The man, identified as Muthu Kumar, a native of Tuticorin, was known to be staying with his sister and her husband in Kolathur. He was employed as a DTP operator in a small Tamil magazine office in Royapettah. He allegedly took the extreme step after being disappointed over the plight of the Tamils in Sri Lanka due to the war.

According to police sources, Muthu Kumar had reached Shastri Bhavan at around 10.30 a.m. with a can of kerosene and doused himself with it. After raising anti-Sri Lankan government slogans he set himself on fire and then ran around engulfed by flames shouting pro-LTTE slogans.

He soon collapsed on the premises. Police soon reached the spot and rushed Muthu Kumar to Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital. He suffered over 70 per cent burns and succumbed to his injuries later in the day. Before his death he gave a death declaration to the police, in which he mentioned that the Central Government should take up the Tamil cause seriously at least after his death, added police.

What do you do then? Confide in a colleague, look for help in your neighbour (but I don’t speak Tamil!) or in the least call up your parents/in-laws for whatever little advice they can offer?

Thanks to the Internet, today even the most technology-challenged of us rely on the virtual world for every piece of information. Cashing on this trend is Bhavani K. Raman, founder of www.chennaimoms.com – a platform that allows mothers to address, rant, fret or laugh about anything that concerns mothers.

Quest for local information about the city after her return from the U.S. motivated this mother of two and a former software engineer to come up with such a platform with her friend Rajaa Murugan. “The information is all about Chennai. Queries related to schools and gynaecology top the list,” says Bhavani.

So, who is answering the umpteen questions they are bombarded with day-in and day-out? The website so far has over 400 registered moms who answer the questions – they are moms who either know the city very well or have a solution to every question their folk go through. They need not necessarily be in Chennai, but have some link with the city.

“Forty to 50 per cent of our members are women who have taken a break from work,” Bhavani says about how net-savvy women have become. Besides asking, advising and associating with other mothers, chennaimoms.com also conducts contest for mothers, has a blog and many more upcoming features. Happy networking!

Ricardo Tisci for Givenchy mixed sharp tailoring with chiffon, almost lending the clothes an inter-draped effect. The spray-painted look seems to be catching up, testimony being Stephane Rolland and Australian designer Cathy Pill.

At Jean Paul Gaultier, super high-waisted skirts and trousers and sharp, edgy shoulders ruled. So did the season’s new flavour – lace. Shoulders remained a focus at Armani Prive, too – almost concave, just like the hems of the jackets and skirts.

Christian Lacroix, on the other hand, had fun with colour and prints, mixing polka dots, stripes and what not. Also, watch out for the over-sized ceramic bangles. Felipe Oliveira Baptista combined warrior chic (helmets, leather gloves, et al) with some extremely sexy tights.

Alessandra Facchinetti’s exit from Valentino put Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli at the helm. The duo didn’t disappoint. Beside Valentino’s trademark red dresses, emeralds and blues made an appearance with classic ivory.

Elie Saab’s line looked like an extension of Halle Berry’s wine-hued lace Oscar gown (that of the strategically-placed flowers). On the other hand, John Galliano for Dior played on the exaggerated hourglass form, with drama shoulders (again), narrow waists and billowing skirts. Plus, dramatic umbrella-sized headgear. Happy 2009?

The western number has given adequate space to Mamta to express herself as a talented singer. Her sensitive modulations also add charm to the song.

The dawn invaders here were members of Madras Bulls, Chennai’s Royal Enfield motorcycle club, who were ready to ride to the Nilgiris for the seventh edition of Rider Mania, the annual Royal Enfield enthusiasts’ event. Ergo rode along with the Bulls those 570 kms to the Queen of Hills to witness the biker camaraderie first-hand.

On India’s biggest motorcycle ever produced, we cruised ahead with over 80 riding Bulls to the Rider Mania destination. A sense of pride in riding in rows of Royal Enfields, to the accompaniment of other roadies’ envy and baffled bystanders, made the morning ride an unforgettable experience for us.

Passing Vellore, Ambur, Vaniyamabadi, Krishnagiri, Mettur, Satyamangalam, Mettupalayam and Conoor, our biker contingent reached the Ooty hilltop at around nine in the extremely nippy night.

We did make mini halts to cool our engines, fill our stomachs and at times answer some puzzled onlooker about our mission. Interestingly, some thought it was a motorcycle race, while some even quizzed us whether we were soldiers heading for the Republic Day parade.

