What do men desire the most?

Men are always accused of being prey to some things they just don’t have any control over. They are termed as demanding, bossy, egocentric and even inept especially when it comes to sex. Is that rue?

IT’S TRUE that most men are alike but some aren’t, and they are considered as feminine, but yet there are others who first fall in the category of being great and then to the not-so-great category. Well let’s start from the beginning.

Most men believe that they are the most important species that we women are dealing with. Sure they may be great with numbers, especially with telephone numbers of some great gangling females; they are still their stages of infancy when it comes to feelings. After a good search i have found out that most men are visually stimulated, in simple they have to see everything to understand and believe. From a sexy pair of legs to a passably satisfying bosom.

But when we talk about women, a woman needs to be stroked and felt, whereas a man has already been stroked by his mere vision. He doesn’t need to drone her just speaks his mind and sees it. This is perhaps the reason why men seem to get aroused much faster than women would.

It’s true that most men love to be ahead of everything, be it career or sex. If they cannot find themselves to get on to the top of it all, they lose interest. Most of the times, a man challenges himself into believing that he can be the best lover and although he may not vibe with the feelings of the heart, he does pursue the issue only because he knows that he can get his woman laid, in this manner.

Another shortcoming that he might face as compared to women is that men cannot understand images. They are trained in the physical aspects of life, which may range from making tree houses to even making their own homes. They cannot imagine that most of the planning can be done in advance so as to make their own lives easier a little later.

Women are genetically inclined to literary arts and poetry, which makes them the "feeling" people. People who can understand, feel and more importantly visualize. It is no wonder then that most women can partake in the mass appreciation of pornographic stories and pictures. Men only use these as objects to get a massive turn on, again a visual aspect and not related to imagery.

Most men prefer to have the light on; perhaps a little dim too as the thrill to watch a woman naked is perhaps unmatched to any other in the world. Women almost always need to have the light off. So many differences, why is it for a woman to understand a man is always been easier then a man understanding a woman.

It’s not only the part of sex, where the understanding is required; sex is always been a physical game for most men. During my survey on wild sex I encountered men largely seeking sex in the animated form. Which was hard to believe?

For them sex need not prescribe to the notion of being loved. Yes love is a part of it, not the heart of it. Sex was always a beast-like affair. One that involved huge fight-like encounter, with both partners wanting for more. This is so because for them, sex is only sex and nothing more. It’s more like a pornographic movie, the more the better.

Most of them understand the huge importance of drugs used to virtually increase sexual stimulation that can last for hours together, without any breaks. One man was hugely candid about saying that sex was more of a release of tension, of tensed nerves as it were, so the more release the better. The frequency of sex also mattered.

My research has given me many reasons to write on but if I sit down on writing the differences, the truth will come out of the hidden picture. Let’s keep it the way it goes.

Is money the key to a happy marriage?

Do women go for one’s looks or bank balance? is an age old question that still remains unanswered. But studies show that demand and supply equations inform gender equations as well.

IS IT true that looks matter when it comes to love? A study provides hard evidence to the suggestions that the fairer sex is attracted not to a man’s looks, but to his status, power and wealth.

According to a research conducted in 1909, when men are in short supply due to events such as wars, women are willing to settle for poorer partners of lesser social sway. However, when male population increases, women tend to turn fussy and go for the richest and most powerful men. This in turn, ‘radically reduces’ the marriage prospects of poor-off men.

As quoted by Dr Thomas Pollet, department of evolutionary psychology, University of Liverpool, “We show that if men are abundant, this will influence the market value of their desired traits, that is, women can demand more. This aspect, namely individual decision making as a function of the mating market (local abundance or scarcity), has been relatively neglected within the literature on human mate choice.”

According to the Pollet, when the sex ratio is equivalent, married men are inclined to have a little higher socio-economic status than unmarried men. “As the sex ratio augments, married men are expected to need up two or three times the socio-economic status of unmarried men,” he said.

Frank Pedersen of the University of Delaware confirmed the study in 1991, which concluded that sex percentage has a big impact on the marriage market.

“Thus, much about the varying culture of male and female behaviour across populations and across time could in slandered be clarified with orientation to the sex ratio,” said Pollet.

The question of whether looks matter when it comes to love is age old and still remains unanswered. But these studies has clearly recognised the more limited fact that sex ratio fluctuations in human beings can put one sex in the driving seat.

Hitler, the man he was

We all know the actual story behind Hitler being what he was, but there is the other side of him, which made him what he turned into. Hitler indicates a weak man, driven by his ardors, a fearful coward, entirely disconnected from reality.

Hitler was a confused anti-intellectual, a megalomaniac with a marvelous scorn for an average man, an extreme opportunist who believed in his messianic mission, hating democratic system and dreaming about war. A master of terrorist, who thought that terror and cruelty could solve all the problems of humanity.

All the disastrous decisions affecting millions of people, like going to war he made alone, in complete secrecy, guided by his "instinct" or rather compulsions. Using German gullibility and respect for authority, and clever propaganda reinforced with terror he developed a unique symbiosis with the German people, he attained a Godlike statue, used to spread violence, death and destruction.

CONFUSED ANTI-INTELLECTUAL

Wagener, one time associate of Hitler and member of the inner circle, describe Hitler as a half-educated, self-taught man laden with prejudices, with preference for pseudo-science, with a penchant for spinning out theories. What he expounded had far-reaching implications but was based on a small, usually very questionable factual foundation. When he spoke, his words would engulf his listeners like an overpowering flood.

Wagener in his memoirs states that Hitler had a low regard for intellectual qualities:

“Intellect, if you take a close look, is the atrophy of natural instinct.... Intellect has nothing to do with human intelligence and knowledge. Most people confuse them.... The Jew cannot refrain from showing off his supposed intellect. Sometimes what he says sounds quite brilliant, sometimes it even is brilliant.”

“Hitler never sketched out his ideas at his desk but elaborated them in the course of conversations or discussions, did not give any clear sphere of responsibility, or autonomy of action, and frequently changed his mind.... So it came about quite naturally that truly outstanding men did not carry long in Hitler's entourage and that inevitable he found himself surrounded by simpletons, mindless scum, and flatterers.”

Rauschning quotes Hitler saying:

“We must distrust the intelligence and the conscience and must place our trust in our instincts.”

WEAKNESS AND PASSIVITY

Hitler was known for his temper, and despite outward appearance, he was a weak scared person, lacking personal courage, who never visited the front, staying behind in comfortable conditions. He was always guided by his passions and emotions or rather by his inner tensions and conflicts. Hitler never visited bombed out German cities, he always traveled at night in a limousine with tightly drawn curtains.

On July 25, 1943 Goebbels wrote in his diary:

“These letters keep asking why the Fuhrer does not visit the distressed air area, why Goering isn't to be seen anywhere, and especially why the Fuhrer does not for once talk to the German people to explain the present situation. I consider it very necessary that the Fuhrer do this.”

During the famous putsch, Hitler behaved cowardly; after the first shot was fired he run away and later was picked up by the police in Haefstangles house. It was Goering the stood up during the skirmish and was wounded. Hitler's close associate Rauschning states in his memoirs:

Hitler is timid and sensitive. He has to force himself by much preparation to put on a bold front; then he becomes aggressive. He lives in a world of insincerity, deceiving and self-deceiving. But hatred is like vine to him, it intoxicates him. Hitler is exacting, spoiled, avaricious, and greedy. He is incapable of working. He gets ideas, impulses, the realization of which must be feverishly achieved and immediately get rid of. Nothing about him is natural...

Hitler seems a man of tremendous will power, but the appearance is deceptive. He is languid and apathetic by nature, and needs the stimulus of nervous excitement to rouse him out of his chronic lethargy to a spasmodic activity.

Hitler had frequent nightmares, during which he foamed at the mouth, panting and stammering in uncontrolled fury: " I won't have it! Get rid of all of them! Traitors!" He was an alarming sight, his hair disheveled, his eyes fixed, and his face distorted and purple. I feared the he would collapse, or have an apoplectic fit. Suddenly it was all over.

DETACHED FROM REALITY

Hitler was completely detached from reality, instead to adjusting his assumption to reality he tried to adjust reality to his perception. During the initial stages of the war with Russia he assumed that the Russians are finished, and despite to the intelligence reports to the contrary, he did not change his assumption, until it was to late.

