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Indecent proposal
A court in Chandigarh, Haryana, sentences a former top police chief SPS Rathore to just six months of rigorous imprisonment and Rs 1,000 (about $25) in fine after he was found guilty of molesting a 14-year-old girl in 1990. The girl committed suicide. But before she went ahead with this irreversible act, we are sure she had to face the turmoil inside her—with thoughts of why ‘her’. The following day Sukriti Sharma, a HR professional scans the newspapers for news on the Ruchika-Rathore case. ‘What if I were to go through anything like this. Is this the punishment for a crime like this.’ The thought sent chill down her spine. This is just one odd example; women often have to handle uncomfortable and unwelcome situations, which can be broadly classified under ‘sexual harassment.’ While some find their way of handling such situations, others are left to taste the bitterness.
Says Sukriti, “Combating sexual harassment is important, but more than this women should understand what is sexual harassment. Most of the times, women undergo ‘subtle’ harassment, wherein fellow employees, colleagues or bosses make decent advancements in an indecent garb.” She shares her experience with an MNC in Noida where she interned for five months. “My immediate senior would behave quirky with me. He would ask me to accompany him to all client meetings, saying that this would give me the right exposure. He would send work-related SMSes late in the night, he would make me sit in the office after office hours and sometimes even asked me to share a light heart-to-heart chat with him to
develop a good working relationship. This was obviously strange, but I never said anything because he had explanations for his official behaviour.” Going by the studies they find that sexual harassment is still endemic, often hidden, and present in all kinds of organisations. Yet it is still not viewed as a problem, which has to be systematically tackled. Agrees Samiksha Sodhi, a public relation associate from Dehradun, settled in Chandigarh for three years now. “I have heard stories on sexual harassment at workplace in all sectors from my male and female friends. I must say they are true to an extent as well. Without naming she shares a case wherein her colleague was harassed to an extent that she had to return to her hometown. “My colleague was purposely thrown in the section wherein she would have to meet and face ‘that’ man everyday. He would ask her to book movie tickets for him, and then smartly ask her for the same movie. He would not give her offs. And would make sure that she was in the office on a Sunday on the pretext of meeting office targets.” Samiksha is of the view that women generally don’t understand what is sexual harassment and how they should deal with it. Most of the times they would cope up with circumstances. Except for sharing it with their close friends they will never complain for the fear of inviting
unnecessary attention. According to Kunda Singh, counsellor for Women Cell, Mohali, “Women, the most modern and even the traditional ones, both face sexual harassment, which they keep on bearing till the end. Instead, they should report the matter as soon as they feel uncomfortable at the workplace. If not, then without giving two hoots about the job, they should snub the person who makes the advances then and there.” Probably Ruchika did not have this option. jasmine@tribunemail.com |
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Best of all
We wondered if mutual admiration helps bring out the best in theatre artists on stage. We thought about the same even more as Kamal Tewari praised his friend and mentor, M.K Raina’s theatre pursuits and he repaid him with kind words. So, we cleared our doubt with M.K. Raina, renowned theatre personality, in the city, on the invitation of Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi, who presented a rather different picture, “Years of experience, number of plays, popularity, the past achievements, relationships and everything else nullifies with every project at hand.” And what brings out the best, against what we thought is, “Constant provocation. You have to challenge others talent, force them to come up with something better,” Raina adds. He prefers the leveled bar while on stage. The treatment given to co-artists depends on the role they are playing in a production, not on how senior or junior one is, “As a director of a play I can ask Kamal Tewari to change and come up with fresh music compositions. I even asked my mentor, late Parchanand Pathak to do the same once.” About Chandigarh he says, “More than Hindi or vernacular languages, english plays are staged here more. Pseudo modernisation is creeping in, making people vie for western culture.” With over 100 plays to his credit, unlike several theatre personalities he feels, “Anybody can do theatre but on a condition. To become a painter, one learns art, to become a musician, one master ragas, so why do we take acting for granted. One needs to get trained and improvise even if it is from a local acting school.” A graduate from NSD, he feels, “It’s high time we should have regional centers of NSD, where students have the liberty to learn and perform theatre in local language.” In spite of quality playwrights, TV’S and Bollywood’s conquest, Raina is inhibited. “Even if good plays are not being written, I still direct plays by taking out stories from novels and poems.” His play, Mahatma and the Poet is from the letters Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi exchanged, “This play would showcase how vehement critics they were of each other.” He is presently working on a play from the novel, Autobiography of an Unknown , “The source of the book— kabadi bazaar of Delhi.” Anything for the cause of theatre! ashima@tribunemail.com
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Straight talk
Philip Giles, director, L’Oreal India talks about the latest in
mane market “Hair dressing is the fifth most-sought after profession in Japan, offers Philip Giles, director, L’Oreal India, and I guess in India and especially in this part of the region it wouldn’t figure in the top 20 professions youngsters would want to take up. But I see things changing,” and he looks at the professional hairdressers at work at L’Oreal sector-8.
