internal experience of a group of high-achieving women who had a secret sense they were not as capable as others thought. Since then researchers have documented such fears in adults of all ages, as well as adolescents.
Their findings have veered well away from the original conception of impostorism as a reflection of an anxious personality or a cultural stereotype. Feelings of phoniness appear to alter people's goals in unexpected ways and may also protect them against subconscious self-delusions.
Questionnaires measuring impostor fears ask people how much they agree with statements like these: "At times, I feel my success has been due to some kind of luck." "I can give the impression that I'm more competent than I really am." "If I'm to receive a promotion of some kind, I hesitate to tell others until it's an accomplished fact."
Researchers have found, as expected, that people who score highly on such scales tend to be less confident, more moody and rattled by performance anxieties than those who score lower.
But the dread of being found out is hardly always paralyzing. Two Purdue psychologists, Shamala Kumar and Carolyn Jagacinski, gave 135 college students a series of questionnaires, measuring anxiety level, impostor feelings and approach to academic goals. They found that women who scored highly also reported a strong desire to show that they could do better than others. They competed harder.
By contrast, men who scored highly on the impostor scale showed more desire to avoid contests in areas where they felt vulnerable. "The motivation was to avoid doing poorly, looking weak," Jagacinski said.
Yet if feelings of phoniness were all bad, it seems unlikely that they would be so familiar to so many emotionally well-adapted people.
In a 2000 study at Wake Forest University, psychologists had people who scored highly on an impostor scale predict how they would do on a coming test of intellectual and social skills. An experimenter, they were told, would discuss their answers with them later.
Sure enough, the self-styled impostors predicted that they would do poorly. But when making the same predictions in private — anonymously, they were told — the same people rated their chances on the test as highly as people who scored low on the impostor scale.
In short, the researchers concluded, many self-styled impostors are phony phonies: they adopt self-deprecation as a social strategy, consciously or not, and are secretly more confident than they let on.
"Particularly when people think that they might not be able to live up to others' views of them, they may maintain that they are not as good as other people think," Mark Leary, the lead author, wrote in an e-mail message. "In this way, they lower others' expectations — and get credit for being humble."
In a study published in September, Rory O'Brien McElwee and Tricia Yurak of Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, had 253 students take an exhaustive battery of tests assessing how people present themselves in public. They found that psychologically speaking, impostorism looked a lot more like a self-presentation strategy than a personality trait.
In an interview, McElwee said that as a social strategy, projecting oneself as an impostor can lower expectations for a performance and take pressure off a person — as long as the self-deprecation doesn't go too far. "It's the difference between saying you got drunk before the SAT and actually doing it," she said. "One provides a ready excuse, and the other is self-destructive."
In mild doses, feeling like a fraud also tempers the natural instinct to define one's own competence in self-serving ways. Researchers have shown in careful studies that people tend to be poor judges of their own performance and often to overrate their abilities. Their opinions about how well they've done on a test, or at a job, or in a class are often way off others' evaluations. They're confident that they can detect liars (they can't) and forecast grades (not so well).
This native confidence is likely to be functional: in a world of profound uncertainty, self-serving delusion probably helps people to get out of bed and chase their pet projects.
But it can be poison when the job calls for expertise and accountability, and the expertise is wanting. From her study, McElwee concluded that impostor fears most likely came and went in most people, and were most acute when, for example, a teacher first had to stand up in front of a class, or a new mechanic or lawyer took on real liability.
At those times feeling like a fraud amounts to more than the stirrings of an anxious temperament or the desire to project a protective humility. It reflects a respect for the limits of one's own abilities, and an intuition that only a true impostor would be afraid to ask for help.
http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=9760467
Stare into a mirror long enough and it's hard not to wonder whether that's a mask staring back, and if so, who's really behind it.
A similar self-doubt can cloud a public identity as well, especially for anyone who has just stepped into a new role. College graduate. New mother. Medical doctor. Even, for that matter, presidential nominee.
Presidents and parents, after all, are expected to make crucial decisions on a dime. Doctors are being asked to save lives, and graduate students to know how Aristotle's conception of virtue differed from Aquinas's conception of — uh-oh.
Who's kidding whom?
Social psychologists have studied what they call the impostor phenomenon since at least the 1970s, when a pair of therapists at Georgia State University used the phrase to describe the internal experience of a group of high-achieving women who had a secret sense they were not as capable as others thought. Since then researchers have documented such fears in adults of all ages, as well as adolescents.
Their findings have veered well away from the original conception of impostorism as a reflection of an anxious personality or a cultural stereotype. Feelings of phoniness appear to alter people's goals in unexpected ways and may also protect them against subconscious self-delusions.
