In the city to release his yet another book Yadaan De Pichware, Amin Malik, Punjabi Pakistani author is all ecstatic about his visit: "I have no clue that what I have done to deserve love and appreciation by the people around."

With scores of books to his credit, the author is partial to prose: "I wrote poetry but did not get any satisfaction out of it. Prose is where my heart lies. I write about subjects that I feel about, be it about a Pakistani girl married in the UK or some local issue in Amritsar."

Settled in London, the writer has kept in touch with his home country, "I left my natives for earning a living but I haven't said goodbye to my motherland, I still visit twice or thrice a year."

The book Yadaan De Pichware, released by Spokesman, is a collection of various articles with contributions from author's wife Rani Malik: "Despite wanting so much, she was not able to accompany me here." The author is all praises about his better half: "She is a fine author too, in fact, better than me. Many a times people comment that it's my wife who's writing for me. I am more than happy to hear that, by the end of it ghar ki baat ghar hi main hai."

The recent scenario between India and Pakistan fails to dampen the spirits of Malik as well as people gathered to honor him. "Punjab on both sides of the line is united. Punjabi authors are read and appreciated in Pakistan." On a personal note he adds, "Mohhabattan di dono mulkan vich koi kami ni. Na main kade aithe roti mull leke khadi hai na mainu lagda hai kade kisi Punjabi lekhak nu Lahore vich khani payi hove."

Any message for the readers? "Youth should come forward and speak and write fluent Punjabi is all I am hoping for," signs off the writer.

mona@tribunemail.com

Make sure to add health-boosting food to your grocery list. And do your best to incorporate these disease-fighting foods into your diet as each food is a powerhouse of good nutrition. Eat these foods every day, at least three times weekly, for maximum health benefits. No single food will do the trick, but a diet with generous amounts of all these whole foods can be your ticket to the good health.

Low-fat proteins: Studies have shown promising effect of increased amounts of protein in weight-loss diets. Good sources of lean protein include fish, seafood, skinless white-meat poultry, eggs, and skimmed or low-fat yogurts, milk, and cheese. A diet moderately high in protein keeps hunger at bay.

Whole grains, oats, and fibrous foods: Fiber helps your digestive tract function properly and lowers your cholesterol levels while keeping your belly feeling full. Whole grains also contain antioxidants and are fat-free.

Berries (red and blue), grapes: Nutritious berries are loaded with vitamins and minerals as well as phytochemicals with cancer-fighting properties. A glass of red wine daily reduces the risk of heart disease.

Nuts: A handful of almonds, cashews, pecans, or walnuts provides great fiber, lots of vitamin E, and healthful, monounsaturated fats. Sprinkle them on cereal, salads and mixed dishes, or eat them as is. Just watch your portion size, because these nutritious nuggets are high in calories. Limit your intake of these tasty snacks to one to two ounces per day.

Fish and fish oil: These contain omega-3 fatty acids that can reduce the risk of heart disease by protecting the heart against inflammation. It is recommended to eat fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, tuna or sardines at least twice a week. Men who eat fish one to three times per week may reduce their risk of stroke by 43 per cent.

Unsaturated fats: Unsaturated fats such as olive, canola, and soybean oils are the best kind of fats. You should still limit total fats in your diet, but when you have them, go for the unsaturated ones. And there is growing evidence that these polyunsaturated fats may also help prevent complications of diabetes and arthritis.

Low-fat dairy products: These provide plenty of calcium to help keep bones and teeth strong, are a great source of protein, and can even enhance weight loss. Low-fat dairy, in the form of yogurt, cheese, or milk, could be your secret weapon to staying healthy and losing weight. If you have trouble digesting lactose, slowly introduce cultured yogurt or hard cheeses into your diet — always along with other foods.

Vegetables: These should be called man's best friend. All veggies, except avocado, are fat-free and loaded with disease-fighting phytochemicals. Veggies contain compounds that can stimulate enzymes that will get rid of cancer-causing free radicals in your body. Eating a rainbow of colorful vegetables will assure that you get plenty of fiber, vitamins, and minerals. These are the go-to foods when you're hungry; they fill you up without artery-clogging saturated fats, empty-calorie sugars, or unnecessary salt.