“A good saloon, a professional set up and right consultation, makes all the difference. Last but not the least, youngsters need to be told that hairdressing is a marvellous and a pretty lucrative career, and they can make good money out of it, if they have a professional backing.”
Moving on from the need to have a broader outlook towards this profession to the myths holding it back, Philip offers that grandma’s recipes are here to stay. “The traditional methods have worked for the last 1000 years and they will continue to work. But then a little bit of professional advice and consultation at the saloon will do no harm.” He adds, “L’Oreal is inspired by traditional methods. They create products with ayurvedic and natural properties. Broadly, there are two kinds of customers, those who trust science and technology, and those who trust natural methods. We at L’Oreal offer a right amalgamation of both.” L’Oreal plans to launch a new colour ‘Inova’ in April. Philip is excited to share the next big thing from L’Oreal. “This will be a permanent ammonia free colour that will be fragrance free as well. In fact this is by far the best technology that L’Oreal has ever come up with. So, those of you who are shy of colouring, watch out for this one! Another trend that needs to be watched out for the coming year, and which was a great hit of 2009, hair straightening. Provides Philip, “ The trend has lot to do with the changing role of women in the society. She is an
entrepreneur, she goes out for parties, she travels, and straight and bouncy hair is the best style she can sport. Besides, straight hair go down well with the classical Indian beauties. It wouldn’t be wrong to add that this is a
national trend as of now and is going to stay for long.” When it comes to hair colouring, Philip finds it not a big part of the industry. “Three years ago we were selling only black hair colours. Now, people are experimenting with fashion colours like red, purple, brown. At the same time, he adds, the progression is not drastic but slow and steady.” His take on hair trends for 2010? “Hair straightening of course is going to stay. There would be an increase in professional treatments.” |
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FLASHBACK >> The city kept its party meter under control in 2009
If last year saw the city living and waking up from the 'dead' tag, this year it went down with another yawn. That it didn't actually turn into a drag, but with not much happening in the party circuit Chandigarh was not much alive. The regular weekend parties, cocktail evenings, designer launches and three cheers. 2009 had the same party menu with maybe a few occasional special offers. The annual showstopers were again the Blender's Pride Magical Nights Tour with Minnisha Lamba, sporting a strange 'new look', added the glamour. The edge was given by Vikram Phadnis and Mandira Virk decoding their fashion collection in an event that had all wine and cheese. The next was Bacardi's Howling Nights in association with MTV that saw party animals howl the night away. Apart from the two high profile events, the city kept its party meter under control. Climbing up the fashion ladder, a number of fashion shows and designer collections were showcased over the time this year. Pleasing our appetite for designer wear were Manish Malhotra, city-bred designer duo Parvesh-Jai and Delhi sisters Nidhi and Divya Gambhir. While the fashion elite got a high, the party got a little groovy with celebrity Dj's playing in the city. Dj Suketu performing at Howling Nights, Evolushroom from Switzerland got some techno and progressive high to the city while one of the oldest members of city's party circuit Dj Bijen performed at Black Magic after a long hiatus. The ladies who rocked the party were Dj Pari at Voodoo, Dj Barkha at Score. One significant launch was the re-opening of Aerizzona, all revamped and ready to rock. After all it was where the genesis of city nightlife first made appearance. Amongst all the work hard, party harder mania, one trend that actually caught city's fancy was of Charity cocktail evenings. Mont Blanc launched their Gandhi inspired collection over a fundraising event with cocktails, art and cavier. Kapil Dev's charitable venture 'Rang', an open exhibition cum fundraiser for group, 'Khushi' had Chandigarh's who's who enjoying the works of Surekha Sadana and other prominent artists over cocktails. PFA too had their handful with social events with Manish Malhotra tying up with them for their fundraiser. Even the personal parties went big with names like Zeenat Aman and JJ Valaya dropping by for some chitchat. But the biggest Page 3 event of the year was the wedding bash of Bikramjit Singh Majithia. Now, the most eligible bachelor in Punjab got hooked in style and grandeur. Political elite list, celebrity performers in Harbhajan Mann and Sukhwinder Singh, lavishly laid out platter with six different cuisines and diamonds, the wedding was a perfect Punjabi affair. Add to that, entire Chandigarh police playing perfect organisers for the wedding. So much, and yet we just sleepwalked through the year with not much to write about. As we begin the countdown to a new year, let's keep our fingers crossed that our high spirits, talent and energy to party doesn't go waste. Amen! nehawalia@tribunemail.com
