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Vanessa Viegas

Articles by Vanessa Viegas

The rise and rise of the idle-tap game

Their main attraction is their simplicity. All the player must do is tap, to accrue baked goods, currency, assets. Some players keep tapping for hours, while talking, reading, watching TV.

In Bitcoin Billionaire, players start out with almost nothing: a rundown workstation, bulky computer, a desk with one missing leg. They tap to ‘mine bitcoin’, buy assets, hire, renovate.

lifestyle

Updated on Jul 30, 2021 08:31 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

In Toronto, a thriving centre for Tamil culture and learning

Canada has become the latest country to get a Tamil Chair, to promote teaching, research and the pursuit of Tamil studies. See why, which the other countries are, and what it took.

Cultural events were organised to help raise the $3 million endowment for the Tamil Chair. (Image courtesy University of Toronto Scarborough)

lifestyle

Updated on Jul 24, 2021 05:32 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

How to handle being by yourself: Building a solo spirit

Between the pandemic, social distancing and the facelessness of modern living, it’s not so much a question of if you’ll be lonely but how you’ll go through it

If planned properly, the alone time can become something desirable and full of possibility. (Shutterstock)

lifestyle

Updated on Jul 17, 2021 04:39 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

Olympic moves and the athletes that immortalised them

The Axel, the Biles, the Fosbury Flop — see how some of today’s most familiar moves on beam, floor, mat and ice got their names

Simone Biles, who lends her last name to two groundbreaking gymnastics moves. As you watch the Olympics this year, keep an eye out for other techniques named after the athletes who introduced them. (Shutterstock)

lifestyle

Updated on Jul 17, 2021 01:10 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

How to make room for other people’s grief: A pandemic-era guide

At the workplace, the grocery store or in conversation, here’s how to accommodate those who have lost someone, without being grating, insensitive or awkward.

lifestyle

Updated on Jul 02, 2021 07:37 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

Comic timing: Vir Das, Varun Grover and others on the role of the comedian today

What is it like to be dropping truth bombs in a time of distress? It’s hard, India’s stand-up comics say, especially in such a changed world. Hope keeps them going, and anger, and fear of the silence if they stop.

lifestyle

Updated on Jun 26, 2021 04:20 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

Scream to screen: A new book recounts real-life Ramsay horror tales

Ghosts in our Backyard tells of the horror film clan’s encounters with the supernatural. ‘The intention is to make readers aware of a world that lies beyond ours, urging them to keep an open mind,’ says author and Ramsay granddaughter Alisha Kirpalani.

Kirpalani with her mother Asha Thawani (nee Maya Ramsay). The book is a tribute to Thawani, an invisible force in the Ramsay legacy, Kirpalani says. (Image courtesy Alisha Kirpalani)

lifestyle

Updated on Jun 26, 2021 01:54 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

Mumbai youth nominated with Yo-Yo Ma, McCartney at LA Shorts International Film Festival

And the nominees are… Yo-Yo Ma, Paul McCartney, and a Mumbai boy named Saahil Bhargava

Saahil Bhargava is a 26-year-old singer-songwriter currently based in Los Angeles.

cities

Published on Jun 24, 2021 12:28 AM IST

ByVanessa Viegas, Mumbai

My lost year: A teen finishes school with goals unscored

Tanvi Kulkarni has gone from being part of a team to spending a year in solitary introspection. ‘I think it’s a very important skill to have in life, being able to sit with defeat and learn from it,’ she says.

Would she have done things differently? Will she ever feel so integral to a group again? Such questions sometimes linger, Kulkarni says.

lifestyle

Updated on Jun 19, 2021 01:02 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

Indians are buying plots on the moon, and the reasons are strangely familiar

It seems like an absurd thing to spend money on, lunar “real-estate”. But dig a little and very human motivations emerge: insecurity, hope, pride, love.

lifestyle

Updated on Jun 18, 2021 10:13 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

‘I dream of saying: Alysha, why is your uniform so dirty today?’

