Hay fever is a form of allergy belonging to a group of maladies including hives, asthma and skin problems caused by protein sensitization. During certain seasons, many plants, grasses release their pollens into the air in large quantities. A person is said to have hay fever when he / she is sensitive to these pollens and other substances present in …

The Hadaga festival in Maharashtra is to pray for a good monsoon and a good harvest. As Indra is the god of rain, people sing songs to Indra and pray for rain. Pictures of the elephant which is Indra’s vehicle are drawn everywhere to invite the God.

It is a traditional American festival celebrated on February 2. The legend of Groundhog Day is based on an old Scottish couplet: “If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there’ll be two winters in the year.” It is said that if the groundhog pops out from its electrically-heated burrow, sees his shadow, and then disappears again, it will mean that …

Greenmail is a business tactic used by a company, a syndicate or an individual to threaten another company and make money. After buying a good number of shares of a company, they threaten a takeover. A bargain is then struck to force the company to buy back its shares at an exorbitant rate. ‘Greenmail’ has been derived from greenback and …

Because of Germany’s geographic position in the centre of Europe and its long history as a disunited region of distinct tribes and states, it has many varying names in different languages, perhaps more than for any other European nation. For example, in German, the country is known as Deutschland, in French as Allemagne, and in Polish as Niemcy. However, the …

Garba is a form of dance that originated in the state of Gujarat in India. The name is derived from the Sanskrit term Garbha and Deep . Many traditional garbas are performed around a centrally lit lamp, or a picture or statue of the Goddess Shakti. The circular and spiral figures of Garba have similarities to other spiritual dances, such …

‘Funemployment’ came into being with the recession, when people began losing jobs. It means unemployed individuals making use of the break to enjoy their free time – travel, take up physical activity and have a good time but at little cost. They may not have been able to do this earlier. The funemployed are young people who have few responsibilities …

London’s Fleet Street, named after the river Fleet which flows at one end of the street, had many legal offices and courts surrounding it in the late 15th century. From 1500s onwards, several publishing and printing shops began locating themselves on Fleet Street to serve the legal offices in its neighbourhood. From 1702, when London’s first daily newspaper The Daily …

Fat Tuesday is Mardi Gras, where ‘Gras’ is French for ‘fat’ and ‘Mardi’ is French for ‘Tuesday’. The name comes from the tradition of slaughtering and feasting on a fattened calf on the last day of a carnival. The annual festivities start on January 6, the Twelfth Night Feast of the Epiphany, when the three kings are supposed to have …

Falconry is the ancient practice of training birds of prey to kill for man. It dates back thousands of years, the earliest falconers probably using the birds as a means of obtaining food. It soon developed into a sport for kings and queens and the well-to-do, and became very fashionable during the Middle Ages in Europe. Today it is much …