The conversation began on a very casual note—how the book was written, the inspiration behind it, central idea, Indian literature, popularity of Indian authors…till a significant point was made, "Unlike earlier times, one can't make out from the cover page or printing quality whether the book is by an Indian author or not," asserted Chandrahas Choudhury, who was recently in the city for his book launch. We took the statement quite seriously, pondered over it, and sought opinions from those who have been closely observing the book scenario. Affirmative conclusions were drawn.

"The production qualities have improved considerably. Even the minute pre-production details are well taken care of," informs city-based Neel Kamal Puri, author of The Patiala Quartet.

The publishing standards used for books by Indian authors are now on a par with those of the West. Editing, printing, the quality of paper to be used, book cover, every aspect is dealt with profoundly. Besides, another factor that Neel Kamal points out is working for the entire Indian author community, "International acclaim for various Indian authors has made publishing houses take our work more seriously."

Behind the 'good looks' of the Indian books and international publishers' interest in the works of our authors is a little history as well. Pankaj. P. Singh, owner of The Browser, 8 narrates it, "The Indian publishing houses began investing in the editorial and printing sections only after the established foreign publishers started getting printing outsourced from Indian printing firms. Gradually, the foreign publishers explored the Indian readership market and set their local houses here. The competition grew and to lure the Indian readers, the production process was restructured." Thus, we now have Rolli, Rupa and more publishing houses that are as good as Penguin and Oxford. But as Pankaj points out, "There is still a lot of scope for improvement. Jaswant Singh's much controversial book, Jinnah: India-Partition Independence with lots of grammatical errors is the latest example."

Rupa's 1600 book titles are listed in amazon.com, the credit for which Kapish G. Mehra, publisher, Rupa and Co, gives to healthy competition. "The printing and production levels of our books are standard throughout the world, the reason they are internationally accepted and we enjoy credibility." The constant involvement of the author in the production process has also brought about the positive change.

"It's a mutual process, wherein the author is informed of any change that we introduce. A regular feedback is always welcome to bring out the product in the best form, something that would suit the sensibilities of the readers."

Neel Kamal's experience of the same made us realise the importance of an author's role, "I was suggested by editors in Penguin to let them take out a certain paragraph that they thought was redundant. I wasn't convinced and maintained that the script should be kept intact." The book reached the market, as she wanted.

To enhance the face value of the books, the book covers are also given equal weightage, something that Chandrahas Choudhury mentioned too. Bipin Kumar, manager, The British Library, agrees, "The cover pages these days have bold imprints, done with mixing of graphics and latest technology. A lot of detailing goes behind the designing of the book cover to attract readers." And to keep them booked!

ashima@tribunemail.com

The afternoons are not that fiery, the winters are relatively cool, the warmth in the air says- we have already stepped into the festive mood. So, this means you wouldn’t mind splurging on a big screen television, high sound quality music system or an on the sleek fancy dual sim cell phone. Overspending, yeah. It’s bound to happen. Nevertheless, we wonder what leads to it, the exciting offers on electronic gadgets or our incapability to satiate our desire to shop till we drop.

In Chandigarh, CII holds almost 6-7 expos, which includes the consumer fair and mega brand show. The responses for which is huge. Interestingly, it is the corporates who make buys for the electronics, whereas the older segment goes for stuff to do up their homes. Says Major C.S Bachhar, director and Head Trade Fair, CII northern region, “We’ve always had a great response from the expos. During the festive season, people pick up stuff depending on what they’ve been wanting for sometime. The kind of offers that they get at these expos are surely must go in for.”

The second most awaited thing after holidays is the discounts, offers and new launches, which are enticing. So much so, consumers generally allocate an amount for shopping during the festive season.

Samsung has launched special offers on select Samsung consumer electronics and home appliances. According to R Zutshi, deputy managing director, Samsumg India, “The mega consumer promotion offers an attractive saving of upto Rs 5,000 on a combo purchase of any Samsung Panel TV and a Samsung Home Theatre System.” He adds, “The Company is also making available a special Diwali exchange offer on its SlimFit televisions along with a Triple Zero Finance offer for consumers.”

Companies like Acer and Impact have their freebees. Acer laptops are giving colour printer scanner copy free if you book your piece for the on going Navratras. As for Impact computers, the customers can get a free computer table or web cam, or pen drive or game pack as festive offer with the buy. Companies like Sony have also designed attractive offers to make the festive season special. They offer zero percent finance offer on Bravia, which includes- zero processing fee and zero percent interest on the purchase a Bravia model.