In a new series, My Child’s Lost Year, we talk to parents about what it’s been like. In this instalment, school shoes, never used, and a seven-year-old who yearns to be in her first big classroom.

Alysha D’Souza’s mother worries she’s not learning how to share a tiffin, win, lose, squabble and make up.

lifestyle

Updated on May 22, 2021 02:43 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

The landscape of friendships is changing in the pandemic

Deep friendships have been almost automatically rekindled. Equally spontaneously, casual connections are being shed. See how the lockdowns are altering the friend zone.

lifestyle

Updated on May 22, 2021 12:16 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

Meet the Indian artists offering art in exchange for aid to Covid charities

Painters, musicians, writers and comedians are creating customised digital portraits, free beats, giving donors the chance to name a character in a book.

The album art for SOS, a collaborative effort by 15 electronic musicians.

lifestyle

Updated on May 15, 2021 12:48 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

Scroll through surprising cures from the world over in UCLA’s Archive of Healing

Eat grasshoppers to ease a stammer, says one we’d never heard of. Others, like clove for a toothache and the hair of the dog for a hangover, we still use today.

A 16th-century engraving of medicine being made from the wood of the guaiacwood tree. Across cultures, most remedies were passed on by women and came from inside the kitchen, researchers have found. (Shutterstock)

lifestyle

Updated on May 14, 2021 10:31 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

Ctrl+S isn’t enough. Here’s why you should be scrapbooking

In a world of fleeting experiences, often marred by the taking of photographs that are rarely looked at again, a scrapbook acts like a cross between a photo album and a diary.

In Akansha Sahgal’s college memory project are admission letters, college ID, volunteer badges, tickets from field trips, a food coupon from the canteen.

lifestyle

Published on May 07, 2021 08:50 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

Digital art, NFTs and owning a tweet: India is getting virtually creative

NFTs are popping up at auctions, galleries, in music and film. Take a look at how they work, why they’re everywhere and see how Indians are creating and trading in them too.

A work by artist Raghava KK that was sold as an NFT for <span class='webrupee'>₹</span>85,000. (Image courtesy Raghava KK)

lifestyle

Published on Apr 23, 2021 09:05 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

Free your mind and the rest will follow

New research has shown that daydreaming isn’t just relaxing and rejuvenating. It activates unique brainwave patterns linked to creativity and problem-solving too.

lifestyle

Updated on Apr 23, 2021 06:46 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

Late in life: How to make new friends

Fear of rejection will hold you back, but don’t let it keep you from making the first move. Don’t get your hopes up either. Start small, go slow and learn to peacefully let some attempts end.

Learn to make the first move. “If you take this on as a commitment, you don’t bring undue stress to the table,” says habit coach Ashdin Doctor. (Shutterstock)

lifestyle

Published on Apr 17, 2021 06:08 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

When will it be our turn to log out?

Indians continue to top the lists for most time spent at work and least on vacation. Countries with far better rankings were once here too. How did they turn things around, and can we?

lifestyle

Updated on Apr 17, 2021 05:55 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

Once upon a time in Kalina: Tales from a Mumbai neighbourhood

Fox hunts, howling jackals, fields, ponds and a thriving settlement — Kole Kalyan presents a different side of old-time Bombay.

A slim new volume spotlights the rich history of the suburban neighbourhood of Kalina.

lifestyle

Published on Apr 16, 2021 06:37 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

Fair is lovely, men still come first: Findings from an AI-led study of Bollywood films

The program scanned lines and lyrics from 1,400 films across 70 years and found that some biases remain, some stereotypes have been replaced. But there is also a slow shift towards a better world.

The way poverty is depicted has changed between Mother India (1957) and Gully Boy (2019), but as the study found, it remains a dominant theme.

lifestyle

Published on Apr 09, 2021 10:23 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

Can’t sleep? It could be because the moon’s almost full again

Irrespective of geography, bustle and light pollution, the coming of the full moon affects people in the same way, a new study has found.

lifestyle

Updated on Apr 11, 2021 06:20 AM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

A peek at the traditions, superstitions and heartbreaks of the Indian Derby

Travel behind the scenes of racing season in Mumbai. The jewel in the crown, the Indian Derby, is set to be held on March 28.

