Tuesday, July 7, 2020 Dhul-Qa’da 16, 1441 AH

Doha today: 320 - 420

READY, STEADY: Registered Nurse Emy Charlot ties on a gown before treating a critically ill patient in the Parkland Hospital Covid-19 Tactical Care Unit last month in Dallas.

COVER STORY On the edge Inside a Texas hospital’s Covid-19 unit. P4-5

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Dil Bechara sees Sushant on a Kids learn classical dance online quest to fi nd his fairytale ending. to stave off isolation. Page 14 Page 16 2 GULF TIMES Tuesday, July 7, 2020 COMMUNITY ROUND & ABOUT

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ote Unquo Qu te

“The principle of art is to pause, not bypass.” — Jerzy Kosinski

Community Editor Kamran Rehmat e-mail: [email protected] Telephone: 44466405 Tales from the Loop SYNOPSIS: Beneath a small town where impossible things become possible. Fax: 44350474 DIRECTION: Nathaniel Halpern exists The Loop, a scientifi c research Each episode follows one townsperson, CAST: Daniel Zolghadri, Paul facility. The townspeople end up or a particular group of townspeople, and Schneider, Rebecca Hall experiencing an altered version of reality, their experiences with The Loop. Tuesday, July 7, 2020 GULF TIMES 3 BODY & MIND COMMUNITY Pool-related health issues Pools can be a great place to relax on a hot summer day, and they provide great social and recreational entertainment. But there are many things to be mindful of regarding health and wellness

Cryptosporidium infections are highly contagious and are one of the more common causes of infectious diarrhoea in humans. But there are ways protect yourself and your family from becoming ill. Inquire with your community pool about the cleaning schedule, any testing that is performed on the water, and whether there have been cases of Cryptosporidium or other infections reported from people who have recently used the pool. In addition to the risk of Cryptosporidium infection, you would want to avoid swimming in a pool that does not perform cleaning and water treatment regularly. Consider these other recommendations for avoiding infections from your community swimming pool: 1. Don’t swim or let your kids swim if they are sick and have diarrhoea. If they have been diagnosed with Crytosporidium they should wait two weeks after the diarrhoea has stopped before returning to the pool. The parasite has been detected in stool up to two weeks after diarrhoea has gotten better. 2. Rinse off in the shower before and after getting in the pool to remove germs on your body that could contaminate the water. 3. Remind your child to avoid swallowing water from the UNDER SUPERVISION: Before you send your children to the pool, make sure they know how to swim and will always be supervised by a responsible adult. swimming pool. 4. For younger children especially, take frequent bathroom uestion: We recently been advice many parents have breaks and check diapers in a moved into a been giving their children for diaper-changing area, not next to community that has generations. the pool. several pools. My Originally, it was thought 5. Wash your hands well with Qchildren are so excited that after you eat, blood may be soap and water after using and ask nightly if they diverted away from your arms the bathroom and changing can swim after dinner. Growing up, and legs to your gut so that you diapers. Alcohol-based hand my mom always made me wait 30 can digest your food easily. Thus, sanitisers are not eff ective against minutes after I ate to swim. Also, the advice was to wait since Cryptosporidium. I keep hearing about parasites and you might get tired or fatigued, In most healthy people, the other waterborne illnesses. Can and be more likely to drown. symptoms of this infection will you clear up the myths from facts We know now that there is no resolve within a couple of weeks so I can keep our family safe while scientifi c basis for that. While it without any treatment. enjoying the pool? may not be the most comfortable The most important thing Answer: Moving is always thing to go for a swim with a is to drink plenty of fl uids and exciting and especially to a place full belly, this is not a dangerous stay well-hydrated. However, that has amenities for your activity to routinely enjoy. Where the infection can be more severe children to enjoy. Pools can be community swimming pools and prolonged in people with a great place to relax on a hot can become a problem is if they weakened immune systems or summer day, and they provide become contaminated with underlying digestive system issues great social and recreational REMOVING GERMS: Rinse off in the shower before and after getting in the Cryptosporidium parasites. These (e.g. infl ammatory bowel disease). entertainment. But you are pool to remove germs on your body that could contaminate the water. microscopic parasites live in the People with those conditions correct. There are many things to intestines of humans or animals, should talk to their health care be mindful of regarding health and a responsible adult. Drowning On average, there are 3,500 and are shed through stool. provider to fi nd out whether wellness. remains a leading cause of fatalities annually from drowning, Symptoms of Cryptosporidium they need to be tested or treated Most importantly, before you unintentional death for people of or about 10 people a day who die infections include watery for Cryptosporidium or other send your children to the pool, all ages, especially children under from drowning. diarrhoea, dehydration, lack of infectious causes of diarrhoea make sure they know how to swim 14, according to the Centers for Waiting to swim for 30 to appetite, weight loss, stomach – Mayo Clinic News Network/ and will always be supervised by Disease Control and Prevention. 60 minutes after eating has cramps or pain, fever, or nausea. TNS 4 GULF TIMES Tuesday, July 7, 2020 COMMUNITY COVER STORY Where you shift perilously between life and death The quiet was broken only by the putt-putt-putting of hand-held vibrating treatments on patients’ chests, occasional ventilator alarms — and the coughs, reports Sharon Grigsby

THE SCENE: Healthcare workers work to treat critically ill patients filling bed after bed in the Parkland Hospital Covid-19 Tactical Care Unit in Dallas.

I have not done he critically ill patients breathing free on the outside, get anything other than in Parkland’s Covid-19 to wear. Tactical Care Unit Not the 52-year-old man in one take care of critically couldn’t wear masks bed or his 77-year-old mother a Teven if they wanted few beds down. Not the man who ill Covid patients since to. They each have a plastic tube went on a ventilator on this Friday jammed down their throats, night or the one who has been on a the end of February, and straight to their lungs. The other machine for more than two months. I’m just resigned that end of each tube coils like a In this low-ceilinged space, translucent snake, tethering the crammed full of a maze of medical this is what I’m going to inert form in the bed to a gleaming equipment, the two rows of beds machine — and, with luck, to life. stretch farther than you want to be doing all day for the It’s eerily quiet on this long, look. open ward and the 30 patients on Many of the intubated patients foreseeable future ventilators seem frozen in place. lie on their stomachs to make ‘ They’re unconscious, sedated with breathing easier. On one man’s back powerful drugs, in part to prevent lie a rosary, a cross and a prayer — Dr Matt Leveno, them from ripping out the lines that card, placed there by the staff at the are keeping them alive. family’s request. On another is a Tactical Care Unit’s Not one would hesitate for a pocket prayer shawl with the words medical director nanosecond to trade the invasive “May you be reminded of God’s ’ plastic tubes for the masks that we, unending love for you.” Tuesday, July 7, 2020 GULF TIMES 5 COVER STORY COMMUNITY