Gen. Halder the German Chief of Staff, commented in his dairy on Hitler's detachment from reality:

“Hitler's decisions had ceased to have anything in common with the principles of strategy and operations as they have been recognized for generations past. They were the product of a violent nature following its momentary impulses, which recognized no limits to possibility and which made its wish dreams the father of its acts”

Halder told also how Hitler lived in his fantasy world:

“Once when a quite objective report was read to him showing that still in 1942 Stalin would be able to muster from one to one and quote million fresh troops in the region north of Stalin grad and west of the Volga, not to mention half a million men in the Caucasus, and which provided proof the Russian output of front-line tanks amounted to at least 1,200 a month. Hitler flew at the man who was reading with clenched fists and foam in the corners of his mouth and forbade him to read any more of such idiotic twaddle.”

MEGALOMANIA

Megalomania is defined as extreme over-evaluation of oneself. Hitler was a mega-megalomaniac. When the Austrian Chancellor, Schuschnigg, visited Hitler to discuss the Austrian German agreements, Hitler bragged: "I am the greatest German in all history. I have reached the most a German leader has ever reached in German history."

SULKINESS AND CHANGE OF MOOD

Hitler was known for his outbursts, temper and sulkiness. Wagener comments about Hitler:

“[He] could fly into an indignant rage, whereby the vein on his forehead from the top oh his nose to his hairline swelled and grew blue in almost terrifying way, and his voice cracked, so it seemed that he would fear for his life-and for our own as well.... The attacks however were infrequent and Hitler himself was afraid of them- particularly since afterwards he always collapsed and had to at medication to calm himself.... I am certain that it was the expression of a morbid compulsion, connected somehow with a glandular malfunction.”

Hitler's mood fluctuated between blackest depression and uncontrollable rage. Among intimate friends, Hitler let himself go. I often heard him shout and stamp his feet. The slightest contradiction threw him into rage. People began to be afraid of his incalculable temper.

He behaved like a combination of a spoiled child and a hysterical woman. He scolded in high, shrill tones, stamped his feet, and banged his fist on tables and walls. He foamed at the mouth, panting and stammering in uncontrolled fury.

Mukesh finds similarities between Bridge and Management

Mukesh Shivdasanithe CEO of Max health care also be called as Mr. Consistent.

Q. What makes Max Healthcare different from other known Hospitals?

Our USP is our focus on Total Patient Care - which involves empathetic listening, offering choices and responding to the patients’ medical and other needs in a holistic way. Total Patient Care aims at managing the patients’ disease as well as caring about their physical, mental and emotional self.

Max Hospitals is also one of the first to cover the NCR region with our hospitals in Gurgaon and Noida.

We continuously demonstrate Best-in-class practicing that satisfies the needs of the patient and those that support the patient. For us, the patient as well as other stakeholders, which include the family, and referring doctors or Corporates or TPA’s are a key customer in the delivery of care.

Q. Please explain International Patient Services? How it helps the people of our country? Have Max ever received cases under this?

Max Healthcare aims at building on the strong base in India to become a truly global healthcare provider. Through our International Patient Services program we compete in global markets to deliver highest quality healthcare to patients worldwide regardless of their economic circumstance. Under the program, medical queries along with scans are received from patients or facilitators through email. Queries are then forwarded to the respective doctors at Max Healthcare after which the diagnosis and proposed treatment is sent back to the patient. A conference call is arranged between the patient and the doctor - if the patient is satisfied, he/ she confirm the date for the procedure.

At present, under this program we have patients from the SAARC nations, Middle East and from the West. Our aim is to grow the program to service patients from multiple cultures and diversities.

The International Patient Service program also helps service providers such as Max Healthcare to network with professionals across the globe, which enables us to share best practices in medical care. The final beneficiary of this is the patient.

Q The popular public perception is that, for a middle class family, Max Hospital is a very expensive hospital to afford, and is therefore only for people who can afford such a luxury? How far is this perception true? Does Max have different policies for different categories of people?

I am not sure whether such perception exists within the public. The fact is that the Max Healthcare network covers eight locations, as of date, spread over NCR.

The total number of patients that have availed our services is in excess of 500,000 and they represent the entire chain of the economic spectrum. Over the past two years, we have seen significant addition from middle class families in all our hospitals.

Max Healthcare does not have different policies for different categories of people. Every patient receives the same level of Medical Care. Some differentiation in non-medical services may exist for those in private rooms.

Q What made you join the field (healthcare industry) where you are at present?

My joining the Healthcare industry was in some ways, shaped by recent events at that time. I was relocating from Hong Kong where I worked with Bank of America to be with the family in Delhi when I was offered an interesting assignment with Max India. Shortly thereafter I got an opportunity to lead Healthcare operations and it was exciting to achieve the mission of building world-class service standards, having witnessed it first hand during my tenure abroad.

I truly believed that Hospitals in India needed to improve on its delivery of care and Max Healthcare was the right vehicle to do so. Thankfully time has proved that I made the right choice.

Better management of the healthcare sector is an approach to increase health standards and Max is a pioneer in introducing new state-of-the-art technology for patient benefit and comfort.

Q. Tell me something about your qualification? Do you think your qualification is the right fit for the healthcare industry, which is known more for its medical degrees?

I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and am an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata. Over the many years I have been involved in both Manufacturing and Service Industry, I have realized that the fundamental value of education lies partly in the knowledge acquired but mainly in one’s ability to learn.

The world class Institutions where I have had the good fortune to receive my education have made it easy for me to do so. The Healthcare industry clearly needed, and now even more so, professionals from other domains. If ultimately the objective of the industry is to deliver continuously higher value than experts from various fields must join hands with Medical professionals.

Q. How often do you take a break from your busy schedule?

I take breaks as needed.

Q. How do you spend your leisure time?

I am voracious reader and also play competitive bridge. Besides, my 2 pets at home are excellent play mates.

Q. Tell us something about your family –your wife and children?

guess you can call me Mr. Consistent – one wife, one child. My wife is a homemaker who has taken complete responsibility for managing the household. She also teaches in her spare time. My daughter is an HR professional who, I think, has made more of a mark than I did when I was her age.

Q. I have heard you have a love for the game of ‘Bridge’ and you are an expert? Tell us about this passion? Do you feel there are any similarities between bridge and management?

I can’t say I am an expert but I have been playing bridge since my IIT days and am passionate about it. Actually Bridge is much more than a game … it is a clear mirror of one’s owns self.

There are many similarities between Bridge and Management and it is my fond belief that good Bridge player make good Managers. Bridge requires one to make rapid decisions under pressure, calls for sharp focus, the ability to stay aligned with your partner and team mates, and above all a “winning” philosophy… These qualities go a very long way in the real world.

Q. What is your personal stress-buster?

Stress… what is that?

Money is the key for a happy marriage

Even if you aren’t good looking, chances are bright that you will settle down to wedded bliss if you have a substantial bank account.

IT IS true that love has nothing to do with money but is it true looks matter when it comes on love? A study has been done that provides hard facts to the suggestions that the fairer sex is wan not to a man’s looks, but to his status, power and wealth.

According to historical data from 1909 of more than 30,000 men’s are in short supplies due to events such as wars; women are willing to settle for poorer partners of lesser social sway. However, when men are in profusion, women tend to turn fussy, driving a haggle for the richest and most powerful men. This in turn, has the marriage prospects of poor-off male ‘radically reduced’.

As quoted by Thomas Pollet, “We show that if men are abundant, this will influence the market value of their desired traits, that is, women can demand more. This aspect, namely individual decision making as a function of the mating market (local abundance or scarcity), has been relatively neglected within the literature on human mate choice.”

According to the answers, when the sex ratio is equivalent, married men be inclined to have a little higher socio-economic status than unmarried. “As the sex ratio augments, married men are expected to need up two or three times the socioeconomic status of unmarried men,” he said.

The study gets confirmed on 1991 forecasted by Frank Pedersen of the University of Delaware that the sex percentage has a big impact on the marriage market.

“Thus, much about the varying culture of male and female behaviour across populations and across time could in slandered be clarified with orientation to the sex ratio.” said Pollet.

