सलाम नमस्ते INDIA

Things To Do in The Nilgiris The land of hill-stations will soothe your soul with its old charm, mesmerising weather and calming tranquillity. The dainty district of Tamil Nadu will give you the much-needed break from the hot and humid climate of the metros.  Do pack lot of winter wear, if you’re planning a trip now. Also, we tell you ten things, which you shouldn’t miss on this rejuvenating vacation. Visit Snooty Ooty   Image Credit: Getty Images The well-known honeymoon destination will make you fall in love again. Ooty’s tea plantations, rolling hills and stone cottages will make you believe that you’re at a quiet English hamlet. Memorably nicknamed as ‘Snooty Ooty’, there are hundred percent chances that you will extend your stay here. Stay Like a King at King’s Cliff   Image Credit: King's Cliff, official site This 125-year-old British mansion is your ideal hotel at the Nilgiris. Situated close to the city centre, th...

New Delhi:  The world’s biggest champagne house, Moet Hennessy, has launched its first “made in India” sparkling wine as it seeks to capture a young, urban and increasingly sophisticated market of drinkers on the subcontinent. The French champagne producer has invested in a new winery in Dindori near western Maharashtra state’s Nashik region, regarded as India’s wine-making heart. Moet, owned by French luxury goods group LVMH, launched its Chandon India NV (non-vintage) Brut last month, saying it aimed to “build the sparkling wine culture” in the country. “Chandon will be targeted at 25-to-35-year-old urban men and women who are interested in embracing an international lifestyle while taking pride in all that’s Indian,” said Jean-Guillaume Prats, president of Moet Hennessy Estates and Wines. The Chandon range will be the first offering from the new Indian Moet Hennessy estate, which must convince whiskey-loving high-end Indian consumers to switch from the grain to th...

In a Soup!   Chef Sanjeev Kapoor They say ‘a man’s true wealth is the good deeds he does in the world.’ If this really holds true I’d like to believe that I’m a slightly richer man today! The past week in office has been all about  Prayaas . For those of you wondering what I am talking about  Prayaas  is a social initiative we undertook this children’s day! We got in touch with an NGO that supports homeless girls between 5-18 years of age by empowering them to be qualified, educated and responsible. The entire team at Sanjeev Kapoor’s Khanakhazana  got together to collect usable items for the kids. All this stuff was collected and donated as a part of a fun activity involving some games at the orphanage! Watching the delight on the faces of the children is all you need in return! Whatever our role in society – parent, teacher, leader, corporate entity or a student protecting and safeguarding the interests of children, is our duty that must be done. Amon...

क्या योग करने से कोई हिंदू हो जाता है? योग की कक्षाओं में ज़्यादातर लोगों को इस बात की चिंता रहती है कि क्या वो सही ढंग से सांस ले रहे हैं या क्या उनके पैर सही दिशा में हैं. लेकिन कुछ लोग इस कश्मकश में रहते हैं कि क्या उन्हें इन कक्षाओं में आना चाहिए या कहीं इससे उनका धर्म तो भ्रष्ट नहीं हो रहा है? अमरीका में रहने वाली एक मुस्लिम महिला फ़रीदा हमज़ा ने योग शिक्षक बनने का फ़ैसला किया और वो पिछले दो या तीन साल से योग कर रही हैं. दुनिया भर में कई मुस्लिम, ईसाई और यहूदी योग को लेकर इस तरह के संदेह ज़ाहिर करते हैं. वे योग को हिंदू और बौद्ध धर्म से जुड़ी एक प्राचीन आध्यात्मिक साधना के रूप में देखते हैं.वह बताती हैं, "जब मैंने अपने परिवार और कुछ दोस्तों को इस बारे में बताया, तो उनकी प्रतिक्रिया सकारात्मक नहीं थी. वो काफी हैरान थे कि आख़िर मैं ये क्यों करने जा रही हूं क्योंकि हो सकता है कि यह इस्लाम के ख़िलाफ़ हो." बीते साल ब्रिटेन में एक योग कक्षा को चर्च ने प्रतिबंधित कर दिया था. पादरी जॉन चैंडलर बताते हैं, "योग एक हिंदू आध्यात्मिक साधना है. एक कैथोलिक च...

