MONDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2017

CAMPUS | 3 BOLLYWOOD | 11

ISL Qatar hosts Fourth Annual Winter Carnival

Shraddha Kapoor happy for her music career

TOWARDS INNER

HARMONY

To guide and help people at a broader scale, Vishnu Prasad launched his book “Silence to Stillness” which he says is a practical guide to enhance and deepen one’s meditation practice.

P | 4-5

MARKET PLACE SUNDAY 17 SEPTEMBER 201702

CAMPUSMONDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2017 03

ISL Qatar hosts fourthannual Winter CarnivalThe International School of

London, Qatar (ISL Qatar) hosted its fourth annual Win-

ter Carnival at its campus in North Duhail recently. The school’s atrium, gym and playground were trans-formed into a winter wonderland.

The event attracted more than 1,000 visitors from the student body, parents and the ISL Qatar community.

The crowd enjoyed musical per-formances by the talented choir of ISL Qatar as well as the popular Doha singers who performed some of their well-known pieces.

With more than 50 unique ven-dors selling arts, crafts and baked goodies, they contributed in mak-ing the fourth edition of the ISL

Qatar Winter Carnival the most suc-cessful thus far.

The ISL Qatar’s Student Coun-cil also organised several activities for the visitors, including henna, face painting, cookie decorating and games.

As part of the event, ISL Qatar focus on charitable activities, the proceeds of the Winter Carnival were donated to ISL Qatar’s chari-table actions.

ISL Qatar thanked their spon-sors and visitors for raising QR20,000 this year.

Santa Fe Relocation and Guid-ance Events supported the event by providing the popular Bouncy Cas-tle and Box Maze and an endless supply of Popcorn for the visitors.

Qatar Star Services and Orien-tal Pearl Restaurant also sponsored the event.

“We express our gratitude to our students, parents and ISL Qatar community for being a part of a wonderful afternoon and a great

cause. It is one of our values to focus on charitable activities and we try to instil these values in our students. We look forward to wel-coming the community to our future events.” said David Monk, Head of School.

COVER STORY MONDAY 27 NOVEMBER 201704

Irfan Bukhari The Penisnula

Vishnu Prasad believes that yoga is beyond

“touching our toes” and its magic lies in “touch-ing our souls”. Vishnu,

a Doha-based wellness consultant also believes that through practic-ing yoga, people can regain their lost flexibility of body and adapta-bility of mind turning them capable of overcoming challenges with a smiling face. “I started learning the art and science of yoga and other holistic wellness systems at the age of 15 while my father wants to see me as a mechanical engineer,” says Vishnu.

To guide and help people at a broader scale, Vishnu recently launched his book “Silence to Still-ness” which he says is a practical guide to enhance and deepen one’s meditation practice.

Talking to The Peninsula, he

said that the book was authored as a practical guide to meditation.

“There is no philosophy rather it has been designed for a laymen who not only can easily understand but also practice yoga with its help.”

“I strongly believe this book can give the answers to many of your questions and give you clarity that will help you enter a deeper state in meditation and enhance your meditation journey.”

The book was launched on November 13 at Four Season Hotel Doha with Hassan Al Thawadi, the Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Leg-acy as chief guest of the ceremony.

Equipped with knowledge, experience and academic degrees and certificates in holistic sciences, Vishnu started his career from Ker-ala, India then after serving in Maldives, Oman finally settled in Qatar four years ago.

“I had an inborn proclivity

towards holistic sciences.” Vishnu delivers lessons to group

sessions at various luxury hotels of Doha as well as instructs to private clients.

“There are around 6 to 7 classes a day; one to two for groups while others are private sessions. In one group around 40 people participate while the session lasts for 90 minutes.”

He thinks that lack of under-standing about yoga, found few years back, here in Qatar is not a today’s phenomenon.

“People’s interest and under-standing on the subject is growing with the passage of time. They know now that yoga is not the name of just flexibility; it is greater than this limited concept. It is attaining inner-harmony and peace which ultimately reflects through your actions and attitudes towards rela-tionships and ability to cope with everyday stress and challenges.”

He said that 300 people

participated in International Yoga Day event, recently held.

“People representing all nation-alities are taking interest in yoga and other holistic sciences.”

He says yoga magically improves one’s physical and men-tal performance. “It takes its practitioner to an inner journey. It is the science and art of stress-man-agement and self-management.”

Vishnu, a Middle East Award winning, young well-being consult-ant is also founder of “Vishnu Wellness and Swasthi Yoga”.

He has International TTC Diploma in Yoga and Yoga Philos-ophy from India and now holds the title of Yoga Shiromani. Vishnu has an International ISO 9001-2000 skill quality tested certification in personal training and Pilates; post-graduate diploma from Pevonia Botanicals Australia; diet and nutri-tion; anatomy and physiology; ayurveda; health club management among others.

Towards Inner Harmony

COVER STORYMONDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2017 05

He says that teaching the stand-ard yoga or Pilates does not deliver immediate results in this fast-paced world. With this concept, Vishnu has developed a better way of achieving transformation within weeks – Swasthi Yoga and Total Pilates.

To a question about Swasthi Yoga, he said this unique style aims to transform one’s development to help achieve unlimited and unbe-lievable progress within a shorter period of time.

“You may have been practicing for years or just started, it still takes a long time to achieve a master strength, flexibility and progress.”

“As a result, many people stop practicing early due to disappoint-ment, frustration and laziness.

“Swasthi Yoga”, “Swasthi” or “Svasti” is a Sanskrit word meaning well-being, success.”