These questions are mature for future study, but our studies has clearly recognised the more limited fact that sex ratio fluctuations in current humans can put one sex in the driving seat and allow them to drive a hard haggle.

Real estate firms engage in brand building exercise

The real estate industry is developing new ways of introducing its brand, taking the help of sponsored events, brand-building proposals, tie-ups and high value advertisements. They are doing all these to rectify the negative image in the market.

MOST REAL estate players in India have a negative image in the market. To regain a good image in front of people, the real estate companies have started a branding effort, which is moving beyond usual media preparation. They have company campaigns apart from project specific one’s and are gradually increasing and forcefully using the electronic mediums for brand building.

Firms that remain locked in the tunnel vision of customary branding, there performs will fail to see the disaster, fail to understand it, fail to act on it, and finally find their brands suffering.

Firms that expand their view to include social-paradigm based practices will see the crisis developing, be able to understand it, test it and with approaches, it will address as well seize competitive advantage and profits from its resolution.

For example, DLF has sponsored events like DLF Cup, Tri Series and the UAE Cup, Nasscom CEO Meet, and so on. They are spending maximum time with their consumers to see how satisfied they are with their decision of buying DLF residences. Emaar MGF is stepping up its brand building proposals. Their most recent connection was with international cricket event, to get attract Indian eyeballs for their future projects here.

Many are also sponsoring industry-specific events across sectors like retail, financial services and so on. Everyone in the real estate industry is making tangible efforts to craft their brand image and be the best among all. Purvankara, Eros, Vipul, Omaxe, etc. are making efforts to drive their icon in the market.

Apart from the basic outlook, the rising number of players in the space and the fact those players are now developing as national region players. Brand building is nothing but is the need of the hour, so as to cut across the rivalry. As many groups are listed on the stock market, it’s not necessary to follow so as to uphold an incessant touch with their investors. Rising stock listing rush is also fueling those who are unlisted.

The Internet has always been and always will be a straight reply vehicle, but so it is with branding. How did you first become aware of google.com? Was it by watching Harbhajan Singh bowling something related to this name in a cricket match or perhaps did a friend tell you about this great search site? Were you are looking for tall man or did you notice a sign of a company with the apparently unrelated name in search business? Branding has been a part of the Internet since commercialisation began.

Almost all the realty companies have doubled their branding expenditures. The investments towards the reasons are backed by the growth in the sector and eventually the authentic performance of all the companies and are heavily enjoying the sale in black. Almost all the companies witnessed a quantum jump in profits (by more than 50 per cent).

The fact remains that with the Indian consumers becoming more demanding and increasing contribution of global investors, it has become essential to brand almost every thing and real estate is no exemption. As we move ahead, it’s quite clear that marketers are looking to combine brands and invest their capital behind those that can perform on a global basis.

Once the strategic conclusion has been made about, which brands will be emanated to this status, substantially effort will be required to determine the degree of steadiness that is suitable and the means of achieving that steadiness will then be used more professionally achieving broad-based brand credit and transmission a unified message worldwide.

Do looks matter?

How important is it to look good? Do looks really matter to you? Would you choose your partner based on whether or not he/she has an A+ in the looks department?

“I PREFER a girl, who is sexy and hot and looks the best when she is walking with me,” says Kunal, a 22-year-old student. A question comes to mind - why do guys or girls want someone more attractive than themselves? Do looks matter?

According to the study conducted by Columbia University researchers, people rather date those who are fairly more attractive than they are. The research was done by analysing two data sets on an online rendezvous site called HOTorNOT.com. One set of data held members who had dating requests and the other included the magnetism ratings of other members.

The result of the study shows that as compared to women, males were more influenced by how physically attractive their dates were, but did not recognise how attractive they were for themselves, when making a decision on whom to date.

Do you think judging people by their looks is what matters for long and happy relationships? A short survey was conducted by Merinews network at Metropolitan mall, Gurgaon. “I am dark and my wife is fair. That doesn’t mean I love her more than she does, or she wanted someone better looking than what she is. We had a love marriage and we are very happy together. Looks don’t matter,” says Ramesh, sales executive.

It is true that people get attracted to beauty but there is a saying, ‘beauty lies in the eyes of beholder,’ so what you see may not be beautiful but what you can’t may be the most beautiful thing you would ever see. “I don’t judge beauty from its physically status, beauty is what is within the person,” says Varun, a 23-year-old employee, sharing his view towards beauty.

After the survey, we came to the conclusion that, when people are speaking fervently and are in an imaginative ‘zone’ or a state of well being, they appear to be more beautiful and lively, possibly even glowing. It makes sense that individuals who are the most creative, flexible, and lively should be the most striking to others.

The truth is, it’s the physical attraction, which draws people into relationships, but it often results in sexual union and this is the reason that attracts a person to the opposite sex.

No matter how good you look, there will always be someone better looking. It’s your nature, your individuality, your habits and your character, which means more than your face.

What makes you the special person is you yourself. Good looks can only take you so far but good nature is what counts more. A man may be extremely handsome, but if he doesn’t have good habits, and if he doesn’t know how to make a woman feel special, he is not going to keep you or anyone happy, and the same goes for women. All that really matter is the attitude, nature and the personality of a person.

The truth is, beauty would not last forever, but attitude will, so all men and women need to understand the inner beauty before they go for the physical beauty.

Vantage Point: A review

Columbia pictures presents in alliance with Relativity Media and Original Film production called Vantage Point. This is an action film featuring best of award-winning actors, which will be released on February 29 at a theatre near you.

RELATIVITY MEDIA and Original Film production are associated with Columbia pictures for Vantage Point, which features a cast of award-winning actors Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, Edgar Ramirez, Ayelet Zurer, with Sigourney Weaver and William Hurt. The movie is directed by Pete Travis, produced by Neal H Moritz and written by Barry L Levy.

Vantage Point is based on eight strangers having eight different points of view and trying to unchain that the fact behind the shooting attempt on the President of the United States.

This action-thriller has lots of twists and turns in it. Dennis Quaid as Thomas Barnes and Matthew Fox as Kent Taylor are two secret service agents, who were allocated to protect William Hurt as Ashton, the President of United States of America, who was in Spain, for delivering a major address on the global war on terror.

The movie takes a serious turn, when an American traveller contacts the agents, stating that he thinks he has captured the shooter on his camcorder while videotaping the event for his kids back home. This scene steals the show.

According to movie director Pete Travis, he wanted his audience to discover the idea of ‘the truth’ and the verity that ‘truth is in the eye of the beholder’. He says, “If you were to follow only one story, you wouldn’t find out the truth about what really happened. As you see each story, you see something else that you never knew before. It’s only when you get to the end that you figure out what really went on.”

Travis presents five well-known American actors and four extremely endowed international actors in Vantage Point, and there is the story, which gives its own special reward in the movie. “We have eight different people, eight ways of seeing the world, eight pieces of a puzzle. It’s a dream for a director: You can’t solve the mystery of this film without seeing the world from different people’s point of view. It’s a story that you can only tell through cinema. A movie about ways of ‘seeing’.”

Dennis Quaid, who stars in Vantage Point, says, “There’s the way we see ourselves, and there’s the way others see us,” he explains. “I play my character one way when the story is told from my point of view (POV), but when the film’s vantage point shifts to another character’s POV, I play him as that character sees him and change again for the other characters. A person isn’t seen the same way by any two people.”

Vantage Point is an extremely well made movie, and with its exclusive story, the movie has its own allure. The seriousness and the action have done a great job of capturing the viewers’ imagination. What more to say, Vantage Point has everything in it. So book your tickets now!

The story of shoes

"When I thought all was blue I tripped upon a single shoe" The history of human growth shows that the importance of protecting the foot was recognised early. Let us travel into time to know the history of the shoe, with shoes on, of course.

IT IS impossible to guess at exactly which phase in development on earth that man first thought of protecting his feet from the natural hazards of weather/climate and the rough ground that they walked on. Shoes have a very fascinating history.

There is evidence to prove that foot covering was one of the first things made by our primitive ancestors. The reason was to protect their feet from the serrated rocks, burning sands, and rocky terrain on which they roamed in pursuit of food and shelter.

