What do teens read?

Anuradha Varma, TNN, Oct 24, 2010

Indian teens are hooked to Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter and the Twilight series, but are reluctant to explore Indian authors.

LAST year, 15-year-old Ritisha Mishra from Kolkata launched an online petition to have the film version of New Moon released in India, attracting over 1,700 signatures. The fan of authors JK Rowling, Paulo Coelho and Dan Brown was thrilled when it worked!

Indian teens, reluctant to try Indian authors, are hooked to titles from the West, which include chick-lit, teen sorceror Harry Potter and the now 'cult' Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer, where a young girl falls in love with a vampire.

Teen anguish and dysfunctional personalities have worked in the past too, when Catcher in the Rye's Holden Caulfied captured American imagination, having sold over 60 million copies worldwide since. More recently, it was teenage sorcerer Harry Potter that teens queued up to read about outside bookstores.

What makes young adults read? While many grow up on fairytales and epics, they quickly graduate to popular fiction. Like 15-year-old Ankit Jain, who has sampled Sherlock Holmes and Huckleberry Finn and moved on to Chetan Bhagat's One Night @ The Call Centre and 2 States. Adds 12-year-old Soniksha Venkatesh, "I like reading vampirebased novels, like The Twilight Saga and House Of Night. The story is fascinating and gets very exciting as it unfolds." She hasn't tried any Indian authors yet.

Indian writers have tried to cater to the teen mindset too, but have had limited success. A couple of years ago, Shobhaa De commented when she launched S's Secret, "Clothes and what to wear is a constant battle. And of course, there are crushes and heartbreak." Salman Rushdie, who recently released Luka and the Fire of Life, was quoted in an interview as saying that children like dark stories and characters. "There's a 'Death' character in Luka, Nobodaddy, that I was concerned about. Milan (his son) wanted more of him."

Madhulika Liddle, author of The Englishman's Cameo, a detective novel set in the Mughal India of 1656 for ages 18 and above, says, "Fantasy stories made popular by writers like JK Rowling, Rick Riordan, P Kerr, Cornelia Funke, etc, seem to be extremely popular. Some Indian writers are edging towards that territory, for instance, Geeti Chandra's Summoning of the Fang. The range of literature open to children is much wider and more diverse today."

Samit Basu, author of Terror on the Titanic, set in 1912 and an adventure of The Morningstar Agency, starring a young Anglo-Indian man who can speak to animals, says, "In my head, I wasn't writing a book for children. A good book appeals to all ages."

What should Indian writers be aiming at when penning plots for teens? Author Subhadra Sengupta believes the books must address the issues that concern them. For her Foxy Four myst e r y series, she dealt with drugs in the first book and with religious tolerance in the second. She explains, "What works is a good plot and great writing. Ruskin Bond has never done vampires but kids adore his books."

She herself grew up reading "fabulous Bengali children's books and have taught myself to write by studying them. There is wonderful writing in Tamil, Marathi, Malayalam, I just wish someone would translate them."

Sonja Chandrachud, hailed as the Desi Rowling with her The Pearls of Wisdom — A Hilarious Hauntings Adventure which teems with eccentric vampires, nagas, wizards, djinns and witches, analyses, "The appeal of fantasy is by far stronger as it allows the reader to explore realms, issues and beliefs that are otherwise taboo...vampirism, witchcraft, sorcery and magic figure prominently as they have and will forever fascinate mankind."

However, we have a long way to go before we can catch up with the West in terms of popularity. Says Tapas Guha, illustrator of Satyajit Ray's Feluda Mysteries in comic book form, "Give teenagers interesting plots with great narratives, they'll lap it up. Also, people here love to ape the West...if the West likes it, we have to as well! Unfortunately, in India, nothing dynamic is happening in children's literature. That's why we are still stuck with revisiting the epics."

Series also do well with kids. According to Crosswords bookstore, the books most popular among teens are the series on Twilight, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Artemis Fowl, Princess Diaries, House Of Night, Diary Of A Wimpy Kid, Spook's Apprentice, Pretty Little Liars and the Bartimaeus Trilogy.

Adds Sivaraman Balakrishnan, manager - marketing, Crossword, "There's a surge in demand for fantasy, magic, supernatural story-based books. But along comes a series like Diary of A Wimpy Kid which documents a teenage boy's adventures in school. Overall, a good children's book is c h a ra c - terised by its richness in characters, writing styles and tones."

Books from the West also enjoy benefits of marketing, often accompanied by film tie-ins. Points out Subhadra, "The children's books scene is buzzing. Indian authors are as good as those in the West plus they talk about India. They just need to be promoted the way the West does it."

Says Siddhartha Sarma, who won the Vodafone Crossword Book Award for children's books for The Grasshopper's Run, "A fantasy novel is the surest way to get teens to read you. But historical fiction does generate interest, such as books by Geraldine McCaughrean. Children do seem to prefer authors from other countries. I suppose publicity makes a lot of difference. It will take some time for young adults today to reach beyond Harry Potter and Twilight and do some experimenting on their own."

It's time for authors to churn the plot and create some memorable characters!

Have your teens read these books?
Holes by Louis Sachar
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Go Ask Alice by Beatrice Sparks
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida by Victor Martinez
Dreamland by Sarah Dressen
The Haunting of Hiram by Eva Ibbotson
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
The Beast with Nine Billion Feet by Anil Menon
The Magic Store of Nu- Cham Vu by Shreekumar Varma

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/relationships/parenting/What-do-teens-read/articleshow/6802571.cms

What makes Rajinikanth the Boss?

Anuradha Varma, TNN, Oct 17, 2010

When Salman Khan did his turn as Chulbul Pandey in Dabanng, he was hailed as North India's Rajinikanth... till the real star decided to stand up and be counted.

And, how! His film Robot (Endhiran) released with an unheard of 2,000 prints worldwide at a Rs 160-crore budget and made Rs 950 million in the opening weekend.


Remarks trade analyst Taran Adarsh, "Rajinikanth is the ultimate star of the masses. It's not as if he's unaware of his stardom but he's warm, friendly and down-to-earth when you meet him. His humility shines through and this is what his fans pick up on."

