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SUDOKU
The Mind Game
Most of us are familiar with the math mind game “SUDOKU”. Here are few facts as to how it evolved. Sudoku has a fascinating history. "Su" means number in Japanese, and "Doku" refers to the single place on the puzzle board that each number can fit into. One way to describe the game is "Solitaire with numbers." It also refers to someone who is single. Its origins are actually European and American and not Japanese.
Sudoku first came to light in the 1970s in an American puzzle magazine. It was presented under the name, "Number Placement" .It later resurfaced in a Japanese puzzle and games magazine in 1984. Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician, developed the concept of "Latin Squares" where numbers in a grid appear only once, across and up and down. Dell Magazines in the US began publishing them using the concept with a 9 * 9 square grid.
The president of the Japanese puzzle giant Nikoli, Inc., Mr. Maki Kaji published the puzzle and it became a huge hit. He gave the game its current name, and helped refine it. He restricted the number in the puzzle to 30 and had them appear symmetrically. It soon became a fixture in daily newspapers and magazines. Yet almost two decades passed before the game was taken up by The Times newspaper in London as a daily puzzle. This occurred due to the efforts of Wayne Gould, a retired Hong Kong judge. He first came across a Sudoku puzzle in a Japanese bookshop in 1997, and later spent many years developing a computer program to generate them. In the fall of 2004, he was able to convince The Times to start publishing daily Sudoku puzzles developed using his software.
There are 5 by 5 games, 6 by 6 and 7 by 7 games. For the truly addicted, there are even 16 by 16 grids, not to mention a 25 by 25 grid apparently offered.
Sudoku is a fun and challenging way for people of any age and culture to hone their logical approach. Sudoku helps make the human race a tiny bit smarter through regular practice. Today there are Sudoku clubs, chat rooms, strategy books, videos, mobile phone games, card games, competitions and even a Sudoku game show. Sudoku has also sprung up in newspapers all over the world and is commonly described in the world media as the "fastest growing puzzle in the world".

Posted by Vibhashreya Srivatsan at 02:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bharathanatyam
Barathanatyam is one of the most ancient south Indian classical dances. The art was handed down as a living tradition from generation to generation under the “Devadasi” system under which women were dedicated to temples to serve the deity as dancers and musicians forming part of the elaborate rituals. These highly talented artists and the male gurus (Teachers) were the sole repository of the art until the early 20th century when a renewal of interest in India's cultural heritage prompted the educated elite to discover its beauty. It is also believed to an art created by God and given to mankind as a boon. In the Hindu scriptures it has been defined to be:

"It is an Art not merely for your pleasure, but exhibits cosmic expression (bhava) for all the worlds. This art has been created following the movements of the world in work and play, profit, peace, laughter, battle and slaughter, yielding the fruit of righteousness to those who follow the moral law, a restraint for the unruly, and a discipline for the followers of the rule; to create wisdom in the ignorant, learning in scholars, afford sport to kings, and endurance to the sorrow-stricken; it is replete with the diverse moods, informed with varying passions of the soul, and linked to the deeds of mankind — the best, the middling and the low — affording excellent counsel pastime and all else."
Contemporary classical Indian dancers are both male and female artists and the art is extremely demanding and complex in terms of dedication and daily practice. It requires rigorous discipline and passion to pursue it. The themes for the dance can range from: Hymns in praise of Gods to modern day themes creating world peace, or pollution awareness.
The Bharatanatyam techniques of communicating a message are Abinaya. Abinaya refers to the facial expressions portrayed. The most famous abinaya are the “Navarasa”, nine moods. The Navarasa, in the scriptures refer to the nine expressions that humans often show. These are love (shringaara), laughter (haasya), kind-heartedness or compassion (karuna), anger (roudra), courage (veera), fear (bhayaanaka), disgust (bheebhatsya), wonder or surprise (adbhutha) and peace or tranquility (shaantha).
Bharatanatyam is poetry in motion. Bharatanatyam has been immortalized in successive generations, as much by the sinuous grace of great dancers as by the nimble fingers of renowned sculptors who have demonstrated the perfection of Bharata's technique in the flowing
lines of temple structures. It’s blend of the abstract & the emotional is derived from its fusion of two prime elements, pure dance or dance without interpretive meaning and (expressive dance).

Today the art is one of the most popular and widely performed dance styles and is practiced by male and female dancers all over India. It is a profession of its own and is respected and renowned all over the world. Due to its wide range of movements and postures and the balanced potpourri of the rhythmic aspects lends itself well to exceptional choreography. It is a dance of passion, expression and intends to bring the soul within “to life”. Degree and Post Graduate courses covering the practice and theory of Bharatanatyam as well as the languages associated with its development are available at major universities of India. One such school is the “Kalakshetra”, located in Chennai, India.

Posted by Vibhashreya Srivatsan at 02:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)