The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - The Tribune Lifestyle

This Silicon-savvy couple began their success story from their own garage in the city,
says Anuradha Shukla

Puneet Vatsayan and his better half Anupama Arya, directors of Mobera Systems Private Limited have lived their dreams while working in the Silicon valley for fourteen years and their decision to come back to their roots is yet another story of success. Richer by their experience of the valley, which if you are wondering if there is actually a valley, well it is the IT hub in Santa Clara county near San Francisco in US. It is called the Silicon valley and it only has some rolling hills. The couple says they are still doing what they love to do back in our very own City Beautiful.

The life the two former students of the Deemed University Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology in Patiala were living was fast-paced. Says Anupama “ Of course, there was great deal of professionalism. The Cosmo culture, sheer ethnic diversity of the US was a very humbling experience.” The duo did not face any difficulty in making a humble start when they began their new company from a garage.

“We heard lot of horror stories of a business venture failing because of cheating by subordinates when we were beginning so we thought of doing everything ourselves”, says Puneet. “In the absence of big loans for our kind of work we had to start from our garage,”

They had to work upon their own mindsets also and adapt accordingly. For instance they had to understand that if a candidate comes from a far-off place she/he is likely to be accompanied by doting Indian parents and why the parents were reduced to tears when they saw that their child was here for a company working from a garage. Puneet laughs as he tells it all.

The challenge was to make a success of it all and so they did it. The company is growing by leaps and bounds and makes innovative products for security, networking, wireless gaming, embedded technology and medical communications for their international clients from US, France, UK, Germany, Nordic countries, Italy, Korea and Japan.

How do the dynamics of a couple work when they are business partners? Anupama says, “The exchange of ideas is easy since the goals are the same and the division of work has helped a lot. It nurtures a great deal of mutual respect for each other,” she admits. The two say that the Cosmo culture in the Silicon Valley made them very humble and gave them a multi- dimensional perspective. “We could come back and start our company from a garage when we even scrubbed our floors, adds Puneet.

With love — from Bollywood
Smriti Sharma

STAR & STYLE: Nakul Vaid, Parvin Dabas and Preeti Jhangiani.
— Photo by Vinay Malik

They came and they went off like a whiff of fresh air leaving a mark on everyone present with their demeanor. Yes friends the city seems to be awestruck these days with stars and more stars descending here almost every day now. We are referring to the trio— Nakul Vaid,Parvin Dabas and Preeti Jhangiani, stars of an upcoming Bollywood flick, With Love.... Tumhara.

At a pre-release ceremony with the director of the film, Kamal D. Nathani (of Apaharan fame) and music director, Sudeep Banerjee, all three actors of the film talked in lengths about the character each one is playing. Parvin Dabas, who was earlier seen in various music videos such as piya re, plays an army officer with Nakul Vaid. Armed with a professional degree in theatre from New York, Pravin surely knows where to draw the line between theatre and films. For him theatre is an art but film is also a very powerful medium of expression, which is far and wide reaching.

Talking about his earlier film Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Mara, Parvin says, “It was due to those films which included a pinch of Gandhism that our younger generation has got to know that how great a person Gandhiji was.” Parvin would be seen soon in his next flick Khosla ka Ghosla in which in he plays a son to Anupam Kher. He is also doing an American project, Memsaheb directed by Kruti Majumdar and a mini series called The Curse of King Tut.

Also sharing the limelight with Parvin is a subtle and an honest Nakul Vaid who shot to fame on small screen with his character in tele-serial Challenge. Nakul who was flooded with offers to do similar roles as the one in the tele-serial did a cameo in Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Baghban but it was his intense role in Ram Gopal Verma’s AbTak Chappan, that he swears by. A Punjabi by his roots but born and brought up in Mumbai, Nakul is yet another actor (like all other actors) who never plans anything, the kind of roles that he wants to do. “I never planned to be an actor either. I was working as an assistant director before when acting bug struck me,” says Nakul, an actor of ‘sense and sensibilities’. Passionate but not ambitious as he puts for himself, it is acting and more acting, be it on small screen or films, that Nakul wants to do for the moment. Other projects that Nakul is working on are Mazhar Kamraan’s Mohandas and an untitled flick directed by Sudhakar Bokado

With Preeti Jhangiani playing the love interest of Nakul Vaid in the movie and model Anupama Verma playing the girlfriend of Parvin Dabas, With Love.... Tumhara is a realistic film based on relationships (as the director and the actors puts it in unison).