Questionnaires measuring impostor fears ask people how much they agree with statements like these: "At times, I feel my success has been due to some kind of luck." "I can give the impression that I'm more competent than I really am." "If I'm to receive a promotion of some kind, I hesitate to tell others until it's an accomplished fact."
Researchers have found, as expected, that people who score highly on such scales tend to be less confident, more moody and rattled by performance anxieties than those who score lower.
But the dread of being found out is hardly always paralyzing. Two Purdue psychologists, Shamala Kumar and Carolyn Jagacinski, gave 135 college students a series of questionnaires, measuring anxiety level, impostor feelings and approach to academic goals. They found that women who scored highly also reported a strong desire to show that they could do better than others. They competed harder.
By contrast, men who scored highly on the impostor scale showed more desire to avoid contests in areas where they felt vulnerable. "The motivation was to avoid doing poorly, looking weak," Jagacinski said.
Yet if feelings of phoniness were all bad, it seems unlikely that they would be so familiar to so many emotionally well-adapted people.
In a 2000 study at Wake Forest University, psychologists had people who scored highly on an impostor scale predict how they would do on a coming test of intellectual and social skills. An experimenter, they were told, would discuss their answers with them later.
Sure enough, the self-styled impostors predicted that they would do poorly. But when making the same predictions in private — anonymously, they were told — the same people rated their chances on the test as highly as people who scored low on the impostor scale.
In short, the researchers concluded, many self-styled impostors are phony phonies: they adopt self-deprecation as a social strategy, consciously or not, and are secretly more confident than they let on.
"Particularly when people think that they might not be able to live up to others' views of them, they may maintain that they are not as good as other people think," Mark Leary, the lead author, wrote in an e-mail message. "In this way, they lower others' expectations — and get credit for being humble."
In a study published in September, Rory O'Brien McElwee and Tricia Yurak of Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, had 253 students take an exhaustive battery of tests assessing how people present themselves in public. They found that psychologically speaking, impostorism looked a lot more like a self-presentation strategy than a personality trait.
In an interview, McElwee said that as a social strategy, projecting oneself as an impostor can lower expectations for a performance and take pressure off a person — as long as the self-deprecation doesn't go too far. "It's the difference between saying you got drunk before the SAT and actually doing it," she said. "One provides a ready excuse, and the other is self-destructive."
In mild doses, feeling like a fraud also tempers the natural instinct to define one's own competence in self-serving ways. Researchers have shown in careful studies that people tend to be poor judges of their own performance and often to overrate their abilities. Their opinions about how well they've done on a test, or at a job, or in a class are often way off others' evaluations. They're confident that they can detect liars (they can't) and forecast grades (not so well).
This native confidence is likely to be functional: in a world of profound uncertainty, self-serving delusion probably helps people to get out of bed and chase their pet projects.
But it can be poison when the job calls for expertise and accountability, and the expertise is wanting. From her study, McElwee concluded that impostor fears most likely came and went in most people, and were most acute when, for example, a teacher first had to stand up in front of a class, or a new mechanic or lawyer took on real liability.
At those times feeling like a fraud amounts to more than the stirrings of an anxious temperament or the desire to project a protective humility. It reflects a respect for the limits of one's own abilities, and an intuition that only a true impostor would be afraid to ask for help.
http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=9760467
Office romances rarely kept secret
Story Highlights
Survey: Forty percent have had office romance
Sixty-six percent don't feel it needs to be a secret
Workers aged 35 and 44 are most likely to have office romance
By Rosemary HaefnerVice President of Human Resources
Office romances are nothing new -- they've been around as long as there have been offices. After all, co-workers spend so much time together attractions are bound to occur. Today, however, workers aren't afraid to admit that, in addition to a paycheck, they're also looking for love at the office.
Love is most definitely in the air
Forty percent of workers have dated a co-worker at some point in their career, according to CareerBuilder.com's annual survey on office romance. Twenty percent of the 6,700 surveyed workers have engaged in an office romance more than twice. For those who think these relationships lead nowhere, consider that 29 percent of these workers ended up marrying their workplace sweetheart.
People aren't waiting to set the wedding date before announcing their relationship, either. Sixty-
six percent of workers don't feel the need to keep their romances a secret these days. Just three years ago the same survey found only 53 percent of workers felt they could be open about their workplace romances.
Of course, just because you can be more open about your relationship, don't forget there are still risks involved. If you can't leave a fight or a bad breakup outside of the office, you both might end up looking unprofessional, regardless of whose fault it is.
