RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR Balletic, in every sense of the word, great spinners are not typified characters, howsoever mildly they may illuminate the sap-green stage. They are important and often peculiar human beings whose strong realm of individuality is the source of their talents. For a variety of reasons: mental, physical, artistic, or technical, and magical — […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR December 1974. The mood in the English cricket camp is anything but upbeat. It is as cold as the far-from-hospitable ‘bleak’ weather back home. Cricketing forays Down Under are, no less, under the cloud for a side that had, until then, been the epitome of professionalism — an English archetype. Mike Denness’ touring […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR Our mind and body are designed to react to anxiety and stress by generating a surplus of chemicals and hormones — cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine, among others. This prompts the ‘alarm bell,’ followed by frenetic activity through the adrenal glands. This is also, in effect, the trigger for the pituitary gland to respond […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR A great all-rounder is too often a graceful character that instils a sense of fear, and awe, in the opposition. Keith Miller, a champion performer, from Down Under, espoused the description to a T. Miller, a terror in many a batsman’s mind, was a world-beater — all by himself. A giant of an […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR All intelligence, it’s rightly said, leads to god. This is the ultimate truth — the sum of the parts and part of the whole. All things, big or small, also lead to god — because god is supreme intelligence. Where there is no god, there is no intelligence. Where there is, likewise, no […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR What we feel, see, smell, touch, hear, and taste are as important and striking as our emotions. Emotions are our soul songs that croon their ‘hearts’ out — they understand, they analyse, they slide, and go deep into the vast recesses of our being. They caress us just as much as they do […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR It was 26 years ago that I first met Basty Premanand Shenoy — a quick-witted, eager beaver sexagenarian. We took off famously from the word go. What made our conversation especially riveting was our shared native ‘roots,’ not to speak of our common lingo, Kannada. That he had a fabulous memory was one […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR You’d sure think what the buzzword about nutraceuticals is all about. Because, the expression seems to be doing the rounds, much more than its equally noted ‘corollary’ — functional foods. Here goes — Nutraceuticals are simply functional foods with specific health and medical benefits. They also refer to dietary supplements and/or nutritional ingredients […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR Our brain is the pivot of our conscious and unconscious processes. It articulates and connects every activity of our life. It shares a multitude of thoughts and contexts of our mind at myriad levels. It also connects every dot with a host of diverse functions that are, otherwise, not perceptible. One could, therefore, […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR John Keats lived for just 25 years — and, yet, his literary reams of gold have left their imprint on the sands of time. As Percy Bysshe Shelley, another great poet, wrote, “He [Keats] has outsoar’d the shadow of our night;/Envy and calumny and hate and pain,/ And that unrest which men miscall […]