Ten years is a long time! When born with a glamourous look and blessed with the perfect height, vital statistics and still it takes a decade to make a mark in Bollwyood, you got to realise something's amiss. Something that's more crucial to be successful in the industry, something that helps one to sustain in the competition, something that trivialises even factors like skills and looks, "And that 'very important something' is right contacts and I wasn't lucky to have them," reasons Mehak Chahal as to what makes her go off screen every now and then.

However, Mehak, who was recently seen in Wanted and Main or Mrs Khanna has no regrets, "I try to see the glass half-full. I am still part of Bollywood and I hope this innings would be a longer one." The actor who played the lead in Nayi Padosan and did an item number in Chameli, doesn't even mind sharing screen space with established female actors (she worked with Kareena Kapoor in Main or Mrs Khanna).

The confidence has come after 10 years experience of seeing ups and downs, hard work and refusing to take short cuts. "People have achieved 'overnight' success in the industry but I preferred to take the longer route that assures success and credibility," she says. This probably accounts for why she left a Vashu Bhagnani's production in disgust. "I realised I was being sidelined as I was asked to wear the same clothes for four scenes and my lines were being cut without any requirement," she says. She didn't even refute the existence of casting couch in Bollywood, "But I decided to walk around it."

Hailing from Norway, it was her poor Hindi diction as well that took her so much time to get meaty roles in the film. Now having learnt that, she is also taking lessons in, diplomacy. "You can't be a superstar without knowing it but still I would not compromise on my dignity. I have no hassles in going slow and steady with my career," she says. She credits her recent success to Salman Khan, who gave her another break in Wanted. It was during the shooting of Hello Brother that she was introduced to him, "Salman Khan has always helped others earn success, be it music directors Sajid Wajid, producer Sajid Nadiawala or David Dhawan. He has climbed the success ladder by taking others along."

Being a Punjabi, it's natural for her to wish to work in a Punjabi film. She's honest while expressing her concern for the Punjabi film industry. "It's not growing to the extent of South Indian film industry for the lack of finances," she says. Mehak further specifies the should and should not, "NRIs should invest in the industry but not make films on Punjab that was two decades back. The focus should now be on the youth of Punjab that is educated and modern."

Before signing off, she recalls a factor behind her 10-year long struggle, "The important of all is, luck. Mine wasn't going well." Then, we wish you luck Mehak.

When you are just being 'human', you ought to be jealous. Being jealous is a human tendency. Those from the fashion fraternity or Bollywood who criticised Salman Khan's fashion show and collection of clothes, 'Being Human', were actually just being human. Ashley Rebello, Fashion stylist for films like Wanted, Main or Mrs. Khanna, puts it right, "They were jealous of the success of the fashion show. It's not easy to make eight super stars show stoppers of a single show." But Salman Khan did it for the cause of his sister Alvira Khan's collection, "The aim behind which was to get everybody talking about the collection. And I can hear people doing that." It took Ashley and his team two-month time to conceptualise the entire line.

But this isn't the only criticism he has come across. We heard critics suggesting, if Kareena's character in Kambakth Ishq and Main or Mrs. Khanna was paid more attention then her styling, films would have been better. His take on it, "My only concern is that an actors look in the film complements the character he/she is playing. For that, I can even pick up stuff from a local market or international brands. The much talked about Jimmy Choo shoes of Kareena can't decide the fate of any film."

Ashley finds his present job of fashion stylist easier than that of a fashion designer, "All you need to do is just pick the right clothes, mix and match the apt way and the job is done." But for freshers, he has a word of caution, "Freshers can't take any leverage as the competition is extremely tough." His future projects are London Dreams, Dibanng and Ekaant. — Ashima Sehajpal

The sky-dining experience, craftsmen from all over the country, apna Surajkund… as all roads are leading to Kalagram these days, one cannot help but make a visit in search of something 'rare'. And, our search at the First Chandigarh National Mela yields a meeting with a few Tanjore artists, the family from Madhubani, Bihar, who had done the Madhubani paintings on the walls of those makeshift huts and a rare patta chitra artists from Orissa.

First, about this artist from Orissa, whose small stall buried among so many others would have gone unnoticed, had it not been for N.K. Sathi, the creative head of the mela. He introduced us not only to Bamdev Das, but to this folk art on palm leaf. "This art form is almost extinct," Sathi tells us. And one need not go into detailed studies to know why. Though palm leaves are readily available in Orissa, the kind of intricacies the artist impart on such brittle base takes days to complete one. Each frame illustrates some mythological tale from the Ramayana or Mahabharata.