In the South, which is given to hero worshipping its stars, the actor's larger-than-life persona is comparable only to MG Ramachandran, with his good guy image transcending from reel to real life. Analyses Tamil film writer Gnani Sankaran, "When MGR and Sivaji Ganesan vacated the film scene in late Seventies, Kamal moulded himself after Sivaji, who played unusual roles. Rajini fashioned himself after MGR, playing the do-gooder, Superman hero, protector of women and family values." He adds, "Tamilians have always been involved with the personality cult, since the days of the freedom movement. The personality cult is vital both in politics and cinema for commercial success. Here, the two are married!"

While onscreen, the 'Boss' (Thalaivar) Rajinikanth can split a bullet into two to kill villains, in real life, stands a man who greets guests to his daughter's wedding personally, accompanied by his wife. He could be the elderly, balding, dhoticlad father-next-door. As filmmaker Ram Gopal Verma tweeted, "A star requires great looks, good height, versatile acting, six-pack body, etc. And if one has none of the above he will become superstar Rajini."

Chennai-based film historian Theodore Baskaran believes Tamilians are prone to hero worship, from religious icons to politicians and actors. He, however, doesn't approve of the hype over Rajinikanth. According to him, MGR was the biggest star ever, as his loyal fan base translated into a strong constituency of votes too. "Rajinikanth's fans love him for what he portrays on screen."

However, that doesn't stop fans from turning out at 4 am to catch the first show of Rajinikanth's film, bathing his cutouts with milk, even beer and cola. A fan said on his object of worship, "He is not like any other actor. His biggest movie is out today and he is a superstar, but I am sure he is sitting at home calmly, without even caring to shave his beard. Such is his simplicity."

When Robot released, tongue-incheek sms-es went out proclaiming, "Robot released today. Rajinikanth gave The Times of India four stars." But, for the actor, his simplicity remains his calling card. Starting life as a bus conductor in Bangalore, Rajnikanth, who was born Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, is the son of Maharashtrian parents. His friend of over 40 years, Raj Bahadur and bus driver of Bangalore's Srinagara to Majestick route, on which the actor was the bus conductor, recalled in an interview, "Shivaji is compassionate and helpful. I have seen him getting out of his car if he sees an old person on the street and give him thousands of rupees. He does all that silently without anyone knowing."

California-based Kamla Bhatt, who hosts an online radio show, analyses the phenomenon, "He always identifies with the underdog and that is a winning formula in Tamil films."

No wonder that he is being hailed as the biggest Asian star after Jackie Chan, particularly after he was paid Rs 26 crore for Sivaji, the Boss. Bachchan, Rajini's co-star of Andha Kanoon, Giraftar and Hum, has generously accepted that the nature of Rajini's fans is incomparable. It's the nature of the fans, he believes, that creates the phenomenon that is Rajinikanth. Adds DT Cinemas director and business head Anant Verma, "His fans make every movie a hit. In North India, you don't have fans who watch a star's movie 15 times, unlike in the South. The fan loyalty is way beyond that for any Bollywood star, including Shah Rukh Khan."

This was also the man who was rejected for marriage as the girl found him "dark, plump and not good looking". As Gayathri Srikanth, ophthalmologist-turned-Rajini biographer said, "He grew up motherless, and had a very bad childhood. Later on, he had to work as a coolie, then a bus conductor and lastly became the superstar. How many people have the guts to come out and say that they have had a nervous break down, had many vices, etc? Not many own up their mistakes, but this man does."

It's this vulnerability that probably connects him to his fans too!

Famous Rajinikanth-isms:
Rajinikanth's larger-than-life persona has given rise to many good-hearted jokes around the man ...

Rajinikanth once kicked a horse in the chin. Its descendants are today called giraffes.

Rajinikanth once ordered a plate of idli in McDonald's, and got it.

Rajinikanth leaves messages before the beep.

Rajinikant is so fast, he can run around the world and punch himself in the back of the head.

Rajinikant doesn't wear a watch. He decides what time it is.

 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/What-makes-Rajinikanth-the-Boss/articleshow/6762996.cms

Fun doctors!

Anuradha Varma, TNN, Sep 19, 2010, 11.29am IST

When UK's Bedfordshire University awarded actor Shah Rukh Khan an honorary doctorate, his former friend-turned-foe Salman Khan quipped, "Arre iss doctor ke paas patients bhejo aur ilaaj karao," (Send patients to this doctor)." Well, Shah Rukh isn't the only doctor-entertainer around.

Yash Chopra, Amitabh Bachchan, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Akshay Kumar and even Shilpa Shetty have all been conferred honorary doctorates. Recently, Rishi Kapoor was honoured with a knighthood from Russia.

However, it's less academics and more economics that makes for such news. Sachin Tendulkar recently made a charming photo-op dressed in the Indian Air Force uniform as he was made honorary Group Captain. He would function as the Forces' brand ambassador, said a spokesperson. But, couldn't he have done that without being made Group Captain?


It's also a way to get a celebrity brand endorsement cheap. Says adman Santosh Desai, "A celebrity gets associated with a cause without having to be paid. It's a win win situation for both. If done meaningfully, it goes beyond crude commercial benefits.

However, it does become a joke at times." Columnist Pritish Nandy believes we must clear our perceptions about who deserves what and why, "The idea of giving a Bharat Ratna to Sachin (as recommended by the Maharashtra government), however great his sporting achievements may be, is not right. The Bharat Ratna is meant for people who have improved the life of millions, contributed to the making of a nation. Doctorates too are meant for great achievers, not entertainers."

It belittles the effort and accomplishment of others who worked hard for the same academic honour. It's not fair for doctorates to be doled out to stars who may have excelled, but certainly not in academics, says Iti Dandona, assistant professor in Delhi's Shivaji College. She says, "It takes three to five years of research to get a doctorate."

Debraj Mookerjee, associate professor, Ramjas College, believes there's a "brand connect" with Sachin, "It's a token acknowledgement. This is about promoting the IAF and not Sachin." He adds, "As long as Shilpa Shetty doesn't stop dancing and start teaching, all is well!"

Writer and columnist Shobhaa De says, "If Sachin's star power can motivate the youth to enlist in the Air Force, then his honorary title of a Group Captain would be entirely justified."

Why not just make the celebrity a brand ambassador, just like for a cola or any other brand? Isn't it time we decided to reserve awards for the fields they are meant for, like the Oscars for good cinema? Explains J A K Tareen, vice chancellor of Pondicherry University, which conferred a doctorate on Javed Akhtar, "It is the tradition in universities to recognise outstanding personalities in several walks of life — people who have made significant contribution in their field and which has impacted society in a substantive manner. Like we have honoured Somnath Chatterjee and Annadorai."