Death stalks the rows of beds as that it’s hard to watch when people surely as the legion of caregivers aren’t doing things that are simple — struggling to fend it off . They wearing a mask or social distancing navigate around dialysis machines when possible. and IV poles buried in drips, tubes “It’s diff erent if you are the sole and electronic equipment. Often breadwinner for a household and they are running out of options for have to take these risks for my lungs that have failed to respond day family,” he said. “But ‘I don’t want after day. to,’ ‘I don’t like it,’ that is more The eyes of the world are on Texas challenging for me to accept. It’s not right now for all the wrong reasons a big sacrifi ce.” — as the state sets one shameful The Tactical Care Unit provides record after another for coronavirus 66 beds for the most critical cases and hospitalisations. But patients; 58 of those beds were fi lled the 300 women and men working Saturday. The “red box” extensions, inside Parkland’s “red box” — the on fl oors 14 and 16, provide about nickname given to the brightly 100 more, primarily for the least ill painted Tactical Care Unit and its Covid-19 patients; 63 of those beds spillover wards on fl oors 14 and 16 were in use. — are too busy, and too tired, to see While most of the Tactical Care beyond the next patient. Unit houses what would be classifi ed Dr Matt Leveno, the Tactical Care in normal times as the ICU, some Unit’s medical director, paused for a of the beds are designated for long time Saturday when asked how “progressive care” Covid-19 much worse things were than two patients, meaning those who could weeks ago. fl ip, at a moment’s notice, into “I have not done anything other critical distress. than take care of critically ill Covid In one of these beds was a pregnant patients since the end of February, 23-year-old woman who, with fever and I’m just resigned that this is ASSESSMENT: Led by Dr Matt Leveno, left, a team of healthcare workers assesses an intubated patient in the hospital. and shortness of breath, had tested what I’m going to be doing all day positive for the coronavirus. A plan for the foreseeable future,” he said. patient. “That’s a lot of work for the or things will get worse. Who knows health workers. was devised to ensure that the baby “The plan right now is just to run, body to handle.” what that looks like?” What makes the coronavirus so could be delivered safely in this ward, run, run, run, run — until you just As the Parkland executive I walked with Leveno part of that challenging is its still-mysterious but after the child’s premature birth, can’t. So I’m just going to go as fast responsible for the Covid-19 unit, Saturday morning as he made his progression, Leveno said. A patient the mother wound up on a ventilator as I can and do as much as I can until Rowley seems to be everywhere on daily rounds of the most critical can have symptoms for many days for two weeks. I can’t do it anymore.” the ward to make sure everyone has patients, conversations that before the situation becomes bad Leveno noted that the woman, Leveno talked to me at the bedside what they need. included both nurses and respiratory enough to require supplemental who smiled repeatedly, had just of a 45-year-old man who has been “This has been the worst week,” therapists in the ward and staff ers oxygen and hospitalisation. come off the machine the day before on a ventilator for two weeks despite Rowley said on the last Saturday in communicating through a Zoom “Then even with all the oxygen we my visit. “I don’t celebrate until they maximum breathing therapy. His June. “It’s been rough. It can be hard meeting. can supply, the patient can’t do the are back at the house, but I couldn’t kidneys are failing. to come back when you lose two It was a drone of concerning work of breathing and ends up on be happier for her to be in this shape “There’s simply nothing more people in a day. But we have to.” reports: “Hospitalisation, day 27; mechanical ventilation,” Leveno said. right now.” that I can do,” Leveno said. “I don’t She said Parkland is lucky to have ventilator, day 2.” “Overnight, a “It’s a waiting game: Is this a Victor Salazar, 53, who had been think he’s going to survive, whether had a staff that can fl ex from other decreased urine output.” “Not a person who will turn the corner and in the progressive care unit for it’s today or tomorrow.” departments to the Covid unit, whole lot of headway with lungs.” get better or the patient who will almost a week, spoke with me from The patient in the next bed was but she’s unsure how long that is “Watch this 200 blood pressure.” be the next one we have to put on a his bed. “It’s been like hell” to have a 60-year-old man admitted April sustainable. The hospital is taking Leveno observed a 73-year-old ventilator?” this disease,” he said. “It’s an ugly 26 and put on a ventilator two days in more coronavirus patients — and woman whom the medical team was He said that even though he’s feeling to not be able to breathe.” later. Nurse Joe Krais, who normally they are sicker when they arrive than trying to bring out of anaesthesia taken care of every critically ill The Grand Prairie truck driver works in Parkland’s ICU burn unit they were in the past. in order to remove her from the Parkland Covid-19 patient since had to pause repeatedly as he talked; but has been with the Covid team She and her team are feeling ventilator. “She’s doing very well,” February — probably more than 100 an alarm monitoring his oxygen since March, has been his caregiver increasingly anxious about doing he said. “And this would be the lady — “I still can’t fi gure out who those level regularly blared to remind him for weeks. their job in a way that is safe for the who I thought wouldn’t make it. But patients, regardless of age, are going that he needed to take a few deep “You develop a relationship with patients and the Parkland team. no, Covid is not like that.” to be.” breaths. even an unconscious patient and “Either our community pulls As we moved on, a nurse “It’s very humbling,” he said. “I don’t wish this on nobody you get emotionally attached,” Krais together or we tip,” she said. “People continued to comfort the tiny Like Rowley, Leveno tries to because it’s bad,” he said. said. “Right now, we’re taking it day either focus on the masking, the woman, whose eyes anxiously stay clear of the politics of the While the staff is learning more by day and sometimes hour by hour social distancing, the handwashing assessed the anonymous PPE-clad coronavirus. But he acknowledged all the time about Covid-19, Rowley as far as him doing better or worse.” said the 12-hour “wave” that often Krais also pointed to the swelling accompanies the disease makes numbers of the last two weeks. “Is it it unique in her years of nursing. aff ecting us? Yes. With the toll, the “Even if a patient seems stable and workload, it’s a challenge.” improving … something happens The conversations, even as in their body and you just cannot Leveno and his team made their stop it from shutting down, organ rounds with the most critical by organ. When that cycle starts, it’s patients, were hushed. The quiet unstoppable. was broken only by the putt-putt- “You feel helpless.” putting of hand-held vibrating And never more so than when treatments on patients’ chests, Rowley escorts a family into a occasional ventilator alarms — and special “red box” room to see a loved the coughs. one for probably the last time. When Each time I walked the ward, a I checked in with her by phone late nurse or respiratory therapist was at Saturday afternoon, she was in tears nearly each bed, double-checking the — having just been a part of two of digitally controlled medication drips, those goodbyes. adjusting the ventilator, smoothing a At one bedside, an 18-year-old pillow or turning a patient. brought his high school diploma for One seriously ill man, not on a his unconscious 45-year-old father ventilator but aided by two extra to see. At the other, a mother begged oxygen sources, laboured mightily her 32-year-old, “Fight, little one, to breathe. His belly contracted fi ght.” sharply in rapid bursts while his face “It was just awful,” Rowley said. contorted in pain. “We put our hearts and souls into That’s “air hunger,” Samantha this fi ght and we still can’t stop Rowley, senior vice president of this tsunami from coming. It’s just nursing and surgical services, killing us all.” told me as a nurse checked on the TREATMENT: A healthcare worker changes out an intravenous drip while treating an intubated patient. — The Dallas Morning News/TNS 6 GULF TIMES Tuesday, July 7, 2020 COMMUNITY GARDENING Be a pro at gardening Creating a pleasing garden is a matter of following your instincts, writes James Wong

