Culture

untitled-design-2023-01-30t204038040300123084102

Sania Mirza’s most iconic moments on court

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&lt;p&gt;&quot;Slim pickings, Joey,&quot; said Nuala, closing the fridge door. The dog cocked his head in reply.&amp;nbsp;She picked him up and he softened with pleasure at being held. In the hall, she caught a glimpse of her elbow. It was mildly horrifying to her, the sharpness of its angle against her&amp;nbsp;slack skin. She pulled down her sleeves and took her coat from the rack. &quot;We&rsquo;re not getting any younger, Joey,&quot; she said.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The dank aromas of winter, rotting leaves and wet smoke, had gone. This is what they mean by fresh air, she thought. She opened the passenger door and Joey flopped into the footwell. There were signs of spring on the road to the village.&amp;nbsp;A man dabbing paint on the&amp;nbsp;railings in front of the cricket club. Drifts of snowdrops in the grass verges. As she reached&amp;nbsp;Main Street, a car pulled out of a space right in front of the fish shop, and she flicked down&amp;nbsp;the left indicator. Then she remembered the plastic containers in the fridge, the foil parcels&amp;nbsp;and ramekins wrapped in cling film, and flicked it back up again. She drove through the&amp;nbsp;church gates and past the sacristy to reach the small building at the rear. As she turned off the ignition, Joey sat up, but appeared to think better of it, and lay down again.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The kitchen was cold and steamy. May Gannon was gripping the handles of a large aluminium pot and smiled at the sight of her. It reminded Nuala of a photograph she had&amp;nbsp;seen on the internet of &lsquo;la M&egrave;re Brazier&rsquo;, a legendary French cook who also had sausagey forearms and wore her hair in a jolly bun on the top of her head. May, too, was a legendary&amp;nbsp;cook, albeit for different reasons.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;amp-img src=&quot;https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/sites/gloss99/resources/202301/untitled-design-2023-01-30t141239834300123021320.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; height=&quot;425&quot; width=&quot;650&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; heights=&quot;(min-width:500px) 200px, 80%&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-img&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;There were meals in small trays cooling on the stainless-steel table. May&rsquo;s food came in&amp;nbsp;Kelly Hoppen shades. Today there was celery boiled to grey-green, mash made from pre-peeled potatoes that foamed like soap through several rinses, strings of chicken suspended&amp;nbsp;in condensed mushroom soup.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&quot;Fricass&eacute;e,&quot; May said proudly. It sounded like a swear word.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Nuala began sealing the trays, anxious to retain any remaining heat, the absence of which made the food inedible.&amp;nbsp;Dessert was, as usual, glorious: apple sponge and custard that looked so good Nuala accepted May&rsquo;s offer of a portion to take home. It was hard not to admire&amp;nbsp;a cook who ruined everything but pudding.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Normally the run changed weekly to account for holidays, hospitalization and death&mdash;mostly the latter&mdash;but it was the same as last week&rsquo;s. &quot;Watch yourself with the big fella,&quot; called&amp;nbsp;May as Nuala carried the food to her car.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;She began at the top of the hill. Mrs Kenny refused the meal and asked her in for tea&amp;nbsp;because, Nuala suspected, she had signed up for the service in the hope of company. Nuala explained that she had better stay on the road but promised to come back for a natter one&amp;nbsp;afternoon. Mr Bourke-Murphy pretended he had lost his wallet, an impressive performance&amp;nbsp;he put on every week even though, or perhaps because, he lived in the biggest house in the village. Maureen Leahy was waiting on the path when Nuala pulled up, and snatched&amp;nbsp;the tray from her hand without a word. Mattie Flynn gave her a bunch of daffodils that looked like spring onions and laid the food carefully in the pouch on his walking frame, in&amp;nbsp;which he kept the television remote control and his medication. When she reached the road by the estuary, it was closed due to an oil spill and she had to take a different route, delaying&amp;nbsp;the remaining deliveries by almost fifteen minutes. She handed them over with apologies.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The last house was a large, slightly brutalist box made of concrete and glass. The area&amp;nbsp;in front of it was a mixture of hard surfaces and ornamental grasses. There was room for several cars, but there were none. Nuala rang the doorbell and took a step back.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Elvis was forty-three. He was a rangy, squash-playing architect called Niall until six years&amp;nbsp;ago, when a Dutch-registered lorry carrying cut flowers sent his Audi hurtling across the airport roundabout. He answered the door in a white satin shirt and vast pull-up incontinence shorts. Nuala had been warned to leave the food and run because Elvis had tried to hug her predecessor, but as she handed it over he began to weep, great gulping sobs that&amp;nbsp;made his quiff bounce. I&rsquo;m sad, he said.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Ah no, said Nuala. She went back to her car and instead of leaving, got Mrs Kenny&rsquo;s rejected fricass&eacute;e and the extra&amp;nbsp;portion of pudding.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;His kitchen could have been in a showroom, with its sleek lines and industrial materials. The only personal touch was a triptych of professional photographs of a slim, smiling Elvis&amp;nbsp;with his arms around a young woman.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&quot;Sit down and I&rsquo;ll heat it up,&quot; said Nuala. She began opening cupboards containing white porcelain dinnerware and Riedel glasses, Japanese knives and French cast iron saut&eacute; pans.&amp;nbsp;The only food she came across was Cookie Crunch cereal and sharing bags of Cheetos. She found the microwave in the utility room and, while the food was rotating, placed a tea towel over Elvis&rsquo;s vast, pale thighs. Joey tried to clamber into his lap, but his legs were too short to reach so Nuala helped him up.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;amp-img src=&quot;https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/sites/gloss99/resources/202301/untitled-design-2023-01-30t141339192300123021353.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; height=&quot;425&quot; width=&quot;650&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; heights=&quot;(min-width:500px) 200px, 80%&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-img&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Elvis asked for Pepsi, and she took two cans from the fridge. He drank them one after another, ate both of May&rsquo;s fricass&eacute;es. When she caught him eyeing her apple sponge, she let&amp;nbsp;him have that, too. &quot;I&rsquo;m a greedy article,&quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;When she had cleaned up, Elvis put on &lsquo;Are You Lonesome Tonight?&rsquo;, the recording where Presley starts to giggle and can&rsquo;t stop. He knew it by heart, laughed along in all the&amp;nbsp;right places. She sat with him until the light was falling.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;At the door, he said, &quot;Thank you very much, ma&rsquo;am.&quot; The King doesn&rsquo;t like to eat alone.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Nuala managed not to cry until she was back in her car.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Joey heard him first, cocked a woolly ear at the shuffle of the draft excluder, the clack of his&amp;nbsp;briefcase on the old tiles. He wiggled towards the kitchen door and waited. Nuala rose and stood behind him, hands clasped in front of her, waiting too.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I&rsquo;m home, called Austin.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;When he didn&rsquo;t enter, Nuala opened the door. He was holding his phone. It buzzed,&amp;nbsp;a sound that made his whole body visibly thrill. Nuala watched his thumbs slide around the small screen, pictured the little words it was making. As if trying to distract Austin from his&amp;nbsp;treachery, Joey flipped over for a belly rub. He got one, offering a gruff chortle in gratitude.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Nuala&rsquo;s turn next, his lips brushed her cheek. &quot;You look nice,&quot; he said without looking at her.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;In the kitchen he lifted his chin and sniffed theatrically.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&quot;I didn&rsquo;t think you were coming home,&quot; said Nuala.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;amp-img src=&quot;https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/sites/gloss99/resources/202301/untitled-design-2023-01-30t141519113300123021542.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; height=&quot;425&quot; width=&quot;650&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; heights=&quot;(min-width:500px) 200px, 80%&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-img&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&quot;Well, I&rsquo;m here now,&quot; he said. He poured himself a drink. She knew without looking it was&amp;nbsp;two fingers of Black Bush, a splash of water. His phone buzzed again. &quot;Head office,&quot; he said, and went through the back door to the garden. The security light came on. Austin was by&amp;nbsp;the coal bunker, rolling the dog&rsquo;s red ball back and forth with his left foot. Nuala knocked back his whiskey, quickly pouring him another. She opened the fridge and took out all the&amp;nbsp;cooked food. She threw out half a salmon fillet caked in curdled hollandaise, a leathery shard&amp;nbsp;of pork crackling, rancid houmous and a wedge of celeriac gratin that was curled up at the&amp;nbsp;edges. There were still the makings of a meal. She put a flitch of cold roast beef and a bunch of watercress on a china platter, her mother&rsquo;s bone-handled carving set crossed beside it. She&amp;nbsp;tossed baby potatoes in a bowl with bacon and shallot dressing. A little pot of mustard and&amp;nbsp;it looked like she cared. Nuala had a way with leftovers. She&rsquo;d had a lot of practice.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Austin came back inside, and she handed him his drink. He gave his phone a half-smile and slipped it into his pocket. &quot;Sl&aacute;inte,&quot; he said, and gave Nuala the other half of the smile.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;She took her usual place, to Austin&rsquo;s right, not that he had yet sat down. He was pulling bottles from the wine rack, examining each one. He came back with a Portuguese red he bought in bulk because it &lsquo;offered exceptional value&rsquo;. She wondered why he had taken so&amp;nbsp;long, then saw that he was holding his mobile again. The corkscrew was one of those Alessi dollies. She seemed to spread her legs as the cork came out, though she was legless.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The first sip did not quite make it to Nuala&rsquo;s mouth, and she drew her hand across her chin to catch the drip.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&quot;How was your day?&quot; said Austin, spearing the meat and hacking a wedge from it.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&quot;I did my Meals on Wheels run.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&quot;Did you see the Elvis fella?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&quot;He&rsquo;s not on my route anymore. A neighbour brings him his lunch.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&quot;Just as well. Dirtbird,&quot; said Austin. He had taken a spoonful of mustard and was applying&amp;nbsp;it to the meat in a circular motion, until it resembled a sore.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The oak table looked hokey after Elvis&rsquo;s pale beech one. And his cupboards. Nuala&rsquo;s were bunged with flours and nuts, oils and sauces. Oh, to be free of all the detritus of her life! She&amp;nbsp;had a sudden impulse to wreck the place, but drained her glass instead. A fizzy feeling was creeping over her skin, her scalp at first very hot and then very wet. She refilled her glass.&amp;nbsp;She was ravenous but could not bear to put even a morsel in her mouth. Platters of humiliation, dishes cobbled from the food he had not come home for all week.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&quot;You&rsquo;re not eating,&quot; said Austin.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&quot;I had lunch out.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&quot;Who with?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&quot;No one you know.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;He gave a gentle shake of the head, clearly amused at the idea that Nuala could have a secret friend. &quot;That beef,&quot; he said, leaning against the back of his chair. Still hungry though.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;He went upstairs to change out of his suit, taking the phone with him. She found some pieces of cheese in the&amp;nbsp;compartment in the door of the fridge and trimmed it to make it look&amp;nbsp;appealing. Some time later, he reappeared in one of the silly outfits he started&amp;nbsp;wearing at Christmas. A t-shirt under a waistcoat, a stripy cotton scarf tied at his neck. He looked no&amp;nbsp;less ridiculous than Elvis, who at least had an excuse.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;He poured wine in her glass, glancing at her and doing a double take.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&quot;Maybe you should take it easy,&quot; he said, bending to his phone again. His face in the digital&amp;nbsp;light was as blue as hers was red. She took a sip and imagined herself legless, like the Alessi dolly.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Earlier, as she said goodbye to Elvis, he had opened his hands and said, Hug?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;She let him wrap his massive arms around her and hold her to his big warm heart. That&rsquo;s&amp;nbsp;what had made her cry, not the thought of him eating alone.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Austin looked up slyly. &quot;Don&rsquo;t cook anything for me tomorrow evening,&quot; he said. A client&amp;nbsp;is coming from Finland.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;There were no more leftovers. Tomorrow evening, she would pick up a bag of cheeseburgers in the takeaway and call in on Elvis.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lsquo;Trespasses&rsquo; by Louise Kennedy (Bloomsbury Publishing) is out now.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