The event

The chilly dawn of January 24, 2009, in Ooty was invaded by Royal Enfields as riders from different parts of the country rolled into Ooty to be part of the two-day biker event. Hosted this year by Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club (RTMC), Bangalore, Rider Mania 2009 witnessed 600 motorcycles and over 1,000 Royal Enfield enthusiasts, including a few women riders.

Biker clubs from all corners of the country, including Meghalaya, Delhi, Haryana, West Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, added zing to the biker event in the hills. Rider Mania 2009 had a number of events for which various clubs fought for the top spots. Titled ‘Bike Wars’, the bike dismantling and rebuilding competition was entertaining, apart from the arm-wrestling events for both men and women.

The best modified bike exhibition on Day Two at the venue was a show-stopper, where some innovative club members displayed their custom-made bikes, much to the awe of others at the venue. Prizes were given away for Best Biker Club Entry into the Venue (Madras Bulls clinched the honour) and also for the best pair and female rider.

An entertainment night and rock show breathed extra life into the riders on Day One. Overall, RM09 was a grand event, the climax being all the club representatives convening to decide the venue and host of Rider Mania 2010. Madras Bulls’ big shots reveal that next year it might be Chennai or Mumbai.

Microsoft’s Amy Barzdukas says, “We have made IE 8 the best browser for the way people really do use the web.” At the end of last year, data from Net Applications showed the software giant’s market share dropped below 70 per cent for the first time in eight years to 68 per cent. Meanwhile Mozilla broke the 20 per cent barrier for the first time in its history with 21 per cent of users using its browser Firefox.

She made a donation that went to Bhaskar, a dog that had suffered a terrible road accident that immobilised both his hind legs. “I’m heartbroken when I see an animal in distress,” she says. Chandra, however, is glad to hear that the dog (that made a slow but complete recovery) has now been adopted by a family.

Like Chandra, many others have funded the treatment of critically injured animals through the Cattitude Trust’s ‘Guardian Angel’ programme and have had the chance to watch their grateful four-legged recipients get better and go on to lead normal lives.

Friends indeed

Brinda Manocha’s story is a touching one. She’s an 18-year-old girl whose grandmother donates to a charity every year on the death anniversary of her grandfather. They chanced upon a donation appeal on the notice board of The Ark veterinary clinic where their pet was being treated.

Brinda’s mother Madhu explains that their family has loved dogs for generations and when a dog is in need, they do anything they can to help. They decided to contribute to his medical expenses and were pleased with the result. “When we visited him at the clinic later on, it was wonderful to see him hopping around on crutches,” says Madhu.

Vinita Nayar believes in making an impact in many ways. A journalist who writes regularly on pet care, Vinita believes in giving generously to good causes. “It felt great to see Bhaskar there every week and I could see the difference each time I checked on him.

The chirpy little thing has grown a lot and has also become a happy dog, which is as important as his physical recovery.” Vinita adds that she will certainly give again.

What initially came in black with a rexene finish is now available in a variety of colours and brands. “Starting from a price of Rs. 200, helmets in mono colour, dual-tone, and ones with embroidery are available,” says Kishore, a helmet dealer on G.P. Road.

Beside the budget range, there are also high-end ranges available, priced at Rs. 600, Rs. 1,000 and above, including imported models. Relatively unknown helmet brands like Safe Track, XXX and BMW (in no way connected to the automobile maker) have open-face helmets in the price range of Rs. 200 to Rs. 500. These helmets are available in most helmet shops on G.P. Road, Thousand Lights and a few shops in Pudupet.

Stock broker Ram Kumar of Ambattur owns seven pieces. “The compulsory helmet rule was supposed to come into effect the following day and I was short on cash. I rushed to the helmet store and bought an open-face helmet as a temporary solution. But I liked it a lot as it was comfortable and easy to carry around. I ended up buying six more in different shades,” added the 25-year-old.

The flipside of the open-face helmet is that it provides relatively less protection compared to the full-face ones and most of the inexpensive brands aren’t Indian Standards Institute (ISI) certified.

But there are also quality-certified open-face helmets from popular brands like Studds, Bieffe, Vega and Safe and even other international brands certified by the Department of Traffic (DOT), United States, which the biker can opt for.