Legumes: Legumes (pinto, kidney and black beans and lentils) are underrated. The lowly bean is naturally fat free and loaded with protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, especially iron. They can be the mainstay of a vegetarian diet. Eating a serving of beans four times a week can reduce your risk of heart disease by 22%. You can eat them as a main course or add them to dips, salads, soups, stews, pastas, and side dishes.

Bananas: Not only are bananas creamy and sweet, they are also nutritious and are available year-round. Just eat bananas as is, toss them in your breakfast cereal, or simply blend bananas with low-fat milk to make a delicious smoothie. This grab-and-go snack is a good source of vitamin B6, vitamin C and fiber as well as manganese. In addition, a piece of banana provides approximately 460 milligrams of potassium, making it a heart-friendly health snack.

Tomatoes: They are loaded with antioxidant lycopene, which has been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in women. In addition, the carotenoids in tomatoes can help prevent prostate cancer and other cancers. So, add a slices of tomato to salads, soups, and stews for an easy, fat-free health boost.

kalrasachin@hotmail.com

Mahima Chaudhary might not have made headlines for her acting skills lately, but the lady has surely caught everybody's attention for her perfect curves. And she is at it again now. From gyming to power yoga to eating healthy, the yummy mummy is doing everything to keep fit, healthy and glowing. Here we talk to her about her health fundas.

My fitness mantra: Eat and work out, that's how I keep myself fit. I don't believe in dieting but I make sure to have healthy home-cooked food.

My fitness regime: Keeping physically fit is very important to me and to do that I work out in the gym for 45 minutes thrice a week. And I keep myself mentally charged for strenuous gyming by doing power yoga, athletic exercises and cycling.

Sleeping hours: I don't get to sleep much as my child is just a year old. I sleep at two in the night and get up at 6.30 sharp in the morning.

My diet: I eat everything my mom cooks for me. As I believe in eating healthy, I don't take junk, packed or preserved food.

Fantasy food: I have no fantasy dish as I eat whatever I wish to and then do work out accordingly. I love eating chocolate mud cake with vanilla ice cream, jalebis, paranthas and suji halwa.

Best body celeb: These days everybody in the glam world has a fit body. Those with the best bodies are Hrithik Roshan, Salman Khan and most recently, Aamir Khan is looking really fit. Also I think Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra are in perfect shape.

Weight watch for celeb: Well, it has to be me of course. I still have to work a lot on my body but in healthy way, by doing exercising and without going in for crash dieting.

A good cry can often make us feel better and help us put things in right perspective. Now, a new study has revealed that the benefits of crying depend entirely on the what, where and when of a particular 'crying episode'. University of South Florida psychologists Jonathan Rottenberg and Lauren M. Bylsma, along with their colleague Ad J.J.M. Vingerhoets of Tilburg University, analysed more than 3000 recent crying experiences.

The researchers found that the majority of respondents reported improvements in their mood following a bout of crying. However, one third of the survey participants reported no improvement and a tenth felt worse after crying.

The survey also revealed that criers who received social support during their crying episode were the most likely to report improvements in mood.

However, studies till date have not always produced a clear picture of the benefits of crying. Volunteers who cry in a laboratory setting often do not describe their experiences as being cathartic.

Rather, crying in a laboratory setting often results in the study participants feeling worse; this may be due to the stressful conditions of the study itself, such as being videotaped or watched by research assistants.

However, these studies have provided interesting findings about the physical effects of crying. Criers do show calming effects such as slower breathing, but they also experience a lot of unpleasant stress and arousal, including increased heart rate and sweating.

Interestingly the body calming usually lasts longer than the unpleasant arousal. The calming effects may occur later and overcome the stress reaction, which would account for why people tend to remember mostly the pleasant side of crying. — ANI

Dress it up or dress it down, the table is the centre of attraction for sure. When it comes to Christmas, table decoration is certainly the big thing. And what goes behind is a lot more just than a thought process. "People usually walk in for varied things. Right from candles to glass to floral reeds to table napkins in varied hues to fruit baskets, wine holders, ice buckets, decorative flowers, napkin rings - the list goes on," says Mukta from Dream Home Store-26.