Also, colleagues might form their own opinions of you if you date a superior, which 27 percent of surveyed workers have done. Although 98 percent of those who dated a higher-ranking co-worker say the relationship had no affect on their career advancement, many people will assume a promotion -- not mutual attraction -- is your motivation.
Love knows no bounds
Cupid doesn't just strike co-workers when they're on the clock. Thirteen percent of workers began their relationships when they bumped into each other away from the office. Lunch and happy hour were the next most popular places for sparks to fly, with 11 percent each. Yet, despite their reputation as prime opportunities to make a romantic mistake, company parties only accounted for two percent of relationships.
So just who's doing all this dating? Workers between 35 and 44 years of age are the most likely demographic to date a co-worker, with 44 percent having done so. Even though workers aged 55 and older are the least likely group, 34 percent still admitted to an office relationship. That's a lot of love in the air.
Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/02/12/office.romance/index.html?eref=rss_latest
Survey: Forty percent have had office romance
Sixty-six percent don't feel it needs to be a secret
Workers aged 35 and 44 are most likely to have office romance
By Rosemary HaefnerVice President of Human Resources
Office romances are nothing new -- they've been around as long as there have been offices. After all, co-workers spend so much time together attractions are bound to occur. Today, however, workers aren't afraid to admit that, in addition to a paycheck, they're also looking for love at the office.
Love is most definitely in the air
Forty percent of workers have dated a co-worker at some point in their career, according to CareerBuilder.com's annual survey on office romance. Twenty percent of the 6,700 surveyed workers have engaged in an office romance more than twice. For those who think these relationships lead nowhere, consider that 29 percent of these workers ended up marrying their workplace sweetheart.
People aren't waiting to set the wedding date before announcing their relationship, either. Sixty-
six percent of workers don't feel the need to keep their romances a secret these days. Just three years ago the same survey found only 53 percent of workers felt they could be open about their workplace romances.
Of course, just because you can be more open about your relationship, don't forget there are still risks involved. If you can't leave a fight or a bad breakup outside of the office, you both might end up looking unprofessional, regardless of whose fault it is.
Also, colleagues might form their own opinions of you if you date a superior, which 27 percent of surveyed workers have done. Although 98 percent of those who dated a higher-ranking co-worker say the relationship had no affect on their career advancement, many people will assume a promotion -- not mutual attraction -- is your motivation.
Love knows no bounds
Cupid doesn't just strike co-workers when they're on the clock. Thirteen percent of workers began their relationships when they bumped into each other away from the office. Lunch and happy hour were the next most popular places for sparks to fly, with 11 percent each. Yet, despite their reputation as prime opportunities to make a romantic mistake, company parties only accounted for two percent of relationships.
So just who's doing all this dating? Workers between 35 and 44 years of age are the most likely demographic to date a co-worker, with 44 percent having done so. Even though workers aged 55 and older are the least likely group, 34 percent still admitted to an office relationship. That's a lot of love in the air.
Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/02/12/office.romance/index.html?eref=rss_latest
Monday, February 11, 2008
36 Hours in Napa Valley
STRIKING waves of mustard flower. Rolling fields of budding vines. No traffic. You might need to pack an umbrella and an extra sweater, but winter is a surprisingly beautiful time to visit the Napa Valley of California. A misty and painterly moodiness sweeps over the 30-mile-long region this time of year, scattering the crowds, sharpening the colors and infusing the oak-scented tasting rooms with coziness. Daytime temperatures hover as high as the 50s, and though the season brings rain, it encourages an air of reflection perfectly suited to those big California reds.
Friday
3 p.m.1) VINTAGE CYCLING
Winter’s calm makes this a great time to explore Napa’s winding roads on bicycle, as traffic slows to a mellower clip. Some of the prettiest roads are found around Calistoga, a funky and unstuffy town on the northwest tip of the valley — a bit of whiskey before the pinot. The Calistoga Bike Shop has sturdy rentals starting at $10 an hour (1318 Lincoln Avenue; 866-942-2453; www.calistogabikeshop.com). For your first taste of Napa, pedal two miles to the Michael Graves-designed Clos Pegase Winery (1060 Dunaweal Lane, Calistoga; 707-942-4981; www.clospegase.com) and feel the terroir under your tires.
7:30 p.m.
2) GLOBAL LOCAVORE
Fussy marble, garish fountains, overdramatic underlighting — Napa’s fancy sheen can obscure its simple, earthy charm. For a taste of the valley’s homey side, try the Wappo Bar & Bistro (1226 Washington Street, Calistoga; 707-942-4712; www.wappobar.com), a shoe-box-size restaurant where locals mix easily with wine-chasing tourists. It feels like a country inn, but the food is international. The menu includes cassoulet, tandoori chicken and Singapore noodles. Dinner for two is about $60, not including, of course, wine.
