This is no justification or excuse for Jarnail Singh's act but time factor did play a major role. Approximate time was 25 years, add the pain plus a few moments of impulse and then Jarnail Singh hurled a shoe at the home minister, P. Chidambaram.

Eight months after the incident, he is out with his book, I Accuse, the title in tandem with his action on 2nd April, 2009. So here, Jarnail talks about time too, "Time at times fails to heal. Even after all these years, when half of the witnesses have died and accused have been almost forgotten and forgiven, there are many who still are suffering and hoping for justice even after a quarter of a century behind them."

Thus, the book is an account of his agony-afflicted, people's untold stories and the shoe-flinging incident.

But because we are the global generation that is more bothered about issues like female foeticide, drug menace and unemployment, it wasn't very easy for us to relate to the issue of 1984 Anti-Sikh riots that he strongly feels about. "It's not in a bid to take up a particular community's issue but how human rights were compromised and are still being, by not delivering justice. Human rights is the cause common to all generations," says the journalist turned author as he launches his book at The Browser-8.

And gradually we begin to agree as he further narrates the system's apathy towards people, "Shanti Kaur, a riot victim lost her father and brother in the riots, later her husband died and in February 2009, she lost her son to the drug mafia. But the issue in these 25 years remains the same: accountability."

It was two months after the incident that he was approached by Penguin to write the book, "I did extensive research by visiting widow colonies in Delhi and other most affected areas. Also, I went through as much news papers and magazines as I could of that time the incidents happened to know the discrepancy between what was reported and the facts."

Life has changed a lot for Jarnail Singh in the last few months as everyone recognises him now. People approach him for a debate on his shoe-flinging act often and he candidly replies, "As a journalist, I violated a model code of conduct, which I shouldn't have. I was also fired from my job. Many lawyers showed their interest in taking up the case but I didn't fight as I knew I wasn't right."

Then there's another model code of conduct that has been made a mockery of and is severe than his case. "The Sikh leadership failed the community just as the government by not being able to control riots. The accused were being given the Lok Sabha tickets even when Nanavati Commission report held them responsible. Is this not violation of the model code of conduct?" he asks.

His action however, set off a chain reaction before elections, which he hadn't expected. The issue was once again taken up in the Parliament and people held protests in Delhi and Punjab. With his book, what he still aims to accomplish is, "Justice and accountability. Also, riots shouldn't be taken up as political issues. Riots in Punjab should not be defended with the argument of riots in Godhra." Hope aims are achieved in 'time'!

ashima@tribunemail.com

It's not the usual issues like anorexia, Bollywood, fame, glamour, India's drought at beauty pageants. The point of concern was environment, attribute that to the title or the effect of being a burning issue. Just three days before, she was competing to become a Beauty for a Cause, but Shriya Kishore, Miss India Earth 09, feels her job is well done. "Environmental concerns are my only agenda. It like my hearts calling, and I believe every person can make a difference by their bit," says the tall, 5"11 tall beauty. In city, to inaugurate Chandigarh Fashion Week organized by Chandigarh Fashion Council, Shriya knows this isn't about just pageant talk. "I commute through train in Mumbai, coz that's doing my bit. Turning off your geyser may be yours. If we talk about global warming, then every one needs to work to keep their carbon footprint low."

Test her more on the issue and she definitely leaves an impression. "We really need to do much more than just talk. With Copenhagen coming up and our neighbors taking a stand, it about being in sync with global standards, being accepted internationally. We can't afford to loose out due to lack of effort coz everybody is taking note," she says. Ask her if she agrees with India's environment policy and, "Personally, I don't. We are emphasising the point that curbing down carbon emissions will slow down the economic growth. But without a healthy generation to enjoy it, what will we do with that growth." That does give us a point to ponder upon.

Sharing about her experience as one of the participants in the Miss Earth pageant at Phillipines, she says that now she has found a new home in the country. "The culture, people and everything there is so similar to India. If I thought that Femina changed my life, then Philipines gave it a whole together different direction," she says. As for speaking about the regional fashion week phenomenon, "Having one fashion week would not have helped in taking fashion to masses. And then you categorise it for the elites. At least now, everybody associated with it will get the benefit." Also, fashion no more about a selected few to flaunt. “For me, my mother has always been a fashion icon. and she was from Chandigrah. People here are born with it and so you don’t need to make them understand all about it. Just cash in on the oppurtunity that it may provide.”