The history of human growth shows that the importance of protecting the foot was recognised early. Records of the Egyptians, the Chinese and other early civilisations, all contain references to shoes. A shoe is also frequently mentioned in the Bible and the Hebrews used it in numerous examples with a legal meaning.

Shoes of one sort or another are rich in fable and figure noticeably in the myths of different races. A shoe, even in modern times, continues to figure in stories, which have come down to us as a legacy.

Though the stories of the wonderful ‘Seven League Boots’, ‘Cinderella’, ‘Puss in Boots’, ‘Mercury’s Winged Sandals’ and others, all existed in some prehistoric and often nearly forgotten dialect, still these are well known to all children. We all know about the custom of flinging the shoe after the newly wedded couple, which is one among the many examples in which the shoe when used, according to history, hypothetically brought luck.

Japanese are known to be sandal-wearing people. A sandal indicated the social status of the wearer as characteristic sandals were made for the imperial household, merchants and actors or other professionals. Lower strata of society never used to wear sandals.

It was the same with the Greeks highlighting design and beauty, while the Romans devised a military type of sandal that enabled their legions to travel on foot throughout the then known world. In the more luxurious days of the late Empire, the sandals were often beautifully shaped with knick-knacks of gold and precious stones.

When we talk about costumes, the shoe always had an important place in it. Until recent years, many shoes were worn only on occasions of great ceremony. Some of these were very extensive in design and decoration, lending meanings and distinction to the official dress of proud wearers.

Greenbelt shoes tell their own story as they have travelled between four to six decades. By looking at the shoes, viewers can create their own ideas of what shoes like these meant to the owner and also gain awareness regarding their personal value, price, and how they differed from other shoes between 1937-1945.

In 1858, Lyman R Blake, a shoemaker, invented a machine for sewing the soles of shoes to the uppers. Gordon McKay, who improved upon Blake’s invention, purchased his patents. The shoes made on this machine came to be called ‘McKays’.

During the time of civil war, many shoemakers were called into the armies, thereby creating a serious shortage of shoes for both soldiers and civilians. The introduction of the Mckay was speeded up in an effort to relieve the shortage. Even when McKay had perfected the machines, he found it very difficult to sell them.

He went back to the shoemakers who had laughed at the idea of making shoes by machinery, but who needed some means of increased production. He told them that he would put the machines in their factories, if they would pay him a small part of what the machine would save on each pair.

McKay issued ‘Royalty Stamps’, representing the payments made on the machine-made shoes. This method of introducing machines became the accepted practice in the industry. It had two important bearings on the industry. First, shoe manufacturers were able to use machinery without blocking large sums of money for either removing useless equipment or replacing these with newer machines. Second, it developed a valuable type of service in the shoe and other industries.

In 1875, a machine for making a different type of shoe was developed. Later known as the Goodyear Welt Sewing Machine, it was used for making both ‘Welt’ and ‘Turn’ shoes. These machines became successful under the management of Charles Goodyear, Jr. Goodyear’s name became associated with the group of machinery for sewing Welt and Turn shoes and other auxiliary machines,

Ever since, great sums of money and tireless patience and efforts have been spent to perfect one shoemaking machine. Inventors have mechanised the hand operations that seemed impossible for any machine. We have progressed a long way from the lasting pincer, a simple combination of gripper and lever.

It was the hand-shoemaker’s only tool for shaping the shoe around the form on which it is made, aided only by his thumbs and tacks. The lasting pincer is a good tool and is still occasionally useful.

What is marriage all about?

"Aum bhoor bhuwah swaha, tat sat vitur varenyam bhargo devasya dheemahi dhiyo yo nah prachodayat"- Mantra of starting a new relationship, mantra of marriage, mantra of making a couple into one person.

MARRIAGE MEANS compromises, both bride and the groom have to compromise and mend fences to get to the centre and become well matched, unless they have somehow been lucky enough to fit together perfectly. A person may never remain the same after marriage, there is always a change and most of it is due to a compromise.Both bride and the groom have to compromise and give and take for the marriage to work, if they both want everything on an equal basis, then it ends up in fights and arguments.

A question often comes to our mind - what makes a marriage strong? Is it the understanding and compromises or is it the wedding vows, where each phera has a meaning and each step takes two individuals and ties them into one.

When we talk about wedding, every caste has its own way of organising and using their own religious rituals, which start by greetings of the bridegroom, bride, family and friends. The wedding starts with -

Kanya Agaman (Arrival of the Bride): The bridesmaids and the father escort the bride to the mandap (nuptial canopy).

Jai Mala (Exchange of Garlands): The priest guides the couple to the mandap (nuptial canopy). Bride welcomes the groom with a floral garland and groom garlands the bride. This exchange symbolises formal acceptance and respect.

Prarthna Mantra (Prayer): Chanting of the great Gayatri mantra to invoke the blessings of the supreme lord.

Madhupak (Offerings): Bride offers the mixture of honey and yoghurt to the groom. Honey symbolises the sweetness of eternal love and yoghurt for the sake of his eternal good health and nutrition.

Aachaman (Purification): Sipping the water three times for the purification of the heart and body.

Agni Pradipan: Kindling of sacred fire. The wedding is made solemn before Agni (fire), the symbol of knowledge, power, and purity, as a principle witness to the ceremony.

Kanya Daan (Giving the hand of the bride): The prime wealth of a Hindu household is the daughter (Kanya), who symbolises the Hindu Goddess of Wealth (Lakshmi). Bride’s parents then place her hands into the groom’s and pour holy water over them to finalise the gesture of gift giving (transfer of wealth). Bride’s father requests groom to accept his daughter as an equal partner in all walks of life. It is noted in Vedic scriptures that there is no “Daana” (gift) greater than kanya daan (giving a daughters hand in marriage). Groom promises to accept bride as his equal life partner.

Jaya Home (Offerings): Offerings to the sacred fire emphasise the couples’ joint responsibility in maintaining the love and dignity of their union.

Paani Graham (Accepting the Hand): The bridegroom holds the hand of the bride and both of them solemnly pledge before God that they have become one and will forever love each other and remain mutually devoted for the remainder of their lives.

Pledges (Exchange of vows): The priest reads the solemn union declaration. The bride and bridegroom exchange the holy marriage vows.

Mangal Phere: Bride’s brother puts rice in the hands of the bride and groom to offer to Agni (the Lord of Fire) who dispels darkness and ignorance while leading into light and knowledge. The couple then walks around the sacred fire. Each round represents the four basic goals of human life: Dharma: Moral sense to lead a good life, Artha: Financial prosperity, Kama: Blessing for strong, virtuous children and to share the responsibilities of home, Moksha: Self-restraint and eternal physical, mental and spiritual strength. Together, the four goals symbolise the couple’s commitment to each other, the community and the cosmos. During the first three rounds, bride leads the groom and during the last round groom leads.

Shila Rohan: A rock is placed in the Northeast corner of the mandap. While the bride places her right foot on a piece of rock, groom recites a hymn - the Ashma Bhava. The statement is to encourage his wife to be as strong as the rock and to be firm towards any difficulties of life they may face together. Rice and flowers are sprinkled on the couple by her parents, relatives and friends.

Saptapadi (Seven steps): The bride and groom take seven steps forward together, symbolising the beginning of their journey through life. These steps signify the guiding principles of life.

Each of these steps represents the vows made by the couple:

First step - together we will love, cherish and respect one another from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness or in health ... forever.

Second step - together we will create a home full of joy and laughter, where we find serenity and strength.

Third step - together we will share a steadily deepening love, which grows in understanding and unselfishness.

Fourth step - together we will embrace each other’s family as well as our own yet to come.

Fifth step - let us have a measure of patience and forgive with grace.

Sixth step - together we will develop a sense of value that we may care for people more than possessions, for honour more than wealth, and for the dimensions of a home more than the details of a house.

Seventh step - let us forever be best friends and partners, and share each other’s ideas and ideals. The couple is now united and will pray for the blessings from God. The father-in-law offers the bride a sacred necklace.

Sindhoor Daan: The bridegroom puts sindhoor (Red Powder) in the parting of the bride’s hair and welcomes her into his life as his eternal partner. The newly wedded couple touches the feet and takes blessings from the parents of both families.

