Creative Desk

                                         Poncho Parade   Ponchos have travelled a long distance as a form of attire translating its classic charm into contemporary style and aesthetics. Its rediscovered version vibes well with today’s bubbly and pretty young things as it did with the yesteryear fashion enthusiasts. While the former believes in ‘cool and comfy’ design diktats, the latter was tilted more towards modesty or a conservative approach to dressing. Image Credit: Pexels.com BY PRAMITA BOSE With the weather cooling down with breezy drizzles and sporadic spells of sharp showers after a sultry summer, ponchos now seem a go-to garb to cover up in wet monsoons under a cosy umbrella. Ponchos were earlier worn as a winter warmer but at the moment, it appears a fashion statement all the year round. From being a winter staple, poncho has come a long way to emerge as a stylish...

Fragile X Syndrome Genetic Disorder — Spot the Signs in Early Childhood Speech delays, deferred maturity, learning difficulty, social withdrawal, attention deficit, hyperactivity, autistic behaviour, seizures, sleep trouble and slow performance in daily chores may give hints of Fragile X Syndrome at a tender age. Identify these red flags as soon as possible, suggest doctors. PIC Courtesy: Pexels.com By PRAMITA BOSE Three-year-old Varun started showing learning disabilities when he was admitted in a playschool. His parents were visibly worried about his lack of cognitive skills and common aptitude. 10-yearold Eshani had developed social dysfunction since she was a toddler and that intensified with age as she mostly kept to herself and seldom mingled with friends, peers and family relations. Was her behaviour a telling sign of autism? Teenager Ishaan too suffered from mental inertia, resistance to change and attention deficit as he struggled to cope with study pressure and manage his d...

  A Room of Your Own Looking for a corner in your home to call it your own? A mudroom and a powder room could be the fitting answer to find your personal space away from the urban chaos to spend some 'me time' at peace. In both cases, you may find a cosy niche of privacy for yourself unlike the rest of your nest. Both men and women enter a mud room to slip into their publicly-hidden souls behind the drawn curtains and be easily comfortable in their skin. They shed their formal attire and accessories to put on some clean household clothes and be the real fresh self. Contrarily, in a powder room, a lady could go for a face-lift and indulge in her image-building exercise to be that sought-after social butterfly with a puff of powder, a blush of rouge, a hint of lip colour, a mark of an eyeliner or a beauty spot to boot. The two rooms are extremely functional and add a modern vibe with 21st-century innovation. BY PRAMITA BOSE There is no place like home.... neither on earth nor i...

Opt for a Wellness Reset With Forest Bathing Take a break from the rush hours of daily commute and your routine life for a delightful vacay in the verdant lungs of this blue planet — the forests. Inhale a fresh breath of air to feel cleaner and better. Run away from the urban cacophony for some relief. Lull your tired eyes with the lavish greenery around. Give the soles of your feet a warm touch of the mossy soil beneath and douse them in the cool waters of olive green ponds for fishing. Last but not the least, smell the breeze of petrichor — the pleasant loamy essence preceding the first burst of monsoon showers. BY PRAMITA BOSE The bright orange sunshine spraying its light rays at the crack of dawn, the tall gigantic trees standing in sober silence with expansive diameters of their trunks, the lofty mountain massifs carpeted in thick green vegetation, the heavy bowers of bushes and patches of velvety grassy meadows woven to the ground below, the gurgling of silken streams along the r...