Swasthi Yoga, he says, empha-sises your wellness potential and ability. Swasthi Yoga is originally based on Hatha yoga. “It is famous for its miraculous healing ability and fast transformational power in one’s practice. It is a very powerful 90-minute series of yoga postures and breathing exercises, internal o r g a n , a n d g l a n d

while systematically moving fresh, oxygenated blood to 100 percent of your body with an added equal activation of the entire diameter of the body.”

He says Swasthi Yoga builds strength, balance, flexibility, health and peace of mind. “Lung capacity is expanded, leading to greater vitality. Bones are strengthened. Joints are opened and lubricated. Muscles are strengthened, toned, and made more flexible. By the end of each Swasthi Yoga class, you will have worked every muscle, tendon, joint, ligament, internal organ, and gland while systematically moving fresh, oxygenated blood to 100% of your body with an added equal acti-vation of the entire diameter of the body.”

He said that yoga also helps fighting diseases. “Many cancer patients are doing classes with me. They feel inner strength to fight against the disease as health starts from the mind.”

On detox yoga, he said: “Most forms of vigorous exercise stimu-late all three systems of elimination to some extent, thereby helping the body in its quest to cleanse and detox. But yoga, with its focus on systematically stretching and

compressing every part of the body, is particularly well-suited to keep-ing the waste-removal departments of the body functioning well.”

“In a well-rounded yoga prac-tice, every part of the body is pushed, pulled, twisted, turned and upended. This facilitates the removal of waste products such as carbon dioxide, lactic acid and lym-phatic fluid from the deep tissues and extremities of the body.”

On another type, slimming power yoga, Vishnu said that it was about calorie burning; increasing

stamina, strength, flexibility and tone; promoting blood circulation; boosting immune system; alleviat-ing stress and tension; eliminating toxins through sweat and improv-ing mood.

On full moon yoga, Vishnu said that it is a great chance for an out-door gathering when energy vibration is perfect. “Like oceans, moon has impact on our bodies as well because they are composed of 70 percent of water. Full moon yoga eliminates toxins from our bodies.”

COMMUNITY MONDAY 27 NOVEMBER 201706Banana Island Resort Doha by Anantara appoints Resort Manager

Minor Hotels, a hotel owner, operator and investor, cur-rently with a portfolio of

154 hotels and resorts in 24 coun-tries across Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Europe, South America, Africa and the Indian Ocean announced the appointment of Emad Nabulsi (pictured) as the new Resort Man-ager for Banana Island Resort Doha by Anantara.

Emad is a Certified Six Sigma Green Belt with a positive reputa-tion for proactive leadership, refined business acumen and exem-plary team facilitation approaches.

He holds an MBA from the American University of Culture & Education in Lebanon, a Bachelor Science Degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management from Amman Al Ahlya University in Jordan, and a Diploma in Hotel Management

from the Jordan Applied University College of Hospitality and Tourism Education.

Emad’s early days in hospital-ity started in Jordan in the year 2000, he successfully climbed the hospitality career ladder at the Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, in mul-tiple positions within Rooms Division, and Operations focusing on Quality Assurance.

During his tenure, the hotel achieved the rank of 3 on the Conde Nast Traveler Hot List of ‘100 Best New Hotels in the Middle East

– 2007’.Emad’s established the path for

the hotel’s grand opening overseas in Maldives as the Resort Manager.

“I am hotelier who grew up with a passion for service. Born in the lovely hospitable country of Jordan where we have a lot of visitors for

Petra – one of the Seven Wonders of the World – and Dead Sea, my studies were focused on hospitality where I learned from the best lead-ers in the industry. Being a proactive self-leader, Hospitality for me is all about love and providing the finest

service, we do our best to exceed the guest’s expectations by having a great guest experience, I am excited and proud to be part of a team man-aging a landmark in Qatar, Banana Island Resort Doha by Ananatra”, Emad said.

NIS marks National Integration Day

On November 23, a culmina-tion of events observing National Integration Day

was celebrated in all campuses of Noble International School (NIS).

The entire week was well organised with an array of pro-grammes and competitions held in order to spread awareness to the children.

Children understood the need for communal harmony through various aspects that prove the sig-nificance of integration of people and communities.

It was more of a celebration at the primary campus where the

children learnt the importance of National Integration Day through art and performance.

Students staged a skit depict-ing communal harmony, a patriotic song rendering their respect and dignity for the nation and a paint-ing competition portraying a visual appeal towards the observation of National Integration.

There were many noted speeches and seminars conducted, wherein, Shibu Abdul Rasheed , School Principal, expressed his outlook on women empowerment and the empowerment of margin-alised people.

Master Varun Muhil V and Subittcha M of MES Indian School

won first positions in the sen-ior and junior categories respectively in the finals of Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam Memorial Tamil Elocution Competition 2017, held at Indian Cultural Centre on November 18.

Nine students in the senior category and the same number

of students in the junior cate-gory from 11 Indian schools were selected for the final round of competition based on their meritorious performance in the preliminary rounds held in September last.

Amutha Sumathi P, teacher of Tamil language was the coor-dinator for the teams representing MES Indian School. MES Indian School students

win Elocution Competition

COMMUNITYMONDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2017 07Indonesian community supports

crowdfunding campaign for R-80

The Indonesian diaspora com-munity in Qatar supports the

“crowdfunding” effort for the development of the R80 turboprop aircraft designed by the Third Indo-nesian President, Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie (BJ Habibie).

The remarks were made by the Indonesian Ambassador to Qatar, Air Marshal (ret) Muhammad Basri Sidehabi in a meeting with the diaspora community and PT Regio Aviasi Industri (RAI) delegation led by Deputy Finance Director of Funding Rice, Desra Firza Ghazfan in Doha recently.

