By ISHA SODHI
​I have been asked multiple times to write a blog post on how to inject an ethnic flavour, especially Indian, into personal home decor. It is a fabulous idea for a post, however, also a particularly hard one as home decor is a very personal style statement and as such no set rules apply. In the end, we all have individual tastes and...

U.S. experts believe they have found Christopher Columbus’s vessel Santa Maria on the ocean floor near Haiti in what could be one of the most important underwater finds ever made, British newspaper The Independent reported. A team headed by underwater archaeologist Barry Clifford believes that the remains of the approximately 19-metre-long vessel are lying north of the coast of Haiti in 10 to 15 feet of water, 

a conclusion reached after analysing photographs taken during a previous research project more than 10 years ago, along with other photos from a more recent reconnaissance expedition.“All the geographical, underwater topography and archaeological evidence strongly suggests that this wreck is Columbus’s famous flagship, the Santa Maria,” Clifford said.
“The Haitian government has been extremely helpful—and we now need to continue working with them to carry out a detailed archaeological excavation of the wreck,” he said.
The tentative identification of the Santa Maria—the largest of the three wooden ships that Columbus used to “discover” the New World in 1492, although it displaced only about 150 tons—was made possible by several investigative missions conducted by archaeologists in 2003. With the information from the missions, Clifford has been able to use data from Columbus’s diary to deduce where the sunken remains of the vessel should be. Over the past few years, the team used magnetometers and other instruments to try and locate the Santa Maria near the Haitian coast. “We’ve informed the Haitian government of our discovery—and we are looking forward to working with them and other Haitian colleagues to ensure that the site is fully protected and preserved. It will be a wonderful opportunity to work with the Haitian authorities to preserve the evidence and artifacts of the ship that changed the world,” Clifford said. He expressed confidence that once excavations are made—and depending on the condition of the waterlogged wood—it might ultimately be possible to bring the remains of the boat to the surface so that it may later be displayed in a museum in Haiti. Columbus captained the Santa Maria, his flagship, on his 1492 voyage from Spain to the Caribbean at the behest of the Spanish crown seeking a new trade route to Asia, but—after discovering the Americas lying in the way of further westward travel—he was forced to abandon the vessel when it ran aground. The two other ships used on the mission were the Nina and the Pinta. Clifford is one of the world’s most experienced undersea explorers.

LONDON - Contemporary Indian master F.N.Souza's 1957 painting, estimated between $1.7 million to $2.5 million, is leading at the Modern and Contemporary South Asian art sale at Christie's slated for June 11, the organizers said June 4. The painting "Man & Woman Grinding Their Teeth" borrows from traditional African art and cubism with both figures painted with mask-like faces and elongated features.

It is in the race with works from artists like M.F. Husain, S.H.Raza and Bhupen Khakhar among others. Another Souza work - a portrait of a half-naked girl set against a crimson background - is estimated at $0.2 million to $0.3 million. Alongside Souza, Husain's "Untitled" (Horses)" - a 1965 iconic representation of the powerful yet sensuous creatures that remained so central to his career - is estimated at $0.1 million to $0.37 million. Another Husain work "Untitled" (Elephant Family), from the 1960s with thick overlapping brushstrokes revealing the head and trunks of the intimate family groups is estimated at $0.16 million to $0.2 million.
Khakhar's collage of various portraits and landscapes including a group chatting on a beach, playing in the water to a larger solitary figure staring straight out of the picture, is estimated at $ 0.3 million to $0.42 million. 
This will be the second sale of this year's four sales for this international department which will conclude with their second sale in India, to be held in Mumbai in December. (IANS)

I write this as a reflection of my summer in the beautiful city of Bengaluru (in the state of Karnataka, India), working for an NGO called Youth for Seva (YFS). For more information about this internship, log onto http://www.sewausa.org/yuva-sewa-international-summer-youth-internship-program. This experience had many flavors weaving in and out of each other, creating a rich and vibrant combination...