When chess legend Vishwanathan Anand declined his doctorate from the University of Hyderabad after his nationality was questioned, he wasn't missing much. After all, isn't being Anand good enough?

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Fun-Doctors/articleshow/6583843.cms

Are we warped?

I was talking to a friend about the Mahabharata — I don’t recall how the conversation began — and we reached the subject of Vidur. Oh yeah, she has just got a copy of Devdutt Pattanaik’s Jaya — A Retelling of the Mahabharata (a copy of which I’ve also sent my dad in Lucknow).

Well, she jogged my memory about Vidur, who is Dhritarashtra and Pandu’s half-brother I remembered how his mother was the maid who did not shrink in Ved Vyas’ presence (who I imagine was unshaven, unbathed, smelly and blah, blah!) and was thus blessed with a wise son. The other two, as we know, were blind and weak (read: impotent) respectively!


But that’s not the point… the point is, I read a book on Vidur definitely before I turned eight. I remember reading it when I was still in Kanpur, which we left when I was still seven years old.Hmmm… do I need to spell it out? Well, I don’t know if everybody else realizes it already, but it strikes me that as a child, my reading list — as of most others — made up of Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Panchatantra, etc. And, yes, weekly visits to the magazine stall in Bangalore where I picked up my regular dose of Superman, Spiderman, Indrajal and the occasional Mickey Mouse comics.

Besides the Amar Chitra Kathas, were the Enid Blytons, Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. And while Nancy Drew’s highpoint was her scarcely mentioned boyfriend Ned, and Asterix was accused of violence for tying up Cacophonix, the bard… nobody ever said a word about the epics. (I’m tempted to call them holy cows, but, remember Shashi Tharoor?!)

While reams have been written about Tom chasing Jerry and the effect of violence on kids, nobody ever objected when kids were being weaned on the deceptions, illegitimate children, polygamy, polyandry… you name it! Sita had to undergo a chastity test; Maneka was the ultimate seductress; Krishna married scores of women and for fun, would filch clothes of gopis as they bathed…. And so on. Even the fables, the Panchatantra, Tenaliram, Akbar-Birbal, etc spoke about adult problems… of a poor farmer chancing upon a bunch of gold coins, etc. The Gita also tells us that it’s okay to wipe out your entire extended family, provided you can find good reason.

Not that I’m complaining… but I’m amused at the irony. While we can discuss the family tree in Mahabharata with our entire khandaan — from the eldest to the youngest in attendance — try doing the same if the topic of conversation is Elizabeth Taylor’s eighth (?) husband, coz that’s trash!

Are we warped? I guess we must be!

Dreamcatchers!

Scary but true! There are those who claim to be able to enter our dreams and manage them. Anuradha Varma meets some dream creators

Can you enter a person’s dream? In Inception, actor Leonardo di Caprio, who plays an industrial spy, steals secrets when his victims are asleep by penetrating their dreams. The dream snatcher can even sow the seed of inception for an idea.


While the movie’s fiction, it may be grounded in fact. The New Scientist reports, “In the movie, the dream-snatchers use a drug called somnacin and a dream machine to upload a scenario into someone’s sleeping mind. This fictional dream machine is called a Portable Automated Somnacin IntraVenous device. A device does already exist that can effectively read someone’s mind. A functional MRI scanner takes snapshots of brain activity, and then the software recreates images of what the subject was looking at. The researchers say it has the potential one day to be able to record someone’s dream.” It reveals that dreams occur in both rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep, and non- REM sleep.

However, while sceptics abound, believers back up the theory. Mystic and tarot reader Veenu Sandal believes she can cure people through their dreams, using the technique of telementation, beaming out thoughts to positively influence them. She says, “All thoughts and experiences are stored in a person’s brain. It’s like watching television. Sometimes, the person wakes up and I have to start all over again. It’s an invasion of privacy and I do it only with permission.”

Entering another’s dream can have interesting results. Recalls Veenu, “A man passed a park three days ago and saw a couple getting romantic. In his dream, I saw him embark upon an affair with a colleague.” She gets best results between 1 am and 2 am.

Healer and psychic Venugopalan, aka Maitreya, believes free will plays an important role and an individual can reject a forced scenario if he wishes, even while dreaming. Transferring thoughts into a person’s mind is about connecting, even fusing with the other’s energy. He says, “If you go deep into a person’s dream, you can program his thoughts.”

Even Goa-based healer Patrick Sanfrancesco related, during a talk, how he wove a dream about cops busting a club, after the parents complained that their son was turning a compulsive gambler. After three nights of this, the young man stayed home!

Controlling dreams isn’t a new trend. In fact, Tibetan Buddhists use dream yoga to get nearer to the Absolute, through lucid dreaming, by comparing the illusion to the transitory nature of life.

In a lucid dream, a term coined by Dutch psychiatrist Frederik van Eeden, one is aware that one is dreaming. In his Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, published in 1913, he describes his experiments with dreams. He writes, “I dreamt that I was lying in the garden before the windows of my study, and saw the eyes of my dog through the glass pane. I was lying on my chest and observing the dog very keenly. At the same time, I knew with perfect certainty that I was dreaming and lying on my back in my bed. And then I resolved to wake up slowly and carefully and observe how my sensation of lying on my chest would change into the sensation of lying on my back.”

Dream researcher and psychologist at Harvard University, Deirdre Barrett has recommended, “You can tell yourself at bedtime that you want to dream on a particular topic — that you want to be lucid in your dream, realise you’re dreaming. People who have had bad nightmares may want to script a different outcome, a kind of mastery dream to replace the nightmares.” Enjoy more power over your dreams!

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/spirituality/self-help/Dreamcatchers/articleshow/6525350.cms

Raavan — Good or evil?

Anuradha Varma, TNN, Jul 4, 2010, 12.25pm IST Whether it’s burning his effigies during Dussehra, or watching Abhishek Bachchan’s machinations in Mani Ratnam’s film Raavan, the ancient villain of the epic Ramayana remains a metaphor for good against evil.