Chairman of the Indonesian Diasporas Network in Qatar (IDN-Q), Agri Sumara expressed an appreciation for the participation and support of the community for

organising the successful R-80 socialisation event. The activity was part of visits by PT RAI to other Gulf countries such as Kuwait and Oman.

According to Desra Ghazfan, the R80 project needs funds but until now it has not been fulfilled yet.

There is also a 55 percent of R80 financing coming from the country, among others through non-finan-cial investment financing (PINA), national private sector, crowdfund-ing and vendors.

“We hope that Indonesian diasporas can be the eyes, ears and hands for R80, to be able to pro-vide information about opportunity, to be ambassadors of the R80 project, and to become a protector of its continuity,” said Desra.

He added that airlines such as NAM Air, Kalstar, Trigana Air and Aviastar have expressed their inter-est to book a total of up to 155 of R80 aircrafts through Letter of Interest (LOI). Orders from NAM Air are 100 units, Kalstar 25 units, Tri-gana Air 20 units and Aviastar 10 units.

According to the Indonesian

Embassy’s Minister Counselor, Boy Dharmawan, crowdfunding is not solely about financing of the project, but efforts to tap the heart and to open the people minds on how importance the project for the future glory of the nation.

This project is also a goal of BJ Habibie for Indonesia to be able to create the aircraft independently.

Bazm-e-Urdu organises seminar on Sir Syed Ahmad Khan

Bazm e Urdu Qatar (Estab-lished 1959) organised their 14th International

Seminar on Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, an educator, politician and an Islamic reformist, and Mushaira on November 23, at Venus Hall of Radisson Blu Hotel Doha.

The programme was pre-sided over by Patron in Chief of Bazm e Urdu, M S Bukhari (Man-aging Director SATCO Group).

A renowned writer, poet and critic from India was the Chief Guest and honourable speaker.

The speaker had lectured on Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, one of the architects of modern India.

Sir Syed pioneered modern education for the Muslim

community in India by founding the Muhammedan Anglo-Orien-tal College, which later developed into Aligarh Muslim University.

Second session of Interna-tional Mushaira was presided over by Sabeeh Bukhari, Mush-taq Noori was the Chief guest and Chief of honour were BU patron Hassan chougule , vice Patron BU Habibun Nabi and Milan Arun elected first lady president of ICC Qatar, BU rep-resented by Chairman Shaukat Naz.

First session of the program was conduted by Shaukat Ali Naz and second session compared by Ahmed Ashfaq, General Secretary.

India bags Doha Bank Challengers Cup

India bagged Doha Bank Challengers Cup among 20 countries participated in the Inter Community Table Tennis Tournament organised by Qatar Table Tennis Association (QTTA ) and Indian

Sports Centre on November 23 and 24 at Qatar Table Tennis Train-ing Centre.

It is a first of its kind in Qatar where communities from 20 countries as France , Egypt , Indonesia , India , Lebanon , Philip-pines, Nepal , Pakistan , Thailand , South Korea , Ghana , Tunisia , Libya , Vietnam , Sudan , Iraq , Yemen , Poland and Qatar partic-ipated in this tournament having 200 participants of various age groups including children .

The function was held in presence of Ambassadors of India , Tunisia , Thailand , Charge d affairs of Embassy of Sri Lanka and senior embassy officials of Indonesia and Nepal along with QTTA Deputy General Secretary, board members and community leaders.

In the Inauguration ceremony, Nilangshu Dey , President of Indian Sports Centre expressed their gratitude to QTTA for pro-viding the opportunity in organising the Table Tennis festival for all expatriate communities and assured to organize such tourna-ments in future to promote table tennis among all expatriates in Qatar .

LIFESTYLE MONDAY 27 NOVEMBER 201708The Washington Post

You might already have a plan for your holiday cookie bak-ing or new garland doorway

display. But some of the most sat-isfying preparations for the holidays involve more mundane pursuits: making order in a small corner of your home, stocking what you’ll need for a seasonal chore, or decluttering unneeded or worn-out items.

Clea Shearer and Joanna Tep-lin are experts in this kind of orderly living. They run the Home Edit, a home organisation company based in Nashville, Tennessee, that takes a stylized approach to editing and arranging, and they’re also home organising consultants for Target.

They know how to make ordi-nary stuff look good: They have clients (including Gwyneth Paltrow and Rachel Zoe) throughout the country and more than 330,000 followers on Instagram.

Shearer says, “The holidays are supposed to be a joyous time. To make that happen, the most won-derful thing to do is to cleanse your house of things you don’t like or don’t need.”

The fast-paced weeks ahead will be more pleasant if you strat-egise ways to accomplish your holiday to-do list in calm, not chaos.

“We all know what’s coming is not like a random birthday party; it’s like a lot of birthday parties all at once,” Teplin says. “Set yourself up for success this year.”

Here are five lifestyle sugges-tions from the Home Edit team that could help.

Purge as many items as you can. Now is the time to take toys your kids don’t use to a donation center or donate your outgrown coats to a shelter.

You’ll be making way for new toys and new clothes. Get nonprofit groups that have donation trucks to pick up at your house and finally get rid of bulky unused items such as doll houses.

For gently worn clothes and smaller items, the team suggests packing them into shopping bags or boxes and immediately getting them out of your house by placing them in your car. You’ll be sure to

drop them off sooner rather than later, Teplin says.

Set up a gift-wrapping station. Even if it’s a corner of a desk, the back of a closet or a mere plastic tub, designate a place for all things gift wrap. “It doesn’t have to be a Beverly Hills mansion-style wrap-ping room,” Shearer says.

“Just keep all the stuff together and you can wrap on the floor or kitchen table.”