Camera is another section wherein consumers expect discounts. Sony allows the consumers to chose any camera from the Cyber-shot range of over 15 models starting Rs. 7,990 and avail the offer of a bundled 4GB memory stick and a free carry case during the festival period. Puts in Sunil Nayyar, general manager sales Sony India, “Over the last two-three years we’ve seen the shopping happens only in the week before Diwali, and we are witnessing the same trend this year too.” Now, you know what could lead to overspending. All the same, not everyone is lured by these offers and discounts because they see a catch in them. Offers Dheeraj Kumar Shrivastava, an IT professional who deals with security and software of systems, “Discounts or offers is a general practice with almost all companies. However, I think through this they try to sell their old stuff.” He smiles, “Customer these days are smart. They can see through the strategies of the companies. Haven’t you heard, ‘never buy things at sale. Who will take responsibility for any defect in the gadgets bought during the season.”

jasmine@tribunemail.com

Just a few years back laptop computers were very expensive and uncommon, those laptops once bought did not required to be replaced by a newer model for years and now at present, just after a few months of your purchase we start getting an urge to upgrade to a newer and more advance model, all because of the quick developments in technology but at the same time it’s essential to keep up to date on products, a lot of the times a new version of a computer or mp3 player is essentially the same thing as the one before it, and there’s no need to rush out and get a new laptop.

In fact, one of the most cost efficient things to do before a model arrives that you absolutely cannot live without is to figure out ways to extend the life of your current laptop. It’s not entirely possible to keep a laptop running for years, even though the trends in technology might have you thinking otherwise. Taking care of a few basic details, like the battery and the laptop AC power adaptor cord, means that your computer will last.

If your laptop gets moved around a lot and taken from home to office, be sure that you’re lugging it around in a bag that keeps it safe. Don’t forget what’s in the bag, Dropping your laptop once or twice, hard, on a desk or floor is one thing, but making that a part of daily life is no good. Also, try not to put too much stress on the hinge when opening it. Don’t slam the laptop down or jerk it open too forcefully, and you won’t have to worry about replacing that part.

Perhaps the biggest accident that happens over and over with laptops is forgetting that you’ve left the laptop’s AC power adaptor cord plugged in. Usually this involves getting up, tripping over it, and accidentally pull it out in the process, or damaging the port by bending it. Some companies like Apple have changed their design for the newer laptops to make this impossible, but for those with older models, try to decrease the ability for someone to accidentally jerking or damage your cord by being watchful of where you plug in.

It’s not just about the physical wear and tear on outside elements with extending the life of your laptop, though. Being sure to always clean the keyboard and screen is a huge component of making sure you and your computer have many years together, and cleaning up doesn’t just stop with the outside. It’s really easy to do quick clean-ups of your hard drive, as well as to carefully back up your data, so that the computer is running as smoothly as possible and also, if the hard drive for some reason should fail, you’ll have your material somewhere else. One of the most common things to go wrong with an older computer, especially a laptop, is for the power source to start working differently. One of the most important parts of having a laptop is making sure you always have a functioning laptop AC power adaptor cord that carries a charge. That way, if the battery should start to go, you don’t need to replace it immediately.

amitpalsinghgrewal@gmail.com

She is planning to launch her official website by the end of the year, but Katrina Kaif denies being on the social networking site Twitter and says someone has been impersonating her. “Something has to be done to stop this sort of vandalism. I am not on Twitter or any other social networking website. I plan to start my own website by the end of the year,” said Katrina.

Katrina doesn’t believe in half-measures. It comes as no surprise to know that she intends to start her own website after months of research, preparation and build-up before the Internet’s most ‘hit’ girl delves deeply into her own domain.“I don’t want this to be something I start and then leave to others to take care of. Of course, there will be professionals employed to oversee my website. But I’ll pick and choose all the material and pictures that will on the site,” said the actress. Katrina’s website will be called katrinakaifofficial.com and the actress wants it to be a one-stop all-purpose stopover for all her fans. “My website will be comprehensive. It will have my exclusive pictures. In fact, I’ll be doing photo sessions done specially by me. It will also have pictures taken by me on my sets and on location.”