A scholar, scientist, musician and worshipper of Lord Shiva and Brahma, Raavan was the son of a Brahmin father and demon mother. According to Ranjan Singh, who directed the teleserial Raavan, “Raavan’s birth was a political ploy, as his grandfather wanted a child who would possess the intellect of a Brahmin and the might of an ‘asura’ to take over Lanka.” And while sage Vishrava taught his son the Vedas, Sumali, the demon grandfather, ensured the child didn’t forget his destructive roots. And, thus began the tussle of good and evil.

A child with 10 heads and 20 hands must have had a difficult time growing up, but Ranjan contends, “We found out during our research that he didn’t actually have so many heads and hands. It was a crystal necklace, a gift from his mother, which caused this reflection.”

As Raavan grew, he gained invincibility after a boon from Lord Brahma. Also a devotee of Shiva, as legend has it, Raavan once tried to uproot his abode Mount Kailasa and take it to Lanka for his mother. As an angered Shiva unleashed his wrath by trapping him under it, Raavan sang his praises till the God was appeased. He is also said to have torn a musical instrument out of the veins of one hand, using one head as the ‘resonator’. Says Delhi University lecturer Suneera Kasliwal, who has written a book on the subject, “This instrument is popular as the ravanhattha in Rajasthan and is considered the precursor of the violin.”

Research on the musical instrument and his book Finding the Demon’s Fiddle also took Amsterdam-based Patrick Jered to Sri Lanka, where the demon king is revered. He says, “During the course of my stay in India and Sri Lanka I came to have great respect for Raavan. The Raavan detailed in the Buddhist scripture, the Lankavatara sutra, is a wise and kind leader. He invited the Buddha to Lanka and learned from his wisdom. Among Mahayana Buddhists, Raavan is seen as a benign and wise king who attained enlightenment through the teaching of the Buddha.”

The evil despot and Rama’s bête noire, has books on medicine and science to his credit, presided over a contented and prosperous Lanka and had an army of ‘aeroplanes’, such as the Pushpak Vimana in which he abducted Sita, Lord Rama’s consort, sparking off the events leading to his death. He has even figured as the dark spirit, who may be resurrected to wreak destruction in the book Resurrecting Ravana in the American series Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. In the 19th century, poet Michael Madhusudan Dutta’s poem The Slaying of Meghnad portrayed Raavan as a hero.

Sri Lankan Neil Kiriella, who authored Historical Rawana doesn’t consider the Ramayan a mythology, but history, which occurred at least 7,500 years ago. He says, “Raavan is respected in Sri Lanka as he was our king. However, most Sri Lankans don’t appreciate the abduction of Sita. It should be noted that the Rakshasa clan were vegetarians and teetotallers.”

Actor Ravi Kissen, who played ‘Raavan’ Abhishek Bachchan’s brother in the film, says, “Raavan taught me what not to do. The lesson is of not coveting another’s wife and of not giving in to one’s ego and remaining humble.”

A split personality, he was someone power had corrupted. As theatreperson Jalabala Vaidya, who has staged several editions of the Ramayana over the years, says, “He was overwhelmed by power. He had attended Sita’s swayamvara, where he lost her to Rama and had an eye for her ever since. He believed that no woman could resist him, and that’s why he never tried to force himself on Sita.”

A case of brilliance gone wrong, he became an agent of his own destruction. Raavan also became Ram’s guru, when the latter sat at his feet and asked for his teachings as he lay dying. The demon king said, recounts mythologist and author Devdutt Pattnaik, “Things that are bad for you seduce you easily; you run towards them impatiently. But things that are actually good for you fail to attract you; you shun them creatively, finding powerful excuses to justify your procrastination. That is why I was impatient to abduct Sita but avoided meeting you. This is the wisdom of my life, Ram. My last words. I give it to you.”

And, thus, good finally triumphed over evil, even within the King of Lanka!

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Raavan-_-Good-or-evil-/articleshow/6127025.cms

In Bollywood, everyone’s related!

Anuradha Varma, TNN, Jun 14, 2009, 10.37am IST Is Aishwarya Rai Bachchan related to Mithun Chakravorty? Did you know Mithun shared a connection with the Kapoors through his wife Yogeeta Bali… as do the Bachchans?


Not to mention that Yogeeta’s ex-husband Kishore Kumar’s sister was Kajol’s grandmother! Connect the dots!

The Kapoors, of course, are related to directors Manmohan Desai and Ramesh Sippy. And, while Hrithik is related to his wife’s brother Zayed Khan and first cousin Fardeen Khan, the links stretch to sweep Tabu into the family too.

While Sanjay Dutt’s sister Namrata is married to Kumar Gaurav, Rajendra Kumar’s son, he also shares a rumoured ‘illegitimate’ connection with the first family of India, the Gandhis!

Kajol, besides being Nutan’s niece, also has 1950s actress Nalini Jaywant as an aunt, shares film historian Dinesh Raheja. He adds, “As for Kareena Kapoor, her mother Babita’s cousin was Sadhana — the heartthrob of the 60s. It was Babita’s father who introduced Sadhana to Bollywood.”

Raheja reveals that director Kalpana Lajmi’s mother was Guru Dutt’s sister. Lajmi isn’t sure of a family connection with Deepika Padukone, but suggests it’s possible, as Guru Dutt’s original surname was Padukone. “The Padukones belong to a small community of Saraswat Brahmins forced to migrate from Kashmir,” she says.

Welcome to Bollywood, where everyone’s related! Author and critic Anupama Chopra says, “Yes, it’s not even six degrees of separation. Did you know that Mahesh Bhatt is related to Dharmesh Darshan?” Bhatt confirms, “Dharmesh is my sister’s son. Emraan (Hashmi) and Mohit Suri are also my nephews.”
Author Madhu Jain says, “Tinnu Anand is also distantly related to Raj Kapoor, while Ramanand Sagar is related to Vidhu Vinod Chopra.” Anupama Chopra, married to Vidhu Vinod affirms, “Yes, they are half-brothers. Their father married Vinod’s mother after Ramanand’s mother expired.”

Here are some more filmi connections!

Hrithik, Fardeen… and Tabu too!
Hrithik is related to Fardeen and Zayed. But, did you know there is… rather, was… a family link to Tab u , whose sister Farah mar ried and later divorced D a ra Singh’s son. The strongman’s brother Randhawa is married to Mallika, sister of yesteryear actress Mumtaz, Fardeen’s m o t h e r- i n – l aw. Mallika’s son Shaad made his debut in Woh Lamhe. Tabu is also famously Shabana Azmi’s niece. Azmi is married to Javed Akhtar, whose ex-wife is Honey Irani, choreographer Farah Khan’s aunt. Javed and Honey’s children are directors Farhan and Zoya Akhtar.