’ve been forever fascinated not just by the natural beauty of plants, but by how arranging them can Ihave a profound eff ect on the overall aesthetics and, by extension, how they make us feel. As an ethnobotanist, I am obsessed by the evolutionary theories that have attempted to explain what appear to be universal rules underpinning garden design. Once you understand the underlying instincts, becoming a better garden designer is suddenly far more straightforward. We talk about gardens as natural spaces, but they’re the exact opposite: human-made environments engineered using natural ingredients. If they were truly “natural”, we could leave the ecosystem to take its course, letting PURPLE REIGN: Orchids will flower when you least expect it. our plots revert to a wild state – twisted brambles, boggy puddles Indoor gardening? communities, like miniature and all. Ironically, the second we Just add fl owers garden borders all of their own. do that these plots stop being real This creates a less cluttered look “gardens”. For when you set out to Those of us with no garden and will ultimately save you try and defi ne the word “garden”, can still learn from traditional money as one or two big planters management is one of the defi ning outdoor techniques. are generally cheaper than lots of features they all have in common. It’s fascinating that in recent small ones. Finally, if one of your Evolutionary anthropologists years the cultures of indoor collection does fail, in community and landscape psychologists have and outdoor gardening have plantings, other residents will theorised that in creating gardens evolved along diff erent lines, quickly fi ll the space, so you will we are attempting to recreate not just in terms of aesthetics, barely notice. the ideal habitat for our species. but in horticultural practice, The second thing is to not According to this, the richest too. As a new generation gets forget about fl owers. I feel habitat for the foods we eat are into gardening, inspired by western outdoor garden design forest edges, including a protected recreating the indoor paradises can be over-reliant on masses of area of tree cover and open area on Instagram, many traditions fl oral colour for interest – to me with views and sunlight. These of outdoor gardening are being it’s the horticultural equivalent contrasting elements have been bypassed – leading to a sort of chucking lots of salt and sugar coined “prospect and refuge”, of parallel horticulture. This into any recipe. But in the world off ering the psychological safety diversity is all part of the fun, but of indoor gardening, there is of a space where you can hide from there are approaches one side can such a strong trend for foliage predators, and have a view of an learn from the other – and two big at the moment that fl owers open landscape for the prospect of tips indoor growers can pick up are almost forgotten. Yet, even hunting prey or gathering plants. from outdoor ones. amidst a jungle of giant leaves and the words “garden” and One of the biggest trends you architectural forms, a few fl oral “seating area”, and I promise you see on social media is collections accents add complexity, drawing the vast majority will match this of dozens of plants all in the eye and making the viewer basic blueprint. individual pots, shot against the pause to consider subtler details. If you want to instantly grab obligatory white industrial wall. I am currently in love with attention, there isn’t a better I can only imagine this is because the Vietnamese violet Chirita feature than a water source, in indoor plant collections tend to tamiana. This is a more elegant particular running water, which start with a cautious one or two and wild looking African violet in our past would have been specimens, and quickly spin out that pops out never ending safer to drink. Not only will our of control when the horticultural successions of white fl owers eyes be drawn to water, thanks bug bites. But there are downsides with delicately painted violet to instinctive programming, but to this. Small pots have a larger throats. The smaller orchids, our path of travel will be, too. surface area to volume ratio, so like paphiopedilums and dwarf This ability to control the visual NATURE PROGRAMMING: Our eyes are drawn to water and flowers. they dry out far more quickly. phalaenopsis, will pop out a attention of the visitor and to This means loads more watering fl ower from an undergrowth of dictate the route they take to fl owers helps us remember the in the wild. I think they are far eff ort, and a far higher risk of tropical leaves when you least travel is invaluable when it comes location of fruiting plants, so we more effective that way than plant failure. Then there’s the expect it. The jewel orchids, to the illusion of perfect nature. can return later for harvest. When using wall-to wall blocks of nightmare of dusting and cleaning such as macodes and ludisia are It allows planning of blind spots we create flower-filled gardens, brash bedding, like drowning a in the nooks and crannies between the best of both worlds. Their (where you can hide the compost we are engineering an exaggerated cake in sprinkles. In gardening, containers and, let’s face it, the incredible leaves look like they bin), and to accentuate focal vision of nature to satisfy our like all art, there do appear to be cost of all those individual pots are embroidered with gold thread, points for your proudest plant instincts. underlying universal rules baked can add up. then every once in a while they achievements. I am of the view that flowers into our DNA, but how those are Simply grouping plants will throw up a spike of tiny Aside from human and animal are so exciting that they work interpreted by us is as unique into larger containers, such white blooms. Indoor gardeners forms, fl owers are probably the best when used sparingly as focal as each one of us. So bending, as windowboxes, means they shouldn’t miss out on some only other universal motif in art. points to draw the attention or or breaking, these rules is as will not only be easier to care outdoor joys. Anthropologists have postulated surprise the viewer when they important as learning them. for but will create naturalistic – The Guardian that our ability to be excited about appear in the undergrowth, as – The Guardian Tuesday, July 7, 2020 GULF TIMES 7 INTERIOR DESIGN COMMUNITY Joining the dots: the tiny Rye cottage with spot-on paintwork

Hand-painted fabrics and bold furnishings give this colourful home a cheerful appeal, writes Nell Card