The film is still to go through the litmus test of the audience, as it’s due to be released before this Divali. We keep our fingers crossed until this Divali bonanza (supposedly) hit the screens.

Phone forward

Upwardly mobile youngsters linked to excitement, and the world, through cell-phones have so much more to hear in the coming few days! And it’s not just additional caller tunes of hit Bollywood flicks like Collaboration that the cell-phone operators are promising.

For so many youngsters living life gorgeously on the fast track of exhilaration with high-tech cell-phones practically glued to their tender hands, the buzz is that the operators are right away getting connected to “enhanced data transfer” service.

If all this is as confusing to you as the settings of your mobile phone, just do not scratch your head in a vague attempt to comprehend the concept. Just ask the new Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Spice Telecom, Man Mohan Nandwani. He will tell you all about the concept all set to ring in revolution of sorts in the mobile industry — at least in this part of the region.

Nandwani says it’s going to be storm after the lull. The ‘speeds will go up’ with the enhanced data transfer service. As such, all you subscribers will be able to download games and other stuff without shifting weight from one leg to another while waiting for the completion of the operation.

In fact, you will manage to download at one-third the current speed. Fellows, Nandwani knows what he is saying. Before joining Spice Telecom recently, he was the President and COO of Shyam Telecom’s international business division. In a career spanning over 30 years, Nandwani has worked with companies like Modi Xerox, Ricoh India and Tata Indicom.

Guys, the development about faster speeds is significant undoubtedly even if you wish to use it for downloading just the games on your mobile phones. For, mobile-gaming alone is a big business. In Indian only, mobile-game business currently makes up about 5 per cent of the global wireless market. Research professionals expect that the Indian mobile gaming market — that generated $26 million revenue in 2004 — will eventually increase to $336 million in annual revenue by 2009.

Nandwani insists besides enhanced data transfer there is so much more in the queue. Only you have to wait or call up after a little while. “From Rs 16.80 to 49 paise per minute, the call rates are already the lowest in the world. As such, we are now in the process of winning the game by providing better and additional value-added services to our subscribers — both pre-paid and post-paid,” he says. “Otherwise also, our network will be available across the country as we are going Pan India. The help-line service has also improved. And just in case you think the police or anyone else can intercept your calls and listen to your conversation, there is nothing like it.” Sounds great, indeed! — Saurabh Malik

“MAIN HOON AMEEN SAYANI …..”
Tuning-in with Hardeep S. Chandpuri

Rightly described as the “Golden voice of India”, his is a voice that still lives in the hearts of millions of Indians, a voice that revolutionised radio programming, a voice that still has a freshness that is so hard to find nowadays and yes, the owner of this unique voice is the one and only, the great Ameen Sayani.

Ameen’s romance with radio began when he was just seven years old and it was his elder brother and guru, Hameed Sayani (eminent broadcaster in English), who initiated him into the medium through the Bombay radio station of All India Radio in 1939. Ameen started as a casual English broadcaster for ten years and later, he switched over to the then more popular Hindi and Urdu medium.

The airwaves of Radio Ceylon crackled with his gravelly voice and stylised drawl, in the year 1952 and a radio legend was born. Ameen Sayani hosted Binaca Geetmala, which was a highly popular radio countdown show of songs from Indian cinema, that was broadcast first on Radio Ceylon in 1952 and the one-hour Wednesday night slot later moved to Vividh Bharati, rechristened as Cibaca Sangeetmala. It was also the first–ever radio countdown show of Indian film songs, and has been quoted as being the most popular radio show in India during its run.

On a weekly basis, the programme ranked the most popular Hindi film songs, based on record sales, listeners’ requests and lists prepared by music clubs in India. At its onset in 1952, the show did not rank songs, but rather played seven contemporary songs in no particular order. It moved on to become a countdown based show, with songs being played as they were ranked. The first countdown show’s topper in 1954 was Talat Mehmood’s Jayen to jayen kahan from the film Taxi Driver. Till the year 1994, the show was hosted during its entire run by Ameen Sayani, and was very popular in India, with millions of listeners tuning-in every evening. After a hiatus, he again mesmerised his listeners by presenting a series of shows on Red FM in 2001 by the name of “Sangeet Ke Sitaron Ki Mehfil”.