9:30 p.m.
3) BRING YOUR EARPLUGS
Beer in Napa? It might sound like blasphemy, but the Calistoga Inn Restaurant & Brewery (1250 Lincoln Avenue, Calistoga; 707-942-4101; www.calistogainn.com) makes a mean Pilsener, along with various ales and stouts ($4.50 a pint). The wood-paneled watering hole, after all, has live music every night — and who wants to drink merlot while dancing to rock? Besides, there’s plenty of time for wine tomorrow.
Saturday
9 a.m.
4) SLING SOME MUD
Calistoga’s name has been mud, or at least synonymous with it, ever since the Gold Rush pioneer Sam Brannan dipped into the Wappo tribe’s ancient mud baths. Some claim the volcanic ash and geyser-heated water rejuvenate the pores; others find relief from aches and pains. At a minimum, it’s fun and weird to float in hot goop with cucumbers on your eyes. With manicured lawn and white cottages, the Indian Springs Resort and Spa (1712 Lincoln Avenue; 707-942-4913; www.indianspringscalistoga.com) resembles a colonial hill town under the British Raj and claims the title of the oldest continually operating spa in California. Soaks start at $75.
11 a.m.
5) A LITTLE HISTORY
If you walk around Calistoga long enough, you’ll eventually stumble upon the unassuming Sharpsteen Museum (1311 Washington Street; 707-942-5911; www.sharpsteen-museum.org; $3 donation requested for visitors over age 11). Like the town itself, this charming collection of local history, Indian artifacts and Disney cartoons (you’ll see) hasn’t yet polished away all traces of quirkiness. A 32-foot-long diorama depicts the town’s early vacationers at play, when Calistoga was known as the Saratoga of the Pacific.
Noon
6) SIZING UP THE GRAPES
Time to see what this valley’s made of. Grab a picnic-friendly sandwich ($5 to $9) from the Palisades Deli Cafe (1458 Lincoln Avenue, Calistoga; 707-942-0145) and hit the vineyards. With hundreds to choose from, there’s no perfect lineup. But the following offer personality, memorable wines and a departure from the more generic tasting bars. (Fortify against bad wine humor: “Forgive us cabernet, for we shall zin,” they say over at Chateau Potelle.) Large wineries often suffer in the character department, but not Quintessa (1601 Silverado Trail, Rutherford; 707-967-1601; www.quintessa.com). From the graceful crescent facade to the fascinating tours of its production facilities, this 280-acre estate makes a great first stop — and it produces wonderful Bordeaux-style wines. At the other end of the winemaking spectrum is the Green Truck Cellars (Stags Leap District; 707-649-1200; www.greentruckcellars.com), a one-man-one-truck pinot noir operation; call in advance, and the owner, Kent Fortner, might offer a highly personalized tour. Casa Nuestra (3451 Silverado Trail North, St. Helena; 866-844-9463; www.casanuestra.com) offers another take on old California informality — just ask the goats out front that clamor for snacks, emboldened by having a blend named after them (Two Goats Red). And for drop-dead gorgeous scenery, swing by Frog’s Leap (8815 Conn Creek Road, Rutherford; 800-959-4704; www.frogsleap.com) and its five acres of lush gardens, orchards, beehives, chickens, photovoltaic cells and everything else that makes this among Napa’s more forward-thinking operations. Appointments are required for tastings at each of these vineyards, and fees are $10 to $35.
5 p.m.
7) SHOPPING BUZZ
The precious town of St. Helena, eight miles southeast of Calistoga, is a shopaholic’s delight. Footcandy (1239 Main Street; 877-517-4606; www.footcandyshoes.com) sells Jimmy Choos and Manolo Blahniks with heels that are as high as stemware. Woodhouse Chocolate (1367 Main Street; 800-966-3468; www.woodhousechocolate.com) sells handmade artisanal chocolates in an elegant space that looks more like a jewelry shop. And the local interior designer Erin Martin sells bronze sculptures, porcelain lamps and other housewares at her namesake shop, Martin Showroom (1350 Main Street, 707-967-8787; www.martinshowroom.com).
8 p.m.
8) RIVERFRONT DINING
For memorable fare and setting, go to Angèle in the city of Napa (540 Main Street; 707-252-8115; www.angelerestaurant.com), a converted boathouse on the Napa River where locals and tourists come to get away from the tourists. French brasserie classics like roasted cod ($22) and braised lamb shank ($26) are served under a beamed ceiling and warm lighting. Regulars can be spotted ordering the off-menu burger with blue cheese ($13). Needless to say, the wine list is varied and extensive.
9:30 p.m.