In the darkness, you move buy anything new. Apart from my towards the light,” says Catherine mattress and duvet, everything is old. Reynolds. We’re eating pastries I love things that have a story.” in her front room and talking The whole eff ect is unmistakably ‘about how she came to paint British – and when Reynolds is imperfect stripes and dots on vintage abroad, the cottage is available to furniture and fabric. “When things rent. On the day I visit, a German shine brighter you instinctively move couple has just vacated, having spent towards them,” she continues. “And the week immersed in her joyful, because you’re in such a dark place, nostalgic aesthetic. you don’t really think about what the The front room, which you step light is. You just go towards it. That’s into directly off the narrow street, how I ended up in Rye and that’s how is now a deep, mossy green (Bancha Polka started: it was a light and I just from Farrow & Ball). A green glass loved doing it.” chandelier hangs in the bay window A couple of years ago, Reynolds above a squishy, fl oral armchair was not in a good place. Recently found at an auction. The second- divorced, she wound down her hand sofa has been reupholstered successful PR company and moved in chartreuse velvet and stacked from a large London fl at to a tiny, with fl oral cushions. Vintage prints historic cottage in Rye. She is and original artworks hang on the originally from Merseyside and her walls. The two small tables have accent remains strong. Her friend, been customised with black dots big Marcus Crane – co-founder of the and small, the bamboo dining chairs local art and interior store, McCully sprayed pillarbox red. & Crane – found her this cottage. Connected to the front room is a “I took it on without even seeing miniscule, custom-made kitchen. it,” she recalls. “I thought: if Marcus The starting point for her design was likes it, I’ll like it.” She only planned a dilapidated wooden cabinet she to stay for six months, then, at the found at Ardingly antiques fair. A start of 2018, she decided it was time local carpenter removed the top and to “lay down some roots”. She asked transformed it into hidden drawers. the landlord to sell her the cottage The splashback and shelf behind and he agreed. the work surface were made from Designing, sourcing and the sides of an old billiards table. “I customising homeware – which EXQUISITE: The cottage’s front room with the bamboo chairs Catherine sprayed red. can get my hands on so much old she now sells under the brand wood, why would I need any new name Polka – helped Reynolds fi nd stuff ?” Behind the shelf is a beautiful new focus. When she fi rst moved brick wall and ancient connecting to Rye, she staged a Polka pop-up door that Reynolds found behind in McCully & Crane, where her plasterboard when removing the old hand-painted upholstered pieces are kitchen cabinets. currently stocked. Now she works to Upstairs, there is one bedroom commission, sourcing vintage pieces and a bathroom, both with wide, for interior designers and individuals wonky fl oorboards and whitewashed and customising them if they need walls. Colour comes in candy-striped it. “Sometimes they benefi t from fabrics in the bedroom, a pair of a little bit of a polka dot,” she says. chintzy bedside lights and faux- “ – they cheer things up.” Her striped rococo gilt mirrors. A collection of fabric – which is hand-painted straw boaters, cherubs and kitsch here on her diminutive front-room ceramics adorns the walls and fl oor – is available in any colour and surfaces. “The stripes and chintz are any thickness of stripe. “There’s a family aesthetic,” says Reynolds. something about sitting and painting “Sometimes I’ll buy something and straight lines on fabric that is quite then go to my granny’s old house and therapeutic for me,” she refl ects. fi nd I’ve bought something that is in Dot Cottage, as it is now known, that house.” is in a row of four terraced Grade I ask what’s next for Polka. “I II-listed dwellings, in the medieval didn’t go into it thinking where it centre of Rye. As a tenant, Reynolds would go,” she admits. “That’s the had painted the front room pink and story of my life, really. Things happen stared to slowly dismantle the fi tted and I think – OK, I’ll do a bit of kitchen. As the owner, she quickly that for now. I love fi nding objects made it her own. that have a story. I’m a storyteller, “I’ve dressed the house how I really, and I think life is a tale, too. dress myself – and change it often,” The beauty is in its imperfection. If she says. “I like stripes, pattern, everything’s too perfect, it doesn’t colour, bows, polka dots – and I don’t CHINTZ UP: Chartreuse velvet sofa with floral cushions and vintage prints and original artworks. really interest me.” – The Guardian 8 GULF TIMES Tuesday, July 7, 2020 COMMUNITY BOOK R 10 of the best novels set in Ru

by the glass-smooth River Neva Muscovites, children of the metro; of orphaned urchin Senka through 2017 by Olga Slavnikova By Phoebe Taplin and hungover rides home in the time and again we seek refuge in its 19th-century Moscow. Akunin One hundred years after the 1917 Petersburg morning-after. Then maternal sense.” recreates the slums of Khitrovka, revolution, a gem cutter called young Onegin’s rich uncle dies, full of spiced tea stalls and gangsters Krylov falls in love in a Russian his list of novels and leaving him the country estate, The Underground by Hamid in shiny boots (today the area is city where centenary celebrations novellas will help you boasting a “vast garden, overgrown/ Ismailov all banks and top-end restaurants, lead to repeated cycles of violence. explore Russia’s vast with wistful dryads set in stone.” The palatial metro system of course). Senka fi nds a hoard Meanwhile, gem prospectors or landscapes and complex Inside, there are brocaded walls, is one of the best things about of antique silver bars, hires a “rock hounds” search for precious Thistory. portraits of tsars, and tiled stoves. Moscow. Several novels take place student to teach him how to be stones in the mythical Riphean I spent several years wandering Pushkin lovingly details (although in its tunnels, including Mikhail a gentleman and is soon at the mountains (inspired by Slavnikova’s round Russia with books in my they bore the novel’s hero) Glukhovsky’s dystopian Metro 2033, theatre, marvelling that people native Urals). This winner of rucksack. And several more years traditional rye beer, berry picking, fi rst in a series of philosophical, will pay “seven roubles to sit in a the 2006 Russian Booker Prize reviewing Russian fi ction and seething samovars and little dishes post-apocalyptic underground prickly collar for three hours” and is a genre-defying mashup of fi nding myself transported back, of jam. So, fi nally, to Moscow, adventures. Hamid Ismailov’s The watch “men in tight underpants speculative fi ction, magic realism, whether to a village with chickens “chiselled in white stone / the Underground uses metro stations jumping about”. The tale’s gruesome romance and thriller. Among many pecking through orchards round buildings topped with fi ery glory / A to structure the posthumous denouement has a characteristic prescient interwoven threads are an a wooden church or to a drunken golden cross on every dome”. reminiscences of young Kirill. blend of action, deduction, intrigue ecological catastrophe triggered by kitchen table debate in a high-rise Born nine months after the 1980 and morality. human greed, and an epidemic of overlooking the Moscow suburbs. Happiness is Possible by Oleg Olympics to a Siberian mother and nostalgia, sparking civil war. In St This subjective list of engaging, Zaionchkovsky an African father, Kirill dies soon Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Petersburg, costumed revolutionary relatively readable novels and Moscow exerts a strong after the collapse of the USSR a Nikolai Leskov sailors try to fi re a museum tank novellas recreates various Russian gravitational force on writers, just decade later. There are recurrent Florence Pugh played the title role gun at the Winter Palace and in landscapes, eras and atmospheres, as it does on Chekhov’s three sisters images of the metro as a body, with in an unfl inching 2016 fi lm version Moscow the toppled monument often in ways that no amount with their refrain, “To Moscow, “stone intestines” or marble pillars of this brutal 19th-century novella, to murderous security chief Felix of travelling could. As Ludmila to Moscow…” One of the subtlest like a woman’s legs, “bare to the a tale of provincial lust and murder. Dzerzhinsky is resurrected (this Ulitskaya writes in The Big Green evocations of modern Moscow is hip”. Exiled Uzbek author Hamid If people have heard of Nikolai bit almost came true recently). Tent: “Military historians have Oleg Zaionchkovsky’s Happiness Ismailov has woven this poignant Leskov at all, it’s usually because There’s an evocative Russianness found many discrepancies in is Possible, a series of darkly comic story, a fi ctionalised memoir of Lady Macbeth. Dostoevsky fi rst in the novel’s linguistic subtlety, Tolstoy’s description of the Battle vignettes published in 2012. The inspired by episodes from his and published it in his literary magazine the fantastical mountain gorges, of Borodino, but the whole world narrator is a struggling novelist his family’s own peripatetic lives, and Shostakovich later turned it the cavalcades on city streets and imagines the event just as Tolstoy whose ambitious wife has left into a haunting landscape-tapestry into an ill-fated opera. From the the pervasive, Kafkaesque sense of described it in War and Peace.” him. Discursive, fatalistic and of 20th-century Moscow. bored merchant’s wife, romping strangeness. fond of sleeping in the day, he is with a newly arrived farmhand Yevgeny Onegin by Alexander reminiscent of Ivan Goncharov’s The Lover of Death by Boris under moonlit apple blossom, to The Big Green Tent by Ludmila Pushkin sluggish hero Oblomov, Russian Akunin a chilling denouement near the Ulitskaya A bored young man inherits literature’s traditional “superfl uous Boris Akunin, whose real name is “dark, gape-jawed waves” of the A war-wounded teacher arrives a country estate, where a shy, man”. What his story lacks in plot, it Grigory Chkhartishvili, is famous leaden Volga, the story showcases at a 1950s Moscow school and book-loving local girl falls for amply repays in dishevelled charm for his bestselling series of clever, Leskov’s restless evocation of forms a Dead Poets Society-style him. Alexander Pushkin, father of and style. He shuffl es, unshaven, tsarist-era thrillers. If you haven’t place and passion. The setting, restaurant, where he leads the boys Russian literature, crams laughter, through the dacha village of Vaskovo read any, start with The Winter with its buckwheat kasha and icon through the city streets, peeling literature, duelling and tempestuous and fi lls the abandoned apartment Queen, which introduces the lamps, has bureaucratic warrants back the layers of its literary and romance into his playful 1820s with dog hair and ashtrays. brilliantly understated detective and certifi cates alongside folkloric historical palimpsest. Ulitskaya is verse novel. A series of distilled Zaionchkovsky’s narrator conveys work of diplomat-turned-sleuth elements: the locked-up tower of always redolent and readable. The Russian settings serve as backdrops. the city’s magnetic pull, fi nding Erast Fandorin. In He Lover of the merchant’s house and the wife’s interlocking stories in The Big Green First: theatres, dancing, lamplit a secret solace and reassurance Death, Oliver Twist meets Treasure love interest, “like a bright falcon”. Tent revolve around two groups of snowy streets, soft summer nights in the deafening noise: “We are Island as we follow the adventures school friends. This generous novel, Tuesday, July 7, 2020 GULF TIMES 9 REVIEWS COMMUNITY ussia – that will take you there