Akhand Subhagyavati: Married women from the bride’s family come forth to wish her eternal happiness.

Aashirvaad: All guests and relatives recite a hymn with the priest to wish the couple good luck, prosperity and a long, happy married life together.

Shanti Path: Hymn of peace, which ends the special day with blessing from god and loved ones.
This is the actual step of our Hindu wedding rituals, which leads a couple to the journey of new life.

Connecting with Sunil Bharti Mittal

Sunil Bharti Mittal is a man always on the move. After taking the telecom industry by storm, he is now venturing into retail and agriculture. His successful journey is definitely an inspiration to a new generation of Indian entrepreneurs.

PHONES HAVEN'T stopped ringing for 40-year-old Sunil Bharti Mittal ever since 1992, when he decided to step into the cellular business. The wily Scorpio, known for his business acumen and for keeping wife Naina and his three children away from the public eye, had humble beginnings.

The son of a politician, the Harvard Business School graduate started out as a manufacturer of bicycle parts and selling telephone instruments. Today, his company Bharti Enterprises, controls 20 per cent of the telecom market in India. With the satisfaction of a man who has lived his dream, Sunil Bharti Mittal answers some questions on the past, present and issues that will touch tomorrow…

When did it all begin? How has the journey, from being a bicycle parts manufacturer and running a business of selling telephone instruments, to heading a telecom giant been?

I started my career at 18 after graduating from Punjab University. In 1976, I founded Bharti Enterprises, a company that had its beginnings in an altogether different industry. The first inkling of what was to come happened only in 1986 when I set up Bharti Telecom, signing collaboration with Siemens to manufacture the country’s first push button telephones. Private participation in telecom those days was really a peripheral activity to the monolithic government monopoly public convenience services.

Came 1992 and the new telecom policy and suddenly it was a different world all together. While the world’s biggest telecom players threw their hat into the ring along with India’s largest corporates, the relatively unheralded Bharti stepped into the ring as well. Bharti was recognised more as a manufacturer of phone instruments. There was, therefore, a little surprise that the high profile Delhi GSM mobile circle had gone to Bharti Cellular Ltd.

For me, it was not merely a matter of a extension of what Bharti Telecom was doing. We early enough appreciated that to success in the Telecom business, we needed the vision. I set myself one goal: to forge world class alliances across the telecom value chain from basic to cellular to internet to V-SAT to provide world class services to a people who hungered for choice and excellence.

In which city or state do you have the strongest presence? Where do you see the maximum potential in the coming year?

In sheer numbers, our strongest presence would be where our journey into telecom services started – Delhi, which today boasts of over 8,00,000 customers However, that is as much a factor of history and longevity of presence as it is a tribute to the dynamic nature of the market. We are today a pan-India telecom player and hence it is difficult to pin down the strength of presence for Bharti by just that one dimension. Given our pioneering presence in most service areas of telecom, we are possibly equally positioned to realise the potential as much in mobile service as in fixed line, domestic long distance, broadband and international long distance services.

You have been quoted as saying that in India, only a quarter million new subscribers are added every year, and you plan to increase that to “a million per month.” How soon do you think you will accomplish this target?

The rate at which the market is exploding certainly augurs well for those targets to be reached for telecom services as a whole. In the first quarter of the year, the cellular subscriber base went up by about 7,00,000. By the fourth quarter, we expect penetration to deepen. I wouldn’t be surprised if, by the end of the year, the cellular industry doubles those numbers for a quarter. Quite clearly after China, India is where all the action really is.

What are your plans for your company in the near future?

Well, at present I am working on my venture deal with Wal-Mart, the US retail giant. This project is most important to us. Where the telecom business is concerned, it is established and successful and now, new areas fascinate me. I am fervent about both retail and agriculture. It’s the next big opportunity for me.

How have you managed to survive in the competitive telecom industry? Who do you see as the competition today?

We believed in constant innovation, adding value to the customer and sought to keep expanding the market by dramatically reducing prices to the customer, at the same time adding value. Quality choice exercised financial prudence as an organisation and we continuously invested with speed in our projects in order to ensure that we were never behind. We also sought to benchmark our services and customer care against international standards and seek a constant technology edge. Finally, we have a unique relationship with our customers and take pride in going beyond marketing strategies to understand and respond to the pulse of the people. We seek and build relationship of trust and honour with our partners…our biggest competition today is ourselves. We need to keep bettering what we have achieved.

How was your experience with providing cell phones to rural women in Andhra Pradesh? Do you see a potential in the rural market?

Our experience in Andhra Pradesh has been very gratifying. The rural areas are showing some fascinating characteristics and we actually have four large non-metro cellular circles, which today are gearing up to meet the challenges of a very different market. We do see a strong potential in the rural market since on one hand the disposable income available is high and on the other, long distance communication needs are also high, therefore, offering a huge opportunity for us.

Bharti Telecom has taken on several projects. Which is closest to your heart?

All have been equally close to my heart. From the jewel in the crown, Delhi, where we started to my homecoming by acquiring the Punjab circle, each project has been equally precious and demanding.

Did you expect SMS to be this popular?

Yes, absolutely. We believe that SMS will emerge as a very strong option to simple voice calls. We believe that over a period of time the revenues from data services will strongly supplement those from voice in WAP and GPRS and in IN platforms to exploit growth in data services.

What do you think is the secret of your success?

There were no milestones on the road we chose to travel and we recognised that we would have to find our own road, take risks and put milestones along the way for others to follow. We had ambition that was backed by commitment and determination, a huge degree of confidence and a belief in people. But fundamentally and most importantly, we were committed to making a difference to our customers, to society, to our shareholders, to India…not simply to making a buck.

Amy Winehouse: Winner of five Grammy awards 2008

Amy Winehouse won five trophies, including marquee awards for record, song and best new artiste, but could not receive these in person as she was away in London.

AMY WINEHOUSE, the anxious British soul singer with hit album ‘Rehab’, was unsuccessful to attend the 50th annual Grammy Awards in person on February 10, but she proved being a control figure nonetheless, winning five trophies as electorates kept her in a tight rivalry with the rap king Kanye West.

Winehouse won two awards out of three for the most honoured class of award, record of the year, song of the year, new artiste and two others for writing and recording of her song from her hit album ‘Rehab’, after her treatment for substance abuse. She proved her detractors wrong by performing on Grammy via satellite from London.

Looking astonished and bizarrely sad for not being there at that moment, she thanked her record label, her parents and “my Blake, my Blake incarcerated,” referring to Blake Fielder-Civil, her husband, who has been jailed for his involvement in a pub brawl.

Winehouse also won best female pop vocal performance for ‘Rehab’ and best pop vocal album for her CD ‘Back to Black’. She earned acclaim for her retro-tinged musical style, found herself facing a challenge for the top awards from Kanye West, the pioneering Chicago rapper who had twice before been nominated for album of the year and told viewers that he considered the Grammy Awards ‘his new place of residence’ where he ended up taking home four awards.

It all started by toying with her brother’s guitar, Winehouse got her first guitar when she was thirteen, and from then on she began to write music, due to which she dropped out of school, and started experimenting with drugs.

She started working as a ‘showbiz journalist’ for World Entertainment News Network in addition to singing with jazz band. It was soul singer Tyler James her ex-boyfriend, who sent her demo tape to an A&R person. The tapes gave her first break in signing with famous record label Island/Universal under Simon Fuller's company 19 Management, and to a publishing deal with EMI Music Company. With her first cheque, she moved out with Ashby.

Success was on her toes and by the year’s end, Winehouse had garnered much praise and distinction. The singer won 2008 Grammy Awards in the categories of record of the year, song of the year, and best female pop vocal performance for the single ‘Rehab’. Her album ‘Back to Black’ won the record of the year award and a nomination for album of the year.

Producer Mark Ronson’s work with her helped him to win the award in the producer of the year non-classical catagory. The singer also earned a Grammy in the best new artist category. She performed ‘You Know I’m No Good’ and ‘Rehab’ at the awards ceremony on February 10, via satellite, as her US visa approval come through too late.

It took her a long way to be where she is at present and no matter what controversy she was in, she has still made it on top.

Valentine's Day: A special day to say you care

The magic of Valentine's Day gives you lot more reason to be happy, as this day symbolises the love between you and your loved one by showering her/him with chocolates, flowers, cards and lots of kisses.