9) MAKE IT SWING
The city of Napa rolls up its sidewalks after dark, but Uva (1040 Clinton Street; 707-255-6646; www.uvatrattoria.com) makes an exception for free live jazz every Saturday until midnight. Photos of old jazz greats crowd the walls, and you can tap along from the swanky dining room or the crowded bar.
Sunday
10 a.m.
10) ART OF WINEMAKING
For a nontipsy perspective on wine, drive up the winding, woodsy road to the ivy-covered Hess Collection (4411 Redwood Road, Napa; 707-255-1144; www.hesscollection.com), the winery and contemporary art museum built by the Swiss multimillionaire Donald Hess. Tours of the bright gallery, which are self-guided and free, take you past works by Frank Stella, Robert Motherwell and Francis Bacon. At one point, a window provides a view of the fermentation tanks — the suggestion that wine equals art is not lost. Judge for yourself: the tasting room, just off the lobby, specializes in mountain cabernets ($10 for four wines).
12:30 p.m.
11) DOWNWARD DOG
Feel uncentered from all the wine touring? Stop by Napa’s sleek new yoga studio Ubuntu (1140 Main Street; 707-251-5656; www.ubuntunapa.com) for an anusara or vinyasa yoga class ($18). Or, if that’s your stomach growling, Ubuntu also has a great vegetarian restaurant. The mushroom pizza is topped with a terrific local crescenza cheese ($14), and you just might bend over backward for the marinated beets and Asian pears ($9), some of which come from the restaurant’s own biodynamic gardens.
THE BASICS
The Napa Valley is about 50 miles north of San Francisco, just over an hour’s drive. Vineyards dot both primary roads, Route 29 and Silverado Trail, as well as the many connecting back roads. In winter, traffic should be minimal, but just in case, Silverado tends to be the calmer of the two.
The Indian Springs Resort and Spa in Calistoga (1712 Lincoln Avenue; 707-942-4913; www.indianspringscalistoga.com) offers retro glamour, boccie courts and a short walk to restaurants and shops. The 24 rooms and 16 cottages start at $225. The geyser-heated pool is kept at 102 degrees in winter, with an inviting outdoor fireplace nearby.
In the city of Napa, the 106-room River Terrace Inn (1600 Soscol Avenue; 866-627-2386; www.riverterraceinn.com) manages to accommodate large numbers without sacrificing comfort. The well-appointed rooms start at $179, though specials are sometimes found online for as low as $149.
For wallet-emptying luxury, the 52-room Auberge du Soleil (180 Rutherford Hill Road, Rutherford; 800-348-5406; www.aubergedusoleil.com) provides a sumptuous hilltop perch from which to peer down on the valley. Terrace doors open onto misty views, and a tennis court, soaking pool and boutique are steps away. Rooms start at $525.
http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/travel/10hours.html?ei=5087&em=&en=4ee338ffcca8a9d0&ex=1202878800&pagewanted=print
Friday
3 p.m.1) VINTAGE CYCLING
Winter’s calm makes this a great time to explore Napa’s winding roads on bicycle, as traffic slows to a mellower clip. Some of the prettiest roads are found around Calistoga, a funky and unstuffy town on the northwest tip of the valley — a bit of whiskey before the pinot. The Calistoga Bike Shop has sturdy rentals starting at $10 an hour (1318 Lincoln Avenue; 866-942-2453; www.calistogabikeshop.com). For your first taste of Napa, pedal two miles to the Michael Graves-designed Clos Pegase Winery (1060 Dunaweal Lane, Calistoga; 707-942-4981; www.clospegase.com) and feel the terroir under your tires.
7:30 p.m.
2) GLOBAL LOCAVORE
Fussy marble, garish fountains, overdramatic underlighting — Napa’s fancy sheen can obscure its simple, earthy charm. For a taste of the valley’s homey side, try the Wappo Bar & Bistro (1226 Washington Street, Calistoga; 707-942-4712; www.wappobar.com), a shoe-box-size restaurant where locals mix easily with wine-chasing tourists. It feels like a country inn, but the food is international. The menu includes cassoulet, tandoori chicken and Singapore noodles. Dinner for two is about $60, not including, of course, wine.
9:30 p.m.
3) BRING YOUR EARPLUGS
Beer in Napa? It might sound like blasphemy, but the Calistoga Inn Restaurant & Brewery (1250 Lincoln Avenue, Calistoga; 707-942-4101; www.calistogainn.com) makes a mean Pilsener, along with various ales and stouts ($4.50 a pint). The wood-paneled watering hole, after all, has live music every night — and who wants to drink merlot while dancing to rock? Besides, there’s plenty of time for wine tomorrow.
