Infotainment Kaleidoscope

June 6, 2005! The first day of our school. Most of us wouldn't remember it, but unaware of the long journey we started our school life. What all things have we not done in our school life! It was the first and last phase of life we got without stress and tension. Though this year was an exception because now we are under a lot of pressure due to board exams. In this time span we were most playful and free. All our mistakes were pardoned just because we were small. We all knew that someday we will all have to leave our dear school, but I cannot digest the fact that it is happening today. All of us have some good memories and some bad memories. I have decided to forget the bad ones and treasure the good ones. But I think it would surely be difficult for me and all of us to settle and adjust in the new environment of college. Sometimes when I got punished when I was small, I felt very bad. I literally cried as most children usually do, but when the same thing happened in 8th stan...

Anyone born in the 70's and 80's would know how exciting it was when school vacations started. No more studies, no more nagging teachers and parents for a full 2 months, which felt like being on top of the world. Be it playing Hide-n-Seek, Kabaddi, Kho-kho, Lagori, Langdi,  or activities like cycling, swimming, badminton with friends was always fun. No special efforts were needed to exercise and keep fit. Getting sunlight and fresh air was a routine rather than a dedicated effort. Television had only one national channel (Doordarshan) that broadcasted news and entertainment programmes for 3-4 hours, beyond which other entertainment options had to be explored for good. Over the past 20 odd years, gadgets like video games, mobiles and tablets have gradually influenced our lives greatly. Children prefer communicating on social media and messenger more than spending time with each other personally. Computer and mobile games have taken the place of physical activities. Kids are a...

This is probably one of the best theme parks in the country, with innovative rides for almost all age groups, and the max thrill rides steal the show. We visited the park on Tuesday since the discount seemed quite attractive, however that was a mistake I'll not repeat. Though the Imagica site touts the Tuesday offer as "Limited tickets" available for pre-bookings, it turns out the tickets are not limited after all. It is a very clever trick to attract as large a crowd as possible, at the cost of reducing the fun offered. The crowd on Tuesdays is just too much for the park to handle, and queues for each ride extend up to 90 minutes or even more. We were just able to complete 4 rides in a single day, since most of our time was wasted in queues. The only rides we could get into were: - Nitro: simply awesome - Gold Rush Express: Great roller coaster, though slightly mild as compared to Nitro) - I for India: a unique experience which should not be missed - Curse ...

I am sure every one of us has at least one experience in life where we have resented something, someone, someplace in the beginning, but eventually our views have changed. Until about 20 years ago, I used to be a proud resident of Mulund, Mumbai. Even today, I love visiting my family there, and having spent the first 23 years of my life, including my childhood, school, college and the early days of my career in Mulund, the suburb will always carry a special place in my heart. In those days, Mulund being the last central suburb of Mumbai, any suburbs further north were considered as a bit under developed. I had a lot of friends from places like Thane, Dombivli, Kalyan and even beyond, and we Mumbaikars used to often tease them as "gaon waale" or villagers. Of course it was just for fun because we never really let any geographical boundaries interfere with our friendship. But more than that, whenever we used to visit any friends staying beyond Thane, we dreaded the crowd...

Once upon a time, there was a 10 year old boy named Sandeep. He was good at drawing. But very soon he started getting overconfident about himself. Whenever with his friends, he boasted about being the best artist in the class. His classmates seemed to be quite impressed with him. There was another boy in his class named Sohan. Although he worked very hard and was very good at drawing, he was humble and never praised himself in the company of friends. Then came a time when the teacher announced a drawing competition to be held after one week. Sandeep, being very sure about his drawing skills did not think it necessary to practice for the competition. However, Sohan practiced his drawing skills daily and prepared himself for the competition. On the day of the competition, Sandeep drew a river and a boat, but did not colour it well. At many instances his colours went outside the picture border due to lack of practice. On the other hand, Sohan drew a beautiful painting of a lands...