FEBRUARY 14 is Valentine’s Day and it is celebrated as a lovers’ day, with the giving of chocolates, flowers, other gifts and even a heart-pounding poem between couples in love across the world. Do you know the history behind it?

Valentine’s Day is named after St Valentine. But who is this inexplicable saint and why do we celebrate this day?

The history of Valentine’s Day is masked as a mystery. But we do know that February is known as the month of love. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become linked with this prehistoric rite? Today, it is recognised that different saints named either Valentine or Valentinus were martyred for this cause. Legend contends that Valentine was a cleric and was a great propagator of love during the third century in Rome.

During this period, Emperor Claudius II claimed that single men made better soldiers than those who had wives and families and banned marriage for young men from his crop of budding soldiers. Valentine was the one, who realised the injustice of the ruling, defied Claudius and started performing marriages in secret for young men in love.

When Valentine’s secret was discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Valentine sacrificed himself for love, and so this day is celebrated as lover’s day.

According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first ‘valentine’ salutation to himself. But it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl when he was in penitentiary. The young girl was supposed to be the daughter of his jailor’s, who use to visit him during his imprisonment. Before his death, he wrote her a letter, which was signed by him saying, ‘from your Valentine’, an expression that is still in use in this generation.

Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasise his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and most importantly, a romantic figure. It’s no surprise that by the middle ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France and recognised all over the world. But today’s generation has changed the meaning of this magical day.

This generation has its own meaning of love and believes in materialistic things for illustrating its love. This generation has turned this special day into a theme party, expensive gifts, flowers and chocolates. But the actual meaning of Valentine’s Day has been lost somewhere. It is the young generation, which has changed the meaning.

After a short survey, we found that there are many youngsters as well as the young at heart who have planned a great Valentine’s Day.

Varun, 23, a student dedicating a loving message for his loved one before surprising her with a party, says, “If a day had 36 hours I would spend 12 picking you flowers, if we had 48, life would surely be great, and if it were 72? I’d climb a mountain just to tell the world I love you, but...all we have is 24, which means I’ll keep the message short, and simply spend every precious hour with you, today and forever.”

Where as Sharlinder, 63, a businessman dedicating a loving message for his loved one before taking her out for a small dinner, says, “Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end.” The meaning of both messages resembles ‘love’ but the generation gap shows in both the messages with its words and the planning.

The survey doesn’t end here. Many approvals and disapprovals have also come out of it. Some grown ups say Valentine’s Day has nothing to do with poems or chocolates, as the history of mid-winter celebration of love is named after St Valentine, who died a horrible martyr’s death centuries ago.

But some say, this day is meant for celebration in respect of the sacrifice, which St Valentine had made for love. No matter who thinks what about this special day, for many years, Valentine’s Day has been celebrated as the day for lovers.

This day is for celebrating love, the most beautiful feeling in the world. Lucky are those who are loved and cared for. So why not celebrate this special day with your loved ones and show them what they mean to you by expressing your feelings to them. So have a great and an enjoyable Valentine’s Day.

I have a personal relationship with God!! JJ Valaya

JJ Valaya is the guru of Indian fashion industry is a self-made man. As a big believer of God and India?s premier fashion designer, he has earned a name for his extraordinary designs that have charmed the world for over a decade.

THE GREAT Indian cum International designer JJ Valaya was born and raised in the great city of Jodhpur in Rajasthan. His actual name is Jagsharan Jeet Singh Ahluwalia. He has gained popularity and respect all over the world as one of the most original and inspired designers of India. Here, he is in a candid conversation with Merinews…

How far have you travelled as a designer in the last 10 years?

The House of Valaya began as a dream in a small room with three people and is now a 350-strong company and a recognised brand. As a designer my style has changed according to the needs of my clients. As a person, I have learnt that hard work, dedication and a great relationship with God, goes a long way to achieving success.

Are you content with what you have achieved?

I am very happy with our achievement in the last decade. However one synonym of contentment is complacency. Instead of resting on my laurels, I believe in striving for growth and improvement.

Has the Indian fashion industry shown positive growth in the last 10 years?

Yes. Indian designers are beginning to be recognised internationally and the industry has expanded significantly. Earlier the fashion scene concentrated just on women. Men’s fashion today reaches beyond high society to the masses. Glamour and sensuality is the call of the day.

You are known for opulence. Why is everything larger than life for you?

The objective is not to create a mere garment but an heirloom, which can be passed down from generation to generation. The opulence and grandeur of royalty is interwoven into each timeless piece. Also I’m sure I was a royalty in my last birth…a reclusive royalty!

Do you design differently for the western market?

The western market appreciates the handcraft quality in our garments. The fact that a simple garment could take upto six months to make fascinates the automated western mind. Except for the silhouettes, the nature of our designs, embroideries and embellishments remain the same for our clients overseas.

Who buys JJ Valaya outfits in India and abroad?

Just about everyone with a passion for timeless elegance.

How is Studio Valaya different from your couture line?

Studio Valaya is our diffusion label, a simpler line with a more wearable and accessible look. Whereas the JJ Valaya couture collection continues to define the trends for the season, the diffusion line evolves the same trends into a watered-down, cleaner and more affordable look.

Name some women and men who have worn you clothes?

Amongst others, Valaya has been worn by…the AL-Sabah Family of Kuwait, the Royal families of UAE, Shekhar Kapoor, Joseph Fiennes, Cate Blanchett, Mahima Chaudhry, Neelam Kothari, Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor, Jackie Shroff and the Countess Marchesa of Genoa.

Tell us a bit about your other passions?

I like shooting people and generally beautiful people with some imperfections. Too beautiful is actually too boring. I only shoot my own collections and people that interest me. My second passion is painting. I also love good food, good movies and interiors.

Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

Happy and more successful…(smiles), in that order. Besides launching a third label, there are some major plans in the offing, only time will tell.

What does JJ stand for?

It’s a long story… All this started after I completed my studies from NIFT and wanted to start my own label. Then I realised the name Jagsharan Jeet Singh Ahluwalia, which is my real name was not ‘fashionable’. I worked around the letters of my name and came up with JJ Valaya. That did the job; I designed the monogram and it is now the trademark of a JJ Valaya garment. So now you know the secret (smiles).

If you have to describe yourself, how would you do so?

I am a very private person. If I had my way, I would be a loner. I live in my own world, where I like to spend a lot of time with myself. I have a beautiful relationship with God but it is very personal. God is the only one allowed into my cocoon. He is the only one I really get along with.

Where does JJ Valaya go from here?

I haven’t a clue. The parody lies in whether I should understand myself or understand the world. What is important is that I am happy.

I wanted to be a university teacher: Berger Paints MD

In an interview with Merinews, Subir Bose, managing director of Berger Paints, talks about his life, the Indian paint industry and the company that he leads. We also questioned him regarding the use of lead in Indian paints.


SUBIR BOSE, managing director of Berger paints tells us about how he wanted to be a university teacher but landed up being the leader of Berger paints. He talks about his experiences of life as a husband, as a proud father and the managing director of Berger paints.

How often do you take break from your busy schedule?

My busy life doesn’t allow me much of a break. It’s very rare…like once a year.

How do you spend your leisure time?

Since I am not staying with my sons, I and my wife relish going to the United States and spending quality time with them. We hang out, visit places, go for shopping, etc.

Tell us something about your family – what is your wife doing? Tell us about your children.

My lovely wife Chandrika is a housewife, who enjoys her time reading, she loves to listen to classical music and she sings as well. And I’m a proud father of two sons. The elder, Abhishek, is a doctor. He is also doing his masters in internal medicines from United States and the younger son, Abhinav has joined Microsoft recently after completing masters in computer engineering, from United States. Both stay in the USA.

Since you have two sons staying abroad, do you, at any point of time, feel a void and wish them to be staying with you?

Yes, I do miss them. But like everybody, they also have the right to making their career in whatever field they are interested in. They always wanted to settle down abroad and I supported them. I know they are happy with their lives there and we do meet every year, at least once.

Was being in the field you are at present your only dream?

Ah… Well, no! I wanted to be a teacher in some university and thus, be a part of the academics. I did B Tech in chemical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) and masters in business administration from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A).