Multiple races are held at the 225-acre Mahalaxmi Racecourse each year, but it is the Indian Derby — with its prize of <span class='webrupee'>₹</span>1.5 crore for the owner of the winning horse — that attracts the most attention. (HT Archive)

lifestyle

Updated on Mar 27, 2021 09:29 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

Late in life: How to stay hungry, stay curious

Curiosity takes an interest from what to why to how. It’s an easy enough trait to develop, but it is also a trait that needs nurturing or it could atrophy.

Was there ever life on Mars? Could that life someday be us? Questions like these drove NASA to send its Curiosity rover to the Red Planet. (NASA / JPL-CALTECH / MSSS)

lifestyle

Published on Mar 19, 2021 07:01 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

Meet Arivu and Dhee, the duo behind the viral protest song Enjoy Enjaami

He’s a rapper from Tamil Nadu. She’s a Sri Lankan-Australian playback singer. Their song, with its unstoppable beat and luscious video, is just over a week old and already has nearly 41 million views on YouTube.

Part of Enjoy Enjaami’s appeal comes from its lyrics, written by Arivu. “It’s about the sweat and blood of the ancestors of the world. The context is universal,” he says. Part of the appeal is the video. Shot in Arivu’s village in Tamil Nadu, luscious warm tones frame him and Dhee (above).

lifestyle

Updated on Mar 20, 2021 10:05 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

How they did it: Reading a locked letter from 1697

A team of international researchers has used the scans and algorithms to virtually unfold and read a 300-year-old letter without breaking its intricate seal.

Until the 19th century, confidential missives were folded in complicated patterns that turned the letter into its own tamperproof envelope. (Unlocking History Research Team)

lifestyle

Published on Mar 19, 2021 04:28 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

Why is India’s traffic still among the worst in the world?

Indian cities came in at #2, #6, #8 and #16 on the most recent TomTom world traffic index. How did other nations ease their snarls, and what will it take for us to do so too?

Everyone agrees that mass transit is the answer. Yet bus ridership in India’s metros has declined by 20% over the last decade.

lifestyle

Published on Mar 12, 2021 07:17 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

Fighting fit: Four indigenous martial arts get a Khelo India boost

Kalaripayattu from Kerala, Mallakhamb from central India, Gatka from Punjab and Thang-ta from Manipur have been classified as sports. What comes next?

Gatka, a martial art of Sikh warriors that uses wooden sticks and leather shields, is played between two or more participants. (Photo courtesy National Gatka Association of India)

lifestyle

Published on Mar 05, 2021 08:53 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

Were you up all night again? Tips to help you beat 4 am angst

Arguments you could have navigated better, vital to-dos that you’re not sure you’ve done, the quiet whisperings of an anxious mind — these are a few of our least favourite things

lifestyle

Published on Mar 05, 2021 05:45 PM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

Trouble down there? Dr Cuterus has you covered

On Instagram, an Oxford-educated doctor is discussing sexual health, period myths and other intimate issues one viral post at a time

“People ask, ‘How do I understand if there is consent in a situation or there isn’t?’ It’s less about their anatomy and it’s more pleasure focused now,” says Dr Tanaya Narendra, aka Dr Cuterus

lifestyle

Updated on Feb 28, 2021 07:15 AM IST

ByVanessa Viegas

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Vanessa Viegas

Their main attraction is their simplicity. All the player must do is tap, to accrue baked goods, currency, assets. Some players keep tapping for hours, while talking, reading, watching TV.

Canada has become the latest country to get a Tamil Chair, to promote teaching, research and the pursuit of Tamil studies. See why, which the other countries are, and what it took.