Bamdev, whose family has been among the few surviving artists, shows us how - with an iron pencil, he engraves the forms he wants, with free hand drawing the stories from his memory, the folklore he has grown up hearing from his mother and grandmother. "My father Braj Krishan Das is a state awardee and I learnt my art from him," he says with pride. Without the aid of any colour, he illustrates his story with the help of motifs and elements from the nature, with all its grace and dignity.

Moving away from his stall, we catch the sight of this bright corner showcasing framed paintings. Bright colours, gold and stone embellished paintings, this one comes in contrast with Bamdev's somber art, but nevertheless, attractive, and nobody has to spell it out - Tanjore paintings from Tamil Nadu. B Loganathan Lokesh is displaying a huge collection under the banner Shree Balaji Arts and among them is his famous Sita Devi painting in 4 feet by 3 feet which got him the Gandhi Memorial Award. His form is a little unusual then we are used to see in this particular genre but the technique and embellishment remain true to its tradition - gold foil, AD stone, temple jewellery - in teakwood frame. This one comes with the price tag of Rs 1.35 lakh but he has plenty others in a lower range too, Rs 2,000 onwards.

However, Lokesh is not the only one. There are other state awardees and Gandhi Award winner V Panner Selvam and his brother Srinivasan, who have come with an equally interesting collection - Lakshmi, Balaji, Ganesha and Gaumata. However, the most interesting among his creation is one Krishna painting, which Srinivasan call as 'butter Krishna' for his Krishna is rather fair complexioned.

After revelling in the company of gods and goddesses, we accompany Sathi to finally meet the man who is not just showcasing rather popular art of Madhubani but painted almost all the walls of the huts. Rajgir Paswan is one happy man, for he got such a wide canvas to showcase his art.

Using handmade paper, cow dung for backgrounder, Rajgir and his relative Ashok Paswan have captured anything that is native - gods and goddesses, village life, surrounding flora and fauna. "Everything is natural, right from the paper to colours and every single thing like the season or the direction of the wind plays a significant role in the colours we prepare," he explains.

"Madhubani paintings had a major boost in the 70s when a few think-tanks took it out of the village homes and pasted them in the walls of five-star hotels in the Capital," Sathi updates our knowledge.

Madhubani art had been lucky to have such patrons. Maybe it's time someone thought about patta chitra and saved it from getting wiped out from the face of the earth. 

The criticising Joneses can keep finger on their lips. Whoever thought India was just about bullock carts, broken roads, powerless villages, slums, fractured infrastructure; these eight don’t. In the tricity, under the youth exchange programme of Rotary International, the young ambassadors from Germany share their affair with incredible indelible India.

Three weeks here, and he’s seen Jaipur, Agra, Chandigarh. “I’d heard about Taj Mahal, everyone has and I knew a bit about its history,” Silvan Steiner, Class X student, lists a few of the familiarities. “We’ve been here for three weeks now and it’s very good, we’ve been site seeing, temples, Shimla, Rishikesh,” Nils Cirkel, also Class X student, chips in with his experiences. He adds, “For the exchange programme, we had the option of choosing Brazil too, but since we’d been there, so it was India this time.”

And there’s much more to explore. Says Silvan, “We have around four days left and after this we head to Delhi and Amritsar. In Amritsar, we’ll be visiting the Golden Temple and the border whose name I’m forgetting.” Wagah border, perhaps the beating retreat ceremony won’t make him forget it. Post places, its people, culture and palate.

Shares Nils, “Indian food is very spicy and spices here are very different from back home in Germany. I also saw Diwali and celebrated it with fire crackers and other traditions, saw much of the culture.” “And I can say namaste and Sat Sri Akal,” shrugs Silvan.

“We’ve been learning Hindi for two months now, we can already say Kaise ho, Aaya, Mujhe Bhhokh Lagi, Kya time hai, Kahaan,” Hilda and Jocelin, from Taiwan, too under one year Rotary International Youth Exchange Program, are recalling their vocabulary. The Bhawan Vidyalaya students, share the cultural differences. Says Jocelin, “Here the break time is very short, in schools in Taiwan, we have longer breaks, forty minutes of sleep time as well at the school itself and we have schools till nine pm and most are at least till five pm.” Here, they set free by afternoon with tomes and tones of homework!

Ticked off everything else, didn’t they forget to mention Chandigarh? “We’ve seen Rock Garden, Sukhna Lake, temples and it’s not very chaotic unlike other cities, is very green, very clean, very organised. “I have seen the Pinjore Gradens too and of course the Lake,” chips in Jocelin. For now, today’s itinerary awaits. Miles to go, much to see.

manpriya@tribunemail.com

Sony India expands its Walkman® Video MP3 player family with the new NWZ-S540 and the NWZ-E440 series – promising superior audio and visual entertainment on-the-go with enhanced Sony audio technologies.