Now, this beauty is not all about Bollywood, but not beyond it as well. So, will it happen? "Yes, may be. But I'll be taking time off for now," she signs off.

nehawalia@tribunemail.com

Talking about stylish combinations, wine and art score the maximum on the chart. Undoubtedly, both compliment each other pretty well, and now they are moving towards strengthening their bond too. The Wine Appreciation Session at CII’s Young Indians (Yi) Chandigarh Chapter on a Friday night saw the right mix of spirit, style and skill. The session organised to support the education of under privileged girl children saw the wine lovers share notes on the finer nuances of wine tasting. The best on liners of course coming from Yashowardhan Saboo, founder president Chandigarh Wine club- ‘Never drink wine to get drunk’, he says, adding, that the wine culture has grown in the city from the past five years. “Earlier people used to ask for only two kinds of wine, red and white, but now they definitely know more about it,” puts in Yashowardhan Saboo.

Little bit of swirling, holding the glass from the bottom, combining it with a particular kind of food, wine drinking is almost an art in itself. Smiles the founder president. “Its better to know about a certain thing to enjoy it well. Nevertheless, wine tasting is not a complicated process. If one knows something about wine, he or she tends to enjoy it more.” And now, if you are looking for that ‘kick’, this isn’t the drink. All the same, it is proven to be a healthy drink, and works as a great anti-oxidant.

Accentuating the wine drinking experience was the exhibition put by various artists. As artist and author, Seema Jindal shares, “Wine and art gel well together. Both require a good nose to sniff the best kind of wine and an art piece.” Seema whose hidden emotions take various forms on the canvas feels that colours have a great impact on the canvas and on life as well. “Yellow is all about vibrancy, while red energises the surroundings.”

Well, the colour and the smell of the spirit sure made its impact felt. 

Asian Celebrations, fall winter lifestyle exhibition at Hotel Mountview has indeed something for everyone —apparel, bags, jewellery, watches, chocolates, handicrafts and natural products.

If traditional wear is on your mind, check out Aarav Creations that brings to you Pakistani salwar suits, saris and lenhgas. Manjari gets you the best from Jaipur — kurtis and suits. Manvi Chowdhry’ stall has hand block printed pashmina stoles, tunics, unstitched suits and quilted jackets. Viola, a newly launched brand offers party wear for both men and women. Rashi Setia’ s collection of designer stoles — Elegance has fancy stuff for evening outs in woolens and velvet adorned with swaroski, suede tassels and pom poms. Check out her digital prints and Burberry checks.

Sirjana specialises in signature earrings in 9.5 silver jewellery in precious and semi precious stones. Association of Women Entrepreneurs and Career Women, India offers jewellery in real pearls, silver, precious and semi precious stones created by rural women.

REEDS revives the inlay and lacquer woodwork in Hoshiarpur belt and has a collection of handicrafts. Utkrisht provides you linen solutions with bed sheets, spreads and quilts.

If you are looking for something different as present check out Gifts & Glitters from Jasveen Shahi. Apart from regular chocolates, this stall offers ‘name certificates’ that track down the origin, meaning and characteristics associated with a particular name. You can get the certificate framed in wood, leather or paper frames of your choice.

Farm Essentials gets natural oils, soaps, bath salts, shoe fresheners and reed diffusers, all without any chemicals. Lhasa Aroma specialises in room fresheners and offers a variety of reed diffusers, vapourisers, potpourri, incense and signature stones. There is a lone stall that’s taking no money. Set up by Shri Gurudev Photo Color, who recently completed their 25 years in business, are there to show the quality and variety of their products. What’s more you also get 10 % discount on any of their package.

Also on cards are tarot sessions by Aarti Bhatia who offers answers to all your questions. The event has a special stall that offers nail art and beautiful braiding.

On till Sunday

Balki made the successful Cheeni Kum with the unusual pairing of Amitabh with a much younger Tabu as his love interest. That was a love story with a difference, gimmicky in nature and formulaic in it's trajectory. But successful nevertheless. Balki is a very successful ad filmmaker and his transference of affection to celluloid was noteworthy because it was his first feature and managed to capture the hidden fantasies of the urban cine goer. His latest Paa, a second feature, has had a surfeit of publicity, mostly because Amitabh Bachchan is playing the role of a 13-year-old boy suffering from Progeria( a rare genetic disease) and has Abhishek and Vidya Balan as his parents. It's a casting coup that has captured the imagination of the press and public and raised the level of expectations from the film to a new high. But the film itself is nowhere close to achieving that goal. Balki's treatment of the narrative is much like that in Cheeni Kum . It starts off very well but ends in a whole lot of confusion.

