CHANGE reaction
Citizen activism is the latest on the social responsibility chart. And more issues means more for us to do
So, what cause are you joining? Surprised? Well, that's what everybody else is doing - standing up for a social cause. No more an NGO thing, its time for citizen activism!





Gaurav Chabra with his volunteers.

Daring DRIVE
The Response has been really good. Some of them even take my autograph
At a time when most girls are scared to even call out "auto" at odd hours, she's the "auto-driving" girl, steering around on the streets. Alka Thapa, from Nepal, has been ferrying people on an auto for two years now and shrugs over the admirers, the ones shocked, incredulous eyes, turned heads, curious sorts, gossip-mongers…. with effortless ease.

Alka Thapa

Fashionable debut
Bollywood has witnessed an inflow of quite a few good and talented artistes into its fold. One such young actor is Amrita Puri. Model-turned-actor with post-graduation degree in Mass Communication is quite excited about making her debut with debutante director Rajshree Ojha's film Aisha. 

Match it!

Race is on! 
Bollywood's glamour girls are turning into action stars, and Sameera Reddy is set to prove it as she is busy taking bike lessons for her next movie."Bike lessons going full swing but early mornings are so difficult!! Going from scooty to full on motorbike tomorrow! God help me," Sameera posted on micro-blogging site Twitter. She was spotted practicing on Mumbai roads by a fan who complimented her for looking "hot" while riding a scooty. After riding a Pulsar bike Wednesday morning, an exhilarated Sameera posted: "It's fantastic! What an amazing sense of freedom on the road! Graduated to bike with gears today! It's invigorating."Though the actor didn't mention the name of the movie for which she is practicing, it could be the action-oriented sequel to Race.

Fear factor
His persona and talent never fails to amaze new age actors, but guess who gives a complex to megastar Amitabh Bachchan? It's actor Priyanka Chopra."Kitna gym kariyega! Complex de rahi hain aap hum sabko! Kal hi badha deta hun apni timings ko (How much gymming will you do? You are giving a complex to all of us.

Priyanka Chopra

Sibling support
His own career failed to take off well, but actor Luv Sinha is doing his best to promote his younger sister Sonakshi Sinha's debut Dabangg.Dabangg just a month and 10 days away until the release! My sister is so lucky...Dabangg is going to blow everyone away. 

Smoke-free zone
Bollywood heartthrob Hrithik Roshan has finally decided to quit smoking and asked his fans to join in.The 36-year-old star, who was on two month break from Twitter while filming for Zoya Akhtar's Zindagi Milegi Na Dubara along with Farhan Akhtar and Abhay Deol in Spain, returned to the social networking site today to make the announcement.

Hrithik Roshan

All for Love
American actor Mischa Barton is reportedly quitting Hollywood to settle down here with her new boyfriend, DJ Ali Love. "Mischa's found a great new guy. She can't wait to move to London to be with him. It's already in the works," said a source close to the star.

Fur ahead
Hollywood A-lister Demi Moore got a rather furry companion at a recent photoshoot- a mouse. As the Ghost star modelled on a Malibu beach, the white rodent was brought out - and promptly ran across her chest and into her hair.Demi, 47, just laughed as others, including stylist Rachel Zoe, ran for cover.


Demi Moore

Well tuned
At three years of age, she knew she wanted to be a musician. Literally, humming even before she started talking, Poorvi Kautish has come a long way. Performing at live shows, singing for various bands and writing-composing songs, Poorvi’s aiming high, turning a playback singer and a musician. “I want to establish myself in music, without any genre tags,” says the 16-year-old singer from city.

Poorvi Kautish

One up!
It sometimes looks likes a problem of plenty. Countless models, everyone with unique USP’s and better pricing. The automobile industry has created a halo over the consumers, leaving them with more options than what they can choose from.

Rajasthani quilts are a major draw at the on-going exhibition organised by the Gobind Hath Kargha Vastra Utpadan Sahkari Samiti, Jaipur at Panchayat Bhawan, Sector-18. Photo: Pradeep Tewari

One stop shop
Home shopping never really took off in India or did it? “Home shopping channels that you see and what they sell so far was the destruction of trust. What with products that have super natural powers, make you gain weight or loose it in miraculous ways.

Win(e)some
I could never develop a taste for wines,” says a fellow colleague at a wine tasting session organised at S 4, Hotel Metro, Sector-35, on Wednesday evening. 

Side Lanes
Dexter and Marlee
Dexter has sky-blue eyes, long white hair and whiskers and moves with the silence of a floating cloud and the speed of a slithering snake. He is snobbish to the point of rudeness, never answers or responds to calls and treats fellow beings with disdain, never tolerance. 

art-i-fact
The fourth pillar
Audiences, I firmly believe, are the most significant others in the performing arts of theatre. In contrast a classical vocalist or a dancer can perform most consummately to utmost perfection sans audiences (remember classical arts is about communion with Almighty), the magic of theatre happens only when audiences are present. Better still, if in full measure.It’s almost as if actors on the stage draw energy from a packed hall and find it dissipating when an empty or near empty one greets them. 

Mozart’s memory
An early piano believed to have been played by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has surfaced in Germany and could be worth millions of euros, a radio station reported.

Pin-up girl

An art exhibition made out of push pins and post-it notes by artist Eric Daigh is seen on display at Grand Central Terminal in New York on August 4. — Reuters

In step
With the burst of cultural activities in the city, people are now taking more than a passing interest in all genres of performing and visual arts, even as Chandigarh has blossomed into a cultural hub of the region.

Short-sighted step
India-born prominent British artist Anish Kapoor has criticised proposed cuts by the David Cameron government to arts funding, calling them "short-sighted".

Creative ZONE
Distant verses
Gurbat mein hon agar hum, rehta hai dil vatan mein/ Samjho hamein vahin tum, dil ho jahan hamara…Canada-based Hindi poet Vidhu Kirti Maitray-Bhanot is deeply rooted to the traditions and cultural ethos of Punjab even while living thousands of miles away.