The NWZ-S540 series integrates Sony’s new and exclusive Digital Linear Phase Speaker System in its slim and compact frame. Combined with its larger 2.4-inch LCD screen, the NWZ-S540 player allows users to share their favourite music effortlessly with friends and family. Promising a rich audio experience for audiophiles, the NWZ-E440 series is an affordable music player that features an extended battery life for longer music and video playback.

The Digital Linear Phase Speaker System is developed by Sony to enhance sound quality from stereo speakers.  The advanced audio technology allows for natural sound reproduction and powerful bass sounds to be amplified in a compact body. With superior sound quality brought about by the stereo speakers, the new Walkman® S540 series and E440 series provide exceptional audio experiences for users who enjoy music on-the-go.

Both Walkman® series feature an extended battery life, with up to 42 hours of music playback and 6.5 hours of video playback on the NWZ-S540, and up to 30 hours of music playback and 6 hours of video playback on the NWZ-E440[1]. Furthermore, the large 2.4-inch high resolution (240 x 320) QVGA LCD screen will prove gratifying for users who like to catch the latest music videos on-the-go with the NWZ-S540. Weighing in at a featherweight 54g, the NWZ-E440 series also features a 2.0-inch LCD screen.

For users who like to wake up to their favourite tunes every morning, the new Walkman® S540 series feature the new alarm function, which allows for users to set a daily ‘wake-up call’. A timer function switches off the Walkman® within a set time, which helps to preserve battery life and enable longer hours of audio enjoyment. Also incorporated are voice and FM recording and multiple codec support for convenient music and video playback. In addition, the included Content Transfer software easily transfers files such as music, movies and photos from Windows Explorer, iTunes® or even Cyber-shot cameras to the Walkman® with its simple drag-and-drop interface. The NWZ-S540 series is bundled with a convenient stand, making it easy to prop up the player instead of holding it when watching videos or recording lectures.

The NWZ S540 series is available in black colour whereas NWZ –E 440 series is available in funky colors like pink, violet, red and black to zing up the user’s personality. 

Hey guys, I am on an extravagant holiday, the blinds of my cabin have gone for a wash, laughter challenge is a crying deal, guessed right the tall hunk is the Dadagiri winner, I thought Shah Rukh Khan was making a special appearance in Wanted, Guess Anu’s back with her ex ex……. there is space for just about any kind of information on the Tiwtter and Facebook. Ex flames, office gossip, malicious inside news, happening and non-happening parties, rock bands… there are coded scraps and tweets for every occasion. And then, we have a school of thought that objects to people leaking the news on reality shows, divulging personal details about relationships. So, what is ‘too much’ or the permissible limit of sharing limit on these social networking sites. Especially, when the youngsters have tagged them as ‘forums’ for information dissemination.

Shares Sandeep Dogra, director Defined Web, Sector 22, “I think we have gone overboard with these social networking sites. From personal pictures to personal details, I bet people do not mind sharing any kind of information on Facebook, Orkut or Twitter.” Sandeep says that the trend of leaking information on the winners of reality shows is the new trend. “The recent controversy about someone leaving a scrap on the winners of MTV Splitsvilla, followed by some movie buff claiming to divulge everything about Amitabh Bachchan’s to be released flick Paa, there is a need for some kind of restrain in information sharing.”

Charu Setia, an avid blogger agrees. “From kitchen gossip, office patch up and break ups to blind date… we share everything on these sites. And why not, she questions, what else is a social networking site for. But I do agree that there should be no ‘personal information sharing’, as in about relationships. They are too scared to be scrapped or tweeted about.” There is one more thing that Charu sees as ‘just not done’. “I hate it when some warped minds leak information on reality shows. This is not done. It kills the whole mazaa. More so, when you have been religiously following the show.”

What else is a social networking site for Charu!! Didn’t someone say the whole information-sharing thing could get murkier? Nisha Uppal, first year student of computer science shares an incident about her relationship with her jig-bang turning sour because of a scrap left by another friend on Facebook. “That’s when I realised, how can someone scrap or tweet personal details.” Something similar happened to her batch mate Harpeet Bajwa, who left a Tweet about their teacher they didn’t like, and how the teacher came to know about it and how he was asked to give a written apology for the whole thing.

Somewhere down the line, we do realise that everything does not need to be scrapped or tweeted. Some information is better left unwritten, until and unless you’ve coined a code language for it!

jasmine@tribunemail.com

Bollywood actor Gul Panag, an avid user of the microblogging website Twitter, is of the opinion that celebrities should be cautious while using such social interfaces.