Amrita, Saif, Kareena… AND Dilip Kumar!    
The legendary Begum Para was married to Dilip Kumar’s brother Nasir Khan. Their son Ayub Khan is an actor. Her niece Rukhsana Sultana was Amrita Singh’s mother. Amrita’s also writer and columnist Khushwant Singh’s niece.

Amrita Singh’s exhusband Saif is actress Sharmila Tagore’s son. Incidentally, Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor’s families were as close as brothers, according to Madhu Jain’s current reprint of The Kapoors, and came from the same side of town in Peshawar. In switching from Amrita to Kareena Kapoor, Saif has just gone from one side of the fence to the other!

Saira Bano, meanwhile, is the daughter of Naseem Banu and aunt to actress Shaheen, married to actor Sumeet Saigal.

Mithun, Yogeeta, the Kapoors, Manmohan Desai, the Bachchans & Ramesh Sippy!
Mithun Chakraborty’s wife Yogeeta Bali’s aunt was Geeta Bali, actor Shammi Kapoor’s first wife. This means Gen Now’s Mimoh (Mithun’s son), Kareena and Ranbir Kapoor are family! Shammi Kapoor’s daughter is wedded to filmmaker Manmohan Desai’s son Ketan Desai. Shashi Kapoor’s son Kunal Kapoor married Ramesh Sippy’s daughter. His brother Raj Kapoor’s daughter Ritu Nanda’s son Nikhil Nanda is married to Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan’s daughter Shweta. Ramesh Sippy, incidentally, is also director Rohan Sippy’s father and the son of producer GP Sippy. Raj Kapoor’s wife Krishna’s brothers were actors Premnath and Rajendranth. Manmohan Desai, when he passed away, was said to be engaged to yesteryear actress Nanda, the great-niece of filmmaker V Shantaram and daughter of actors Master Vinayak and Meenaxi. As for the other Kapoors… while Anil Kapoor’s father Surinder Kapoor was Geeta Bali’s secretary, the Kapoor families aren’t related. “We’re country cousins,” says Aditya Raj Kapoor, Geeta Bali and Shammi Kapoor’s son.

Sunil Dutt, Nargis and Nehru?
Motilal Nehru is rumoured to have been enamoured by Daleepabai, Allahabad’s famous courtesan. The outcome of their relationship was allegedly illegitimate daughter Jaddanbai, who gave birth to actress Nargis. Meghnad Desai, who researched for the star’s biography with wife Kishwar, has been quoted as saying that Jaddanbai even tied a rakhi to Nehru. If this is true, then cut to this generation… and Sanjay Dutt could be Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi’s uncle!

Naseeruddin, Ratna, Pankaj Kapoor… & Shahid!
Actor Naseeruddin Shah is married to actor Ratna Pathak. Her sister Supriya Pathak is married to fellow actor Pankaj Kapoor. Kapoor’s son from his first marriage to Neelima Azeem is actor Shahid Kapoor. Shah’s son Imaad has also made his Bollywood debut.

Kishore Kumar, Kajol, Rani: Chalti Ka Naam… Family!
The youngest of the Ganguly brothers, Kishore Kumar was married four times — to Ruma Guha Thakurta (related to Satyajit Ray), Madhubala, Yogeeta Bali and Leena Chandavarkar. His son is singer Amit Kumar.
His elder brother Ashok’s daughter is actress Preeti Ganguly, comedian Deven Verma’s wife. Ashok’s grand-daughter is actress Anuradha Patel.

His sister Sati married Sashadhar Mukherjee, and their son Shomu married Tanuja, actress Shobhna Samarth’s daughter and Nutan’s sister. While Kajol is Tanuja’s daughter, Nutan’s son is Mohnish Behl. Sati was also aunt-by-marriage to Ram Mukherjee, actress Rani Mukherjee’s father.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/More-Entertainment-Stories/In-Bollywood-everyones-related/articleshow/4654411.cms

‘Idiot’ is politically correct!

Anuradha Varma, TNN, Mar 21, 2010, 12.00am IST
Filmmakers win the battle with the censors for retaining risqué scenes, but dilute the dialogues in the subtitles, says Anuradha Varma


When Barbara Mori tells co-star Hrithik Roshan “Main ullu ki patthi hoon” in this summer’s release Kites, or when Dharmendra delivered his famous dialogue, “Kutte, main tera khoon pee jaoonga”, people all over the world could be reading it as “I’m an idiot” or “You’re a fool”.

Welcome to the world of subtitling… where filmmakers, who battle the censor board to get ‘objectionable’ scenes cleared, allow dialogues to be sanitised when it comes to subtitling. Says censor board member Nandini Sardesai, “As long as no word is inserted, there is no problem. The other day, I saw the word ‘shit’ written as ‘s***’… we wouldn’t have objected to that!” Vinayak Azad concurs, “It’s common sense, isn’t it? If it’s in the approved dialogue, why can’t it be in the subtitles? It’s self-censorship.”

Defends a spokesperson at HBO, “Some words or slang may be mild, but not read so proper, hence these are further edited in the subtitles to suit the sensibility of the medium.”

Most viewers are used to finding even words like “bitch” (Kambakkht Ishq) changed to “witch” or “jerk” turned to “idiot”. Says freelance writer Manoj Saral, “We automatically tone down abuses. For instance, ‘bastard’ will become ‘stupid, idiot or fool’ or a Hindi ‘gaali’ will be written as ‘Shucks!’ For the Middle East audience, even the word ‘jehad’ has to be changed to ‘righteous war’.” For Dev D, director Anurag Kashyap sat through the process, and tried to retain the spirit of the scenes.

Besides the demands of catering to a world audience, with regions like the Middle East that insist on conservative dialogues, tacky subtitles are also a result of the disorganised nature of the business. Comments filmmaker Pritish Nandy, “The people who do subtitling in India are not exactly conversant with English. They are good with Hindi, the original language of the film.”