spanning four decades of Soviet life, has a Tolstoyan ambition to capture the spirit of an age. Beyond the deftly drawn settings (trams, ice skating, Karelian birchwood furniture) is a powerful sense of cultural baggage. “We live not in nature, but in history,” Ulitskaya writes, as her protagonists walk down a lane once trodden by Pushkin and later Pasternak, “skirting the eternal puddles.”

The Mountain and The Wall by Alisa Ganieva The Russian authorities are planning to build a wall to isolate the troublesome Caucasus from the rest of the country. That’s the rumour that drives Alisa Ganieva’s 2012 novel, set in a dystopian-yet-real version of her hometown of Makhachkala, Dagestan’s coastal capital city. Shamil, a young Dagestani reporter, wanders the streets while his friend, Madina, dons a hijab and heads for the hills to marry a murderous zealot. It’s another narrative and Ganieva’s picture of the social and psychological fallout of apocalyptic republic sandwiched between war- by birch trees, linden-shaded The Women of Lazarus by her mother is about to drown. events feels a bit near the knuckle torn Chechnya and the Caspian Sea. boulevards, old ladies selling Marina Stepnova “Lazarus” is her grandfather, a in 2020. A few years ago, I joined flowers outside the monastery), From a bomb-making scientist in talented physicist who appeared a press trip to Makhachkala to Pushkin Hills by Sergei but also the absurdly reverential a secret city called Ensk to starving, at Moscow University, dirty and see a new art exhibition and take Dovlatov guides and clueless tourists. The smoking teenage ballet dancers lice-ridden, seven decades earlier. a trip (with armed escort) into Boris Alikhanov, a troubled, comedy of Pushkin Hills coexists fi lling each other’s pointe shoes The women include his wife, the waterfall-braided mountains. unpublished author, fi nds work as a with bittersweet meditations with ground glass, The Women of Galina Petrovna, who looks after Dagestan is not really a holiday summer guide in the Pushkin Hills on creativity, loss and identity. Lazarus fl irts with Russia’s enduring orphaned Lidochka, and whose destination, even when there’s museum, as Dovlatov himself once Alikhanov derides Soviet authors cliches even as it constructs a perfume smells of “orange tree no pandemic, and a novel about did. The atmosphere of Russia’s old who hanker after folk verses and profound and richly sensory tale honey, raspberry, ambergris, Islamic radicalisation isn’t likely towns and zapovedniki (nature/ embroidered towels but, explaining about human interaction. The opoponax, and coriander”. to encourage tourists. But Ganieva heritage reserves) is conjured up to his wife why he won’t emigrate, chapters trace a series of related Stepnova continually reframes skilfully uses words from some of in this novel, set on Alexander he says that while he “couldn’t family stories through a century our perspectives, showing us how the 30-odd local languages and Pushkin’s old family estate. It’s care less about birch trees”, he of Soviet and post-Soviet joys and human beings can adapt to almost fragments of poems, fables, dreams not just the physical details that would miss “my language, my tragedies. It opens with young anything. and diaries to evoke this diverse resonate (log houses girdled people, my crazy country”. Lidochka at the beach, where – The Guardian 10 GULF TIMES Tuesday, July 7, 2020 COMMUNITY INFOGRAPHIC Putting the flash in fireworks Quick, violent chemical reactions put the bright colors in fireworks. 1 Make energy Shell explodes, generates heat 2 Transfer energy Explosion heats metals, other chemicals in firework 3 Release energy Metal or chemical gives off light Color depends on what element creates it Greens Barium

Golden white Iron, magnesium, aluminum

Yellow-orange Sodium Reds Strontium Purple Potassium

Source: Argonne National Laboratory Division of Educational Programs Graphic: Staff, TNS Tuesday, July 7, 2020 GULF TIMES 11 LIFESTYLE/HOROSCOPE COMMUNITY Don’t let your 50s stop you from being fit and fabulous

n an endeavour to stay healthy and Online workout sessions pose as a build an immunity during the Covid-19 viable way of working out, especially for pandemic, people all over India have those in their 50s and above. Live workout a heightened sense of awareness with sessions are extremely useful for this age Iregards to their fi tness. The importance group as the trainer is able to customise of staying active and engaging in some form these workouts as per their preferences of exercise is at the top of everyone’s mind. and limits. Also a prominent craving for Individuals across various age groups have a sense of community is observed during adopted virtual ways of accessing fi tness and this period of home sheltering and live are working out from home, in a bid to get workout sessions act as a great way to stay healthy and focus on overall well-being. It is connected with friends as you workout even more important for the people who are together. Some platforms also have above the age of 50 to focus on staying active dedicated workouts for different age groups and building immunity. making it consumer friendly for all. A sedentary lifestyle may have a huge Nutrition guidance via e-consults: role to play in an individual facing health After 50, the body’s metabolism rate issues like diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, drops which can cause digestive problems. high blood pressure or high cholesterol, and It becomes more likely to lose muscle mass more. As one grows older, it is a must that and see changes in the weight. Virtual they have some form of physical activity, consultations with nutritional experts can more so during unprecedented times like help in curating a healthy diet keeping in these when the world is battling a health mind these changes. crisis. 15-minute meditation and light yoga Here are a few ways in which individuals everyday over the age of 50 can keep active, even at While one takes eff orts towards keeping home: the body active, keeping the mind at par with of meditation followed by a 15-minutes Yoga keep it calm and energised for the rest of the Use of interactive live workout sessions: it is essential too. An early morning routine session would help in relaxing the mind and day. — IANS