Between the pandemic, social distancing and the facelessness of modern living, it’s not so much a question of if you’ll be lonely but how you’ll go through it

The Axel, the Biles, the Fosbury Flop — see how some of today’s most familiar moves on beam, floor, mat and ice got their names

At the workplace, the grocery store or in conversation, here’s how to accommodate those who have lost someone, without being grating, insensitive or awkward.

What is it like to be dropping truth bombs in a time of distress? It’s hard, India’s stand-up comics say, especially in such a changed world. Hope keeps them going, and anger, and fear of the silence if they stop.

Ghosts in our Backyard tells of the horror film clan’s encounters with the supernatural. ‘The intention is to make readers aware of a world that lies beyond ours, urging them to keep an open mind,’ says author and Ramsay granddaughter Alisha Kirpalani.

And the nominees are… Yo-Yo Ma, Paul McCartney, and a Mumbai boy named Saahil Bhargava

Tanvi Kulkarni has gone from being part of a team to spending a year in solitary introspection. ‘I think it’s a very important skill to have in life, being able to sit with defeat and learn from it,’ she says.

It seems like an absurd thing to spend money on, lunar “real-estate”. But dig a little and very human motivations emerge: insecurity, hope, pride, love.

In a new series, My Child’s Lost Year, we talk to parents about what it’s been like. In this instalment, school shoes, never used, and a seven-year-old who yearns to be in her first big classroom.

Deep friendships have been almost automatically rekindled. Equally spontaneously, casual connections are being shed. See how the lockdowns are altering the friend zone.

Painters, musicians, writers and comedians are creating customised digital portraits, free beats, giving donors the chance to name a character in a book.

Eat grasshoppers to ease a stammer, says one we’d never heard of. Others, like clove for a toothache and the hair of the dog for a hangover, we still use today.

In a world of fleeting experiences, often marred by the taking of photographs that are rarely looked at again, a scrapbook acts like a cross between a photo album and a diary.

NFTs are popping up at auctions, galleries, in music and film. Take a look at how they work, why they’re everywhere and see how Indians are creating and trading in them too.

New research has shown that daydreaming isn’t just relaxing and rejuvenating. It activates unique brainwave patterns linked to creativity and problem-solving too.

Fear of rejection will hold you back, but don’t let it keep you from making the first move. Don’t get your hopes up either. Start small, go slow and learn to peacefully let some attempts end.

Indians continue to top the lists for most time spent at work and least on vacation. Countries with far better rankings were once here too. How did they turn things around, and can we?

Fox hunts, howling jackals, fields, ponds and a thriving settlement — Kole Kalyan presents a different side of old-time Bombay.

The program scanned lines and lyrics from 1,400 films across 70 years and found that some biases remain, some stereotypes have been replaced. But there is also a slow shift towards a better world.

Irrespective of geography, bustle and light pollution, the coming of the full moon affects people in the same way, a new study has found.

Travel behind the scenes of racing season in Mumbai. The jewel in the crown, the Indian Derby, is set to be held on March 28.

Curiosity takes an interest from what to why to how. It’s an easy enough trait to develop, but it is also a trait that needs nurturing or it could atrophy.

He’s a rapper from Tamil Nadu. She’s a Sri Lankan-Australian playback singer. Their song, with its unstoppable beat and luscious video, is just over a week old and already has nearly 41 million views on YouTube.

A team of international researchers has used the scans and algorithms to virtually unfold and read a 300-year-old letter without breaking its intricate seal.

Indian cities came in at #2, #6, #8 and #16 on the most recent TomTom world traffic index. How did other nations ease their snarls, and what will it take for us to do so too?

Kalaripayattu from Kerala, Mallakhamb from central India, Gatka from Punjab and Thang-ta from Manipur have been classified as sports. What comes next?

Arguments you could have navigated better, vital to-dos that you’re not sure you’ve done, the quiet whisperings of an anxious mind — these are a few of our least favourite things

On Instagram, an Oxford-educated doctor is discussing sexual health, period myths and other intimate issues one viral post at a time

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