Although words are but futile, I try my best to convey the spectrum of knowledge and emotions I was blessed with these past few months. I reached Hyderabad on June 7th and met with four other interns – Aditya (a Canadian intern who was heading to Bengaluru with me after the orientation), Ashita, Katie and another Katie (three US interns who were going to continue their journey in Hyderabad). Strangers only for a moment, we all connected easily and eventually shared many ideas, laughs, and plates of food! The YFS staff was also friendly and approachable. I didn’t hesitate setting my safety in their capable hands. 
For the next three days, under the guidance of the Hyderabad chapter of Youth for Seva, we travelled in and around the city. The purpose of this traveling was to visit a variety of NGOs (specialized in different fields) which were partnering volunteer efforts with Youth for Seva. YFS intended to expose the international interns not only to opportunities to build their individual internship projects but to Indian culture as well. Despite myself being of Indian origin, this exposure was vital to expanding my cultural sensitivity as well since each state in India is beautifully unique (in terms of language, attire, food, etiquette etc.) 
All too soon, our orientation came to an end. It was time to head to the real location of our internship. We spent part of the day helping allocate supplies for a School Kit Drive YFS Hyderabad was conducting. The goal of this initiative was to provide free school supplies (sealed inside a new backpack) to approximately 10,000 children all over Hyderabad. After several hours of volunteering, we emerged fatigued but motivated by this ambitious project. We bid thanks + goodbyes to the wonderful team at YFS Hyderabad as well as the other three international interns and boarded a 15-hour bus ride directly to Bengaluru, in the state of Karnataka, India. I chose to do this internship with a team called “Doctors for Seva”, the health initiative of Youth for Seva in Bengaluru. The program Doctors for Seva is focused primarily on raising awareness and accessibility to public health services for marginalized slum populations and students of government schools. Such services include basic medical care, health screenings, health education portals and materials, psychiatric consulting, and access to support groups organized by Doctors for Seva volunteers. The direct relevance to public health is the preventative and treatment based healthcare being offered free of charge to underprivileged children. They benefit from a guaranteed annual medical checkup, any additional medications they need, and a foundation of knowledge about basic health facts and guidelines. DFS Blog:http://doctorsforseva.blogspot.com/ DFS Website:http://www.doctorsforseva.youthforseva.org/
For my first taste of Doctors for Seva (DFS) in action, I accompanied a team of DFS volunteers to a small village near the city of Tumkur (about a 3 hour drive away from Bengaluru). The schedule for the day included a corporate-sponsored school kit distribution carried out by corporate volunteers from Dell (they sponsored the cost of the supplies, assembled, and distributed the kits). In addition, the DFS initiative for the day was a female menstrual hygiene awareness workshop. The workshop wasn’t the one-sided, monotone lecture I endured when in high school. It was epic. Recently, several DFS volunteers had collaborated with graphic designers to create an animated video called “Mythri”. This creative and educational video – both in the native language Kannada and with English subtitles – offered very clean, straightforward, and youth-friendly insight into female menstruation and its myths and facts. The core project I was assigned to was entitled “Doctor at School” (DAS), a public health initiative which focused on providing free medical care to government school children, ranging from age 4-15. DAS accomplished the task of serving government schools all over Bengaluru (with up to 500+ children in each) by recruiting non-medical and medical volunteers to carry out pre-health and health screenings, respectively.
Primarily, I designed and reformatted template letters to send to hospitals and clinics around the city to inform them of our unique volunteering program and recruit medical doctors to conduct health screenings. For approximately a week, I also travelled with my mentor – Shashikala ji, a DFS coordinator – to various government schools and adjacent hospitals/clinics to connect the two entities to each other. Meetings, meetings, meetings! Fortunately, both sides were extremely cooperative and we eventually compiled an organized list of government schools and the medical professionals who would be willing to donate time for a health screening. An interdisciplinary and synergistic approach to health care is vital to progress. I was fortunate to have been connected with Indian and Swiss interns from whom I was exposed to the status of health care policy and delivery in a spectrum of global environments. To add to the discussions, I represented the United States in two scholarly panels conducted in medical colleges, one focused on emergency and critical care and the other on vaccine use and regulation.
And for those of you reading, I urge you to travel. Measure your knowledge in the amount of places you’ve visited, the people you’ve met, and the experiences you’ve been immersed in. Travel is a beautiful catalyst for personal growth and ultimately aids us in making optimum contributions to our global society. Yuva for Sewa is a summer internship offered by Sewa International USA that focuses on service projects in India and Caribbean countries. It is an opportunity for college students to contribute their time to a larger movement of serving humanity.
If you wish to know more about the program log on tohttp://www.sewausa.org/yuva-sewa-appeal and be a part of this wonderful experience. Interested candidates, please apply online @http://www.sewausa.org/yuva-sewa-2013, the applications are accepted on rolling basis, final deadline being April 15th 2014. Sooner you apply sooner you get the decision.

