Ever since she was a six-year-old, Rochelle Rao has been smitten by the modelling industry. And taking one firm step at a time, this young sassy babe is ensuring that she fulfills her dream of becoming a successful model.

     Rochelle Rao

Today, Rochelle is amongst the 20 most beautiful women in the country, and is all set to impress the judges in the final rounds of the Miss India pageant.

Rochelle, who has been undergoing rigorous training sessions with Ajith Sigamani, says, “I got a taste of what the pageant will be like when I participated in the Miss India South contest. So I was mentally prepared.”

From giving up all her favourite food to working out several hours in a day, Rochelle has taken it upon herself to sport a fab bod. “I am a foodie by nature,” she says. “But since December, I’ve had to give up all the food I really love. Though when someone looks at me and compliments me, I feel all this training is really worth it!”

Rochelle is no stranger to the profession. Be it TV shows or ramp walks, she’s a familiar face. “I’ve been in this profession for many years, but it was only in the first few rounds that I realised there were so many things I didn’t know. Unlike in Mumbai or Delhi, for models in Chennai the exposure is not up to the mark. <strong>I had to unlearn so many things. Prasad Bidappa and Marc Robinson were both extremely helpful in training m</strong>e!”

She adds, “Be it physically or even in the way I think, I can feel the development in myself. And I am loving this change!”

Considering all the challenges that she has faced in the profession, Rochelle has managed to learn from them and survive, despite all odds. “I am a Christian and being in this profession was looked down upon! But I knew that this was what I was born to do and I love my profession. I also realised that if people pass negative comments, it probably means they’re jealous and the best thing to do is to just ignore them!”

Rochelle explains that it is so easy to be carried away by all the glitz and attention — she’s had to mend several errors that she’d committed because of that.

“I used to be cocky. I had an attitude problem. But I soon realised that once you’re off the stage, you have to respect society. There are people who have seen it all and you owe them the credit.

Even if it’s a tea boy on the sets of a show, you must give him the respect he deserves. I’ve always had to go back to the people I misbehaved with and apologise. Being humble is one of the biggest lessons this profession has taught me!”

The pretty model is readying for the next round, which is likely to be in March. She says, “Rehane is already working on some of my clothes.

And I am lucky that some of the best in this profession including Sidney Sladen, Chaitanya Rao and Sunil Menon are helping me throughout!”

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> TABLOID> Glam Sham / by Srinidhi Rajagopal / DC/ Chennai / February 14th, 2012

ELEMENTS OF NATURE: Kanyakumari is indeed God’s own country. Photo: Lakshmi Sharath / The Hindu

The salts of the sea lure me as I can smell it from a distance. Here, in the confluence of three oceans, lies buried several myths, legends and stories. Kanyakumari has always been a mystery to me. Maybe it has something to do with the sea or the tale of the virgin goddess by the sea shore, but the town has never stopped fascinating me. Looking out of the window, I am lost in the many rotating windmills, dancing to the tune of the sea breeze, when I am interrupted by the laughter in the bus.

I join in the laughter as Sri Charanya, my travel companion, shares her memories of Kanyakumari when she visited the coastal town as a twelve year old. “You know, I was told that I could see red, black and blue colours here. The red was the Indian Ocean, blue the Bay of Bengal and black the Arabian Sea. I believed every word of it then,” she says as echoes of laughter drown her story. Memories come flooding back as I remember my first visit here as a wide-eyed twelve-year-old.

I am on a Naanjil Naadu tour organised by INTACH, travelling through small towns and villages around Nagercoil and Kanyakumari, visiting many temples, rock cut shrines, mosques, palaces and forts. While we alternate between facts and folk lore, we learn from a team of professors and historians accompanying us about the various dynasties that rule the region. I am of course fascinated by the many landscapes painted in front of me — natural, social , historical, political, spiritual, as I realise that what is today considered God’s own country has its origins right here in Naanjil Naadu, long before Kerala came into being.

We visit an ancient Chola temple dedicated to Shiva. Dr V Vedachalam, a retired epigraphist from Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department explains the architecture and draws our attention to the inscriptions and various cults of gods and goddesses. It is really God’s own country. The temples in this region are built by various kings across different eras and each one of them has left his stamp behind. From the Ay dynasty, to early Pandyas to the Venad kings, the land is steeped in cults. And I discover another 19th century cult right on the shores of a small fishing hamlet called Chinna Muttom.

While most of my travel companions are lost in the beauty around, a few of us walk down to a small shrine located on the rocky shores. A man in a turban is officiating as a priest as we gaze inside the sanctum and look at our hazy reflection with the sea forming our backdrop. There is no deity or idol — just a mirror which reflects and represents the soul or the Vishnu inside you. A small board in Tamil explains the philosophy about worshipping your body as the temple, with your mind at peace and devotion and purity in your soul. The belief rests in equality; every devotee is a king. Even Vivekananda, he claims, was influenced by it. The underlying thought is that you keep your mind and thoughts pure and worship the God inside you.

