The Top 5 Main Characters of The Jungle Book

It's unlikely to find an adult Indian today who hasn't read the Jungle Book or at least watched it on TV. This book was written by Rudyard Kipling in 1894, but the fact that a movie based on it is releasing today in 2016 is proof of the book's timeless essence. Set in India and featuring animals of the Indian forest, this story is particularly close to our hearts, which is why we're more than excited about Disney's latest venture. So before you plan to watch the movie, we thought we'd give you a little refresher on all the main characters, as well as a little peek into how they look today!

1. Mowgli

Mowgli is the main character in the Jungle Book, a feral child lost and found in the forest. Mowgli is separated from his parents during a tiger attack in the village and he is found and raised by a pack of wolves as their own. He even ends up crawling on all fours with his wolf-brothers! It takes a while for Mowgli to realize that he isn't really a wolf, but his difference does come in handy, especially when it comes to pulling out splinters from his brothers' paws!

Mowgli is played by Neel Sethi, a newcomer in the movie.

2. Bagheera

Bagheera is a black panther who like Mowgli, has grown up among members of another species. He was a cub who lived with the Udaipur royals, and hence has much more insight into the ways of humans than Mowgli himself! He is a smooth talker and quite cunning, but sincere and loyal. It is Bagheera, along with Baloo, who vouches for Mowgli when he's discovered by the wolves and the two become fast friends from then, sharing several adventures together.

In the movie, Bagheera is voiced by none other than the impressive Ben Kingsley.

3. Baloo

Besides Bagheera, Baloo is another one of Mowgli's close friends, although his nature is quite different from that of Bagheera's! Baloo is a big brown bear, who is entrusted with the job of teaching Mowgli the Law of the Jungle. Unfortunately, Baloo is rather a fan of the good life, and he loves sleeping and eating fruit and honey! Nevertheless, he's always by Mowgli's side when he's needed and is a great friend.

Baloo's voice is provided by the inimitable Bill Murray, which indicates a good fun-fest!

4. Kaa

Kaa is a rather interesting character in the Jungle Book. He is a really, really long snake, more than a hundred years old and has special hypnotic skills. He has a slithery, slimy quality about him, making you always suspect his intentions even though he speaks in the softest tones possible. Kaa has a more pronounced positive role in the original story, but the Disney version has cast him in shades of grey.

This interesting character is voiced by the beautiful and talented Scarlett Johansson.

5. Shere Khan

Shere Khan is the main villain of the story, and is after Mowgli from the start. Mowgli's protection by the wolves only makes Shere Khan more determined to get him, and much of the story is about Bhageera and Baloo trying to save Mowgli from the evil tiger's clutches. Shere Khan is lame from birth, but extremely arrogant and cunning. The only thing that he fears is fire, a fact that Mowgli realizes later and puts to good use!

A villain like Shere Khan needs a grand voice, ably provided by Idris Elba.

We're pretty sure you're itching to watch the movie now! There's something nostalgic and exciting about watching an old childhood favorite on the big screen, that too in 3D! Do come back and let us know how you liked the movie!

(All images from IMDB)

6 Ways to make the Men in your Life feel special this International Men’s Day

If this is the first time you’re hearing about International Men’s Day, then you’re not alone. While International Women’s Day gets a lot of press and publicity, there is hardly a whisper and a nod to the male equivalent of the day. Now if you’re wondering why men need a special day seeing that they don’t need to fight for their rights as women do, well that’s not what this day is about!

International Men’s Day was created as a day to focus on men’s and boy’s health as well as to improve gender relations. In this world of changing gender roles, this day actually achieves more significance as the years go by. When women’s roles are being put in the spotlight (and rightly so), sometimes we tend to forget that the men do work hard for their families too!  This day attempts to focus on a man’s contribution to his family too, which goes a long way in fostering good gender relations, especially among boys.

So this Men’s Day, make it special for your Dad, brother, husband and son, and let them know that you acknowledge their efforts!  Here are a few ways you can make this day special for them.

6 Ways to make the men in your life special this International Men’s Day

1. Adventure Date

Plan a special adventure sports date for your husband, brothers and sons (if they are old enough) and your father and father-in-law (if they are active enough). They probably have fun in their own circles, but not with each other, so this will be a perfect opportunity to have some fun!