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Worth a watch
Stay ahead of time with a fashion accessory that is sure to make its mark
Watch out, folks! Changing times have brought about changes in the concept of wearing watches. That's right! Watches are no more timepieces dangling from around your wrist. You can now hang them around your neck, or even from your belt. And, aver you are abreast of changing times. Oh, come on! If you are thinking only of fob watches with hinged metal cover, your timing is just not correct. Well, the Chinese version of fob watches with emaciated golden cover did make a come back at one point of time, say some two years back. And, you actually had the corporate houses tossing them all around - in the hands of the clients, dealers, just about everyone crossing their way. Of course, as corporate gifts on Diwali, even the New Year! Okay, the teenyboppers too were having a good time with the watches hanging. But that moment in time is over, mercifully. "Time flies, time marches on, and it has now brought with it watches in identification tags," says Mohammad Suhail. He knows what he is saying folks! The 30 something has been watching his dad's watch business from a shop in Chandigarh's downtown, Sector 17, for over two decades now. "For the time being, it's the latest scream," he asserts with a smile. Guy's if you haven't guessed, it's a "time machine" attached to a chain for you to wear around your neck. "What started a few years back as a medical identification tag worn on neck chain by the soldiers is now a fashion accessory for you to stay ahead of your times," says undergrad Tamana Singh. She has just picked up one for herself to put the last touches on her New Year Eve do after pulling out something like a thousand bucks from her wallet. The babe has made up her mind to go commando; and has ended up picking up the tag watch and rest of the stuff in black. "It's sexy and sophisticated," she insists. Just in case a tag watch is not your idea of stuff to wear all the time; and you are on the watch for something to satisfy your timeless desire to stand out, pick up a clip watch. Now, don't you scratch your pretty little head with anxious fingers trying to figure out what the stuff is after all? It's a `ghurry' with a clip. Oh yes, you can clasp it around your belt. "It's convenient, it's urbane and does not lack glamour," loudly whispers Divya Sharma, a young executive with a multinational information technology giant. "Guys, it may sound outrageous, but it helps me show wee bit of my flat tummy every time I stop to have a look at the time!" So fellows, forget the wait and watch policy. Just pick up the timeless watches now. Back in Time Just in case you do not know, wristwatches were mostly worn by women at the beginning of the century. Available information on the internet suggest in 1904, Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos Dumont asked his friend Louis Cartier to come up with an alternative that would allow him to keep both hands on the controls, while timing his performances during flight. Cartier and his master watchmaker, Edmond Jaeger, soon came up with the first prototype for a man's wristwatch called the Santos wristwatch. The Santos first went on sale in 1911, the date of Cartier's first production of wristwatches. This is not all. During the First World War soldiers needed access to their watches, while their hands were full. They were given wristwatches, called 'trench watches'. They were large and bulky and had the crown at the 12 o'clock position, like pocket watches. After the war pocket watches, went out of fashion and by 1930 the ratio of wrist to pocket watches was 50 to 1. The first successful self-winding system was invented by John Harwood in 1923.
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Hit hai!
Johnson Thomas Endearingly funny, this
third film 3 Idiots, from the Raj Kumar Hirani- Vidhu Vinod
Chopra combo is basically a revisit to the formula that made the duo so
very successful. The duo along with Abhijat Joshi have adapted Chetan
Bhagat’s Five point someone about the life in the IIT’s for
this invigorating farce that begins with collegian antics and ends with
a lost and found twist.