untitled-design-2023-01-30t141619086300123021645

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Slim pickings, Joey,&amp;quot; said Nuala, closing the fridge door. The dog cocked his head in reply.&amp;nbsp;She picked him up and he softened with pleasure at being held. In the hall, she caught a glimpse of her elbow. It was mildly horrifying to her, the sharpness of its angle against her&amp;nbsp;slack skin. She pulled down her sleeves and took her coat from the rack. &amp;quot;We&amp;rsquo;re not getting any younger, Joey,&amp;quot; she said.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The dank aromas of winter, rotting leaves and wet smoke, had gone. This is what they mean by fresh air, she thought. She opened the passenger door and Joey flopped into the footwell. There were signs of spring on the road to the village.&amp;nbsp;A man dabbing paint on the&amp;nbsp;railings in front of the cricket club. Drifts of snowdrops in the grass verges. As she reached&amp;nbsp;Main Street, a car pulled out of a space right in front of the fish shop, and she flicked down&amp;nbsp;the left indicator. Then she remembered the plastic containers in the fridge, the foil parcels&amp;nbsp;and ramekins wrapped in cling film, and flicked it back up again. She drove through the&amp;nbsp;church gates and past the sacristy to reach the small building at the rear. As she turned off the ignition, Joey sat up, but appeared to think better of it, and lay down again.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The kitchen was cold and steamy. May Gannon was gripping the handles of a large aluminium pot and smiled at the sight of her. It reminded Nuala of a photograph she had&amp;nbsp;seen on the internet of &amp;lsquo;la M&amp;egrave;re Brazier&amp;rsquo;, a legendary French cook who also had sausagey forearms and wore her hair in a jolly bun on the top of her head. May, too, was a legendary&amp;nbsp;cook, albeit for different reasons.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style='text-align:center'&gt;&lt;img alt='' src='https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/sites/gloss99/resources/202301/untitled-design-2023-01-30t141239834300123021320.png' /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;There were meals in small trays cooling on the stainless-steel table. May&amp;rsquo;s food came in&amp;nbsp;Kelly Hoppen shades. Today there was celery boiled to grey-green, mash made from pre-peeled potatoes that foamed like soap through several rinses, strings of chicken suspended&amp;nbsp;in condensed mushroom soup.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Fricass&amp;eacute;e,&amp;quot; May said proudly. It sounded like a swear word.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Nuala began sealing the trays, anxious to retain any remaining heat, the absence of which made the food inedible.&amp;nbsp;Dessert was, as usual, glorious: apple sponge and custard that looked so good Nuala accepted May&amp;rsquo;s offer of a portion to take home. It was hard not to admire&amp;nbsp;a cook who ruined everything but pudding.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Normally the run changed weekly to account for holidays, hospitalization and death&amp;mdash;mostly the latter&amp;mdash;but it was the same as last week&amp;rsquo;s. &amp;quot;Watch yourself with the big fella,&amp;quot; called&amp;nbsp;May as Nuala carried the food to her car.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;She began at the top of the hill. Mrs Kenny refused the meal and asked her in for tea&amp;nbsp;because, Nuala suspected, she had signed up for the service in the hope of company. Nuala explained that she had better stay on the road but promised to come back for a natter one&amp;nbsp;afternoon. Mr Bourke-Murphy pretended he had lost his wallet, an impressive performance&amp;nbsp;he put on every week even though, or perhaps because, he lived in the biggest house in the village. Maureen Leahy was waiting on the path when Nuala pulled up, and snatched&amp;nbsp;the tray from her hand without a word. Mattie Flynn gave her a bunch of daffodils that looked like spring onions and laid the food carefully in the pouch on his walking frame, in&amp;nbsp;which he kept the television remote control and his medication. When she reached the road by the estuary, it was closed due to an oil spill and she had to take a different route, delaying&amp;nbsp;the remaining deliveries by almost fifteen minutes. She handed them over with apologies.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The last house was a large, slightly brutalist box made of concrete and glass. The area&amp;nbsp;in front of it was a mixture of hard surfaces and ornamental grasses. There was room for several cars, but there were none. Nuala rang the doorbell and took a step back.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Elvis was forty-three. He was a rangy, squash-playing architect called Niall until six years&amp;nbsp;ago, when a Dutch-registered lorry carrying cut flowers sent his Audi hurtling across the airport roundabout. He answered the door in a white satin shirt and vast pull-up incontinence shorts. Nuala had been warned to leave the food and run because Elvis had tried to hug her predecessor, but as she handed it over he began to weep, great gulping sobs that&amp;nbsp;made his quiff bounce. I&amp;rsquo;m sad, he said.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Ah no, said Nuala. She went back to her car and instead of leaving, got Mrs Kenny&amp;rsquo;s rejected fricass&amp;eacute;e and the extra&amp;nbsp;portion of pudding.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;His kitchen could have been in a showroom, with its sleek lines and industrial materials. The only personal touch was a triptych of professional photographs of a slim, smiling Elvis&amp;nbsp;with his arms around a young woman.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Sit down and I&amp;rsquo;ll heat it up,&amp;quot; said Nuala. She began opening cupboards containing white porcelain dinnerware and Riedel glasses, Japanese knives and French cast iron saut&amp;eacute; pans.&amp;nbsp;The only food she came across was Cookie Crunch cereal and sharing bags of Cheetos. She found the microwave in the utility room and, while the food was rotating, placed a tea towel over Elvis&amp;rsquo;s vast, pale thighs. Joey tried to clamber into his lap, but his legs were too short to reach so Nuala helped him up.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style='text-align:center'&gt;&lt;img alt='' src='https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/sites/gloss99/resources/202301/untitled-design-2023-01-30t141339192300123021353.png' /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Elvis asked for Pepsi, and she took two cans from the fridge. He drank them one after another, ate both of May&amp;rsquo;s fricass&amp;eacute;es. When she caught him eyeing her apple sponge, she let&amp;nbsp;him have that, too. &amp;quot;I&amp;rsquo;m a greedy article,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;When she had cleaned up, Elvis put on &amp;lsquo;Are You Lonesome Tonight?&amp;rsquo;, the recording where Presley starts to giggle and can&amp;rsquo;t stop. He knew it by heart, laughed along in all the&amp;nbsp;right places. She sat with him until the light was falling.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;At the door, he said, &amp;quot;Thank you very much, ma&amp;rsquo;am.&amp;quot; The King doesn&amp;rsquo;t like to eat alone.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Nuala managed not to cry until she was back in her car.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Joey heard him first, cocked a woolly ear at the shuffle of the draft excluder, the clack of his&amp;nbsp;briefcase on the old tiles. He wiggled towards the kitchen door and waited. Nuala rose and stood behind him, hands clasped in front of her, waiting too.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I&amp;rsquo;m home, called Austin.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;When he didn&amp;rsquo;t enter, Nuala opened the door. He was holding his phone. It buzzed,&amp;nbsp;a sound that made his whole body visibly thrill. Nuala watched his thumbs slide around the small screen, pictured the little words it was making. As if trying to distract Austin from his&amp;nbsp;treachery, Joey flipped over for a belly rub. He got one, offering a gruff chortle in gratitude.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Nuala&amp;rsquo;s turn next, his lips brushed her cheek. &amp;quot;You look nice,&amp;quot; he said without looking at her.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;In the kitchen he lifted his chin and sniffed theatrically.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;I didn&amp;rsquo;t think you were coming home,&amp;quot; said Nuala.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style='text-align:center'&gt;&lt;img alt='' src='https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/sites/gloss99/resources/202301/untitled-design-2023-01-30t141519113300123021542.png' /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Well, I&amp;rsquo;m here now,&amp;quot; he said. He poured himself a drink. She knew without looking it was&amp;nbsp;two fingers of Black Bush, a splash of water. His phone buzzed again. &amp;quot;Head office,&amp;quot; he said, and went through the back door to the garden. The security light came on. Austin was by&amp;nbsp;the coal bunker, rolling the dog&amp;rsquo;s red ball back and forth with his left foot. Nuala knocked back his whiskey, quickly pouring him another. She opened the fridge and took out all the&amp;nbsp;cooked food. She threw out half a salmon fillet caked in curdled hollandaise, a leathery shard&amp;nbsp;of pork crackling, rancid houmous and a wedge of celeriac gratin that was curled up at the&amp;nbsp;edges. There were still the makings of a meal. She put a flitch of cold roast beef and a bunch of watercress on a china platter, her mother&amp;rsquo;s bone-handled carving set crossed beside it. She&amp;nbsp;tossed baby potatoes in a bowl with bacon and shallot dressing. A little pot of mustard and&amp;nbsp;it looked like she cared. Nuala had a way with leftovers. She&amp;rsquo;d had a lot of practice.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Austin came back inside, and she handed him his drink. He gave his phone a half-smile and slipped it into his pocket. &amp;quot;Sl&amp;aacute;inte,&amp;quot; he said, and gave Nuala the other half of the smile.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;She took her usual place, to Austin&amp;rsquo;s right, not that he had yet sat down. He was pulling bottles from the wine rack, examining each one. He came back with a Portuguese red he bought in bulk because it &amp;lsquo;offered exceptional value&amp;rsquo;. She wondered why he had taken so&amp;nbsp;long, then saw that he was holding his mobile again. The corkscrew was one of those Alessi dollies. She seemed to spread her legs as the cork came out, though she was legless.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The first sip did not quite make it to Nuala&amp;rsquo;s mouth, and she drew her hand across her chin to catch the drip.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;How was your day?&amp;quot; said Austin, spearing the meat and hacking a wedge from it.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;I did my Meals on Wheels run.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Did you see the Elvis fella?&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;He&amp;rsquo;s not on my route anymore. A neighbour brings him his lunch.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Just as well. Dirtbird,&amp;quot; said Austin. He had taken a spoonful of mustard and was applying&amp;nbsp;it to the meat in a circular motion, until it resembled a sore.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The oak table looked hokey after Elvis&amp;rsquo;s pale beech one. And his cupboards. Nuala&amp;rsquo;s were bunged with flours and nuts, oils and sauces. Oh, to be free of all the detritus of her life! She&amp;nbsp;had a sudden impulse to wreck the place, but drained her glass instead. A fizzy feeling was creeping over her skin, her scalp at first very hot and then very wet. She refilled her glass.&amp;nbsp;She was ravenous but could not bear to put even a morsel in her mouth. Platters of humiliation, dishes cobbled from the food he had not come home for all week.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;You&amp;rsquo;re not eating,&amp;quot; said Austin.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;I had lunch out.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Who with?&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;No one you know.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;He gave a gentle shake of the head, clearly amused at the idea that Nuala could have a secret friend. &amp;quot;That beef,&amp;quot; he said, leaning against the back of his chair. Still hungry though.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;He went upstairs to change out of his suit, taking the phone with him. She found some pieces of cheese in the&amp;nbsp;compartment in the door of the fridge and trimmed it to make it look&amp;nbsp;appealing. Some time later, he reappeared in one of the silly outfits he started&amp;nbsp;wearing at Christmas. A t-shirt under a waistcoat, a stripy cotton scarf tied at his neck. He looked no&amp;nbsp;less ridiculous than Elvis, who at least had an excuse.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;He poured wine in her glass, glancing at her and doing a double take.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Maybe you should take it easy,&amp;quot; he said, bending to his phone again. His face in the digital&amp;nbsp;light was as blue as hers was red. She took a sip and imagined herself legless, like the Alessi dolly.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Earlier, as she said goodbye to Elvis, he had opened his hands and said, Hug?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;She let him wrap his massive arms around her and hold her to his big warm heart. That&amp;rsquo;s&amp;nbsp;what had made her cry, not the thought of him eating alone.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Austin looked up slyly. &amp;quot;Don&amp;rsquo;t cook anything for me tomorrow evening,&amp;quot; he said. A client&amp;nbsp;is coming from Finland.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;There were no more leftovers. Tomorrow evening, she would pick up a bag of cheeseburgers in the takeaway and call in on Elvis.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;lsquo;Trespasses&amp;rsquo; by Louise Kennedy (Bloomsbury Publishing) is out now.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

A moving story of a secret romance, 'Trespasses' is beautiful, devastating and bittersweet

An excerpt from the original short story by the award-winning novelist.

untitled-design-2023-01-30t141640133300123021654

&lt;p&gt;There is something about being more productive, in life or at work. You feel more confident about yourself as you complete tasks on your to-do list. These are little achievements on a daily basis but they bind to make a happier bigger picture. And eventually, these end up having a great impact on your overall career growth.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;
Nobody likes an employee who delivers half-heartedly. Sure, you don&rsquo;t have to burn yourself out to meet unrealistic expectations of your manager. You don&rsquo;t have to overwork yourself to try and run ahead of the clock. What you need to do is hard, yet smart work&mdash;managing your time and organising your tasks in a way that it doesn&rsquo;t kill you in the process of being completed.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This year, let&rsquo;s develop new habits that can help you better your work life with heightened productivity.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Take half an hour every morning to plan your day&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;amp-iframe sandbox=&quot;allow-scripts allow-same-origin&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;270&quot; width=&quot;480&quot; src=&quot;https://giphy.com/embed/hr9YAHegKFd5PPpK0v&quot; class=&quot;giphy-embed&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-iframe&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The thing about work is that you can absolutely never complete it. You will never (except on your last day) go home with absolutely nothing on your plate for the next day. When you have so much to do, it can get overwhelming and unless you organise it, it will continue to seem daunting. So every morning, spend some time planning your day. Assign time to each task and make a plan that will make things convenient for you.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Start with the easiest task on your list&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Always start with the easiest task on your list. It will give you a good dose of motivation to keep going. We have Monday blues and mid-week blues and on Fridays you&rsquo;re already in the weekend mode. You need that extra push to keep working wholeheartedly throughout the week. Starting with little victories every morning will give you exactly that.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But finish the most complicated ones by lunch&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;amp-iframe sandbox=&quot;allow-scripts allow-same-origin&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;480&quot; width=&quot;480&quot; src=&quot;https://giphy.com/embed/lMsT2f47tDxFMYdJMC&quot; class=&quot;giphy-embed&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-iframe&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Don&rsquo;t get confused. You start with the easiest task and then move on to take down a chunk of the most challenging ones on your list. After lunch, your productivity experiences a dip. According to a study, employees are the most productive around 10:30 am in the morning and experience a slump around 1:30 pm, which continues to worsen. This is why you should get the most important tasks out of the way in the first half of the day.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don&rsquo;t multitask&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;You can be a multifaceted employee&mdash;and in today&rsquo;s era, it&rsquo;s almost required, one can say. But this doesn&rsquo;t mean you do everything at once. According to a study, shuffling between tasks can cost you 40 per cent of your productivity. This is why, you should create buckets and do just one task in that time bucket.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make more lists&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;amp-iframe sandbox=&quot;allow-scripts allow-same-origin&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;288&quot; width=&quot;480&quot; src=&quot;https://giphy.com/embed/3oAV9wE5jzYn6&quot; class=&quot;giphy-embed&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-iframe&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Organise the data you work with. Make lists and Excel sheets. I am obsessed with these and have realised that when it comes to managing the colossal amount of work there is, sheets work the best. One glance and you have all the information you will ever need. And when your manager asks you for any update, you don&rsquo;t have to scramble for it.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Know your priorities&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Focus on the tasks that will contribute to your career growth. You cannot give your 200 per cent to everything, so prioritise. Know what to delegate and to whom.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create boundaries&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The most common reason we feel burnout is carrying our work home. We have no boundaries and eventually, we have work spilling onto our weekends and nights. Create boundaries this year and ensure you have enough time to decompress. This will help you stay energised and motivated for longer!&lt;/p&gt;

untitled-design-2023-01-29t020425875290123020448

&lt;p&gt;There is something about being more productive, in life or at work. You feel more confident about yourself as you complete tasks on your to-do list. These are little achievements on a daily basis but they bind to make a happier bigger picture. And eventually, these end up having a great impact on your overall career growth.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;
Nobody likes an employee who delivers half-heartedly. Sure, you don&amp;rsquo;t have to burn yourself out to meet unrealistic expectations of your manager. You don&amp;rsquo;t have to overwork yourself to try and run ahead of the clock. What you need to do is hard, yet smart work&amp;mdash;managing your time and organising your tasks in a way that it doesn&amp;rsquo;t kill you in the process of being completed.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This year, let&amp;rsquo;s develop new habits that can help you better your work life with heightened productivity.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Take half an hour every morning to plan your day&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;
&lt;p style='text-align: center;'&gt;&lt;iframe allowfullscreen='' class='giphy-embed' frameborder='0' height='270' src='https://giphy.com/embed/hr9YAHegKFd5PPpK0v' width='480'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The thing about work is that you can absolutely never complete it. You will never (except on your last day) go home with absolutely nothing on your plate for the next day. When you have so much to do, it can get overwhelming and unless you organise it, it will continue to seem daunting. So every morning, spend some time planning your day. Assign time to each task and make a plan that will make things convenient for you.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Start with the easiest task on your list&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Always start with the easiest task on your list. It will give you a good dose of motivation to keep going. We have Monday blues and mid-week blues and on Fridays you&amp;rsquo;re already in the weekend mode. You need that extra push to keep working wholeheartedly throughout the week. Starting with little victories every morning will give you exactly that.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But finish the most complicated ones by lunch&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;
&lt;p style='text-align: center;'&gt;&lt;iframe allowfullscreen='' class='giphy-embed' frameborder='0' height='480' src='https://giphy.com/embed/lMsT2f47tDxFMYdJMC' width='480'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Don&amp;rsquo;t get confused. You start with the easiest task and then move on to take down a chunk of the most challenging ones on your list. After lunch, your productivity experiences a dip. According to a study, employees are the most productive around 10:30 am in the morning and experience a slump around 1:30 pm, which continues to worsen. This is why you should get the most important tasks out of the way in the first half of the day.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Don&amp;rsquo;t multitask&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;You can be a multifaceted employee&amp;mdash;and in today&amp;rsquo;s era, it&amp;rsquo;s almost required, one can say. But this doesn&amp;rsquo;t mean you do everything at once. According to a study, shuffling between tasks can cost you 40 per cent of your productivity. This is why, you should create buckets and do just one task in that time bucket.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make more lists&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;
&lt;p style='text-align: center;'&gt;&lt;iframe allowfullscreen='' class='giphy-embed' frameborder='0' height='288' src='https://giphy.com/embed/3oAV9wE5jzYn6' width='480'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Organise the data you work with. Make lists and Excel sheets. I am obsessed with these and have realised that when it comes to managing the colossal amount of work there is, sheets work the best. One glance and you have all the information you will ever need. And when your manager asks you for any update, you don&amp;rsquo;t have to scramble for it.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Know your priorities&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Focus on the tasks that will contribute to your career growth. You cannot give your 200 per cent to everything, so prioritise. Know what to delegate and to whom.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Create boundaries&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The most common reason we feel burnout is carrying our work home. We have no boundaries and eventually, we have work spilling onto our weekends and nights. Create boundaries this year and ensure you have enough time to decompress. This will help you stay energised and motivated for longer!&lt;/p&gt;

