Today there are various formats of entertainment, and sound has been an integral part of entertainment. We have background sound, songs in films, theme music etc. It is hard to believe that there was a time, when films were made without any background sound, which we fondly call the films of “Silent Era” – typically the films made and released between the year 1895 to 1927 was popularly known as silent era. There was no background score nor were any synchronized spoken dialogues in those movies, Sequences written and displayed before each scene. Something hard to imagine, but when we look back to those Silent era films today, it gives us a different kind of entertainment.

Three top grossing silent films that earned highest revenue in the year 1932 are as follows :

1) The Birth of a Nation

2) The Big Parade

3) Ben-Hur

Though now it looks funny, it was hard to work in a silent film, where one needs to say it all through his / her expressions. While today just one dialogue can do wonders, silent films would need hundreds of expressions to capture and convey the same to the audiences.

Some of the popular silent actors of yesteryears are as below :

1) Rudolph Valentino

2) Buster Keaton

3) Harold Llyod

4) Emil Jannings

5) Charlie Chaplin

Sheer acting skills have taken these silent movie stars to the peak of career success and today they are icons in their own field. Another challenge of silent films was the standardisation of projection speed. There was lack of standardisation and hence the movies were shot at variable speeds anywhere from 12 to 40 frames per second, depending on the year and studio. Edison Studio was the first one to produce such films way back in 1890s – it was in West Orange, New Jersey and then later moved on to the Bronx, NY.

Today when we look back, it suggests how the film industry worldwide has come of its own shadow with modern technology in photography and music.

Music is a powerful force, it a form of entertainment that can heal the world, that can unite the world and can also elevate the mood. Music infact doesn’t have a barrier of language, caste, creed, religion and country. World musicians collaborate themselves to create magic, as they understand and respect the lingo of this powerful force.

Increasingly Music is being used by medical practitioner to enhance health. Health sector currently uses various methods to cure patients suffering from some complex diseases. Research shows that even sad music can lift your mood, while other studies suggest music can boost happiness and reduce stress and anxiety. This has given to rise of new form of treatment called “Music Therapy” – various genres of music has its therapeutic advantages on patients – physical, emotional, mental, social, aesthetic, and spiritual—to help clients improve their physical and mental health.

Music therapy can be of two forms : Active and Receptive – In active therapy, the therapist and patient jointly participate in creating instrumental music with various instruments, own voice, or other objects. This allows for the patient to be creative and expressive through the art of music. Receptive therapy takes place in a more relaxed setting where the therapist plays or makes music to the patient who is free to draw, listen or meditate.

Music is also a creative outburst of self. Various musical rendition tells us the story, how a particular musical form can be presented in various innovative format. Infact, the entire Remix industry is based on the rendition, a Disc Jockey is equally a creative guy, who matches the tempo and frequencies to mix and match various form of musical beats.

Various brands across the globe has also formed musical jingles and have copyrighted it as their proprietary product.

Music is heavily used in various rehabilitation centres across the globe, to cure patients. Probably the only form of creative piece which we prefer while we are sad as well as happy is MUSIC.

With the summer temperature soaring higher, and this world becoming hotter every day due to global warming phenomenon – one thing still remains unchanged and probably is the best way to beat the hat naturally, yet remain healthy. Nature’s own creation “Coconut Water” has no replacement to beat the heat. It’s refreshing taste can rejuvenate any drying soul. Fresh coconuts are typically harvested from the tree while they are still green. It is layer cut and a hole made  to provide access to the liquid and meat.