But the initial stages of my life created such circumstances that I landed up here. But I am happy for what I am today!

With Indian economy growing in leaps and bounds, how do you see the growth in the paint industry?

The paint industry has been growing by more than 12-13 per cent each year on account of the growth of the Indian economy. Normally the growth of the paint market is about 1.5 times the percent GDP growth. It is expected that the paint market would continue to grow well in the years ahead based on the strong growth of the Indian economy.

What does Berger offer to the Indian customers?

Berger offers to its customers value for money products at the lower end of the market and innovative products like designer finishes illusions and Berger weather all guard and rangoli easy clean for discerning customers.

There are studies, which shows that lead is found in paints in India? Is that true?

Indian paint association is working with concerned government departments to set up required guidelines regarding use of lead based compounds in paint formulations.

What is your company doing to provide safe paints to customers?

That’s what I said, Indian paint association is working with concerned government departments to set up required guidelines regarding use of lead based compounds in paint formulations.

Lead is banned in rest of the world. Do you think that the same has been stopped from being used in India?

My answer is the same as above…

Are you a morning person or an evening one?

I am strictly a morning person. I get up at 5:15 am everyday without any stop. And my schedule includes going for a walk, followed by some exercises at home.

What’s your favorite stress-buster?
Listening to music, watching television and indulging in some silent reading.

India celebrates its 59th Republic Day

As the nation celebrates its 59th Republic Day, the country?s rich culture and its heritage were showcased on the Rajpath. The astounding extravaganza, imbued in the colours of our nation, marched on into another year of our Republic.

USING THE colours of our nation, the parade was the national fête, marching down the street connecting splendid Rashtrapati Bhavan and India Gate as President Pratibha Patil took the customary 21-gun salute.

It was amazing, as the soldiers in battle regalia, sparkling show of air power, impressive floats depicting the diverse culture, the country’s prized armament and hundreds of colourfully-dressed dancing school children were part of the parade.

As the march-past continued and was watched by thousands of visitors, among them the French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the chief guest, Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the country’s top political and military brass besides the diplomatic community.

As the parade began, the Prime Minister, defence minister AK Antony and chiefs of army, navy and air force laid wreaths at Amar Jawan Jyoti, the war memorial at the India Gate where an eternal flame burns in memory of those who gave their lives during the first world war.

If we talk about the security, around 20,000 security personnel were deployed across the city while the commandos of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Delhi Police kept vigil at important locations of Delhi.

For ground-to-air security, the army put equipments in place in the national capital for the intelligence to be cautious about possible strikes.

President Patil and her French counterpart arrived at the Rajpath, escorted by the President’s bodyguards riding horses and as well as in cars.

The parade was lead by general officer commanding major general KJS Oberoi. It was amazing to see the different kind of colours, projecting each and every beautiful state of India.

The most incredible view was, when the army showcased its incredible armoury before the nation with indigenously developed frontline T-90 battle tanks, the Indian version of Brahmos and surface-to-surface Agni missiles making its maiden appearance at this year’s Republic Day parade.

The Israeli-upgraded 155 MM artillery guns made their first appearance at this year’s parade accompanied with Dhanush missiles and the long-range Smerch rocket system.

Other defence equipments displayed by the Army include the BLT T-72 (the Bridge Laying Tanks), 155 SOLTOM guns, Tanguska air defence gun system, Sarvatra bridge, mobile network connect centre, infantry combat vehicle - BMP II K and the carrier mortar tracking vehicle.

Each and every thing in parade was magnificent but the most heart-rending moment was when the tearful relatives of major Dinesh Raghu Raman, captain Harshan and naib subedar Chunilal received the Ashok Chakra, posthumously awarded to the brave soldiers, from Patil.

Republic day is celebrated with much fanfare each year, using a different theme and colour every year. This time around also, it was a different one. It was an amazing and excellent experience seeing the parade ‘live’ out here.

Britney Spears breaks up with her boyfriend Adnan Ghalib

Britney loves to be in news, and the latest news is that the pop star has dumped her paparazzo beau Adnan Ghalib, and she also seems to severe all links with Ghalib and seems to have wiped out all his memories and time spent with him.

TOXIC GIRL, Britney Spears seems to have moved on from her paparazzo beau Adnan Ghalib. According to sources, when she was asked, if she has any message from her ex-boyfriend Ghalib, she replied, “I don't know who is Adnan Ghalib...I have never met him before.”

Spear's comment was recorded outside the Millennium Dance Studios in Burbank, and was then reported that the couple have parted. The sources even claim that she has not only dumped Ghalib but also filed a restraining order against him. People say that he must have done something really bad which irked her.

According to her friends, Spears found out that Ghalib was making money out off his knowledge of their jaunts together and he tipped off his colleagues as to where the couple would be so that they could get exclusive pictures. If Britney had listened earlier from her friends and done as advised. As reported earlier, Spears' best friend ‘Alli Sims’ had given his views on Ghalib, “I do not think Adnan is a good person. I think he only has bad intentions. He has given me a weird feeling and creeped me out. I wish he would just go away.”

Now she really needs to be careful, when it comes on choosing a spouse for herself or else she will keep on ending up with break ups.

Earlier, Britney’s break-up with her ex-husband, dancer Kevin Federline had made her life miserable and also had a dent on her image worldwide. But her problems don’t end here, as she recently failed her latest bid to regain the right of custody of her two young sons. The troubled pop star, whose personal life has veered out of control in the last 12 months had in a previous decision lost the custody of sons Sean Preston and Jayden James in October, though she was allowed to see them three times a week in visits monitored by the court.

America's famous chess player, Bobby Fischer is no more

Bobby Fischer, the US chess genius, who defeated Soviet Union's best player at the height of the Cold War to become the only United States world chess champion took his last breath at a hospital in Reykjavik, Iceland.

FISCHER DIED at the age of 64, of kidney failure at a hospital in Reykjavik, Iceland after a long surfing infirmity.

It was in Reykjavik around 1972 that Fischer overcame Boris Spassky in a two-month match that fascinated the global sports lovers. At one point, Fischer even requested that the match should be relocated to some other room, which is not much bigger, as he was disturbed by the sounds of the media people.

Fischer's defeat to Spassky was a world-shattering moment in the international sporting world, as Fischer described, “This little thing between me and Spassky, as no less than the free world against lying, cheating, hypocritical Russians and a microcosm of the whole world political situation.”

Fischer arrived in Iceland just hours before the match was to begin on July 11, 1972, and made unusual mistakes that led to Spassky’s success in the first game. But Fischer resumed his complaints, as the cameras in the competition hall bothered him. Match organisers rejected his trick when he refused to play, and Spassky was awarded the second game as Fischer surrendered.

Due to Fischer's insistence, the third game was moved to a smaller room and transmitted to the live audience via closed-circuit cameras. Astonishingly, Fischer won the game and never looked back.

Many ups and downs took place, but stopped Fischer form becoming the world chess champion. I remember years back, I watched the film on Bobby Fischer. He was a legendary chess player or probably the greatest chess player of the world. His death has created a void in the sports world.

He worked individually, studying and researching alone, practicing and playing against himself unlike the well-prepared Soviet players who were backed by teams of strategists.

Fischer often sported a long, disheveled beard and a baseball cap. In 1981, he was arrested mistaken for a bank robber in California. He was even assaulted by police, but released later.

Fischer was also arrested in 2004 at a Japanese airport, accused of trying to leave the country on a canceled passport. He was detained for eight months. After considering his banishment to the United States, the government sent him to Iceland in 2005, where he was offered citizenship.

Fischer went through a lot of trauma after his comment given in an interview with a Philippine radio station in the wake of 9/11. Fischer had praised the terror attacks and said he wanted to see America "wiped out".

Chess master Ray Keene told Sky News about Fischer, "I think the best way to remember him is as a genius of the chessboard.” Well, I guess this is what we should think and remember him as the world’s greatest chess player.

Fischer’s death will always keep the chess lovers in grief, as a loss of a great champion of chess.

Amisha Patel finally breaks-up with Vikram Bhatt!

Amisha Patel?s live-in relationship may not have worked for long, as Vikram Bhatt and Amisha have finally called it off. Though it?s happy news for Amisha?s parents, Amisha seems unfazed and is slated to have moved on to newer pastures.