7 simple habits to boost productivity at work

untitled-design-2023-01-29t015133055290123015454

&lt;p&gt;While &lt;em&gt;RRR&lt;/em&gt; seems to have caught the nation&rsquo;s attention with recent wins at the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.harpersbazaar.in/culture/story/here-are-the-big-winners-and-the-best-looks-from-the-critics-choice-awards-2827&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Critics' Choice Movie Awards&lt;/a&gt;, the &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.harpersbazaar.in/culture/story/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-golden-globes-2023-ahead-of-the-gala-night-2794&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Golden Globes Awards&lt;/a&gt;, and a nomination for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards, two other Indian films deserve equal attention, if not more, for their brilliant contribution to cinema. Guneet Monga&rsquo;s &lt;em&gt;The Elephant Whisperers&lt;/em&gt; and Shaunak Sen&rsquo;s &lt;em&gt;All that Breathes&lt;/em&gt;&amp;nbsp;have been nominated under the categories Best Documentary Short Film and Best Documentary Feature Film, respectively.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;We&rsquo;ve just finished watching Monga&rsquo;s documentary and here&rsquo;s what we loved.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A heart-warming tale between man and beast&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;amp-youtube data-videoid=&quot;a0J0b_OVa9w&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;315&quot; width=&quot;560&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-youtube&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Elephant Whisperers&lt;/em&gt; is much more than the official synopsis that reads: &lsquo;Bomman and Bellie, a couple in South India, devote their lives to caring for an orphaned baby elephant named Raghu, forging a family like no other that tests the barrier between the human and the animal world.&rsquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;We see Raghu, a baby elephant,&amp;nbsp;enter the lives of Bomman&amp;nbsp;and Bellie, and change&amp;nbsp;them forever. Raghu&rsquo;s mother was electrocuted, and thus Bomman and Bellie&amp;nbsp;were assigned to take care of the orphaned baby. Raghu was found in an extremely bad shape at the Theppakdu Elephant Camp&mdash;the largest contiguous, and one of Asia&rsquo;s oldest wild spaces for the Asian elephant.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How a family, a village, and its people find their purpose&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;amp-img src=&quot;https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/sites/gloss99/resources/202301/untitled-design-2023-01-27t160635443270123072333.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; height=&quot;425&quot; width=&quot;650&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; heights=&quot;(min-width:500px) 200px, 80%&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-img&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Bomman and Bellie&rsquo;s lives start and end at caring for the elephants that reside in the forest. Bomman's family lived in this forest and generation after generation have been taking care of the elephants. On the other hand, Bellie&rsquo;s ex-husband was killed by a tiger, and soon after she was assigned to take care of baby elephants in the area. At that time, she was the only woman to be assigned for the task. Together, the two play an instrumental role in the well-being of these pachyderms. Though they are not alone in this endeavour. A host of other villagers feed, bathe, and nurture these majestic creatures. These residents live off the forest and know that they have to protect it by all means. Bomman and Bellie know that the next generation of their families, including Bellie&rsquo;s granddaughter, Sanjana, will continue taking care of the elephants and their families. The good-heartedness of the people of the village will never end.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Animals that are more emotive than humans&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;One of the major reasons why I loved &lt;em&gt;The Elephant Whisperers&lt;/em&gt; is because it didn&rsquo;t just show the human perspective, but also brilliantly portrayed what Raghu felt. The movie is interspersed with adorable scenes centred on Raghu&rsquo;s life&mdash;you see him getting angry, being upset, having fun while spraying water on his mahout and kids while having a bath, and creating many other heart-touching moments. We also see him befriend Krishna, another elephant, who he learns how to pick grass from. Raghu, time and again, shows his affection and love towards the families in&amp;nbsp;the village. One of my most favourite scenes in the documentary is where Bellie talks about her daughter passing away and how Raghu wiped her tears with his trunk and consoled her&mdash;it is an absolute tear-jerker. You soon realise that Bellie has found a child in Raghu and feels that her daughter has come back into her life in the&amp;nbsp;form of Raghu.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A service to God&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Elephants at the Theppakdu Elephant Camp are not looked upon as orphaned, abandoned, displaced creatures that need to be taken care of. They are revered by the village and have a special ceremony where the calves are taken to seek their blessings from Lord Ganesha.&amp;nbsp;For the people in the village, serving an elephant is equivalent to serving God. This is how they accept and acknowledge God&rsquo;s presence in their life.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Distance, indeed, makes the heart grow fonder&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;amp-img src=&quot;https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/sites/gloss99/resources/202301/untitled-design-2023-01-27t160529621270123072508.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; height=&quot;425&quot; width=&quot;650&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; heights=&quot;(min-width:500px) 200px, 80%&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-img&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Watching a close member of the family go away is tough for any person to handle and it is no different for animals. Having found a best friend in Raghu, Ammu, the youngest elephant in the herd, is absolutely heartbroken when officials take Raghu away. It moved her so much that she didn&rsquo;t have milk for two days. Bomman and Bellie, too, didn&rsquo;t eat for a couple of days. With the duo having gone through such hardships and difficulties in raising Raghu and ensuring his survival, watching him being taken away leaves a lump in your throat. It&rsquo;s only when he returns, do you realise how much they&rsquo;ve missed him.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The bond between Bomman and Bellie&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The documentary may be a story of the connection between man and animals, but it also touches upon the human emotions. It is adorable to watch Bomman and Bellie together&mdash;they started off as caregivers of countless elephants, but their love for what they do&amp;nbsp;brings them together in a holy matrimony.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

untitled-design-2023-01-27t160351222270123072641

&lt;p&gt;While &lt;em&gt;RRR&lt;/em&gt; seems to have caught the nation&amp;rsquo;s attention with recent wins at the &lt;a href='https://www.harpersbazaar.in/culture/story/here-are-the-big-winners-and-the-best-looks-from-the-critics-choice-awards-2827' target='_blank'&gt;Critics&amp;#39; Choice Movie Awards&lt;/a&gt;, the &lt;a href='https://www.harpersbazaar.in/culture/story/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-golden-globes-2023-ahead-of-the-gala-night-2794' target='_blank'&gt;Golden Globes Awards&lt;/a&gt;, and a nomination for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards, two other Indian films deserve equal attention, if not more, for their brilliant contribution to cinema. Guneet Monga&amp;rsquo;s &lt;em&gt;The Elephant Whisperers&lt;/em&gt; and Shaunak Sen&amp;rsquo;s &lt;em&gt;All that Breathes&lt;/em&gt;&amp;nbsp;have been nominated under the categories Best Documentary Short Film and Best Documentary Feature Film, respectively.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;We&amp;rsquo;ve just finished watching Monga&amp;rsquo;s documentary and here&amp;rsquo;s what we loved.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A heart-warming tale between man and beast&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe allow='accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share' allowfullscreen='' frameborder='0' height='315' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/a0J0b_OVa9w' title='YouTube video player' width='560'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Elephant Whisperers&lt;/em&gt; is much more than the official synopsis that reads: &amp;lsquo;Bomman and Bellie, a couple in South India, devote their lives to caring for an orphaned baby elephant named Raghu, forging a family like no other that tests the barrier between the human and the animal world.&amp;rsquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;We see Raghu, a baby elephant,&amp;nbsp;enter the lives of Bomman&amp;nbsp;and Bellie, and change&amp;nbsp;them forever. Raghu&amp;rsquo;s mother was electrocuted, and thus Bomman and Bellie&amp;nbsp;were assigned to take care of the orphaned baby. Raghu was found in an extremely bad shape at the Theppakdu Elephant Camp&amp;mdash;the largest contiguous, and one of Asia&amp;rsquo;s oldest wild spaces for the Asian elephant.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How a family, a village, and its people find their purpose&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style='text-align:center'&gt;&lt;img alt='' src='https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/sites/gloss99/resources/202301/untitled-design-2023-01-27t160635443270123072333.png' /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Bomman and Bellie&amp;rsquo;s lives start and end at caring for the elephants that reside in the forest. Bomman&amp;#39;s family lived in this forest and generation after generation have been taking care of the elephants. On the other hand, Bellie&amp;rsquo;s ex-husband was killed by a tiger, and soon after she was assigned to take care of baby elephants in the area. At that time, she was the only woman to be assigned for the task. Together, the two play an instrumental role in the well-being of these pachyderms. Though they are not alone in this endeavour. A host of other villagers feed, bathe, and nurture these majestic creatures. These residents live off the forest and know that they have to protect it by all means. Bomman and Bellie know that the next generation of their families, including Bellie&amp;rsquo;s granddaughter, Sanjana, will continue taking care of the elephants and their families. The good-heartedness of the people of the village will never end.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Animals that are more emotive than humans&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;One of the major reasons why I loved &lt;em&gt;The Elephant Whisperers&lt;/em&gt; is because it didn&amp;rsquo;t just show the human perspective, but also brilliantly portrayed what Raghu felt. The movie is interspersed with adorable scenes centred on Raghu&amp;rsquo;s life&amp;mdash;you see him getting angry, being upset, having fun while spraying water on his mahout and kids while having a bath, and creating many other heart-touching moments. We also see him befriend Krishna, another elephant, who he learns how to pick grass from. Raghu, time and again, shows his affection and love towards the families in&amp;nbsp;the village. One of my most favourite scenes in the documentary is where Bellie talks about her daughter passing away and how Raghu wiped her tears with his trunk and consoled her&amp;mdash;it is an absolute tear-jerker. You soon realise that Bellie has found a child in Raghu and feels that her daughter has come back into her life in the&amp;nbsp;form of Raghu.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A service to God&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Elephants at the Theppakdu Elephant Camp are not looked upon as orphaned, abandoned, displaced creatures that need to be taken care of. They are revered by the village and have a special ceremony where the calves are taken to seek their blessings from Lord Ganesha.&amp;nbsp;For the people in the village, serving an elephant is equivalent to serving God. This is how they accept and acknowledge God&amp;rsquo;s presence in their life.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Distance, indeed, makes the heart grow fonder&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style='text-align:center'&gt;&lt;img alt=''  src='https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/sites/gloss99/resources/202301/untitled-design-2023-01-27t160529621270123072508.png' width='500' /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Watching a close member of the family go away is tough for any person to handle and it is no different for animals. Having found a best friend in Raghu, Ammu, the youngest elephant in the herd, is absolutely heartbroken when officials take Raghu away. It moved her so much that she didn&amp;rsquo;t have milk for two days. Bomman and Bellie, too, didn&amp;rsquo;t eat for a couple of days. With the duo having gone through such hardships and difficulties in raising Raghu and ensuring his survival, watching him being taken away leaves a lump in your throat. It&amp;rsquo;s only when he returns, do you realise how much they&amp;rsquo;ve missed him.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The bond between Bomman and Bellie&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The documentary may be a story of the connection between man and animals, but it also touches upon the human emotions. It is adorable to watch Bomman and Bellie together&amp;mdash;they started off as caregivers of countless elephants, but their love for what they do&amp;nbsp;brings them together in a holy matrimony.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

This is what we absolutely loved about ‘The Elephant Whisperers’

Here’s why you must watch this heartwarming film that has been nominated in the Best Documentary Short category at the 2023 Academy Awards.

