15 Years Ago
Yukteshwar Kumar on Chinese efforts to improve their English: Till a while ago, the only two words that made up the English vocabulary of the local Chinese were ‘bye-bye’ and ‘okay’. In one Chinese film, the hero says ‘okay’ seven times on the phone. And most Chinese prefer ‘bye-bye’ to ‘zai jian’. Things may be changing though. Courtesy a decree by Beijing’s ministry of education, which mandates applicants to government jobs to have a working knowledge of English. http://bit.ly/1EkEfNZ
10 Years Ago
Shobita Dhar on the state of the Yamuna: Promotional material for the Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010 describes the site selected for the games village as a picturesque spot on the banks of river Yamuna. By any standards, a site along the 22-km stretch of the river in Delhi can’t be remotely picturesque, with its faecal coliform count in the range of 10 lakh per 100 ml (400 times more than the acceptable level). And with the biological oxygen demand level at 30-35 mg/l (10 times over normal), the river resembles a filthy, stinking drain. http://bit.ly/1DlHV55
5 Years Ago
Aamna Haider Isani on how My Name is Khan has made Shahrukh an icon in Pakistan: Inside Nishat theatre in Karachi, on the first-day-first-show of MNIK, the atmosphere is electric. Ten minutes into the film, as soon as Shahrukh speaks those now-famous lines, “My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist”, the clapping and cheering begins. And it doesn’t stop. http://bit.ly/17MIAzB