Saturday
9 a.m.
4) SLING SOME MUD
Calistoga’s name has been mud, or at least synonymous with it, ever since the Gold Rush pioneer Sam Brannan dipped into the Wappo tribe’s ancient mud baths. Some claim the volcanic ash and geyser-heated water rejuvenate the pores; others find relief from aches and pains. At a minimum, it’s fun and weird to float in hot goop with cucumbers on your eyes. With manicured lawn and white cottages, the Indian Springs Resort and Spa (1712 Lincoln Avenue; 707-942-4913; www.indianspringscalistoga.com) resembles a colonial hill town under the British Raj and claims the title of the oldest continually operating spa in California. Soaks start at $75.
11 a.m.
5) A LITTLE HISTORY
If you walk around Calistoga long enough, you’ll eventually stumble upon the unassuming Sharpsteen Museum (1311 Washington Street; 707-942-5911; www.sharpsteen-museum.org; $3 donation requested for visitors over age 11). Like the town itself, this charming collection of local history, Indian artifacts and Disney cartoons (you’ll see) hasn’t yet polished away all traces of quirkiness. A 32-foot-long diorama depicts the town’s early vacationers at play, when Calistoga was known as the Saratoga of the Pacific.
Noon
6) SIZING UP THE GRAPES
Time to see what this valley’s made of. Grab a picnic-friendly sandwich ($5 to $9) from the Palisades Deli Cafe (1458 Lincoln Avenue, Calistoga; 707-942-0145) and hit the vineyards. With hundreds to choose from, there’s no perfect lineup. But the following offer personality, memorable wines and a departure from the more generic tasting bars. (Fortify against bad wine humor: “Forgive us cabernet, for we shall zin,” they say over at Chateau Potelle.) Large wineries often suffer in the character department, but not Quintessa (1601 Silverado Trail, Rutherford; 707-967-1601; www.quintessa.com). From the graceful crescent facade to the fascinating tours of its production facilities, this 280-acre estate makes a great first stop — and it produces wonderful Bordeaux-style wines. At the other end of the winemaking spectrum is the Green Truck Cellars (Stags Leap District; 707-649-1200; www.greentruckcellars.com), a one-man-one-truck pinot noir operation; call in advance, and the owner, Kent Fortner, might offer a highly personalized tour. Casa Nuestra (3451 Silverado Trail North, St. Helena; 866-844-9463; www.casanuestra.com) offers another take on old California informality — just ask the goats out front that clamor for snacks, emboldened by having a blend named after them (Two Goats Red). And for drop-dead gorgeous scenery, swing by Frog’s Leap (8815 Conn Creek Road, Rutherford; 800-959-4704; www.frogsleap.com) and its five acres of lush gardens, orchards, beehives, chickens, photovoltaic cells and everything else that makes this among Napa’s more forward-thinking operations. Appointments are required for tastings at each of these vineyards, and fees are $10 to $35.
5 p.m.
7) SHOPPING BUZZ
The precious town of St. Helena, eight miles southeast of Calistoga, is a shopaholic’s delight. Footcandy (1239 Main Street; 877-517-4606; www.footcandyshoes.com) sells Jimmy Choos and Manolo Blahniks with heels that are as high as stemware. Woodhouse Chocolate (1367 Main Street; 800-966-3468; www.woodhousechocolate.com) sells handmade artisanal chocolates in an elegant space that looks more like a jewelry shop. And the local interior designer Erin Martin sells bronze sculptures, porcelain lamps and other housewares at her namesake shop, Martin Showroom (1350 Main Street, 707-967-8787; www.martinshowroom.com).
8 p.m.
8) RIVERFRONT DINING
For memorable fare and setting, go to Angèle in the city of Napa (540 Main Street; 707-252-8115; www.angelerestaurant.com), a converted boathouse on the Napa River where locals and tourists come to get away from the tourists. French brasserie classics like roasted cod ($22) and braised lamb shank ($26) are served under a beamed ceiling and warm lighting. Regulars can be spotted ordering the off-menu burger with blue cheese ($13). Needless to say, the wine list is varied and extensive.
9:30 p.m.
9) MAKE IT SWING
The city of Napa rolls up its sidewalks after dark, but Uva (1040 Clinton Street; 707-255-6646; www.uvatrattoria.com) makes an exception for free live jazz every Saturday until midnight. Photos of old jazz greats crowd the walls, and you can tap along from the swanky dining room or the crowded bar.
Sunday
10 a.m.