Besides this, he also hosted “Filmi Muqaddama”,“Bournvita Quiz Contest”, “Shalimar Superlac Jodi”, “Johar ke Jawaab” “Sitaron ki Pasand”, “Chamaktay Sitaray”, “Mehekti Baatien” etc.

Till date he has produced, compered (or spoken for) for more than 54,000 radio programmes and 19,000 spots/jingles in India or abroad and is still going strong. Some of you will remember that it was his golden voice that hosted the countdown of the Top Ten hindi songs of 2005 on Vividh Bharati, this year itself. And my dad remarked that Ameen sahib still sounded as fresh as he did, way back in the 50s.

Way to go, sir.

(The writer is a renowned Radio Personality running Radio Buzz and The Take-One Academy of Broadcasting, a Radio Jockey trainer, voice expert and an international broadcaster)

Saying it all on love

If Pritish Nandi’s Ankahee enthralled the audiences with its plot, Pyar Ke Side Effects goes even further. With a film starring an unlikely combination of Mallika Sherawat and Rahul Bose and belonging to the genre of romantic comedy proves adept at tickling the viewer’s funny bone. It is Mallika Sherawat who makes perfect use of this romantic comedy. Debutant director Saket Chaudhary has handled the story efficiently. Pritam’s music is just okay. Pyar Ke Side Effects opened on Friday at Picadily, Chandigarh and Fun Republic, Manimajra.

Ramu’s Shiva disappoints

Yet another film from Ramgopal Verma camp hit the theatres this week. If you expected something worthwhile from Shiva, his take on a contemporary action flick that revolves around the battle between good and evil, you are mistaken. Ramu’s debut film Shiva was better than new Shiva. The film has Mohit Ahlawat and Nisha Kothari in the lead roles. Both disappoint in the movie, which released on Friday at Fun Republic, Manimajra.

After Sarkar we had great expectations from its director Ramgopal Verma. But Shiva is a disappointment. This was not expected from Ramu’s factory’. Only Ilaya Raja’s music was the only saving grace.

For the perfect moment

Bas Ek Pal is a journey of revelations, passions, jealousies, insecurities and each character is in search for those ever-elusive moments of happiness. It is very urban and modern day movie set in the metropolis of Mumbai that released on Friday at Fun Republic, Manimajra and K.C. Panchkula.

Bas Ek Pal, which stars Urmila Matondkar, Juhi Chawla, Sanjay Suri, Jimmy Shergill and Rehan Engineer has set the audience chuckling. The direction and screenplay is good. Hats off to My Brother Nikhil fame director Onir for making a good film. — D.P.

The balancing act

Amir Ali

You loved Amir Ali in Ye Kya Ho Raha Hai, produced by Harry Baweja and directed by Hansal Mehta. He went on to win hearts on the small screen as the boy-next-door when he essayed the role of Soumya Prashar in Rajshree Production’s famous show Wo Rehne Wali Mehlon Ki. The show has run 300 episodes. The busy model turned actor is now trying to balance his career on the telly as well as films. It is not easy to pin down Amir Ali for a chat as the Mumbai based actor is busy shooting for the serial. “When you do not expect anything and you get so much. I cannot find words to describe my happiness”, he admits humbly.

The young actor who just completed two films Raakh and Anjaan with director Hansal Mehta, is overwhelmed with all the attention. The recognition has raised hopes of his character Soumya Prashar making a strong impact on the viewers. Amir’s face has been familiar to the audiences even before entering Bollywood and Tellywood. Amir did a lot of commercials with Pradeep Sircar (director of Parineeta) and the most famous being Mountain Dew — Cheeta Bhi Peeta Hai? commercial.

Having experimented with prestigious commercials and films, Amir Ali is busy with Woh Rehne Wali Mehlon Ki and Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki. He is selective in choosing roles. He is all praise for Rajshree banner and Sahara One TV because they let him portray the character the way he wanted. “The only thing I demand is to stick to the script, otherwise my producers and directors have complete faith in me”, he says proudly.

Though Amir is happy with his career right now, he intends to reach for the stars in times to come. Following the footsteps of many successful television actors, Amir aspires to balance his career in both TV and films. His mantra in life is to learn from each experience, as this is the only process of growing up and being successful. This September One born has sure grown into a cool and composed professional. — D.P.

