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The menace of cellphones has really become intolerable. Wherever you go, you find people glued to their smartphones, either shouting their lungs out or fiddling incessantly. People are so obsessed that basic manners and concern for others have taken a firm backseat. At movies and theatres, maniac users find mobile fiddling more interesting that what is going on on stage or screen. Despite explicit requests from organizers to keep those damn things switched off, you find half the audience glancing at their mobiles or whispering into them. Granted that whatever they are talking or messaging about is important, surely it must not take away from the enjoyment of the movie or play or concert? And if you are too busy to enjoy it, at least let your neighbours pay attention. Why take away from their pleasure? But as I said, manners have flown out of the nearest window in this smart age. So one has to endure beeps, rings and flashing lights while enjoying a pleasurable performance or havin...

Saw the play "Boiled Beans on Toast ", written by Girish Karnad and directed by theatre thespian Lillette Dubey , yesterday. Set in the backdrop of bustling metropolis Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India, the play shows the underside of development, focusing on the people whom we refer to as the common masses. Away from the limelight, these people form the backbone of the carefree lifestyle the rich and famous lead. The maids, cooks, drivers, salesmen, office clerks, the unsung heroes, who toil away and do the dirty work, while the privileged few can have fun or do more purposeful work. We often forget that these people too have their lives, their private joys, sorrows and concerns, which they suppress in the daily grind of living. Interestingly, along with showing the lives of these "others", Karnad also focuses on the very humane side of some of the privileged class. We assume that they lead carefree lives, but is it really so? They are also bothered by...