untitled-design-2023-01-27t160512386270123072628

&lt;p&gt;The idea of a girls holiday is seen as a rite of passage. Those sun-drenched, alcohol-infused trips are a mainstay of our late teens and twenties, memories that go down in the mythology of your friendships, keeping the embers going when life gets in the way of&mdash;at least temporarily&mdash;creating new experiences together.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;When I first wrote this piece back in 2019, based on a statistic that an increased number of women were choosing to go on holiday with friends over their partners, I had, in opposition to the figures, already noticed that those all-girl breaks were fading. Once a concrete pillar in our annual calendars, they felt more movable&mdash;and that feeling has only intensified over the past few years. As we grow older and our lives become filled with partners and children, priorities naturally shift and time becomes scarcer. Even if budgets do extend to both a holiday with family and another with friends, it can feel indulgent to do so. For a million reasons, taking a break with your best pals just doesn&rsquo;t seem practical.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;As the years go on, obstacles are thrown at friendships that wrap themselves round girls holidays like a damp, cold blanket&mdash;relationships, work, children. Not all friendships can and should survive these stages, but the best ones do. If the idea of jetting off to an exotic locale with your closest friends might be unfeasible now, it won&rsquo;t always be. There is no point in our lives where friendships become unimportant or unnecessary. Spending time with the people that sustain us is one of the most nourishing and healthy things we can do. Sometimes it pays to leave our partners or children at home and remember who we are away from them.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;But, as impracticable as it might seem, the number of women going on holiday with their friends, rather than their significant others, has seen a marked growth. Women-only tourism has boomed in recent years&mdash;in 2021, it was reported that the number of female-only travel companies had increased by 230 per cent, presumably due to demand. The girls-only-getaway arena is a lucrative market, accounting for four per cent of all US travel spending (around $200 million a year). Harvard University has been extolling the health benefits of social connections, such as going on a break with friends, for over a decade. In 2011, the revered institution said that strong social relationships &quot;give us pleasure... they also influence our long-term health in ways every bit as powerful as adequate sleep, a good diet and not smoking. Dozens of studies have shown that people who have satisfying relationships with family, friends and their community are happier, have fewer health problems and live longer.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Now in my mid-thirties, with many friends with children, I see even more reason to escape for a few days with my closest pals. The older we become, the more responsibilities we acquire and, as women, we're not always very good at considering our own well-being. We need a break from the emotional labour of our lives and to be free of everyday expectations and duties in order to cackle, scheme, and comfort one another in a way that goes beyond a few hours at a restaurant or bar. While trashy, binge-drinking travels spent in cheap b&amp;amp;bs might not seem as appealing as they once were, a good all-women holiday is still an enriching experience because, frankly, female bonding doesn't age. You might not drink with reckless abandon in quite the same way (the increasingly debilitating hangovers just aren&rsquo;t worth it), but it is entirely possible to get drunk on the company of your best friends. Our travel adventures might look different, the skinny-dipping less spontaneous, the nights out noticeably shorter and the tolerance for sleazy lotharios much lower, but it&rsquo;s no less fun. If anything it&rsquo;s just more comfortable&mdash;and involves better food.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;There is no engagement or wedding to prove how fulfilling or vital our friendships are, so perhaps a holiday&mdash;your precious, rare time&mdash;is still the biggest form of recognition. The more responsibilities we accumulate, the more important it is to be able to steal a few days away with the women who helped shape us&mdash;those who remind us of who we are independent of people who might depend on us at home, whether partners, parents or children. Maybe I'm finding grandiose ways to justify a holiday, but taking mental and physical space away from our everyday circumstances to refuel and recharge can only benefit everyone, including those we leave behind. It is OK to crave uninterrupted time with our friends somewhere beautiful.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;amp-iframe sandbox=&quot;allow-scripts allow-same-origin&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;223&quot; width=&quot;480&quot; src=&quot;https://giphy.com/embed/7FheFbW0lzaFHMv1v8&quot; class=&quot;giphy-embed&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://giphy.com/gifs/recordingacademy-grammys-grammy-awards-2019-7FheFbW0lzaFHMv1v8&quot;&gt;via GIPHY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You'll strengthen your friendship&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;amp-iframe sandbox=&quot;allow-scripts allow-same-origin&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;270&quot; width=&quot;480&quot; src=&quot;https://giphy.com/embed/3o7aTJbbKaLJmkSzEQ&quot; class=&quot;giphy-embed&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://giphy.com/gifs/filmeditor-mean-girls-movie-3o7aTJbbKaLJmkSzEQ&quot;&gt;via GIPHY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;There is nothing like the intimacy of a week or weekend away with a friend to intensify your relationship. As we get older and the sleepovers and long nights peter out, it's easy to fall into the habit of only seeing your friends in bite-size chunks&mdash;for dinner or drinks when you dedicate the majority of the evening to catching up on what you've been up to in the interim. But friendship is based on experiences, memories and the kind of chat that spans the silly, the deep, and the frustrating. You won't cover all that with a few hours in the pub, but you will with a holiday away. It's all very well to reminisce, but you need more to fuel that friendship fire than that now-ancient time you got drunk and danced on tables in your teenage years.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It's wildly freeing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;There is nothing that feels more liberating than getting on a plane with a best friend or two and removing yourself from domesticity. It doesn't matter how happy your relationship is, spending quality time in an unfamiliar location, whether on a Sicilian beach or in a beautiful castle in Wales, makes us all feel younger&mdash;reminding us of the uninhibited joy of school and university. All there is to worry about is making sure you're wearing enough sun cream and where you're going for dinner that night. While you might have put your alcohol-fuelled days behind you, that &quot;fuck it, we're on holiday&quot; attitude still applies.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You're more likely to meet new people&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;When you're with your friends, you're more open to chatting to new people, and that doesn't necessarily have to mean romantic potentials (although it could). Couples understandably tend to be more cocooned and less willing to meet anyone outside their bubble. In all-female company, you will explore more&mdash;you'll see more of the nightlife because going out with your boyfriend is not the same. There is a far greater chance you'll do things you didn't expect&mdash;whether driving mopeds through an island without a license or dancing until the sun comes up.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You will party more&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;While it's fulfilling to spend a day visiting local attractions, you've truthfully only seen half a city or a destination until you've experienced it by night. Places have different personalities under a cloak of darkness, and you're definitely more likely to make an effort to explore nightlife if you're with friends, rather than a boyfriend. Days just last longer with your friends: where you might go for dinner and a drink with your boyfriend before going back to the hotel, nights with girlfriends tend to go on later&mdash;whether you head to the clubs or just spend the evening putting the world to rights over a lengthy dinner.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You'll remember why you became such good friends in the first place&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;amp-iframe sandbox=&quot;allow-scripts allow-same-origin&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;270&quot; width=&quot;480&quot; src=&quot;https://giphy.com/embed/XaMJ4uecenddV6DNAl&quot; class=&quot;giphy-embed&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://giphy.com/gifs/ceraadi-saiyr-dumbstruck-emaza-XaMJ4uecenddV6DNAl&quot;&gt;via GIPHY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;In the same way that going on a romantic break can revitalise a relationship, going on holiday with friends can help you remember why you first became friends. You're seeing your closest pals at their most relaxed, away from the pressures of normal life. It's everyone's respite away from the daily grind, so you're more likely to be on good form.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You'll talk through each other's life problems&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;amp-iframe sandbox=&quot;allow-scripts allow-same-origin&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;270&quot; width=&quot;480&quot; src=&quot;https://giphy.com/embed/3oz8xrnAqjFTvhXH7a&quot; class=&quot;giphy-embed&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://giphy.com/gifs/nickelodeon-nick-make-it-pop-mip-3oz8xrnAqjFTvhXH7a&quot;&gt;via GIPHY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Women have an incomparable ability to talk about everything, but sometimes when we meet up for a quick catch-up, there isn't time to go through our deepest worries or problems, and definitely not how to solve them. With unlimited time on your hands, you can both work out how your friend is going to get out of that job she hates, or that niggling issue you have about your boyfriend. There is time to be mutually, fully supportive.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Not all plus-one integration is going to work&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Many of us have, at some point, had a fantasy about the way our partners and children are going to mix. Our paramours will be best friends, bonding over shared interests and humour. Our children will adore each other, maybe one day they&rsquo;ll marry. The oft reality is that these integrated scenarios where we force our loved ones to socialise are usually awkward. The partners run out of conversation, maybe the children just don&rsquo;t see eye to eye. All of this is OK. If your crew are a merry band, then perfect. If not, don&rsquo;t try to force it&mdash;holidays should be relaxing. Just go with the girls instead.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You'll have a holiday song that will make you smile for ever&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;There will be that one song that you play over and over again, whether by the pool, on the dance floor or in the car, and every time you hear it, it'll make you smile and remind you of why the main friends in your life are as important as family.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/travel/news/a40156/all-girls-holidays-for-adults/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;This piece&lt;/a&gt; originally appeared in Harper's Bazaar UK&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

untitled-design-2023-01-27t162250454270123042259

&lt;p&gt;The idea of a girls holiday is seen as a rite of passage. Those sun-drenched, alcohol-infused trips are a mainstay of our late teens and twenties, memories that go down in the mythology of your friendships, keeping the embers going when life gets in the way of&amp;mdash;at least temporarily&amp;mdash;creating new experiences together.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;When I first wrote this piece back in 2019, based on a statistic that an increased number of women were choosing to go on holiday with friends over their partners, I had, in opposition to the figures, already noticed that those all-girl breaks were fading. Once a concrete pillar in our annual calendars, they felt more movable&amp;mdash;and that feeling has only intensified over the past few years. As we grow older and our lives become filled with partners and children, priorities naturally shift and time becomes scarcer. Even if budgets do extend to both a holiday with family and another with friends, it can feel indulgent to do so. For a million reasons, taking a break with your best pals just doesn&amp;rsquo;t seem practical.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;As the years go on, obstacles are thrown at friendships that wrap themselves round girls holidays like a damp, cold blanket&amp;mdash;relationships, work, children. Not all friendships can and should survive these stages, but the best ones do. If the idea of jetting off to an exotic locale with your closest friends might be unfeasible now, it won&amp;rsquo;t always be. There is no point in our lives where friendships become unimportant or unnecessary. Spending time with the people that sustain us is one of the most nourishing and healthy things we can do. Sometimes it pays to leave our partners or children at home and remember who we are away from them.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;But, as impracticable as it might seem, the number of women going on holiday with their friends, rather than their significant others, has seen a marked growth. Women-only tourism has boomed in recent years&amp;mdash;in 2021, it was reported that the number of female-only travel companies had increased by 230 per cent, presumably due to demand. The girls-only-getaway arena is a lucrative market, accounting for four per cent of all US travel spending (around $200 million a year). Harvard University has been extolling the health benefits of social connections, such as going on a break with friends, for over a decade. In 2011, the revered institution said that strong social relationships &amp;quot;give us pleasure... they also influence our long-term health in ways every bit as powerful as adequate sleep, a good diet and not smoking. Dozens of studies have shown that people who have satisfying relationships with family, friends and their community are happier, have fewer health problems and live longer.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Now in my mid-thirties, with many friends with children, I see even more reason to escape for a few days with my closest pals. The older we become, the more responsibilities we acquire and, as women, we&amp;#39;re not always very good at considering our own well-being. We need a break from the emotional labour of our lives and to be free of everyday expectations and duties in order to cackle, scheme, and comfort one another in a way that goes beyond a few hours at a restaurant or bar. While trashy, binge-drinking travels spent in cheap b&amp;amp;bs might not seem as appealing as they once were, a good all-women holiday is still an enriching experience because, frankly, female bonding doesn&amp;#39;t age. You might not drink with reckless abandon in quite the same way (the increasingly debilitating hangovers just aren&amp;rsquo;t worth it), but it is entirely possible to get drunk on the company of your best friends. Our travel adventures might look different, the skinny-dipping less spontaneous, the nights out noticeably shorter and the tolerance for sleazy lotharios much lower, but it&amp;rsquo;s no less fun. If anything it&amp;rsquo;s just more comfortable&amp;mdash;and involves better food.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;There is no engagement or wedding to prove how fulfilling or vital our friendships are, so perhaps a holiday&amp;mdash;your precious, rare time&amp;mdash;is still the biggest form of recognition. The more responsibilities we accumulate, the more important it is to be able to steal a few days away with the women who helped shape us&amp;mdash;those who remind us of who we are independent of people who might depend on us at home, whether partners, parents or children. Maybe I&amp;#39;m finding grandiose ways to justify a holiday, but taking mental and physical space away from our everyday circumstances to refuel and recharge can only benefit everyone, including those we leave behind. It is OK to crave uninterrupted time with our friends somewhere beautiful.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe allowfullscreen='' class='giphy-embed' frameborder='0' height='223' src='https://giphy.com/embed/7FheFbW0lzaFHMv1v8' width='480'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href='https://giphy.com/gifs/recordingacademy-grammys-grammy-awards-2019-7FheFbW0lzaFHMv1v8'&gt;via GIPHY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You&amp;#39;ll strengthen your friendship&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe allowfullscreen='' class='giphy-embed' frameborder='0' height='270' src='https://giphy.com/embed/3o7aTJbbKaLJmkSzEQ' width='480'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href='https://giphy.com/gifs/filmeditor-mean-girls-movie-3o7aTJbbKaLJmkSzEQ'&gt;via GIPHY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;There is nothing like the intimacy of a week or weekend away with a friend to intensify your relationship. As we get older and the sleepovers and long nights peter out, it&amp;#39;s easy to fall into the habit of only seeing your friends in bite-size chunks&amp;mdash;for dinner or drinks when you dedicate the majority of the evening to catching up on what you&amp;#39;ve been up to in the interim. But friendship is based on experiences, memories and the kind of chat that spans the silly, the deep, and the frustrating. You won&amp;#39;t cover all that with a few hours in the pub, but you will with a holiday away. It&amp;#39;s all very well to reminisce, but you need more to fuel that friendship fire than that now-ancient time you got drunk and danced on tables in your teenage years.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It&amp;#39;s wildly freeing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;There is nothing that feels more liberating than getting on a plane with a best friend or two and removing yourself from domesticity. It doesn&amp;#39;t matter how happy your relationship is, spending quality time in an unfamiliar location, whether on a Sicilian beach or in a beautiful castle in Wales, makes us all feel younger&amp;mdash;reminding us of the uninhibited joy of school and university. All there is to worry about is making sure you&amp;#39;re wearing enough sun cream and where you&amp;#39;re going for dinner that night. While you might have put your alcohol-fuelled days behind you, that &amp;quot;fuck it, we&amp;#39;re on holiday&amp;quot; attitude still applies.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You&amp;#39;re more likely to meet new people&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;When you&amp;#39;re with your friends, you&amp;#39;re more open to chatting to new people, and that doesn&amp;#39;t necessarily have to mean romantic potentials (although it could). Couples understandably tend to be more cocooned and less willing to meet anyone outside their bubble. In all-female company, you will explore more&amp;mdash;you&amp;#39;ll see more of the nightlife because going out with your boyfriend is not the same. There is a far greater chance you&amp;#39;ll do things you didn&amp;#39;t expect&amp;mdash;whether driving mopeds through an island without a license or dancing until the sun comes up.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You will party more&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;While it&amp;#39;s fulfilling to spend a day visiting local attractions, you&amp;#39;ve truthfully only seen half a city or a destination until you&amp;#39;ve experienced it by night. Places have different personalities under a cloak of darkness, and you&amp;#39;re definitely more likely to make an effort to explore nightlife if you&amp;#39;re with friends, rather than a boyfriend. Days just last longer with your friends: where you might go for dinner and a drink with your boyfriend before going back to the hotel, nights with girlfriends tend to go on later&amp;mdash;whether you head to the clubs or just spend the evening putting the world to rights over a lengthy dinner.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You&amp;#39;ll remember why you became such good friends in the first place&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe allowfullscreen='' class='giphy-embed' frameborder='0' height='270' src='https://giphy.com/embed/XaMJ4uecenddV6DNAl' width='480'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href='https://giphy.com/gifs/ceraadi-saiyr-dumbstruck-emaza-XaMJ4uecenddV6DNAl'&gt;via GIPHY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;In the same way that going on a romantic break can revitalise a relationship, going on holiday with friends can help you remember why you first became friends. You&amp;#39;re seeing your closest pals at their most relaxed, away from the pressures of normal life. It&amp;#39;s everyone&amp;#39;s respite away from the daily grind, so you&amp;#39;re more likely to be on good form.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You&amp;#39;ll talk through each other&amp;#39;s life problems&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe allowfullscreen='' class='giphy-embed' frameborder='0' height='270' src='https://giphy.com/embed/3oz8xrnAqjFTvhXH7a' width='480'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href='https://giphy.com/gifs/nickelodeon-nick-make-it-pop-mip-3oz8xrnAqjFTvhXH7a'&gt;via GIPHY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Women have an incomparable ability to talk about everything, but sometimes when we meet up for a quick catch-up, there isn&amp;#39;t time to go through our deepest worries or problems, and definitely not how to solve them. With unlimited time on your hands, you can both work out how your friend is going to get out of that job she hates, or that niggling issue you have about your boyfriend. There is time to be mutually, fully supportive.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Not all plus-one integration is going to work&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Many of us have, at some point, had a fantasy about the way our partners and children are going to mix. Our paramours will be best friends, bonding over shared interests and humour. Our children will adore each other, maybe one day they&amp;rsquo;ll marry. The oft reality is that these integrated scenarios where we force our loved ones to socialise are usually awkward. The partners run out of conversation, maybe the children just don&amp;rsquo;t see eye to eye. All of this is OK. If your crew are a merry band, then perfect. If not, don&amp;rsquo;t try to force it&amp;mdash;holidays should be relaxing. Just go with the girls instead.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You&amp;#39;ll have a holiday song that will make you smile for ever&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;There will be that one song that you play over and over again, whether by the pool, on the dance floor or in the car, and every time you hear it, it&amp;#39;ll make you smile and remind you of why the main friends in your life are as important as family.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href='https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/travel/news/a40156/all-girls-holidays-for-adults/' target='_blank'&gt;This piece&lt;/a&gt; originally appeared in Harper&amp;#39;s Bazaar UK&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Why going on an adult all-girls holiday is good for you

Sometimes it pays to leave your partner and children at home.