Agrees Saral, “Anyone with a working knowledge of English can enter the field. A film is sometimes subtitled for Rs 1,000.” Says Devbrat Das of Words India, “For companies, it can be between Rs 5,000-Rs 50,000.”
Adds MS Sutar, of Future Works, in the business for nearly 35 years, “People like Ashutosh Gowarikar and Aamir Khan go into the details of the subtitles, but most don’t. We are regularly asked to do the job in 24 hours as the filmmaker wants to send his movie for a film festival.”

Explains Pritish, “We always subtitle a censored print. So there are no problems. We take a serious interest in subtitling our films when we send them to international film festivals or to overseas distributors. In fact, our overseas sales agents often work with us on the subtitling to ensure that the nuances of every region, every culture are correctly taken care of. However, in India, our distributors and those who lease the rights to our films take charge of subtitling and we allow them to. If they want our intervention, we work along with them. If they don’t, we let it be.”

There are filmmakers who retain the language, like Madhur Bhandarkar. He says, “My associate director oversees the subtitling process. From Chandni Bar to Jail, I have stuck to the dialogue, including abuses. For Traffic Signal, we worked with writer Nasreen Munni Kabir, so the scenes were accurately interpreted.”
Ishqiya director Abhishek Chaubey admits that it’s commercial considerations that ultimately rule. Having worked on Vishal Bhardwaj’s Omkara, he says, “We had to tone down profanities. An ‘adult’ film like Ishqiya would get a ‘15 and above’ rating in the UK and we don’t want to lose that audience.” However, between the rush for the box-office and film festivals, viewers are often left with tacky subtitles. Says Abhishek, “We had our subtitles once the script was locked, a year before the film released. Directors should get involved in their films. I’ve seen the audience in Europe lose interest because of the bad subtitles.”
Till then, it’s the audience that has to make do with watered down versions of films!

 Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5705833.cms

Get a piece of Bollywood!

ANURADHA VARMA, TNN, Jul 11, 2010, 12.00am IST
Care for some Bollywood kitsch? Wear it on watches, t-shirts, or pep up your living room, says Anuradha Varma


When Mangala Srinivas and Michael Wartmann married recently, they chose a hand painted Bollywood poster to celebrate the occasion, with themselves as Jodhaa Akbar. Dubai-based Mahesh K Balani chose a vintage Deewar poster as a wedding gift for his best friend. He says, “That’s his favourite movie. His jaw dropped to the floor when he saw it. It will go up in their living room once he and his wife are back from their honeymoon.”

Bollywood kitsch is no longer restricted to a few appearances on the runway, theme restaurants or weddings. It’s closer home, literally, with products designed to suit your bedroom or sport as a fashion accessory. The movement is propelled by designers, entrepreneurs and other Bollywood enthusiasts.

Mumbai-based Hinesh Jethwani, who holds a degree in computer engineering, put his outsourcing venture on the backburner and started Indian Hippy, providing hand painted customised Bollywood posters. He says, “I read a news report on billboard artists who were out of work because of posters going digital. I managed to source a few of these artists and decided to work with them to keep the art alive. Film posters may have served as advertising earlier, but today, they are considered art. We get orders from within India as well as NRIs.” Also part of their portfolio, are handpainted bags, clutch purses, wallets, etc, all handpainted with Hindi film motifs and costing Rs 5,000 upwards. Next on the list are wall murals and garages, which will soon get a kitsch facelift!

It was a similiar love for Bollywood billboards that fired designer Nida Mahmood’s imagination, as she got five former billboard artists together in her studio at Shahpur Jat in Delhi, to put together a collection of Bollywood-inspired shoes, wall-clocks, trunk tables, chests, notebooks, canvases, Gabbar jackets and blouses. “I love Don,” says Nida, who is an Amitabh Bachchan fan. She adds, “Bollywood kitsch is big. I have done two seasons of it and am tired, but there’s still a demand for it, particularly among tourists wanting to pick up souvenirs.” A tote bag from Nida’s New India Bioscope Co. comes for about Rs 4,500 while a trunk with Ab tera kya hoga Kaaliya emblazoned on it for Rs 40,000 upwards and a shrug for Rs 25,000.

Bollywood pop art is contemporary as well as vintage. For designer and painter Cimmaron Singh, a former stage actress, it’s been a six-year-old love affair with Bollywood. She combines street signs, calendar art and old cinema billboards to create watches, handbags, coasters, wall clocks, storage boxes, even silver jewellery, which can cost from Rs 800 to Rs 5,000. She recalls, “My first piece was a watch, where I used a vintage black and white Bollywood image. I wanted it to look old, something that had been handed down, rather than a shiny, new piece of metal. My watches are still bestsellers.”

Fashion designer-cum-mediaperson Nidhi Singh and ecopreneur Gaurav Gupta, meanwhile, formed Indigreen last year to put across a social message through kitsch. Last year, their theme was ‘Going green Bollywood style’ with cheesy lines and posters hand painted on t-shirts, tunics, belts and bags. For instance, a belt reads, “Piya tu ab to aaja, global warming se earth bahke, Ab to bacha ja!” Says Nidhi, “We are totally anti-prints! The poster art in all our collections is painted by former Bollywood poster painters. By paying them an artist’s fee, we are keeping this very Indian art alive and also making one of the most exclusive designs in the world. We have had some customers who buy the t-shirts to actually hang on their walls, once they are done wearing them!” While their limited edition Bollywood poster art tees cost between Rs 2,400-2,800, a dialogue tee comes for Rs 800-1200, and belts Rs 1,500-2,400. They retail in outlets like Kimaya in New Delhi and Tribal Route in Mumbai.

It’s time to wear your love of Bollywood on your sleeve, in your home or even on your car… that’s what the erstwhile Londoner and now New Delhi-based Julian Parr did three years ago when he devoted his old Ambassador’s exterior to movie memorabilia. His car, which he has fondly named Basanti, sports Amitabh Bachchan in Coolie, Mughal-e-Azam, Mother India, Rekha, and more! Julian was once stopped by the police for “commercial advertising on his vehicle”. “He recalls, “I asked them — What?! Advertising Mughal-e-Azam from the 1960s? My car sparks a lot of curiosity; many people stop to click pictures.” He isn’t going to change to any of the new movies anytime soon. He says, “Kites was dreadful, Raavan awful…”
Vintage sells, anytime!

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Life/Fashion/Trends/Get-a-piece-of-Bollywood/articleshow/6147165.cms

Be a Bollywood extra!