I later learn that the cult is referred to as Ayyavazhi, founded by a revolutionary called Ayya Vaikundar, also believed by his followers as a reincarnation of Vishnu. However , speaking to Ahi Mohan, coordinator of the Nadar Family Welfare centre in Trivandrum, I learn that he was a 19th century social reformer who was born in Kanyakumari district with a strong belief in equality of all people. He had built five main pathis, what we refer to as temples, and the 200-year-old pathi at Chinna Muttom was called Muthapathi. The followers believe that a dip in the sea will sanctify them.

I stand and gaze at my hazy reflection in the mirror for a long time and realise that my mind is blank, bathed by the ocean and purged of all thoughts. Elsewhere in the haze of white foam and fury of the waves, I can see a distant form of Sri Charanya calling out my name, holding some wet sand in her hands. As she comes closer, we both laugh. In her hands are lumps of black and brownish soil and the colours seem to merge with the blue of the ocean.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Life & Style> MetroPlus / by Lakshmi Sharath / February 03rd, 2012

For the first time since a memorial for the Indian Peace Keeping Force was established on the outskirts of Colombo, a former Commander-in-Chief of the Indian armed forces visited it on Sunday.

“Oh defenders of my nation, you cross seas to defend nations. You are great sons of my land. We pray for you, brave hearts,” the former President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, wrote in the visitors’ book at the memorial.

Mr. Kalam arrived at the memorial at 9.20 a.m. with Indian High Commissioner Ashok K. Kantha. He paid floral tributes and spent some time going around the memorial, reading the names of the 1,200 soldiers who laid down their lives fighting a war to enforce the India-Sri Lanka accord of 1987. The forces were inducted in July 1987 and the last troops left Sri Lanka in March 1990.

Mr. Kalamth President in office between 2002 and 2007, is on a four-day visit to Sri Lanka. He witnessed the unveiling of the Tri-lingual year on Saturday and delivered a lecture on ‘Ignited Minds of the Youth is the Greatest Resource for the Nation.’

Mr. Kalam later addressed students and scientists at the University of Moratuwa on the topic, ‘Unique You.’ Across all his meetings on Saturday and Sunday, Mr. Kalam drew huge audiences.

Mr. Kalam and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader and Justice Minister in the Sri Lankan Cabinet Rauf Hakeem had a meeting.

TNA leader R. Sampanthan and Mr. Kalam are scheduled to meet here on Monday. Ahead of this, the former President will meet students in Jaffna, talk to the Northern Province governor, and other officials that day.

Mr. Kalam will meet Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne on Tuesday before his departure

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / News> International / by R.K. RadhaKrishnan / Colombo, January 22nd, 2012

Step into the 50-year-old home of John and Esthell Moses, and you will feel yourself transported into the magical world of CS Lewis. From the teakwood furniture handed down over generations, to the dozen over-sized antique wall clocks adorning the walls of their hall alone, to the brass lamps sitting on the shelves, the Moses residence is a haven for all things Victorian.

This ‘dedicated junk collector’, as he likes to call himself, has been collecting and restoring since he was 30-years-old — proof of which are the 150 lamps, 50 clocks, two cycles, gramophones, and other Victorian articles that you will find in nooks and corners. Even the kitchen shelves of their spacious residence in Kilpauk Garden Colony, Chennai, have been invaded by the collectibles.

It would take one a day, at the least, to list out the treasures that Moses has collected — and we might add it has not been an easy task for him, as most of these antiques have been spotted, sought out, bargained and sometimes even fought for.

“There is a story behind every antique I have collected,” smiles Moses as he remembers the feeling of achievement once he manages to get his hands on a prize. He talks about how he acquired one of his most prized possessions — a 1927 HMV gramophone, the largest ever produced. “It took me eight visits before I could strike a bargain, after which I had to bring it home in a truck. My wife was not very happy about the whole thing,” he says.

Being a technician himself, Moses started restoring antiques as well, and while today, we enjoy the luxury of Google to find information on anything under the sun, the 58-year-old Moses has had to depend on books about antiques, from where he gleans information on how to repair them.” Sometimes you break two and learn on the third,” shares Moses, adding that though restoring and maintaining antiques is laborious and expensive (many of the antiques are so rare that Moses has had to use makeshift spares or get them made to order at a premium), he is glad that it keeps him occupied. What else does he get out of it?

Being a member of the Madras Heritage Lovers Forum, he displays his best at their August exhibition, where school children get to see them. This, besides his personal satisfaction, is what keeps Moses happy with his hobby that is a dead investment — he cannot sell them. “They are plentifully available abroad and not many appreciate them here,” he sadly concludes.

But if there is a Victorian antique you want identified or restored, or if you are looking for something you remember seeing at your grandparents’ home while a child, chances are that Moses will be able to help you.

source: http://www.expressbuzz.com / Home> Magazine / by Ryan Peppin / January 13th, 2012