ARIES TAURUS GEMINI March 21 — April 19 April 20 — May 20 May 21 — June 20

Your Florence Nightingale side might make an appearance today, Today is a terrific day for you, Taurus. You’ll find that you can get Often, we ask ourselves, “Why me?” You might feel like you ask yourself Aries. Your default defence is to take care of yourself and others. quite a bit done using your quick mind and sharp wit. Information this question more than anyone else, Gemini. Your life probably seems That’s fine, but make sure you do it in a way that doesn’t deplete is flying fast and furious. Grab hold of what resonates with you at times like a roller-coaster ride that never ends. Deep down, you your vital life force. The key is to off er advice and then leave the and discard what doesn’t. The more informed you are, the better realise that you’d have it no other way. Take a break from things today if situation. You aren’t responsible for others’ actions. Off er information equipped you’ll be to handle the decisions of the day. Make sure you you can. Communicate your thoughts and feelings to others. By talking but leave the final decision up to the person you’re trying to help. have all the facts before you proceed. it out, you’ll feel much better about the situation. CANCER LEO VIRGO June 21 — July 22 July 23 — August 22 August 23 — September 22

You may find your brain buzzing around like a bee today, Cancer. Don’t automatically assume that you can work out all your problems Get up early and get working, Virgo. You have a lot of emotional and This is good. There’s a great deal of information that you need to by yourself, Leo. Just the act of talking things over with others can physical energy that should help you accomplish whatever you need process now. Have you been thinking about buying some new help shed light on a situation that was baff ling you earlier. Enlist the to do. The planetary energy is on your side. Take advantage of it to electronic equipment or small appliances for your home? Now is a help of others in areas where you need help. Don’t be ashamed to say what’s on your mind and get closer to wherever you need to be. great time to do some research on this project before you pull out ask for assistance. We all have problems and issues to deal with. You Your active and receptive sides are in agreement today. You should your wallet. Use this day to gather facts. aren’t alone. be able to find a healthy balance between giving and receiving. LIBRA SCORPIO SAGITTARIUS September 23 — October 22 October 23 — November 21 November 22 — December 21

Feel free to speak up today, Libra. Perhaps no one has heard your Someone has turned on the fan and papers are flying everywhere, No one is going to be catering to your needs today, Sagittarius, point of view in a while. It’s probably important for them to hear it. Scorpio. The pace of things is picking up and you’re scrambling to so get up and do things on your own. You’ll find that there is little Just because people don’t ask for your opinion, that doesn’t mean it pick up the pieces. Stay in close communication with others today. sympathy from others, and strong opinions are a dime a dozen. isn’t valid. You have incredible intuitive insight that others fail to see. This will be your saving grace. You may require others’ help to fetch There’s a great deal of gossip buzzing around that you may be Don’t assume they know what you’re thinking – even though you the stack of important documents that has blown across the room. tempted to join in on. Don’t be an enabler of this sort of behaviour. probably know what they’re thinking. Keep a close eye on things so you don’t lose your place in the game. It’s only going to alienate you from others in the long run. CAPRICORN AQUARIUS PISCES December 22 — January 19 January 20 — February 18 February 19 — March 20

Listen closely to the wind, for the answers are blowing around right You might find yourself sidestepping in order to avoid a You’re at a dramatic climax in your monthly emotional cycle today, in front of you today, Capricorn. Contact people you haven’t heard commitment today, Aquarius. Don’t keep giving someone the Pisces. It’s possible that you’ll erupt like a volcano. Don’t be ashamed from in a while. You’ll find that you can be quite productive where runaround. Be strong and let people know your thoughts even if you of releasing these emotions. Your feminine and masculine natures you least expect it. Ironically, the less you plan, the more you’ll get think their feelings will be hurt. Your job is to protect your emotions. are quite connected and they’re working harmoniously in order to done. Be spontaneous in your actions. Revelations will come to you Other people can handle their own. Be aggressive if you have to be. express themselves to the fullest. Open the gates of communication like lightning. Your own sanity depends on you being true to yourself. and let the stampede charge through. 12 GULF TIMES Tuesday, July 7, 2020 COMMUNITY CARTOONS/PUZZLES

Wordsearch Adam

Pooch Cafe

ALLEY LANE TRAIL DRIVE TERRACE COURSE ROW BOULEVARD ROAD APPROACH PATH TURNPIKE HIGHWAY TRACK CRESCENT STREET CAUSEWAY ROUTE AVENUE RAMP

Codeword Every letter of the alphabet is used at least once. Squares with the same number in have the same letter in. Work out which number represents which letter.

Garfield Puzzles courtesy: Puzzlechoice.com courtesy: Puzzles

Sudoku

Bound And Gagged

Sudoku is a puzzle based on a 9x9 grid. The grid is also divided into nine (3x3) boxes. You are given a selection of values and to complete the puzzle, you must fill the grid so that every column, every anone is repeated. Tuesday, July 7, 2020 GULF TIMES 13 PUZZLES COMMUNITY

Super Cryptic Clues Colouring

Across Down 1 Musical state (8) 2 One who disparages a door 6 Snake grasped in the middle attachment (7) (3) 3 A National Trust insect (3) 9 More or less in the vicinity (5) 4 Skin found in compound 10 Warm fowl for a pagan (7) outside Holland’s capital (6) 11 Enjoy Kelly being compared 5 A fall of snow or lava he can (7) fix (9) 13 Astray on the ocean (2,3) 6 One of the musketeers muffed 14 US raid ordered by Persian a shot (5) leader (6) 7 Animal seen in police car (5) 15 Sea-food rascal found on 8 Everything’s immoral about island (6) song (6) 19 Doctor joining American 12 Ale curing outbreak of Medical Association in theatre nervous pain (9) work (5) 16 Gas - the name is peculiar (7) 21 Space - it could be germ-free 17 Provoke fashionable quote (6) (7) 18 Assault a baseball player (6) 22 Girl getting a game before the 19 Refuse to admit beard is end of August (7) unkempt (5) 23 Elegant but impudent (5) 20 Incidental remark made by a 24 Regret having cruel heart (3) team (5) 25 Musical roundabout (8) 23 In this way university gets a bit of money from France (3)