But the website won’t carry reports on her day-to-day activities. “I don’t think it’s cool to let people know where I am or what I’m doing throughout the day. I’m not on any of the social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. I guess my life is not an open Facebook,” she puns. The design, colours and format for her website are ready. It has been designed by her sister’s boyfriend and two professional designers from Britain. “I looked at several designs presented to me. Then I saw a British actress’ website which I quite liked, though it was too dark for my personality. My website will be fun, feisty, bubbly and colourful, to go with my image. “There’s nothing haphazard and everything official about it,” she said. — IANS

Camera captures everything, anything, ambiguity, eternity, infinity, in short, life itself. The nervousness, silence, synchronisation, fear…no words can be apt for the abstract.

Exhibition of photographs by S. Chandan, photojournalist, at Alliance Française—36, exemplifies the power of expression of the lens.

The twenty-two-picture exhibition begins with a Summer Feel, a boy taking a leap into Gandhi Bhawan, ripping not just ripples but the scorching heat itself. A horse galloping with a rider atop about to take a leap, colourful umbrella against the backdrop of black and white snowflakes and concrete, the moving rays of the sun piercing through the stillness, tiny human beings against the towering mountains. “I only chose photographs that subscribed to the hardcore pictorial and informative value,” he says of his fourth solo show and adds, “They were clicked impromptu on the spur of the moment and it took me around two months to compile.

In one, there’s a broken car amidst leaves and dumplings, with a kaleidoscopic electric effect, named Castaway. He says, “I clicked it, it kept lying as it is without attention. After one year I thought it’s a good picture and something can be done about it.” There’s a freezing depiction of endless abundant snow. “That’s a Siachen Glacier and the temperature here runs into minus 20 degrees Celsius.” While the Gateway to Siachen appears land of sand dunes. “That’s actually stone dust and it gives the appearance of desert and sand.” Moving on, there are a few capturing the clouds, the magic, the ambience of the Himachal, like the one at the Ridge in Shimla. Another depicts the taillights of vehicles and gives a pink and black contrast and trance effect. He shares, “In this the camera is on the ground and the tail lights of bikes have been shown.” Yet another shows an ordinary table, a few books and upturned worship bell, still puts across the singularity. “That bell in the photograph has not been touched by anyone, only Dalai Lama comes and touches it.” True, a picture does speak a thousand words.

On till September 24

manpriya@tribunemail.com

Three gold medals for three consecutive years in folk music category at the interuniversity meet, twice in top five of Awaaj Punjab Di television reality show and topper in the A.I.R national competition is by no means a meager achievement for young prodigious Jagir Singh. Many old memories surfaced in his mind as he rose to be bestowed with national honour at GND University for his hat trick in musical excellence (especially the wrath from his uncle Surinder Singh who forcibly initiated Jagir into music realm).

“What a turning point it was in my life,” recalls Jagir Singh blissfully ignorant of his dormant aesthetic potential and no aptitude for learning music during his childhood. He was compelled to take lessons in Gurmat Sangeet from guru Inderjit Neelam at Nawan Shehar in deference to the wish of his 15 family members at Hussainpura village. “I learnt music with reluctance for some time, but observed that the serenity of classical and sanctity of Gurmat Sangeet was awakening an aesthetic consciousness in the depth of my mind. It kept me engrossed more than any other chore,” says Jagir. He adds, “While my musical capabilities kept me in distinction always during my education at JSFS Khalsa school, but it really blossomed at the ASSM college in Mukandpur under the guidance of revered guru Prof. Shamshad Ali Saheb. While my gurubhai Roshan Prince won the first national Awaaj Punjab Di MH-1 TV contest, I followed him to in the semis and final top five later. But somehow like many others I failed to reconcile with the “other non musical” considerations in such music promotional endeavours.”

Since Punjabi folk music and ghazal has been his first love and won him recognition, talking about Punjabi folk music in India and Pakistan Jagir avers that folk singers in Pakistan still adhere to the traditional folk, which is the product of a musical tradition evolved through a process of oral transmission or by qissa writer. “Unfortunately the definition of folk is misunderstood in our region as all Punjabi songs are treated to be in folk category. In ghazal competition stress should be laid on its melodic presentations while for its rendition in a mehfil the potent lyricism and throw of words matter,” he opined with a reservation that he is too naive to comment more.