In addition to rolls of paper and gift bags and tags, make sure you have several pairs of scissors and at least two rolls of tape on hand. They suggest choosing a festive paper, maybe in gold or silver, that would be appropriate for either Christmas or Hanukkah, plus other occasions.

Revisit your coat closet. The front-hall closet is often the repos-itory of sports equipment, boots and vacuums. With company on its way, you’ll need that space for puffy coats and hooded parkas. Transi-tion into the winter season by

emptying it and putting away sun-screen and baseball hats. Put a bin or tray for boots in the bottom. Get extra hangers for visiting coats.

“Buy heavy-weight hangers, not something flimsy,” Shearer says.

“For coats, you really need a wooden hanger.”

Dedicate an area to holiday correspondence. If exchanging cards is one of your favourite parts of the holiday season, make the process easier. You can order your cards from an online stationer, add-ing in your own photos. (Shearer and Teplin use Minted.)

Technology has changed how many of us store and update addresses, from keeping contacts on a cellphone to maintaining an online database. If you’re diligent, you update your addresses all year. But for those who can’t keep up, Shearer suggests using a custom card service that will email every person in your database before sending out your cards to make sure their address is correct.

If you write your own cards,

gather them and your stamps in one place. Create a basket to collect cards you receive. You can display cards on a mantel or bulletin board, or get creative: Hang a wire and pin cards on it with clothespins.

Edit holiday decorations and

entertaining supplies as you put them out. The Home Edit team is convinced that you’ll be more dili-gent about evaluating your holiday decorations when you are decking your halls. They suggest decorating your tree with a shopping bag nearby that you’ll fill with the San-tas that are looking a bit tired and the reindeer that have lost their sparkle.

“If you wait, in the rush to clean up the holiday at the end of the year, you’ll probably just shove stuff in boxes and bags just to get it packed up for the season,” Shearer says.

Teplin advises clients to “take out holiday serving pieces and tableware, wash them and have them ready to use.” If you find a chipped dinner plate or two, she says, now’s the time to order more.

Five ways to organise your holidays

FOODMONDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2017 09

Charlotte DruckmanThe Washington Post

As this rendition proves, the addition of chopped pickles is one of the better things to happen to this Ameri-

can staple. Working cottage cheese, Sriracha and — the real trick — some reserved pickle juice into the batter might just land this in the baking canon.

10 to 12 servings

Ingredients2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) Big

Batch Cornmeal Dry Mix (stir well before using)

1 1/2 teaspoons table salt1/2 teaspoon freshly ground

black pepper1/2 cup buttermilk1/2 cup cottage cheese, prefer-

ably full fat

2 large eggs1 cup drained bread-and-but-

ter pickles, coarsely chopped, plus 1 tablespoon of their pickle juice (from the jar)

2 tablespoons Sriracha (may substitute hot sauce of your choice)

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted melted butter, plus 1 teaspoon for the skillet

1/4 cup chopped fresh chives2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

StepsPreheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Preheat a 9-inch cast-iron skillet on the stove on low heat, gradually increasing the heat to medium.

Combine the Big Batch Corn-meal Dry Mix, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl.

Use a fork to whisk together the buttermilk, cottage cheese, eggs, the tablespoon of pickle juice and the Sriracha in a large liquid

measuring cup until well blended. Pour over the dry ingredients along with the 8 tablespoons of melted butter, the chopped pickles, chives and dill; use a flexible spatula to stir and form a lumpy batter.

Melt the remaining teaspoon of butter in the hot skillet, tilting to coat. Scrape the batter into the pre-pared pan and spread evenly. Bake (middle rack) until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes.

Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 15 to 20 minutes. Run a round-edged knife around the edges to loosen the bread, then invert onto the rack and lift off the pan. Let cool completely before serving. (The bread can also be served directly out of the skillet.)

Nutrition: Per serving (based on 12): 210 calories, 5 g protein, 25 g carbohydrates, 10 g fat, 5 g

saturated fat, 55 mg cholesterol, 590 mg sodium, 2 g dietary fiber, 7 g sugar.

Three-Step Basic CakeTo make a basic single-layer

cake (8-inch square or 9-inch round) or loaf cake (8 1/2-by-4 1/2 inches), use a fork to whisk together 2 1/2 cups Big Batch Dry Mix, 1/3 cup granulated sugar or packed light or dark brown sugar and up to 2 tea-spoons spices in a mixing bowl.

Whisk together 1 cup buttermilk, unsweetened coconut milk, water or a fruit puree, 2 large eggs, up to 1 1/2 tablespoons flavorings, 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, 8 tablespoons unsalted melted but-ter in a liquid measuring cup, then pour over the dry mixture, along with up to 1 1/2 cups of add-ins. Stir to form a lumpy batter. Pour into a greased/floured pan, scatter pre-bake toppings over the surface.

Bake in a 375-degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes (square or round) or 55 to 60 minutes (loaf), until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 to 20 minutes on a wire rack before removing from the pan to cool completely.

To make a two-layer cake, dou-ble the recipe and bake in two pans.

Three-Step Basic Corn Bread (Sweet)

To make an 8-inch square or loaf (8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches), use a fork to whisk together 2 1/2 cups Big Batch Cornmeal Dry Mix, 1/3 to 1/2 cup granulated sugar or packed light or dark brown sugar and up to 1 teaspoon spices in a mixing bowl.

Whisk together 1 cup buttermilk, unsweetened coconut milk or a fruit puree, 2 large eggs, up to 1 1/2 table-spoons flavorings and 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract in a liquid measuring cup, then pour over the dry mixture, along with 8 tablespoons unsalted melted but-ter and up to 1 cup of add-ins (optional). Gently fold until well blended, then pour into the greased/floured pan.