2. Laze-around Day

Let your husband have a day to himself. Okay, you probably think that he does have days to himself, but let this one not include any nagging about dirty coffee cups or wet towels! A no-nagging day will be super-appreciated by anyone, and you might just find that you enjoy it too!

3. Grocery Trip

Take a family trip to the supermarket, but let your husband and son take the lead. Let them check out the pantry and fridge, make a menu, list out groceries and get them. Let them do it the way they like and you can sit back and have fun clicking pictures! This is also a great way to get them more involved in the behind-the-scenes process.

4. Gifting Options

Get them gifts!! Women often tend to get men more ‘utilitarian’ gifts, but this time go for something whacky, but something that they’ll love – like a bobblehead of their favorite TV show character or a gun that makes fart noises!! Let all the women go shopping for this together – it’s a win-win situation for everyone!

5. Grooming Special

This month is also called ‘Movember’, a month-long event that promotes growing moustaches to focus on men’s health. Whether the men in your life have moustaches or not they can still enjoy a good grooming session! Book one at a luxe men’s salon and let them enjoy some well-deserved pampering.

6. Health Checkup

The best gift you can give anyone is of course, the gift of good health. Since the intention of this day is also to focus on men’s health issues (which many men ignore), gift your loved ones a full checkup at a reputed hospital. Make sure it’s tailored to their age, so that they’re up to date with all the requisite tests.

So there’s actually a lot you can do, from a simple supermarket visit to an elaborate adventure date. Pick one that’ll work for you and your family and don’t forget to tell everyone how much you love them!

10 Milestones in Internet History

 “We are all now connected by the Internet, like neurons in a giant brain” – Stephen Hawking

For most of us today, living without the internet is almost unthinkable – just remember the day your connection died and how you felt. Probably something like this:

44 years ago, this very month, the first ever email was sent, via ARPANET, the first ever network to implement TCP/IP protocols. Of course, the internet has come a long way since then, and today, you can pay your bills, shop, order food and book tickets – all without leaving your chair! So let’s take a little trip down memory lane and have a look at the major milestones in internet history.

10 Milestones in Internet History

1.    1971 – The first ever email was sent, marking the beginning of the end of the postal/telegram service! The email was sent by Ray Tomlinson to himself and contained some insignificant message; no, it wasn’t “Hello World”!

2.    1989 – The World Wide Web was invented and all our websites began with the triple w. Alternative names that were considered include ‘The Information Mesh’ and ‘The Mine of Information’. The World Wide Web does sound a lot better, doesn’t it?

3.    1991 – The inventor of the WWW, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, puts up the first ever website – a move that has resulted in a billion websites, and still counting! You can visit the first website here: http://info.cern.ch/.

4.    1993 – For most of us, Google is the ultimate answer to all our questions. But the first search engine was W3Catalog, started in 1993. This worked in a way entirely different to later search engines, and was retired 3 years later.

5.    1994 – Online shopping rears its head with the first ever online purchase to be made on the website Net Market. By this time, the internet was available on the public domain, and Michael Aldrich pioneered the first secure online transaction.

6.    1995 – The ability to buy online triggers a sudden rise in online stores, and current sharks Amazon and eBay set up shop. Other offline enterprises like Pizza Hut also make their presence online.

7.    1996 – Mobile phones are becoming popular, but the first access to mobile internet occurred in 1996 in Finland, connecting a Nokia 9000 Communicator phone to the Sonera and Radiolinja networks.

8.    1996 – It doesn’t take long for cute or embarrassing videos to go viral these days, but the first ever viral video is The Dancing Baby, which has got up to 3,042,446 views till date.

9.    1997 – Google.com is registered as a domain and becomes the world’s biggest problem solver! Started by two Stanford students, Google fast displaces all other search engines to become the number one.

10. 2002 – The world’s first social network opens its doors to friends all over the world. No it wasn’t Facebook, but something similar, called Friendster. However, Friendster was affected by the rise of Facebook and it was relaunched in 2011 as a social gaming site.

Today, most of us take the internet for granted and many consider it a basic human right! The internet is something that has grown remarkably in such a short while and continues to develop further. And we sure are looking forward to more!