Coconut water has long been a popular drink in the tropical countries where it is available fresh, canned, or bottled. However, the natural way of drinking it is always preferred. 100 ml of the drink provides 19 calories, while is 95% water and 4% carbohydrates. The coconut water has its long medical history and was earlier used for medical purpose – he story of coconut water being similar to human blood plasma originated during World War II when British and Japanese patients were given coconut water intravenously in an emergency because saline was unavailable

Some of the other benefits of this natural water drink is as follows :

1) It helps in weight loss process

2) It gives a perfect skin, getting rid of acnes and blemishes

3) Helps in digestion

4) Gets rid of hangover

5) Reduces blood pressure

6) Boosts hydration

7) Relieves headache

8) Boosts immunity

9) Helps curing insomnia

10) Cures Cholera

However, the preference of coconut water varies from person to person, while some like to drink the pure water without any layers of coconut flesh into it. Some enjoy it both – they want to eat the thick coconut layer as well as drink it’s water too. Whatever way one likes to drink, there’s surely no substitute for coconut water to beat the heat naturally. So what’s your choice??

Next time to beat the heat, go for fresh coconut water, rather than for those carbonated cola drinks. As coconut water comes with immense health benefits at lesser cost too.

The great architectural marvel of Taj Mahal is among one of the world’s renowned structure, was built by Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–1658), to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. This marvelous structure stands tall in Agra, along the banks of river Yamuna. Construction of the mausoleum was essentially completed in 1643 but work continued on other phases of the project for another 10 years. The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around 32 million rupees

However, some little known facts are as follows :

There’s a replica of this structure in Bangladesh, which is known as Taj Mahal of Bangladesh, built by Ahsanullah Moni, a wealthy Bangladeshi film-maker. Construction began in 2003, but Mr Moni says that he came up with the idea in 1980 when he first visited the real Taj in Agra, India. He said that his homage had been built because most people living in Bangladesh – where nearly half of the population exist below the poverty line – cannot afford to travel to India to see the real thing.

Faizul Hasan Qadri, a retired postmaster from Kaser Kalan village (around 50km from Bulandshahr in western Uttar Pradesh), from India, also started building a small replica of the original structure in his village to show his love for his beloved wife. The 80-year-old retired postmaster, who had exhausted all his savings in building a “mini” Taj Mahal in Bulandshahr in the memory of his late wife, has got financial aid from the Uttar Pradesh government in constructing the mausoleum, in which he wishes to be buried beside his woman. Qadri said that he has spent Rs 14 lakh on the building, including provident fund and gratuity. And now it has become a piece of attraction for the villagers in Uttar Pradesh.

Did you know that 20^th March is observed as “World Sparrow Day” – in order to raise awareness among global citizens about this extinct species and the need to save them, inorder to save this environment. House sparrow is a common urban bird, which co-habitats with us, but rampant urbanization has caused more harm to this species.

The idea was to earmark a day for the house sparrow to convey the message of conservation of the house sparrow and other common birds and also mark a day of celebration to appreciate the beauty of the common biodiversity which is taken so much for granted. The first World Sparrow Day was celebrated in 2010 in different parts of the world. The day was celebrated by carrying out different various kinds of activities and events like art competitions, awareness campaigns, and sparrow processions as well as interactions with media. The idea of marking a World Sparrow Day came up during an informal discussion at the Nature Forever Society’s office.

The tentacles of development spreading with fast paced concretisation of the city have ended in choking away one of mankind’s oldest associate. While concretisation sealed the fate of sparrow nesting, rising levels of pollution only aggravated the situation for these compact birds with bright grey and brown plumage. Bird lovers looking at the civic bodies to pitch in with efforts by earmarking conservation spaces in the parks for the birds feel disheartened by the lukewarm response.

However, there are very simple measures by which one can reintroduce the sparrows into the city life. People can recycle their used water bottles to make bird feeders filled with grains. Similarly, shoeboxes kept outside can serve as nesting areas for these birds. With greater awareness, we can bring a change in the way this chirpy neighbouring bird is facing threat of extinction.