10) ART OF WINEMAKING
For a nontipsy perspective on wine, drive up the winding, woodsy road to the ivy-covered Hess Collection (4411 Redwood Road, Napa; 707-255-1144; www.hesscollection.com), the winery and contemporary art museum built by the Swiss multimillionaire Donald Hess. Tours of the bright gallery, which are self-guided and free, take you past works by Frank Stella, Robert Motherwell and Francis Bacon. At one point, a window provides a view of the fermentation tanks — the suggestion that wine equals art is not lost. Judge for yourself: the tasting room, just off the lobby, specializes in mountain cabernets ($10 for four wines).
12:30 p.m.
11) DOWNWARD DOG
Feel uncentered from all the wine touring? Stop by Napa’s sleek new yoga studio Ubuntu (1140 Main Street; 707-251-5656; www.ubuntunapa.com) for an anusara or vinyasa yoga class ($18). Or, if that’s your stomach growling, Ubuntu also has a great vegetarian restaurant. The mushroom pizza is topped with a terrific local crescenza cheese ($14), and you just might bend over backward for the marinated beets and Asian pears ($9), some of which come from the restaurant’s own biodynamic gardens.
THE BASICS
The Napa Valley is about 50 miles north of San Francisco, just over an hour’s drive. Vineyards dot both primary roads, Route 29 and Silverado Trail, as well as the many connecting back roads. In winter, traffic should be minimal, but just in case, Silverado tends to be the calmer of the two.
The Indian Springs Resort and Spa in Calistoga (1712 Lincoln Avenue; 707-942-4913; www.indianspringscalistoga.com) offers retro glamour, boccie courts and a short walk to restaurants and shops. The 24 rooms and 16 cottages start at $225. The geyser-heated pool is kept at 102 degrees in winter, with an inviting outdoor fireplace nearby.
In the city of Napa, the 106-room River Terrace Inn (1600 Soscol Avenue; 866-627-2386; www.riverterraceinn.com) manages to accommodate large numbers without sacrificing comfort. The well-appointed rooms start at $179, though specials are sometimes found online for as low as $149.
For wallet-emptying luxury, the 52-room Auberge du Soleil (180 Rutherford Hill Road, Rutherford; 800-348-5406; www.aubergedusoleil.com) provides a sumptuous hilltop perch from which to peer down on the valley. Terrace doors open onto misty views, and a tennis court, soaking pool and boutique are steps away. Rooms start at $525.
http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/travel/10hours.html?ei=5087&em=&en=4ee338ffcca8a9d0&ex=1202878800&pagewanted=print
An exquisite take on the Taj!
I see myself now. I am standing amidst sighs of exclamations and soft footsteps, my breath surprisingly audible from beneath the odd electro-mechanical clicks of cameras. My vision pricked by the bright flashes pouring synergistically from all directions, almost.
I am standing in the shadow of the Taj.
First experience fading mildly, I realise the ache in my neck, and the continuous shuffle. I move ahead to give others a space of their own and relocate to a place from where I could see the Taj with minimal interruptions, trying repeatedly to evade the numerous cameras’ line-of-sights, aimed to capture memorable pictures of couples in love, happy families and small children trying to hold the monument from the its top or one of its minaret. I see extraordinarily happy people around me.
Where do I belong, the thought comes to me as randomly as the thought itself is. Do I deserve to be in this heaven? I found comfort in the words of Emperor Shah Jahan:
“Should guilty seek asylum here, Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin. Should a sinner make his way to this mansion, All his past sins are to be washed away. The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs; And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes. In this world this edifice has been made; To display thereby the creator’s glory”.
I feel out of place here since this was not what I had expected. Of all the things I have ever seen or experienced, I always thought that the Taj is going to be the least surprising since I have seen it so many times in pictures or on television. I knew what it looked like, in and out. But that is the sheer surprise when you enter from one of the three gates that wall the Taj. No picture can do justice to the Taj – immense and beautiful; something a picture or a video has forever failed to capture. Standing mesmerised
I stood mesmerised for hours and in the process, marvelled at the Taj changing colours amidst the setting sun – white to blue to pink, with a touch of translucent green thrown in. The sun went down and the Taj metamorphosed into a wax lamp, irradiating wisps of soothing light. I wondered if the mildly glowing Taj soothes the soul as it soothes the eye.
I looked around. The pious assemble at Jama Masjid, on the left of the Taj. Another similar building Jawab on the right, meant perhaps as a guesthouse, symmetries the mosque. The entire complex, with overwhelming symmetry and manicured gardens, is capable of settling down the most restless soul. I wonder how much wanderlust melted to satisfaction in the calming shadow of the Taj.