Auro(Amitabh) is afflicted by a disease that causes premature ageing. Nevertheless he is a happy child, has friends and a doting mother (Vidya Balan), a gynaecologist and a grandmother who he affectionately calls 'Bum.' Anmol Arte(Abhishek), his father is a young idealistic politician. Both parents have difficulty dealing with their child's illness. The film basically focuses on that aspect. Balki in fact, not only loses focus, he also tries to do too much. He tries too hard to show positivity and loses out on the reality of such a painful existence.

The film begins with Auro at age 12, winning an award and it is being handed to him by Anmol Arte, who is unaware that he is Auro's father. From there Balki takes you on a flashback journey through the love story of Anmol and another young Cambridge student(Vidya). She becomes pregnant and Anmol wants her to abort the child as he believes it will hamper his political ambitions. The plot is quite hackneyed. There is no clear justification for Anmol's decision at that point and the wedge that is thrust down on the two lovers because of their differences of opinion appears forced. Even Auro's happy existence appears false and unconvincing. We live in a cruel world which believes in pouncing on anything that hints at abnormality and portraying Auro's world as one that is seemingly untouched by prejudice, appears false. The way Balki constructs the narrative , the illness itself gets relegated to the background while the parent-child relationship takes centre-stage. When the two lovers finally come together it's time for some tear-jerking moments. The film has a tone drenched in emotions and they flow out like a gushing stream. It's not a controlled narrative in that sense. The melodrama is played out to wrench tears out in full flow. The narrative also feels too labored and sometimes even awkward- there are moments in the film where you can sense Balki's hesistation about how to take the narrative forward. And te confusion is pretty evident when he uses more runtime to establish the mother-son relationship.

Amitabh as Auro is competent but it's a role which could have been played by any 12-13 year old unknown considering the amount of prosthetic make-up, as also CGI fabricated contortions, used to make him look almost unrecognisable. With Amitabh in the role you see through the superficiality. All that painstaking effort at creating that look doesn't help the cause of believability. Abhishek and Vidya turn in restrained performances. They also look quite good together as a pair. With this film Balki may establish himself in Bollywood as a filmmaker with heart but the sensibilty needed for creating higher art still appears to be missing. Hopefully he will find his way out of the commercial mire and create something more solid and though-provoking the next time!

Singer Mika Singh makes no attempt at modesty and has no qualms about declaring himself the best in business.

Mika, who has made a place for himself in playback singing with his Punjabi style and flamboyant attitude, says he is the trendsetter in Bollywood- what he does today, the world follows tomorrow.

"I have started a number of trends in Bollywood, whatever I do becomes a hit. I brought the Punjabi flavour into Bollywood music and other musicians are following it. Even Rahman has put the Punjabi effect in his latest song Chiggy Wiggy," Mika said on the sidelines of the auditions for Music Ka Maha Muqabla, a new reality show on Star Plus. And that is just one of the many trends this 32-year-old singer claims to have set. The nasal-tone singing, made popular by Himesh Reshammiya, is also another style Mika claims to have introduced in Bollywood.

Manoj Bajpai, who shot into fame with his breakthrough performance in Ram Gopal Varma's 1998 cult hit Satya, has declared that he will never work with the Bollywood director again. The rift between the mentor and the actor seems to run deep with Bajpai saying that he has no desire to work with Varma again.

"We have mutually decided never to work again. There is not bitterness and it is not that we are not on speaking terms. But mentally and emotionally there is no desire left in me to reunite with Ramu again," said Bajpai. The actor bagged the National award for the best supporting actor for his role as Bhiku Mhatre in the film about Mumbai underworld and later worked in Road but soon parted ways with Verma over creative differences.

However, it was rumoured earlier that the duo had decided to let bygones be bygones and start afresh, however Bajpai denies they will be working together again. "I don't see it happening again. At least not in the near future," says the actor. Bajpai who began his career with television serial Swaabhimaan before he received a big break with RGV's Satya in 1998. — PTI

Ranbir Kapoor, the new 'It' boy of Bollywood may have trounced favourites like Shahrukh Khan and John Abraham to be voted the 'Sexiest Man Alive' by People magazine, but the actor says that he does not consider himself sexy.