untitled-design-2023-01-27t162140885270123042154

&lt;p&gt;The Roy family feud will continue for another season.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;HBO officially renewed its Emmy-winning series &lt;em&gt;Succession&lt;/em&gt; in October 2021, less than two weeks after its Season 3 premiere. The drama returned after a two-year delay, with Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook), and Roman (Kieran Culkin) Roy continuing their crusades to take the Waystar Royco CEO position from their mogul father, Logan (Brian Cox), either through succession or by force.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&quot;With each season of &lt;em&gt;Succession&lt;/em&gt;, Jesse Armstrong has continued to surpass our wildest expectations, pulling us deeper into the Roy family's inner sanctum with indelible wit, humanity, and precision. This season is undoubtedly no exception, and we couldn't be more excited for all that's in store in this next season ahead,&quot; Francesca Orsi, executive vice president of HBO drama programming, said in a statement.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Luckily, we won't have to wait another two years for Season 4. Here's everything else we know about the upcoming season.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is there a trailer for Season 4?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;
The first official teaser trailer for Season 4, released on January 26, promises even more drama as the sale of Waystar Royco looms over the Roy family's heads.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&quot;We wanted to do something together,&quot; Shiv can be heard saying in the teaser. &quot;This is not about getting back at dad. But if it hurts him, it doesn't bother me.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;amp-youtube data-videoid=&quot;sWlURhM5P5Q&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;315&quot; width=&quot;560&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-youtube&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Recently, HBO dropped a few seconds of footage from Season 4 (and it is literally seconds) as part of a sizzle reel for upcoming HBO/HBO Max series. It shows each of the Roy siblings looking pensive, assumedly about the impending sale of Waystar Royco.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Meanwhile, Logan is rallying the troops, with Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) standing right beside him and Cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun) clapping in the crowd.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&quot;We're killing the opposition! I'm going to build something better, faster, leaner, wilder,&quot; Logan says in the sizzle. &quot;I love it here. I fucking love it!&quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When will Season 4 air?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;
&lt;blockquote class=&quot;instagram-media&quot; data-instgrm-permalink=&quot;https://www.instagram.com/tv/ChF4t89PPA9/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;amp;utm_campaign=loading&quot; data-instgrm-version=&quot;14&quot;&gt;
&lt;div&gt;
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&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.instagram.com/tv/ChF4t89PPA9/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;amp;utm_campaign=loading&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;A post shared by Succession (@succession)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;Season 4 will premiere on March 26.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Casey Bloys, HBO's chief content officer, previously told &lt;em&gt;Deadline&lt;/em&gt; that the show should return in time to qualify for the next Emmys season (the deadline is May 31, 2023). Filming began in New York City in late June, with HBO revealing the logline for the upcoming season along with a slate photo from the set.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;In the ten-episode season four, the sale of media conglomerate Waystar Royco to tech visionary Lukas Matsson moves ever closer. The prospect of this seismic sale provokes existential angst and familial division among the Roys as they anticipate what their lives will look like once the deal is completed. A power struggle ensues as the family weighs up a future where their cultural and political weight is severely curtailed.&lt;/p&gt;

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&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Which cast members will return?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.instagram.com/tv/Ce37oZ_J0M8/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;amp;utm_campaign=loading&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;A post shared by Succession (@succession)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;In addition to the actors behind the Roy family&mdash;Brian Cox (Logan Roy), Jeremy Strong (Kendall), Kieran Culkin (Roman), Sarah Snook (Shiv), Alan Ruck (Connor), Matthew Macfadyen (Tom), and Nicholas Braun (Cousin Greg)&mdash;HBO confirmed most of the returning cast in June, including J Smith-Cameron (Gerri), Peter Friedman (Frank), David Rasche (Karl), Fisher Stevens (Hugo), Hiam Abbass (Marcia), Justine Lupe (Willa), Scott Nicholson (security guard Colin), Zo&euml; Winters (Logan's assistant Kerry), and Jeannie Berlin (Cyd).&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Deadline&lt;/em&gt; also reported more of Season 4's cast in August, including some characters that give hints toward the plot. Alexander Skarsg&aring;rd will be back as Lukas Matsson, Hope Davis will reprise her role as media heir Sandi Furness, and Arian Moayed and Annabelle Dexter-Jones will reappear as Kendall's frenemy Stewy and love interest, Naomi Pierce, respectively.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Other familiar faces returning are Juliana Canfield as Kendall's assistant Jess, Cherry Jones as Pierce matriarch Nan, Justin Kirk as right-wing Congressman Jeryd Mencken, and Stephen Root as Future Freedom Summit organiser Ron Petkus.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How many seasons will Succession have?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Now that Season 4 is confirmed, the big question is how long the show will continue. In a &lt;em&gt;Variety&lt;/em&gt; interview ahead of Season 3, creator Armstrong said that, while he can't give a number of seasons, he does have an idea for the series finale.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&quot;I don't want to say,&quot; he said when asked how many seasons are remaining. &quot;All I know is there's a promise in the &lt;em&gt;Succession&lt;/em&gt; title, and it can't go on forever.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;He continued, &quot;It's important for me, I think, as a show runner to have a [series finale] pitch for my fellow collaborators, especially the writers. But it's not immutable. That's up for discussion. But I do have a pitch for how I think it goes.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a38078558/succession-season-4-news-cast-spoilers-date/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;This piece&lt;/a&gt; originally appeared in Harper's Bazaar US&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

untitled-design-2023-01-27t155011318270123035014

Succession Season 4: Everything we know

Cue the Nicholas Britell: The show is officially coming back.

untitled-design-2023-01-27t155137598270123035147

&lt;p&gt;'How far we have come, how far still go go' can be an apt description to describe the strides made by women in cinema. Be it in front of the camera or behind it, the world of film has witnessed countless pioneers break new ground. This fascinating read that sheds the light on eight outstanding women and their journey, accomplishments, and challenges sees us take a deep dive into their life skills and the sheer perseverance needed to make a mark in Tinseltown. It surely Involves more than just grit.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Emily Beecham, actor&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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&lt;p&gt;Being cast with Scarlett Johansson and Sienna Miller as siblings in Kristin Scott&amp;nbsp;Thomas&rsquo; directorial debut &lt;em&gt;My Mother&rsquo;s Wedding&lt;/em&gt; felt like &lsquo;a lot of pressure&rsquo;, admits Emily Beecham. The film, which comes out this year, draws on Scott Thomas&rsquo; real-life experiences of losing her father and then her step-father, &lsquo;so we all wanted&amp;nbsp;to do the story justice.&rsquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Luckily, the actor has a natural ability to bring complex characters to life with&amp;nbsp;authenticity. After appearing in the Coen brothers&rsquo; blockbuster &lt;em&gt;Hail, Caesar!&lt;/em&gt;, Beecham swapped the sheen of Hollywood for something altogether grittier. In&amp;nbsp;the titular role of 2017&rsquo;s &lt;em&gt;Daphne&lt;/em&gt;, her performance as a troubled thirty-something revealed the gentle humanity of a character hell-bent on self-destruction. Other&amp;nbsp;career highlights have included Netflix&rsquo;s mind-bending mystery &lt;em&gt;1899&lt;/em&gt; and her thoughtful depiction of Fanny Logan in the 2021 BBC adaptation of &lt;em&gt;The Pursuit&amp;nbsp;of Love&lt;/em&gt;, starring opposite Lily James as her volatile cousin Linda Radlett. &lsquo;We all have people who bring out different qualities in us,&rsquo; says Beecham. &lsquo;The girls had&amp;nbsp;kind of a push and pull in their friendship, but always this real love for each other.&rsquo;&amp;nbsp;With her intelligent take on emotional relationships, she&rsquo;s sure to live up to the promise of Scott Thomas&rsquo; story&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Marisa Abela, actor&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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&lt;p&gt;As the spoilt trainee banker Yasmin Kara-Hanani in the BBC/HBO series &lt;em&gt;Industry&lt;/em&gt;,&amp;nbsp;Marisa Abela was utterly magnetic. No&amp;nbsp;wonder we will be seeing more of her this year, in Greta Gerwig&rsquo;s much-anticipated&amp;nbsp;film &lt;em&gt;Barbie&lt;/em&gt;, and in the title role of Sam Taylor-Johnson&rsquo;s Amy Winehouse biopic.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Nic&ocirc;le Lecky, actor, writer, producer&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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&lt;p&gt;Dark yet glitzy, &lt;em&gt;Mood&lt;/em&gt; was one of BBC&rsquo;s most original series last year, addressing&amp;nbsp;the subjects of sex work and social media through the medium of musical drama. The London-born writer and actor Nic&ocirc;le Lecky stars in the show, which she&amp;nbsp;adapted from her one-woman play &lt;em&gt;Superhoe&lt;/em&gt;, and also composed its unforgettable soundtrack, featuring songs that punctuate the episodes in the form of music&amp;nbsp;videos. She has drawn comparisons with Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Michaela Coel, and credits her &lsquo;East End wheeler-dealer mentality&rsquo; with getting &lt;em&gt;Mood&lt;/em&gt; off&amp;nbsp;the ground. She is now working on new material, including a debut feature film.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ellie Bamber, actor&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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&lt;p&gt;Celebrated for her harrowing performance&amp;nbsp;as a kidnapped teen in Tom Ford&rsquo;s 2016 film &lt;em&gt;Nocturnal Animals&lt;/em&gt;, Ellie Bamber has had a&amp;nbsp;varied career that has also seen her appear in musicals (she played Cosette in the BBC&rsquo;s&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Les Mis&eacute;rables&lt;/em&gt;), true crime &lt;em&gt;(The Serpent)&lt;/em&gt; and, most recently, fantasy, with the Disney+ TV series&amp;nbsp;follow-up to the 1988 film &lt;em&gt;Willow&lt;/em&gt;. This&amp;nbsp;year is set to be a memorable one: Bamber&amp;nbsp;will take the leading role in the psychological thriller &lt;em&gt;The Seven Sorrows of Mary&lt;/em&gt;, before starring in &lt;em&gt;The Sniper&rsquo;s Daughter&lt;/em&gt;, and joining&amp;nbsp;Maxine Peake in &lt;em&gt;Mother Russia&lt;/em&gt;, the timely story of a journalist&rsquo;s fight for freedom under&amp;nbsp;Vladimir Putin.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Isobel Waller-Bridge, composer&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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&lt;p&gt;Lauded for her versatility across electronica,&amp;nbsp;jazz and classical music, Isobel Waller Bridge has created original scores for films including &lt;em&gt;Emma&lt;/em&gt;, television series from &lt;em&gt;Black&amp;nbsp;Mirror&lt;/em&gt; to her younger sister Phoebe&rsquo;s &lt;em&gt;Fleabag&lt;/em&gt;, and productions such as &lt;em&gt;Woyzeck&lt;/em&gt; at the&amp;nbsp;Old Vic. She has also collaborated with Alexander McQueen and Simone Rocha on&amp;nbsp;fashion shows, and released two EPs of string pieces. With an instinctive ability to&amp;nbsp;tell stories through music, Waller-Bridge&amp;nbsp;recently wrote the soundtrack to the screen adaptation of Charlie Macksey&rsquo;s beloved&amp;nbsp;tale &lt;em&gt;The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse,&lt;/em&gt; and compose for the dark&amp;nbsp;drama &lt;em&gt;Embers&lt;/em&gt; and the thriller &lt;em&gt;The Tutor&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ambika Mod, actor&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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&lt;p&gt;In the BBC&rsquo;s &lt;em&gt;This Is Going&amp;nbsp;to Hurt&lt;/em&gt;, which was filmed in the throes of the pandemic, Mod appeared as&amp;nbsp;an overworked junior doctor facing emergency C-sections and&amp;nbsp;exams. Her performance as a young woman&amp;nbsp;at breaking point was deeply affecting, although she has said that &lsquo;comedy was definitely my way in&rsquo;. With a deft ability to make&amp;nbsp;audiences both laugh and cry, Mod will take the lead in the Netflix adaptation of David Nicholls&rsquo; novel &lt;em&gt;One Day&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tamara Lawrance, actor&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;amp-img src=&quot;https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/sites/gloss99/resources/202301/untitled-design-2023-01-25t173618958250123054129.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; height=&quot;425&quot; width=&quot;650&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; heights=&quot;(min-width:500px) 200px, 80%&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-img&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The Rada-trained actor&amp;nbsp;Tamara Lawrance&amp;nbsp;has already graced our screens in several ambitious projects, such as Mike Bartlett&rsquo;s&amp;nbsp;BBC drama &lt;em&gt;Charles III&lt;/em&gt;, the adaptation of Andrea Levy&rsquo;s novel &lt;em&gt;The Long Song&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;Small&amp;nbsp;Axe&lt;/em&gt;. She recently starred in the film &lt;em&gt;The Silent Twins&lt;/em&gt;, about June and Jennifer Gibbons,&amp;nbsp;who, from the age of three, would only communicate with each other; her performance&amp;nbsp;has earned her a British Independent Film Award, along with her co-star Letitia&amp;nbsp;Wright. She will next be seen as the protagonist in Marlon James&rsquo;&amp;nbsp;detective series for HBO/Channel 4, &lt;em&gt;Get&amp;nbsp;Millie Black&lt;/em&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Naomi Ackie, actor&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;amp-img src=&quot;https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/sites/gloss99/resources/202301/untitled-design-2023-01-25t174330934250123054335.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; height=&quot;425&quot; width=&quot;650&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; heights=&quot;(min-width:500px) 200px, 80%&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-img&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lsquo;I&rsquo;ve got an eye for off-kilter projects, probably&amp;nbsp;because I feel quite off-kilter as a human being,&rsquo; says Naomi Ackie. While she is now best-known&amp;nbsp;for portraying Whitney Houston in &lt;em&gt;I Wanna Dance with Somebody&lt;/em&gt;, the big-budget biopic is but the&amp;nbsp;latest in a fabulously varied line of career choices&amp;nbsp;from the London-based actor, ranging from Hollywood franchises such as &lt;em&gt;Star Wars&lt;/em&gt; to TV&amp;nbsp;projects including the excellent left-field black comedy &lt;em&gt;The End of the F***ing World&lt;/em&gt;, Steve McQueen&rsquo;s powerful British drama &lt;em&gt;Small Axe&lt;/em&gt; and the queer love story &lt;em&gt;Master of None&lt;/em&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Casting her net wide is deliberate, for both professional and personal reasons.&amp;nbsp;&lsquo;Each character I play pushes me into a deeper understanding of myself,&rsquo; Ackie says. &lsquo;Plus, I&rsquo;ve been acting since I was 11. For the first 20 years, I made so many&amp;nbsp;rules for myself, but I&rsquo;ve realised recently, it&rsquo;s just about playing and trying.&rsquo; That experimentation will this year see her take the lead in Zo&euml; Kravitz&rsquo;s silver-screen&amp;nbsp;directorial debut &lt;em&gt;Pussy Island&lt;/em&gt; (&lsquo;so joyful to work on!&rsquo;), produce her own television projects&mdash;in which she explores magical realism and workplace power-play&mdash;and&amp;nbsp;draft her first feature-film script.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This piece originally appeared in the February 2023 print edition of Harper's Bazaar UK&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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#TakeNote: 8 women in Tinseltown changing the game, one creative endeavour at a time

A riveting read on actors, make-up artists, screenwriters and producers who are impressive and praiseworthy