For any festive season, candles are now must haves, but for Chritsmas there's no substitute. "Candles are a passion these days and for Christmas we have some special Santa candles, perfumed floral ones, candles in shape of X-mas tree. For people who love to light there homes with candle light we have got brass candle stands. One can place as many as seven to nine candles in these candle stands," adds Mukta.

"During this season, people love picking crystal, metal, melamine, bone china and brass crockery," says Ram Avadh, salesperson at Ebony-9. Informing us about the cutlery that is in demand for Chritsmas, he says, "Red is the colour of the season and keeping this in mind we have included floral prints and lots of colour in our tableware and dining accessories." Here you can pick table napkins in bright hues, melamine bowls (especially in red), crystal cake plates, snack trays in bone chine, brass serving trays with glass reeds, aromatic candles and a lot more.

Well, Christmas is indeed the occasion to take out the finest China. Vandana Thorpe, a homemaker from Sector 21, Panchkula, says, "Dinner has to be scrumptious when it comes to Christmas and cutlery adds to the beauty of it. Though there are no special things that have to be included in tableware but yes, we make it a point to place a candle stand on the table, put some flowers, take out our special table napkins that have Chritsmas tree leaves embeded on them"

About the dishes she is cooking this time, she says, "We cook mutton pulao, chicken curry, fish and kebabs for dinner. And cake is of course a must-have."

That's not all. Trident Homescapes-9 too has some unique things. "We have special embroidered colourful towels for Chritsmas, crystal cake and fruits trays, wine and champagane glasses, table napkins in varied hues. Apart from this people love to pick flowers for Christmas and we have a wonderful variety of dry flowers," says Nain Negi, salesperson at Trident Homescapes.

At last we can say, Christmas decorations are a big business these days, and to believe it visit any big store in the city. Variety in colours, designs and themes overwhelms you and the temptation to buy is too great to resist.

jigyasachimra@tribunemail.com

Nothing is adventurous until you stop planning for it. "Be undecided, unprepared and just head for something too difficult to handle, for us that's adventure", says Jennifer Joedo and Don Engelbracht, the adventure-struck duo from the Netherlands. Traveling make their world go round and you would agree too when they talk about their adventurous journey. "We have already traveled 15 countries via road on our Land Rover and are planning to travel further till we have no money left with us."

In town on Sunday, they shared with us a new meaning of adventure and their thrilling experiences. "We entered India through Wagah Border after traveling across Pakistan. And from here on where do we go next is yet to be planned," says Jennifer. We have seen people traveling extensively around the globe but air travel has always been the chosen medium, which wasn't so this time, "We didn't want it to be a superficial journey and wanted to get insight of every society. Traveling through villages, towns and cities gives us an insight into the culture, traditions and society of all countries." Next they honestly give us another reason for their choice, "Air travel is too costly. Traveling via road helped us save money to explore more countries."

They might not be doing rock-climbing, river rafting and skiing but their sense of adventure is probably even riskier, "We don't stay at hotels for financial reasons. We eat, sleep and live in our land rover. Everyday in the morning, we have a challenge to look out for food, water and things of daily use."

Of course, we have to ask them about their traveling experience in India, Don answers it for us, "Every state in India is like is different world altogether. From Amritsar to Mcleodganj to Chandigarh, every city has its own flavour and now we will be heading towards Rajasthan and expect it to be different too." The Mumbai terror attacks didn't dampen their spirits to travel in India. "We have already seen the scene in Iraq and Pakistan and India is much better governed state. In fact, we are enjoying every bit of our journey here."

The only problem they are facing on the journey is finances. "We sold off our furniture, cars and even house, to generate funds for our trip. Now after going back, we'll have to begin our life from the scratch."

It is indeed a journey with open ends, where nothing is decided and life is taken as it comes. Way to go!

The morning fog and the cold winter breeze on Sunday could not curb the enthusiasm of the SJOBA members and there were nearly 240 participants in 60 teams ready to shift gears for the treasure hunt. Each team headed by a Johnian or his spouse drove around the city looking for answers to the clues in their cars ranging from the magnificent Mercedes to the old workhorse Maruti 800.

