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This Hindi cinema gives us a brilliant look at the magical minds of children who really don’t know why adults are hellbent on mutilating everything that is beautiful, innocent, free, and fulsome - all because they see no profit in it.

The story revolves around the efforts of a dyslexic child to fit in, adjust and perform in a ‘normal’ world where competition is a norm and regimentation the principle. A world where it is natural and normal to rap eight-year-old-knuckles and discipline with verbal abuse and physical battering , if a child gets his spelling wrong, forgets to do his homework, or fails to give copybook answers.

The story is simple and connects instantly with every adult and child. The film in its very simplicity and sensitivity is a treat to watch.

‘Taare zameen par’ is so sensitive, so vast, so meaningful that it becomes the story of any and every child who is being robbed of his childhood by insensitive parents and teachers who believe their job is to create race winning rats for the rat race rather than intelligent, creative human beings.

Everyone needs to memorize foreign language vocabulary and learning Hindi words is no different, but it needn’t be boring or difficult.

On the contrary it can be fun and an engaging learning experience.

Most common Hindi words are readily available at our website. The words along with their equivalent English words are listed in various groups segregated on the basis of their use - Government & Business, Condition & Color, Relationships, Body Parts, Animals & Insects, Vegetation, Nature and Home, Pronouns, Verbs, Time & Days, Numbers in Hindi and so on… Here you can also play the audio to listen how these words are spoken by native Hindi speakers.

Besides this, you can make use of Hindi software available on the Net. One such software which I have tested and found useful for Hindi learner beginners is ‘Before You Know It’.

It gives out digital flash cards for Hindi words with pictures, sound, and words written in Hindi and English both. It also has quiz and question-answer sessions included that gives the learner a tool to test his progress.

If you get answers wrong at first - you’ll see the correct answer every time the card flips. You’ll notice that as you get answers right more often, your scores and progress chart will change to reflect your improvement. You also have the option of listening to sound in all the exercises.

It helps you master hundreds of words and phrases encountered while learning Hindi language. It is an excellent vocabulary tool. You can download and install on your computer to use it as a stand-alone program, which will allow you to work as often as you like so that you can learn at your own pace.

The ‘Lite’ version of the software is available FREE. Download to see if it suits your needs.

Free Before You Know It™ Software Download

Before You Know It allows you to master categorized lists of common Hindi words - anything for which you would use traditional paper flash cards. We encourage you to use it.

Till now, BBC World and Voice Of America were two major media houses having a rich online Hindi language news and current affairs presence.

Now you can expect to get even more rich user experience with the new events unfolding before us.

Jagran Prakashan Ltd, the publishers of popular Hindi newspaper Dainik Jagran (http://www1.jagran.com/newssite/) which claims to have highest circulation figures, has announced that Yahoo! India and the Jagran Group will jointly launch a new co-branded Hindi news and current affairs Internet property.

This pioneering agreement brings together India’s number one Internet brand and a leading Indian newspaper conglomerate to provide the best of both online services and print media content for users and advertisers.

“This platform will help rebrand and rescale the Hindi online space and leverage the strengths of both the organizations in creating a very powerful online property. We looked for a partner that stood for leadership and credibility in the online media space, which understood the pulse of internet audiences and had a customer-centric focus as central to their business approach. Yahoo! India definitely represents all these and more” said Mr. Sanjay Gupta, CEO,Jagran Prakashan Ltd.

The new Internet venture will seamlessly integrate the largest Hindi content of Jagran with Yahoo! India’s formidable online presence.

The partnership will create a richer online Hindi user experience, with Jagran’s original content across news, current affairs, sports, entertainment and other features. It will be complemented with Yahoo!s innovative, user-focused internet products and services offered in seven Indian languages, including Yahoo! Search, Mail and Messenger.

“This exciting and strategic partnership between these two powerful media entities will redefine the Hindi Online User experience and take this to the next level” said Mr. Sanjay Gupta, CEO, Jagran Prakashan Ltd.

“Apparently the largest, highest and most ambitious production of its kind hitherto undertaken by Indian builders, it is a landmark in the evolution of building art in southern India.” - Percy Brown, Art Historian.

If there is a beauty contest for temples, the Brihadeshwara temple in Tanjavur will win it hands-down. Believed to be the first granite temple in the world and the grandest project undertaken by any Indian ruler, the temple was constructed by great Chola king Rajaraja Chola in 1010 AD.

It is a perfect blend of “beauty with brains”. While there is a amazing simplicity about the various parts of the temple : square vertical base, tall tapering body, and over it all the graceful vimana which is believed to be tallest in the world, it also has many dazzling architectural feat to its credit. For instance, it’s vimana (it is said) never casts a shadow at noon at any time of the year.

At the entrance of the temple sits a huge stone bull (Nandi) which is considered the largest among the world. The walls of the temple are covered with beautiful sculptures of gods and goddesses and its top is capped by a massive monolithic cupola. The most dominating feature of the temple is the “vimana”, which is the tallest structure in the temple. This makes Brihadeshwara somewhat unusual , since the tallest structure in most Indian temples is the “gopuram”.

There is a sense of solidity about Brihadeshwara. The grace and form of the structure is amazing. It has been included in UNESCO’s World Heritage Site under the “Great Living Chola Temples” list.