The actress who is blogging live for Twitter from the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week which kicked off in New Delhi on Sunday, said that actors should avoid unwittingly revealing secret details about their films.

"It's absolutely correct that celebrities should not be allowed to talk about their films on Twitter. I completely relate to it. I remember getting posts after I wrote ,'I've just finished a film' with people asking me 'Which film, with who'. It's basic common sense," added Panag.

The former beauty queen who was one of the first in Bollywood to get hooked to the website feels that celebrities should be careful while talking about their professional life and adhere to their director's will.

With the help of the new solar powered angels, which fly above us as space parents, one can now accurately track where your child is with the help of the Global Positioning systems. GPS, is becoming an increasingly popular tool that parents use to track their children at any given moment. Utilising a number of satellites, GPS is known world over to help you get places, track-stolen cars, and many more things.

Growing groups of few parents in other countries are already using these technologies to keep up with their children, Parents can now buy and arm their children with GPS technology (Portable GPS system has tracked and pulled out many young kids out of trouble), which allows them to monitor movement and get their location in case parents are worried and concerned. The safety advantages of this system are very impressive. With more and more psychos and retards on the news, as well as the streets, parents would welcome and approve this technology as an answer to their worries, about the well being of their children. The technology is, as a result, becoming a part of the "mainstream", and its availability and price decrease will become an inevitable fact of life.

Many systems offer simple wrist units to GPS bags and backpacks. The potential benefit to users is obvious. If a child gets lost wearing a GPS wrist unit, parents and the police have an effective way of locating them quickly. These wrist units, however, are not for all children. With younger children, it might be useless in that they could forget or lose the wristwatch because they are not used to wearing one. In older children, it might be more effective.

GPS tracking via cell phone is becoming increasingly the trend. With a GPS chip enabled, children carrying a cell phone can be located. This has grown in popularity, because now-a-days everyone over the age of 10 seems to have a cellular telephone, as a fact we can see grandmas and the grandchildren exchanging text

Many advanced manufacturers are working on GPS tracking systems via a chip housed in a plastic sleeve that fits around the cell phone. The cell phone solution is ideal for certain ages of children. For instance, in very young children, it would make no sense. In this instance, other options in tracking system and is being explored.

This is where school bags, backpacks, and GPS-enabled lunch boxes might be a better option. All these products are currently being rolled off the assembly line and will be ready for retail purchase for children, who take them to school and return home, but do not tend to go much further. In other words, you can track very young children with these products. While a cell phone would not be suitable, these other options would fit perfectly. One thing is for sure, with GPS trackers bunking school would not be possible. However, youngsters these days are more tech savy, and I am sure the will find a way out.

As if this was not enough, there is now a James Bond touch to it, GPS technology is coming up in necklaces and jewelry like charms and can be offered as other options for parents to consider. As this technology expands in the near future, we can see more tracking tools so that parents will be able to select the tool that is best suited to their child's needs and age.

Any style of GPS tool can be effective. Certainly, the most important consideration in choosing a GPS tracking device is the unit's reliability and effectiveness. Most of the major products on the market seem to be at least reasonably reliable in performance and remember as the GPS accuracy improves so does its price.

When you find a device that meets appropriate performance levels, then it is necessary to choose the product that you think fits your child's current handling level, just like cell phone for older children, schoolbag for the little ones. Parents will want to consider all options while choosing, as this is one item that can cause stress or create a sense of safety for parents and children.

But it is better said than done, it might take sometime (not a life time), and yes it will not be cheap. On the other hand, if you can buy your kids Audis and Beamers, this shouldn’t pinch. It is money put to good use, after all we all have priorities, and kids are the main priority.

amitpalsinghgrewal@gmail.com

This is a portable hard drive, which is extra hard with military standard, The A-DATA SH93 meet the military’s standard for drop resistance and can withstand being submerged in one meter of water for half an hour. A-DATA SH93 HDD is available in 250GB, 320GB, 500GB and 640GB capacities. And it is going to hit the Indian market soon (Not counting the Gray market). A-DATA is casing, makes it waterproof to depths of up to one meter and for periods of up to 30 minutes, which may not sound a lot but is certainly long enough when you drop it of your pocket or even if you slip on a rainy day A-Data SH93 has a fixed USB cable that wraps around the body of the drive and tucks neatly into place. 

I wouldn’t want anyone share information about what is happening at there workplace. This is not right ethically as well as professionally. Besides, it can land a colleague or your boss into trouble. Yes, it is okay to express about how you feel at your office, whether you like it or not. But, there should be no scraps or tweets about your colleagues, boss and their behaviour.