RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR It is not unusual for most of us to suppress our negative emotions for whatever reason. Suppressed emotions are like ‘bottled-up’ feelings, or a superfluous steam in the pressure valve, waiting to rupture. Suppressed painful emotions are, likewise, similar to a time-bomb ticking — or, waiting to explode. It is only when you […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR Claudio Monteverdi was one of music’s greatest composers. He was his own symphony, and magnum opus. A martinet classicist, Monteverdi, quite simply, never ever compromised on what he thought was exact — be it a note, or a theme. He is fondly remembered, today, as the primal composer of L’Orfeo, albeit his most famous composition […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR Sidney Lumet, the legendary American movie director, was, doubtless, a master of cinema. His statistical roll-call of films was not only remarkable, but fabulous. His films received more than 50 Academy Award nominations, while Lumet himself was nominated for ‘Best Director’ seven times. What’s more, Lumet, for the best part, was the focus […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR So far as the audience was concerned, he’s as meritorious a master of ceremonies anyone ever saw. A prodigious batsman with the princely touch, he’s nonchalant, where many would hurry; and, utterly regardless, where many would defend. His effortless presence denoted just one thing: computerised efficiency, something that could, at times, fail. A […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR All of us know that intelligence is more than a symphony of ‘know-how’ and ‘know-what’ areas in the brain. As Juan Huarte, the Spanish physician, contextualised, intelligence is the ability to learn, exercise judgment, and be imaginative — a case of neural Darwinism, lyrical and evolving. For Jean Piaget, the Swiss psychologist, intelligence […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR Elvis Presley was not born rich; he came from a poor Mississippi family. But, he enriched music, like no other singer — before, or after him. Presley showed a rare gift for musical talent, at a very early age. In the process, he absorbed all the styles related to a host of genres, […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR Sir Jack Hobbs was a purists’ purist. He brought to batting a new dimension, a rare canvas of perfection: something that is as yet unmatched. Hobbs’ art was full of profound expression, a fount of wisdom. Of subtle refinement and classical definition — a celebration of cricket syntax and grammar. Hobbs [December 16, […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR Sir Ian Botham. The name’s the high-maiden of cricket — an epiphenomenon of classicism and the abstract. Of varied alternatives for every situation. Botham’s identity was such that it always shone, what with the great man’s several zones of potentialities. It also filled in the slots between what was done; at others, of […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR I’ve been, right from my formative years, witness to elders in the family attending discourses on philosophy, also scriptures. I’d, however, never ever gauge the tenor of their impact on anyone. I’d be aloof without being officious of their ‘hold’ thereto in the perimeter of my nascent, albeit expanding inquisitiveness. This was, doubtless, […]
RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR Hope is, in simple terms, a hovering, oft-soaring element in our culture. It is also a part of received wisdom, not to speak of works of fiction — old and new. Yet, it is only in contemporary life that hope is disclosing its connotation in scientific studies. Most adults plagued by long-lasting illnesses, […]