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I had been privileged enough to attend this year's Singapore National Day Preview...#NDP2016. The LED wristband that I wore pulsated with the colors in sync with the live music, light shows and body movements in the stadium! Hence, I was also a part of this grand performance :-) This year celebrates a new chapter for Singapore and their homecoming to the new Stadium! The celebrations focussed on imagining the future, while underlining their enduring values as they chart the next chapter. The whole Parade was divided into 6 Acts: Act 1: Badang and the Singapore Stone To prepare Singapore for the Future, they draw inspiration from their Past. They celebrate the rich heritage of Singapore through a lesser-known story of Badang, who represents the strength and resilience of Singapore in the face of hardships and challenges. The Singapore Stone is inscribed with words from an ancient language that cannot be deciphered! The stone is on display at the National Museum of Singapore. Act...

Humpy Koneru (born 31 March 1987 in Gudivada, Andhra Pradesh) is a chess grandmaster from India. Her October 2007 FIDE Elo rating was 2606, placing her at number two in the world for women (behind Judit Polgar), breaking the record of 2577 set by Susan Polgar for the second-highest ranked female player in Chess history and becoming the second female player ever, after Judit Polgar, to cross the 2600 elo mark. Humpy was originally named Hampi (after the ancient city) by her parents but her father later changed it to Humpy, a more Russian-sounding name. She writes her family name (Koneru) before her given name as is the convention with Telugu speaking people. Humpy held the record from 2002 to 2008 for the youngest woman ever to become a grandmaster (not merely a Woman Grandmaster), which she achieved in 15 years, 1 month, 27 days, beating Judit Polgar's previous record by 3 months. However, she later lost this record to Hou Yifan. Koneru Humpy broke new grounds with her achie...

Let me introduce here Saikiran Adivi, the very versatile Film maker in the Telugu Film industry. He first worked as an assistant to Shekhar Kammula (guess no introduction required here!) before making his own debut with a film titled Vinayakudu in 2008, which was a chartbuster. His next film was Village Lo Vinayakudu, the sequel to Vinayakudu, which also gained very good reviews. His latest film was Kerintha in 2015 which was also a huge commercial hit. Saikiran owns the production company called My Dream Cinema Pvt. Ltd. Without any further ado, here are the excerpts from my tete-e-tete with this so well-spoken, down-to-earth, friendly filmmaker… How did Movies happen? It all started when I was studying 6th grade in school! I was asked to explain some fictional theory in a Science class and I ended up like some big bang theory which they actually could visualize!! And when my Telugu teacher used to teach stories in the class, I could remember them all without the help of any ...

“You will be dead today. If I don’t kill you, you are not going to leave me alive”, Khasim Uncle’s voice could be heard aloud from the opposite house. Remembering Khulsum Khala, I came out leaving the roti half-eaten. Khasim Uncle is approximately 60 years old. His is a hard-worked body. Even now, he is strong a man. Khulsum Khala, on the other hand, is thin and frail like a twig. Khasim Uncle cannot sleep if he doesn’t fight at least once a day. All his four sons got married and went away. They don’t bother about this old man. He talks as if Khulsum Khala is responsible for all this. “This idiot delivered these stupid and uncaring sons and threw them on me”, he says and shouts loudly, abuses and beats her. Only then, Khasim Uncle is satisfied. I fear that Khala will die of those beatings some day. “Do you think I will allow you to go out? I will not be at peace until I butcher you to pieces” Khasim Uncle stood near the tatty with a fat stick in his hand. A tiled house const...