FUN WITH FASHION
STYLING HONCHOS

Thanks to a plethora of menswear designer brands that have entered the city, men’s formal wear is getting trendier, brighter and hipper, says Anandita Gupta

Remember the times when your pa used to flaunt those mundane self – colour shirts and striped ties to all his meetings and office lunches? And equally predictable were his formal social-dos’-wear—A Navy blue or chocolate brown three-piece suit with neatly polished Bata shoes? Of course, Indian men wanted to look stylish then, but only a serious, grim (or do we say dull!) look was considered formal enough.

However, not any more! Right from embracing daring and brighter colours such as tangerine, sky blue, lime green and pastel hues, to wearing Satya Paul’s funky ties and semi-cut-away collars, men’s fashion has got drenched in one thing—vivacity!

Take Provogue’s signature button-down shirts from summer 2006 collection. These are in solid colours like pastel purples, pinks, greens and blues. And if it is stripes that get you off to a roaring start, try their colourful stripes.

Even the fabrics in which men’s formal wear is now available are diverse. Says Harbir Singh Siddhu, Executive Vice-President, Koutons Retail India ltd, “Today, suits are available in many fabrics, but cotton blended with other stuffs is a great option as these help you breathe, besides adding to your style.”

At Shopper’s Stop outlets across the country, for example, the fabrics of choice are linen and Italian Cotton, flaunting French cuffs, semi cutaway collars, cutaway collars and even no stitching on collars to give his designs a clean and summery appeal.

Wool pants or pants cut from a wool lycra blend are also an excellent option for work. Wool is comfortable and doesn’t crease easily. For silhouettes, bottoms with flat fronts, straight-fit or tapered fits are in.

At Tommy Hilfiger boutiques in the country, the corporate wear reflects the designer’s American roots.

Signature Tommy Hilfiger has bold and bright colours, quality fabrics, and combines work and weekend styles. The colours, dark navy and rich burgundies that accentuate authentic stripes. The navy hopsack two – button blazer with its textured surface is for all seasons.

And coming to the colours and prints in suits, nowadays, suits, jackets and overcoats cut from wool boucle, cheviot, Saxony and mouline flannel are found in classical blends of white-black-grey, cornflower blue, cool-brown and turquoise mixes, greens with orange highlights and pastel or old rose.

Traditional is back like the Prince of Wales checks, Madras checks, tartan checks and macro – chevron that are broad bold and, at times, softly understated.

The traditional pinstripes are soft and almost imperceptible, in the mouline-weave mix. The Van Heusen collections like Inferno (blazing shades of orange) and Enigma (multiple hues of blue) exude confidence and ensure that work-wear isn’t boring. Its summer collection has colours like fuchsias, apple–green, electric blue, pink, rust and aqua that can be worn with neutral jackets and matching ties.

At Zodiac, the signature colour for season is turquoise. The shirts can be worn with trousers (or suits) in grey, navy or black and off- set with ties in shades of aqua. They feature Kent and cur-away collars and single or double cuffs. The shirts also have a deeper tow – piece yoke that fives the garment a superior fall and perfectly smooth shoulder-line.

So men, throw away those yesterday’s dull grey suits and embrace colour, life and style—visit city’s shopping haunts and it’s all there in the offering!

Check it out

In our ‘flight of fancy’ haven’t we all been dreaming of wearing designer labels that all those Page 3 people flaunt with oomph? But what brings us back to earth is perhaps the price tag that comes along with the dress. But fellows, rue no more as Chandigarh now has a store which houses all top international brands as the likes of Dollace & Gabbana, Armani Exchange, Ralph Lauren, Guess, Diesel, FCUK, Gap and many more.

What comes as a pleasant surprise is the rock bottom prices that the labels are available at. Revealing the truth behind it, Vikas, owner of the store says, “India has become a part of the global manufacturing hub and a lot of International designers are outsourcing their labels from here. So there are export surplus that are retailed as warehouse sale in leading outlets.”

It was actually a chance encounter with a similar concept store in Mumbai and a passion to bring the ‘genuine’ designer labels under one roof that lead Vikas, a liquor manufacturer by profession, to open this store called Style-Check.

