- published: 08 Apr 2015
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Alma mater (UK /ˈælmə ˈmeɪtər/ or US /ˈɑːlmə ˈmɑːtər/; Latin: "nourishing mother") was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary. In modern times, it is often any school, college, or university at which one has studied and, usually, from which one has graduated. The term may also refer to a song or hymn associated with a school.
The expression is almost always used in the singular form, but the Latin plural is almae matres.
Alma Mater Studiorum ("Nourishing Mother of Studies") is the motto and original name of the University of Bologna, the oldest continually operating university in the world, and other European universities, such as the Alma Mater Lipsiensis in Leipzig, Germany, have also used the expression in their names.
At Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, the main student government is known as the Alma Mater Society.
On the campus of Columbia University on the steps of Low Library there is a well known bronze statue of Alma Mater by Daniel Chester French. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign also has an Alma Mater statue by Lorado Taft. A mural in Yale University's Sterling Memorial Library depicts the Alma Mater as a bearer of light and truth standing in the midst of the personified arts and sciences, painted in 1932 by Eugene Savage. Outside the United States there is another sculpture of Alma Mater on the steps of the monumental entrance to the Universidad de La Habana, in Havana, Cuba. The statue was cast in 1919 by Mario Korbel, and installed in its current scenic location in 1927 under the direction of architect Raul Otero.
Deepika Padukone (born 5 January 1986) is an Indian actress and a former model. She appears mostly in Hindi as well as Tamil and Kannada language films. Born to badminton player Prakash Padukone, she chose to become an actress and not pursue a career in sports.
Padukone made her acting debut in the 2006 Kannada film Aishwarya. The following year, she made her Hindi film debut in Om Shanti Om, for which she earned the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award. It also remains her biggest commercial success so far. She subsequently appeared in films such as Love Aaj Kal (2009) and Housefull (2010). While the former earned her a Filmfare nomination in the Best Actress category, the latter emerged as a commercial success.
In addition to acting, Padukone is also the ambassador of prominent brands such as Tissot, Sony Cybershot, Nescafe and Kingfisher Airlines.
Padukone was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her father, Prakash Padukone, is a former badminton player of international repute, and her mother is a travel agent. Her father was then training in Denmark in the sport and when she was eleven months old, her family moved to Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Padukone also has a younger sister, Anisha, born on 2 February 1991.
Hrithik Roshan ([ˈrɪt̪ʰɪk ˈroːʃən]; born 10 January 1974) is an Indian film actor. Having appeared as a child actor in several films throughout the 1980s, Roshan made his film debut in a leading role in Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai in 2000. His performance in the film earned him Filmfare Awards for Best Actor and Best Male Debut. He followed it with leading roles in Fiza and Mission Kashmir (both 2000) and a supporting part in the blockbuster Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001), which was India's highest-grossing film in the overseas market up to then.
Following through with several unnoticed performances from 2002 to 2003, he starred in the blockbusters Koi... Mil Gaya (2003) and its sequel Krrish (2006), both of which won him numerous Best Actor awards. Roshan received his third Filmfare Award for Best Actor in 2006 for his performance in the action film Dhoom 2, his biggest commercial success to date, and his fourth for Jodhaa Akbar, for which he was also awarded at the Golden Minbar International Film Festival. These accomplishments have established him as one of the leading contemporary actors of Hindi cinema. He later received further acclaim for his work in Guzaarish (2010), Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) and Agneepath (2012).