Bake in a 350-degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes (square) or 50 to 55 minutes (loaf). Cool on a wire rack for 15 to 20 minutes in the pan, then dislodge to cool completely.

Bread-n-Butter pickle corn bread

HEALTH MONDAY 27 NOVEMBER 201710

Reuters

Expectant parents are bringing back the sur-prise element of having a baby by learning the results of prenatal ultrasound reports

in ever more elaborate “gender-reveal” parties.

In front of friends and relatives, they play treasure-hunt style guessing games, pop bal-loons to watch either pink or blue confetti fall, and cut into frosted cakes to discover the colour of their unborn baby’s future. Loved ones squeal

– usually, but not always, with delight – and often they broadcast video of their celebrations across their social networks.

But, in an editorial online in Paediatrics, a paediatric endocrinologist questions the merits of this trendy pre-parenting custom.

“Are these traditions truly harmless?” asks Dr. Leena Nahata, a professor at The Ohio State University College of Medicine in Columbus. “By celebrating this single ‘fact’ several months before an infant’s birth, are we risking commit-ting ourselves and others to a particular vision and a set of stereotypes that are actually poten-tially harmful?”

Nahata works with transgender children and families of infants born with congenital conditions that complicate a gender designa-tion. Currently, she writes in her editorial, 1 in 4,500 to 5,500 infants are born with such conditions.

Nahata counsels parents as they wrestle to recast stories they told themselves about their children’s futures, dreams of cheering on a son at a Little League game or shopping for a prom dress with a daughter.

She developed a deeper understanding of what the parents of her patients experience four years ago, when she was visibly pregnant and everyone she met asked the same question:

“What are you having?”She’d chosen not to know the gender of her

unborn child. But the more she replied that she didn’t know, the more she came to understand the struggles of her patients’ families.

“It was eye-opening,” Nahata said in an inter-view. “If we can’t identify people by their gender, we’re at a loss to identify them.”

Nahata is not advocating doing away with gender-reveal parties. Instead, she’s holding up the popular fad to interrogate the emphasis soci-ety places on gender, even before a child is born.

Her questions: “Why do we focus on gender as early as pregnancy, and if it’s planning, what are we planning? Is it so important to know and celebrate this one aspect of a child? What expec-tations do we hold for our child just based on gender? How does that shape our expectations of our children?”

Meanwhile, she said, “I think it’s notable that as these gender reveals are becoming more and more elaborate, we’re having increasing aware-ness in paediatric healthcare that gender may not be as straightforward, or as black and white, as we once thought.”

In her presentations as medical director of the Center for Transyouth Health and Develop-ment at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy uses gender-reveal par-ties as an example of what she sees as the outsized expectations people put on children’s expected gender.

“I have seen the fallout of what it means to a

child when their gender was different than their assigned gender at birth,” Olson-Kennedy said in an interview.

“The parents of the trans kids I take care of will often say, ‘I have to mourn the loss of a son or a daughter.’ But your kid’s not dead. You’re mourning the future stories about whatever it is that you’ve created about your child.”

She applauded the editorial for opening a conversation and welcomed Nahata’s sugges-tion that instead of labour room doctors or nurses proclaiming, “It’s a boy,” or “It’s a girl,” they announce, “Congratulations, you have a beau-tiful infant!”

The imagery of gender-reveal parties - pis-tols or pearls, wheels or heels, m&m’s with nuts or no nuts - strikes Olson-Kennedy as hyper-masculine and hyper-feminine.

“Why are we talking about wheels and heels?” she asked. “Why do we have to have such strong messages about what boys and girls should wear, what they should play with? Why do we have to be gender police?”

“It boxes people in,” she said.Dr. Peter Lee, a paediatric endocrinologist

and professor at Penn State College of Medi-cine in Hersey, Pennsylvania, said that long before marketers assigned pink to girls and blue to girls, men wore high heels to horse-back ride, and European men outfitted themselves in lace.

“I sort of thought pink and blue, these colours, were something that was in the past,” he said.

“Gender-reveal parties are overemphasising the gender. The excitement of having a new life - independent of gender - is something to be celebrated.”

What’s wrong with gender-reveal parties?

BOLLYWOODMONDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2017 11

Shraddha Kapoor happy for her music careerIANS

Actress Shraddha Kapoor (pic-tured), who has sung songs like “Sab tera” and “Phir bhi

tumko chaahungi”, is happy that besides acting, she gets to pursue a music career too.

Shraddha feels grateful with the positive reviews she has received for her songs.

“I feel so grateful for the love. I feel like I already have a musical career too. Have sung quite a few songs,” Shraddha said in a statement.

“There is no need to choose (one of them). I love both,” she said.

Shraddha, who has worked

with Mohit Suri in films like “Aash-iqui 2”, “Ek Villain” and “Half Girlfriend”, says working with the filmmaker is always “very special” for her.

“He is so involved and driven as a filmmaker that everyone is influenced by his passion. I know him now for five years. He has become a very close friend and someone I look up to as well. Truly admire the passion with which he approaches his work,” Shraddha said ahead of the television pre-miere of “Half Girlfriend” on Zee Cinema.

Shraddha will next be seen in “Saaho” and tennis ace Saina Nehw-al’s biopic.

IFFI’s Indian Panorama jury to screen ‘S Durga’ todayAfter days of delay, the IFFI’s Indian Pan-

orama jury will view the controversial film ‘S Durga’ today, a jury member said.

“We have been informed by IFFI that the film will be screened at 6pm on Monday,” the jury member said on the condition of anonymity.

The screening for the 10-member jury will be held at the festival grounds in Panaji.

Mumbai-based director and screenwriter Ruchi Narain also confirmed the screening of

the film for the jury. “We have been informed about the screening details by IFFI,” she said yesterday.