Summer time and the only solace we find is in ice creams, and once we decide to have ice creams – the right flavour for the right mood sets us free from all stress and strain of a workaholic lifestyle. This interesting food item has some equally interesting past history – During the 5th century BC, ancient Greeks ate snow mixed with honey and fruit in the markets of Athens. The father of modern medicine, Hippocrates, encouraged his Ancient Greek patients to eat ice “as it livens the life-juices and increases the well-being.” In 400 BC, the Persians invented a special chilled food, made of rose water and vermicelli, which was served to royalty during summers. The ice was mixed with saffron, fruits, and various other flavours. The Roman Emperor Nero (37–68 AD) had ice brought from the mountains and combined it with fruit toppings to create chilled delicacies. In the sixteenth century, the Mughal emperors used relays of horsemen to bring ice from the Hindu Kush to Delhi, where it was used in fruit sorbets.

Today, modern machineries are employed to manufacture ice creams in factories, to satisfy the taste buds of the consumers. Ice cream is such a sweetened frozen food, which is being loved across all age groups. However, a scoop of ice cream can be beneficial to your health in many ways.

There is no denying that ice cream isn’t exactly a health food. Its main ingredients are cream, milk, sugar and flavouring. That being said, ice cream does provide your body with a handful of key nutrients, including bone-strengthening calcium and phosphorus, blood-pressure-lowering potassium and energizing B vitamins. It also provides a decent amount of protein, which is important in tissue repair and cell growth. Here’s a reason women may want to indulge in ice cream: A Harvard study published in the journal Human Reproduction suggests that consuming full-fat milk or ice cream may improve your chances of having a baby.

There are certain natural things available in our household, which has tremendous medicinal benefit, which we probably are unaware of and simply ignore. One of such natural element is HONEY. Honey is so good, that it can be considered as one of the key member in the list of powerfoods that should be in your kitchen right now.

Honey contains flavonoids, antioxidants which help reduce the risk of some cancers and heart disease. Research shows that honey treatment may help disorders such as ulcers and bacterial gastroenteritis. Honey is antibacterial, because the bees add an enzyme that makes hydrogen peroxide and probably that’s why it has incredibly long shelf-life. Ancient Olympic athletes ate honey and dried figs to enhance their performance. This has now been verified with modern studies, showing that it is superior in maintaining glycogen levels and improving recovery time than other sweeteners.

Honey helps with coughs, particularly buckwheat honey. In a study of 110 children, a single dose of buckwheat honey was just as effective as a single dose of dextromethorphan in relieving nocturnal cough and allowing proper sleep. Honey has been used in Ayurvedic medicine in India for at least 4,000 years and is considered to affect all three of the body’s primitive material imbalances positively. It is also said to be useful in improving eyesight, weight loss, curing impotence and premature ejaculation, urinary tract disorders, bronchial asthma, diarrhea and nausea. Some varieties of honey possess large amounts of friendly bacteria. This includes up to 6 species of lactobacilli and 4 species of bifidobacteria. This may explain many of the mysterious therapeutic properties of honey. Its anti-bacterial qualities are particularly useful for the skin, and, when used with the other ingredients, honey can also be moisturizing and nourishing. For a powerful home beauty treatment for which you probably have all the ingredients in your kitchen already.

And for your knowledge, there are at least 40 types of honey, and each one has a distinctive taste and unique properties. Different honeys have different flavonoid profiles, depending on the floral source of the nectar.

As a cricket lover, I am sure you are well aware of the upcoming schedules of matches around the world, right. But are you also aware of the Women’s cricket tournaments that are lined up for the year 2017? I am sure, you have never thought of it. Here’s a quick glance at the schedule for 2017 …

Apart from the ICC Women’s World Cup in England and Wales in June and July, Australia will host a multi-format series later in the year that will feature the first-ever Women’s Day-Night Test match at the North Sydney Oval.

Slowly but steadily, all Test-playing nations have introduced central contracts. Australia’s WBBL, now two seasons old, and England’s Women’s Cricket Super League have been massive hits, and the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2016 in India gave a glimpse of the potential that remains to be tapped.