The store in Sector-17 houses the designer labels for all age groups under kids, men and women section. A plan to expand and open similar stores in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, and Amritsar et al is also on the cards. The USP of the store remains the price line and the variety of outfits. The price ranges for a pair of denims from Diesel, FCUK or any other major brand is Rs 695-995 and for shirts the price range is Rs 250-595. And for the girls who always wished to twirl on the dance floor wearing pretty party outfits à la Paris Hilton does, the store stocks even those and that too at an affordable price.

So what are you folks waiting for, at the price range touching the lowest, this surely is a steal.

— Smriti Sharma

Stage Savvy
S.D. Sharma

An epitome of courage, conviction, intellect and dramatic force, veritably define the persona of Parveen Shekhar, the noted thespian who had been relentlessly engaged in the propagation of the theatrical arts for the last two decades. The amputation of his left arm after a train accident in 1990 was no deterrent for the dedicated artist to impede the spectacles of his dramatic performances.

Only after a short period of recovery, Parveen Shekhar played the lead role in Girish Karnad’s historical play Tughlaq with admirable excellence. With over 45 theatre productions both as an actor and director, Parveen, at the age 35, has a lot to contribute to performing art.

A post-graduate in economics from Allahabad University, he took to journalism. But his passion for the dramatic arts asserted itself and he opted for training in film making from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune and later honed his skill by working with theatre stalwarts like B.V. Karanth, Bhanu Bharti and Badal Sircar.

In the city for the direction of a play on woman empowerment to be staged in the National Drama Festival, Parveen shared his views, with the Lifestyle, on the diverse aspects of the contemporary theatre and related issues.

“The urge to create is born out of involvement with life’ and one has to acquire the sensibility to grasp, analyse and effectively communicate his creative experiences through the medium of drama,” maintains Praveen Shekhar. One has to be visually literate about the languages of dance, cinema and folk arts, which reinforce the drama production with aesthetic values. There may be scarcity of ideal script for a particular theme but there is certainly no dearth of ‘content’ or issues.

“My plays on diverse issues like Hawalat on youth unrest, Kabira on religious bigotry, Objection My Lord on legal and political problems had been largely commended because these stirred the audience mind,” he says. For the decline of receptive audience Parveen holds the Rangkarmis responsible for not presenting a meaningful and propose oriented theatre productions.

BEAUTY STUDIO
Sharing secrets
Vidya Tikari

There is no business like beauty business. That is for sure because beauty exists on so many planes: inner and outer; philosophical and physical. Go to the thinker and you may hear a la Helen Keller that the best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. However, sometimes an outer carelessness can well mar the inner beauty and also it may take time to reach the heart but the contact with the eye is quick.

You don’t have to go all the way to super model Cindy Crawford to know what pleases the eye and then reaches out to the heart too. There are simple little things that you can do in your own beauty studio with stunning results. No one may ever have done this but here are top ten beauty secrets revealed specially for you:

Retain old lipsticks. Use them with a lip brush and keep in a palette. This way the colour will also be visible to you.

Use a light brown kohl pencil for a very natural looking lip line.

To get deeper shade of eye shadow, apply a lip base or clear lipstick on lids first.

Pumping the mascara wand in and out of the bottle only dries the mascara quicker.

Don’t throw away a used mascara bottle. You can use it to fill in scanty eyebrows.

Dark circles? A yellow-coloured concealer will work wonders and will help in counteracting the grey areas under the eyes.

To give a soft touch to your entire look, add blusher colour to the crease of eyelids.

Curl your eyelashes by heating the curler with a blower. This reduces breakage.

Coat your eyelashes with talcum or translucent powder, for thicker mascara application. And then apply mascara for an eye opener.

For a fresh dewy look, apply three dots of rosy hued lipstick on the apples of cheeks.

MATKA CHOWK
Demolition derby
Sreedhara Bhasin

There is a popular sport in America called Demolition Derby in which old vehicles are raced against one another - the objective of the game being to smash and destroy the old cars.

I look around ‘old Chandigarh’ (an oxymoron since all of Chandigarh is so new) and see construction preceded by a great deal of demolition. Old houses are being bought even at the phenomenal land price of Chandigarh and then being torn down brick by brick to make way for new and perhaps better houses. Till now, I had viewed it dispassionately, as a part of the changing face of Chandigarh. Then, two houses in my neighbourhood were sold in quick succession and demolition began with great force and alacrity. If I were not an eyewitness, I wouldn’t have believed that in reality it is possible to simply break down a big old house with no machinery whatsoever. Labourers reduced it to pieces, simply with hammers, shovels and axe picks. Besides the great noise of crashing objects, I found the sight rather disconcerting. What was once a cosy living room of a family, where the lady must have watched innumerable runs of Saas bhi kabhie bahu thi while knitting a pullover for her younger son, was being hacked away by strange men from far away countryside. The beautiful Bougainvillea that was always abloom, besides which the girls spent time whispering and giggling to other teenagers for years, was cut down in minutes. Years of time lovingly spent, years of pining and belonging – slashed away by one big blow of the shovel.