The Sanal Kumar Sasidharan film was dropped from the screening schedule of the 48th International Film Festival of India, along with another film ‘Nude’, triggering controversy.

Three members, including the head of the jury panel Sujoy Ghosh, have resigned from their position in protest against the dropping

of the two films, while six jury members have written to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry raising concerns over the dropping, after they were cleared by the festival jury.

After Sasidharan petitioned the Kerala High Court, the court directed IFFI to screen the film at the festival, after a censored version of the movie was screened for the jury.

An appeal by the Information and Broad-casting Ministry to stay the court direction was also rejected by the High Court on Friday.

Manushi Chhillar comes home to grand welcomeIANS

India’s Manushi Chhillar (pic-tured), who made the country proud by winning the Miss

World 2017 and landed in Mumbai to a warm welcome, thanked fans for showering her with love.

“I thank each and every one who came to welcome me. It was over-whelming and I am grateful for your support. Thank you for showering me with all your love,” Manushi said in a statement.

The Haryana girl broke the 16-year jinx for India at the Miss

World 2017 pageant with her win. The last Miss World from India was Priyanka Chopra in 2000.

When Manushi came out of the international airport here late on Saturday night, she was greeted with numerous fans chanting “India, India” as they held up Indian flags and posters of Manushi. The post-ers read: “Welcome back Manushi Chhillar”, “Manushi Chhillar is Beauty with Brains, Miss World 2017”.

“Feels great to be back home. Thank you India, for such a grand welcome,” Manushi tweeted.

ENTERTAINMENT MONDAY 27 NOVEMBER 201712

Uma Thurman slams Weinstein over harassment issueThe Washington Post

Last month, a red carpet inter-view with Uma Thurman (pictured) went viral after she

declined to answer a question about the wave of harassment claims sweeping Hollywood in light of alle-gations against Harvey Weinstein. She said the women who were speaking up were commendable, but she didn’t want to say much more.

With a fierce expression, she simply replied, “I don’t have a tidy sound bite for you, because I’ve learned - I’m not a child - and I’ve learned that when I’ve spoken in anger I usually regret the way I express myself. So I’ve been wait-ing to feel less angry. And when I’m ready, I’ll say what I have to say.”

On Thanksgiving, Thurman appeared to be ready to get the con-versation started.

On Instagram, she posted the requisite message of gratitude - with a twist. She said she was grateful for a number of things,

including “those who have the cour-age to stand up for others.”

“I said I was angry recently, and I have a few reasons, #metoo, in case you couldn’t tell by the look on my face,” she wrote.

“I feel it’s important to take your time, be fair, be exact, so ... Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! (Except you Harvey, and all your wicked conspir-ators - I’m glad it’s going slowly - you don’t deserve a bullet) -stay tuned.”

Clearly, she has more to say at

some point.Thurman starred in a number

of movies that Weinstein produced, as both she and Weinstein were fre-quent collaborators with director Quentin Tarantino.

Weinstein’s Miramax was behind “Pulp Fiction” and both vol-umes of “Kill Bill.” Thurman also starred in the Miramax movies

“Beautiful Girls” and “A Month by the Lake.”

Tarantino has also spoken out

against Weinstein - and taken him-self to task - following the many public accusations against the former producer.

Tarantino told the New York Times that he knew of the more serious allegations long before the stories broke, because he had dated one of Weinstein’s accusers, Mira Sorvino.

“I knew enough to do more than I did,” he said, and referenced other episodes with prominent actresses.

“There was more to it than just the normal rumors, the normal gossip. It wasn’t secondhand. I knew he did a couple of these things.”

The director also knew about the settlement that Weinstein and another accuser, Rose McGowan, had reached. Still, he was shocked by how many people Weinstein allegedly victimised. With so many women coming forward with their stories, he suspects things may finally change in the industry.

“What was previously accepted is now untenable to anyone of a certain consciousness,” he said.

Soul singer Wayne Cochran dies at 78The Washington Post

For a few years in the 1960s and 1970s, one of the music world’s most extraordinary

showmen was a Georgia-born rhythm-and-blues singer named Wayne Cochran. Inspired by the vocal styles of soul superstars Otis Redding and James Brown, he was once billed as the “White Knight of Soul.”

With his gravelly voice, grav-ity-defying hairstyle and outrageously dynamic perform-ances, Cochran became a favourite and was an influence on Elvis Presley. He had an unforgetta-ble stage presence that led entertainer Jackie Gleason to call him “the wildest guy I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Cochran died on November 21 at his home in Miramar, Florida. He was 78.

The cause was cancer, said a grandson, Jason Cochran.

Cochran began his career in the

1950s, singing country and rockabilly music and writing songs. One of his tunes, “Last Kiss,” became a major hit for two other groups, 35 years apart.

In the 1960s, he was a headliner in Las Vegas and appeared on national televi-sion and at the Apollo theater in Harlem. He recorded sev-eral albums and was sometimes proclaimed “the King of Blue-Eyed Soul” and

“the white James Brown,” after whom he patterned much of his stage style.

Writing for the website Allmusic.com, musi-cian Steve Leggett called Cochran “one of the true unsung heroes of rock and roll.”

His band, the C C Riders, included backup sing-ers and a blazing horn section, all performing slick, choreographed moves. His shows had no stopping point: The band kept vamping from one song to the next, as the music and audience reached a point of frenzy.

Jennifer Lawrence

wants to take

acting hiatusIANS

Actress Jennifer Lawrence says she wants to take a break from acting and milk

goats at a farm.In an interview with Elle mag-

azine, the Academy Award-winning actress revealed that after seven years of shooting an average of three films a year, she was ready for a break, reports people.com.