Things have been moving rapidly in women’s cricket since the International Cricket Council took over the International Women’s Cricket Council in 2005. New benchmarks are expected to be set when the 11th edition of the Women’s World Cup takes place across four venues in England from June 24 this year.

India, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan were the four teams to qualify through the Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2017 held in Colombo. They will join Australia, the defending champions, England, New Zealand and West Indies to complete the line-up. The top eight countries played three matches against each other in the ICC Women’s Championship, with the top four earning automatic qualification.

Held from 2014 onwards, the Championship produced some memorable moments. Meg Lanning topped the batting charts with 1,232 runs in 21 matches, while Ellyse Perry followed her on the second spot with 985 runs. Jess Jonassen was the best bowler with 31 wickets. The trio played a big role in Australia winning 18 matches to top the table.

The bottom four teams – India, South Africa, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – joined Bangladesh, Ireland, Thailand, Zimbabwe, Scotland and Papua New Guinea to play the Qualifiers in Colombo.

Right now the Television programme which you are watching is all due to the money pumped in by the Advertisers and hence they have the right to advertise their product or service in between your favourite television series. So are you annoyed, irritated or entertained with such kinds of Ads, which interrupt your flow of watching the TV series?

Some might feel it extremely annoying while others take it with pinch of salt, and while rest feel it as a dose of entertainment and consumes the same with same zeal and enthusiasm. In most countries in the world, broadcast television is available for free to anyone who has a television set.   Obviously, nothing is ever really for free.  So in return for receiving free entertainment and information over the airwaves, television viewers have to watch television commercials coming from the people who sponsor those programs.

Television commercials come in many forms, such as:

• the traditional 30-second commercial, with variations such as 5-second, 10-second, 15-second, 45-second, 60-second and so on
• public service announcements
• 30-minute or longer infomercials touting specific products and services
• sponsor logos superimposed artificially on soccer fields or basketball courts
• static or rotating billboards in broadcasts of live events
• home shopping channels that are commercial in nature all the time
• product placements within the television programs, such as the soft drink in the hand of the actor

Advertising is a funny business. Literally, look at enough ad agency portfolios and you’ll see so much comedy that you’ll start to wonder if the only successful approach is humour, even at times emotions play a huge role too. Some ad experts think advertisers need to worry about more than just sales. If viewers begin to associate the brand or packaging with the negative emotion of a loud and annoying interruption of their entertainment, eventually the brand will suffer.

Not everybody can plan their retirement in a way, that the enjoy their after work life with same enthusiasm and fun. There are some things that we can learn from others who have made the transition into the kind of life that they wanted.  Some would say that they were “happily retired”, while others wouldn’t even admit to being retired at all!  That’s the point–this next phase of your life will be about living the kind of life that YOU decide.  It might include work, it might be travel or it might be learning and doing new things!

The truth is, even though most professionals look forward to retirement, the loss of a job can be unexpectedly traumatic. According to psychologists, jobs provide mental health benefits including:

• Feelings of contribution and being appreciated
• The satisfaction of solving problems and learning new things
• Relationships with fellow workers
• Daily routines eliminating mental decisions about “what to do next”

The key to a positive retirement is to ensure these benefits don’t get lost, but are simply experienced in a different way.

Staying active is key to post retirement agenda, be it both mentally and physically. Retirement can be emotionally devastating. Instead of sitting around feeling sorry for yourself, volunteer your time, years of experience, and wisdom to help fulfill your need for accomplishment and recognition. The average person has roughly 20 years of life remaining after retirement – time enough to write a masterpiece, run a marathon, or mentor hundreds of youth. There’s even time to do nothing, discover the beauty of grandkids, or rekindle the romance of a long relationship. Tomorrow can be the beginning of new adventures, new joys, and greater successes – how you spend it is up to you. Hence retirement should be taken positively and brave it as any other phase of life.