|
|
|
|
|
Write ahead AT 11 in the morning on Tuesday the margin between the votes of two main nominees for the MTV youth icon contest was around 6,000. The presumption was that the competitors were big hotties of the glam world, blessed with the looks and charm. Sure enough, the suave Ranbir Kapoor and Shahid kapoor and hunk Salman Khan were in the race but what came as a pleasant surprise was the name leading the list. Brains scored over beauty this time, as the young lady is neither a lissome model nor a screen sizzler. She's a girl from Chandigarh who has created ripples with her work in the literary world. By now, you. must have got the hint. The person is none other than our very own, author of Pink or Black, Tishaa Khosla. The teenager deserves all the fame, after all, in just one month's time, 10,000 copies of her book have already been sold and is into its third edition. So many accomplishments at the age of 18. We asked her how it felt to have so many fans voting for her. "People voting for me are not my fans but admirers of my work who are showing their appreciation.” We know the girl is grounded but is it not a heady feeling? "I have been getting mails from youngsters from across the country who are all praise for my work. They write to me how easy it was for them to relate to the characters and the instances.” It is for the first time that MTV has come up with such a concept where not just celebrities but anybody who has some achievement to his/her credit can be nominated. Tishaa was nominated by her friends. "It feels great and I am thrilled to see that youngsters today think beyond the usual youth icons, stars and singers. So, what makes the book so popular? "I was able to show the major identity crises that youngsters go through in their teens and how they manage to come to terms with reality,” she replies. On the qualities that she believes a youth icon should have, she opines, "The person should be able to inspire others and should be responsible.” She has already started working on another book that again has all young characters but the writer knows that subjects will change in future, "Writing on the youth comes naturally but I am sure with age, I will write on more serious issues." Other than this, campaigning in city colleges and schools is keeping her busy. And before signing off, Tishaa makes an appeal for more votes to the people from the
city. ashima@tribunemail.com Green about Pink… Something to make all the biggies of the glam world go green with envy, for this was the voting status of the top 5 nominees at 11 am on Tuesday: 1. Tishaa- 11886 votes 2. TV star Karan Singh Grover-5621 votes 3. Actor Shahid Kapoor-1701 votes 4. Actor Ranbir Kapoor- 531 5. Actor Salman Khan- 355 |
|
Wrap
sody THINK satin, think scarf. A square piece of garment that we all have been in love with is back in vogue, but in a new avatar. Courtesy, the fashion pundits who finally recognised the value of this piece of garment and are making sure that you get to wrap them all around your body. In beautiful shapes and prints extended to form a dress and worn like one scarf dresses have been sported on international and our desi divas on all Page 3 bashes, premieres and promos. In short, they are a rage. Shelly of Shelly's-8, says, "Satin dresses with floral patterns are being received well in the city. There are a lot of variations with the knots. Earlier, the knot used to be in the centre but now it is going up." What makes them a hot pick? The truth is that this style is addictive. Riya Chahal, an MCA student, says, "I am a big fan of one-piece dresses. Scarf dresses actually put the focus on the wearer. They are not overpowering like other garments.” While the biggest plus of this dress lies in the possibility to experiment. It's the paisley prints, flower power, woven in gold and silver hue that lends it the wow factor. Varsha Khanna, city based designer says, "The look should be kept to a minimum. It is formal and feminine. As for accessories, one can even co-ordinate big bags and chunky jewellery.” The verdict weighs high on their side so, good to have at least one piece of scarf dress in your wardrobe. Wondering where to get it in the city? Check designer collections, kiosks and even rehris, who knows you may get a scarf print that makes a wonderful dress. manpriya@tribunemail.com |
|
Do ka dum AFTER delivering an array of hits, Bollywood's current reigning queen Katrina Kaif has signed a two-film deal with production house UTV that has hits like Rang De Basanti, Khosla Ka Ghosla and Jodhaa Akbar to its credit. The two films, to be released within two years, will be Katrina's first projects with the production house and she is very excited about the deal. "UTV brings to the table a very strong legacy in film production and distribution. I am very happy to be associated with them, and I am sure we will make some great films together," said Katrina. The actress' popularity climbed a notch with the success of her Akshay Kumar-starrer film Singh is Kinng. She is also considered a lucky mascot for producers. "We are proud to have Katrina in the UTV family. Katrina is one of the most talented and successful actress of the industry today and I am sure that this exciting collaboration is the first step in the wonderful future that lies both for her and for us," said Ram Mirchandani, COO, UTV Rampage Motion Pictures. |