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&lt;p&gt;In a first for Asia and India, Lollapalooza (one of the biggest global music festivals) is all set to paint the town red as it drops its anchor in Mumbai this weekend.&amp;nbsp;If you&rsquo;ve got your hands on the two-day passes and are all geared up, here are some famous songs by array&amp;nbsp;by an array of outstanding singer-songwriters, music producers, and indie bands at the festival.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;So, amp up the volume and set the music for the time of your life this weekend.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Day One&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Kashmir by The Yellow Diary&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;amp-youtube data-videoid=&quot;wF3hlud5Tm0&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;315&quot; width=&quot;560&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-youtube&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Compiled with beautiful poetic lyrics and rock music blended, it brings new experiences and personal emotions in this track from their EP &lsquo;Marz&rsquo;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Hills (Extended Mix) by Kasablanca&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;amp-youtube data-videoid=&quot;n2t-LTvUdV8&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;315&quot; width=&quot;560&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-youtube&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;A smooth yet vibey track, it is filled with the right beats mixed with some synthwave. Its versatility can make this your electronic dance track or the track for your pumped-up runs!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Road Head by Japanese Breakfast&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;amp-youtube data-videoid=&quot;cCmLjb-ocPY&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;315&quot; width=&quot;560&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-youtube&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Michelle Zauner, the lead of the indie pop band Japanese Breakfast&rsquo;s heartfelt tunes in Road Head are set to convert you into a dedicated fan.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Summer High by AP Dhillon&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;amp-youtube data-videoid=&quot;nqUN530Rgtw&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;315&quot; width=&quot;560&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-youtube&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This catchy number by the fan-favourite AP Dhillon is now rolling with some nice tempo and makes you get in to the groove instantly.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Day Two&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Favourite Peeps by Prateek Kuhad&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;amp-youtube data-videoid=&quot;j6cg2TQz9H4&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;315&quot; width=&quot;560&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-youtube&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Discovering and appreciating a brighter side of life and the people in it, hit-maker Prateek Kuhad bares his soul in this track.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Adults Are Talking by The Strokes&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;amp-youtube data-videoid=&quot;ewOPQZZn4SY&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;315&quot; width=&quot;560&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-youtube&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Taking a shot at the societal differences, The Strokes creates an amalgamation of profound lyrics and great music in their album &lsquo;The New Abnormal&rsquo;, which features The Adults are Talking.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bones by Imagine Dragons&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;amp-youtube data-videoid=&quot;TO-_3tck2tg&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;315&quot; width=&quot;560&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-youtube&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Reflecting on eternal life, this latest release by Imagine Dragons is a unique track with mid-tempo and their signature rock elements.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pistol by Cigarettes After Sex&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;amp-youtube data-videoid=&quot;rrXobXg73ec&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;315&quot; width=&quot;560&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-youtube&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The latest track by Cigarettes After Sex is this year&rsquo;s first one since their 2020 single &ldquo;You're All I Want&rdquo;. It drowns you in its their dreamy, sensuous sound.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Greek Tragedy by The Wombats&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;amp-youtube data-videoid=&quot;9MHmx9nvHqU&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;315&quot; width=&quot;560&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-youtube&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;From an album about doomed romance, &lsquo;Glitterbug&rsquo;, Greek Tragedy is a track that went on to become a viral TikTok audio! This one&rsquo;s a must-listen.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Blow by Jackson Wang&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;amp-youtube data-videoid=&quot;qCZHarOQvc4&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;315&quot; width=&quot;560&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-youtube&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This fiery track by Korean heartthrob Jackson Wang will definitely hit the right chords with its lyrics&mdash;which Jackson co-wrote with Liam Kevany about an addictive yet forbidden romance.&lt;/p&gt;

untitled-design-2023-01-27t161142206270123054629

&lt;p&gt;In a first for Asia and India, Lollapalooza (one of the biggest global music festivals) is all set to paint the town red as it drops its anchor in Mumbai this weekend.&amp;nbsp;If you&amp;rsquo;ve got your hands on the two-day passes and are all geared up, here are some famous songs by array&amp;nbsp;by an array of outstanding singer-songwriters, music producers, and indie bands at the festival.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;So, amp up the volume and set the music for the time of your life this weekend.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Day One&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Kashmir by The Yellow Diary&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe allow='accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share' allowfullscreen='' frameborder='0' height='315' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/wF3hlud5Tm0' title='YouTube video player' width='560'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Compiled with beautiful poetic lyrics and rock music blended, it brings new experiences and personal emotions in this track from their EP &amp;lsquo;Marz&amp;rsquo;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Hills (Extended Mix) by Kasablanca&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe allow='accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share' allowfullscreen='' frameborder='0' height='315' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/n2t-LTvUdV8' title='YouTube video player' width='560'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;A smooth yet vibey track, it is filled with the right beats mixed with some synthwave. Its versatility can make this your electronic dance track or the track for your pumped-up runs!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Road Head by Japanese Breakfast&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe allow='accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share' allowfullscreen='' frameborder='0' height='315' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/cCmLjb-ocPY' title='YouTube video player' width='560'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Michelle Zauner, the lead of the indie pop band Japanese Breakfast&amp;rsquo;s heartfelt tunes in Road Head are set to convert you into a dedicated fan.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Summer High by AP Dhillon&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe allow='accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share' allowfullscreen='' frameborder='0' height='315' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/nqUN530Rgtw' title='YouTube video player' width='560'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This catchy number by the fan-favourite AP Dhillon is now rolling with some nice tempo and makes you get in to the groove instantly.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Day Two&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Favourite Peeps by Prateek Kuhad&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe allow='accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share' allowfullscreen='' frameborder='0' height='315' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/j6cg2TQz9H4' title='YouTube video player' width='560'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Discovering and appreciating a brighter side of life and the people in it, hit-maker Prateek Kuhad bares his soul in this track.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Adults Are Talking by The Strokes&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe allow='accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share' allowfullscreen='' frameborder='0' height='315' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ewOPQZZn4SY' title='YouTube video player' width='560'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Taking a shot at the societal differences, The Strokes creates an amalgamation of profound lyrics and great music in their album &amp;lsquo;The New Abnormal&amp;rsquo;, which features The Adults are Talking.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bones by Imagine Dragons&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe allow='accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share' allowfullscreen='' frameborder='0' height='315' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/TO-_3tck2tg' title='YouTube video player' width='560'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Reflecting on eternal life, this latest release by Imagine Dragons is a unique track with mid-tempo and their signature rock elements.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pistol by Cigarettes After Sex&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe allow='accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share' allowfullscreen='' frameborder='0' height='315' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/rrXobXg73ec' title='YouTube video player' width='560'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The latest track by Cigarettes After Sex is this year&amp;rsquo;s first one since their 2020 single &amp;ldquo;You&amp;#39;re All I Want&amp;rdquo;. It drowns you in its their dreamy, sensuous sound.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Greek Tragedy by The Wombats&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe allow='accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share' allowfullscreen='' frameborder='0' height='315' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/9MHmx9nvHqU' title='YouTube video player' width='560'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;From an album about doomed romance, &amp;lsquo;Glitterbug&amp;rsquo;, Greek Tragedy is a track that went on to become a viral TikTok audio! This one&amp;rsquo;s a must-listen.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Blow by Jackson Wang&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe allow='accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share' allowfullscreen='' frameborder='0' height='315' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/qCZHarOQvc4' title='YouTube video player' width='560'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This fiery track by Korean heartthrob Jackson Wang will definitely hit the right chords with its lyrics&amp;mdash;which Jackson co-wrote with Liam Kevany about an addictive yet forbidden romance.&lt;/p&gt;

The ultimate playlist you need to hear before you head to Lollapalooza

Here are songs ft. Yellow Diary, Japanese Breakfast, AP Dhilon, Cigarettes After Sex, Jackson Wang, that you’re likely to hear over the two-day event.

untitled-design-2023-01-27t161223503270123054640

&lt;p&gt;Just as you can improve your physical health, there are numerous ways you can boost your brain. Whether you want to sharpen your memory, concentration, and cognitive functioning now, or future-proof your intellect, brain health should be front of mind.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&ldquo;The brain has been studied for many years, but it&rsquo;s only in the last 20 years that we have found out that it's constantly changing and developing,&rdquo; notes registered nutritionist Jo Sharp. &ldquo;Our environment and lifestyle choices shape the health of our brain, with both trauma and nutrition playing a hugely important role.&rdquo; She explains that the brain is highly complex, with more than 80 billion neurons&mdash;and each of those neurons has thousands of synaptic connections. &ldquo;These are dynamic and ever-changing, and so we must ensure that from conception it has what it needs to thrive.&rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Below, Sharp and other experts share tips to get the most from your brain this year, and way beyond.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;amp-iframe sandbox=&quot;allow-scripts allow-same-origin&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;281&quot; width=&quot;480&quot; src=&quot;https://giphy.com/embed/u4KibgMsDLWM0&quot; class=&quot;giphy-embed&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://giphy.com/gifs/brain-sheldon-big-bang-theory-u4KibgMsDLWM0&quot;&gt;via GIPHY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Acquire new skills&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;We&rsquo;ve all heard of the &lsquo;use it or lose it&rsquo; principle, and researchers agree that mental activity helps to build your &lsquo;cognitive reserve&rsquo;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&ldquo;Like the body, your brain also needs to be exercised regularly to stay cognitively and mentally fit,&rdquo; says Dr Christine Wong, neuroscientist and co-founder and chief science officer at Noon, who has a background in neuroscience. &ldquo;Learning something new stimulates neurogenesis, and creates new connections in our brain, while practicing existing skills reinforces these connections.&rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;On Dr Rangan Chatterjee&rsquo;s celebrated podcast, &lt;em&gt;Feel Better Live More&lt;/em&gt;, Dr Tommy Wood&mdash;a neuroscience professor at the University of Washington&mdash;concurs and says that cognitive decline in later life is not inevitable. He explains that, as infants, we learn things which take a huge amount of neurological effort. Then, as we get older, we do the same things again and again, which requires lower cognitive input. This, in turn, tells our brain to become less complex. &ldquo;People who retire earlier tend to die earlier,&rdquo; he reveals, stating that &ldquo;telling the brain that it&rsquo;s required is incredibly powerful for brain health&rdquo;. He recommends&mdash;if you&rsquo;re capable and able&mdash;acquiring new skills, from learning a language, sport or dance, to singing, knitting or coding.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Eat more &lsquo;brain foods&rsquo;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&ldquo;Diet is foundational to healthy brain development,&rdquo; confirms Sharp. &ldquo;We typically think of feeding our bodies and not our brain, but what we eat has a direct impact on the brain, our cognition, and thinking. Imagine the brain as the CEO of our bodies; for example, the food we ingest dictates which hormones are released and where they should go. Foods rich in minerals, vitamins and antioxidants will nourish our brain, while foods high in refined sugars can have a negative impact on inflammation and even reduce insulin resistance.&rdquo; She adds that research shows that the brain thrives on food diversity and, consequently, needs a large amount of different nutrients, as many as 45. Though, naturally, the spotlight falls on a specific group of nutrients that are known to play a key role in brain development, which include essential fatty acids, antioxidants, phytonutrient and amino acids, she says.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Examples of these include oily fish, dark leafy greens, berries, &lsquo;good fats&rsquo; like extra virgin olive oil, avocados, flaxseeds, hemp and chia seeds, as well as beans, lentils, chickpeas, and other legumes which are a brilliant source of fibre. &ldquo;The gut and brain are connected through the gut-brain axis, a bidirectional communication between the central and enteric nervous system. Fibre feeds the gut bacteria to support diversity and good communication with the brain,&rdquo; Sharp says.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stay hydrated&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;amp-iframe sandbox=&quot;allow-scripts allow-same-origin&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;270&quot; width=&quot;480&quot; src=&quot;https://giphy.com/embed/l8IMgtytleDlDpOPFB&quot; class=&quot;giphy-embed&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://giphy.com/gifs/llimoo-hydrate-hidratate-please-l8IMgtytleDlDpOPFB&quot;&gt;via GIPHY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Sharp adds that the above foods are of equal importance to hydration. &ldquo;Staying well hydrated will have an acute impact on the brain. It is suggested that losing even one per cent of hydration can impact mood and concentration. My advice is to start each morning with a large glass of water, before anything else.&rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Dr Wong adds that &ldquo;our bodies are mostly made of water&mdash;it&rsquo;s quite literally our lifeline&mdash;but is also absolutely necessary to transport nutrients to the brain and body from what we eat.&rdquo; If you&rsquo;re ever experiencing tiredness, headache, or brain fog, you might be dehydrated, she says. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ll notice an incredible difference in energy, focus, concentration and mood, just from drinking more water. You can also stay hydrated by consuming water-rich foods like watermelon or cucumber.&rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Consume optimal omega-3&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Omega-3, noted above, deserves a special mention given that the western diet is often low in oily fish.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&ldquo;Over 60 per cent of the brain if made up of fat, and omega-3 fatty acids make up part of all cell membranes,&rdquo; says Sharp. &ldquo;In layman's terms, the brain is responsible for sending the right instructions to the rest of the body, and when neurons (brain cells) have adequate omega-3 they are able to communicate better with one another.&rdquo; She says that supplementation may positively impact cognition, focused attention, and have a profoundly positive impact on neurotransmitters and mental health.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;When it comes to oily fish, she recommends salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring and anchovies&mdash;all ideally wild-caught. &ldquo;When supplementing, it&rsquo;s vital to opt for a fish oil that has gone through vigorous third-party testing, checking for pollutants and contaminants, as not all omega-3 are created equal,&rdquo; she reveals. &ldquo;Minami omega-3 supplements are third-party tested, have high concentration and come in both liquid and softgel foods to suit all needs and ages.&rdquo; For vegetarians, an algae-based omega-3 should be considered, she adds. &ldquo;Vegetarian food sources such as flaxseed, walnuts and chia will provide some omega-3 but often not enough to reach optimal levels.&rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Consider nootropics and adaptogens&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Botanical supplements are also said to have a powerful impact on the brain and have been used in traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine for centuries. Adaptogens&mdash;often found in herbs&mdash;help our bodies adapt to external stressors. Ashwagandha, an adaptogen belonging to the nightshade family, is currently being studied for its ability to enhance memory, fight cognitive impairment, and improve information-processing speed.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Natural nootropics&mdash;found in plants and mushrooms like lion&rsquo;s mane&mdash;can also have an effect on the brain and, according to research, sharpen memory and focus, enhance mood, and boost creativity.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&ldquo;Nootropic herbs are a great way to improve your clarity, focus, sleep, memory and mood, or overcome mental blocks or nerves,&rdquo; says Dr Wong. &ldquo;There are a wide range of nootropic herbs with varying mechanisms of action, which is why they can have such diverse benefits. Some nootropic herbs impact the brain by influencing the activity of neurotransmitters (molecular signals used by brain cells to communicate), while other nootropic herbs increase blood flow to the brain, providing more nutrients, oxygen, and energy to support alertness and focus. There are some that even have a protective effect by combating harmful inflammation and free radicals in the brain that can lead to cognitive decline.&rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Her brand Noon combines the power of nootropics and adaptogens into drops designed to amplify the mind. Positioned as ritualistic, Rise is like a morning coffee kick, Renew calms overwhelm but with rebalancing focus, while Relax helps you wind-down for the evening.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Be active every day&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;amp-iframe sandbox=&quot;allow-scripts allow-same-origin&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;271&quot; width=&quot;480&quot; src=&quot;https://giphy.com/embed/6ntXewFesXCwWi4ALY&quot; class=&quot;giphy-embed&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://giphy.com/gifs/glblctzn-global-citizen-every-vote-counts-6ntXewFesXCwWi4ALY&quot;&gt;via GIPHY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;As Public Health England confirms, regular physical activity reduces your risk of dementia by up to 30 per cent.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Alzheimer&rsquo;s Research UK also says that what&rsquo;s good for your heart is good for your brain, meaning physical activity is key. As per its website, the important HUNT Study published in 2018, linked more exercise in midlife with a lower risk of dementia. And, more recently, US scientists &ldquo;published findings showing those who exercised more had less damage to the small blood vessels that spread through the brain&rdquo;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;They recommend being active every day, whether that&rsquo;s with workouts, walking, dancing, or even gardening.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Respect your circadian rhythm&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;As Dr Wood notes when speaking on &lt;em&gt;Feel Better Live More&lt;/em&gt;, one easy way to boost brain health is by working with your circadian rhythm. Think &ldquo;light when it&rsquo;s light, dark when it&rsquo;s dark&rdquo;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Dr Wong suggests starting your day with a morning walk to get daylight exposure and your endorphins flowing. &ldquo;For your brain to function best, your internal clock needs to be in sync with the natural day and night cycle. Exposure to sunlight boosts alertness and exercise will bump up your endorphins (your brain&rsquo;s feel-good chemical) so try to spend time outdoors getting some morning or mid-day steps in.&rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prioritise sleep&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;amp-iframe sandbox=&quot;allow-scripts allow-same-origin&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;273&quot; width=&quot;480&quot; src=&quot;https://giphy.com/embed/10GSjO2zW3bzl6&quot; class=&quot;giphy-embed&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://giphy.com/gifs/tired-sleeping-sleep-10GSjO2zW3bzl6&quot;&gt;via GIPHY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;In line with the above, getting enough time in bed is equally important. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a reason we spend about a third of our lives sleeping,&rdquo; says Dr Wong. &ldquo;Sleep is just as essential to our health, affecting our ability to learn and form long-term memories. When we sleep, the body undergoes a natural detox process to remove toxins in our brain that build up when we are awake. Great sleep sets the tone for your next day.&rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;As a self-care habit, she recommends making your bed a sacred space so your body can really relax and sleep. &ldquo;Put down that phone in the evening as blue light can actually fool your brain into thinking it&rsquo;s daytime and disrupt the natural production of melatonin&mdash;the hormone that regulates our sleep.&rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make time to socialise&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;amp-iframe sandbox=&quot;allow-scripts allow-same-origin&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; height=&quot;381&quot; width=&quot;480&quot; src=&quot;https://giphy.com/embed/CfviUgps8oWaI&quot; class=&quot;giphy-embed&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://giphy.com/gifs/life-vince-vaughn-delivery-man-CfviUgps8oWaI&quot;&gt;via GIPHY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Dr Wood says that our brains benefit from being part of a social group. &ldquo;When you really boil it down, social connection is really the foundational aspect of us as a species; without social connection you&rsquo;re not giving that input which is that &lsquo;you have purpose, you have meaning, you belong&rsquo;&mdash;and that is one of the critical inputs for the brain to keep working.&rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Dr Wong agrees that spending time with others boosts your brain. &ldquo;Socialising activates your &lsquo;social brain&rsquo;, a collection of brain areas that don&rsquo;t normally light up when you&rsquo;re alone. A night out with friends may seem like just friendly chatter and laughter, but these interactions actually help strengthen and build new neural connections.&rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Practice mindfulness&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Claire Aristides, clinical hypnotherapist and founder of the Mindology app, tells &lt;em&gt;Bazaar&lt;/em&gt; that: &ldquo;Mindfulness involves paying attention to something in a particular way and being in the present moment, which calms our busy minds and nervous system.&rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Dr Wong says that being aware of your mind-body state can prompt positive actions and changes needed to support a healthy brain. &ldquo;This could be anything from taking a moment of pause to be hyper-present or checking in with yourself by doing a body scan. Try asking yourself: &lsquo;How am I doing physically, cognitively, and emotionally? Am I tired or energised? Where do I have tension? Am I feeling content or sad?&rsquo; Being consistent with reflection allows you to better tune into your own daily biorhythm.&rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/beauty/mind-body/a42443817/how-to-boost-brain-health/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;This piece&lt;/a&gt; originally appeared in Harper's Bazaar UK&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