Solution Answers

Wordsearch Codeword 14 GULF TIMES Tuesday, July 7, 2020 COMMUNITY

Kabir Khan, Imtiaz Ali, of IFFM – diversity and inclusivity,” Onir feels the role of a fi lmmaker Rima Das, Onir join said IFFM Festival Director Mitu is to trigger a dialogue. “The world hands for a fi lm Bhowmick Lange. we are living in calls for fresh The festival is now calling for discussions on inclusivity and Filmmakers Kabir Khan, Imtiaz authentic migrant experience story diversity to reiterate strong value Ali, Rima Das and Onir have teamed ideas. Each of the four selected systems for our audiences. I am glad up for a fi lm titled My Melbourne. teams will be assigned a budget to for the opportunity and hope it’s a The quartet will work with create an original script, striving step in the right direction,” he said. selected Victorian fi lmmaking for creativity, originality and pure Rima considers it as an honour to teams to mentor and then shoot storytelling. receive this invitation. “It’s essential short fi lms on diff erent themes. Kabir, Imtiaz, Rima and Onir will for fi lmmakers to examine the world The shorts will be compiled into workshop and develop the selected around them from the prism of its one fi lm entitled My Melbourne, stories and oversee pre-production socio-political context. The short which will premiere at the Indian with the teams via zoom. Once fi lm will allow us to bring in authentic Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) travel restrictions are lifted, the four lived-in stories that often get lost in next year. fi lmmakers will travel to Melbourne popular culture,” she said. “This exciting initiative gives to shoot the fi lms. Kabir feels that celebration of “our Victorian screen practitioners a Imtiaz said: “The last few months diversity is a dialogue that should once in a lifetime opportunity to have been full of life lessons for all be fostered in current times. In the work with some of the world’s of us. Viewing stories of identity post-pandemic world, being one with best fi lmmakers and also develop in the context of the diverse each other in a community should be relationships with them. I am society that we are all a part of is the single most important takeaway. delighted and thrilled that IFFM has quintessential for us to chart our The virus has shown us the futility secured four of India’s most diverse path ahead. I am looking forward of everything else. I am excited at the voices of independent cinema for to meeting a new set of people and opportunity presented by IFFM and these workshops and the creation of understanding their life stories for looking forward to the experience”. TEAM: Four popular Bollywood directors have teamed up for a film four short fi lms on the core values the screen.” — IANS titled My Melbourne. sees Sushant on a quest to find his fairytale ending

I am a fighter”. That’s battling depression over the how late actor Sushant past few months and undergoing Singh Rajput describes treatment. himself in the trailer of his Casting director Mukesh “final movie Dil Bechara, Chhabra is making his directorial striking an ironic note with debut with Dil Bechara. He got reality. emotional with the trailer launch, The trailer of the film, which and took to social media to reflect pairs him opposite budding on his emotions. actress , was “Finally after such a long released yesterday. wait, 2 years of my life. So many Dil Bechara is the official friendships close to my heart, so remake of 2014 Hollywood many ups and downs, happy and romantic drama The Fault In Our sad moments. Presenting to you Stars, based on ’s our dream and the dream of my popular novel of the same name. brother Sushant, who will live It narrates a fairytale love story on in me till my last breath,” he with a tragic ending. wrote. The film follows a young couple Chhabra continued: “The trailer in love, as they meet and fall for of my debut film #DilBechara. each other. The tragedy about the So much has changed in my life story comes with the fact that he these past years and I will always has a brush with osteosarcoma, cherish every single moment. while she is fighting thyroid Putting the trailer out there in cancer. your hands and in your hearts. It’s The story then takes the over to you now. For every single audience on an emotional ride one of you to watch from your as they embark on a bittersweet home as many times as you like, journey in a bid to live life to the I’m glad it’s free for everyone, fullest. without any subscription, so In the trailer, Sushant comes every single person in India across as a happy guy, who is in can watch it. So many mixed love with life and wants to spread emotions. I urge you to watch cheer. it with your family, friends, There is a sequence where he girlfriend, boyfriend, loved ones. calls himself a fighter, and there For you to celebrate a life that is one instance where he says: lived and will forever be in our “We don’t decide when we are hearts.” born or when we will die, but we Dil Bechara will see Saif Ali can decide how we live”. The lines Khan in a cameo. Composer AR seem to get a new meaning after Rahman and lyricist Amitabh his demise. Bhattacharya have collaborated Last month, Sushant was to create music for the project. found hanging in his Bandra Sushant’s last film Dil Bechara residence by his domestic help, will premiere on the OTT platform which left Bollywood and his Disney+ on July 24. fans shocked. He was reportedly — IANS CO-STARS: and Sanjana Sanghi. Tuesday, July 7, 2020 GULF TIMES 15 HOLLYWOOD COMMUNITY

Rihanna puts music brand, Rihanna has amassed a on backburner for fortune of nearly $60,00,00,000. beauty line Rihanna’s last album Anti was released in 2016 and was Pop star Rihanna has pushed working on a new project, dubbed plans to release new music to as R9. “Fans hopes for R9 will concentrate on her skincare range. be kept on hold while Rihanna The singer, 32, has trademarked builds her beauty empire as she her new line as Buff Ryder, and plots to become the next beauty sources suggest that she wants to billionaire. She’s realised there is become a beauty billionaire after more money in the beauty game Covid-19 destroyed the music than music as record sales die industry, reports thesun.co.uk. down and live touring faces big “Rihanna’s ninth album is on competition,” said the source. hold indefi nitely. She wants to Back in April, Rihanna told her make her millions with beauty and fans and followers watching her at is planning a new skincare line to home virtually to not bring up the go alongside her Fenty Cosmetics album. range. Her lingerie range has gone “If one of y’all ask me about down so well too that she feels she the album one more time when needs to strike while the iron’s I’m trying to save the world, hot. Whenever she drops pics of unlike y’all president... on sight,” her modelling the gear, sales go the 32-year-old said during a SUCCESSFUL: Sources suggest that she wants to become a up,” said the source. live-stream, taking a jab at US TORN: Comer had previously revealed her beauty billionaire after Covid-19 destroyed the music industry. With her music and her Fenty President Donald Trump. – IANS diff iculties with fame. Jodie Comer quits social media