“I want to get a farm. I want to be, like, milking goats,” said Lawrence.

She also plans to spend addi-tional time working with Represent.us, an organisation which aims to end political corruption. She is cur-rently on its board.

Lawrence was the highest-paid actress in the world in 2015 and 2016.

SCIENCEMONDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2017 13AFP

Coral bred in one part of the Great Barrier Reef was successfully transplanted into another area, Australian scientists said, in

a project they hope could restore damaged eco-systems around the world.

In a trial at the reef’s Heron Island off Aus-tralia’s east coast, the researchers collected large amount of coral spawn and eggs late last year, grew them into larvae and then transplanted them into areas of damaged reef.

When they returned eight months later, they found juvenile coral that had survived and grown, aided by underwater mesh tanks.

“The success of this new research not only applies to the Great Barrier Reef but has poten-tial global significance,” lead researcher Peter Harrison of Southern Cross University said.

“It shows we can start to restore and repair damaged coral populations where the natural supply of coral larvae has been compromised.”

Harrison said his mass larval-restoration approach contrasts with the current “coral gar-dening” method of breaking up healthy coral and sticking healthy branches on reefs in the hope they will regrow, or growing coral in nurs-eries before transplantation.

He was optimistic his approach, which was earlier successfully trialled in the Philippines in an area of reef highly degraded by blast fishing, could help reefs recover on a larger scale.

“The results are very promising and our work

shows that adding higher densities of coral lar-vae leads to higher numbers of successful coral recruits.”

The Great Barrier Reef, the largest living structure on Earth, is reeling from an unprece-dented second-straight year of coral bleaching because of warming sea temperatures linked to climate change.

The chief scientist of the Great Barrier Reef

Marine Park Authority, the government agency that manages the area, said there was a need for such efforts amid the accelerating impacts of cli-mate change.

“The success of these first trials is encourag-ing -- the next challenge is to build this into broader scale technology that is going to make a difference to the Reef as a whole,” David Wachenfeld said.

Why the nights are getting brighter – but not in a good wayReuters

The world is getting brighter, but scientists say that may not be a good thing.

Researchers said satellite data showed that Earth’s artificially lit outdoor surface at night grew by about 2 percent annually in bright-ness and area from 2012 to 2016, underscoring concerns about the ecological effects of light pollution on people and animals.

The rate of growth observed in developing countries was much faster than in already brightly lit rich countries.

The researchers said the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather satellite data may understate the situation because its sensor cannot detect some of the LED lighting that is

becoming more widespread, spe-cifically blue light.

“Earth’s night is getting brighter. And I actually didn’t expect it to be so uniformly true that so many countries would be getting brighter,” said physicist Christo-pher Kyba of the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, who led the research published in the journal Science Advances.

With few exceptions, growth in nighttime light was observed throughout South America, Africa and Asia. Light remained stable in only a few countries. These included some of the world’s brightest such as Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the US, although the researchers said the satellite sen-sor’s “blindness” to some LED light may mask an actual increase.

Australia’s lit area decreased

due to wildfires. Nighttime light declined in war-hit Syrian and Yemen.

Ecologist Franz Hölker of Ger-many’s Leibniz-Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) said “light pollu-tion has ecological consequences, with natural light cycles disrupted by artificial light introduced into the nighttime environment. Increased sky glow can affect human sleep.”

“In addition to threatening 30 percent of vertebrates that are nocturnal and over 60 percent of invertebrates that are nocturnal, artificial light also affects plants and microorganisms,” Hölker said.

“It threatens biodiversity through changed night habits, such as reproduction or migration patterns, of many different species: insects,

amphibians, fish, birds, bats and other animals.”

Kyba said nighttime lighting also obscures the stars that peo-ple have witnessed for millennia.

Experts had hoped the grow-ing use of highly efficient LED lighting might lessen energy usage worldwide. The new findings indi-cate use of artificial lighting instead is growing, increasing energy demand.

“While we know that LEDs save energy in specific projects, for example when a city transitions all of its street lighting from sodium lamps to LED, when we look at our data and we look at the national and the global level, it indicates that these savings are being offset by either new or brighter lights in other places,” Kyba said.

Coral transplant raises Barrier Reef survival hopes

BABY BLUES

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

The inspiring true love story of Robin and Diana Cavendish, an

adventurous couple who refuse to give up in the face of a

devastating disease. Their heartwarming celebration of human

possibility marks the directorial debut of Andy Serkis.

Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.

VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

MONDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2017CINEMA PLUS14NOVO — Pearl

Justice League (2D/Action) 10:00, 10:30am, 12:00noon, 12:20, 1:00, 2:40, 2:45, 3:30, 5:00, 5:30, 6:00, 7:20, 8:15, 8:30, 9:40, 11:00, 11:10pm, 12:00midnightCoco (Action) 3D 10:30am 2D 10:00am, 12:30, 1:00, 3:00, 3:30, 6:00, 8:30 & 11:00pmKilling Gunther (2D/Action) 10:00am, 12:00noon, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00, 8:00, 10:00pm & 12:00midnight Breathe (2D/Drama) 11:30am, 2:00, 4:30, 7:00, 9:30pm & 12:00midnightThor: Ragnarok (2D/Action) 10:15am, 2:45, 7:15 & 11:45pmBedeviled (2D/Horror) 12:45, 5:15 & 9:15pmWonder (2D/Drama) 10:15am, 2:30, 6:45 & 11:00pm Jigsaw (2D/Horror) 12:30, 4:45 & 9:00pmMurder On The Orient Express (2D/Drama) 5:30, 7:45 & 10:00pmJustice League(3DIMAX/Action) 11:00am, 1:30, 4:00, 6:30, 9:00 & 11:30pm