I had come to Agra a few hours back. The stench at Taj Ganj emitting from the open sewers, mixed profusely with smell of food originating from behind the doors, had a nauseating effect as I tried to shuffle through the crowd to find an inexpensive accommodation in that area. There are better places to stay in Agra, but the lust to capture Taj in the early morning made me look for an option near it. Narrow lanes digress at fixed distances to lead to the North, South and East gate. I headed for the farthest and the least crowded, the East gate.
A short, restless wait in the line followed by a stiff security check, lead to the common corridor from all the gates. The top of the minarets of the Taj grew behind the red wall and indicated the enormity to the monument. A few steps later the marvel struck. “One tear-drop...upon the cheek of time”, how true!
One evening with Taj was not enough and I came back the next day before day-break. Again I witnessed a riot of mild colours blending into one another while playing on the white marble surface of the Taj, as the sun rays slowly slanted to engulf the amber lily monument. Calling this event as the most beautiful ever witnessed would be an understatement.
They say that the Taj is a symbol of love. More than that, Taj is a temple of human spirit. It signifies 20 long years of efforts of twenty thousand workers from all over the world to raise this temple on an elevated platform. Taj speaks of a collectivity, of coming together to achieve the impossible. Borne out of love, but bricked together through sustained never-spoken-of efforts,
Taj Mahal makes an earnest humbling impression in such narcissist time.
by: NITIN CHAUDHARY
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2008021150250300.htm&date=2008/02/11/&prd=mp&
I am standing in the shadow of the Taj.
First experience fading mildly, I realise the ache in my neck, and the continuous shuffle. I move ahead to give others a space of their own and relocate to a place from where I could see the Taj with minimal interruptions, trying repeatedly to evade the numerous cameras’ line-of-sights, aimed to capture memorable pictures of couples in love, happy families and small children trying to hold the monument from the its top or one of its minaret. I see extraordinarily happy people around me.
Where do I belong, the thought comes to me as randomly as the thought itself is. Do I deserve to be in this heaven? I found comfort in the words of Emperor Shah Jahan:
“Should guilty seek asylum here, Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin. Should a sinner make his way to this mansion, All his past sins are to be washed away. The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs; And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes. In this world this edifice has been made; To display thereby the creator’s glory”.
I feel out of place here since this was not what I had expected. Of all the things I have ever seen or experienced, I always thought that the Taj is going to be the least surprising since I have seen it so many times in pictures or on television. I knew what it looked like, in and out. But that is the sheer surprise when you enter from one of the three gates that wall the Taj. No picture can do justice to the Taj – immense and beautiful; something a picture or a video has forever failed to capture. Standing mesmerised
I stood mesmerised for hours and in the process, marvelled at the Taj changing colours amidst the setting sun – white to blue to pink, with a touch of translucent green thrown in. The sun went down and the Taj metamorphosed into a wax lamp, irradiating wisps of soothing light. I wondered if the mildly glowing Taj soothes the soul as it soothes the eye.
I looked around. The pious assemble at Jama Masjid, on the left of the Taj. Another similar building Jawab on the right, meant perhaps as a guesthouse, symmetries the mosque. The entire complex, with overwhelming symmetry and manicured gardens, is capable of settling down the most restless soul. I wonder how much wanderlust melted to satisfaction in the calming shadow of the Taj.
I had come to Agra a few hours back. The stench at Taj Ganj emitting from the open sewers, mixed profusely with smell of food originating from behind the doors, had a nauseating effect as I tried to shuffle through the crowd to find an inexpensive accommodation in that area. There are better places to stay in Agra, but the lust to capture Taj in the early morning made me look for an option near it. Narrow lanes digress at fixed distances to lead to the North, South and East gate. I headed for the farthest and the least crowded, the East gate.
A short, restless wait in the line followed by a stiff security check, lead to the common corridor from all the gates. The top of the minarets of the Taj grew behind the red wall and indicated the enormity to the monument. A few steps later the marvel struck. “One tear-drop...upon the cheek of time”, how true!
One evening with Taj was not enough and I came back the next day before day-break. Again I witnessed a riot of mild colours blending into one another while playing on the white marble surface of the Taj, as the sun rays slowly slanted to engulf the amber lily monument. Calling this event as the most beautiful ever witnessed would be an understatement.
They say that the Taj is a symbol of love. More than that, Taj is a temple of human spirit. It signifies 20 long years of efforts of twenty thousand workers from all over the world to raise this temple on an elevated platform. Taj speaks of a collectivity, of coming together to achieve the impossible. Borne out of love, but bricked together through sustained never-spoken-of efforts,
Taj Mahal makes an earnest humbling impression in such narcissist time.
by: NITIN CHAUDHARY
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2008021150250300.htm&date=2008/02/11/&prd=mp&
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