A short film based on stories of success of ordinary and celebrated women in India was released  by the European Union in collaboration with UN Women. Ranging from tales of a mango orchard owner who helps local women set up small businesses to a visually-impaired mountaineer to a pioneering women’s rights activist, the film “Women who Inspire” is filled with candid interviews of those...

 who have fought the odds and achieved their dreams. “It is remarkable what has been achieved by inspiring women in India. This EU film pays tribute to them and applauds their efforts in promoting equality in their communities and further afield,” Joao Cravinho, Ambassador of the European Union to India and for Bhutan, said after releasing the filmn here.
Celebrated women like Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, Kanchan Gaba, the best girl scout of India, Anjum Chopra, a member of the national women’s cricket team have also been interviewed.
“These women who we interviewed for the film are extremely focused and determined. They fought through the patriarchal pressures and reached their goal,” says filmmaker Rohit Monga.
Mountaineer Pal says in the film, “I encourage women to fight for their rights and to have the confidence in themselves to achieve their dreams and when they do so they can help others around them to achieve their dreams.”
Both the EU and UN Women have a long-standing commitment to promoting Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in India and have launched the film to promote the success stories of the women across India.
“We are very conscious about the fact that the world will be a better place for all if we are successful in creating appropriate space for women and empowerment. It will be a better place for men as well. “Now working together with UN women in India to celebrate International Women’s day to celebrate this theme of Inspiring Change, we thought that this would be a good occasion to develop a short film with this theme,” Cravinho said. One of the women filmed by Moga is a tribal living Gujarat who fought the odds to become a grass root entrepreneur. Hirbaiben Ibrahimbhai Lobi, from the Siddi community took a loan to start an organic compost farm and employed women of her community. In no time the women of Jambur village in Gujarat were on their feet, says Moga.
“I believe the determination that Sachin Tendulkar has shown is not comparable to the determination of these amazing ladies. They after being oppressed and broken got the determination and courage to stand up and survive. A women’s determination is way different than a man’s,” Monga said. 

Ever since he tamed a cheetah in Bahrain last year, an animal trainer from India has become a much sought-after name in the Gulf countries for taming wild beasts.
“I am flooded with offers from Oman. I have already received orders to train five cheetahs and four leopards,” Christo Babu, a graduate in business management, said. His ability to tame fierce animals into exotic pets...