|
Jennifer
Aniston, who called it quits with singer John Mayer in August, is happy being single, her friends revealed. The Along Came Polly star has been featured regularly in the entertainment news for her recently speculated link with actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Gerard Butler. However, despite her string of failed relationships, including her marriage with Brad Pitt, the former Friends actress is said to be hanging in strong. Her friends insist that she is actually happier alone, the China Daily reports. "Jennifer is not just looking amazing, she's feeling amazing," a source said. "She's very content right now. She would much rather be on her own than trapped in a miserable relationship with someone who is wrong for her. "Her motto regarding her love life is, 'What will be, will be' and while she believes in true, everlasting love, she's not accepting second best," the source added. The 39-year-old is also said to be quite optimistic about entering her 40's next year, and sees it as a totally different milestone in her life. Her pal added: "Rather than dreading it, she sees it as a thing to celebrate and be proud of, not scared about." "Her attitude is that she's heading for a new, exciting chapter of her life and the fact she's so positive really shows in how well she looks." |
|
Celebrity couple Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony have renewed their wedding vows away from the public eye in Las Vegas. The duo, who tied the knot more than four years ago, repeated their promises and commitments to each other at Caesars Palace's Forum Tower Penthouse at 3:15 a.m. on October 12. They decided on their renewal ceremony, witnessed by two friends, after having spent the night at Pure Nightclub, a representative for the hotel confirmed. "It was totally a spur of the moment thing," People magazine quoted a source as saying. "They decided around 12:30 in the morning that they wanted to do it and started calling for ministers," the source added. Both singers, who attended Criss Angel's new Cirque Du Soleil show Believe, were thought to be in the city to mark the occasion of Anthony's birthday last month - later supposed as a disguise. A source, who spoke to the couple, said: "(Marc) said they were in town for his birthday and they wanted to celebrate." |
|
Wooing sleep with $65,000 Angelina Jolie
has spent a whopping 65,000 dollars on a horsehair mattress in a bid to help her sleep. After reportedly struggling to sleep since her twins Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline were born in July, the Changeling actress finally decided to invest in the expensive handmade bedding. According to a source, Jolie is hoping to get good sleep with her brand new mattress, reports China Daily. "Angelina is hoping she can rest better now she has bought a brand new horsehair mattress," a source said. "The incredible Vividus bed was made entirely by hand in Sweden. It took roughly 150 hours to make and cost a whopping 65,000 pounds," she added. |
|
Travel light, who Care(y)s?
|
|
Steele is ready to take his claim that Bon Jovi used the lyrics from his Boston Red Sox album entitled (Man I Really) Love This Team to court. The front man of a band called The Chelsea City Council believes that Bon Jovi had heard his song while campaigning in Boston for presidential candidate John Kerry in 2004, the Daily Telegraph reported.—ANI & IANS
|
|
A different ball game FOR a cricket crazy country of two billion, who live and breathe the game, cricket is much more than a pastime. And tossing the ball more than thoughts, for Dharmveer Duggal a city resident it's the game of bat and ball that drives him to his only hobby, better call passion of collecting souvenirs of the game. "It started as a mission to break the myth of some disillusioned fans that players are not responsive towards them. I constantly wrote to these players and got responses, which have now become my treasure," says Dharamveer. One glance at his cricket memorabilia and the true meaning of a fan is understood. This ardent and fanatic collector has over 5000 autographs and 400 handwritten letters from some of the supposedly indifferent players around the world, which he has been collecting over two decades. Howzzat! Ask him about his most treasured collections and he proudly displays the two balls that he has named-'Golden balls'. He is one of the few blessed fans to have a ball signed by one of the fastest bowlers in the game, 30 autographs to be precise. "The list includes Jeff Thompson, Shoaib Akhtar, Denis Liley, Bret Lee, Micheal Holding, Irfan Pathan, Glenn McGrath to name a few. I also have a bat signed by Brian Lara, Lala Amarnath, Sachin Tendulkar, Sir Gary Sobers and more such Stalwarts of cricket," he says. That's not all. For those who wish to see two highest wicket takers in the history of cricket and staunch competitors