Lifestyle

18

Aug

By The Press Editor

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Lifestyle

All-Electric Volvo EX30 Review: Compact, clever, and confident

Volvo’s latest offering for India, the EX30, could well be its most significant yet. This all-electric SUV is compact, approachable, and carries the weight of expectation as the brand aims to capture a younger, more dynamic audience in the premium EV space. Though it is Volvo’s smallest SUV, the EX30 manages to pack in enough character and capability to feel like a complete product, not a compromise. The EX30’s upright tailgate and split tail-lamps give it a youthful, distinctive look from the rear. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Visually, the EX30 has a lot going for it. The upright stance,…

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18

Aug

By The Press Editor

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Lifestyle

Heritage walk at Chennai port highlights its role in trade, architecture and the making of the city

For centuries, the sea was Chennai’s front gate. Long before airports and expressways, the city’s first encounters were shaped along this coast. In many ways, modern Chennai began here: with ships unloading not just cargo, but cultures, communities, and the city’s very identity. It is not every day that the gates of Chennai Port open to visitors, but on a cloudy August dawn, buzzing with anticipation, a group of us step past the high-security entrance as part of The Hindu’s Made of Chennai heritage walk led by Thirupurasundari Sevvel, architect and founder of Nam Veedu Nam Oor Nam Kadhai. Inside, the…

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18

Aug

By The Press Editor

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Lifestyle

Stella Maris Fine Arts graduates of 1987 come together for reunion art show in Chennai

In a quiet corner of VA Gallery on Chamiers Road, a group of women lean over a desk, admiring paintings. The artist, Kannur-based Vidhya Chandran, appears a little overwhelmed by the attention. “My main medium is fabric… these are just practice sketches,” she says, signing her name with her brush. At once, her batchmates erupt in encouragement, insisting the works deserve to be framed and treasured.It is this spirit of camaraderie and creative persistence that defines An Artful Reunion, a group show by the Fine Arts batch of 1987 from Stella Maris College. Nearly four decades after graduation, 18 of…

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18

Aug

By The Press Editor

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Lifestyle

Sunday brunch options in Coimbatore

Lavish, with a drink on the sideA platter of grilled fish, the season’s fresh catch of mackerels, sardines, and paarai, marinated in curry leaves paste, makes its way to our table straight from the grill. It is soft and juicy. Delicious is the verdict. “Next time, we might try a fiery red marination in Kongu style or the Bengali way with mustard oil,” says Chef M Baranidharan as we try out his lavish Sunday brunch at O By Tamara.  Salad bar is a visual treat | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement There is Indian, continental, Kongu cuisines, and as many as seven…

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18

Aug

By The Press Editor

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Lifestyle

Chennai’s urban village fest Sempozhil blends folk art, food, and native cattle displays

To commemorate the first year anniversary of the Jallikattu protests, a festival called Sempulam was held in 2018. It was helmed by Thondaimandalam Foundation — that works to sustain rural and peri-urban livelihoods in the Thondaimandalam region spanning from Tirupati to Tiruvannamalai — and Actor Karthi’s Uzhavan Foundation that supports farmer livelihoods. The two-day event brought together farmers who promoted organic farming methods, and the fair showcased native cattle breeds of Tamil Nadu. A cultural performance at a prior edition of the festival | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Last year, Sempulam was held on a much-larger scale as a three-day…

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18

Aug

By The Press Editor

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Lifestyle

The story of vinegar: this everyday condiment in our kitchen has a lot more history to it than you think!

If you step into a kitchen, a condiment might be sitting in a corner of your shelf, not getting too much attention in your everyday life, except when pickles are the topic. Yes, I am talking about the good old vinegar that often gets forgotten amidst the dozens of sauces, dips, and other condiments on the shelf. Vinegar is a fermented product made through a two-step fermentation process. First, yeast converts sugars from a source like fruit juice, grains, or potatoes into alcohol. Then, bacteria, specifically Acetobacter, convert the alcohol into acetic acid (the main component of vinegar) and water.Did you…

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18

Aug

By The Press Editor

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Lifestyle

Lladró has collaborated with sculptor Arun Yogiraj to release limited edition Ram Lalla sculptures

Nieves Contreras, creative director, Lladró and sculptor Arun Yogiraj | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Twenty-five years since it first launched its Spirit of India collection, Lladró, the Spanish luxury porcelain house has collaborated with Indian sculptor Arun Yogiraj, marking this their first collaboration with an Indian artist. The brand has unveiled a limited edition High Porcelain sculpture of Ram Lalla. “This collaboration, which combines Indian spirit and heritage with Spanish artistry is a coming together of patience, devotion and craft,” says Arun, the Mysuru-based artist who came into prominence after sculpting the Ram Lalla idol, which depicts a five-year-old Lord Ram, for…

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18

Aug

By The Press Editor

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Lifestyle

Malayalam short film ‘Manavalan in Trouble’ has employees of UST working behind and in front of the camera

A still from the short film Manavalan in Trouble made by the employees of UST in Thiruvananthapuram | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT Arun Mohan, a young, successful filmmaker at a village in Kannur. News spreads that Prithviraj, the hero of his last two blockbuster films, would be attending the wedding function. The village folk, his relatives, the bride’s friends and family are thrilled by the news. So, by the time Arun gets a message from Prithviraj that he might not make it for the function, preparations to welcome the actor have gone overboard. The incidents that follow are captured with…

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16

Aug

By The Press Editor

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Lifestyle

Independence Day: Visakhapatnam’s landmarks of the freedom struggle

While much of India’s freedom struggle is told through events in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, Visakhapatnam had its own powerful, if quieter, moments of resistance. From salt-laden hands held high at the beach to fiery speeches in the Town Hall, these landmarks narrate the city’s fight for swaraj.In the 1940s, Visakhapatnam was a relatively small coastal town with fewer organised public events when compared to major urban centres of the Independence Movement. Yet the spaces and stories that have survived from that period reveal a city fully engaged in the struggle, albeit in its own manner. The dawn of freedom…

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16

Aug

By The Press Editor

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Lifestyle

The head on the temple | Column by Devdutt Pattanaik

On the top of many Hindu temples, one finds the image of a head looking down on the people below — his eyes protruding from its sockets, his mouth wide open, his tongue out. This is called the Kirtimukha, the Head of Glory, or Vajramukha, the Eternal Head.There are many stories to explain its origins. The most popular is that of a goblin who was created by Shiva to kill demons. But when the demons apologised, Shiva forgave them. Now, the goblin was hungry and asked the lord for food. Shiva said, “Why don’t you eat your own body?” The…

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