Now a final year MA vocal student at PU, Jagir Singh has an ardent belief that learning the finer nuances of the art under the blessed guidance of Neelam Paul and Arvind Sharma is a boon for him.

lifestyle@tribunemail.com

After two luke-warm days at the Lakme Fashion Week here, Bollywood designer Manish Malhotra gave the five-day extravaganza its much-needed flavour - a dramatic show themed around a bride walking out of her wedding.Malhotra showcased an unusual bridal collection, which moved away from using the traditional red colour symbolic of a wedding to beige, off-white, olive green and coffee browns."My collection is about a bride who walks out of her own wedding to a better future, to a positive tomorrow because she feels its not the right thing for her," Malhotra, who received a thunderous applause for the collection, told mediapersons after the show."I'd call it 'The Runaway Bride To A Better Future'", Malhotra quipped when asked what he would name the collection."Today's young women are confident, traditional yet modern," he said.The designer, who has dressed the who's'-who of Bollywood like Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Amrita Rao, Sushmita Sen, had taken the Kolkata Fashion Week by storm last week by showcasing the same collection at the Grand Finale.The economic downturn has forced Malhotra to slash prices of his outfit by 21 per cent."Yes, I've reduced my (clothes) prices by 21 per cent," he said. — PTI

Bollywood hunk John Abraham was very shy as a school boy and would never look at girls eye-to-eye because of his pimples."I used to be very shy...there was a time when my face was full of pimples and I never used to look up when in the company of girls so much so that they used to feel that I was such a shy, sweet, decent boy.

Only I couldn't tell them that my face is full of pimples and that is the only reason I'm looking down," John said.Talking to director Farah Khan on her chat show Tere Mere Beach Mein, the actor who enjoys a strong female fan base now revealed that he always lost the girls he had a crush on due to his shyness. "I was very shy in school and all the girls I had a crush on liked someone else....now it's changed a bit," he said.When asked whether it was his girlfriend actor Bipasha Basu, who pursued him into a relationship, the actor said, "No, I had changed totally by then. I had become like a raging bull". — PTI

Comedy may be an "undervalued" genre in Bollywood but actor Govinda embraces the moniker of 'comedian', so often attached to him, with pride though his future plans include an action film. While most Bollywood stars are averse to being stereotyped, Govinda says he does not mind the tag at all.

"I don't mind any tag, if it brings me success. And why would I have a problem with being called a comedian? It has made me successful. I am known as a comic actor by my audience," Govinda said in an interview.But the 45-year-old actor who will next be seen in Do Knot Disturb, which marks the return of the superhit Govinda-David Dhawan duo, is quick to add that he does not want to be restricted to the genre and wants to do a "entertaining action" film in the future."Why do you think I have lost so much weight?," he jokes before adding, "Action films are no more about just fight sequences, they have become more entertaining and I would really like to be a part of an action film with stunts of international standards." Govinda, who was voted the 10th greatest star of the last thousand years by BBC, has acted in more than 100 Bollywood movies, most of them comedies. — PTI

Most of them were hiding somewhere, like most of us wanted to do during summer months. Now when the weather is good we want to move out and enjoy, so do they. This is the time for them to be active, to feed and breed; yes, I am talking about insects that become active at this time. But why particularly this time?

It is the nature. With the onset of monsoons, the plants start recovering from the assaults of summers and put forth-new growth. Though it is a treat time for the insects that feed on it, but it is a nightmare for the gardener. The damage in the vigorously growing trees is somehow tolerable as the damage is camouflaged in growth but any damage to an indoor plant is clearly visible because here every leaf counts, as it should be healthy. It hurts more when the kitchen garden gets damaged.

For a gardener, however, it is very important to understand about the symptoms that reveal presence of insects in the garden. They are not easily visible due to the advantage, the mimicry. In kitchen garden, the effect of insects is felt very fast as the vegetable crops are short lived. The insects not only affect the plant growth or render the fruit unfit for consumption but also spread virus that shortens the plant life besides affecting fruit quality. Most of the insects found in vegetable crops are either sucking type or the borers. The small insects like Aphids, Jassids, Thrips etc mostly live at the back of the leaf sucking the sap. The crops frequented by these insects are cucurbits, brinjal, tomatoes etc and the presence of insects is revealed by the cupping of leaves upward or downwards. Whitefly is another tiny insect, very frequently appearing in the kitchen garden and is visible disturbing the plants. Both aphids and whitefly spread virus, causing curling of the leaves especially in chilly and capsicum.

During the rainy season the plants should be sprayed with rogor or metasystox, dissolved at one milliliter to a liter of water. As in case where the plants are bearing flowers, it is better to spray thiodan, dissolved at two milliliter to a liter of water. The fruit ready for consumption should be removed before spray and the rest should only be eaten at least 10 days after the spray, after thorough washing. The spray should be repeated after a fortnight.

satishnarula@yahoo.co.in