So get ready to transport yourself back to yet
another Munnabhai who is now 18 something, differently minded (it’s
a kind of stereotype for Raj Kumar Hirani films) budding inventor,
Rancho a.k.a Ranchordas (a 40 plus Aamir) who has taken admission in
Delhi’s Imperial College of Engineering, a premier engineering
institute in the country. He makes his entry into the college at a time
when ragging of the newbies is going on and soon enough establishes his
scientific potential by electrocuting the big college bully with a
spiffy spur-of-the-second invention. Thus establishing his inviolability
in the scheme of the entire narrative. So whatever transpires from
thereon you can be sure that Rancho who is always in the thick of things
and a perennial bane to Prof Viru Sahastrabuddhe lovingly nicknamed
Virus (a terrific Boman Irani), yet escapes the final edict by some
incredible act of providence or the other. His two roommates Farhan (Madhavan)
and Raju (Sharman) who are not that bright and come from poorer families
tag along for the mis-adventurous rides with Rancho at the helm, with
diverse results. They always stand last in class and they are mostly
left in the shadow of Rancho who is always first even though he does not
resort to mugging or copying for that matter. He is never shown to be
studying either. It’s always his unusual intellect that gets him to
the top of the class (Wish he could pass it on to the rest of us poorer
folks!). Then there is Pia (Kareena Kapoor), Virus’ daughter who is
studying for medicine yet is presented as knowing`A0much more than even
the experienced professionals. Chatur Ramalingam (an outstanding Omi
with an endearing Afrikaan accent) is the wannabe who works hard at his
studies yet manages only a second place finish at every exam. These are
all far-fetched characters, their basic references are from real life
but the manner in, which they come across on film, appears fantastical.
Larger than life is the maxim here and Raj Kumar Hirani and team play it
out with maximum `E9lan. The opening sequence which has`A0Farhan
attempting to stop a flight in motion, starts-off well but the minute
Hirani gets him off the wheelchair while still in the airport, he puts
paid to any believability, if at all. So the tone is set right from the
word go. It’s jokey throughout and even serious dramatic turns have
their sepia tinged fun-fueled moments. The entire narrative has an
over-exaggerated spoofy feel to it and even`A0the stereotypes of the
sole struggling bread-earner mother, saddled with a bed-ridden paralysed
husband and the ambitious-for-his-son father who refuses to see his son’s
interest in something other than engineering as a career goal, is
presented in such light-hearted fashion that you don’t really get
bogged down by heavy sentiment. The suicide of a student and the attempt
by another is milked conveniently for transferring the latent sympathy
onto the lead character Rancho. And like in the earlier Munnabhai
films, messages are bandied about after every dramatic turn. It’s
not in any manner hysterical or cliche but they come at you one after
the other that you do end-up feeling a wee bit beleaguered and
understandably chastised. There is no jaddoo ki jappi to soothe
the unruffled here. The dialogues together with the treatment do the
trick quite successfully. Shantanu Moitra’s music is light and airy
lending able support to the narrative structure employed by Hirani. The
characters are well defined and each have their endearing
moments.Millimeter is particularly endearing something like Calendar (Mr
India) and Chillum(Salaam Bombay) were in their time. There are no
villains here. The education system and societal conditioning do come in
for a great deal of flak but that is the lay of the world today and
there’s no hiding that! The three actors playing the lead roles-Aamir
at 40 plus, Madhavan in his late thirties and Sharman`A0 who is thirty
plus are actually misfits for the three characters they play, at least
on the basis of appearance alone. But their performances are never
lacking. Aamir is studiedly methodical when enacting Rancho. He imbues
his character with mannerisms and ticks that youngsters are apt to have
but still there is a disconnect. His close-ups appear artificially
enhanced and his physique, though well-toned, appears a bit too mature
for the part to be entirely believable. Madhavan and Sharman are less in
the foreground so they don’t stand-out as much. Their individual
scenes though, do have those unbelievable moments. Abhijat Joshi and
Hirani manage to adapt the college life sections from the book quite
well. Even so, there are problem areas. We only get to see two
professors in the entire college and as far as students go it’s just
the trio and Chatur in most frames. One doesn’t expect a lage raho
... everytime Hirani weilds the megaphone but there are commercial
expectations from this talented team which will be well-met by this
specific. This is a kind of exclusive world created for Hirani’s
special vision and frankly you just don’t mind that very much because
what he brings to the screen is much bigger and brighter than a mere
typical comedy film. Hirani’s work is a unique celebration of
nostalgia and contemporariness and is presented with just the right
amount of finesse to keep you glued to your seats through it’s entire
runtime! There is simply no stopping this gold run!
