July 22, 2005 Portland Edition Vol. 2 No. 11 Events   India's Villages Jul 24 Ashtavadhanam Jul 30 Asif Mehdi Jul 30 Buy Tickets India Festival Auditions Jul 31 Adv. Craft Lessons Aug 1-Aug 5 Kirtan Concert Aug 5 Buy Tickets GPTM Summer Picnic Aug 6 Bhagavatam Aug 7 Indo-Pak Peace Day Aug 7 Independence Cup Aug 7 Buy Tickets Adv. Craft Lessons Aug 8-Aug 12 India Festival 2005 Aug 14 Adv. Craft Lessons Aug 15-Aug 19 Bhagavatam Aug 21 Secret to Success Aug 21-Aug 24 Buy Tickets Mirror, Mirror On the Wall On the wall of the ante-room next to the Oval Office hangs an ancient mirror -- A Speaking Mirror!. Presidents since Thomas Jefferson have practised their speeches before it. What happened when George Bush tried out his Iraq Speech? Our own inside source, Sore Throat, has the scoop on the mirror's responses to Mr. Bush's efforts. More... Encounters with Giant Stars Two of India's greatest scientific minds, both Nobel Laureates, were actually uncle and nephew! Prof. Narayana Rao has met them both. Here he examines their life-work and writes about their contributions, and his own interactions with CV Raman and S. Chandrasekhar ('Chandra'). More... More Kerala Days -- Ammumma's Story Grandmothers, after all, are grandmothers -- irreplaceable as repositories of affection and spoiling. They were also a rich source of received wisdom, and grandchildren where grandchildren could learn a hundred things in the days before Google. Arunima Menon recalls her grandmother, the family matriach who ruled with a firm but gentle hand over the her brood. In the process, she also remembers the ancestor's favorite dish, Mambazha Pulisseri. More... A word from the heart, er...couch The recent move by potato farmers to strike the term, couch potato, from the Oxford Dictionary, finds a ringing endorsement from Melvin Durai. Couch potatos of the World, Unite, he cries out. You have everything to lose, starting with our remote controls! More... Who's Transforming Whom? The London blasts of July 7, and the subsequent blasts of yesterday, put paid to the old saw about 'fighting 'em in Iraq so we don't have to face them in our towns and cities'. Out to spread democracy to others, we are all set to extend the Patriot Act here at home, and institute searches on subway stops.. The irony is not lost on Niranjan Ramakrishnan. More... Movies     "In Quotes" It used to be said that the sun never sets on the British Empire. I am afraid we were partly responsible for sending that adage out of fashion! But, if there is one phenomenon on which the sun cannot set, it is the world of the English speaking people... Of all the legacies of the Raj, none is more important than the English language... Of course, people here may not recognise the language we speak, but let me assure you that it is English!...Our choice of prepositions may not always be the Queen's English; we might occasionally split the infinitive; and we may drop an article here and add an extra one there. ...Nevertheless, that English has been enriched by Indian creativity as well and we have given you back R.K. Narayan and Salman Rushdie. Today, English in India is seen as just another Indian language. --Manmohan Singh About us | Submit articles | Advertise |  Contact us | Subscribe FREE | Privacy Policy | Archives Copyright© indogram - the global Indian village in your neighborhood™