 for his clients has earned the 32-year-old Kerala-resident the nickname of ‘Wolf’, the Times of Oman reported. His legend travelled far and wide after ‘Wolf’ was taken to Bahrain by a member of the Royal family who had rehabilitated a four-year-old cheetah from an African country. “Altogether, I have got nine offers from owners from places in Muscat and Salalah,” he said. According to Babu, owners want their pets to behave well in front of their relatives and friends, and also wish to take them along on trips to the desert. “I have advised the owners to start using treadmills for the animals at their homes so that they remain fit and do not become lazy,” he told the newspaper. The demand to hire Babu shows that more and more people are acquiring wild animals and keeping them as pets. His feat could be gauged from the fact that he managed to tame the cheetah in Bahrain after seven trainers had failed in their efforts and Babu said, it was the bond he had formed owing to the proximity with her that helped him win over the animal instinct. “The noise scared her. The first step was to teach the animal to share space. Next was building trust. I would keep some meat lumps in a tray and stand next to it. Initially, the cheetah would grab them and run away. So I started tying the meat lumps on the tray handles so that she would be forced to have her food in front of me,” he said. Babu said he would be flying to Dubai to train a leopard and then travel to Muscat. “I want to specialise in this field because it is a growing market,” he said adding he is also planning to open a training centre for various animals in Muscat soon. ‘Wolf’ has also completed a dog training course in Germany. 

nly makes song-and-dance spectaculars, according to a British film scholar. “After Satyajit Ray there is hardly any Indian filmmaker whom people know of in the rest of the world, Europe in particular,” UK-based film historian and author Geoffrey Nowell-Smith said. He said Ray has been the most famous Indian filmmaker globally and now the general perception in the rest of the world is that India makes...

 only song-and-dance spectaculars and a few adventure stories. He said Ray’s films like ‘Pather Panchali’ has the unique capacity to be universal and particular at the same time which makes his work popular even today in Europe. A recent retrospective of Ray’s films were a hit in London. According to him, best known representatives of Indian art cinema have been Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak, all from West Bengal. “But now people think that Indian cinema is only Bollywood. Regional Indian cinema is hardly known outside,” Geoffrey said. On audience of Indian films abroad, he said those not of Indian origin hardly take any interest. Geoffrey, editor of The Oxford History of World Cinema, was here to deliver a talk on transnational cinema at the British Council. “The audience comprises NRIs and also people from Pakistan, Arab world and a few Europeans,” Geoffrey said. Indian cinema in Britain is, however booming, if one considers the ticket rates. “Tickets for shows of Bollywood films in the West End London cost 10 pounds, the same as for Hollywood. Tickets for live appearances of stars like Shahrukh Khan cost even more,” the scholar said attributing the commercial boom to the large immigrant Indian population in the UK. For popular Indian cinema the main market remains domestic, while for art house cinema it is all about international recognition which comes in the form of awards at Cannes, Venice or Berlin, he said, adding that Indian cinema is a long way from conquering the mainstream. “Indian films are rarely reviewed or advertised in the national (British) press. Indian TV channels draw the bulk of their advertising revenue from travel agents offering cheap flights to Mumbai,” he said. On his opinion of the so-called new wave of content oriented films in Bollywood, he said, “All I can say is that there is slightly more sex now in Hindi films than what used to be ten years ago. The dance movements, in particular, are much more sexier”.

“Ashes were found in a green marble box (manjusha) kept in a box of stone from Sarnath Stupa during the digging carried out by Jagat Singh, diwan of Raja Chaitsingh of Benaras in 1798.
It is believed that the ashes were immersed in river Ganga and manjusha was handed over to a museum in Kolkata,” the eastern region of Archaeological Survey of India said. Meanwhile, between 1958 and 1981, K P Jaiswal Institute in Patna started an excavation around the Stupa in Vaishali of Bihar under the supervision of A S Altekar, wherein they found another manjusha with remains of Lord Buddha, which is now kept in the Patna museum. During the British Raj, in the West-North part of Nagarjunakonda Buddh Mahachait, a coolie found a small broken pot containing the remains which were confirmed of Lord Buddha after examinations.

The report from southern region of ASI mentions that “From 1926 to 1931, the then ASI Superintendent of southern circle A H Longhrst carried out excavation at Nagarjunakonda.” About 500 statues depicting various incidents related to Lord Buddha were found in the excavation, it said. Longhrst in one of his report’s has said remains (of Buddha) were kept in the west-north part of the stupa instead of centre so they could not be found by the treasure hunters.