Anuradha Varma, TNN, Jun 28, 2010, 12.00am IST

For the Westerner or Indian abroad, getting some stardust as an extra in Bollywood is a dream come true, says Anuradha Varma


Want a piece of Bollywood? Become an extra. It’s great fun and requires minimal effort, blogs ‘Sydney Girl’, a foreigner who got the role of an extra in Bollywood. Hang out in Mumbai’s Colaba and at Café Leopolds, and sooner, rather than later, ‘scouts’ or “shady-looking men wearing sunglasses” will approach you and ask you to be in a film. “When you get to the cafe in the morning, there should be a big crowd of other Westerners waiting to be taken to the set on a bus.”

Grateful hopefuls write their responses, asking, “Do you get to dance?” She did, but even if most don’t, they are on for the ride of a lifetime.

On another set in Phuket, Thailand, ‘Fiddlehead’ blogs about a famous Bollywood action star “Akshar Kumar” who is “very tall, big and macho and always fussing with his hair.” Elsewhere, ‘Sitaji’ blogs with delight on spotting a group of long blonde-haired, mandolin-playing ‘extras’ in Kismat Connection, “It’s the kind of extra work that I’d be proud to do! Wouldn’t you?”

New Yorker Christine L Ka’aloa, who blogs as ‘Grrl Traveler’, got lucky when she responded to a casting call for ‘extras’ in the city, for Kurbaan, starring Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor. “I couldn’t resist,” says Christine, who has been “crazy” about Bollywood films ever since her sister got a DVD of Kal Ho Na Ho. Next on her list is to be a Bollywood dance extra!

She recalls, “The scene we shot was on a small boat touring around the Statue of Liberty, so everyone was treated a bit more like family. Everyone had to share the same space, even the stars! Yes, Saif and Kareena were in the same waiting room between takes. In Hollywood, crew are second in hierarchy to the stars and generally don’t interact with extras.”

New Zealander Mark W Beale, the author of The Highway, set in India, decided to become part of a Hindi film as research for his novel. He says, “While travelling in India, the films started to make sense, as I got to know the country. The exuberance, energy and humour were refreshing and attractive.”

He was in Pune when he decided to try his luck in Bollywood. “So I took the train to Mumbai and hung around Colaba. I was recruited that afternoon for a music video shooting for one night only. I asked the assistant director if I could get on a movie. Only if I was willing to go to a city called Pune, she said. I had to travel all the way to Mumbai for just 12 hours to get a job back in Pune.”

Mark found himself on the sets of The Legend of Bhagat Singh. He says, “Ajay Devgn was gracious enough to meet many of the extras and take photos. He had tremendous charisma. Extras are basically moving props, but Rajkumar Santoshi, the director, was patient with us. In one scene I had to run up to a tree, take cover and fire a pistol. I ran into the ‘tree’ – and it moved! It was a painted moving prop too. We did a retake on that one…” The food, he recalls, was a “surprisingly good buffet” and the pay, “about Rs 800 a day, and 2,000 if you had a line.”

Christine asserts, “Kurbaan was shot in New York and there were certain US standards to abide by. Non-union extras on a big budget feature in NYC make $75 per day, while in LA they make $50 per day.”
Starting from Mera Naam Joker to Lagaan, Kal Ho Na Ho, Swades, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna and My Name Is Khan, foreigners have graced the background to add to the authenticity of foreign locales. In fact, a group of five Karan Johar fans, all of Indian origin, who started a website to “stalk” the director, also got lucky when they were cast as extras in MNIK.

San Francisco-born Leena Kamat, an attorney and Bollywood singer-songwriter, used her stalking skills via Twitter to discover the hotel Karan was putting up at in the city. Some more investigation led to the group dropping off their CVs for a casting call. Says Leena, “I got to learn how acting really is hard work, even for extras, as we had to wait for long periods in the sun for many technicalities to be taken care of.”

Recalls her friend and fellow ‘stalker’ Ashish Chand, “In one particular scene, Karan stood right in front of me to direct the scene. If I had any breath in my lungs at that moment, I would have been breathing down his neck. Being called to the front of the crowd to stand right next to Shah Rukh Khan for a scene is something I’ll never forget for as long as I live.” He adds, “How many people around the world can say they got to act with SRK and Kajol?”

We’re sure other wannabe ‘extras’ are tuning in!

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Be-a-Bollywood-extra-/articleshow/6097618.cms

On the couch

ANURADHA VARMA, Jul 18, 2010, 12.00am IST

Almost half the cases in a psychiatrist’s chamber relate to extra-marital affairs. We find out why
A child pressured by friends into getting her first kiss, a woman drawn into an extra-marital affair, a husband on the brink of physical abuse… these are some of the cases dealt with on a psychiatrist’s couch.


In a fast-forward generation, with people living for themselves, patience is thin and so is staying power in relationships. From teen angst to the elderly feeling misfits in today’s society, the cases are going up. Extra-marital affairs count for among the highest number of cases that people take to a counsellor, a ‘paid friend’ for today’s busy couples to talk out their problems. These are followed by mood disorders, depression and anxiety, even among adolescents.

In the last 10 years, emotional issues for children and youth have gone up four-fold. According to psychiatrist Jitendra Nagpal, “People tend to live in the virtual world, with little real communication and that creates loneliness. I have seven to eight couples coming to me every week for marital counseling, compared to just two about five to seven years back.” Many lifestyle diseases, like diabetes and hypertension are also stress-related.

Psychiatrist H L Kaila affirms, “Premarital and extra-marital sex have gone up by 12-15 percent in the last five years. People want to live for today and are more open and willing to experiment.”
Lack of communication pushes couples to go their own ways, build walls around their individual spaces, till there is no way to connect with each other. Says psychiatrist Anjali Chhabria, “All it needs for an affair is an sms saying, ‘You were looking good today’ or a Facebook message. Life is stressful and a fling acts as a breather. Sex is casual and promiscuity is fun.”

People get married at later ages and are not willing to compromise. The attitude is of “I am what I am” and of “take it or leave it”! Varsha Patkar advises, “We all seek gratification of our needs. Sometimes, one just wants a warm hug in the morning from a partner and we expect the other to magically know it. We tell couples to tell each other what they need and translate love into action.”