In one of the floors, lived a young woman and her infant daughter. I had often watched them play on the terrace in the evenings. On one side of the terrace was her small kitchen. Rows of tins and jars, holding her spices and namkins were lined up on wooden shelves lined carefully by her with old newspaper. I have often seen her working intently over the stove. One day, they were gone. The next day, lorry full of workers climbed all over the house and attacked her kitchen with full vigour. Some of her jars, which were still reposing on the shelves, were carelessly thrown away. Her little flowerpots went the same way. The shelves were wrenched out in no time and soon I could not recognize the place to be the kitchen where she must have lovingly prepared palak-paneer on balmy autumn evenings.

Chandigarh is besieged with all the telltale signs of prosperity. ‘Market Gain’, ‘Real Estate’, ‘highrise’, ‘Multiplex’ – are the words floating around with great abundance. Sometimes, I get a bad feeling that maybe, next year the migratory birds will not be back to our beautiful lake! They will prefer to go to a less successful city. And then, all my efforts made to restore my uncle’s heirloom omega binoculars will go to waste!

WRITE TO RENEE
Live your passion

I am 21 years old, through with my college and a professional diploma and at the brink of a career situation. But instead of being excited I am completely confused as to what I must do with my life. Nothing in particular seems to motivate me, so I seriously do not know which direction to take. My parents are very worried about me and I am really wanting to give them a reason to be happy. I have a flair for creativity and a desire to help others but since the options are endless, I do not seem to find my particular niche. I love clothes and jewellery and like watching shows on the T.V. on the other hand I also love travelling. Could I find something there? Please help me find a sense of direction.

Jyoti Pasricha
Panchkula

My dear girl, you definitely seem to have a problem at hand. C’mon at your age life is all about laughter and living and clarity. It is also about making the right choices. I am glad that you are already on the path to making one. You must member that you will only do well at something you feel passionately about. So now you have to think where and when do you get energized. How far can you understand your own personality and weigh your strengths and your weaknesses. Do take a look at your primary intelligences. Use a tried and tested sequence. What are the jobs you dreamt of as a child, think about a time you had a great day at work and think of some role models you have. Use your creative intelligence to deal with your options. You could use your passion for clothes and jewellery to do work as a designer on even be a travel consultant or guide. The choice is actually yours. Remember if you are happy with yourself and whether you are doing your parents will be happy anyway. Do not shy away from making a choice. Start out with something you can always change along the way. Be sure of yourself and allow the universe to guide you.

Dear Renee, my 15-year-old daughter is very intelligent, smart, super sensitive and creative. Her only problem is that she is very low on self-esteem. How she reached this attitude is really a wonder because at home we have always tried to boost her ego and praise her constantly for most of her work. She recently changed school about two years ago and I feel it is the new peer group situation, which has begun to bother her. She keeps repeating sentences like “they think I am so silly in the school”. “I don’t think I’m good enough”. “I don’t do anything right”. No words from me seem to give any solace to her and it really hurts me to see her suffering in this way. What can I do to raise her self esteem am help her to become a more confident child.

Reena Sharma
Chandigarh

I believe that the best way to change our children’s attitudes is to change our own. If you will be commanding yourself with more self worth and self love your child will naturally be getting it from you from your attitude and your vibration. Remember the mother is the first school for the child. Give her love and emotional security at home and watch her move out with confidence in her peer group. Do also check with her teachers in school if they are not putting her down in some distinct way or making her feel left out as she is a comparatively newer student than the rest. Sensitive children can be easily pushed around unknowingly and need a little extra care and guidance. Check her food habits also as nutrition plays and important path in how we feel. Give her unconditional love and acceptance and watch her blossom and change for the better.

Rush in your queries to Renee at lifestyle@tribunemail.com or care of Lifestyle, The Tribune, Sector 29-C, Chandigarh