Killing Eve star Jodie Comer has revealed that she has quit social media because she feels guilty about “seeking Nick Cordero dies after out negative comments” about herself. The actress deactivated her account earlier this year. Now, in an interview with OK! magazine, she revealed that she has temporarily left Instagram, long battle with Covid-19 reports femalefi rst.co.uk. “Until I get some self-control and roadway actor Nick Cordero, manage not to go and seek out negative known for his roles in Rock Of things on social media, I think it’s best for Ages, Waitress, Bullets Over me to take a little step back,” said Comer. Broadway and A Bronx Tale The “Also now, in this time, I am trying to be BMusical, died after battling Covid a little bit conscious of what I use it for. It complications over several months. He was feels a bit wrong to me to be doing any sort 41. of self-promotion at the moment, so I’m He passed away on Sunday. His wife, trying to be a little bit wary of that, while Amanda Kloots, made the announcement on also being communicative and speaking to her Instagram account, reports variety.com. people,” she added. “God has another angel in heaven now. My The actress had previously revealed her darling husband passed away this morning. diffi culties with fame. He was surrounded in love by his family, She said: “The job I do doesn’t end singing and praying as he gently left this when the camera stops rolling, there’s this earth,” she posted. whole other world.” “I am in disbelief and hurting everywhere. Confessing that she had once read My heart is broken as I cannot imagine our the YouTube comments on a talkshow lives without him. Nick was such a bright interview of her, she said: “I know all light. He was everyone’s friend, loved to the people who comment on YouTube listen, help and especially talk. He was an are aliens anyway, but I was speaking as incredible actor and musician. He loved his myself and they were saying I’m losing my family and loved being a father and husband. accent. “I’d adapted it a little bit because Elvis and I will miss him in everything we do, it’s an American audience and a lot of the everyday,” she added. time people are like: ‘What is she saying?’ In March, Cordero was hospitalised after “That’s a whole other world to me. testing positive for coronavirus. Throughout That side of things is something I can his stay in the hospital, he underwent a fi nd diffi cult. I don’t want to pretend to leg amputation, was given a temporary be something I’m not, but I worry that pacemaker and was put into a medically sometimes it comes across all over the induced coma. place.” He had been in the intensive care unit for Killing Eve follows Eve Polastri (Sandra more than 90 days and suff ered from several Oh), a British intelligence investigator additional complications. Recently, Kloots tasked with capturing psychopathic shared that he would likely need a double lung LOSING BATTLE: Cordero was hospitalised after testing positive for coronavirus in March. assassin Villanelle (Jodie Comer). transplant if he survived. The 27-year-old actress can’t “relate” While sharing the news of his demise, hands. As I sang the last line to him, “they’ll hard... so sorry for his little one. My heart is to her character, assassin Villanelle, but Kloots thanked the doctors for their eff orts. give you hell but don’t you light them kill with you.” has learned a lot about the importance of “To Nicks extraordinary doctor, Dr David your light not without a fi ght. Live your life,” “My heart is broken,” added actor Josh Gad. honesty, both with herself and with other Ng, you were my positive doctor! There are I smiled because he defi nitely put up a fi ght. “I feel ill. Along with the entire Broadway people, through playing the role. not many doctors like you. Kind, smart, I will love you forever and always my sweet community and the entire world, I mourn the Asked about playing the murderer, she compassionate, assertive and always eager man.” loss of the incredible Nick Cordero.” said: “It’s defi nitely not something I can to listen to my crazy ideas or call yet another On television, Cordero had guest roles in Priscilla Presley tweeted: “I’m so shocked relate to. doctor for me for a second opinion. You’re Lilyhammer, and had recurring roles as Victor to see the news today that Nick has passed. “However, her love of food is something a diamond in the rough,” she said, adding: Lugo in Blue Bloods and as Anthony Marino in My heart and soul goes out to Nick Cordero’s I can defi nitely relate to. I love food. “I cannot begin to thank everyone enough Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. beautiful wife and family. Rest In Peace, “I feel like playing Villanelle has for the outpour of love , support and help Cordero is survived by his wife and their Nick.” enabled me to be more honest with myself we’ve received these last 95 days. You have no son, Elvis. “I can honesty tell you I have never met a and my relationships. Villanelle is very idea how much you lifted my spirits at 3pm Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis led the kinder human being,” said Scrubs star Zach fearless and sometimes she’s maybe too everyday as the world sang Nicks song, ‘Live tributes on Twitter writing: “My condolences Braff . “Don’t believe that Covid only claims honest, but that’s something I really, really Your Life’. We sang it to him today, holding his to you Amanda who fought and loved so the elderly and infi rm.” – IANS admire about her.” – IANS 16 GULF TIMES Tuesday, July 7, 2020 COMMUNITY Kids learn classical dance online to stave off isolation

By Mudassir Raja

he novel coronavirus pandemic and resultant lockdowns have been a test of people’s mental as Twell as physical strength. Experts want people to grow their immunity stronger to stave off the virus. Having a fun-fi lled physical activity to boost immunity and mental toughness is a rare blessing during the times of physical distancing. As many children seem to have been aff ected due to lockdowns, learning dance and music can prove really fruitful for them. Indian expatriate Rahul Gupta is a classical dance instructor. Since the closure of schools, he has been off ering online training sessions to young children, teaching them traditional dance. The activity has not only made his students profi cient in the dance but also kept them busy, active and healthy while staying at home. “As the pandemic has pressed on, people have found innovative ways Bharat Gupta. T Yashaswini. to come together. One of them is classical dance. Dance transcends dance at a very early age. She has all barriers and boundaries. For performed in various stages in this art, there is no race, religion, school level and has taken part in age or colour. It is just the joy of many competitions. rhythm. The joy melds diversities Shreysi said: “During lockdown and has the power to bring people when the whole world is sitting at together in one voice,” said Rahul home getting bored, online dance underlining the importance of learning has helped me to lift the classical dance. mood and lightens the spirit. It “Classical dance has always also builds up the immunity as it been used in various ways, be is a form of exercise and keeps the it prayer or celebration. It is mind free from scepticism. I am amazing what the virtual world really thankful to my teacher who has done for us globally in making made the idea of online classes the world a smaller place. I feel as and encouraged me to pursue my my part of contribution is a way of passion for the classical dance and encouraging people to dance their music.” blues away. The students, who Aditi Satish is also 10 and enrol in our Bharatanatyam dance student of Grade 5 at DPS Doha. classes, do so for various reasons. She said: “The online dance Many want to make a career in sessions come as a great relief dance, some want to tone their and opportunity to continue my bodies, while others want to get dance training during Covid-19 rid of the inhibitions of social lockdown around us. This online dancing and just have fun. But class is fun and enjoyable, just one quest binds every student like my school days. It helps me to and that is that dance frees the increase my exercise and activity mind and soul. Physical activity, levels and I can also make many as in dance, cannot only promote friends around the world.” chemical balance but also deepen Nine-year-old T Yashaswini the mind-body connection,” he is in Grade-4 at DPS-Monarch added. International School. “I wish to The online dance classes also extend my heartfelt appreciation provide an opportunity for parents for wonderful and highly to get involved in classes and know engaging Baratanatyam online how the teacher is interacting with classes in this time of isolation. Aditi Satish. Shreysi Jaiswal. students. It is refreshing for those Physical activity affects mental parents, who are passionate about and emotional health. By doing and feel as if I am on cloud nine. I situation we were missing school. “I love to do Bharatanatyam. classical dance. Bharatanataym, not only we get have been learning Bhartanatyam We however continue our favourite I’m doing it almost from my Ten-year-old Shreysi Jaiswal is entertained but they also get since Grade-2. It also helps us Bharatanatyam. It is like one kindergarten. During this lockdown Grade-5 student at Rajagiri Public educated. not only learn dance but also positive thing happening during times, the one thing that kept School Doha. Shreysi started “Dance is my passion. I love understand our mythology, culture this lockdown.” me occupied and happy is my showing interest in classical to dance as it makes me happy and tradition. In this Covid-19 Bharat Gupta is also 9. He said: Bharatanatyam.”