A majority of Rajan Bhosle’s clients too consists of couples, who come for pre-marital and marital
counselling. He says, “They have seen marriages breaking up around them and, therefore, want to get it right.” As arguments increase in a marriage, sex takes a beating and desire wanes. Before they know it, there has been no intimacy for three months! Rajan adds, “People have unrealistic expectations of partners and of themselves. Everybody wants to change their partners, trying to match reality with the images in their heads.”

With increased awareness, we’re also all too aware of all the things that could go wrong. There’s a sense of disillusionment. Psychiatrist Rajiv Mehta says, “Increased awareness festers fear. I tell women to stop watching saas-bahu serials and men to stop watching the news, as there’s only bad news around.” Extra-marital affairs are common, he says, and most times, it’s a premarital partner who tends to slip into the folds of marriage.

Clinical psychologist Trupti Jayin finds people across all age groups coming for therapy. Depression is high, because of problems in love and marriage, which includes extra-marital affairs in more than half the cases.

More women suffer from depression than men and about 70 percent of women feel unfulfilled in a marriage and stay on since it’s the right thing to do. They’re fed up of compromising, reveals Trupti.
The good news is that the number of people seeking professional help has gone up. Twelve years ago, Rajan Bhosle remembers waiting for any patient to visit his clinic. Now, he says, it takes days to give an appointment. Seema Hingorrany adds, “There’s more awareness now. In 10 years, there has been an almost 75 percent rise in patient visits.”

Cases of depression are mounting, among adolescents too. Says Varsha, “I see teenaged girls under immense pressure to have a boyfriend, to be ‘cool’. They often get pushed into physical intimacy with friends asking them — ‘Have you kissed yet?’ What kids need is more communication and time with parents, as adolescence is a difficult time.”

Varsha says, “It’s a fast-forward generation, where if we want something, we want it now! We want our every need gratified. We’re always in a hurry. We need to slow down.”

While some problems can be cured with a pill, others need a lifestyle change or someone to talk it out with. As Rajan remarks, “Communication is the key… if you can talk it out, you don’t need a counsellor!”

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life/relationships/man-woman/On-the-couch/articleshow/6176987.cms

So, what do you do?

Anuradha Varma, May 30, 2010, 12.00am IST

In a world defined by our jobs, Anuradha Varma wonders if we stop to ask who we really are?
My name is Shiv Singh. I am 32 and I like to call myself a young philosopher, who otherwise dabbles in a day job.” When Shiv (name changed) took a sabbatical from work for two years, he had people offering him leads, which he politely rebuffed with an “I’m not looking for a job”.


We all come with labels – when we’re younger, it’s as somebody’s son or daughter and later, increasingly, it’s our professions. Work often becomes the identity. But, what are we beyond that? Confesses Nitin Jain, business development director, B. Jain Books, who was ‘born into the job’ or family business, “The next question after your name is, ‘What do you do?’ So people connect you with the job you do. And that is right too as we spend almost 10 hours at the workplace and more thinking about work.”

Seema Hingorrany says her work as a psychotherapist is part of who she is. She accepts, “I don’t think I would be as empathetic, a quality I have imbibed in my professional role.” She adds, however, “I have both men and women coming to me, who do feel lost without their job titles. Work is often a reason to get up in the morning and face the world.”

Life’s preoccupations manage to pin us down so much that we’re often not left alone to be with ourselves even when alone. As Jain confesses, while his ‘alone time’ goes in dreaming of vacations, a lot of it also spent dwelling on achieving targets at work. Work does become part of one’s personality. Says former IPS officer Uday Sahay, who now heads communications for the organising committee of the Commonwealth Games, “I find this job more suited to the person I am. But, I don’t know which is better, as I now talk work even beyond duty hours.” On life as a bureaucrat, he adds, “The mask that we wear at work often becomes the face. And yes, I have seen such people try to ‘organise’ things once back home. It happened to me too. Often, children withdraw as they can’t retaliate, relationships suffer and take time to rebuild.” When he’s alone, he says, he tries to be one with “the rhythm of the universe”.

Interior designer Nandini Boruah Gupta faced an identity crisis when she took a break after having her child. “Once my son grew up slightly, I started to ask myself, ‘What am I doing?’ Housework is thankless. I’m working part-time now and it feels productive.”

For Shilpa Mehra, reality and an identity crisis struck on a trip to Munich. She recalls, “My first job-ghetto shock hit me when I bumped into a Spanish teacher who was a tap dancer, piano player and neo-Nazi artist, depending upon the time of the day and whim! When I told him about my job (as a journalist) he insisted. But what do you do? He added ‘otherwise’ as an apology!” Today, she follows her heart, as a chess player roaming the world playing tournaments and also publishes a chess magazine.

Sometimes, while you may be at ease without a visiting card, others might be keen to slot you. Like with Lord Meghnad Desai, author, politician and academic. People can’t seem to get over his ‘status’. He says, “People often get intimidated by my status or because they think I am status-conscious. I have no problem if they think I am nobody. Having been a teacher, I have talked to students and learned about how to relate to what other people are thinking or worrying about. There are so many things to think about or even sing about, why dwell on anxieties about selfhood?”

In Chetan Bhagat’s book 3 Mistakes of My Life, an Australian coach remarks how in his country, they don’t ask what “one does”, but what game they play. Remarks image consultant Sangeeta S Bahl, “In the UK, people tend to peg you into a slot. But in the US, particularly on the West Coast, people expect you to talk about your hobbies. In New York, work takes over.” She observes, “In India, we function on automated mode. There’s too much competition. Nobody has time to stop and smell the flowers.” No wonder, we often find it easier to have conversations with colleagues, finding more common ground.

So, who are we, really? People who have forgotten to connect on a purely human level, perhaps.
Brahmakumari Shivani tells us how to rekindle our self-awareness, “Sit quietly and become aware of yourself. Just observe. You will notice your self, not as an object but as a being that exists.” As Shiv remarks, “When I started out on my sabbatical, I thought the answers would come, as clearly as they did when I was 15. Who am I, what am I supposed to do be doing? Am I special? Am I going to make it big or am I really just a regular Joe? The only answer I got was that in life there are no answers. In a funny sort of way, that was the answer.”

So, don’t be afraid to push the boundaries, and enjoy the free fall!

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life/relationships/work/So-what-do-u-do/articleshow/5479668.cms