untitled-design-2023-01-27t151330036270123031400

&lt;p&gt;Just as you can improve your physical health, there are numerous ways you can boost your brain. Whether you want to sharpen your memory, concentration, and cognitive functioning now, or future-proof your intellect, brain health should be front of mind.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;ldquo;The brain has been studied for many years, but it&amp;rsquo;s only in the last 20 years that we have found out that it&amp;#39;s constantly changing and developing,&amp;rdquo; notes registered nutritionist Jo Sharp. &amp;ldquo;Our environment and lifestyle choices shape the health of our brain, with both trauma and nutrition playing a hugely important role.&amp;rdquo; She explains that the brain is highly complex, with more than 80 billion neurons&amp;mdash;and each of those neurons has thousands of synaptic connections. &amp;ldquo;These are dynamic and ever-changing, and so we must ensure that from conception it has what it needs to thrive.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Below, Sharp and other experts share tips to get the most from your brain this year, and way beyond.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe allowfullscreen='' class='giphy-embed' frameborder='0' height='281' src='https://giphy.com/embed/u4KibgMsDLWM0' width='480'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href='https://giphy.com/gifs/brain-sheldon-big-bang-theory-u4KibgMsDLWM0'&gt;via GIPHY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Acquire new skills&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;We&amp;rsquo;ve all heard of the &amp;lsquo;use it or lose it&amp;rsquo; principle, and researchers agree that mental activity helps to build your &amp;lsquo;cognitive reserve&amp;rsquo;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;ldquo;Like the body, your brain also needs to be exercised regularly to stay cognitively and mentally fit,&amp;rdquo; says Dr Christine Wong, neuroscientist and co-founder and chief science officer at Noon, who has a background in neuroscience. &amp;ldquo;Learning something new stimulates neurogenesis, and creates new connections in our brain, while practicing existing skills reinforces these connections.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;On Dr Rangan Chatterjee&amp;rsquo;s celebrated podcast, &lt;em&gt;Feel Better Live More&lt;/em&gt;, Dr Tommy Wood&amp;mdash;a neuroscience professor at the University of Washington&amp;mdash;concurs and says that cognitive decline in later life is not inevitable. He explains that, as infants, we learn things which take a huge amount of neurological effort. Then, as we get older, we do the same things again and again, which requires lower cognitive input. This, in turn, tells our brain to become less complex. &amp;ldquo;People who retire earlier tend to die earlier,&amp;rdquo; he reveals, stating that &amp;ldquo;telling the brain that it&amp;rsquo;s required is incredibly powerful for brain health&amp;rdquo;. He recommends&amp;mdash;if you&amp;rsquo;re capable and able&amp;mdash;acquiring new skills, from learning a language, sport or dance, to singing, knitting or coding.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Eat more &amp;lsquo;brain foods&amp;rsquo;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;ldquo;Diet is foundational to healthy brain development,&amp;rdquo; confirms Sharp. &amp;ldquo;We typically think of feeding our bodies and not our brain, but what we eat has a direct impact on the brain, our cognition, and thinking. Imagine the brain as the CEO of our bodies; for example, the food we ingest dictates which hormones are released and where they should go. Foods rich in minerals, vitamins and antioxidants will nourish our brain, while foods high in refined sugars can have a negative impact on inflammation and even reduce insulin resistance.&amp;rdquo; She adds that research shows that the brain thrives on food diversity and, consequently, needs a large amount of different nutrients, as many as 45. Though, naturally, the spotlight falls on a specific group of nutrients that are known to play a key role in brain development, which include essential fatty acids, antioxidants, phytonutrient and amino acids, she says.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Examples of these include oily fish, dark leafy greens, berries, &amp;lsquo;good fats&amp;rsquo; like extra virgin olive oil, avocados, flaxseeds, hemp and chia seeds, as well as beans, lentils, chickpeas, and other legumes which are a brilliant source of fibre. &amp;ldquo;The gut and brain are connected through the gut-brain axis, a bidirectional communication between the central and enteric nervous system. Fibre feeds the gut bacteria to support diversity and good communication with the brain,&amp;rdquo; Sharp says.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Stay hydrated&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe allowfullscreen='' class='giphy-embed' frameborder='0' height='270' src='https://giphy.com/embed/l8IMgtytleDlDpOPFB' width='480'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href='https://giphy.com/gifs/llimoo-hydrate-hidratate-please-l8IMgtytleDlDpOPFB'&gt;via GIPHY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Sharp adds that the above foods are of equal importance to hydration. &amp;ldquo;Staying well hydrated will have an acute impact on the brain. It is suggested that losing even one per cent of hydration can impact mood and concentration. My advice is to start each morning with a large glass of water, before anything else.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Dr Wong adds that &amp;ldquo;our bodies are mostly made of water&amp;mdash;it&amp;rsquo;s quite literally our lifeline&amp;mdash;but is also absolutely necessary to transport nutrients to the brain and body from what we eat.&amp;rdquo; If you&amp;rsquo;re ever experiencing tiredness, headache, or brain fog, you might be dehydrated, she says. &amp;ldquo;You&amp;rsquo;ll notice an incredible difference in energy, focus, concentration and mood, just from drinking more water. You can also stay hydrated by consuming water-rich foods like watermelon or cucumber.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Consume optimal omega-3&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Omega-3, noted above, deserves a special mention given that the western diet is often low in oily fish.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;ldquo;Over 60 per cent of the brain if made up of fat, and omega-3 fatty acids make up part of all cell membranes,&amp;rdquo; says Sharp. &amp;ldquo;In layman&amp;#39;s terms, the brain is responsible for sending the right instructions to the rest of the body, and when neurons (brain cells) have adequate omega-3 they are able to communicate better with one another.&amp;rdquo; She says that supplementation may positively impact cognition, focused attention, and have a profoundly positive impact on neurotransmitters and mental health.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;When it comes to oily fish, she recommends salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring and anchovies&amp;mdash;all ideally wild-caught. &amp;ldquo;When supplementing, it&amp;rsquo;s vital to opt for a fish oil that has gone through vigorous third-party testing, checking for pollutants and contaminants, as not all omega-3 are created equal,&amp;rdquo; she reveals. &amp;ldquo;Minami omega-3 supplements are third-party tested, have high concentration and come in both liquid and softgel foods to suit all needs and ages.&amp;rdquo; For vegetarians, an algae-based omega-3 should be considered, she adds. &amp;ldquo;Vegetarian food sources such as flaxseed, walnuts and chia will provide some omega-3 but often not enough to reach optimal levels.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Consider nootropics and adaptogens&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Botanical supplements are also said to have a powerful impact on the brain and have been used in traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine for centuries. Adaptogens&amp;mdash;often found in herbs&amp;mdash;help our bodies adapt to external stressors. Ashwagandha, an adaptogen belonging to the nightshade family, is currently being studied for its ability to enhance memory, fight cognitive impairment, and improve information-processing speed.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Natural nootropics&amp;mdash;found in plants and mushrooms like lion&amp;rsquo;s mane&amp;mdash;can also have an effect on the brain and, according to research, sharpen memory and focus, enhance mood, and boost creativity.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;ldquo;Nootropic herbs are a great way to improve your clarity, focus, sleep, memory and mood, or overcome mental blocks or nerves,&amp;rdquo; says Dr Wong. &amp;ldquo;There are a wide range of nootropic herbs with varying mechanisms of action, which is why they can have such diverse benefits. Some nootropic herbs impact the brain by influencing the activity of neurotransmitters (molecular signals used by brain cells to communicate), while other nootropic herbs increase blood flow to the brain, providing more nutrients, oxygen, and energy to support alertness and focus. There are some that even have a protective effect by combating harmful inflammation and free radicals in the brain that can lead to cognitive decline.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Her brand Noon combines the power of nootropics and adaptogens into drops designed to amplify the mind. Positioned as ritualistic, Rise is like a morning coffee kick, Renew calms overwhelm but with rebalancing focus, while Relax helps you wind-down for the evening.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Be active every day&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe allowfullscreen='' class='giphy-embed' frameborder='0' height='271' src='https://giphy.com/embed/6ntXewFesXCwWi4ALY' width='480'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href='https://giphy.com/gifs/glblctzn-global-citizen-every-vote-counts-6ntXewFesXCwWi4ALY'&gt;via GIPHY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;As Public Health England confirms, regular physical activity reduces your risk of dementia by up to 30 per cent.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Alzheimer&amp;rsquo;s Research UK also says that what&amp;rsquo;s good for your heart is good for your brain, meaning physical activity is key. As per its website, the important HUNT Study published in 2018, linked more exercise in midlife with a lower risk of dementia. And, more recently, US scientists &amp;ldquo;published findings showing those who exercised more had less damage to the small blood vessels that spread through the brain&amp;rdquo;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;They recommend being active every day, whether that&amp;rsquo;s with workouts, walking, dancing, or even gardening.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Respect your circadian rhythm&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;As Dr Wood notes when speaking on &lt;em&gt;Feel Better Live More&lt;/em&gt;, one easy way to boost brain health is by working with your circadian rhythm. Think &amp;ldquo;light when it&amp;rsquo;s light, dark when it&amp;rsquo;s dark&amp;rdquo;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Dr Wong suggests starting your day with a morning walk to get daylight exposure and your endorphins flowing. &amp;ldquo;For your brain to function best, your internal clock needs to be in sync with the natural day and night cycle. Exposure to sunlight boosts alertness and exercise will bump up your endorphins (your brain&amp;rsquo;s feel-good chemical) so try to spend time outdoors getting some morning or mid-day steps in.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prioritise sleep&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe allowfullscreen='' class='giphy-embed' frameborder='0' height='273' src='https://giphy.com/embed/10GSjO2zW3bzl6' width='480'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href='https://giphy.com/gifs/tired-sleeping-sleep-10GSjO2zW3bzl6'&gt;via GIPHY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;In line with the above, getting enough time in bed is equally important. &amp;ldquo;There&amp;rsquo;s a reason we spend about a third of our lives sleeping,&amp;rdquo; says Dr Wong. &amp;ldquo;Sleep is just as essential to our health, affecting our ability to learn and form long-term memories. When we sleep, the body undergoes a natural detox process to remove toxins in our brain that build up when we are awake. Great sleep sets the tone for your next day.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;As a self-care habit, she recommends making your bed a sacred space so your body can really relax and sleep. &amp;ldquo;Put down that phone in the evening as blue light can actually fool your brain into thinking it&amp;rsquo;s daytime and disrupt the natural production of melatonin&amp;mdash;the hormone that regulates our sleep.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Make time to socialise&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;div&gt;&lt;iframe allowfullscreen='' class='giphy-embed' frameborder='0' height='381' src='https://giphy.com/embed/CfviUgps8oWaI' width='480'&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href='https://giphy.com/gifs/life-vince-vaughn-delivery-man-CfviUgps8oWaI'&gt;via GIPHY&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Dr Wood says that our brains benefit from being part of a social group. &amp;ldquo;When you really boil it down, social connection is really the foundational aspect of us as a species; without social connection you&amp;rsquo;re not giving that input which is that &amp;lsquo;you have purpose, you have meaning, you belong&amp;rsquo;&amp;mdash;and that is one of the critical inputs for the brain to keep working.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Dr Wong agrees that spending time with others boosts your brain. &amp;ldquo;Socialising activates your &amp;lsquo;social brain&amp;rsquo;, a collection of brain areas that don&amp;rsquo;t normally light up when you&amp;rsquo;re alone. A night out with friends may seem like just friendly chatter and laughter, but these interactions actually help strengthen and build new neural connections.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Practice mindfulness&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Claire Aristides, clinical hypnotherapist and founder of the Mindology app, tells &lt;em&gt;Bazaar&lt;/em&gt; that: &amp;ldquo;Mindfulness involves paying attention to something in a particular way and being in the present moment, which calms our busy minds and nervous system.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Dr Wong says that being aware of your mind-body state can prompt positive actions and changes needed to support a healthy brain. &amp;ldquo;This could be anything from taking a moment of pause to be hyper-present or checking in with yourself by doing a body scan. Try asking yourself: &amp;lsquo;How am I doing physically, cognitively, and emotionally? Am I tired or energised? Where do I have tension? Am I feeling content or sad?&amp;rsquo; Being consistent with reflection allows you to better tune into your own daily biorhythm.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href='https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/beauty/mind-body/a42443817/how-to-boost-brain-health/' target='_blank'&gt;This piece&lt;/a&gt; originally appeared in Harper&amp;#39;s Bazaar UK&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

10 simple ways to boost your brain health in 2023 (and beyond)

Of brain exercises, brain foods and more.