Dowry Remains a Fundamental Problem in India: Study Dowry-related domestic abuse of women is still widely prevalent in India despite the country's modernisation and years of feminist campaigning, research conducted by a British university has found. The study by the University of Portsmouth's School of Languages and Area Studies found that giving a dowry is still regularly practised in parts of the country, leading to gender inequalities on a wide scale. The research carried out in Kerala also showed that mothers-in-law were the main harassers and perpetrators of violence against young women, nearly 50 per cent of the time. "Our findings depressingly show that little has improved in the last decade, and dowry remains a fundamental problem in women's lives. The data shows that investing energy in securing better gender equality has not decreased rates of dowry and related abuse," said lead researcher Dr Tamsin Bradley. "Our research highlights th...

Who betrayed Sardar Patel? ONE NATION: It was primarily on the assurance of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel that the rulers signed the Instruments of Accession which in turn created a united India. Sardar Patel persuaded the Constituent Assembly to guarantee payment of Privy Purses and preserve the rights of the erstwhile rulers. But the Congress betrayed him. In the recent media coverage on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, there was not one word about the greatest insult to his memory: the abolition of the Privy Purses, first by a Presidential Order and, later, by a constitutional amendment. Article 1 of the Constitution states that India, that is, Bharat, shall be a Union of States. No person can claim greater credit for the creation of Bharat than Sardar Patel, ably assisted by V.P. Menon (Constitutional Adviser to Lord Mountbatten). In 1947, princely states numbering 555 covered 48 per cent of the area of pre-Independent India and constituted 28 per cent of its population. Legally, ...

अपने हलके-फुलके उड़ते स्पर्शों से मुझको छू जाती है जार्जेट के पीले पल्ले-सी यह दोपहर नवम्बर की ! आयी गयी ऋतुएँ पर वर्षों से ऐसी दोपहर नहीं आयी जो क्वाँरेपन के कच्चे छल्ले-सी  इस मन की उँगली पर कस जाये और फिर कसी ही रहे नित प्रति बसी ही रहे, आँखों, बातों में, गीतों में आलिंगन में घायल फूलों की माला-सी वक्षों के बीच कसमसी ही रहे भीगे केशों में उलझे होंगे थके पंख सोने के हंसों-सी धूप यह नवम्बर की उस आँगन में भी उतरी होगी सीपी के ढालों पर केसर की लहरों-सी गोरे कंधों पर फिसली होगी बन आहट गदराहट बन-बन ढली होगी अंगों में आज इस वेला में दर्द में मुझको और दोपहर ने तुमको तनिक और भी पका दिया शायद यही तिल-तिल कर पकना रह जायेगा साँझ हुए हंसों-सी दोपहर पाँखें फैला नीले कोहरे की झीलों में उड़ जायेगी यह है अनजान दूर गाँवों से आयी हुई रेल के किनारे की पगडण्डी कुछ क्षण संग दौड़-दौड़ अकस्मात् नीले खेतों में मुड़ जायेगी... --रचनाकार: धर्मवीर भारती

TO PRAY AND TO POO To pray and to poo Even as the controversy of saying the two t-words together raged for a while, the similarities  between temples and toilets, and some ways of bringing these two basic Indian public amenities  together, is worth exploring. The one commonality between them is the spontaneity and informality with which both flourish. All  it requires is for a person, or few, to tie a thread around a tree trunk, come to pray to it regularly,  and soon you’ll have a pundit or family who has adopted it, get a funder, and lo, the next time you  pass by, a puja will be on in hearty gusto, with a queue of cars, motorbikes, scooters and cycles  lined up alongside it, and a queue of the pious waiting to get a glimpse of the stone or idol inside  the ‘temple’. That’s a process very similar to the sprouting of malodorous, informal toilet zones. These too start  with one guy peeing in a small crook, or behind a tree; one child sq...

UP gangsters: Tigmanshu Dhulia Tigmanshu Dhulia Amresh Mishra and I wrote the tale of  Raja Mishra , nee  Bullett Raja , based on the lives and times of several gangsters from UP, who, unlike Mumbai gangsters, do not kill just for money, do not creep up from behind to shoot, but believe in open challenge, kill for self-respect (maan-samman-swabhiman), and for the sake of friends  (dosti-yaari).   It is this very aspect that makes  Bullett Raja  a gangster unlike any you have seen before on the big screen. Some of the rangeele characters that we came across while doing our research were:  Sriprakash Shukla  He was one-of-a-kind, who used to kill his targets by informing them well in advance and giving them a notice period! Interestingly, his notices were based on the stature of the target.  Grace period increased with the increase in stature. He had another peculiar habit. He used to kill his targets in their dens...