"To ensure overall safety, we changed the format this year, so that participants would not have to race from one place to another," says Chitranjan Aggarwal, president, SJOBA. "Eight clues were given to each team just before the Hunt started.” The clues led the participants to a number of places all over the city, including Nirman Theatre, Prayas, Smriti Van, Burail Jail, Ethos, and Tagore Theatre," he adds.

Vivek Atray, who was participating in the Hunt with his wife Neena and kids Spriha, 14 and Kavya, 12, said, "It is a great experience on two counts. One, the children could see a number of places in Chandigarh where they had never gone, two, the Hunt was an excellent combination of strategic thinking, teamwork and efficient driving."

The team of Sahil Sood today won the SJOBA Tag Heuer Treasure Hunt. The teams of Animesh Sharma and Juhi Peshawaria bagged the second and third prizes, respectively.

Mac Sarin, founder president SJOBA, administered the oath of sportsmanship and honesty to all the participants and advised them to maintain proper speed limits and follow all traffic rules. — TNS

The winter sun and warm afternoons. Ideal to dig into some relishing, equally warm delicacies. And one place that offers a variety on the palate is Purple Rice, oriental wok café in Sector-35 with its seafood festival. The menu is fresh, nutritious, health and unique, high-quality and delicious. The Seafood incorporates South-East Asian cuisine with a range of crabs, lobsters, prawns, trout, red snapper, pomfret and squids in combination with the best wines from France, Italy, Spain, Chile and India.

You can also pick from Beijing soup, tom yum soup, crab soup, and an array from starters, salt and pepper, Indonesian prawn satay, hot jumbo prawns and lobsters, crabs, squids, and rice and noodles for main course.— TNS

On till December 31

Big banners flopped, the global meltdown spelt a cash crunch, the Mumbai terror attack kept audiences away for a while and even the small-budget wonders weren't that wonderful. Bollywood, a part of India's Rs 513 billion ($10.8 billion) entertainment and media industry, tried very hard to rock on in 2008 but had very little to cheer about.

About 125 films hit the screens this year, but except for Race, Jannat and Rock On, most bombed, especially the big budget, mega starrer ones.

That's not surprising. The ratio of success and failure in Bollywood has for the past many years been 5/6:100 - that is, of 100 movies released in a given year only five or six manage to hit the jackpot.

The year began with the lavish period film Jodhaa-Akbar, which had big stars like Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai. Though it accounted for the major business in the first quarter of this year, the Rs 450-million movie was a costly production and it took a long time for the producers to recover the cost.

But Abbas-Mustan's thriller Race and Kunal Deshmukh's film about match fixing, Jannat, were declared genuine hits.

Later in the year, director Farhan Akhtar's acting debut, Rock On, broke the dry spell. The film not only redefined the parameters of mainstream Hindi cinema, it also brought some respite to the box office - but only in metros.

Much of the year saw the industry suffer a crippling blow with big films like Sarkar 2, Drona, Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic, Tashan, Krazzy 4 and Love Story 2050 falling flat at the box office.

Apart from flops, the industry was hit by the global meltdown and skyrocketing star prices.

Notwithstanding recession that led to cost-cutting becoming the buzzword of the world's biggest film factory, stars continued to charge hefty fees for a movie. Shah Rukh Khan, for instance, charged Rs 150 million plus percentage of profits, while Saif Ali Khan demanded Rs 200 million.

Imran Khan, who was the discovery of the year after Jaane Tu....Ya Jaane Na, confessed he was being paid an obscene amount of money to appear at private functions. His second film Kidnap tanked. But there was no rethink on star prices, not even when one of the biggest hits of the year Singh Is Kinng failed to rake in the moolah for distributors and exhibitors.

Distributors said the film was so overpriced on the table that no amount of profits could bring back the investments.

By the end of the year, when 26/11 had served a numbing blow to the entertainment industry, stars were still charging many times the amount they deserved.

Akshay Kumar was paid a hefty amount just to lend his voice and presence to a dubbed Korean animation film called Jumbo.

Does that make any business sense? Salman Khan had three major flops - God Tussi Great Ho, Hello and Yuvvraaj. He was still paid what rock stars generally get in their prime, and not just for taking off their shirt.

The year also witnessed skin show from male actors - Zayed Khan and Vivek Oberoi did it in Mission Istaanbul, but it was John Abraham who made beefcake a fashion statement after the successful Dostana where he flaunted his body generously.