untitled-design-2023-01-27t151357180270123031410

&lt;p&gt;Those of a certain vintage may remember the ponderous sequence of nine guitar notes that were the signal to cluster around the television for &lt;em&gt;Crossroads&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Set in a Midlands motel, the soap was much derided for its flimsy sets, implausible storylines and clunky dialogue; nevertheless, in the mid-Seventies, the series was&amp;nbsp;attracting 15 million viewers, and battling &lt;em&gt;Coronation Street&lt;/em&gt; for ratings supremacy.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The unquestioned star of the show was&amp;nbsp;Noele Gordon, known to the nation as Nolly, who played the matriarchal,&amp;nbsp;auburn-haired motel owner Meg Richardson (later&amp;nbsp;Mortimer). The role had been created with Gordon in mind, and she remained&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Crossroads&rsquo;&lt;/em&gt; most popular character from the show&rsquo;s launch in 1964, until 1981, when&amp;nbsp;she was suddenly sacked.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;amp-img src=&quot;https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/sites/gloss99/resources/202301/untitled-design-2023-01-25t155946946250123040044.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; height=&quot;425&quot; width=&quot;650&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; heights=&quot;(min-width:500px) 200px, 80%&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-img&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Her defenestration, and the reasons&amp;nbsp;behind it, are the premise on which Russell T Davies has based his new three-part&amp;nbsp;series, &lt;em&gt;Nolly&lt;/em&gt;. &quot;One of my very first jobs in&amp;nbsp;TV was a trial script for &lt;em&gt;Crossroads&lt;/em&gt;, and&amp;nbsp;I&rsquo;ve wanted to write the story of behind the&amp;nbsp;scenes on that show for 40 years,&quot; he said.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&quot;Russell has always been a real supporter&amp;nbsp;of the underdog,&quot; says Helena Bonham Carter, who portrays Gordon, complete&amp;nbsp;with coiffure and carefully modulated&amp;nbsp;accent. &quot;He thought Nolly was really badly treated, and I think he wanted to give her&amp;nbsp;the send-off and the recognition she&amp;nbsp;deserved.&quot; Bonham Carter was &lsquo;very aware&rsquo; of the soap as a child. &quot;It was part of the&amp;nbsp;perma-wallpaper, and I knew all the characters.&quot; She was immediately drawn to the complexity of the woman in&amp;nbsp;Davies&rsquo; screenplay. &quot;Nolly was a highly complicated character and a mix of many things&mdash;and&amp;nbsp;not an easy mix,&quot;&amp;nbsp;she says. &quot;But I love playing people who are complex.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Gordon was a child stage star who&amp;nbsp;came from a modest background. She trained at Rada and went on to work&amp;nbsp;both behind and in front of the television&amp;nbsp;camera, becoming Britain&rsquo;s first female TV executive; she helped Ned Sherrin&amp;nbsp;and Reg Watson launch ATV Midlands in&amp;nbsp;1956, and was the first woman to interview a British prime minister when Harold&amp;nbsp;Macmillan appeared on her chat show.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Steeped in the workings of daytime&amp;nbsp;television, Gordon was unafraid to voice her opinions on how things should be done&amp;nbsp;on &lt;em&gt;Crossroads&lt;/em&gt;. &quot;She was outspoken, she&amp;nbsp;was herself, she was utterly authentic,&quot;&amp;nbsp;says Bonham Carter. &quot;I think, frankly, she&amp;nbsp;terrified the people who ran the show. And she was punished for that. It&rsquo;s not new, is&amp;nbsp;it, that women aren&rsquo;t allowed to have&amp;nbsp;a strong voice?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Certainly, the first episode presents the&amp;nbsp;&lsquo;Queen of the Midlands&rsquo; as a daunting figure, swanning to the studios in mink coat&amp;nbsp;and Rolls-Royce, changing a new character&rsquo;s accent from Brummie to RP (in the&amp;nbsp;teeth of the producer&rsquo;s protests), and then&amp;nbsp;playing an on-screen practical joke on the&amp;nbsp;same rookie performer, after she dared to&amp;nbsp;cast doubt on Gordon&rsquo;s assertions of the&amp;nbsp;programme&rsquo;s popularity.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;amp-img src=&quot;https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/sites/gloss99/resources/202301/untitled-design-2023-01-25t155929112250123040100.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; height=&quot;425&quot; width=&quot;650&quot; layout=&quot;responsive&quot; heights=&quot;(min-width:500px) 200px, 80%&quot;&gt;&lt;/amp-img&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;But the series also shows how Gordon&amp;nbsp;was greatly loved and respected by (most&amp;nbsp;of) the people she worked with&mdash;particularly the actor Tony Adams. He played the&amp;nbsp;motel&rsquo;s suave, moustachioed accountant,&amp;nbsp;Adam Chance, and in reality not only rented&amp;nbsp;a flat from Nolly but was her closest ally&mdash;for,&amp;nbsp;having been jilted by her fianc&eacute;, she never&amp;nbsp;married or had children.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&quot;The show gave her a real sense of identity, belonging and purpose,&quot;&amp;nbsp;says Bonham&amp;nbsp;Carter. &quot;She said she had two lives, as Meg Mortimer and Noele Gordon. And whenever she went to a hotel or a restaurant,&amp;nbsp;inevitably they would take her to inspect the&amp;nbsp;kitchen&hellip; the line was very smudged.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;As a result, Gordon lost far more than&amp;nbsp;just her job when Charles Denton, the incoming controller of programmes at ATV,&amp;nbsp;informed her agent that &lsquo;all good things&amp;nbsp;must come to an end&rsquo;, a decision that this&amp;nbsp;series lays squarely at the door of misogyny&amp;nbsp;and ageism.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&quot;I think Nolly is quite right when she&amp;nbsp;says, 'You wouldn&rsquo;t have sacked me if I&rsquo;d been a man',&quot; says Bonham Carter. &quot;Men&amp;nbsp;are allowed to be difficult and dictatorial. It really feels like Greek tragedy&mdash;she&rsquo;s cut&amp;nbsp;off in her prime.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Gordon refused to take the decision&amp;nbsp;lying down and complained to the press, resulting in national headlines, and sackfuls&amp;nbsp;of irate letters sent to ATV from her devoted&amp;nbsp;fans, while the series shows how producers retaliated by declining to tell Gordon how&amp;nbsp;she would be written out and going to the extent of staging her fake funeral.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Bonham Carter herself has never joined&amp;nbsp;a long-running franchise. &quot;Even after just&amp;nbsp;two seasons with &lt;em&gt;The Crown&lt;/em&gt;, by the end,&amp;nbsp;with the best will in the world, you&rsquo;re beginning to get a bit automatic&mdash;and if you&rsquo;re&amp;nbsp;faintly bored, it&rsquo;s time to move on.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Fortunately, at 56, her own career is as&amp;nbsp;busy and diverse as ever. &quot;We might have less&amp;nbsp;collagen, but we&rsquo;re much more interesting&amp;nbsp;when we&rsquo;re over 50,&quot; she says, with a laugh.&amp;nbsp;&quot;Life makes you more interesting, you&rsquo;ve got more depth, the map of the soul is so&amp;nbsp;much bigger if you&rsquo;ve survived.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Sadly, Gordon did not. She died of&amp;nbsp;cancer in 1985, just four years after her sacking, while &lt;em&gt;Crossroads&lt;/em&gt; itself only limped&amp;nbsp;on until 1988. This charming series, and&amp;nbsp;Bonham Carter&rsquo;s portrayal, are a worthy tribute to a national treasure, and an overdue&amp;nbsp;acknowledgment of the unjust treatment meted out to her.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This piece originally appeared in Harper's Bazaar UK in February 2023&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

untitled-design-2023-01-25t160004755250123040032

&lt;p&gt;Those of a certain vintage may remember the ponderous sequence of nine guitar notes that were the signal to cluster around the television for &lt;em&gt;Crossroads&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Set in a Midlands motel, the soap was much derided for its flimsy sets, implausible storylines and clunky dialogue; nevertheless, in the mid-Seventies, the series was&amp;nbsp;attracting 15 million viewers, and battling &lt;em&gt;Coronation Street&lt;/em&gt; for ratings supremacy.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The unquestioned star of the show was&amp;nbsp;Noele Gordon, known to the nation as Nolly, who played the matriarchal,&amp;nbsp;auburn-haired motel owner Meg Richardson (later&amp;nbsp;Mortimer). The role had been created with Gordon in mind, and she remained&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Crossroads&amp;rsquo;&lt;/em&gt; most popular character from the show&amp;rsquo;s launch in 1964, until 1981, when&amp;nbsp;she was suddenly sacked.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style='text-align:center'&gt;&lt;img alt='' src='https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/sites/gloss99/resources/202301/untitled-design-2023-01-25t155946946250123040044.png' /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Her defenestration, and the reasons&amp;nbsp;behind it, are the premise on which Russell T Davies has based his new three-part&amp;nbsp;series, &lt;em&gt;Nolly&lt;/em&gt;. &amp;quot;One of my very first jobs in&amp;nbsp;TV was a trial script for &lt;em&gt;Crossroads&lt;/em&gt;, and&amp;nbsp;I&amp;rsquo;ve wanted to write the story of behind the&amp;nbsp;scenes on that show for 40 years,&amp;quot; he said.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Russell has always been a real supporter&amp;nbsp;of the underdog,&amp;quot; says Helena Bonham Carter, who portrays Gordon, complete&amp;nbsp;with coiffure and carefully modulated&amp;nbsp;accent. &amp;quot;He thought Nolly was really badly treated, and I think he wanted to give her&amp;nbsp;the send-off and the recognition she&amp;nbsp;deserved.&amp;quot; Bonham Carter was &amp;lsquo;very aware&amp;rsquo; of the soap as a child. &amp;quot;It was part of the&amp;nbsp;perma-wallpaper, and I knew all the characters.&amp;quot; She was immediately drawn to the complexity of the woman in&amp;nbsp;Davies&amp;rsquo; screenplay. &amp;quot;Nolly was a highly complicated character and a mix of many things&amp;mdash;and&amp;nbsp;not an easy mix,&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp;she says. &amp;quot;But I love playing people who are complex.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Gordon was a child stage star who&amp;nbsp;came from a modest background. She trained at Rada and went on to work&amp;nbsp;both behind and in front of the television&amp;nbsp;camera, becoming Britain&amp;rsquo;s first female TV executive; she helped Ned Sherrin&amp;nbsp;and Reg Watson launch ATV Midlands in&amp;nbsp;1956, and was the first woman to interview a British prime minister when Harold&amp;nbsp;Macmillan appeared on her chat show.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Steeped in the workings of daytime&amp;nbsp;television, Gordon was unafraid to voice her opinions on how things should be done&amp;nbsp;on &lt;em&gt;Crossroads&lt;/em&gt;. &amp;quot;She was outspoken, she&amp;nbsp;was herself, she was utterly authentic,&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp;says Bonham Carter. &amp;quot;I think, frankly, she&amp;nbsp;terrified the people who ran the show. And she was punished for that. It&amp;rsquo;s not new, is&amp;nbsp;it, that women aren&amp;rsquo;t allowed to have&amp;nbsp;a strong voice?&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Certainly, the first episode presents the&amp;nbsp;&amp;lsquo;Queen of the Midlands&amp;rsquo; as a daunting figure, swanning to the studios in mink coat&amp;nbsp;and Rolls-Royce, changing a new character&amp;rsquo;s accent from Brummie to RP (in the&amp;nbsp;teeth of the producer&amp;rsquo;s protests), and then&amp;nbsp;playing an on-screen practical joke on the&amp;nbsp;same rookie performer, after she dared to&amp;nbsp;cast doubt on Gordon&amp;rsquo;s assertions of the&amp;nbsp;programme&amp;rsquo;s popularity.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style='text-align:center'&gt;&lt;img alt=''  src='https://akm-img-a-in.tosshub.com/sites/gloss99/resources/202301/untitled-design-2023-01-25t155929112250123040100.png' width='500' /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;But the series also shows how Gordon&amp;nbsp;was greatly loved and respected by (most&amp;nbsp;of) the people she worked with&amp;mdash;particularly the actor Tony Adams. He played the&amp;nbsp;motel&amp;rsquo;s suave, moustachioed accountant,&amp;nbsp;Adam Chance, and in reality not only rented&amp;nbsp;a flat from Nolly but was her closest ally&amp;mdash;for,&amp;nbsp;having been jilted by her fianc&amp;eacute;, she never&amp;nbsp;married or had children.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;The show gave her a real sense of identity, belonging and purpose,&amp;quot;&amp;nbsp;says Bonham&amp;nbsp;Carter. &amp;quot;She said she had two lives, as Meg Mortimer and Noele Gordon. And whenever she went to a hotel or a restaurant,&amp;nbsp;inevitably they would take her to inspect the&amp;nbsp;kitchen&amp;hellip; the line was very smudged.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;As a result, Gordon lost far more than&amp;nbsp;just her job when Charles Denton, the incoming controller of programmes at ATV,&amp;nbsp;informed her agent that &amp;lsquo;all good things&amp;nbsp;must come to an end&amp;rsquo;, a decision that this&amp;nbsp;series lays squarely at the door of misogyny&amp;nbsp;and ageism.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;I think Nolly is quite right when she&amp;nbsp;says, &amp;#39;You wouldn&amp;rsquo;t have sacked me if I&amp;rsquo;d been a man&amp;#39;,&amp;quot; says Bonham Carter. &amp;quot;Men&amp;nbsp;are allowed to be difficult and dictatorial. It really feels like Greek tragedy&amp;mdash;she&amp;rsquo;s cut&amp;nbsp;off in her prime.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Gordon refused to take the decision&amp;nbsp;lying down and complained to the press, resulting in national headlines, and sackfuls&amp;nbsp;of irate letters sent to ATV from her devoted&amp;nbsp;fans, while the series shows how producers retaliated by declining to tell Gordon how&amp;nbsp;she would be written out and going to the extent of staging her fake funeral.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Bonham Carter herself has never joined&amp;nbsp;a long-running franchise. &amp;quot;Even after just&amp;nbsp;two seasons with &lt;em&gt;The Crown&lt;/em&gt;, by the end,&amp;nbsp;with the best will in the world, you&amp;rsquo;re beginning to get a bit automatic&amp;mdash;and if you&amp;rsquo;re&amp;nbsp;faintly bored, it&amp;rsquo;s time to move on.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Fortunately, at 56, her own career is as&amp;nbsp;busy and diverse as ever. &amp;quot;We might have less&amp;nbsp;collagen, but we&amp;rsquo;re much more interesting&amp;nbsp;when we&amp;rsquo;re over 50,&amp;quot; she says, with a laugh.&amp;nbsp;&amp;quot;Life makes you more interesting, you&amp;rsquo;ve got more depth, the map of the soul is so&amp;nbsp;much bigger if you&amp;rsquo;ve survived.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Sadly, Gordon did not. She died of&amp;nbsp;cancer in 1985, just four years after her sacking, while &lt;em&gt;Crossroads&lt;/em&gt; itself only limped&amp;nbsp;on until 1988. This charming series, and&amp;nbsp;Bonham Carter&amp;rsquo;s portrayal, are a worthy tribute to a national treasure, and an overdue&amp;nbsp;acknowledgment of the unjust treatment meted out to her.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This piece originally appeared in Harper&amp;#39;s Bazaar UK in February 2023&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Helena Bonham Carter on why she loved playing her character from the hit show 'Crossroads'

The actor sheds light on why her latest role,  exploring the life of the 1970s soap star Noele Gordon, feels like restorative justice.

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