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Party plans
Sushmita Sen: I am going to Goa or the Kerala backwaters. I haven’t decided yet. I can’t go out of India because my younger daughter doesn’t have a passport yet. Shilpa Shetty: (I’m) really excited about the Mediterranean cruise we are taking with the family, my first ever, making it even more special. I will be out at sea for the next two weeks...(I) will be bringing in the New Year on the ship. Jaya Prada: I will be in Hyderabad with my mother. I believe that New Year or any other festival is the time to be with your family. And next day, like all the previous years, I will be going to the Tirupati Balaji temple before returning to work.
Mughda Godse: This New Year’s eve I’ll be working and spend the rest of it with my family. Celina Jaitley: I will be performing at the JW Marriott in Mumbai which means that I am making money this New Year. Minissha Lamba: This New Year I’m going to be with my close friends. Manoj Bajpayee: I will be in Delhi with my family. I will welcome 2010 with them at home. I will chat, dance, play music and eat...I’ll do everything that makes one happy. Sukhwinder Singh: I’ll be home with friends to welcome the New Year. I’ll sing and dance and be merry in general. I don’t like going out because on New Year, all places are over crowded. Fun is when you are with friends and nothing is better than home. Purab Kohli: I plan to be in Mumbai this New Year as it has been eight years since I’ve been spending this time here...I’m looking forward to a great party in 2010. Rannvijay: I am going to my hometown Jalandhar after a very long time. I’ll be spending my Christmas and New Year there with my family and friends. — IANS
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Lucky again!
Lady luck smiles on Aamir this Christmas too! December seems to be
a lucky month for Bollywood star Aamir Khan. The actor’s 3 Idiots, which
released Friday, has got rave reviews and is going strong at the box
office. It repeats the success of his previous hits - Taare Zameen
Par and Ghajini that were released during the same time in
2007 and 2008 respectively. Reliance BIG Entertainment, which is the
distributor of 3 Idiots, released the movie with about 2,000
prints and it has already earned about Rs 4 crore through paid previews.
"The response has been overwhelming. We had our first show Thursday
at 6 p.m. and, despite the cricket match, the occupancy was great. The
film has earned approximately Rs.4 crore through paid previews,"
Kamal Gianchandani, head of domestic distribution of Reliance BIG
Pictures said. Aamir’s directorial debut Taare Zameen Par, released
on Dec 21 in 2007, hit the jackpot. It was the story of an
eight-year-old child who suffers greatly until a teacher identifies him
as dyslexic and helps him. While child star Darsheel Safary tugged at
the audiences’ hearts as a dyslexic child, Aamir too impressed as an
actor and director. According to reports, the film earned Rs.37 crore.
It was followed by his superhit Ghajini. Released on December 25,
2008, it was an action-thriller about a rich businessman who suffers
from short-term memory loss following a violent encounter in which his
love interest is killed. A remake of a Tamil film with the same name, it
created history by taking over the mantle of the biggest domestic earner
so far, leaving behind Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. It earned
Rs.2 billion ($41 million) in less than two weeks. If Aamir’s Taare
Zameen Par and Ghajini set the cash registers ringing, his 3
Idiots also seems to be treading the same success path. Aamir,
however, had denied any superstition about releasing his films in
December. "I hope to be third time lucky with 3 Idiots, but
the release date is more of a coincidence than a planned move. I am not
superstitious. Ghajini was supposed to be an October release, but
it had to be postponed to December because I was injured," Aamir
had said before the film’s release. — IANS
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Beaches, mountains or just spending time with family and friends—Bollywood celebrities are all set to take a break from tinseltown to usher in the New Year. While Sushmita Sen and Shilpa Shetty are heading to the waters, Mugdha Godse and Minissha Lamba will be with their loved ones.
Fardeen Khan:
We are going to the mountains this year. I’m off on a romantic holiday in Shimla for five days with my wife (Natasha) to celebrate New Year. I haven’t been there earlier; so I’m looking forward to it.