Also, myths were being broken in 2008.

It was said female-oriented films don't do well. And yet Jodhaa Akbar and Fashion did good business. Costume dramas and dramas about costumes, they said, didn't work. So why did Jodhaa-Akbar and Fashion click? The box office failure of small budget films like Sorry Bhai!, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye, Maharathi and Dil Kabaddi has broken another myth that small is successful.

It was also the year of terrorism.

Filmmakers of all ilk and hue - from Neeraj Pandey's Wednesday and Nishikant Kamat's Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan to Jagmohan Mundhra's Shoot On Sight and Rajkumar Gupta's Aamir - pulled out all stops to explore the anatomy of terror.

Terror far more real awaited round the corner. And when, after the Nov 26-29 Mumbai terror strike, Ram Gopal Varma paid a fleeting visit to the Taj Mahal and Tower Hotel , he was accused of cannibalising carnage.

The biggest scandal of the year was not Varma's Taj tour, but Shah Rukh and Salman Khan battling it out at Katrina Kaif's birthday party.

Parties and film premieres ceased to be the venue for scandals long ago. Or so we thought. Until the two superstars showed us otherwise.

Hrithik Roshan had his second son this year, while Viveik Oberoi's sister and John Abraham's brother got married.

But no star marriages. None of the high-profile celebrity couples from Preity Zinta-Ness Wadia to Kareena Kapoor-Saif were in a hurry to tie the knot.

Bollwyood also lost two legends this year - B.R. Chopra and Begum Para.

This was the year the blog became a vogue. Amitabh Bachchan showed the way... and before him Shekhar Kapur and Aamir Khan. By the year end, everyone, from Varma to Shilpa Shetty to Karan Johar, was blogging his or her heart out, prompting a section of the industry to wonder when do these guys get a chance to make movies? Towards the end of the year, Shah Rukh, who was busy with Indian Premier League, made an impressive entry with Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and it has changed the mood at the box office. He has given both the filmmakers and the audiences something to smile about.

Now trade circles have their hopes pinned on on Aamir Khan's Ghajini.

Bollywood actor Jiah Khan, who has acted in the Bollywood movie Ghajini, talked about her role in the movie during a promotional programme in Bangalore. Speaking about her role in the movie, Jiah Khan said she played the role of a medical student who studies the brain of a rich businessman played by actor Aamir Khan in the movie.

"In Ghajini, I play a medical student. Her name is Sunita. She studies the brain. She comes across Aamir Khan's case study. That is how she gets involved in his personal vendetta and his life," said Jiah Khan.

Jiah Khan who has earlier acted opposite Amitabh Bachchan in Ram Gopal Verma's Nishabd compared the experience of working with both the Bollywood stars Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan and said that both the actors were different from each other.

"They are both extremely different people. Bachchan is more spontaneous and relaxed whereas Aamir is always striving for a better take and to do better. But both are thorough professionals which is really nice," she said.

The movie is about a rich businessman who suffers from a short-term memory loss after a violent encounter.

The movie directed by A.R. Murugadoss has Aamir Khan, Asin, Jiah Khan and Mohit Ahlawat in the cast.

American actress Katie Holmes has decided that she will not accompany her hubby Tom Cruise to the Golden Globes awards. She will instead be performing at the final show of All My Sons on Broadway.

Cruise has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Tropic Thunder. The awards ceremony will take place on January 11.

It being the same day as Holmes' final show, she was in a dilemma.

But now Ina Treciokas, Holmes' press representative, has confirmed that the actress will be doing her last show.

"Katie's decided to stay and her do last show," a news channel quoted Ina as saying.

"She won't be going with Tom to the Globes. The cast of All My Sons has been like a family and they want to end it together," she added.

Holmes has never missed a performance, and she has remained devoted to the play even though she's got the smallest of the four leads.

Victoria Beckham reportedly hit the roof after finding out that a stunning Italian TV presenter, fond of wearing revealing clothes, was to take hubby David's first TV interview when he lands in Milan. According to sources, the former Spice Girl had turned to Internet to ‘research’ chat host Ilaria D'Amico before the format of the exclusive hour-long interview had been changed.