Muttaih Muralidaran and Shane Warne, sharing a ball, Dharamveer is the man to look out for. For he has got them both sign the same ball much to their own surprise. Moments of glory His memorabilia is not just about autographs and bats and balls, but also the moments he shared with cricket icons. Be it then watching a movie with Imran Khan or getting a signed autobiography of Sir Donald Bradman, by the man himself. "But the most defining moment was when I met M Jahangir Khan, also called 'chirimaar' and one of India's first Test players in Pakistan. He also gave me a Rs.1 note which now is part of my most prized possessions," he tells. Remembering an incident where he managed to get an autograph of Zia-ul-Haq, the former Pakistan President at an Indo-Pak game he says, "This almost got me into trouble by the security. It was never easy to get even into the talking distance of these players. At times I almost got beaten up or felt disappointed but I just didn't let go," Dharamveer says. Well, it was his passion that made Sir Garfield Sobers (considered a difficult man to get across), make a remark of 'the best cricket fan' calling him a special man. His love for the game and his passion has impressed many a sportsmen, even out of the periphery of cricket. He has a special hockey stick autographed by the entire Indian hockey team, gifted to him by captain Dilip Tirkey. The treasure chest
|
|
I SPEAK Festive spirit's being diluted
— Rajat Mammon rules
— Shruti Garg Status symbols
— Shivangi Aggarwal Win-win situation
— Harjeet Tiwana
|
|
OVER one third of 15-year-olds in Britain have had a punch-up in the last year, new figures have revealed. In fact, Brit teens are also among the world's biggest young boozers and almost 25 per cent of 15-year-olds go for a drink at least once a week. The shocking figures have been revealed in the new edition of The Economist newspaper's annual Pocket World In Figures. According to statistics, almost one in ten 15-year-olds regularly smoke cannabis and UK teenagers are also among the biggest surfers of the Internet, with 57 per cent using a computer at least for two or more hours every weekday. However, Brit teens aren't the worst as compared with other countries-they lie in joint 13th place along with Scotland, Russia and Romania. The worst among the lot are Maltese youngsters, with 49 per cent having had a fight in the past 12 months. They are followed by Belgium, Greece and Turkey. In fact, English teenagers are not the booziest of them all either, despite of the fact that UK 15-year-olds are the third biggest alcohol swiggers and the seventh biggest beer drinkers. The honours went to Ukrainian kids for being the worst drinkers. Malta teenagers topped the table for spirits and wine consumption, along with having the most obese youngsters. Instead, English teenagers did not even make the top 20 for smoking or obesity. UK is also the third most expensive country in the world behind Norway and France, and is only 16th best for quality of life, according to other figures.
—ANI |
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
M
A
l
Autographed biographies of Shane Warne, Sir Donald Bradman, Viv Richards, Steve Waugh.
Festivals give us the opportunity to spend time with our family friends and relatives. It has been a tradition to exchange gifts with them during the festivals but today commercialization has overshadowed that spirit and people are buying and exchanging gifts to flaunt their status symbol. The variety of gift items and range of their prices is mind boggling and people are blindly buying gifts for their near and dear ones without taking into consideration that they can afford it or not.
Every shop and brand offers discounts and gift packages on the festive season. Be it Navratras, Rakshabandhan or Diwali corporate sector is ready with an array of offers to lure customers, which I think is not bad at all. There are gifts available in the market for every occasion and people buy them as per their buying power. Though festivals have rather turned out to be the money spinning machines for the businessman, but the common man also benefits from various discount offers.
Gifting chocolates or expensive gift items were never part of Indian tradition but commercialization has made it replace the tradition of gifting sweets. People now buy gifts for their friends that indicate their status symbol. All this has resulted in the commercialisation of festivals, which has defeated the true purpose of celebrating festivals. People do not exchange gifts to express feelings but to make others realize their spending power. To some people, festivals is a mere chance to splurge money.
I don't think there is anything wrong with the commercialisation of festivals. All brands come out with various lucrative offers, which are simply irresistible. Heavy discounts are being offered now days and why not avail them at a lesser price that we will probably go for later too. In fact, I think commercialisation of festivals helps us to utilize the discounts, which also increases the sales figures. It is indeed a win-win situation for both the producer and consumer.