The 27-year-old actor said that there are ‘a thousand things’ wrong with his face and body and therefore the title is a total surprise.

"I am confused as I don't consider myself sexy. There are a thousand things that are wrong with my face and body," said the actor.

Ranbir who will be seen on the cover of the magazine shirtless on a beach, said that he believes in the old adage "handsome is what handsome does". Amitabh Bachchan is sexy to me in all his films, Shahrukh is sexy in DDLJ and Aamir is sexy in Rang De Basanti, said Ranbir. Vijender Singh, Leander Paes and Yuvraj Singh are also on the list. —PTI

TAROT TALK
What the cards say today...
P. KHURRANA

Aries: The ten of Cups brings you your truth, hopes and desires. Spend wisely lest there is a crunch. Bitten by the love bug? A good time to cement your relationships. Professionally, all your partnership problems will get resolved amicably. An overseas travel is on the cards.

Tarot advice: Offer grains to birds on Wednesday.

Taurus: The Magus blesses you sensitivity and creativity in whatever you do in this week. You will be a winner in every sphere of your life. Look forward to an increment at work. Personally, take time out for your family. Better still; plan a weekend trip with them. Take care of your eyes.

Tarot advice: Do not lend money on Tuesday.

Gemini: Seven of swords says journey for business or holiday is likely. Your relationship may hit rock bottom because of a third person's interference. Professionally, look forward to a plum project that will do magic to your ailing career; rejoice! Seek spirituality in case you are feeling very restless.

Tarot advice: Pay homage at a place of worship.

Cancer: The Five of Pentacles brings many opportunities in your life. Keep a check on your finances. Personally, you may feel low because your partner is not responsive. Give more time to your partner and to the relationship. A Taurean will be helpful.

Tarot advice: Offer milk to a shivling on Monday

Leo: Magician card reveals it's time to clear the air and get rid of all the burdens you've been carrying on your shoulders. Your debtors will repay all your money this week. Look forward to a new project, which will be a breather in your boring professional life. Keep a tab on your diet and avoid fried foods.

Tarot advice: Immerse coconut in flowing water on Tuesday.

Virgo: Your draw Six of Wands so friends could get on your nerves throughout the week. Financial problems that caused you a lot of worry will be reconciled smoothly. Don't backbite about your partner. Talk and sort out the issue. Beware of a crafty relative on Wednesday.

Tarot advice: Donate 11 almonds in a temple.

Libra: The Moon card reveals this would be a promising week for those of you in relationships. A romantic introduction will take you by surprise. You will be at your enterprising best and yield booming returns. Look forward to a new business proposal on Monday. Take care of your stomach.

Tarot advice: Avoid red colour on Tuesday.

Scorpio: The karmic Wheel of fortune turns in your favour. Do not escape from all your responsibility on Tuesday. Professionally, this is the right time to expand your business. On personal front; go all out to get the one you love. Don't forsake a new learning opportunity because of pride.

Tarot advice: Do not vouch for any person.

Sagittarius: You draw Ace of swords your attention should be on your health. Be wise while handling money matters. Somebody special will sweep you off your feet. At office you will be acknowledged for your work. Your health may be a cause for concern.

Tarot advice: Keep rice under pillow on Wednesday night.

Capricorn: Nine of pentacles reveal this would be a good time to travel, especially for the purpose of business. You may want to end a relationship and almost break up. But it won't end, despite everything. Fret not, let time be the judge. Concerned about your depleting finances, you will make an effort to organize your affairs in that area.

Tarot advice: Prayer to Sun is apt.

Aquarius: The Princes of Cups shows in this week you would need to take quick decisions. You will be rolling in money this week. If you've been battling a case, there is good news in store for you. Besides expanding your current business, you will be able to resurrect an old project. Be happy. Avoid eating out.

Tarot advice: Donate Mash sabut in Temple.

Pisces: The Queen of Wands says at home, try and spend time with your loved ones and children. Steer clean from backbiting or arguments. An unexpected call from an admirer will surprise you. Lady luck is on your side and will help you transform negative situations into positive ones.

Tarot advice: Be cautious of strangers on Saturday.