BOLLYWOOD’S WRITER and director, Vikram Bhatt and bollywood actress Amisha Patel may have finally called it off, but Asha and Amit (parents of Amisha) are very content with the news. According to them Amisha’s decision of breaking off with Bhatt is right.

As we all know, that few years back Amisha broke her relationship with her family and started living with Bhatt, but after the break-up with Bhatt, Asha and Amit are ready to accept her back, if only Amisha decides to return. As Asha tells the media, “Amisha is my daughter and she is gratis to come back. In fact, she is more than welcome.”

However it is still a sensitive issue, as none of them has contacted each other and when asked Asha, “Why should I call her? She should call me!” I guess the ego game is on.

As per Asha, she got to know about the break-up news from the newspapers. “We didn’t know that she had split with Bhatt. We have just returned from Dubai and have read about it now.”

She is not the only one who is delighted about the news but she even reveals that her relatives and family-friends are relieved about the break-up. “I have been flooded with calls ever since I landed. Everybody is happy about the break-up.”

Asha even said that, they knew it would not last for long. “Everybody knew it was a blunder. It should be evoked that Vikram left his first wife for actress Sushmita Sen. People used to ask me why Amisha was doing this. But she is a grown-up girl and I have left it to her to identify, what is a real life all about.”

Apparently, Amisha and Vikram have split ever since a new man entered in Amisha’s life, a UK-based businessman, Kanav Puri, who was earlier dating model- turned actress Priya Sachdev Chatwal.

If sources are true, Amisha had met Kanav at a party, which happened in Delhi few months back. After that, they became great friends, and soon their friendship transformed into love. The two have been seen together at many parties and nightclubs.

Britney doesn?t mind converting herself to Islam!

Britney?s love for paparazzi boss Adnan Ghalib, has made her agree to get herself convert to Islam, just to marry him. She has resorted to this either to remain in the limelight or else she?s been in so much trouble that she?s unable to think sanely.

THE TROUBLED pop star Britney Spears is supposedly so much in love with her new Muslim man, that she’s considering converting to Islam just to marry him. These days she is having many crazy ideas in her mind. Like, counterfeiting her own death, in order to reinvent herself.

According to her friends, “She’s been discussing all these crazy plans to reinvent her life. She has discussed in intensity a fake death, moving abroad and even getting her plastic surgery done. It is scary to hear her romanticise about these foolish plans. She believes she could spend six months away and make a comeback as Britney, the best mother in the world.”

Spears has spread the news of Ghalib, the 35-years-old paparazzi being an important person in her life. She apparently told a skeptical relative over the phone, “We’re taking care of each other. He’s the only one who understands me. It’s serious.”

According to one of her concerned pal, “She’s a woman teetering on the edge of a cliff. She’s susceptible and he’s (Ghalib) taking advantage of her.”

A close pal revealed that the troubled singer wants the ceremony to be conducted by a minister from the Church of Scientology, adding that her whole kin is in a state of shock. Britney is said to have declared her exciting news last week on a beach in Mexico, where she fled by private jet with her soon to be better half, Ghalib.

Spears, who has been married twice before, is believed to be obstinate on getting hitched with Ghalib, despite several warnings from her close friends and aides. She has been told that it would be an act of lunacy to marry this man. She says that she’s doing it and she doesn’t give a damn to what anyone thinks, an insider says.

Chocolates may cause bone cancer

We have vegetarians and non-vegetarians, egg-eaters and egg-haters, but one thing that is loved, craved as well as munched by everybody is a bar of luscious chocolate! But a recent study has developed that eating chocolates may cause bone cancer.


CHOCOLATE IS the universal language of friendship and love. It is the only word that surpasses all the barriers of age. When it comes to chocolates, age is no bar to have a ‘bar’! From a child to an elderly person, all like it. I am a chocolate freak, and I have seen many people who are no less then me. And what’s more, choco-a-la-carte, known as chocolate at present, is also a source of keeping you passionate and relaxed, depending on person to person.

But researchers have found out that chocolate may not be so great for your bones. According to the health specialist, a good diet is very important for the growth of a person, for the prevention of osteoporosis and fractures. Chocolates are very rich in falconoid. Studies have recommended that it’s not good for the bones. However, they also hold excess of oxalate, which could block the absorption of calcium and sugar that can boost calcium excretion.



In an investigation upon chocolate’s effect on the bones, Australian researchers examined 1,001 women aged 70-85 years, who were participating in a study of calcium supplementation and fracture risk. Bone mass and energy were calculated by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA scan), computed tomography (CT scan) and quantitative ultrasonography. Next, frequency of chocolate ingestion was evaluated through a survey and classified into three categories: more than once a week, 1–6 times a week and once a day.


After the research, it was found that the aged women who consumed chocolates daily had a three per cent lower bone density than those having it less than once a week, as well as had weaker bones in the heel and tibia, or shin bone, on an average.


Women, who consumed chocolate every day weighed less and, compared to the average women, had a lower body mass index (ratio of height to weight).Regular chocolate eaters consumed the same amount of fresh fruit and vegetables as those who ate chocolate less often. And they had no more saturated fats, sugar or carbohydrates with less protein, starch, fibre and potassium.Chocolate eating habits made them consume more calories and had a higher socio-economic status. The rapport between heavy chocolate consumption and lower bone density remained the same after acknowledging the above factors. The effect may be connected with a module of chocolate you consume, rather than a connected lifestyle or dietary factor.

The regular chocolate consumption may increase the menace of osteoporosis and fractures, thus affirming further research to back up or refute the relationship.

Can the most beautiful Indian woman be a nightingale too?

Jodhaa (Aishwarya) has a sweet little secret - the ability to sing. This was discovered by none other than Ashutosh Gowariker, the director of the movie, Jodhaa Akbar. This hidden talent though could not be utilised in the movie.

JODHAA AKBAR is a sixteenth-century love story about a marriage alliance that gave birth to true love between a great Mughal emperor and a Rajput princess, but in the trailers and as well as stories from what we got to know about Jodhaa Akbar, there was a news, which was hidden but revealed later by AR Rahman. The news about Aishwarya Rai’s singing ability. Yes, it’s true. We all know about Aishwarya’s beauty but it was Ashutosh Gowariker, who saw the beauty of Aishwarya within. He discovered the budding talent of Aishwarya.

It was music composer Rahman who gave away the sweet little secret of Aishwarya, at the music launch of Jodhaa Akbar. As according to Rahman, “There is an interesting story behind the song called Mana Mohana (song devoted to Lord Krishna) in the film, which is sung by singer Bela Shende. Initially Gowariker wanted Aishwarya to dub for the song, as he believed that she could sing the tune splendidly. However our dates never worked out. When Ash was ready I was busy recording something else and vice versa. The co-ordination didn’t happen. So Bela went ahead and sang this wonderful song.”

He added, “Also I have sung one song myself, which is called Khwaja Mere Khwaja, a prayer which is regularly sung at Ajmer Sharif durgah. I had composed the song for myself much before Jodhaa Akbar was conceived! I just happened to make Gowariker hear the song. He loved it and said he wanted the song in the film,” added the music composer, who is all set to launch his music school soon.
The sounds and songs are very contemporary, the music is simple - mainly instruments and vocals and there are no flashy use of sounds. The movie itself is surrounded with superstars; if you think Jodhaa Akbar just belonged to the Bachchan bahu and Hrithik Roshan, then I guess you are wrong.

The film also has reel life Jodhaa’s real life father-in-law, Amitabh Bachchan in it. You will not see him but hear him in the film as he is all set to give a voiceover to the film, the way he did for Gowariker Oscar-nominated Lagaan.

As Bachchan says, “Ashu included me in the cast and crew of Jodhaa in his speech. This is a little unfair for others as I am just giving a voiceover to the film. My association with Ashu goes back to Lagaan where I did the same. Lagaan did very well and I am sure Jodhaa Akbar will also repeat its success. My work in Jodhaa hasn’t started as yet.”
Well, the love hidden deep below bitterness and extreme chauvinism in Jodhaa Akbar is there for all to see, I am sure the untold love story would turn out to be a big hit.