Small Talk

Happiness galore
Celebrating their 10th year in the city,the Mc Donalds chain of restaurants on Wednesday gave away the final prize of their month long celebration at the Mariplex Mall in Kalyaninagar on Wednesday. Present for the event was actress Isha Koppikar,who handed over the keys of a brand new Maruti A-Star car to the winner of the Eat 2 Win contest that was held as a part of the celebrations. Speaking about the same,Koppikar says,“Owing to my fitness regime that I need to follow I am usually not allowed to binge on food a lot but when I do get a chance I like to eat out with burgers and shakes occupying top priority on that list.”

Words Worth
While her stories definitely have a message for readers both young and old,the launch of author Sonja Chandrachud’s second novel,Pearls of Wisdom was one that had everyone amazed. Launched at Twist n Tales,in Aundh the setting for the second novel featured a Halloween like set complete with ghouls and ghosts. The book,which was launched on Sunday,August 8,picks up after the first novel,Potion of Eternity and is the second novel in the Hilarious Hauntings Adventures series. Speaking more about the launch Chandrachud says,“The novel was launched in a ghost like setting to emphasise on the plot of the story. The evening also saw children come dressed in scary costumes and me and my entire team dressed in black. I even read the book by a candlelight to emphasise the same.”

Talking Point
Debating Matters India,which kicked off the third year of their online elimination tests from July 26 will be holding the regional debate finals live,across eight cites in the country. The tests which are open for students of Class XI and XII of Indian schools will see the students first write the online elimination tests that will be on till August 25 after which the regional teams will be selcted for the eight regional finals. Post that the eventual winners will go on to the national finals in Chennai. Speaking about it Ruth Gee,Director British Council India and Sri Lanka,says,“Debating Matters India is very different from other school debate competitions and seeks to encourage students to engage with the specifics and complexities of issues that arise in the real world today. ” Each school has to enter a six member debate team along with a debate coordinator teacher right from the online elimination stage. Further information can be availed at http://www.britishcouncil.org.in/debatingmattersindia.