MALL

LANDMARK

ROYAL PLAZA

ROXY

ASIAN TOWNTharangam (Malayalam) 12:45, 3:30 & 9:00pmBalakrishnudu (Telugu) 6:30pm Theeran (Tamil) 1:00 & 6:30pm Indrajith (Tamil) 12:45, 3:15, 4:00, 5:45, 8:15, 9:30, 10:45pm Goodalochana (2D/Malayalam) 1:00, 4:00, 7:00 & 10:00pm

AL KHOROlaf And Coco (2D/Animation) 12:00noon, 2:45, 5:30, 8:15 & 11:00pm Justice League (2D/Action) 12:30, 6:00 & 11:30pm Verna (2D) 12:15, 6:00 & 11:45pm Indrajith (Tamil) 3:15 & 8:45pm Goodalochana (2D/Malayalam) 3:15 & 9:00pm

BREATHE

Olaf And Coco (2D/Animation) 2:15, 4:30 & 6:45pm Justice League (2D/Action) 2:30, 6:45 & 9:00pmMonster Island (2D/Animation) 2:30 & 4:30pmVerna (2D) 4:00 & 11:15pm Killing Gunther (2D/Action) 6:30 & 10:00pm Bedeviled (2D/Horror) 8:15pm Tumhari Sulu (Hindi) 9:00pm Goodalochana (2D/Malayalam) 11:30pm Breathe (2D/Romantic) 11:30pm

Olaf And Coco (2D/Animation) 2:15, 3:00, 4:30 & 6:45pm Goodalochana (2D/Malayalam) 2:30 & 9:00pm Justice League (2D/Action) 5:00 & 9:00pm Killing Gunther (2D/Action) 7:15 & 11:15pmVerna (2D) 5:30 & 8:15pmBreathe (2D/Romantic) 11:15pm Bedeviled (2D/Horror) 11:30pm

Olaf And Coco (2D/Animation) 2:15, 4:30 & 7:00pm Goodalochana (2D/Malayalam) 2:30 & 11:15pm Verna (2D) 2:30 & 7:00pm Killing Gunther (2D/Action) 7:15 & 11:30pmJustice League (2D/Action) 5:00 & 9:15pm Breathe (2D/Romantic) 9:00pm Bedeviled (2D/Horror) 9:45 & 11:30pm

Indrajith (Tamil) 12:00noon, 2:50, 5:40, 8:30 & 11:20pm Killing Gunther (2D/Action) 12:00noon, 4:30, 6:30, 8:30 & 10:30pm Goodalochana (2D/Malayalam) 12:00noon, 3:00, 6:00, 9:00 & 11:55pm Justice League (Action) 2:00pm

CROSSWORD CONCEPTIS SUDOKU

ALL IN THE MIND

08:00 News08:30 101 East 9:00 Hissene Habre:

Trial Of A Dictator

10:30 Inside Story11:00 News11:30 UpFront12:00 News12:30 Witness14:30 Inside Story15:00 The Disappe-

ared Of Syria16:00 NEWSHOUR17:00 News17:30 Talk to Al Jazeera18:00 Newsgrid19:00 News19:30 Counting the Cost20:30 Inside Story21:00 NEWSHOUR22:00 News22:30 The Stream23:00 Child Soldiers:

Reloaded

13:20 Lolirock15:00 The

Zhuzhus 15:15 K.C.

Undercover16:05 Disney

Mickey Mouse16:35 Bizaardvark 17:00 Tangled:

The Series20:05 Disney

Mickey Mouse20:10 Liv And

Maddie 20:35 Jessie 21:00 Tangled:

The Series 21:50 Hotel

Transylvania: The Series

22:15 Bizaardvark 22:40 Bunk’d 23:05 Rolling With

The Ronks

13:50 Wildest Africa

14:45 Bad Dog15:40 Bahama

Blue16:35 Untamed &

Uncut18:25 Monsters

Inside Me19:20 River

Monsters20:15 Preposter-

ous Pets21:10 Going Ape21:38 Going Ape22:05 Monsters

Inside Me23:00 Mountain

Monsters23:55 Bahama

Blue00:50 Untamed &

Uncut01:45 Treehouse

Masters

11:00 Fifth Gear11:50 American

Pickers12:40 Counting

Cars13:05 Counting

Cars13:30 Time Team14:20 Swamp

People16:00 American

Pickers17:15 Counting

Cars17:40 Swamp

People18:30 Alone19:20 Mountain

Men21:50 WW2

Treasure Hunters

22:40 Time Team23:30 Alone

King Features Syndicate, Inc.

BRAIN TEASERSMONDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2017 15

Yesterday’s answer

Conceptis Sudoku: Conceptis Sudoku

is a number-placing puzzle based on a

9×9 grid. The object is to place the

numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so

that each row, each column and each

3×3 box contains the same number

only once.

CALM DOWN, CATNAP, CHILL

OUT, COMFORT, COOL OFF,

DAYDREAM, DOZE, EASE,

FREEDOM, HOLIDAY, LEAVE,

LEISURE, LOOSEN UP,

LUXURIATE, PEACE, PICNIC,

QUIETEN, RECESS, RELAX,

RELIEF, REPOSE, REPRIEVE,

RESPITE, REST, SABBATICAL,

SERENITY, SETTLE DOWN,

SIESTA, SIMMER DOWN,

SIT BACK, SLACKEN, SLEEP,

SLUMBER, TAKE A BREAK,

TAKE IT EASY, TIME OFF, TIME

OUT, UNCOIL, UNWIND,

VACATION.

MARKET PLACE SUNDAY 17 SEPTEMBER 201702